I will report to the MTC on August 1, 2007, remain there for three months learning the Russian language, and will spend a period of 24 months there.  How bout them apples?

It's been a lousy couple of weeks for games, I must admit.  XBLA and VC haven't done much to keep my attention and what little the PSN has to offer surely isn't keeping me engaged.  I won't deny I'm pleased I can play some old school PSone on the PS3 finally, but the gesture only lasts for so long.  Seeing as I'm closing in on my 19th b-day, you can say I haven't had much time to really worry about videogames.  In the next few weeks, I'll be receiving my mission call which will outline where I will be serving for the next two years of my life.  So, as it's apparent, I've been a bit focused on more important things than games (I know, blasphemous, right?).  I'll have my call in the next 2-10 days, graduate from high school on June 1, and will be entering the MTC sometime in August.  Between now and then, there's really not much for me to do except work, ponder what it is I want to do for a career when I get back, party, and prepare for the mission.  The industry is slow-going during the summer and so I'm pretty much done with games for awhile and I might end up giving them up all together.  I've always looked into making games as a profession, but seeing as the next time I'll be able to play games is when I'm 21, I think I'll go ahead and mature and start working towards something instead of brainlessly wasting away time (as a lot of games do).  So, sorry to be so pessimistic, but that's just the way things are.  Maybe one day I'll pen a script for a videogame, movie, or compose an entire book you might come across, but for now there's not much outside of this blog you'll see me doing (whomever visits my blog anyway, which might not be anybody but at least it gives me something to do when bored or suffering from WB).  To the times, but I've got to go my way eventually.  Just so happens that eventually happens to be now.  I'll pop around occassionally to toss-in a word or two about games and some meaningless other rants, but I'm sorry to say that this is near the end.  To whom it may concern, au revoir.

With nothing to do the other day, I hopped on to the net and visited Gametrailers.com to check and see if they had any new media.  To my delight, they had a top ten consoles of all time video, which was mildly entertaining at best.  But, as I was watching and when they came to #3 system of all time (NES), I recognized the game Little Nemo, probably the single-most game responsible for my gaming habits.  If you want to check it out, visit the top ten consoles trailer on Gametrailers; it's near the end of the video and shows a boy transform into a frog costume in a forest area with an enemy snail approaching him.  Such memories....

Hopefully Nintendo, MS, or Sony (depending on whoever has the rights to license the game anymore) will put it up as a downloadable game one of these days.  Highly recommended by me, if you ever get the chance to check it out.

One of my top ten favorite games ever made!

Like it always tends to be, I've got problems still with my consoles.  I just got my PS3 back because I had to send it in for maintenance.  The USB ports were malfunctioning and though one of the four worked, I wasn't up for going on living that way.  Still under warranty though, plus I was bustling through GoW2 anyway at the time, so I just whipped out my PS2 and finished it on that.  But my biggest issue is with my 360.  I've been trying to set-up a wired connection in my living room, which means I've had to cut and clip wire and drill holes in my walls in order to run the ethernet cord from the 360 (which has a simple adapter connecting the larger-headed 360 ethernet cable to the smaller-headed cable running through the walls to my router).  But, alas, the 360 won't connect onto XBL.  I don't get it either.  The cables are exactly the same, but just with different sized-heads.  But even more weird is when I plug the exact same 360 ethernet + homemade ethernet series into my PS3, the PS3 detects it easily!  Now, I have a wireless router, so I use wi-fi for my PS3, but there's just no way I'm shelling out $100 bucks for a Wi-fi adapter for the 360.  For now, I'm having to downgrade and play on my Funai 480p tv, but at least I get XBL detected in there.  Doesn't make any sense; all the wires are exactly the same, but the 360 just doesn't like my homemade cord.  I might just cut a new one and start over, but I just don't get why all these issues keep happening to me. 

Not really playing much right now, though I'm considering dusting off my DS with Pokemon later this month, but the next big games for me are Mass Effect, Lair, Heavenly Sword, Bioshock, and Warhawk.  Too bad I won't be around for the fall and winter, plus all of 08 and the majority of 09 (mission), so hopefully I can get a few of those games in before I head out in August.  Signing off....

Firstly, sorry about the Motorstorm review.  Everytime I've got on this past week I've intended to put it up, but I get absorbed in the forums.  My bad.  I'll get that up over Spring Break...

I'm posting this right now as my folks and I are zooming down I-15 towards Las Vegas; pops just got himself a flashy new Cingular broadband card (business expense - he's way too cheap to pay for it himself [I'm saying this outloud as I type so he hears me ]) and he wanted me to give it a test run in his *shock* new laptop.  So, instead of having a dry spell on my blog, I'll be able to keep in touch over the Spring Break weekend.  But, don't expect a whole lot of me around unless I'm crashing for a day or two.  C'mon, it's Spring Break!  Regardless, looks like this card works pretty darn well, IMO...

Now, no blog is complete without an opinion about something, so concerning the 360 Elite and GTAIV:

Microsoft's recent move leaves me puzzled as to really what MS's intentions are.  The 360 was supposed to be about interconnectivity, giving the gamer the complete videogame experience with multitasking features and a well-integrated system, which is what MS did.  However, MS made a mistake, which can only be placed on their lack of foresight.  MS sat on the fence about fully commiting to HD and absorbing all the initial cost of supporting; it was more or less a substantial risk to a division of MS that was already faltering.  Games division has yet to establish any form of profit from the X360 or from any of MS's media (Zune included) and it's obvious to see that's the reason why they probably held back a little bit.  Remember, MS is a software company, not a media content company.  Sony, on the other hand, went all out for the HD era, which may have been premature, but it doesn't seem to be that way any longer.  Why would MS ever introduce a third SKU that only has three changes to the current Premium package: 1) An HDMI port, 2) Black color, and 3) 120GB hard drive.  One of those issues is entirely left to the buyer to have an opinion on (I prefer the white 360), one can be bought separately, and the last is the only thing that can't be altered on the current X360 premium model.  And what's with a $480 price point?  I guess it makes the buyer feel better that he's $20 under the dreaded $500 mark.  I understand what MS is trying to do, since they understand the market the PS3 is shooting for and they don't want that market left in the control of Sony.  But that's where the dilemma, for me, comes in.  MS seems absolutely intent on slaughtering Sony, even if their own philosophy is put on the sacrificial table.  That's what's troubling: MS is the more powerful company, but they seem to lack vision.  Game companies copy each other constantly, always manuevering around one another to try and create the most desired product possible.  But where does the gaming road lead for MS?  Is it just a "wet" market that they can impose themselves upon and suck up every last fund?  What is MS, ultimately, wanting to contribute to the medium and experience that has become videogames?  Xbox Live, I will admit, is the single greatest thing MS has done for videogames, but I don't believe that will carry them on in this industry.  As for the 360 Elite itself, I think the product is great - I really do.  But as an early adopter who would have vastly benefited from MS initially backing the HD Elite package, I feel betrayed, as I will probably feel when Sony puts out its rumble controller for the PS3.  But what concerns me more is the direction MS wants the industry to head towards, which, at least to me, is quite vague in their description of what games should be.

Now that that is out of the way, GTA IV.  Anybody else, regardless of how much you like the franchise, feel that we're all a bit too concerned over a mere trailer?  There were guys in the forums eagerly anticipating the trailer and making statements like, "I won't be satisfied unless the trailer is five minutes long and has a complete run-down about the online experience."  Give me a break.  The trailer was a good one, leaving just enough to pique the audience's interest and not divulging enough to make us feel like we've already played the game.  I think NYC is a great setting for the GTA franchise, but the role of the main character (which I think is brilliant) shows that GTA is moving towards a much different approach to the world of crime.  First, it was the mafia in Liberty City, then Drug Lords in Vice City, and finally Gang Leaders in San Andreas.  Now, it looks like we're going underground into the Arms Dealer trade from a foreign immigrant.  The guy reminds me a bit of Nicolas Cage's character in Lord of War, so I'm interested to see where it goes.  Graphically, the trailer looks close enough to what I thought it would end up being, but far short of what R* was hoping it to look like (Table Tennis engine?  Mmmhmmm...).

Well, that's it for now.  Mind the excessive use of bandwidth, I need it sometimes.  Should probably use a bit more brevity, but I don't got much else to do sitting here in the car.  Ugh, get me out of here.  Bb out.