Well, I'll admit, I didn't have high hopes for Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty. As good as the game looked, and as much as I liked the concept, the idea of a shorter Ratchet game with a lot less features just didn't sound so good. And I was excited, but I knew that if the game wasn't great, I wouldn't be surprised. But now that the game is here for only $15, I can safely say that Quest for Booty is the best Ratchet and Clank game since Going Commando. The game isn't as long, and there aren't even enough weapons to fill up an inventory slot, but that doesn't keep this game from being great. The graphics are some of the best I've seen on the console. It's basically like Tools of Destruction, but a lot of textures look better and a lot of the glitches are fixed. The sound is top-notch, as expected. The voice-acting is all the same as Tools of Destruction, which is a good thing, and - while it may seem a little bit ripped from Pirates of the Caribbean - the music is great, as well. The game starts you with most of your weapons, all of which are level 3, and you can upgrade them to level 5. You can also pick up one mod for each weapon, but good luck doing that since they're hidden so well and you can't replay previous levels. You don't collect any armor in the game, but I don't care at all because Ratchet's default armor is pirate-like and fits the theme of the game.

The game may seem like it's lost most of its key features, but the simplicity of it actually quite nice, and the ability to manipulate things with your wrench adds a bit more of a puzzle element to the game. And while there aren't many puzzles, and the ones that are there are easy, you'll still be using you wrench for lots of stuff. Besides, puzzle-solving is a nice change of pace. Basically, this is Ratchet and Clank like you've never seen it before. The game has action, adventure, puzzles and quests, all rolled into 4 hours of gameplay. You might be thinking that 4 hours is ridiculously short, and it is, but the game - instead of Challenge Mode - features a difficulty select, which changes things up a bit, and makes you want to play through again and again. But come to think of it, I'd play through multiple times anyway, because I just can't get enough of this game. Clank is only in the game for 2 very short scenes, but not having him doesn't ruin the game at all, since it's so much shorter than other installments. And it makes the game a lot more difficult than it would be if you had Clank. Qwark also isn't in the game, which is a bummer, but I'm willing to forgive and forget because Rusty Pete offers plenty of wuality humor. So, in short, I love Quest for Booty so much that I never want to stop playing. I definately suggest downloading this game, because it's more than worth the $15.

I also downloaded the Force Unleashed demo, and it is the greatest thing to happen to the world since canned beer. The graphics are superb, but the movement of everything is what really got me. Everything moves so flawlessly, in such a realistic manor. The voice-acting is also incredible and the controls couldn't be much better. Controlling around your character is extremely comfortable, and combat is a lot of fun. There is also a God of War-style button mashing sequence at the end of the demo, which is used to defeat a Walker (or whatever the hell they're called). The Force Unleashed really couldn't be much better. And until I played it I wasn't that excited for it, but now I can't wait until September so I can get my grubby little hands on it right away. Make no mistake, download this demo. Infact, what are you doing reading this blog? You should be downloading this demo right nao!

Did I forget to mention that I was on vacation for two weeks? I got back a few days ago but I haven't really been in the mood to talk about it. The trip began with us heading up to a campground up by Silver Springs for like four days. Instead, we decided to stay for one night, go to the waterpark there and then leave to Orlando. The waterpark was awful. There were about 5 rides, maybe more, and they were all lame. They hurt like hell, too. I came off of one with a pain in my back that remained the rest of the day, and a while through the night. A refil on a drink costs $1, and the cup you get is quite small. The Coca-Cola was flat, too. The park is called "Wild Waters", and if you value your time and money then I suggest you just ignore it and keep driving.

We went to Blizzard Beach once we got to Orlando. Blizzard Beach is a much better waterpark. Sadly, my sister hurt her wrist so our mom and her didn't go. It was still fun. The best part is the family raft ride. We went on it about 5 times. There are also some toboggan rides which are a lot of fun, and some ride where you can choose between single or double tubes and ride down a slide. It's my dad's favorite ride there. In addition to that, there's also a wave pool there. But the best part? There were lots of girls. Especially in the wave pool. So yeah, I had a lot of fun. Sadly, the weather was bad up in Orlando and we couldn't do anything for like a week. No problem, though, because we rode the electric cart that we rented all around the campground, harassing people for mass amounts of time. My sister even found a toy truck that she started pulling behind the cart with a string. As you can imagine, that gathered a lot of attention.

While on the vacation we also saw Step Brothers. The movie was hilarious, but it really abused its ability to be brutal. And I don't just mean when the drums got teabagged. The whole movie was riddled with swear words and pervasive language. And as funny as the movie was, I can't excuse this. It was too over-the-top. Although I did enjoy the "We're here to f*** sh** up" part. In my opinion, that was the best scene in the history of movies. The story of the movie sort of reminded me of Drake & Josh, except this movie doesn't suck. The thing I really didn't like about the movie is that it was so nasty that I can't quote it without having to censor almost half of it. Overall, though, this was a hilarious movie, and I'd give it 4/5 stars. I knocked one off because it was too "extreme".

I also saw Journey to the Center of the Earth. The glasses cost extra, but they're decent, and you can keep them if you want to. The 3D takes a while to get used to, but once you do get used to it it looks great. Unlike older 3D movies, the colors are all messed up, and the 3D actually looks really. Infact, when the credits were coming out at the beginning, my dad started to reach out and try to grab it. Obviously he was joking, but it should give you a pretty good idea of how good the 3D in this movie looks. But before I start talking about the actual movie, I'd like to comment on some of the previews at the beginning. The first one was for "Bolt", a new Pixar movie coming out starring a dog, a hamster and a cat. The movie looks funny, and will be in 3D as well. My only complaint is that it has Miley Cyrus in it. Another preview was for a terrible-looking movie called "Fly Me to the Moon". It's a 3D animated movie, but it doesn't look funny. Actually, it doesn't look like it's supposed to be. It looks more like one of those crappy, cheesy, "believe in yourself and you can do anything" movies. Bleh. But enough about that, onto the movie. It was great. As I mentioned, the 3D took some getting used to, but I'll happily excuse that since the actual movie was so good. And the entire movie was in 3D, not just little portions where it tells us to put on our 3D glasses. I suggest seeing this film, because I really wasn't looking forward to it, but I was pleasently surprised. 4/5 stars because it wasn't especially long and, like I've mentioned multiple times now, the 3D hurts my eyes at first.

While up in Orlando I rented Crisis Core, and I got to keep it for the entire 2 weeks. I didn't beat it because I was stuck at *SPOILERS*Angeal*SPOILERS*, but it was fun from what I played, and I plan on reviewing it soon. The graphics are great, especially during cutscenes, and the actual gameplay, though quite simple and linear, is addictive and fun. And I'm not a Final Fantasy fan, so picking this game over some of the other great games available was quite risky, but I wasn't disappointed. I never did get the Buster Sword, though. I'm assuming you get it after you beat *SPOILERS*Angeal*SPOILERS*. Oh well, I think I definately played enough of it to review it. I most likely experienced everything the game has to offer, so I see no reason not to review it. I wish I had played some other Final Fantasy games, though, because all of the deep information about the characters, like Genesis, means nothing to me, since i don't really understand what they're talking about.

I rented Unreal Tournament III once I got home. I suck online, so I'm not playing much of that. I'm mostly playing the campaign, which has online-style gameplay. This is a good idea, but it becomes repetetive after the first few missions. Most of the missions require that you destroy nodes, and there are only two cutscenes that I've seen so far, both of which were around the first three levels or so. It doesn't seem like I'm going anywhere, and I'm tired of the gameplay. I would've liked a normal campaign. As for online, I only played one match, which wasn't fun since everyone is better than me. The character creator is really cool, though. You have tons of options and you get to select your class. That's the only good thing I can say about online so far, though. The controls in the game are good, though. It's the classic R1 to fire, which is far surperior to R2, especially since the PS3's shoulder buttons suck so bad.

Finally, I'm playing Patapon again. I'm stuck at the desert level. I can't get past the heat. It has become very frusturating, but I plan on trying until I get it. I'm not far into the game but I love it, that's for sure. The mixture of strategy and rythm is original, and the art style is very creative. My review won't be coming until I complete the game, which at this rate could be a very long time, but I can tell you this, it's going to be getting a great score. Ok, well that's all for this blog.

My dad ordered an iPhone about 12 days ago and he finally got it. It's one of the newer models with faster Internet, too. So far I've checked out the Apple Store and seen some games. I was going to download some of the free ones but we need an account first. Aside from that I've also browsed the Internet. The iPhone can't load flash games or anything, but I can still go to a lot of my favorite sites, like here. I also watched Charlie the Unicorn 2 (which you're a punk if you haven't seen) on YouTube, which for some reason has its own channel on the main menu. The iPhone also has a cool map, which can find exactly where we are, and give us directions to where we want to go. There's also a worldwide clock, which can tell you the time in different regions. I don't know why we would use this but it's a cool feature.

We can write down notes to remind us to do stuff, but we mostly just goofed around with it. My dad wrote "Hi stupid" and I wrote "Get off my phone", which is what we ended up sticking to. Immature, I know, but still fun. OH, and as far as sound goes, it's decent, but not as good as PSP. It came with headphones, which will probably improve the sound quality, but for now, it's only good, not great. Picture is pretty good on videos, but it's better when being used for other things. Of all the features we've used, the actual phone is one we haven't, though. >_O

I also discovered that the iPhone has motion-control. I downloaded a game that makes me turn the iPhone to move. It's a good idea for the game, as it's unique, and it's cool to know that the iPhone has it. I also downloaded a 99 cent game that has graphics in the style of Galaga. I'm glad it was only 99 cents, though, because the controls are awful. You see, the iPhone doesn't have any sort of control pad on it, so I have to tap little buttons on the game to move, which are placed funky and don't always work when I tap them. Considering there's no control pad, I wonder how World of Warcraft would be played. Maybe you turn the phone? I don't know... I'd rather have WoW on my normal computer anyway.

I'm attempting to start the Batman Union, but I need friends to invite. I was inviting some of my friends who I know liked The Dark Knight, but Ifnot, Ruff Edgz and PSPDemoBoy are already in 30 unions, which is the maximum. If you're a Batman fan that isn't in the maximum number of unions, then comment here. And if you're one that I just listed, then maybe you could try and find a union that you're not active in to drop out of? Thank you.

I'm already using the new GameSpot beta (thank you for the link, Spongemario) and I like it a lot. I'm used to it already. I'm definately looking forward to it coming out. Does anyone know when it will be coming out? I think the new layout for everything is a lot easier. I encourage everyone to start using the new GameSpot to get used to it, because if you don't then you'll wish you did when it's out and you have to figure it out then.

I also saw The Dark Knight the other day. I think that it was one of the best movies this year. Heath Ledger gave an incredible preformance, and really made The Joker - a character I never cared about - come to life, and be incredibly likeable. The movie's special effects were awesome, as were the action scenes, which were really, obviously, the best parts of the movie. There was an epic car chase sequence in the movie which was easily one of the best scenes. Batman is obviously a great character, and a HUGE part of the story, but The Joker is really who I liked the most. He was a character with no fear or regret, a character who, as Alfred put it, just wanted to watch the world burn. Heath definately gave one of the best preformances I've ever seen. Plus, The Joker is fun to quote. "I don't want to kill you! I'm like a dog chasing a truck! I wouldn't know what to do with one if I cought it!" I really suggest seeing this film, because even people who aren't fans of Batman (curse you!) will probably enjoy it.

I also rented Prince of Persia: Rival Swords for the Wii. It's a decent game with a decent amount of action, but it relies to much on climbing. Not to mention the graphics are ugly. And when I say ugly, I mean putred. Maybe the game looked good 1000 years ago, but today they're just plain sad. The voice-acting isn't exactly my cup of tea, either. It all seems cheesy and the voices don't fit the characters at all. On top of all this, the gameplay is also extremely repetetive. You're forced to swing the Wii Remote and Nunchuck to attack and preform moves. This can tire you during large ambushes, and the controls can be very un-responsive at times. The levels, so far, don't offer much variety. I'm currently at the first charriot level and so far all the areas look the same. The saddest thing about the game is how high my hopes were for it. Not only was the game so insanely popular, but the beggining cutscene had superb graphics and great voice-acting. After the cutscene ended it was like the graphics designers got lazy and the voice-actors quit/got fired. The gameplay is fun at times, but most of the other aspects are boring and ugly. So far I'd say a 7/10 becaus ethe game can be fun on occasion, but my score could change (for better or for worse) after I've played some more. So stay tuned. That's all for now.