I've recently found myself playing the 360 as though it's the only console that I own - infact, for a while I forgot about my others and thought it was. Of course, that tends to happen when you get something that you've been constantly asking for all year long. Seeing that large, heavy present and having already known that I was getting one, I bet you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was, in fact, an XBOX 360: there was none. That's not to say that it isn't one of the best gifts I've ever gotten, and having recently discovered that Fable II is one of the best games ever made, and easily my game of the year, the 360 is a gift that keeps on giving, unlike the Wii, which lacks any real games, and constantly causes me to lose hope in Nintendo everytime a new pet game comes out for it.

I'm almost sad that I've nearly forgotten my PS3, considering that I also got Prince of Persia Special Edition for it. It was fun at first, and it probably still is, but it's hard to tell when you're so used to the XBOX control that all others constantly fall out of your hands. Some might complain that the game does all its own stunts, or perhaps that the controls are overly sensitive. I must say that sometimes I agree, but for the most part just watching the prince run along walls and climb on ceilings is fun. The voice acting isn't exactly top-notch - actually, the only voice that really sounds good is the Prince, and to be completely honest it sounds too much like Nathan Drake to fit the character. Characters like Elika have somewhat generic voices, and personalities. But at least the voice acting is put to good use with some of the funny dialog, although a lot of the dialog is flat-out cheesy.

My brother had asked for a PSP 3000, but he was waiting for it to be released alone, since we have Size Matters and have no interest in National Treasure. I hadn't actually asked for one, though, but I was pleasently surprised to discover that I got one; perfect for playing my favorite new PSP game, Chains of Olympus, which I got in my stocking. It's all a brutal, satisfying hack and slash, despite how fustrating it has become to win a battle against about ten strong enemies with barely enough health to sustain two hits. The greek... fun... scene(?) is a little over-the-top, but it's still funny and earns lots of red orbs.

As for the Wii and DS... I got nothing. Last year I was so happy because I got Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario and Mario Party 8, and this year I couldn't find a single game that looked like it was anything above decent. I tried, hard, to find something worth getting, but in the end I couldn't. I tried testing the water with Sonic Unleashed, but if you'd kindly read my review you'd probably be able to tell how "well" that worked out for me. The DS is all Petz games and Bratz games now, with the exception of games like Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, which I didn't think I really needed that much, although I'm pretty sure I'll have Order of Ecclesia by next year.

As for the rest of the family? Well, I'm not exactly much of a "giver". My presents to my family consist of a lineup of items that my parents tell me to choose, which I then wrap and attempt to take all the credit for. Of course, my brother, sister and I have all caught on and when we get a present from one another automatically go and thank our parents. We don't mind, though. Actually, for me it's emberassing to be thanked for these gifts when my family clearly knows that I didn't actually buy them.

Read the review

"Sonic Unleashed does what a Sonic game should do; disappoint on every level."

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. :P 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.

My grandparent's dog got hit by a car. That dog was like a child to them. They loved it to death. The worst part of all is that they saw her get hit. Yes, they saw it happen right before their eyes. The dog was alive about 5 minutes after being hit, flopping on the ground in pain, as my grandmother held her and talked to her. This has to be the saddest day since my other grandmother died. (R.I.P.) Not only did they see it, but now they have to tell my aunt, who is the actual owner of the dog, though the dog is almost always at my grandparents' house. My grandparents were so upset that we had to come over for like 30 minutes, trying to make them feel better. At times I thought we were making progress, because my grandmother would stop crying. But after a few seconds, she started crying again, only worse than before. If this is how my grandparents reacted then how will my aunt react. She will most likely blame them, putting for grief on my grandmother, who already feels terrible about the whole thing. :( My grandparents have had this dog now for years, and they loved her to death. Losing this dog is almost like losing a child to them.

The game is actually looking good. The graphics are Phantom Hourglass-ish. I'm excited about this game now.

[video=cCE2wmD65b0LvzPZ]

Leave a comment on the video in my videos section if you get the chance. ;)

I thought I'd do a small review for Pan's Labyrinth, since I like it so much. The first thing that I'd like to say about the film is that if you're turned off by having to read subtitles then I frown upon you, because what you don't know is that after about 5 minutes of reading subtitles you feel like you actually understand what these people are saying, rather than reading it. I don't know how this is, but it was the same deal with Apocalypto, which was also a fantasic film. Surprisingly enough, you become extremely attached to these characters. The one I became most attached to was Pan, the faun who guards the Labyrinth. Speaking of which, let's get to special effects. The special effects in Pan's Labyrinth are great, especially in the fairys, which interact with the actors as if they were real. Characters like Pan and Pale Man aren't actually special effects, but people in costumes. If you've seen the film then you know that these are highly detailed costumes, that look real. So props to the film for that.

The storyline of the film is very interesting. It isn't the cliche "save the world from destruction" storyline. The story is that there was a land unground where demons and other kinds of creatures lived, and the princess was always wondering what the human world was like. One day she went to the human world and couldn't survive, so she died. She eventually came back as a different person (Ofelia) but didn't remember a thing. She was guided one day by a fairy to Pan's Labyrinth, where she met Pan, who told her all about it. He said that Ofelia had to complete 3 tasks before she could return to her kingdom, to make sure that she wasn't mortal. Sounds interesting, right? The 3 tasks are as follows: (SKIP THIS PART IF YOU DON"T WANT SPOILERS) a giant frog was living in a tree, causing it to die, so Ofelia had to feed it 3 stones to make it puke out its insides, where she found a key. The key was used for the second task: She had to use magical chalk given to her by Pan to make a door, which she would use to get into a temple-like place, which she had to get out of before the sand in an hourglass ran out. She had to use the key she found to open a slot in the wall where she found a knife. This was a simple task, but she had to screw it up. Pan told her not to touch the feast, which was on a table in front of Pale Man, a creature in a deep sleep. She, being ignorant, took a bite, causing Pale Man to awaken. This is one of my favorite parts of the film because it's scary, and dramatic. The third task was that she had to take her newly born brother to Pan, where he would use the knife she found to take his blood, opening the portal to her kingdom. She refused, and ended up getting killed by the captain (or father).

(MORE EFFING SPOILERS) I don't know what to think of the ending. On one hand, Ofelia finally got to her kingdom, but on the other hand, Mercedes and the rest of her group were moaning and crying about her death. It works out well for Ofelia, but very sadly for everyone else. I think it was a good ending, though, to an epic film, which I highly suggest checking out. 5/5 stars.