Welcome back everyone. I have a couple more things to say, as usual. There's a heat wave going through the Bay Area and every time I walk outside it feels like I'm gonna have a heat stroke. Since Grafkhun was plugging the movie Get Smart in one of his blogs, anytime someone plugs something online it's called Grafkhun Plugging (or Grafplugging for short). So say that from now on so it can be new internet slang lol (get it?). It's kind of like Catch-22 where it existed before the book but there was no term for it. Notice I just grafplugged Catch-22. So here are some things I want to plug:

5 Hour Energy

This thing really works. If you guys know I used to have a sleeping disorder and I still get sleepy easily. The first time I tried it, I was about to fall asleep and took a sip of this and I was suddenly awake and alert. This really helped me in studying for finals in college. I was pulling all-nighters back-to-back. Hell I even stayed up long enough to get some video games and movies in on finals week. One thing though; you have to be 18 or older to use this, it's not FDA approved and if you drink the entire bottle you could kill yourself (seriously).

Nas, N.E.R.D. and The Roots

Well my favorite albums of the year have to be the new albums from Nas, N.E.R.D. and The Roots. I know there's not that many hip-hop heads on Gamespot, but just check out their albums if you're interested. Seeing Sounds from N.E.R.D. is also more of an alternative/hip-hop experimental type of album.

Eva Mendes

My favorite actress of course.

Reviews

I have a new review coming out soon for Silent Hill 4 and some other games. You may have heard me say this a year ago (September to be exact) but yeah things got complicated and I didn't have time. Now I have to write the review before I forget about the damn game and the storyline etc etc.

My Dream Computer 3 years ago:

I was looking through some papers and I have the specs for my dream computer 3 years ago. It's interesting because technology moves so fast. This was a Dell Dimension XPS (now a discontinued brand) computer. 3 years ago was when anything dual-core was insane and 2gbs of RAM was near 200 dollars.

Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2ghz

Nvidia Geforce 6800

Sound Blaster Audigy Z2S

250 GB 7200RPM

1GB DDR 400 RAM

Dual TV Tuner

Total: 3000.00

Can you believe this was that much money back then? It probably could barely run Crysis today. So that's the end of Grafplugging. See you guys later.

--Protege

I won't post a link to the article, but it's on Gamespot. It seems in the K-Mart ad, the 20gb 360 goes on sale at a "new low price" for 299.99 next Sunday (not this coming Sunday). This looks super legit, and I was about to post a blog saying that the next price drop, I was getting a new console. I think I said it on Chikahiro's blog.

299.99 appears to be my sweet spot. I've been playing the 360 a lot at my neighbors house and it's hella fun (aside from the s$#@ talking). I suck at Guitar Hero 3 but I'm getting there. My friend can do Raining Blood (supposedly the second hardest song) on expert, but then again he can play the real guitar.

One concern I witnessed first hand was the wireless adapter on the 360. It sucks. We were hella lagging on CoD4. I shot this dude in the head like a million times and apparently he killed me first. I swear I was gonna break that adapter in half. It's all good though, cause I prefer ethernet connections anyway.

Another thing to note is that video cards such as the 8800 GT and 4850 HD are very affordable now, and these cards perform much better than the PS3 and 360 (but remember the PS3 and 360 released years ago). However, computers are too unstable for me and I'm trying to refrain from using my computer too much.

One thing to keep in mind is that technology, particularly computers, is high leverage. I need to rely on my computer less so if something happens to it I'll still be good. When this price drop goes into effect, I should get the console by the end of the summer, but then again I planned on getting the PS3 at launch so anything can happen.

--Ruckus

Well if you were able to read this blog and comment, apparently you understand computer technology better than John McCain. Just saw the news bit on CNN. I guess he has a Blackberry but has to have assistants dial the numbers and stuff for him lol. He even admited his computer illiteracy on TV.

P.S. Wouldn't be surprised if GS put this up as an article later today. Also, flame at your own will, even though gamers don't know anything about politics, except me

In 2007 I said the key phrase was "Patience is the Key." Well the key word for 2008 is "inflation."

A long time ago (well 10 years give or take or few) I remember when gas was 99 cents a gallon (you old timers might remember it lower), now it's 4.09 (nation-average). I remember when Snowstorms were 75 cents from the ice cream truck, but now they're 2.25. I remember when you could get pillows, peanuts and the WHOLE can of soda on an airplane for free. Now pillows cost 2 dollars, peanuts are being charged for I don't know how much and you only get a cup full of soda.

Oh yeah, most importantly I remember when Gamespot gave strict ratings. Now it seems like every game is a 10, even if you have to play previous games in the serious to fully enjoy it. I'm not saying there is a conspiracy, I'm just saying...it seems like everything is going up these days.

Summer Blogging Pt. 2

You know those ambitious movies with titles that have nothing to do with the damn movie. Say a romance drama called Shoestring Paradigm (not a real movie). Well this blog has nothing to do with the title. My friend said this (epic kinky) when we were watching Transporter 2. The movie is hella ridiculous man. There's a scene where this evil-female-assassin girl that wears a 2-piece bathing suit and two uzis at her side (go figure) licks the face of the main character and even licks him on the eye. My friend was like "whoa wtf?! That's epic kinky man." We cracked up laughing so that's where I got the title.

Now on to the point of the blog; predictions. Before that though, I want to say I beat DMC 3:SE (btw people get ridiculous with acronyms now). That game was cool but hella hard and frustrating man but the story wasn't too bad (formulaic but cool) and had a good ending. I notice I'm more into the storyline than the game sometimes. And now I need to be impressed more quickly to play a game. One thing about the Capcom games are that they do not have satisfying endings (not just Capcom though I love them). You play a game for hours and get a 2 second ending and you're like, "oh...well okay." I need closure, so developers need to work on that. Btw, I got a new phone! The Sprint Palm Centro baby:

Hella cool phone man, but I have large fingers so it's a little hard for me to use. I think I can make video files small enough to put them on Gamespot!

The Situation (Official Blog Blog)

Let me tell you the situation man. We're in an economic recession here in the US. Other nations are also in trobule because they invest in US debt. I live in the Bay Area and it has the most expensive gas in the nation because LA and NYC have more public transportation. We just have the BART but there are a bunch of cities adjacent to each other so there's a lot of commuting. You get the picture.

So it's hard to buy a 350-500 console with 60 dollar games (and the games are a killer) which takes up time (from playing the game) and time is also money. So no new console yet. I don't have as much time to play video games but since it's summer I have time to play and go on Gamespot. I still have an idea of what's going on in the gaming world. A lot of titles are out and I know it's keeping you busy (and keeping you from commenting .

Playstation 3 Predictions

- the PS3 will outsell the 360 during the next generation of consoles, however if the next MS system is fully backwards compatible, the 360 will be the top console of this generation

- MGS4 will get a 10 on Gamespot (more specifically a 9.6 rounded to a 10) and a 9.7 on IGN. Gamers will further question the integrity of reviewers, especially on Gamespot because retroactively, any game with a 9.5 or higher (like Bioshock) would have been a 10

- Final Fantasy XIII will be delayed twice again, but as the year goes by, the delay will be shorter

- a new version of the PS3 will release. It will have more storage space and will be slimmer; either way a different color SKU will come out

Xbox 360 Predictions/Thoughts

- the strong sales of the 360 means that the new console will not come out to probably 2011 (no need to look that far ahead). If the PS3 continues to sell poorly, the new console should release in 2010

- Customer service will continue to be is bad for both Sony and MS. I haven't gone through them before, but I know a lot of them don't even play the damn consoles and read from a faq list (sometimes)

- Not much to say about the 360, but there will be no Blu-Ray support for the 360. That wouldn't make sense because it's a key component of the PS3

Nintendo Wii Predictions

- Reggie will continue to brag about the success of the Wii

- I like the Wii games but it seems to just be a rehash of Gamecube games. I also think the Wiimote is overatted. The sensor is not accurate imo and my friend whooped my ass in Tennis and Baseball just by snapping his wrists without even moving (I was flailing). This was played on a 42'' HDTV in 480p as well.

- Expect first party characters like Donkey Kong to return on the console

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Quote of the Day (it won't always be myself):

"Fanboys have a mob mentality and it's contagious. That's even in the real world outside of gaming. If people preach to the masses that something is inherently good (i.e. the 360) and something is inherently bad (i.e. the PS3) then the Pygmalion effect will occur, and what people believe will come true even if it is a ridiculous claim."

--ProtegeRuckus

Have you heard that line before? Well yeah I used to do the formal thing but it's summer, and yeah I have a new profile and ProtegeRuckus I guess is a little more over the top than MacRuckus.

I'm an 80s baby and I grew up in the 90s, and one of my favorite films was Rumble in the Bronx (couldn't find good screenshots so no screenshots). Yo it's not Casablanca, but if you're into action and humor, this is the movie for you. It's not as funny as the original Rush Hour, but it's nostalgic (for me cause I saw it back then) and it's fun to look back on the 90s, when we thought car phones and beepers were cool (don't even ask about the internet). I think Shacks would even have fanboy rants about Sony Walkmans back then lol . I'm a retro person like I said to Phoenix so I miss the 90s. I think Lex even did a blog on the 90s.

*scratches head*

Where the hell is everyone on Gamespot? I see those smiley faces lit up so I know you guys are out there. I feel like an old man from all of this GS inactivity, plus time on the internet moves way faster than time in real life. I left because I had to fix a few things (that have yet to be fixed ) so it looks like I'm basically picking up where we left off.

So I come back from death to greet...death? Maybe it was because I joined GS in September 2006 (as MacRuckus) before the PS3 and Wii launched. There was a whole bunch of hype back then and speculation...those were the days. It took a while for me to get established on GS but I met a lot of people, a lot of whom are not here anymore (or just inactive). Yeah I deleted everything, but more on that later.

I guess everyone has stuff going on in their lives, but I thought gaming was a burgeoning industry, and online activity was at an all time high? What I'm saying is something isn't right here. I feel like that popular 90s chick reincarnated and in the 21st century (movie idea, don't steal it ). And now I have to start all over again.

One more thing. How is it that when I have a female avatar I average more comments. Damn, I've been contemplating a sex change. I might as well go back to Sakura, change my name to Justine, sex to female, and watch you guys drool all over me. The ruckus is back so hopefully we can get things moving again.

--ProtegeRuckus

P.S. You know I was kidding about the whole sex change thing right