IGN is without a doubt one of the most popular video game sites on the internet.  IGN has earned it's reputation through in-depth interviews, a great staff, an appealing site layout, comprehensive reviews and the list goes on.  Lately everything appears to be falling to pieces.

The reviews have gotten very sub-par to say the least.  The site gave the Conduit an 86/100, higher than any other site.  Worse yet they gave Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince a whopping 77/100.  Reviews are opinion, but there are lines separating good games, mediocre games, and downright bad titles.  IGN is rating games as if these lines do not exist.  I cannot comprehend how they can give a title such as HP:HBP a 77 when it is decent at best.  On top of that they are reviewing almost all of their titles after the release date, they always used to review games before they came out.  Most games do not take a very long time to beat and get the jist of, and writing a review that is 1-2 pages long shouldn't take very long either professional or not.

The not-so-new interface is annoying to navigate and things can be very hard to find at times.  It doesn't help that due to all the advertising and applications it can take longer than it should to load.  The video player is worse than a more independent site such as this.  That is unexcusable with a site of such reputation.  When they revamped the site they completely took out the easy of use and made everything look "sleeker".  I'm always in favor of aesthetic appeal as long as it is done in a way that doesn't detract from ease of use.  Where is my choice to view the site in the classic view?  Please?

If you have been following IGN for a while now you would know that they update the site at around 6:30 on week nights.  The headlining stories just aren't as good as they used to be.  They always used to have great interviews and always ask the right questions.  Now they always do these lackluster previews detailing information that anyone interested in the product even remotely already knows.  The journalism on the site appears to have hit rock bottom.  A good article can interest you even if you don't care about the product.  IGN's articles lately are short and very dull.

Personally I blame the staff.  It appears they are hiring more people and perhaps they do not realize how important and professional of a site IGN is because they are doing a great job of fucking it up.  Am I being extreme? I don't think so at all.  IGN used to be the king of gaming journalism but now they are being outdone by sites that aren't even in the same playing field.  With only a fancy web site and one hell of a reputation, IGN is slowly losing its once eager fanbase.  I look for a site that promotes honesty, quality, passion, and professionalism driven by the editorial staff and the community.  IGN is missing out on many of the qualities lately.

It's almost as if we are getting a message from the unknown to go outside and stop playing video games.  Hardly any worthwhile titles are being released.  I will be heading to Family Video more often to rent some of the titles I missed out on.  Any recommendations for me would be appreciated.  Look at my achievements list to see what I have played.

I just posted my review for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Check it out to see what I thought!

http://www.giantbomb.com/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/61-22766/user_reviews/?review=9279

                                                                   

                                                                      Music Review

                                                                                      Artist: Attack Attack!

                                                                             Album: Someday Came Suddenly

Attack Attack! is a Post-Hardcore band from Columbus, Ohio.  Their debut album Someday Came Suddenly does a fantastic job pushing the screamo genre into places that haven't been explored. As soon as you fire up the first track on the album you will realize that this band is all about creating fun, energetic, and creative music.  Simply put, there is nothing else like it and you are in for quite a treat. 

The opener "Hot Grills, and High Tops" is a track that is not to be taken seriously.  It is a parody of many of rap music's many cliches and in my opinion, nuances.  While it is a bit humorous and fun to listen to it serves as an opener to perhaps the greatest and most popular track on the album Stick, Stickly.

"Stick Stickly" most likely will be one of your favorite tracks on the album.  The chorus is catchy, the breakdowns are raw and heavy, the lyrics are uplifting at times and bitter at others.   This track is rich with emotion and fun.

"Kickin' Wing Animal Doctor" may be the wierdest, yet most humorus track I have heard in quite a while.  The track contains no singing yet the band is able to maintain a sense of melody that can be paralleled to some of their other more harmonous tracks.  The track is yet another example of how diverse this band truly is.

I could go on to talk about every single track on this amazing album but it is honestly best to go ahead and experience it yourself.  Attack Attack! put out a debut album that is without a doubt one of the greatest hardcore albums I have ever heard.

                                                                                5/5

Recommended for fans of: Hardcore/Post-Hardcore/Synthcore/Screamo

As many of you know, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is out his week.   Before reading this post I suggest that you watch the launch trailer.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/launch-trailer-harry-potter/52096

I absolutely love Harry Potter.  The universe is rich, fun, and really can suck you in.  The books are absolutely brilliant and even the movies are decent(some better than others).  There is one part of Harry Potter media that installment after installment is underwhelming.  Of course I'm talking about the games.  I blame EA, they own the franchise and are more worried about putting out an installment to be released at the exact time a new movie comes out than they do about quality and imagination.  I don't see why they feel the need to mirror the films either, why not use a little imagination?  Isn't that what Harry Potter is all about?

After watching the trailer you will notice a few rather distasteful things.  The game trailer is essentially an in-game movie trailer.  There is no gameplay footage, they are trying to make it appear almost epic to life changing proportions, and the game will mirror the movie very, very closely.  Even though they don't show gameplay you can really see the presentation took a hit on this one.  The graphics look worse than some xbox 360 launch titles, the facial animations are terrible, the voice acting and script are some of the worse I've ever heard in a game.  "Are you ready to embark on our dangerous of a quest?" "You can do...MAGIC" , how many utterly terrible lines can you squeeze in a trailer that lasts for less than two minutes?  It think EA may have brokens some records here.

It's a damn shame they waste opportunity after opportunity to create a good product with such fantastic source material.  When you put no compassion into a product this is the kind of garbage it yields.  As severe as this sounds, I hope the product sells terribly.  Developers without great source material can create games 10X better than this, yet EA is determined to waste it in order for them to make some quick cash hoping it sells because of the name on it's box.  EA, your name is on the box too, someday I hope that catches up with you.