"Life's not worth living, and that's the truth,"     

Carelessly caroled the golden youth.     

In manhood still he maintained that view     

And held it more strongly the older he grew.     

When kicked by a jackass at eighty-three,     

"Go fetch me a surgeon at once!" cried he.                                                              

Han Soper 

I haven't commented on various people leaving and coming because, for the most part, words are best left to those who feel that there is value to be gleamed from those who sit on the sidelines. In every life, and every job, people come and go, leaving and coming for purely selfish reasons, even if they wish to make them far more grandiose and self aggrandizing then they really are. We wish them luck, some we stay in contact with, others we don't, but in the end, the impact they have is measured by their time here, and not anything they wish to state in passing.

That being said, with the departure of Alex Navarro, I wanted to pass on a story and a few comments.

I started working at CNET as the backend data producer/programmer/misc monkey for GameSpot hardware at the beginning of 2005. I had previously worked as an editor for a small review site, and while I had read and respected GameSpot, I had no connection to any of the editors. About my third week here, I had the opportunity to go play in the gaming lounge, and had apparently left a controller still plugged in and not wound up correctly. The next day, while I was working, some extremely angry and foaming-mouthed person comes walking over to our dark corner of existence in order to start barking random epitaphs at those who had made such a heinous mistake as to mess up THEIR gaming lounge. After the fracious had calmed down, Alex figured out that I was the one that had left the controller and proceeded to stroll up to me and start trying to "rip me a new one" so to speak. I think the spiel went on for a good 5-10 min, I am not sure, because I had the same thought going through my head the entire time... "Who the F does this person think they are and why doesn't he understand the words coming out of his own mouth" (Alex has a very unique way of saying things).

After he had left, with little resolution and his ego puffed out fully, I think I cracked up for a good 10 min following. After that, I honestly don't think I said one word to Alex the next year plus, and in fact, avoided him like the his ego was contagious. It left a dark mark, along with some of the comments from other gaming sites, as to the true nature of the people that worked in editorial at GameSpot.

But as time went by, I started to be pulled into the web of the editorial vibe, and I started really analyzing the writing patterns of the various editors. Two stood out, Greg Kasavin for his ability to drive home points in the most efficient and clinical way possible, and Alex, for his ability to make statements that when parsed seemed absurd, but when taken in context, were able to frame a game and a motive in a way that few have ever been able to do. That is not to say that I think Alex or Greg were the most capable writers ever... but Alex more then anyone else here brought something that I hoped to borrow and build into my own repertoire. Anyone that has read some of the tripe that I put out as part of the Freeplay series might not know, but a few times, I purposely tried to merge Alex's style with my own... to woefully bad results.

But as much as I grew to admire Alex's writing, I also grew to appreciate his presence as the truly calming center of what I considered "GameSpot". Working on the sidelines as my job expanded into the rest of the properties in the Entertainment division of CNET, I started to lose that connection to the site that I rarely worked with anymore. Overtime my respect for the efforrts and drive of those in the editorial team grew as my understanding of just how much they put up with expanded, but that did lead to a feeling of connection. Alex was to me what GameSpot meant to everyone. GregK was the head, Jeff the bigger then life personality, but Alex was to me the heart of it all.

As time went by, my interactions with Alex became far easier, and eventually he joined "Kart Kall" and, with the passing of Dave Toister from the CNE ranks, became the face and center of that daily divergence from the expected output of corporate life. Seeing him on a day-to-day basis, and the few times that we worked together gave me a much deeper insight into the sometimes distracted but usually virulent genius that his head contains and the voices that he is sometimes able to disseminate, and many other times not able to. Alex sees the world in a way few are capable, and even fewer want to. He has a unique ability to find the center of the storm, and use it to frame a thought, instead of using the thought to find the center of the storm. Luckily, nothing stops the voices then being star'd four times by one person right in a row...

Alex will be more then successful in everything he does, and his mark on GameSpot can be felt by all those who appreciate his written words and especially his visual and audio footprints into the DNA of all that is GameSpot and current games journalism. I wish him the best of luck, and may he be able to find a medium for which he is meant to say and be.

GameSpot is fine and healthy now and going forward. It will exist past the departure of Alex and others because of the amazing work of those still there, and because it can stand on the shoulders of giants. Any sense of loss is a personal one, for fondness of times past, and for the lack of an ability to grow based on the proximity and presence of those who we respect.

Alex, Know this, you truly have my respect...

What once was lost, is now found...

This one is for Bob:

From the 2005 football season through now, PAC-10 Road wins (through this weekend):

Stanford 6-6

Cal 5-6...

That would be "perennial top 20" cal with a losing record and more road losses over the last 3 years then Stanford, which had maybe the worst team in the history of Pac-10 football last year...

Tedford isn't exactly smelling like roses this week...

And before you jump in, cal is better then Stanford this year, I get that, hell, they will probably be better then them for a while... but then again, we play for two different things.

It's late in the week, but I feel I do need to make an obligatory post about the USC game...

I can just say this... I wasn't planning on watching the game, but I got done moving early on Saturday and ended up watching the game at my wife's parent house. I am not sure that I am allowed back in after screaming, jumping up and down and running around for a good 30 min (totaling the last 5 min of the game and the next 10-15 min). I would apologize to them, but I have never been that excited in my life. For the record, I like rooting for that team a lot more then rooting for the team that I saw the week before!

No, I did not see this happening, though I did see small glimpses of hope for a lesser blow-out.

Stanford has not played that bad, against UCLA and ASU, they were dead even going into halftime and then blew it right before half, which combined with their complete lack of depth, just killed them. Against Ore they led at half, but just didn't have the horses.

About USC, just because you have great talent doesn't mean you have playmakers. I do see USC losing again once more this year, and this is after looking at the roster and realizing on pure talent that this might be the greatest collection we will ever see in our lifetime.

My litmus test for Stanford before the USC game was 2 wins post USC. It still stands. If Stanford wins 4 games this year, that has to be one of the greatest coaching jobs in history. Stanford was all types of historically bad last year, and this is essentially the same team but even younger at some key spots, and playing without 2 of our 3 top Offensive players (losing Smith for the year kills us). That being said, I love what they are doing on D, and I like the WR and the developing OL.

Around the rest of the PAC-10:

cal - Looking good. They aren't the number 2 team in the country, nor do any of the cal fans I know seem to think they are, but they deserve the ranking. Cal is probably one of the top 6-10 teams in the country, and until they lose, they deserve to be ranked that high. I will be extremely interested to see the ASU and USC games coming down the pike. I do think they will lose a game this year, but still might end up going to the Rose Bowl

ASU - I am extremely impressed with this team. Great OL, Great WR, decent QB, decent D, good DL. Actually well coached, which is not something I would normally associate with Erickson

Ore - Can't believe they lost the cal game. They are probably the better team, but its the team that plays the best that day that wins. Another team that is probably in the 6-10 range in the country.

UCLA - no QB means no win. How do you turn the ball over 6 times to ND?! (then again, how does USC do it 5 times to Stanford).

OSU/Wazzu/Zona - so up and down its not funny.

Wash/Stan still the worst two teams. I am not sold on Wash at all, but then again, the bottom 5 teams in the pac all have a chance.

While this is about a Stanford football player, this story isn't about my favorite school but about how insane football players can be sometimes and how dangerous a sport it is.

Saturday, in the San Jose St. vs. Stanford game, Stanford starting middle linebacker Fred Campbell fractured his C1 vertebrae in the second quarter of the game. He then proceeded to go to the sidelines, take a few Advil and then play the rest of the game.

Dude played 2+ quarters of football... at linebacker... with a broken neck!

He had successful surgery to fuse the neck yesterday, and his football career is now over.

Two major problems here:

1) continuing to play with a broken neck!

2) Only took advil, ADVIL!!!

You can see the now released press release from Stanford here:

or a newsarticle on the injury:

It's been a long time, but with the launch of College Football, it's time for my annual pac-10 predictions, but first, a comment about recent games-

NCAA Football - Great game, but why get rid of a lot of the great stadium effects? Also, people complaining about the difficulty and turnovers... the game is just making you play it like football and not an arcade game. If you want arcade football, go play a 2K football game.

BioShock- The actual gameplay is mediocre, but that is so secondary to everything else. That being said, I am not sure I would want to see too much more without a much better.

Anyways, on to the PAC-10

1) USC - Possibly best team talent wise in history. That being said, OL has to prove it, and the WR core needs to really step up. Defense has more talent and more top-20 picks then any other before it though.

Note here, after USC, I can make a legitimate argument for all teams 2-8 to be in any order...

2) UCLA - Great DL, Great D, mediocre QB, mediocre OL, decent WR, mediocre Coach. That being said, I will take the D to keep them in it early and the O to put it together late.

3) cal - Good OL, Good RB, Ok QB, great on-field WR, average to above average D. I think keeping a real identity this year will help, but I see them loosing to Tenn, USC, and probably at least one more game.

4) Zona - The talent has to mature at some point, right? Team has underperformed the past two years, but they are now juniors and seniors as opposed to fresh/soph.

5) Ore - would be above Zona if not for DL problems. Good WR core, great RB, average rest of O, good Secondary, Good Coach.

6) OSU - Assuming they get a WR core, they have the second best coach in the PAC-10 and always over perform.

7) Wazzu - Doba always pulls a miracle.

ASU - Read opposite of Wazzu. They always underperforms their offense, and this year, with as good as the PAC-10 is, I see them going on a negative roll

9/10 -Stan/Wash - Who ever wins against the other. Two rebuilding programs, two different directions. Stanford was worse the Wash last year, but won. Washington has the QB controversy, mediocre OL play, mediocre everything...

On Stanford... Stanford could be improved everywhere and lose every game this year. That's a reflection of how bad they were last year, and how tough the schedule is for them. They play the PAC-10 (best conference, don't give me crap about the over rated SEC, a conference that plays 82% of their games in the south) . I really like Harbaugh, and the new coaches. I like the attitude, I love the fact that he calls people out (by the way, Mich and Cal, you never actually argued the point he made, just that he made it and who is he to make it). I do think that TCO and Sherman will have big years, and that Stanford will at least score a little bit. That being said, the talent level continues to drop, so who knows...

So... quick Football update...

Most of my previous predictions didn't come true.. which is fine, because this is one of the most messed up College seasons in a while.  This just isn't a great year for college, no one super dominant team (I think OSU loses to both the USC and Texas team from last year by 20).  That being said, USC is going to back into the championship game for the 4th straight year, and I seriously doubt they have much of a shot at beating OSU (I actually think Mich deserves the rematch, with Florida 2nd, and with LSU giving the best game).  I got to see USC in person not too long ago, and I wasn't impressed.  They just beat a bad ND team and a mediocre Cal team that they matched up well with.  Cal actually is a good deal better then ND, but SC just matched up too well with them, and they have their own issues right now.

Sooo, predictiction time:

Cal 55, Stan 6 in Big Game, which is followed by Harris being thrown out the door when he doesn't deserve to be (problems this year have very very little to do with Harris, though his playcalling and attitude havn't helped). 

USC 42, UCLA 14

OSU 45, USC 21 in the championship game (but USC has the chance for the upset just because I don't think OSU is that good, and USC is probably more talented if not less skilled and poorly coached).

Offseason: Stanford will sign a coach for over a mill just to show they care, they will get a few top assistants... they will also win 2 games next year since I don't think coaching has much to do with their problems.

Tedford is gone this year or next, Cal has next to zero chance of a new stadium

Petey is gone in two years

Stanford Basketball finishes 5th in the pac this year, first next year.

In other news, Gears is good but way short... I am not impressed with online play.

Madden 07 is attrocious on all platforms, and this is from a madden fanboy.

Giants may get Ramirez... depending on who they give up, great move.  They may also sign Zaunn, Arrillia, and roberts... not so great of moves...

Now they just need to sign Zito, and trade for burrill and they are doing much better...

So, I have been extreamly quite about college football for a number of reasons, and not one of them is because my team sucks so bad.  I knew after week 1 that they were not going to win a game this year, but hell, I just figure no one cares.  Anyways, I am going to list a whole big grouping of things to read if you actually care about Stanford, the concept of student when it comes to athletes, admission standards in the pac-10, or college dynamics.

For all but the 3 people that I included in that list, Predictions:

USC(50%) beats Stanford(88%) by 60 tomorrow

Cal(41%) will beat USC

Cal goes to first Rose Bowl in forever

Cal loses first rose bowl in forever

USC loses Slick Petey to the NFL in offseason

Wash(64%) is back on the rise

Florida(42%) is scary good but has no chance of winning it all anytime soon

ND(85%) is over rated

Ohio State (49%) wins the Mich(59%)/OSU battle

OSU beats WVU(52%) for the mythical championship

My new angry hurst stanford fan betting tradition... I am always going to pick the team with the lowest graduation rate().

Links:

http://www.thecouchqb.com/node/56

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/november1/minutes-110106.html

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/01/SPG6CM3NM71.DTL

http://www.insidebayarea.com/stanfordsports/ci_4496529

Enjoy!

A fire destroyed my dad's workplace last week.  It has been an extreamly interesting few weeks to say the least.  My dad's fire, new job here, engagement party this week (note, you do not actually notice the moment you loose all say over your life, but you sure do hate it the moment the realization comes...).

On other side notes, Stanford sucks, the school's cognazzi have taken over and are attempting to make everything that I think makes the school special and instead turn it into the worst kind of Ivory Tower, just like certain well known and equally obserred schools on the east coast... My prediction is that stanford will not win this year, 2 wins next year, and a cap of 4 wins per season over the next 5.

Combine score for my College and Pro Football teams last week... 0 points.

Current standings in football pools:

#4 out of 80+ in college [note I did pick Oregon over Cal this week]

#1 out of 30 pro (this one is straight up).

Will have a few book reviews next time.

Its that time of year again.  Its time for college football, the time of year when every single team has high hopes and expectations… for about 1 week.  Seriously, there are about 10 teams out there that could win it all, but its going to be a down year no matter what.

This is the time of year when I have to explain to people why I am a Stanford Cardinal fan.  People either look at me as an idiot because I root for a team that is at best irrelevant right now, or they look at me as an elitist Ivy-league snob.  I'm not really either, and hell, I didn't even go to Stanford (though my father does have his masters from there), I just appreciate what the university and the athletic department stands for.  Stanford is the top school that competes in division 1, and it’s the top by a mile (look, I read the US news reports, but seriously, the editor flat out said that the goal of the study is to put the three ivy league schools in first.  In reality, its about a dead heat between MIT, Harvard and Stanford for top dog, depending on what you are studying, and then there is a small drop off to the Yale's, Princeton's, University of Chicago, CIT, schools on the list.  There is a massive drop from that group to the next group, where most of your smaller private colleges are found.  Then another big leap to the top public universities in the country).  It also has by far the hardest admission standards for athletes in everything above division 3 (more on this in a second).  So yeah, if that makes me elitist, I guess, but really, I cheer for the fact that the players on the field represent the absolute best, from starters to the very backups.  Plus I just like being able to explain to people that the only player to become academically ineligible, for one semester, did it because he got Ds in two 5 unit pre-med biochemistry classes his very first semester on college (Tim Morris, who has subsequently gone to play for his cousin at Washington).

That being said, I seriously doubt anyone outside of maybe Duke and Vanderbilt care about that argument, its extremely obvious that schools like Texas, FSU, ND (though this is directly tied to Weiss, as both Willingham and Davies were unable to get their admissions standards, which were way below Stanford's but still higher then 95% of the teams out there, dropped so quickly as wises. I can't wait to see their grad rate drop in about 4 years…) and cal create a massive distinction between Athlete, and the normal students (thanks cal and Texas for having the largest difference in graduation rates on the football team and the rest of the school).

So yeah, no one else cares, but I do.  But the reality is, that Stanford's rate for admitting athletes is still far below their normal acceptance level.  That being said, this rate has steadily risen since 1996, to the point that it is basically impossible for Stanford to put out a team capable of competing with schools with zero acceptance standards save NCAA min (see USC, ND, cal, OSU, Zona, Ore, ASU, SJSU on our schedule this year), and the talent gap will continue to grow if this keeps up.  Stanford is in serious trouble of joining the likes of Duke, Vanderbilt, and Rice as Div-1 sideshows.  Weird when you consider that Stanford has the 13th most players in the NFL right now, and is actually near the top-10 all time (bet you didn't know that, but hell, we had the second most players go into the nfl the last years in the pac-10, with USC being the only team ahead of us).  Bakewell (the building that houses the Stanford Admissions office) has made it so that from this point forward, I have to readjust my standards to appreciate football for everything but wins and losses, and that just sucks.  Seriously, is it that bad to leave the equivalent of a 3.2/1100 (circa 1999 or so) as the bare minimum to get in, as opposed to the now standard 3.5/1200 equivalent?  The difference is maybe 4-5 players a year, and that group is most likely to be the ones that are difference makers.  How about letting kids enroll early or taking JC transfers? Its always fun playing with both hands tied behind your back.

Anyways, like I said, no one cares but me and about 5 other people.  So here, here is my predicted finish of the Pac-10 with a quick note on each team.

1) USC – Too much talent on defense, though extremely worried that freshmen RB will get the QB killed with that blocking scheme.  Probably finish with 1 loss and Rose Bowl.

2) Ore – I just like the team speed, O-line, Dixon, Stewart, and about 8 good WR.  This team will put up a ton of points.

3) cal – Like Lynch, but missing two all pac-10 OL, missing top CB, too many questions and the fact that they have QB problems leave them 3rd.

4) Ore St- I don't know why, I like Riley, and they always play above their talent.  They have a good TE, but problems at WR.

5) Stanford – Ok, seriously, could finish anywhere from 4-10, but I don't like a lot about the Pac this year.  Have 2 great WR, a great QB, and probably the best group of 5 TE in the country… and little else, all freshman defense, no depth, and a brutal schedual.  This team may seriously be better then last year and finish with a worse record.

6) UCLA – And this may be the last year they are this down for a while.

7) ASU – Koetter is an idiot, but I love Miller and they have too much team speed and talent on O to be too bad, don't they?

Wash St. – Does anyone ever care about Pullman?

9) Zona – lots of young talent, but until Stoops does something with it, I don't buy it.  That being said, this is the one team that has the largest chance to scare people

10) Wash – Sherriff may be two faced, but even he doesn't deserve this debacle.

There are few experiences as great as being beaten over the head with a rubber snake while screaming at a screen with 100 other people all while rooting for a dog to get eaten.

If you have the chance, no matter what you think of the title and the concept...

Go see Snakes on a Plane... 

Just don't expect it to be anything more then what you initially though when you heard that title.

Rocky Horror just got company.  I can't wait to go in two years to a midnight showing.

Since I did the book thing, I figured I might pass on something that might actually relate to the people at this site.  If anyone cares, I am the guy that tests and puts up all the game files (demos, patches, mods, maps) for the site.  I wanted to pass on a few of the files that I think might have been overlooked:

Master of Defense

I have to admit that this is the only game demo that I have played that has actually made me want to go out and buy the game.  This games premise is extremely easy (you put up towers along a path to shoot at various types of monsters which come in ever increasing waves), but it has a lot of strategy and depth.  The ability to improve a large variety of dynamics as you go, plus an interesting array of maps made this a must have for me.  This is exactly the type of game that I fall for, but it is probably not for everyone due to the lack of active participation.  The demo contains the first level and most of the second.

Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects

Any of the Mystery Case Files games here makes sense, as they are all basically the same thing with different images.  The premise is that you need to find a number of hidden objects in a variety of pictures before time runs out.  The pictures contain so many nuances that sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, but for the most part this is a great game for all ages and certainly worth checking out.  The demo lasts for 60 minutes.

Cake Mania

Cake Mania isn't the most original game, its pretty much a blatant rip-off of diner dash and other games that have come before it, but what it does it does well.  There is just a simple pattern and rhythm to this game that makes it a bit addicting, and perfect for anyone, especially younger kids or your parents.  While Master of Defense is still my favorite game on this list, Cake Mania rates very highly and is probably the game that will appeal to the largest number of people.

Baseball Mogul 2007

Baseball Mogul year in and year out is an extremely underrated baseball simulation program that has garnered a large following.  This year's edition takes the past success and adds even more levels, as the game simulation has been redone giving a much more enjoyable and interactive simulation.  Baseball Mogul is far and away the best year to year franchise simulator, as it gets player development and salaries in ways that games like MLB and MVP never did.  While it is more for baseball stat freaks like me, it's definitely a game to check out if you love the sport and are to late to a rotisserie league.  The demo lets you play the 2006 season.

Pro Evolution Soccer 5 World Cup Mod

Yes, this is a mod, but it manages to update the entire game of Pro evolution Soccer to the point that it is almost a completely new game.  You have all 32 world cup teams, new models, new players, new stadiums, and new flags.  It makes a normal soccer game into a world cup 2006 soccer game.  Since it is completely free, this is probably must check-out for any soccer fans.

Halo Zero

I find it hard to believe that anyone that this game might be interesting to has not heard of it, but if you haven't, take the world of halo, now make it a 2D action platformer that is actually fun and difficult in a way that makes you want to come back.  This freeware caused a bit of an uproar when it first came out, but has since been so popular that it is likely to be making its way to more standard pay formats in the future.  This is freeware and a complete game.

I haven't done this in a while, but I thought I would share some of my thoughts about a few of the books that I have read in the past month or two, just in case it will help others determine which books to check out or avoid:

 Roaring Camp:  The Social World of the California Gold Rush

Author: Susan Lee Johnson

 I first read this book during my senior year of college, as part of my California history class.  This is a great book which investigates the social dynamics of the different classes who made up the various sections of the Gold Rush.  The books ability to take the same period of time, and evaluate it from so many different angles (social, special, sexual, political, economic) makes it one of if not the best 19th Century American History books that I have read.  If you have any interest in true dynamics of Fandangos foothill life, this is the book for you.  Also on a side note, why have we not seen a series like Deadwood but about the gold rush, it has all the dynamics and just the fact that you can talk about bear fights should be enough to get HBO on board.

 The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Author:  A. J. Jacobs

This book surprised me by the wit and story that was interwoven with random facts from Jacobs' quest to read every word in the Encyclopedia Britannica.  The book is not about the Britannica, but about the effects that learning have on a number of people.  My favorite part is when he visited the smartest man alive, and learned that he was a nerd who lived alone and who went to Wendy's every day at 4pm.  It’s a quick read and I ended up reading it twice in one week just because I love random trivia.

The Da Vinci Code

Author: Dan Brown

Part of the reason I am writing this today is because of the book and the game review that just went up.  Being asked plot questions by Greg Mueller while he read the book reminded me just how weird a read this book was.  I have never had a book where every page I kept thinking to myself how god awful the writing was, while at the same time becoming enthralled and obsessed with a book.  Really, the plot for this book and story are inane and low B grade Hollywood fluff, which is part of the reason I have no hope for the movie which I have not seen yet.  That being said, it was fun reading a fiction take on the common Priory of Scion religious debate which has been going on for the past few years.  My recommendation is that if you want to read it the historical and symbolical diatribes, then go for it, if you are reading it for just the story, get a life.

Angels & Demons

Author: Dan Brown

Ok, I admit that Da Vinci was interesting enough for me to pick up this book while waiting in an airport on my recent trip to Oklahoma.  I actually found this story better in its development and of course it has far more action, as well as a yoga instructing main heroine.  That being said, Brown loses focus a lot of the time and this one does not have as much in the way of a historical argument, so I found it a bit lacking.  If you are going to pick up one book or the other, and you have little interest in historical debate, this is the book for you.

Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans: Understanding and Interpreting the Game So You Can Watch It Like a Pro

Author: Tim McCarver

Not the best sports book I have read, but the insights into basic mechanics and about pitch grips is quite enlightening.  I think that McCarver's ego gets in the way of his writing a number of times, and that he overvalues the catcher in the grand scheme of things, but I do find that this is probably the best book for a baseball neophyte if they are looking to expand their understanding of the game in a quick and painless manner.  There are a few points where the writing and stories subtract and slow down the reading process, but top to bottom this is a book a recommend to baseball fans.

The Motley Fool You Have More Than You Think : The Foolish Guide To Personal Finance

Authors: David & Tom Gardner

I have to admit that I had not read much of their work going into this reading decision, and in hindsight I wish I had.  This is one of the poorest examples of personal finance advice that I can imagine, with the actual advice sections (which are about as basic as could be imagined and covered in a way that is put-offish) loosing all effectiveness because piss poor storytelling and writing makes the reader lose focus.  Of all the books I have read or started going through in the past 2 years, this one hands down is the one that I would tell people to avoid.  Any book who suggests going into bathrooms of expensive hotels, stealing the toilet paper, and then getting people to give you tips because you give them a few pieces is beyond absurd.  This book is more likely to cause an aneurism then it is to fix your finances.

I think I am forgetting a few that I have read here recently, but those are the ones that come quickly to mind.  I will offer a few more suggestions once I get a few more books done, but for the meantime, I hope these quick synopsizes assist you in your book reading decisions.

Of the four E3s that I have now attended, this was by far the weirdest in overall delivery.  Normally you go to E3, have 3-5 games take over the show, which determines how everything else is presented and what you cover and want to see.  These titles are the ones that will shape the face of gaming for the next year, making the platform on which they appear gain in market share relative to the "loser" platforms.  Because of this, and the fact that games tend to follow the bell curve, with an equal number of bad games as great games, E3 tends to be a fairly predictable event.

 This year, not so much.  This year, it was all hardware all the time.  Most importantly, there wasn’t a single "A" game there, nothing that will define gaming or that stood above the crowd.  There was a massive amount of B+ games there, games that are great in their own right, but that are just extensions of what is out there, games like Assassin's Creed, which for all intensive purposes is just the next version of Prince of Persia, Gears of War/Resistance which is just Halo with different graphics, or anything of the like.  There wasn't a RE4/Oblivion game there, something that moves gaming forward, so much as there were a lot of great titles which raise the bar but do not change the playing field.  Normally, you expect to find 6-7 titles in this range, games that you really want to play if you already like that genre, but that won't really bring others in.  This year, the list is somewhere around 20 games, including but not limited to:  Assassin's, Gears, Lost Planet, Mass Effect, BioShock, Dead Rising, Mario Galaxy, Zelda, MGS4, GoW II, FFXIII, UT2K7, Resistance, MP:3, Heavenly Sword, the Darkness, NBA 2K7, SC: Double Agent, CoD3, WoW: Burning, C&C3.  That list doesn't even include games that really weren't there, like H3, Warhammer Online, and RE5.  All of these games look great, but they really are just the next extension of a genre, and don’t define gaming in any ways.  There's nothing there we haven't seen or done before, just maybe not with that level of detail or graphic level.  There isn't a small sampling that you can walk away with and say these games are gold, you just have a lot of good looking good looking games that will excite some, and not matter to others.  Not a one of these is lickely to bring in someone to the genre or franchise that didn't already play it.  In a way, I am disappointed, but in a way, I am super excited.

Usually, when I go to E3, I come away with 2-3 games that I know I will have to play and possably buy.  This year, there are 3 titles that I know I will buy (Madden, Gears, Spore) and probably 15 that I know I will have to play.  That in itself is amazing and I hope that is enough to drive all three platforms through the interesting next year and half that is to come.

On a side note, when driving a large vehicle… watch closely when backing up…

MS.. Conference… Notes… Unofficial… I am guessing you get the point by now:

I was a fanboy going in, but Gears of War looks amazing, will probably be the first X360 title that I actually buy.

Having Emperor Palpatine make his first E3 was interesting, and even more surprising was the fact that most things worked.

I just don’t care about piñatas unless they make a Gears of Piñatas game.

Xbox Anywhere has promise, but it just seems a lot like they want to be in every facet of your life no matter what, and you cant get away from Gates' Evil Empire.

Halo just didn’t impress me at all, at this point it takes more then 30 seconds of CGI master chief to make me care.

The cross platform push to PC and mobile?! VERY INTERESTING.  I can name fifty reasons why that could fail, but if they do pull it off right, it really puts them in a good position.  Overall, after Sony's debacle they positioned themselves very nicely to pull even this iteration, and with Sony's amazingly bad fiscal outlook right now, that might be enough to break the market so to speak.  It also gives the finger to J2ME, but that is fine with me.

Forza, GTA, Gears, Fable… I hope that is enough for them to hold market share this winter but I doubt it.  Next year thought hey seem to be set to push through Sony's second wind (I guess that Oblivion counts as X360's second wind).

I would say that I find a lot of impressive visuals and concepts from MS, I think they have a clue now, and more importantly, the less J. Allard the better…

And now, we get to see how well promises from all three conferences come to fruition. I still give Nintendo credit for not wasting my time with useless talk and promises.  I want to see all three in action, then we can really evaluate.

I love E3, there is nothing like it in the world, if you can't feel exhilarated and torn right now, after hearing all three companies, check your heart, head, and hand at the door…

Like before, I want to post a few thoughts from the Nintendo press conference, but I will leave it to the proper authorities to give your breadth and official reaction:

I am glad they decided to go the two separate releases on Twilight Princes, but the shooting mechanic looked like its going to take a lot to get used to.

MARIO!!! Yeah, I will sell out for that one.

They understated a lot of things, which I think works, they kept Reggie from doing his usual we are god speeches, and it worked.  Where as I am afraid Sony overstated and under delivered, I think Nintendo did just the opposite.  Playing these games and seeing how complete they are will be the ultimate test…

Nintendo launching in the same window as PS3 is going to hurt Sony I think, not because they compete directly anymore ( I am not sure they do), but because of what I am sure will be a drastic price differenc.  I had kind of guessed it would come out 2-3 months before the PS3.

I guess I am one of those two people Reggie mentioned about liking the name… oh wait, I don’t count because no one cared…

I am rather speechless after the Sony Press Conference, and while I will leave the big boys to share the more appropriate message and their feelings about the show, I will just leave with a few comments:

Sony Press Conference 05 = 20 cans of red bull

Sony Press Conference 06 = Coke Blak.

Most importantly, anyone that says the Sony is copying Nintendo for their controller… I have worse news… they are copying Microsoft circa 1999.  Now you can enjoy all the benefits of looking like you are having an epileptic seizure while at the same time using 7 year old technology.

I would also like to point out that I don't think that 2 million units are nearly enough, I am not sure that 10 million units are enough…

Europe gets screwed once again on price…

I probably should have posted this the day the news hit, but sense I seem to be the only person on the planet that likes the name Wii; I thought it would probably would have resulted in more angry people with pitchforks then my last freeplay did.  I thought it was about time that someone come out and say that the name is great and that it was a good decision.  I really do like the name, for a number of reasons, and think that Nintendo is going about this completely the right way, even if we aren't too sure what the final product will be...

 The day that the news hit, I had an interesting conversation with fellow GameSpot employee and someone people actually care about Greg Mueller.  This is the transcript of our AIM conversation:

[11:30] Greg: dare i ask your thoughts on wii?

[11:31] Andrew: I like it

[11:31] Greg: you would

[11:32] Andrew: look, Xbox is a name that is stupid and doesnt say anything, but its effective, why? because its short, easy to say, easy to write, different and associable

[11:32] Greg: wii is none of those things

[11:32] Andrew: Wii meets all that criteria, its a known sound, and its an easy to brand, it matches the controller

[11:32] Andrew: sure it is, Wee is monosybilic, its different, it doesnt mean anything

[11:33] Greg: according to that news story the sound wii doesn't even exist in japanese

[11:33] Andrew: so, ii means good in Japan

[11:33] Greg: Wgood

[11:33] Greg: lame

[11:33] Andrew: it has different meanings everywhere, its yes, its good, its easy

[11:33] Andrew: look, its at least not Nova

[11:33] Andrew: to me, the most absurd name is Xbox 360

[11:34] Greg: i don't get how the i represents the controller anyway

[11:34] Andrew: it means they ended up where they started, which is prety true

[11:34] Greg: the xbox 360 is a dumb name, but whatever

[11:34] Greg: it's easy to say 360

[11:34] Andrew: hold the controller, it looks like an I

[11:34] Andrew: its a single long stick

[11:34] Andrew: hell, their video uses it

[11:34] Greg: yeah, i watched it

[11:35] Andrew: It  meets all the criteria I can think of for a name

[11:35] Andrew: and guess what, they love the negative feedback

[11:35] Andrew: Think about all the press coverage and talk they get right before E3 with little cost

[11:36] Andrew: couldnt be more effetive timing

[11:36] Andrew: I also love the use of ii to show its the second iteration

[11:37] Greg: second iteration of what?

[11:37] Greg: the gamecube?

[11:37] Andrew: gamecube

[11:37] Andrew: yeah, its just a gamecube with a new controller and 3 times the power

[11:38] Andrew: Revolution is a non markatable name

[11:38] Andrew: they HAD to change it

[11:38] Andrew: and they had to do it when it would cause the most stir going into their unveil and following launch

[11:38] Greg: why was it non marketable?

[11:38] Andrew: too long, to assoicable...

[11:39] Andrew: revolution has negative connentations

[11:39] Greg: and "wee" doesn't?

[11:39] Andrew: what, piss?  yeah, there is that slang, but again, it also means good and yes

[11:39] Andrew: and together

[11:42] Andrew: did you really think I wouldnt like it?

[11:43] Greg: i knew you would like it just because everyone else doesn't like it

[11:43] Andrew: ha, yeah, I can be a contrarian

[11:43] Andrew: but honestly, I liked it before I knew what everyone else thought about it

[11:44] Greg: i think it's a terrible name, but whatever. it's not like the Playstation is anything special, and that thing has been on top for the past couple generations

[11:45] Andrew: Playstation made sense at the time, but they stopped using that term now, they use PS

[11:45] Andrew: and PSP

[11:45] Andrew: yeas, we know what it means, but trust me they love the PS2, PS3, PSP terms

[11:46] Greg: sure

[11:46] Andrew: and PSP makes more sense the Wii?

[11:49] Greg: yeah

[11:49] Greg: playstation portable

[11:50] Greg: not, "us, coming together for W followed by japanese for good, and two i's to represent controllers" mumbo jumbo

[11:53] Andrew: yeah I know what the acronym PSP means, but they market it as the PSP, which is a is a meaning less conjoining of letters, even if we know its an acronym, its less involved then the we, yes, good, second itteration meaning, its just as easy to say, and it took a little bit to get used to (though much less time because we were so used to the PS2)

I figured that pretty much sums up the common feelings and my own, though if anyone wants more reasons why I think that name is 70% brilliant and 30% timing, please ask I and I will be more then happy to insanely rant...

Ok, so I haven't updated this thing in a while, and normally I would talk about actual sports instead of virtual sports, but I am a bit miffed.  I would like to personally thank 2K for breaking my College Hoops Experience.  I mean, it wasn't like the final four and this years run didn’t prove how god awful the play has become in the actual game, how little talent there is right now and how badly coaching has dropped off the face of the map (and I think that coach AMEX is a prime reason why), but now I cant even simulate it on my own time.  I need something to change the taste left in my mouth after watching UCLA play this year (yes, they did good, but I don't think I have ever seen worse basketball, they just slog the game up to the point that no one can watch or play it, and then they just do what they do).  

But, thanks to 2K's brilliance, their latest update, to solve an online game problem, manages to make the entire game unplayable.  Not a little unplayable, completely unplayable, not like the the post play and season mode that are already broken, I mean like Starcraft Ghost unplayable. It's so much fun watching the players wait for the tip-off that will never happen.  How brilliant do you have to be to have your fix break more then the original problem (Please, no political jokes here!).  College Hoops 2K6 on the 360 is one of my favorite games on the system (see my Freeplay to know which one isn’t, not because it’s a bad game or anything, I just don’t want to become one of the people who talk non-sensibly about the game, I already talk non-sensibly about enough other things). 

And yes, I love the fix to the problem; let's format our hard drives, BRILLIANT!

So in recap:  

• Online has problems
•  Decide to completely destroy entire game with update
•  UCLA unwatchable

Seriously though, it's pretty rare when I get this upset about a game and so far there is zero response from 2K.  You broke it; you fix it; is that so hard to understand?

And in other news, anyone catch the McDonald's All-American game?  This years talent may have been horrendous (see JJ for example, a career 40% 3pt shooter is suddenly the top player in America, please, Roy and Morrison were both light years ahead of him in just about every aspect of their games, but they don't play for the Dickie V's out of Durham).  This years rookie crop is the best in maybe 20 years, with freaks at the top like Oden, Hawes (at least he doesn’t play defense, so I am not that worried about the team up north lead by the second most sickenly fake basketball ball coach in America), Budinger, Los Lopez, and Durant all look like super studs.  If it weren't for the new draft rules, you would have the top 4 picks all be High Schoolers… We might honestly get to see good basketball again, assuming some actually stay and learn.