Hey guys! 
In case you missed it, we have snow here!! We got like 2 feet of it! 
I love snow.
We had a power outage this morning! 
The electric company said that it would come on by 4, but it came on about an hour ago!! That's awesome!
Alright... Someone told me about an error I made about the Facebook link in the last blog I made. I accidentally put the link to the home page instead of the profile page... So... Here it is!
Now... as always I'm gonna end it with a Top 10 List!
Top 10 Favorite Words
1. **** (F-word)
2. **** (S-word)
3. ***** (B-word)
4. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
5. Pokemon
6. Pie
7. Cake
8. Cookie
9. Brownie
10. Soda
END BLAWG!!!
Well lots has happened over the years. I am living in Michigan now and going to college for Game Software Development!! Im so stoked to get my degree and start makin games. What has everyone else been up to?
Alright first of all, I would like to say sorry to everyone for inactivity! XD. I have been way too busy with school (I'm a high school and part-time college student XD). Plus Golf (Varsity baby ;D) has taken up a good part of September - October...but guess what? Season is over so now I'm free .
On to the topic, I'm sure all of you have heard of, or saw the leaked footage from Modern Warfare 2 right? Well yeah I'm gonna be talking about that. If you haven't seen it, good luck in finding it. Activision is really cracking the whip on finding all of the videos that are scattered over the internet. I'm sure you can find a torrent if you are really that desperate.
Ok, so please don't scroll down if you don't want spoilers xD.
SPOILERS
As those of you who know about the video, or have seen it, it's very...well disturbing. I was quite shocked when I viewed the video for the first time. Rubbed my eyes because I could not believe what I was seeing. I mean...you playing as a...TERRORIST?...killing civilians? That is just a bit too far there Activision. Way to promote terrorism to little kids ALL OVER THE DAMN WORLD. It's a little too traumatic. America is still sensitive to the whole "terrorist" subject. 9/11 attacks, school shootings, etc. The media (especially Jack Thompson type people) is all over this. The majority of the people throwing a hissy fit are the people who are un-informed. That is completely understandable because they do not know much about the game itself. You're a CIA agent going undercover as a Russian Terrorist, and you shoot up a ton of civilians in an airport. It is pretty gruesome and disturbing. The footage was pretty shocking to watch...just imagining kids all around the world saying "hey guys! look what I'm doing! Shooting up random defenseless people muwahahaha I'm a terrorist!". Watching a cutscene isn't as bad as a completely interactive shoutout with defenseless civilians. It's just absurd. Hopefully it won't promote these kinds of acts in kids, or any other player of the game. There is a possibility for that...which is why it shouldn't even be in the game in the first place. There are too many people out there that could be hurt by this, more than the people that would enjoy this. It's a little too hurtful...
But on the other hand...I can totally see why Activision decided to include this into the game. It builds a whole new level of emotion to the game. The level has a much bigger impact on you compared to the alternate solution, a cutscene. It's almost like the difference between watching a clip on the news, and actually being there. It's a whole different kind of feeling that you get. And seriously, the game is rated "Mature' for MATURE PEOPLE....YEAH THAT'S RIGHT YOU LITTLE 12 YEAR OLDS! If a 12 year old kid can't comprehend that it's a game then he's obviously not mature enough. Everyone who is treating this whole thing as a negative part of the game is a little too sensitive. Yeah it's a touchy subject but if you don't want to see it just choose "skip" when it prompts you to. It's the same as if you don't want to go eat Chinese food, yet you walk straight into a Chinese restaurant and complain. Parents are just over reacting. There are far worse things then an undercover CIA agent (yeah he's a good guy....so it's not like you're really playing as a terrorist 
). I honestly believe GTA is far worse but I just think the media needs something to b*$%@ and moan about right now.
And besides those two paragraphs....how in the hell did they all bring two guns each, into a high security level airport? I mean what the hell is that? There must be some idiot guard on duty. "Um sir, is that a machine gun you got there?" "Oh no officer, it's just my tennis racquet..." "Oh, okay! =D"
Well that's just my two cents. What's yours?
-Bass7/Toshio
Finally.
I knew I would grow tired of this place and decide to leave, or get banned without actively trying. I'm surprised I'm not banned already, but instead it has led to this. I don't want to continue doing this anymore.
I am leaving GameSpot permanently.
To put it simply, I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the site telling me that it's my fault there are HTML errors. I'm sick of pointless moderations. I'm sick of the same threads being reposted every month and I'm sick of the waves of old threads being bumped.
James Kozanecki sent me a private message at the start of this month. Part of it reads:
| kozanecki wrote: |
| We noticed that you've been moderated a fair bit lately and under the Terms of Service you're rapidly approaching a ban. You're a great forum poster and it would be a shame to lose you, so try to keep it clean and above board. |
Yeah well screw that. Lose me. I don't want to be a GameSpot forum poster anymore, and I won't let moderators have the satisfaction of moderating me anymore or banning me. I am clean. I am above board, but GameSpot's moderation system is flawed and doesn't allow for the least bit of fun, joke or innuendo. I will no longer subject myself to this virtual prison.
There isn't even a reason outside of the forum to visit this website and hasn't been for years. The news is always a day late, the reviews are late and the video content is bland.
This website is no longer relevant and has no reason to be visited.
So there's my reasoning. No real surprises there, but why exactly have I chosen to leave on the 22nd of September?
Before being a regular at GameSpot I used to post very frequently on a wrestling forum at wrestling.net.au. As seen by this screenshot taken before the forum was relaunched, I made nearly 6000 posts there! However after having enough of one moderator on the team who had hated me ever since I signed up I decided I would leave. I did so, on the 22/09/2007. The exact same date I registered there in 2003. Now I'm going to do it again. Same date, same signature, and just like last time I will never return. Even after writing this the similarities continued with one of my last threads on GameSpot being closed just like on the wrestling forum.
As for where I'm going next, I don't feel like writing anything on the internet for a while. I want to sit back, wind down, reflect, forget and refresh. I want to rid my mind of the evil of the past before moving on to something better.
But it wasn't all bad. The most important part of this website for me were the same people who read my posts and blog entries throughout the years. You. Your personalities, forum posts, blog posts, Community Games Nights and Pick-up threads kept me coming back all these years and I thank all those who gave me a laugh. You all know who you are!
And... I guess that is it.
It's time for me to stop. What you're reading now is the last thing I'll ever do on GameSpot before signing out for eternity. Time to walk away from almost 100 blog entries, over 1000 users tracking me, over 11000 profile views and over 12000 posts. It may be drastic, but this is something I feel I need to do and it's in my best interests that I say... Goodbye!
And then, there was nothing.
elektrixxx.....
They are saying that ciara is pregant go to this website
www.ccelebritynewss.blogspot.com
First of all let me start by saying, I love my parents, and they are thankfully not a part of the four types of parents I am going to mention. They don't have any rules or regulations of which I consider, for lack of a better word, stupid. Secondly, no, I do not have any children of my own. I am speaking from my own personal perspective and welcome any comments from the parents out there.
There are four stereotypes which I believe are the reason for the decline in western civilization (a bit of an exaggeration, but I am just trying to make a point). They are: Undisciplined, Too Strict, Overprotective and perhaps the worst of them all Pass the Blame. Let's start with the first one shall we;
Undisciplined - These parents don't believe in the simple thing called 'discipline,' thus their children are allowed to run wild and essentially do whatever they please with no repercussions. These are the children you see running around shopping centres screaming their heads off, at dinner with their parents eating like pigs and seem to have boundary and authority issues at school. I think we can all agree, nothing ruins a good meal like a bunch of screaming, unorganised children. I don't think can say they like it, and I am sure a few of us would like to/have had a chat to their parents, asking them politely (or sometimes not so politely) to control their children. Unfortunately the fact of the matter is they have either passed the point where control is an option or don't care enough to enforce these rules. Either way, it's not something I would like to see in any parent, simply because either way these children are essentially doomed for the early part of their life until they can individually decide what's right and what's wrong.
Children need rules, boundaries; these very simple rules and boundaries should make their early schooling life easier for them and easier for everyone else. As children we don't have the ability to discern what is right and wrong, which is why the values and rules our parents instil on us is vital for our upbringing. As children we pretty much do everything our parents say AS LONG AS it was instilled on us from a young age, because as we grow up, our parent's rules become less and less important as we start to form our own values, ideals and morals.
Let me state that I do not want to start a violent rebellion of children who don't agree with their parents. Remember that your parents have fed you, clothed you and looked after you when you have been sick. All I'm trying to do is make people aware and realise that these stereotypes are not something you should look up to. Unfortunately when you are young, parents are law and what you say will not really have any sway with the way they think or act. However, once you reach 16, 17, 18 (when you start becoming an adult) your parents will start to listen to more of what you say and you will have more intelligent discussions (I hope). So if your parents are one of these stereotypes and you don't agree with it, DON'T HATE THEM, you can DISLIKE THEM, but don't hate them. If you don't agree with what they are saying, talk to them, use intelligent and well thought out arguments. Chances are you will have to argue well (and a lot) to get your point across, but try to keep your cool, people tend to respond better if your civil (sometimes it will be too much to control and that's fair enough, but do your best).
Also, I know there is an innate sense of protection that parents have over their kids, I am sure I will learn this when I have kids on my own but I will try my best to be the sort of parent I know my parents are. On the idea of protection, I know your children's safety and wellbeing is a priority, but you cannot shelter children and expect them to function well when they are an adult. You need to let them live their life, make mistakes, have accidents and they need to know that you'll be there no matter what. There is a difference between getting drunk at a party or having a car accident than doing illicit drugs (marijuana is MAYBE the ONLY one I would consider a lesser transgression than the others) and committing crimes. The first two are almost part of being a teenager and I think aren't too serious. On the other hand the last two are, and are really up to the parents to either stop this behaviour from occurring or make the child realise that this behaviour is not accepted in any way shape or form. Support them but be strict.
Personally when I do become a parent I will have one, simple, yet complex rule. Once they hit high school I will give them my trust; they can go to parties, have boyfriends, be a teenager, but as soon as they do something I see as stupid and reckless i.e. start drinking, having sex at the age of 13; that trust will be lost and I will impose stricter rules until they gain my trust back again, which will be hard or relatively easy depending on the nature of the 'offence.'
As a final paragraph; children obey and love your parents; but if you don't agree with their rules or what they say, question them with a logical and intelligent argument, you would be surprised how far that will get you. As for all the parents who fall under these categories PLEASE release that this behaviour should not be mimicked and you are not setting a good example for your children (from a child's perspective). Just Think.
Too Strict - These parents believe too much in a thing called 'discipline.' I believe children till about 10 or so need fairly strict rules, simply because these rules will be the foundation of their life. These rules will become their own set of morals and beliefs and having parents that teach you the difference between right and wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable is one of the most important 'jobs' of any parent. Children need to know boundaries and need to respect and agree with these boundaries so that when they have children of their own they will be able to pass them on. Once kids start getting around teenage years, freedom and trust needs to be extended. Teenagers need to know that their parents want them to enjoy themselves, but also trust them to do the right thing (AND they only know the right thing if they have been previously educated on the subject).
Teenagers want to go to parties, have boyfriends/girlfriends and eventually start drinking and having sex (the last too come a little later in the teenage years). What I will do when I am a parent is give my child my trust and responsibility. I trust that they will have a good time, but be sensible; drink, but not to excess, party but not TOO hard. I don't think I will allow sex and drinking till about 16, this will probably increase once I see my little girl in high heels and a mini-skirt though haha.
In saying that, too strict is when a person hits 18 years of age (in Australia that is the legal drinking, smoking and criminal offences age) they should be given a little more responsibility. Granted crime is still off limits, but I think they should be able to drink as much as they see fit and have sex, no curfew. Unfortunately I know a girl who goes to my university who is 18 years of age, not allowed a boyfriend, has a curfew of 1am (it use to be 11pm) and coming home intoxicated is not an option. To me, this is insanity. She is LEGALLY allowed to drink and should be able to come home whenever she wants (maybe not whenever but 1 is a bit early) and she should be allowed to have a boyfriend. I do believe in sending parents messages to let them know you are alright (the streets of Kings Cross are a little unsavoury), but I think that a message now and again should suffice.
In terms of gaming I really haven't heard of a parent being too strict, if anything they aren't strict enough so I won't go into any gaming practices for this type of parent.
Too strict parents can be a very large burden on any teenager. It would be hard for them to relax knowing that they can't really have a drink and have to be home at an unreasonably early time. I think that once they finally get the freedom either by; parents allowing it OR not caring what their parents think anymore, that they would be more wild and crazy than if their parents had let them build up to it. They have some many things they have wanted to try and haven't been able to, that they will try to do anything and everything (including some things they and their friends normally wouldn't do i.e. drugs) in a very short space of time. This can lead to extreme negative consequences and really has a MUCH worse result than if they started doing these things earlier and did them gradually instead of all at once.
Overprotective - These parents barely let their children in the sun for fear of cancer. They can very easily ruin childhoods. The main issue that brought me here was the removal of 'play equipment' from primary schools. Now I remember when I was at primary school, I LOVED the play equipment. Monkey bars, slides, seesaws and that crazy piece of wood on a spring where everyone gets on and moves around and the last person on wins haha. Every now and again children would get hurt, some more serious than others, but nothing worse than a broken arm or leg (no deaths or spinal injuries). Children loved them and accepted the sometimes not so pleasant consequences, and so did the parents. Recently various pieces of equipment have been gradually 'shut down' and are usually the ones that cause the 'most' injuries; until nothing was left. This greatly saddens me because those activities were some of the highlights of recess and lunch, they were a lot of fun and kept you active. Now it seems that parents don't allow their kids to have as much fun because god forbid one of them got slightly injured. Kids can't be kids anymore without their parents suing someone. That's right, if a child gets injured at school and the parent believes that it might have been prevented, they can sue the school. Let me first say...What the hell? Children fall down, children get injured, children like to HAVE FUN. Recently it seems children can't have as much fun as they should be use to because their parents will not allow it. I am receiving most of this information from my mother who works as a secretary in a primary school and she knows first hand the paranoia of parents. Who, will come rushing to their child's aid over a scraped knee.
Now I ask you, what will happen to these kids when they are older? I don't think they will have a tough enough skin to deal with the real world and the sad thing is, they won't want to. They will have grown up believing that no injury is too small, no pain too insignificant that I don't think they will be properly able to enjoy their life. They will become, for lack of a better word, soft. Not only from physical injuries, but psychological as well. If their parent is always there to deal with minor insults and rejections, then how can they learn to deal with them by themselves? I can GUARANTEE everyone on this earth has been rejected at least once and has felt some psychological pain (usually in the form of heartache). Children and teenagers need to grow up dealing with these minor inconveniences because they become a lot worse once you get out into the real world, you have a little bit of room to make an error when you're a child, but that blanket is all but removed once you finish school. You are ****ed (cla ss is a forbidden word) as an adult and thus need to be able to deal with all the problems being an adult has to offer. Granted there are some problems that are easier to deal with when you get older (death of a wife/girlfriend, housing problems, bills etc) but you cant just go from nothing to everything all at once (as demonstrated with over protective parents). Its something you need to build up to, because dealing with these smaller problems will help to solve and get over the larger problems quicker.
Thus I believe that you cannot be too overprotective of your child, you cannot let them grow up thinking they are made of glass. They need to get hurt before they can live life, it's a weird statement I know, but I know its true.
Pass the Blame - Finally we come to the WORST time of parent imaginable, the type of parent I do not wish upon anybody. These parents are the most FRUSTRATING group of people in the world, and I reckon if I met one I would seriously consider slapping them in the face and asking, "What the **** are you doing?" This issue centres on gaming which I am sure many of you are relieved about because it will be easy to relate to. This thought started with every gamer's favourite (now ex-) lawyer, Jack Thompson. The absolute genius who believes that all crime is due to games because hey, we are all complete idiots who will imitate anything we see on a game. Now yes there are some idiots out there who are stupid (or mentally ill) enough to imitate their favourite game and for it to have dire consequences; but you know what, movies, books and music have the EXACT same effect on the same small minority of people. Those who cant differentiate between what is real and what is fake. What annoys me the most is not that he is petitioning against games like GTA but the fact that there are people who agree with him and it is mainly parents with young children who don't want their children playing these games. So instead of actually doing some parenting they decide to side with Jack Thompson and want to get rid of mature games. There is a GREAT reason that games have a rating, they are there to stop people of a certain age/maturity playing games that they do not fully understand. FOR PARENTS: If you do not want your child playing a certain game that is above their age bracket, THEN DON'T BUY IT FOR THEM; SIMPLE AS THAT. If they play it a friend's house, then talk to the other kid's parents. Do your damn job and stop blaming developers from creating games that are meant for a certain audience. In saying this parents do not stop children from playing games that they are legally allowed to play because chances are they have seen a lot worse in movies/the internet. Don't be overprotective. Also there are people who are of age and play games that do get deeply affected and will undertake stupid practices to imitate a game; but that is THEIR CHOICE. They do not need parents banning this game for everyone else, because if they are that easily manipulated or impressionable then it was only a matter of time before they did something along those lines.
Another major issue, and one that is close to me, is the issue of an R18+ rating in Australia. I for one cannot see a reasonable rationale on why we should not have one. Various games have been banned or modified in Australia because they do not meet the MA15+ standards and I feel we are missing out on something. Granted all major games have been allowed in (in the case of GTA and Fallout 3 with modifications) but it is the principle. How is it that we are allowed to drink, gamble, smoke, drive, have sex and watch R18+ movies but suddenly we do not have the mental capacity to deal with an R18+ game...where is the sense in that? And then, it hit me. Its parents who are worried about R18 games, they are worried at what their child might see in these games if they play them. They don't want the responsibility of deciding what their child and cannot play, they would rather let the government do it and when they feel that the government hasn't done enough and they still don't like what their child is playing, they will blame the developers. They will blame the developers for something they LET their child see/play. For goodness sake, as parents it is your JOB to control what your child does and does not do, if you do not like what they are doing, STOP THEM or don't do anything at all; but PLEASE do not blame someone else for your own personal failings as a parent.
To conclude I would like to say once again I am not a parent myself, I am only speaking from my own experience; that is all. I also do rant a little bit, but some of these parent stereotypes just do not agree with me (as you can tell by the title of this blog). You may also ask as a parent, "How the hell am I going to follow all this?" You don't, you take the general concept and you apply it to your own situation. Parents, talk to your child, let them know why you do the things you do, and have a logical reasonable explanation because as they get older more and more questions will come at you so you better have an answer. Children and teenagers, talk to your parents, if you don't like something they are doing let them know. I don't mean through violence, talk to them quietly and calmly and if you are disputing a rule then have some logical well thought out arguments, you would be surprised how far they will get you.
Thank you for reading this extremely long blog, feel free to share your thoughts with a comment or two and don't be afraid to speak your mind, I will respond in kind!
I picked up Stoked for $9.98 today at Toys R Us in a bargain bin I thought I was seeing things but I wasn't. I had to pick this game up for less than 10 bucks. Especially since Gamestop gave it a 7.5 well worth my $9.98.
All of my friends on XBL keeps asking me when I'm getting gold. I'm getting Gold Monday...I don't play alot of video games duringSpring, Summer and fall so I buy my cards one month at a time. I'll be able tobeat you in PGR, just wait. lol
Been awhile since Ive posted anything so I thoguht I would today! I went to the MCM expo at the Excel and man I had fun! Got to see a lot of cosplay, new unreleased games and see some exciting stuff! I am going to load up a video of the new Street Fighter IV, which I got to say is excellent! Check out my Youtube!
http://uk.youtube.com/user/snowman50
I left at 2:00P.M and got there at 10:00 A.M For 8 of those hours I needed to piss and I couldn't because traffic forbid me, so that was painful. The most damage that happened was electricity outage, but all in all everything went great, I'm so happy that I'm back and my house is safe and thank you guys so much for being there for me
Today I reached Level 39 here on GameSpot. I'll take this opportunity to talk a little bit about what I've been up to lately.
Spring break is next week, and I am really looking forward to it (as any other sophomore in college would). I have a computer science midterm on Friday, but I've had relatively little work to do lately and have been playing a lot of games. I finally won my 500th ranked online win in GH3, and now the only achievement I don't have in that game is the achievement for getting 750,000 on a single song. Sure, I could dedicate a few weeks of my life to mastering TTFATF or cheating to get the achievement, but screw both of those options. For now I will patiently wait for new songs to be released where it is reasonable to get the 750,000.
Anyways, Spring break is going to be awesome. I'm going to be staying at school and going a few concerts, doing plenty of snowboarding, and of course, playing a game or two. My friend and I are planning on renting Army of Two and going through to co-op, and I also have Condemned 2, SSBB, Burnout Paradise, and a list of other games to play that I haven't finished yet.
To everyone who is either on Spring break or will be going on Spring break, have a fun week!
Hey there, guys... I'm going to list off some new DS game friend codes... as well as my older ones, so i've got a nice little list...
i'll keep updating this blog, just for FC's... all of my DS friend codes, as well as my main Wii system code will be listed here...
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS) = 013009 439770
Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS) = 3265 4509 8531
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS) = 4553 5621 2977
Final Fantasy III (DS) = 1289 7441 3835
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) = 3480 0538 5185
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) = 2363 5306 1240
System Code (Wii) = too lazy to go check it right now...
Tetris DS = 3579 8197 1942
Hello there! For reasons that are probably obvious to most of you, I'm not going to continue posting to this blog. If you'd like to keep up with me, I can be found at the following address:
http://blog.jeffgerstmann.net/
If you are after things like "what Jeff thinks about games or music or movies or gas prices" or "points-related video," it will appear on this new personal site for now.
Yeah so as some of you know I got a DS Lite bundled with brain age 2.... yeah so I registered brain age 2 on nintendos website and they gave me a free gift!
Yeah so thats pretty sweet... some free styluses with all different colors.... so thats about it for now..
Song of the Day..... Once again Stronger by Kayne West.... this song is amazing
