I don't wanna be adored
Don't wanna be first in line
Or make myself heard
I'd like to bring a little light
To shine a light on your life
To make you feel loved

No, don't wanna be the only one you know
I wanna be the place you call home

I lay myself down
To make it so, but you don't want to know
I give much more
Than I'd ever ask for

Will you see me in the end
Or is it just a waste of time
Trying to be your friend
Just shine, shine, shine
Shine a little light
Shine a light on my life
Warm me up again

Fool, I wonder if you know yourself at all
You know that it could be so simple

I lay myself down
To make it so, but you don't want to know
You take much more
Than I'd ever ask for

Say a word or two to brighten my day
Do you think that you could see your way

To lay yourself down
And make it so, but you don't want to know
You take much more
Than I'd ever ask for

- Keane

For all you kids not in the know, giantbomb.com has launched their community beta site. If you're feeling frisky, you can get in on the action also and register an account.

After playing around with it a short while, I have a few critical things to say about it. But it is a beta so problems should be expected. At this point, I really can't see it replacing my Gamespot account. I have no animosity for Gamespot and enjoy all the features they have to offer so I'm really in no hurry to move.

GiantBomb seems to be a pretty good start. The blogs are much more versatile, as in it's possible to add your own divs and style classes - if you manipulate the right elements. No, I don't believe it's possible to create MySpace-esque travesties - but then again, I haven't tried yet. Now that I think about it... maybe it is O_o

In any case, don't expect me to be jumping ship any time soon - although really, who would notice In the event you already have or create a giantbomb account and would like to add me, my username there is Magic_B. (The smoov bit was a joke in reference to a character I worry no one else gets. Not that I know magic either... we'll see how long this username lasts before I get tired of it too...)

Well, it's finally over. I'm sure all the people at Gamespot are grateful and I'd like to thank them for their excellent coverage of the event. Those of you upset over the downtime BEFORE event coverage even began and the small hiccups during conferences and live coverage need to realize that there's a whole heck of a lot that goes into producing these things and like any technology, computers have their limits. When thousands of people bombard a service at once, things break. Try making a phone call during a natural disaster and you'll see what I mean. So let's go over the whole 3 (4) day expo in brief.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony
Considering how much time companies like Microsoft and Sony spend on holding conferences for their gaming divisions it's easy for us to forget that this whole event is a general electronics exposition aimed at business professionals. Perhaps we expect more from Nintendo since gaming is all they do but they still have investors and industry executives to cater to. Sitting through these often dry Powerpoint presentations talking about sales figures and growth expectations should be a reminder of that fact and not a matter of why wasn't so-and-so's conference off the hook and why didn't they talk about such-and-such game.

Biggest announcement for the Xbox 360 was undoubtedly the reveal of the new Dashboard update and the announcement of customizable avatars. While Microsoft continues to hail the new look and stating their reasons for incorporating a new design (i.e. an overcrowded and confusing Marketplace) seems that overall reaction to the new interface has been negative - myself included.


Xbox 360 Dashboard

Despite more criticism of their new avatars, Microsoft continues to defend and justify their inclusion, staving off accusations of copying Nintendo by claiming that avatars have existed far before they were used on the Wii. While this is certainly true the similarities are much too close offering only a subtle difference in a less cartoony appearance. It would be refreshing for a change if companies admitted to drawing inspiration from other sources - especially when it's so obvious. (One developer actually did this referring to inspiration they drew from Tony Hawk, for a non-skating game.) Microsoft's approach to the community interaction with their avatars does sound promising however, and by looking at screens so far, I can see the fun in seeing all your friends online as group of cutesy characters. What remains to be seen is how much they'll be customizable and how much Microsoft will charge for new customization options.


Xbox 360 Community

Other changes to the new dashboard included an integration with streaming movie rentals from a joint Netflix account - which, despite not having a Netflix acount and its implications on my own company, I'm very excited about. Another addition I think everyone is excited about (at least those with big enough hard drives) is the option to copy games and play them directly from the hard drive resulting is faster load times, possibly smoother frame rates, and quieter operation. Still need to have the disc inserted to verify ownership but it's a welcome change I think and it begins to hint at the question of, "Between Arcade titles and downloadable Xbox Originals, is Microsoft looking to do away with physical content and go to completely downloadable, DRM licensed games?"

There have been numerous, vocal complaints regarding Nintendo's "lackluster" press conference which again only reminds us that these events aren't targeted to gamers. They're for the industry. While Nintendo may not have the most stellar lineup of first party titles, there are plenty of other developers out there bringing over their games whether they be exclusives or even ports of games appearing on other systems. Skate It, SimCity Creator (which finally introduces curved roads!), Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Call of Duty, Spore, Raving Rabbids, Wii Music, and a host of others. If the Wii is your only option, I wouldn't be feeling too bad of a good lineup of titles coming your way. If you have other systems as well and you're still complaining, then I say serves you right for being too impulsive. You're obviously not strapped for cash and if you are then you might as well sell it to someone that would be more appreciative.

Sony's Little Big World conference demonstration definitely set a different tone, showcasing not only the company's accomplishments and projected goals for all their systems (including still the PS2) but also displayed the creative ingenuity, capability and lighthearted nature of the highly anticipated title. Sony too, revealed their plans for an updated Playstation Store which was being put into effect almost immediately and showcasing the option not to rent content like the 360, but instead purchase movies from attractive, studio customized pages. And once again, we got another glimpse of Home but whether or not it will ever be released is probably debatable.


PlayStation Home

While Sony touted Little Big World, Resistance 2, announced the massive online world of MAG and tried to sell us again on Home the biggest bombshell had to have been the one dropped by Microsoft and Square/Enix announcing the release of the formerly exclusive Final Fantasy XIII appearing on the 360 in both US and European markets. Again, reactions were highly mixed and volatile, causing some to call for the demise of the PS3 altogether.

Games
On the gaming front there weren't any shockers. I think most of us knew what to expect and for most of the major upcoming releases, the demos shown only reinforced our anticipation of an exciting Fall and Holiday lineup. Big expectations surrounded some of the bigger titles and most did not disappoint. Killzone 2, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Resident Evil 5, Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Fallout 3, Spore, Resistance 2, Rock Band 2, Mercenaries 2, Dead Space, FarCry 2, Brother's in Arms Hell's Highway, SOCOM, Left 4 Dead, were a few of the more notable games that I think got everyone excited.

Others I didn't feel quite live up to the hype. Halo Wars I was really excited about at first but after seeing EndWar (if you haven't already noticed, I'm super excited for EndWar), it just feels like another RTS. I'm still pulling for it however. It seems they, along with the recent release of Civilization Revolution, have a great grasp of how strategy games should work on consoles and I hope developers continue to build off these methods. Also, despite having a dedicated interview with the creators of Dawn of War 2, only trailers were shown of it and the interview didn't go so well either where Red Dawn was shown off reasonably well, appearing to be a great follow up for the series.

Guitar Hero's big announcements of 85+ songs and the inclusion of Metallica were trumped by Rock Band's follow up announcement of 85+ songs and the inclusion of Metallica, as well as the inclusion of Bob Dylan and the as yet to be released reincarnation of Guns 'N' Roses - prompting Guitar Hero to release more exclusive news of the inclusion of two Jimi Hendrix songs and being able to play as the man himself. I will say, the new GH guitars and drums look awesome. I really hope Rock Band at least takes some cues from them or just flat out copies. The Wii tried to jump in on the music/rhythm game action with a couple titles of its own (Ultimate Band and Major Minor's Majestic March) both felt lacking while Wii Music and Samba de Amigo seem to hold more promise.

In the RPG sector Fallout 3 undoubtedly led the way, with little news of Japanese RPG's such as FFXIII or Star Ocean. Other's looked promising such as Dragon Age and Valkyria Chronicles. Hotly debated games like Too Human finally got a chance to really be seen and while it looked fairly impressive at first, it seemed further examination left much to be desired and a personal play through of the demo left me wanting. DC Universe made a strong showing although mostly in theory, talking a lot about its ability to not only let you play as some of your favorite super heroes from the DC library but also the option to create your own. And special news of KOTOR becoming a MMO was accidentally leaked prompting some very mixed reactions of its own.


Killzone 2

As usual, there was no shortage for the dominating shooter genre. Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Killzone 2, Resident Evil 5, SOCOM, Mercenaries 2, Crysis Warhead, Dead Space, FarCry 2, all showed off their respective systems to the highest degree. Killzone 2 especially looks to be a shoe in for Best of E3 and gives PS3 lovers a direct counter to those claiming there's no reason to own one now with the non-exclusivity of FFXIII. For those on the Xbox, Gears of War 2 looks to build only good things off of its predecessor including better online play, more weapons and a more engaging story.


Prince of Persia

Other notable mentions I feel are one's I've already talked about: Prince of Persia with its unique concept art visual styIe, combat and platforming, acrobatic controls; Naruto: The Broken Bond for its smooth combination of platformer and fighter, and it's true to series, vibrant graphics; Fable II looks to build off of the success of its predecessor addressing some of the complaints in the previous installment while creating an entirely new vision for RPG and what it really means to role-play. Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. looks to offer something new to the highly overlooked air combat sim offering gamers something different from Ace Combat while placing it within the highly successful Tom Clancy universe. Flower... just looks gorgeous. The Zen of video gaming. A shame we didn't get to hear the audio as well. Of course, we can't end this without explicitly mentioning Spore. Whether or not you're excited for it, it will be huge and it's impact on procedural animations and content creation is already being felt in other games.

As I've said before, I'm not really sure what constitutes an, "OMG I need that game!" killer app reaction. Everyone has their own preference and there didn't seem to be any ground breaking games announced this year. I will say, I think the majority of what we did see was exceptional and the rest of the year looks to be insanely good, even rivaling last year's offering. The press conferences may not have had all the whiz-bang of past shows but it seems the new event format worked much better for those attending and overall I'd rate the event a great success with some great games to look forward to.

That's gonna do it for my coverage of Gamespot's coverage of E3 2008. Again, a big thank you to Gamespot for their excellent, round the clock, live coverage (and a big eff you for causing me to be nearly completely unproductive all week long). You guys did an awesome job.

"Go **** yourself, San Diego."

Well after two days of being dialed into Gamespot's continuous live coverage, it's safe to say that there's a lot more games coming out that I'm genuinely excited for than I thought. I really had no idea the end of the year was looking this good. Here's my list of what I'm looking forward to. FYI, links go to vids. Didn't feel like embedding them.

Rock Band 2 - After I saw the new drum kit and guitars for Guitar Hero World Tour I was thinking it would be pretty cool. But Rock Band 2's backwards compatibility with 1's music library takes the cake. Plus if you're willing to pony up for that full drum kit, that this is pretty sweet. Oh, yeah, Battle of the Bands, online, track list! Talking Heads FTW!

Gears of War 2 - The first was fun but didn't have any lasting value for me. (I was satisfied just renting it.) I wasn't really excited for the sequel but figured I'd rent it as well. After hearing about all the improvements and game changes, this one is looking really good. That 2-man team game sounds like a lot of fun.

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. - Hadn't even heard about this one until they demoed it. Looks pretty sweet. I'm hoping it takes more of a simulation approach than Ace Combat did. Ace Combat was simply too arcade for my taste.

InFAMOUS - (this man El Guapo, he's not just famous, he's IN famous) PS3 exclusive which means I'm out of luck but looks like it'd be pretty fun. PS3 is finally starting to get a worthwhile library I think.

Fallout 3 - Duh. I'm really disappointed Bethesda is using the Oblivion engine though. I enjoyed the turn-based action of the first one but I can live with real time - that's fine. It's just that first person engine feels so wrong to me. It just feels like your character is floating around. There's never that subtle bounce that other games do. Plus the combat from that perspective I thought was terrible. Hopefully the third-person view will be better. Graphically it looks good. Maintains the classic Fallout style which is great. But they're missing details: the solid black scope lens on the rifle for instance. Most games now put reflections there or allow you to constantly see through it. They also toned down the highlights a little it looks like which is a big improvement. Blowing up nuclear cars is just damn cool though.

FarCry 2 - looks great as always.

Prince of Persia - totally surprised me. have never played a prince of persia game but this looks gorgeous for one but the play style looks really cool as well. Haven't played a platformer in years and this looks to incorporate some good elements of that. Plus that one-on-one combat looks great. Taking on massive hoards is already getting overdone and I'm glad they're going the other direction.

Mercenaries 2 - tactical nukes!!! Seriously, how does this not look fun?

Star Wars: Force Unleashed - again, another no brainer

Brother's In Arms Hell's Highway - the tactical element here really looks good. Actually, I don't think I've ever played a WWII shooter. Just never interested me. But this looks good.

Spore - duh, yet again

EndWar - When I first heard about this awhile back it seemed cool. A good RTS without all the resource management crap. Then I saw the Frag Dolls do a little demo with the voice commands and it got even cooler. This demo puts it over the top. I'm super excited about this one.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC - actually looks surprisingly cool. May never play it but it appears a lot better than I would have imagined.

Flower - I'd have a hard time spending $60 on what seems like basically a passively interactive screensaver, but this just looks gorgeous and super relaxing. Though again, a PS3 exclusive that I'll never play.

Naruto: The Broken Bond - never watched Naruto but this looks pretty fun. Once again, those platform elements combined with the traditional fighter game looks like a solid match. And great art style.

Well to be fair, I don't own a PS3 or a PSP so I don't have much interest in Sony. And maybe it sounds fanboyish but I wasn't terribly impressed with what Sony displayed. Resistance looks cool but I got a bit tired of seeing it over and over - as if they didn't have any other exclusives worth mentioning anymore. The Gran Turismo TV thing is kind of cool for hardcore racing fans. Doesn't make GT5 Prologue a must have but it's a nice perk at any rate. (Still irritates me how much their pawning off Prologue as a full game.) Most of the other titles I saw that I'm looking forward to are ones that will be released on the 360 as well so it's hard to get excited about those again.

Sony's whole Home thing just doesn't interest me in the least. The only MMO's I play are the free ones and even then I don't talk with people I don't know. My impression is that Home is supposed to be something akin to Second Life - which I've never played either. It's just a concept that I don't care about so it's a bit of a mystery to me as to why people want to wander around in virtual environments just so they can chat. But, each to their own.

When in Rome...

I did think the MAG game thing was pretty cool. In theory anyway. My experience when adding more and more players (ala Battlefield) just turns into unorganized chaos. So the squad system is intriguing - with the right people anyway. Reminds me of Chromehounds to a degree. Only the opportunity to witness other squads carrying out their missions in unison with your own sounds pretty dane cool. If I had a PS3, that is definitely something I would like to experience - again, in theory. The idea is cool but I foresee this sort of thing just turning into a jumbled mess most of the time. But then, any online experience is all about the people you play with. Hopefully the game is as good as the teaser projected it to be.

And that's it for my E3 conference impressions. Missed the Nintendo one so you'll have to do without my ever insightful analysis. And I find it odd that I was awarded a E3 emblem for Sony but not for Microsoft since I watched that conference in it's entirety - well almost. Missed the first 20 minutes. I guess that's the difference. Lame.

It's been a couple weeks now since I said I would begin writing a few short essays on religion and as is quite obvious, I haven't done so yet. I am working on it. Just trying to get thoughts squared away first. Things have been busy due to circumstances both in and out of my control. But before I get to those things that have prevented my posting I wanted to comment on Microsoft's E3 conference this morning.



Ok, not really the whole conference per say but rather my impressions of the new dashboard. In short, "Hello, Wii60." Come on now, avatars?! They're cute and all and part of the charm of the Wii but they just seem out of place on the 360. I suppose they'll fit in in time - especially with the new dashboard - which now reminds me of Apple or even Sony. At least on the Wii, your Mii has a greater purpose being integrated into games. I guess the 360 will try to do the same (a new Scene It was shown demonstrating the integration). Just seems like a feature that isn't worth blatantly ripping off. Maybe I'm just upset because it took me two years to find a free gamertag image that I was actually happy with and now I have to get rid of it to replace it with some cartoon. That said, if I had a Wii, I imagine it'd be fun to create a Mii - so I'm not against them entirely. My overall impression is that Microsoft is trying to create Sony's Home with Nintendo's Mii's. Interesting. At any rate, now M$ can charge for every little piece of clothing you want your Mii, err, I mean avatar to wear.

As for the new Dashboard: first impressions is that I don't like it. Seems like some bastard child of Apple and Sony. Microsoft was touting it as simpler and easier to use. I'm a huge proponent of empty space but this new style just wastes space so that it can fit information into small windows. Nor are windows clearly marked as to what they contain. The current 360 dashboard may need an overhaul in order to accommodate everything that's been added to it since the 360 launched but I don't think doing away with the blade system entirely is the way to go. The current system, while cluttered is fairly easy to use and blades are clearly marked as to their contents. It's also unique to the 360 and gives it its own identity. Perhaps its too early to tell what the new dashboard will entail but at first glance, it seems like a step backwards.

One new feature of the dashboard that I'm excited about is the integration with Netflix. Since I don't regularly use a PC at home, nor do I want to watch movies on a computer screen, I haven't become a member of Netflix yet. However, being able to rent unlimited movies with a Netflix subscription from such a huge library on my 360 may make me seriously reconsider. Especially with the ability to share movies over Live. Sort of gimmicky but still way cool. To be able to party up with your friends and move seamlessly from games to a movie is pretty awesome.

A few game mentions but nothing outrageous. We all know by now that Gears 2 will rock. That Make your Own Movie game just seems dumb... but then I don't really like Charade type games. Still excited for Fable 2. The new Viva Pinata is looking good. News of Rock Band 2 continues to get better and better (complete support for all previous songs and new track list anyone?). No word on whether Guitar Hero World Tour will be compatible with GH3 songs (I'm guessing no). And of course Final Fantasy XIII. Not much of an FF fan as I've only ever played one by happenstance (VIII I think). But that's obviously pretty big news.



So, moving on... Past couple weeks have been pretty busy, not leaving much time to do the writing that I had intended. My long 4th of July weekend plans were sidetracked quite a bit. Due to unusually heavy snowfall this past winter and spring, most of Washington's trails are inaccessible or heavily damaged making extended backpacking trips limited and difficult. Couple that with the fact that my grandmother was visiting my aunt and uncle in Tacoma (a half hour to the south) and my mom decided to join at the last minute, spending time with them took priority.

Shortly after, my interest in joining the Coast Guard was renewed in full force. The past week has been filled with soul searching and lots of research, meeting with recruiters and studying for military vocational exams - and wondering how in the hell to tell my parents about it without causing excessive amounts of anxiety. While still a bit anxious myself, I'm tremendously excited. Haven't committed to anything yet. I still need to take that test and complete a physical exam - which apparently I need to schedule an entire day for and show up for at 5:45 am (yikes!). It will also be 3 months before I even know if the job I want is available so, much to my dismay, I have to wait. Not only wait but wait for a job that may or may not exist when their fiscal year ends and they re-evaluate their needs. It also means that I'll most likely have to put my job hunt on hold. Which sucks. I'm terribly unhappy with my current job but it does offer certain benefits and it also means job security. By federal law, an employer must place you back at your old position when returning from training or active duty. I can't imagine many employers willing to hire someone knowing that 3 months later, that person will likely be gone for 2 months, then another 3 months after that. "We're in need of someone to fill this position immediately. Let's hire the guy that will be gone for nearly half a year!"



In gaming and movie news, I completely wasted away my weekend playing the new expansion to Galactic Civilizations II; Twilight something or other. Like any massive scale turn-based game it does one thing exceptionally well: eat away time like the Cookie Monster to cookies. Still haven't quite gotten into it. I played the GCII before any expansions and wasn't really into it. The new expansion makes some good improvements but the game is fairly complex and it doesn't do a good job as to guiding you through it. Though this could all be my own fault. I've never played any of the missions and have a tendency to play on giant maps that take ages to finish. I guess my biggest complaint is the tech tree. It's simply confusing and unclear. Where the tech tree in Civilization IV makes it clear what techs will result in what inventions (and recursively, what techs you need for particular inventions) the GC tech tree is just a big branching list of different technologies, lacking any clear idea of what future techs they'll lead to - or more specifically, what unrelated techs you need for particular inventions or units. Resource management is also nearly non existent making it difficult to monitor your spending and income.



Finally, while my mom was visiting she gave me an iTunes gift card that she had received but never used. Seemed like a good opportunity to play with the Apple TV I'm currently testing out for work. So I rented V for Vendetta. One of those that I've wanted to see since it came out but have always put off. I must say I thought it was pretty decent. Sort of felt like a rehashing of the Matrix to some degree. Same ideology in any case. And that finale scene was way too similar to the Matrix lobby scene - only with knives. I guess the Wachowski brothers didn't want a repeat of Columbine so they decided to go in a direction that was only possible in fantasy - as opposed to firepower. V's verbose vernacular gets tiresome and contrite at times. However, overall I did enjoy it and liked the overall message - even if it did reintroduce many of the same Matrix themes (cause and reaction for instance - and what is it with characters undergoing tortuous transformations having to shave their heads?). So yeah, good movie. Natalie Portman can overthrow my government any time.