Continual Randomness

Working on the Set-up

2009-02-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

While I am still going through the process of setting up a more permanent home for CR, I thought I'd post with an update just to let you know what's up and happening.

I've already set-up the main domain name for the site; the new home will be at continualrandomness.com, like always. If you go there now, it will redirect you back here.

I'd like to move off of push-button publishing though, and head into the world of WordPress. This, unfortunately, turned out to be considerably harder than I originally anticipated it to be. But fear not: the new site is coming, and probably at a faster pace now that I am finished with midterms for the time being.

Its Been Awhile

2009-01-31T23:31:00.000-08:00

To say that it has been awhile since my last post here would, of course, be a great understatement. The last post I made here was during the opening days of my freshman year at college at UC Davis. I am now in the midst of my Junior year, beginning to make the first steps in the process of applying to law school.

So, of course, it begs the question: why am I back?

The easy answer would be that I stumbled upon this site while I was board online, and looked back at the posts I made while in high school and reminisced about the past. While that's certainly true, I don't think thats really the reason why I am on here again, blogging for the first time in years.

Instead, I think the real reason lies in a series of events that have transpired over the past few months. As I continue my collegiate career, and make preparations for what it means to have an actual career, I have been increasingly called to question what my view of the world is, and why it matters. There have been a lot of moments over the past few months where I have questioned how my character will contribute to the world at large, and what I seek to contribute. I can't onestly say that I've gotten any further in this process than this simple realization.

But, I think I have made an important discovery here. For a variety of reasons, I have come to believe that expressing one's opinion in the written word is an important process. Putting my thoughts online of course opens them up for the world to see, which is inevitably the point of blog. But it obviously serves an individual function as well, as it allows me to think about my opinions and thoughts as well, and forces me to shape (or at least think about) the complexities of the world. I confess openly that I am clearly not the first to make this discovery; it is in fact why the blogging revolution started, and continues to this day in the new forms of social media.

A lot has changed about me in these past few years; I think I have changed more in this short time than in any other period in my life. The meanigs and implications of this lay far beyond the scope of this post, but these changes are the fundamental reasons behind its words.

With that said, I offically open a new chapter in Continual Randomness. I thought about changing the name, in an effort to sound more professional (and perhaps shorter and more Web 2.0 friendly), but came to the conclusion that such action was not only unneccessary, but foolish. I am still the very same person who posted the orignial message back in 2004, not matter how much has changed, and thus this blog, and its title, continual to have a sort of special meaning to me.

This is not, however, to say that the blog will not be changing. It will, in fact, be changing quite a bit. I plan to acquire the actual domain name of the site, and host it up there. [EDIT: Just to prove that this is actually happening, I went ahead and bought the domain name for continualrandomness.com Go ahead and visit it; right now I just have it redirecting back to here, but eventually I plan to set it up as a seperate site, creating more of a clean break with some of the old content on this site] In addition, the blog will of course be getting an entire make-over. These changes will accompany a change in the blog's theme. This blog was created to express my interests and my passions as a person. As a junior back in high school this mostly consisted of counting down the days until Halo 2. As a Junior now in college, preparring to head off to law school, these interests and passions have of course changed. In what way, I'm still not sure. But you can bet this blog will be a great place to find out.

Until next time, which I promise will not be too long from now,

-StarDrummer

At the Beach

2007-07-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm at the beach this week. I really should post more often. But I don't really care. Is anybody really out there?

2006 STAR Awards-Winners

2007-01-24T01:04:00.000-08:00

Here are the winners of the Thrid Annual STAR Awards. Congrats!

Best Console of the Year
Xbox 360
-While 2006 saw the launch of two new systems, the 360 easily takes the cake this year with a lineup that has rarely been seen. From ESIV:O, Dead Rising, RS: Vegas, to the epic GoW, the only console that even comes close is the Wii; which, while very good, just didn't have the same level of momentum.

Standout Device (New)
Vision Camera
-Surprise, this year's winner isn't an iPod. It's not even a music player. Heck, it's not even portable. But that's OK, because seeing my face in Vegas is just so cool. The Zune, despite it's shortfalls, is a distant second.

Best Online Game
Gears of War
-GoW is simply a game that may change the way we play online. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes it so special, as it's more of all of the forces working together to make one hell of an experience. GRAW takes a distant second, for its revolutionary team work requirements.

Best Offline Game
Dead Rising
-While I really like the others in this category, and I admit it was a close call, Dead Rising really was the most fun I had while playing SP this year. It really did reinvent a style of gaming that I had forgotten since 2002, when Live came out. Honorable mention goes out out to Zelda for, well, being Zelda done right.

Best Orignal Title
Viva Pinata
- I've never played anything like VP before, and it's just so much fun. No other title took such a unique premise this year and made it fun to play. In a world full of sequels, this category is made to only include new games, and VP is a perfect game to get its first win.

Best Continuation Title
New Super Maio Brothers
-Not that there's anything wrong with sequels, if they are done right. And there can be no other game franchise that knows how to make a good sequel than Mario. This game on the DS really changed the way Mario was played, for the better. Honorable Mention goes out to (gasp!) Madden 07, ONLY ON THE WII, for its innovative use of the controller.

Best Graphics
--caption award

Best Gameplay
Dead Rising
- Call me crazy, but I loved the time structure of Dead Rising and its save system. Add to that chainsaws and zombies, and you don't get much better gameplay. A close second goes to Gears of War, for almost being more than a game.

Best COntrols
--caption award

Best Star Wars Game
Lego Star Wars II
-Unfortunately not a big choice this year; however, Lego Star Wars II is an excellant game and worthy of this award.

Console Bests
--caption award

GOTY
Gears of War
-This years game of the year was a hard pick. Wait...no it really wasn't. I've played GoW by far more than any other game this year, and that's do to one reason: it's a blast to play. Period. It's innovative and fresh, and has the best graphics to date, anywhere. I'm ready for GoW2.

Best Developer
Epic (Gears of War)
Nintendo (New Super Mario Brothers, Zelda)
- I know it sucks to have a tie, but I just can't only honor one. On the one hand, Epic did something truly great with GoW, and continues to support it with free content that rocks. On the other, Nintendo has basically changed the video game world this year with dominance of the Wii and DS.

Best DLC
Live Arcade: Small Arms
- Small Arms has made me think twice about what Live Arcade can do. I seriously considered nominating Small Arms for Game play, but it is definatly worthy of this award. A distant second is UNO, do to both it timing (remember the counter?) and the fact that it was fun, plus it added Vision support.

Moive of the Year
Little Miss Sunshine
-OK, my movie choices are a tad off, but the winner is the best movie of the year. LMS rocked as a perfect combo of National Lampoon meets Sideways: two of my favorite movies. Honorable mention goes to Superman, for bringing the franchise back to life in a great way.

TV Show of the Year
How I Met Your Mother
- All nominees represented shows I watched every show of (OK...maybe not every Report, but alot). I just love HIMYM, it's my kind of show. Honestly, watching a new episode has become a kind of event for me. A close second would be Studio Sixty, followed by (yes...I have to list all of them) Colbert, Sopranos, and Current.

STAR Awards 2006-Nominess In

2007-01-24T01:01:00.000-08:00

Without further ado (you've waited long enough...) Here are the 2006 Nominees for the STAR Awards. Winners will be announced on Friday.

Best Console of the Year
Xbox 360
PS2
Ps3
Nintendo Wii

Standout Device (New)
iPod Nano G2
iPod Shuffle G2
Nintendo DS Lite
Zune
Vision Camera

Best Online Game
Gears of War
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter
Call of Duty 3
Resistance: Fall of Man
Rainbow Six: Vegas

Best Offline Game
Gears of War
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Dead Rising
Zelda: Twilight Princess
God of War

Best Orignal Title
Viva Pinata
Resistance: Fall of Man
Dead Rising
God of War
Wii Sports
Gears of War

Best Continuation Title
GR:AW
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Madden 07 (Wii)
New Super Maio Brothers
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Best Graphics
--caption award

Best Gameplay
Dead Rising
GR:AW
Gears of War
Zelda: Twilight Princess
SC:DA

Best COntrols
--caption award

Best Star Wars Game
Lego Star Wars II
Empire at War

Console Bests
--caption award

GOTY
Gears of War
Resistance: Fall of Man
Zelda: Twilight Princess
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
GR:AW

Best Developer
Epic (Gears of War)
Rare (Viva Pinata)
Nintendo (New Super Mario Brothers, Zelda)
Insomniac (Resistance: Fall of Man)
Bethseda (ESIV: Oblivion)

Best DLC
Call of Duty 2 Map Packs
Live Arcade: Small Arms
Live Aracade: UNO
Live Arcade: Cloning Clyde
NVC: Super Mario Bros.

Moive of the Year
Superman Returns
An Inconvienant Truth
Iraq for Sale
Little Miss Sunshine

TV Show of the Year
Studio 60: On the Sunset Strip
How I Met Your Mother
The Sopranos: Season Six
The Colbert Report
Current

What to Get Me: 2006 Edition

2006-12-20T00:55:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the annual What To Get Me post.

Each year, I make the effort to create an online Amazon wishlist to help out those who just want to get me something but don't want to actually have to go through the trouble of being creative. Have no fear; 2006 is not forgotten. You still have time to get in an order in time for Christmas, but you better hurry.

What to Get Me: 2006 Christmas List (Amazon Edition)

So I've Been AFK For Awhile

2006-12-20T00:45:00.000-08:00

This marks the third straight post I've made about, well, not making posts. It's just been, well, crazy this last couple of weeks. I've been flying back and forth, writing papers, and taking finals. That leaves very little time for witting on a blog that I;m not sure anyone even bothers to read.

However, that being said, I am back home until the 2nd, so I might be blogging a bit more.

Also, I will keep up the yearly traditions that the blog holds for the month of December, and that means my Christmas list and the 3rd Annual STAR Awards. Stay tuned for more info on both coming latter today.

In Xbox gaming news, I'm still hooked on GoW, which is probably the best game out for the 360 to date. I've signed up for he Halo 3 beta, and can not wait to be picked. I think my room might just overfill with UCD Halo nerds if I get in. Also, check out this YouTube piece, done by none other than yours truly, on mashing the Megadeath "Gears of War" song ad the new Halo TV ad. Fits, as I say, "oddly nicely."

I'm also on the hunt for a Wii. And I've had no luck so far. When I say "on the hunt" I mean I look for one at every store I go into, so I'm not really going out of my way. Eventually, I'll find one, but I just don't see the point in going crazy over the thing yet.

Where Have I Been?

2006-11-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

That's a good question. It's been close to two months... and the only thing thats changed on this blog is the constantly updating played games list. In fact, as of late, my Xbox 360 is doing more blogging than I am.

The answer, of course, is I've been busy. College just doesn't leave much time for blogging. It does, however, seem to lead to a lot of reading, writing and bike trips up and down campus. And the occasional GoW game with my dorm mates.

Yes, I am officially hooked on Gow now. It rocks. Possibly more than Halo does...although that is still to be determined. For me, the appeal of Halo is the fact that I can still log on, more than 2 years latter, and feel like I am playing a great game that is different than I ever have played before. The fact that we are getting new maps sometime next year surly only adds to this fact.

So, my point of writing this is a post of uncertainty. My life hasn't exactly fallen apart once I stopped blogging. And I don't see any posts on Engadget or Joystiq begging me to come back. If I do, I surly will. Until than...I'm simply not sure. Is this something I want to continue? Sorta. In a weird way I do...but I don't know. Maybe. Possibly. But don't count on it. Maybe cross your fingers, but you may forced to uncross them eventually because you find something more productive to do.

It' Been Awhile

2006-10-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a long, long time since I've last posted on this blog. No, No, I'm NOT dead, just been busy. What's happened since my last post more than a month ago? The world has truely gone crazy, that's what.

TGS and X'06: TGS is a bust, X06 a blast. Halo Wars annouced, shown.
DOOM surprsied the world and is placed on marketplace
Vision is released, but not available on any store shelves.
Guitar Hero 2 coming the 360.
Lego Star Wars II Released; DLC Characters Released. Game Rocks!
Test Drive: Unlimited Releases. Game is OK.
Tons of demos released: FEAR, Fuzion Frenzy 2, Sonic, and others
Sony tries to blow up the world with batteries
Resident Evil 5 coming to 360
Oblivion going to PS3
Tons and tons of other stuff

So, I'm not quite sure why I stopped blogging. I just started playing Dead Rising non-stop, and than never picked it up again.

But this blog is far from dead. Very, very far.

For the past week, I've been making my transistion to college life. I'm up at UC Davis, which means three things: there's hella cows, and it's hella cold. Oh, and everybody uses "hella" all the time. Very, very odd.

This blog will serve new functions as a place for me to vent about the upcoming struggles of college life, just as it did during my high school years. Without a doubt, expect many updates about how it's gong and what's up.

That brings me to my next point: updates. Now that I'm in college, my shcedule is, well, crazy. Expect updates to be, well, crazy.

Dead Rising Review Up

2006-08-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

For the past week I've done nothing but play Dead Rising. My review is now up over at TeamXbox, and yes, I did beat the end with the "ture" ending!

LINK

XBL Arcade Wednesdays: Part TWO!

2006-08-16T01:25:00.000-07:00

Confirming what some alreadly belived, MS extended Arcade Wednesday today, to include three new gamesa and some actually good content. Here's the full list:

August 16--Cloning Clyde Pic Packs (100 Points)
August 16-- Uno Theme Deck, PGR3 (100 Points)
August 23-- Texas Hold 'Em (Free for 48 hours; 800 points after)
August 30--Time Pilot (400 Points)
September 6--Scramble (400 Points)

The only thing that changed from the "rumors" was a week push back all around (no one geussed the Pic Packs or UNO Theme) and thus, the fact that Lumines Live! isn't out on the 6th, or even in the list. Perhaps it will come on Wednesdays Part 3?

Anyway, very good news to hear that Poker is finally on its way, and for free. Cool!

(BTW--This is the 500th post on CR!)

Happy 2 B-day!

2006-08-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Continual Randomness! Today you turn 2 years old. It's hard to belive it, but it's true. It was two years ago that I sat down and created a Blogger accouant and started doing whatever this is. Since than, it's, well, been a hell of a ride.

This last year brought with it many surprises, most notably the launch of Xbox 360 and my final year at high school. This blog chronicaled it all, and proved to be one of the best places to get accurate and breaking news in the tech sector. Overall, this year has been pretty good. I think we can all agree that the 360 rocks the video game world, and on a personal note, I can't wait to head off to college latter in September.

Now, to kick off another tradition. Last year, I posted several items that this blog would focus on. Here they are:

My Senoir Year at YHS, including college stuff and graduation.
The Launch of Xbox 360, PS3, and the Nintendo Revolution.
The (maybe) release of Bungie's next game.
Windows Vista and its new wave of crappyness.
More globe trotting
Harry Potter #7 build up
Star Wars Day 05, release of ROTS DVD and BF 2
More Xbox Live attachment

Now, let's review the year, and see how they stacked up. First off, my Senior year at high school. Yep, this one was covered at least once a month, from the first day of school, homecoming, 9-11 rememberance, and more. Next, the launch of Xbox 360, PS3 and Revolution. I got one of the three right. Looks like the PS3 will be another goal; as for the Revolution-it got a new name. However, CR was the place to get all the info on the two consoles before they launch this fall.

The next one I was even hsitant in 2005-the next Bungie game. However, the world now knows that Halo 3 is coming, and in 2007. Another goal for next year. On that note, Vista and Harry Potter #7 both failed to see the light of day this year, but they probably will next year.

Star Wars Day 05 definatly came, and was covered by CR. We were left with one of the best SW video games yet to date, save KOTOR and a classic on DVD. Star Wars Day 06 is coming this year, and CR will be on it on September 12, 2006.

Globe trotting is an interesting one. I did do some, although not exactly global. I did make that random call from Vegas back in June, and did head up to San Fran twice in the same week. Crazy, but fun.

So, on to this years, Year Three (which, haha, begins right now) predictions:

The release of the PS3 and the Wii. Complete coverage of both launches
Windows Vista--maybe
Halo 3 and the new era of gaming, if it's out before Fall
The new E3- Is it CES? GDC? Leipieg? Who knows, but the CR will be there to sort it out to get all of the news that matters most.
Harry Potter #7-may not come out this year, but the build-up (like titles and date) more than likely will.
Big Xbox 360 titles: Army of Two, Mass Effect, Bio Shock, and many more
Star Wars Day 06- the release of the true originals and Lego Star Wars II
My College experiance at UC Davis. Expect full updates on my freshman year
The release of Halo: The Lost Man (Yes...it's still coming!)
More political news--I care too much about the world to let it all fall apart!
And more!

So, that's some of the stuff that might happen in '06-'07, and CR will be there to cover it all. Now, last year I made a pledge, to go right to the heart of Continual Randomness, with more posts about random things (Get it? Continual + Randomness?). I think I made OK on that goal. I am, of course, renewing it for this Thrid Year, but I'm also adding something new: Challenge.

I want to challenge the world with this blog. Starting right now, expect more of it. I can't go into details, as it's just hard to explain, but your start to see what I mean. These will be both mentally and physically. The STARD Tourny will be a part of this, and it will be great.

So, thanks for sharing this year with me. It's been great. I hope your continue to make CR your stop on the Blog list for all of the news that matters.

Untill next time,

star

Special ALB: Happy B-day Blog!

2006-08-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Date first appeared: August 14, 2005
Special Note: Post to honor 1st B-day of this blog

It's offical: this blog is exactly one year old. It was this day last year when I registared for a Blogger accountant and posted my very first entry into "Continual Randomness". Since then, the blog has changed over the months, gone days without updates, and then dozens of updates in one day.

At the start, the blog was desgined for my Black Arrow days. Then it morphed into antipatication for "Star Wars Day 2004", then into a singing coutdown for Halo 2. Since November 9, it served as mostly a Halo 2 fan page...before morphing into just an all-around everything blog that it is now.

What does the future hold for Continual Randomness? I geuss whatever my future holds. Hopefully, this year maybe I'll get serious about blogging, desgin some HTML and maybe even do a PodCast with the blog. Expect more updates about better stuff, and lots more pictures and links of "random" things. This year, I'm heading right to the roots of the blog..."Continual" meaning a lot more posts, and "Randomness" meaning stuff about everything. Some of next years, which starts right now, highlights include:

My Senoir Year at YHS, including college stuff and graduation.
The Launch of Xbox 360, PS3, and the Nintendo Revolution.
The (maybe) release of Bungie's next game.
Windows Vista and its new wave of crappyness.
More globe trotting
Harry Potter #7 build up
Star Wars Day 05, release of ROTS DVD and BF 2
More Xbox Live attachments
And more...

Thats just a list of someof the stuff I know will happen in the rest of 05 and 06. I'm sure there will be plenty of more stuff to talk about...and maybe I few surprises I know about but can't yet say.

Also, I may try to either regroup or start a new blog for this year, as the links on the side are getting kinda long.

Maybe latter I'll set up a special B-day Poll...cheek back here latter and vote.

Lastly, thanks readers. Without you, no one would read. Heres to another year just as good as this one.

StarDrummer

Special ALB: Welcome-- To me and You

2006-08-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Date first appeared: August 14, 2004
Special Note: VERY first post, ever.

Hey, somehow you managed to find this. Props to you. Welcome to my blog. I am new to this whole thing, so, yeah, it kinda sucks compared to some others. Anyway, I'll keep this as up-to-date as I can. It seems everyone is doing this blog thing, so I geuss I'll do it to.

Eventually I post a little more about me, but for now, my name is StarDrummer on Xbox Live, and I plan on using that here as well. So, you can call me Star. Or StarD. Or the whole thing. No cares here.

And That Was A Look Back

2006-08-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining me in my time machine, as we relived the best moments in this blog's history. We saw the birth of Battlefront, Halo 2, Battlefront 2, Xbox 360, ROTS and my final day of school. We also relived some important moments in my personal history, like first days of Jr and Sr years, as well as the infamous "Sniper or Rocket" debate.

It seems like it's been only a few days since I've started blogging, but I was amazed at how many favorite posts I truely had. Don;t forget to vote on your own favorite on the right.

ALB: Final Day of School

2006-08-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

Date first appeared: June 13, 2006
Special Note: Last day of public schooling, ever

Tomorrow, June 13, 2006, is my final day of school. 12 long years since I began my journey, I am now finally able to call it quits, and exit with my head held high. I offically graduate on June15; however, Wednesday and Thursday are simply rehersal days and such.

At thuis point, I'm not sure what to think My time at YHS has been great, and for that I am eternally greateful. I know that I have been bleased to have been surrounded by the best techers and the best of the best freinds. At the same time, I'm ready to move on with the next chapter in my life. I feel ready to head of to college. Sure, a part of me is sad that I will never see about 90% of these people ever again, and, if I do, everything will be deferant. But a large part of me right now thinks that that's OK.

So, as I sit here, waiting for the begining of the end, I can't help but think, "Bring it on." The past has been great...but I have higher hopes for the future.

Again, CR will serve to function as recording of my life. As such, events in my senior year are posted as I see fit. Stay tuned for daily graduation coverage.

ALB: Reactions to ROTS

2006-08-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Date first Appeared: May 19, 2005
Special Note: Thoughts on SW: Episode III after a midnight showing

(Note: Contains Spoliers)

Best. Star Wars. Ever.

As you can guess, I loved ROTS. By far, it is the best SW movie ever. There was just so much action...every moment was good. Sure the acting sucks. Sure the lines are corny at best, sickening at worst, but man, the fight scenes are cool.

The Dooku scene rocks.

Mace Windo was awsome.

I love Yoda and the Wokkies.

Seeing Anakin kill "Younglings" was great.

Anakin getting his ass kicked was priceless.

And Yoda losing too.

Every fight seemed monumentus...and the saga now blends perfectly. Everything that should have happened, happened. And it happened right.

And for those tuck on the Qui-gon thing at the end, heres what it means. Remeber in V and VI Obi-wan talks to Luke right? How does he do that since he's dead? Qui-gon teaches him on Tatooine. It's the reason Obi-wan gave up fighting so easily in IV. The book makes this more clear, as Qui-gon talks to Yoda several times.

But where were these scenes?
-Mon Momtha? (action figure)
-Padma as an Egyptian (Poster)
-The Ackbar guys?
-Panaka scene w/ Palpy

ALB: Working on Halo: The Lost Man

2006-08-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

Date first appeared: October 19, 2005
Special Note: The forgotten promise is born.

I've started work on The Lost Man, the current codename/devlopment title of my text-based RPG. It's loosly based on the Halo storyline, but you don't play as the Master. Instead, the game has you as a common Marine solider in battle for Earth.

You start out in the cliche' RPG-way of having no clue who you are (you even have to open your eyes) and than discover what's going on. The Cehif does show up towards the middle of the game, and helps play out some the early battles...but other than that, your on your own.

The real plot of the game involves you searching for the reason behind the Covenant attack on Earth, after the battle of New Mombasa in Halo 2. In your search, you find clues to a hidden relic on Earth...and dsicover your true identity and how it is intrictly linked to the Halo uinverse.

Just so were clear, this is a school-based, non-profit fan-fiction game that is in no endorsed, sponswered or in any way affilated with Bungie, Microsoft, Xbox, or any of the things related to those companies. I belive this dosn't violate any legal issues, as I don't plan on making a penny on this, it's just an AP Computer Science (Java) project.

If I can, I will give the world access to the game by November 22, 2005. I expect to have the final, version 1.03.06, released by January 12, 2006. Don't count on the early version to be completly great or completly finsihed for that matter. But be sure to cheek it out, as so far, after only a week of actual hardcore coding, its coming along pretty nicely.

Also, the program will be open-source based, but I will NOT be able to release the code untill June 11, 2006, after the course is over for school reasons.

ALB: Xbox 360 Is Here

2006-08-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

Date First Appeared: November 23, 2005
Special Note: Post of Xbox 360 first thoughts

The era of next-gen gaming is here, and I am a part of it. After a long 21 hours outside of my local Best Buy...I managed to score the hottest gaming system in history. And yes, it is everything it is cracked out to be. The graphics are just something tobe hold. Currently, I have three 360 games--Call of Duty 2, Madden '06 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.

I posted my GamerCard here before, and I will try to get it as a permanate feature of this blog via HTML. Stay tuned for more news and info as I get a second to tear myself away from the 360.

ALB: Less Than 24 Hours

2006-08-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

Date First Appeared: November 21, 2005
Special Note: Last post before Xbox 360

Less than 24 hours before the US release of the Xbox 360...and I'm about to embark on a quest to find one. No, I did not pre-order one...and now I will seek one out using stealth, charm and smarts.

My first stop is Wal-Mart, who has about 150 available for sale at 12:01 tonight. I plan to head over there in about an hour and wait in line.

If I am not successful there, I shall head to Best Buy, which opens at 9 AM to get one there. If I run out of luck, Costco and Circuit City are next.

Expect audio updates here on the progress of my journey. It's gonna be a long day...

Final Week in 2006 Fantasy B-Ball

2006-08-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

This week is the final week for 2006 Fantasy Baseball. I've had a rather rough year this year, and may or may not make it to the playoffs. It all comes down to this final week. If I can pull out a win, and other teams lose, than I should make it with a Wildcard, but I think this is no hope for winning the division.

Carp, I need more wins!!

Wii Launch Titles List

2006-08-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Nintendo's Wii has quite a growing list of titles scheduled for launch, whenever that happens to be. Much more, I think, than the PS3 currently is offering. The titles are not quite "blockbusters" (save Zelda, but, that's not really Wii) but there are some notables, inculsing "Wii Sports", "Red Steel" and "Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam"

LINK

Poll: Favorite All-Time Post

2006-08-12T23:30:00.000-07:00

There's a new poll posted to the right. Vote for your favorite moments from the last two years.

A Look Back (the old posts I've been reposting this week) continue tomorrow with my last five favorite moments, and be sure to catch the special 2 Year B-day post on Monday.

OPM Editor: "No PS3 For Me!"

2006-08-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

An OPM Editor has "gone to the dark side" and will noit be getting a PS3 this fall. The reasons? Just about the same as everybody esle. Too expensive, lack of key exclusive launch titles, and who the hell cares about Blu Ray?

From her blog:

But when I know that a console's direct competitors cost two-thirds or half of that price, it becomes harder for me to justify shelling out that kind of money. $600 might be worth it if there were several huge titles on the near horizon that were PS3-exclusive. But for the first year at least, there are very few big titles that are PS3 exclusive. GTA4 and Assassins will be available for the 360 at the same time.

The other big reason for people to shell out $600, BluRay, is frankly something I don't care about. So ultimately, I can't justify it. $600 is a lot of money, especially when I can get what -- for me at least -- will be a very similar experience for $400. I would like to own a PS3, and I hope that the price drops soon so I can consider it.

LINK

Play COD3...If Your Good

2006-08-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Activision is giving gamers a chance to play the new COD3 game...if they can win a tourny set up to choose the best players across the world. Do you have what it takes (I now that I don't!)? Click the link for more info.

LINK

CES the New E3?

2006-08-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

According to teamXbox, it just might be. I say, rock on, Vegas to is still closer to me than Germany!

LINK

Halo Movie Direcotr Revealed

2006-08-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

A slight mishap in PR has revealed the direcotr for the Halo movie. It will be (drumroll, please)... Neill Blomkamp! Yeah, I've never heard of him either, but here's what TeamXbox has to say about him:

A native of South Africa, Blomkamp directed the acclaimed 2005 short film, Alive in Joburg, that depicted a future in which extraterrestrials have become refugees. Last year, Blomkamp also received three Clio Awards and a Visual Effects Society Award for his television commercial Citroen-Alive with Technology.

In 2004, Blomkamp was recognized as "One of the Top Five Directors to Watch" at the First Boards Awards and was a featured artist at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase at Cannes. He has also been nominated for an Emmy award for his work on an episode of James Cameron's Dark Angel.

LINK

ALB: Thoughts on the Week

2006-08-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Date First Appered: August 26, 2005
Special Note: First week of school, senior year.

Ahhh...the first weeks of school. The last first week of school for me. Monday was the first day of my senior year in high school. I wanted/planned to blog during the week...but with homework and band, and then Blogger not working right on Wednesday...I just didn't.

So, anyway...the week went by prettty smootly. First period I have Honors Computer Science (Java) which is cool. So far 've learned some basic system.out.println(" My Name is Chris "); codes, and a cool temperature converter. Second is Trig...nothing more should I have to say. Third is A.P. Gov, which is a cool class but a hell of lot of work. It's basically a full years worth of stuff (a full 400 pagen textbook) crammed into a 9-week course. Then it's band.

Alotta things happened this week in the outside world actually. Google launced an IM client that looks cool, but I havn't had a chance to play around with it yet...The PSP 2.0 update was released which is very cool...and Leo is back on TV with "Call For Help." Perhaps there is a God after all. Now...if the show could just get moved to a time when I'm actually home...oh wait, thats what TiVo is for...thank you!

Prey DLC Coming "Soon"

2006-08-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

New maps and characters for Prey are coming soon to Xbox Live Marketplace. No word yet on cost or actual dates, bute here's just my geuss: Late September, and they will cost money, probably around 800 MS points.

LINK

ALB: Current TV?

2006-08-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

Date First Appeared: August 10, 2005

Special Note: Discovery of my favorite channel: Current.

Last night I just found Current, the new Al Gore TV channel thing. I watched it probably for about 2 hours or so...and its pretty good. Different, but good.

Current dosn't have shows...it has pods. Little seven minute video things, mostly made by amatures. In between are some cool Google stats )Popular searches with "symtoms') and one commerical at a time. The channel also has old news footage from historical days, but I only saw one on the LA Riots...not to sure what else is included.

It seems like a cool channel that can keep you really hooked...but two drawbacks: No Tivo (Its listed as just one 6 hour long block) and it could get old fast

ALB: The End of an Era

2006-08-11T22:54:00.000-07:00

Date First Appeared: April 1, 2005
Special Note: Fake post for April Fool's Day

The End of an Era

Today marks the last day I will blog. This is the last entry I shall ever post on this blog.

It has been a great ride, but I feel it is time now to step off. The blog just isn't going anywhere. I've already down everything I can think of. I think it's better to end now, at the top of my game, then to whiddle away.

I wish to thank everyone who has made my blog the success that it is. For that, I thank about two people.

Thanks for the memories.

chris

ALB: Rocket or Sniper?

2006-08-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Date First Appeared: December 9, 2004
Special Note: There is till mystery to this post, and do not intend to clearify it now. Rest assured, however; this post is one of my favorites in the blog history.

Situations in life may need you to look at your options in differant ways. Which is better, to pick up a sniper rifle or a rocket launcher to get an enemy a considerable distant away that has a small area of weakness.

The rocket launcher would for sure do the job, but maybe too much so (splash damage). But the sniper may not work if your no good enough.

I chose the

ALB: The Final Hours

2006-08-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Date Oringaly Posted: November 8, 2004 (2 hours before the release of Halo2)
Special Note: Final Post before I played Halo 2.

Almost forgot to post today!

Hope you all liked my 12 days of Halo. I missed Bloging through...and I really am glad I get to go back to it.

3 Hours are left untill Halo 2 is released in the West. In New York, the first copy has alreadly sold.

3 Hours left until history is made. 3 Hours left untill the Golden Disk is placed in my Green Wonder.

A few final reminders:

Dont watch the Bonus DVD first...major spoliers.
Its just a game
Its Halo 2
Stats can be obtained through bungie.net
Get the clan name first!
Its NOT Halo. Its Halo 2.
Always jump!

My Blog schedule:

About 1 AM 11/9 Posting of first thoughts, Pics
About 12 PM 11/9 Update on SP campaign
About 3 PM Hopefully done with SP, log onto XBL to play
About 6 PM 11/9 Stats should be up for me
About 9 PM 11/9 My reveiw
About 6 AM 11/10 More stats up
About 9 PM 11/10 More stats up
About 12-8 11/11 My LAN party (Join for great fun, on XBL!)
About 12-12 11/12 My XBL Feista!
About 12-12 11/13 My Feista Part Dous
About 12-8 11/14 My XBL thoughts on Blog

(All times and dates tentaive)

Please send any and all Halo2 FR to: StarDrummer.

LAN party FR sent to StarDrummer2

See 'ya online in 2 hours, 51 minutes!

ALB: Twelve Days of Halo2

2006-08-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

Date Origninally Posted: November 7, 2004
Special Note: Final day of twelve consecutive days posting new verses to "The 12 Days of Halo 2." Each day, a new line was added, as well as a new link to a Halo-related item at EB Games. The links have stopped working now, but the song remains the same.
Twelefth Day of Halo
And with one final note, the wait is over

On the tweleft day of Halo, Bungie gave to me,
Tweleve Halo2 Ultimate Sets
Eleven MasterCheifs
Ten Halo Somethings
Nine Halo Totebabgs
Eight Prima Strat Guides
Seven Halo Halo T-shirts
Six halo Soundtracks
Five Halo 2s!
Four Platonics headsets
Three Warthogs
Two Frist Strike novels
And the orginal Best FPS

May it go down in history as Star's Song on Halo, in G flat

ALB: Star Wars Day 2004

2006-08-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Date Posted: Thursday, September 23, 2004
Special Note: Posts from the first "Star Wars Day" 2004, on the release of Battlefront (1) and the Original Trilogy on DVD.
Star Wars DVDs

These are really awesome. Ive watched ESB and ROTJ so far, and a few bonus features. The quality is amazing. Maybe over the weekend, once I watch the rest, Ill post a better reveiw. maybe.

Date Posted: Thursday, September 23, 2004
Battlefront Reveiws

This is the forth reveiw of the month
IGN.com Score: 8.5
TeamXbox.com Score: 8.6
Gamespot.com Score: 8.2

Graphics
+Nice, detailed
+ Nice explosions/blasts
-Bad, BAD framerate

Controls
+ Both thrid and first person
+ Fully custumizable
- Horrible control
- How do you fly a vechile with this thing?

Sound
+ Full SW Glory
- Could use a little more, creats dead spots

Gamplay
+ Feels like a war
+ A lot people
+Full veichle support
- Stupid AI
- Menus are pretty bad

Live
+Live aware
+ 24 people
- Optimatch isnt working
- Lag, lag, LAG!!!!
-No DLC,
-No Scoreboards (and why does PS2 have them?)
- Did I say lag?
-LAG!

Virdect
Its a Lucasart's game...what did you expect. The online is fun, but needs to get better. Lucasarts states a pacth is coming soon, but why? Why couldn't they put it in the real version?Offline is nice--but it gets kinda boring. I hope they fix this game. With that in mind, I give it a...My Score: 9/10

Date Posted: Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Give Me a Second

Really busy with both the DVDs and Battlefront...both are very goood.I'll post latter with the offical reveiws, but I like 'em both.

Date Posted: Monday, September 20, 2004
By the Next Post, Geuss What I'll Have

BattleFront!!!SW on DVD!!!I can't wait, the day is finaly here, after months and months of waiting, its here.Now all I have to do is make it through one day of school.

ALB: First Day of School

2006-08-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

Date First Appeared: Monday, August 16, 2004
Special Note: First day of school, Junior Year

First Day of School
Well, just got back from my first day back at High School, this year as a Jr. I've got some pretty rough courses, including two A.P. classes, seems most of my teachers are still being Mocho on their first day. Teachers like to do that sometimes. Prove that they are tough. Give us HW on the first day, yeah right.

Also, this is the first day without Band in my life. But I still hung out with them. really, thats all I know.

Spanish was by far the oddest of them though. Thats going to be a very differant class.

2 Years: A Look Back

2006-08-06T23:25:00.000-07:00

Continual Randomness is nearing it's second birthday. Next Monday, on August 14, 2006, the blog turns 2. For the next week, every day I'll be posting a look back on the first two years of the blog. We'll take a walk down memory lane, from the Black Arrow days, the Pre-Hal0 2 days, the launch of Halo 2, post-Halo 2 days, Star Wars Days 2004 and 2005, and all the rest. These will be my "personal" favorite entries from the last two years. There not in any particular order; they all are special to me from the past years.

There will be other posts in between, including Dead Rising thoughts, but be sure to cheek out the blog every day for look-backs. Hey, maybe even twice a day!

Dead Rising Demo ROCKS!

2006-08-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

I just got done from playing the Dead Rising demo for about 200 times. It is really fun, and just great to play. I only have one problem: the game sucks in SDTV. I hope, and prey that this is justa fault in the demo, because it could really hold the game back.

But other than that, Dead Rising is a definate 5/5!

Demo-Dead Rising

2006-08-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

A demo of the coolest game yet to be released on the 360 is now out on the marketplace. Dead Rising looks like it could be the first great game since launch. This game just looks fun. I'm downloading the demo now, and will post impressions once I'm done.

In other demo news, I'm liking the Saints Row demo more and more. I'm actually thinking of buying this game now. It's another game that's quite fun.

"Out of Mind" Is Very Cool

2006-08-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

The new Red V. Blue episodes, called "Out of Mind" are really cool. They're not your usual Red and Blue, but a whole new story line involving Tex, AI and lockpicking. Whats great is how the make use of all of the Halo enviroments. It's great to see some locations besides Bl- I mean Coagulation-and even some single player spots make it in the cut.

Best part of all, all three current episodes are free!

Worst Movie of the Year (So Far)

2006-08-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

By far, the worst movie of the year so far is You, Me and Dupree. I really have no idea why I went and saw that movie. 2 hours of absolutly nothing, and than it's over. I don't understand why it's so hard to cange something!

Emergance Day Is Coming

2006-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today, Microsoft and Gears of War creators revealed the big surprise: the date of Emergance Day 06.

Yes, Gears of War finally has a release date: November 12, 2006.

IGN's predictions for the year are coming shockingly close to true. Remember, they said that GoW would come out to battle with the PS3, and that Halo 3 would release sometime in 2007. They just earned a lot of credability in my book.

SF II Sucks

2006-08-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to usually complain...but man, SF II sucks. I'm glad I wasn't as excited as some people over the release of this game. It's just impossible to win a match. I
ve gotten close once, but than died anyway. This game is harder than even DOA4, and I didn't think that was possible after facing off with the Blue Boss Chick.

Here's to Pac-Man next week, and to hoping that this Arcade Wednesdays gets extended!

Biggest Game of the Year--Now Out

2006-08-02T01:09:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting is now out on the Marketplace. This is a historic moment, so lets take a look at what other are saying while mine downloads.

From the Xbox Forums:

Kingpin of New York:

At last, I can feel come sense of relief, SF2 has arrived

Time to unleash my assault of cheezy combo!!!!

Ripfactor:

46% ...painfully slow

From Major Nelson.com:

Xbox Live members can now download the highly anticipated Arcade title 'Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting' from the Marketplace. This arcade title is 800 points and is available in all Xbox Live regions except Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore or Taiwan.
You can review a complete list of features for this game at Xbox.com.

From TeamXbox:

One of the most anticipated games of the summer, ‘Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting’ is now available for download for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Marketplace. The old-school classic from Capcom stays true to its roots with an amazing retro feel, and brings multiplayer action to the classic title for the first time. ‘Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting’ melds the best of retro arcade gaming with the preeminent next-gen features that only Xbox 360 and Xbox Live can offer.

As a true tribute to this critically acclaimed arcade fighting game, ‘Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting’ delivers the game in original form but also includes all new content specifically designed for Xbox Live Arcade. High definition video resolution, Achievements, Leaderboards, and online multiplayer combat over Xbox Live including the all new innovative "Quarter Match" takes this classic franchise phenom to next generation levels.

My downloads just about done...see you online!

Saints Row-Impressions

2006-08-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished playing about an hour or so of the Saints Row demo. I like the game, and it seems like it would be fun to play. That said, I just think I fit into the whole "Gangster/Thug" mentality to buy this game. It was fun finding hoes and stealing them from other pimps, but I don't think thats a subject I want to replay again.

All in all, GTA lovers will probably find much to love in this game, and at the same time, Hillary Clinton will find much to hate.

New 'Red V. Blue" Video

2006-08-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

The second part of the ongoing "Out of Mind" series on the Marketplace for Red V. Blue is now out. I'll get to watch it as soon as this Saints Row demo is finished.

SF II Tomorrow (Or Tonight)

2006-08-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

The "Summer of Arcade" continues with SF II coming out at 1 AM tonight (or, really, tomorrow). I'm probably actually not going to buy this game; it's just not my cup of tea. I'll download the free demo, sure, but I just are not into fighters (esp. "hardcore" ones like this) that much. However, I get the feeling that there are tons of others wating for this one. I'm quite happy with Cloning Clyde and Galaga.

Saint's Row Demo-OUT

2006-08-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

The demo for Saints Row is now out in the market place. I'm still downloading it, and will post some personal thoughts when I actually get to play (which, knowing how fast demos download, might be a few hours from now!)

Dead Rising--Looks Good

2006-08-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at some of the mdeia for Dead Rsing, and I must say, it looks like it could be a really fun game to play. I'm looking foward to it's August 8 release date, but I've got some work to do before than. I MUST finish Prey and Far Cry.

However, taking a lawn mower, giant teddy bear and lightsaber to a zombie all within minutes of each other earns a stampt of "Just F'in Cool" in my book.

Xbox 360 Voice Down

2006-07-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Xbox 360 Voice service is currently down. When this happens, the code for the left side of the page gets messed up for some viewers. Don't sweat it; Voice will come back up latter. I'm not going to take the code out of the site just for a few seconds; be patient and all will be fine eventually.

Xbox Live "Runing" Gaming?

2006-07-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

Found this interesting post over from the TeamXbox forums. You can read it for yourself; I'm too lazy to paraphrase it for you.

I see where this guy is coming from. I've had many LAN parties, and they are funner than playing on Xbox Live. Something about being there, with greesy fingres and watching your opponet from across the room. When Halo 2 first came out, I had a larger LAN party that lasted for hours. I'm not sure if I've ever had so much fun in Halo 2 since.

However, I also love Xbox Live. Xbox simply would not be whre it is today without it. Playng across the country with long lost friends is a blast.

So, perhaps the blame should really be shifted in a unique posistion (actually, the author of the post did discuss this towards the end). Developers and publishers are really at blame here for taking out support from Spiltscreen and System Link capabilites. More games now support only 1 player per box in a System Link game instead of the usuall four, making games much harder to play in a LAN. All multiplayer games should be given the "Halo" treatment, and not the "UBISoft" treatment (The Tom Clancy games are famous for their lack of System Link support).

LINK TO POST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

E3 Cancelled?

2006-07-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

"It's like they're taking away Christmas. Is that possible?"

Yes, indeed, it seems all too possible. What is sure to be the big tech news story this week, E# is "cancelled." You can read the full story here.

In a nut shell, the ESA (the guys who run E3) simply feel the convention has gotten too big. The money that publishers pay to get they're game shown just isn't giving them enough in return. E3 has gotten "too big."

What will replace E3? At the moment, smaller trade shows around the world, and the Big Three's own gaming shows. And GDC will step up to the plate for a bigger showing, and ultimatly more importance. However, Joystiq predicts that by 2009 or 2010 a new E3 will be in place, just not by the ESA, not called E3, and not in LA.

What does this mean? Well, without E3, May does look a lot more boring. And instead of getting machine gun feed information for three days, we're likly to get small pistol flares throughout the whole year.

I, for one, feel upset about the whole thing. I could see a revisioning of E3, making it smaller and less chaotic, but to do away with the whole thing is just a disservice to the gaming community.

I must add this in here: this is a developing sotry. Stay tuned here for more information as it develops.

Back!

2006-07-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Not only am I back from vacation, and back to playing Xbox, but the blog is also back to normal!

I can only hope that what ever happened last time dosn't happen again. I'm still not sure what happened, but from what I can gather, the site where the layout I used was pulled from ran over it's limit for CSS using.

For now, we are back to our "Theme." Hope you enjoyed the brief flashback! The new layout also now includes a "Search" function that kinda works. I didn't do it (it came with this theme), so don't complain to me about it's problems!

Where Am I?

2006-07-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

As I continue my week long vacation down my the beach, I thought I'd update with a sort of virtual tour of where I've been. So, without getting in your car, lets head out to the beach and take a tour...

Friday, Day One
Today we head out. Cheek into Villas. Walk around Fashion Island. Eat at CA Pizza Kitchen.

Saturday, Day Two
Go to Crystal Cove Beach.

Sunday, Day Three
Out on rented boat. Balboa Fun Zone.

Monday, Day Four
Hang out around pool

Tuesday, Day Five
Aquarim of the Pacific in Long Beach. Joe's Crab Shack.

Wednesday, Day Six
Whale Watching off the coast. Dinner on beach.

Thursday, Day Seven
Not sure yet...

Friday, Day Eight
Return home. Play Galaga!

Away at the Beach

2006-07-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, life is good. I'm blogging this while sitting in a nice, cool room overlooking the beautful Pacific Ocean. And I'm here all week. Sure, I'll miss the release of my favorite retro game of all time (Galaga) and will have to wait to finish Prey and Far Cry (the second story)...but alas, life is good.

On a side note, Prey is a lot more, different? That's not really the right word...but it's not exactly what I was expecting. However, it's "hella" cool.

On another side note, "hella" is a word I learned while at Davis. Apparently, "hella" is a word craze sweeping Northen Califorina right now, and the five or so guys I hung around with all said it, just about as much as So-Cals so "like". Odd. Funny, annyoing, and odd.

Anyway, there might be fewer updates this week, unless of course I get board, in which case there may be more.

Not Sure What's Wrong

2006-07-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what prompted the blog to go crazy during the last few days. I was away at UCD doing Summer Advising, and when I returned, the blog had suddenly rearranged itself into...well, some crappy layout.

Let me be clear: the changes you saw yesterday were not meant to happen. For the life of me, I'm not sure what the hell is going on. So, for the time being, I've reset the blog back to the "Classic" Style of Minima Black. Hopefully this well just be for a few days until I can get the code fixed. However, I leave for a week long vacation on July 21, so I don't have much time.

Until than, enjoy Frogger, because I am! Also, there is a rumor that an NCAA demo will go uo today or tomorrow; however, the two teams they picked suck, so not much to talk about here (Somewhere from some southern state called Florida...where the heck is that? Never heard of it before :) )

Summer Time Blues

2006-07-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

It seems like the world has steped into a doldrum for this summer, and I'm getting pretty boared. Not a single Arcade game in 60 days, and the last game I bought was Far Cry...and tht was back in March! Prey is coming in a week, so that should help give us something to do, but still, where the hell is everyone?

In other news, I will be gone for most of the remainder of the month. On Saturday I leave for a 4 day trip up to visit Davis, and then that Friday I'm off to the beach for a week long stay. Luckily, I doubt I'll be missing much on the video game front.

Finally, as far as Halo: The Lost Man, I think I'll be uploading the JAVA version sometime this week, and the full source code shortly after. Stay Tuned, as if you care.

BTW...The Prey demo rocked, and anyone else who says differently is a complete fool who dosn't know what awsome is. I fully intend on getting this game the day I come back from Davis. I'm even thinking of pre-ordering it, but thats just not by style. Besides, what would I really do with a little pewter alien? No clue.

Until next time, which might be for a while (besides the aformentioned TLM Updates, and Audio),

star

AP Grades Are In

2006-07-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

UC Davis just posted my AP grades (or, I just found my AP grades, might have been there before). Here's what I had hoped for (Posted back in May):

APCS: 3
Lit: 2/3 (Does not really matter for my college)
Gov: 5/4
Econ: 3

And here is what I got:
APCS: 4
Lit: 3
Gov: 5
Macro: 5

I am pretty schocked about all this. Mostly the 4 in APCS. I figured maybe a 3 might sneak by, but a 4 means, well, I geuss I actually knew something about what I was talking about. The Double 5's are also re-assuring. Poli Sci Major here I come!

Where's the Prey Demo?

2006-06-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

Where is it? I have no clue...and apparently neither does 3D Realms:

"Again. If we knew something, we'd tell you. We're as much in the dark as you are, and we're not terribly happy about it. What the heck more do you want us to say? Do you think we're sitting on our asses doing nothing waiting to hear news? We're trying to find out, constantly. We're not getting any info."

Chromohounds Demo: NOT in US

2006-06-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

A new demo of Chromohounds is up on the Marketplace; however, not in the greatest country in the world. Oh, well...don't want to play this piece of shit anyway!

Penny Aracade Rips UBI a New One

2006-06-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Here's something that will make you smile for today: Penn Aracade once again going after UBI, this time for the over-priced GRAW content.

LINK

And they should. I will NOT be paying $15 for this crap they call "New" Content. I'm not stupid UBI, so don't count on me falling in the same trap as other, less-educated, Live members have. I have better things to do with my money!

COD2 Map Pack This Thursday

2006-06-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

The final COD2 map pack will hit the marketplace eariler than expected, and for less. The pack will consist of five NEW maps (not "re-lit" shit a la GRAW) and will go for only 800 MS Points. The content is supposed to hit the Marketplace sometime this Thursday, June 29, 2006.

In other news...Xbox Live will be down tomorrow morning from 2 AM to 6 AM PST for server updates.

Audio Post From Vegas

2006-06-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

"Click" Review

2006-06-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today I caught a showing of the new Sandler flick called "Click." Luckily, I don't agree with all of this. The movie was actually very funney, and I thought it did a good job of keeping me entertained. Sure, this is no Wonderful Life (which it tries to re-do), but I've certainly seen worse flims lately in the box office (Spanglish is one of them!).

Overall, it's a Sandler movie...so go in expecting that. If fart jokes and gential size worries are that big of a set-back for you, than this probably isn't the movie for you. The comdey here isn;t of the level of Sideways but more of Spongebob. But hey, it's still fun, no matter the age expectations.

If your looking to go see a move this weekend, and have alreadly exhausted Cars (which, on a side note, is not much better than this flick) than this is the one to go see. Sure, the man in red and blue will take over next week (I pre-ordered my tickets today for it!) as well as a devil in fashonable shoes...but for now, it works, and it works damn well.

Score: 3/5

GRAW Content Now Up

2006-06-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2 content is now up on the Marketplace. It costs a whooping 1200 MP (that's $15). I'm not sure if the content is really worth it. On paper it seems like alot...but basically it is 4 new maps and 5 new weapons. Sure, there are new "faces" (who the hell cares) and 8 new "re-lit" maps (THESE ARE NOT NEW!!!)

UBI has a pretty made history of dealing with premium content, and that reputation has earned them the Worst Developer of the Year STAR award in the past. So far, they are of to a great start to reclaiming their award this year.

In other news, I've added a new counter on the top of the site that counts every day that has gone by since a new arcade game has came out. Today, it's at 44 days....and it only looks like it will grow. The last game to come out was UNO on May 9, 2006, so that makes 44 long days.

Let's all join in one huge, load corus of:

WHERE THE F*** IS SF2!?!?!?!?!

'Prey' Demo Slated for Tomorrow

2006-06-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

The five level demo of Prey is slated to be released tomorrow on the Marketplace. Here's something interesting though: 3D Realms has gone on record stating that any hold up is entirly Microsoft's fault. So, in the likely event that it gets held up, all blame can be fowarded to one place.

I'm taking bets for the probability of a release tomorrow: 25:1 odds that it will hit before midnight tomorrow. I geuss we'll have to wait and see.

But on that note, I'm getting tired of waiting. the last aracde game to hit was UNO back in May, and before that, it was well into April that a title showed up. So much for the 2-3 a month talk, eh? I geuss Microsoft just wan't good enough. I sure hope they step it up, a handful of PC flashports won't be able to contend with the pormised Nintendo Network. Forget Street Fighter II...where are some orginal games to hit the aracade? So far, I can not think of one game that is exclusive to XBLA. That's just sad.

Sony To Rockstar: We Don't Need You

2006-06-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

In yet another chapter of Crazy VideoGame Idiots, a Sony exec recently said that GTA has not helped sell Playstations "at all." Actually, it's much funnier if you read what exactly came from his own mouth:

From Team Xbox:

The interviewer asked Tretton if not having an exclusive on the next installment of the GTA franchise could hurt the PlayStation 3. Here is what Tretton said:

There's no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto.

Just like you, the editor didn’t believe Tretton’s words and asked explicitly if Sony thinks that not having an exclusive on Grand Theft Auto doesn't hurt the PS3 at all; to what Tretton responded:

No, I don't think it hurts us. No, I really don't.

Back Compat Update

2006-06-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

MSFT releaed a small Back Compat update today, which now allows Doom 3 and Lego Star wars to play on the Xbox 360. 19 other titles are also now back compat; however, MSFT managed to yet again find even more titles that no one cares about. And you said they couldn't do it.

TOP FIVE XBOX GAMES WANTED TO MAKE BACK COMPAT*:
5) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
4) Finding Nemo
3) Cars
2) Nick Party Blast
1) Shrek SuperSlam

*as seen by Xbox 360 Back Compat Dev team

With any luck, one or two of these great titles may become back compat within your lifetime! Yeah, BC!!!

BOTTOM FIVE FOR BC*
5) Forza
4) Conker Live and Reloaded
3) Counter-Strike
2) JSRF
1) RTCW

**again, as seen by MSFT dev team.

It's unlikely that any of these titles will ever become BC, because we, at this time, do not see the deamnd for an update. Besides, who cares about BC anyway?

Grad Day One: Final Day of School

2006-06-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, June 13, 2006, is my final day of school. 12 long years since I began my journey, I am now finally able to call it quits, and exit with my head held high. I offically graduate on June15; however, Wednesday and Thursday are simply rehersal days and such.

At thuis point, I'm not sure what to think My time at YHS has been great, and for that I am eternally greateful. I know that I have been bleased to have been surrounded by the best techers and the best of the best freinds. At the same time, I'm ready to move on with the next chapter in my life. I feel ready to head of to college. Sure, a part of me is sad that I will never see about 90% of these people ever again, and, if I do, everything will be deferant. But a large part of me right now thinks that that's OK.

So, as I sit here, waiting for the begining of the end, I can't help but think, "Bring it on." The past has been great...but I have higher hopes for the future.

Again, CR will serve to function as recording of my life. As such, events in my senior year are posted as I see fit. Stay tuned for daily graduation coverage.

Halo: The Lost Man Update

2006-05-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here's an update from the fabled Halo: The Lost Man project.

Coming July 1, 2006, you will be able to download a demo of the full game. At this time, the demo will contain most of the full game, however, with some features missing.

The full game will be coming shortly therafter. In truth, this is more of a "beta" test, however, some fetures will be left out on purpose. The full game looks like it will be out four sure by July 31/August 1.

The hold up? The game right now is very, very, very close to being done, however, it is coded in Java. I think C++ will make everyone much happier (or at least me...it's too hard to code Java for open source, i.e. to run on everyone's PC. C++, on the other hand, automatically makes all files a .exe, so all I have to do is upload it). Right now, I'm simply transfering the code back and forth, which is pretty much a simply switch from:
System.out.println("Halo: The Lost Man.");
to
cout <<"Halo: The Lost Man\n";

Xbox 360 Dash Update Coming Soon

2006-05-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Several forums users found a few articles over at the main Microsoft help page that explains features of the new auto-update to the dash. The highlights:

Update was supposed to go out May 23. Geuss that didn't happen.
Update allows for downloading to take place in background. Will suspend download while online playing.
Update allows to start-up right to dash, even with a game or DVD inside. This feature can be toggled off or on.
DVD updates, including the above boot to dash. May include more, not postive.

Hitman: Blood Money Demo Now Up

2006-05-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

There's a new demo up for "Hitman: Blood Money". It's pretty nice; it's of the first level of the game and serves as a training mission/ I'm now looking foward to this game with a little more "umph."

I think the game comes out May 30, 2006...but that's not offical.

Great E3 Story

2006-05-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Her'es a great E3 story that I'm not so sure will be told on to future generations, unless as a warning.

LINK

Rode "Tatsu" Yesterday

2006-05-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a trip out to Six Flags Magic Mountain and rode the new coster "Tatsu." This thing is one crazy ride. First off, you get in a seat that resembles one of the likes of X or Scream, except for a double strap that goes over your chest (one soft and cushiony, the other solid steel) and a "holder" of sort for your feet. The seat is very comfortable, probably the best coaster seat I've ever been on. Fits perfectly. Then, right before the ride takes off, the entire sit rotates a full 90 degres, so that your head and cheast are nor hoovering above ground

You stay that way for the entire ride; however, it does not feel like your blood is rushing to your head or that your chest is under immense pressure. Instead, there's a feeling of flight, just like you would imagine Superman or batman must (or would, whatever) feel during their flights. The ride goes up pretty high (fear of heights: Do not ride) but there are no step falls, a la Golaith. Instead, there is a huge signature loop-type inversion that really puts pressure on your whole body. As my freinds remakred while waiting, it's hard to scream, and thus, the sound falls mute from riders during the big loop.

The ride is 'hella fun, and of pure coaster fun. This is my kind of ride. I'm not one into the big "thrill" type rides, such as the suspense of De ja vu. I'm much more into the 100 MPH coaster scene, with drops, inversions and barral rolls. Tatsu is sitted at the top of my list for favorite rollercoasters ever. It's hard to give exact numbers, but it's at the same point as X, Scream and Space Moutain.

If you head out to go ride, here's a tip: ride it early (run to start of line) and get in the front. The wind experiance, and the wide open view is well worth it.

Prey Demo Dated

2006-05-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

The demo for Prey has been given a date of June 22, 2006. That basically means that by July 1, a demo will be out, give or take. The demo consists of both multiplayer and single player missions, 5 in total. No other information is currently known.

The game itself has a street date of July 10, 2006. I'm actually looking foward to this game, and it might be the only summer 360 game I buy. Seriously, what the hell else is being released? Battle for Middle Earth 2? Over G Fighters? Geuss I'll have to wait for September for hits like Splinter Cell and Viva Pinata to come out.

Console Prices

2006-05-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Amid reports of the high price for the PS3, some Sony fan boy created the above graph of all real prices of video games consoles (adjusted for inflation, which, by the way, he calls "relative"--now a real economic term).

He claims that the graph supports his theory that $500 and $600 are not high prices for a game system, however, anyone with half a brian can see otherwise. 9 consoles have lunched at $600 or above. 5 Of those 9, 5 of them were before the crash of '83, and were, in a lot of ways, responsible for the crash itself. 2 of them were the infamous neoGeo and 3DO, and we all know how well those turned out.

So, in other words, history proves that a $600 console is NOT a good idea.

Introducing: Wii60

2006-05-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

In a response to both E3; as gamers take sides against the true evil, Sony; and to the recent comments by Peter Moore and some PS3 guy about buying both a 360 and a Wii, or a PS3 and a Wii, a new internet craze seems to have caught on, and it's creating some damn funny Photoshop images, like the one seen above.

Cheek out the site www.wii60.com for more pics and details. I for one totally support this movement of the two great consoles to band together and defeat the evil monoleth that is Sony and the PlayStation.

360 Voice Down

2006-05-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

The website www.360voice.com is currently down. Eariler, it was disrupting the flow of the right side of my blog. I have since removed the coding from the blog to resotre full functionality. Hopefully, the guys over there can get the problems worked out, and I'll promptly put the code back in.

BTW--the creators of the site really are very cool. They did some nice work with their project, and continue to add new stuff to it. When the site goes back up, be sure to cheek it out. There will be a link to the right in my 360's Blog space.

EDIT: It's back up.

First Post

2006-05-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

...and here we are.

This is the very first post on the new system. As you can see, the system looks newer, cleaner, and just plain better than the old one. I was also able to implement my GamerCard and Xbox 360's blog on the right hand side, without messing up the site style.

If you miss the old layout...don't fret. In the future, you'll be able to switch between blog themes on your own accord. Idealy, you should be able to press on button one time, and than forever on view CR the way you want to see it. Currently, I just have the "old" layour, this "new" layout, and a plain text view, ideal for cell phones. All this is coming soon, probably in time for the 2nd Birthday of this blog in August.

Everything else about this blog will remain the same, however. I still be the same person, and I will still blog along the same "randomness" that I also have. And, of course, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Halo will continue to dominate the posts in the blog.

The only thing that will change is the layout of the site. Just so we're clear, this is still open to change, and I'll be playing around with for the rest of the week. However, unless I find a cool 360 theme, this one will probably be semi-close to final.

Last Post

2006-05-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

This will be the last post for this blog under the current system. Within a few hours, a new theme and motif will become the new look for the site.

So, get your valuables packed and ready, becuase it's time for a change.

A little history for you...Continual Randomness started in August of 2004, a few months after Major Nelson.com went up. From then on, it has been running on a standard Blogger theme, Minima Black. Since that time, Major has swithed themes three times, an entire new system has been released, and over 300 Xbox games have came and went.

The new look and blog should be up by 5:00 PM PST today.

Odd Happenings

2006-05-13T23:39:00.000-07:00

The blog is currently experiencing some "growing pains" as I attempt to add and change some of the posting settings. Most notibly, the text size in almost all browsers are too large.

Stay tuned, and I hope to have all the issues worked out by next week. Untill than, posts may be fewer than normal...as I spend more time on working behind the scenes.

Finished AP Testing

2006-05-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

As of today, I offically am finished with AP testing forever. I took my very last one, MacroEconomics today. It was more difficult for me than Gov was, but no where near as hard as Computer Science. Here's my hopeful grades:

APCS: 3
Lit: 2/3 (Does not really matter for my college)
Gov: 5/4
Econ: 3

E306: New COD2 Maps

2006-05-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Four new maps are available to download for Call of Duty 2 over the marketplace. One set of two is free, and the other costs 400 MS points.

There was also a slew of trailer releases this morning, including three compilation trailers for Windows gaming, 360 games, and 360 Aracade titles.

E306: Other MS Things

2006-05-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a short list of some of the stuff talked about during the press conference. Note these are all off the top of my head...so names and details may change. I'll post a better, more collected list tonight.

UNO game added to XBLA
Trailer for Gears of War up
GTA IV coming to Xbox 360, maybe ahead of PS3
Fable 2 trailer, annouced
Forza 2 trailer, annouced
Wndows Live/Local--like an Xbox 360 on your PC
Play XBLA titles on your phone
Camera shown, new section on Martketplace
New demo of Dark Planet (the Mech game)
More games... cheek out Martketplace or GameSpot for full details of event.

E306: Finish the Fight in 2007

2006-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

E306: Microsoft press conference.

Halo 3. Its true.I said it. Its coming. its here.

The trailer for Halo 3 is now up on the Xbox Live Martketplace. So is a theme and some gamer pics.

Bungie.net has changed to accomedate the new game.

2007 can't come fast enough.

MS has won the console war. Its. over. Period.

E306: PS3 Copies 360; Wii

2006-05-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

E306: Sony Press Conference

During the Sony pres conference, the following was revealed about the next gen of Sony toys:

PSP titles will have a new "Greatest Hits" category
PSP will work with PS3 simultanously... shown as a rear view mirror for drving game
PSP will play emulated PS1 games
PS3 will lunch November 11 in Japan, Novemer 17 in US
Will cost $499 for 20 GB HDD, &599 for 60 GB HDD
Controler will have "motion capturing" abilites (JUST LIKE WII!!!!!)
Many games shown, including new EyeToy card game that I perosnally think is very cool. Many games are hack and slash, or driving games. One cool FPS set in UK after WWII (but, it didn't happen)
A Marketplace like system, like the 360s. (This is ironic, becuase, as Sony yells on and on about their system, I'm using my 360 to download a new demo of test drive.)

In essence, not a very orginal confernce, to say the least. If I was Nintendo, I'd be violently pissed off at Sony. Violently.

I'm rooting for Nintendo now. Sony will have a hell of time getting me to fork out 500 bucks for a copy cat system that offers NOTHING orignal.

I will continue to offer updates from E3 throughout the week. Nintendo's confernce is tomorrow morning, and Microsoft's is in the afternoon. I won't be able to post immediate thoughts on Nintenos (like this one, this post was started before the show was over :) ) as I'll be in the middle of AP Gov, but, I'll be front and center for the BIG show: Microsoft.

I'm rooting for Nintendo and Microsoft to shove it down Sony's face. Come on guys, show us the true next generation.

It's Coming

2006-05-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

The next project from Bungie is coming. In what could be the shortest update ever, Bungie also released the most important news since, well, the new maps. Here's the most telling part:

It's really making progress in an exciting and fascinating way. And I can't wait to share that with you properly. The level of secrecy is every bit as oppressive and confining for us as it is for you. Much, much bigger update next week. See you then!

E3 starts next week. I offically can wait no longer. I must know. Do you think driving a semi through the convention sotry would count as illegal? (J/k....I know, I know, illegal. Please no cops at my door tomorrow)

Star Wars Day 2006

2006-05-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

For the third stright year, we are going to have a Star Wars day.

This year, Septemeber 12, 2006 will mark the release of the orginal Star Wars on DVD. Each will be sold as its own special 2-Disc set, that will include both orginal and special editions.

Also on 9/12, Lego Star Wars II will come out, and it has been revealed that the game will be available on the 360.

Also annouced today...The Sopranos Videogame, devleoped by THQ. Should be cool, even if it's just to hear the theme song during the menu scene.

Remember to stay at CR for "Continual" (and maybe "Random") updates from E3 06.

Oblivion Rating Changed to 'M'

2006-05-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

The ESRB has changed the rating for Oblivion from 'T' to 'M' today, after a response to the "Nude Mod" for the PC. The rating was also changed for the the Xbox 360 version, because of what looks like more violence and blood was found to be in the game.

This marks the second time in less than a year that the ESRB has reversed ratings on a game alreadly released. The first, of course, was the infamous GTA:SA, for the "Hot Coffe" mod over last summer.

AP Tests 2006

2006-05-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

There were be even fewer posts than normal this week, to to my intense work on four AP Exams. This year, it's AP Computer Science A, which I took yesterday (can't comment on it untill tomorrow), English Lit, Government and Politics, and MacroEcon.

In other news this week...
PopCap annouces Heavy Weapon will debut on the Xbox 360 (Very cool game)
Verizion to offer free week of Live next week
UNO game coming sometime next week
Still nothing on SF 2, but I'd be shcoked if it doesn;t come out this week or next.

I'll be here on may 9th, however, to cover all of the glory of E3. Remember, CR is your best spot on the 'Net to get a round-up of whats happening on the show floor, from someone who isn't there.

My 360 Can Blog

2006-04-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is kinda weird, but very cool. There's this site (www.360voice.com) that provides a blog that your 360 writes. Apparently, it looks at your GamerScore and games played to "blog" about your experience. Now that's some cool Java programming!

Here's a link to my 360's blog, however, it says it takes 2 days for it to gather enough info.

I Hate This Strikes Back

2006-04-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Time again for another installment of I Hate This. It's been awhile since I've made any posts in this category...but today I got pissed off so much, well, I had to blog about it.

I hate people that stop right in the middle of your walking path. You know what I'm talking about. Your walking along, going with the flow and trying to reach your destination, hwne the person in front of you just stops, usually to join some other group and chat. Your left with either making a quick turn to avoid them, which usually involves you bumping into someone else, or stop short and re-plan your main route.

I hate people that stop short, right in front of me.

Introducing: Wii

2006-04-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is soooo funny, I don't even know where to start. I geuss the offical press release is good:
Introducing... Wii.
As in "we."

While the code-name Revolution expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. Wii will break down that wall that seperates videogame players from everybody else. Wii will put people more in touch with their games... and each other. But you're probably asking: What does the name mean?

Wii sounds like "we," which emphasizes the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.

Wii has a distinctive "ii" spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people playing it. And Wii, as a name and a console, brings something revolutionary to the world of videogames that sets it apart from the crowd.
So that's Wii. But now Nintendo needs you. Because it's really not about you or me. It's about Wii. And together, Wii will change everything.

And, of course, here's the immediate reaction that can only truly happen on forums. Here you have the intial WTF, the "I don't care" and the "wait...this could be cool." Here's an excerpt from the very first posts on the name from TeamXbox.com:

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:55 am
anthone
holy **** they just named it Wii and it has no definition. Talk about spelling "WE" in different letteres. HAHAhahaah This is funny . WEEEEEEEEEEE~!

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:55 am
rikkel
WORST NAME!!!!!!!!!!1 peridod

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:54 am
black metal
I like the 360 name; it is much better than X2 or Xnext..even though I hated it at first..

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:53 am
ebm62980
I dont care for the name either, it makes it sound like it's being dedicated to the Japanese market. I think they put too much thought into a name when it just needs to be something simple and not have complex meanings. Even the rumored "Go" name was better (not by much though).

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:52 am
black metal
Revoluti was much better imho

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:51 am
Water_Flea
Wii?... Wyy?

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:50 am
Dragon123561
someone please slap me and tell me I'm dreaming, I can't believe what I'm seeing, tell me this is just a joke right?

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:50 am
SarumantheWhite
in retrospect, do you guys still think 360 is a bad name?I think it's great. No one says "xbox 360", it's just "Check out this game for the 360" or "When's Halo for the 360 coming out?"I think xbox 360 sounded dumb at the time, but it is certainly better than xbox2 or Xbox Next, and I think the name has taken on an identity of it's own. It's "the 360"...so, you guys still think 360 is a stupid name?

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:49 am
XboxEmo
yeah...that name does suck. What are you going to do, be like,.."hey guys, i'm gonna go play with my wii" that would suck.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:48 am
SarumantheWhite
the codename was better, but I'm betting that Eastern markets will love the name...remember, Nintendo is, at heart, a company for kid's games. The kids will get this name, they will remember this name. It is what it is. Would Revolution have been better for the Western Markets (specifically the 18-34 year old male demographic?) Yes. But for the kid markets, Wii will work very well.All the same, let the perverted jokes begin...

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:48 am
BadVermin
WORST NAME EVER. It will be the butt of jokes for years."Want to play with my Wii?""My Wii knows when you move it up and down""Mom! Kimmy wont stop playing with my Wii!!!"

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:48 am
Shockwave
I think I'll pronouce Wii as "Why?"

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:47 am
Dragon123561
what the hell that is the most stupid name for a game console ever and everyone thought xbox360 was stupid.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:45 am
Frosty22
yikes... just yikes.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:44 am
boaman88
Should have stuck with the codename. I'm not impressed no matter how easy it is to remember or forget.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:44 am
ness
Wow they couldn't come up with something better than that? 360 and Wii are both crap names.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:44 am
Oxygen52
Thats great..Wiipdii doo.anyways just read this at another zdnet"The main culprit is the game division, which Sony said would rack up an operating loss of $871.8 million this business year as it gears up to launch the PS3 in November, overshadowing an expected recovery by its core electronics unit.Sony said it expected to sell 6 million PS3 units by March.AND THE KICKER ----"We believe that we can lower costs dramatically (on the PS3) through chip shrinkage and by cutting the number of parts, but there is no way to avoid high costs in the first year," Sony Senior Vice President Takao Yuhara told a news conference."Cutting the number of parts....hmm...lets see...blueray...1 hdmi port....hard drive....what else....oh maybe they will make the ethernet port an addon accessory again!

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:43 am
chawboo
that name is as flacid as a three year olds wee wee

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:43 am
XboxEmo
that's a cute poem. But it reminds me of pee wee,...and that's not a bad thing. He's a pimp and i want pee wee's playhouse back on the air!!!

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:41 am
FreeParking
Whee! and awesome.

Now, as far as what I think: I think it's actually pretty cool. It's odd, yes, but I like it, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's becuase it's different, and I'm sick of seeing so much of the same boringness that videogames have become lately. Sure, you can go ahead and make fun of Nintendo for picking a name that rhymes with both pee and wee, but, can you really not appluad them for taking a risk at being orginal?

Wait...Looks Like I'm Not Alone

2006-04-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

I must have been part of the "mass" that recieved the Diamond Card e-mail. So much for being an individual!

LINK

Far Cry is One Long Game

2006-04-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

These last couple of weeks I've been going through Far Cry Instincts, and man, it's a pretty long game. It's good, and mildly entertaining for a FPS, but it has some serious flaws. In fact, out of the current FPSs on the 360, I'd say it has the most. And the biggest.

Cheif of my complaints is the gernade kills. They are impossible to avoid, and just plain suck. You ca be one kill from clearing a tough area, when all of sudden your laying dow on the floor, dead. There is no way to see them and move out of the way. You just die.

Another thing is how so much of the game is just searching for a blue dot. I'm serious, the game is set up so that for hours on end, your only real goal is reaching one place. It just gets boring after awhile.

And don't even get me started on the controls.

From this post, you might gather that I don't like Far Cry, but that's not entirly true. It's just not "as good" as I might have hoped.

Expect a review to come probably around May 1...by than I should be finsihed with both stories.

Late, But I'll Take It

2006-04-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

I just got my e-mail confirming my Live card is on the way. It's been alot longer than 6-8 weeks... but I'll still take the thing anyway. Actually, it's been 16 weeks since I signed up for it, wayyyyyy back in December. If this is any indication, expect SF 2 sometime around July.

Here's the e-mail they sent me:
Welcome to the Xbox Live Diamond Card!Congratulations! This email confirms that your Xbox Live DiamondCard registration was accepted and that your card is now beingprinted. You will receive your personalized Xbox Live Diamond Cardin the mail within the next 2 - 3 weeks.Once your Diamond Card arrives, logon to www.xboxlivediamond.comto check out the cool discounts, view the complete list ofparticipating retailers and additional program information. To startenjoying the discounts, all you have to do is present your DiamondCard with the appropriate printable coupon (found onwww.xboxlivediamond.com) when shopping in person, or use the checkoutcode provided on the website when shopping online.LIVE. PLAY. COMPETE. CONNECT.Bring your game online. - The Xbox Live Team

GRAW Review Up

2006-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Youd can now read my full final review of GRAW over at TeamXbox, or by clicking here.

Anyone Miss the "Old" Major Nelson?

2006-04-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've grown rather boared of Major Nelson's blog. When it first came out, in May 2004, the blog was more than a shopping list of DLC for the Xbox. In fact, it was more than just "insider" MS news. Remember the Vasaline story? That was interesting.

Ever since the site switch, and the release of the 360, Major Nelson.com has become less of a real blog and more of informational site.

Don't get me wrong--I like the Marketplace updates. They definatly are handy, and I don't know where else I would find the info. However, shouldn't the blog be alittle more than just updates to the martketplace.

If you don't see the problem, here some stats for you. In the last 3 weeks, 26 of the 54 posts were about Marketplace contents. 6 of those posts, by the way, we're the weekly Live stats and blogcats. Taking those out of consideation, that means that 54% of the posts have been solely about new content on the martketplace.

On the other side, there were only 3 or 4 rel "non-Xbox insider" news, depending on how you look at it. Thats only 8% of the total posts. As far as I'm concerned, that's too low to be considered a "blog".

Perhaps Major needs to rethink the way his blog works. I'm not saying he should take out the Marketplace updates, but perhaps he should try to post about some more random things. His blog is called Random Thoughts, after all.

Too Bad It Will Suck

2006-04-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

EA releases the cover for Superman Returns today. In the words of the now infamous PKG (of teamXbox.com foum fame)... EA + Superman = Suck. And I'd have to say I'd agree. Plus, the recent target images are far from impressive. I suppose there is some hope, becuase as long as the game features the famous Williams soundtrack, the audio will rock.

The movie, on the other hand, looks great. I personally can't wait for this summer to roll around for all of the great movies coming out. As far as games go...the only gem hanging out there pre-E3 is Gears of War.

Final Push

2006-04-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today begins the final push towards the end of my high school career. Just back from spring break 2K6, there are just 9 weeks left untill Grad Night. I'm really getting pretty excited.

Again, I've been accepted to UC Davis and will probably be going there. A few more weeks left, we're into the final push.