Whoa, it's been a long time since I last posted a blog here (or anywhere, really). Well, that's because I've lost my interest in GameSpot. None of the guys that made me love it are here anymore. The guys that are still here are great, don't get me wrong, but you just cannot have GS without the rest. It is this reason, along with having many things like school, family, etc. on my mind, that I have not been active on GameSpot for the past several weeks. So, while I'm here, I might as well post what's up with me:
Basilisk - I bought all 5 volumes of this manga based on the novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls over Spring Break. It's kind of Romeo & Juliet-ish, but in a more mature and Japanese way.
MySpace - I finally made a MySpace the night before Spring Break. If you have an account and would like to add me, just e-mail me. Also, please be sure to tell me who you are
BioShock - Having a spurt of Art-Deco enthusiasm after reading about the 1920s and 1930s in my history c|ass I was (for the second time) in the mood to just go out and buy BioShock. I finally did one day after school. Seeing as how I turned 17 in March, I was able to pick up a Used copy, which was originally priced at $45, for only $20 (Edge card + $7.70 store credit + fact that BioShock was on sale). I've only just gotten to the Smuggler's Hideout, meaning I just exited Fontaine Fisheries and have played no further, so I still have a ways to go, but the game is awesome nonetheless. I love hacking, shocking then headshotting Splicers, and of course getting achievements. Yes, I actually save the Little Sisters, but the Big Daddies are a b****.
School - I am currently reading two old books, one for Chemistry and one for English. I made an 88 on my last test in History II, and I need to study for my Final, which is in about 11 days. For World History, I must make a Powerpoint presentation for a project due tomorrow on the Silk Road. In fact, I'd best be getting to work on that. Prom is in two days. I bought a ticket but I'm not going to go. It's a waste of time, seeing as how I didn't really want to, my friends aren't going to, and the girl I was going to take decided as well that prom is overrated. I guess I'll just spend my night playing Team Slayer. Good enough for me.
Other - Pretty much anything I forgot to mention. Of course, if this is all the stuff I've forgotten about, there's really not going to be anything here, now is there? (Except this)

Exactly as the title states, nothing really exciting has been happening. Like just about everyone else, it seems, I have been doing a lot of stuff other than GameSpot, like, oh, we shall not refuse to say that most wretched of all human institutions made distinctly for children, as the public school of which I speak, and so are countless other escapades upon which a young human might endeavor, and so test their hearts, minds, and altogether being to make true blah, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah, blah.

If you did not understand that last sentence whatsoever, then you know what it feels like to read the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's collection of run-on sentences, old & obsolete words, and unneeded exclamation marks. It is the first reading assignment for my English III Honors class, and I have a display board project on it due tomorrow. It has a kind of sad ending, but it is only sad if you like the characters (and seeing as how Hester Prynne is played by Demi Moore in the movie, what's not to like?). The day that got wrenched from the hands of school today by bad weather gives me time to finish the project on which I have hardly even started. That, and just piss around all day. (My way of saying "screw around", so don't freak out or anything)

Man, oh man! if that last Call of Duty 4 achievement isn't the hardest ever. I got all the intel pieces, all the TVs busted, and beat the game on Veteran. But even though I've seen people's strategies on YouTube for beating it, I cannot complete Mile High Club within 1 minute. The only game where I've gotten over 900/1000, and I'm only 20 short of the full amount

Well, from the way things are looking, the format war is almost over. HD-DVD, although comparatively cheaper and probably just as good as Blu-Ray, appears to be the loser. Universal and Paramount are the only exclusive studios, while the Blu Bastards have Fox, Disney (not that I care), obviously Sony Pictures, and now Warner Brothers. I wouldn't be so against Blu if it weren't so against Sony. I used to love the Playstation brand and I even used Sony as part of a project for school in 7th grade. But then they went and screwed us with the PS3. Combined with Halo, that is the reason that I now own a 360 and, although Microsoft is really no better, I hate Sony.

Yes, everything feels like crap lately. I'm sick again, I'm 2-3 days behind on my Chemistry homework, and I broke my sword making a video about the Crusades for World History.

But hey, at least Undertow was free.

I finally got over 5,000 achievement points today, which I know is nothing compared to many of you out there, but for a more casual gamer like myself, it feels pretty good. They came from Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, which is in fact a very good game despite a few issues with somewhat sensitive controls. I'm not quite done with it, but thanks to a good bit of snow here today, I will have enough time tomorrow to finish it up. Yep, school was supposed to start again on the 3rd, like usual, but apparently someone thinks we shouldn't go in tomorrow. Fine by me. Gives me time to become a Chunin

Oh, and if you want a laugh........

Alright, so today I got a month of XBL Gold and next month I'll be getting the year subscription for Christmas. I also changed my gamertag from "Mark the VI" to Mjolnir51, so I should be more recognizable. I'm currently playing Halo 3 with one of my friends, but I can also do Gears, RB6 Vegas, or CoD3. I hope to get CoD4: Modern Warfare sometime soon and will then be open to playing that. See you guys on Live! Send me an invite or something

EDIT: I got Modern Warfare on Wednesday, so I'm playing that, too. I'm going to try to beat the single-player campaign first, then check for matches online afterward. Plus, my school is out for Thanksgiving on Wed. 21- Fri. 23, so I'll be free then. And I may have friends over on the 21, so look for me/us then. See you guys on Matchmaking!

Man, level 18 goes fast. I went from 17 to 18 maybe last Saturday or something, and today I'm a Gitaroo Man. It's pretty sweet. And yeah, Tokyo Games Show is today and tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that. Although, in Japan, it would be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow (but Jake Gylenhaal isn't invited).

Another cool thing - my school had a dance today, even while in semi-lockdown. Something happened in a nearby county and I guess all the schools in the area were being cautious. I don't know, but what I DO know is that I danced with four girls, and three of those all at once. I'm not gonna explain a lot, but suffice it to say that I danced with two, and then one of those danced with another and that one held my arm while doing so, so that would be three. Yeah, that kind of stuff never happens to me, but today I was just lucky. The only thing that could be considered even better is Halo 3 - IN 5 DAYS!!!

Earlier today I was having a debate with my good friend Jono0 about whether consoles are dying out or not. As a console and occasionally PC gamer, I didn't think that this was true. We talked it over, him saying that console games eventually get ported and emulated to the PC, so what's the point of getting a console if you can have one machine do it all? I was making the point that consoles don't have to be upgraded as frequently, and new ones come out when they're needed and aren't as do-it-yourself when it comes to setting up the parts you want.

That's when I remembered that consoles are really just computers made for playing games. Like with the Odyssey and the Atari. Computers were still in a pretty rough stage and they didn't have such a variety of uses and apps like they do now. So some were developed with the sole purpose of gaming. Arcade machines were made for more complex and detailed games, but those couldn't be brought home, so companies tried using smaller computers to play simpler games at home. When the consoles took off, there became a different market for them, and so it became as if they were completely separate from computers. Over the years, consoles have grown and grown, and so have computers, into what they are today. And people consider them different entities when the only thing that really differs in them is their designed purposes. PCs are made to perform a huge variety of functions, and gaming is just one of them. Consoles are made to play games and have a few other things that they can do on the side. And don't worry. I'm going somewhere with this, I think....

My point in all this is that while console gaming may have dominated the mid- to late-90's and early 00's, and some have said not too long ago that PC gaming was dying out, PC gaming is being reinvigorated by new titles such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Spore, and the games are not just ports and Microsoft Flight Simulator like they used to be. Consoles may be on the rise as well. With what Nintendo's doing with the Wii, home console gaming should not be getting drab anytime soon. But one thing that has seen a definite decline is arcades. With arcade games having versions made to be played at home, no one has had really any reason to enter an arcade unless they get bored at the mall while their mom is in Sears. However, arcades have been reportedly on the rise as of late. So how could something so seemingly outdated make a comeback? Nostalgia. Gamers must be some of, if not THE, most nostalgic people in the world. We remember something that we loved and we like to revisit it. I myself have been meaning to play MGS2 again for some time, because that is one of the greatest games I've ever played. Although I'm not old enough to be a member of the arcade generation, I'm sure that the people who are have fond memories of it. When someone in the game industry recalls something from the past that they loved, they like to see if they can bring it back or at least pay homage to it and raise interest. So, because of this and probably some other reasons, arcades may come back, not to what they were before, but I highly doubt they will ever die.

The same goes for consoles. If the market for consoles were to ever die down, and many people not buy them anymore (something that is definitely not going to happen anytime soon), they may remain in a sort of stasis until someone remembers how much fun they were and does something to bring them back. If someone is nostalgic for something, they hate to see it go away, and gamers of all kinds are nostalgic.

Another thing I recently realized, while writing the second paragraph in fact, is that, as computers branched off into home consoles, the process seems to be coming full circle. With modern technology, consoles are being made to do so much stuff, that they seem to be turning into little computers devoted not just to games anymore, but to entertainment in general. This will not come as a surprise to a lot of people, as it actually seems kind of obvious to a certain degree. Of course, consoles will never become full-fledged computers, because, seriously, no one wants to see a tournament that consists of two people trying to outdo each other in PowerPoint. But game systems are becoming much more than just that. They are now entertainment hubs for the entire house. Interactive worlds, tv shows, and streaming music. All available in one place (for the right price, that is).

So, the point of all this is that, like everything else in this world, nothing ever truly dies in the world of gaming. True, some things may die down, but they never die. Hope you guys liked my first real editorial. Feel free to shout at me for getting something wrong

Mountain Dew Game Fuel is out!!!! And it's good. The only problem is that I couldn't find the 24 oz. bottles, so I ended up buying two 2-liters instead. So now I have nothing to energize me through school.

I watched the Madden Launch Coverage last night. And I must say that it was not worth the wait. The 20-30 minute wait that was beheld by all those thinking that it started at 6 P.M. Pacific / 9 P.M. Eastern. Once again, the comments were rithe with complaints and jokes, of which I was a part, mainly because I am sick of it. They should be able to anticipate this, seeing as how it happens all the time. I know it is hard running all of that and coordinating it, but I wish they could actually notify us of what's going on and not leave us in the dark.

That is all for this short blog. I just felt like writing it, so here it is, although to be at this point you have probably already read it. School is fine in case anyone was wondering, btw.

P.S. BioShock demo = Awesomeness (my new favorite word) !!!!!!!!