Game Review ( Diddy Kong Racing - N64 )

With Diddy Kong Racing DS just around the corner, I thought it'd be a good idea to review Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64.

Graphics: 3.75/5 Diddy Kong Racing came out in '97 but even for the early days of the N64, these graphics weren't as good as they were capable of. The graphics, although screaming with color, are just bland and boring. The framerate is damn good, though, so that is a plus.

Sound: 4/5 The sound for Diddy Kong Racing gets this score because of its music. The music in this game, I thought, was very nice. It may be kiddy and poppy, but it fits the game perfectly, and nothing else could fit better. Preventing it from being a higher score are the somewhat annoying voices, and grunts, made at times by racers.

Control: 3.75/5 Certainly not the best of controls, but they work decently. If you played Mario Kart 64, this is a downgraded version of those controls. Diddy Kong Racing plays like it came out several years before Mario Kart 64 control-wise, and it's kind of aggrivating. The controls are touchy, jerky, and overall don't work well. I blame it on the Nintendo 64's controller, though.

Fun: 4/5 Diddy Kong Racing was a good game in '97, it's a good game here in '07. It may not be quite AS good, but it's a fun game to play. The game may turn off some gamers because of it being more of an adventure-racing game, but I find it unique, and it turned out to be a great idea. The boss battles may get repetetive, coin collecting gets old, unlocking the secret characters isn't the easiest thing in the word, and the game may feel very unrewarding, but it is still a fun game to play a few races with. If you haven't played Diddy Kong Racing, I suggest you do, because it's a nice experience.

4/5

Game Review ( Cars - 360 )

Graphics: 3.75/5 Surprisingly good. This may be rated high, but the graphics really are nice. The cars are nice and shiny, the animation looks great, the framerate just about never drops, and the overall graphics look pretty nice. The main problems are that the enviroments don't look stellar, there are a few glitchy looking spots, and the sense of speed is terrible. When you're going 150 MPH, it looks like you're going 40 MPH at best. But the overall graphics really don't look that bad, and they are not painful at the eyes in any way.

Sound: 4/5 I liked this too. Good voice overs, but that's about it. There are some licensed songs during the races ( Not any that I can think of now ), but there are a few. Not much to say about the sound, except that the voice overs are some of the best I've heard recently.

Control: 3/5 Cars certainly controls weird for normal gamers. Most next-gen games use the right trigger to drive, and left trigger to brake on the 360, but with Cars, you use A to accelerate and X to stop. This is really confusing and hard to get used to if you've played many other racing games on the 360. The camera angle is also pretty annoying, ESPECIALLY in Tractor Tipping, a mini game that could be a game within itself, really.

Fun: 4/5 Cars was a huge surprise. I was expecting nothing out of this game, but I sure was wrong. The game is just a hell of a lot of fun. You can roam around outside of races just for the hell of it, you can get some lessons from Cars characters, you can do mini games, ( Tractor Tipping is a LOT of fun ) customize the paint job on your car, and participate in some big races like in the movie. Cars may get overlooked because of its seemingly kiddy approach, but I'm sure that when you play this game, you will be just as surprised as I was to see that a licensed movie-to-game was actually a lot of fun.

4/5

Game Review ( Pimp My Ride - 360 )

Graphics: 3/5 Probably the best part of the game. Not to say the graphics are really spectacular or anything, because they're not, but the textures look good, the cars don't look bad, and the enviroments look alright. No one would expect much from an MTV game, anyways.

Sound: 3/5 Well, Xzibit is in the game doing voice overs, he has some of his songs on here, and other things. The customers in this game are comical and pretty much LOL funny. They are so obviously fake, it's hilarious. The body movements don't go with the mouth either... what the hell...

Control: 2.75/5 What's there to control? You drive the car around, you go to different garages, you press buttons, and get the item. Wow? What's so cool about that? It's like playing an unbelievably bad version of DDR or something ( without any music ), with the 360 controller.

Fun: 2/5 Pimp My Ride is just really, really, really NOT good. It has potential, and it is decent fun, but it is absolutely repetetive, and there is no reason to play it unless you're an achievement point whore. Even then, you won't really want to play this. You constantly "pimp" rides, by pressing random button combinations. The saddest part is, Pimp My Ride has potential. If you could actually pimp the rides, it would be a lot more fun. But since you just take cars into garages and press buttons, it makes this game repetetive, boring, useless, pointless, and one hell of a bad game.

2/5

Game Review ( Warioware: Smooth Moves - Wii )

Graphics: 4/5 Pretty decent. Most of the game looks pretty cartoony, but when you get to the minigames that feature Gamecube games, the graphics look very nice. It really is pretty hard to rate the graphics, though, given that the game has a very random artsy feel.

Sound: 4/5 Not much to be heard. Yeah there is a little music and a few seconds of sound during the gameplay, but the cut scenes are just annoying and can't be skipped, and the sound has nothing spectacular.

Control: 4.5/5 WW:SM has some very unique controls perfect for the Wii. There are different positions you hold the Wii remote to do certain mini games, and the game tells you before each one. Also, on the final stage of the game, you can use the nunchuk. Pretty nice control, although not perfect.

Fun: 4.25/5 Warioware: Smooth Moves is a good game, just not the best game. It gets repetetive if you play it a long while non-stop, but in short bursts, it's great. There are also unlockable mini games that are also pretty fun. Warioware: Smooth Moves may not be the best game on the Wii, but it certainly is one of the better ones.

4.25/5

Hardware Review ( Xbox 360 Wireless Headset )

I bought one of these instead of getting a wired one after finding out that the wired headsets break often and quite easily. My first impression when I opened up the box for this thing was pretty much "Wow". The headset is absolutely tiny. It is maybe 3.5 inches long and it looked strange. I quickly attempted to use it, only to find out the headset ( for whatever reason ) wouldn't work on my 360. I called EB Games and they said to call customer service, so I did. They said " It's an uncommon problem, but it does happen to some people. You should just return it for a new one and it should work." Yeah. SHOULD work. I got another one, came back, still no luck. My problem was that whenever I turned on my headset, it would go to the first ring of light. But when I turned my wireless controller on, it would move it to the second ring of light, and I could never get both on the same ring. The wired controller worked fine with the wireless headset, but not the wireless controller.

Overall, the thing looks pretty cool, but for whatever reason, doesn't work well. It has an 8 hour rechargable battery life, ( Which is long, but not long enough for HARDCORE gamers. ) The headset doesn't even feel right on your ear. When you move your head, it feels like it will fall off. The headset isn't reliable, either. Another flaw with it is that it doesn't pick up sound as well, and the sound coming out of the headset is kind of grainy and sounds strange. I really don't recommend the 360 Wireless Headset. You are much better off with the $20 "wired" headset, and just use that instead. They may be fragile, but the $60 headset just isn't worth it.

Not Recommended

2/5

Game Review ( Sonic the Hedgehog - 360 )

Sonic the Hedgehog is finally making his first appearance on the next generation consoles, and we were all hoping for a huge turn around. Sonic's games have sucked to say the least since Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Graphics: 2/5 The intro looks great. The graphics shine and look really next-gen. The in-game cut scenes don't look too bad most of the time, but the graphics look terrible in-game. Sonic and the gang don't look too bad, but the surroundings ( especially in the main city itself ) look mediocre to say the least. There is little to look at, the city is a desert town, the people you talk to look terrible, and everything is god awful. Not to mention there are quite a few glitches, ( You will sometimes get stuck on a wall and be unable to move at times ) and the framerate drops really low at times. The load times are also long as hell - I'd like to know why! Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the worst looking 360 games to date.

Sound: 1.5/5 Oh by god. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Silver, Shadow, and the others all offer terrible voice overs. Tails is byfar, though, the absolute worst. Also, when you talk to someone in town they always make the same annoying grunt noise depending on age and gender. You will constantly hear an old man grunt, woman grunt, man grunt, or little kid grunt, which is really aggrivating. There aren't any voiceovers for the civilians, either. ( Thank god. ) The background music is also pretty stupid and pointless. This game plays better on mute.

Control: 2/5 The control is what I thought was the worst part of the game in the demo, but now that I've played the full version, I find it is best. ( It still is terrible. ) The characters are very twitchy and sensitive to the slightest movement, meaning you will result in many deaths that aren't even your fault. The camera is adjustable, but useless, because the map in this game is useless. It doesn't rotate when you do, and it's somewhat difficult trying to know where you're going. My advice: don't bother with the map. Fend for yourself.

Fun: 2/5 There is very little to say what's good about this game. The only real thing I can think of is that it's a Sonic game. I love Sonic. I hate his games he's made in the last decade, though. You play as Sonic at first, but you eventually unlock the ability to play as Silver and Shadow on seperate stories. You can play as Tails at times, too. There is offline multiplayer in this game, but it is pointless, since the game isn't fun to begin with. The only person that could possibly want to play this game is a little kid, or a nerd addicted to achievement points. And if you can get all of the achievement points in this game without hanging yourself, I salute you, because this game is just that bad.

1.5/5

Game Review ( Fight Night: Round 3 - 360 )

Graphics: 4.75/5 This game really looks great. The character models look damn good, and you will not get over the awesome effect after you knock someone out. The rings also look good, however, the fans and other characters do not look 360ish at all. Also, you will notice occasionally glitches, like when you knock someone out their leg will twitch uncontrollably, and there will be times when your arm will go through your opponents arm, but that's about it. This is a great looking game.

Sound: 4.75/5 The commentary in this game, to me, is some of the best of any sports game. The commentator's voice is really clear and he doesn't repeat too much of the same lines - unless you are a boxer like Muhammed Ali, Joe Frasier, or another very famous boxer. The trainers say a lot of the same old between rounds, but that's forgiven. The game even has a pretty good soundtrack. I'm not one to like rap, but there are some pretty good songs in this game. A good soundtrack plus good voice overs makes for just about perfect sound.

Control: 4.5/5 Fight Night: Round 3 has introduced the haymaker as well as other special moves which are hard to learn at first, but after learning them, you won't want to play another boxing game. You can control your punches with the right stick, and use the right bumper and A to unleash special moves for your fighter - which you can unlock in the Fight Store.

Fun: 4.5/5 Fight Night: Round 3 is one of the best 360 games. You can make a boxer, pick a proffesional and bring him to the top, buy stuff from the fight store, heal your boxer during a fight, train your boxer, and more. There is also online play, which isn't bad - it's just that not too many people play it anymore. Before playing this game, I had no real interest in boxing games - I thought they seemed stupid. Now after playing Fight Night, I must say my opinion has changed.

4.5/5

Game Review ( Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam )

Tony Hawk hits the Wii for the first time in a game that is probably the worst of all the Tony Hawk games.

Graphics: 3/5 THDJ does not look good. It can easily be compared to an early generation PS2 or Xbox game - Tony Hawk's Proskater 3 looks better than this game. THDJ is colorful, but bland, and levels that should be fun aren't because they are short, and boring to look at.

Sound: 3.5/5 The only decent part of this game is the sound. It has a decent soundtrack ( for the Scream-O fans ) and that's just about all it has. The voiceovers are nothing spectacular, either, therefore leaving the sound damn near mediocre.

Control: 3.25/5 Many Wii owners or players have commented on this games unique and effective controls - what game are they playing? You will find yourself struggling to control your skater and avoid from hitting walls. The controls are pretty atrocious - they need a lot of work.

Fun: 2.75/5 THDJ is just not a fun game in any way for a fan of the series. There are quite a few skaters to play as, ( No professionals except for Tony Hawk ) there's a nice selection of levels, ( though they are very short for the most part ) a decent selection of skateboards, ( no name brands what-so-ever ) among many other flaws. The best thing about THDJ is that there is a lot of customizing you can do. But you will find ( more likely than not ) yourself spending more time customizing your character than playing the game itself. I'm very dissapointed in THDJ and I hope the next installment will improve upon - well - everything.

2.75/5

Game Review ( Gears of War: Map Pack 1 )

As most of us Gears of War fans know, two new maps were just released via download for free in the Xbox Live Market Place. This is my review on the two maps.

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Raven Down: This map takes place around a crashed Raven helicopter in the middle of a tiny area. Raven Down is hated by many, liked by few.
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PROs: Great map for shotgun duels because it's so small; no boomshots, torque bows, or snipers; Pretty damn easy to flank.

CONs: Any grenade tagger can get you right in the back because it is so easy to flank; no "special weapons" may be a turn off for many; RD is really a small map - but is that really a con?

Verdict: Raven Down is really going to be a love-hate map for most, but for me, I love this map. I love how it's basically a shotgun fest ( since I'm good at shotgunning ) and how you can flank so easily, but flanking easily means the opposing team can too, and that's obviously annoying. In my opinion, Raven Down is obviously a great map for the price, ( $0! ) and it's actually a pretty damn good one, making it well worth a download.

5/5

~~~~~~~~~~

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Old Bones: This map takes place in what seems to be a combination of the two Gears of War maps mausoleum and mansion. It's a really even map with two sides to flank, and one center to pwn some noobs.
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PROs: Great for those who love mausoleum and/or mansion; fun map to play; pretty solid map for snipers; flanking isn't cheap, as it is hard to secretly get around without being noticed.

CONs: Some may get turned off by the level design; no torque bow or boomshot; some may get lost their first few games.

Verdict: Old Bones is a much bigger map than Raven Down, probably making this map the map of choice of the two for those who love to snipe, or just camp out. To me, this map is really fun, but this is nothing more really than a combination of mausoleum and mansion, not really making it seem like a new map. It all seems to familiar. Either way, this is still a really fun map to play, and it will definitely get played a lot from now ( as well as Raven Down ) until Gears of War's final days. ( What final days? )

4.5/5

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Raven Down and Old Bones are two great additions into the game - it's about time we got some new maps. It has also been confirmed that Epic will be releasing more maps, but not free of download. See you on GoW.

Game Review ( Elite Beat Agents - DS )

Graphics: 4.25/5 Elite Beat Agents ( EBA ) doesn't have the best graphics of all the DS games, but they sure are good. The comic book anime look is really vivid and colorful. The agents themselves during the songs look kinda blocky, but they aren't too bad.

Sound: 4.75/5 There are 19 songs in this game, I believe, 3 of which are unlocked. The covers for the songs for the most part aren't great, but they are good. Guitar Hero 1/2 certainly have better covers, but this game is still pretty good.

Control: 4.75/5 The control in this game is certainly different. The object of the game is to tap the objects in beat, in sequence, and on time for more points. Sounds simple? Believe me when I say it's not. Great control, but it seems that sometimes the notes are off with the song somewhat.

Fun: 4.5/5 EBA is a solid DS game and one of the better titles to come out for awhile. The game is completely random and unique, but a lot of fun. Every console has their music/rhythm game, and for the DS, this is it. This is a great game that may get over looked by most adults. You can get your rank up to unlock the secret songs, and you can play co-op or against a friend. Sadly there are only 19 songs, but at the end of the credits it says "To Be Continued..." so we'll see if a sequel is coming - hopefully soon.

Best thing about Elite Beat Agents: The fact that the songs are so random and that they are set in random stages.

Worst thing about Elite Beat Agents: Not even 20 songs!

Note: I'm sure you'll find Canned Heat familiar; it's from Napoleon Dynamite's dancing scene in the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

4.5/5

Hardware Review ( DS Lite - Onyx Black )

The DS Lite came out in about the Summer of '06 in the U.S. and was released to replace the old somewhat clunky and heavy original Nintendo DS. My review.

Pros: About 40% smaller than the original DS, longer battery life, more brightness levels, sexy, shiny, has a hollow/blank cartridge used to fill the empty GBA game slot, thicker stylus.

Cons: Buttons could use some work and feel somewhat broken, looks like Finger Print City on the Onyx Black version, GBA games stick out a little bit from the bottom of the Lite, contains no wrist strap.

Overall, the DS Lite isn't a bad pick up. It costs $129.99 and if you don't already have a DS, this is surely the one to get. Although there are some annoying little flaws with it, you will get used to them. I give the DS Lite:

4.5/5

Nice improvement over the original Nintendo DS.

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 6 )

After starting off great then going downhill, Friends started to get better again in season 5. This is my review of season 6 - let's see if it's as good or better than the last season.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

The One After Vegas: 4/5 Ross and Rachel realize that they did get married and Ross says he'll get an annulment.

[*]The One Where Ross Hugs Rachel: 4.5/5 Monica tells Rachel that Chandler is moving in with them, but Rachel doesn't understand that Chandler is taking her place.

The One With Ross's Denial: 4.25/5 Ross tries to deny he has no feelings for Rachel; Chandler and Monica fight over what to do with the spare bedroom.

[*]The One Where Joey Loses His Insurance: 4.75/5 Joey loses his health insurance; Rachel finds out Ross is still her husband.

[*]The One With Joey's Porsche: 4.5/5 Joey finds keys to a Porsche and acts like it is his by standing around it, cleaning it, and doing other things besides drive it; Chandler, Monica, and Phoebe babysit triplets; Ross and Rachel try to end their marriage.

[*]The One On The Last Night: 4.5/5 Chandler "loses" to give money to Joey without him knowing; Rachel moves in with Phoebe.

The One Where Phoebe Runs: 4.25/5 Rachel and Phoebe run together, but Rachel hates the way Phoebe runs and finds it embarassing; Chandler tries to clean Monica's apartment but forgets where everything goes; Joey gets an Australlian female room mate.

[*]The One With Ross's Teeth: 4.5/5 Ross whitens his teeth for a date with Monica's co-worker; Phoebe makes out with who she thinks is Ralph Lauren; Rachel spreads rumors that she sleeps with Ralph Lauren.

[*]The One Where Ross Got High: 4.75/5 Rachel makes a disgusting Thanksgiving dinner; Chandler is disliked by Ross's parents because Ross lied to them about him; Joey and Ross want to go to Janine's Thanksgiving party.

The One With The Routine: 4/5 Janine invites Monica and Ross to the Rockin' New Year with Dick Clark; Joey and Janine kiss; Rachel and Phoebe look for their Christmas presents.

[*]The One With The Apothecary Table: 4.5/5 Janine tells Joey she thinks Monica and Chandler are boring; Rachel buys something from Pottery Barn and lies to Phoebe about it.

The One With The Joke: 4/5 Chandler and Ross argue over a joke published in Playboy magazine; Phoebe gets Monica mad at her.

[*]The One With Rachel's Sister: 4.5/5 Monica tries to convince Chandler she's not sick when she really is; Rachel's sister Jill comes to New York.

[*]The One Where Chandler Can't Cry: 4.5/5 Chandler admits he hasn't cried since childhood; Rachel tries to stop Jill from makign a move on Ross.

The One That Could Have Been ( Pt. 1 ): 4/5 A flashback episode after Rachel finds out Barry and Mindy are getting divorced. Rachel is obsessive over Joey; Monica is still fat and dating a doctor; Chandler writes to Archie comics; Ross is married to Carol; and Phoebe works for Wall Street.

The One That Could Have Been ( Pt. 2 ): 4.5/5 Ross and Carol have a threesome; Rachel kisses Joey; Chandler and Monica have sex; Rachel catches Barry cheating.

The One With The Unagi: 4/5 Phoebe and Rachel take self-defense classes; Chandler forgets to make Monica a Valentine's gift, and gives her a fake mixed tape; Monica forgets to get Chandler a present too.

The One Where Ross Dates A Student: 4/5 Rachel and Phoebe's apartment catches on fire; Ross dates a student.

[*]The One With Joey's Fridge: 4.75/5 Joey's fridge breaks, and he blames everyone else for breaking it - hoping he can money he doesn't have to buy a new one.

The One With The Mac And C.H.E.E.S.E.: 4/5 Joey auditions for the lead in a show called Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E. This is a sort of flashback episode.

[*]The One Where Ross Meets Elizabeth's Dad: 4.5/5 Ross meets Elizabeth's dad. ( Guest starring: Bruce Willis )

[*]The One Where Paul's The Man: 4.5/5 Ross and Elizabeth go to Paul's cabin ( Elizabeth's dad ) not knowing Rachel and Paul had the same plans; Chandler tells Monica about his plans.

The One With The Ring: 4/5 Phoebe helps Chandler find a ring for Monica for his proposal.

[*]The One With The Proposal ( Pt. 1 ): 4.75/5 Chandler's plan to propose doesn't workout after Richard meets them in a restaurant.

[*]The One With The Proposal ( Pt. 2 ): 4.75/5 Richard tells Monica he still loves her; Phoebe and Rachel fight over back-ups; Chandler and Monica get engaged.

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Friends: Season 6 is definitely one of the best so far. It maintains a lot of good jokes, and there are a lot of entertaining episodes. Friends: Season 6 isn't a perfect season, since every show has seasons with some bad episodes, but overall, it's one of the most balanced seasons of Friends so far.

4.5/5

Game Review ( Rayman: Raving Rabbids - Wii )

Graphics: 3.75/5 Rayman: Raving Rabbids ( RRR ) really doesn't have impressive graphics. We all know that the Wii can do better than this. The graphics are blurry, and not too interesting, although there is a good framerate and what-not.

Sound: 4.5/5 RRR has some better sound for the Wii. The rabbids sound as weird as they did in the commercial, and there are licensed songs, like Rapper's Delight, Misirlou, along with others.

Control: 4.25/5 Although the controls in RRR really demonstrate what the Wii Remote is capable of, the mini-games are too much alike. Also, you will run into minigames that are frustrating as hell. ( Ex. There is a minigame early in the game where you have to pick pigs up with a bat and drop then in a pen. Not that easy - more frustrating than anything. )

Fun: 4.5/5 Although RRR has a load of flaws, including the pretty poor graphics and not-so-good controls, the fact that it has virtually no story, and somewhat repetetivity, it is still a fun and senseless game. This game probably won't last as long or be as fun without a friend, but even alone, RRR is still a great experience and is in my opinion one of - if not the best - Wii game available right now. Sure, LoZ: TP gets a lot of attention, but RRR doesn't get enough. If you have a Wii, this is a game worth renting, but even more worth buying.

4.5/5

DVD Review ( Family Guy: Volume 1 )

SEASON 1:

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

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[*] Death Has A Shadow: 4.5/5 Peter gets drunk and has a hangover, leading to him getting fired from work. Peter eventually gets $150,000 a week from the government accidently. While in court, Stewie gets Peter off the hook with a mind control device.

[*]I Never Met The Dead Man: 4.5/5 Lois has Peter stop watching TV and spend more time with his family. Peter teaches Meg to drive, meanwhile, Stewie devises a plan to stop the growth of broccoli everywhere.

Chitty Chitty Death Bang: 4/5 Meg meets a friend that is actually a member of a cult; Peter lets Meg go out for Stewie's birthday; Stewie gets his birthday confused.

[*]Mind Over Murder: 4.5/5 Stewie suffers over teething; Peter punches what he thinks is a man at a soccer game; Lois sings in her basement at Peter's bar.

A Hero Sits Next Door: 4/5 Peter injures a baseball player, and it's up to him to get a new one. He finds a new baseball player that is in a wheel-chair, who turns out to be really good. Since the cripal gets all the attention, Peter tries to prevent a robbery at the Quahog bank.

The Son Also Draws: 3.75/5 While on their way to New York to get Chris back in the scouts, the family stops at a casino where Lois bets her car at a slot machine. Peter learns Chris hates the scouts, but has a liking for drawing.

[*]Brian: Portrait Of A Dog: 4.5/5 Brian refuses to do what Peter says in a dog show, and leaves the Griffin's house. Becoming a stray, he gets taken downtown where he is scheduled to be put to sleep. Peter gives a speech, and Brian gets off the hook.

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Family Guy Season 1 is a pretty good start to a good show. Although the episodes are nothing compared to what they would be in later years, this was not a bad season by any means.

- More reviews as I watch the episodes. -

Game Review ( Madden '07 - Wii )

Graphics: 3.5/5 The graphics in Madden '07 is a mixed. The overall in-game graphics look to be about Xbox graphics, but on the sidelines when it shows referees and head coaches, they look unbelievably bad - definitely the worst looking graphics in a Wii game to date. Overall, though, the graphics are just fair.

Sound: 4.25/5 Madden is back and calls the plays, which makes the game a bit more enjoyable, but the commentators repeat a lot of the same old.

Control: 4.25/5 This is great use of the Wiimote/Nunchuk. The controls may be confusing at first, but when you get used to them, you may not want to go back to the standard controller. There are some bugs that need to be fixed, but the control is pretty solid for a first try.

Fun: 4.25/5 Madden '07 for the Wii is just a lot of fun. The only real reasons why my score isn't higher is that the graphics aren't what they should be since the Wii is capable of better, the control isn't quite there yet, and the game is just really easy for the most part, and you will break big plays often. This is still a great and unique experience for football fans.

4.25/5

Game Review ( Zuma - iPod Video )

Graphics: 4.75/5 Zuma looks nothing short of amazing on the iPod Video. The graphics are crystal clear with great color effects. Although the game does slow down sometimes, ( rarely ) it looks very, very good.

Sound: 4/5 Better sound than most iPod Video games; there isn't much of it, but what you hear is good. The background music is one thing that draws you into this game a lot just by continuously repeating "Zuma, Zuma".

Control: 3.75/5 Blah... the control. This game seems perfect for the iPod, but the frog in the middle doesn't turn quite on cue with what you are doing with your thumb on the clickwheel. It isn't TOO frustrating really, but it will mess you up ocassionally.

Fun: 4.5/5 Best played in short 15-20 minute bursts, Zuma is still easily the best game you can buy right now off of iTunes. The graphics makes a fun game even better, and the addicting gameplay will help you kill time where ever you go. Sure, Zuma has little depth being as how it has 9 stages, but it is just what you want whether you're on the bus, at lunch, waiting at a doctor's appointment, or anything else, since it is just so easy to jump in and play. Zuma is most definitely worth the $5. Strange how a game for only $5 can be this much fun.

4.75/5

Game Review ( Vortex - iPod Video )

Graphics: 4.25/5 iPod Videowise, I guess you could call these graphics stunning. The pipe can you bounce your ball up and down has some great looking textures and color, really drawing you into the game a hell of a lot. Really nice.

Sound: 2/5 There is so little sound to be heard, it's almost not there. You can hear the bricks when you hit them, and when it bounces off your paddle, but that's virtually it. There's nothing there. But again, like all iPod Video games, you can play your music while playing this game.

Control: 4.75/5 Very innovative and original idea. You control the paddle around the pipe with the click wheel, and bounce the ball off at the blocks. Very cool idea, although at times, the paddle gets stuck.

Fun: 4/5 Vortex is a pretty decent game. The game trods along extremely slow at first, taking what seems forever to beat a single level, but after the first 5-10 levels, it speeds up, and gets even more fun. It's not the best game iTunes has to offer, but it is pretty good. I'd say it's worth the $5.

4/5

Game Review ( Mini Golf - iPod Video )

Graphics: 3.5/5 Mini Golf has meh graphics. The colors look nice and clear on the iPod Video's screen, but the graphics look like nothing more than a cell phone game. The animations are REALLY bad; especially one of the courses where there is a bear on top of a ball upside down. Wtf?

Sound: 3/5 Really pretty decent for the little amount there is. Each course ( 3 in all ) has its own tune. It gets repetetive, but like all iPod games, you can listen to your music on your iPod while playing.

Control: 4.25/5 This is the best it will get on the iPod for a golf game. It is somewhat hard to aim the ball where you want to, because as you get it where you want and you take your finger off, the aimer moves a bit. A little frustrating, but it isn't too bad. It all works well.

Fun: 4.25/5 Mini Golf is pretty much what you think it would be. Quick injections of putt-putt action. There are 54 holes total ( 18 on each course ), and it is really quite fun. There is also a Play n' Pass mode in which you can play with more than one person. There is also a stat-tracker, and practice mode. Although the game is extremely easy, and fan of flash putt-putt games will love this game. It doesn't last long at all, but for $5, it's a deal.

4.25/5

Game Review ( Pacman - iPod Video )

Graphics: 4.25/5 I realize this is just a cheap little game made for the iPod, but the graphics shine on the iPod Video. The colors look bright and really sharp, making the game look outstanding.

Sound: 3/5 Same bleeps and bloops, but with a little bit of a downgrade. You hear nothing besides that.

Control: 3.5/5 The control takes some getting used to. Instead of making hard clicks with the clickwheel up,down,left, and right, you have to scroll by rotating the wheel. It's not too bad, but I think Apple wanted to be cool, and I think they failed. This control scheme will have you dying quite a bit.

Fun: 3.25/5 Pacman for the iPod Video is good in a few ways. It has some really nice graphics, and high scores, but the fact that you get 3 free continues after dying defeats the purpose is ridiculous. Also, the controls are far from good, and the $5 price tag is just a rip-off. I recommend ( unless you're a fan of the original ) you stay away from this game. It's not good.

3/5

DVD Review ( Robot Chicken: The Complete First Season )

Robot Chicken is without a doubt the weirdest and most random shows you will ever see in your life. However, it may also be on of the best. Robot Chicken is a show made in clay and action figures and portrays real events and not-so real events. This is a great show that shouldn't be missed by any fan of random humor, sick humor, or just comedy in general. Damn near anyone will love this show if they haven't seen it yet. The only real flaw with the show though is that it can have boring skits, but those come very seldomly. Definitely buy this boxset. And for the price, ( Should be about $26 at a Best Buy ) you can't go wrong.

5/5

DVD Review ( Full House: Season 1 )

Full House gets off to people as a "kiddy show", and maybe it is, but it's a great show to stray away from other shows of more adult humor. Full House has some annoying "bonding" scenes, but the show still has some great actors, making for a really fun show for anyone accepting of the shows attitude to watch and enjoy.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

[*] Our Very First Show: 4.5/5 Danny's mom moves out; Jessie and Joey move in; DJ moves into the garage because she wants her own room instead of sharing with Stephanie.

Our Very First Night: 4.25/5 Jesse lets the girls stay up late, and they order pizza and have ice cream.

The First Day Of School: 4.25/5 Stephanie gets nervous about her first day of school; DJ doesn't want to be in the smart class.

[*] The Return Of Grandma: 4.5/5 Danny's mom refuses to clean up his and everyone elses mess; Jesse says a turtle saved his life.

Sea Cruise: 4/5 Danny tries to go on a "manly trip" by going fishing with the guys, but the captain of the ship isn't a guy;Danny gets mad at Caroline and Jesse gets mad at Roxanne.

[*] Daddy's Home: 4.5/5 Father/Daughter day goes great for the Tanner's until it ends; Danny realizes Michelle doesn't even know that he is her dad; Joey takes Jesse's motorcycle out for a ride and changes his style.

Knock Yourself Out: 4.25/5 Jessie and Joey try to take care of Michelle while she is sick, and find it not as easy as it seems.

[*]Jessie's Girl: 4.5/5 Corinna finds Joey attractive, and kisses him, but Jessie doesn't know that Corinna likes Joey and not him.

[*]The Miracle of Thanksgiving: 4.75/5 The whole family has difficulty trying to celebrate Thanksgiving without Pam.

[*]Joey's Place: 5/5 Joey feels neglected from the family, and get's frustrated with everyone ignoring him. Little does he know, Dan and Jessie have a surprise for him.

[*]The Big Three-O: 5/5 Danny is worried about turning... turning... 30 in this episode. Bullet takes a swim, and Jessie and Joey try to get Danny a new car.

[*]Our Very First Promo: 5/5 The family believes there is a monster in the house, and Jessie searches to find out what it is. Danny and his family get interviewed for a TV show, but his family is completely set up.

[*]Sisterly Love: 4.5/5 DJ attempts to get the role in an "Oats Boats" commercial, but Stephanie gets the part instead, and a feud starts between them.

Half A Love Story: 4/5 Jesse meets a woman that shows up at Danny's house.

[*]A Pox In Our House: 4.75/5 Some of the Tanner's get chicken pox. Will D.J. ditch a slumber party to babysit for Danny?

But Seriously, Folks: 4/5 Joey ditches comedy; D.J. decides she doesn't want to learn how to play the guitar.

[*]Danny's Very First Date: 4.5/5 Danny decides to go out on a date, but D.J. and Stephanie wonder if Danny still loves their mom.

[*]Just One Of The Guys: 5/5 D.J.'s cousin comes over for a visit, but she discovers he's grown up and doesn't want to do anything she wants to do.

The Seven Month Itch (Pt.1): 4.25/5 Jesse feels trapped in "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood", and decides that he should move out.

[*]The Seven Month Itch (Pt.2): 4.75/5 Jesse gets a phone call from D.J. and Stephanie about Michelle being sick, so he rushes home to find out it was a lie that the girls told to have him stay at the house.

[*]Mad Money: 4.5/5 Danny reminds Joey of a time he gave some money to him, but never got payed back; Jesse dresses up as Elvis and sings on stage.

[*]D.J. Tanner's Day Off: 4.5/5 D.J. finds a way to cut school to go and get Stacy Q's autograph with Kimmy. While out to get an autograph for her, Joey finds D.J. and takes her home.

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Although Full House: Season 1 starts with less than spectacular episodes, the middle and later episodes are absolutely phenomenal and just scratch the surface of how great Full House really is. Virtually every episode from beginning to the end of the season teach a life lesson, and the stories for the most part are really good, especially thanks to Dan Cloutier and John Stamos for excellent acting. Anyone and everyone should sit down and watch Full House, anyone that has a soul will find the show is a great stray from TV shows full of violence, or swearing, and shows life lessons, and some witty humor. Full House is a great show for the whole family. Season 1 is just a great start to a freakishly underrated TV series.

4.5/5

DVD Review ( Jackass: The Boxset )

Jackass was one of the most popular shows ever on MTV, but it was cancelled after only 3 seasons. Thankfully, MTV has put the entire series on DVD and in this boxset for only $45. The biggest problem most people have with this DVD set understandably, is that the skits are not in episode order, and the episodes are also censored. Not like we want to see Johnny Knoxville's, Chris Pontius's, Steve-O's, or anyone elses dicks, but the language is also censored. Hell, even middle fingers are censored. It isn't too bothersome, but for Christ sake's this is a DVD not the TV show. Overall, this is a good boxset. Although some skits are pretty unentertaining/just stupid, majority is great. The DVD also features a little colored book that describes how the show started. Also, there is a bonus disc with a ton of extras. Cribs for Steve-O, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, and Pontius ( before and after ). There is also a "Where are they know" extra that is about 45 minutes long. All very interesting and fun to watch. The whole DVD is quite long ( I want to say 6 hours, although it could be a lot longer or a bit shorter ) Either way, a Jackass fan surely should buy this set. It's censored to an extent, but it is still fun to watch.

4.75/5

Game Review ( Excite Truck - Wii )

Graphics: 4/5 Excite Truck doesn't really have too great of graphics. The game runs amazingly smooth with absolutely no signs of framerate drop ever, but the graphics don't do it. We all know the Wii has no graphical power like the PS3 or 360, but Nintendo can do better.

Sound: 3/5 Terrible. The terrible generic guitaring in this game is simply annoying, and the trucks sound pretty crappy. Good thing there's a sound setting.

Control: 4.5/5 This game really shows the Wii's controlling capabilities again. You turn the Wii-mote sideways, and twist it all around to play the game. It may be strange at first, but it is hella addicting - it's like playing an arcade racing game at home.

Fun: 4.25/5 Excite Truck is really one of the best launch titles for the Wii. Although the game has little depth and most people will complete the game fairly quickly, it is great nonsensical fun. This game is best played only a few races at a time - but it is still fun to even watch, making this a good party game. ( Although multiplayer is only 1-on-1 matches with no A.I. ) Excite Truck should definitely be the game of choice for any little kid getting a Wii, or anybody for that matter, that just wants to have a great new experience.

4.25/5

Game Review ( Wii Sports - Wii )

Graphics: 3.5/5 Nintendo obviously made the graphics like this on purpose, but they really aren't even sharp. The graphics are a little blurry, uninspired, and pretty bland as well as uninteresting.

Control: 4.5/5 Most of the games are spot on controlwise, which really shows off the Wii's reactant speed. If you know how to play the sport, you play it the same way on the Wii, and it's just as effective.

Sound: 3.5/5 The sound is pretty sad. You really can't hear much, and when you do, it's just little rhythms that were put into the game. Nothing terrible, and nothing interesting.

Fun: 4.25/5 Wii Sports is just a great game - and it comes free with your Wii. You can train yourself in each of the five sports ( baseball, boxing, tennis, golf, bowling ) and even find your fitness age. The best games are definitely baseball and bowling, but tennis is also fun. Golf is okay once you get used to the funky controls, but boxing is just aggrivating, since it really doesn't do what you want to when you want to. Overall, Wii Sports is still a great game that can entertain nearly anybody of any age.

4.25/5

Game Review ( Rainbow Six: Vegas - 360 )

Graphics: 4/5 The graphics of Vegas are good in some areas, not so much in others. For instance, the animations look good, the enviroments for the most part look good, but the overall graphics around those areas are just bland and uninteresting. However, when you play this game in single player, the game looks much better. It's hard to understand - maybe the graphics were downgraded in online play to prevent a lot of lag?

Sound:4.5/5 RSV has some great sound. The guns all sound different, and the frag grenades and bullets can be heard from accross the map. Although there isn't much else to be heard, it sounds great; even the little things are noticed. When you step on paper and glass, the noise is heard.

Control: 4.5/5 This game can be hard to control for beginners, but most FPS fans will learn to play this game quite quickly with little to no hassel at all. What makes Vegas so unique is that you can hide behind walls, as well as lean out to make attacks. Nice.

Fun: 4.75/5 Although the graphics, sound, and control aren't quite perfect, the game damn near is fun-wise. There are several ranks that you can get up by playing a lot of matches to unlock several things including camoflauge, armor, and guns. The maps for the most part are really fun to play, which adds to the experience. But even though the game is called Vegas, few maps are actually inside of a casino, which is kind of depressing. Either way, this game is great. Offline is decent, but online Co-Op is a blast, since you can play with 3 other friends, and the online matches are hugely entertaining. This is one of the finest FPSs you can buy, and it's right on your 360.

4.75/5

Game Review ( Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - 360 Arcade )

Geometry Wars became freakishly popular in Project Gotham 2 for the Xbox, and has been remade and thrown into the 360 arcade. My review.

Graphics: 4.5/5 I can't help but love these graphics. Sure there is nothing much to look at, but the colors look sweet, the explosions look amazing, and the game looks like fireworks galore. This is one part of the game that really draws you in.

Sound: 4/5 There isn't much to be heard. Crappy menu music is annoying, but actually, the in-game sound isn't too terribly bad. Not the game's high point, but it fits the game's style.

Control: 4.5/5 This is a unique way of playing. You use the left analog stick to move, and the right analog stick to shoot and maneuver fire. Unique, and cool.

Fun: 4.5/5 Geometry Wars is really an excellent game from the 360 Arcade. It only costs 400 MSP, and it is a hell of a lot of fun to play. Online multiplayer would be nice, but you can still upload your scores on Xbox Live. Geometry Wars is hard and certainly has a learning curve, but with the low price it costs and the fact that it is so addicting just makes this a game that shouldn't be missed by anyone with a 360.

4.5/5

DVD Review ( The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season )

Finally here at last, The Simpsons: Season Nine has been released on DVD! This is one amazing season that features even more great episodes from the series. Here's my review.

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[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

[*] The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson: 4.5/5 Barney binge drinks after having to be a designated driver one day at Moe's Tavern. Homer Simpson receives a notice saying that his car is illegally parked in New York, and after driving all the way to New York, finds it parked between the World Trade Centers. With the boot still on his car, he drives him and his family home.

Fly vs. Fly: 4/5 Bart uses a transporter to try to become a "Superfly", but becomes nothing but a tiny house fly.

Easy-Back Coven: 3.5/5 In 1649, Marge gets accused of being a witch; this section reveals supposedly how Halloween first started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[*] The Cartridge Family: 5/5 Homer takes the family and the crowd riots because the game is so boring. Homer, fearing for his family's safety, decides to purchase a gun. Homer does inappropriate things with the gun, and Marge tells him to throw it away. Not listening, Homer stores it in the refridgerator, and Bart finds it. After Marge moves out with the kids, Homer visits her to tell him he's done with the gun. After Snake holds up the motel, Homer takes out his gun to scare Snake off, and Marge takes the gun away from Homer then throws it away - or so Homer thinks.

Bart Star: 4/5 Since the news believes Springfield's children are getting fat, many parents send their children off to play football. Homer becomes coach and gives Bart special treatment, but who really is the star of the team is Nelson. During a game, the police come to take Nelson away, but Bart claims he is Nelson, letting his team win the championship.

The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons: 4/5 At a Springfield bachelor party, Apu gets several dates. Soon, his mom sends an envelope with a lotus flower to indicate it's time for the arranged marriage with Manjula. Apu, no having a wife, lies to his mom and tells her that Marge is his wife. Meanwhile, Homer moves to the retirement home. Marge gets sick of Apu pretending he's her husband, and it is revealed to Apu's mom. The arranged marriage is held in the Simpsons' backyard, and Manjula and Apu get married as planned.

Lisa The Skeptic: 3.5/5 Lisa protests the building of a shopping mall, and digs up what is said to be an angel. The skeleton dissapears and reappears on a hill with a message of the end of the world at sundown. Nothing happens, though, and it is found out to be a set-up by the builders of the new mall.

Realty Bites: 3.5/5 At a prison auction, Homer buys a car that belonged to Snake. Meanwhile, Marge gets a job as a realestate agent with help from Bart and Lisa. Being too honest, she does terribly at her job. With her job on the line, she sells a house to Ned and Maude Flanders that was a murder site without telling them about it. Eventually, Marge tells the truth, the Flanders's don't care, but Homer and Cheif Wiggum crash into the house, ending the episode with the Flanders moving back next door to the Simpsons.

[*]Miracle on Evergreen Terrace: 5/5 Bart, impatient to get his gifts for Christmas, wakes up one morning and burns the tree down accidently. When the family wakes up, he comes up with the lie that a burglar stole the gifts and tree. The townspeople decide to pitch in and help the Simpsons, but after the snow melts, and Bart confesses, everyone finds out Bart is the one who set the thing up, and the townspeople get back at the Simpsons by stealing everything they own.

All Singing, All Dancing: 3/5 The Simpsons flashback to episodes where characters from the show sang songs.

Bart Carny: 4/5 Bart gets a job at a carnival, and meets Cooder and his son. One day when the family was away, Cooder and his son were boarded up inside the Simpson house. Homer makes a deal saying if he can throw a hula hoop onto the chimney, he gets the house back. Homer fakes throwing it onto it, and while Cooder and his son weren't paying attention, darted back in the house and locked the door.

The Joy of Sect: 4/5 Homer joins a religious cult, and soon everyone in town is. Everyone is found of "the Leader" but no one actually knows who he is.

[*] Das Bus: 4.5/5 In this "Lord of the Flies" parody, school kids fall off a bridge and land on an island having to live for themselves. Meanwhile, Homer starts a computer fixing and improving business.

The Last Temptation of Krust: 4/5 Krusty goes on a comedic tour and gets no laughs. Krusty soon meets guys who let him be in commercials for the Canyonero.

[*] The Dumbell Indemnity: 4.5/5 Moe meets a girl, and while on a boat ride, has Homer wreck his old car so he can get money. While in jail for doing so, Moe has to decide whether to bail Homer out, or take his girlfriend Renee to Hawaii.

[*] Lisa the Simpson: 4.5/5 Lisa worries that her days of being smart were numbered and gets worried. Meanwhile, Apu turns the Kwik-E-Mart to the Freak-E-Mart. Homer proves that Lisa won't get stupid by showing that only the men in her family are dimwitted.

[*] This Little Wiggy: 5/5 Marge sets up a "play date" with Ralph for Bart, and they soon become friends. Bart gets the master key from Chief Wiggum, and tries to get into an abandoned prison.

[*] Simpson Tide: 4.5/5 Bart gets an earing to be cool, and Homer gets a job in the Naval Reserve.

[*] Girly Edition: 4.75/5 Bart and Lisa fight to be the better news anchor.

Trash of the Titans: 4/5 Homer allows all garbage to be dumped in Springfield.

[*]King of the Hill: 4.5/5 Homer gets buff thanks to McBain, and Homer is asked to climb the Murderhorn, and does, to impress Bart.

Lost our Lisa: 4/5 Lisa goes to an exhibit and Homer goes out to find her.

Natural Born Kissers: 4.25/5 Homer and Marge try to spice things up after a bad anniversary.

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The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season is a good season. Not nearly as good as early ones, but still okay. There are a lot of pretty bad episodes, though - more than there are excellent ones.

4/5

Game Review ( Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - 360 Arcade )

I was pretty excited when I saw Mortal Kombat downloadable in the 360 arcade, so I bought it.

Graphics: 3.5/5 What has changed? Nothing. It looks exactly the same as it did.

Sound: 3.5/5 The same sound as well. If you played Mortal Kombat 3, you've heard it here.

Control: 3.5/5 It feels a bit strange on a 360 controller... but not too bad. It's still hard to do some of the combos and fatalities.

Fun: 3.5/5 UMK3 is a fair game. Its best feature is definitely the online play, but a fan of the series will like this game a lot. The most annoying thing though is the A.I. in single player. It will piss you off - I can tell you it will be difficult beating the game. UMK3 is sort of worth the 800 MSP - What keeps this from being mediocre is the fact it has some fun online play.

3.5/5

Game Review ( Galaga - 360 Arcade )

I'm sure everyone knows by now that Galaga has been put on the 360 Arcade. Here's my pointless review.

Graphics: 3/5 Sure, they're in HD, but they look almost exactly the same as they did back in the day. There is really no improvement.

Sound: 3.5/5 The same as they used to be. The game sounds like it did in the arcade, there is no change at all here.

Control: 4/5 Controls like it used to - go figure. You can fly your ship left and right by using the D-pad or the left stick. Nothing too bad in this department.

Fun: 4/5 The game is Galaga - it was fun, it is fun. The thing is, not much has changed. You can upload your score to Xbox Live, but that's about the only new feature. No Co-Op, and the only real reason to keep playing is to get on the leaderboard, and keep trying to beat your own high score. All-in-all, at 400 MSP, it's not a bad buy, and anyone would like this game - even though nothing has changed.

4/5

Game Review ( Frogger - 360 Arcade )

Frogger has some-what recently been put onto the 360 Arcade, and is available for download. My review.

Graphics: 2.5/5 They enhanced the graphics from the original version, but instead of looking more cartoony, they added more realistic enviroments; and they look damn bad.

Sound: 3/5 The sound is kept to a minimum. You really only hear some background music, and a few sounds when you die. That's about it.

Control: 3.5/5 You use the D-Pad or left stick to move, and at times it's unresponsive. Sometimes you will jump once and it will jump twice. The controls are pretty frustrating for being so unbelievably simple.

Fun: 3/5 The bottom line is this game is nit-picky. When you return a frog to its home, you have to jump at EXACTLY THE RIGHT MOMENT, or you will lose a life. It really takes away from the fun. Also, you will find yourself accidently over-jumping and to your death. Another thing that drags the game down is that although it does feature online play, there is never anyone on to play with. My recommendation: You might want to stay away from this game unless you're addicted to improving your gamerscore.

3.5/5

The #1 Game Available For The Wii, PS3, and 360.

Now that all the next generation gaming systems are out, it's time for me to tell you which game I think is the best for each.

Wii: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: This is a no-brainer. Getting raving reviews from launch, this game is the most popular of the rest of the Wii launch titles. Featuring a compelling story, an all-new Hyrule, nice graphics, and by making great use of the Wii remote, this is surely the number one Wii game available right now.

Honorable Mentions: Rayman Raving Rabbids, Madden NFL 07, Excite Truck

PS3: Resistance: Fall of Man: This is also a no-brainer. No PS3 launch title came close to the excellence of Resistance: FoM. Resistance features impressive 20 vs. 20 online matches, nice next generation graphics, and some sweet gameplay.

Honorable Mentions: NHL 2K7, NBA 2K7

360: Gears of War: Gears of War is one hell of a popular game, and it is sure to sell a lot of 360s. Gears of War successes by showing off unbelievable graphics no one has seen on a home console, while also including amazing online play, which feautres 10 maps, as well as co-op mode. For the 360, Gears of War is definitely the game to get.

Honorable Mentions: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, Call of Duty 3, Viva Pinata

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 5 )

Seasons 3 and 4 of Friends were a bit of a dissapointment for me, and since this show is supposed to be great, there is nowhere for this show to go but up.

----------

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

The One After Ross Says Rachel: 4/5 Ross tries to get back with Emily; Monica and Chandler try to continue and hide their secret relationship.

[*] The One With All The Kissing: 4.5/5 Chandler kisses everyone before work after kissing Monica; Phoebe gets irritated by the gangs London stories.

The One Hundredth: 4/5 Phoebe gives birth to triplets; Joey gets kidney stones; Rachel tries to get Monica a date.

[*] The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS: 4.5/5 Joey gets a job on PBS; Phoebe tells everyone how much she hates PBS; Monica tells Rachel she's dating someone "un-named" from work.

[*] The One With All The Kips: 4.5/5 Chandler and Monica go on a secret vacation, but tell everyone they have business trips; Ross prepares to tell Rachel that Emily doesn't want Ross to see her anymore.

The One With The Yeti: 4/5 Monica and Rachel mistake a hairy neighbor for a Yeti; Ross gets rid of all the furniture in his apartment.

[*] The One Where Ross Moves In: 4.5/5 Joey and Chandler let Ross move in with them after Ross' relationship with Emily falls apart; Phoebe has a relationship with a health inspector; Rachel is convinced that Danny is using mind games to seduce her.

[*] The One With The Thanksgiving Flashbacks: 5/5 The group remedies about their worst Thanksgivings.

[*] The One With Ross's Sandwich: 4.5/5 Joey gets sick of keeping Monica and Chandler's relationship secret; Ross gets mad at someone at work for eating his turkey sandwich.

The One With The Inappropriate Sister: 4/5 Rachel thinks twice about Danny after noticing he has a strangely close relationship with his sister.

[*]The One With All The Resolutions: 4.5/5 For 1999, each person decides to do something new for the year; Rachel finds out about Monica and Chandler's relationship from Joey.

[*]The One With Chandler's Work Laugh: 4.5/5 Ross goes out with Janice; Monica learns that Chandler acts much different around his boss and has his own "work laugh".

The One With Joey's Bag: 4.25/5 Rachel helps Joey with an acting gig by giving him a "man bag"; Phoebe's grandma dies.

[*]The One Where Everybody Finds Out: 5/5 Phoebe learns about Monica and Chandler's relationship and tries to have them admit it before she does; Ross tries to get Ugly Naked Guy's apartment.

The One With The Girl Who Hits Joey: 4.25/5 Joey dates a girl that abuses him; Ross offends everyone in his apartment building accidently.

[*]The One With The Cop: 4.5/5 Phoebe finds a badge at Central Perk and acts as a police officer; Monica is in one of Joey's dreams; Ross buys a couch but has trouble getting it up the stairs.

[*]The One With Rachel's Inadverent Kiss: 4.5/5 Rachel accidently kisses her boss; Monica tries to prove to Phoebe and her boyfriend that her relationship with Chandler is hotter than Phoebe's and Gary's; Ross meets a girl in his apartment building that Joey was trying to meet first.

The One Where Rachel Smokes: 4/5 Rachel smokes to get more benefits at work; Ben gets offered an audition for a soup commercial.

The One Where Ross Can't Flirt: 4.25/5 Joey gets cut out of Law and Order, but tries to cover it up to his grandma; Ross fails at flirting with the pizza delivery girl.

[*]The One With The Ride Along: 4.5/5 Ross, Joey, and Chandler are invited for a ride along in Gary's under cover cop car.

[*]The One With The Ball: 4.5/5 Ross and Joey throw a ball for 2 hours, but then Chandler and Monica jump in and get to 10 hours; Phoebe learns Gary wants her to move in with him; Rachel buys a "cat".

The One With Joey's Big Break: 4/5 Joey gets a chance in a movie outside of Las Vegas, but doubts his success because of Chandler's unfriendliness.

The One In Vegas (Pt.1): 4/5 Chandler flies to Las Vegas to tell Joey he's sorry; Chandler finds out Monica had lunch with Richard.

[*]The One In Vegas (Pt.2): 4.75/5 Rachel and Ross's pranks get out of control and they get drunk; Chandler makes a bet with Monica - a big bet.

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Friends: Season 5 is definitely the best season since season 2, and possibly the best yet. It isn't worth a 5/5, but it has a load of fantastic episodes, and very few bad ones. If there is one season of Friends that really shines in its first five years, i'm sure most people would say season 5.

4.75/5

iHome Boombox Vs. iLive Boombox

If you haven't read my reviews yet for the iHome and iLive boomboxes ( search internet for the pictures of the ones I reviewed ) then this is the place to start. Here's my review of both boomboxes; squaring off to see which is the better deal.

iHome Cost: Roughly $179 normal price ( Got mine for $75 )
iLive Cost: Rouch $129 normal price ( Got mine for $65 )

The iHome is better than the iLive because: Weighs less, has a handle unlike the iLive, better made, speakers are a bit clearer, better radio reception, no antenna, much better backlit screen ( easier to read), much better remote control, and it's smaller.

The iLive is better than the iHome because: It costs less, has FM and AM radio, has the ability to play CDs, looks better.

As you can see, the iHome is MUCH better than the iLive. The iLive has the CD player, but who needs a CD player when someone has an iPod? What's the point of the CDs? The iLive also has the AM radio, but who listens to AM radio anyways? Nobody really listens to ANY radio station now-a-days whether it be AM or FM! Also, the iLive may look better, but the iHome is a very simple design, it's very lightweight, and made much better. Probably the biggest problems I encountered with the iLive were probably when the radio just randomly quit working, and the remote that came with it rarely worked; I had to keep pressing the button on the controller to make it work. However, on the iHome, the remote control was quick to respond with the boombox, and it worked quickly and clearly every time.

It isn't right really comparing these two boomboxes giving that they have quite a big margin in price difference, but for the slim $50 ( or however much more you buy it for ) more spent on the iHome, you get a MUCH better boombox overall. If you can't decide which to buy someone you know ( or even yourself ) definitely get the iHome over the iLive boombox.

iHome Review: 5/5
iLive Review: 3.5/5

Hardware Review ( iHome Boombox iH30/31 )

The iHome Boombox ( Style H30/H31 ) is one hell of a boombox. Its normal price is about $180 but I got it for an amazing price of only $75 at Kohls.

The quality of the speakers is pretty good. It has decent bass, and you can hear the music well, and this baby gets LOUD. But, much like the other boombox I reviewed, there is distorting noise in the background from the speakers. Not terribly annoying, but it's there.

There is also an FM radio on this boombox. The reception is great, and it doesn't even have an antenna. It does take a few seconds to read the signals, but once the station is in, it almost always sounds great.

The look of the iHome Boombox is what I'd call different. It's a pretty plain design, but it does look a lot better in black. There are two round speakers, and there is a case that you put your iPod behind in the middle. It looks, to me, more girl-ish, but it is pretty good looking I guess.

Overall, this is one AMAZING boombox for your iPod. It has good sound, it was for me a freakishly good deal, the remote control that comes with it works very well and is very responsive for the most part. This had to be the best overall boombox out there for the daily iPod user.

5/5

Hardware Review ( iLive Boombox )

I was at Kohls and I saw this on sale for $60 ( originally priced at $120. ) For an early Birthday present, I got this.

The iLive Boombox comes in two colors black and white, and both feature: FM/AM Radio, side subwoofers, ability to listen to CDs, iPod mini/nano/stands, iPod shuffle output, and more.

The sound quality of the iLive Boombox is OKAY. When you put your iPod in and listen to the music there is a little bit of slight background noise, almost like static, when you play any song at any volume. It's not too terribly annoying, and at $60, the quality is damn good. Also, you can turn the bass up a fair amount ( not much, but a little bit. ) The volume can also BLAST out of this thing, so loud I'd get cops coming to my door if I had it up all the way.

I do have problems with it, though. For one thing, the blue back-lit screen is HARD HARD HARD to read unless you are looking directly at it, and the FM/AM Radio tuner on my iLive Boombox only detects one radio station. Even when I keep changing radio stations, it still only detects the one. It was working fine at first, but then quit out. I don't know if this is common, but it doesn't really matter. No one would buy this thing for the radio.

There is also another problem I have. The remote control is very unresponsive to the boombox, and 60% of the time won't even read what button I'm pressing so I'll have to press it numerous times. Very annoying. The last tiny problem I have is with the remote itself. The remote is rounded on the top, and flat on the bottom. For me, it just gets me confused and I sometimes hold the controller upside down. That's a minor problem, though, when compared to the other flaws.

All-in-all, the iLive Boombox is just SOMEWHAT worth the price. If you see this at $120 and consider buying it - think twice... it's really not at all worth it... but at the price of $60, the iLive boombox may seem more appealing. It looks great, works decently, and is pretty sturdy.

3.5/5

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 4 )

Friends: Season 3 wasn't a very good season, in my opinion. It had some good episodes, but overall, it was dissapointing. I'm hoping Friends: Season 4 will be a little bit better.

----------

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

The One With The Jellyfish: 4/5 Monica is stung by a jellyfish and Chandler helps her; Ross and Rachel almost go back out.

The One With The Cat: 4/5 Phoebe finds a cat that she believes has her mom's spirit; Joey and Chandler get robbed.

The One With The Cuffs: 3.5/5 Chandler tries to break up with Joanna but she doesn't understand; Monica loses a nail in a dish of food.

[*]The One With The Ballroom Dancing: 4.5/5 Joey dances to keep Rachel and Monica from being evicted; Chandler tries to "quit the gym".

The One With Joey's New Girlfriend: 4/5 Chandler hits on a girl that he doesn't know is Joey's girlfriend.

The One With The Dirty Girl: 4/5 Ross finds out his girlfriend doesn't clean her house; Chandler buys a present for Kathy.

[*]The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line: 4.5/5 Chandler has to choose between his best friend and his girlfriend.

[*]The One With Chandler In A Box: 4.5/5 Chandler stays in a shipping box; Monica invites Richard's son to her Thanksgiving dinner.

The One Where They're Going To Party: 4/5 "Gandolf" says he'll pary with Ross and Chandler, but then bails out, so they have a party with Joey; Monica choses between being partners with Phoebe or being a chef.

The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie: 4/5 Chandler sets up Rachel with a guy he works with; Monica hires Joey just to fire him to get more respect at work.

[*]The One With Phoebe's Uterus: 4.5/5 Phoebe agrees to carry her brother's baby; Chandler asks for help on women; Joey gets a job at Ross' museum.

[*] The One With The Embryos: 4.5/5 Phoebe gets pregnant; Ross creates a game that determines Chandler and Joey giving up their rooster and duck if they lose, or Monica and Rachel giving up their apartment if they lose. Watch the episode to see what happens.

The One With Rachel's Crush: 4/5 Rachel gets a crush on a customer; Chandler doesn't like that his girlfriend simulates sex on stage; Monica tells everyone she has to be the hostess.

The One With Joey's Dirty Day: 4/5 Joey doesn't have time to take a shower after a fishing trip; Rachel sets up Ross and Emily; The girls take Chandler to a strip club.

The One With All The Rugby: 4/5 Ross tries to impress his girlfriend by playing rugby; Chandler runs into Janice and tries to avoid her.

The One With The Fake Party: 4/5 Rachel throws a fake party; Phoebe craves meat.

[*] The One With The Free Porn: 5/5 Chandler and Joey discover a porn channel and leave it on 24/7 so they don't somehow lose the channel; Phoebe reveals she has triplets; Monica helps Ross come out and say he loves Emily.

[*] The One With Rachel's New Dress: 4.5/5 Phoebe can't choose to name one of the triplets Joey or Chandler; Rachel discovers Joshua is afraid of farm animals; Rachel is caught in lingerie at Joshua's parent's house.

[*] The One With All The Haste: 4.5/5 Monica and Rachel switch apartments with Joey and Chandler again after they give tickets to Joey and Chandler to a Knicks game; Ross asks Emily to marry him; Rachel pretends she doesn't care Ross and Emily are getting married.

The One With The Wedding Dresses: 4/5 Monica wears Emily's wedding dress; Chandler takes Joey to a sleeping clinic.

[*]The One With The Invitations: 4.5/5 Ross invites Rachel to the wedding, but she decides not to go. This is a somewhat flashback-y episode.

The One With The Worst Best Man Ever: 4/5 Joey loses his wedding ring as the best man; Phoebe gets a baby shower.

[*]The One With Ross's Wedding: 4.5/5 The gang goes to London for Ross's wedding, and a lot of stuff happens there.

Season 4 is much like Season 3. It features a quite a few boring episodes, but it also has some excellent episodes. Episodes near the end of the season are what makes this season a bit better than season 3, but Friends: Season 4 is a bit of a dissapointment.

4/5

Wii Launch Review

THE CONSOLE
As everyone knows, most of the Wii games are controlled by use of the very innovative controller. The unofficially named "Wiimote" is held in your right hand ( Or left, doesn't matter ) while the "Nunchuk" is held in your left. ( Or right. ) You control what's on screen by doing movements with your hands.

Other things worth noting about the Wii is that it is completely backwards compatible with the Game Cube. On top of the Wii there are 2 memory card slots, 4 Game Cube controller slots, and the tray for the Game Cube games. Nintendo has also finally joined the Online race by offering a free online service, with the ability to purchase games via its Virtual Console, where you can download any NES, SNES, N64, Sega, etc. games available online. Also, the Wii features Wii Sports, which lets you play Baseball, Bowling, Tennis, Boxing, and Golf.

THE LAUNCH
The Nintendo Wii launched in North America on November 19th, 2006 ath the price of $249.99. In its first 8 days of release, Nintendo has already sold 600,000 consoles. ( About 200,000 more than the PS3 as of now 12-7-06 ). The games that came out during launch and shortly thereafter for the most part didn't get raving reviews, except of course The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Although the Wii didn't have many "must have" launch titles, Nintendo has already confirmed Super Smash Bros.: Brawl to be released sometime in 2007. Also, Mario Kart is also highly likely, seeing how Nintendo has released a version of it on every console and handheld ( excluding Gameboy Color ) since the Super Nintendo.

Overall, the Wii launch was a good one. Although there were shortages, ( Like there usually is during a console launch ) Nintendo had quite a few Wii's for quite a few consumers compared to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 launches. The Wii is definitely a great console that had a nice launch compared to most companies. Nice job, Nintendo.

4/5 Launch

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 3 )

Friends: Seasons 1 and 2 were really good seasons, and season 3 is just as good.

----------

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy: 4/5 Monica tries to get over Richard; Rachel pursues Ross' fantasy.

The One Where No One Is Ready: 4/5 Ross has to wait for everyone to get dressed for an important night at the museum.

The One With The Jam: 4/5 Monica makes jam to get over Richard; Joey injures his arm; Phoebe dates her sister's stalker.

The One With The Metaphorical Tunnel: 4/5 Chandler scares Janice to show his commitment; Phoebe pretends to be Chandler's agent; Ben plays with a Barbie.

The One With Frank Jr.: 4/5 Phoebe attempts to learn more about her half-brother; Joey tries home improvement; Ross makes a "freebie" list.

[*]The One With The Flashback: 4.5/5 A flashback 3 years to the past and where the gang was.

[*]The One With The Racecar Bed: 4.5/5 Monica gets the wrong bed; Joey catches Janice kissing her ex-Husband; Joey teaches an "Acting for Soap Opera" class.

The One With The Giant Poking Device: 4/5 The gang makes a chopstick poking device to poke the Ugly Naked Guy to see if he is dead or alive; Phoebe is scared of going to the dentist; Monica bangs Ben's head.

[*]The One With The Football: 5/5 Monica and Ross get competetive in a game of football when the gang goes to the park to play on Thanksgiving.

[*]The One Where Rachel Quits: 4.5/5 Joey sells Christmas trees; Rachel quits from Central Perk; Ross breaks a little girls' leg.

The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister: 4/5 Rachel gets a job interview; Monica has a noisy neighbor; Chandler gets drunk and doesn't remember which one of Joey's sister he screwed.

The One With All The Jealousy: 4/5 Ross gets suspicious of Rachel and Mark; Monica dates a man with unflattering poetry.

[*]The One Where Monica And Richard Are Just Friends: 5/5 Monica and Richard become friends; Rachel and Joey read eachother's favorite book; A man teaching Phoebe how to play sports has his nuts exposed.

The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner: 4/5 Chandler dates a woman with a wooden leg; Phoebe's singing partner wants to get back with her.

[*]The One Where Ross And Rachel Take A Break: 4.5/5 Rachel and Ross "take a break" because of Ross' jealousy.

The One The Morning After: 4/5 Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey hide in a room while Ross and Rachel fight; Ross sleeps with the girl from the copy place.

[*]The One Without The Ski Trip: 4.5/5 Chandler starts smoking again; Rachel invites everyone but Ross to go skiing.

The One With The Hypnosis Tape: 4/5 Chandler tries to quit smoking; Monica meets a millionaire; Frank tells Phoebe he plans on marrying a 44 year old.

[*]The One With The Tiny T-Shirt: 4.5/5 Ross demands Rachel gives the stuff he gave her back.

The One With The Dollhouse: 4/5 Monica gets a dollhouse from her dead aunt; Rachel tries to get Chandler to dump her boss.

[*]The One With The Chick And A Duck: 4.5/5 Chandler and Joey adopt a baby chick; Ross helps Rachel.

The One With The Screamer: 4/5 Rachel dates a guy that screams a lot; Phoebe is on hold on the phone.

The One Will Ross's Thing: 4/5 Ross discovers an abnormality on his skin.

The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion: 5/5 Chandler has a boss that greets him strangely; Monica's "boyfriend", Pete, attempts to be the Ultimate Fighting Champion.

[*]The One At The Beach: 4.5/5 The gang goes to a beach house so Phoebe can meet her Mom and Dad's friend; They play Strip Happy Days; Ross and Rachel have feelings for eachother again.

----------

Season 3 of Friends is, overall, an OKAY season. It has some really great episodes, and some surprising guest stars, such as: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Elizabeth Daily, ( Voice of Tommy Pickles on the kid's show Rugrats ) and more. Friends: Season 3 is certainly not the best season of Friends, but is has some really great episodes. A season not terrible, not great, but worth buying for sure.

4/5

Game Review ( Big Bumpin' - Xbox / 360 )

This is one of the three games available at Burger King from November 19th to December 24th. They cost $3.99 with the purchase of any value meal. The game comes in an Xbox 360 style box, and includes a free 48 Hour trial for Xbox Live.

Graphics: 4/5 The graphics yet again look great for such a low budget game. The reflections look good, and the arenas do too.

Sound: 4/5 The music is surprisingly decent for having little sound. The in-game bumper car sound is nice, and the arena music is pretty good. The announcer is annoying, though, since he constantly repeats himself.

Control: 4/5 There is nothing to complain about with the controls. Just move around, and use boost (A). This is a damn simple game to control. Anybody can play it.

Fun: 4/5 Offline, this game is just about mediocre. The TERRIBLE A.I. makes a not-so-good game even worse, and it just isn't very fun, but online with people that actually make use of their headset, it's a blast. The best game mode in this game online is definitely hockey, which is very fun. The price of this game makes it even more worth buying. Definitely buy this game if you wanted to try out any of the 3 BK games. This one is definitely the best. Although some people don't talk in the online matches, when people do, it makes this game very fun. You won't be playing it for a long time, but you will play it for about a week.

4/5

Game Review ( Pocket Bike Racer - Xbox / 360 )

This is one of the three games available at Burger King from November 19th to December 24th. They cost $3.99 with the purchase of any value meal. The game comes in an Xbox 360 style box, and includes a free 48 Hour trial for Xbox Live.

Graphics: 4/5 For what it is, its low budget, and its cheap price, the graphics I guess you could say look very good. The character models look pretty decent, and the enviroments look fair. The framerate holds up very well offline, and damn good online for the most part.

Sound: 3.5/5 Not much to experience. There are some taunts you can use when you're racing, you can hear the pocket bikes racing around, and that's just about it.

Control: 4/5 Drive around with the right trigger, B to boost, and X to use items. That's about it. The game isn't too terribly hard to control, but it can be frustrating when attacked and you spin out.

Fun: 3.5/5 The offline mode of this game is terrible. The tracks take what seems forever to finish, and the A.I. is unbelievably stupid. Online, though, is pretty decent. You can play with up to eight players on five levels. All-in-all, this game isn't that great. The items used in this game are damn annoying, the sound is ... none, 80% of the characters are random people with random names, and the fact that when you join a game online that is in the middle of being played and you can't play or even watch until the race is over is just terrible. For $4, you really can't go wrong. This is a really good game to play for one or two days, but after that, there's no reason to come back.

3.5/5

Game Review ( Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - 360 )

Graphics: 4/5 The cutscenes ( especially the one at the beginning ) are unbelievable. They look freakishly realistic. The in-game graphics, though, are not as good though the characters look excellent, they don't look to 360ish. They do look alright, though. The framerate holds up, and it makes for a pleasent experience.

Sound: 4/5 The Marvel characters sound nice, and the villans do as well. However, nothing is too spectacular worth noting.

Control: 3.5/5 This game isn't too hard to control, but it does take some time, and the uncontrollable camera angles are somewhat distracting. You use the D-Pad to change your character ( You can have four at a time ) and you have to do some button combinations to attack. Sometimes you'll forget what button you need to press, but it's not bad.

Fun: 4/5 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is really a good game. You can play as Captain America, Spiderman, Wolverine, Thor, The Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Elektra, Daredevil, and several more, including unlockables. It will take a long time to level everyone up, though, since you can only have 4 players out at a time. Either way, anyone can jump in and play, and a fan of Marvel will love this game. There is also Xbox Live play, which also adds to the experience. Even though this game is repetetive when you play it for awhile non-stop, it is still a great 360 game that anybody can sit down and enjoy the game without even bothering with the power-ups and level-ups.

4/5

The Xbox 360's Top 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hardware Review ( Aiptek MPVR Digital Camcorder )

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

Not Recommended.

1/5

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 2 )

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

----------

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

----------

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

4.5/5

Game Review ( Call of Duty 3 - 360 )

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

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

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

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

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

4.5/5

Game Review ( Gears of War - 360 )

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

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

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

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

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

5/5

DVD Review ( Friends: Season 1 )

Here's my first season review of Friends.

----------

[*] Indicates a "Season Great"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4.5/5

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

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

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

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

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

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

4/5

Game Review ( Guitar Hero II - PS2 )

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5/5