Sunday, May 22, 2005

Ahh... home at last.

Well its over another 3 days of video game excess are history. About half way through Friday is when it hit me, I was at the point of overload. I didn't feel like waiting in line, or pushing through a crowd, but I stayed with it and finished out the day. I did get to the point though where I was trying to judge if my time spent in line was worth the "swag" in the end. Glad I didn't wait 2 1/2+ hours in the Zelda line as they were out of the shirts on the last day anyway. It seemed like a mix this year I think my swag level was about the same but was more spread out over the three days. I won a mouse (thanks Logitech!) and for the second year never won anything at the Nvidia booth. :(

I'm still pissed about how much better "Media" attendees get treated at the various booths. They can print/show all the hype you want to build up your product, but in the end it's the drones at the retail level that are going to be pushing people to your game. On another note if "Absolutely NO ONE under 18 will be admitted" was true then why are there UNDERAGE badge holders?? I saw alot more kids this year than last year.

Okay enough hate, where's the love?

I did like the way the Xbox 360 controller felt in my hand, it was very comfortable.

I enjoyed Virtua Tennis (PSP), Trauma Center (DS), Lost in Blue (DS), Top Spin (360), Ultimate Spiderman (Xbox), and Alan Wake (PC) wasn't playable but this game is gorgeous.

Things that I need more time with (meaning I wasn't overly thrilled with the game, or it just seemed like more of the same) Burnout Legends (PSP), Condemned (360), and Coded Arms (PSP).

The what were they thinking award goes to the GBA Micro... I guess if they find a niche market it will do okay (I'm thinking kids, or people with small hands.). The one I played with had an RPG in it and the text was so small. The screen is nice and sharp but man I couldn't imagine watching it for long periods of time.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

E3...

Well it's Thursday, second day of E3. My feet hurt. :( Been in town since Tuesday, and L.A. is so wild. I've seen two bands play live Alaska! and AudioSlave, went the wrong way on the subway at least 3 times (but 1 wasn't my fault).

As for the show it's huge just like last year, swag seems to be at a minimum (sorry Jason) but I'm still looking. I've played some DS games Animal Crossing, and Nintendogs are going to rock. I haven't gotten the urge up yet to wait in the 2 hour Zelda line, although I've waited in line for 30 minutes for a shirt (You've got to have your priorities straight!). OMG the GBA micro is sooooo small I've taken some pictures, but probably won't post until I'm back.

Well off to do some actual playing this afternoon, more later.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

MTV blows :P

Well the MTV Xbox 360 show sucked. I didn't have high hopes, but that was really bad. Out of a 30 minute show we got to see maybe 5 minutes of actual 360 game footage? Wow that was a good idea, I learned more about PIMP MY RIDE and the Killers than I did about the new Xbox.

Anyway I found this link to a wmv video that I guess originated from the OurColony teaser site. It's about 6 minutes long, and 100x better than that MTV crap.

More Xbox 360, the end of TV, and more...

Don't forget the Xbox 360 MTV special airs tonight at 8:30pm (CDT) tune in to see the next gen console. More info and pictures have found there way onto the web from the actual event last week so there probably won't be a lot of surprises, but I'll watch it anyway.

I found some pictures someone scanned in from a German magazine that are screens of Ghost Recon 3 for the Xbox 360. They look pretty nice! I'm not a GR fan, but I do like some of the other Tom Clancy games (Rainbow 6, Splinter Cell) and I'm sure those will have future installments on the 360 also.

Ghost Recon 3 Next Gen

Ghost Recon 3 Next Gen

Ghost Recon 3 Next Gen


It's a sad time in the TV season most all the shows season finale's are airing this week or have already. Veronica Mars is over for the season, and I must say I think it was my favorite show this year. LOST would probably get that distinction but there were too many times when there wouldn't be a new episode for 2-3 weeks at a time. I was thrilled with Amazing Race (Yay! Uchenna & Joyce). I'm glad Rob & Amber didn't win, but I did enjoy watching them race. And just in case anyone wants to keep score I rank C.S.I. in the following order C.S.I. (Las Vegas), C.S.I. New York, and finally C.S.I. Miami although Miami looks the best in HD. :)


I played a little Hot Shots Open Tee the other day, and really liked it. It will be my next PSP purchase. Tried out Smart Bomb, and while I enjoyed it more than Mercury it still won't replace Lumines at any point. E3 is fast approaching! Only 6 more days until the festivities. I will try to post daily if computer access is available.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Xbox 360 revealed!

Well it didn't take long, someone leaked a snapshot from the MTV special that was taped thursday night in LA. Notice the "Eyetoy" and redesigned(?) headset? Probably not the final boxed product (there are no logo markings on the unit itself (ie. DTS, Dolby Digital, etc...)).

Xbox360 sneek peek

Friday, May 06, 2005

Coming Soon & Now showing...

Not much this week to write about, but the countdowns are on.

Star Wars Episode III opens in 13 days... (While I'm looking forward to it, it's not as big of deal to me as some. At this point in time I don't even know when I'm going to see it.)

E3 exhibits open in 12 days... (Yeah! I'm so looking forward to this, probably because I'll be off work for 5 days! All the games will be cool too.)

Microsoft Unviels the Xbox 360 in 6 days on MTV (I guess the show was taped last night at the Avalon Club in Los Angeles. You can see some pics here, of the green carpet celebs that showed up. Looks like someone would have smuggled a picture or two of the console out, maybe they'll pop up later this weekend.)

On the Now Showing front, I watched House of Wax this morning, and its okay. To sum it up it start off really slow, Paris dies way too late, overall gore factor is good. It seems to be along the same lines as the other Dark Castle movies I've seen.