Heck yeah, i love these promotions and i got a Free in Game Robot. This could be as cool as the Mountain Dew Halo Promo, but it's hard to top the Master Chief!!!

If you play WoW, at least make sure you get your free robot!

Guitar Hero in some ways, started the big push for Rhythm games. They were not the first of their kind, but they made the Genre huge. Before Guitar Hero there were Frets on Fire and other games based in Japan, being the same concept. Play as the guitarist and rock out. Enough said. These games have been fun and all have rocked, even Aerosmith got you moving and Rocking. So for the first time ever, I am severely angry with a Guitar Hero game,Smash Hits.

It is not that I don't expect it to be fun, but I feel this title is severely recycled, but that was the point. It is the "best" songs from all Guitar Heroes before GH: Aerosmith. Now all the songs are being redone to support all instruments that was in World Tour and Metallica. That's not really my problem, normally I would not care so much, because there is some changes and added features you could not do with these songs, on their respective title. Plus, there are some GREAT bands on there too. Pantera, Rage Against the Machine, Ozzy, andDragonforce. It's a killer line up, but i have most if not all these songs already and can go and rock out to them, just can't drum or sing.

So what bothers me, is in reality, this title does not offer much of an upgrade, to spend another 60 bucks. The reason, because this, like with Metallica, does not support Downloaded music, minus the HG tunes. Seriously, WTF Activision/Neversoft?!?! Have you not been paying attention, what have the GH fans been calling for....cross game Downloadable content. If I can't take GH Smash hits and not be able to play other GH music, then what's the point. People like me, want to do what we did with our Rock Band 1 copy and what RB DLC does...we want to stick 1 COPY of a game in and be able to play ALL if not MOST of our music. If you didn't do the Disc copy deal like RB 1 did for people who bought RB 2, for 5 bucks, that is not as big of a deal as not being able to take all this music I PAID to Download, and be able to use it on ALL the new GH releases. I am sorry, but I do not want to have to get up and switch discs...and being that, if I have to do that already, then screw it, I will pass on Smash hits and pop in GH2 or GH3 to rock out to some of the past song.

GH needs to start making it so we can play our DLC on other discs, rather than just the World Tour disc....only Metallica works on multiple discs (GH3, GHWT and Metallica) and that is just NOT ENOUGH. Rock Band makes it so I only have to have 1 DISC in and I have HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of songs that I can play, WITHOUT swapping discs. As much as I prefer GH over RB, this issue is starting to wear on me, make your DLC cross game compatible, it is not that tricky!

So a while back posted a blog ranting about irresponsible spending by AIG, after receiving a government bailout. Never did I think that their burning of cash would ever sink to the level of low that we are seeing today. For a reference, here is a link to the past blog:

http://www.gamespot.com/users/klugenbeel/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25536025

So, unless you been hiding under a rock, or never check the news, you have probably heard about the bonuses that 4,600 AIG employees received recently. These bonuses totaled in 165 million dollars in pay outs. Some 70+ employees received bonuses upwards and above 1 million dollars, the highest pay about being over 6 million.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe people are entitled and should receive bonuses, but only in cases of success. AIG is a failing business and received the money it did because they were failing. In order to save jobs and help stop our stumbling economy, they were given money. Unfortunately, they have wasted it on themselves and on wasteful advertising campaigns. As i said before, Bad Publicity can be good publicity, but in the case of these bonuses now....they really do just have bad publicity. Receiving bail out money before was the "good, bad publicity", but now they have the people calling for their heads in the streets...and duh, that's just plain old bad publicity.

Another thing that makes these bonuses given out, a laugh is how AIG tried to explain and justify them. These bonuses were apparently "retention pay outs". In other words they paid these people these bonuses to keep up with the competition and make sure these people did not leave the company. What is funny is 11 of these people that received the "retention bonus" took the check, and then left the company. So I am sorry, how the hell is this a "retention bonus" and if so, shouldn't you be taking back that bonus from those 11 people? Come on AIG< stop making excuses and just ADMIT you guys are dumb, greedy, SOBs!

So my only solution to AIG is, the government needs to step in and just regulate the crap out of AIG. I know some people that may read this will say crap like, "Government involvement is bad and we need to keep Government out of business." I say to those "nay sayers" that you need to sit down and shut up. You had your way for years and we see how not regulating these industries went, right down the toilet. So when we don't regulate these failing businesses, they do what they want and have helped cause this economic turmoil we are in, so shut up. Lets step in and see if government can't change what is going on, I fail to see the nay sayers coming up with a better idea.

Personally, I think we should hang these AIG execs. To their defense, we don't live in Japan.

So I will first say, I think I have a new opinion since last talking about these two games. First let's talk about Guitar Hero World Tour, which I last time praised and said was better than Rock Band 2. Game play, disc soundtrack, and features....still has me hooked to Guitar hero World Tour, but I find I play Rock Band 2 more with friends and my girlfriend more than Guitar hero World Tour, and it is strictly because of the DLC. Yes DLC is a huge part of these games, and when I can play upwards of 300 songs all from the Rock Band 2 disc (DLC, RB1 License xfer) compared to my Guitar hero World Tour collection of about 100 or so songs, the 200 more songs makes it harder to play Guitar Hero because I want more options! That being said, this leads to the next part of the rant.

Since about halfway through December, Harmonix and Neversoft have been launching DLC, but well....crap. Worst part is both of them have done this. Let's look at the first example, the Country Track Packs. Both RB and GHWT have launched a country music pack (Going Country 01 - RB; Country Rock Track Pack - GHWT). Now when both games have titles in the names of Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour, Country music just doesn't fit in either of their names. First of all, Country does ROCK and second of all who in country music you would call a Guitar Hero? I am sorry, but whoever you think is the best country music guitar player, will NEVER EVER amount to such Rock Band guitar players like Dave Mustaine, Kirk Hammet, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Angus Young, ect. I feel Country music on these games is a tragic event and the crap needs to stop, but probably will not since Rock Band did make there's called Going Country 01, which leads me to believe there will be more and in past news articles Harmonix said there would be more....DAMNIT!!!!

Now not only is country been a problem, but the lack of good tunes as well since Mid-December. First I want to address the Oasis album by GHWT, you just put an Oasis pack out a few months ago...GIVE US SOME VARIETY. This is Guitar Hero, not Oasis Hero! Travis Barker pack...LAME....Bruce Springstien does at least fit the bill better than a lot of the European and Foreign crap GH has put out, but Springstien doesn't rock as hard as some of the other guys during his generation. Reggae also does not make sense in GHWT.

Now lets not leave Rock Band out, because since mid-December, they have been the worst on putting out good music. Again, RB felt the need to give us even more Foo Fighters, so it leads me to make a similar comment like I did to GHWT, this is Rock Band, not Foo Fighters band, so stop putting out more of the same bands and get some variety into the game. I wonder what made Harmonix release the Roy Orbison 01 pack, but in the name it seems like they will be releasing more and I am sorry, but Roy Orbison does not ROCK!

So what this comes down to is what has happened Neversoft and Harmonix? Why such the lame packs lately? I would not be surprised to see this DLC items not be a hot item, but I could be wrong because there still are fans out there who will support their artist, but is there enough of these types of fans to justify it over things like Iron Maiden packs (which we haven't seen a lot of this classic British Metal band in these games) or even going with not hard rockers like Billy Idol? There is room for many many great rockers, but why not use Rock and not swing towards things like Country and Reggae, it just doesn't make sense. Here is hoping to a better February set list! Cheers!

Some of you may remember the VP candidate Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. She was blasted in months leading to the election, and still is being blasted. She was interviewed recently and was complaining that people were unfair and critical about her, yet no one seems critical of Caroline Kennedy (D-NY) who is in line to take over for Sen. Hillary Clinton as she leaves to be Secretary of State in the Obama Administration.

Palin is quoted on saying such things, "I've been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope."

"It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be."

"Is it political? Is it sexism?" she asked. "What is it that drives someone to believe the worst and perpetuate the worst in terms of gossip and lies?"

She observed that Katie Couric and Tina Fey have been "capitalizing on" and "exploiting" her.

"I did see that Tina Fey was named entertainer of the year and Katie Couric's ratings have risen," she said. "And I know that a lot of people are capitalizing on, oh I don't know, perhaps some exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration. That's a little bit perplexing, but it also says a great deal about our society."

Ok, so who the heck does this woman think she is? Before this moron even came into the picture, her GOP friends at Fox News blasted Hillary Clinton any chance they could. When Hillary came on TV saying she has been treated unfairly, the same morons at Fox made comments about Clinton crying and having the attitude that, "Oh the big boys are picking on me" and made comments on if Clinton would do the same if foreign Nations did the same, would she call it "picking on her" because she's a girl. All Palin is doing now and even when the election was still up for grabs was the same thing. Complain that the Liberal media was picking on her.

Now Palin is trying to say people are "capitalizing" on picking on her? Ok this is why people pick on you.

"I can see Russia from my house." - Palin when asked about Foreign countries and policy with them

You have a daughter under 18 who is knocked up. Family Values? Maybe if you spent more time paying attention to your kids or teaching them about "safe sex" your daughter wouldn't be on the campaign trail with you, ready to "pop" that illegitimate child out.

You are one of those women out there, that feminist who spent years trying to push for equality, that would send women back into the kitchen to be nothing more than subordinate house wives.

What can we say, you are a Redneck...and the educated people in the country do not respect Hicks. Is it a social thing, no, you are freakin' rich...so social status has nothing to do with it, but you are still a HICK and a rich Hick at that. Just cause you are rich, doesn't make you be less white trash, you are white trash and people don't want that crap in the white house...i think even some of your fellow GOP thought we couldn't put another hick in office (George W. Bush).

So Palin, stop complaining...you and your friends did the same crap to Hillary Clinton, which make you HYPOCRITS! Shut up, and go take a canoe to Russia and leave America alone!

So I log in today and I get an invite to a Union. When looking at it, it's from someone I do not know, and it's for the union called: The Big Nintendo Nations Union. So the real question is did this guy see something i post and want me in or did he just rifle through names he saw and just invite anyone he could get?

I am going with just rifle inviting, which people really need to stop. In the past year I have been very out spoken about my disappointments and frustrations with Nintendo, so why would i ever join an Nintendo based Union. Plain and simple Nintendo has turned its back on the core of the gaming community, the people who made and been playing with Nintendo since the 8 bit NES. Once upon a time I was thinking I wanted to pick up a Wii and enjoy it, but I waited and it was the smart move in the long run.

If anyone remembers the LameCube, i mean GameCube, what did Nintendo do real well...release a ton of Kiddie crap games or just plain old BAD games. So with that said i waited to see what Nintendo would put out and just like with the LameCube, the Wii is piling on the Junk titles and leaving only a few quality games to play. I am sorry, but owning a console needs to be justified with quality titles and non just a few and far between. The reason the 360 is doing so well this time around is Blockbuster titles, quality titles, and IPs that people know and love, are showing up on the 360. Myself being a person who swore off Sony after the PS1 (because the PS1 was poorly built and it is the only system I ever had to replace and at that...replace the unit twice) I am now at the point that I would pick up a PS3 over a Wii.

Plain and simple the Wii released strong with titles like Zelda and Metroid released not long after, but that was about it. The good titles then even slowed further and the last game worth my time being No More Heroes, I am sorry but that is too few quality titles coming out whereas the PS3 started slow, but now is turning out the Quality games and it makes it more enticing to buy.

What it comes down to is, don't invite me to Nintendo unions because plain and simple, your system is OBSOLETE. The overall quality of your games are CRAP and your system is also BEHIND everyone else in the world of ONLINE GAMING. Plain and simple Nintendo, stop releasing the Kiddie crap and get back to making games for the core gamers, the ones who BUILT YOUR BUSINESS! Oh btw, HAHAHAHA FOR WII MUSIC'S FAILURES! Build a game where you can fail, not the "everyone is a winner game" because that type of game is made for LOSERS!

So I log on the other day and find that I was given this snazzy little icon here:

This apparently means i have great taste in games, and I must say it's true, otherwise you do not stay in the collection of the current gen. After thinking about it for a while, I would have to agree, I mean look at some of the blockbusters that I have owned, and put countless upon countless hours into:

Halo Series - This series shocked the world and blew open FPS gaming for the console. In fact you could almost say that because of games like this, it has led a shift of FPS to consoles, and people playing them on consoles more than on a PC.

StarCraft-Brood Wars - This is the RTS of RTS games. There has been no RTS able to top this series (in my opinion and a lot of people's to). We have seen countless RTS come out over the years since StarCraft and despite how good they are, I find myself asking, is this really better than StarCraft? StarCraft is the role model for anyone making an RTS and an shining example of RTS done right!

Half-Life Series - The original and 2nd are still favorites and are great FPS. Even though you can argue there are better FPS out there (not many, if not only 1 or 2), but on the PC...what FPS gave you so much more to do, not many. Half-Life and HL2 set the bar on Game mods. With independent hits of their times like Counter Strike and Day of Defeat, it is hard to argue that this game didn't set industry standards.

WarCraft Series - Whether we are talking about WoW or WarCraft back when we all knew it as an RTS, WarCraft is a HUGE franchise. People pour money into WoW not only the monthly fee, but for gold from farmers, t-shirts, buttons, card game, beer stiens, and more! With 11 million people and counting on the MMORPG, it is really hard to argue that this is not a quality Series.

This is just a touch on my collection of hit games, but I feel these are biggest and probably the best made, and why, because these series do not seem to have a single, Bad or Alright game...they are ALL GREAT! I mean I could of thrown the Tom Clancy series in there, but the fact of the matter is, there has been a few well..."ehh" Tom Clancy games and don't feel it has the same Blockbuster power that the above do. So do I have good taste in games, yes, do i have great taste...you bet. For some of the best inside on the gaming industry and the world, you have to keep coming back and seeing what I have to say!

Well folks, what can I say about the new Guitar Hero that will hit the streets tonight at 12 am. Its flipping awesome! Plain and simple. The graphics put all other GH and RB games to shame, its just really well done and well polished. The Tool exclusive background for their songs, is well... incredible.

Though the Eye is highly distracting if you just jump into a Tool song for the first time, also be prepared that when in World Tour mode, you need to save your money, because your money actually is used to progress into new gigs, such as the 3 Tool set list in World Tour. You will need 8k in cash to unlock Tool, so if you are 5 staring most your songs, you may need to do 1 extra set list after unlocking the Tool set list to buy the Tool set list for 8k in cash. Guitar Hero is going to be the Music game to Beat this holiday season, and despite the fact i love Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour is going to be taking over for a bit and putting RB2 to the side line. Plus World Tour is going to be launching more downloadable music, similar to Rock Band, and in fact...there is already music ready to download for World Tour.

Another feature I really like about Guitar Hero World Tour is the Bass. At times your are going to see a purple line come across your fret board and that means to play an open note. Don't hold any of your fret buttons at all, just play and open strum, it in fact makes Bass a lot more fun and interesting to play than in past Guitar Heros and Rock Bands.

Over the years, more of this current generation of consoles, there seems to be a growing trend in the gaming community. Both the gamers themselves and Publishers are guilty of letting things like this happen, but really Nintendo is the biggest influence in this negative Trend.

It seems to me that publishers and developers alike, are making more and more of these "easy", user friendly to everyone games. Gamespot has been nice enough to start pointing these games out with the "Cake Walk" award. The big thing to bring this out of me is the new Wii Music game, about to hit stores in less than a week. This game is the epiphany of "Cake Walk". How do we know, Nintendo has even said it themselves. When they introduced it at E3 they even stated this was a game with no way to fail and really no way to screw up. you use your Wiimote in a likeness of the instrument to make the music play. So in other words there is no failing! WHAT?!?! Isn't the point of a video game to win something or reach some sort of goal? Would the Zelda games be fun if you didn't have to rescue Link? Would Mario have been fun if you weren't trying to save the Princess? Would Halo had been fun if you were not trying to squash the Covenant? Or to put it in a similar fashion, would Guitar Hero or Rock Band be fun if every song you played, not matter how many notes you missed, the game still said 'You Rock" and let you continue onto the next tier? NO!!!!!!

This trend is not only in video games, we continue to find more and more stories of middle and high school sports being bombarded by parents because their kid didn't make the team. Well did you kid practice, work out and try as hard as the kids who did make it? Probably not. This "Everybody is a Winner" mentality is disgusting and makes me sick. We are going to turn our youth into a bunch of sniveling wusses who will expect, not matter how little they do or try (as in not practicing), think they should be rewarded for not meeting a goal. GROW UP! Did the Boston Red Sox win the 2004 World Series without playing harder and working harder than the other team? Of course, they worked hard to win, and so they won.

So why is Wii Music angering me so much? If Wii Music is successful, we will start seeing more of these "You can't loss games come out" and could these take over and eradicate what we know of video games? Can this cause all publishers and developers to toss a common goal to victory to hit the back burner and only have "Everybody is a Winner" games? Probably not, but it could cause a shift, where more games will come out like this, which will take time and money away from making games with a way to win from us.

The fact of the matter is, e play games to beat something or win something. The real satisfaction of a video game is trying as hard as you can to beat it, because when you beat it and are victorious, there is no better feeling, except doing the same thing in a Organized competition (video games and sports alike). That RUSH of victory cannot be matched by a dumbed down, "everyone is a winner" game. The people who feel the "Everybody is Winner" are in fact, the LOSERS who did not want to try hard enough to win, and think prizes or satisfaction should just be given to them. These people are a bunch of Nancys and are doing nothing but spreading their lack of motivation to others, and making these new losers think it's ok to lose, as long as you tried. Don't just try. Trying means you practiced and worked hard at something. You try, you practice and then you win. If you don't win, then repeat, try...practice then win. Eventually, NO MATTER WHAT, you will win and you will feel so incredible that you won, and that feeling will always be greater than a "Consolation" prize for "Good effort". It's never fun to loss and get your butt kicked, but if that is happening...you are just not trying hard enough.

How about a REAL game?!?! You know, where you could actually lose?

For those of you living in the US, you all know that it is just not the same here in the USA as it was a decade ago. We had a balanced budget, we were not in the middle of a war or 2 if you count Afghanistan and Iraq separate. People could walk into the bank and take out a high risk loan for a new house, life was good. Now the economy is the toilet, Mortgage firms are in the hole, insurance companies are even doing down the tubes too. So the government is stepping in and helping some of the firms get through these touph times and keeping them from going belly up.

Until today, I was in favor of helping these guys out, but that has changed very quickly. Do to business of my own, I had to upgrade my cell phone to a Samsung Instinct, make getting e-mail and getting things for work done while I am on the go at times. So i log on to the web this morning and what do I see. AIG, advertising right on the front page of the default Sprint page that pops up. So I for a second I think, why have I heard AIG's name recently? Was it a commercial on TV, no. Was it an ad on the local new page I read every morning, no. Oh that's right now I remember, you S.O.B.s just got bailed out from going belly up by the government. Now why did this AIG ad on my mobile phone's internet tick me off so much?

Oh yeah, because what do you need to put up advertisements, MONEY! That's right, so you are telling me that you don't have money and you need government help, yet you are spending money on advertisements? Now some will say, well ads do generate new business, revenues and gross profit, yes people i know, I am a communications major and this is one of my focuses. Keep in mind though, AIG first is all, an insurance company and a big one. People know the name, and also there is something called Publicity and whether it's good publicity or bad publicity it is still publicity and that itself generates REVENUE and PROFITS! You morons are already on front page news about being SAVED by the government. This is both good and bad publicity! Sure it's bad in the fact that you were going belly up, but this is news that the government has your back, THATS GOOD NEWS, which Good Publicity is FREE ADVERTISING! You morons are all over the nightly news and internet and you are throwing money away into Advertising on my mobile phone, You have to be kidding me, and you wonder why you are having money issues!?!?!!?!?!

Insurance companies = Epic Failure? You be the judge of that, it's YOUR money do what you want with it, give it to these bozos and they will put out another commercial.

So I came across a blog today and well the stuff I read, makes you wonder why the heck a person like this is not sitting in jail. With the fact that in today's day and age there are over 6 billion people on the planet, the number of nut jobs, whack jobs, and plain old crazies are more prevalent, face the fact the more people you have, the more crazies you get.

So I came across a blog where a person was ranting and raving about how they were playing Xbox Live and someone came into a game room and start mouthing off, acting like a gangster and all the filth one can spew from their mouth. Now as long as it's not your first time playing on XBL, I think all of us can safely say, we have run into a foul mouthed, moron on more than one occasion.

Most people take the high road and either ignore the person or mute them. Sometimes, I even like to toss back a few key words of trash talk, I think we all have done it at least once. Naturally does telling them to "shut up" or the "go **** yourself" ever work, no. It just fuels their fire and gives them the reaction they want. Well you have to read a few of these blog comments to fully understand the point I want to make here:

"out of nowhere he comes out and says shut the * up **** and just play. Now at this time I was not on my meds and we went from there. Bottom line is after a few minutes I was tired of his mouth and exited the match. I then did a little bit of research and found out that this so called thu lived in Miami and I was actually able to find out where and name. Dont ask im just saying I can find out when I want. Anyways I get a harrassing message. I turn around and say you know what you just messed with the wrong dude. You dont know what youve done."

So I think at one point and time, anyone who has over heard a XBL trash talk fight have heard things like this from time to time. The "you don't know who you are messing with" line is always classic and is taken with a grain of salt, and that's where it usually ends or continues more just trash talk, well this individual went about handling it differently and its borderline stalker on what he/she did next:

"Anyways I booked the flight told him I was coming and he can bring his stupid possey, in my head I was honestly going to jail. I was not on my meds and my past was really shining. Then I get a message saying that he was sorry. I was like what the hell. I invited to private chat, this all happened the day before I flew out. The person I was talking to in private chat ended up being someone else. I was like who the hell are you. The dude said im the punks father and apologize for all of this. I responded what are you talking about. Turns out that it was infact a stupid teenage kid who was 14 acting out on xbox live."

This person actually booked an flight to kick the crap out of a 14 year old kid(not that he knew, but does it really make it that much better), but with the "not taking my meds" part, i swear this guy/gal is probably unstable enough to actually commit a crime. Plain and simple, booking a flight and saying you are coming for someone is AGAINST THE LAW. Plain and simple. The fact that this person let a moron on XBL get under their skin enough to book a flight to another part of the country to fight them, scream PSYCHO, and needs to be committed. People like this are a danger to themselves and a danger to society.

I have had my share of fights with an idiot on XBL, did I ever book a flight or plan a trip to kick their @$$? NO! That's just CRAZY TALK and will end you up in jail. So what it comes down to, don't play games with Psychos and if they threaten to show up at your house and mean it, call the cops and do everyone else a favor and have them locked up, but also...don't be an idiot and pick on the crazies, it's just not good. Picking on crazy people is like seeing the sign "Don't Feed the Bears". You feed them, and they will never leave you alone.

So it's that time of season, the conventions are over and the Democrats and Republicans have their hopeful President and VP choices. So ever since Sarah Palin has taken stage as the GOP Vice President, there has been nothing but Buzz through the media. Conservative News organizations like Fox (Mr. Bill O'Reilly) are criticizing "Left Wing" media groups for attacking Palin's inexperience, pregnant daughter, "Hickish" life and more.

EDIT FROM MODERATOR: IMAGE REMOVED DUE TO CENSOR BYPASS

Now Bill O'Reillly has come out saying that the pregnant daughter should not be an issue, nor is it an issue. This coming from the man who criticized Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy and even said, "Blame should be put on the parents". It's amazing how opinions change in less than a year, or when you are just a right wing machine and you wouldn't dare say anything bad about a fellow GOP member.

See O'Reilly being Hypocritical!

Also what is interesting about these Right Wing media groups is they sat there months ago bashing and picking on Hillary Clinton when she was running for the Democratic ticket. Some even had the audacity to say things about how Hillary is complaining that people are picking on her, and then said in retaliation, what is she going to do if the Big Boys in the Middle East, Russia, or Asia pick on her? Should Hillary call them out for picking on her which doesn't help her case and back into a corner like she does from time to time? Well why is it not OK for Hillary to get upset about being bullied, but when the other media groups get up and pick on Sarah Palin, her friends at Fox say people are being sexist and unfair with Sarah Palin. Yet these are the same thing Bill O'Reilly and friends did to Clinton, talk about double standard.

Republicans want to talk about Obama being a junior senator and not having experience. Let's look at Palin, she has been a Governor of Alaska (population 600k, that is less than even New Hampshire - 1 million) for only 2 years, not even a full term. Sure she was Mayor of the 4th largest city in Alaska...that doesn't say a lot with a population of 7k.

Palin and McCain on Change!?!?!

So how does Palin and McCain represent change? I mean they are republican. As Peter Griffin (cartoon character) once said, "Hey Louis, look. I am the icon of republicans. A fat white guy, on top of an elephant who fears change." How do they even say they want change. Palin is Pro-Life and a bible thumper who has referenced on numerous occasions that something is being done because that is what god wants. Check this little tid bit out:

In June 2008, Palin spoke at her former church. On the topic of Iraq, she asked that people pray for the soldiers and that "there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan." In regards to a proposed natural-gas pipeline she said, "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built."

Change?!?!?! Sounds like the change she wants is back in the days of the Crusades!

Change on oil, no way...she wants to go into the Alaskan refuge to find oil, yet at the same time she also supports new offshore drilling, so what is going to be? Offshore or go after what organizations like Greenpeace keep trying to preserve.

Palin has strongly promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). She has opposed federal listing of the polar bear as an endangered species warning that it would adversely affect energy development in Alaska. Palin does not believe that global warming is human-caused.

Change, sure they may want some change, but its not for the better. Thanks for reading and remember, research your politicians!

So it's very rare I want to focus on rants, raves, or blogs on one particular product, but my old friend, who brought us such classics as Alpha Centauri and Pirates. How can we forget though, Civilization? This games has sucked away many many hours of my time and is one of those few games you can start playing at 8pm, and in the blink of an eye its 4am the next morning! So months and months ago Firaxis and friends said Civ was coming to consoles, and yet i was highly skeptic.

Look at the PC to N64 port of StarCraft...well it was fun, unless you had played it on a PC, you were screaming to hook up your mouse and keyboard to that N64! Typically PC RTS ports to Consoles are not too thrilling or are horrible when compared to their PC counter part. So Civ Revolution gave us a sneak peak when they dropped the demo on the XBLA and I had to try it, after playing the demo, i knew this game was going to be big on the consoles and I was right. Though Civ Rev is not selling to the extent of say a Halo or GTA game, its still doing well and long and behold, people are actually online and playing this game too.

If you have not played this, bought it, or at the very least rent it, DO SO! This will get you opened up to the greatness that is playing Civ and the console port, will make it so anyone can pick it up and learn how to play it very easily. It's time to conquer, it's time for the REVOLUTION!

So i watched E3s Press Confrences of each of the 3 major powers, well watched what i could of the Microsoft before the site crashed and burned! Man did I see a lot of unexpected and amazing things come out of E3. First I want to mention MAG (Massive Action Game), and despite this is a PS3 exclusive, it looks amazing. Battlefield style games are starting to get to the point of blending in, so what can you do to make a new game to set them apart, add more players, doesn't seem too revolutionary, but this kind of game, it could be a help. Well i think Zipper took the idea of more players, and then took some steroids, because 64 players...not enough, 128, eh, closer, but man 256 people converging on one battlefield, AWESOME! This game could be a driving force to get a PS3 in my household, because 256 people, thats one big battle.

So I was curious to see what Nintendo had whipped up, and well Nintendo i would say is my loser of E3. Sure the new WiiMote adapter to make the remote more percise is cool, but its hardware, i already thought the hardware was cool, now wheres the games? You need games for hardware and so far Nintendo has been thin on games in my opinion. They do have more exclusives than Sony and better exclusives, but the rest of their market is a sea of kiddie crap that would even drive Bert and Ernie to suicide. I mean the new Animal Crossing, could be cool, if I was 8 again. Nintendo though, will make it through fine in 2008 and 2009 because they have invaded the casual market, who honestly, buy a lot of crap games because they don't know any better yet, they are relatively new gamers or are only after certain games.

The winner, hey you should have seen this coming, the Xbox 360. Microsoft came out punching, and we knew they would. First of all, the big news is that MS stole away a very important IP from Sony, and that was Final Fantasy. Yes, that is right, FF13 will be launching the same day for the 360 as it will for the PS3, this could be a crippling loss to Sony as they are already struggling in the exclusives market. After Heavenly Sword and Ratchet and Clank were disappointments, sales wise, and didn't drive systems, MGS came and saved the day, but is this all Sony has left. Resistance 2 has promise, but will not beat out FPS like Halo 3 and CoD4. Then there was the epic failure of Haze, which promised to be a Halo killer and Sony dumped some big bucks into Ubisoft to make it a Sony exclusive, where it was originally going to be a 360, PS3 and PC release. So Sony lsses FF13 exclusiveness. Now look at the line up MS has coming out....Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Too Human, Halo Wars, and lets not forget the extra content for GTA4, which sold more on the 360 than the PS3, another IP that used to come out first on Sony consoles.

All said and done, it looks like another great year to be a 360 owner with great titles on the way. Nintendo will continue to do well and sell well to the casual markets, Sony though, is going to continue to struggle compared to the other systems. One point to make, any FF fans that were on the fences about gettin a 360 or a PS3, might be getting those 300 dollar Xbox 360s now and pre-ordering FF13, another blow to Sony.

So I wanted to talk about a company who in the video game world, is the Evil Empire, or at least getting closer to being there by the day. They continue to buy up more publisher, studios, community web sites, and deals with sports leagues to monoplize the sport. They continue to release the same recycled games year, after year, after year and even new games they release are sub-par at best, yet will sell well, not review well. EA has left the realm of mmaking good games, and join the realm of having a great marketing team. We do have to give EA credit where it is deserved, their marketing team could sell a ketchup pop cicle to a lady in a white dress. Their marketing team goes out to the bars on saturday nights, and yes they can pick up any woman or man they want! I swear these this marketing team is all former tobacco lobyists! So what is the solution from keeping these smooth talking people from convincing you from buying the steam pile of poop, that some how they make look like a golden egg? Very simple, boycott EA.

For every 1 good game EA may put out, they release 20 recycled trash titles that sucker you into opening your wallet. EA is honestly the Evil Empire of the gaming industry, they do not care about the gamers, only money, greed and power. When EA signed with the NFL to bring NFL games exclusive to EA studios, what has happened in the past 3 years, the rating 06, 07, and 08 all got were below the higher standards that 04 and 05 recieved. (05 and 05 scored 9 or higher in most reviews, where as 06, 07, 08 have all scored below 8.5 and even below 8.0). When people complain saying a game is not much different than a past version or looks recycled, EA is the king at doing it and continues to do it. They want to maxamize profits and don't care how crappy their games are, as long as their marketing teams sucker people into keep buying their games, nothing will change. Lets look at Army of 2, by most standards not a good game. Too many flaws in that game made it review and play poorly, yet some how EA sold a lot of copies, despite the negative reviews and opinions, because the marketed the crap out of the game (told you that marketing team would get into your pants!). For the first month or so that Army of 2 came out, there were TV ads, internet ads all over the place, they marketed the game to hell, and because of it, despite being a poor game, people bought it. Do you still see them playing it on XBL or PS Online much anymore, barely. People picked up a blockbuster of a release that came out (GTA 4) and now no one plays Army of 2, was it really worth the 60 bucks?

If you think EA is going to put out a game you might like, boycott it anyway. Make EA see their ways of business are wrong, maybe this will cause them to change, you know, make a good game or too. heck, make an epic game, rather than try and buy one, and impress the crap out of us! Until they change, make them squirm! I am not endorsing an all out ban, but I would like to see EA's wallet hurt a bit and cause them to see the error in their ways, will it change, maybe. Is it probable? Not likely.

Well folks, it has been a while since i posted a blog. I feel it was in due time too!

So I picked up GTA 4 and despite the lack of time due to WoW, Work and Finals, I have not put in as much time as I would have liked, so no, the review is not ready. So far GTA 4 is, well, a masterpiece. The game screams perfection, despite a few jagged edges here and there. The stroy is lush and rich and makes you feel like your in Libery City and a part of the action. For those of us who have been to New York City, I think we can all agree that sometimes driving around, I feel like I am in New York and it just gives this game an incredible experiance. If you have in anyway enjoyed the past GTAs, you have to play this game. It is just one of those games you can't pass up to try, but really you need to buy this.

So people are ranting and raving overall about Mario Kart on the Wii, and honestly, I am completely disappointed. Mario Kart is one of my favotire racing games, steming back to Mario Kart on the SNES. I thought Mario Kart was just a franchise that could never be botched, I was wrong. Mario Kart on the Wii comes out offering much of what we are used too, and more. The controller scheme witht he wheel, is awesome. It responds well, and makes it a smooth experiance and makes you feel like you are absorbed into the Mario Kart universe a little more. What kills Mario Kart is well, the fact you can be too good at it. Yeah i sait it, you can be too good. How is that? Well if you are like me and been playing Mario Kart games since you were about 8-10 years old, you kind of have a natural knack for Mario Kart. Never ever, in past Mario Karts have i ever on the last lap, been in 1st place uncontested and then been hit with wave, after wave, after wave of power up attacks. So on the last lap, you can go from 1st place, to last place and its pretty much game over. Unless you get a Bullet Bill, or maybe a Gold Mushroom, you are no retaking the lead. I find this to be bull****! I am sorry, I can understand the game maybe trying to make the gap between 1st place (you) and 2nd place (the 1st loser) smaller and making the home stretch of the race more interesting, but this game totally and utterly takes you out of first place, and give you almost no chance for recovery. I was playing this just the other day and was about 50 feet from the finish line, got bombarded with shells and more, and i finished in 7th place. Had nothing hit me, i would have had to drive for 5 seconds more to win, but the game felt I should not win and made sure of that. Sorry, that is a crooked game and in no way is any sort of balancing feature. Mario Kart on the Wii is just bad when playing the CPU, with friends, the game is great and a lot of fun. In fact, since you play against other people in mulitplayer, there is non of that relentless bombardments 1 after another when playing multiplayer, don't get me wrong, you friends are still going to try and hti you, but there is more randomness is people's power ups, where as when playing the CPU, it seems at the final stretch, every AI character is loaded with a shell or bullet bill. Mario Kart on the Wii gets a 6/10 Score. Sorry, but no game that is "only fun" when playing with people/friends deserves a high score. The point of a video game to be good is it has to be fun both in single and mulitplayer (unless it is a strictly single player game stricly mulitplayer game with no choice of the opposite), not fun with 1 and crap with the other. Sorry Nintendo, you let a Mario Kart fan down. Actually, CEO of Nintendo, you call me up and say sorry for such a foul up!

Cheers folks!

Well folks, it happened to me finally. Yes my Xbox 360 has joined the ranks of many others and has the notorious "Red Ring of Death" . So out goes the 360 for a little while, back to heavy amounts of World of WarCraft and testing out my new iMac. For any of those who know me well, I am a stout Microsoft Windows user and for years trashed on Mac.

Why did I trash on Mac and now own one you may ask, well its simple economics and business. These days I work for a leading IT reseller (kinda like a CDW, but in the Northeast), and what do I sell tons of....iPods. Yup thats where i make my money iPods. Now you are sitting there and thinking, oh man...iPods...yeah good luck making money in that. Well true in normal circumstances, where my fellow co-workers sell computers and other IT products to businesses (and yes, I only work with Business normally), I sell 1 company iPods and lots of them. So when a company is giving you more money than your own employer does for selling their products, you kinda soften up. So i broke down and got a Mac, no worries Bill....my Mac has Windows Vista! :-)

So first impressions of a Mac vs a PC. I have to say, the Mac is fast, its sleek and man is it shiney. The mighty mouse, could use some imporvements. Other than that, Leopard is slick and has a lot to offer. Would i go Leopard over Vista or XP, still a giant HECK NO! As neat as Leopard is, the fact a Mac out of the box still does not come with a 2 button mouse is VERY pitiful.So far the one thing I am also noticing, and I am not 100% if this is a Mac problem of a VMware Fusion problem, but Windows updates take forEVER to finish.

As for a Mac with gaming, haven't tested, but you will see more Blog posts on Mac vs PC, Gamer Edition! Stay tuned for more.

Well its tough to argue, but Rock Band seems to be the King of song Downloads compared to Guitar Hero. Still don't get this wrong, when we say King, we are purely talking about people Buying Downloads, free downloads for extra song content goes to Guitar Hero (free is not a bad thing, check out the Dropkick Murphy's free Song pack, it rocks!). The thing was Rock Band came out and said before launch that this game would have massive music download options, and it has. Now hitting Xbox Live, just like the Big Pack of Greatful Dead, we have another big 6 song pack hitting the market, but this time it is a GREAT rock band, the boys of "Boston". For the lost cost of 800 points or 160 per single song downloads, you can rock out with your co*k out and hang out with your wang out! Boston is a great rock band and anyone owning Rock Band need to get this so you and your buddies can continue to have great fun with Rock Band.

Now does this justify no "The Who" full album pack that we were promised? No, but these 6 song big packs are a start in the right direction. Grateful Dead I would not throw in there as a Rock Band, they are more of a Jam Band, but hey for some people that works! The Boston pack is out, so grab your guitars, grab a beer or a double shot of something strong, and get ready to rock the crowd out, its Boston time!