Are Reviews Unreible or are people unsensible?

Current Dilema:

Lately, there has been a shift between the people who write reviews and the people themselves. I don't pay attention to much into reviews so I can't tell you the trend but I remember popular gaming sites have the same consensus in score. The problem is that I don't how to pinpoint the problem. One thing, it started this generation where all this hopla over scores started. Could it be over zealous fanboys, meta-critic, bias review, site need ratings? Whichever it is, it is hurting the industry as a whole.

How do we solve this problem?

Something that I've been thinking about if the game media industry would banish all scoring whatsoever. This would force people to actually read reviews and determine there own opinion about a possible purchase. That would never happen but the though process is intriguing.

Current Pace:

As things are going now, game journalism is going to lose it credibilty. It persecption of linking journalism with games is bad enough but it to lose credibilty from your own base is saddening.

Can this improve?

Probably not, there are so many sites popping up from no where today that there is going to be one with a different opinon about the rest. Whether they were paid off, bias, or just nuetral, everyone sees things differently.

What people should do?

I honestly don't know. It's the internet after all.

Next Xbox Has HD DVD Drive; Battle Far From Over

Every time I go online, I see Blu Ray wins either 3 to 1 or 2 to 1. Then you have fanboy bashing and all that other crap. At this moment, it seems that HD DVD brought a knife to a gun fight. But behind him is a mega ton cannon waiting to fire. (Sorry for the bad analogy). What people fail to realize is that the next gen xbox should have a HD DVD drive considering the process of elimination (or just plain obvious). This should propel the format just like how the PS3 propel Blu-ray.

If you take a step back on how MS approach this generation with the Xbox 360, there actually quite smart. If MS would of came out with a HD DVD drive, it would of been delayed possibly a year and cost just as much as the PS3. If so, then the Xbox 360 would most likely be in last place. Now with the Next Generation Xbox, not only would the HD DVD drive be substantially cheaper by then, it wouldn't affect us consumers by jacking the price up by another 200 buxs. It was a smart decision made at MS and resulted in their lead against the ps3 today.

Well, the war shall continue and we are still going to see different formats for a long time. So to those "the war is over people", prepare for a rude awakening in the coming years.

...Presuming HD DVD is still alive by then...

Halo 3 is God? No

The infinity people have with Halo 3 has to stop. It is not the end all to be all of gaming. The perfect reviews were boaster from hype and it's hard for the media to admit it. The single player was good (co op a plus) and multiplayer is above average. At best it deserves a 9.0 or 9.1 because of all the extra features.

Now I must admit that I bought into the hype, but was left disappointed. I was hoping for a immerse single player, and a diverse multiplayer. All I got was a fun warthog ending with a cliffhanger and shotty snipers. The most fun I had was in Theater because the pics I took were beautiful.. :_)

If the ending wasn't any indicator that a "Halo 4: We Want Money" wasn't coming for the next generation xbox then you're blind. Still, it did present some enjoyable moments with co-op & multiplayer screw ups. It doesn't certifty it as the best game ever but its definitly a must try.

Two things come to mind when verifying Halo 3 Non-Godliness:

1. After a week, I continued to play Gears of War which is a lot more fun.
2. I was more satify with Bioshock and a dozen RPGS at the end.

I miss when RPGs were the king of the console. Deep Story, Music, Good Gameplay, those were the days. It came to an end when the Japanese developers couldn't help but make it cheesy as hell. The last thing I needed to see was a CGI Go-Go girls music video taking me out of the world that I've already given up playing.

Oh well, to those who don't have a history playing a multitude of games in the past, this is probably the best of the best. To the rest, it's just another game to delay us from the Game of The Year; Mass Effect. :-)


Hail Western RPGS!! (Mass Effect)

Btw, no one plays Forge and yes, the pic above makes fun of halo 3 graphics.

A Year In Review: 1 Bad Game

As 2007 comes to an end, I look back on the one of the worst game I've ever come across. That game was Vampire Rain which I had to reviewed for Xbox Evolved. If I can recollect, I couldn't played this game for more than a hour and the fact that I had to review it kept me compel to play it. While I was playing through single player, several thoughts pop into my mind

• I wonder if the developers knew this game sucked
• Can I get paid to do such a shitty job
• I can't wait to sell this on ebay
• This can be used as a excellent form of torture to terrorist
• (2 hours in) I am now more depress by playing this game
  

This game and it controls were retarded.. I quoted as saying "It’s like a 120 year old man trying to dodge a train but he already died from a heart attack.". Some other memorable quotes:

"Vampire Rain is a game that comes once in a life time that makes you appreciate the mediocre games available today."

"The only thing scary in Vampire Rain is how bad it is. I feel sorry for the people who actually had to make this horrible game."

This is why we have reviews, to lure you away from these shitty games. Hurray for Critics!!

Unhonorable Mention: Yaris, it was crap!! End of story.

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Next Article: Halo 3 is God? No @ 1pm EST Saturday

Death Note Review

I unexceptionally lurk upon an anime called Death Note. I saw it on toonami and it was quite good for English subbed. I actually ended up clapping on episode 2 because it took me by surprise how deep this anime was. (Enough gloating) Death Note is about a teenager named Light Yagami aka Kira who comes upon a Death Note. A Death Note is a notebook where if you write the name of someone, they will die. Light decides to use this notebook to kill all the criminals in the world. Light is accompanied by a Death God called Ryuk. Ryuk drops his death note on the human world on purpose because of boredom.

After a while, the police investigate the number of deaths and try to solve this mystery. They call on a person name "L" who can unravel any mysterious case. He is known to be the world's best detective and is summoned to solve this case.

All Kira needs to do is write L name on the Death Note but two problems occurs. He needs to write the "real name" of the person on the Death Note and need to see his face. There are other rules to the Death Note but these are the main two. So while L tries to capture Light, Light needs to get close to L to kill him. It’s a game of chess to see who wins first.

There are about 37 episodes and each keeps you on your feet. The animation and songs are well done so you’re never taken out of the story. The story mixes up with new characters, which are pawns in there game of chess. The only problem is that the story seems to repeat itself after the first ark. At the end, you'll probably feel disappointed because of the ultimate victor of this death game.

It's a great anime with tons of plot twists. Sometimes you can get confuse with the conversation but the suspense just kills you. If you're into detective investigation shows (CSI etc...) then this is right up your alley. It’s a definite must see if you're into that kind of stuff.

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Next Article: A Year In Review: 1 Bad Game @ 1PM EST Friday

Look-Back: Naruto Shippuden

The new season of Naruto Shippuden is out where everyone turns into a grown up. It has currently finished it first ark with Ataski and the Sand Village. At the end of the Ark (Episode 32) has some special surprises like a new character named Sai who is going to team up with Team Kakashi. Sakura has yet to tell Naruto about what Sasori told her of where to find Orchirumu. Lastly, Kakashi has to make a mysterious report to the Hokage on a number of things. Ultimately the whole Ark of Naruto Shippuden has been satisfy and leaves you in a cliffhanger.

The biggest problem I have with Naruto Shippuden is with Team Gai and Rock Lee. I was excepting Rock Lee to kick some ass like he did in the regular Naruto. Unfortunately, like everyone else on Team Gai, they only learned a few new tricks. It isn't as impressive like Sakura, who looks like a God. Naruto still has a few tricks up his sleeves but all we saw was his big Rensenga. Everyone else seems to have new tricks but nothing impressive.

Another problem with Naruto Shippuden is the animation & new songs. The animation used in this Ark is utter garbage like the main staff took a break and the interns took over. There were only three good episodes that were animated correctly and look great. The new songs used constantly aren't as good as the first Naruto. Seems cheesy and doesn't represent what you're a post to feel at that moment of time.

The story is still there but some major overhaul is needed in the character development of everyone else. I’ am wondering if they’re focusing all there attention on the Naruto saga in Naruto Shippuden instead of everyone else. What made Naruto great was the plot of other characters like Rock Lee, and other clans. It'll be a disappointment if they move away from that but there still a lot of problems unsolved with Naruto/Sakura story.

It should only get better with more twists and story development. I just hope they concentrate a bit more on other characters and better techniques. The beginning of the second Ark is coming out tomorrow so I hope it’s good.

Big Break P2

Well, I went to the interview and had about 9 people in the room with me. Felt a bit loss in not knowing where to go or stay. It was finally my turn once they call my name. The interview was really short compared to other interviews I did. Apparently it was the same with others (or I hope so). Everyone there looked about my age which was kind of frightening. We all looked like kids wearing suits and for some reason... I don't feel like a grown up. I'm 20 yet I still resemble a kid in mind and heart. (Really awkward)

I reflected on how I did, and overall I think I did pretty damn good. I was obviously nervous (hand was shaking) but I didn't fumble my words, stutter and did not take my time thinking about an answer to there question. I was just straight forward, direct, and tried my best to smile. (i'm not good at smiling unless its a joke).

So once the interview was over, the main recruiter who I interview with first told me that they’re making all there decisions today so they'll he'll let me know on Monday if I ll be hired or not. I just hope I did not screw up or leave a bad impression for some unknown reason. I think this is the most work I ever done for an interview before so hopefully it'll pay off. I really need this job so hopefully I can get considered to be hired.

I am kind of worried and I’ll except myself to be vomiting on Monday from nervousness (doubt it). Wish me luck

Update: No call today so after 1pm on Tuesday, I'm going to call to see whats up.

Can Commerce Bank Be My Big Break?

I've been looking for a job for a hell of a long time. I got a job a week ago but couldn't do full time because of school. So I finally got a call back from a Commerce Recruiter after 5-6 months of applying. Hey, I got a callback which all that matters. So I went to the interview last week and befuddle every stupid word that came out of my mouth. I thought I had a game plan, don't think about the interview or I’ll be nervous. That was the worst strategy I ever came up with. I thought coming out of that interview that I screwed it up even though he said that I'll get a callback on Saturday. Well Saturday passed, and guesses what...no call back. I said to myself, "He'll probably call me back on monday, I never except someone to call me on the weekend". So a good portion of monday passed by and no call. So I decided to take fate into my own hands after my previous experience at interviewing with FedEx.

I called and left a message stating that I'm concern whether or not you’re going to get back to me to be blunt. So a few hours passed by and at 3 30pm, a miracle happened... i got a call. He setup a second interview with a manager at a Commerce Open House at 9 30am. The location is a bit hard to get to but there isn’t a lot of Commerce Banks that are easy to get to by train. The plus is that its close by to my college and working at Commerce would look great on my resume.

I just need to do two things and that is to buy a suit and practice being in an interview. Everything else is standard with smiling etc... It’s a job on the hire interview so if I do well then I would get the job on the spot. I’ am praying that I can get this job because of personal issues in my life right now. So here is good luck to me!!

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I'm going to post my Zune Review at 3pm EST so its something to check out.

All Pro Football 2K8 Preview

Football is almost here so I thought I write an All Pro Football 2k8 Preview.

All Pro Football 2k8 Preview

Finally, after 3 years All Pro Football 2k8 has finally arrived, loop poling the EA monopoly license has over football. All Pro Football 2k8 first started out as ESPN Football 2k series back on the departed Dreamcast. It was the only football game that rival the madden series, and arguably by many gamers, surpass it in quality. By 2004, ESPN Football 2k5 equaled Madden 2005 in sales, and cutting into EA's money maker. So something had to be done, and EA took control of the football license. This essentially got rid of the competition, and innovation in the football genre. Now that the history lesson is over with, we can get into what All Pro Football 2k8 is going to be delivering this year...

Blue Dragon Preview

Hey guys, Here is a preview of what I wrote on Blue Dragon. You can click on the link to check out the full preview I wrote on Xbox Evolved.

Blue Dragon Preview

From the creators of famously known games of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and Dragon Quest comes Blue Dragon. An all star cast of Hironobu Sakaguchi, Akira Toriyama, and Nobuo Uematsu comes together to work on one of two titles being release for the Xbox 360. This all star cast of game developers, are taking the Xbox 360 to new heights with the Japanese's role playing game genre. It's undoubted that these game designers are going to bring great success for the Xbox 360 in the RPG department that Microsoft desperately needs to make a comeback in Japan.