I'm strongly considering selling my PS3. It is the type that cam with MGS4 and can play PS2 games. I also have MGS4 (obvious), Socom: Confrontation (which sucks), and Disgaea 3 games. On the HDD I have Warhawk and Fat Princess Downloads, but I'm not sure if I can delete my profile without deleting those games. Finally, I have the PS3 headset. If anyone in the continental US is interested, I could sell it to you. Anyone wanting to make an offer?

For any PS3 fans wondering why, its because I don't play it at all and its taking up space. I barely have time to play 360 recently, which is my favorite system, and have mostly just been letting family and friends borrow it.

I have another Dead 360. The one I was using for a spare died upon return to my sister. Its being shipped back to Microsoft today. For some time I was able to happily proclaim that I own 4 Xbox 360s and haven't really had a problem. Now its not true. This is the 3rd RROD for me total.

I'm seriously considering canceling my Gamefly membership. I get perks because I've been a member so long. Its 10% off every store purchase and a $5 gift card every month. I don't want to lose my benefits, but I seriously do not have enough time right now to keep up with my 3 game at a time plan. I'm pretty sure if I leave and come back they'll restart my time. Anyway, I have nothing against their service, but I think I'll be fine without them for a while.

I'm working on a business plan for a class I'm taking right now. I have to come up with a name for this theoretical computer store I'm making. I would like it to be a business that is more of a retail store that does repair work than a repair store that sells stuff so I'd like a name that fights that. I would like it to be appealing to gamers but also women, sorry girls gamers, and anyone else. I've already spent some time with a thesaurus, here are my ideas:

Computer Fix

PC Remedy

PC Tune-up

Computer Improver

Absolute Computer

Complete Computer

Convenient Computer

Correct Computer

Computer Zone

Neighborhood Computer

Quality Computer

Choice Computer

Best Computer

PC Zone

Computer Power

Please, tell me which of my suggestions you like best and why. Also make any suggestions you want. They don't have to be two words or contain computer, and it doesn't have to say computer. Thanks for your help.

I was able to return my sister the 360 she uses to her. It not her 360, despite her insisting that it is. Its my spare 360, hence why I've been using it while mine was getting fixed. Its also the Rock Band 360 where all my DLC for that is stored. Anyway, its mine (I paid for it), but I'm letting her have it back... to use, not to own.

Since i sent it back on the 9th, it took only 10 days to gett back. Given that 4 of those days were weekend, thats not too bad. Microsoft gave me a 1 month gold card, which I'm giving to my sister so she can Rock Band online some. Hopefully she thinks that makes up for some of her "suffering". Her life is so hard, I know.

Its not all that often I go for a 100% on games anymore. Obviously, I only put this effort into game I enjoy, but there has to be a combination of other factors too for it to actually happen. One, the game has to have a high replay value. Almost all games require more than one time through to get everything. Two... NO COLLECTION QUESTS! God I hate those! Three, I have to have the time to do it.

The stars were aligned for Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires. With the help of my brothers, trading off as 2nd player, we beat the game on Chaos mode and unlocked every single custom item and bonus. It took over 30 hours, but that isn't nearly as long as Mass Effect, or other titles that I'll never 100%. The sad thing is that I still want to play it, but now don't have any unlockables pushing me forward. I guess its time to start waiting on DW7:Empires.

I am not an avid Dynasty Warrior fan, but it seems like the games appeal to me. I played DW:Gundam and unlocked all achievements, took about 80 hours, and I LOVED DW:Gundam 2, but I can't find it for less the $55 used. My brother bought Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires, $40 new, and decided he hated it. I gave it a little more effort and I love it too. I played for over 20 hours this weekend. Eventually, my brother played co-op. He must have decided I was having too much fun with his rejected game.

Here's my review!

I gave it a 7.5. It would have been an 8, but there are a few too many little issues. The core of the game is solid.

The greatest hero battle reaches its conclusion with Mario vs Freeman. I haven't really blogged on this because in all honesty I don't like anyone in it (except MegaMan, but that didn't work out). I know that people are upset because Nintendo dominated, but seriously... Gordon Freeman?!?! Don't give me the BS about him being awesome. The only reason he is in the finals and not Link is because he is not made by Nintendo. People, go out and vote for Mario. Put your BS, "I'm too good for Nintendo baby games," attitude to the side. Mario should win and you all know it. Stop crying about Master Chief and Ryu and Ryu and whoever else you thought should have won. If Gordon Freeman wins, I've lost confidence in everyone who frequents this site.

This is old news for me, but I never posted it on here. On my week of vacation I was looking forward to using my 360 extensively, but when I sat down in front of it and turned it on I was greated by the 3 flashing red lights. It isn't such a huge deal for me since I have three other 360s to use, but I swear the thing new I was on vacation and it would be the worst possible time for a melt-down. I'm sending it in for repair today and we will see how long it takes to get back.

I stopped by Game Crazy last night and they were clearing the place out. It seems that they're closing some 300 stores nationwide, which leaves a few but obviously things are bad for them. The had all their game drawers pulled out and used titles were priced to move. I picked up Dead Rising and a Mass Effect Faceplate/skin for the 360 for $16. I'm slightly sadded by the closure though. Game Crazy always gave better money for trades and their used games were far more reasonably priced. They were also opened 365 days a year, which meant if your Christmas gifts sucked you could still get a worthwhile game to spend the day playing. I loved that.

My Review!

Score 7.5

There is so much to like about ODST's campaign and Firefight is a blast too. The problem is that it isn't enough on its own to justify the full $60 price. While I know they through in the Halo 3 multiplayer, I already have multiple copies of Halo 3 and could just switch to one of them should I want to play it. Its still good, but it doesn't compete against other current and upcoming full retail releases very well.

I'll say straight off that I don't like the Call of Duty series. It takes itself far too seriously and is far too scripted. Right now, I'm playing through Call of Duty: World at War, and I hate it. It isn't that the game is bad, but let me give you a common senario for me:

1. Invisible walls funnel me to specific story sequence.

2. Scripted dialouge from AI team member that I don't want to hear but can't skip.

3. OMG! ITS AN AMBUSH!

4. Dead.

5. Respawn and start again at step 1.

The game is so stupid. I know the people who made the game love their story,but the story is pointless. I just want to play a game, not face the harsh realities of war! Now if the game were somewhat realistic, I might be able to accept the feeling their going for, but I have regenerating health for christ's sake! Call of Duty, stop being so pretentious. Please.

I've been sick the pas two days and in between vomiting and long naps I managed to play through all of Bionic Commando. I thought it was a lot of fun. It might not be the greatest game ever made, but I think it got a bad rap by critics and I'm slightly saddened by how poorly it sold. I HATED Bionic Commando Rearmed but it sold well. This game is MUCH better than rearmed, but you can still see the similarities. I guess you can never please some people.

Anyway here's a link to my review. For all those numbers people, I gave it a 7.0.

I'm not on vacation anymore. I played a lot of video games while I was off and managed to beat Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Wolfenstein, and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Here are some of my thoughts on them:

Wolfenstein:

I mostly enjoyed my time with this game. You get some magic which slows the enemies down and you have a boyonette which kills most enemies in one quick hit. I don't know if they designed it like that on purpose or if I was exploiting some sort of game imbalance.

Review - score 6.0

Ultimate Alliance 2:

I actually didn't play through the whole game because it was my brothers save file and he didn't wait for me to continue the game. I think I missed out on two levels in the middle, but I saw more than enough to get a full feel for the game. I like it, but not as much as the original. My review is mostly just saying that redudantly.

Review - score 7.0

Batman: Arkham Asylum:

I enjoyed this game, but probably not as much as other people do. Still, I didn't write a review because it is near impossible to fault it at any point (if I had, I would have gave it a 9.0). The gameplay works well and all aspects work together to make it feel very unique. The graphics are spectacular and there is still plenty to do after beating the main story. Its hard to think of someone who wouldn't like the game, but I actually enjoyed both the other games I played more.

I think the moment I knew this wasn't my type of game was when I stealth killed a sniper and wanted to pick up his rifle to take out the gaurd in the adjacent tower, you can't. So, I'm not Batman, but it probably means something that I still liked the story enough to see it all the way through.

I'm on vacation this week, so don't expect to see much of me. I beat the main story on Red Faction and the 100 gamerscore achievement pushed me over the top. My brother is in town on leave and he has Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and Batman:AA. I plan to play both before going back to work next week. Finally, I watched Xmen Origins and I didn't like it. I think I've seen Soap Operas with more believable stories.

I've been pretty active in the Serious Discussion Union recently. We talk about games a lot, but not all topics are about games. Some are political and some might even be about religion. There are normally a good number of posts in the forum, and I've been contributing some threads recently. I'd strongly encourage anyone who reads my blog but does not already frequent the Union to check it out. The more people, the greater persective and the better the discussion. Here's a link:

The Serious Discussion Union

I've been playing Red Faction: Guerrilla for a while now. Its fun, but a little too hardcore (even for me). I've been playing through the campaign on "Casual" difficulty because I got sick of dieing on "Normal". Also, I decided to try the online last night and the above picture sums up what happened. The game is impossible for newbies online. It strongly supports the party system, which is cool for inviting friends, but since I'm playing by myself, I am always teamed up with other noobs (also playing by themselves) against teams of experienced players in parties. After 2-3 hours online, I have yet to win a match. Its quite frustrating.

Don't eat the Habanero! I ate one raw this weekend. I immidiatly had trouble breathing and started to hiccup, then my tounge went numb. I drank a half gallong of milk to try to keep the spice down and still felt like I was going to throw up for the next 12 hours. The saddest part is that they don't even taste good. It would require some strong motivation to convince me to eat another.

Oh, I unlock all the Mass Effect Ahievements as well. I know, I'm awesome. Thanks.

I actually find it hard to believe that I didn't write a review before. So, here's my review of Mass Effect, I doubt you'll find anyone who's given it a more thorough evaluation.

Great storytelling and enjoyable characters make this game excellent. Bland side-quest can get tedious.

Difficulty:Just Right

Time Spent:100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:"Ambitious"

In Mass Effect, you take the role of Commander Shepard and both Shepard himself, or herself, and the events that take place, are customizable to the players' tastes. The game is set in an incredibly well developed universe with plenty of trivia for any sci-fi nerd. In addition to great story, the game is fun to play. It is a shooter/RPG hybrid and, for the most part, it keeps the game fast paced and full of action.

The best part of Mass Effect is its story. As Shepard you'll meet up with many different characters and situations and they way you choose to react to these situations affects the entire galaxy. By the time the game ends, its very easy to feel connected to your personal version of Commander Shepard. The ending will differ based on your decisions and because of this, the game promotes multiple play-throughs.

The main quest will take about 24 hours of play time complete but that can be more than doubled by completing the games side-quests. Sadly most of these assignments are extremely boring. The majority involve driving around in the your tank-truck, the Mako, on a nearly desolate planet. While many of these side missions can add to the story, they do so by a text box popping up and explaining what happened. The nice part is that you never are forced to do a single side-quest so if you decide you don't like them then you can just skip them.

There are a few other odd items that keep Mass Effect from being perfect. There is a lot of texture pop-in and while its better than loading screen, it still breaks the immersion. Also, I find the driving sections quite boring, and its not helped by the Mako controlling poorly and sometime not shooting where you aim. Many players complain about the elevators in the game, but they are not a big issue. You can use the in game "fast-travel" option to almost completely avoid them.

All included, Mass Effect's story, presentation, and gameplay make up for its few faults. With all the choices a player can make its easy to finish one game, just to want to immediately start another. I've completed the game many times and still enjoy playing. Whether you'll play through multiple times and get the value out of it I did, or for just one quick run-through, Mass Effect is an incredible experience that really shouldn't be missed.

8.5 - Great

Please Give Feedback.

"Pinnacle Station" is the new DLC for Mass Effect and of course I downloaded it as soon as I could. Its good and worth the $5, but I wouldn't say it is as good as the previous "Bringing Down the Sky", BDTS, content. What it is, is twelve "combat simulations" that test your fighting ability. You fight for high score in survival, hunt, capture, or time trial modes. While this could have made for some intense online competition, you're just trying to beat the scores of the NPCs in the game, and those scores don't change. Each of these simulations last about 2 minutes and you might have to retry once or twice beat the required time/score. There is one final mission where you are forced to survive on "the highest difficulty" for over 2 minutes, but I didn't find that mission any more difficult than the normal survival modes(in fact, I thought it was considerably easier). The rewards for playing are a powerful (but not as powerful as the spectre c1ass) weapon of your choice and your own retirement home. I havn't actually visited my new home yet, I'm too busy saving the Galaxy, but I hear its nice.

This DLC fills a hole that existed in Mass Effect and lets you fight like you've always wanted to. The reason it is not as good as the previous DLC is the complete lack of story or moral choices. In BDTS, there were a couple chances to choose paragon or renegade and it introduced a new Mass Effect alien race and some considerable back story. It also gave you a more useful reward, armor or tech upgrade. Despite Bioware's argument otherwise, BDTS is a longer experience too. The only reason Pinnacle Station would take longer is if a player had trouble getting the needed score and had to retry several times.

So, its a good package that scratches that itch of wanting to test your characters fighting ability. It could have been more by either giving more options for the matches, like say Shepard fighting alone, or having online leaderboards. It also sacrifices the story, which has always been a big part of what makes ME great. Still, its some good fun and provides much more than the standard ME sidequest. I enjoyed the hour or so I spent on it, and I would definitly stop by again in any additional ME playthroughs (though, I'm not sure how many more of those I'll do).

I've already beaten Mass Effect 4 times and I thought I would just be waiting to drop my level 60 Shepard into ME2 when it releases. Well, only this past weekend, when the new DLC came out, did I discover that my little sister DELETED my Mass Effect saves. I was a little peeved, but only a litte. Since Mass Effect give you perks based off your achievements, most of the work I had done still applies to my new games. I started new and got to level 28 in six hours, thanks to triple experience, but still haven't tried out the new DLC I downloaded. However, I am enjoying playing again, and the only reason I'm not happy about it is because I think my previous character looked better than my new one. Oh well.

Just a reminder for those who don't know, Mass Effect is an awesome game! I just wanted to let you know.