The time is upon us once again.  In less than 24 hours, Gamers' Christmas will have arrived.  Of course, I'm talking about E3.  The whirlwind of rumors, speculations and all-out excitement has hit fever pitch status for every gamer out there.  With the show returning to its original state of craziness, it should be one hell of a ride.

I'm very excited about E3 this year.  Let's just hope the press conferences aren't a complete borefest (looking at you there, Nintendo) and give us their fair share of surprises.  Who knows, maybe we'll see a new Zelda game on the Wii, or maybe a Metal Gear Solid game on the 360?  Eh, that's just rumors and speculations, and everybody knows I don't comment on rumors and speculations...

But the best part of the show has to be the stage demos.  It's always exciting to see some of my most anticipated games being played live for the very first time.  I'm very anxious to see demos for Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, BioShock 2, Modern Warfare 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Alpha Protocol, Diablo III, Starcraft 2, This Is Vegas, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic amongst others.  I'm also hoping to get more information about Max Payne 3, Prey 2, I Am Alive, the ever mysterious Alan Wake and Rock Band: The Beatles... and that's just scratching the surface.

So, for the next 5 days or so, we'll all be on video game overload.  Press conferences, stage demos, gameplay videos, interviews and so on and so forth.  Makes me wonder if we'll actually have time to play games at all this week.  On that note, I hope you guys have a great E3 and that all of your wishes and desires come through during this wonderful time of the year.  Oh, and be sure to check out EndSights.com (shameless plug) for our own personal take on the E3 festivities.  In the meantime, I'm off to play some inFamous before the overload begins.

Long time no see.
Check out the video blog.
A bit long, but I hope it's to your liking.

Thanks for watching.

Summertime's here, which means that major movie studios will be flooding cinemas with their big-budget, sometimes long-awaited blockbusters. Being the movie buff that I am, I'll try and see most of these blockbuster movies and give you, the reader, a quick review of them. However, please keep in mind that this is my own personal opinion and that it might not reflect your own. I'm just trying to help you out, you know.

This week's quick review is for the long-awaited and much anticipated Star Trek.  After Paramount announced that it was "rebooting" the series while using fresh actors to play the original crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, many people, including yours truly, were a little skeptical that all of this would work out.  I was somewhat reassured when J. J. Abrams, of Cloverfield and Lost fame, was selected to direct this bold project.  My skepticism somewhat reappeared when a cast of relative unknowns was announced, including Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Karl Urban as Leonard "Bones" McCoy.  It was quite obvious that Paramount was aiming for a new, younger audience to follow them into the final frontier.  But a question still lingered in the air: Would long-time Trekkers and casual fans of the series be satisfied with this reboot?

Coming from a casual Trekkie such as myself, the answer is a resounding "yes".  J. J. Abrams captures the very essence of what Star Trek is all about in this motion picture and proves to the world that he has what it takes to be one of Hollywood's top-notch directors.  His camera work and visual aesthetics for the movie are simply breathtaking.  The presentation of the events and characters are done in such a brilliant way that even people who know very little about Star Trek lore will understand what is going on without a problem.  Of course, this wouldn't be a Star Trek movie without some character and event references that strike a chord with knowledgeable Trekkers.

While some people, including yours truly, might have doubted the young cast and how good their portrayal of their well-known counterparts would turn out to be, I am glad to report that there is no need to fret.  All of them turn in some great performances.  However, something must be said about the young talent behind the three main characters.  Chris Pine brings Kirk's nonchalance and rugged toughness to life in a brilliant way.  Zachary Quinto does an excellent job playing the role of a conflicted and emotionally fragile Spock.  Finally, Karl Urban is God-like in his portrayal of Bones McCoy as he depicts with exactitude the mannerisms and spoken dialect of the character.

Star Trek is a magnificent motion picture, from its breathtaking visuals, to its solid cast of characters and well-written story.  You don't need to be a hardcore Trekkie to enjoy this movie, as it unfolds in quasi-perfection before your eyes.  There are moments where you'll be laughing out loud, while other moments will make you smile as fond memories of Star Trek's past are displayed upon the silver screen.  The ending, especially, had me swallowing my emotions as a big lump formed in my throat.  Even though the moniker of "blockbuster" was tagged to this movie, and that it'll draw in it's fair share of box office receipts, Star Trek rises above all that to deliver the very best movie of the franchise.  Now, with a sequel coming in 2011, let's just hope that this new series will live long and prosper.

Summertime's here, which means that major movie studios will be flooding cinemas with their big-budget, sometimes long-awaited blockbusters.  Being the movie buff that I am, I'll try and see most of these blockbuster movies and give you, the reader, a quick review of them.  However, please keep in mind that this is my own personal opinion and that it might not reflect your own.  I'm just trying to help you out, you know.

First movie review of this feature goes to X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  I had been anticipating this movie ever since they announced it and couldn't wait for it's release.  Wolverine is one of my favorite Superheroes (with Spidey being my favorite) and I was hoping for a decent depiction of his origins.  On that account, director Gavin Hood did a pretty good job.  From fighting in all the major wars alongside his brother Victor (a.k.a. Sabertooth) to his final confrontation with Weapon XI (X-Men aficionados might know who that is), everything is done very well and honors the source material from the comics pretty well.  Hugh Jackman does a spectacular job once again as our titular character.  As for the rest of the cast... well, let's just say that there's nothing to write home about here, aside from Ryan Reynolds, who does a very decent job as the decadent and somewhat insane Deadpool.

Speaking of which, I thought there wasn't enough emphasis on some of the other mutants featured in the movie.  Where the hell is Gambit?  I mean, we see him for 10 minutes when he first encounters Wolverine and a little bit in the end, but that's pretty much it.  Same goes for Deadpool, although he does appear more often than his card-throwing counterpart.  There are some great surprises for X-Men fans in the movie however, with special appearances from familiar faces.  All in all, it's a pretty decent popcorn action flick and a great treat for fans of Wolvy and the X-Men legacy.  Oh, by the way, you should stay until the end of the credits.  There's a pretty neat little scene which will definitely make fans smile broadly.

Theater or Rental?: Theater
Score?: 7 / 10

Yep, another video blog this weekend.
Excuse the over-excitement about MLB 09 and the bad sound.

Hope you enjoy it and please, as always, leave comments and feedback.

Well, my vacation is over.  I'm a bit sad to see it end, but there will be more down the line.

I purchased MLB 09: The Show Tuesday afternoon and would like to thank my buddy Gen_Warbuff for this inspirational buy.  His review of the game is what got me interested in the first place and, since I hadn't played a baseball game in a very, very long time, I decided to give it a go.  First impressions?  The game is amazing.  I'm currently playing the Road to the Show mode, where you create a player and go through his career.  I play shortstop and got drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays (go figure).  This mode is so deep and so refined that it actually feels like you're out there playing with the pros.  One other thing about the game I'd like to mention is the incredible graphics.  The player models look amazingly lifelike, it's uncanny.  I am really digging this game a whole lot and will have more in-depth views on it very soon.  Once again, thanks Bob!

I changed my profile layout both on GameSpot and Giant Bomb.  With the upcoming Ghostbusters video game and the recently announced Ghostbusters III movie, I thought it was only fitting to put both in the theme.  Hope you guys like it.

I watched a couple of movies during my vacation.  Aside from I Love You, Man, which was absolutely hilarious, I also watched Observe & Report as well as Tyson.  Observe & Report is, by far, Seth Rogen's worst movie so far in his career.  The premise is dumb, the jokes are idiotic, Rogen tries to be funny but fails miserably... just one big mess.  As for Tyson, which is a documentary on the life of "Iron" Mike, that was pretty damn good.  The man himself delves deep into his past and recollects all of the events in his very eventful life.  There's some great archive footage of his fights and the interviews he gave before and after them.  Surprisingly, I found myself touched by this man's life story and I recommend it to all of you.  On another note, I bought The Wrestler on BluRay today and will be watching it (again) very soon.  Such a fantastic movie.

That's all for now.  Hope you guys are having a good one.

Personally, I like the Playboy Bunnies more myself...

Anyway, how's it going?  Things are going pretty great over here.  Starting another week's vacation on Tuesday.  I'm off work from April 14 to 21, inclusively.  Since I worked on Good Friday and that I'll be working on Easter Monday, I get an extra day off to round off the vacation week.  Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me.

Vacation means I'll have more time to devote to gaming.  I plan on downloading The Pitt, Fallout 3's most recent expansion pack.  Do they still call them "packs" these days or just "expansions"?  I'll also try and finish Resident Evil 5 (Sharon and Jarret, we're still on for that), although I haven't had the urge to do so lately.

I have been playing my fair share of games these days... well, two to be precise.  I'm on my third Be A Pro season in NHL 09 now and still on the Montreal Canadiens team.  We won the Cup during season 2 (let's hope it's an omen for the real life team) and I'm still crazy in love with the game and this fantastic mode.  My created player is very close to becoming a Veteran, which will net me a 100-point achievement in the process.

Another game I've been indulging in is The Sims 2.  Yep, I'm still addicted and still playing it.  I've actually downloaded two expansions for the game, Seasons & Apartment Life, from EA.com, and paid $45 for both.  With the Seasons pack, your Sims go through all 4 seasonal periods, which adds a whole new perspective on gameplay.  For example, during winter time, you can build snowmen, go ice skating, have snowball fights and so on.  Your Sims will also react to the weather, as some will hate rain and love the sun.  Oh, and you get to wear some sweet winter gear too.

But where the game completely transforms itself is with Apartment Life.  This expansion adds two new cities and a host of new families who can inhabit them.  Now, instead of starting your Sims' life in a house and paying a ton of Simoleans for appliances and so on, you can move them directly into an already furnished apartment for much less.  Of course, there are all kinds of apartments, from tiny rat holes to huge penthouses overlooking the city.  This expansion also brings new gameplay options, such as roommates.  What's cool about roommates is that they'll help you pay the rent and take care of the place, but they are NPCs, which means you don't get to control their life.  I find this quite good, since it can get really hectic controlling two or more Sims at once.  Of course, you can end up with all kinds of roommies, which adds even more craziness to the mix.  If you're a fan of The Sims 2, you absolutely need to get this expansion.  It's quite awesome.

Last but certainly not least, the NHL playoffs start on Wednesday.  My Montreal Canadiens will be going up against the Boston Bruins again this year.  Although the B's have a monster of a team, I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I pull for the Habs all the way.

Top five favorite Xbox games and a video blog coming some time next week.

After all of the lists I've seen from various people around the site, I've decided to compile my own lists of favorite games. Yes, I wrote lists, plural, since I'll be doing a top 5 for every video game system I've owned in my life, PC included. These lists will then be compiled to compose my top 10 favorite games of all time.

Back to consoles we go with the PlayStation 2.

PlayStation 2

Manufacturer: Sony Computer Entertainment
Retail availability: October 26, 2000
Units sold: 50 million in North America, 140 million worldwide
Best-selling game: Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (14.89 million)

Wiki page

After taking a leave of absence from gaming in general for a couple of years, I decided to purchase a PlayStation 2 back in November of 2000.  I had finished school and started working, which meant I had most of my evenings to myself, instead of doing projects for school, so I decided to fill in the empty void with the PS2.  Funny story.  I bought the console in November and, to my utter shock and amazement, I won another PS2 during my Christmas office party, along with Final Fantasy X.  I sold the latter to a co-worker for, get this, $450... and kept the game.  Here's my top 5 on the PlayStation 2.

5. WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain (2003)
Here Comes The Pain was, and still is, my favorite wrestling video game.  Although the season was shorter than previous SmackDown games, you had the chance to interact with Superstars backstage, as they would either give you some advice, turn a promo on you, or just flat out challenge you to a match which often took place backstage, on the streets of New York or even at the now-defunct WWE World club.  The roster was pretty hefty and included, for the very first time, some Legends from wrestling's past.  The storyline was also one of the best ones to be found in any wrestling game to date.  I think that's reason enough to place this great game at number five.
Here's a commercial that aired on TV for the game.

4. Bully (2006)
This was the very last game that I bought for the PlayStation 2 and, as you can see by its position on the top five, it's one of the very best.  Following Jimmy Hopkins around Bullworth Academy was a real treat.  The game had a brilliant story and some equally brilliant dialog and voice acting, backed up by some solid gameplay.  Actually, one of my favorite things to do in Bully was to go to class.  Each one was different and offered some intriguing and sometimes challenging tasks to undertake.  The guys at Rockstar Vancouver really knew what they were doing when they released this game, and I hope we get to see Jimmy again one of these days.
"Welcome to Bullworth Academy!"

3. Final Fantasy X (2001)
If you know me well at all, you'll know that I'm not very fond of Japanese RPGs.  In fact, the only ones I can digest are from the Final Fantasy series.  However, if you asked me to name my favorite game in this fabled series, I would say, without a moment's hesitation, Final Fantasy X.  Even though FF VII has the biggest following and is regarded by many as the best in the series, it wasn't for me.  There's just something about FF X that's special.  One moment, it'll have you smiling and laughing while, in another instant, you'll be swallowing hard and pushing back tears.  Final Fantasy X is, for me anyway, the definitive game in the series.
Here's the infamous "sad" ending from the game (and yes, I did cry).

2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
After the tremendous success of Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar North wouldn't stop there.  In 2002, they released a game that would use all of the good aspects of III and build on them to make Vice City, a masterful mafia epic with one of the best licensed soundtracks in any video game in history.  Although the game came out very early in the PlayStation 2's life cycle, it would use the system's graphics capabilities to the max, giving us a beautifully rendered Vice City.  The characters and voice acting weren't slouches either, as they drove the story along at a perfect pace.  Although the game had it's fair share of challenging missions (Bombs Away anyone?), they offered variety and were fun to play through.  On a side note, I bought the soundtrack to the game back when it was released.  This marked the very first time I would buy a soundtrack to a video game.  It was just that damn good.
Here's a sample of the soundtrack from the game.

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Did I surprise any of you with my number one pick?  If so, that just goes to prove that you don't know me very well at all.  San Andreas is my favorite PS2 game for a bunch of reasons.  A bigger sandbox to play in, which was represented by 3 cities (Los Santos, San Fierro & Las Venturas) in one state, including the prerequisite countryside was one thing.  An all-star voice cast voicing memorable characters.  A great story.  An awesome soundtrack.  Plenty of side activities and missions to take part in.  Hot Coffee.  Planes.  You name it, this game had it.  Many people complained about the RPG elements included within San Andreas, such as working out and so on, but that didn't bother me one bit.  I actually found it fun to get CJ to work out and get ripped.  Yeah, I guess I must really like this game, since I finished it 3 times.  Take that, GTA IV.
Here's a mix of all of the GTA San Andreas trailers.

There you go.  Hope you guys enjoyed reading it.  Give me some feedback on the top five, it would be much appreciated.  Next up, the original XBox.