Gaming Updates:

I've been happily playing GTA IV for a good chunk of my free time last week. From what I've played so far, the game is amazing! It stays true to the Grand Theft Auto formula and adds some pretty innovative features. However, it is missing some elements from GTA San Andreas. For example, I miss the RPG-like stat system where you can max out CJ's muscel, make him fat, learn how to drive better, swim faster, etc. But GTA IV certainly makes up for it in other areas. My favourite new part has to be how the developers worked the cell phone into the game. I've completed about 18% of the achievements for it too:

Oh and I haven't played World of Warcraft or Super Mario Galaxy since last Monday

GG's Life Updates:

Good news: I just barely passed computer programming! Seriously, that was the closest I ever came to failing a course in college... I think the teacher just passed me because he felt like it though I got a 15% on the major project and a 40% on the exam so his math doesn't add up. But, I'm definitely not complaining!

This semester is 5 weeks long and is packed pretty full. I'm in another computer programming cl@ss now as well. Can't escape it can I? This time it's in a language called "G". It's all graphical using LabView so I find it a little easier to understand. Instead of typing in some code that looks like a bunch of random letters to me, you just find a picture and add it. I'm seriously thinking I chose the wrong program... Too late to switch now I guess.

***

Have a good week guys! For those of you who hate GTA IV: Don't worry. Only a few more weeks until the hype dies down!

Quote of the Week: "Yellow car!" - Niko Bellic [while drunk, hailing a cab], GTA IV.

I'm writing this at 12:42 am and I just got back from Future Shop! Guess who's the proud new owner of a bouncing new copy of GTA IV? I'll sum up the experience quickly since I'm sort of sleepy and got college in the morning.

11:08 pm: Decided I might as well get my copy tonight. No time to play it until tomorrow evening but at least I'm guaranteed to have it. The store that's open at midnight, Future Shop, is about an hour and a half walk away so I decide call a cab. I don't trust transit services after 11 pm

11:20 pm: Cab finally arrives! Have an interesting conversation with the cab driver about where I'm going and what GTA IV is.

11:28 pm: Pull up to Future Shop. And there's a line up already! Not too many though. There's like 15 people in front of me.

11:35 pm: Manager comes out of the store and asks who has pre ordered it. This is when I start to worry! Why didn't I pre order it?!

11:38 pm: Everyone who doesn't have a pre order, including me, gets herded into another line (by a trash can I might add ). At least I'm number 6 in this new line! Those darn pre order people better not take all the copies ( or better yet, just leave 6 copies ).

11:41 pm: Manager reappears from within the store. He asks who is buying the PS3 version. Apparently, Rockstar shipped the Special edition only, and if you want the regular PS3 version, they don't have any. At this point I'm freezing, (why I didn't bring a jacket I'll never know), so I could really care less since I'm after the Xbox 360 version.

11:45 pm: I start to wonder why I'm standing in this line! I mean, it's just a game and it's cold out here! I turn around and see what was once a line of about 20 people had grown into about 70. And best of all, I'm number 6!

11:50 pm: A store employee comes out of the store. He asks everyone to pull out IDs. A few annoyed grunts from the crowd, and one from me too of course, are heard. I hear a few Jack Thompson jabs as I fumble through my purse for a driver's license. The only line that will get IDed is, you guessed it, the non pre order line! I guess a pre order gets you an all VIP pass at these things.

11:55 pm: A store employee emerges taking pictures of the line. Guess they like remembering the look of a crowd of agitated people.

12:01 am: The store manager, literally, jumps on the counter and the employees all yell "Happy New Year"... I'm not going to ask, but at least it's something to laugh at!

12:02 am: The special pre order line gets let in 15 at a time. Meanwhile, I've lost all feeling in my toes and I just want to go home! But I remember it's GTA IV, and join my fellow non pre orders in yelling at them to hurry up in there! I got a game to buy!

12:35 pm: After an eternity of waiting for the pre orders to hurry up, the first 20 non pre orders get let in! I don't know what felt better: The fact that I was 5 people away from GTA IV; or that they had the heat cranked up all the way inside the store!

12:39 am: The feeling is back in my toes and I just finished buying my copy of GTA IV! Life is great! I proudly exit the store and hope the rest of the people in the line get their copy too. It's at this point I realize, pre order or not, we're all gamers! We've all come out here tonight to purchase the most anticiapted game of the year. My hate melts away and I set off on the journey home.

***

I really need to stop disappearing... Anyway, I'm back again for the 100th time And I apologise once again for missing all your blogs.

Gaming updates:

World of Warcraft - Got my main character on WoW to level 55. Only 15 more levels until 70!

Super Mario Galaxy - I just finished Fire Ice Galaxy place and have got about 49 power stars. I can definitely see why GS gave it GoTY.

Grand Theft Auto IV:

It's finally almost here! I've been a huge fan of the GTA series ever since I played GTA III. Heck, my first blog here on GS was all about waiting for GTA SA (if you check it out, be kind! I was only 15 when I wrote it ). I haven't looked at any previews of the game yet so I have no idea what to expect when I get it. I heard IGN gave it 10 out of 10 so I'm really expecting a lot from it now. My only regret is not pre ordering it! Wish me luck grabbing a copy Tuesday!

GG's Life Updates:

Exams are finally over at school! I'm pretty sure I failed or just squeezed out a passing grade in computer programming. Last thing my teacher said to me was: "You didn't do very well on the exam and I'm not sure if you have enough marks to pass."

Very encouraging huh? Oh well. Luckily it won't hold me back too much if I fail it. It is a requirement to graduate, but I can still take next semester's courses without it. Meaning: I'll just have to take it again sometime next year. Still hoping I pass though Since I'm in a two year program, I have a third semester that starts next week that goes until the end of May. Cramming a bunch of courses into a month probably means a ton of work to do

At work, we just started learning how to use the 84 mm Carl Gustav. I'll let you guys google it and see what it is All I can say is it's awesome! I doubt we'll get a chance to live fire it anytime soon though

***

That's all! I'll probably make another blog when I get my hands on GTA IV

Quote of the Week: "How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain" - Homer Simpson

This chain blog thing kind of reminds me of the example: 2 people tell 2 people, and they tell 2 more people, who each tell 2 more people, and then it goes all exponential on you I don't know who started this, but look what you created! I've been tagged by frogsoblivion21 though, and now I must make one of these blogs too. Sigh...

5 Things You Don't Know About Me:

1) I'm sure most of you probably know this, but I'm in the Canadian Army Reserves. I've (in real life, not just on games!) thrown two live frag grenades, fired 2 different types of machine guns and an assault rifle, and lived in a trench for 5 days (just as fun as it sounds...). In June, I'm going away for a month to get my basic Infantry course. In the Canadian Army, women get treated as equally as men do, so it's been a pretty challenging experience for me. It's hard to keep up with all the big muscly guys so I have to put a lot more into training. Sure beats my old job at Tim Hortons though

2) Major revelation here! In all my years here, no one on GS knows my real name, until now: It's Ellen. I'd still prefer to be called Ada or GG though

3) I hate the game Kingdom Hearts. I know tons of you love it, but I just plain don't like it. Disney + Final Fantasy just doesn't work for me. Don't get me started on the Keyblade either...

4) I love learning about politics, and how societies, and the world in general, work. I use to be pretty left wing in my opinions but I'm starting to lean more towards the middle now. I'm also starting to see that each extreme of the polticial spectrum is seriously flawed. But I could write a whole blog about that alone!

5) The first game I ever played was some game with Taz, from Looney Toons, destroying stuff on the SNES I was about 5 years old (and also stuck in the hospital for 6 weeks ).

There I said my 5 things! Now for the fun part! I get to tag 5 people: anzelm, John1918, taz412, football_legend, and mufujifi.

I'm not going to be around much after tomorrow, since I have one of those terrific 48 hour work weekends coming up I'll catch up with you all on Monday though! Have a great weekend guys.

Hey guys!

Long time no blog huh? It did snow a few more times since last blog though I've been pretty busy with college, work, and life in general lately, but I have been stopping by GS for a few mins a day. Sorry I'm way behind on all your blogs too. I might try to catch up or just start commenting again on new ones.

***

Gaming Updates:

I finally beat Assassin's Creed yesterday! Unfortunately, not with 100% achievements Pretty close though (93%)! Just three achievements left. The bad part is I need to restart the game for two of them and I really don't feel like doing that. The other one is kind of frustrating too: There are 3 templars somewhere in the game I haven't got yet. I have absolutely no idea where they are either, so I'm thinking it might be easier to restart the game for that one too. I'll put up a review for AC whenever I get around to writing it.

Still playing WoW of course! Haven't made much more progress though. My main charater is now lvl 46 and that's about it. Only 6 more gold until I can afford a mount! .

I also bought Super Smash Brothers Brawl today. So much for buying anymore more games for a while... Still no Wii online yet (long story). I should have it sorted out tomorrow though. If anyone one knows how to get a Wii online without me having to get Wireless internet please let me know!

GG's Life Updates:

My Grandmother passed away Tuesday night. She has been sick for a while though so it was only a matter of time (I believe I mentioned her in one of my blogs last year). I went to her funeral today. It was a pretty nice service and I'm sure she would have liked it.

This was also my week off of school!! A whole week without Calculus and electroinc stuff was just what I needed! My grades are about average and if I keep it up, I shouldn't have any problems graduating next year

***

Well I guess that's all! How have you guys been doing lately? Feel free to direct me to any important blogs I missed.

Quote of the Week: "Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." - Will Rogers

Update: Just got those last 3 achievements on AC! I did have to start a new game but I didn't have to beat the entire game again.

This Monday started out the same as usual (waking up to an annoying alarm, followed by getting ready for the start of another looong week). But just as I was heading out the door, I found out college actually got cancelled! We've had a few storms in the past, where every school in the province got cancelled except mine, so I'm happy I finally get to cash in on the snow

The only thing I managed to accomplish today is getting my Night Elf Druid to lvl 40 But it was nice to relax on a Monday. Out of complete boredom, I decided to start dancing infront of the Crossroads (Picture below. I'm the one with the antlers ). Apparently, some Orc Guy thought I was there to attack the place

Probably should have been working on my assignment that was was due today though. I also have to throw a 15 minute presentation together tomorrow too. It's on how the Wiimote works so it shouldn't be too hard... I hope Computer programming cl@ss is getting really hard. The guy teaching it just throws up a slideshow and then expects us to write a program. He never taught us what all the things on the slideshow mean, so he might as well be showing us blank screen

I've been neglecting my weekly stuff so I'll catch up a bit on that. Have a good week guys! Hopefully I'll have a chance to pay attention to my X360 a bit this week

***

Blog of the Week (x3): Restoring Credibility by yeah_write, THE BABY IS HERE!! by jpgalindo (congrats!!), Gaming Genres: FPS by canana

Quote of the Week (x3):

"I'm not going to call an ambulance this time because if I do you won't learn anything." --Brian, Family Guy.

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." --Herm Albright

"Your right hand comes off...?" --Leon, Resident Evil 4.