The line must be drawn he-ah!

Now that we've established at least two of us--and if Matt wants to post, he'll do it on his own time, we will start to do what this was set to do in the first place.

If you remember me, I'm Mike, and to summarize me, I'm a dedicated PC gamer (ahem. Windows fanboy who can also use OSX), Microsoft defender, console owner (but not enthusiast, oddly enough--I'd take a PC over any console, s'long as it was powerful enough), and I must now continue my video game rants.

Alright. My friend James threw out a few things I'd like to address.

If he bled purple in the Great Flame War of November 2001, I was bleeding green (black and green in 2001, later to be silver/white and green with the 360). I studied it all, from graphics pushing ability to potential list of games--and I finally made my decision early in November of 2001. Though I'd owned a Nintendo 64, my original allegiance lay with Sega. And. Well. By that time, Sega had thrown in the proverbial towel. I had to make my decision on blind faith alone--and I chose Microsoft's Xbox the day before it came out--we placed a pre-order that night--and I had it a week or two later. My initial list of games consisted of: Halo, Dead or Alive 3, Project Gotham, Cel Damage, and Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey. 

It was glorious. Of course, I was the only one in my class that had one until two other kids bought one a year or two later. But in the mean time--I got some Halo skills in--all of which I've lost by now (I lived and died by the Magnum and the original Assault Rifle--you can see what a change it was going into Halo 2 and 3, right?). But at the time, I had NO problem with the original Xbox controller. It's a little harder to move back to now--but the giant loaf actually worked pretty well for my growing hands. I worked the giant controller really well--and never owned the S controller.

Last generation, I bled green for Microsoft. I tried to get into the Gamecube--I bought one--played a few good games on it--but really didn't use it that much. I ended up ditching it for a Gameboy Advanced SP. Christ almighty I loved that thing. That was the handheld that made me buy a DS Lite.

I don't know what the fuck happened to me this generation. I caved. I have the Wii to catch up on the 'cube games I missed out on--because there are few good Wii games out right now (aside from the 1st party games...). And I have the Playstation 3 for the same reason, actually. Play Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and God of War--and the few awesome PS3 games (I refuse to buy horrible PS3 games) out there.

And I have the Xbox 360 to actually have fun while playing video games.

Oh. Loaded words, I know, but it's my blog post, my opinion, and if you want to read it, you just did--and if you didn't want to read it--you just did, but you're free to stop after this period. No. Not that one. This one.

...Still here? Good.

PSN can't compare to Xbox Live--not yet. Headsets do actually make the online community better, no matter how many prepubescent, whiny, swearing kids you may find [Gamer tips: You ask them nicely to be quiet? They actually sometimes listen.] In game messaging sucks--you can't invite cross-game...I just find the whole experience a lot easier--a lot more fulfilling on the 360.

I prefer the Xbox 360 controller to the PS3 controller (if you had a PS2, you probably won't agree with me, but FPSs are a lot easier with the 360 controller [but ultimately better with a mouse and keyboard!]), but I will concede that the 360's D-pad is kindof...well...horrible. That's why we really don't have to use it in very many games (and for that, I am thankful).

But regardless of the platform--I always find myself coming back to Rock Band (360-owned). Christ--did they know how addictive this game was before they released it? It's like crack--but for gamers/musicians! Expert drumming has finally been obtained--expert guitar has long been gotten--Expert Bass is easy--and I'm working on Expert vocals. This game is awesome.

That's all for tonight, folks. James, feel free to refute anything I said tonight--that's what'll make this blog fun.

Prologue (Revisited)

Seeing as Mike has busted out with the intros, I feel compelled (if not obligated) to do the same.

Enough pleasantries. I need to compensate for the lack* of ep1c in Mike's post. Now, you see, children, our tale begins long, long ago, in a basement, far, far away. The soft chorus of a Gamecube's gentle whirr and the rhythmic clicking of buttons fills the silence of the underground lair, home to my many Miyamotan exploits. It is late at night, with the volume on the TV set to "1". It is long past my bedtime, yet I am at work - conquering the Black Hole Army, scoring goals, catching Pikachu, shooting Timesplitters, smashing a team of 3 Lvl 9s, saving Zelda from the clutches of Evil...

I'm Jim. Truth be told, I am a gamer (generally) limited to interests related (almost) solely to those of the great art of Nintendoism. I'll admit it: I'm a Nintendo fanboy. I own the sacred N64, a Gamecube, and a Wii. I fought in the Great Flame War of November 2001, and (metaphorically speaking) bled purple for Nintendo. Certain members of this blog (*cough*Matt*cough*) might recall this from middle school.

Now, my overwhelming love for Nintendo doesn't make me a Microsoft hater - I own an Xbox and an Xbox 360. Aside from the fact that both were purchased for the sole reason of playing Halos 2 and 3, I like both very much. I'm very pleased that Microsoft trashed the original Xbox Contoller for the Gamecubian "Controller S", seeing as the S's predecessor was the handheld equivalent of a loaf of bread with two thumbsticks. The 360's controller is very sexy, in my opinion, and the new Dashboard is as well. Better yet, the 360 even plays my DVDs for me! Who knew??

Conversely, my overwhelming love for Nintendo does make me a Sony hater. They should stick to what they know - which isn't consoles. Honestly? The only way Sony can warrant the size of the Playstation 3 is to include a mini-fridge in the back. When I'm sitting playing the awesome games for the PS3... wait... what's that you say? MGS4 is the only legitimate game Sony has to offer? Damn. Well, since I can chill some brews in the back of my PS3, it'll probably make playing all those really crappy games that much better. Wait, I can't do that either. And here I was all excited over the price of beer being less than the price of gas!

Well, by this point, our faithful readers (-to-be), I think you have a general idea of where my interests (and biases) lie. I'll do my best to keep posting, and hopefully in the future, this blog will get bigger and better and maybe people will read it.


-Jim


Now Playing: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Prologue

The title makes me sound epic and pretentious, I realize, but this really isn't a full fledged post--so I can't justify giving it a different name. You know. Like Grand Turismo 5: Prologue--except--my next post won't take a year to come out. And this doesn't cost $40.

No, I am sorry GT5: Prologue, I value my $40. I value my less-than-10-gallons-of-gas (9.7585 using what I paid today--4.099/gallon, or 9.5261 using what I would have to pay tomorrow--4.199/gallon [luckily I topped my tank off, so I won't have to pay that price for a week or two]). I have a few problems paying $40 for a full-featured demo--I have more problems paying $100 for a racing sim (price of GT5: Prologue + GT5). I paid $15 for Forza 2--and that'll last me for some time, thank you.

I didn't mean to get off onto that tangent--that might be something you'll have to live with in the future, though. On to the meat of the matter: My name is Mike. I am one of three people associated with this blog--probably one of two that will actually post. I am a multi-console kind of guy. I own a Nintendo Wii (launch), a Playstation 3 (60GB--bought it last month), and an Xbox 360 (launch Premium [had to send it in for a disc drive error--not a RROD]).

I am, however, a PC gamer above all. I was raised playing on the PC and I do a majority of my gaming on it. I use Windows Vista Ultimate and have had ZERO problems with it so far. I guess my luck with Microsoft is extraordinary.

That's really all I've got right now--an introduction of myself by myself...to you, our various and many adoring readers and fans. (You see--you don't exist yet...but if this ever works out, that sentence will be completely valid. You wait and...potentially...see).