• Waiting for Xbox

    My Xbox 360

    Pictured is My Xbox. The one that I waited 14 hours on line outside of Best Buy for. You see, the plan was to go to Wal Mart 5 hours before the release (7pm). I get there, and the line is full. They only got 15. So I went to Best Buy. At 7:30pm, for the 9am release. And waited. In the freezing rain. Most of me went numb. I survived thanks to a friend and his family, who brought us stuff to keep warm. But when 9am finally came, I was ready. I got my 360 and the coveted Perfect Dark Zero. When trying to choose a second game, I found it hard. Harder than I thought. People said 360 has virtually no games. But those 19 releases all looked great. And sure there are some on other systems, but they look so much better on 360.

    I’ve been playing Perfect Dark almost non-stop. It looks incredible. The game play is awesome. And oooohhh the Xbox Live. Challenge the World. Perfect Dark is the best game of the season. Hands down. The graphics, the game play, and this new feature called “Cover”. It allows you to hide against a wall and pan around for enemies, using the wall as protection.

    All in all I’m very happy with the purchase of 360. Xbox Live is like nothing I have ever used before, and the lighting, shadowing, look and feel of the games is just breath taking. And, despite what you might have heard- mine isn’t defective. Later!

  • Why I’m getting an Xbox 360

    XboX 360

    Many people have asked me why I am [fully intending on] getting Xbox 360 when it comes out on Tuesday. “It looks like Xbox with better graphics.” Sure it does- it is. But is it also so much more. But, for argument’s sake, let’s start with the graphics

    You see, the graphics aren’t just better. They are better than graphics any other machine has been able to render. And here is why- HD. You see a computer can generate kick ass graphics, sure. But Xbox 360 makes your games ready for HDTV- something your PC can’t do. And this isn’t just for new games, but for all games supported by 360.

    “Xbox 360 boasts a custom ATI graphics processor that clocks in at a blistering 500 MHz. If you want to get even more technical (and who doesn’t?) Xbox 360 can take advantage of more than four times as many polygons as the original Xbox® console, and more than four times (seeing a pattern here?) the number of pixels per second.” –Xbox 360

    But it’s amazing graphics aren’t the only thing going for 360. I could go into how the physics in the game will mimic (or come very close to) real life physics, or how because of the awesome computing power of the 360, the worlds will be so involved, but I would rather talk about the network….

    Since the dawn of the LAN Party with Doom, people all over have wanted to have kick ass LAN games. The cooler game play, the better. Halo 2 has done that. It’s selling point in my eyes is the Multiplayer capabilities in Halo 2. With Xbox Live and networking capabilities, the Xbox has the best LAN and internet play of any console. But still not better than PC gaming. Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and Unreal Tournament have the covered. However, with Xbox 360, they are revamping, revolutionizing and setting the new standard for console LAN. First of all, it will have WiFi capabilities with the adapter, which is sold separately, but probably worth it. But even so, it will support Ethernet. It comes with Xbox Live Silver.That means if I want to download new levels, message friends, or checkout the Xbox Online Market Place, I can. Without subscribing. If I want to get some online gaming going, they are offering Xbox Live Gold. With the wireless controllers, you get the freedom to move up to 30 feet from the console. In my house, that’s enough for me to run into my brothers room, tell him he is about to die, and then pull the trigger.

    Every Xbox 360 is the same. Same hardware, CPU, Gfx Card, etc. This means games that are targeted to utilize those hardware features to the fullest extent. There are no minimum requirements to create the games, which makes for maximum playability. The 360 will bring to the console world power which it has never seen before- the same power that has been in the PC world for a few years now. Later

  • The HIM Show

    Valo

    After seeing HIM twice before, the first one being amazing, the second one being ok, I can say that this one ranks much closer to the first than the second. First off, both opening bands didn’t suck this time. I don’t know what it is, but HIM seems to have a knack for shitty openers. Finch, who played right before HIM, did kinda suck. They had energy, but the crowd wasn’t really into it. I felt kinda bad for the them, but it’s really not their ‘scene’. Skindred, the first band to play, was pretty good though. They had the energy, knew how to work the crowd, etc. The last HIM show had Arf Der Mur, which consisted of a female singer who was dumb as shit, and the music wasn’t very good either, and Monster Magnet- and the lead singer was a tool. So we are off to a good start. At around 9:30, HIM came on and opened with Wings of a Butterfly. Which was awesome. The show went well- they had a good amount of energy. They didn’t really talk to the crowd much, but didn’t need to. Then there was the encore. They came out, played a couple of songs, the last being Poison Heart, which is an awesome song. But after the song, they transitioned into this kind of instrumental piece where Valo sang and it was so emotional and wonderful- he ended the show but yelling “Please God help me” and bowed and went off the stage while the other members kept playing. One by one they came off the stage, the last one being Gas (the drummer). The lights slowly came on and everyone left, seemingly in awe from what they just saw. That’s how I felt anyway. Later!

  • Links

    So, yeah- there has been a lot I’ve wanted to say- but I really can’t find the time to sit down and write it. I’m banking on the fact that that will change at the end of this week when I go on Thanksgiving Break, which, baring tests or quizzes, I will be extending by 2 class days. But, for now, here are some links for you:


    Busted Tees has a new shirt that I happen to find hilarious. I highly recommend buying it- I know I will!#

    Save Arrested Development!- FOX has a knack for canceling great shows. AD is honestly the funniest show I have ever seen. It won 5 of the 7 Emmies it was nominated for, and FOX wants to oust it. We are hoping that with enough support, we can get them to bring it back, or get some other station to pick it up.#

    I saw Trans Siberian Orchestra last night. Pics on the pics page. Later!

  • Get FireFox


    FireFox is the better browser. It offers a number of features that you don’t get with Internet Explorer, including tabbed browser for a more organized browsing expirience, built-in spyware and ad blocking, etc. But the best part is that you can get extentions and plug-ins galore. Since FireFox is an open source browser, people everywhere are writting things for the browser that they think people would like. My favorite by far is the Ad-Block plug-in, which allows you to block all ads on any page you would like. There is one to integrate your music player (including iTunes) into it, get weather, etc. It’s a great browser that everone should be using. Later!

  • Time

    It seems I am very short of it lately. On top of school and my extracurriculars, I seem to be getting a good number of web design jobs. While the work load isn’t too much to handle [yet], it is taking a good chunk of my time up. I’m also finding it tough trying to keep organized, and remembering what I have to do and when I have to do it. I am meeting my deadlines, given that there are no snags at other ends, but I just feel overwhelmed. With the upcoming time off, hopefully I will be able to alleviate some of this and finally feel like I am on track. Later!

  • Saw II

    See Saw II. You will not be disappointed.

    Hello, Michael. I want to play a game. So far, in what mostly could be called your life, you have made a living watching others. Society would call you an informant. A rat. A snitch. I call you unworthy of the body you possess. Of the life you’ve been given. Now we will see if you are willing to look inward, rather than outward, to give up the one thing you rely on in order to go on living…

  • Hits!

    HITS!

    I don’t normally report on hits and what-not, but tonight I will make an exception. As you can see by the chart, for the month of October, I brought in 728 unique visitors and close to 8000 hits. Now I know that some of this might be spam referrals, but checking out my referral links, it’s a very low number.

    The reason i am reporting these numbers is because these numbers are the best I have ever had- in every category, except hits and pages in May. And I have a feeling spam had a lot to do with that. But, I am very happy with the growth of this blog/website. Thanks to everyone who keeps reading, and feel free to comment! Later

  • The Misfits!

    The Misfits

    The Misfits show was awesome! Well- let me rephrase. When the Misfits played, it was incredible! However, there was 6 hours of opening bands. door opened at 6, the ‘Fits came on a little after 12. When they came on it was crazy though. Great Halloween set, and they opened with Halloween. They played for about hour- songs included Last Caress, Helena (Phil’s favorite song), Teenagers from Mars and American Psycho. Every song was at a really fast tempo. Like songs on speed. They came out for an encore, played Die Die my Darling, Rise Above, and ended on We are 138. It was some High Octane fun, plus, Jerry Only came right off the stage and started signing shit. Great night! Later!

    Get Cuts From the Crypt Greatest Hits 1996-2001 ||| View Flickr Pics