Figured I'd share what shows I'm watching to get me through to a new fall season of Bones, House and Dollhouse. I do all my TV watching through hulu.com and Netflix Instant View, which saves me 15% or more on my cable bill!
Burn Notice: The ultimate summer show. Typically for the summer I like light shows and this one co-stars Bruce Campbell, really, what more do you need to know? It's the tale of a former spy trying to get by in Miami, while helping those in need. It's like a modern MacGuyver with Micheal Weston (the aforementioned spy) narrating to us as he does spy like things. Really it's the Miami setting that ends up selling this show, it's just always so bright and sunny and the show doesn't try to force feed you any drama. Like Blossom. Man, THAT show force fed the drama, every week was "a very special Blossom."
Royal Pains: Another USA network summer show, this one follows a former big shot ER doctor from New York City that gets blackballed and is left broke and unemployed. Heads tot he Hamptons with his brother, saves a partier at a SWANK~! mansion, and ends up becoming an on-call doctor for the rich and ultra-rich. Give this show a shot, as it's actually really good. What sticks out to me is how the lead actor can get across such a range of emotion just by his facial expressions. Watch the pilot, then the second episode. Much better then I expected.
Mental: TRAIN WRECK ALERT! This is hands down, one of the most unoriginal shows I have seen in YEARS. This show is basically House, with a focus on mental disorders, like schizophrenia (thank you Firefox spellchecker!), and of course, a doctor that doesn't play by the rules. In the first episode, he even breaks into a patient's home. I'd tell you about the supporting cast, except really, they get zero screen time. The fourth episode is a perfect example of a "jump the shark" episode as it focuses on a kid that plays a video game in his head. Words can not do this justice. You need to see it for yourself.
Kings: I feel like the only person on the planet that likes this show. It's set in an alternate unverise and it's basically a retelling of David from the Old Testament. David Shepard, proud owner of the "Least Subtle Name In Television History", saves the Prince from the hands of the enemy and gets welcomed into the monarchy as a national hero. Of course there's a princess that falls for him, and a prince that doesn't want him there. To say that this show wasn't a ratings hit would be an understatement, but at least NBC is letting them finish up the season, and the story, this summer. I'm a huge sucker for this sort of drama, and at least watch the pilot and the second episode. The final episode will air on July 25th, so don't miss this show like you did Firefly.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Personal Blog: Take Two!
So a few months ago now I created this, didn't really use it much. Busy with class work, work work, and didn't feel like writing more then I had to. Upper level English courses can do that to a guy. Now though, I'm ready to give this a second go and use it to not only chronicle my crazy gaming habits, but more of my thoughts in general. Still going to keep it going with stuff that will not be appearing on 360voice.com!
Anyways, I took the plunge and signed up for facebook: http://tinyurl.com/lgfg5y
And I've had twitter for awhile: http://twitter.com/Dog_of_Thunder
Now I finally feel like a part of the 21st century! Mostly though, it dawned on me how un-connected I was to people....is un-connected a word? Anyways, my selection of 360voice Member of the Moment got me thinking about it, the thought bounced around for about a month, and I finally decided to actually make it possible for people to connect to me. Which sounds really weird when I type it out.
Just to stay on topic with my gaming: Peggle is super addictive and while I don't want to be just like Fshguy, I fear I too may spend far too much time with this game. Magic for XBLA is...interesting...it's so watered down it's like sealed deck 10th edition Magic. Think I may have wasted my money on it. Other then that, The Club isn't Peggle addictive, but I already want to go out and buy my own copy. That has to count for something, right?
Anyways, I took the plunge and signed up for facebook: http://tinyurl.com/lgfg5y
And I've had twitter for awhile: http://twitter.com/Dog_of_Thunder
Now I finally feel like a part of the 21st century! Mostly though, it dawned on me how un-connected I was to people....is un-connected a word? Anyways, my selection of 360voice Member of the Moment got me thinking about it, the thought bounced around for about a month, and I finally decided to actually make it possible for people to connect to me. Which sounds really weird when I type it out.
Just to stay on topic with my gaming: Peggle is super addictive and while I don't want to be just like Fshguy, I fear I too may spend far too much time with this game. Magic for XBLA is...interesting...it's so watered down it's like sealed deck 10th edition Magic. Think I may have wasted my money on it. Other then that, The Club isn't Peggle addictive, but I already want to go out and buy my own copy. That has to count for something, right?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Review Preview
A snippet of this week's Dumpster Dive:
[From one section]
ZOIG - Who is the mysterious man known only as ZOIG? Where did he come from? What is his purpose here? What foul things will happen when he finally ascends to the top of the popular blog list? Will Steely Dan release another album!? Needless to say, this masked marvel has become a permenant fixture and only you can stop ZOIG's neferious plans....by clicking on this link...once a day....yeah...that's the ticket...
[And yet another section]
This particular feature is perfect for your average gamer, after all, it's just another competition where our flabby exteriors and translucent skin is meaningless! Why not take a totally artificial number and see who can make their little number go up the most in a week? And if you win, you get bragging rights! Yeah! You spent the most time away from friends and loved ones! You win!
Of course, the only one of these I could ever win was against a bunch of random strangers in the great feature known as the "Auto Challenge." I won once by 5 points. Second place? He had zero points. No really, I earned the "Submissive" achievement in The Orange Box and won. There's another joke somewhere in there that I'll leave it to you to write, because the main point is, without this awesome feature, a real physical marvel of a man, wouldn't have such a great victory story!
[and another section]
As if gamer score challenges weren't enough, this section lets people set up their own, totally arbitrary challenge! Like a race to 100 retail completions! That's original! Or a race to a certain gamerscore mark! Fun! Know what always happens though? You won't win any of these. Nope. None. There's always some guy with way more gaming time then you ever have. What this site needs more of?
Truly lazy challenges. Like the Not Quite Epic And Really Rather Sad Race to 50% Completion! How many people wouldn't be caught dead advertising their 25% badge? Yes, I mean you Buckswana. Friggin' 93% completion....pyschotic if you ask me...oh, right, anyways, let's say you want to go truly off the wall and have a race to say...100% Eternal Sonata! You can do that!
And then forget about it for months, and when no one's looking, start piling up the achievements and declare yourself the winner! Really, this tiny little portion of the site has limitless potential for amusement!
[And cut]
Yup, that's right, since Wednesday's a special day and all, figured I'd aim the Dumpster Dive at the very last place people would expect: 360Voice.com
[From one section]
ZOIG - Who is the mysterious man known only as ZOIG? Where did he come from? What is his purpose here? What foul things will happen when he finally ascends to the top of the popular blog list? Will Steely Dan release another album!? Needless to say, this masked marvel has become a permenant fixture and only you can stop ZOIG's neferious plans....by clicking on this link...once a day....yeah...that's the ticket...
[And yet another section]
This particular feature is perfect for your average gamer, after all, it's just another competition where our flabby exteriors and translucent skin is meaningless! Why not take a totally artificial number and see who can make their little number go up the most in a week? And if you win, you get bragging rights! Yeah! You spent the most time away from friends and loved ones! You win!
Of course, the only one of these I could ever win was against a bunch of random strangers in the great feature known as the "Auto Challenge." I won once by 5 points. Second place? He had zero points. No really, I earned the "Submissive" achievement in The Orange Box and won. There's another joke somewhere in there that I'll leave it to you to write, because the main point is, without this awesome feature, a real physical marvel of a man, wouldn't have such a great victory story!
[and another section]
As if gamer score challenges weren't enough, this section lets people set up their own, totally arbitrary challenge! Like a race to 100 retail completions! That's original! Or a race to a certain gamerscore mark! Fun! Know what always happens though? You won't win any of these. Nope. None. There's always some guy with way more gaming time then you ever have. What this site needs more of?
Truly lazy challenges. Like the Not Quite Epic And Really Rather Sad Race to 50% Completion! How many people wouldn't be caught dead advertising their 25% badge? Yes, I mean you Buckswana. Friggin' 93% completion....pyschotic if you ask me...oh, right, anyways, let's say you want to go truly off the wall and have a race to say...100% Eternal Sonata! You can do that!
And then forget about it for months, and when no one's looking, start piling up the achievements and declare yourself the winner! Really, this tiny little portion of the site has limitless potential for amusement!
[And cut]
Yup, that's right, since Wednesday's a special day and all, figured I'd aim the Dumpster Dive at the very last place people would expect: 360Voice.com
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Welcome To The Grind
My timing in launching this blog was well, poor. Lost my first 360 to the E-74 error on Friday, traded in stuff to Gamestop and got a new one, with their warranty, for $68. Forgot that the arcade units don't have HD compatibility, so for now I'm gaming in standard-def on a HD TV. Which sucks. The incident also killed my motivation for awhile, so no expanded Deadliest Catch review, don't worry, I'll be posting up a sneak peek of next Wednesday's review this weekend. It's going to truly be a one of a kind review.
Back to my quest for the Three-Star Oddball badge and the introduction of The Grind. All The Grinds. Here's my current rotation of games:
Virtua Fighter 5 - Boils down to "Beat every single opponent in the entire game." Every estimate I've seen of the time needed for this one is 30 hours. I'm currently at an overall mark of 36% done (I love games that keep track of stats like that for you.)
FarCry 2 (Multiplayer) - Actual game? Not a grind. Online? Oh hell yes. I'm just under 2k points from reaching rank 10. A feat with an amazing trueachievement ratio of 5.18. I've been averaging about 300 points every Team Deathmatch game and 350 for every Deathmatch game(which have no chances for revives, making the Team Deathmatch still a better choice.)
WarTECH: Senko No Ronde - 1000 ranked matches online? Does anything else really have to be said? I'm at 47 right now. Mostly just a matter not being online when my boosting buddy is, which should be fixed now that my life is back to normal.
Dead or Alive Extreme 2 - I REALLY don't need to say anything else. Back to playing this semi-regularly tomorrow.
Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm - Gamefly game, so it has some priority of course, but man, it's so freakin' slow I have trouble actually getting myself to sit down and play it. Victor Delta, the "Crew has all maxed out morale" achievement. Far harder then it sounds because your crew is a bunch of pansies. Even the All Decked Out achievement, which is buying every upgrade for the boat, will take me about 3 more King Crab seasons, or 5 hours in earth terms. Painful, horrible game.
Spectral Force 3 - The newest addition to the high-priority rotation of games. Doesn't count for Oddball, nor are the achievements worth a lot at Trueachievements.com, it is however, an offbeat game that very few people have actually played, which means that I just have to have it. Should be hitting this up starting on Friday. Oh, and it's basically a next-gen Shining Force with far crappier gameplay than the Genesis classic.
Is it really any wonder that my Gamerscore goes up at the speed of a glacier?
Back to my quest for the Three-Star Oddball badge and the introduction of The Grind. All The Grinds. Here's my current rotation of games:
Virtua Fighter 5 - Boils down to "Beat every single opponent in the entire game." Every estimate I've seen of the time needed for this one is 30 hours. I'm currently at an overall mark of 36% done (I love games that keep track of stats like that for you.)
FarCry 2 (Multiplayer) - Actual game? Not a grind. Online? Oh hell yes. I'm just under 2k points from reaching rank 10. A feat with an amazing trueachievement ratio of 5.18. I've been averaging about 300 points every Team Deathmatch game and 350 for every Deathmatch game(which have no chances for revives, making the Team Deathmatch still a better choice.)
WarTECH: Senko No Ronde - 1000 ranked matches online? Does anything else really have to be said? I'm at 47 right now. Mostly just a matter not being online when my boosting buddy is, which should be fixed now that my life is back to normal.
Dead or Alive Extreme 2 - I REALLY don't need to say anything else. Back to playing this semi-regularly tomorrow.
Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm - Gamefly game, so it has some priority of course, but man, it's so freakin' slow I have trouble actually getting myself to sit down and play it. Victor Delta, the "Crew has all maxed out morale" achievement. Far harder then it sounds because your crew is a bunch of pansies. Even the All Decked Out achievement, which is buying every upgrade for the boat, will take me about 3 more King Crab seasons, or 5 hours in earth terms. Painful, horrible game.
Spectral Force 3 - The newest addition to the high-priority rotation of games. Doesn't count for Oddball, nor are the achievements worth a lot at Trueachievements.com, it is however, an offbeat game that very few people have actually played, which means that I just have to have it. Should be hitting this up starting on Friday. Oh, and it's basically a next-gen Shining Force with far crappier gameplay than the Genesis classic.
Is it really any wonder that my Gamerscore goes up at the speed of a glacier?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Alaskan Storm Blows Hard
Holy boring game Batman!
I just got done writing up a review of it over at 360voice.com, and one will be hitting this blog later with expanded material. Needless to say, this is a horrible, horrible game. Guilty Gear 2 is a masterpiece next to this thing.
On the bright side, I am now 1/4th of the way to the 2-Star Oddball Badge! 1500 points to go for that one, and 3500 for the coveted 3-Star! I need to bite the bullet and try to get the 100% Collection in Beautiful Katamari sometime soon, before I get more DLC levels.
Same thing with Overlord (which is a great game, go play it!). I need to finish off one more section before I invest in the DLC. I feel like I'm making some real progress, which is great and all, but Dead or Alive Extreme 2 is still hanging over me like the Damocles Sword.
It's amazing a game can be so very bad when it includes stuff like this. :-)
I just got done writing up a review of it over at 360voice.com, and one will be hitting this blog later with expanded material. Needless to say, this is a horrible, horrible game. Guilty Gear 2 is a masterpiece next to this thing.
On the bright side, I am now 1/4th of the way to the 2-Star Oddball Badge! 1500 points to go for that one, and 3500 for the coveted 3-Star! I need to bite the bullet and try to get the 100% Collection in Beautiful Katamari sometime soon, before I get more DLC levels.
Same thing with Overlord (which is a great game, go play it!). I need to finish off one more section before I invest in the DLC. I feel like I'm making some real progress, which is great and all, but Dead or Alive Extreme 2 is still hanging over me like the Damocles Sword.
It's amazing a game can be so very bad when it includes stuff like this. :-)
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Quest For The OddBall
My 360 gamertag is Dog of Thunder, and I have a problem. I know I'll never have the highest gamerscore, because this guy has that particular market cornered. Completion % really isn't much of an option so well, that would mean playing more of Star Trek Legacy and not even I want to suffer like that.
So I settled on having the most bizarrely fascinating gamercard.
All those games that get low to mediocre scores? I play those games. Crappy controls, horrible plot? Yup, I play those too. If it's a B-rated title, I love it. I stopped playing Gears of War 2 because I got sucked into the multiplayer for Far Cry 2. That's the sort of insanity I have going on.
That is also the purpose of this blog. To chronicle one man's journey into the mouth of madness. The crown jewel of my quest, my ultimate goal: To be the first to attain the 3-star Oddball badge at 360voice.com. In order to reach my goal, there is a mighty beast that must be slain.
Dead or Alive Extreme 2.
I have been chronicling my quest to 100% Dead or Alive Extreme 2 (DoAX2), since October 8th, 2008 in the 360voice forums (Here's the carnage if your curious as to what came before), but now you can enjoy the full scope of my quest, including all the crap I play that doesn't count for the Oddball badge, that's right, I'm talking about you X-Blades. So sit back, relax, and follow along as I rant, rave and hurt myself over the sort of games you don't even give to your little cousin.
So I settled on having the most bizarrely fascinating gamercard.
All those games that get low to mediocre scores? I play those games. Crappy controls, horrible plot? Yup, I play those too. If it's a B-rated title, I love it. I stopped playing Gears of War 2 because I got sucked into the multiplayer for Far Cry 2. That's the sort of insanity I have going on.
That is also the purpose of this blog. To chronicle one man's journey into the mouth of madness. The crown jewel of my quest, my ultimate goal: To be the first to attain the 3-star Oddball badge at 360voice.com. In order to reach my goal, there is a mighty beast that must be slain.
Dead or Alive Extreme 2.
I have been chronicling my quest to 100% Dead or Alive Extreme 2 (DoAX2), since October 8th, 2008 in the 360voice forums (Here's the carnage if your curious as to what came before), but now you can enjoy the full scope of my quest, including all the crap I play that doesn't count for the Oddball badge, that's right, I'm talking about you X-Blades. So sit back, relax, and follow along as I rant, rave and hurt myself over the sort of games you don't even give to your little cousin.
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