Midnight Madness And Lack Of Sleep

Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to go to Gamestop at midnight to pick up my preordered copy of ODST. Well, I did it. I went down there at 10PM because they called me this past weekend and let me know that I could come down at 10 and process my transaction so that at midnight, I would not have to wait in line. So at 10 I said to myself, I'm just going to run down there and peek to see if there is a big crowd. When I got there, it was really slow with only a couple of kids loitering around chatting up the employees. So I thought, why not. I paid my balance, got my receipt and headed back home to kill the next two hours. Once midnight approached, I headed back down and much to my (happy) surprise, there was close to 20 'kids' waiting in line. There was even a mom and a dad there to approve the M-rated game and they both did so without hesitation.

As the clock struck 12 they they started calling names for the people that had pre-processed at 10PM. I was the 5th name called, they handed me a shiny new copy of ODST and the Sgt Johnson token, I then jumped in my car and by 12:10 was watching the opening cutscene.



Overall it was a fairly painless procedure, not counting the late bedtime, and I then stayed up till 1am playing. Five (easy) achievements and just under an hour of gameplay was all I could muster. I had to force myself away or I would have pulled an all-nighter, and at this point in my life - that ain't happenin'. And let me be perfectly clear, if the Gamestop was not less than a 90-second drive from my house, none of this would have even been a consideration!

So as soon as I get home tonight, have some dinner with my wife and then walk the dog, I'm back into New Mombasa looking for CLUES! Oh, and AMMO! Holy cripes that stuff is SCARCE!

later,
|)3V!|_

Who Is Going To Their Local Gamestop Tonight At Midnight To Get ODST?

THIS GUY IS!!!

Yes, I am going to go get my preordered copy of Halo 3: ODST tonight at midnight when my friendly neighborhood Gamestop re-opens for the big release extravaganza. I figured, hey, why not? I have never been to a store at midnight for an album release party, or to get 1st row concert tickets, or gotten that first copy of the game that I wanted (Standing in line to see the midnight showing of a Star Wars movie doesn't count. Everybody did that, right? ...RIGHT???). So now, as someone who is a gamer that just crossed into the 40-and-over demographic, with disposable income to make it happen, and as a youth never did the midnight release party thing... I'm going to go and report back on how it was. Do I really need to do this? Will I play the game at 12:05 am when I get back home??

HELL NO! I'm going to bed. We oldsters have to get solid sleep or else we can't function at our JOBS. But it will be there for me on Tuesday when I get home from said WORK and I can fire it up as soon as I consume some gaming fuel like pasta or half a loaf of bread and a pound of butter. You need your carbs before starting a marathon gaming session. Keeps you sharp. That and the bottle of Tennessee Whisky that is used to wash it all down...

Recap of how it went tomorrow... Gameplay thoughts on Wednesday (official review on HaloFriday.com). Wish me luck!!!

|)3V!|_

Moments of Reflection

Yesterday I attended my third funeral in as many weeks. To me that is just a little too much for one month. Each death was slightly different and each funeral ceremony was different as well. The one common thread from each occasion is that it has allowed me to reflect on the people and moments in my own life.

Life is to be cherished. We only get one chance at it while on this Earth. So I have found that I cherish many things and am thankful to have them. So what means the most to me? Well here it is in a sort of inglorious list.

My Family. My family simply means everything to me.
My friends. You know who you are. I appreciate all the moments we have shared.

And that is really all that matters. All of the rest is simply material possessions and moments spent with either my family or my friends.

All I can say is do not take anything for granted and appreciate the time we have with each other to its maximum.

S-I-X

MechWarrior Franchise Reboot Coming To 360 (and PC) And The Trailer ROCKS.

Wow, has it been a month since E3 already? Man how time flies! Things have been kind of busy what with summer here now and the busy month just having wrapped up at that thing called work... So now I think I can get back to posting on a semi-regular basis and show you some of the cool things that I find out there for the 360. ODST is still about 10 weeks away and we have all seen and kept up with Bungie's news (you do read B.net right?) so for today I thought I'd show you something that was announced yesterday that really piqued my interest.

Remember playing pen-and-paper BattleTech? Remember playing the PC version and then later the original Xbox MechWarrior? I sure do. Now it looks like the guy that formed FASA now runs Piranha Games, and that company got the rights to MechWarrior. The series is about to get a next-gen reboot and the trailer that was released yesterday looks fantastic. It feels like MechWarrior has all the right sights and sounds and if done right, make quite the comback.

One question though - Doesn't it seem like when things go bad, really bad, there's ALWAYS an Atlas around to fuck you up?

Yeah, I thought so...

|)3V!|_

Xbox Live Service Maintenance

Well E3 is over and we're all still absorbing the announcements and previews of all the cool new games and features that were thrown our way. So now's the time apparently to fix Xbox live so that it'll all work, now that everyone's back in Redmond...

From Major Nelson:
"On Tuesday, June 16th from 7:01AM UTC (12:01 AM PST) for up to 24 hours, Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, Xbox LIVE and the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.)"

Click for the rest of the post and details...

|)3V!|_

E3 Videos: Mindblowing Epic Space Opera Edition

Continuing with our E3 week of new game videos that are worthy of our attention and playable on the Xbox 360, we come now to another BioWare treat. This time it's Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect was amazingly immersive and almost mind numbingly expansive in the size of the universe; add that to a great story and mix of FPS and roleplaying, and you have a great game that you knew would spawn a great sequel. And so here it is. Mass Effect 2 looks to build on all of those aforementioned traits and bring us back into those familiar roles. I guess it's time for me to finally finish the first Mass Effect so I'll be ready for this when its released! Enjoy another great trailer!

|)3V!|_

Mass Effect 2

Video Games | Mass Effect 2 | E3 09: Extended Cut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 Videos - Stealth Edition

Another cool announcement at E3 this year was from UbiSoft for the new Xbox 360 exculsive release, Splinter Cell: Conviction. I really enjoyed playing the older Splinter Cell games on my original Xbox. They were a very cool mix of action and stealth, being sneaky one second and then shooting and kicking the crap out of someone the next. It looks like they have really ramped up the visuals, the story, and the way the game unfolds with a new visual mission goal presentation style. This game looks quite polished and the stealth agent style is striking. Let's hope the gameplay is as good! As per usual here is UbiSoft's presentation from Microsoft's E3 conference with the full trailer and then live gameplay presented by the developers themselves.

|)3V!|_

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

Lovin the E3 and the ODST

Devil has been doing an awesome job keeping us up to date on the happenings over at E3. The Star Wars Old Republic video is just S I C K. And I do have to steal some credit as I was the one to send it to him in the first place. But he blogged it and I sometimes have a hard time embedding videos - but all that really matters is that the video kicks ass.

I really dig the Modern Warfare 2 game play video too. They didn't even cheat - they were playing live on stage!! I wonder how many times I would have fallen off that cliff ledge . . .

Bungie has also been revealing more details about ODST almost daily. I watched a video where the Firefight game mode was better explained and also showed some game play. It looks really cool. I cant wait to play it. I will post one pic of a firefight screen and try to explain it a little. So look at the following picture and then read on for more details.So if you click on the pic, you should get a larger view of it. It displays the normal HUD view you get as a player in ODST, but you will also notice some additional icons. First, on the upper right is the scoring. Pretty simple - its the skull multiplyer plus your score and how long the game has lasted. On the upper left shows your squad stats. Your squad of four gets 7 total lives. Once the seven lives run out, the game is over. Also, each wave is five parts. So the boxes show what part of the wave you are on. Finally, there are the skulls. These are the game skulls from Halo 2 and 3. They are activated as you progress to make the game more difficult - and also enhance your scoring.

Also, it was explained that the Covenant baddies in Firefight will be extremely aggressive and come after you. You may want to plan your strategy around that. It also means, look for ammo reloads anytime you can find them. It doesn't sound like you are going to have a lot of time to go looking. And there will also be a whole new set of achievements for ODST and medals and awards. ODST will also have its own integrated stats coverage on Bungie. So you can see how good (or bad) you are and compare yourself to your friends. ODST comes out on September 22, 2009. Price is $59.99 - and if you pre-order it, you will get a token to unlock Sgt. Johnson for game play. Nice!!

And finally - just a few more screen captures I did from the ODST game play trailer. Enjoy.

Hope to get these and more pics up on HaloFriday soon. So keep checking in for the latest and greatest news from the Prophets.

S-I-X

**Devil's Edit:
Here is the Firefight developer walkthrough presented by Bungie privately to the media at E3 courtesy of Gametrailers. Again you can also find this on B.net in HD.

Video Games | Halo 3: ODST | E3 09: Firefight Developer Walkthrough

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 Videos - Snowmobile Edition

Huh? Snowmobiles. Just wait for the payoff.

Another tease at E3 was the upcoming Modern Warfare 2. This time the boys at Infinity Ward didn't just show the trailer, they played the game live on stage! Here is the video direct from the press conference feed of the first gameplay to be seen outside of the trailer. It doesn't really get wild 'till about 2/3 of the way in but then...

Modern Warfare 2



Snowmo-f'n-biles! Shooting while driving one-handed! Seriously, that looks REAL fun.

|)3V!|_

EDIT:

WOAH - now THIS is better quality. From Gametrailers.com. Extended Gameplay, and no cuts to a portly guy on stage with sweaty hands...

You can see a lot more in this video, more proof that so far it looks like Infinity Ward has another win. This will be a very cool game.

Video Games | Modern Warfare 2 | E3 09: Extended Gameplay Cut

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 Videos - OMFG Edition

For your E3 Halo/Bungie news, head over to our HQ at HaloFriday.com. But for the next couple of days here, I'm going to post some of the more amazing socks-knocking-off videos of some of the reveals taking place in LA this week. To kick things off here's a little tidbit I like to call: "HOLY FREAKING CRAP! THAT. WAS. AWESOME!"

Sit back, crank up the sound, turn out the lights and prepare to be blown away by BIOWARE and the new full cinematic trailer for:

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Video Games | Star Wars: The Old Republic | E3 09: Jedi vs Sith Cinematic

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Holy Shite!

Now THAT is what the Clone Wars should have been. I have read about SW: The Old Republic previously but since I thought it was going to be an MMO, I kind of wrote it off.


But now?

WOAH. DUDE.


|)3V!|_

(Head over to Gametrailers.com for BIG and Hi Def!)

E3 2009 Starts Today! Live Blogging!

E3 is upon us again and this year promises to have some big game announcements from all the major players. But let's face it, we want to hear about Xbox 360 and Halo 3: ODST!

Posted on KOTAKU this morning is a note that the Microsoft Press Conference is starting 5 minutes earlier than scheduled at 10:25 am PST (1:25 pm EST) to make room for a last minute announcement. Now, I have live blogged this event in the past but I don't think I'm going to be able to do that today due to the fact that I have a JOB and need to get work done! But over at Kotaku they will be live blogging and so will many others around the gaming universe. I would recommend Kotaku, Gamespot or Major Nelson for your live coverage, but you can also try IGN, Cnet and Joystiq for additional news. And as I am a 360 fanboy, I will be posting the biggest news in summary when it's all over. It looks to be the year of sequels with ODST, a Gears of War 2 expansion, Bioshock 2, Assassins Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2 (even though that's sort of call of duty 6), etc...

Here are your links to coverage, and we'll see you when it's over. Enjoy!

Kotaku full coverage

Kotaku Live Blog

Gamespot E3 Central

Gamespot - Live Press Conference Video

Major Nelson - Live blog and Live Chat


|)3V!|_

Modern Warfare 2 - New Trailer Released!

Infinity Ward, the studio that brought us Call Of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare, just released the first trailer for Modern Warfare 2 to include full gameplay and rendered cutscenes. If you enjoyed COD4, and who didn't, this trailer will have you salivating to get back in and fight some more eastern-bloc ultranationalists! The video is amazing and leads me to believe that this game will be as good as the first Modern Warfare. So get ready, on November 11th of this year you can get back into the fight!

So far this fall will be good for gamers! Halo 3: ODST, and Modern Warfare 2 both confirmed! The way I see it, once E3 happens and more release dates are announced, this season will only get better!

I am ready. Are you?

|)3V!|_

Star Trek - the Motion Picture

A review of the new Star Trek movie will not be shown today due to not all of the Prophets having seen it yet. Please check your local listings for a rescheduled review.

Six and Devil did go see it yesterday in the afternoon. It was a bit of a cold day anyway - so why not go see a movie. It was very good. JJ Abrams was able to create a Trek that was courteous to the original while creating a new story line. The action was fast and furious and the special effects were right up there.

It was a little confusing watching Syler play Mr. Spock. I kept waiting for him to use his powers to freeze time and slit someone's head open. It never happened - but that was just as well. And then there is Eric Bana as the bad guy Nero. Again, I was like 'uh oh, dont piss him off, he will go all green on your ass!!'. That too, did not happen.

Anyway, I highly recommend going to see it. It is a very good movie and moves right along. So until then, enjoy some pics and let me know when you have seen it and what you thought of it.

'A Song Of Ice And Fire' Coming to Next-Gen Consoles

Cyanide Studio has acquired the rights to produce George R. R. Martin's 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' series of books for Next-gen consoles and the PC. In case you aren't familiar with ASOIF, or George R. R. Martin, THAT IS TOTALLY FREAKING COOL! So we now have production started on the HBO series slated to start filming in Ireland in the fall, and now a game (series?) has been attached to a studio. YES! Now... if GRRM is able to get 'A Dance With Dragons' to print this year, all will be right with Westeros!!

BTW - if you haven't read these yet, stop what you are doing, go to your local book purveyor or Amazon, and get 'A Game Of Thrones'. You will NOT be sorry. In fact, you will probably call me and thank me because your mind will have been blown. At which point I will in turn give your message to Merlin as he is who turned me on to them, and blew my mind. SRSLY, they are so good that other books I read now are just OK. Think I'm kidding? Read the first one. I DARE you. Got ya! You're hooked and you can't stop! Martin's ability to create a grand, epic world with THOUSANDS of characters and intricate woven plots is unparalleled. I in fact am reading them for a 2nd time in anticipation of book five, 'A Dance With Dragons', and it can't come too soon!!

Here's the link to Joystiq for the story and pictures of Winterfell and Jon & Ghost from thewolfswood.com for your enjoyment.

|)3V!|_

Gamer Score and You

So this past Christmas, my nephew got Guitar Hero 3 for his Play Station. I played it that day over at my sister's house and I quickly learned that it was a fun game to play. That and I totally kicked my nephew's butt!! So within the next few days I decided that I was going to purchase the game for me and my X-Box 360 (far superior to the Play Station). So I did.

Then I looked at my gamer score and saw that I was under 1000 points. I thought that was rather lame so I set out to raise my score. I set a goal of 3000 points for myself to get to by this summer. I mean I was just under 1000 - so I figured 2000 points shouldn't be that hard to accumulate. But how to do this without breaking my bank account and buying every cool game out there?? Simple - play the games I already have! Mind you, I had Gears of War that I had not played and I had a few other games that I had tried and put away. It was just a matter of playing games and having fun playing them. I think I can handle that!!

So I started playing Guitar Hero 3. In a matter of days I had beaten the Tour on Easy mode and was more than half way through the Tour on Medium. I tried Hard - and it was really hard. So I stuck with Medium. Then I borrowed GH 2 from a friend and applied the same technique. Blew away Easy and Medium on that, all the while racking up gamer score points.

Then Devil persuaded me to try Gears of War. So I did. WOW!! Talk about a life changing event. OK - so maybe its not that good - but it was the best game I had played since Halo 3 game out. Devil and I co-opped our way through the campaign on that and finished shortly before the release of Gears 2. Well I did go out and buy that game. Gears 2 blew away GOW. It was awesomely good. Once again, Devil and I plowed through the campaign on that one too. Then did it again on Hardcore!! NICE.

So by this time, I had hurtled across the 2000 point barrier and was well on my way to my 3000 points. Also, by this time, Bungie released the Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3. Along with that were a whole slew of new achievements. So the Prophets have been working on unlocking many of those achievements and enjoying the new maps.

While I am just shy of 3000 points, I am pretty sure I will be there shortly. I put together a list of the games played by the Prophets and how much gamer score we have achieved in each game. My challenge to each of the Prophets is to get to 3000 points! I will play Halo, Gears of War, Guitar Hero and Battlefield: Bad Company with any of you any time. The only game I won't play is that DDR/DS 2 game that Domino got (he claims for his daughter - but I know its his favorite). So take a look at the chart and start building up for that 3000 mark!

Speaking of Movies...

This weekend, the new Star Trek movie came out. Did you see it yet? What did you think? I have not, but I hear that it's awesome. TOTALLY F'n awesome. I am blocking some time next weekend to see it as both media reviews and friends of mine have all corroborated it's Trek awesomeness...

Next up? Terminator Salvation. This is the one that I think I have been the most anticipatory for. The trailers all make it seem like an amazing thrill ride through the apocalyptic, SkyNet controlled future that up till now, we have only gotten brief glimpses at. Well now that the movie is about 10 days away, here is a new FOUR MINUTE trailer of amazing quality, that should cement your decision to go to see this when it comes out. Again I can only hope that it's as good as the trailer and that they didn't blow the good scenes just for that. If the movie lives up to this 4 minute batch of glorious eye candy, then we're in for one hell of a movie.

Sit back, relax and enjoy this, the total shizzle....

|)3V!|_

Ps. Let me know what you think of the new layout. I am trying to give more room for posted videos and images. The other layout would not allow for stretching and would send YouTube vids off the page. Now I can post them more bigglier!

Movie Time!!

Well its the end of April. So what does that mean?? Not only the beginning of Summer, but the beginning of the Summer Movie Blockbusters!! And while we don't have a Lord of the Rings or a Spiderman this summer, we still have some pretty decent movies to look forward to. Here are the movies I want to go see.

May 1 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

May 7 - Star Trek

May 15 - Angels and Demons (maybe)

May 21 - Terminator Salvation

June 24 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Hopefully they will be good ones! Let me know when you want to go see whichever of them!

As the Weather Turns

After enduring a week of temps in the 40s with wind and rain, the weather is beginning to turn here in Western New York. Its gonna be in the 70s today and 80s and sunny on the weekend!! Yes, I'm excited.

Why? Because its the perfect weather for the first official BBQ of the season!! Ahhh nothing finer than grilling dead red meat!! Unless of course, you add drinking beer and playing frisbee into the mix!! Now you have yourself a bonified party!!

I am proposing a gathering in Ellison Park tomorrow afternoon for all who can make it. Bring your own meat and beer and lets enjoy this beautiful weekend together!

{Ellison Park is a Monroe County Park with a carry-in/carry-out policy. No glass bottles allowed, no open containers within 50' of roads or parking lots or playgrounds, you are allowed 6 12 oz containers per person.}

What that little legal mumbo-jumbo means is that you can only have 6 beers with you at a time. so leave the big cooler in the car with plenty of ice and go for refills as necessary!!

Any suggestions for which part of the park is most ideal?

Holler back if you hear me!

S-I-X

A Gem of A Find!

I am a live music nut. I have literally over 300 GB of live concerts at home on my computer. Yes - that is a lot of live music. I just really enjoy listening to the live performance of songs over the studio versions. One of my favorite bands is Pink Floyd. I have many, many live shows from them over the years. I thought I had all the good ones - but then as I was browsing on The Traders Den, i came across a torrent that I had heard and read about existing, but had never seen before. The 1977 Oakland Coliseum show.

Apparently it was recorded on a full reel to reel tape deck and they had a great location. Then someone found the tape and a couple of guys with the right equipment and know-how, remastered the tape into the version that I downloaded the other day. It is a wonderful sounding show.DISC ONE:
1 - Sheep
2 - Pigs on the Wing part 1
3 - Dogs
4 - Pigs on the Wing part 2
5 - Pigs (Three Different Ones)
6 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond I-V

DISC TWO:
1 - Welcome to the Machine
2 - Have A Cigar
3 - Wish You Were Here
4 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond VI-IX
5 - Money
6 - Us and Them
7 - Careful With That Axe, Eugene

Not only does it encompass two of my favorite albums (Animals and Wish You Were Here) its just a great show from one of the greatest bands of all time. If any of the Prophets are interested, I will gladly make copies for you.
One final note - The Traders Den is an excellent source for live shows. And the best part is, they only allow non-commercial material - so you dont have to worry about the RIAA coming after you. And best of all - its FREE - the way it was intended to be. All you have to do is share it with others and contribute as a seeder.

Best wishes to you as I enjoy the sounds of Floyd.

Six

A Few Things on My Mind

It seems every year we are hit with ridiculous new laws and regulations aimed at "improving" our lives. How many of them have actually helped us?? I will use HAVA as an example.

HAVA is the Help Americans Vote Act. It was a poorly thought out, knee-jerk reaction to the 2000 election because of the poor ballot used in the state of Florida. It has forced every state to buy new voting machines that are "modern" and work "better" than the old ones. Of course, there were hundreds of millions of dollars set aside by the government to pay for this. But as we all know, that money comes from our taxes. Its been a total and complete disaster - I would term it an utter failure. Many states are on their second or third different system since HAVA was enacted. And the machines chosen (actually forced) for New York are the biggest pieces of crap I have ever seen.

So let me tell you what I think the government should be enacting. This is just my opinion, but to me they make sense.

First thing the governement should do is make all car and SUV bumpers a uniform height. How many people do you know (including yourself) who have had a minor fender bender, but one car ended up totally demolished because the hit wasnt bumper to bumper?? Think about it - if they improved the structural rigidity of bumpers and made them the same height, there would be a lot less damage to vehicles. This would mean: lower insurance, lower repair bills, no more rubber-necking from gawkers looking at an accident. It just makes sense!!

Second is they should make cell phone companies create one universal charger. Again, you are over at your buddy's place and your cell phone dies. You forgot your charger - but your friend has the almost the exact same phone. Hey Fred, can I use your charger?? Sure - what phone do you have?? Its the Vibra 250 model X. Oh damn - I have the Vibra 250 model Z - its a different charger. WHAT???? Are you kidding me?? Every phone has a damn different charger!! Design one damn charger and make ALL the phone companies use that one! Problem solved - end of discussion.

Maybe some day common sense will be applied to the things in our lives - but until then, we are stuck with what we got. Thanks for listening

Six

Construction Zones and You

If you live in Rochester you should know that road construction happens almost year round. So here we are in year 3 of the I 490 project. Both the westbound and eastbound lanes are reduced to 2 lanes each way. The speed limit is 45 mph. There is a reason for this. First, there are construction workers very close to the lanes. Give these guys a break. Just because you are late is no reason to put them at risk. Second, the lanes are not quite as large as usual. This means you have to drive closer together and closer to the temporary barriers. So there really is no need to drive 60 through the zone.

Now, as you approach the zone you will notice different lane striping on the road as well. Again, this is done for a very specific reason - to help moderate traffic flow. Here is a very simple rule to follow. If the stripe is solid it means no crossing it. If the stripe is dashed it means its ok to change lanes. I will give you an example. As you are merging onto 490 East from 390 South, you have to merge over one lane. You will notice there is a very large and very thick solid white stripe on the road. That means do not merge until the line becomes dashed. It really is that simple! Then, as the lane jigs over to the westbound side, again, the line is painted solid here. This means once again, that you should stay in your lane until the line becomes dashed once again.

Just one other tidbit. I know I said the lanes are not quite as wide and there are concrete temporary barriers on either side. BUT there is still enough room in each lane for your vehicle. You do not have to drive down the middle of both lanes not to hit the barriers.

If everyone followed these simple rules (LAW is actually a better term) traffic would flow a lot better and we would all be safer and happier. Thank you and have a nice day.

Six

HALO B.U.N.G.L.E. - not for real

Well - you may have noticed that the other day was April 1. Some people call this April Fool's Day. Some people do more with it than others. Bungie took April Fools to a whole new level this past week.

If you have not seen the HaloFriday.com post or read the article on bungie.net, you missed a hum-dinger of a joke. Bungie announced the creation of B.U.N.G.L.E. - a new super league for Halo All Stars. And of course, Bungie made up fake maps and fake game types (Showerball) and even did some game action video to tempt the hapless loser Haloist into believing that there was a place for them to excel. Well my friends, it was all a ruse; a big facade. Hopefully you all got as big a laugh out of it as we did.

However, Devil did add the maps and game types to his download queue and we will be test playing these for complete hilarity and fun. Because THAT and only that is what they were ever intended for.

Happy April Fool's Day 2009 and a big Thank You to Bungie for making it a great one!

Six

Thanks to the Prophets!

Just wanted to say a special Thank You to the Prophets for making the trek out to Warsaw Thursday for the wake.

It really meant a lot to me for you guys to be there.

Thanks!

SIX

Sidewalk Etiquette - Is It Really So Hard??

If I'm not mistaken, we live in the United States of America. And while I understand that gives us the freedoms to do pretty much anything, it also means we follow certain rules and regulations. Lets use driving as an example. When you are driving your car (or SUV or hybrid or motorcycle) the law says to drive on the right side of the road. It is a very simple and accepted practice. It prevents confusion, allows for easy transit on roads and protects those around you.

Now, lets jump ahead. You have reached your destination, parked your vehicle and are now walking to your destination. You happen to have to travel a few blocks to get to where you are going, but there is a sidewalk for your convenience. Now for the million dollar question. How do you treat the sidewalk?? Do you walk down the middle, taking up as much space as humanly possible??? Do you walk on the left side, even though you see other people walking towards you?? Or, do you apply common sense and keep to the right??

I ask this question in all seriousness because apparently, there are a lot of people out there who do not know the correct answer. So for all of you sidewalk pedestrians out there, KEEP TO THE RIGHT. I will say it again in case you didn't hear me. KEEP TO THE RIGHT. Is it really that difficult to do?? Keeping to the right allows multiple sidewalk walkers the ability to pass one another without any confusion, or someone having to get out of the way or simply crashing into one another.

Yet, time after time, as I walk from my parking lot into my place of employment I am confronted by left side walkers. Then I have to get out of their way. The look of confusion on their faces as I pass them shaking my head is amazing. They have no clue of how big an idiot they are. So please, remember, a sidewalk should be treated the same as a roadway. Keep to the right!!

The same can be applied to malls too - but I will save that for another day.

Next on my list is people who ignore cross walks and the pedestrians in them. Before I write that one, please take a moment to think about it before you do it.

TO (Terrell Owens) Now A Buffalo Bill

OK, so I heard this rumor the other day that TO had signed with the Bills. I think I was laying on the couch just waking up from a nap, so I didn't really understand what I had just heard. As I began to become more awake, there was an actual Sports Center blurb about it. I sat up and exclaimed "HOLY SHIT!"

So now that I have had the a few nights for it to sink in, I think it is a great deal for Buffalo. Lets forget that TO has a tendency to be a bit eccentric and sometimes selfish. He is a STAR NFL player, a sure thing future Hall of Famer. He has tremendous football skills and if nothing else, he will put Buffalo on the map.

Make no mistake, Buffalo is a small market team scraping to survive in the modern NFL. They have loyal, rabid fans. Signing a marquee player like Owens is one of the best things the team has done in years. I can't wait for training camp this summer - its going to be a circus.

As for what TO will do on the field?? I don't care!! I'm not sure his playing style fits with the way the Bills run their offense, but it certainly won't hurt. It should free up Lee Evans and take some of the pressure of Marshawn Lynch (assuming he isn't suspended too long for his little gun problem in California). And, history has shown that TO has been great for whatever team he is on in his first year. This is a one year deal and I think its a great deal.

Welcome to Western New York Mr. Owens!

This Is Why I Hate (Okay, Strongly Dislike) The Wii

And at the same time LOVE the British! (You'll understand when you see the video)

My problem with the Wii is thus:

Besides the fact that they don't have any truly original, immersive, or GOOD games to play, is that the ones that they get you to want to buy, you need an entirely separate, expensive, wireless Wii-cessory with a cord, to play the -blam- game they tricked you into needing in the first place!

That's where this video hits the damn thing -- right between the ii's.

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New Terminator Salvation Trailer Just Exploded My Pants

Seriously, I'm sitting here with smoking remains of pants scattered all around me. If this movie is as good as the trailer sets the stage for, I will be one pleased Sci-Fi geek. I'll need to be prepared with extra trousers when this comes out. The combination of this, Watchmen, Transformers 2, and Star Trek, will probably lead to some serious pants issues for me in 2009.

There has been a lot said about Terminator: Salvation, some good some not so good. Christian Bale is clearly a bit eccentric (and by 'a bit' I mean the meter seems pegged lately), but I continue to love him on screen. So far McG seems to have done everything right if the trailer is to be believed. I guess we just have to wait until May, 21 to be sure. Until then, watch this trailer with some new COOL tidbits scattered about. But please, we're warning you, your pants may spontaneously explode. Maybe just watch it without pants.

No - sorry, that's a bit creepy. Pants on, take your chances...

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Biggie size it

Sony Releases Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

Best.
Video.
Ever.

(NSFW language. You have been warned, now ignore that and watch anyway!)

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Wil Wheaton, Yes THAT Wil Wheaton, Is My (geek) Hero. And he loved WATCHMEN!

If you don't know who Wil Wheaton is, you probably don't belong here. OK, you can stay for now, but you're on notice. I have been reading Wil's blog recently after hearing him on Major Nelson's podcast back in December (listen). It was such a great interview and gave me new found respect for the ST:TNG actor that I decided right then and there that he was the geek that I wanted to be. Listen to that podcast and read what I am about to link and tell me I'm wrong. You won't be able to do it. Sorry, Wil Wheaton is fucking COOL. So when I stumbled upon a link to a post by Chris Hardwick on Gizmodo (Chris appears on G4TV and is a pretty famous geek in his own right) about how fucking awesome The Watchmen movie is and that Wil's spoiler-free review is so perfect that everyone should read it... That's exactly what I did.

Sold. I'm there. I trust these two guys in their review. I have read Watchmen twice and I can tell you that it indeed does belong on Time's top 100 novels of all time (remember this is a COMIC and there was no comic or graphic novel category on Time's list. It's just that good). Reading it, I said to myself, there is no way that they could film this, but if they did it would have to be amazing. Well according to Wil and Chris, our hopes have been realized. They didn't fuck it up and it's totally, mind-blowingly amazing.

So far I have F-bombed 3 times in this post. Is anybody listening?? That's how good Watchmen is and how cool Wil Wheaton is.

Go read his review. Do yourself a favor. Not sure? ask yourself these questions. If you answer yes to any of them, you're more like Wil than you think.

Do you like computers and gadgets?
Do you like smart, well written articles?
Do you consider yourself a geek?
Do you now or did you ever play D&D?
Do you have an Xbox?
Are you a fan of Star Trek? Star Wars?
Do you like Sci-Fi / Fantasy in general?
Do you read or collect comic books?

If ANY of these sound like you, chances are you'll like what you read on Wil's blog. But for now go read the entry "WATCHMEN is fucking awesome".

That was 4. I'm done now...

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Amazing Half-Life 2 Fanmade Short Film

Escape From City 17 - Part One

I found this on Kotaku today and it completely blew my mind. Made by the Purchase brothers, independent filmmakers from Toronto, this short film based on Half-Life 2 is one of the best fan created films I have seen for ANY video gaming franchise. AND it was made with no budget! If you know the game then you know how good this is. If you don't, then you must appreciate it for the work that was done basically for free. Fellow Halo Friday shouter Merlin can attest to my love of the original Half-life. It was a game-changer for me in the FPS genre with what could be done with an immersive environment and compelling story telling. I played for days on end in our old apartment just trying to survive the marines and headcrabs and get out of the Black Mesa facility. When the Orange Box came out it all came rushing back to me in a flood of memories and edge-of-my-seat gameplay. Now, thanks to the Purchase brothers, it's been interpreted in video and it's damn good! After this I'm definitely putting the Orange Box back in the 360 for another go!

From the You Tube description:

"The Escape From City 17 short film series is an adaptation based on the Half Life computer game saga by Valve Corporation. Originally envisioned as a project to test out numerous post production techniques, as well as a spec commercial, it ballooned into a multi part series. Filmed guerilla style with no money, no time, no crew, no script, the first two episodes were made from beginning to end on a budget of $500."

Here's part one. I'll keep posting these as they come out since they totally rock. Enjoy!







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Greetings from Lake Placid

Hello sports fans and welcome to Lake Placid, NY. It is day three of my long weekend up here in Cold Country. Its been a fun few days so far. We got here around 10:00 Thursday night and dropped all our stuff off at the house. Then we went to the Lake Placid Brewery to fill up on some Ubu and other fine brews.

The house is very nice. Its right in the Olympic Village and only a 5 minute walk to Main Street. It has 6 bedrooms and 3 full baths. There is also a hot tub. NICE!!!

Anyway - Friday was a day just walking around Lake Placid, hitting the shops and sampling the different beverages and foods here. Friday night we kind of just stayed in and played games and drank a lot.

Today, we just finished breakfast and are getting ready to head over to the World Luge Championships. Something different - but it should be pretty cool. They get up to 80 mph. After that, we are going to do our own little sledding thing and hit the toboggan run on Mirror Lake. Thats always a good time. drag a big sled up to a tower, pile on and slide down on ice chute out onto the lake.

Thats about it for now. Talk to ya when I get home!

Are YOU a Geek?

If you are here you may be. Fortunately there's a way to know for sure. Gizmodo has posted the GSAT, The Geek Social Aptitude Test. It's an easy test, 50 questions, give yourself a point if that question applies to you and add 'em up when done. I scored a 9, which means I'm at the top of the cool scale, but sort of a geeky cool James Dean if he were alive and read blogs about games but not so cool as to actually BE James Dean. I can live with that I guess. I'm secure in my level of geekdom and know that I'm at least not on the pathetic scale. You're going to want to score low on this one if you think you have any cool in you. Be careful though, It's easy to get to 11 at which point you might as well move back in with mom.

GSAT: The Geek Social Aptitude Test

Nay:




YAY!:




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I Heart Canada

'Nuff said. below is a clip from "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" a Canadian comedy show filming at the recent All Star Game in Montreal.

J.S. Giguere, oh how you want a do-over on that one...

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SuperBowl Ads!

Did you miss something while shoving a slice of pizza in your face yesterday? Did you have to make a bathroom run during the commercials because someone brought bad guacamole dip? I got your back. Here's all of yesterday's ads in a convenient widget courtesy of HULU.

Transformers 2 and Star Trek FTW!!

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Darwin Would Be Proud

Ok so this kid did nothing so drastic to protect the gene pool as dying, but this is where the video comes in. It helps future generations learn to not be a complete tool while the red light is on.

Put down any beverage you have, then watch the video.




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Gears of War - to be a Trilogy of Films??

The guy who directed the Underworld series and Live Free or Die Hard has been tapped to write and direct the Gears of War movies. I say movies, as in three movies. He believes that the story can be told to its greatest effect over the course of three films. Oh, by the way, his name is Len Wiseman.

In a recent interview with Bloody-Disgusting.com, Mr. Wiseman explains how he found Gears of War and briefly tells about what he intends to do.

“I’m writing Gears Of War with Chris Morgan, who wrote Wanted,” he tells BD before explaining that he wasn’t much of a gamer until he saw GOW in his movie Live Free Or Die Hard.

“I suck at video games, it just takes me too long and I can’t get the coordination of ‘em. When I was on [Live Free Or] Die Hard, I had to choose some video game for the background in a scene with Kevin Smith. I was shown about a dozen games and told to ‘Choose one to be in the background’ and I said ‘this one looks really, really cool whatever it is,’ and it was Gears Of War. I just really connected with it; the design of it the world, the whole thing. So I actually brought an Xbox 360 to start researching what it was.”

“It’s going to be much more [on the] science fiction side of it than the creature side of it. I’ve always been much more of a sci-fi action fan than a horror fan,” he reveals also explaining that he wants the scope of the film to be told over the course of three films! “The hope is that were wanting to do a three movies and really cover the bases on everything. Basically a harder edged Lord Of The Rings.”

And now, some obligatory pictures from Gears.

Fight!

Here's something different and fun! Well fun to me! (Six will enjoy this too...) Anytime Chris Neil can get popped in the face, and by a Devil no less - I'm posting it! And by posting it I am officially expanding the scope of this blog to include our takes on sports and any other hobbies or events that we feel like commenting on, including Xbox 360 games - just not limiting them to Halo only - and other interesting junk from the webernets that I come across...

But - more on that later... First, Clarkie needs to show someone who's boss!

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2009 - The Year of the Friends

Well as you may have noticed, there has been little activity on both Halo Friday and the Shout Blog. This is most easily explained by stating that the Prophets have all been very busy and are suffering from the wintertime doldrums associated with extreme cold temperatures and too much snow.

So, a few Fridays ago, the Prophets gathered for a little function we like to call Happy Hour. We met over at The Distillery for a few pints of our favorite beverage - BEER, and some tasty chicken wings. There was much rejoicing that night as happy hour carried over to several hours and a stop over at the Otter Lodge.

We Prophets relived many glorious past moments and shared some new news about our recent goings on. And we promised to get together more often than we have been and rededicate some of our resources to Halo Friday.

So look soonly for new material and new stories on both the Blog and over at www.HaloFriday.com.

Until then, keep gaming and keep drinking! And when I say drinking I of course mean in a responsible manner.

Next Prophet Night = Poker Night! Im sure our old friend George will make an appearance or two, or three . . . . .