Two New Xbox Live games this week
For those wondering when can you use the Vision camera again, wonder no more as MS announced one of their two Live Arcade games this week, FX Pinball, will support the camera -- you'll be able to wave your hands to control the flippers. Click here for all the details on that and the other new game.
Monday Musings
Just got back from the hospital for my son's surgery -- he had his adenoid out. Pretty straight forward procedure and hopefully it will fix some issues he's been having. Alas, I'm off today. Been crazy being out of work so long. Out of the last 7 work days, I've only been there for 2 1/2, so I've had to play catch up.
The flood clean up is officially done, all the trash is at the side of the road ready to be picked up. The sump pump is pumping and it's an amazing 83 degrees right now. I think I'm ready for some good luck now!!
In baseball news, Orioles are looking pretty impressive, and so are the Red Sox..4HR's in a row? Damn...very impressive. The Sox-Orioles match up later this week may actually mean something...but I'm guessing there will still be more Sox fans than Orioles at Camden.
In VC news, I have to say this week's offerings don't excite me: Gradius III, Battle Lode Runner and Wonder Boy in Monster World. Anyone buying any of these and if so why? I'm sure Uncle Jerry will chime in.
As Bill mentioned in an earlier post, I'm excited to be writing a column about all the downloadable content for the consoles -- but I need a name for the column. Come up with a good name for me.
Speaking of VC, on Friday night when I got my consoles all hooked up the first one I picked up was Punch Out. It's amazing how much fun that game is and how relearning the boxer patterns reminds me of being 19 again....
Ah youth....
LotR Online — Working for a Living
I plan on getting back in the blogging groove soon but right now I'm still getting re-accustomed to having a full time job. Dealing with PR, editing, assigning, and doing my own writing has put the blog on the back burner for the time being. Sorry about that.
I'm very happy that retired blogmate Todd Brakke is writing for GameShark now; his beta look at LotR Online is live today. I'm tempted to get that game -- but do I want another Wow-type experience just because it's set in Middle-earth? I think I'm just tired of that genre...until Warhammer comes out, anyway.
Dan will be starting a monthly column soon once we get the kinks worked out that is dedicated to Wii, XBL and PS3 downloadable content. That's right in his wheelhouse. I wantto add a lot more original content to the site -- a mod column, an MMO column, and so on.
Right now, there is nothing I can do about the shortcomings of GameShark's layout. I know you can't enlarge screens inside an article. I know the database is screwy and I know a lot of other stuff about the site design that needs fixed and/or enhanced. The good thing is that they are in the process of a pretty big overhaul that should make it more user-friendly.
GameShark has a built in advantage because they draw a lot of people to that site because of their codes. (Gameshark is about as popular as sites like Blue's News, FiringSquad, etc.) so there is a ready-made audience already there. Most sites don't have that luxury.
My job is help the site's transition from the old look to the new and to help the content find its niche. That's why blogging has been delayed...
Forza 2 delayed two more weeks
For those that hadn't heard, Microsoft bumped the release date of Forza Motorsport 2 from May 15 to May 29...no reason why.
Friday musings
Well, I have to give credit to the Islanders. They played a really tough series against a great Buffalo Sabres team, but fell 4-3 tonight and lost the series 4 games to 1. They fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 tonight and still managed to rally to put a few goals on the board and keep Buffalo sweating until the final seconds of the game.
As for the Brewers tonight, Greg "Which bus do I take to Nashville" Aquino gave up a grand slam in the top of the 9th that cost them the game. Prince Fielder hit a 3 run shot and the Brewers had runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, but came up short. I'm pretty impressed by the effort of the players, but the managing tonight leaves a bit to be desired. For example, the Brewers got a lead off walk in the 8th, when the game was still tied. Conventional wisdom would tell you that you bunt that runner over to 2nd and take two shots at driving him in with a single, but for some reason Yost decides to let Hardy swing away and he hits into a 4-6-3 double play and any chance of a rally was squashed. Hopefully it's just a one time brain fart for him and they right the ship tomorrow.
I figured Bill would have posted about it, but Greg Oden declared for the draft today. Conley Jr and Cook declared as well, but didn't get agents so they can re-enroll if they are not happy with their draft status. I can't be the only one that thinks that the NBA rule that states that players must be one year out of high school before they can declare for the draft is just plain stupid. All that it will do is force all of us to have to hear stories, year after year, about how much a player "loves the college experience" before they declare for the draft at the first opportunity.
I can't fault Oden one bit. I'm shocked that it took him this long to declare. The money is there now for him and there is no need to risk anything in the college game any longer. I'm happy for him, but I'm happier that the Badgers won't have to match up with him every again.
I'm hoping to get a bit of gaming in this weekend, but man... this whole 2 kids and no sleep thing really eats away at you after a time. Thank goodness this is our last baby. It's a great experience, but I just like sleep too much to do this again.
Dell caves, offers XP again
Based on consumer response to Windows Vista, Dell has decided to allow new PC purchasers to opt for Windows XP again or Windows Vista. If that isn't an endorsement of "Vista sucks," I don't know what is.
Maybe they'll make WinME available as well?
Getting Closer
As I spend my 5th consecutive day at home on a forced vacation (due to the flood), the end is near. All my regulatory reports are due Monday, so I have to bust my ass to get those done (they have to be done in the office, yuck).
Hopefully by this time tomorrow, I'll have my consoles back up and running. God I hope so. I'm dying to play Punch Out, and my new hard ass boss keeps telling me to get some reviews done (that's a joke, Bill).
Still would love to hear more information about the Show for PS3. I hope Sony really validates the fact that I have yet to enjoy anything on there for $599. Maybe Gran Turismo HD is fun. That's about it.
Nice to see the week after I trade in JSRF and PDO that they are now BC on the 360. I thought about getting them again, but you know, I haven't played them for 3 years so why would I now. And besides all the Saturn games are coming soon to GameTap. I hope they bring Burning Rangers over. And NiGHTS. That would rule. And Gorf.
OOTP 2007: The Edit
Gameshark's OOTP 2007 review is online. I'm officially no longer a freelancer..
Xbox Compatibility Update
Here is a stunner. I didn't expect another compatibility update from Microsoft again.
Some nice games out there that I've been wanting to play on my 360, but haven't been able to until now.
Here's my highlight titles from the list.
Jet Set Radio Future
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Oddworld Munch's Oddysee
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Unreal Championship 2
(Idol Spoiler)
Well the Nation's nightmare is over -- Sanjaya was voted off. He was pretty bad this week. I can't believe Blake was in the bottom three and bring it on down to homelessville Chris was not. God he sucks. At least Sanjaya had personality.
Wednesday or Flood: Day 3
Today I had Empire Today come over and start the process of removing the old carpet and installing the new one. When they took the old one up, we decided it be best to wait a day so the cement would dry. We also found a pit that was boarded up. We took a crow bar to the pit and voila...sump pump location filled with water. It was obvious that the water overflowed from there and started to seep into the house through the cracks in the foundation floor, which caused the flooding.
If I knew that, say on Sunday, I could have saved three grand plus. I will give credit to Empire...they are fast, have a good product and speak English. 
So I've been really out of it, disconnected from everything. I did get to see Idol and just caught up on the shocking news at Virginia Tech. One of my good friend's wife attended VT and obviously you can imagine the feelings she must have and I think we all share her grief. What is shocking about this is that all the signs were there and yet nothing seemed to be able to be done. I guess we'll see when the investigation is done.
I do have power and internet and it's amazing how thankful you can be for that -- however my main floor is just full of junk -- I'm getting claustrophobic ..plus having been out of work for a forced vacation is really screwing things up.
Getting back to sports gaming, the MLB 07 The Show trailer that Uncle Jerry mentioned doesn't do a whole lot for me either -- however you have to remember that on the PS2 it was gameplay first, graphics second...and I can live with that.
Moving to Idol, Phil wasn't bad, but I put my votes between Blake and Jordin. I couldn't bear to vote for Sanjaya this week, as he was really, really bad. And the Wigkerchief was really stupid.
MLB07 PS3 teaser trailer
IGN has posted a new teaser trailer for MLB07 for the PS3. Having watched it a few times... I'm not sure how impressed I am by the visuals. I have very little doubt that the gameplay will be incredibly solid, but I was expecting more from the visuals for the game. Something akin to the Konami baseball titles would have been nice... but it appears that's not in the cards for this year.
I'd love to say that I'll be buying it, but the trailer has me doubting myself a bit at this point. Perhaps the Sony employee that posted in comments a few weeks ago can shed a bit more light on the game.
New Game Informer In Hand
I have received the latest Game Informer, which has a 6 page feature on All Pro Football 2K8. Looks interesting, Stadiums will be custom to each team, fans will have 64 different models. Weather should be a big role, injuries will be there big time so you'll see a guy break his hand instead of "player #23 is injured" but not in a Blitz way...sure sounds interesting...but the "Play the Game and shut up" quote really rubs me the wrong way.
All Pro Football 2K Something-Rather
Bill Harris is fun to read.
Sort of like Game Informer, but fun to read.
Live Arcade and VC Roundup
If I had a Wii or 360 connected, I could enjoy these games, but I'm still in disaster recovery. Thankfully the lake has dissapated -- I can't believe how fast it went -- but we're supposed to get more rain and maybe some snow, so I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm not working tomorrow so I'll either be cleaning up and reinstalling my consoles, or calling in ServPro.
Anyway, Punch Out!, Virtua Fighter 2 and Bonk's Adventure are all out for the Wii. Punch Out! is a nobrainer even if it's not the game with Mike Tyson...
We're getting two games for the 360 this week: Gyruss, and 3D Golf...as is the custom, if you had GameTap, you would have had 3D Golf for about 4 months 
.
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