Hi all, I've been playing around with the new simple editor in Portal 2 and have been having fun making test chambers. So far, I've made three and I'm happy with the way they turned out. They may not be the most advanced, but I'm very impressed with the puzzles I can think up. I'll briefly describe each one:

Triplet - This was the first one I made, and it's the most simple. Most will probably get through it in a few minutes, but it was a nice way to get used to the tools and interface.

Cyber Climb - This chamber is the most complex, in my opinion. This chamber also required the most tweaks and testing, making it clock in at about four to five hours to make. It's also the largest file size at 10 MB. But I'm happy with the mechanics I used here, including a simple but fun basketball-like puzzle.

Cyber Labs - This chamber I just finished today. Sticking with the Cyber name, this chamber includes the use of gel. Some may not like that this chamber requires a bit of back tracking, but I tried to make what would otherwise be a simple and quick solution a little harder. This one took about three hours to make.

If you play any of these chambers, feel free to leave comments, suggestions, or things that need fixing. As fpr the editor, I'm very happy with how easy it is to use. I wish you could add more things with it like new doors or energy balls, but maybe that'll come later. I'll definitely be using it again.

I tell ya, the past few days I've been gaming hard like I haven't gamed in a long time. I bought the game of the year edition of Borderlands from Steam back in October during their Halloween sale (It was only $7!) and I played it for a few hours that day and then stopped. Now, four months later, I get the desire to play it again and now I'm really diggin it. According to Steam, I've played the game for nine and a half hours since monday. There are so many quests and guns to collect that you can easily spend a couple of hours playing and still feel like you've just started. I was skeptical when purchasing this game but I'm so glad I did.

I also snagged Modern Warfare 2 from Amazon for only five bucks. I've never seen it that cheap, not even on Steam, so I got it and activated it on Steam. I just finished the campaign today after exactly 7 hours of gameplay time, and what an ending it was. Now I kinda want to play MW3, but I'll wait until it's 5 bucks :p

So, lately I've been pushing my PC pretty hard. My first-gen quad core and GTX 460 can't run the games at a smooth 60fps, but I don't think it ever dips below 30fps on high settings, which isn't bad for a four-year-old processor and two-year-old graphics card. Next, I plan to get back into Bioshock.

After being my user icon for a few years, Scrooge McDuck has accepted his pink slip. He will resume watching over his nephews (who should be like 30 years old now but I digress) and attending to his money bin. I also hear Launchpad has invited him over to play Big Rigs, cause he's really good at it.

So, I'd like to introduce you to my new parter, Chip. He's a Resuce Ranger and says he'll help me with my Ranger duties, when he's not eating his nuts that is. Welcome aboard!

On this shortest day of the year in the U.S., I want to wish everyone a happy and safe holidays and may we all have a great new year. There isn't much going on right now, but there are a few things.

I'm thinking of retiring the Scrooge McDuck avatar. I've had it for two or three years now so maybe it's time for a fresh avy. What do you guys think? Should Scrooge give up the money bin?

I've acquired a Nintendo Gamecube recently, and have started playing games like Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion again. The Gamecube had some great games, and I plan to get them all again since the Wii U will not play Gamecube games. I'm also looking at Steam's holiday sales. I'm eyeing Sonic Generations and Need For Speed Hot Pursuit if they're on sale as a daily deal.

I beat Portal and Portal 2 last month. Both are excellent games but Portal 2 definetly wins out. I have never enjoyed a puzzle game as much as Portal 2, and I highly recommend that anyone that has not played it to do so. It's a great adventure game mixed into a puzzle game with a great story and great humor, it's everything you can want in a puzzle game.

Once again, have a happy and safe holiday everyone, and a happy new year!

Hey all! How's it been going? You still taking in all the E3 news? I know I still am. Between the Vita, Wii U, and all kinds of games, I'd say this was a pretty good E3. Of course, Gamespots coverage was one of the best. I really enjoyed watching the live stageshow cameras, and it made me feel like I was there in the middle of it all. But oh, how I wish I really was. It looks so awesome in there; All the games and gizmos everywhere!

The Wii U looks pretty interesting. I'm glad Nintendo is finally making the move to HD, so the games should look sweet! I do wish the console looked more unique from the Wii, but since this is a Wii with "U" in mind, I guess it makes sense. For a few seconds while watching the Nintendo conference, I thought the name was going to be the Nintendo Yuu. But I guess Wii U name represents everyone, we and you.

The Vita looks pretty awesome, although am I the only one who noticed that its only one letter away from Vista? Kinda odd, but probably nothing. Anyhow, the Vita looks like it has great potential to play some great games in the future. I liked the PSP but wasn't too happy of its game library, especially the first year or two. Hopefully the Vita won't have the same problem.

With all this news, I guess its good to know that I will probably be getting a job soon. It's a long story, but basically I'm getting aid on getting employment from a service for people with disabilities. A lot of waiting is involved, but it looks like I'm in. Now I just have to get evaulated so they will know what jobs I be best at performing, and then it's show time! This might be the biggest thing thats happened to me in a very long time.

Lastly, I have now joined the crowd and have created a Twitter. I'm not sure how much I'll be using it, but if any of you are interested my username is GizmoEx. My new cool username! If only I could change it here Anyway, thats all for this blog. Cheers.

Well April has been a pretty good month for my Gamespot life. On April 7th, I had the pleasure of accepting the position to be a Gamespot Ranger. I did not ask for the position, and it was totally a surprise. So, what is a Gamespot Ranger? A Gamespot Ranger, or Gamespot Helpers as they were previously called, are users who basically patrol the How to Gamespot board. Gamespot Rangers know a lot about how the site works and can point new users in the right direction. So, as the badge says, they are the Gamespot Tourists Guide!

In addition to serving the community, an extra bonus of being a ranger is getting free Total Access. I've been checking out the extra features and am pretty excited. I've been trying to decide on a username color. So far I've gone with a light blue color, but also like the dark blue as well as green. But since my avatar is mostly blue or purple, I think my current username color matches it pretty well. I also have the ability to create a UCB now, but I don't have any ideas on what we can discuss on there. There are already many UCBs covering a wide variety of subjects, so I might not use that feature. But it's still nice to be provided with all these features, and I can't think Jody enough for it.

I also turned 22 on April 18th, just two days ago. I'm not happy to see my teenage years get further behind in the rear view mirror, but age only goes one way. I guess I still have most of my life ahead of me. Seeing how hard it is to find a job nowadays, I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't be trying to find one. Instead, maybe I should pursue higher education to get a good job. The thought of more studying, homework, and tests isn't appealing, but it might be what I need to do to have a better life for my future. I enjoy working on computers so I'm thinking of going into that field.

Well I think you are all caught up. Thanks for reading and happy posting!

I have not been active lately. I've hardly been posting in the forums, watching videos, or even playing video games. Not that I don't have time, I just don't feel like it. I'm still in the middle of finding myself and getting my life started. For those that have been following, my phyciatrist says that I probably have Aspergers. That's right, I'm an aspie. I despise change, I have sensitive taste and hearing, I'm socially awkward, I don't have many career interests, and I feel alone. There is no medication to treat it, which is why I'm no longer on any medication. I suppose that is a good thing, but I sometimes feel that I need something to help my mood, even if it is artificial happiness. I just want to be happy, that's what living is all about.

I lost a friendship in January. My friend got tired of my problems so he stopped communicating with me and blocked me on Facebook. We were friends for nearly four years; We met on the internet. He told me I was like a brother to him. I guess that's what happens when someone knows too much about you; They leave you. I hear though that true friends are always with you and stay by your side no matter what. I guess I just haven't found that person yet.

Well, maybe I'll be more active here in the coming days or weeks. I'll try to get back into it. I noticed I missed the OTCars, more of the same I see. Congrats to those who won anyway, I guess it feels good to be popular.

This event happens once every 11 years. The previous time this event occurred was during the launch of the Dreamcast, 9/9/99. Unfortunately a new console was not released today, but one is certainly being remembered. Come on, Sega. Stop making crappy 3D sonic games and go back to making great consoles.

With my recent upgrade to Windows 7, I wanted to get some PC games to go with it. Just in time, Steam was having their Halloween sale of up to 75% off! So the games I got are:

BioShock $4.99
Overlord $1.24
Overlord II $4.99
Geometry Wars $3.99

I could of got more but being unemployed...yeah. But in comparison, Direct2Drive is selling Overlord and Overlord II as a bundle for $47.95 and Bioshock for $19.95; A total of $67.90, which I got for only $11.22! Geometry Wars wasn't on sale but was cheap enough. I enjoyed the Xbox Live game and now don't own an Xbox 360 so this was a great alternative.

If you want to take advantage of this sale, hurry cause it ends tomorrow November 1st.

So I've been on Prozac, Zanax, Celexa, and now have just started Cymbalta. Really, what is all of this for? I really don't feel any better. If anything it's making me a bit more sad and tired. I've been having thoughts about death and even suicide (just thoughts), things that I didn't have just like 6 months ago. Is it because of the medicine, or is my life really getting worse? Still without a job, most of my gaming stuff has been shipped off to some stranger in the country. I'm unable to get a job or even get help getting a job because my medications aren't straightened out, and with the side-effects like tiredness and having the urge to tell someone off. Where does it go from here? I guess I'll find out.

...so do birthdays. I am now 21 years old. Hard to believe. But, remember, just because you're 21 doesn't mean you are a mature and responsible adult I feel like I should be in my teens still.

This means I can legally drink now, but I don't have any plans to do so. I may try a sip of wine one day, but as for drinking beer all the time and getting drunk, na that's not me. Aren't I fun?

So what am I doing on this special day? Well, I know I'm going out to eat a big birthday dinner. Other than that, I'm not sure. I will find out Thanks everyone in advanced for their birthday wishes.

Well, long last, I have hit level 63. Would of gotten there sooner if I would of been a bit more active when I first joined, but that didn't happen until like a year later. So, what's so big about getting to level 63? Not too much really, just that it'll be a long time before you level up again. Technically, I'm only seven levels away from level 70, but it's going to take years to get there, and by time I do get there (if I ever do) they'll be 80 levels

I project that the next time I level up to level 64 won't be until January 2011, maybe even later. It takes three days to get 1% so it's going to be a long ride. I wonder why they made it so slow? I can understand maybe 100 days but 300? I don't think level 64 is any quicker, so the excitement of leveling up every month or less is over. Despite that though, I'm up with the higher level users now that have like 50k posts or more

Gamespot has changed a lot over the past few years, but Gamespot is still my home for forums, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Seriously, today it's like everything is a medical condition. There is something "abnormal" about you that needs to be corrected by a drug, therapy, counseling, or something else. Feeling blue once in a while? You must have depression and need a drug. Not the most talkative person? You must have a social phobia and need a drug. Get angry sometimes? You must have anger issues and need a drug. Or, maybe these are just natural feelings that come and go naturally? Maybe there's a reason why I'm feeling sad or mad? Maybe something in my life has to be corrected, not some "imbalance" in my brain.

I just don't understand why everything has to be a disorder or some other condition, and then you're forced to take drugs that can possibly make you feel much worse with the side effects than the "condition" that you're trying to help. Some of these side effects, while rare, are even fatal. What if you're one of the rare ones? Well, by the time you discover that, it's too late. Really, instead of taking drugs, maybe we can look elsewhere for help first. Who knows what damage these drugs are doing to our bodies overtime?

Sure, there are some people who really do have problems that need some medication to get through everyday life. But before you reach that conclusion, let's look at the entire picture first. What problem(s) does this person have, and why? What is the cause of these problems? Is their something we can do to help, or something that can be done to help them? Are these problems really problems?

Maybe somebody isn't the way you would like them to be. Maybe they're not doing the things in life that you want them to. But that's the way they are, and if they feel that they are missing something, they'll do something about it. So, just because I'm not the person you want me to be, does NOT mean I have a disorder.

I don't think anyone here, or even my family, notices how much I love music. Music, whether it's on radio, on your Ipod, on your mp3 player, or even from your video game, it can take you to another place without you getting out of your chair.

Music can make you feel happy, angry, sad, sleepy, energetic, and just about every emotion. Music can make you smile, laugh, frown, and cry. No matter what mood you're in, you'll be able to find a song that relates to your mood and maybe even to what you are going through. From being a happy person singing about the joys of life, or being heartbroken over a break-up, or sad over a death of someone, music can share those feeling and emotions, but can also bring hope and comfort.

An example is a song that many probably know, "The Great Gig In the Sky" by Pink Floyd. It's a song about death, and the pain it leaves behind. At the same time, though, it brings the message "Why should I be afraid of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime". This may not bring comfort to all, but it's a good way to look at death. We're all going to go, so why spend all of your life worrying about it? This song was also used in this amazing Asteroid Impact video, which is actually how I first discovered the song. Now, imagine that this video was silent, no music. You would still see the impact, but would you "feel it"? Probably not. But with this fitting music, you feel as if the event is really happening and how you would feel as you await what comes next. Music is powerful, and it moves you.

Of course, I don't like every single piece of music that I hear. I like music that relaxes you, brings back memories, makes you happy, relates to you. I personally do not get that feeling from music such as gangster rap, heavy metal, and hard rock. But if you do, that's wonderful. Another great thing about music is that there's so many different kinds and we all have different tastes, just like food. It doesn't mean that it's bad, per say, but that my tastes just don't match with that genre. But there's music for everyone, no matter what age or gender. Wouldn't life be boring if we all liked the exact same type of music and songs?

Video game music is not often thought of as a genre, but I believe that it is. In fact, I think video game music should be played on the radio, because it has the same purpose that any other type of music has, and it sounds just as good if not better in some cases. I obviously can't give all of the great video game soundtracks here, but I'll name one of my favorites. All three versions of the classic Sonic 3D Blast game have some of the best soundtracks I have heard. I personally prefer but the more modern Saturn and PC soundtrack, but if you prefer the Genesis soundtrack then that's fine too. From the soothing tune of Rusty Ruins to the Christmas-like tune of Diamond Dust, these tunes bring back much nostalgia even though I didn't play this game in the 90's. It doesn't really matter, though, because it's like I did, and it still takes me back to those childhood days of playing Sonic and Mario games.

Another type of music I enjoy is Smooth Electronica, or a mix of Drum & Bass and Downtempo. Usually with no lyrics, this music just makes you relax and takes you to a relaxing place. It's great to listen to at night before you sleep or whenever you're feeling stressed. While this music is usually slow and calming, there can be some energetic and happy tunes too. A song that really relates to me is how I felt when my father died, and still do. Trentemoller's "Miss You" perfectly describes how a person feels when they lose a loved one. I still miss you, and always will.

Music really is important to me, and I listen to it often. Its something that never gets old no matter how many times you listen to it. I hope you enjoy music as much as I do. Please feel free to list your favorite tunes, and how much they mean to you.