Well, today is my 18th birthday, and my new laptop my parents ordered me for college came at the perfect time. It's a black Dell Inspiron 1525 with a Hi-def sound card, 2 gigs of ram, and Intel Extreme graphics accelerator. Needless to say, I won't be doing a whole lot of gaming because of the limitations of the graphics card, but it's more than adequate for my schoolwork. I'll be attending junior college for basics, and after that... I have no idea. That's why I'm going to a junior college first. I can get my basics out of the way while buying myself two extra years to decide what exactly I want to do with my life.

The laptop is the only thing I'm getting for my birthday, witch is perfectly okay with me. We'll be going out to eat and I think my mom is making a cake, but we're not doing much else. Be sure to wish me a happy birthday!

I've been a regular GS user for over two years and have yet to create a banner for my profile. I'd like an Unreal Tournament 3 banner, but I have no idea how to make it. So that's where you come in. If any of you are willing, I would like someone to make it for me. You can give yourself credit by putting your username on it somewhere if you like. If anyone is willing to do this for me, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks --- shufu7-11

I personally have never like doing my game shopping at Hastings. They've always been more expensive than everyone else and their used games almost never work. But yesterday I found a great deal. My brother wanted to go to get a magazine, so I went adventuring through the used games section at Hastings. They had an entire row about five shelves high full of used Xbox games, and there was a sign at the end of the isle: Buy one get one for 1 cent. I wanted to avoid spending any money, but this was a deal I just couldn't pass up. After some serching, I found Star Wars: KOTOR and Fable. Normally I don't buy two games at once, espcially not at Hastings. But like I said before, this was a deal that I couldn't let slip away. I might have to go in and check their games more often! EDIT: Since most of you probably don't know what Hasting's is, it's a small chain of entertainment stores. They carry books and magazines, cd's, DVD's, used and new games, as well as rental games and movies.

I'm not sure if any of you actually care about hockey or even hockey video games, but if by some chance you do, please read on. If not, stop now. You won't understand the significance of this story.
Anyways, I've been playing through Dynasty mode on NHL 08 with the Washington Capitals, and I just finnished an odd but thrilling game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It's in overtime (still reg. season by the way). I get a powerplay. I lose the faceoff and they take it down the ice. They try to make a centering pass accross the slot but Ovechkin intercepts it, and I waste no time in sending a lead pass to Michael Nylander for the breakaway. But the defensemen Roy trips him. You know what that means? A penalty shot! In overtime! That is something you NEVER see in hockey. Needless to say, I scored on the penalty shot with Nylander and won the game. I got the "Penalty Shot Hero" achievement for it.

In the 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV, there is an achievement called "warm coffee." You earn this achievement by successfully dating a girl and getting invited into her house. Does that sound familiar? If you still don't see where I'm going with this, I'm pointing out the allusion between the warm coffee achievement and the infamous hot coffee incident of a few summers ago. Not that it's a big deal or anything, but does anyone else see the allusion that Rockstar obviously put in intentionally? I think it's kind of funny!

I know this is probably something stupid to get worked up over, but I can't help it. Everyone I talk to at school thinks that Halo 3 is the pinacle of videogaming. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game, but I just don't get what it is that makes people believe it is superior to any other shooter out there.

Think about it for a second. What can you do in Halo 3 that you can't do in other shooters? What elements does it have that makes it the best shooter ever? I've asked people at school, but no one seems to have a really good reason. Some point out the equipment. Okay, so what? Some say the incredible jumping ability. So you can jump really high and really far. Big deal. The most logical reason I've heard (and the only one I can agree with - to some extent) is the varying types of grenades and the ability to make some of them stick to your opponent.

So what about you? Do you agree with me, or do you think I'm a complete moron? Your thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.