Hi, I just upgraded my Xbox Live account back up to Gold, so anyone who has Xbox Live and is my friend on GameSpot should add me on Xbox Live as a friend. My account is: clashunreal. I don't have much to play online yet, but I do have Orange Box, Guitar Hero III and my room-mate has Halo 3. Hook up with me.

Other than that, I see Mario Party DS is still neglected by the GameSpot staff, so I'm wondering if anyone has it yet. There's no user reviews or anything posted yet either. I wanna get it, but I'm not sure if it's worth it or not. If so, it'll be awesome I'm sure due to the single-card multiplayer and such. But if not, I'm not sure if it's worth it otherwise.

Lemme know if you add me.

Also, very tragic news, my computer crashed a few days ago and I've had to restart, downgrade to XP, and I've lost all my data. Which was several book chapters, fanfic hours, and every episode of Sonic X I owned. I hadn't got done with the first season yet. Furthermore, all my Otomo comics are gone, as well as the Marvel Zombies, Civil War, etc. and Sonic the Hedgehog scans.

Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed out. I also think I bombed YET ANOTHER German test today.

I finished Call of Duty 4 today (after only 5 days of owning it-- and only playing it maybe a couple of hours a day- I was much more preoccupied with Super Mario Galaxy) and so I wrote a review. As far as whether I can recommend it or not, sure. I can. I don't like FPS but I found Call of Duty 4 to be quite fun. And I haven't had fun with a FPS in years. Literally.

However, I also revsied my review of Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games. I had to bump the score down a point because of the fact that the game really has no appeal when you've had it a couple of days and you're mostly by yourself. Mind you, this game is VERY fun with friends around, but without any around, it hardly makes you wanna play it. Unless you just want to practice your technique that bad. Which y'know... is possible.

Other than that, I haven't been playing SMG much. Not because I don't want to, but because my paper on Akira is due Tuesday, I have a HUGE test to do Tuesday as well. My grade hangs on it. But after Tuesday, finally, will be Thanksgiving holidays. And I am so happy. I'll have Super Mario Galaxy at least finished at the end of that.

"Shine a Light"- the Rolling Stones movie directed by Scorsese is coming out April 2008. I just found out about it today, and I'm pretty excited. It looks really good. Check out the part where Keef is singing with Jack White. That is an awesome song to do that on.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gKS6tduF43E

Also, I wasn't aware, but "The Future is Unwritten" played in limited release at a local theater. So... that sucks.

Anyhow. I won't go on about this kinda crap. Later!

Well, I didn't end up being able to take advantage of the sale at Toys 'R' Us for Super Mario Galaxy because when I asked for a refund from GameStop they said they could only give me store credit. And... I WORK THERE!!! The bastards. Anyway, it's all good, so I picked up my Galaxy before I went home and salivated all the way back to the house... only to get a call from my girlfriend. So I went over to her house for a while and watched Pokemon and ate her food and then rushed out at the first chance to FINALLY play Super Mario Galaxy: the game I have been waiting 9 years for!!!

And... so far, I am not at all disappointed. I stopped for now after a few hours of playing because I don't want to beat the game too quickly, and because I have homework. But I have made it through the first patch of galaxies, and a few extras on the next patch (Sweet Sweet Galaxy, Roll Around(?) Galaxy) and I am AMAZED. Honestly, this baby handles smoother and feels better than most every video game I've played before. The graphics are sleek and vibrant, the levels are imaginative and immersive, the story is... well, y'know, somewhat original, and the gameplay is out of this world. You willnot find a better game this holiday season, I assure you. And I say that knowing that NiGHTS comes out very soon... and I'm a huge NiGHTS fan. (Do you have the comics?... didn't think so.)

Pretty soon I'll have some more up on the game, I'll do a review after I've beat it (I don't like to do reviews until then) and had time to let the content really soak in. Something tells me the pounds I put on over Thanksgiving holidays are going to be due more in part to my being a couch potato than some Thanksgiving turkey.

I can't find my Pokemon Pearl!!! Oh no!!! This is ridiculously bad!

I may just have to borrow my friend's Diamond version... but that would mean me deleting his file to start my own all over again. I wouldn't wanna do that to him.

On a side note, does anyone know if there's any way to travel to Kanto or Hoenn in Diamond and Pearl?

Today has been pretty good so far. I went out searching for an HD TV today... just for playing video games and watching movies on though, I don't really care about watching TV on it. Perhaps when it's the only TV I have (which is just a half year away at this point), but even then I'm not too picky. In any case, I found one at a pawn shop for $450. It's 32" at the price of a 26", so I leapt for it. I also got some component cables for the Xbox & Wii. Not likely I'll find one for my PS2 or Nintendo 64. But I'll look. My brother's going to try and find some surround sound speakers as well. All quite a leap up, if you consider that my gaming set up consisted of only a Target brand 19" TV. At least it was flat screen?

I'm watching Akira on it right now. Unfortunately, it's more for business than pleasure. My film class requires me to write a convincing 8-10 page research paper on a foreign film of my choice and discuss its cultural importance. So, of course, I chose the most influential animation in my lifetime. It was either this or Spirited Away. Anyhow... that's actually due on November 21. So... yeah, I need to hurry up and get on that I guess. I have barely even started. Just compiled resources.

Super Mario Galaxy is in only two days... can't wait for that. That's actually half the reason I even improved my set up... which is silly, I know. I'm actually somewhat in the hole now. But I couldn't resist.

I just cofounded a new Union. It's called the Sonic the Hedgehog Universe Union. You should check it out... maybe join?