Off Topic: The End of LOST.

50% of you won't give a rat's ass about this post, and 25% of you don't want to be spoiled because you are slugging it out through Season 2. So I've created a separate page to give my VERY SPOILERIFIC thoughts on a show that I've followed since the very first episode aired, trough this past Sunday's conclusion.

My Thoughts on The End of LOST.

While I wait for my flight: The best restaurant experience ever.

I'm currently sitting here at Kansas City International Airport in some crappy conditions waiting for a flight that has already been delayed once. While I sit here thinking about the coming weekend, I am reminded of one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had in a restaurant, which took place in the Dallas area.

To set the scene, its April 25, 2009 (only way I remember the exact date is because it was the first day of the NFL draft). I was in Dallas visiting my friends NIN (who was also in town from Seattle), Dirty GMR (not his real name) Lord Bling, and the Yard Gnome (explanation for a different time). We were hoping to get in some time at the gun range, because what says 'manly' more than a bunch of white dudes shooting handguns? 

We then decided to grab lunch at a popular hangout called 'Twin Peaks'. NOT inspired by the David Lynch TV drama, think more Hooters sans the orange shirts but in Paul Bunyan attire. Also (slightly) better food. So we all meet up there for just some time to chew the fat and make fun of each other. Lord Bling and I get there a little late and meet up with the rest of the guys, who are already seated and waiting for drinks. There is a waitress seated at the table who is just kind of chilling, and not necessarily serving. Turns out she wasn't even our server. 

Our server was a thin girl with short blonde hair, and a tattoo running up her side. She seemed to go by two names; her friends called her AJ, but she also went by the name Lillie. 'Lillie', it turned out, was to be her stage name; see this was her last weekend at Twin Peaks, she was going to go work at a gentleman's club. She also was part of a local Dallas pay website for girls who posed nude. I got not problem with that, although I wouldn't have paid a ton of money for that (don't even bother looking for the site, its now defunct). 

So over the course of the meal, Lillie would hang out with us, talk about her boyfriend who was in jail for stabbing a guy with a fork, talk about her soon to be stripping career, and constantly denying that she was going to be in porn. With each passing minute, everyone started to look at each other wondering if this was all an act to get a bigger tip, or if we were actually witnessing the slow demise of someone who we were certain was going to end up dead in a ditch in two weeks. Quite frankly, I was getting a little annoyed by her presence, and was hoping someone would come sit in her section so she would actually serve them. 

Well about an hour and a half into the experience, someone did get seated in her section. She went to go get their drinks, sat with us for 10 minutes, took their order, and then sat with us the rest of the time. A runner delivered the other party their food, they went and got their own drinks from the soda dispenser, and even left a tip (unbelievably). 

I was really taken back by Lillie's candor and openness, which we never initially broached, but as she would continue on about her sexual likes, dislikes, being from Garland, having sex for money, and not doing drugs, we kind of actually egged her on and made fun of her directly to her without her actually catching on. The climactic point of the meal is when she went out into the parking lot and did a drug deal. While working, pretty much in plain sight of everyone. As if that wasn't enough, she tried to feel up a girl who was actually applying to work for the restaurant, and was conducting her casting couch interview with the restaurant managers, which apparently includes trying on the Twin Peaks plaid top that tied in the front. This poor girl had so much trouble getting the top on around her well endowed chest, that I don't even know why it was even attempted. She was hired on the spot. 

Where is AJ now? My money is on dead. But while her young life's story was tragic and fleeting, it did teach me a very valuable lesson as a father, as I got home that weekend, and hugged my two daughters tight and vowed that they would never grow up in Garland. 

TL;DR- RIP, Lillie. 

Dallas, Texas; Stop Your Grinnin' and Drop your Linen...

...Because I'm coming to town this weekend. Hiding your goats and locking your doors are definitely recommended. Gonna hang out with Lord Bling and Dirty GMR this weekend and just to reassure the blogsphere,  I'll drop a post or two letting you know that I'm still safe. After all, I'll be not to far from Garland. They have people there that go to jail and stab people with forks. (long story)

TL;DR Video of the Week, @#$? Edition.

I got nuttin'. Its just too awesome.

Posse up! We're in effect!

For those of you that know me, you'll know the title of this post is something I've been saying for a long, long time. I can't say for sure, but I believe it goes back to my high school years when we were listening to a lot of Beastie Boys. Pretty sure it has something to do with this song.

The time is upon us where I can finally say that and have it mean something. In just two days, Red Dead Redemption releases, and honestly I haven't been this excited about a game in quite a while. How excited am I? So excited, I'm writing my first blog post ever for a game that doesn't have any reviews for it yet, at least not as I post this. I was fortunate enough to see an earlier build of it last year, and it looked amazing then. And I didn't get to see anything of the multiplayer. Everything I've read or seen since then gets me more and more excited.

Plus who doesn't want to be Clint Eastwood in any western he's ever been in? There have been attempts at it, but they either fell way short of expectations (Gun) or just didn't feel right (Call of Juarez). I just hope my cowboy comes with a cigar to chomp on and a pancho to wear.

If you haven't preorder it yet, you still have time to get a $20 gift card from Amazon, plus a golden guns weapon pack. Rather or not you get it there, just make sure you get it, Because on Tuesday, I'm startin' up a posse.

TL;DR-Rockstar+Open World Western=Posse on posse action.

Gamefly Deal of the Week.

This week's selection is a pretty easy one. Bioshock 2 for Xbox 360 is the deal of the week at $21.99. They threw on a little Multiplayer although its kind of pointless. There is a little bit of luster lost from the first game (graphics especially), but there is still an enjoyable single player experience overall.

Buy it HERE.

Activision owns you(r wallet).

We had heard a few weeks ago that there would be another map pack available for Modern Warfare 2. Well, in an interview with Major Nelson, Infinity Ward Community talking head (and, honestly, good guy) Robert Bowling outlined the five maps that would make up the Resurgence Map Pack due out June 3rd.
Earlier this week, Kotaku posted a few screens from said map pack, three new maps and two re-hashed from Call of Duty 4.

The price? Well, considering so many people boycotted bought the first map pack's ridiculous pricing of fifteen dollars, Activision thought it prudent to cut the gamer crowd a little break; by offering a double XP weekend the next two weekends leading up to another fifteen dollar map pack. So in case you are scoring at home, you paid:

• $60 (plus tax) for just the game and its ship day release of sixteen multiplayer maps.
• $70 (plus tax) for all of the above plus a cool book and tin case, also a copy of Call of Duty classic. 
• $150 (plux tax) for all of the above plus a bust of Soap and some NVG's - which are pretty cool the night you got them and got to toy around with them.

Now, you obviously didn't get all three editions (I hope), but now to put that all in perspective, you are spending $30 (across these two DLC map packs) to get only six new maps. I really don't count Vacant, Crash, Overgrown, and Strike as new maps. They aren't new; I played them for two-and-a half years. Its a complete cop-out to expect me to pay $12 (do the math) for maps that I can just go ahead and pop in my Call of Duty 4 disc and play. I'm sure there are still a few people out there playing Call of Duty 4. I would rather Infinity Ward not waste my time, bundle 3 new maps together and charge five bucks. If you want to play all the old CoD4 maps on Modern Warfare 2, charge 5 bucks to transfer all the multiplayer maps over. Rock Band did it with song tracks, why cant Modern Warfare do it? 

TL;DR- Vote for Shipment. 

Why I am still playing Borderlands.

Flashback to October of 2009. We were just a few weeks away from the largest game launch in Video Game history, and not much attention was paid to anything else in anticipation of Modern Warfare 2. And then one of my friends picked up a copy of Borderlands, and convinced me to drop on it too. I was rather hesitant at first, because I really wasn't in the mood to drop sixty bucks 2 weeks before I was about to spend seventy, but it turned out to be a pretty damn good investment in the end. The game was played pretty much non stop until that Veteran's Day week.

We are now into the second week of May, and I was up until three in the morning last night playing Borderlands. Granted there were three DLC packs that I was looking to complete which has extended the life of the game, but there are a good combination of things that keep me coming back and a few of my friends that have never left.

Clearance Boddicker Said It Best: "Guns, Guns, Guns". There are tons of 'em, and there is quite a variety. We here in 'Merica love to hold our guns in our cold dead hands, and when you come across a stash of weapons that you can meticulously sift through, the search for the perfect weapon can be down right addicting. Take the "Armory of General Knoxx" downloadable add-on pack. You can go through the mother lode of all mother lodes of weapons. You can also kill a nearly invincible enemy that literally scatters goodies like a mutated piñata. I'm currently at the level 61 cap with my main character, with tons of pimp weapons with heavy damage, and I'm still not satisfied. I'm convinced that the greatest weapon ever is still out there, waiting for me to discover and lay waste to all the other inhabitants of this outworld wasteland.

The Call of Duty control scheme is in tact. This may be as petty as petty can be, but the Modern Warfare games pretty much laid the groundwork for the best FPS control scheme around: Shooting is the right trigger, and aiming is the left trigger. Couch is B button, Jump is A. All the controls you use the most are in the four most conveniently accessible spots for your hands. I hate HATE games like Halo and Bad Company 2 that make almost no use of th B button, but something like zooming in or crouching requires one to click the right thumbsick. 

Borderlands is still FUNNY. "Don't hurt your girl parts" still gets me. Also the ending of Dr. Ned's Zombie island campaign pretty much had me rolling. Very brilliantly executed, Gearbox never really took this game so serious, and that is what is best when you inject subtle humor whether it be something an NPC character says or background chatter when you're in co-op. Also, Nine Toes has three balls. I laughed for like 5 minutes after that animation.

Four Player jump-in jump-out Co-Op. This really needs to become standard; no "special Co-Op mode" *cough*SplinterCellConviction*cough*. You can play on your own, but also if you see a buddy hop on, you can save, go into multiplayer, continue right where you left off, and have a buddy join in. No problems, just enjoy a night of gaming. The more people in your party, the more difficult the bad guys are. You can also have your friends help you level up much faster. My friend starts a level 1 Siren, I can take him up to the last level of the main game on the second play-though and he is level 25 in 10 minutes. I don't even think that is cheap, I think that adds to the fun of the games. I don't mind helping a friend level up, or complete quests, or help kill General Knoxx, Dr. Ned, or Crawermax.

More Expansion is Possible. In the four months after the release of the initial game, Gearbox released three Downloadable Add-On packs, in which two were downright entertaining, and one was decent. I had a lot of fun with Dr. Ned's Zombie Island, which you actually get a quest requiring you to collect a ridiculous amount of zombie brains. I've Armory of General Knoxx for weeks now and have provided hours upon hours of entertainment, even though I've played through some sections over again to help friends get their quests completed, its still fun. Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is a little tedious, but allows you access to a bank in which you can store all your kickass finds. 

Back in March, Take Two's CEO said that more DLC is possible for this game. You can go in so many directions, you don't even have to adhere to a main storyline. Borderlands in space. Borderlands on a Battleship. Its been hours upon hours of fun, and there, and each little vignette can be its own search for elite weaponry. 

Borderlands is something that completely took me by surprise to be one of the best games of 2009, and the game from last year I am playing the most. You should do the same (although if you read this blog, you likely already are). 

TL;DR - Humorous, control friendly, Weapon-whoring that all your friends can enjoy. 

10% off Console & PC games at Newegg - Today Only 5/11/10

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Welcome Dave to the Stage.

We now have a rundown of pretty much everyone I know that either reads or writes for TL;DR. Last week we added two new contributors, and today, we're adding Dave.

Dave and I have known each other since...2000(?),at least since then. Dave is an old skool console gamer, but more a PC gamer and so his perspective is going to be unique. I had long since written PC gaming off for dead years ago, but have been proven otherwise. Maybe retail PC gaming may be on lifesupport, but sites like Direct 2 Drive and Steam have kept things running pretty well.

Dave used to be a big Quake III, Diablo II guy. He and I used to play Ultima Online for a good period of time, and has moved on to games like Company of Heroes and Blood Bowl. Any strategy games you play, you may want to add this guy because he's pretty damn good at them.

Gamefly Deal of the Week Double Feature.

I'm all about two's this week. Two new contributors, two reviews of games (I'm counting the Halo Reach beta as a review of sorts), and now TWO Deals of the Week.

The first deal is Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena on Playstation 3. I was discussing the relationship between games and movies earlier this week with NIN and Lord Bling, and how they mix sometimes like oil and water; games based on movies tend to suck, and movies based on games tend to suck even harder. One exception that was brought up was this game, Chronicles of Riddick. Escape from Butcher Bay was a pretty damn good Xbox Title, and this is the follow up, which again is pretty solid.

Right now you can catch it on Gamefly for $14.99.

Brutal Legend is the newest Tim Shafer game, and like some of his previous games like Psychonauts and Grim Fandago, Brutal Legend was a blend of critical success and a lukewarm consumer reception. This game is only seven months old and is already at $12.99 used. I feel for you if you bought this game on release day at full price. For those who waited, you got a great deal for a pretty decent game.

Buy the Xbox 360 version used here.

TL;DR Double Feature: Video of the Week / Halo Reach Beta Impressions

First off, I want to go back about three years to the Halo 3 beta, which was really the reason you bought Crackdown (even thought it turned out to be a good game). We got our first glimpse into the next generation of the Halo Universe, and all the nuances, the detachable platform guns, the spikers, et.al. But did you ever wonder if Master Chief himself was ever good at the game?

DigitalPh33r gives us your answer. He put together a series of Master Chief themed shorts that eventually evolved into 'Arby and the Chief'. However I want to focus on his first Master Chief short, the original, and quite frankly, his best work, "Master Chief Sucks at Halo". Now, the language is crude and somewhat derogatory, but please take it with a grain of salt and give it a good laugh. Some of the lines in the movie here we still use in non-Halo games. Take a look:





Before I get into the impressions of the Halo Reach muliplayer beta that went live earlier this week (for those with a copy of Halo: ODST), I feel the need to clear the air about a few things Halo:

• I like Halo. You would think this was a no brainer as in "who doesn't like Halo?", but the answer is: a lot of people. Maybe a franchise that is entering its ninth year has worn thin on some gamers that have long since turned to Call of Duty and Bad Company 2 for their FPS multiplayer fix. Yes, it is a game responsible for everyone else doing "Halo jumping" to avoid oncoming fire in other games, but its part of playing Halo. Other devs should have nerfed that move in their own game. Not Bungie's fault. 

• Halo is still relevant. It is the best sci-fi-themed shooter out there. I like it better than Gears (though technically not a space shooter, there are grunts v. aliens), and outside of Goldeneye, it brought people together for parties on made multiplayer on mass scale a priority for game makers. Goldeneye and Quake set the table, Halo was the main course.

• Halo still has room to evolve. I felt that ODST was a bit of a step back in what the game can do in this generation. Technically, it was an expansion to the Halo 3 mythology, I felt I was missing out on something that could have been better. I see Reach as that opportunity to grow. Does that mean I'm ready for Halo 4? I'm not sure, and I don't think Bungie is too keen on it, either. 

Before Bungie gives its flagship franchise the big adiós, we are given a glimpse into what Halo Reach has to offer, and instead of going into a full blown review, I'm just going to say what I liked and what I didn't like. I would like to preface this by saying starting a dialogue about a game that is far from being released is unfair, but hey, Bungie put the game out in this form for us to give our feedback and that's what I'm doing.  

Likes: 

• Character classes. You are given an option to spawn in your game in four different character classes, each with a unique ability. Scout allows you to run, which can be great if you have a melee and/or want to chase someone down from behind. Guardian gives you the ability to strengthen your shield to be impenetrable for a short period of time. Stalker allows you to cloak yourself and jam the surrounding player's radar, and airborne gives you a jetpack that allows for flight for a limited time. Although at this time, you receive the same weapons for the start of each loadout, all the classes appear to be balanced. 
• Upgradability. Leveling doesn't just unlock a random weapon or perk. You can accumulate credits for how you play and you will be able to "purchase" the type of upgrade you would like. Since I've only been able to buy armor upgrades, I haven't been able to determine whether these upgrades afford the player any significant advantage. Again, so far I haven't seen any extra weapon upgrades available yet (they may not be available at all) so this may be slightly incomplete in my assessment.
• Shield/Health. They kind of took from ODST; you have a shield, you a health meter. Your shield will regenerate when depleted, your health does not. You will need to be more careful or find a health pack strewn about the maps in order to heal. This kind of equalizes you getting the drop on the bad guy, him eluding you, and coming back at you at equal strength. 
• Veto is gone. Instead of vetoing the random gametype and map, you get some options in the lobby screen and can vote on the gametype and map you want. I dug that. No more Snowbound!

Meh:

• 1337 Combo is back, at least temporarily. I guess you have to give the plasma pistol some power, but I'd rather not have it in the game at all rather than have people fight for it as much as the rocket launcher. 
• Everything you don't like about Halo hasn't changed. I've come to accept 'Halo Jumping', people dropping from games, wh0ring the rocket launcher, n00b combo, etc., and it doesn't seem like there have been a lot of tweaks to limit the things that most gamers complain about the most. My biggest pet peeve of all is the controller scheme. They've had to integrate a new button to allow you to do your class-specific action, and I still have problems crouching when I'm trying to target someone because the crouch button is clicking the right thumbstick. I'm going to give you a TL;DR to a future commentary about control layouts: FPS's should be uniform layouts, and they should also be customizable. 
• Does it really look that much better? Yes, but probably not as much as you would have hoped. I've only played two multiplayer maps; one of them, Sword Base, kind of lacks originality in level design. Now, that's nitpicking with a beta map, but its what Bungie chose to include. Hopefully its not the cream of the crop.

To Be Determined:

• Weapons. So far, I've noticed redesigns to past Halo 3 weapons, and the addition of a needler rifle (which is pretty cool). I really would like to see more weapon types, and possibly some upgrade options to current weapons. 
• Size of Games. Playing team games, it was 4v4. Normally that would be fine, but as soon as you get in the room, someone almost assuredly drops, and you're mismatched. It would be easier if this mismatch were 6 on 5 than 4 on 3. I'm too lazy to read about how big the rooms will be, but I'd like at least 6 to a side. 
• Use of strategy and teamwork. As I noted in my Bad Company 2 review last night, (Yep, I just did that. Just linked to my own page to a story one post down), I like team games to actually employ a team strategy and the necessity of teamwork. Modern Warfare 2 is almost completely devoid of this. But the jury is out right now on Halo Reach. I'm kind of interested to see how these class differences will affect how team games are played. So far, it hasn't.

There you have it. If anything changes significantly over the course of the beta, I'll try and chime back in and note what I like and what I don't like. In the meantime...

TL;DR- Halo fans should be happy, Haters gon' Hate. Lololololololololololololololol.

REVIEW: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

In the beginning, (of the last generation console's military first person shooters), there was EA. The Spielberg/Hanks dynamic duo that created the iconic Saving Private Ryan nearly re-invented the military shooter (and WWII game genre) in the Medal of Honor series. Throughout latter span of the original Playstation and into the life of the Playstation 2, the Medal of Honor games were pretty much it. One of those latter games, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, s begot Infinity Ward. With that, we were given the Call of Duty franchise.

In 2007, Infinity Ward 'evolved' from the 1940's to the present day in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Already superior to the games EA were putting out in the military shooter genre, Activision and Infinity Ward, blew everything out of the water. EA's counter was the Battlefield series, which was good but just could not measure up, at least not to the games that IW was developing (sorry, Treyarch). The first console version of Battlefield actually was a modern warfare type game that released on the Xbox, and then a graphical upgrade for the Xbox 360. In summer of 2008, EA put out Battlefield: Bad Company; the answer to CoD4 that scored well, and sold well. Now, in 2010, 4 months after the release of Modern Warfare 2, we have Bad Company 2.

Now, considering all this set-up, you're figuring that all this review is going to be comparing Bad Company 2 to the Modern Warfare games, and its getting a little old to make such a comparison because everyone is doing it. You're right; gotta try and measure up to the champ. EA's doing a bit of a one-two combo this year with Bad Company 2 and this October's update of Medal of Honor, set in the current Gulf War environment (especially with further news that DICE, who developed BF:BC2 is handling Medal of Honor's multiplayer component). With Infinity Ward in shambles, and their ugly little sister studio handing the next Call of Duty, EA may actually be in decent shape in this little genre war, or are they?

Well, I will save you the suspense: EA is in more than "decent" shape. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has proven to be a title worthy of not only giving Modern Warfare 2 a run for their money, but in some areas, even surpassing it.

I'm going to make the discussion about the Single Player Campaign brief: you won't spend a lot of time with it, and you'll find the overarching storyline to be very familiar. I will note that one thing that is entertaining about the Single Player campaign is that it is pretty humorous. You are one of four people in your fire team, each with distinct personalities with a 'A-Team'-misfit type persona. There are even some shots at their Infinity Ward counterparts. Those things did actually add a little something for me to the Single Player experience, which otherwise is short and forgettable. That's really not a knock, but let's face it; you, I and EA both know that the replayability in this game wasn't lying with Sarge and the Gang.

Bad Company 2 shines in multiplayer. I had been underwhelmed in the past with Battlefield 2 and, to some extent, Battlefield 1943. And oddly, the presentation isn't overall that much different from those games: you can control vehicles, run in squads, and level up to attain new weapons. What keeps me coming back are the minor tweaks that have been made; things like balancing within each class. Snipers can be exposed when people get the drop on them, but can call in mortar strikes from distance and set traps with C4. Engineers have silenced SMG's that lack for range and power, but are critical in taking out enemy vehicles (I cannot recommend anti-tank mines more for land vehicles) in addition to repairing your own. Medics carry large machine guns and can revive fallen friends.

You don't necessarily have to kill guys to gain XP (necessary for unlocking better, more powerful weapons). Go around reviving people and giving them health packs with your medic. Replenish ammunition with your Assault class character. Use spotting mines to help your assault teammates know where the enemy is. TEAMWORK within your squad will help you improve your overall game in Bad Company 2.I struggled mightily in the beginning with the default class weapons. Once I was able to unlock class upgrades (such as red-dot, 12x scopes and better weapons) was I able to actually achieve relative success in the game.

I consider Bad Company 2 more "warfare sim" to Call of Duty's "warfare arcade". You will need to account for gravity when you snipe. You won't be able to sit half a map away, put your enemy's skill in the cross-hairs and score a kill. Try that, and the bullet will land about 20 feet in front of him. Meanwhile, he will see where that bullet just came from, get the drop on you by putting the cross-hair about a millimeter or two above your head and turn the lights out on your dumb ass. If you try and "Halo jump" and shoot at the same time, your accuracy suffers, as it will when you run while shoot. You try and go lone wolf? You're going to get flanked and knifed in the back of the head, and your dogtags will be on your enemy's wall forever.

In Bad Company 2, you can go 30-0 and lose a game. Kills aren't the be-all end-all of the (multiplayer) game. The best game mode is "Rush" where one side defends M-Com stations, and one side attacks. You will need to employ team strategy or you're going to get slaughtered. Your squad is going to have to utilize multiple classes in order to combat your enemy. Use the "back" button to spot your enemies. Have a buddy help you destroy a building.

Of course, the multiplayer mechanics aren't perfect. As of now, the M-60 is way too powerful. You can essentially snipe with it half a map away with that thing because there isn't a lot of kickback, and the bullets just shred you when they should be spraying all over the yard at distance. Knifing can be pretty iffy. Multiple time, I get the drop on someone while they are moving, go to plunge the knife in the back of their skull, get the animation, hear the sound effect, but don't get the kill. Instead, dude turns and knifes me.

There is also is no feature for going prone. One can argue this is a good thing since it helps limit "camping" but you can't stop campers, so you should be able to go prone. Really not that hard. Just enable the B-Button (which does nothing) to be the crouch/prone button. See? That was simple.

And while I'm on that subject, the clicking right thumbstick to crouch is freaking annoying. This game suffers the same problem as Halo 3 in that respect. I zoom in to aim, and when I go to fire, I end up crouching because I'm moving the right thumbstick to target. I don't know why it happens, and I don't know why I'm not able to program the controller have another button do any given command.

With all that, we have come to the inevitable side-by-side comparison part of the review. Why is it even needed? Well, let's see: Everyone bought Modern Warfare 2. EA knows that, but they aren't going to sit and be the Diet Rite to Activision's Coca Cola. EA's has spoofed Modern Warfare's commercials, and put out a game that, overall, is almost on par with Modern Warfare. I say "almost", because I'm honestly not quite ready to say "better". Like I mentioned before, Bad Company 2 is more "warfare sim" and Modern Warfare 2 is more "warfare arcade". Modern Warfare 2 looks better. You can get full lobby support. It plays faster. More people are playing it. But it's also a glitch-fest, and one person can dominate a game. Fortunately, in some ways, Modern Warfare 2 forced EA to step up their game, and EA responded. Go ahead and read some of the things I posted last month. Talk to anyone you know playing Bad Company 2, now. They are sticking around because, right now, Bad Company 2 is the better multiplayer experience. There, I said it; and now, its up to what's left of Infinity Ward to change my mind.

TL;DR-  Right now, it's what you should be playing.  

ZOMG. I Just Doubled the Size of my Staff!

Shit is getting real around here, folks. I want to welcome a few new cats to the blog.

MzrX lives in the greatest city east of Kansas, South of Iowa, North of Arkansas, and West of St. Louis. I've known him for about a year, and along with video games, we share a passion for LOST. He and his wife just bought a house, so be sure to mooch off him and his new tax credit.

NIN and I go way back to 2004. He was the Video Game Buyer at the company I worked at as a Sales Associate. I'm not going to say the name of the company we were both at, but I will say that right now a Big Mac Value Meal is worth more than a share of this company's stock. Anyway, NIN was actually critical in that company taking notice of the value of selling games, and was one of those guys that if you emailed him a question about an allocation, he would actually help you out and hook you up. He also helped me get into Xbox Live. He was like "Dude. You need to get Live and play some Halo 2". My Descent into Depravity pretty much began there. He's still in the gaming industry in California. TL;DR managed to get a recent snapshot of him: