Alright, when you're looking online; trying to figure out whether a game is worth buying, generally, you look at reviews am I right? I mean, what better way to know if something is good than to hear it from other gamers; people who share the same tastes and standards that you do. Now that being said, I'll admit I don't fully listen to the reviews that come from the mouths of actual review sites all the time. Sure they are just as credible, but they tend to be a little more unbiased than myself, and do not always share my taste in games. Normally, this is where I would hope the other gamers, to come in and share there oh so biased opinions.

Alas, to anyone who chooses to use this method, I'm afraid you'll actually be left in the water. Because for some reason, people who post reviews(at least the majority that I've seen). Don't actually post reviews. Instead they think a "THIS GAME IS THE AWESOME!" will suffice, and expect others who read their review to take their advice. Now either this is due to a lack of effort, or they just flat out don't really know what to say. I know I've come across countless people who will say a game is great and then simply respond with "it just is".

I mean, there has to be some reason why you found a particular game enjoyable, right? It just isn't good by the grace of someone's god. And it sure as hell isn't great "just because". Believe it or not, there is actually a system for this. It's simple too. It doesn't require three page essays of every little aspect. I just expect to see something to tell me why it's worth checking out. So, out of my own boredom, I shall sit here and write out a little guide for those planning on writing reviews, so they can actually write one that is helpful.

1. Presentation

Now, as much as I've always said graphics and music and all the bells and whistles are really just a secondary attribute to gaming, it really can be an integral part of making a game good. Just look at Dead Space for example, it had good graphics, good music, and a mood that you will be hard pressed to match. That is really all this category is about. Visuals, sound, atmosphere and story(Even though that should be something much by itself).

Graphics:

This should be one of the easiest things to judge, because generally you can play five minutes, and be able to decide whether they appeal to you or not. But don't just say whether you like them or not. Like the whole of a review, your parts need to detail it to some degree. In this case, graphics run the gambit from cartoony cell shaded graphics to the dark mature and realistic. And not every person likes cell shaded or realistic graphics. Detail why you liked them, and maybe it will give others an idea of whether they will like the visual feel to the game or not.

Now clearly this category can get broad, and some people can pick apart everything from details to textures and lighting. But, I'm not gonna sit here and explain ever tiny little detail. Just pick out what you like and say it in the review. The bare bones can really be helpful sometimes.

Sound:

Sound in itself encompasses more than one thing. This includes voices overs, music and sound effects, all which will roll around to equaling the all important atmosphere of a game. Now in games like Guitar Hero, or Rock Band, music is probably the most important feature, and really will come down to musical taste, so that should be a no brainer. BUT, with everything else, music should be suitable for what is going on. I don't want to hear an epic power ballad if I'm sneaking around, trying to survive in a horror game. Granted I don't think that's ever happened but you get the idea.

Now sound effects, I'd say may even be just as important as music. The right sound at the right time can either make you crack a grin and smile or flinch expecting a big baddie to pop out at any second. Hell, even a level without any music at all can really turn out to be great if they sounds fit the tone of the game just right.

Voices which I'll admit, have actually ruined a game for me. I don't want to be in the middle of what should be a serious cut scene and then I end up laughing my face off at the horrendousness of a bad voice actor. Other games, I actually enjoy the cut scenes just because of the acting(sometimes more than the game play itself to be totally honest). So if a game has stellar voices, make note of it, some people really appreciate this.

Atmosphere:

Really, atmosphere is a combination of every other presentational aspect. It is the mood of the game and should drive how you feel in general. Now, I'm not saying you should be jumping around every corner expecting to get slaughtered, or cracking up at every line of dialogue and stupid sound effect. BUT, it should at least be close. As I noted above, Dead Space did this spectacularly, while I'm not exactly the type to get scared, I did feel a sense of edge. That is a very good thing.

Story:

As I said, I could do an entire section on just this. But, for the sake of anyone reading this, I'll keep it brief. Story is in my opinion, the most important aspect of any presentation. If you can actually get absorbed into the game, start caring for the characters and really think about your actions in game, then I think you have a good story on your hands. Now, there are a lot of games that will get praised for having a good story and I'll strongly disagree. So it's best to play this one out as purely an opinion based thing. Not everyone thinks Halo has the best story ever after all.

2. Game Play

For all purposes we are playing games. Game play is clearly the most important part of that; everything from the sing player AI, to the connection speed of the online multiplayer is important. Thankfully though, you don't need every aspect to be perfect in order to have a good game. Now, I'll keep this one as brief as I can, because there is just so much someone with the knowledge could go on and on about when it comes to game play, but not everyone understands what collision detection is(Let's try and keep things casual safe).

Single Player:

I've always been under the impression that the single player campaign and or other modes should always be the driving force behind a game. If everything that happens while I'm playing by myself is enjoyable, I would hope that things would translate into a multiplayer setting(at least in multiplayer games that is). Now, usually the biggest problem with most games is bad controls and cameras. Honestly, I've dropped games within five minutes just because of these little bugs. So, just outline how it controls, and if you can see everything you are doing(if you want to include this information. The more helpful, the better though).

Now, generally, a stealth game is just looked at as a stealth game. But, if you can highlight little details for someone and explain to them how things work just a little bit more in depth. It really can be a game changer. Say for example Sam Fisher seems to have a hard time staying quiet, and you are setting off alarms and having baddies shoot at you for no reason(generally this will show that the game is too hard and has problems with some of its game mechanics; and no, I've never really played Splinter Cell). Just small things, you know?

For fighting games and shooters… And any game type for that matter, AI is also a key to the single player experience. Now, stupid AI isn't really a bad thing, as I know some people enjoy breezing through the campaign and thus making oneself look like a complete bad ass. Yet others, who enjoy a challenge, don't want the AI to just stand there while they mow them down with a mini gun. They want the AI to fight back and have a potential chance of killing them during every encounter.

Multiplayer:

Even though this isn't the whole shebang for me, multiplayer has become extremely important to those who choose to incorporate it into their games. Some games entire lives thrive almost entirely on multiplayer and have huge player bases to show for it. So never discount a game just because it has a weak single player experience.

Now, clearly, why you like that type of game is left to be said, and you can basically repeat so of the same stuff from single player here. How are the controls, are they responsive? Do all of the mechanics mesh together well and make a fair, enjoyable experience? And you can include a few things about bugs. Games have been ruined entirely because there have been just too many exploits, and make it impossible for a new player to jump in without being horribly destroyed on sight.

Now, connectivity is equally as important. So if you felt like a game was too laggy no matter what the connections showed, then chances are this is a problem. So, outline how easy it was to get into a game. How easy it was to stay in the game, and whether or not disconnects were frequent for others. This is something you can almost be sure of not being an opinion oriented thing, Who likes a laggy game filled with incompetent servers.

Yet again, there are boatloads of things you can bring up in a review to actually make it useful. So this was just a little bit of a help page. You don't need to waste space with irrelevant reviews if you just take a few minutes to actually write out some of your thoughts. So, if you do have problems writing a review that actually has a point, I hope this little bit of information was helpful in some way. Otherwise I've just been blowing steam.

Recently, Gamespot has had a little bit of a controversy on its hands. Which has sent fanboys of two breeds into a frenzy. So unless you've avoided checking out the "Greatest Game Hero" contest, you know that the two "protagonists" of Bubble Bobble fame actually toppled Master Chief, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Of course anyone with any small knowledge of the internet knows how and why they accomplished this, and obviously Gamespot staff have caught on, and now are removing any votes that were considered cheating.

Now, I have to point out that the reason for that site doing this seems to be a simple matter of spite. Voting Bub and Bob over one of the most popular characters in gaming history. Now, I'm not saying B&B deserve any more merit than Chief, but I can say that I respect the message that can be taken from this entire fiasco. When you look at the title it simply says "Greatest Game Hero" and let me emphasize Hero. Not most popular, which is essentially what contests like this always turn into. A battle between the heroes with the most fan boys.(Anyone who has seen the Game Faqs contests of similiar nature knows this is generally Link and Cloud Strife.)

Obviously I'm not dumb enough to believe that this would turn into a proper contest of weighing options and doing a little research. Of course it would just be popularity, and of course mister Chief would be one of the top candidates. Yet, the second someone had the audacity to vote Chief off, alarms began to go off and people instantly began to black list B&B as if they had done something truly horrendous.(Aside from the proxies, of course.) Now, if Chief can be voted forward in a Herocontest simply on popularity, shouldn't B&B have the right to cash in on other people's dislike for the overly hyped spartan? Or over the blue speedy Hedgehog for that matter?

Things like this are just a hazard of doing this as if it is a popularity contest. If it was done the way it is supposed to, I'm sure the brackets would look a lot different by this point. Instead of things like Pacman, who realistically, is not a hero. We would get interesting, deep characters like The Nameless One of Planescape Torment. Or Kirby for that matter.(Who regretfully lost to the yellow eating machine.)

So, I'm just going to go through some of the more mind boggling winners of the first round, just to try and drive home exactly what I mean here. Because honestly, what are some of us even thinking? Before I do though, let me reitterate that my contest bracket was designed as a popularity one because I know how it would turn out. SO don't flog me for being sour about the results.

First one I come to, Pikachu over Nathan Drake. Now call me crazy, but in an actual contest of heroics, the little yellow electric mouse doesn't really carry any stock. At all, he isn't a hero, he is simply a tool for the hero of the Pokemon games to use. The logic in having Pikachu labeled a hero says that instead of Link, we should have the master sword. So, somehow a TOOL managed to beat Drake, who I'll assume is a treasure hunter who pulled some heroics of some sort on some nasty baddie.(Sorry, I haven't played Uncharted, it's on my to do list eventually.)

Niko Bellic over The Apprentice, now this one may purely be an opinion thing, as with Apprentice, he can swing in either the Heroe or villain roles, but, come on Niko is a crook. Yes, he has some sort of motive behind everything he does throughout GTA4, but he still remains a murderer thief and drug trafficker. What did he save by shooting a bunch of pointless thugs and a large handful of blue? Nothing. On the other hand at least Apprentice has the opportunity to try and be the good guy. He can attempt to take down the Emperor and be the good guy. Yes, he fails and this his heroics are diminished, but come on, who doesn't love a good tragedy?

Then we have Yoshi beating Liu Kang. This one should be obvious to the eye, as it's essentially the same argument as Pikachu. Yoshi is a tool at least, and a side kick at most. Kang fought for the safety of our entire realm against some of the most bad ass ninjas to ever exist. Yoshi saved a baby. Scales seem kind of one sided, don't they?

Now, this does bring me to Bub and Bob beating Chief. Now, I won't lie, I hate the Master Chief character. I think he is one dimensional and lacks any worth. Yet, going on the fact that he is a hero, I have to say he SHOULDhave beaten our rainbow colored dragon, dino guys. I mean, saving earth from an outside alien force shouldn;t be taken lightly. Especially when they have a ring of mass destruction that will trahs our entire system. What did B&B do? Shoot some harmless bubbles?

Pacman over Kirby? I said it once, this one should be the other way around. Pacman did what? Ate some dots, some fruit and some pie and terrorized some ghosts? That hardly seems heroic to me folks. Especially when ut next to the lovable pink puff of Kirby. Who managed to save Dreamland multiple times, all while being cute. I could have sworn the female gamers would back him.(I know you do't all love cute things) Kirby is more of a hero than alot of the nostalgic characters on here by a long shot.

I could go into the second round, and ramble about the atrocious victories we had there, but I think you get the point already. I could also go into detial about some of the heroes who lost to less deserving and more mundane heroes. Yet I won't because that may ruin the point behind this, as I would have some bias in some areas.

So in the end, I'll admit B&B having a potential DQ on their end is a good thing, and Gamespot would be doing the right thing. Just keep in mind that bringing back Sonic the Hedgehog won;t change things. This contest will still go to one of the three most popular characters in gaming. So just stop complaining. This is either going to be a heroe who can't speak and does the same thing over and over again. A plumber jacked up on drugs who does the same thing over and over. Or one overly angsty blond guy who takes all the credit for a group effort. None of which who should be in the running for the all time greatest heroe in gaming lore.

Episode three of our very under the radar podcast. Please give it a listen? xp

How's it going everyone. Figured I'd post this here so hopefully some fellow gamers will check it out. Me and a couple of buddies SumJuggaLoGuy and Ejoman3002 got together and formed a podcast. It just deals with gaming news in general, but be nice, we are obvioulsy rough on the edges being new to the concept, and only have a phone to work with. It'd be great if you all could give it a listen and forward it to nay friends who have similiar interests.

http://www.gcast.com/u/IEUgames/main

Thanks in advance to anyone who cares to listen.

Alright, figured I'd post a quickie to keep ya'll in the loop of **** Got my hands on the **** Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo and I have to say it is **** sweet! This game is building and building and I'm getting sick of waiting for it. Looking like it'll be my favorite adventure title in a few years now. I like how they are putting together the combat system with all of it's little combos, looks to be great. As well, I'll probably have less Live time very soon than I like, I have to get a job very soon, which is all good considering the wave of games that will be launching in the fall. So having the extra spending money will be great, can't let these bastards slip by me, or I will find myself hollowed bored, and ashamed.