So it's officially summer now, and I believe that it's also my 50th blog post.

School's officially been out, and I haven't really done that much. I've tried to go work out with my friends, but they've been too busy this last week. Whatever, still two months left :P.

In gaming, I haven't touched my DS for a long time. In fact, I haven't even gotten a new game for it since...March. I wanted Chinatown Wars for my birthday last week, but that didn't really fall through, and I'm lacking in the financial department right now thanks to my latest expenditures.

Latest expenditures from the last months have consisted of: Peggle (Xbox 360), Prototype (actually a gift, Xbox 360), Red Faction: Guerilla (Xbox 360). Okay, so I haven't spent as much as I could have, but that's a good thing...

Peggle is a solid, addicting, and most of all, fun, Arcade title for the 360. If you haven't already, I urge you to try out the demo. Granted, you can only play around with a few of the Masters, but the full game is much better than the demo is, although the demo gives a pretty good impression of what the game is about.

Prototype is a pretty good game. Not great, but good. I beat it on Normal, and I'm going for the last few Achievements. I've kind of given up on the 60 G Pt Achievement, as some of those events are kind of difficult, especially since I'm not really all that good at timed events. I'm currently doing an Easy runthough for the "Hard to Kill" Achievement, and is it just me, or do a lot of games have an Achievement of that exact same name? Anyways, back on topic, I'm also collecting the 200 Blue Landmark Orbs, and I currently have 110. They're really a pain to get, but they give you a good tour of NYC while you're looking for them...atleast, I think that's what they're supposed to to...

I just picked up Red Faction: Guerilla today, and all I've had time to do is the tutorial. I'll try more out later, and hopefully the hosts of Respawn Radio are right when they say it's the best out of itself, Prototype, and inFamous. However, just from the tutorial, I have to say it's worth atleast a look at the demo.

As I think I said a few paragraphs ago, it was my birthday a while back. From that, I scored the box set of Red vs Blue: The Blood Gulch chronicles, a new subscription to LIVE (for those of you who are my friends on LIVE, you'll notice my motto was "Will work for LIVE" for a week or so, lol), Issue 1 of the Ultimate X-Men Ultimate Collection (which I'll be completing in the future), Prototype (impressions already given), a shirt quoting Caboose from Rooster Teeth (the "I like me" shirt), and finally, a shirt bearing my last name from some University. Honestly, I've never even seen a picture of the University, but it has my last name, so it can't be all bad.

While you're reading this, I guess I'll make a pitch for Respawn Radio. If you haven't heard of it, it's a podcast featuring Knuckles Dawson of Achievement Hunter, and Lono and 8bitBass from Sarcastic Gamer. They talk about the latest gaming news, and the community's awesome.

Anyways, I suppose that's really it for now. Ta ta.

So the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack comes out tomorrow, and it will be awesome! I believe I'm also getting a copy of Pokemon Platinum or Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars tomorrow as well, and get an actual wired connection for my computer. Tomorrow will be an awesome day.

Along with my computer getting a wire, my other TV will also get connected, so I'll be able to move the 360 downstairs when my dad's doing taxes upstairs. Added bonus: the new location is closer to the kitchen! SCORE! I mean, I'll prefer upstairs for the better TV and the surround sound, but my dad's busy with tax season, so I try not to disturb him that much. I thought about getting a 360 exclusively for the downstairs just to avoid moving the cables every time, but reconsidered when I remembered DRM, or is that not a problem for the same profile?

The downstairs connection also means a fully connected Wii! This means I'll likely go back to playing it more. In fact, I've been playing around with my DS more in the last few days than the past few months. Playing Pokemon Diamond right now (I want Platinum for the new Battle Frontier).

I wish I could get a DS connection, though. My WiFi's WEP-encrypted, as opposed to WPA-encrypted (or is it the other way around?), so no DS WiFi for me, and the USB Connector doesn't work all that well. Wish I did get a better DS connection though... Planning on getting a DSi in the next few months, but I'm still keeping my DS for the GBA compatibility. I couldn't live if I couldn't playFire Emblem: The Sealing Swordor The Sacred Stones anymore.

Oh, I did 1000/1000 Resident Evil 5 about a week ago, but I recently saw that the Versus thing came out, including new Achievements. Well, screw you Capcom, I'm not giving you money for something already on the disk. Make it free, and I'll think about playing your Versus mode. Words can't really describe how pissed off Capcom's actions make me. It's just something horrible, inspired by greed. Didn't something even worse happen with Tomb Raider: Underworld?

It's Spring Break over here, and I haven't really done anything at all. I have two essays due roughly a week after break, and I haven't even started either one. Thinking about starting one of them tomorrow. It's essentially a book review, so it should be pretty easy to analyzea book'sliterary devices and such. I'll probably do it on Halo: The Fall of Reach. It's probably my favorite out of the 6-book series so far, introducing the SPARTAN-IIs and going into the backstory of Master Chief.

I think I'm in a rut right now. I'm not sure what I want to play on the 360 these days, and its not due to an inability to choose among the awesome games available, it's just...maybe I've overplayed them over the past weeks. Hoping I'll recover, but there are always other games to play. Maybe the Mythic Map Pack will cure that, and if not, just six months to Halo 3: ODST.

So, as most Fallout owners probably already know, The Pitt (or atleast the working version) came out today, after being corrupted during its upload yesterday. After playing it for awhile, and getting used to the new items and such, I must say it's not great, just good.

Having completed two of the three additional quests so far, it must be said that the waypoints are not really worth anything, making it a bit of a struggle to find where you're supposed to go. Because the buildings are roughly four stories, it doesn't really help that the waypoint just points you somewhere in a northwesterly direction. During the transition from Unsafe Working Conditions to Free Labor, I spent over an hour searching for my taken gear (having not seen any indication it was on the arena lobby's floor), and only found Haven by guessing and checking. This is one of my two real gripes with this DLC, besides some minor graphical issues I saw.

What I really don't like is how an Achievement in this DLC is a collection Achievement, given to those who are able to claim the 100 Steel Ingots. I never pictured Bethesda creating a collection Achievement that would actually be tedious, rather than pure fun (i.e. finding the Bobbleheads to encourage exploration, killing the Behemoths for the WOW!), but I'll still be going for this one.

I really like/hate the Auto Axe as of now. I like it because it's a freaking chainsaw type thing, but I don't like how it stalls when you hit any other weapon. It kind of makes the Auto Axe-Auto Axe fights a bit pointless.

Erm...That's it on Fallout for now, before I go back to it in a few minutes, so on to Resident Evil 5.

Only three Achievements left! Beat the game on Veteran, then Professional, and then the "Who Do You Trust?" are all that are left. If The Pitt were not up today, I would have beaten the game on Veteran, and I'm really just stalling out on beating it on Professional. A bit scared, actually, that the AI will be the reason for my deaths. Who Do You Trust? seems to be a simple Achievement, although one that has been alluding me for quite a while. Sooner or later I'll get to it, maybe when I know the exact specifics of it,but I WILL 1000/1000 this awesome game!

Here's 4 ways to find a Jasper unit:

1.) Check the Lot Number: "On the right side of the box, look above the UPC bar code. If the Lot No. is 0844 or above, the odds are good that it's a Japser. The earliest documented Jaspers are from Lot No. 0843."

2.) Check the Build Date: "Peek in the cardboard cutout window on the top of the box. If the console was manufactured in November 2008 or later, you likely have a Jasper. It's possible to get an October-built Jasper, but November or later is a surer bet."

3.) Check the Power Brick: "Near the top of the sticker on the underside of the power brick. you'll see a listing for "Output DC". 203W indicates Xenon, 175W means Falcon and 150W signals Jasper. The 150W bricks fit only the Jaspers, so it's an excellent indicator, but of course you'd have to open the box the check for this."

4.) The Guaranteed Way: " You can also ignore everything above and go with the surefire method: Look in the cutout window on the top of the box. On the far-right edge (or left, if you've flipped the box around because you can't read upside-down) -- you may have to use your finger to, uh, make the window a little larger -- you'll see a line above the words "Made in China" that reads "12V -- xx,xA; 5V -- 1A". If the "xx,xA" is 12,1A, you're guaranteed a Jasper. If it's 14,2A, it's a Falcon. 16,5A is Xenon."

Explanation: In case my waranty expires, and I then get RROD, I'm going to a Jasper to avoid that chance as much as possible. I keep forgetting the specifics, so I figured I'd put them here.

In other news, I finished Resident Evil 5 today, and came back to Gears of War 2 for a bit. I don't really plan on staying with Gears for too long (just to get like...one more Achievement), but I just felt the compulsive need to play it today, maybe because I've been loving every third-person shooter I've played in the last week (which would consist of Resident Evil 5 and...Gears).

On to Resident Evil 5, I really enjoyed it, and I like going back through the game for all the BSAA emblems with infinite ammo for the first Magnum (I'm not good at remembering all the model numbers). It's pretty fun. Only thing I didn't really like were the menus. In my opinion, they were a bit bland, but that's really my only problem with it. The graphics are some of the best I've seen, and you get used to the changes over time. Eventually, I do plan to 1000/1000 this game like DJSAV (want to lend me an Egg (Golden)?), but for now I just want this awesomeness to last.

I do feel bad that I haven't played much Street Fighter IV lately, but it's kind of hard to play by yourself when none of your friends are also playing (seeing as it is an arcade game). I do understand that Xbox Live matches are there for a reason, but I just don't feel like I'm all that good.

Spring Break is coming up soon, around the 6th of April. My plans were to hang with family down in Arizona (they have a pool!), but I have an orthodontist appointment right in the middle of where the trip would happen, thus killing my Spring Break. Maybe next year...

So today is the second day ever of school I've missed due to sickness. Last time was four years ago. My symptoms include periodic runny nose, coughing fits, insomnia, and all around lethargy.

Kind of boring, I don't know how other people can do this every year...

Got Street Fighter IV on Saturday. Needless to say, I suck quite a bit at it, but I want to get better. Using the regular 360 controller, which makes it kind of hard to pull off some of the higher level Challenges. I have beaten Arcade Mode on Easiest (with some difficulty. Give me a break, it's my first actual game in the franchise) with Ryu and Ken, but I know I'll need to get better and learn to counter grabs for higher difficulties.

Um...that's it, I can't think too well right now.

First off, a bit of backstory: for the last three summers, I've been going to the University of Washington for their "Summer Stretch" program, which essentially gives you an entire class's knowledge in 15 days (3 days per week for 5 weeks, with roughly 5 hours of work per day, plus homework).

So, having done two years of math (not the same level, that would be stupid), and one year of biology, it comes to my attention that there is a restriction of three years, so my parents tell me I'm not doing that anymore. That leaves me with three options; go to Bellevue Community College for their summer programs, get a job, or do volunteer work (if it was at Evergreen for the entire summer, I think I would love it, but I'm not sure, and I don't even have a position there right now). Seeing as a job is the only one that pays, looks like I'll be looking for one in the next few months to occupy my time and feed my addiction to video games. Funny thing is, my parents want to keep me occupied so I DON'T sit around all day playing video games. The world's funny that way.

Ending the part about labor, I'll move on to the volunteer topic that may have confused people. As of February 4th, 2009, I applied for a volunteer position at Evergreen Hospital, seeing as I'd like to go into the medical field in the future, and I figured this would be an opportune chance to see how a hospital runs. Unfortunetly, the days I had in mind all had enough volunteers, so I'm on the waiting list for awhile, which explains the strange statement about volunteer work from above.

Today, still being on Midwinter Break, I decided to clean up a bit around the house. Getting into my closet of games, I wanted to clear up some stuff I didn't even touch anymore. After using my ratings from my games lists here, I decided to kick out five games: Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock w/ guitar, Viva Pinata, Wii Fit w/ Wii Balance Board (don't ask, I don't want to go into it), Mario Strikers Charged (the Gamecube one is awesome, but something just went wrong here), and Rayman Raving Rabbids. I also had my old set of Rock Band drums lying around (I have the wireless RB2 drums already) and the mic, so hopefully these things will help me get some extra cash in the coming times.

I know some of you will be thinking that I'd be stupid to trade these things in to Gamestop, but I'm going to anyways. I'm not really fond of the other methods of game trading, so this is my best way. Hopefully these things are enough for Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Resident Evil 5, with the help of my other dollar bills (of course).

The Lost and Damned came out of a few days ago, and I, being stupid, saw a deal on Amazon for 3 months of Gold Live and TLAD for $20, so I took it. This is where the stupidity comes in: I get impatient, and just buy it off of the Marketplace because it still didn't arrive by Thursday. So now I will have two copies of TLAD, which I don't really care for, having already beat it in one day. That isn't to say that TLAD wasn't good (having beat it in one day). By all means, it was more enjoyable than Niko's story, but I don't really enjoy the predicament of being in a state where I don't know what to do with the second copy.

I also finally beat Castle Crashers two days ago using the Red Knight (cheapest magic ever!!!), and that's all good. It's probably one of the best Arcade titles I've purchased so far, but I don't really see myself revisiting the game except for Castle Crashing with friends.

"Brothers for life, Lost forever!"

No, not saying in general; I'm saying it's the return of an actual post for my profile.

First off, I'll just say that I finished a book a started reading before the start of the year; Halo: The Cole Protocol. In short, it covers the mysterious Gray Team, Keyes' promotion to Commander, a story about some refugees guarding navigation data, and (my favorite) a bit of the Arbiter's backstory. The Arbiter apparently had a name before being becoming the Arbiter...who knew. Anyways, I just finished reading it an hour ago, and it was actually pretty cool. It shows a bit of fluctuating power in the Covenant's triumvirate, and doesn't use a writing style that's not very interesting.

I bought 2 1600 MS point cards yesterday ($38, strangely no tax), and used 800 points for the Fable II Knothole Island DLC and spent some other points on songs for my Zune. I have roughly 2000 left, and I figure I'll use it in the next month for Fallout 3's Operation: Anchorage and Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned.

Anyways, focusing on what actually happened, rather than what will happen, it was fun revisiting Fable II for awhile (still am, which will be covered in the next few sentences). I like the new Knight Outfit (I wish it would change based on your morality, though), and it brought new weapons and other outfits into the fold. Definitely a plus. The three quests are, however, a bit repetitive. The three mainly consist of; finding a key, killing miscellaneous shadow creatures, doing something involving various switches, and activating a lever. The game was mixed up enough to not keep me bored while playing, but some different Quest structure would be appreciated next time.

Back onto why I'm still playing it, besides Fable II being atleast an average game; nobody is selling either a single Puny Carrot or Regal Purple Dye, and I'm not leaving the game until I get that 25 Gamerscore. A donation of either of these items would be appreciated a lot, as I sat by the TV for roughly 3 hours going back and forth between vendors to not find the items. Rather sad, really.

In more recent news (like the last ten minutes), I figured I'd actually play the first two Metroid Prime games...yes, I haven't played either, and yet I own Corruption. When I search Gamespot for them, I discover that they'll be coming out with the revamped Wii controls. Needless to say, I believe I'll wait for awhile and purchase those (hopefully they come out at a lower price than an "actual" Wii game), or just buy the Gamecube versions if there are price complications.

In more academic matters, there's a project due this Friday; an ABC book made from different symbols, themes, people, or objects in a single book. Having not felt like actually reading a new book, I just grabbed Death Note: Another Note-The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. I'm actually quite a fan of Death Note, and completed my 13 volume collection quite recently (#13 had been eluding me for awhile). Maybe I'll get the Collector's Edition copies with the hardcovers eventually... Back on topic; I've written analyzations of each word, which really just leaves drawing. That will be difficult. Luckily I have until Friday, which gives me some time to work.

This Saturday, there will be the German Student Convention up north in Bellingham (ja, ich kann Deutsch). I would normally go, but with the incentive of 25 test points, it's really not a decision that must be made.

That's it for now...I have to go to the restroom now. Too bad I don't have anything to read. :P

Look into:

Skate 2 demo

track "Singularity" when it's up

work on the ABC Book for English

Rock Band 2 dlc:

All The Small Things-Blink 182

Suck My Kiss-Red Hot Chili Peppers

Under the Bridge-Red Hot Chili Peppers

Toxicity-System of a Down

B.Y.O.B.-System of a Down

This blog really doesn't have much to do with anything, besides saying that I'm back from my temp. suspension. Said something that I would rather not going into and got slapped with a 5 day suspension.

Don't say that you're sad to hear that I did get suspended, it was totally justified.

That's really all for now.

note: that actual blog post I promised you guys is the one below this one

make a Silver XBL account to try games out on (Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge)

consider renting games in the future (for use with the prior mentioned Silver account)

don't listen to Eli's game choices

play Forza 2 for a non XXXX0 or XXXX5 Gamerscore

beat Gears of War on Hardcore

play more Devil May Cry 4

beat BioShock

Save Money For:

Banjo-Tooie (possibly)

Fable II DLC

Fallout 3 DLC

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Pokemon Platinum

Resident Evil 5