Game Review ( SpongeBob UnderPants - 360 Arcade )

Graphics: 4.5/5 One of the best looking XBLA games to date. It looks like the Spongebob games on the PS2; maybe a bit blander. Runs smooth most of the time, but the occasional hiccup can be frustrating and screw you over.

Sound: 3/5 At first it wasn't bad, but the characters constantly repeat themselves. The three levels all do have good background music, though. It sounds like the Mermain Man and Barnacle Boy theme for the Krusty Krab levels for instance.

Control: 3/5 Frustrating as all hell. Several times when I'd go to jump, I'd body slam. The hitting system seems broken, as I get what appears to be a direct hit on a jellyfish, and I randomly miss.

Fun: 3.75/5 Well, is it worth it? Probably not. For a huge Spongebob fan, or a little kid, this game would be great. For $10 you're getting a game you can actually "beat" in a day. However, if you want the achievements, you have to play three levels. Six times or more. To get all the achievements. Is it really worth it? SpongeBob UnderPants is a pretty decent game, a big surprise, but not really worth the 800 MSP.

3.75/5

Game Review ( Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 360 )

Graphics: 5/5 One of the best looking games, ever. The framerate is unbelievable - there is no lag at all during single player. It's amazing that the game can look so good and run so smoothly. The only flaw is that the game lies. It runs at 600p. Still, looks fantastic.

Sound: 5/5 Call of Duty always sounds great, and this is the best one yet. The voiceover work is phenomenal like usual, as well as the explosions and guns. Music to my ears.

Control: 5/5 Controls like all the other CoD's on the 360. Works very well. Nothing to dislike here.

Fun: 5/5 This game absolutely deserves perfect 5's. The single player alone is almost worth the $60, even if you do beat it in one day. It has to be my favorite single player experience with a game ever. Online play is obviously the best part. The maps are all great, many being from the single player, you can have perks, rank up to get more guns and the like, and do challenges to get extra experience points to up your rank. Call of Duty 4 is definitely the game of the year - no question.

5/5

Game Review ( Bomberman - iPod Video )

Along with Phase, I downloaded Bomberman - mainly because the calculator version was getting a bit dated - and because the Xbox 360 version lacked the single player that Bomberman for the iPod has.

Graphics: 3.75/5 Very simple, but almost kind of ugly. It looks like a super nintendo game, and just doesn't look good. Still, it's a million times better looking and beyond the calculator version.

Sound: 3/5 This is why it's for the iPod. The Bomberman theme repeats and repeats as you play, and the bombs sound terrible when they explode.

Control: 3/5 If you played Pacman on the iPod, you'll be immedietely uncomfortable with this game. Instead of making hard clicks to move, you gently tap on the click wheel to do so. Because of this, believe me, you'll be dying and misplacing bombs several times.

Fun: 4/5 Regardless of the bad graphics and terrible sound and control, Bomberman for the iPod is still fun. It has single player on a few different stages, all of which look drastically different. The two minigames are also pretty fun, which include bowling and a bomb jumping game. Worth the $5 for a Bomberman fan.

3.75/5

Pros: Bomberman on the iPod! Mini games.
Cons: Bad graphics, sound, and controls. Lacking multiplayer.

Game Review ( Phase - iPod Video )

Coming straight from Harmonix is Phase, a new music game for the iPod. I saw this available on iTunes and immedietely charged my Mom's credit card. ( Sorry, it was worth it. ) In Phase, you can select any song you want, and how many ever you want, and put them into the game. Phase automatically makes a note track for you, and it is suprisingly accurate - there are even different difficulty levels. ( You can unlock more by playing Marathons, which are much like Set Lists in Rock Band. ) Phase looks simple, but it really isn't. You use the rewind, select, and forward buttons on the iPod to hit notes, and slide your thumb over the click wheel during certain sections to get extra points, essentially it's Phase's version of Star Power. My review.

Graphics: 4/5 Keeping it very simple, but very unique. Phase has 6 different "Journeys" (A.K.A. Venues) that you can play in. The notes and background objects come at you as if you're walking or driving into them - it's pretty cool. The only real problem I have is that there are a few times where the game will lag a bit and it will cause you to miss a note.

Sound: 5/5 How can it not be 5/5? It's your music. Also, there are a few Harmonix tracks in the game, which came to a pleasant surprise to me. Among the bands are Bang Camaro and Freezepop, with a few other bands, making for a total of 7 seven songs, most of which are fun to play.

Control: 4.5/5 The slide sections are sometimes hard to hit becuase the clickwheel might not recognize your thumb, but other than that, the controls are all fine and good.

Fun: 4.75/5 For $5, you're getting what is the best iPod game currently available. You can select any song in the world, put it on this game, and have a note track made for it. Most of the time, you are hitting notes on beat with the song, with the occasional random note thrown in there. You also play sections of different instrument in each song. Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Trumpet, whatever, you'll likely play each instrument in the song. There are even high score boards for each song, and marathon you play. Phase should definitely be downloaded by any fan of games from the music genre.

4.75/5

Pros: Play any song on your iPod. Cool "Journey"s. Addicting as hell.
Cons: Carpal Tunnel, anyone? Occasional lag. Obviously, no multiplayer, but still depressing.

Hardware Review ( Dynex 32'' 720p LCD HDTV )

I got this TV as an early Christmas present and it is one HELL of a TV. After using a tube TV to play my 360 on, I finally got this TV and I can now take full advantage of the 360's graphics. Everything about this TV is really spectacular. It has plenty of HD and other plug-ins in the back for a DVD player, CD player, 360, Wii, PS3, or anything else. The best thing about this TV has got to be the price. For about $550, you get a fantastic TV. The picture is disappointing on non-HD channels, but whether you're playing a 360 or PS3, the graphics will look absolutely amazing. I've read a lot of reviews criticizing the TV's sound - what? The sound is fine, it's just that it doesn't have a really LOUD max volume. My only real problem with it so far is that I have a dead pixel on it, but it's on the side of the screen, and is completely unnoticable unless you're TRYING to look for it.

Picture: 4.5/5 [Non HD channels actually look worse than on a Tube sometimes, but videogames look phenomenal.
Sound: 4.5/5 [Nothing wrong with it, although it is weak.]
Value: 5/5

4.75/5

UPDATE 11/26/11: I've noticed quite a few people have been searching the net for a review of this TV - so I've decided to update since this one is way outdated. Basically, I believe this TV is now about $300 at Best Buy now. The model is a bit newer, but it's all the same junk inside. I should note that a few months ago I noticed a bit of a shadow/screen-burn in the middle of my screen. Luckily, I got the warranty, so I recommend you do. Besides that, this TV is just about perfect. It doesn't look super fancy, but the screen looks just as good as the popular brand names out there.

Game Review ( Burnout Paradise DEMO - 360 )

Graphics: 4.5/5 The graphics look fantastic on Burnout Paradise with a rare occurance of a framerate drop - even online. While the game could probably look better, the fact that it runs as smooth as it does, there are few load times, and that the crashes are so detailed, it really doesn't matter. Burnout Paradise looks really impressive on the 360.

Sound: 5/5 Burnout has always been one of the best sounding games of its genre. The car's engines fire up like jets, the full-game will surely have a great soundtrack, and the crashes sound amazing.

Control: 4.25/5 There's not one thing with the controls, but Burnout has controlled the same for quite some time - it needs some zing. Controls fine and everything, but it's just almost too simple.

Fun: 4.25/5 The demo features very little. You can drive around Paradise City with no time limit ( Or so it seemed ) and you can play online. The modes are very restricted, only having you compete with three other people or friends, but it's pretty fun. Anyways - the full version of Paradise should be much more appealing when it's released early in January of next year. Speed demons should be quick to picking this one up, as I'm sure it won't disappoint.

4.5/5

Game Review ( Heroic Map Pack - 360 )

These "new" Halo 3 maps were just released today, and just for the hell of it, I decided to get them. (I say "new" because they were scrapped from the original game.)

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Foundry: 3.75/5 The worst map of the bunch and one of the worst in the game. Sure, it'd be fun for Forge users, but the default map is just lame. All it is is a warehouse full of boxes. You will find yourself getting shot in the back like crazy, and there are grenades flying everywhere. There's nowhere to go on this map. It's just deathmatch no matter what mode it is on Foundry.

Rat's Nest: 4.25/5 Sharing the name of the unpopular map from SOCOM 1 and 2, Rat's Nest is much like the campaign mode's Crow's Nest. Rat's nest is good for Capture the Flag, especially, and only decent for deathmatch games. Rat's Nest is a pretty big map. The outer edge of the map is all a track that you can use to transport around on vehicles. This is probably the most interesting part of the map. Especially when both teams have the flag and bump into eachother. It makes for an epic battle.

Standoff: 5/5 Standoff is easily the best new map, and probably the best map in Halo 3. Standoff is apparently a mix of Blood Gulch and Valhalla. To me, it has the landscape of Valhalla, and a bit of a High Ground look. Standoff is great on any mode, but it's absolutely perfect for Capture the Flag. Everything's great about this map.

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Halo 3's Heroic Map Pack should probably only be bought by the more hardcore Halo 3 players. For ten dollars, you're getting two pretty average maps, and one fantastic one that's basically a mix of two maps you already have. Still, I think most people that have Halo 3 will buy these maps just for extra variety.

4.25/5

DVD Review ( Full House: Season 4 )

-Reviews coming soon.-

Tigers '08 Batting Order

1.) Curtis Granderson - OF
2.) Placido Polanco - 2B
3.) Magglio Ordonez - OF
4.) Miguel Cabrera - OF
5.) Gary Sheffield - DH
6.) Carlos Guillen - 1B
7.) Ivan Rodriguez - C
8.) Edgar Renteria - SS
9.) Brandon Inge - 3B

I think the Tigers will keep Inge. I think they should. Pretty bad offensive player, but good defensive player, and the last player remaining of the 2003 Detroit Tigers. The Tigers will likely leave Cabrera in left field where he played quite a bit in Florida.

Cabrera, Willis, added to Tiger's line-up.

This is amazing news for Tiger's fans. The Detroit Tigers have gotten Miguel Cabrera (3B) and Dontrelle Willis (SP) for Mike Rabelo (C), Andrew Miller (SP), and (OF) Cameron Maybin. ( As well as other prospects. ) I have a lot of feelings about this trade. First, I'm not sure it was the best move getting rid of Miller - he was supposed to be a BIG deal I thought? Cameron Maybin is supposed to be a big deal too - at least the Tiger's kept Timo Perez. Dontrelle Willis is a good pitcher, but his '07 season wasn't good at all. He had an ERA over 5.00. Then again, he's changing leagues now. This makes me wonder - what's going to happen to Brandon Inge now? Will be be backup? Will he be traded for a player or cash? The Tigers are just having a fantastic off-season. It looks like they'll be the team to beat this year in the AL, or at least the AL Central. This baseball season can not come soon enough.

This is what the line-up should look like as of now.
1B: Carlos Guillen [Back-Up: Likely Gary Sheffield]
2B: Placido Polanco [Back-Up: I'd sure like to know - no Infante!]
SS: Edgar Renteria [Back-Up: Ramon Santiago]
3B: Miguel Cabrera [Back-Up: If he doesn't leave, Brandon Inge]
OF: Marcus Thames [Back-Up: Maybin is gone, as is Monroe, probably Perez or Jones]
OF: Curtis Granderson [Back-Up: Likely the new Jacque Jones]
OF: Magglio Ordonez [Back-Up: Likey Raburn]
DH: Gary Sheffield [Back-Up: Mags on semi offdays]
SP: Justin Verlander
SP: Jeremy Bonderman
SP: Kenny Rogers
SP: Dontrolle Willis
SP: Nate Robertson

The bullpen needs a little work, but the Tigers will be unbelievable this year - if their bullpen stays together, and they don't get injured.

Go Tigers!

Game Review ( Rock Band - 360 )

Finally! I've been waiting for this game ever since it was announced - Rock Band was just released yesterday and it was well worth the wait. This will be a lengthy review so. Don't kill yourself. Yet.

What is Rock Band? In case you've been living under a rock, or... in a coma for the past year, in Rock Band you can play guitar, drums, bass, or take the mike in your own virtual band with friends over your house or across the country - you can also play solo.

Graphics: 4.75/5 Extremely underrated graphics. At first glance, Rock Band seems to just be an average looking 360 game, but after you play awhile, you will discover a lot of things. The audience looks very good, the movements your bandmates do look fantastic, and the venues and colors and just everything going on at once looks great. It's like a music video. There is only one real flaw, and that's that the background seems to always lag. I'm not sure if it's actually lagging at all, or I'm just having seizures from the flashing lights, but it is kind of weird looking.

Sound: 5/5 Although there are some "meh" tracks, you have to think about the other instruments. While some songs may be terrible on drums for instance, but is a lot of fun on guitar. The littlest thing is probably what makes the sound get a 5/5. The fact that the fans sing along when you're playing really well is just really cool and adds to the experience. While Rock Band may not have the best soundtrack out of all of Harmonix's games when playing solo, when you're playing with a group of friends this is byfar the best.

Control: 5/5 It's kind of confusing to rate a game like this's controls. You can't really rate the control of the mike. You sing... it's based on how accurate you are. But as for the drums and guitar, that's a lot different. The guitar basically controls the same ( See review of the Stratocaster below ) it's just that the note window ( the time you can hit the notes ) is reduced. While Harmonix says it's harder to hit notes in this game than in Guitar Hero II, I'm not too sure. It seems about the same. The drums on the other hand are fantastic. ( See review of the drums below ) Any difficulty you play on, it feels like you're playing drums.

Fun: 4.75/5 Rock Band is just about near perfect. You can play career on guitar, vocals, or drums. ( Sorry bass players. ) While those three things are a lot of fun, after you play them, replay value is a concern. Sure, there is a total of ( I believe ) 60 songs, but some of them you just won't want to play unless you're with (a) friend(s). Beating all the careers will take you either a long time, or only a few days, depending on how often you play. Rock Band is essentially endless if you think about it. There's a TON of character customization to say the least, and there is downloadable content, which is supposed to be released every week. Multiplayer with friends ( Ahem. Band World Tour. ) is fun, but there is just one terribly annoying thing about it, and that is the fact that you will find yourself playing the same songs several times over, as it takes what seems like forever to actually play some new songs. When you first start off it's really not that bad, but after you do play, say, "In Bloom" 5 times in an hour, it does get rather annoying. I think Harmonix actually did this on purpose so that people would immedietely buy downloadable content, to be honest with you. Overall, it's hard to give Rock Band a 5/5 rating. It's basically 3 games in one - Drum Hero, Guitar Hero, and Karaoke Revolution. But like I said, the songs will likely get old fast, and unless you buy downloadable content, you may be getting a little bored of this game. Is it worth the $170? It's hard to say. If you have a lot of parties, definitely, if you tend to play alone, maybe not, unless you really want to play the drums. ( Which I already stated are addicting. )

4.75/5

Stratocaster: 4/5 It's about time. All I read up about this guitar is that it was pretty much mediocre. It's not MEDIOCRE, but it isn't fantastic. There are a lot of things that make this different than the Guitar Hero II or even the Guitar Hero III controller. Out of the three, the Stratocaster easily looks the most realistic. It has a longer neck, a gloss finish ( Basically the same as the Les Paul GHIII controller. ) and a "wooden" neck. Instead of having 5 buttons on the fretboard, there are 10. Five in the normal spots on top of the neck, and an additional 5 and the base, which are there for solos, apparently. While it's a really neat idea, you likely won't ever use the new fret buttons unless you're going for the "end bonus" on a song. About the frets, they look much different than past controllers. While others have the frets sticking out of the neck, the ones on the Stratocaster are in the neck to make it more "realistic", says Harmonix. While it does look cool, it feels weird, and it's hard to jump back and forth with chords and the like, and even do some solos, because you can't feel the button you're on. That reminds me - the first, third, and fifth buttons all have dots on them that you can faintly see and feel while playing. There really is no need for them, as you can barely feel them, but they're there, so get used to it. The Stratocaster has a whammy bar, of course, but this time around it's a bit longer. The most useless thing about this guitar is the effects switch. With it, you can change the sound of notes in-game - or can you? While I can change the sound... the sound doesn't change, making the effects switch completely useless, and aggrivating. I found myself hitting it with my pinky several times while playing. This brings me to the final part of the Strat review - the strum bar. The worst thing about the guitar. It makes it feel broken. Instead of being a triangle shape like on the GHII and GHIII controllers, this one is concave, with a little lip at the top. It felt weird at first, and still feels weird now. My fingers constantly slip off of this thing, and the fact that the strumbar doesn't click when you strum, is aggrivating, probably only because I was used to it with past controllers - new comers may not have a problem with it. And FINALLY, the guitar bundled with the game is wired. Okay! So that's it for the review of the guitar..

Drums: 5/5 An obvious 5/5. The drums have 4 different "drums" to hit, and there is a foot pedal to make them feel more like real drums. The drums look kind of cheap, but don't at all. The drums are easy to assemble, too. While there are said to be problems with the kick pedal breaking, I've yet to experience any problems with it, besides the fact that it's extremely sensitive. The only thing I'm not sure of about these drums is how durable they are. Sure they can take a beating now, but how about a year from now?

Microphone: 5/5 It has to be a 5/5 for this thing... it's just a microphone. A cool looking one though. It's black with a chrome head. It also says Rock Band on it. What do you do with this microphone?! You sing into it, and bang it on something during certain parts of songs. Not really my thing, but if you're a singer, you'll like it.

Game Review ( skate. - 360 )

Graphics: 4/5 Nothing too special here. The cutscenes don't look much better than the game itself, and the graphics aren't going to blow your mind. They look good, pretty decently next gen, and the levels are pretty big. One thing that really drags this game are the constant load times. When you fail an event, it has to reload, and while it doesn't take a long time, they are pretty frequent.

Sound: 5/5 EA does it again. The songs in this game are for the most part perfect for the game, although some songs have been in past Tony Hawk games. "Express Yourself" was bad enough in Tony Hawk. Blah. The voice overs are pretty good, and the skateboard sounds are excellent.

Control: 4.25/5 The "flick-it" feature is what makes this game so much different than the Tony Hawk series. With flick-it, you need to use the right stick to do all of the flip tricks in the game. It takes awhile to get used to, but once you learn the controls really well, nailing combos is really satisfying - and fun.

Fun: 4.5/5 I can see why this game got mixed reviews. I like it though. I didn't play too much online, but I played enough to see that there is a LOT of lag. You can upload videos and pictures to skate. TV, which is cool. There are a ton of cool levels in this game, too. skate. is a love it or hate it game if you ask me. This is a good step away from Tony Hawk's insanely unrealistic games. While the ability to edit your videos is cool, there aren't really enough options to get an angle you would probably want. We can only wait for a sequel - which could probably only be better than this.

4.5/5

DVD Review ( Seinfeld: Volume 8 )

Seinfeld: Volume 8 is of course the final Seinfeld DVD, and it was released fairly recently on November 6th. Here's my review

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[*] Indicates an "Epicsode"

[*]The Buttershave: 5/5 Kramer starts using butter to shave, and Newman acts semi-cannibalistic towards him; George is thought of as disabled at his new job.

[*]The Voice: 5/5 George's employeer finds out he's not actually disabled; Jerry makes a voice in reference to his girlfriend's stomach; Kramer hires an intern.

The Serenity Now: 4.25/5 Kramer installs a new screen door to his apartment; Elaine is kissed by Mr. Lippman's son.

[*]The Blood: 4.75/5 George combines sex, food, an TV in one; Jerry gets a little bit of Kramer.

The Junk Mail: 4/5 Kramer protests mail; Elaine meets a dream man while she's with Puddy; George's parents set him loose.

[*]The Merv Griffin Show: 5/5 Kramer sets up the Merv Griffen Show set in his apartment; George's girlfriend gets mad at him for running over pigeons; Jerry drugs his girlfriend to play with her Dad's classic toys.

The Slicer: 3.75/5 Kramer gets a new meat slicer which Elaine dings; Jerry tries to break up with his girlfriend; George tries to get taken out of a picture.

[*]The Betrayal: 4.5/5 Kramer tries to reverse a "drop dead" curse; Elaine flies to India for Sue Ellen's wedding.

The Apology: 4/5 George expects an apology; Jerry's girlfriend likes to walk around naked and Jerry gets sick of it; Kramer changes his daily routine.

[*]The Strike: 4.5/5 Kramer returns to his bagel job that he went on strike at 12 years earlier; Kramer gets interested in Festivus; Jerry, Elaine, and George go to a Chanukah party.

[*]The Dealership: 5/5 Jerry tries to get a car at a dealership via Puddy; Kramer and a salesman see how far they can drive a car on a single tank of gas; George gets mad at a meschanic for stealing his Twix bar.

[*]The Reverse Peephole: 4.5/5 Kramer and Newman reverse peepholes an apartment doors; Jerry goes without a wallet; George has to pay for a chair alone.

The Cartoon: 4.25/5 Elaine obsesses over a cartoon; Jerry is at odds with Susan's former roommate, Elaine and Kramer believe George's girlfriend looks like Jerry.

The Strong Box: 4/5 Jerry buys Jerry Lewis's cufflinks; Kramer gets a strongbox; George can't break up with his girlfriend.

[*]The Wizard: 4.5/5 Kramer runs for condo president in Florida; Elaine tries to find out her boyfriend's race; George lies to the Ross's about a house he has in Hampton.

The Burning: 4/5 Kramer gets ghonorreia; Elaine finds out Puddy is religious.

[*]The Bookstore: 4.5/5 George can't return a book he brought into the bathroom; Jerry covers for Uncle Leo after he steals a book from the bookstore.

[*]The Frogger: 4.5/5 George attempts to buy a Frogger machine; Elaine calls in sick to work to miss birthdays.

The Maid: 4.25/5 George tries to get a new nickname; Elaine gets messages from Kramer's fax.

[*]The Puerto Rican Day: 4.5/5 The gang leaves a Mets game early to beat traffic but get stuck in a parade.

[*]The Clip Show: 4.75/5 A clipshow reliving some of Seinfeld's greatest moments. A very well done clipshow.

The Finale: 4.25/5 I found the final episode a little disappointing. The gang ends up in jail after being convicted from not following a new good samaritan law in Massachusetts. They go to jail for a year. Not a bad episode, but it seems that a lot of characters were just thrown in the episode for little reason. Basically a clipshow, but with an actual meaning. Not a terrible ending, but a little bizarre.

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Well that's it. Seinfeld's over and done with. I think Seinfeld Season 9, though, was actually one of the, if not, the best seasons in its run. There were fantastic episodes all the way through. Sure, there were some super bizarre ones in there, but that may just be what made this season so fantastic. Any sitcom fan should pick this season up along with all the others. A pretty solid ending to a fantastic television series.

4.75/5

DVD Review ( Seinfeld: Volume 7 )

I thought I made this review a long time ago, apparently I didn't. Here it is - Seinfeld: Volume 7.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

The Foundation: 3.75/5 George tries to forget about Susan's death; Kramer becomes a martial arts "expert"; Jerry goes back out with Mulva, A.K.A. Dolores.

The Soul Mate: 3.75/5 Kramer falls for Jerry's girlfriend and asks Newman for advice; Elaine decides she doesn't want a baby after her friends tell her to.

[*]The Bizzaro Jerry: 5/5 Elaine hangs out with a group of people that are the exact opposite of Jerry, Kramer, and George; Jerry dates a woman with "man hands".

The Little Kicks: 4.25/5 Elaine loses respect from co-workers for her bizarre dance moves; Kramer and Jerry go to the movies with a bootlegger.

The Package: 4/5 Jerry refuses to take a package from the mailman that has no return address on it.

The Fatigues: 4/5 Jerry finds out his girlfriend has a mentor; Elaine is in charge of firing a worker, but instead promotes him.

[*]The Checks: 4.75/5 Elaine realizes her boyfriend is obsessive; Kramer tells George carpet cleaners are part of a religious cult.

[*]The Chicken Roaster: 5/5 Kramer becomes addicted to Kenny Roger's Chicken, and hides it from Jerry; George tries to cheaply get a second date.

[*]The Abstinence: 4.5/5 Kramer takes up smoking; George's girlfriend can't have sex for six weeks;.

The Andrea Doria: 3.25/5 George looks forward to moving into an apartment, but an Andrea Doria survivor gets it; Kramer and Jerry use Newman's mail storage thingy mabobber.

[*]The Little Jerry: 5/5 Kramer gets a rooster and calls him "Little Jerry"; Elaine wants her boyfriend to grow out his hair; A store owner exposes Jerry's bounced check.

The Money: 3.75/5 Jerry's parents sell their Cadillac; George's parents say they're going to move to Florida, which the Seinfeld's object.

[*]The Comeback: 5/5 Elaine and Kramer discuss Employee's Choices at the video store; George tries to think of a comeback; Jerry buys a tennis racket he thinks was used by a pro.

The Van Buren Boys: 4.25/5 Everyone seems to have problems with Jerry's girlfriend; Kramer has a run-in with "The Van Buren Boys".

The Susie: 4/5 Elaine creates an alter-ego that people believe is real.

[*]The Pothole: 4.75/5 Jerry suffers realizing he's dating a girl that uses a tooth brush that has been in the toilet; Kramer adopts a highway.

The English Patient: 4/5 Elaine hates a movie everyone seems to love.

[*]The Nap: 5/5 George constructs a desk so that he can sleep at work; Jerry gets his kitchen redone; Kramer swims in the East River.

[*]The Yada Yada: 4.5/5 Jerry wonders why his Jewish dentist makes Jewish jokes; George's girlfriend constantly uses the phrase "Yada, Yada, Yada".

The Millenium: 4.25/5 Kramer prepares early for the new millennium; Elaine changes stores to shop at; Jerry learns his girlfriend's importance of speed-dial.

[*]The Muffin Tops: 4.5/5 Mr. Lippman steals Elaine's idea of a muffin top store; Jerry shaves his chest hair; George pretends to be a tourist.

The Summer of George: 4/5 Jerry and Kramer go to the Tony awards; George takes the summer off from work.

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Overall, I really disliked this season. I haven't watched the episodes for awhile, but a lot of them are very forgettable. My scores will likely change when I rewatch the season. This is probably one of the worst Seinfeld seasons ever, although it has some absolute classics, 10 of them to be exact. ( As far as "Season Greats" ) While there are quite a few slow/uninteresting episodes, there are some great episodes to spice the season up. Seinfel: Volume 7 is actually a disappointing DVD, but well worth buying to say the least.

4.25/5

300th Post! Game Review ( Guitar Hero III - 360 )

Finally! Here at last, is Guitar Hero III. This review might be a little long, but you'll survive. I've yet to play every single song, but I've played the core of the game, and I'll give a "full" review when I get the game in a few days.

Graphics: 4.25/5 They really aren't impressive, I almost think the Guitar Hero II look is better. The character models in Guitar Hero III look pretty awesome, and the venues look pretty decent, but when compared to little things, like the fans, or the set on the venue, it just looks funky. It doesn't even matter though - who cares about graphics in Guitar Hero? Certainly not me.

Sound: 5/5 Has to be a five out of five. 46 songs in the game, mostly of which are master tracks. Even the covers, such as "Paranoid", sound almost exactly like the real thing. The soundtrack isn't the greatest thing in the world. There are a few boring songs in the mix, but for the most part, this is one fantastic soundtrack.

Control: 5/5 Most people will notice the "hit window" for the notes has changed - it's bigger, so it's easier to hit notes. It's not real big, but there's definitey a difference. With the new Les Paul controller, Guitar Hero III feels really good. [See bottom of page for Les Paul review.] Besides the bigger hit window, this game controls almost exactly the same as Guitar Hero II did.

Fun: 5/5 Awesome game. The one thing I don't care about is a small thing, but I don't like the leaderboards. They are more in depth, but there's a reason I don't like them. It shows your wins for certain modes in online play, but not your losses. You could be the worst player in the world and play a million songs a day and be on top of the leaderboard - higher than someone that's amazing at the game but rarely plays. Still, Guitar Hero III is nearly flawless. Sure, there are less songs than Guitar Hero II, but you'll live. The Co-Op career is fun, although there are some bass sections on songs that are quite lame. Some songs are also quite challenging on expert, including the "One" solo, and, as everyone knows by now, "Through the Fire and Flames" - but who doesn't like a challenge? Guitar Hero III is a lot of fun to say the very least, and with online play, and the new Guitar Hero Community at GuitarHero.com, Guitar Hero III will be played well into '08 and probably even '09 by many, I'm sure.

5/5

-Les Paul-

4.75/5 When I saw the pictures on the computer, I was hardly impressed. I thought the controller looked pretty stupid, honestly, but in person, it's great. It has a glossy black covering, and it just looks much better built than the Xplorer that came with Guitar Hero II, in comparison - there is no comparison. The Les Paul looks much better and realistic than the Xplorer. I'm not too crazy about the buttons on the controller, though. The strum bar is wider than the Xplorer, which is definitely a good thing, and it's quite a bit quieter when you strum, which is really good - but the fret buttons almost feel broken. They are a bit harder to push down, and they make less noise. I'm just not liking that feeling. You can also purchase faceplates for your Les Paul at the price of probably $20-$40 - I'm not sure. All-in-all, the Les Paul is almost perfect, although a little expensive. It's also wireless, which may or may not be a good thing. Sure, there is obviously no wire, but if you play for a long time, you will be using a lot of batteries up, so make sure to have rechargable ones - or use the Xplorer if you have that one from Guitar Hero II.

Game Review ( skate. DEMO - 360 )

Graphics: 4.25/5 I'd probably get criticized for rating the graphics so low if someone met me on the street, but they aren't that great - they're deceiving. The character models look quite good, the levels look pretty decent, and the far away environments look pretty bad for the most part. Especially the weird looking trees.

Sound: 4/5 Hard to hear much besides faint music in the background and the skateboard rolling and grinding. Give it a 4 for averageness.

Control: 4.5/5 Of course, this is what makes skate. drastically different than the Tony Hawk games. In skate., virtually everything you do is controlled by the right analog stick. The ollies, the flip tricks, all board movement. The controls definitely take getting used to - I still found myself trying to use A to jump, when that button in skate. simple makes you skate.

Fun: 4.25/5 I couldn't get much out of the demo, it's only a demo - it's only one small level. Still, I see myself playing the full version eventually, just maybe not too soon, with Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, and Rock Band coming out. I'm sure the full version of skate. is a lot of fun. I'll probably review it within the next month or two.

4.25/5

Game Review ( Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Xbox )

Graphics: 4.5/5 I don't know exactly what qualified as amazing back in '03 when this game was released, but I do know that for an Xbox game, especially one that came out in '03, this is a pretty good looking game. In old reviews from websites, they stated this was one of the best games ever. Of course now, it's not so. The game lags quite a bit, even when there isn't much going on on screen, which is pretty annoying, but like I said, I don't know what was expected four years ago.

Sound: 5/5 One of the best games with voice overs. This game must have THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of lines read by actors. There is very little you actually need to read. The sound effects are also top notch, and the music is Star Wars music, of course. The game sounds great.

Control: 4.5/5 Not too difficult. At first, you may have some trouble doing a few things, but after about thirty minutes, you should settle in. It basically controls like most RPG games. Controls quite well.

Fun: 4.75/5 I'm only about an hour into this game - I've done virtually nothing yet. Still, I know what to be expecting. This game is considered by many the best Star Wars game ever - and it's an RPG. Think of it as Star Wars Galaxies for the PC, but on a console and with single player. It'd be great to see in the future another KotOR, but with online play. If you haven't played this game yet, you need to play it now. You'll find it for about $20 new and even cheaper used.

4.75/5

Game Review ( Guitar Hero 3 DEMO - 360 )

The GHIII demo was released today (10-23) on Xbox Live and features five songs: "Lay Down", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", "Even Flow", "Rock You Like A Hurricane", and "The Metal". I'll just review each song, one-by-one. [Note: I play on Expert, so my review's based on that difficulty.]

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"Lay Down"/"Hit Me With Your Best Shot": 3.5/5 I'll just review these two songs together. While they're both somewhat catchy, they aren't too fun to play on Guitar Hero. They're quite repetitive, and very easy.

"Even Flow": 4.5/5 While it has a somewhat repetitive main riff, Pearl Jam is a great band, and this is one of their best songs in my opinion. While not strenuously difficult, in anyway, it's fun to play.

"Rock You Like A Hurricane": 4.75/5 Difficult, and a lot of fun to play. For the most part, the song is very easy, but the whole guitar solo in the song are far from easy. Getting the first star power sequence your first time trying the song won't be likely. One of the best, if not the best, songs in the demo.

"The Metal": 4.75/5 A pretty short and fun song. The main riff is a lot of fun to play, and the song has some hard to get chords, but you'll get it eventually. Not the hardest song ever to be in Guitar Hero, but it's definitely fun.

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The Guitar Hero 3 DEMO isn't really fantastic, but isn't bad at all. There are three very fun songs, but two songs that are really boring and easy to play. Hopefully, Neversoft has less of the bad, and more of the good in the final game. We'll just have to see on the 28th.

4.25/5

Game Review ( KartRider - PC )

KartRider is a game that apparently is extremely popular in South Korea. According to Wikipedia, 15,000,000 South Koreans have played the game, meaning 25% of all South Korean's have played the game at least once. KartRider is essentially Mario Kart, but to me, it feels like it has Diddy Kong Racing in the mix there too. Here is my review on KartRider.

Graphics: 4/5 Not amazing, but still look great. Even on 256MB-512MB of RAM, the game will run perfectly smooth. There is some lag around, but that's expected for a game like this. The maps look good, the characters and karts do as well, very well done.

Sound: 3.75/5 It's kind of lacking. The music in the menu and in-game is pretty catchy, I must say, but the music on the snow levels sounds strikingly similar to the songs in the game Diddy Kong Racing. There are also little things. When in game lobby's, you can do face combinations, such as: >.< , <3 , TT, LOL, and more, and your character will do the action, which is pretty cool.

Control: 4/5 The game controls fine, it's just that the amount of money it costs to buy a go-kart isn't even worth it, as the karts seem to run the same speed, and control the same way. The only difference is the look of them. Very simplistic controls, but the drift is pretty much useless in most situations, and there's no point of it, at least in Item races.

Fun: 4.75/5 KartRider is just SURPRISINGLY deep. There are maybe 12 tracks, ( Not too sure ) but there is great variety. Some of them look similar to those of Mario Kart and Diddy Kong Racing tracks, but that's not at all a bad thing. KartRider is basically a Go-Kart RPG, and it's a lot of fun. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of fun. And the BEST thing about it? It works on some older computers quite easily, AND it's absolutely free.

4.75/5

[Mainly because of the $0 pricetag, and addictiveness.]

Hardware Review ( Skullcandy Earbuds )

Today I had to buy new headphones for my iPod, since the stock ones broke, as well as my old PSP ones. I decided to buy these ones. They were comewhat pricy at $31, but they looked cool, and I heard good things about them.

Appearance: 5/5 From what I saw at Best Buy, they only have black and white headphones. I got the white ones since my iPod is already black. Anyway, they look pretty cool for earbuds. They are shaped nicely, and appear to be well made. The 'phones come with a few extra rubber ear piece things, for people with bigger or smaller ears.

Performance: 5/5 Can't ask for much more. The cord is plenty long enough, actually almost too long at I believe 1.2 meters. These are pretty unique ear buds. Instead of being placed inside the ear and nesting there, these ones have a rubber doo-hicky at the end, and you shove them in your ear so they don't fall out. Your ears may pop, but it's worth it - it basically works like an ear plug, with only the music going into your ear, which is really cool. They are very comfortable as well. Another thing some people may be happy about is that there is a volume slider switch in the middle of the wire, so you can turn up and down your music as you please without having to reach into your pocket and adjust it from there. ( It looks like you're doing something else when you do that, anyway. ;] ) Better yet, your iPod can be on "hold", and you can still adjust the volume with the headphones. You can absolutely blast music LOUD out of these things.

Overall: 5/5 Virtually perfect headphones/earbuds, but it's either a love them or hate them situation. Some people may really hate the fact they go so far into your ear, and others may really like it. I think you know what my opinion is. You'll hear your music better than ever, they look cool, they come with a few extra supplies, including a case to put your headphones/earbuds away at anytime if neccessary as well. I don't think people that don't use Q-Tips would want to use these, as they can pick up some earwax when you take them out, and/or oil. Thankfully, I do use Q-Tips. The 'phones are about $31, so they aren't cheap, but I think they're worth it. If you need new 'phones, try and get these ones.

5/5
Highly Recommended.

Game Review ( The Simpsons Road Rage - Xbox )

Graphics: 4/5 For a 2001 Xbox game, it looks very good for the most part. The characters look good, the vehicles you drive in look great, and the environments look okay. It really varies. A bigger problem in this game is the framerate. You can definitely tell when there are a lot of cars on screen. But like I said, for an early Xbox game, this game looks mostly fantastic.

Sound: 4/5 If you play Road Rage a lot, you'll realize that there are a LOT of repeated lines between characters. Still though, it's great to hear new bits of audio from characters from the show, as well as stuff from episodes in the show. Really, there's nothing to hate here. Besides repetitive dialogue here and there, the cars all sound different. Everything is above average.

Control: 3.75/5 Very simple controls with two different schemes. I prefer the RT to drive, LT to brake/reverse. Cool enough, each character's car controls differently, and pretty realistically. Otto's bus has slow acceleration and turns terribly, while a car like Bart's Honor Roller goes really fast and has wicked tight turns. It's just that some cars surpass others and are much better. Basically, the cars are unbalanced. You'll find yourself playing with the same car over and over again after a few plays.

Fun: 4/5 This score may seem high, but since the game has (for quite awhile) fallen to $20, or even less if you find it on sale, and just makes it all the more worth getting. This isn't necessarily a game to play for a long period of time straight, but more for 30-60 minutes of play at a time - it just gets a repetitive. This is just a great game. Better than the game it "ripped-off", Crazy Taxi. That's all it is, just with Simpsons characters, and it's a lot of fun, especially since there are a lot of different locations that you drop and pick characters off at that are in the show. The "Missions" are pure jokes, though. There are only ten of them, and you get nothing for completing them, and they should only take 30 minutes or so to beat them all. When you play the "Road Rage" mode, you get money that you can use to buy cars and starting locations, which adds to the playability. There is also a mode where you can drive around by yourself and explore, which is pretty cool, and you can also play head-to-head with a friend. For $20, and if you're a Simpsons fan, this is just a must buy - moreso because it can be played on the Xbox 360.

4/5

Game Review ( Guitar Hero 2 Indie Label Pack - 360 Arcade )

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Indie Label Pack:
"Detonation" - Trivium
"Ex's And Oh's" - Atreyu
"Bury The Hatchet" - Protest The Hero

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The newest GH2 pack available for download is a very good one to say the least. This pack was released pretty recently, ( September 28th ) but I just got it. I had only heard of the band Atreyu in this pack, and didn't, and still don't, know who Trivium or Protest The Hero are. These songs are pretty difficult, and at first was disappointed in myself for buying it. After learning how to play the songs, GASP. I liked it more! Hah. Here's le review, as the French would say.

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"Detonation": 5/5 Amazingly catchy song, and a very nice challenge. This song has it all. It was very difficult at first, but it's easy to learn if you're a good Guitar Hero player. I can't say much else. I didn't care for this song at all the first time I played it, but the second time, and each time I play it, I liked it more. One of the best songs in the game.

"Ex's And Oh's": 4.75/5 A fairly easy song to play but AWESOME fun to play. There are a lot of chords, which gets repetitive, but the solo is of perfect difficulty. Not too hard to ace, but a lot of fun to play. Atreyu in Guitar Hero. It has finally happened!

"Bury The Hatchet": 5/5 Amazingly catchy song like the other two. Nothing to say about this song. Just one of the best songs to play on Guitar Hero, and the song sounds great to.

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Some people may not like this pack because of the genre. It's basically a pack of Metal songs, but it contains three of the best songs in the entire game, if not the best songs. A better pack than the MCR one in every single way. Without hesitating, you should buy this pack. It costs 500 MSP like the other packs, but this pack is worth it more than any of the others.

5/5

Game Review ( Guitar Hero 2 My Chemical Romance Pack - 360 Arcade )

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My Chemical Romance Pack
"Famous Last Words" - My Chemical Romance
"Teenagers" - My Chemical Romance
"This Is How I Disapeer" - My Chemical Romance

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The My Chemical Romance Pack was released August 14th at the familiar price of 500 MSP, and just over a month after the fourth track pack was released for download. This is the first pack released on Xbox Live that doesn't feature Guitar Hero songs. I was pretty stunned to see that they were My Chemical Romance songs. One, because I was, like others, expecting Guitar Hero I songs, and second, I don't particularily care for My Chemical Romance. Here's my review. Sorry if it's hella long.

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"Famous Last Words": 4.5/5 I might be rating this a little high, but it's a good song. The song is very catchy, but it's a song that isn't very Guitar Hero-esque. It's mainly constant chords, with a pretty easy guitar solo. It's also pretty long, clocking in at over 5 minutes, and it's repetitive. A lot of surprising fun in this song though.

"Teenagers": 4.25/5 A very easy song. "Teenagers" has a few hoppy chords and what-not, but it's an easy song that a beginner to Guitar Hero's Expert mode could probably beat. It's a good song though with lyrics that will probably be stuck in your head one time or another.

"This Is How I Disappear": 4/5 Good song, but strains the hands of many down strummers, like myself. It's not necessarily difficult, but your strumming hand will likely be sore by the end of the song. It is much like "Famous Last Words", in that it is mostly chords.

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So what do I think of this pack? It's worth the 500 points. There could have been better songs available for download besides these, but these songs are different, and they are pretty catchy and fun to play for the most part. Still, if you have a computer, and the Xplorer guitar for the 360, you should download Frets on Fire. It's Guitar Hero for the computer, and you can download these songs and play them for free. Although it's just not as much fun. No leaderboards, and you can't downstrum at all. But like I said, worth the points, definitely should be bought. MCR fan or not, download it if you haven't already.

4.25/5

Game Review ( The Simpsons Game DEMO - 360 )

Graphics: 5/5 Your style or not, these graphics are cel-shaded, and the best The Simpsons can look on the 360. Sure, some edges might be sharpened, but this is the best it gets. The animation and everything is good, too.

Sound: 5/5 In the demo, Harry Shearer, Nancy Cartwright, and Dan Caselenetta, do a great job with the voices. Some lines you can hear are right from the show, and you'll know if you watch it a lot.

Control: 3.5/5 I'm being generous with a 3.5. The controls are actually quite terrible. The camera wobbles sometimes for no reason, running around corners is sometimes a pain, and walking on little ledges is difficult because you can easil fall off. The camera angles aren't the only thing that suck. The auto-aim system does too. If you look at something and try to auto-aim with LT, you won't necessary lock-on to the thing you're aiming at, which is really frustrating.

Fun: 3.5/5 I expect much better come release. The game looks and sounds fantastic, but the controls almost ruin it. Being a huge Simpsons fan, I'd hate to see The Simpsons next-gen first appearence be a far less than impressive one.

3.5/5

Game Review ( Bomberman LIVE: Bomb-Up Pack #2 - 360 )

The second Bomberman pack was released a few weeks ago now, but I just decided to buy it because... what the hell, it was only 200 MSP. Anyway, this pack is much like the first. It adds some more clothes, two new arenas, and one new mode. I personally think the clothes included in this pack are much better than the first, and you can now make better looking combinations of clothes. For instance, an old man ballerina, or a pimp. The two new arenas aren't what they say in the description. Instead of the maps being Speed Racer and Dreamland, they are Full Tilt and Medieval Times. Both maps are quite interesting. Medieval Times is much like High Stakes from BUP #1 because it can have anything played in it. This pack also includes what are called Bomb Shelters, which sound like they'd be a cool addition, but instead, really aren't. Actually, they're stupid and pointless. Bomb Shelters can be included on any map, (excluding Plundering Isles ) and I don't know what they are used for. They don't protect you from bombs or do anything to save you. The only thing I think they do is make it harder for players to see where you're at, which is completely useless in 1-on-1 games. One final thing I have to point out is that Hudson glitched this pack. In order to use the new costumes in this pack, you have to have downloaded the first one, too, which is a bummer for people that didn't do that. Bomberman LIVE BUP #2 isn't quite as good as the first, but it's cheaper, and has better costumes. It's just quite a shame that very few people even still play Bomberman LIVE, otherwise this pack would be more worth getting. But at 200 MSP, it isn't like you're throwing money away. You're only paying a little over two dollars here. The pack isn't spectacular, as you are only getting two new arenas, useless Bomb Shelters and some new clothes, but It's hard to not recommend, especially for Bomberman fans.

4.25/5
Recommended.

Game Review ( Halo 3 - 360 ) -Review #2-

It's now been a week since I've had Halo 3... it was definitely a quick week. Now that I've beaten campaign and played well over 100 matches on Xbox Live, this is my final opinion on Halo 3 for the 360.

Graphics: 4.5/5 Far from what they could be. Halo 3 shines in some areas, but in others, it just looks like an average 360 title. The character models look very well done, and the lighting is really amazing, but some of the textures are a little off, and just don't look quite as good as other games on the system, such as the nearly year old Gears of War. Still, the game lags very little to none in most matches online, no matter how much chaos is going on. That is definitely a solid plus. Many people complained about the graphics big time saying they looked "too much like Halo 2"... what game are they playing? Halo 3 looks much better and sharper than Halo 2. There is virtually no comparison.

Sound: 5/5 Just as good as Halo 2, actually, maybe a bit better. Some of the guns, such as the SMG, sounded different in Halo 2, but everything sounds super good. The explosions, rest of the guns, the music... everything about it. Simply adds to the experience.

Control: 4.75/5 A little switched up for the 360 to play better on the 360 controller. At first, I kept pressing X to reload, and I drained some health, dropped random bubble shields and whatnot for quite awhile. But after a little while, I got really used to the controls, and they work quite naturally really. I still think I prefer Halo 2's controls, though.

Fun: 5/5 This 5/5 may be awfully generous, for several reasons. First of all, the campaign won't last you long at all. Even on Legendary, it should only take you 7 or so hours on average if you play with a few friends. Also, the matchmaking is severely flawed. You'll be seeing yourself playing a LOT of Shotty/Snipers and the same maps over and over again. It's actually an amazing feeling when you play a map that you don't normally see in matchmaking just because you do usually play the same 4 or 5 maps constantly. Still, this game is Halo. It will keep most players playing for a very long time. Although the maps after awhile do get old (the ones you play a bajillion times a day) you can always play a custom match, or fool around on Forge, in which you can have you and a few friends fiddle with stuff on maps. If you mess around enough, you may find out you can actually play Mario Kart Double Dash Halo 3 style on Mongooses, as well as baseball. Halo 3 is just an epic game that everyone knows about, gamer or not, and even though it might have been overhyped, it was worth the wait. Halo 3 is a very well done game.

4.75/5

PROS:
Online co-op.
Forge.
It's Halo 3.

CONS:
Some may be unimpressed with the graphics.
Relatively short campaign.
Matchmaking needs to get fixed by Bungie.
Only 11 maps, some of which are recycled from Halo 2, just spiffied up to look different.

Ten ways to get good at Halo 3. Now.

There are well over a million people that already have played Halo 3, and there were billions of games logged into Halo 2. But if you didn't play Halo 2 much, or just got Halo 3, I have a few tips that should probably have you being a better player. Some tips may seem obvious, but others may not. Some ideas may be ideas a "pro" would tell you, and some would be what a "n00b" would tell you.

1.) First things first, try beating the campaign on Heroic and/or Legendary. If you can't do it alone, ( Not many can. ) try doing it with only one other person. It will teach you how to learn strategies, and just overall get better at the game.

2.) This is an obvious one, but learn what gun combinations work best, and at what range. It should be pretty easy to figure out, and it shouldn't take you more than a few games.

3.) MELEE! - Meleeing is surprisingly overpowered in Halo and it should be used to your advantage. Learn to use it when you're up close to someone rather than shooting... unless you have a shotgun.

4.) Try to somehow stay in at least groups of two with someone, so in case one of your shields go down, the other one with full health can start firing on the other team while his/your shield replenishes.

5.) Crouch behind corners after running away from someone. You won't be picked up on their radar, and they will almost always run past you, giving you a free kill most of the time.

6.) Play Social matches when you first get online... Ranked matches are just for more experienced players, and it's harder to do well in.

7.) While using a gun other than the sniper, try to aim for the body rather than the head. The head may cause more damage, but it's a much smaller target, and it's just easier to shoot the torso. With the sniper, it definitely is better to go for the head, as it takes one shot to kill someone, rather than two it takes to shoot someone twice anywhere else on their body.

8.) Throw grenades! You might not feel natural doing it or something, but give a good strong throw, even at random times, and you may score yourself a kill. If not, you'll likely deplete an opponents shield, making it super easy for him to die.

9.) Get in a vehicle... this is one noobish tip, but it will score you a lot of kills, most of the time, if you're a good driver. Getting into a Banshee on Valhalla off the start won't do anything for you but kill you if you don't exit the cockpit soon enough, but if you're in a Ghost or on the turret of a Warthog, be ready to be getting quite a few kills... as long as you can avoid grenades and people hijacking you.

10.) The obvious, practice. Practice makes better, and if you practice a lot at the game, you'll naturally learn how to do well... unless you're flat out bad at videogames, then you're hopeless.


I doubt this will help much, but it's something.

Halo 3 is B.S.

First and second day: I'm doing good,owning people left and right. I'm on a good team that knows what their doing.

Last two days: I'm doing terrible, and it's all because my teams have always been SUCKING yesterday. I don't know how the f*ck my teammates can even be so bad at this game. Every time I'm on the losing team, I'm in first on that team.

Also, I've experienced some sh*tty hit-detection. For example, a grenade at a guy, I see his shield deplete, I shoot him a few times, and I die. WTF is that? Whatever. Maybe I just need to not play for a couple hours. Still, this is absolute garbage.

Game Review ( Halo 3 Maps - 360 )

I'm bored. But I'm obsessed with Halo 3 pretty much, so I've decided to review each and every map in the game... here goes.

Construct: 4.5/5 The first map I played in Halo 3. Construct is a map that I think would feel right at home in a Metroid Prime game. It's pretty small, has a few levels, and is sure to be a grenade throwing/tagging fest. This is one of many maps in the game that make me wonder "Am I playing Star Wars Battlefront or Halo 3?". Definitely was pleased with this map.

Epitaph: [Not yet played.]

Guardian: 4.5/5 I'm sure you probably played Halo 2. If so, this is JUST LIKE the map "Lockout", but instead of being in snowy conditions, it's in what seems to be a jungle. It's almost identical. Except I like this version more. Definitely a lot of fun to play.

High Ground: 4.75/5 Another fantastic map in the game. High Ground looks great first off, and the layout is very well done. The only problem I have with this map are the spawn points, which seem a little faulty. My team's spawn will switch with the other team's spawn quite quickly, and before I know it, they spawn and kill me immedietely in the back. Regardless, High Ground is a lot of fun most of the times.

Isolation: 4.75/5 One of the best maps in Halo 3. This map looks like it's in a jungle, or something, with a few bunkers and underground caves. The map looks amazing, and is a LOT of fun to play on.

Last Resort: 4/5 The remake of the ever-so-popular map Zanzibar from Halo 2. Last Resort is very similar to Zanzibar, just with some different colors, and bigger... and that's not much of a good thing. While I liked Zanzibar, I always thought it was overrated. This map, even with 10 people, seems under-populated, and is pretty boring. I actually prefer Zanzibar to Last Resort, but that's just me.

Narrows: 4.25/5 This is another map that could easily fit in to a Metroid Prime game. Narrows to me is a lot like Construct, except that it's... well, narrow. The map has two levels, allowing teams to flank. A good map, but there's nothing real special about it. There is what I call a "booster" you can use to fly from one side to the other, but that's the only thing unique on it. A pretty average map that's surprisingly fun to play - especially with team rockets.

Sandtrap: 4.5/5 At first, this map didn't appeal to me much at all. But after learning the map, and driving a few vehicles around and gunning some guys and vehicles down, it's actually a lot of fun. Sandtrap is one of the few maps in Halo 3 with a lot of vehicles in it, and it's super fun. This map reminds me a lot of the map Dune Sea in Star Wars Battlefront on Tatooine. That's not a bad thing at all. It actually makes me like it more... this map is definitely under-rated.

Snowbound: 5/5 Yeah. This map REALLY reminds me of a Star Wars Battlefront map. Hoth. If you've played Star Wars Battlefront, you'll know what I'm talking about. This map has bunkers just like that one did, but instead of this map being HUGE like Hoth, it's quite similar, but very small in size, which is actually a good thing. Snowbound has proved to be one of, if not, my favorite map in Halo 3. A lot of fun.

The Pit: 4/5 An average warehouse map... it just looks like you're in a giant Costco or something... most games have a map that looks similar to this one, and it's usually "filler". I must say, this definitely is a filler map. It's only kind of fun to play on because it's a Halo 3 map.

Valhalla: 5/5 Another fantastic map. Valhalla is one of the very few maps in Halo 3 with air-flight vehicles, and it's an awesome one. I can't honestly describe this map, besides that it's a LOT of fun. It kind of, no, it REALLY sucks when you're stranded in the middle of the map without a vehicle or a team-mate, but after you learn where you're supposed to be and at what times, you'll likely enjoy Valhalla a lot too.

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The Halo 3 Maps are just unbelievable. As of now, I haven't played them all, but from what I have played, just about all of them are spectacular. That's about it - I'm gonna go play some more Halo!

4.75/5

Game Review ( Halo 3 - 360 )

Here's my review on what is one of, if not the, biggest game and what some say the most overrated game, of all-time. I've only played it for about 6 hours, so I will probably be editing this review. This is my first impression. ( Note: I didn't play the beta. )

Graphics: 4.5/5 Look quite good, but don't really blow you away. The character models for the most part look phenomenal, and the environments do as well. Still, it's not the most impressive looking game out there right now. Hell, to all the whiners, I'd rather have an okay looking game that runs smoothly than a fantastic looking game that lags a lot.

Sound: 5/5 Top notch. The talking throughout your men in campaign is really well done. The voice acting in the cut scenes are also great. You will likely never hear the same thing twice in battle. The explosions and guns still sound fantastic too. Everything Halo 2 sounded like, but better.

Control: 4.5/5 Not quite perfect. In my opinion, Halo 2 had better controls for a 360 controller. Still, Halo 3 doesn't control bad, but it does take some getting used to. Such as you having to learn how to use the RB button to get in vehicles and pick up guns and what-not, as well as reload, instead of using the X button used in Halo 2. Still controls very well though.

Fun: 5/5 I must say, this game left a great first impression. I started with Campaign first, and was less than surprised at the start, mainly because the game kept on lagging. But once the game started going, the Campaign got pretty fun. And, in case you don't already know, you can have four person co-op, which makes Legendary quite a bit easier to play through. ( Still not a sinch in any stretch of the imagination though. ) I could review this game all day. The single player, co-op, Forge, multiplayer, all the maps, how the guns hold up, the AI, the ability to record your games, and what not. All I really need to say though, is it's worth it. There aren't many maps currently available to play on Halo 3, but just about all of them are a lot of fun. If you don't think they are at first, go ahead and play them a few times. The game looks good, controls great, and sounds fantastic. Almost everything about this game that I've seen so far is top notch.

5/5

Game Review ( The Bigs - 360 )

Graphics: 3.75/5 Very mixed bag here. The graphics and textures of the jerseys and stadiums and what-not look really good, but a lot of the players faces look like they were glued on, and have no expression. The game looks pretty good, kind of next gen, but they certainly could be better.

Sound: 3.75/5 A pretty average soundtrack, and a pretty decent commentary, although when you start hitting a lot of homeruns, the announcer does get pretty repetitive. Still, the game has good sound. Especially in-game when you hit home runs and stuff.

Control: 4/5 The only thing that's not too hot about the controls in this game is the baserunning. Instead of pressing a button to advance to another base, you run with the analog stick. It works well most of the time, but sometimes, it will mess you up. Your runner will sometimes run halfway to a base, and if you don't control him, he'll be out. Other than that, this game controls pretty well.

Fun: 4/5 The Bigs is a game for anyone, like Slugfest was. Baseball fan or not, you'll likely enjoy playing this game. Hitting balls at unbelievable lengths, and pitching balls at impossibly fast speeds. It's quite fun. There are several modes, including Rookie Challenge, in which you create your own player and take him through the Major Leagues by playing in MLB games, and participating in batting and fielding practice to gain experience and different apparel to let him wear. It really seems like an RPG element. It's fun, but does get repetitive. Another thing worth noting are the difficulty levels. Medium should be Very Easy, and Easy shouldn't be a difficulty choice. This game is very easy for the most part. No one should have much trouble. I won a game 14-0 and it was only a 5 inning game. Albeit it was on Medium, but it shows how not-so-challenging this game is. Still, this is a very fun baseball game. Fun on single player, but it's a game meant to be played with friends, in my opinion. Well worth a few week rental from Gamefly, because it is a lot of fun, but you should definitely think twice before paying full price on this game.

4/5

Call of Duty 4 Beta... tragically flawed.

At first glance, the Call of Duty 4 Beta seemed near perfect. But after a few days of playing, I've finally found out a pretty big "chip in the paint". When shooting at an opponent, sometimes nothing hits him. Even though the cross hairs are on him. In the Kill-Cam, it shows me not even aiming at him. It's just super frustrating. If this error is also in the full version of the game, I might not purchase it.

Game Review ( Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Beta - 360 )

Graphics: 5/5 One of, if not the best, looking games on the 360. It runs extremely well with little lag. ( All depends on the host. ) The game looks amazing. It will probably look even better once the full version of the game is released.

Sound: 5/5 Best sounding game on the 360 for sure. The back-talk, explosions, and guns, sound better than any other game available.

Control: 4.75/5 Feels just like Call of Duty's 2 and 3 on the 360, but a tweaked a little bit. They actually feel a little bit better. There are still some frustrating moments, though, such as when your teammates won't get out of your way when you're running.

Fun: 5/5 Only 3 maps, and you can only get to level 16 max, but it's still an amazing game, for sure. I don't know how long I'll be playing the beta, since it's so restricted and has such few things to do on it, but it's a TON of fun. Actually, to be honest, there is almost too action in this game for its own good. I can't wait for the full version of the game.

4.75/5

The Maps:

Vacant: 4.75/5 A very good map. Vacant is a pretty small map, based mainly inside a square building, with the ability to go outside. This map is super close quarters... it's also awesome. Non-stop firefights make this one of the bests maps I've played on any shooter.

Overgrown: 3.75/5 Purely average. Overgrown reminds me a lot of the map Harvester on SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs for the PS2. It's really, really average. It looks a bit like something out of a Call of Duty 2 or 3 games at times, too. It's a pretty big map, with little shelter. Really a sniper's paradise. Not very good.

Crash: 5/5 Amazing to say the least. Crash is a small/medium sized map that has a wrecked helicopter in the middle of the map. ( a la Black Hawk Down? ) The atmosphere of this map is spectacular. There are several buildings to go in and on to shoot from, plenty of ground to run around... and whatnot. This map will be liked mainly by run-and-gunners, like myself. Fantastic map.

Game Review ( Uno Decks: Kameo and PGR )

Uno has been out for well over a year now, and these packs have been out for a long awhile themselves. However, I just bought them. I can say right now they are worth the measly 100 points each. The Kameo deck is based off the 360 game Kameo, and it has one really unique feature. You can swap your hand with someone elses. It's cool, but can also be frustrating at the same time. The PGR deck is based off Project Gotham Racing 3 for the 360. The special thing about this deck is Gotham TV. With it, you can see one of another player's hand, which is really handy. Overall, I'd say the PGR deck is better, because it's simpler, I like the added element more, ( Gotham TV ) and it's a deck with cars on the cards. Still, both decks are very fun to play and add longevity to the time you will play Uno. Well worth it, at least for an Uno fan. For the price, it deserves a:

5/5

Drink Review ( Mountain Dew Game Fuel )

After looking in several stores, I finally found and bought a 12-pack of this limited edition drink.

Taste: 4.5/5 It definitely is different. It's supposed to taste like cherry citrus. The drink is orange though, for some reason... anyway, it tastes quite good. Some say it tastes like cough syrup, but it really doesn't. If you ask me, it tastes like Baja Blast from Taco Bell mixed with Mountain Dew Code Red. It's pretty good.

Smell: 4.5/5 It really smells like it tastes. Has a cherry smell. Not much else to say.

Look: 5/5 The can looks very cool. It's black, blue, and orange, and has Mountain Dew Game Fuel written on one side of the can. The other side has Master Chief and the words Halo 3. It's not saying much, but it's the best looking can of pop/soda I've ever seen. The box that the 12-pack comes in look much like the can. As for the actual drink, it's a very cool looking neon orange color. It looks just like Mountain Dew Livewire. I don't know why the drink is orange, though, as the drink has cherry flavor.

Overall: 4.5/5 Mountain Dew Game Fuel should be bought by any can collector, Halo fan, NRG drink drinker, or anyone that likes pop/soda. It's not the BEST drink in the world, but it is very good. It is only available for a limited time, so you might want to get some - now!

-You can find Mountain Dew Game Fuel anywhere pop/soda is sold. It's actually selling out pretty quick, so if you want some NOW, you should try LOOKING now.-

Game Review ( Bomberman LIVE: Bomb-Up Pack #1 - 360 )

Bomberman LIVE has been out on the XBLA for just over a month now, and downloadable content has been released. In this pack, there is one new game mode, "Most Frags", in which the player with the most frags, wins. There are also two new levels. "High Stakes", and "Zeppelin". In "High Stakes", you play on what seems to be a poker table. You can use any arena feature you want on it. On "Zeppelin", you're playing on a zeppelin, with mini tornadoes moving throughout the level. If you walk into one or one hits you, you get stunned until it goes away. Both are fun, but I think Zeppelin is the better level because the tornadoes really add to the experience, especially since they move all over the level. In addition to those features, there are also 10 new characters, including a rabbit, alien, dinosaur, devil, and many more. Note that these costumes automatically go to your shop, and you don't have to pick up costume balls to get them. All-in-all, the Bomberman LIVE: Bomb-Up Pack #1, I'd say, is worth the money only for a serious Bomberman fan. The two levels are definitely a welcome addition, the new costumes look pretty cool for the most part, and the new game mode, "Most Frags", will soon be a popular Xbox Live game mode. For 250 points, ( $3 or so ) it's definitely worth downloading if you are a Bomberman fan. ( Who isn't? )

4.5/5

Drink Review ( Buzz Cola )

I had this awhile ago, and figured I might as well review it along side the Duff and Flaming Moe NRG drinks.

Taste: 4.25/5 It's just RC Cola. That's all it is. If you don't believe me, look at nutrition facts on the computer. If you like that, you'll like this. If you haven't had it, it tastes a little bit like flat Coca-Cola to me.

Smell: 4/5 It's just RC Cola! That's what it smells like. Again, if you haven't smelled RC Cola, it just smells like Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Look: 5/5 Looks exactly the same as on the show. It's somewhat bland color-wise, just red, yellow, and black lettering, but it's really cool.

Overall: 4.5/5 Buzz Cola won't be drank by most people. It's likely bought as a collectors item. If I were you though, I'd buy one to drink like I did. You can ... look cool with the one, or even a pack, and keep the other can, or pack.

-At the time of this post it's 8-23-07. Nearly all 7-11's should have run out of this by now. The only real place to buy it would be eBay.com.-

Drink Review ( Duff Energy Drink )

I drank a Duff Energy Drink - yay. Like the Flaming Moe NRG drink, this one apparently came out awhile ago. Here's another review - hurray.

Taste: 4.5/5 Quite good. Not as good as the Flaming Moe NRG drink, but still good. It tastes a lot like orange pop/soda, really. One of the better NRG drinks I've had behind Flaming Moe NRG drink. If you ask me though, for whatever reason, Duff goes down easier/you can drink more faster.

Smell: 4/5 This has a very faint orange-like smell. There's not much to it, smells like orange pop/soda, but just a little different. Not a strong odor, but it smells nice.

Look: 5/5 The can, while bland, looks exactly like the one from the show. It has the exact same design, beside the fact it says Energy Drink below Duff. Still, like I said, looks like the one from the show.

Overall: 4.5/5 Duff NRG Drink shouldn't disappoint. Many picky people may find the taste pretty disgusting ( it, in a way, has a slightly bitter taste, I guess. ) but I really liked it. Most people won't even drink this ( or the Flaming Moe one ) and will just keep it as a collectable. If you ask me, you should buy two of each can so you can drink one of each.

4.5/5

Notable Nutrition Facts: 12 Oz. Can, 160 Calories, 190mg Sodium, 42g Carbs, 40g Sugar, four different B Vitamins, (Vitamin B5 has 1000% of your daily value - that's not a typo. ) 1000mg Taurine, 120mg Caffeine, and other extracts.

-If any of you are wondering where you can buy a Duff NRG Drink, you can find them at stores such as Spencer's and Hot Topic.-

Drink Review ( Flaming Moe Energy Drink )

Finally, I drank one. The Flaming Moe NRG Drink was worth the wait. It came out awhile ago, but, like I said, I finally had one. My quick little review.

Taste: 5/5 Very good. NRG drink fans will love it. It tastes a lot like a Red Bull, but it has a hint of bubblegum flavor in there somewhere. It's not much, but it's there. One of the best, if not the best, NRG drinks I've ever had.

Smell: 5/5 Smells almost better than it tastes, surprisingly. It would make one amazing candle. It smells like it tastes. It has a Red Bull aroma, mixed with bubble gum.

Look: 4.75/5 The can looks almost perfect. It's bright, colorful, and unique. There is really only a few flaws. First, the energy drink on the can is seen orange, but the drink on the show is purple. Second, there is a quote on the can that says "Fire Made It Better", but the quote actually said from the show is "Fire Made It Good". Still, it looks really cool. As for the drink itself, it's a red-orange color, maybe a bit pinkish.

Overall: 5/5 This long of a review for an NRG drink? What can I say, I'm a Simpsons fan. Anyway, this is a fantastic drink. It's not the same color as it is on the show, but it smells and tastes great, and it may be the best energy drink you've ever had.

5/5

Notable Nutrition Facts: 8.4 Oz. Can, 110 Calories, 170mg Sodium, 30g Carbs, 28g Sugar, four different B vitamins, 1000mg Taurine, 120mg Caffeine, and other extracts.

-If any of you are wondering where you can buy a Flaming Moe NRG Drink, you can find them at stores such as Spencer's and Hot Topic.-

Game Review ( South Park Rally - Nintendo 64 )

Graphics: 4/5 As good as it gets for a South Park game. Looks just like the show.
Sound: 3.75/5 Lines from the show, and that's the only good sound in the game.
Control: 3.5/5 I'll say they're just somewhat frustrating, to be nice.
Fun: 3.5/5 The items ruin this game. They're so unbalanced, and controls aren't good.

DVD Review ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 3 )

I recently got TMNT: Volumes 3, 4, and 5. Here is my Volume 3 review.

NOTE: Volume 3 is the first part of the third season. Volume's 4, 5, and 6 are also all parts of the third season.

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[*] Indicates a "Volume Great"

[*] Beneath These Streets: 4.5/5 The turtles find that Shredder and Krang are still alive, and that they have stolen a Protein Silicon Brain Computer. Splinter is shot with the laser, and he goes into a coma. The turtles try to find the P.S.B.C. to reverse the beam so they can save Splinter.

Turtles on Trial: 4.25/5 The turtles go on a TV show to try and prove to a television host that they are not causing trouble in New York; Krang listens to Shredder and attempts to go to Earth and finish of the turtles for himself.

[*]Attack of the Fifty Foot Irma: 4.75/5 April accidentally zaps Irma with a ray that makes things grow in size. Irma becomes fifty feet tall and wreaks havoc accidentally around the city. Donatello soon makes his own tablet for her to take that helps her shrink in size.

Sky Turtles: 4.25/5 Krang and Shredder come up with an anti-gravity generator and try to take care of the turtles by getting them whie defenseless. However, the Turtles get anti-gravity boots and escape. Krang and Shredder end up escaping once again.

[*]Maltese Hamster: 5/5 Shredder goes around the city to try and find a hamster statue which has a formula to make him the most popular person in the world. Donatello, being the only uncaptured turtle, helps his brothers and gets the statue destroyed.

[*] The Old Switcheroo: 4.75/5 In a mishap between lasers, Shredder and Splinter switch personalities. The turtles manage to figure out that Shredder is actually Splinter's personality, and vice-versa. The turtles trick Shredder's personality into going to the place to get switched back to normal.

April Fool: 4.25/5 Shredder swipes April accidentally, not knowing it was her, and gives her back for a piece of Lydium 90, which would power the Technodrome. However, after Shredder tries to escape with it, the turtles stop him.

[*] The Fifth Turtle: 4.75/5 A little kid ends up getting one of the turtles's Turtle Coms and uses it to act as a fifth Ninja Turtle. Soon, he gets captured by Shredder. The Turtles get him back, and recognize him as a real turtle member and they give him a Turtle Com for saving their hinds.

[*] Turtles at the Earth's Core: 4.75/5 The turtles and Shredder find a way to the past, and the turtles befriend a dinosaur they name Dippy. Shredder tries to get a crystal that will power the Technodrome. After Shredder drops it, Krang says he screwed up and the crystal won't work because of its crack. Dippy, with the help of fellow dinosaurs, break into the Krang's hut and cause a big fiasco.

[*]Enter the Rat King: 4.5/5 April is told to do a report on how rats are taking over the city. April gets captured by the Rat King, and the turtles try to save her. However, while attempting to do so, Splinter temporarily goes under power of the Rat King. The Turtles get Splinter back and defeat the Rat King - for now.

Burne's Blues: 4/5 Burnes becomes a news reporter because of Vernon's statement that he is "too old and fat" to be a detective. Burnes takes Vernon up on that, and becomes a detective, leaving April to do a report on air conditioners not functioning correctly.

Attack of Big MACC: 4.25/5 A robot from the future escapes and comes to the turtle's aid. However, Shredder also wants MACC on his side, and tries to turn him over to "the dark side" if you will. MACC fights Shredder's powers, rescues the captured turtles, and goes back into the future.

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Overall, in the DVD order, the episodes for the most part are best in the middle of the set. There are some absolute classic episodes in this section of the season. As you can see, 7 of the 12 are "Volume Greats", and rightfully so. If you're a fan of the show, this volume is a must buy - no doubt.

4.5/5

Game Review ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 5/5 One of the best looking games on the SNES.
Sound: 4/5 Thwack, bang, boosh, smack, that's about it.
Control: 3.75/5 Not many special moves. A button masher fighting game.
Fun: 4/5 A hard game. Still not too bad though.

Game Review ( Bart's Nightmare - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4.5/5 Graphics look very good for an early SNES game.
Sound: 3.5/5 Sound isn't very good for an early SNES game.
Control: 3.5/5 Controls aren't very good for an early snes game.
Fun: 3.75/5 It's an early SNES game. Not much to this - it makes an okay 5 minute game.

Game Review ( Krusty's Super Fun House- Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 3.5/5 About average for an early generation Super Nintendo game.
Sound: 2.5/5 Krusty sounds like Milhouse's dad, and the music is VERY annoying.
Control: 2.5/5 All you do is jump and pick up bricks. Boring.
Fun: 2.5/5 Like I said, jump and pick up bricks. An uninteresting game.

Game Review ( Ren and Stimpy Show: Fire Dogs - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 3.5/5 Early gen SNES game. Looks pretty bland.
Sound: 3.75/5 Repeated soundtrack, but it isn't all that bad.
Control: 3/5 Quite confusing how this game is layed out.
Fun: 2.75/5 This game is VERY bad. It's hard, and not very Ren and Stimpy esque.

Game Review ( Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4/5 The colors look good for the most part, but they could be better.
Sound: 3.5/5 There are is a little dialogue here and there, but the music stinks.
Control: 3.25/5 Way too simple. Move and kick, and that's about it.
Fun: 3/5 It's hard to find out what you have to do, and the game isn't very fun.

Game Review ( Looney Tunes B-Ball - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4.75/5 Look very sexy on the SNES, but there's only one court to play on.
Sound: 4.25/5 Pretty repetitive sound. Repeated sounds galore, but they sound good.
Control: 4.5/5 Pass, shoot steal, made very simple. Even some L.T. tricks, too.
Fun: 4.5/5 This game is as fun now as it was when I was a kid. A lot of fun.

Game Review ( Nickelodeon GUTS - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4/5 Don't look too bad on the SNES.
Sound: 3.75/5 Repetitive background music, and that's about all you hear.
Control: 2.5/5 Butchers the game. Very annoying controls on most events.
Fun: 3.5/5 Most events are really repetitive. This game was fun as a kid, though.

Game Review ( King of the Monsters 2 - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4.75/5 Awesome looking old school game. The characters and environments rock.
Sound: 4.5/5 The explosions and music is all you hear, but it sound really good.
Control: 4.75/5 It's a button masher and uses two buttons, but it is a lot of fun.
Fun: 4.5/5 Only 3 monsters to use, but this is a very fun arcade style game.

Game Review ( Itchy and Scratchy: The Game - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4.5/5 Not anything too special, but looks great on the SNES.
Sound: 3.5/5 Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive.
Control: 3.75/5 You have to hit Scratchy dead on if you want to take off health.
Fun: 4/5 A fun little Simpsons game that isn't very well known.

Game Review ( Beavis and Butthead - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4.25/5 Nice bright colors. Captures the B&B world quite well.
Sound: 3.75/5 The classic theme, the occasional, "Huh,huh", not much else.
Control: 3.75/5 I have only recently played on an emulator, so hard to judge controls.
Fun: 4/5 The emulators aren't that fun, but this was a blast on the SNES and Genesis.

Game Review ( F-Zero - Super Nintendo )

Graphics: 4/5 Looks good, and runs very well on the SNES.
Sound: 5/5 Words can't describe the sound in this game - best sounding game on SNES.
Control: 4.5/5 Feels really good on the SNES controller, not on computer emulators.
Fun: 4.25/5 A short, but difficult, single player game. No multiplayer - what a shame.

Game Review ( The Simpsons Bowling - Arcade )

A few months back I got to play this game at the arcade. This will be a rarity that I review an arcade game.

Graphics: 4/5 Having been released in 2000, I thought the game looked mighty impressive. The bowling lane is the same all the time, it looks like Barney's Bowl-O-Rama from the show, and the characters look pretty decent, too.

Sound: 3.5/5 The characters occasionally say a few words here and there, but that's it. Then it's just the bowl rolling, and the pins falling.

Control: 4/5 Pretty simple controls. You move your character into the position you want and roll the ball as fast or as slow as you want, pretty cool. You use what is called a TrackBall - I'm sure most arcade players have used it before. it's a ball that's half in the table and half out, and you use it to roll the ball.

Fun: 4/5 For 25c or 50c for six frames (depending on where you live) this is well worth it. The game lasts a decent amount of time, and it's a pretty good arcade game. Definitely worth a few plays.

Game Review ( Superman Returns - 360 )

Graphics: 2.75/5 VERY bad - one of the worst looking games I've seen on the 360. The effects look okay, pretty good actually, but the city looks boring, and some parts look excruciatingly bland.

Sound: 2.5/5 The music score is very repetitive, and the only stuff you hear other than that is just the wind, and the storms.

Control: 2.75/5 Doesn't control too terribly, but they aren't always responsive, and the camera angles are pretty damn bad.

Fun: 2.75/5 Virtual hell to play through. Almost all people will RENT this game and only for achievements, if you do, prepare for some absolute HELL. The only thing that is DECENT about this game is that you can use your wind super power to blow cars down the street and into buildings. That's a lot of fun, actually. Also, you can use cheats in this game, and the achievements still count - uber bonus! Other than that, this game is garbage - one of the worst games on the 360.

2.5/5

DVD Review ( Full House: Season 3 )

It's been awhile, but here's my review for Full House: Season 3.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

Tanner's Island: 3.75/5 The Tanner's get stuck on an island and get lost, but find their way back home.

[*] Back To School Blues: 4.75/5 Stephanie gets worried about having to go to school with DJ in Junior High; DJ gets mad because her and Kimmy have none of the same classes; Jesse and Joey play golf to impress a client.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (In 22 Minutes): 4.25/5 Jesse and Rebecca find out it's normal to not want to do everything else your partner wants to do.

[*] Nerd For A Day: 5/5 Stephanie finds out it's not fun being teased.

Granny Tanny: 4/5 The family acts miserable when Grandma Tanner comes to visit, so they don't have to do anything; Michelle is thrilled when she finds out she's getting a "big girl bed", but is scared when she ends up getting it.

[*] Star Search: 5/5 Joey tries to fulfill his life long dream of being on and winning on Star Search.

[*] And They Call It Puppy Love: 4.5/5 The girls find a stray dog that has puppies and is able to keep one. They eventually name it Comet.

[*] Divorce Court: 4.5/5 Joey, Jesse, and Danny compete in a foot race live on Wake Up, San Francisco! to see who is the better athlete.

[*] Dr. Dare Rides Again: 4.5/5 Jesse finds out he isn't as big of a dare devil he was when he was younger.

[*]The Greatest Birthday On Earth: 4.5/5 Jesse and Stephanie try to keep Michelle's birthday fun while they are locked in a gas station.

Aftershocks: 4/5 Danny gets confused when Stephanie clings to him, and he doesn't know why.

Joey & Stacy... and Jesse: 4/5 Joey pitches an idea without asking Jesse first.

No More Mr. Dumb Guy: 4/5 Jesse feels threatened by one of Becky's old teachers.

[*] Misadventures In Baby Sitting: 4.5/5 DJ gets a job as baby sitter to try and get enough money to have her own phone.

Lust In The Dust: 4.25/5 Everyone finds out why Danny is so particular about girls.

Bye, Bye Birdie: 4.25/5 Michelle tries to do stuff herself but simply does everything wrong in the process.

[*] 13 Candles: 5/5 The guys over react after they spy on DJ's 13th birthday party.

[*] Mr. Egghead: 5/5 Joey gets to be host of his own show as Mr. Egghead, and he accidentally breaks Stephanie's nose - the day before picture day.

[*] Those Better Not Be The Days: 5/5 The adults and kids switch roles for a day, and Danny thinks about what the future could be like.

[*]Honey, I Broke The House: 4.75/5 Stephanie drives Joey's car through the house accidentally, and decides to go to Mexico; Jesse gets jealous when he finds out Becky is going out with a football player.

[*]Just Say No Way: 4.75/5 Danny and the guys accuse DJ of drinking at a school dance, but they find out what really happened when a couple of people come clean.

Three Men And Another Baby: 3.75/5 Jesse and Joey babysit a baby named Tony for a little while, and Michelle gets jealous.

Fraternity Reunion: 4/5 The guys go to a reunion as girls, and Jesse finds out driving in the woods on a motor cycle isn't the best idea.

[*]Our Very First Telethon: 4.5/5 Danny stays up for over 24 hours to practice for a telethon, but falls asleep, leaving DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle, as well as many others, to keep the telethon going.

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For every good episode in this season, there is a bad episode, just like most TV shows. However, the majority of Season 3's episodes are best in the beginning, with hiccups in quality episodes throughout. Still, this is one of the best seasons of Full House ever.

4.75/5

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 9 )

[*]The One Where No one Proposes: 4.5/5 Neither Ross or Joey propose to Rachel; Mr. Gellar finds Monica and Chandler having sex in a closet; Joey tries to avoid watching Rachel breast feed.

The One Where Emma Cries: 4.25/5 Ross breaks his finger trying to punch Joey; Monica and Phoebe try to stop Emma's crying.

The One With The Pediatrician: 4.25/5 Rachel finds out Emma only has hiccups; Monica and Chandler discuss Tulsa.

[*]The One With The Sharks: 4.5/5 Monica thinks Chandler likes shark porn when he's in Tulsa; Joey thinks he slept with someone in an apartment he visited, but can't remember her name.

[*]The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner: 4.5/5 Phoebe's birthday with friends turns out to be a birthday with only Joey.

[*]The One With The Male Nanny: 4.5/5 Ross makes fun of his male nanny; Chandler gets upset when Monica says someone else is the funniest person she's ever met; Phoebe and Mike exchange apartment keys.

[*]The One With Ross's Inappropriate Song: 5/5 Ross makes Emma laugh to "Baby Got Back"; Joey and Chandler find what they think is a sex tape of Monica and Richard.

The One With Rachel's Other Sister: 4.5/5 Amy thinks that she could take better care of Emma alone than Chandler could.

[*]The One With Rachel's Phone Number: 5/5 Joey thinks Monica is cheating on Chandler, but she's just seeing Chandler and he doesn't know about it; Rachel gives her phone number to a guy in a bar; Ross and Mike try to hang out but they have nothing to talk about.

The One With Christmas In Tulsa: 4/5 One of Chandler's co-workers come on to him; Chandler quits his job to go back to New York.

The One Where Rachel Goes Back To Work: 4.25/5 Rachel tries to get her job back because she fears that she might permanently lose it, but she finds out the guy that took her place is a nice guy; Joey gets a spot for Phoebe on his soap.

The One With Phoebe's Rats: 3.75/5 Ross begs Joey to stay away from his new nanny for Emma; Mike learns that Phoebe has pet rats.

[*]The One Where Monica Sings: 5/5 Monica thinks she's a good singer, but guys are just starring at her boobs; Chandler helps Joey with his messed-up eye brows.

The One With The Blind Dates: 4/5 Joey and Phoebe set Rachel and Ross on bad dates on purpose; Monica has to baby sit Emma and gets mad.

[*]The One With The Mugging: 4.5/5 Ross finds out that Phoebe mugged him years ago; Chandler's advertisement job gets a good start.

The One With The Boob Job: 4/5 Joey gets mad at Chandler and tells Monica that Chandler told him she should get a boob job; Phoebe finds out Mike doesn't want to get married.

[*]The One With The Memorial Service: 5/5 Chandler makes fun of Ross on his college website, and the two go back and forth with insults; Joey doesn't let Emma have his stuffed animal.

The One With The Lottery: 4.25/5 Monica buys a lot of lottery tickets, but Phoebe throws them away; Rachel thinks Emma is close to saying her first word.

[*]The One With Rachel's Dream: 4.5/5 Rachel dreams about Joey; Phoebe bothers customers at Monica's restaurant by playing guitar.

[*]The One With The Soap Opera Party: 4.5/5 Ross meets a girl named Charlie; Chandler is stuck at a play alone, which is hilarious, and which is why I give this episode such a good rating. That is one of my favorite jokes in the show. Lol.

The One With A Fertility Test: 4/5 Rachel tries to go to a new masseuse and hopes Phoebe doesn't see her; Ross hides his feelings for Charlie in front of Joey.

The One With The Donor: 4/5 Ross practices for a presentation at Barbados; Phoebe bumps into David; Rachel's mean to Charlie.

The One In Barbados (Pt. 1): 4.25/5 Ross tells Charlie how he feels; Rachel struggles to tell Joey how she feels about him; David and Mike propose to Phoebe.

[*]The One In Barbados (Pt. 2): 4.5/5 Charlie and Joey break up and Rachel tells him how she feels; Monica and Mike go head-to-head in a ping-pong game.

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Friends: Season 9 is another great season. The plus side to this season is that there are virtually no terrible episodes, but the down side is that there aren't many awesome episodes. Still, this season averages a bout a 9/10.

4.5/5

DVD Review: ( The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season )

So it's finally here, The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season. This is my review on what is arguably the last "good" season of the series.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

[*]Lard of the Dance: 4.75/5 Homer finds out that grease can be sold for money, and takes Bart out of school to do it as a side job; Lisa can't find a partner for her school dance, but finds out it doesn't matter in the end because the boys don't want to dance with the girls, and vice versa.

[*]The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace: 4.75/5 Homer realizes he has wasted half of his life doing absolutely nothing, and become fond of Thomas Edison. Homer ends up inventing, for the most part, useless and stupid inventions, with the exception of a hammer than Thomas Edison gets credit for in the end.

[*]Bart The Mother: 4.5/5 Bart accidentally shoots a bird he didn't mean to, and he decides to take care of the eggs. He eventually finds out, though, that the eggs aren't bird eggs, but lizard eggs. The town wants to kill the lizards because they kill the birds in Springfield, but Bart wants to keep them. Eventually, the lizards find a way to freedom, mass produce, and kill birds again.

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Treehouse of Horror IX:
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[*]Hells Toupee: 4.5/5 Snake is executed for getting "3 strikes" at the Quik-E-Mart and vows to have revenge on Apu and Moe. Homer gets a hair transplant, and takes half of the form of Snake. Homer kills Apu and Moe, and while trying to kill Bart, Homer pulls the wig off, turning back to normal.
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[*]The Terror of Tiny Toon: 4.5/5 Bart puts a plutonium rod inside the families remote control for the TV and he and Lisa eventually end up in an Itchy and Scratchy show, where Itchy and Scratchy want to kill them. Homer eventually "rescues" them.
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Starship Poopers" 4.25/5 Maggie grows a fang and tentacles, so Marge tells Homer that Maggie might not be his daughter. Bart suggests they go on the Jerry Springer show to settle the dispute.

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When You Dish Upon a Star: 4.25/5 Homer bumps into Kim Basinger and Alex Baldwin (Literally) and they decide to make him their butler, pretty much. Homer shares with everyone that he is friends with the two of them, they find out, and they "fire" Homer.

D'oh In The Wind: 3.75/5 Homer finds out his middle name is Jay, and he becomes a hippie. Homer ruins a couple of guys's juice company, but manages to get in back in track in the middle of the night.

[*]Lisa Gets An "A": 4.75/5 Lisa becomes addicted to a video game of Bart's and misses a couple days of school. When she returns, she has to do a test on a book she never read. She meets with Nelson and gets a cheat sheet. Ms. Hoover gives her an A+++. Lisa confesses to cheating but the school gets a grant. Meanwhile, Homer fattens up a lobster to sell for money, but ends up becoming attached to it.

Homer Simpson In: "Kidney Trouble": 4.25/5 Grampa needs a new kidney after holding his pee too long due to Homer's negligence. He agrees to let his dad have one, but he flees right before the operation. On a ship he tells people about his story, and they tossed him overboard because of how despicable he treated his dad. Homer eventually offered to offer Grampa a kidney again, fleed again, and then got crushed by a car, resulting in him having to go to the hospital anyway.

[*]Mayored to the Mob: 4.75/5 Homer kicks nerd ass at a Sci-Fi convention, and Mayor Quimby hires him as his body guard. Homer gets Fat Tony locked up for giving rat milk to Springfield Elementary. At a musical, Fat Tony swears to get revenge, and does on Mayor Quimby, despite Homer's efforts at protecting him.

[*]Viva Ned Flanders: 4.5/5 Flanders realizes he has wasted 60 years of his life doing absolutely nothing, and Homer takes him to Las Vegas to do something exciting. While there, Homer and Ned get drunk. They wake up finding out they have two wives. They get kicked out of Nevada, and walk home.

[*]Wild Barts Can't Be Broken: 4.5/5 The kids get a curfew for doing something they didn't do, and do a huge protest throughout Springfield. Soon, the kids pretty much run Springfield, but they are soon stopped. Eventually, there is a curfew for anybody under the age of 70. ( It's tough rating this episode because the beginning half of the episode is really the best part. )

[*]Sunday, Cruddy Sunday: 4.75/5 Homer gets tickets to the Super Bowl, but they turn out to be fake. Homer and a group of friends break into the Super Bowl and get arrested. Dolly Parton breaks them out, and they manage to get into the locker room for the after party.

Homer to the Max: 4/5 Homer watches a TV show called Police Cops that has a main character named Homer Simpson. Homer likes being well-known, but Police Cops changes their character from an intelligent cop, into an ignoramus. Homer then changes his name to Max Drive, but then changes it back.

[*]I'm With Cupid: 4.5/5 Apu tries to make up to his wife Manjula by giving her 7 presents, one a day, for the week of Valentine's Day. Everyone in Springfield becomes jealous, and Homer tries to prevent Apu from writing I <3 Manjula in the sky.

[*]Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers": 4.75/5 Homer buys a Canyonero SUV, but finds out it's a "Soccer Mom" car, and Marge starts driving it. She starts becoming aggressive behind the wheel, and gets stamped with road rage, which she needs to take a class for. Rhino's start stampeding at a zoo that Homer, Bart, and Lisa are at due to a stupid mistake by Homer, and Marge comes to the rescue.

[*]Make Room For Lisa: 4.75/5 Homer ruins the Bill of Rights and a company called Omnitouch builds a cell phone tower right on the roof. The control room takes over Lisa's room, causing her to move into Bart's room. Lisa and Homer end up in sensory deprivation tanks. Lisa realizes she has been too hard on Homer, and in the end Homer takes her to a demolition derby.

[*]Maximum Homerdrive: 5/5 Homer eats a "Sirloin A Lot" steak in a contest between a defending truck driver. The driver dies, and Homer feels bad, so takes himself and Bart into his truck to take over his shipment. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa buy a new doorbell that constantly rings and doesn't stop. Homer confronts a group of truck drivers who tell him that there is a thing on the trucks that drive it for the driver automatically. Homer promises not to tell, but does anyway. Soon, all the truck drivers in Springfield are after him, but he gets away.

The Simpsons Bible Stories: 4/5 While at church, Marge, Lisa, and Bart, fall asleep and dream about biblical stories. Marge: Dreams she is Eve and Homer is Adam. Lisa: Dreams that her and Milhouse rule Egypt. Bart: Spoofs himself as David taking on Goliath. I would give this episode a lower rating for its absolutely bizarre and unrealistic Treehouse of Horror ending, but the stories are pretty good.

Mom and Pop Art: 3.75/5 Homer buys a bareque pit that he has to make himself, and makes it incorrectly. On his way to take it back, a woman says it's artwork, and Homer starts making more mistakes as art. Homer's fans become bored of his repetitiousness so he decides to flood Springfield for attention. I really liked the beginning of this episode, about the first 1/3, but the last 2/3 I really didn't care for.

[*]The Old Man and the "C" Student: 4.75/5 After Bart ruins the opportunity for the Olympics to come to Springfield, every child gets 20 hours of community service. Bart and Lisa work at the Retirement Castle. Bart decides the old people need more fun in their lives, and rents a yacht. As the boat sinks, Homer's springs save them.

Monty Can't Buy Me Love: 4.25/5 Burns gets angry that he isn't a popular billionaire, and flies out to Scotland to find the Lochness Monster, and bring it back to Springfield.

[*]They Saved Lisa's Brain: 4.5/5 Lisa and a group of the most intelligent people in Springfield and control the city; Homer takes sexy pictures for Marge.

[*]Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo: 4.75/5 The Simpsons get tickets to go to Tokyo. While there, they lose their money, and have to participate on a Japanese game show to get plane tickets back to Springfield


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Well, it took me nine days of steady watching, but I finished the season. I honestly think season 10 is one of the best Simpsons seasons ever. After looking back, there are 15 "Season Greats" - 15! That is more than half of the season. Another positive side to this season is that there are very few bad episodes. The bonus features on this DVD are also cool too, including all the prank calls done by Bart to Moe's Tavern through the years, a sneak peek at how they draw the DVD menus, and Buttfinger commercials, as well as the Australian CC's chips commercials, and more. I did notice, however, that Matt Groening missed several commentaries this season, which I thought was strange since he only missed a few total the previous nine seasons. Still, The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season is somewhere in my top four season DVDs for the Simpsons now. Definitely well worth picking up.

4.75/5