BUTTON!! MASHING!! Hurray, Button Mashing is returning! Yes! :D I thought it was dead, but the great folks at GS have resurrected it!! Hurray! :D  Today I got Fable: The Lost Chapters, so I'm stuck with a copy of the original that I'm never going to touch again.  Anyone want a free copy of the original Fable? :P  And for the record, anyone who hasn't watched all six episodes of Button Mashing needs to, it's awesome.  I promise.  No really, do it.  So you'll be ready for the new one coming in a few days.  Go, watch them.  Now.  Come on, why are you still reading this, go watch it!!

Edit: I'm going to be mega, ultra, super busy for the next few weeks, please excuse my extended absence.  I'll return, I'm very sorry for leaving for so long.  I will be coming back periodically, but not for long amounts of time, and probably only late at night.  Again, I'm sorry.  I'll return in full force in about two weeks.  I apologize for my lack of notice.  I hate moving :(.

I'm 1.29% away from feeling asleep! :) By the time I log on tomorrow morning I should officially be level 24, and have taken one more step away from newb-dom! 8) Anyways, I heard somebody say on the boards earlier how the limited edition of Chaos Theory is really hard to find, which is good for me.  You see, when I was pre-ordering my Chaos Theory at GameStop about a month before it came out, the guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted the regular version, or the the limited edition.  Me being the Splinter Cell freak I am, spent the extra $5, and sprang for the limited edition.  Not only did that net me a special features disk and a cool-looking metal case, but it also netted me an apparently rare game.  After finding out this information on the boards, I went to eBay to find out for myself.  Sure enough, there was only one limited edition for sale on there, and it was bidding at about $60 8).  And you didn't even know there was a limited edition of Chaos Theory now, did you? Anyways, I ate at Burger King today, and a very entertaining event occurred.  I was at the counter ordering, and this little kid walks up to the other register and asks for a free slushie.  Huh? I thought he was kidding at first, but he kept asking the cashier for one, and after being told no multiple times, he asked the cashier why he couldn't have a slushie for free.  At this point the cashier was throughly annoyed, and pretty much told the kid to go away.  At little while later, I wanted some ranch sauce for my french fries, so I walk back up the counter to get it.  About the same time, the kid walks back up to the counter, and yells at the cashiers, "Can I get some help over here please!!" Then, an already annoyed cashier walks up to him and says, "Okay, you want to order something? Go ahead."  Without skipping a beat the kid says he would like some napkins, and a bunch of ketchup and mustard packets! :lol: I think that the cashier's head almost exploded! It was classic! :lol:

Edit: I'm level 24 now, and my level is showing as level 24, but when I post it says I'm still level 23! Huh?? :?

Edit 2: Never last edit; it must have just taken a minute to update.

I submitted my Stranger's Wrath review to GameFAQ's, they accepted it, so I guess I was just over-worrying.  I finally hunkered down, and wrote another review today, this time for Destroy All Humans.  I wrote it on GameFAQ's because I find I actually like their review writing format better.  I submitted it on there, and I expect it to be accepted shortly.  Then I came and copy-pasted it on here, and right after that I submitted it for ReviewSpotting #33, but they already had fifteen submissions, so I don't hold high hopes.  Plus I don't think that my review was that good.  But I'm not going to think about any of that because it will just stress me out.  That's all for now, here's to hoping for a ReviewSpotting miracle :)

Well, my blog's back to normal finally, after that whole series thing.  I don't think I'm going to do one of those again, that was really boring.  Anybody like it?

Anyways, I submitted my first review to GameFAQ's today, I'm glad it got accepted (on GAmeFAQ's your review has to be accepted to be posted).  It wasn't really too exciting though, it was just my Indigo Prophecy review that I've had on here for a while.  I mostly just wanted to get my feet wet in GameFAQ's contribution system.  I might submit my Stranger's Wrath review, but I'm not sure about it, I don't think that's my best work.  Who knows, I might submit it anyways, all they can say is no. 

I've been playing Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy for about a week now, I deleted my old game and started over.  And yet only a week later I'm right back on the last level, and I even set it on hard difficulty! Why can't they make games with hard-core people in mind sometimes...but no, got to ease up the difficulty for the casuals who can't beat Halo on easy! :x

I've also been trying to get into TV.com, but TV just doesn't interest me like games do.  Actually the main reason I even tried to start something going there is because they give out emblems for everying, and I just wanted to get some :P.  But then I thought about it and realized it wasn't worth my time just to try to get some pretty pictures on my profile page. 

I'm also trying to think of some new game to get, but I still can't really think of anything.  I might just put it towards my 360, I don't know.  If I could think of a game I wanted I'd jsut get it....I know this is a cliched question, but any more suggestions?

I think Microsoft will annihilate Sony.  I think Sony will be torn limb from limb.  There are lots, so let me simply list them out:

Microsoft has nothing to lose.  They have an unlimited supply of money, and nothing to really lose in this.  They're taking risks because there's no penalty if they mess up.  There's no shame in being the challenger, and this instance it's an advantage. 

They have just as many, if not more people developing for the 360.  I can name many, many games that sound great that are being made for the 360.  I can name a couple for the PS3.  Sony has always be renowed for their amazing third-party support, but think they might have finally been out done in that department.

They have price on their side.  They have $200 on the PS3, which is more than enough for most consumers to pick one over the other, especially casual gamers, who Microsft will dominate.  I know nothing about cars, so it's akin to buying a car for me.  If I'm looking at two cars that look almost the same to me, and one's $15,000, and one's $20,000, I'm going for the $15,000 one!! Of course a car gearhead will be able to tell the difference, and will probably go for the $20,000 one.  A casual gamer will not be able to tell the difference between a PS3 and 360 on a hardware level, but they'll sure notice the price tag difference!

Huge franchise names.  Casuals will buy a 360 just for Halo 3, no one can deny that.  While Metal Gear Solid may be a big name inside gaming circles, it's not in casual land. 

You can fault me for pointing to what casuals will do too much, but remember that this is about who will win, not who will have the best stuff (although I still think Microsoft will).  This concludes my series on next-gen, now lets sit and see how things play out *grabs popcorn* 8). 

Following up on my last blog post, I finally got my new sig to work, I think it looks much better.  I don't know how I did it exactly, I just kept resizing the picture and hitting "apply changes" until I got it to work.  Lucky me :).

Edit: I have to put this here, classic! :lol:

I don't go to GameStop cause my local Wal-Mart (which is right next to GameStop) has a much bigger games section.shp2400

I was going to completely delete my old sig, and replace it with a new one.  I've thought for a while (and still think) that my current sig looks cluttered, and nothing about it stands out.  However, I hadn't found anything that really motivated me to want to throw out my old one.  That is, until I found this.

The most awesome screen shot I've ever seen.  I tried to put it in my sig, but the darn thing told me "my HTML is not well-formed."  What does that even mean? I tried making it smaller, but that didn't seem to help.  Arrggg....:x

Sorry you can't see the whole thing, it looks even better when you can.  For those who are curious, it's from Lost Odyssey, an upcoming 360 RPG.  It's the story of a man who is cursed to live for a thousand years, and all the conflicts and wars he gets in, and how he must watch everyone he loves die around him as he lives on.  Go to IGN for the whole screen.

After much mental debate, I've decided that Nintendo's fate next-gen boils down to two basic questions:

1. Will the controller become an innovation, or a gimmick? I think that this isn't as set in stone as Sony fanboys would have you believe.  I think it depends on the games themselves individually.  I absolutely guarantee that every first-party Nintendo title will use the controller in a new way.  Sixty percent of third-party titles will use the controller as a stupid gimmick.  Kind of like what happened with the DS.  Here's the cycle that will occur: the Wii will launch and a bunch of really good first-party stuff will come out and everyone will be excited.  Then the third-parties will get in there and pump out a bunch of absolute garbage with a few stand-outs.  Then more first-party stuff will come out, and this cycle will last the Wii's entire life span.  So, here's the verdict: 70% gimmick, 30% innovation.  Not a great out-look.

2. Will people get behind something so different? I think hard-cores like me will. I think casuals will look at it and scuff.  They will say either (A. "I don't want that kiddie garbage, get me Halo!" or (B. "I don't want none of thats mos-son technology! I playes my Madden with a con-twoller!"  Yeah, not a great out-look. 

I think Nintendo will be just as successful this gen with the Wii as they were last-gen with the GameCube.  Sure, that may sound bad, but they'll still fare better than Sony. 

6.7/10

Next up: Microsoft.

Note: I wrote this really late at night, so excuse any grammatical errors.

I was thinking, and I realized something; Sony is in exactly the same position Nintendo was in at the beginning of the N64/PSone era! I mean exactly.  This may sound confusing at first, but let me explain.

Let me list out all these details, and tell me if I'm talking about Sony right now, or Nintendo at the beginning of the N64 generation.  They have the most powerful system.  They have the most expensive system.  They are being directly challenged by a relative new-comer to the market.  Their games are more expensive.  They take graphics to a new level.  Their opponent have got more developers on their side.  Now see the resemblance?  And remember how that turned out? The PSone decimated the N64, and now the 360 will decimate the PS3. Now doesn't that make the 360 even more appealing?

In other news, I just don't have time to lead three different unions at once, so I made Wiesenthal the leader of TV Union. I'll still stick around as an officer though. 

Also my article on my next-gen predictions for Nintendo will be coming soon, sorry for the delay.

Okay, I'm going to type out my entire next-gen opinion on what I think will happen to each of the big three in a three-part series.  First up, it's Sony, the company I hold the worst expectations for.

Sony is way too cocky.  Kind of like how Nintendo was cocky at the beginning of the N64/PSone era.  Remember how that turned out?  I could try and tell you all the reasons why I think they're cocky, but I'll sum it up with this: when asked by GameInformer what would happen if HD-DVD beat Blu-Ray in the format wars, Kaz Hirai asked "How can that be?"  Nope, no overconfidence there :roll:. 

 Next, do they really think that people won't notice how they've totally copied Nintendo with that controller?  I won't buy a PS3 just because I'm so ticked at them for blatantly copying Nintendo.  This might fly with the Madden crowd, but not with me.  Did Sony really think that wasn't obvious?  Nintendo announces they have a motion sensitive controller, and six months later Sony announces that they have completely revamped their controller with motion sensitive technology.  How mysterious! :roll:

Do they really think people will pay $600 for a console, and then pay possibly more than $60, at least a tenth of the consoles cost, for one game? It's insane, even if I did want a PS3, I couldn't afford it anyways! And I'm hard-core! Do they really think the casuals will pay $600 for a PS3, when they can pay $400 for a 360 that's sitting right next to it on the shelf?  If you ask me, Sony has already lost the casuals. 

They have no good games coming out the warrant $600 anyways.  They've got Metal Gear Solid 4, and....Warhawk? I mean come on, if you're going to charge us $600 for a console, then at least $60 for a game, we should at least be able to expect some good games! If their E3 presentation is any indication, then they have nothing to look forward too beyond a few select titles.

Overall, I seriously think Sony could lose the top spot,  they have many factors going against them.  I have absolutely no doubt they'll lose ground, if they don't lose first it will be because of Japan and American Sony fan boys.

3/10

Next up: Nintendo.

The Seattle Times has confirmed that Microsoft has a portable in development, code-named the Argo.  Here's the link.  I'm sure GS will have more to say about in the coming days and weeks.  Is it going to be an iPod competitor?  Or is it meant to hit Sony where the heart is with the PSP? Who knows!! All I want to know right now is what Microsoft officially has to say on it, and to see what it looks like.  Stayed tune for more! I know I am! :D