It's been quite awhile since I've made a blog post. I more or less have stopped blogging, but recently I've had a nagging feeling that I should have a final word and bring this blog to an official close.

It's been nearly two years since I joined GameSpot and started this blog. I've made lots of friends over the course of these two years, and was getting more and more involved with the GameSpot community. But somewhere after the beginning of GiantBomb, the blog started falling apart, and I became less and less involved. Not that I ever got into Giant Bomb (I haven't logged in there in quite awhile). I think it was more about the familiar faces I knew from shows like On the Spot, Tournament TV, and even simple video reviews slowly fading away, leaving a staff nearly completely comprised of unfamiliar faces, people that, despite their efforts, could not save the GameSpot I knew and loved, and just couldn't stack up to the standard set by their predecessors. Some of the guys from the past remain, specifically Justin Calvert and KVO, but they alone simply serve as a reminder of what GameSpot used to be.

In other words, I've lost interest in being deeply involved in the GameSpot community. And with that, this blog has met it's end. It's not that I'm leaving the site entirely, though. I have been consistently checking news and reviews, and you'll probably find me posting my personal opinions in the comments. I'll still be checking out the forums once in awhile, and maybe I'll comment on a blog or two sometime. I'll be around, just not always actively participating.

Thanks to all of my friends and all those who've commented, read my blog, or even simply glanced at my profile, and thanks to all those who have helped improve the quality of my GameSpot experience. Maybe someday I'll return to blogging, but until then, goodbye and God bless.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Demon Hunter - The Tide Began To Rise

Artwork:

Genre(s):
Industrial
Electronica
Dance

Track Listing:
1. "Die Tonight Live Forever" - 4:41
2. "Last Night In Brooklyn" - 4:21
3. "Don't Stop" - 4:19
4. "Structure" - 3:58
5. "Everyone Is The Same" - 3:51
6. "Obsession" - 4:20
7. "This Empty Love" - 4:49
8. "New Poetry" - 4:02
9. "This Town, Your Grave" - 4:55
10. "Heart Of Fire" - 4:20
11. "What We Will Never Know" - 4:15
12. "Home" (hidden track) - 2:54

Length:
51:11

Released:
September 29, 2008 (UK)
Setpember 30, 2008 (US)

The Review:
My knowledge of this band was based on a stroke of luck. One day a few months ago, I received a rock newsletter email from Island/Def Jam. I rarely bother to read these, since Island's lineup can be summed up as a mountain of crap, save a few decent bands. But something caught my eye: they stated something about a new music video for a song by some band called Innerpartysystem, and that your ears will bleed. Naturally, I had to see this. I watched the video and listened to the song, and I was...amazed. I became an instant fan. This album surprisingly became one of my most anticipated of the year; a debut for a no-name band. But this band is something incredible.

It's hard to confine Innerpartysystem to a specific subgenre, since they gather inspiration from everywhere. You can hear the grinding heaviness and intricacy of an industrial act like Nine Inch Nails, the sampling and synth of electronica or techno, and rhythms like that of dance that make you want to move. The vocals, similarily, gather inspiration from multiple genres, at times clean like pop, dance, and sometimes emo, masked electronically like techno or industrial, or even rough and gritty like hard rock or metal.

What's more amazing is that the band manages to pull all of this together while retaining an organic sound, a sound that most anyone could enjoy, fans of pop or rock. Everything just blends seamlessly. It's difficult to describe the sound; it's something that needs to be heard to understand.

So, we've established that the band has pulled off a sound that is fantastic and unique, but how well do they execute it? Quite well, given that they are a young band, but the album still suffers from a few flaws.

Many of the tracks, such as "Structure" and "Everyone Is The Same" lean more towards the dance side of things. This isn't the problem; the tracks still retain the other properties that make the sound so great. The problem with these tracks is they, and they alone, just sound too much alike. Sure, there's noticeably differences, but you can't help but feel that these tracks are all-too similar, and that hurts them. It's also in these tracks that the band's writing is the weakest. In the end these tracks end up feeling close to filler, and average to slightly-better-than-average.

The band almost makes up for it with incredible design in its other tracks. The opening track, "Die Tonight Live Forever", is a prime example of the mix for everone. It's clean and bouncy enough for the dance and pop listeners, while gritty and pounding enough for the rock listeners. "This Empty Love" is a quieter piece that features intricate sampling and sound design that make it feel like it almost came straight out of a Nine Inch Nails album, which is quite an achievement. If you've played Madden '09, you've probably heard the band's lead single (and song that got me hooked) "Don't Stop", one of the faster-paced, rockier songs on the album, and definitely one of the best. It's catchy, fun, and an incredibly well-crafted too.

Sadly, all these amazing songs create the second major flaw: the band neglects their strengths in many of the songs. The band is at it's best when they're fast and full of energy, but they just seem to want to slow down, and that's when they write their weaker songs mentioned before. It's really depressing to see them regress at points within the album. One minor flaw is that the bands lyricism isn't as amazing as their songwriting, but it's still passable. Most songs are about love and love lost, but break the mold enough to escape being standard-issue. What's nice is when they change focus to other, more cryptic messages.

Despite it's flaws, this is an album you should definitely give a listen if you're a fan of pop, dance, rock, or industrial. Innerpartysystem has created a unique sound for themselves, and shown that it has great potential. It's an incredible achievement for a debut album. I have a feeling Innerpartysystem is going to be massive.

Score:
8.5/10

Top Tracks:
"Die Tonight Live Forever", "Don't Stop", "This Empty Love", "This Town, Your Grave", "Heart Of Fire"

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Innerpartysystem - Don't Stop

Long time no see guys.

I haven't bothered to update this in a long time. Quite a bit has been going on in my life lately, and its been difficult to find time for this site. God has been good to me, and he's been working in my life a lot in the last two months. I took a huge step forward in my relationship with Him at camp last August, and a lot has happened since. At the current time, I have left my school's football program and I find myself learning how to play bass so I can play on my youth group's worship team. God has also blessed me with the opprotunity to get a great deal for a good bass plus a practice amp and tuner.

I've recovered from my surgery and everything is in working order, but I went and got myself a concussion during football practice about three-and-a-half weeks ago. I missed a couple days of school thanks to nasty headaches, but I'm doing a lot better now, and I'll be able to get cleared as long as I make it through today without getting any headaches (I have to go 72 hours without meds without getting a headache). Then I can stop being bored in gym class.

Also in the recent weeks, I've found myself gaming a lot less, almost completely bored with the activity. Part of it is the wait for the big new titles on their way, but I've just been bored ever since I quit WoW. Not that WoW was exciting, part of the reason I quit was because I was bored, but I just haven't been playing much since. I don't have a reason to be as hardcore as I used to be.

Despite this, I have had some gaming activity. My friend and I completed Halo 3 on Legendary, and I know hate the game's single player with all my heart and soul. It's one of the worst gaming experiences I've ever had. Thanks to downtime with my concussion, I decided to plow through GRAW2 in a single day, since I hadn't touched it since basically the day after I got my 360. It was a solid game, with a few minor issues, but I was kind of depressed that the whole game ended up being the same thing as the first act of Call of Duty 4. It makes me worried that we'll end up replacing WWII shooters with games set in modern times involving third-world nations in desert locations in the process of civil war with a nuclear threat tossed in for good measure. I also purchased Geometry Wars 2, which is fun, and Halo 2, which has better multiplayer than Halo 3 imo. I also intend to purchase Dead Space for my 360 this month, assuming i have the $$.

Also, I had promised quite a few music reviews, and I haven't gotten to listening to most of the albums I intended to review, nor do I have the time to write full reviews for all of them. So here's some brief reviews for a few new albums you might care about:

"All Hope Is Gone" by Slipknot
It's a solid effort from the band, though it doesn't really try anything new. It boasts the band's cl@ssic intensity, plus some of the creativity found in Volume 3, and some much better guitar parts, and manages to not sound the same as it's predecessor. "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" is still the band's best, though, while "All Hope Is Gone" somehow manages to sound like neither progression nor regression.

SCORE: 8.5/10
TOP TRACKS: "Gematria (The Killing Name)", "Sulfur", "All Hope Is Gone"

"Death Magnetic" by Metallica
Post black album, Metallica gave into greed and popularity, and stopped making music that didn't suck. It's as simple as that. While "St. Anger" was definitely an improvement, it still had major flaws that held it back from being a revitalization of the band. Metallica promised with "Death Magnetic" (lame title, by the way, but the cover art isn't half bad) that they'd return to their old ways of thrash. And they delivered. "Death Magnetic" is a satisfying album that sounds like it could've fit in their catalog back in the '80s. Worth a look.

SCORE: 9.0/10
TOP TRACKS: "That Was Just Your Life", "The Day That Never Comes", "All Nightmare Long", "My Apocalypse"

"Scars On Broadway" by Scars On Broadway
System of a Down guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan started this band as a side project for System's off-time. It features the quirky lyrics and songwriting you'd expect from Daron, but the band also takes a shift from a metal focus to more hard rock. What we end up with is an interesting album that SOAD fans would do well to check out, but may not appeal to most others.

SCORE: 7.0/10
TOP TRACKS: "Stoner-Hate", "Kill Each Other/Live Forever", "They Say"

That's all for today. Hopefully I'll be posting more often again. Thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Metallica - The Day That Never Comes

Artwork:

Genre(s):
Scandinavian Metal
Progressive Metal
Black Metal

Track Listing:
1. "Coil" - 3:10
2. "Heir Apparent" - 8:50
3. "The Lotus Eater" - 8:50
4. "Burden" - 7:41
5. "Porcelain Heart" - 8:00
6. "Hessian Peel" - 11:25
7. "Hex Omega" - 7:00

Length:
55:00

Released:
May 30, 2008 (EU)
June 2, 2008 (UK)
June 3, 2008 (US)

The Review:
I had intended to review this album several weeks ago, but never got to it in wake of other events, and eventually I just kept putting it off to do other things. I really wish I hadn't. Opeth's ninth album, Watershed, is about as good as music gets. To be honest, I never really listened to Opeth prior to learning of this album, since it can be hard to find good bands in the genre without people telling you about them beforehand. Going into this, I had little to no knowledge of the band, but I did expect a black metal epic.

Instead, I was met with a constant shift between shredding guitars and soft acoustic movements, sometimes harmonized by an orchestra or piano, and surprisingly delicate vocals. In fact, the band rarely turns to growls, with only three songs featuring them, one of which consists of only them ("Heir Apparent"). But these two entirely opposite sounds create for some incredible songwriting from Mikael Akerfeldt. The songs twist within themselves as the mood constantly changes. Beautiful instrumental parts drive the songs, and come together to give the album an atmospherical effect unlike any other. "Porcelain Heart" is an outstanding example, featuring instrumental sections with grinding guitars and vocal sections backed by mere piano and soft singing, shifting between the two concepts continually throughout the song.

Akerfeldt's singing vocals are hard to describe outside of saying they're "simply amazing". Definitely one of the more talented vocalists in the genre, the emotion from his vocals empowers the unique atmosphere, and takes it to new levels. Especially effective are his constant shifts from ear-piercing high notes to the deep, low, demonic growls in "The Lotus Eater". And he isn't just singing a bunch of jumbled up words either; this album sports outstanding lyrics (which tends to be a norm for the genre). Meanings may not be found without some digging thanks to metaphors and symbolism, but it shows the writer's outstanding work with poetry.

I'm at a loss for words for this album, so I'll sum it up here: This is a powerful display of outstanding songwriting, talent, and skill, and just and incredible display of how to make a fantastic album. This album goes places few have dared to go and shows us that it's a journey worth taken. So far, this is the best album of 2008. I don't care who you are, you need to listen to Watershed.

SCORE: 10/10

TOP TRACKS: "The Lotus Eater", "Porcelain Heart", "Hessian Peel"

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT: For being the most calming metal album I have ever heard

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Opeth - Porcelain Heart

The bomb blew up. My username is infect999. Add me.

I will continue to post this blog on this site as well as giantbomb for the time being.

-infect999

E3 was everything from exciting to enlightening to depressing this year. It did it's job for though, which is to get my extremely hyped for games coming out soon. My hype for Dead Space has especially grown, to the point where I've decided to purchase it when it hits store shelves and hope for Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead for Christmas. While I enjoyed my time with E3, it seems that everyone who was actually there didn't, to the point where they're saying E3 has to either shape up next year or just stop. I don't really blame them, either. It's not the super-exciting giant extravaganza it used to be. Hopefully this isn't the end of E3.

I missed Tuesday's coverage of E3 for my church's annual youth trip to Six Flags Great America. We were especially excited to go on the new coaster that replaced the ill-fated Deja Vu (the only coaster in the park I never got to ride, thanks to it being constantly closed for fixing), The Dark Knight. Obviously, it's based on the movie. We got lucky and only had to wait 30 minutes for the ride (the normal wait is 2 hours), but the ride was hardly worth that short of a wait. Instead of the midwest's version of Space Mountain, we got a minicoaster who's only differentiating points were that it was indoors, in the dark, had some over-the-top scenery, and a video you watch beforehand that ends up being little more than a complete waste of time, and the reason the line went so slowly. It wasn't a bad ride, just underwhelming.

There were some other interesting occurances while we were there as well. There was an eventful wait in line for Superman: Ultimate Flight, in which one of our group members fainted due to heat after waiting for at least an hour. Then the ride broke down and another 30 minutes were wasted while they fixed the problem. Also, the America's Army Virtual Army Experience just happened to be there for the week, so me, a friend, and my youth pastor decided to give it a shot.

There's a long registration process, but once you get in, it's pretty cool. You're assigned to a squad, then you are briefed about your mission and the rules of engagement (ROE). Then you head into a big tent where they have different humvees and blackhawks, each with a squad name labeled on them. You hop into your vehicle, pick a weapon, then shoot enemies/explosive barrels/propane tanks/animal carcasses. The only problem with our experience was that we got stuck with the humvee that wasn't working properly. When you're in a working vehicle, the guns have tons of kick and apparently spray gas in your face, and if an IED goes off, the whole thing shakes. Our squad got ripped off of an outstanding experience, but it was still pretty fun. Plus we get free ID cards and dog tags, and don't have to go through registration again if we find another VAE. (Our squad also did the worst job of all, probably mostly because my youth pastor couldn't tell if his gun was working or not. And I shot a friendly tank. A lot.)

Anyway, I've been pretty hyped for The Dark Knight, but I was forced to put off seeing it until tomorrow night, thanks to a camping trip. So I made the most of the weekend, and spent most of my time in the camp's arcade. I beat their Speed Racer game (it's pretty fun), but my proudest moment was getting the high score on Galaga. It took $2.25 worth of continues, but it was a blast (I got to stage 40+).

There's a ton of new albums coming out, and several that I have yet to listen to that have been out for quite some time, so my next few posts will most likely be music reviews. Here's what I've got in store so far for reviewing:

-Theory of a Deadman's "Theory of a Deadman"
-Saving Abel's "Saving Abel"
-Whatever Metallica is calling their new album
-Guns N Roses' "Chinese Democracy"
-Staind's "Illusion of Progress" (I'm a bit worried about that one)
-Slipknot's "All Hope Is Gone" (Have it preordered on iTunes)
-Opeth's "Watershed"

And plenty more. So unless something big happens, I'll probably be writing music reviews for a few weeks.

Thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone

I was going to do a seperate blog, but there was about 10 minutes left before the Sony conference was to begin by the time GameSpot had revitalized the blogs, so I fused the two conference impressions into one. Also, where are my friggin' emblems for the Microsoft and Nintendo conferences guys???

NINTENDO:

I had big expectations for Nintendo this year. Last year's stage show was more a "Ha ha! We outsold everyone!" celebration, with little in the way of games and features. In fact, the only thing of interest they showed us was Wii Fit, which was decidedly unremarkable anyway. I figured Nintendo couldn't do worse that last year, but I underestimated Nintendo's inability to pull their head out of their you-know-what and give us something worth getting excited over.

Throughout the show we were constantly reminded of Nintendo's appeal to a broad audience, and how close they are to having the Wii as the bestselling console ever, but we weren't shown any games that demonstrated why they appeal to so many people. What's more frustrating is when they announced the first title that got me excited (Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars), it was a brief mention, and no details whatsoever were provided.

About 15 minutes in, Nintendo finally decided it was time to tell us about a game they believe is groundbreaking, the latest in the Animal Crossing series for the Wii. What I saw was a child-oriented pseudo-MMO. Nintendo obviously hasn't kept up to date with what has happened in the online gaming world for the past 10 years, as they believe their new title is fresh and revolutionary. Perhaps for a Nintendo console, it's a step forward, but everything this title seems to do has been done before on every other platform, and presumably better. With the game, you get a new microphone peripheral that you place on your TV. Then everyone in the same room as you can communicate online. It's a good idea, but it has too many flaws, the most noticable one of which is the fact that it picks up everyone in the room, and you may not always want that to happen.

Instead of complaining about Nintendo's inability to shut up and let the games do the talking for the rest of this blog, I'll just jump to the rest of the games.

Nintendo unveiled several new titles for the DS, almost all of which were also underwhelming. A sequel to Guitar Hero: On Tour will be arriving eventually (success is doubted). A new Pokemon Ranger game is on it's way. A stripped down version of the PC's Spore will hit the DS. It just wasn't exciting, until they announced the new GTA title, then ran away from as quickly as possible, as if they were afraid people would no longer think of them as family friendly fun and stop buying their platforms.

While the DS was decidedly lacking, the Wii did have a couple new interesting ideas unveiled amongst it's ocean of crap. The most intriguing of which is an add-on to the wiimote that makes the motion sensory a lot more sensitive, to the point where it notices subtle wrist motion and knows where your hand is in front of your body. Leave it to Nintendo to not put such a technical marvel to good use and instead giving us WiiSports Resort, a collection of beach minigames that include tossing a frisbee to a virtual Mii dog or stripped-down jet skiing. A sword-fighting minigame included in the collection did look quite entertaining though.

Nintendo also unveiled a new game called WiiMusic. This was the most exciting thing for me at their conference. It's a surprisingly realistic take on playing music in a game, with no button matching or guiding. You just place the wiimote and nunchuck where they need to be, and play the instrument. It features all sorts of instruments, ranging from trumpets to violins to guitars to various percussion. I found the use of the balance board as pedals for the virtual drumset quite interesting as well.

That was about all that Nintendo had to offer, sadly. Showings like this just don't cut it for me. I want to see more from you guys, Nintendo! Give me a reason to buy a Wii.

SONY:

Sony, on the other hand, brought a remarkable showcase to E308. They did go over some sales statistics, but they at least made it feel more relevant than the other two. Their business agenda was even more interesting, thanks to the use of a LittleBigPlanet level.

Most importantly, Sony delivered in bringing us news of tons of new features and games coming to the PS2, PSP, and PS3. The opening demo of Resistance 2 was outstanding and exciting, though it looked graphically incomplete (Insomniac has time to fix that issue). Sony also proclaimed their continued support for the PS2, announcing that over 130 new games would come to the platform this year.

The PSP is also receiving a few bonuses, such as a new entertainment pack, more connectivity with the PS3 (more on that later), and of course, plenty of new games, the most notable of which is a Resistance spinoff, presumably taking place between the first and second PS3 titles. The graphics were impressive, and hopefully it uses a control scheme that works for a PSP shooter.

Each platform had it's own montage of upcoming releases, but the PS3 had plenty of in-depth looks at upcoming titles. Notable title's include Sucker Punch's Infamous, in which a man who survives a massive explosion gains supernatural powers. It takes place in an open environment as well, so that should be interesting. There was a look at an upcoming MMO entitled DC Universe Online, in which you fight alongside heroes like Batman and Superman with your own hero, or create a villain and fight against them. I want to be excited for this one, but I can't help but think of it as a City of Heroes/Villains ripoff with licensed characters.

Of course, one of the things I was looking for is how Sony would respond to the loss of Final Fantasy XIII as an exclusive, and it came in multiple forms. More in response to the 360's impending price cut/60GB model, Sony has cut the price of the 80GB model to $400, cutting down Microsoft's argument. A new feature for the PlayStation Network (available tonight, too) was introduced that provides a movie rental and download store. What makes it more interesting is it's functionality with the PSP, in which you can upload the movies onto the PSP, and use the TV-out feature to play them on a TV, or just watch them on the go.

Sony's biggest response was the announcements of God of War III, which was followed by a brief trailer, and Zipper's new IP MAG (Massive Action Game). MAG is especially interesting due to its unprecedented 256-player online multiplayer. Even the PC hasn't seen battles that size outside of the MMOFPS genre (i.e. PlanetSide). Massive Action Game indeed.

In short, Sony's presentation was intriguing and exciting, and offered us a lot of new info to chew on. Sony says 2008 will be the year of the Playstation 3. If it is, let's hope they don't get full of themselves like Nintendo and stop giving us showcases like this. A solid showing from Sony, and a nice response to Microsoft.

-infect999

I intended to post this right after the conference had ended, but unexpected delays surfaced thanks to GameSpot's outstanding tech department. Also, I was a bit late getting the stream for the show set up (once again, two thumbs up for GameSpot), so I don't have any details from the very beginning. I was able to catch some of the Fallout 3 footage from G4TV.com's live stream (though it was very choppy), and GameSpot's picked up in the middle of the RE5 footage.

The first half hour or so of the press conference was enjoyable and solid, and was one of the things I wanted to see from Microsoft. Gameplay demos from several big games were featured, including Fallout 3 and RE5 as mentioned above, as well as some single player footage from Gears of War 2 and a brief glimpse at Fable II. The footage has deepened my interest in each game. I liked RE5's use of "teamwork", for lack of a better word, and it could fuel some fun online co-op moments. Fallout 3 was especially exciting from what I saw of it, especially because you can shoot mini nuclear bombs from your shoulder. Fable II was quite interesting, since I was asleep or something when they announced the co-op elements in the game, which have me very excited, to say the least. And, of course, there's Gears 2. I wasn't impressed with the first one (see my review further down the page), but the footage I saw seemed to be a massive improvement over some of the original's single-player flaws. It looks less like moving from one big encounter to the next, and more like moving along the course and fighting small groups of enemies (2 or 3) constantly, keeping a solid pace and preventing dull moments. It also seems like you will be able to ride Brumaks in this game, which I hope is more fun than killing one.

At about 1pm (central), Microsoft made a big hiccup and left a sour taste in my mouth that would remain there for the rest of the conference. The MC walked on stage and began talking about the Xbox's success and diversity of gamers, and began showing not only sales comparison charts, but also images of "people playing the 360". These actions are something I like to call "Pulling a Nintendo", in reference to Nintendo's appalling press conference at last year's E3. It didn't help for the MC to also single out Sony, and proclaim to the masses that it will, indeed, outsell the PS3 again this year.

This attitude faded somewhat as the show continued, but was not entirely disposed of. The spotlight was passed to another man, who began to talk about new Xbox Live features (not to mention brag about it's success in not only the gaming market, but also the mass entertainment and media market). My attention was reclaimed as soon as they showed their first new feature: a completely reimagined, reinvented 360 dashboard. It was slick and polished, though it was all too similar to the PS3/PSP's. With the new dashboard came new Xbox Live features. A new Community section allows you to create a personal avatar, and it resembled a cross of Miis and Sony's Home avatars. A new friends list also implements these avatars, and instead of looking at names, you'll see your friends' characters as well. This feature gave me mixed reactions, as while it's an exciting addition to the Xbox Live interface, it's also a ripoff of what Sony and Nintendo have been doing. Microsoft does seem to be putting them to good use in forms other than just in-game presence.

Xbox Live's second new feature is XBL Primetime. In it, you basically play along in game shows. It sounded really lame at first, but it turned into something more when they showed off the first game show to be implemented, 1 vs 100. Represented by your community avatar, you can enter the game as either the contestant, one of the 100, or an audience member just playing along. This changed the feature for me from a gimmick to something truly exciting. Also, they're giving out real prizes to the winners, which creates more interest, but also invokes problems for minors such as me, since we may not be able to compete.

A few new XBLA games were announced as well. Geometry Wars junkies will be excited for its first true sequel, but I am more interested in the last three titles announced, Portal: Still Alive, Galaga's first true sequel, and an unnamed South Park game. The Galaga title looks particulary interesting thanks to the hordes of enemies, and the fact that it's being developed by the team behind Pac-Man: Championship Edition.

From this point, they started showing off companies with multiple titles in works for the platform. Rare's crop was lacking, though Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is definitely a huge deal. The Guitar Hero update had some interesting news, but was underwhelming thanks to my hatred for Activision, and it's corruption of the franchise. I was particularily interested in their promise of the inclusion of Metallica's new album in its entirety to Guitar Hero III as well as Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Karaoke game "Lips" was uninteresting, until they said you could use your own songs. This is a huge jump for Karaoke games, because now you can sing along to your favorite grindcore and death metal bands, as well as opera, or any other music genre considered an absurd choice for a karaoke title. Thanks, also, to GameSpot for sparing us the displeasure of hearing Duffy sing. Master Chief's dance was also very entertaining. Rock Band 2 was also packing heat, thanks to the promises of full compatibility with previous Rock Band tracks, as well as the inclusion of AC/DC tracks and the debut of Guns n Roses' new song from the long-awaited new album Chinese Democracy.

The biggest news came from SquareEnix. They went over their big releases for the 360, including Infinite Undiscover, the new Star Ocean title, and The Last Remnant. All look like solid RPGs heading Microsoft's way. I'm guessing you've heard about the next part already if you didn't watch, but as the MC was giving his closing (and bragging, of course), our friend from SquareEnix came out and gave us a trailer for Final Fantasy XIII. This is a massive hit for Sony, as they were already in short supply of AAA exclusives to help sell their platform, and an exciting opprotunity for 360 owners who don't have a PS3 but wanted to experience FFXIII as well.

In short, it was a solid showcase from Microsoft, including plenty of big games and great new features for their console. I just really wish they had refrained from spilling out their self-centered, prideful BS in the middle of the conference. When I watch one of these conferences, I want to see games, content, peripherals, and features, not an in-depth look at how much they're pounding the competition. I'm excited for tomorrow, so I can see how Sony retaliates, and to see if Nintendo can do better than last year.

A solid start to an important E3.

-infect999

NOTE: Though they weren't featured in the press conference, Bungie is definitely up to something. Head on over to www.bungie.net to see what I mean.

Wednesday was a lot of firsts for me. My first IV. My first surgery. My first time getting high.

It was all an interesting experience. One of the anesthesiologists was a gamer, so we had a brief conversation about games like World of Warcraft and Age of Conan before I crashed. He of course lied to me and said we'd talk more after the surgery. When I woke up, a nurse asked me about how much pain I felt and such, and then they gave me some morphine. This is where the fun began.

As bad as I feel about saying this, being on morphine was one of the greatest experiences I ever had, and it helps you understand a little more about why people destroy their lives to get high. I'm not going to ruin my life to get my hands on more morphine, but it felt great while I was on it. I was happy, the pain didn't bother me, everything was great. Now that the drugs have worn off, I'm not in such a great mood. I have to take two different painkillers and an antibiotic several times a day, and they don't really help much. I have to ice the cut every so often. I had to remove the bandage on the cut yesterday, which was a painful experience in its own right. It's almost enough to make me envy my friend who was prescribed morphine after his surgery.

So while I'm missing my high, I've been playing more on my freshly repaired Xbox 360. The 360 is finally quiet like it's supposed to be, and it seems to be running games better too. For example, some matches on Halo 3 had blood and some didn't before the repairs. Now, they all do. Yay!

Yesterday, I went to Family Video to pick up a couple games and movies. If you've looked at my gamertag being displayed on the page here, you may have realized that the games I rented were Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm and Battlefield: Bad Company. Deadliest Catch is surprisingly deep, but has bland graphics and some minor bugs. It's more of a boat management sim than anything, so a lot of people might get turned off by it's slow pacing. Bad Company, on the other hand, its surprisingly good. It's fast, fun, and you can blow up almost anything. The destructible environments carry over to the multiplayer quite well, allowing you to blow enemies out of cover inside a building rather than going in after them. Wall in your way? Instead of going around it, blow a hole through it! I also rented Pan's Labyrinth and American Gangster, but I haven't watched either yet.

That's about all I've got to go over for now. Thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Green Day - Welcome to Paradise

I apologize in advance to anyone who happens to live in or around the state of Massachusetts. You may find this blog to be offensive. Most of the things I will be covering are generalizations and may not apply to every last living person in the location. Thank you for understanding, and enjoy.

----------

A year ago after my fishing trip to Canada, I wrote a little entry about what I had learned during my journey. I decided that since I learned quite a few things (and confirmed several things I already knew), I'd write this successor of sorts. So, without further delay, here is what I learned in Massachusetts.

1. Massachusetts is, indeed, the Gate to Hell
At first, I thought it was just Salem. But as I journeyed, I learned that the entire state is almost literally a doorway for the demons of Hell. Salem is the home of many a pagan and practicing witch, with stores full of "witch balls", pentagrams, and copies of the Book of Shadows. After taking a "ghost" tour of Plymouth, I was shown the town's quite large activity of demons, which includes one who manifests himself as a famous Native American (and even killed a police officer by pushing him down the stairs, no lie.) And Boston...I'll get to that later.

2. Plymouth Rock is a lie
After taking a historical tour of the town of Plymouth as well, I learned that Plymouth Rock is a load of crap. Apparently, a 90+ year old man told some people to not construct by the harbor at a spot because that's where the pilgrims landed. He claimed to know the spot because his father (or grandfather) was on the Mayflower. Skeptical, they carried the old man out to the shore and asked him to point out the first rock they touched. He pointed to Plymouth Rock, and everyone believed him. By the way, his ancestors were not on the Mayflower.

3. Boston really sucks
I'll be straightforward: I did not like Boston or it's surrounding area. Not being a fan of big cities in the first place, Boston further convinced me that heavily populated areas are the most awful places in civilization. The people are rude (most noticably when behind the wheel), and apparently on the east coast, generally downright stupid. They can't even speak English correctly! (I heard a man say "where do you go?" instead of "where are you going?", and the only reason I understood what he meant is because his wife responded with "I'm going this way".) While walking the "freedom trail" sequence of historical attractions in the city, my family was caught up in a large crowd of people standing on either side of a closed off street. After seeing a...diverse, if you will...group of people, many in rainbow-colored attire, I figured out what was going on, but I wasn't sure if my parents had. After leaving the group, my mother asked about what was going on. My instincts were right: we had passed through just a few minutes ahead of a gay pride parade. No offense to anyone of that sexual orientation who may be reading, but I don't agree with homosexuality...and gay pride parades can be downright scary. Not a place I wanted to be. Boston had a bad first impression, and never got any better. It's still the trouble-making locale it was famed for being during the American Revolution.

4. People in Massachusetts fail at building roads
Heavily used roads in very poor condition. Exit ramps that require you to slow to 20mph while still on the freeway (unless you're some sort of masochist who loves totaling your car and inflicting yourself with hefty medical and auto repair bills). Incoming ramps that have stop signs at the end. Seriously, it's hard enough with the bad drivers in the state. They're asking for some massive wrecks and slow traffic.

5. People around there must really love Dunkin' Donuts
Because there's about three per square mile in the small area I was in. And that's hardly an exaggeration. Until this little trip, I had completely forgotten about the existence of Dunkin' Donuts, due to the significant lack of any being within 300 square miles of my home. Of course, I ate there three times, the last time while in the airport, forced to eat there with lack of other options. Don't get me wrong, the donuts were fine, but it really wasn't that amazing of a restaraunt. Which makes me wonder why there's such a dense population of them in eastern Mass. and Rhode Island. TV commercials (and the little paper bags) claim that "America runs on Dunkin'". Something tells me they haven't realized that America has grown a bit in the past 300 years.

6. Hotels in Massachusetts are ripoffs
$110 a night for two adults and an average size room with a small TV and 20 channels, half of which are local channels, and a continental breakfast if you're lucky. Seriously, around here $110 for a hotel room gets you into a nice hotel with a big room, super comfy beds, good TVs with tons of channels, an awesome pool, and guaranteed breakfast. We could've gotten several of the rooms we stayed in for $50 a night if it weren't around there.

7. Whale watching = awesomeness
Whale watching is pure awesomeness, and anyone who thinks otherwise can go on a whale watching tour and jump off the boat after you're 10 miles away from the coast.

Don't get the wrong idea, this trip wasn't horrible. In fact, there were many enjoyable moments. Learning about the witch trials in Salem was cool, hearing the ghost stories of Plymouth was chilling, and seeing Stephen Colbert chew out the Cookie Monster for eating fruit last night was fantastic. It's just that Massachusetts has so many issues, it was sometimes hard to enjoy myself. All said and done, I won't be returning to Massachusetts any time soon.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I came home expecting to find a box containing my freshly repaired Xbox 360. Instead, I found emptiness and a note from UPS. Apparently, you have to sign for the package. After efforts to try to get the package tonight were met with failure, I'm forced to wait until Monday. I guess you can't have a red ring of death without at least a week's worth of suffering, eh?

I guess there isn't much else to say tonight, so thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Daughtry - Home

This both pisses me off and makes me rejoice. The fan was incredibly loud, so hopefully it'll be replaced, and I get an extended warranty and free month of XBL gold. Plus, my summer vacation is starting off with a trip to Boston (we got free plane tickets to anywhere in the continental US), which I'm leaving for this Thursday, so the 360 should be back by the time I get home. The bad news: I'll miss the Halo 3 community game night that I was really looking forward to. Sorry Kevin, I'll be sitting this one out.

Anyway, last night was quite a wild one. Severe weather was all over the midwest, with some tornadoes even touching down between Chicago, IL and Gary, IN. My town didn't get hit too hard, but basically everyone south of us got bombed. Even Milwaukee had a tornado warning! I've been interested in this site www.tornadovideos.net after seeing some sick videos on the youtube. What's cool is they actually do live feed of their stormchasing, in which you can watch some video and track them with a google maps aplication. The feed is a bit choppy and cuts out, so I haven't seen much, but maybe one of these days I'll see a tornado unfolding live on my computer.

I've got just one more exam tomorrow, and then I'm free for the summer. Except my plans are a little messed up now. After visiting a doctor last week, I discovered that I needed a surgery done. I'm not going into details about the condition on here, since I'm not sure it's exactly an appropriate topic, but I can say that it's not a life-or-death situation that I'm in, just something that needs attention quickly. So I'll basically be on downtime for a month. Not only does this disrupt my football training, but it prevents me from getting a much-needed job, and the surgery will be done during the week of my church's VBC, so I'll be missing part of that too.

It's a semi-depressing situation, but I'm at least getting a taste of those lazy summers that I miss.

I gotta go now, since there's another T-storm rolling through. Hopefully I'll post an update while I'm in Massachusetts.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: 3 Doors Down - Train

Artwork:

Genre(s):
Heavy Metal
Hard Rock

Track Listing:
1. "Indestructible" - 4:38
2. "Inside the Fire" - 3:51
3. "Deceiver" - 3:49
4. "The Night" - 4:46
5. "Perfect Insanity" - 3:56
6. "Haunted" - 4:42
7. "Enough" - 4:19
8. "The Curse" - 3:24
9. "Torn" - 4:09
10. "Criminal" - 4:15
11. "Divide" - 3:36
12. "Façade" - 3:47

Length:
49:15

Released:
June 3, 2008 (US)
June 2, 2008 (Everywhere Else)

The Review:
It's been a long three years since Disturbed's 2005 hit Ten Thousand Fists. The band entertained the ears of it's loyal fans with a steady stream of popular singles almost into 2007, but it didn't quench the thirst for new, and better, material. And finally in 2008, Disturbed delivers a treat that meets the needs of the fans...and beyond.

Disturbed started out as little more than a Nu-metal band, debuting their music to the world with 2000's The Sickness. What seperated them from the pack were some fantastic, well-crafted singles that were catchy and fun to listen to. Since then, the band has slowly tried to move further from the Nu-metal genre, and came pretty close with Ten Thousand Fists. With Indestructible, the band finally hits that mark, maturing into more of a core heavy metal band. It feels like almost like a whole new $tyle compared to the albums of old, featuring more complicated guitar parts, solos on several songs, and an overall composition that is more mature, if anything.

That's all great, but there's another major issue that needed attention with this album. Each of Disturbed's first three releases suffered greatly from second halves that just couldn't compare to their outstanding starts. Luckily, the problem is absent in Indestructible. The second half feels just as strong as the first in this effort, if not stronger. This is a fantastic improvement, as it makes the entire album that much more enjoyable.

The album has more areas where vast improvements are noticable, but there is one point in which the album feels lesser than it's predecessors, and it's one of the worst possible places: the opening track. One of the best parts of Disturbed albums has been fantastic album openers that really pump you up for what's to come, and are even some of the best tracks on their respective albums. As for Indestructible's opener, cleverly named "Indestructible", not so much. While it's a solid track on it's own rights, it would've fit much better towards the middle of the album. Second track (and lead single) "Inside the Fire" or the fast-paced, grinding "Divide" would've made for a much better opener.

With that said, the rest of the album is simply wonderful ear candy, and an obvious step in the right direction for the band. As stated before, Indestructible feels like a true heavy metal album now. Draiman and co. have stepped up and tested not only their ability to play, but to compose, creating much more intricate pieces than previously heard. Draiman does his part as well, and expands his vocals in a smart manner, noticably but not to a point where avid listeners become uneasy. As a whole, the album sounds quite improved and different, yet manages to keep from straying too far from their old sound, which is also a smart move, keeping fans from feeling betrayed by experimentation.

Surprisingly, one of the band's big focuses on this album was, in fact, returning to old $tyle, at least in a lyrical manner. It was stated that they wanted to return to the darker lyrical stylings of The Sickness, and they achieve this as well. This is especially apparent in said lead single "Inside the Fire", which tells the tale of a man who takes his life in order to be with his dead wife/girlfriend and ends up alongside her in Hell ("Devon/Won't go to Heaven...Take your place inside the fire with her"). But the album isn't all depression and death, as several tracks mix in positive elements of hope and overcoming pain and sorrow, giving the lyrics a solid mix of the two sides of life. Now, Disturbed's lyrics have always ranged from poetic masterpieces ("Prayer") to pathetic excuses for lyrics ("Droppin' Plates"), and luckily, Indestructible's lyrics are almost always in the former, straying merely in a few lines here and there. This serves to vastly improve the album over its predecessors, as better lyrics add greatly to the overall sound.

It's really hard to describe how I feel about this album, other than its remarkable and went beyond my expectations for it. It's seemingly small improvements add up to create a vastly better album. One of the best things that the band does right is they manage to take a huge step forward while looking backward, in that they made numerous improvements in their music without betraying their old sound. It's packed with powerful, varied songs, solid lyrics, great instrumental parts, and undeniably awesome cover art (featuring their apparent new mascot, Big Hooded Man With Glowing Eyes and Teeth). Sure, it isn't perfect. As stated, the introduction feels weak in comparison to previous efforts, and it has its hiccups (the beginning of "Criminal", an otherwise great track, had me worried for a moment), but these are quite easily forgiveable. In all honesty, it really feels like they've finally evolved into a real heavy metal band. Indestructible is a must-listen.

SCORE: 10/10

TOP TRACKS: "Inside the Fire", "The Night", "The Curse", "Divide"

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Disturbed - Inside the Fire

Just three more school days, then three exam days. I finished three month's worth of Biology homework that I've been putting off this week, so it's great to have that weight off my shoulders. The lines have been repainted on the football field, indicating that it's almost time for football season. I'm done with Geometry assignments for the rest of the year. And, I know this sounds incredibly cruel and cold-hearted, but my horrible English teacher had to have an emergency surgery last weekend and wasn't at school all week, hopefully for the rest of the remaining days. Life is good.

When summer starts, I'll almost immediately be going to Boston for a week for a family vacation (that I'd prefer not to go on...no offense to anyone in the area, but I have little interest in the east coast of the United States) followed by working at VBC (Vacation Bible Camp) for a week, then finding a job and working myself to near-death in preperation for the upcoming football season. It'll be my busiest summer yet, and it makes me miss the lazy summers I used to have.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I rented GTA IV, and so far it's fan-freaking-tastic. The game almost directly addresses the problems I had with previous iterations of the series, making a far more enjoyable experience. Multiplayer is interesting too, although I've only tried four modes (Race, GTA Race, Deathmatch, and Cops n' Crooks).

The latest season of American Idol ended recently. I do not watch the show, since I think it's truly awful, but I was intrigued when I learned that the winner was a "rocker". Since I like to think of myself as an expert of the rock genre, I decided to weigh in briefly on whether this winner will actually be good:

Looking at the series' track record, we run into a major problem, being that the only truly solid artists it has produced are Kelly Clarkson and DAUGHTRY, the former being the only winner. What's worse is once the winner is chosen, they're placed on a contract and have to sing whatever they write. They don't play instruments. They don't compose. They just sing. This keeps them from having creative freedom, and the lyrics that pop writers spit out are generally vile, and poor excuses for poetry. This alone could weigh him down. Also, assuming that he's like most people, by the time he's broken his contract, he may succumb and turn into a simple pop-rock artist, which are generally no better than the majority of the pop crop.

In other words, it doesn't look good.

My sister is having a slumber party tonight, so I will be forced away from all that is enjoyable for over 12 hours. Unless I can figure something out. Let's hope I can.

The new Disturbed album drops on Tuesday. Expect a review soon after.

That's all I have for now, thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Metallica - The Four Horsemen

It's been awhile since I've posted a proper update, mostly because I've been incredibly busy playing the last game I ever thought I'd get addicted to. After a week of playtime on Halo 3, I managed to get my rank to Captain and my highest skill to 20 (on Lone Wolves). I've improved quite a bit despite how much I've always hated dual-analog on FPS. My 360 has been working perfectly since I got the new cables, other than that the fans are incredibly loud.

On May 7th I attended a concert featuring As I Lay Dying. It was a fantastic show. All four of the bands (Evergreen Terrace, Misery Signals, and August Burns Red opened up) put on great performances, especially the surprisingly good no-name band Misery Signals. I also witnessed some of the hugest pits I've ever seen. I took some pics and uploaded a video of As I Lay Dying's first song on Youtube earlier today. Check it out here.

I was injured potentially seriously a couple times recently, both during gym class. On one occasion, a kid was screwing around in the locker room and tried to shut my locker, so I kicked him. I wasn't wearing my shoes and I hit him right in the knee, so I did some damage to my foot. A couple days later I had it X-rayed (my first X-ray ever that wasn't on my teeth!) and they said it wasn't displaced, but they couldn't tell if there was a fracture due to the swelling. On Thursday I will be getting it X-rayed again. The pain has almost completely disappeared, but there is a faint amount left, so I don't know if it's fractured or not.

The other time, we were playing Ultimate Frisbee, and my teammate threw the frisbee towards me, except right into the Sun. I was blinded and ran into someone, and the next thing I knew, my knee hurt. A lot. My mother happens to be a physical therapist, so she taped it up. Thursday night I had the tape removed, and my knee feels a lot better now, in fact, better than before it was injured.

It's almost time for football training. w00t!

I performed at my last school band concert for the rest of my life. As I stated before in this blog, I absolutely despise my band teacher, so I'm dropping the class next year. I played well, but the rest of the band (by that, I mean mainly the trumpets) didn't really get it, so it was a little messed up (that's being nice). Our teacher told us the theme of the Homecoming marching show next year would be "Pirates of the Caribbean". This has me more excited for it, and I'm strongly considering doing the show even though I won't be in band next year. The fact that it's being written and directed by a professional Drum & Bugle Corps. team is an incredibly opprotunity.

I learned that Games for Windows magazine (formerly Computer Gaming World) will no longer be in print, which really sucks, since I don't have a print source for PC gaming info anymore. Any recommendations for PC gaming magazines that are decent would be helpful.

School is winding down, and things are starting to toughen up. I lucked out on the big Biology test (I failed by two points on the original scale, but the teacher dropped it since so many people failed and gave opprotunities to up the score by 70+ points), but it just makes me think that the final exam is going to be a beast. My Geometry grade has dropped to a B, so I need to bring that up as well. I was called down to guidance earlier this week because there were some issues with fitting classes in my schedule.

Apparently, Advanced Language Arts 10 and German 1 can only be taken during certain hours that conflict with two of the most important electives I intended to take next year, so I had to drop them and pick new ones. I had intended to take Web Design 2 and 3D Animation/Game Design (the latter being very important due to the fact that, as of now, I plan on getting a job in the gaming industry, most likely as a developer), but I traded them for a Study Hall (which I had originally opted not to take, but ended up being forced to due to the lack of available classes in the given period) and Digital Media, in which you work with photoshop and film editing. At least I got an early look at my schedule for next year. My last two periods will be a living hell though. Algebra 2 followed by Chemistry = TOO MUCH MATH.

I haven't got much else to say, so thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: 10 Years - Wasteland

Artwork:

Genre(s):
Industrial
Electronica
Metal
Hard Rock

Track Listing:
1. "999,999" - 1:25
2. "1,000,000" - 3:56
3. "Letting You" - 3:49
4. "Discipline" - 4:19
5. "Echoplex" - 4:45
6. "Head Down" - 4:55
7. "Lights in the Sky" - 3:29
8. "Corona Radiata" - 7:33
9. "The Four of Us are Dying" - 4:37
10. "Demon Seed" - 4:59

Length:
43:45

Released:
Available for free download here as of May 5th, 2008
Available on CD and vinyl in July (exact date not released as of this writing)

The Actual Review:
Since forever, Trent Reznor's creation, Nine Inch Nails, has been a part of Interscope Records, but as of 2007, he has left the label. Earlier this year, he released a simple-yet-intriguing compiliation Ghosts I-IV as his first label-less effort, but it was a mere EP. His latest piece, The Slip, is his first official studio album since the split, and it could very well be one of his best works to date.

It almost seems as if a huge burden was released when Reznor seperated from Interscope, as the first few tracks are bursting with the energy that wasn't there in last year's Year Zero. It felt to me like a throwback to his debut album Pretty Hate Machine and his cl@ssic EP Broken, both of which were almost entirely comprised of fast, energetic, and heavy pieces, mixed with the distortion found in later albums. Opener "999,999" crescendos into "1,000,000", which blows the listener away with relentless electronic noise and blasting guitars, and the still powerful vocals of Trent leading the way. "Letting You" follows suit, and it creates a beginning that is near perfection.

The album starts slowing down with lead single "Discipline", an upbeat hard rock pieces with a fun rhythm, and gets quieter until it reaches the low point in instrumental piece "Corona Radiata". Each of the pieces leading to this point are well crafted in their own right, and show the versatility of Reznor's abilities as a composer. The album captivates you from the moment "1,000,000" begins to the end of "Demon Seed".

After "Corona Radiata", the album picks up speed again, but doesn't reach the same point as the beginning, which is all the better. Who wants the end to sound the same as the beginning? The album features two instrumental pieces in "Corona Radiata" and "The Four of Us are Dying". "Corona Radiata" has a simple, more calming and soft sense to it, while "The Four of Us are Dying" picks up the pace and features a more complex composition. It all ends with "Demon Seed", a fitting conclusion featuring vocals taking a place behind the distorted guitars and bass.

Trent Reznor has always been a great poet, and this album's lyrics are no exception. Trent returns to his darker $tyle, though nowhere near the point of his earlier works, and his vocals perfectly match the mood of each piece. The upbeat writing keeps the songs from feeling depressing, though, which both adds to and deprives from the music, in that it makes it enjoyable for people who may not want to feel down, but it makes it somewhat less emotional.

It's really hard to find flaws in Reznor's songcraft. This album is indeed near-perfect. My only major issue is that it isn't as long as his previous works, but it's still a decent length, and free nonetheless. It's a no-brainer for Nine Inch Nails fans to pick this one up, and its definitely worth checking out for anyone else who may be interested thanks to the lack of a price tag.

SCORE: 9.5/10

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,000,000, Letting You, Discipline, The Four of Us are Dying, Demon Seed

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Nine Inch Nails - Discipline

My tale of 24 hours of Xbox woes:

So on Monday afternoon, the moment I had been waiting all week for occured: my 360 finally arrived in the mail. I brought it inside and unpackaged it, finding that nearly everything in the box was brand new. I set it up and plugged in the cords, and pressed the magic power button...

But instead of green lights I saw four flashing red ones. I knew this wasn't the good ol' Red Ring of Death, but I still had no idea what it was. After consulting the unhelpful manual, and then google, I discovered that it meant the AV cables weren't plugged in, or they weren't registering. "But I have them plugged in correctly!" I thought. After fiddling around and testing the console on another TV, I decided it was time to call 1-800-4MY-XBOX. This was an adventure in itself.

The first time I called, it was a bit strange. Some weird computer was talking to me and could understand a few things that I said. I went through the list of issues he could solve, and ended up having to try to contact a real person. I then learned that I needed my Xbox 360 registered to do so. I hung up the phone and proceeded to do just that.

The second time I called, I was greeted with an ad for phone sex.

The third time I called, I went through everything, then it transferred me over to some human beings. Or at least it should've. I sat for five minutes and it finally gave me a busy signal.

The FOURTH time I called, I finally got through, and of course, some lady with an accent that makes it hard to understand them has to pick up the phone. And of course, they repeat to me every solution I found on the internet. I also learned that the extended warranty only applies to RROD. She did stress the one thing I hadn't tried: using someone else's AV cables. So of course, I do the opposite and give my AV cables to a friend at church to test out.

Now it's yesterday. My friend rides his bike over to my house. It turns out my cables worked with his Xbox. I showed him the issue and he had no idea what was going on. I asked if we could try using his cables on my console. So we decided to do that. We paused for a moment so he could by my PSP that I had been selling ($80), and then we brought my 360 to his house. We tested out my AV cables on his TV and they still didn't work for mine. Then we tested his cables.

They worked. Interesting, but that still doesn't explain why my cables worked for his console. So he showed me how my cables worked with his. He plugged them in, turned on his Xbox, and it was fine. At least until we had a look at the TV. The picture was in black and white. We concluded that the cables were the issue.

Later, I packed up my GBC, GBA, and all the games for them (except for Pokemon Blue), and my dad and I set off to the Mega Media Xchange. I sold my Game Boys to them for a solid $98.40. I purchased used copies of Halo 3 and GRAW 2 and they still owed me $30. A fantastic, and lucky, deal. My dad paid for some new AV cables they were selling too.

I arrived home, set up the Xbox again, and it worked. I set everything up, downloaded the Heroic Map Pack for Halo 3, and was finally getting some fun out of my 360.

Now that it's working, feel free to add me to your friends on XBL. If you haven't seen it yet, my gamertag should be on my profile. If you're too lazy to look, it's "teh1calledDEATH" (no quotes, and yes I know its a stupid name). Hopefully I'll see you guys on XBL. Expect a music review coming up within the week.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home

I'm in a slightly grumpy mood as I write this.

Anyway, so anyone who read the comments of my last blog post (who, as far as I know, consists of gamer_girl15, gamer_girl15, and of course, gamer_girl15) knows that I decided to purchase an Xbox 360. I was lucky enough to win a full premium package, which includes everything other than a free month of XBL (at least as far as I know that's not included) on eBay for about $177, $202 with shipping. I'm very happy about this purchase and I think I got a great, if not fantastic, deal. I did end up forking over almost all of my money, but I intend to earn a good chunk of $$ back by selling my PSP (deal will be finalized tomorrow night if my friend at church decides he wants to buy) which will be used to pay for XBL and a game (which will most likely be Halo 3).

My only problem is I'm not getting support about the 360 in my household. My mother strongly opposed me purchasing one from the moment the idea popped in my head, and (this is true) didn't want me spending more than $100 on one. My dad didn't seem to care much though, and he actually seemed to be happy that I got a solid deal on a working one. That seems to have changed though. I asked my dad if he'd buy me a used copy of Halo 3 since I was short on money and needed to pay for an XBL subscription, and at first it seemed like a yes. As the week rolled on my dad's view on the matter seemed to shift slightly, thanks to my mother, who still seems a little pissed about it.

It started on Tuesday when he said that if I had waited longer like my mom said to, I could've gotten a lower price. I quickly explained that the only Xbox 360s going for less than $170 on eBay were either broken or didn't have everything. Then on Thursday I was going to upgrade to Gold in preperation for the arrival of my 360, and he said he'd have to talk to my mother about it. When I asked why several times without getting an answer, I was accused of "trying to turn him against her". I still have no idea why he didn't let me, but once it was talked over with my mom, she said I couldn't until I had the money for it in hand.

Then there was today. It was the first opprotunity to head over to the Mega Media Xchange and check for copies of Halo 3 sincd I bought the 360, so I asked my dad. First he said he wanted to take a nap since he was tired. Four hours later he's done and I ask again. Then he says he has to talk to my mom about it. And I know what's coming now. My mom stated right when I bought it that she refused to buy a game for me, but my dad never said anything. They talked, and it was decided that I'd have to get the money and buy it myself. I decided that I'd sell a few PC games that I no longer played (Morrowind, Diablo, Hellfire, Quake III: Team Arena, and CoD4) and then pay for it myself. By this time the store was closed and I was stuck without a game for my 360 which will more than likely arrive tomorrow.

Thankfully, I am getting support from my friends. A bud from church got permission from his friend to let me borrow their copy of Assassin's Creed, and he also may let me borrow Halo 2. Everyone else has been happy for me and has given me their XBL IDs so I can have a few friends to play with once I get the thing up and running. I was going to get Halo 2 from Family Video, but they weren't selling any of their 8 copies.

Now, as my first current gen console approaches, the pieces are starting to fall into place. I may end up making a change of focus in gaming for a period of time, from nearly full-time PC to half-and-half between PC and consoles. There are several factors behind this decision. For starters, I haven't played WoW for about six weeks and my subscription ends in July. At this current time, I intend to hit 70 before then, then go on hiatus until around when Wrath of the Lich King comes out, or once the cravings kick in. I've got a lot of games I need to finish that I haven't had the opprotunity to do so due to my commitment to my now-defunct guild. I've also got two and a half years worth of console gaming to catch up on, which will keep me occupied. There isn't a whole lot of PC titles coming up within the next two months I'm really looking forward to, so I think I'll spend a lot of time playing games on the 360.

I'm also getting less time to use my PC thanks to my little sister. She's been watching a ton of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows on the internet lately (she's almost 13 by the way), and she just got an AOL email account a couple days ago, despite me telling her how much AOL sucks. Now she spends all her time waiting for her friends to come online (which they never have) so she can send them instant messages at 20 words per minute. She's even resorted to calling them to try to get them to log on. She's also becoming obsessed with Coal Chamber and Bullet for My Valentine (which are two great bands, but are not the style of music she's usually interested in) and won't stop watching the music video for "Loco".

IN OTHER NEWS:

I'm also planning on getting a job within the next month. The problem is the only place nearby that'll work for me at the moment is McDonald's. I intend to work there until I get my driver's license, and then I will apply for a job at the Game Stop at the mall. I'm in desperate need of income.

The Kentucky Derby was a bit depressing. The winner is undefeated for it's career so far and has a good shot and winning the Triple Crown. But sadly, the horse that finished in second place, Eight Belles, ended up breaking both of it's front ankles on the track after the race and was immediately youthanized.

I watched Sweeney Todd last night, and it was fantastic, though not the gorefest I was told it was (though there was blood spray aplenty). It's probably the first musical I've ever enjoyed watching.

I four-starred Free Bird on Hard. w00t.

I'm pretty psyched for GTA IV, even though my parents may not let me give it a try. If I do get a chance to play, this is the first thing I intend to do.

It turns out Pure Pwnage's Jeremy isn't as awesome at Rock Band as you think. Check out this to see how they modded the game in order to get a fantastic score on the game's hardest song on expert.

That's all I can think of that's worth sharing. Thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST Coal Chamber - Big Truck

hey peoples

So I survived my week without gaming. It was rough, and probably the worst possible week for it to happen (you have no idea how hard I've been trying to get into Age of Conan betas!), but the end was worth the wait. The Halo 3 party was a huge success. It was my first time playing Halo on a console in around two years, so needless to say I was a bit rusty, but eventually I caught on and was mowing down n00bs left and right. It was a ton of fun having eight guys in the same room on two TVs on the same team hopping onto "big team social" random matches and pwning the world. We were yelling across the room at each other and were actually using some great teamwork. Some of the best moments were on Rat's Nest where I was driving a warthog and one of the leaders was manning the turret, and we went around the map nonstop, mowing down the opposing forces so much so that they ended up retreating towards the center of the map towards the end of the match.

So while the Halo 3 multiplayer is still the seemingly mindless run-and-gun shooter it's always been, I was surprised to learn about how good it actually is. I generally cast off multiplayer shooters on consoles as lesser than PC titles, which they generally are, but Halo 3 had something going for it. Maybe it was the massive selection of ways to kill people (ripping off mounted turrets and walking around while firing them is one of the greatest ideas I have ever seen). Maybe it was the variety of customization in the game modes. Maybe it's the autoaim, which literally removed one of my biggest problems with console shooters: trying to aim with the horrid dual-analog. Maybe it's just the fact that we had a bunch of guys together yelling and having a good time. Whatever the case, it has truly impacted the way I think of Halo's multiplayer (although I remain at the same standpoint about the run-of-the-mill single player).

It's got me thinking now: I've been planning to purchase a PS3 for the longest time, but since I'm short on cash and may not be able to get a job for awhile yet, that just doesn't seem to be happening in the near future. I'd like to have a current-gen console for the time being, just so I can play the exclusives that won't be coming to PC eventually. I currently have about $122 (from what I've counted), and I've been contemplating selling my PSP and two games (SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 2 and Twisted Metal Head-On) for awhile since I never use it, and the online for Twisted Metal is incompatible with my wireless security. In fact, the only reason I've kept it is because I had expected to purchase a PS3 by now.

If I sell the PSP, I just might be able to get a used Xbox 360, given it will lack a hard drive ($240 on gamestop's website). Halo 3 would be suffice for a first game purchase (hopefully I can get my parents to supply that for me). The only problems are that I hate using ebay, and I have no idea how much I can get for the PSP at Gamestop/EB Games or Take 2. If I do get enough money for it, it will be very close, and I probably won't be able to afford gold status for XBL, which is an even bigger problem seeing as the real reason I intend to purchase Halo 3 is for its multiplayer.

I'd like your opinions for whether this is a good idea or not, because I'm not completely sure this is the best move. And I intend to sell my PSP in any case, so if anyone can, I'd like estimations for what stores will give me for:

-Original phat model PSP value pack (box and everything it came with included)

-Twisted Metal: Head-On and SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2

-And while I'm at it, I'm thinking about selling CoD4(PC) since it lost its appeal to me months ago.

Any help and opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

IN OTHER NEWS:

On Sunday night, my grandmother had to undergo an emergency exploratory surgery, because she apparently looked like she was nine months pregnant. The doctor's said to expect the worst. Thankfully, they found the problem (some scar tissue on her intestine was obstructing it) and fixed it, and she's doing incredibly well. As of now, she's recovering in a nursing home.

I've talked previously about some Drum & Bugle Corps. competitions I've seen. They're incredible, and surprising a lot of fun to watch. Well, my band teacher informed us that at the end of the month, they're flying in some instructors from one of the professional teams (the Glassmen), and they'll be writing a special production for my high school's homecoming marching show this fall. This is an incredible opprotunity, and it actually has me pissed off that I'm dropping band next year. The only problem is they want a lot of our time (all of the class time and after school), but the teacher says she may cancel our exams if we do this.

That's about all for this week. Please help me decide on whether to purchase a 360. Thanks for reading.

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Limp Bizkit - Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)

Since I have nothing better to do:

Vitals

Artwork:

Genre(s):
Neo-Cl@ssical Metal
Cl@ssical
Progressive Metal

Track Listing:
1. "Worlds Collide" - 4:27
2. "Grace (feat. Tomoyasu Hotei)" - 4:10
3. "I'm Not Jesus (feat. Corey Taylor)" - 3:34
4. "Ion" - 3:48
5. "Helden (feat. Till Lindemann)" - 4:19
6. "Stroke" - 4:33
7. "Last Hope (feat. Dave Lombardo)" - 4:49
8. "I Don't Care (feat. Adam Gontier)" - 3:41
9. "Burn" - 4:18
10. "S.O.S. (Anything But Love) feat. Cristina Scabbia" - 4:22
11. "Peace" - 5:49

Length:
48:21

Released:
September 14th, 2007 (EU)
September 17th, 2007 (AU)
September 28th, 2007 (UK)
February 5th, 2008 (CAN)
April 15th, 2008 (US)

The Actual Review:
Finland-native band Apocalyptica started out as a quartet of cellists formed in 1993. In the mid '90s they achieved mainstream success with their quite originally titled album "Plays Metallica by Four Cellos", in which they, obviously, covered Metallica songs using mere cellos. But they were truly remarkable covers. As the years passed they added percussion to their musical onslaught and started making original pieces. Now, the United States is finally getting a taste of their latest piece, "Worlds Collide", where the fine cellists offers up some of the most unique, and possibly best, songs yet in 2008.

One of the things I find most remarkable about this band is the pieces are composed so well that half the time you forget you're listening to drums and four cellos and think you're listening to a full band with bass and guitars. In fact, when listening to lead single "I'm Not Jesus" on the radio, I thought there were guitars backing Corey Taylor's powerful vocals, until I heard who the band was. Even when it's not convincing, it sounds nothing like your average orchestral arrangement and more like, well, heavy metal.

What gives this album extra appeal is that it features several guest appearances. On vocals we have Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stone Sour), Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace), and an interesting appearance from Till Lindemann (Rammstein). Each vocal performance is outstanding in it's own right and each adds power to the already captivating, twisting sounds of the cellos. The album also features guest instrumental from Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei and Dave Lombardo of Slayer, and the input of these two artists gives each of their respective tracks extra kick.

And when the band isn't featuring guest artists, they're pretty darn good on their own right. You'd think you wouldn't be able do much with four cellos and a drummer, but these guys pull off some amazing feats. Heavy notes and chords easily work for heavy riffs, and you can even hear them pulling off the occasional "guitar solo" ranging in all octaves. The band's ability to do amazing things with the cello is what got them where they are today, and their ability to compose such amazing songs using these skills is reason enough to give this album a listen. Add in fantastic implementation of guest performances with decent enough lyrics, and you've got yourself one fine piece of music.

SCORE: 9.0/10

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: Worlds Collide, Grace, I'm Not Jesus, Last Hope, Burn

-infect999

SONG OF THE POST: Apocalyptica - I'm Not Jesus