Well, after over 6 years I've finally hit the 10k mark. Yes it took a long time. Didn't really start posting til the last couple of years, and I never really got into roll call or many unions. I just pick the topics I like in OT and go from there. That all being said, it's a totally insignificant achievement, but one that deserves many thanks to others. I'm old enough, with enough things to do, to go do something else with my rare free time. But I enjoy coming back to GS everyday or so. And that's because of all of you. I've met some wonderful people here, that it's been a real joy to become friends with. Some of you I casually know, some I know very well and we've shared many things (good and bad). But again thanks to you all. Everyone here makes GS's community one of the best I've ever seen, and I have no intentions of leaving it anytime soon, so enjoy the party here, lord knows if we'll be around if/when I ever hit 20k !

So it's "holiday release" time for us gamers, which means we have way to many games to play. First off I finally got my PS3 back, or should say new PS3 . Argued with Sony for a while on the cost of fixing what should be fixed for free after spending so much on a console, but right when they announced the price drop, and it was only a $130.00 difference between getting mine fixed and getting a new one, I said send the damn thing back. Took it to my trusty manager pal at Gamestop and he got me a great trade in for my broken one which made for a great day all around. First thoughts, I love the new slimmer PS3. Nearly silent, much smaller, great looking, happy all around.

Now onto games. Halo ODST, was a great surprise. I'd bored a bit, like many of the Halo Franchise, but loved the new direction ODST took. The single player campaign was easily worth the price of the game, and the multiplayer is a fun diversion every now and then. COD MW2, is very good, again. The campaign is criminally short, but this time I like the multiplayer much more. I'm never one to finish very high in an online game, usually in the middle somewhere, and I love the added bonuses and "help" the game gives players who aren't great. Now onto the two games that have blown my mind.

Uncharted 2. Uncharted 1 was ok for me, but this game is downright amazing. Taking a cue, in my mind, from MGS4 Naughty Dog made amazing and engaging cut scenes, each level built up to the next very well for such a lenghty game, and it's downright beautiful. The train ride level is a utter joy to play, one of those moments that makes us love gaming.

Assassins Creed II. I loved the first, despite the utter repetition and odd ending. This game fixes every problem from AC I, and Ubisoft turns around and builds an amazing game, built around a character you care about and like. (This seems to becoming more and more important in relation to how much I like a game: Snake MGS series, CJ: GTA SA, Nathan Drake: Uncharted, and others) The sheer volume of things to do, side missions, feathers, glymps (that are all important to the game this time) make for a great overall experience. Just last night I decided to slow down on missions and just work on some of the side things, looked up and it was nearly 4 hours later! If it finishes up strong, AC III will be a game to really keep an eye on.

Back to reality now, need to finish AC II, then just enjoy a little multiplayer here and there until Bioshock II & GOW III suck me back into a "gaming coma" early next year!

Take Care All,

Bryan

Ok so I'm at this again. I do think that these are kinda cool, learning more about people we've known online for years in some cases. Here goes.

1. I'm severely addicted to Dexter. If my wife doesn't watch it on Sunday's with me, I act like I didn't already watch it and re-watch it.

2. My first NIN concert almost didn't happen. Went to see Aerosmith in Memphis, saw a tour bus as we were walking along the street, talked to the crew and they told us about the NIN concert that night, Aerosmith was the next night, so we went, having never heard a NIN song before. Blown away, been a fanatic ever since.

3. My wife was "adopted" by her step-dad. Her real father lives in FL, along with the rest of the family. I've always wanted to contact him and start some dialogue, but I know it's not my place. Not sure why that interests me so much.

4. Aside from my concert lithograph posters I collect comics, baseball cards (rarely buy them anymore) and news papers from major events, and of course video games.

5. My twins, at least Addison, are really starting to get pissed if I call them the wrong name. She gives me the meanest eyes when I call her Zoey and she says I'M ADDISON DADDY! Sorry they look too much alike, I mix em' up about 25% of the time.

6. I like to play games on the most brutally hard level possible. Single player games aren't a challenge too much anymore, though COD WAW on hardest is proving to be tough. But I suck at online multiplayer, I'm meant to play alone.

7. I love PTI on ESPN. It's my "Oprah". Can't miss it, DVR it daily. Those two have such great chemistry I lol at least once per show, usually at Tony.

8. Trent Reznor got married the other day. If she keeps him from making music I'm going to be very pissed.

9. I love newspapers, I will not start my day without reading our state paper front to back.

10. I voted, volunteered, and cried (yep cried a bit) when Obama was elected. But now, blah, he needs to get with it. I like the fact he seems to be carefully considering many important decisions, but where's the CHANGE? It's early though.

I'll stop the taggin spree now, haven't we all done it? If not just do it anyways.

Peace,

Bryan

Well today was a "milestone" birthday, I guess. 35, gulp. 30 actually scared me, but other than 18 I've cared less for birthdays since I was a kid. So I got to thinking these last few weeks. Great family life=check, brain and interest in the world around me=check, still have my childlike love of video games and the Arkansas Razorbacks=check. But I'm not professionally where I want to be. 5 years ago I was a sales rep at a 35 year old company and had the highest increase in sales and profit margin for 5 years (in a row ) that they had ever had. If you don't know the story, the short version is my moral and ethical compass caused me to give them 90 days to fix their problems, they didn't, so I left a very high paying job, that I would have had for life. Well I picked the perfect economy to do that in, hindsight being 20/20. So 2 jobs later (and 2 lay offs), after only having 2 in 16 years before that, I started this windshield repair business. Yes it's going good, but I'm at the mercy of the weather (can't do it in the rain), and my body is really starting to show the wear and tear.

So I thought back. In 9th grade, when my dad was 35, he picked me up at school to fly with him to Dallas to pick up a van to drive home for a new business he was getting into. The business was a disaster, but I loved my first time flying. Up until then he'd been "retired" after starting the largest, and one of the first rent-to-own dealerships in the south. Sold it off at it's peak and made off very, very well. Of course a HS education where he went to school didn't teach him much about finances and the IRS came calling. Money gone. He bounced around for 5-6 years, and is now happy and a well compensated salesman.

So I have to get off my ass, get over it, and get back out there. I miss selling, all of it. It's what I was taught to do, and do well. The right job is there, it may take one or two to find it, but I will. Enough of the would of, could have, should have. I have to do what I have to do, and I will. Well that's all of the rant going thru my mind, I'm whipped and off to bed, hope everyone is doing great.

Peace,

Bryan

Well, I've taken another unintended absence. I've missed you all and hope everyone is well. Personal issues have been fixed, then my wife breaks her foot, which causes me to watch the kids 24/7 (2 1/2 year old twins with crutches just doesn't work!). She catches the flu, or so we think, two weeks later, finally to the Dr and it's the Damn Swine Flu. Of course I catch it about a week ago. Same as the regular flu, but massive headaches and complete lack of energy. My computers are outside in the "adult smokehole/office", went nearly a week without even turning on mine, plus not turning on my PS3 or 360 for nearly a week, now that's sick! Finally starting to feel a bit better, but being self-employed and the only one working I've been busting it as much as I can these last couple of days. Otherwise the kids are good, knock on wood!!! I've been playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance II, a very good game, and still playing Batman AA from time to time, a great game. Otherwise all is getting better, hope to get back to my normal GS usage this weekend. Take care all, and stay away from the SF!

Bryan

I've been MIA for a couple of weeks. Life got in the way. I jumped in here and there to do my mod duties as much as possible, but the last few weeks have been the least I've been on GS in years. Of course it was a combo of many things. Sick twins, sick wife, sick me, work overload, and on and on. I also had way to much personal issues on my mind, and just couldn't find the heart to post a worthwhile post in any topic. Needless to say, things have sorted themselves out, as they usually do, and I'm happy to be haunting the forums again.

On other fronts, Batman AA is a great, great game. I got it for my son for his b-day as an afterthought, but tried it and am fully addicted. I wrote a full review if anyone wants to know more. Needless to say, almost all the way thru, I will be playing it again. My main sports love, college football, started again this week. I'm now in full blown happiness til January! And my Arkansas Razorbacks looked very impressive (against a lousy team) in their first game. Bring on Georgia in two weeks! Otherwise everything else is going well, after the funk I (we) just made it thru, I think we're going to have a great rest of the year at the Taylor house. Hope everyone is doing well, thanks for reading and take care.

Bryan

Hope everyone is doing well. After a bit of discussion my son decided to join GS today. I'm happy and hope he enjoys it. Stubborn little, well he's bigger than me, ox had to add 2404 to the end of his user name. He's been busting his tail working with me before summer break ends, and GS was one of many conversations we had, and he was ready to start an account. So if you see another 2404, he's a legacy entrant .

Otherwise things are going good, work is great and I'm strongly considering going the whole 9 yards and opening an LLC and sticking with it. Have had a few job offers from my head-hunter, but nothing earth shattering. We, Brandt and I, worked last weekend on learning how to re-furb headlights to add to the services we already do. The key was doing them as fast as possible to make them cost effective to car lots, and consumers. Within a week we have 2 lots signed up, and probably 3 within the next week. They've also put up a display of a few we did 1/2 of in the office, to draw walk-in customers, so it may really be long term. Just need to get past August in Arkansas, brutal doesn't do it justice. Here's a before and after of one Brandt did last night on a neighbors car. Not bad for only 10 minutes per headlight.

Peace,

Bryan

Well I made my annual purchase of EA's NCAA10. As a huge college football fan, the season starts in July each year with this release. Not too much new this year, but the season showdown mode which tracks everything you do with a school and will have some sort of meaning once the season starts is a neat addition. Onto a few movies. Having really enjoyed Watchmen last week, the misses and I are in full blown movie mode. A few nights ago we watched Revolutionary Road. Wow. Amazing movie, if your married, I think it captures (in this case mostly bad) all the things that happen in a marriage people on the outside never see. Many, many times our friends or family have commented on my wife and I, how we are, how we argue, whatever, and we steal a glance at each other knowing they have no idea. I'm sure it's that way for every marriage, but this movie glaringly pointed it out, and we had an hour long discussion afterwards. DiCaprio was very, very good. I still think he looks young and has few facial expressions, but this was his best film IMO, and I think I've seen them all. Kate Winslet was stunning (The Reader must have been hella-good for her not to get the Oscar for this film). She has gotten better and better, and it had to be one of the best performances in a female lead I've ever seen. When the last frame ended and the credits rolled, we both spoke at the same time, JoAnn said "My God" and for the first time ever I said "Bravo". Wouldn't have been embarrassed saying it in a theater, it was that good. Also watched the Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. Another very good movie, not as corny as Forrest Gump as many have said, and Pitt did a very good job. Overall, another very good movie, it's a great story I enjoyed reading, and I liked the movie nearly as much. So that's all in my world, 3 great movies in a week is great, hope to keep the streak going and not rent a clunker . Take care all! B

Well I've had a bad tooth problem all week which has left me cranky, and groggy when I get home and can take my meds. Should be gone in a few more days but uggh! On to other things. I read the Graphic Novel Watchmen when I was around 15. My best friend since we were 4, and still are, was into many things I was not. But after spending a few nights over at his house playing Sega Genesis, he finally conned me into reading this "incredible comic/novel". I'll admit, it's been nearly 20 years so I don't remember that much. So it finally came out on DVD this week, I'm to lazy to run to Best Buy or somewhere, so I got it on OnDemand. Watched it Tuesday night, and was floored at how well an insanely complicated story fit together nicely, plus extra bonus on massive amounts of black humor. Conned my wife into watching it with me last night before our 24 hours were up, 2nd time in my life I've watched a movie back to back within a day. And I loved it even more. Greatest movie ever made? Nope. Major Oscar noms? Probably not. But it was incredibly thought provoking, entertaining, and visual treat. Snyder more than made up for the disappointment that was 300 in my mind. So if your one of the other 4 people on GS who havent seen it, try it out. My wife knew nothing about any of it and loved it as well. Hope you all are well, and have a great weekend.

Peace,

Bryan

Wow, just happened to look up at my last online time for some reason and noticed it was my six year anniversary here on Gamespot. I have 2 year old twins and a teenager so I can't tell you what I was doing six days ago, much less six years! But I do know I stumbled onto a site I have grown to love. I've "met" many people, from all ages, walks of life, and around the world. I've got GS friends that live an hour away, some on the other side of the US, Canada, Greece, UK, Australia, you name it. The reviews and release calender is probably why I came here, and stayed around, but it's the OT and a few unions, namely the Meet the Mods, Atheist and Genesis Union's now (yes I'm a tad complicated ) that have kept me around. I still love gaming at 34, and my love of GS hasn't diminished at all either, and I don't see it happening anytime soon. So thank you all, anyone who reads this. Your the reason I log on each day, I get at least one laugh a day, and enjoy my new moderation responsibilities. Relationships are two way streets, I'm happy, and the people who make GS run and are a part of the community are keeping up their end of the deal and I appreciate it.

Thanks,

Bryan

Just a little photo with Addy (I think ). Showing her how it's done. You can never start to early !

Ok, so this is for friends mainly. After several months as a mod, I can tell you a few surefire reason's you'll get modded. 1. No one word, lol, or emoticons posts. Very simple, if you don't have anything to add to the conversation, don't. You'd be amazed at how many of these pop up. 2. No CAPS, CAPS also equal disruptive posting. If you have something to say, type it normally. 3. Flaming/Trolling: If you call someone a moron or idiot, you'll get a moderation 9 times out of 10. Can't we respect one another? 4. When in doubt, don't curse. We have 14 year olds on this site, lets stay away from vulgar words, as much as I like to say them in real life. Be respectful, yes you can disagree til the cows come home, but must we insult one another to disagree? 5. Religion. If you are disrespectful to any religion, you'll probably be moderated. Prove your point without insulting another's beliefs. Hope this finds my friends well, and can be of a little help. I don't want to see any of you moderated or God forbid banned, PM me or another mod if you aren't sure. Take care and til next time.

Peace,

Bryan

Summer. Means different things depending on where we live. Here in Arkansas it means it hits 100 degrees Fahrenheit in June and stays steady thru the first few weeks of September. I had one of those "why we're meant to be here, or meant to do times" this last weekend. The twins are getting smarter by the day, we have full sentences now, and I couldn't ask for a better step-son than Brandt. After the extended family drama of the past month or so, this was a much needed, lay by the pool and the five of us all hang out weekend. Gaming wise, well I'm in a rut. Still playing Scrabble, but not in any hurry it seems to finish GTAIV, and with NCAA 10 just around the corner it may not get finished anytime soon. Still waiting to open RE5 as well. I guess I'll have something to do when it gets nasty out! Hope everyone is doing well, and having a great summer.

Here's a few pics of Zoey, Addy & Brandt out back over the weekend.

Hello all. Hope everyone is well. The not so new now job of repairing windshields is going great. I have enough customers to keep me busy nearly 7 days a week, which is a good thing, except it's blisteringly hot. If there is a hell, I think I know what it feels like. I've never worked a job that was primarily outside, but am used to the humid Arkansas summers, but still wasn't prepared for this. 5 hours today felt like an eternity. On the gaming front, been playing Family game night Scrabble with the Mrs. She normally kills me in Scrabble, but not being used to the controllers caused her to be a bit off her game so I won the first week or so, that's over now . We've had high drama at the Taylor house for nearly a month straight now. Long story short, my little brother is insane. Always has been, but he started dating my wife's best friend, and, well it's been bad. Hopefully that's all over, I've washed my hands of it and am trying to get it all out of my head. Happy Fathers Day tomorrow to all, LJS, N-Real, & new pappa Travo! and all others I've forgotten. Hope you all have a great day, I plan on sleeping in a bit, and playing out back in the pool with the twins. Maybe even catch a nap if I'm lucky

Peace,

Bryan

Ok. Everyone here on GS is here because of a love/like of video games. Yes we come from all corners of the globe, which is cool, and have different ideas about how our lives should be lead. But recently becoming a mod, I've seen way too many insults about a difference of opinion on a game or console. It's not life or death. Can we try to be a bit more civil to our fellow members. Have discussions/debates til your eyes bleed. But respect the other persons opinion. You don't know how they came to that opinion, neither do I. Isn't life tough enough without our great little community having spats constantly? If you have a problem with someone, block them, end of story. I'm an Atheist. Some of the best PM's I have (sorry guys for the name drop) are with Blackregiment & Lansdowne5, now we couldn't disagree more on religion, but we're civil and I enjoy talking with others with different points of view. Another is Theo, what the hell do we have in common, almost nothing, but I truly enjoy talking with him. Point is, respect people, and their beliefs, even if you disagree. Just try to remember we're all in this together, this planet, and if we took time to respect and try to understand others points of view instead of flaming them, we might just learn something. I'm not here to preach, just a tad tired of all the bickering, "I'm smarter than you" that goes on so very much in most forums. Be happy we're alive, be happy we have computers with net access, and thousands of people on GS we can talk to about almost anything. Take care all, and let's try to make this a more civil and understanding community.

Peace to All,

Bryan

So we've all probably watched wayyyyy to much E3 coverage this week. My few thoughts. I thought GS did a great job on their Daily Wrap up's plus written info that came thru very quickly. On to the games/companies. A trend that's disturbed me for sometime popped it's head up again as motion-control and massive multi-player games were a focal point. Yes it's cool MAG can fit 1.2 million people in the same game, but I really have no interest in that. Motion controllers, to me, are a gimmick. Grab the casual audience, yes I know the companies have to make more money and pull more people into gaming, but I walk out of the room when my son fires up the Wii. On to the good or great parts. I've always been a console gamer, but I've seen the new Star Wars trailer dozens of times, my god! Bioshock II & God of War III look to be coming along great, Assasins Creed II looks to have added new moves and a better time setting (the moves the guy was demoing it with were amazing), another Halo never hurts, sorry guys I still like Halo. And to the biggest surprise for me. MGS. I finished MGS4 with a slightly heavy heart, sad that a franchise I loved so much was over. But the more and more I watched the countdown on Kojima's website, the more ideas flooded into my head. The story has been told, but game wise there are huge holes. Going back into the story? MGS3 Snake Eater was fantastic, so I've got no problem with that. I really liked Raiden, especially in 4, and his back-story should make for a great game. So all in all I'm thrilled about the upcoming game titles, as long as the bean counters don't forget the median age group of gamers now, and realize we might not want to play all our games standing up swinging controllers all over the place. So if you haven't seen the press conferences, check them out, tons of new games to look forward to, and I'm glad I followed E3 so closely this year, and had a great place to do it at.

A beautiful Sunday. Little bro and I working on the backyard and pool all day, trying to get it ready for a rapidly approaching summer. Finish my day's work, take a shower and go back out and play with the family on the swing set. As the pool is draining, I come up with a very stupid idea. Let's check the automatic chlorinator to see if there are still leftover tablets in there from last year. Well, it won't open, wonder why? It has two lines that tap into the input and output water lines, and it's been in the closed position all winter so it wouldn't freeze and break. But I've been draining and refilling the pool all week, running the pump to get it ready (sounds silly, but this method saves me a ton on chemicals). So I decide to sit my dumbass down and really open this thing. With it between my legs I push down on the top as hard as I can to get it open. Finally it gives, and BAM all the "air" in it hits me in my face. I realize this isn't the best of things to happen, head inside and run water in my eyes (thank God for my glasses). 5 minutes later the room is spinning, I can barely explain what happened and I'm in the bathroom sick. Off to the trusty ER! Again! Come to find out, the chlorine I use is a very strong dose. My lungs turned it into too much carbon dixiode, I was at almost 4 times the standard amount in my blood stream, and I get to spend the night on oxygen, heart monitors, and hourly breathing treatments. So in summary, my beloved back yard has now caused: broken fingers, broken ankle, crushed foot, stitches in hand and foot, and now chemical poisoning. That's a new one. I'm home now, lungs, throat & eyes still hurt but I'll live. Just another fun day at the Taylor house. Moral of the story: if your not sure if something can hurt you, or you think you know too much, take a second and reanalyze the situation so you don't end up back in your trusty ER.

Peace,

B

Ok, so this is GS, a video game site. But being a regular OT poster g@y marriage/civil unions is a frequent topic of debate. My two cents, again. I've been married for over 10 years. So I know a bit about marriage, and it's benifits in the US. Marriage predates recorded history. None of the major religions today started it. So now that that's out of the way, I believe it makes whatever is said about homosexuality in any religious book null and void. In the US it's a legal contract, you're not required to marry in a church or in front of a priest/pastor. I have a former co-worker that has been with the same woman for over 20 years. She knew when she was a very young girl that she had no interest in boys, and has never explored that option. Her and her partner, here in Arkansas, are denied basic rights that my wife and I take for granted. Hospital stays, I can spend all night in the room with JoAnn, she cannot. When we worked together I got a break on my insurance adding my wife, they had to have separate policies, same with other forms of insurance. Let's not even mention the tax breaks I receive being married. I've had several conversations with her, she, and many other homosexual friends I have, simply want the rights other committed couples have. Call it whatever you want. Copy and paste this, in 10-20 years, when this is a moot point, we will look back at ourselves wondering why we denied other citizens these rights. Very few things in this country truly disappoint me, the eternal optimist, but this does. For the faithful, this does not effect you. Repeat, it's not effecting you. Where's the love thy neighbor? Pray for the sinner (if you must), whatever you need to do, but basic rights that any American receives should be available to all. As American's we should not only want that, but demand it. And marriage is a basic right. I can go pay a few bucks at the county clerks office and get a marriage licence, or anyone can get married in Vegas in minutes. Please stop worrying about the "sin" and worry about making sure this country gets back on the right track economically and each of us has the same rights and opportunities as the next.

Peace,

Bryan

Edit: Every single person I know fairly well knows my views on this, and if they are offended, well hell I'm offended that this goes on. If you feel the same way make your voice heard, lord knows the opposition does.

Well there are two major releases here in the next few days. Green Day's and Eminem's. Being a fan of both, Green Day since their first release, I'm excited for some new music I think I may actually like. So I bought GD's today, listened to it all the way thru twice. I like it, probably a lot. I was one of the one's who loved American Idiot. Maybe it's my age, which we all know is getting up there , but I like the new "mature/socially conscious" Green Day. Now 21'st Century Breakdown sounds just like American Idiot, but to me that's not a terrible thing. Lyrically so far I love the theme, as I said, give me a few more weeks with it to see if it is as good as I thought AI was. On to Eminem, the few songs I've heard so far sound good as well, maybe back to his heyday, IMO, of the Marshall Mathers Cd. We shall see.

On to a bit of sadness. One constant in my life for the nearly 20 years has been Nine Inch Nails. I've seen NIN live 9 times, and just didn't pay enough attention to the concert dates on this current tour. My only shot is Chicago, a flight away, or KC, only 2 weeks and very high third party ticket prices. On NIN's website it reads Wave Goodbye, and NIN 1989-2009. Now Trent Reznor may very well make music under his own name, or continue to produce, but it feels like it won't be the same. I've decided it isn't prudent right now to buy those tickets and take the trip, mind subject to change, but it's been a very sad few days of realizing it may very well be all be over, after such a flurry of activity in the last few years. I wish TR nothing but the best, he's busted his ass for years obsessed with the NIN "brand" and deserves to retire, or do what he wishes. But when you listen to one band 80% of the time, and that band may be gone it's still a blow. Samwel_X, my NIN partner in crime, thinks much more positively about this, but I can't help but feel this may be it. If so, I could never put into words what TR's music has meant to me, even though I made a feeble attempt backstage a few years back, which he seemed to appreciate. Anyways Peace to all, hope everyone is doing great, if not hope things look up soon. The new job is going great and I hope everyone can find steady, reliable work in today's time. Thanks for reading my whine job here, a good rant coming later.

Peace,

Bryan

Again Happy 21st MM!

Get better and keep your head up C!

And you too Kelly!