Monday, November 27, 2006

The Xbox 360's Top 7

So the next-gen is now and all of the 3 competing consoles have been released. If you choose to get a 360, these are some games you should really consider getting.

1.) Gears of War: As everyone knows, this is currently the most popular and most talked about 360 games to date, and for good reason. Gears of War portrays better graphics than any console game ever released, and not to mention phenomenal online play with 10 great maps. Gears of War is one of the top 360 games for sure. [47] Score: 5/5

2.) Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6: Vegas: Tom Clancy Rainbow 6 (TCR6) games haven't really been good until now. TCR6:Vegas is one amazing game that puts you as a soldier to command your team or work with other in co-op or online to blow terrorists brains out in multiplayer. The amazingly fun thing to do is customize your character and even put your own face on there with the XBox Live Vision Camera. ( Sweet! ) [47] Score: 4.75/5

3.) Call of Duty 3: It's CoD 2 + much more. CoD 3 includes new game modes, improved graphics, vehicles, stats, and more of the single player every one loved from CoD 2. If you are thinking about getting CoD 2, you should most definitely get CoD 3. [47] Score: 4.5/5

4.) Call of Duty 2: Although a launch title for the 360, many people still play this game online. CoD 2 features stellar single player with fantastic action and great graphics. The huge flaw with this game though? Only 4-on-4 online, and majority of the players don't speak English for some reason. O_O [47] Score: 4.5/5

5.) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter: GRAW for the other consoles that aren't next gen got terrible reviews, while GRAW360 got rave reviews. GRAW shows the 360s power while giving you fantastic online play and good single player. This game is unbelievable. [47] Score: 4.5/5

6.) Uno: Yes, although it is only an Xbox Live Arcade game, it is freakishly addicting and it is extremely cheap. Uno will run you ( I believe ) 800 MSP. It is well worth it; this game is what it says: "Easy to pick up, Impossible to put down". [47] Score: 4.5/5

7.) Saint's Row: Ah, everyone knows this GTA "Rip-off". Even being what people call a rip-off, Saint's Row features excellent gameplay similar to GTA with more customizability, improved graphics, and sweet online play. Any GTA fan will dig. [47] Score: 4.5/5

There you have it - the best 360 games currently available. Disagree? Go to hell.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Hardware Review ( Aiptek MPVR Digital Camcorder )

My cousin bought this camcorder during the Thanksgiving sale at Target and I must say that this camcorder is not worth shit. He paid $99 dollars for this thing, and it isn't worth a dime of it. Let me just get started here. The camera, itself, looks pretty nice. Small in design, silver, and very classy. But looks, as people say, don't matter. He popped in his SD card ( needed to save video, music, photos, etc. ) and battery then he turned it on. The screen on this is about 1.5 inches or so, with decent colors. He finally hit record and taped a bit of us talking, turned off record, and went to playback. We watched the video and I must say it was god awful in almost every way. The picture was grainy, the talking was off the the lip movement, the video was choppy, it looks just terrible. Granted it was in low lighting, but this is unacceptable even for $99. I guess when something is this cheap, it's way too good to be true. Save your money up for a better known brand, or just a get to know what you're buying before you buy it. Stay away from this camcorder at all costs... it is just that bad.

Not Recommended.

1/5

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 2 )

The end of Season 1 left a huge cliff-hanger to start off Season 2, and I mean HUGE. Anyways, this is my review for one of my favorite shows, Friends.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

[*]The One With Ross's New Girlfriend: 4.5/5 Rachel meets Ross at the airport to announce her love for him, but to her surprise he has a girlfriend; Monica gets a bad haircut from Phoebe; Chandler has a "close call" at the tailor's.

[*]The One With The Breast Milk: 4.5/5 Carol breast feeds in front of everybody, which makes the guys uncomfortable; Monica goes shopping with Julie without Rachel knowing; Joey has some trouble with a cologne cowboy.

The One Where Heckles Dies: 4/5 Mr. Heckles ( the guy in the apartment below Monica's ) dies and leaves everything to Monica and Rachel. Chandler discovers him and Heckles weren't much different.

The One With Phoebe's Husband: 4/5 Phoebe reveals she's married to a gay man; Chandler has three nipples; Joey shows the gang his porn film.

[*]The One With Five Steaks And An Egg Plant: 4.5/5 Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe let Ross, Rachel, and Chandler know they are dissapointed in how they overlook the fact they have more money than them and yet they still go to expensive restaurants; Chandler pretends to be "Bob".

The One With The Baby On The Bus: 4/5 Chandler and Joey leave Ben on a city bus; a new singer takes over from Phoebe at Central Perk.

[*]The One Where Ross Finds Out: 5/5 Monica becomes Chandlers personal trainer; Ross finds out Rachel's feelings for him.

[*]The One With The List: 4.5/5 Monica makes recipes with a chocolate substitute; Ross makes a list of pro's and con's for Julie and Rachel.

The One With Phoebe's Dad: 3.5/5 Phoebe finds out the truth about her dad and Chandler and Joey go with her to his house; Monica and Rachel make cookies instead of giving tips.

The One With Russ: 4/5 Rachel goes out with a guy strikingly similar to Ross; Monica gets Fun Bobby to stop drinking.

The One With The Lesbian Wedding: 3.5/5 Rachel's mom gives her some shocking news; Phoebe has a patient die during a massage.

[*]The One After The Super Bowl (Pt. 1): 5/5 Ross goes to San Diego Zoo to see what has happened to Marcel ( Featuring Dan Caselenetta ); Joey dates a stalker who believes he's Dr. Drake; Phoebe sings songs for kids at a local library.

[*]The One After The Super Bowl (Pt. 2): 4.5/5 Rachel and Monica try to get attention from Jean Claude Van-Damme; Chandler meets an old classmate that pulls a prank.

[*]The One With The Prom Video: 5/5 Joey buys Chandler jewelry; Rachel watches her and Monica's video of them going to prom; Monica borrows money.

[*]The One Where Rachel And Ross Do It: 5/5 Joey gets new furniture; Rachel and Ross do it.

The One Where Joey Moves Out: 4/5 Joey moves to a different apartment; Rachel gets a tattoo; Monica tells her parents about her new boyfriend.

The One Where Eddy Moves In: 3.5/5 Chandler lets Eddy move into his apartment; Phoebe makes a "Smelly Cat" video.

[*]The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies: 5/5 Rachel and Monica fight over a condom; Joey criticizes the Days of our Lives writing staff, having him killed off in the show.

[*]The One Where Eddy Won't Go: 4.5/5 Chandler tries to get Eddy out of his apartment several times; The girls read a new book; Joey moves back in with Chandler.

The One Where Old Yeller Dies: 4/5 Phoebe watches sad movies; Chandler and Joey become friends with Richard; Ross watches Ben for a weekend.

The One With The Bullies: 4/5 Two guys bully Chandler and Joey at Central Perk; Monica gets into the stock market; Phoebe finds out about her half-brother.

[*]The One With The Two Parties: 5/5 Rachel has two birthday parties; one in Chandler's apartment and one in Monica's to keep her parents from seeing eachother.

The One With The Chicken Pox: 4/5 Joey gets a job at Chandler's workplace; Phoebe and a Navy man meet eachother and get chicken pox.

The One With Barry And Mindy's Wedding: 4/5 Barry and Mindy marry eachother and humiliate Rachel; Chandler meets a girl online; Joey has to kiss a man in a play.

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Friends: Season 2 is a strange season. It starts off slow and has quite a few bad episodes, but near the end of the seasons great episodes popped out left and right. Friends: Season 2 is well worth purchasing. Not just to re-live the Season 1 cliffhanger, but to watch some of the great episodes that it contains. Rachel and Ross hook-up, Phoebe "meets her dad", Ross gets to meet Marcel again, and so on. Definitely one worth buying.

4.5/5

Game Review ( Call of Duty 3 - 360 )

As you all know, Call of Duty 2 was a launch title for the 360 and this is the sequal to that game. This is my review.

Graphics: 4.5/5 The graphics in CoD 3 are quite good, but they are really not much better than CoD 2 in my opinion. CoD 3 has some sharper and more detailed enviroments, but the character models look very, very similar, and the graphics haven't changed. Either way, CoD 2 looked great, and CoD 3 does in fact, look better.

Sound: 5/5 The CoD franchise has always had excellent sound and this game is no different. Although most of the guns sound much different, they still sound good. The voice-overs are also well done, and everything about the game "soundamentally" is fantastic.

Control: 4.5/5 If you played CoD 2 for the 360, you will easily jump in and be able to play this game. It controls just the same, and there are no problems.

Fun: 4.5/5 CoD 3 is definitely one of the best games available for the 360 right now. This game features amazing online play that consists of 12-on-12 games with more game modes, larger and in some cases better maps, different guns, stat tracking, and a huge addition, vehicles. CoD 2 had decent online, but that 4-on-4 small map gameplay is over now. This is the new and much more improved Call of Duty and this one will be played by for many months.

4.5/5

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Game Review ( Gears of War - 360 )

Gears of War has been highly anticipated since the Xbox 360 was launched. At first I had no real interest in this game, but I rented it to try it out.

Graphics: 5/5 Gears of War has an unprecedented amount of detail. It is easily the best looking console game ever, and the game looks unbelievable even on a standard TV. The enviroments look awesome, the character models are great, and the gore is pretty rad. The body parts that roll around ( including the brain ) is sweet.

Sound: 4/5 The voice overs are pretty good, but nothing special. The real good sound comes from when you use a chainsaw to finish a guy off. From the chainsaw ripping into his body to the poor guys screams when he is getting mutilated. The guns sound good, too. The Locusts actually do sound pretty creepy.

Control: 4/5 The creators made it very easy to manuever in Gears of War. For the most part, it plays like any other shooter on the Xbox 360, but you can simply take cover and move positions just by pressing A. There are some control problems, though, because when you are doing this, there are times where your guy won't go the way you wanted him too. Also, when you are in sprint mode, you may occasionally get stuck on something you didn't want to and you will get pelted with bullets. Either way, this game controls well.

Fun: 5/5 Gears of War is just hands down the best game on the 360, and one of the best ( if not the best ) 3rd person shooters of all time. Gears of War has its problems, and there are things that could have been added, ( Capture the Flag, more maps as there are under ten online ) but you can expect maps to show up in the Xbox Live Market Place. Also, this is easily the best Xbox Live game to date; featuring a ranked mode and unranked "player match" to just play for kicks, and there are great in-depth stats to show you how you've progressed. If there is one game you want to get for your 360, make sure you make it Gears of War for this holiday.

5/5

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 1 )

Here's my first season review of Friends.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

[*]The Pilot: 4.5/5 Ross tries to get over the fact his wife left him; We meet the characters; Monica lets Rachel stay in her apartment.

The One With The Sonogram at the End: 4/5 Ross finds out his wife turned into a lesbian; Ross and Monica's parents come over for dinner.

[*]The One With The Thumb: 5/5 Phoebe gets large sums of money she didn't earn; Chandler begins to smoke again; Monica worries no one will like her date.

[*]The One With George Stephanopoulos: 5/5 The girls spy on a neigbour while the guys go to a Ranger's game.

The One With The East German Laundry Detergent: 4/5 Joey and Monica have a double date; Rachel learns how to do laundry; Chandler breaks up with Janice.

The One With The Butt: 4/5 Joey plays Al Pacino's butt in a movie; Chandler finds out his girlfriend has another boyfriend and is married.

[*]The One With The Blackout: 4.5/5 Chandler is stuck in a bank with a model; Rachel meets Paolo after finding his cat; all during a blackout.

The One Where Nana Dies Twice: 4/5 Chandler finds out a lot of people thought he was gay; Monica and Ross' grandma dies.

The One Where Underdog Gets Away: 4/5 Monica cooks Thanksgiving dinner; People thing Joey has VD.

The One With The Monkey: 4/5 Ross gets a monkey; Phoebe beings dating David.

[*]The One With Mrs. Bing: 4.5/5 Rachel attempts to write a romance novel; Chandler's mom kisses Ross; Phoebe and Monica fight over a man in a coma.

The One With The Dozen Lasagnas: 4/5 Chandler and Joey get a new table; Monica gets rid of 12 lasagnas; Rachel finds something out about Paolo.

[*]The One With The Boobies: 4.5/5 Chandler sees Rachel's boobs; Joey finds out his dad has a second life; Phoebe dates with a critical guy.

The One With The Candy Hearts: 4/5 Chandler breaks up with Janice again; the girls have a "cleansing" ritual for Valentine's day.

The One With The Stoned Guy: 4/5 Joey teaches Ross how to talk dirty; Monica tries to impress an employer.

The One With Two Parts: 4/5 Ross goes out with Phoebe's twin sister Ursula; Ross starts to freak out at becoming a father; Rachel hurts her ankle and has Monica use her insurance; Marcel chokes on a scrabble tile.

[*]The One With All The Poker: 5/5 The girls learn to play poker; Ross acts like a tough guy but lets Rachel win.

The One Where The Monkey Gets Away: 4/5 Marcel gets away while Rachel baby sits him at Monica's apartment.

The One With The Evil Orthodontist: 4/5 Mindy and Rachel realize that Barry has feelings for the two of them.

The One With The Fake Monica: 4/5 Monica gets her credit card stolen and becomes friends with the person who stole it.

[*]The One With The Ick-Factor: 4.5/5 Monica dates who seems to be a 17-year old senior in High School; Chandler learns his co-workers hate him.

[*]The One With The Birth: 4.5/5 Carl has a baby boy; While stuck in a closet, Phoebe, Susan, and Ross come up with the name Ben for Ross' son; Joey helps a mom getting through a birth.

[*]The One Where Rachel Finds Out: 5/5 Chandler accidently tells Ross' feelings towards Rachel to Rachel while Ross is in China; Joey joins a fertility study; Ross comes back from China with a new girlfriend.

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I just started watching the show Friends and I must say it is definitely one of the best sitcoms of all time. The constant jokes, the memorable characters, and the great episodes in just this season alone were all a sign of great things to come in future seasons of Friends. Whenever you have the chance, you should really think about picking this season up.

4.5/5

Monday, November 13, 2006

Game Review ( Tony Hawk's Project 8 - 360 )

In Tony Hawk's Project 8 it is up to you to go from nothing to something and into Tony Hawk's "Project 8". You do a variety of goals in career mode to get your rank up from getting your dad's balls, to knocking down bowling pins.

Graphics: 4.5/5 The graphics are really good. The character models look really nice too in the cut scenes. They look pretty realistic. The only problem with the graphics is the framerate issue, which comes in and out at times.

Sound: 4.5/5 The voice overs are done very well, and so are the enviromental sounds. The soundtrack to me isn't good, though, in that it doesn't feature many good songs.

Control: 4/5 A little different to me on te 360. The new Nail the Trick feature is really cool, but it takes a bit of time to master.

Fun: 4/5 Project 8 is a really fun game. The level design is pretty bad though - it doesn't really have many places where you can combo on a rail around a huge area like past games, but it does alright. The Nail the Trick feature is also a really cool addition where you can create tricks by using the analog sticks. One major drawback in this game though is the huge lack of customizability. I don't know what happened, but you can hardely customize your skater at all. One final thing to say about this game is that it is repetetive. SO MANY of the goals in this game involve doing the same thing. Very tedious and it gets very old very, very quickly. Either way, this is one of the best Tony Hawk games to come out in awhile, and you should really pick it up.

4/5

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Game Review ( Guitar Hero II - PS2 )

Guitar Hero II was finally released on November 7th, and I couldn't play it enough. Guitar Hero II has several Pro's and a few Con's.

PROs - Much better multiplayer, real good song track, easier hammer-ons and pull-offs, ability to practice any song, overall much more fun.

CONs - Not a "real" multiplayer career mode, could be more songs, a bit harder this time around.

Graphics: 4/5 The graphics are certainly not the games high point. The graphics are cartoonish but they look great and fit well with the style of the game. The graphics aren't great, but they work fine enough. You aren't even paying attention to the graphics; you're just jamming. You wouldn't know the difference if there was actually a band on a stage playing or richard simmons exercising.

Sound: 5/5 The sound is amazing. Almost every song sounds spot on with the real thing, but there are a few exceptions. Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" doesn't sound much like Cobain, and "Sweet Child 'O Mine" doesn't quite have Axel's voice; either way, it's close enough, and it sounds great overall.

Control: 5/5 Everyone knows the control in this game. You pick from easy, medium, hard, or expert depending on how good you are, and then you're off. You look like a loser playing Guitar Hero, but it feels like you're playing a real guitar ( in a way ).

Fun: 5/5 This is a better game than the first in that it has improved graphics, more characters, more songs ( some people think it has better songs ), much better multiplayer, and it has useful practice mode. If you are a fan of Guitar Hero I, it goes without my review that you need to buy Guitar Hero II. It's Guitar Hero I and much more.

5/5