Woo! Giant Bomb is up and amazing. I am moving there, so this will most likely be my last blog on GameSpot. This is my new Giant Bomb profile. My username is Spencer. You will always be able to access my current blog (which is Giant Bomb right now) by going to StillAThreat.com.

Click below to see my new profile, complete with cheeseburgers and keytars. Also, if you're sending me a friend request, make sure to send me a personal message with your old GameSpot username so I know who you are. See you on the other side!

I have registered "stillathreat.com" and will be using it to redirect to my Giant Bomb profile once it launches (right now it redirects here). So the next time you're searching for my blog (all the time, I know) you can just type in stillathreat.com. Boom. Here it is.

Boom!

Next week Giant Bomb will be launching and I will be moving into a new community, so I decided now is a good time for an Xbox Live friends list cleanup. I'm not deleting any friends here on GameSpot, this is just Live. I am removing anybody I have not actually played a game with or don't remember who they are. Just a heads up for those people who won't see Kochamara57 on their friends list after tonight.

[EDIT] After posting this I noticed that this is the only blog post showing on my profile page... I know this is a temporary glitch but I'm pretty uncomfortable having those mediocre reviews so close my new blog posts. Pretend they are not even there (except maybe the Psychonauts one, that's not horrible).

I turned 17 on the 21st, and I finally got around to picking up Grand Theft Auto IV today. After three months of horrifyingly painful anticipation, I own it. And guess what? The lady who sold me the game didn't even check my ID. Great. Just... great.

Are you ready for my first real blog post since February? Too bad, here it is. It is kind of weird not blogging on a regular basis, especially since I used to update this page once every two days. The sudden lack of updates is most likely due to certain changes on GameSpot's editorial team and a formation of another super-awesome site. Assuming that the full Giant Bomb will have space for blogs, I will be abandoning this profile within a few weeks. Moving on...

I went to see WALL-E yesterday. WALL-E is probably the cutest movie I have ever seen. I seriously could not stop smiling during the film. It was very funny, and the level of detail that went into how the film looks was unbelievable. Anybody who called "Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction" "Pixar-level detail" (myself included) was very, very wrong. The movie was a visual masterpiece. I would say that right now WALL-E is my favorite animated film. It didn't feel like the standard Pixar movie (hell, the main character barely talks) but I loved it.

Right now I'm up in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a couple weeks visiting family, so I have been away from my consoles. Luckily, my friends have consoles so I made sure to play GTA IV and Rock Band with them. For the record, I am a pretty awful singer but that isn't stopping me from making a fool of myself in front of others. Then again, isn't that the purpose of kareoke to begin with?
I turned 17 on the 21st, so when I get back to North Carolina I will be picking up Grand Theft Auto IV. I couldn't wait that long, so I bought the Grand Theft Auto Collection on Steam. I made the mistake of trying Vice City before GTA III, so I can't really appreciate GTA III. Vice City was a blast, I really love the '80s sty*le. I played that for a couple of days and moved on to San Andreas, which is the game I'm playing now. I am absolutely loving this game, but then again doesn't everybody?

Well I'm hungry now... I'm thinking macaroni and cheese or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...

The problem with obtaining Grand Theft Auto as opposed to other M-rated games like BioShock or Call of Duty is that parents actually know what Grand Theft Auto is. So, at least until I am 17 (few months), the above picture is as close as I'm going to get to Grand Theft Auto for now. Yes, that is me holding the Mario Kart Wii wheel and the NES Zapper while wearing a coat similar to Niko's.

This is what I have to deal with.

I just had a startling revelation when I was about to clean the electronics in my room (remove dust and stuff): my PS3 is trying to kill my 360. How? Well my 360 is sitting to the right of my PS3. I just noticed that the PS3's main vent pushes warm air out to the right. The Xbox 360 hard drive is on the left of the system when horizontal. Therefore, the PS3 is pushing warm air on my 360's hard drive. In other words, it is trying to kill it by overheating the system. Scandalous!

Hehe... funny

Have a great Easter everybody

I picked up two more bottles of Gatorade Tiger today, and I'm about to test out the flavor "Quiet Storm". The quote on the side of the bottle explains: "His focus is legendary, underneath a storm of pressure he ignores doubt and pays no attention to failure." Quite a quote. Here we go.

Wow that's really fruity. Tastes like grapes in water. Almost like grape soda, but less acetic and more watery. I really like it. Probably better than the Cool Fusion flavor I tried yesterday. I can see myself buying this again.

Gatorade Tiger: Quiet Storm gets four out of five stars (totally adopting the Giant Bomb ratings system).

After seeing all of the hype generated by Jeff Gerstmann's Gatorade Tiger experiences over at GiantBomb/ArrowPointingDown, I decided to try it for myself. Below are my reactions to trying it for the first time.

The flavor is cool fusion. There is some stuff on the side of the bottle explaining the Tiger experience. "One part mind. One part body. All parts cool." All right then! Tasting... tastes a lot like a watered down Lemon-Lime Gatorade. A bit bitter at first, sweet aftertaste. Reminds me of lemons or berries. The light green color doesn't seem appropriate.

This drink is still very much Gatorade. I'm not exactly sure what makes the Tiger product line different aside from the pretty awesome picture of Tiger Woods on the bottle. The drink does a good job as a thirst quencher... but then again, so does water.

Overall, the drink tastes good. Not as good as something like Dr. Pepper, but this is a completely different kind of drink. As a thirst quencher, it's good enough, and I can understand why something like this would be absolutely necessary while building a videogaming website like Giant Bomb.

Giant Bomb! So awesome!

So I went a bit photoshop crazy today, making both the Giant Bomb image above and the blog header. Like them?

Games!

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
I wrapped up Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction today. Surprisingly, the cliff hanger was not as horrible as some members of the gaming press had made it out to be, but that might have something to do with the story not being too deep or interesting. Don't get me wrong; fish things in robot suits attacking is a great idea for a videogame, it's just that the idea does not translate into a story-driven videogame.

The final boss fight was fun, and was the only point in that game that provided a reasonable amount of challenge. All other bosses in the game were easily wiped out. I found the end boss a fitting conclusion to the game though because I ended the game using a Groovitron device (makes your opponent start dancing). Groovitrons are pretty awesome... so is the weapon that turns your enemy into a penguin. There are some awesome ways to kill things in that game.

This was my first Ratchet and Clank game, and I can see how this could get repetitive year after year. While playing, I had no complaints about repetition, but I can't imagine playing a Ratchet game every year. Tools of Destruction mixed up the action nicely, though. Puzzles, the Clank missions, the falling sequences, and the rail grinding sequences made it so the action never felt stale in that game. I actually have only one complaint with this entire game: the checkpoints are pretty unforgiving. This is a platformer, and if you miss a jump you shouldn't be sent back over a minute in the game.

The graphics were excellent, the gameplay was a blast, the audio was great, and the voiceovers were laugh-out-loud funny. I highly recommend this game to any Ratchet fans or any PS3 owner who hasn't played a Ratchet and Clank game yet. As for the others who have played a Ratchet game before, approach this one with caution and don't expect any radical changes. Score from a new Ratchet player: 9.0/10, Superb.

Rez HD (360 Live Arcade)
This was my first time playing Rez, and I absolutely love this game. The music is perfect and the boss fights are some of the best that I have played in a while. 800 Microsoft points for this game is a great value for this (newly discovered for me) ****c, and I give it my highest recommendation to anybody who has not given Rez a try yet and enjoys music-based games.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
I just received this in the mail today from Amazon, and so far it's exactly what I expected, and that's not exactly that great. It is fun though, but far from Game of the Year-type material. I really want this game to provide an engaging story that I actually care about, unlike Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. In GRAW, I realized who the bad guy was only after he died. Yeah... I hated that game with a passion. But, no squads in CoD4, that's a good sign.

That's all for today.
-Spencer

As time goes on and more and more people resign from GameSpot, I'm realizing that it will never be the same on this website. I would have moved on from this site a while ago, but there still is no website that can offer the same experience as GameSpot.com. So, I'm here, passing time until I'm provided with a good alternative. I really would love it if some of these rumors that Jeff Gerstmann and Vince Broady are creating a new website are true, but I won't hold my breath.

I am very happy that the people who have left the website (Jeff, Ryan, Alex) are keeping blogs. If not for the blogs, Ryan's departure would have been awful. But, he does keep a personal blog and so I know if I want to hear from him I can just check his blog. I know I can always come to GameSpot for a fair, well done review. I feel like Ricardo Torres will be able to keep this site functioning like it should on the editorial side. I will just miss seeing these people on On The Spot week after week.

Ryan has always been my second favorite GameSpot staff member (Jeff was number one) and I think that GameSpot benefited tremendously from his work. I wish him the best as he moves forward, and I hope he never shuts up and stops producing superb reviews, previews, videos, and podcasts.

I just wrapped up Half-Life 2: Episode 2 this morning (finally), and I think that it's time I go over the games I liked the most. Specifically, I'm going to list the games that I have rated 9.5 or above.

Perfection (or pretty damn close): The 10's

Psychonauts (Xbox)
This game is so funny and so insane it would be difficult for me to say that it is anything but perfect. From the Kochamara battle to the milkman conspiracy, this game remains genuinely fun from start to finish.

Battlefield 2 (PC)
I love the freedom of this game. There is no specific way to be the best player. Also, flying aircraft in that game is super fun.

The Orange Box (PC)
Really? Five AMAZING games? Is there any way you could give this box anything but a 10? I loved everything in this package and the fact that it was only $45 just made the deal sweeter.

Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)
This game is Mario at his best, but you already knew that.

Psychonauts (PlayStation 2)
Although the graphics weren't quite as smooth as the Xbox version, it's still a solid port of Psychonauts.

So very close: Games rated 9.5 +

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)
My first and favorite Zelda game. Twilight Princess doesn't even come close.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360)
My Game of the Year for 2006. I love the insane amount of stuff to do in the game. I also appreciate that even though it's an RPG, it doesn't bore me to death.

Halo 3 (360)
A fitting end to a fantastic trilogy of games.

Gears of War (360)
I may be a little harsh towards this game at times, but whatever, you get to chainsaw dudes in half.

Half-Life 2 (PC)
Even in 2007 this game is jaw-dropping and filled with unforgettable experiences.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two (PC)
The battles towards the end of this game are simply amazing.

Animal Crossing (GC)
Virtual-life games at their best.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Although not Game of the Year material, this game is still fantastic.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii)
This was my first version of Resident Evil 4, and I think I picked a good version to start with.

The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition (GC)
Zelda + Zelda 2 + Ocarina + Majora's Mask. And oh yeah, it was FREE. Insanity.

BioShock (360)
The story and atmosphere in this game would have made it my easy pick for GotY 2007 if not for The Orange Box.

Katamari Damacy (PS2)
I'm really into crazy crap.

(Didn't know that you need to censor every letter in a banned word, so here is an edited version of my deleted blog)

The blue glow on my Wii came on today so I thought it was time to get out the camera and upload a shot of all three consoles next to each other with their lights on. Fancy, I know.

For all of those who prefer to be able to tell what they are looking at, here is a slightly less blurry version.

So, games.

Now Playing January 13
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
This game is great. The environments are beautiful, the enemies are entertaining and cool looking, the dialog is laugh-out-loud funny, and the gameplay is very solid. I can see how this type of game would get repetitive, but since this is my first Ratchet game I'm having a blast. This game is easily my favorite PS3 game so far.

Everyday Shooter (PS3)
I haven't progressed very far into this game yet, but so far it is impressive. The art st-yle is unique and the soundtrack is great. My only complaint is that there is one penny left on my PSN account. That is REALLY stupid.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (360)
This is my first Guitar Hero game since the original on the PS2, so this is a nice update to a great game... and that's all I have to say about GH3.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360)
I just found out that the soundtrack of Battlestar Galactica is the PERFECT addition to Oblivion. Seriously. It's the soundtrack Oblivion should have had. As strange as it sounds, somehow playing the game with that soundtrack is actually giving it more replay value. On a side note, Battlestar Galactica is now my favorite television series ever and every single one of you should go out and rent/buy/download (legally, of course, try Amazon) the first season, starting with the miniseries. I was introduced to it late last year, and this show has blown me away. It's unbelievable. I'm serious. If you have not seen Battlestar Galactica, go get the first season. Do it. It's that ******* good.

Pure awesomeness. Bought it today at Best Buy (my dad paid for $300 of it so it was a pretty good deal). Time to get back to playing then...

Yee yee!

HTML modifications for the win.

Still waiting on the 360/Gift Card. I'll be heading to Michigan tomorrow (6:20 AM flight, ack) to see family for eight days. Looking forward to it/dreading it. Happy/Merry (insert holiday here) everybody!