The Office: On it's last leg?

So I just saw an add for this weeks episode of The Office. It's scheduled at a different time, after the Super Bowl, and features special guests and a wild plot. If this is any hint it seems like all the rumors I've been hearing about The Office having "jumped the shark" were true. I hate to imagine it but all shows have to end eventually. I just wish The Office would go out on a high note and not die a slow painful death like so many previous shows have.

Hunter: The Reckoning

Here's a game that is simply a classic in my opinion. There were three made; the original and two more, one for Xbox and one for PlayStation 2. Hunter: the Reckoning Wayward was made for PlaySation 2 and Hunter: the Reckoning Redeemer for Xbox. All three of them were great and worthy of the title of "classic". I've played all of them but if I remember correctly it was Hunter: the Reckoning Wayward that turned me on to the series.


It's not the story or the originality, the latter of which it has none, that make these games great, but the gameplay. Pure co-op bliss. It plays similarly to an old style hack n' slash game but with the addition of guns. It pits you and a friend, or up to 3 friends in Redeemer, against waves of undead. Each character has they're own primary weapons, some kind of gun or guns and a melee weapon. There's nothing like tearing through hordes of undead with a friend or three.


These games are worthy of a sequel and I would love to see a next-gen version come out in the next couple of
years.

All pictures from www.ign.com

Armed and Dangerous

Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Planet Moon Studios

Here is a game I think deserves mentioning. It's over 5 years old now but I think it was very underrated when it came out and has been ever since. Although it seems to have been lost over the years I thought, when it was new, that it had great potential for a sequel or spin off or something. It plays like an ordinary third person shooter, most of the time, but it is also very funny and interesting. HERE is a link to the IGN page that tells all about it. Anyone who has an Xbox or Xbox 360 should pick this one up if the chance ever arises. It's backwards compatible so there shouldn't be any problems for 360 owners, unless you don't have an internet connection. It is definitely if not one of my favorite games, at least one of the most memorable games I have ever played. I highly recommend it.

Picture from www.ign.com

Oh my ___ *insert preferred god, deity, higher power, or object of worship here*!

I just heard on the news that Michael Newdow, the same man who tried to get the word "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance is at it again. He is now trying to have the words "so help me God" removed from the inaugural address. OK... you've made your point. You don't believe in a god and you don't want any reference to God, or god, or gods, or whatever, in anything that represents the whole of the U.S.A. It makes sense, sort of, if you think of it that way. But really, is it necessary? And isn't there anything else more important and worth your time and effort? Of all the problems in the world (even though I don't consider this a problem) this is really what you want to focus on? It seems like it would be beneficial to everyone if we focus on the less controversial, more important problems first before worrying and bickering about lesser issues.

Happy New Year!!!

Yay... a new year. And a promising year for video games. With the recent slew of great games (Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, etc...) I can't wait to see what this next year brings. Unless the economy completely craps the bed, which I'm not ruling out, 2009 should be a glorious year for all gamers.

A word to wise shoppers

Just a couple months back I decided to buy a new Xbox 360 because mine was starting to show symptoms of the dreaded RRoD (Red Rings of Death). I bought a new 60GB Xbox 360 Pro and decided to give my old 20GB version to my nephew. When I gave it to him I told him it had slowed down a bit and was sometimes stalling and the disk drive didn't open properly. He decided to take it and keep it for as long as it would last. Well, it didn't last very long. Just recently he told me it had died. He decided to buy a new system but keep the hard drive, which was working fine. Gamestop sells refurbished Xbox 360 core systems with a wireless controller for $170 so he chose to go there to get it, since they have a good return policy and are usually very friendly and helpful. The refurbished core system costs $170, but if you want a brand new Xbox 360 Arcade, which comes with 5 Xbox live arcade games, a free game, a 256MB memory card, and a wireless controller, you need only cough up an extra $30 for a total of $200. It is ridiculous to buy a used system when you can buy a brand new one for just $30 more, and even more so when it includes extra games and accessories. Even if you are buying an Xbox 360 for the first time it is smart to buy the Arcade version. You can buy used 20GB hard drive for $60 at gamestop and that's plenty for the average gamer. There is no reason to buy the refurbished Xbox 360. Chances are, if you can afford $170 you can afford $200. Don't be stupid! Research a product before you buy it.

PS: They have a deal I saw on Xbox.com for anyone who has an arcade console. If you give them the serial number from your Xbox 360 you can get a 20GB hard drive and 3 months of Gold Membership to Xbox Live for $30. That is one of the better deals I have seen in a while.

Lord of the Rings: Conquest

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Pandemic Studios

Release Date: January 13, 2009

Any fan of Star Wars: Battlefront and Lord of the Rings should be excited about this one. It seems like it should be called Lord of the Rings: Battlefront. Instead of going out as a Stormtrooper equipped with a blaster rifle you'll be an Orc equipped with a huge sword or a bow. From what I have heard it plays similarly to Battlefront as well. There are different missions and in each mission there are four different characters to choose from: A warrior, an archer, a scout, and a mage. If LotR: Conquest is anywhere near good as the Battlefront games then it should be a definite must buy for any fan of the Battlefront series..

All pictures from http://www.ign.com/

The Elder Scrolls V

OK, so now that Bethesda Softworks is done with Fallout 3 I can't help but wonder if they have already started on the next Elder Scrolls game. I'm sure they have. I did here some rumours that they might abandon the series but I doubt that after how well Oblivion sold. Actually I have heard rumours that they are and that they may not do it, so I'm going to wait until it is officially announced before I believe anything. So I suppose the fact that most people liked Oblivion was a good and a bad thing, for me at least. The good thing is because of its success there will most likely be a fifth installment. The bad thing is that they might take some of the stuff i don't like from Oblivion and carry it over to the next game. One good thing is that Bethesda always makes their games from the ground up. The don't use anything from other games, except ideas of course. They take the ideas and build a completely new and unique game, which I give them a lot of credit for. Most video game companies settle for the quick, cheap, one year later sequel. Let's see... Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty, to name a few. All these series have installments that just feel like an update rather than a whole new game.

Well, back to my point. I always seem to get sidetracked on something. I just hope Bethesda builds more off of Fallout 3's success, minus the gore and dismemberment of course, rather than Oblivion's. Yeah, I would love to be able to chop peoples arms off with an ebony longsword but I think The Elder Scrolls series is meant for a younger audience. And by younger I mean like 13 and up or so. One thing I would like to see is more of a destructible environment. Like being able to destroy houses and trees and stuff. And I would love to be able to shoot a bolt of lightening at someone and see them burst into flames. Also, the cut-and-paste dungeon structure has to go. I want to be able to go into a dungeon and know I have not been there before.

Oh yeah, on the subject of Oblivion, I hold to the fact that I was the first person to discover the "Secret Door" inside of the Temple of the One in Imperial City. I got bored and started to wonder what would happen if I jumped outside of the town walls. Well all there was was a weird, barren landscape that was all glitchy and strange. For those who don't know, you're not actually supposed to jump outside the town walls. You're supposed to leave by the gate. Well my roof hopping led me to Imperial City and eventually I tried to get to the top of the temple. I just fell through and there was a door there that brought me to the final stage of the last mission of the main quest. I didn't hear anything about it online for a couple more weeks. I also got to the top of the big tower thingy, which I can't remember the name of, using the paint brush trick. (The paint brush trick is a glitch that caused all the paint brushed in the game to float in the air when dropped, so you could build a kind of "staircase" with them). It took me about two hours. I even have a saved game of it. I'll try to get a picture of it and post it.

Miracle hair restoration treatments

Has anyone else noticed these hair restoration treatments advertised on TV? I mean the one's that not only restore hair but make you taller, skinnier, well-built, and also somehow give you a permanent tan. It doesn't stop there though, you also have an increases sex drive and become instantly irresistible to the opposite sex. They usually come with a complimentary ski-mobile too. It almost makes me wish I was balding.

Star Wars: Episode 3 Parody

Anyone who did not like episodes 1-3 of Star Wars has to watch this. Actually, anyone should at least be mildly amused by it, it's hilarious. Just type "Star Wars episode 3 parody" into the YouTube search bar and click on the first video that comes up.