Welp, here we are... days away from the oh so exciting E3. What surprises does MS, Nintendo, and Sony have in store for us? That's an exciting thought, right? Well, actually it kind of makes me nervous a bit more so than it does excite me.

Actually, I guess the only thing I'm really worried about is if MS unveils the new motion control controller, which seems extremely likely. I'm really worried MS might become casual, and that would really suck. I remember the 360 was the "hardest core of core" the beginning of this generation but now I'm afraid it's going to go Wii on us. Not that there is anything wrong with the Wii, but I dont want the 360 to go casual! I like loading up a game of Gears of War knowing it's the standard for the system, not a game like WiiFit. I dont know, I guess I'm being silly really... but I like the Wii being the Wii, and the 360 being the 360. Oh well, we'll see what happens I guess.

As for Sony, eh. It will be the standard LBP, Home, Killzone 2 hooplah again. I dont even want to hear about Killzone 2 really, I'm sick of hearing about it. Cant wait to get my hands on it, but tired of simply hearing about it. LBP? I'm pretty excited about it, but they better show alot of it to get me excited at E3. And as for Home? Just go ahead and release it already, geesh.

Nintendo's press conference I couldnt really care less about. I like Nintendo, but I dont think they'll do anything real big to excite me. About as excited as I will get is if SMG2 or a new Zelda is announced, but other than that, I'm not holding my breath.

This could be a big turning point for E3. I'll be crossing my fingers that the Newton Motion Controller for the 360 was just some big drummed up internet rumor... if not... we'll see how it goes I guess.

Alright, so I bought Halo 3 last September (I think it was) just a week or two after it came out. The Halo series never really interested me. Master Chief looks like a cardboard cut out of a stereotypical soldier who rarely talks. I didnt really care for FPS until this gen... and some of those little bad guys are insanely annoying and almost cartoony. But I figured I would give it a whirl... I must be missing something, right?

So anyway, I never finished the fight. I got half way through, got bored and traded it into Gamestop. Well, today I wanted to buy a game... so I traded in a couple of games (NCAA March Madness 2008, All Pro Football 2k8, Lair, and a Sixaxis controller that was going bad anyway, lol... dont knock me for trading it in! You have like a month to return accessories so whoever gets it will figure it out and get their money back!) ANYWAY, I was looking at the 360 shelf... I hadnt bought a 360 game in awhile... so I bought Halo 3... used... for $40. Basically I plan on beating it under my new gamertag and taking it back in a week to get my money back and get some other cheaper 360 games. At least, that's how I plan it.

So yeah. I'm going to finish the fight. The first time I played it I didnt enjoy it... but this time I'm going to try to enjoy it. Apparently this game is awesome, and I'm missing out on something so I'm giving it one more shot. Who knows, if I like it I'll keep it. But anyway, at least I'll get the achievement points from it.

I'm off to finish the fight... hopefully.

EDIT: By the way, I forgot to mention this visit to Gamestop was as awesomely awkward as usual. Little room... condenscending employees talking amongst themselves and eating chinese food... acting like they dreaded dealing with customers. Always an awesome experince at Gamestop! If I had the real cash I would just go to Wal-Mart but I had to trade in games to even buy games today so... yeah.

Well, I broke out the ol' PSP today. It's been since March I reckon. Since God of War Chains of Olympus came out... my PSP has collected dust. I've traded in alot of the games... and basically have only been hooked on 5 or 6 games the whole 2 or 3 years I've owned one. So, I decided to take a look at maybe why the PSP isnt so appealing to me anymore.

1.) The load times. So many titles have been hampered by load times. Take Ape Escape or whatever it's called for example. It's a mini-game title... ya know, with fun little mini games. And they are fun, pretty entertaining. Well, when I got the game I wasnt aware of the insane load times. In between each mini game there is like a 20-30 second load screen. Sometimes the load times were even longer than the mini games themselves!!! Waiting for games to load basically broke alot of games in my opinion, and made me regret that purchase almost instantly.

2.) The lack of a second analog stick. This has been an obvious problem, but kind of crazy that so many devs have made it affect games so much. I mean, I dont remember alot of PS1 titles being so painful to play without the second analog stick! Games like SOCOM, GUN, and Syphon Filter try to compensate by using the X, Square, Circle, and Triangle buttons as directional buttons. I found that extremely annoying. Some games got it along with out it just fine... like MGS: PO, Daxter, and GOW. But other games were hendered alot from this.

3.) It's just a handheld. I havent owned a handheld since the original Gameboy back in the day. I still have it actually. Anyway, nothing has ever satisfied my gaming needs more than a console, even on the DS. I gave it a try, but it was so little and uncomfortable I couldnt play it. Anyway, the PSP has graphics that rival anything on the PS2, but not the gameplay. It's a dumbed down PS2 basically... and I think that ruins part of it. It's like, why play this PSP when I have a console sitting right there beside my TV? Sure the PSP is great on the go... but warranting a $40 purchase for one PSP game because you're going to be gone for a weekend hurts. Most the time I'm not away from home to take advantage anymore.

4.) The games. Like I said, only 5 or 6 games have been able to really keep my attention on the PSP. If they had more like GOW and Daxter, I would have no problem building my PSP library back up again.

The PSP is a fantastic device, and a fantastic multimedia device. Heck, it's a pretty decent gaming machine. It's hard to put my finger on where I think the PSP stands right now. A part of me feels like Sony needs to step it up on the game front... but at the same time they just released two high quality titles for it just a couple of months ago. FF:CC and GOW:CoO. I dont know where the PSP is going, because it's still selling like hot cakes... but for me... it's losing it's edge. I cant imagine putting much more money into it really. I like the PSP, but not enough I guess. Hopefully Sony will show some high quality titles at this year's E3 for it, and hopefully the PSP will become an active part of my gaming fix again. Here's hoping.

I'm sure alot of people know about this, but I even asked in the 360 forums about a "cheap way to WiFi" on the 360 and I never got an answer. So I turned to Google. A confused man's best friend.

I found a site that tells you how to hook your laptop up to your 360, and it's really simple. So now, even though my router and 360 are on the opposite sides of the house, I can get my 360 online without spending $100 smackers.

If anybody wants to take a look (which, odds are if you have your 360 online you obviously dont want to do this... but for anybody like me who was desperate for WiFi it's handy) then here's the link...

http://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/zanswers/61

And the article doesnt mention it (I think) that you might have to enable the DNS option in the advanced settings.

Anyway, hope I could have helped somebody who was in my postion. My 360 was offline for 3 months because I havent been able to connect it to my router. Now I just have to consider whether or not to spend money for Live. Probably not until Gears 2 at least.

Well, I just beat Metal Gear Solid 4, and I have to say... I'm stunned. I'm almost dissapointed that I beat it, but I'm so satisfied with everything else, lol. It's certainly one of those games you want to want to beat... but never want to end. This game passed all my expectations, seriously. That sounds cliche' but I didnt expect it to be that incredible.

Anyway, thank you Mr. Kojima, for creating the best video game I've ever played.

If your familiar with any amount of fanboys on the System Wars forum, you'll certainly be no stranger to -GhostMLD-. He's a self admitted lemming, often times posting in System Wars with anti-PS3 comments. He's been known to claim that the PSN costs money now because of Qore, and often crosses his fingers hoping that PS3 games flop. So what drives a "gamer" to this point of fanboyism? Why? I recently sat down with -GhostMLD- to have a converation about the PS3, his past systems, and the RROD. The results? Shocking.

Ghost, what are the systems you grew up playing and when did you become a lemming?- I had SNES, N64, and Gamecube as consoles. I wasnt hardcore at the time, but I guess you could have called me a sheep. I became a lemming when Wii became a drastic new direction for Ninetndo. Why did I then choose 360? cause Gears intrigued me and I always followed the Halo series, even though I never owned an Xbox.

What franchise would Sony have to have on the PS3 to make you purchase one?- Gears of War, Halo, Resident Evil (very lucky to have 360 getting it or I may consider one).

If you were stuck on island and you had to choose between a 360 that could potentially RROD, or a PS3 that was guaranteed to last forever, which would you choose?- A 360 because thats where the games I want to play are. Why would I pick a reliable console with games I have 0 interest in. Id rather have fun while it lasts then to have constant "meh" rated fun.

When did you purchase your 360?- April 29, the launch day of the Xbox Elite. I bought Gears of War a week before so I could just keep it around my house ready to go.

If you dont own a PS3, why do you dislike it so much?- It has half the games library of 360 and its online is not as robust. I value online quality a lot, even at a cost. And I really like the game variety the 360 offers, unlike PS3.

Are you concerned about getting an RROD?- Sometimes. I have a cold basement where I use it so not so much. Even if I do get it, its not the end of the world.

What sucks most about the PS3?- Its brand. Despite the half game selection and highest price on the market, it continues to outsell the 360. Its not because of the superior games or online quality, its because of brand loyalty.

What is one good thing to be said about the PS3?- It is the cheapest bluray player on the market. If u want to watch HD movies, then a 40gb PS3 is cheaper then a standalone bluray player.

What opposing fanboys get on your nerves the most?- Hermits and cows. Hermits because every time there is a 360/PS3 comparison list, I mention 360/PC games. They arent on PS3 so I feel they deserve a spot on the 360 list. Hermits come in and pull the "this is system wars, not console wars" card. Cows because they are defending a console that does not deserve to be defended. Again, it has the highest price tag, 1/2 the games as 360 and its online isnt #1. It has bad multiplats and there are many game delays/cancellations. Cows that disregard the above points get on my nerves.

If there was one PS3 franchise you could have on the 360 besides MGS, what would it be?- Final Fantasy but thats not first party. First party I would say God of War I guess.

If someone gave you a PS3 with Resistance, Uncharted, and Warhawk... would you keep them or sell the system and games for more Xbox 360 games? -The PS3 would be kept as a strict bluray player. I see resistence as generic, Warhawk has serious balance issues with all the different units, and I feel that Uncharted and its lack of multiplayer can only last me so long. They would go straight to the trade in. Now, if I played and actually liked them, so be it. But id still trade them in for the next 360 game I want.

Do you wish the 360 was more like the PS3? Like reliable hardware, WiFi, standard HDD, Blu Ray, etc?- With reliable hardware, yes. Wifi, no. Thats because me, along with many others, use ethernet cables to connect. Those come free with the Pro and ELite 360's and Im happy MS didnt force me do buy a 360 with internal wifi when ethernet works just fine. Standard HDD? No. So far having no standard HD hasnt been bad for MS. Games still fit on 1 disk (with BD and LO as exceptions) and they still load and perform on par with the PS3 version, without the 1-5 gig installs. So I don't see the negative side of it as of yet. As for Bluray, not now but eventually when the format catches steam and truly goes mainstream, then yes.

Why do you hate Sony so much and want them out of the market? Dont you think they do and have contributed alot of positives to the gaming market? - Hmm, interesting question.... one that deserves a past and present explanation. I hate Sony (past response) because they were once on the verge of monopolizing the entire video game industry (aside from handhelds and the PC market), thus almost killing any sort of innovation. Presently, I hate Sony because they deliberately underperformed with the PS3 and expected the PS3 to sell amazingly anyway (extremely cocky). Point is that Sony obviously wasn't thinking of the average gamer when making the PS3. They made it perfectly clear it was all for them and not directly catering to the consumer.

So there you have it folks, inside the mind of System War's biggest lemming. I go inside the minds of fanboys so you dont have to.

(Note, this is all for fun and not to be taken seriously. All questions were asked my me and answered by -GhostMLD- through PM. Thanks for being a good sport, Ghost. You might be the biggest, most flaming lemming on System Wars, but you're alright, lol)