So I have been busy the last 3 days watching the E3 coverage, ALL OF IT. I watched the 5 hour show yesterday, and the 8 hour one today, plus all of the conferences. Yeah, I have a life, but it revolves around videogames, and when E3 comes, I make sure there are no distractions. Sorry for ignoring all of your blogs, but I will get back into it starting Monday. I know that its wierd, but its me. So after everything is said and done, heres what I thought.

Microsoft

Showtime: 90 mins. 59 secs.

Well, They started off really strong, they showed games like Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5, Fable 2, and so on. The Fallout 3 showing with the Vault-Tec commercial was my favorite showing of the Microsoft Conference. Now the beginning of the conference was missed on Gamespot at first due to many technical difficulties, but I watched it later and loved it. The problem with this whole conference is that it showed off so many games right off the bat, then tapered off with numbers (which is where I came in I think) and then went to the Avatar system and the new Dashboard layout.

I was impressed with the games, and the fact that most of them are due out this year (fall) if not plagued by delays. The fact that they were all playable, and had gameplay footage was great. But after these games were all said and done, they went into numbers, which is normal. Then after that we were all expecting more great games, but no. they began with some XBLA games that were mediocre at best, with the exception of Bionic Commando re-armed. Then they went into the Avatar system. Now maybe some people were happy with this, but I was not. This was not a good move by MS and I think everyone in the chat room agreed. Of course there were lots of "Mii RIPOFF!!!" and stuff, but whatever. Maybe it is, maybe its not, but it doesn't matter cause its stupid. They could have used half of the effort of making the avatars to make the XBLA games better, in my opinion. Then they went into the video system that they are making for the 360. Its cool with the movies and T.V., but I do not watch T.V. or movies on my 360, so it doesn't matter. They showed a new dashboard layout, and stated that it would be out this fallwhich is why there was not a Spring Update. I am gonna be super happy!!! It is like the Vista window system, but a little better. I thought it was cool as hell!!! By this time people are wanting more, and Microsoft dod not deliver, other than the announcement of Final Fantacy 13 coming to the 360. This announcement completely blew up not even the chat room, but the forums of both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Kellymae covered this in her blog, so I won't go into details, but it was fanboy fuel for sure! In the end, the last hour of the show was mediocre at best, and when we all expected more big titles, like we should have been given, they just didn't deliver, which made lots of us feel kind of jipped in the end. Especially the 90% of us that missed the good stuff in the beginning!

MS Conference: B

Nintendo

Showtime: 64 mins. 43 secs.

First off, this will be short because the show was short, almost 30 mins. shorter than the other two. I guess that this was a good thing considering that this show turned out. Read more to understand. To be honest, I have been less than satisfied to say the least with the titles that have been thrown at us by Nintendo. The games released since E3 07 have been mediocre with the exception of a couple of games, such as Mario Kart Wii and SSBB. I was hoping for some big announcements this year, key word being hoping. We were introduced to this woman that was by far the most annoying woman this year by far! She was loud, uninspiring to gamers, and like 50. I mean they would have upped the hype big time with at least a real gamer! Or at least someone that plays games! Well, they first gave a show of Shawn White Snowboarding, which was cool, and made use of the WiiFit pad. They then introduced Reggie, and he showed us another Wii Sports, yay...... Reggie and that annoying woman played more sports stuff and that was it. Then they showed this guy with crazy hair trying to drum on a virtual drum set. Then people came out and tried to play other instruments, this was called Wii Music, but should have been called Wii Noise cause thats all it could make. We were all wondering how you played notes and stuff, but there was no explanation. Lets see, they showed a new Amimal Crossing, which comes with an online mic, but not one that you wear on your head. It sits on your T.V. and people hear everything in the room with this mic, which is not what I want at all, mainly because of the curse words and stuff that comes out of peoples mouths, I don't want it echoing throughout my house. But whatever, at least I can "hopefully" talk to people in every game with this, but all that was shown was it being used in Animal Crossing. I hate to say it, but to me the Animal Crossing game was the biggest part of the show, and I was not really interested in it to begin with. They showed some mediocre DS games, nothing big, and that was it. Bah! By the end, when they were done, I wasn't sure if I was disapointed in the show, or just glad that it was over. Then I realized that I was feeling both. Boo Nintendo, BOO!

Nintendo Conference: F+++

Sony (duh.)

Showtime - 89 mins. 27 secs.

Sony's show started off super strong, with no problems on Gamespots side! It was very well put together. They started off by a William Shatner look alike (well, he did to me at least) giving props to the stage that they were on. My biggest problem into the Conference first off was the 15 mins in the beginning that there was just this guy talking, and talking, and talking. We were all getting pretty restless when at like 14 mins. they finally started showing Resistance 2, which featured a 300 foot baddie! It was very cool, and ugly as hell! They then went into Little Big Planet, which is my most antisipated game of the PS3 this year! They even integrated the "Numbers" talk into LBP which made the numbers very interesting, which was a first for me, cause the numbers section is usually where I get a drink and go pee. They then did games like EA sports games, including a special Madden PSP, and Buzz for the PS3 and even PSP. They announced Singstar for the PS3, as well as a special Batman PS2. Now here is where I started windering "okay, they have shown stuff for the PS2 and PSP, but wheres the PS3 stuff! Why are they still releasing PS2 systems, what the hell!!!"

They then went into the Playstation Network, and introduced a movie section that resembles the XBL's movie section, except they introduced that they are now combined with Netflix, which means that you can use your Netflix account to rent movies on the PS3 without a fee. Very cool, but I don't have Netflix. They then showed games like Ratchet & Clank: Search for Booty, and other games, that are all downloadable via the PS store, so with the games that were announced and the fact that they were ALL available on the PSN, this showed us that the game selection on the PSN is starting to look better than the choices on the XBLA. My dissapointments were that there were virtually no big shown titles other than LBP. Of course they showed us more home, but no release date, of course. I mean they did show a trailer for God of War III, which was very cool. They hardly touched Killzone 2, which really disapointed me because I was looking forward to that game so much, and seemed to be focused on the PSP and PS2. It was almost like they are ashamed of the PS3 and that they kind of wanted to keep it hidden. All in all, I was hyped up for some great games, but was delivered very little. The funniest part was that at about 49 mins. into the show, a guy came out to present the new layout of the movie selector, but had to sign in first. And what was his email address, xxxxx@HOTMAIL.COM! Hotmail, a Microsoft account! All of us in the chat room were having fun with it. I mean, I know that sony doesnt have there own email, but you would think that it would be a gmail account or a yahoo account or something else rather than the enemies!

Sony Conference: B-

I know that alot of people will think that I thought the MS show was the best because I am a fanboy, but whatever. I watched the show to see what the new games were, and was not impressed with what I was given with the Sony and Nintendo shows. I wanted to be excited with all of them, but with the crappy show that Nintendo gave, and the lack of not only PS3 announcements given, but the complete absence of any release dates, with the exception of the movie add-on, which I think si out now, I was just not satisfied. I was mostly satisfied with Microsofts show because they at least delivered games that everybody is looking forward to, and at least 90% of them had expected release dates, which is good for me. But to be honest, this years E3 felt a little bland, even like there was something completely missing. I just was not satisfied, maybe I am being too picky, or my expectations are to high, but I was not happy with the results. I guess that one okay conference is just not good enough for me. I was expecting alot, and delivered a little.

Well, thats what I thought about E3 '08. Thanks to Gamespot for giving an excellent show, the Live stage was top notch! Good job guys!

Gamespots show score: A+!

Well, what did you guys think of this show? Did you like it? Let me know!

I can't seem to get Gamespot.com to load up for me! I was 30 mins. late to the Microsoft Conference because of this! Why?!? I better get my emblem anyway, cause its not my fault that Gamespot.com is failing me! I hope that it starts to work soon.....

By the way, I am writing this from tv.com......

This weekend is kind of different from my usual weekends. Its not crammed with crap to do. I haven't had this kind of weekend in a long time, hell I can't remember when the last time I had a whole weekend to do whatever I wanted. There are no baseball games to go to because the M's are out of town. There's no apointments or dinners or visits planned. This is wierd.....

I hope that I get plenty of gaming in this weekend, since I have many games to get caught up on. I wanna finish BFBC this weekend, and get started on The Bourne Conspirsacy. I have been plugging away at UT III's single player, but to be honest it feels very much like it was just tacked on. The story is bland at best, but most of the time its just plain dumb. I mean, how the hell do you put CTF into a plot of a story that takes place on the battlefield?!? It's so confusing that it's just dumb...

I might try and catch a movie, just to get out of the house. I wanna see Hancock, my wife wants to see Wall-E. I love Pixars movies, but not enough to pay 10 bucks to see it in the theater. I usually just pick up the DVD.

Hell, I might just go to bed tonight and not get up till sunday, I dunno.

So what are you doing?! Any big plans?! Maybe your plans will give me an idea of something to do.

Hey guys! I have been playing UT III since last night. Its a really fun game! The single player is kind of crap, but the nultiplayer is top notch! It feels like Halo, with shorter jumps, easier kills, and better weapons.

I have posted a new review of Boom Blox, so go check it out!

I can not wait till E3 '08! I love this time of year, especially the surprises that the developers reveal, especially Bungie! They are supposed to reveal something, but no one knows what. I bet it has something to do with Marathon. They stated last year that they were cooking up ideas for a new Marathon game. But thats just a guess.... Also, Donkeljohn, one of GS's staff, has posted some info on getting the E3 emblems this year so to read up on that click HERE.

Last night my wife and I attended our first adoption meeting. If I haven't said before, my wife and I found out that she is unable to have children, which at first devistated us. We started talking about other options, such as a surrogate mother and stuff like that, but we eventually decided that adoption was the best way to go. I am 100% for adoption, being a foster child myself. So we went to our first meeting last night, and it was very interesting. It was mainly a discussion about the way that adoptions in Washington work, and what steps you have to take, and that it takes freaking forever to finalize an adoption. When I say forever, I mean like 24 months on average, sometimes longer! Its a LOT of paperwork and waiting for the state to get to it. So anyways, we have taken step 1 of about 46,228.....

So guys I need some help. I am a total noob when it comes to photoshop, but I am reading up on it and playing around with it so I am learning. Well I have made some banners that are kickass to say the least, but for some reason they are way to big to upload. So can ANYONE make me a banner?!!? I have had people in the past that have said they would, but never did. I need a makeover on here!

Well, thats all for now, talk to you later!!!!

Yeah, this 3 day weekend was nice! It was actually a 3 1/2 day weekend since I only worked till noon on thursday. Michelle's cousin and Aunt were here with her aunts mother for the last week, and her cousin, T.J., and myself were just hanging out Thursday afternoon playing video games. Good times.

Friday went from lame to cool. My wife and I were invited to go to dinner with our neighbors. Well, the restaurant we were supposed to go to was closed, and then the husband of the neighbors starts complaining all about why he can't understand why everything closes on the 4th. I was like "oh geez, here we go...." He's just like that, something, well anything, doesn't go his way, and he cries like a big baby. It gets pretty annoying after about 2 seconds. We ended up going to a Panera Bread which was better than the place we were going to to begin with, so it worked out.

So in the state of Washington the only place to get the "good" fireworks is on the Indian Reservation, but you can't take them off the reservation. You have to set them off there, and there is only one exit and the police watch it very closely, especially since there are like 6-8 cop cars parked around the exit, and if they even think that you are "smuggling" them off the premesis, they will stop you and search your car. It's a hefty fine if you get caught doing this (its like over a thousand dollars I think). Anyways, I have a friend that has this secret box under the bed of his truck, and he buys tons of fireworks and stuffs this box full of them. He's never been caught, though hes been searched many times. Well, this year he was out of town for the 4th and I didn't hit him up in time to get me anything, but I still had "the good stuff" from last year. So with the neighbors, I was firing off the mortars, the ones that shoot up in the air and burst into colors, which are illegal in WA, so I thought. It got to be dark and I noticed that there were several different areas in our neighborhood that were shooting off similar items. At first I thought that the other people were just as ballsy as I was, then some people like a block away were doing the same, so I wandererd over to them to talk. As I was walking to them I noticed a cop car coming as they were firing off one! Oh **** I thought" and was going to walk the other way, cause I really don't need another ticket (another story) but the cop just drove right by!

"What the hell?!!?"

So I went to the neighbors and said "dude, you lucky or are you a cop?" and he was like "neither, why?"

I said "dude, aren't those illegal?!" and he said "I doubt it, since I bought them down the street..."

What?!?! You mean I could have bought more?!? I was pretty pissed, since the fireworks stand was closed by then. I never go to the neighborhood ones cause usually the only thing that they sell there are Snakes and Sparklers....

Oh well, it was fun, and seeing the neighbors kids having a good time made it worth it.

Saturday I was a bit hung over from the night before, but got over it. T.J. and I played more video games and just hung out most of the day. By the way, T.J. is 17 so we get along well. They left Saturday night.

Sunday could have been called "game day"! I went to Gamestop and slurged a little..... yeah a little...

I got:

Yeah I had it, but I guess I traded it in sometime. I wanted to get it again so I did for 14.99.

I also had this one, and know that I didn't trade it in. I have no ides where the hell it went, but I decided to replace it. I loved this game, and will be playing it again! I could have got a used one with a crappy box for 34.99 or a brand new one for only 5 bucks more. The condition matters to me greatly, so I picked up a new one for 39.99.

Gamestop has just now pissed me off with this one! I bought it used for 24.99 YESTERDAY, and now on gamestop.com its only 19.99 NEW!!! What the hell man.....

This is a good game, one that I didn't give enough time to. I have been itching for some tactical games on the 360, so I picked this one up for 29.99.

I was a bit skeptical on spending 49.99 on a Wii game, but a buddy said that it was really fun, and I was in a mood to spend all of my 401K, so I got it. So thats 49.99, now lets see what the damage was...

Splinter Cell: Double agent = 14.99

Bioshock = 39.99

Spiderman: Friend or Foe = 24.99 (dammit....)

Hitman: Blood Money = 29.99

Boom Blox = 49.99

_____________________________

159.95

Jeez, thats alot for "on a whim"!

Okay, so my arm injury comes from playing Boom Blox. Yes, I am retarded enough to have an injury due to the Nintendo Wii.

So I got the game yesterday, and my wife and I immediately began playing. So we skipped the training and went right into the multiplayer (bad idea) and started playing. I was under the impression that the harder I swung the controller, the harder I threw the ball on the game. This game was so fun that Michelle and I didn't know how long we were playing it! So for about 3-4 hours I was swinging this Wiimote as hard as I freaking could, and was getting mad that I was getting good throws only about half the time! Michelle eventually got tired and wanted to quit, so I started with the Single Player mode. Well, the first level is training, you can't skip it since the other levels are locked until you beat the training level. So I played it and realized that it isnt just the swing of the Wiimote, but you need to stop your swing with the front of the Wiimote pointing at the screen! So as a result of swinging the hell out of the Wiimote for 4 hours straight has given me a sore arm this morning.

So the lesson of the day is don't play a game without getting some instructions first.....