So for a few months, I've been doing a video series with my friend. We call ourselves "Gentlemen With Controllers". We've done primarily Let's Plays, but we've also done a few quick looks/first impressions of games. We've done Let's Plays for Awesomenauts, Borderlands 2, Magicka, and L4D, with more coming soon. Check us out! Please and thanks.

http://www.gentlemenwithcontrollers.com

PS: I'm Pastafarian.

I'm truly feeling sad right now.

I just watched the gameplay demo of Splinter Cell: Blacklist on gamespot's website. I went in expecting disappointment. However, the level of sadness I have at the moment was unexpected.

I had bought every single Splinter Cell since the first (except for Pandora Tomorrow, which I rented and beat), and I loved the original three immensely. Double Agent for XBOX was also good, but the 360 version, other than the multiplayer (which I enjoyed), didn't interest me. I ended up not finishing the game, partly due to a bad frame rate drop.

I also bought Conviction at release. At the time, I was very disappointed. What I played in that game was not a Splinter Cell Game. They had taken what the original three (as well as Double Agent, to a degree) had done, and streamlined it to be more action-oriented. It ended up being like a modern-day Assassin's Creed. To me, while the game wasn't terrible, and the story was pretty good at wrapping up the Sam Fisher story, it didn't feel like a Splinter Cell game at all. It definitely wasn't the same feel as the original three games.

So, first off, the new Splinter Cell has a new voice actor for Sam Fisher. They replaced the always-amazing veteran actor Michael Ironside with this doucher, Eric Johnson. That, to me, is essentially blasphemy. Michael Ironside is, and forever will be, the voice of Sam Fisher, at least in my mind. The new guy doesn't sound the same, and he will never be able to fulfill the role the way Michael Ironside has since 2002.

Second off, they stuck to the exact formula they had established in Splinter Cell: Conviction. The entire... experience of Splinter Cell in Conviction had been changed. The old HUD was removed in Conviction and remains removed in Blacklist, which means no real sneaking elements (they removed the sound and light meters, with the only indication of stealth a flashing warning that appears when you've been noticed). The old game's shooting has been completely removed in favor of dumb QTEs that allow you to aimbot/autokill small groups of enemies in one go (probably to compensate for lack of reliable aiming mechanics), and the slower-paced gameplay of earlier games, where you studied enemy patrols and snuck in to remove enemies one by one (to usually hide in such strange places as broom closets and under arctic ice), has been moved to the sideline (it's still there, technically, but the action gets an emphasis).

Thirdly, no night vision! You can't take those out. Period. They removed them in Conviction. They removed them in Blacklist. Yet they have them appear on the cover. Fuck sonar goggles. I want some frakking Night Vision Goggles. EDIT: It has been pointed out there is no proof of night vision, and I agree. However, I strongly believe it will not be in this game, based on Conviction. Even if I'm wrong, my other points strongly state my intentions here.

Finally, and I think this is the saddest point for me, there is a distinct feeling of selling out that I have not shaken in the several years since Conviction was released. They completely reworked Conviction in order to appeal to a broader audience. This was a success, but it was a success at the cost of older fans such as myself. And when a series compromises its old fans by radically changing gameplay in order to appeal to a new audience, that's beyond wrong to me.

In conclusion, Splinter Cell: Blacklist is looking awful. And I'm very sad, because they took a game I've cherished since original Xbox times, perverted it, and completely changed it. And finally, they have lost another fan, because I will not be buying this new installment after what I saw today.

EDIT: I expect to get two different types of responses to this: The "I totally agree, this is not like the original games at all, they changed it", and then the "Shut up, this game is great, so was Conviction, Splinter Cell is just evolving into a more appealing game". I will tell you right now, I'm definitely a part of the former group. I don't discourage argument, but I'm warning you, I will definitely strongly object to any who might say something like aforementioned second group.

Barely.

My anthro professor is a bitch. I'm sick of talking about her though, so all I'll say is she definitely got a bad teacher eval... in-class... as well as on two websites... and I might talk to the Department head about my grade...

but that's another story. It's officially summer :)

need to stop staying up so late like this. Hell week 2012 starts next week. I've got...

- A final project due tomorrow.

- A 3 page paper due Tuesday.

- An exercise due sometime very soon. Few pages.

- Another exercise due like this week.

- A 15-minute presentation Tuesday night.

- A 4 (?) page paper due Wednesday.

- A 6-8 page final paper due the Monday after next.

- A 10-12 page final paper due the Tuesday after next.

So yea. Fun times. Looking at this list makes me want to put a gun in my mouth.

...But I'm too lazy. So I'll just go to bed instead. Wish me luck, cya guys in a few weeks.

My rig came today! Me and my roommate assembled it. We got stuck on the heatsink/CPU cooler for about an hour (worrying about it not fitting in the case, the screws not fitting correctly, etc.), but other than that it went smoothly. After he customized a few options in my BIOS for me (mostly fan speed), I got to installing Windows and all the programs I'll be using on it. I started at 1:30, and by around 6 I had windows installed and was ready to roll. Lots of awesome right now, I'm kinda unorganized, so I'll just write things down as I think of them.

1) A 20" monitor is very small. At least, it seems small. Idk, I'm still trying to get used to it. My monitor's very nice though, so I'm happy with it. My desk just looks so empty now (I'm used to an old-fashioned cone monitor that took up a huge amount of space)

2) Apparently my windows 7 installation did not require/ did not come with a product key? When asking for it, I tried multiple combinations of numbers appearing on the sticker that came with my disk (I ordered my copy via mail), to no success. However, when I left it blank and clicked "next", it worked. So far, so good.

3) Motherboard drivers are a bitch.

4) When choosing a motherboard, make sure the motherboard comes with enough fan slots for your case. I had to exclude one, which means my PC isn't running as cool as it could be. You can get extensions to allow you to add extra fans, however, so I spose it's not a huge deal.

5) I played my first test game of SCII and got an average of 60 FPS on the highest settings. Pretty stoked at the moment.

That's all for now I spose. I have a lot more installing and customization to do, so I gotta get back to it.

EDIT: Updates on performance.

Starcraft II stills run fantastic. It hasn't dropped below 40 yet (I saw it drop that low ONCE)

Minecraft gets ~120 FPs :3

Empire Total War runs on full high ~70 FPS.

It's amazingly fast when surfing the web and/or running multiple programs. I'm able to easily start up a game, minimize, run an external program, quickly pop into the game again, and continue playing without a single hitch.

Oh, yea. And the monitor's awesome. 20" looks small, but it gets the job done very well. Completely satisfied with the purchase.

I overall just love it :]

It's ordered. :3

My gaming rig is officially on the way. And damn was it expensive. It started off around $950, but I managed to lower the price to 900 due to free shipping, promo codes, and some other bits n pieces.

So, in two business days, I'll be assembling my very first rig!

I'm excited, yet I'm also somewhat leery. I still don't know exactly where in my house it's going. I have two different places; my room, or the basement.

My room would be awesome. I already will have my xbox n tv up there in the summer; if my rig was up there I'd have absolutely zero reason to ever leave... like, ever. However, my room has no internet access. That tends to put a damper on the fun when the grand majority of your games are Steam-Owned.

So, my basement's the second good choice, what with actual internet and all. However, several reasons I dislike that.

1) It means I have to leave my room.

2) I hate bugs. Really, truly dislike them. A lot.

3) It's cold in the basement.

4) The basement is dirty. And that's where my new rig will be? Sad.

5) The desk in my basement already has an old desktop that my brother uses (if he's here during the summer)

So yea. I might put it in my room, find some way to get it wireless (I know, desktop having wireless, wtf is that shit), just man up and deal with that.

But oh well. I'll decide in the next few days.

:):):):):):):):):):):):)

Today was my last day of class before Spring Break. I've got dinner with a friend tonight, a night of relaxation, then I head home tomorrow for a solid week of relaxation/ light homework. :D

Sounds amazing.

On top of that, I'm building my first custom-built gaming rig (I started a forum post about it, check it out). It's been a work-in-progress for several days now. I have every part I want picked out, having switched parts several times (and in the case of my CPU choosing one card, switching to another, switching to a card from a different manufacturer (Intel) and then finally ending up switching back to my original choice). So the last few days have flown by, considering the majority of my free time has been spent looking up hardware on newegg.

So, provided I get everything checked out by the techy people I know (a few friends n my roommate), I might end up ordering the rig (from now it shall be called My Baby <3) as early as tomorrow or this weekend, with the parts (hopefully) arriving during break, when I have loads of free time to set it up. So if I end up getting her soon, you guys will be the first to know (with much writing/pictures).

So yea. Exciting times. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated.

Well, I thought I had done blog posts before, but alas I was wrong.

Well. All right then. Hello all.

I guess an introduction that was never given before is in order.

My name is James, I'm a junior in college at the moment, majoring in history.

I wouldn't say I'm addicted to video games, but I can say that the majority of my free time is spent on one game or another. Most of that time is spent playing socially with my friends, and most of the time I won't bother playing if nobody else is on.

I like a lot of games. Strategy, Shooter, RPG, Simulation, etc. I play whatever appeals to me. Some days it's Viva Pinata; other days, Call of Duty. Sometimes, it'll be Metal Gear Solid or Star Wars: Battlefront. Yet other days I can spend hours at a time dicking around in Universe Sandbox.

I have an xbox 360 and xbox live, so if anybody on here ever wants to play something and needs somebody to play with, feel free to hit me up. My username on there is AngreLeperkan. I promise I won't bite :)

That's enough about me for now, I'm sure I'll be back in a week or two to check on this. Lots of classwork due for classes, and I have a midterm, so I really must be getting to sleep. Goodnight all.