So with Screened.com going up, I registered over there. If you want to follow me, be my guest. I'm really glad Screened opened, incidentally. I've tried editing IMDB in the past, but their editing guidelines are a little too strict; despite perfectly following their obtuse submission rules, a vast majority of the content I tried to add to IMDB was never approved. Meanwhile, Screened lets me go nuts - so far I have taken the articles for Monster Squad and Killer Klowns from Outer Space under my wing and filled them out to the best of my ability. Given that I wrote the Killer Klowns article while watching the movie on Hulu, I should probably put together a review. I already posted other (very short) reviews for X-Files: I Want To Believe and Trick 'R Treat, which are revised versions of reviews I posted on IMDB a while ago. Might go through some of my older IMDB reviews and do the same, but really, I don't review movies like I review games.
 
Speaking of game reviews, if you haven't seen it, I wrote up a brief review for Sonic Classic Collection here at Giantbomb. Somebody at TSSZnews.com (where I work) already reviewed it - with a very glowing review, no less - but since I recently started fooling around with it, I decided to write my own take. Obviously, I was a little less than impressed. I don't think it'll be going up at TSSZ, though to be honest, I haven't asked Tristan if I should or not. If you missed it the first time. my Sands of Destruction review is here, now, too. 
 
In other recent news, I had something ironic happen recently. You may or may not recall my blog from a couple months ago about Xbox Live Gold, and how I had managed to score one free year. Well, yesterday, I received a package in the mail - if you've been on Xbox Live enough you have no doubt stumbled upon these "Download & Win" sweepstakes things, where you have to download some sort of Gamer picture (usually an advertisement) and in doing so you're entered to win? Well, according to this package I received, I am the grand prize winner of 30 years of Xbox Live Gold and 32,000 Microsoft Points (about $400 worth). All I have to do is fill out the 9 or so pages of release forms, notarize them, and send'em back. So, basically, I won't need to renew my XBL Gold subscription until the year 2040 - I'll be 56 years old. That's assuming Xbox Live Gold will even still exist in 2040. Also, 32,000 points might sound like a lot - but I've already made a list of the XBLA games I might want to buy and it totals up to about 22,000 points. It kind of sucks that I apparently can't buy any "Games on Demand" with points - I'd probably get Crackdown or Saints Row 2 or something.
 
The side benefit is winning the Sweepstakes has finally pushed me to go get a new State ID - I lost my wallet years and years ago, and I never went back to the DMV to get a new ID or any of that stuff (I never was in a situation where I needed it). What this means that I can finally request a payment from Survey Savvy. For whatever reason, Survey Savvy won't just deposit the money in to my Paypal account - I have to request they send me a check, something I've never been able to cash until now. I think I've spoken about Survey Savvy in blogs way, way, way in the past; essentially, once every week or two they send you surveys about your buying habits and other stuff. For every one you complete, you get about $1 to $3 or so (though on a few rare occasions, you'll hit an extremely high-profile survey for $10, $15, sometimes even $20+). I've even gotten surveys about upcoming videogames - around the time Dead Space 1 was officially announced, I completed a survey from EA about how I felt about the game's "tone" (if I preferred bloody horror or something that was more cheesy and campy, stuff like that). It can obviously take a while for money to accumulate, but I've got about $30 sitting there waiting to be paid out, and as far as I know, it's legit. It's not going to pay the bills, but if you want a little extra money on the side, it's nice. Plus, if I refer you, I get a bonus. ;) 
 
I think that's about it, for now. I have other things I need to do (like finish this paperwork). I leave you with a Work-In-Progress piece of sprite art I've been fooling around with the last couple days:
 

As somebody who only owned Halo 3 for the first time as of three weeks ago, but has been playing multiplayer shooters on the PC for nearly a decade...

Reach makes me want to never touch Xbox Live ever again. I don't care about all the little technical discussions people are having about grenades being overpowered or how much this is like Shadowrun (though, for the record, I enjoyed the Shadowrun demo, whatever that means), Halo Reach seems to be designed to allow existing Halo players to capitalize on their existing skills while scrubs like me get left in the dust and splattered on the walls.

It's rare that I get frustrated by losing. I remember playing a few rounds of the Halo 3 Beta with my cousin (at his place), and while he was raging and getting angry, I was simply enjoying the ride. But something about these weapons, these maps, these abilities, seems to go over my head in such a way that I can't even really grasp. I think I know how to play the game. But how can I compete with a 12 year old who spins 180 to headshot me in a single bullet for an instant kill? Halo Reach incites a rage in me I haven't felt in a videogame in a long time.

With Counter-Strike on the PC, for almost a solid year - maybe even two - I played with a one or two friends in private servers with bots. I completely avoided public servers because, like in Halo Reach, I was only embarrassing myself. Nowadays, public servers aren't that big of a deal for Counter-Strike (though I primarily stick to private servers with friends, most of the time). I'm not granted the luxury of multiplayer bots in Halo Reach (or any Halo game, period), so it's basically been "walk out and die instantly" with some rare exceptions. 
 
The worst part? I'm not actually so bad at Halo 3 multiplayer. I don't blow the doors off or anything, but I can certainly hold my own, and it doesn't make me want to chuck my controller through a window. But Reach? I think I'm done with the Reach beta.

Let's get this out of the way first: Sands of Destruction review. I am not terribly proud of the conditions the review was written under, but I committed to writing it four months ago and that's how it's gonna be. As always, a sample:

Mechanically, Sands of Destruction is both very similar and very different to the standard structure of a Japanese Role-Playing Game. Dungeons are littered with random battles. Battling monsters is done by taking turns until the creature is dead. Completing battles earns you experience points, and earning enough experience will grant you the ability to “Level Up” your power. But what matters is how Sands of Destruction puts its own spin on things: borrowing some ideas from contemporary fighting games, Sands has a “combo” system that rewards stringing together a series of attacks in a chain to maximize the amount of damage dealt. Alongside experience points, you also earn something called “Customization Points”, “CP” for short, which allow you to upgrade existing attacks and unlock the next attack in that combo string. You also have the ability to augment battles through the “Quips” system – as you progress through the game and watch the story play out, characters in your party will say important lines of dialog that can the be equipped and spoken during battle to infer various effects, such as increased defense, increased accuracy, or even double the amount of gold acquired after a battle. It’s nothing terribly revolutionary, but it’s unique enough to be fun – that is until you discover just how pitifully easy the game is. One would expect a game to gently ease you in to its mechanics, but time after time, I found myself not only breezing through most random battles, but even the “climactic” boss encounters – I managed to defeat the second or third boss of the game on my first turn, before he even had a chance to strike. ( Continue reading...)

It is 5:26am. There are birds chirping. Ryan, Dave, Vinny and Josh just signed off of the live stream. As of writing this, Original Xbox Live is still... well, live. I only owned one Xbox 1 game that has Xbox Live, and that was Forza Motorsport. For most of the night, despite only having played the game three times in my entire life, I played Forza. And only Forza. For probably close to 5 hours.  In the end, I have this to show for it:
 

If you haven't been paying attention, I posted a new video review at TSSZ. I've mirrored it here on GiantBomb. It was for the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. I have to say that I really liked the game. It's got some kinks to work out, but there's a solid foundation to be had. I should review the DLC like I did with Sonic Unleashed, but $7 for one track and one extra vehicle is absolute robbery - especially combined with Microsoft's ridiculous system for buying Microsoft points. It's a system DESIGNED to make you spend more money than you need to. To buy a $7 piece of DLC I will need to spend $10 on points. Eff that. 
 
Talk about Game Room wishlists on the Bombcast lead to this, my own Game Room Wish List. Of course, one of the games on my wish list wasn't in the GiantBomb database, so I had to take the plunge and write my first brand-new article: Mystic Warriors, an old arcade game that I love to death. It's really goofy and features a monk that looks like he just stepped out of an 80's rap music video. If you liked Sunset Riders, it's worth playing. The page needs more info, but I am lazy.
 
Of course, both of those game barely even 48 hours before GiantBomb's new quest system, which means I don't get a quest complete for making a new page. I did, however, make a new list for the list quests - " The Best Sonic Games, In Order". It was an easy list to write, and one with a lot of items I could talk about. It's worth reading, I'd say. 
 
With the new quest system, though, if you're looking for an easy way to get some of these quests done, well, look at my All-Stars Racing review! Every time you thumbs up or thumbs down a review, you're one step closer to getting a couple quests done. Heck, give all my review some thumbs, while we're at it. 
 
Alright - stuff to do. More on what that stuff is later.

So my DS Lite's hinge is finally showing signs of falling apart. I always figured I was immune, but just tonight, I snapped it closed and noticed it was awfully loose feeling. Part of the hinge on the right is starting to detach. Apparently it's about $50 to get it repaired at Nintendo, but I am desperately trying to save for a new video card. On top of that, my Playstation 2 is also on the verge of melting down, and repairing that is also $50.  I don't have a lot of cash to play with here so it has to be one of these three things. I can do without my PS2 for a little while, but my DS basically goes with me wherever I go. But replacing this faulty video card is also important. Decisions...
 
Of course, I could always check and see if I ever sent the Warranty card in for my DS. I think I ended up registering my DS through Nintendo.com anyway, but checking Nintendo's customer support just now says that its serial is not in their database so we'll see. I might be able to get this repaired for free! 
 
The DS Lite hinge issue has always been so weird, to me. Nintendo is known for making some remarkably sturdy hardware; you recall tales from Nintendo Power of kids accidentally sending their Gameboys through the washing machine and upon pulling it out and letting it dry, it plays just fine. There are images out there of the Desert Storm Gameboy, charred and black from a fire, a copy of Tetris permanently melted in to the cartridge slot - but it still plays.  
 

So I've been against Xbox Live Gold for a really long time. Not against it as a concept, mind you, but against it as a product. A monetized service. In my opinion, Xbox Live Gold is a ripoff, and that those who choose to defend the service are being tricked and hypnotized by a very carefully executed marketing effort and brand management team. There was a very strong sentiment at first that Xbox Live Gold was "the only way Microsoft could turn a profit" on the Xbox and therefore it was okay, because you were supporting the first baby steps in to online console multiplayer. There are those out there for whom paying for Xbox Live Gold makes them feel good, thinking that the service gives them a perch in which they can look down their noses at the "commoners" stuck with Xbox Live Silver. They see it as buying a ticket in to a special club for the elite few that can afford it. I've spoken to these deranged individuals, often by airing these very complaints. It was surreal, to say the least.
 
All of that stuff sort of made me kind of annoyed. I never really considered myself much of a PC gamer, but here I am with both Steam and Xfire on the PC, two pieces of software that not only match Xbox Live feature-for-feature, but greatly surpass it. Xbox Live Gold has never been exposed as a greater sham as when Microsoft had the great idea of transferring the service to the PC, the very den of these two pieces of software. " Games for Windows Live Gold" offered all of the functionality of its console sibling on the PC for the same subscription fee and it fell flat on its face. Why would you pay for that? You wouldn't, that's why. In light of that, it's hard not to imagine Microsoft is holding Xbox Live hostage and is demanding a ransom in exchange. The only reason anybody started paying for Xbox Live Gold is because there is no Steam. There is no Xfire. There is no choice. And like some sort of stockholm syndrome, now people are starting to think that's okay. They say to themselves, "That's the way it is."
 
So I lived a comfortable life without Xbox Live Gold. I could never justify the cost. Sure, it's only $0.03 a day or whatever, but it's not as though my Xbox 360 has a coin slot on it. You have to play by Microsoft's rules, buy the time in pre-determined chunks. When faced with the opportunity to spend $50 on temporary access to service I should be getting for free or spending $50 on something that's going to last me "a life time", I have always chosen door number 2. Bigger fish to fry, and all of that. Ironically, for a person who was fine not having Xbox Live Gold, I have found myself with a subscription to the service that does not expire until April 2011, acquired legally and free of charge. 
 
It will be interesting to see if, in a year's time, I too will have developed a sympathy towards Xbox Live Gold. In the mean time, I will continue to play the BLUR Multiplayer Beta.

Wow, that took a lot longer than I expected. It was over a month ago that I mentioned I was writing a review for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. As it turns out, the last couple of dungeons and the final boss encounter turned out to be a bit tougher to crack than I expected and on top of that was struck with a little sickness known in some circles as "being lazy" for a week and a half. The review is done, now. As always, a taste:
 

If you’ve played any of the previous Legend of Zelda games, you already have a good idea of most of the items featured in Spirit Tracks. The “Zelda Checklist” is in full effect. Bombs? Check. Boomerang? Check. Bow and arrows? Check. A musical instrument that plays magic songs that are only used in very limited, very specific locations? Check – and if it wasn’t obvious enough already, filling in the role previously held by Link’s horse and boat is the “Spirit Train”, your method of traveling the world. The train, however, is a noticeable step down from previous methods of transportation, given the fact that it is quite literally on rails. If you’re like me and enjoy exploring your surroundings simply to answer the question of “what’s over there?”, Spirit Tracks will be a lesson in disappointment. It does its best to liven things up – enemies routinely ambush your train, for example, and as you restore the “Spirit Tracks”, new routes will open up, sometimes opening access to secret side quests. But, more often than not, you’re stuck going where the tracks want to take you, watching the empty, uninteresting world pass by on your way to the next dungeon. At least they let you blow the train’s whistle. 
 
The good news is that once you arrive at your destination, the game picks up considerably. In addition to a lack of creativity, a partial contributor to “Zelda Fatigue” existed simply because, like a lot of Nintendo games of that era, Zelda’s difficulty had softened. You could cruise through Wind Waker and Twilight Princess without ever being in danger of dying. Spirit Tracks, like many of the more recent Nintendo offerings, once again embraces the idea that it’s okay to challenge the player. ( Continue reading...)

So Sega announced Sonic the Hedgehog 4. 
 
 

The Game Is Already "Done"

Walk Before You Run

A Taste of What's to Come

In Closing

I have a lot of text files on my HDD. Game ideas, dreams I've had, forum posts I want to make, emails I've written and want to save, emails I've yet to write, game reviews, etc. This is one I apparently wrote (or at least saved to my HDD) in February of 2008. That makes it about two years old. I believe it was originally a forum post that I made and liked, so I saved it to my HDD. It is, jokingly, a snippet from a would-be script to "Half-Life: The Movie".