Matt Cassamina's Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess review is up on IGN. Scored a 9.5 but in my opinion the game is nearly a 10. Here are his closing comments:

"The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is, in my opinion, the greatest Zelda game ever created and one of the best launch titles in the history of launch titles – second only, perhaps, to the at-the-time ground-breaking Super Mario 64. It is also one of the finest games I have ever played. The experience is made better and not worse on Wii. The Wii remote and nunchuk add accuracy and speed to exploration and combat for a heightened sense of immersion. While the game has just about everything going for it, including improved controls, a long and engrossing quest, brain-teasing dungeons and some beautiful graphics, it's not perfect. The difficulty has been upped over Wind Waker, but I wish it were harder still – the boss fights are oftentimes too easy, for example. Additionally, while the visuals are generally impressive, some textures remain blurry to the point they are noticeable. And finally, I still question why Nintendo refuses to add either voice work to the side characters (especially since Twilight Princess features such an improved, dark storyline) or orchestrated music to the soundtrack.

Nintendo's new console ships with Wii Sports, which effectively demonstrates a new breed of games only possible on Wii. The Zelda franchise is equally exclusive to the machine and Twilight Princess is must-see, must-play and must-own entry into the series that proves over and over again why Nintendo is the best developer in the world."

I agree with just about everything he says too, which is rare. I'd love to see some voice acting for NPCs. Link can be a mute just like Gordon Freeman is for Half-Life. And after hearing some of the most amazing orchestral and symphonic arrangements done for this series, (I admit I have an extensive orchestrated Zelda library) the MIDI-sounds are getting old. But this, as well as my next point, may be for a simple reason.

Cassamina also mentions the game textures, both gameplay and cutscene. The textures on the overworld make it evident that TP was originally a Gamecube game. That said I'm only about an hour into the game and I'm already blown away. Graphically the game is still beautiful, and if it WERE released on the Gamecube I wouldn't have known they could pull those visuals out.

The feel of the game is very dark. It starts out happy like former titles, very similar to Ocarina of time, I even liken it to an evolved original Zelda, but a technical successor. (Hell, Ocarina of Time floored me the first time I played, and it's what I attribute my survival of my tonsilectomy to)

It's not often when games come along that you're genuinely disappointed when their epic draws to its end. I know Twilight Princess is going to be that way, but thank God it's a lengthy title if anything. It's beyond me how they keep evolving this series, and it's far from stale. I doubt it ever will be.

Full Review Here

There are some sad sad people in the world.

Smash My Wii
Smash My PS3

The funny thing is no one cried over the Wii, but the Sony fanboys nearly offed themselves when they Peter-Gabriel'ed the PS3.

And for old times sake...here's last years atrocity.

Smash My XBox

I just feel bad for people who don't get a console of their choosing and have to see this. If they're trying to make a point, it's not apparent or even justifiable. If they do this "for other people" and just to see the looks on their faces, or for anti-fanboys, it's pretty sad.

Remember when console launches used to be safe and easy? I barely do.

Last night was the PLAYSTATION 3 midnight launch. The US isn't getting a ton of systems, but we're getting more than most. Targets, Wal-Marts, GameStops, Electronic Boutiques etc all might be getting 6-40 systems. The higher end of the spectrum reserved for the wholesale stores, not so much the gaming ones.

But this launch has gotten dangerous. I remember this time last year when I got my 360 there were news reports of people getting mugged for their 360s. I clutched mine and walked with a badass purpose out of my mall last year. If anyone was going to try mugging me they were going to have an Italian throwdown. This year it's more serious.

So far the violence that has been logged:

-a kid got slammed into a telephone poll in a mad rush for the front of the line
-Campers shot with BB guns
-Fruit juice super soakers drenching campers
-5 game stores held up for PS3's and 360s
-7 reported line muggings for money, laptops, iPods

You can see they start off with a few stupid pranks and then there's some serious violence. A guy who refused to give his money up got shot last night. But the most chilling story so far is down in Alparetta, Georgia. It took place at the very Best Buy I was in a few times during my business trips down there. A guy who wasn't even buying a PS3 got tailed from a Best Buy across town. While he was chatting with campers, the tailers took a sledgehammer and broke into his car. The system hadn't even launched yet, but they didn't know that. Serious crap going on here.

Only the Wii launch remains Saturday night, or Sunday morning, but be careful!

Story Link via Kotaku

I don't know how I ever lived without Synergy.

If any of you out there have multiple computers, whether it be a laptop and a PC, 2 PCs, or a PC and a Mac (or EVEN a plasma/LCD tv that you use in conjunction with your computer, you owe it to yourself to check out Synergy.

Instead of having 2 keyboards and mice next to or on top of one another, you could use a KVM switch. This would let you "switch" which computer the input devices are attached to. Simple Mouse/Keyboard combos cost up to $50 and ones that include video/monitor support can skyrocket up to $100.

Screw...that...shit.

Synergy, once installed on all the devices, will let you simply mouse over to the edge of your screen and work on the other monitor, seamlessly and fluidly. It will even share screen savers, password locks (so you only have to unlock one computer instead of both) and a universal clipboard. It's like using a dual monitor, but better, because you've got a whole other system to work with. Imagine how awesome it'd be with a PC and Mac.

The future is now!

Check it out.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
(As sung by Treebeard with a chorus of Ents)

Ents: Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay

Treebeard:
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Saruman's gone crazy and now everybody knows it
Breeding Orcs with Goblin-Men, they really are atrocious!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!

Ents:
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!

Treebeard:
Because we were afraid to fight, quite tree-like we became
But now the forest's very burnt, and we've ourselves to blame
We sided not with anyone cause they all did the same
Now Saruman will see our heart has got the biggest flame:
Hroom, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
To Isengard we're marching and we'll show him who's ferocious
Merry/Pippin's stirred us up, they really are precocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!

Ents:
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!
Haroom diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay!

Treebeard:
We all love the Ent-Wives but we just can't seem to find them
If we had that single ring, we'd in the darkness bind them
I wonder if, like all those elves, they traveled cross the ocean
It's a shame the Ent-Draught's not a magic-come-back potion
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Quickbeam:
You know you can say it backwards, which is dociousaliexpedisticfragicalirupus, but that's gong a bit too far, don't you think?

Treebeard:
Absolutely.
So when the Wiz has burnt your friend there's no need to dismay
Just stick his head in water and be sure to save the day
Please be careful smashing dams or you will feel my fist -

Quickbeam:
For example. One day, I broke a dam, and now I'm on the list! (Treebeard thumps him). Oh, and a wonderful thing it is too! It's...

Everyone:
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
(quietly) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
(Very Loudly!) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Gyanappa Chettiar Venkatesan Lakshmanan wins the "Most Difficult Name Ever" for the second week of November. ::sigh::

What a beautiful sight...

DAMN STRAIGHT WAL-MART!

They're saying Merry Christmas again, and not refraining this year as if it were "Candyman."

Jesus is the reason for the season yo!

Britney Spears Files For Divorce

NO K-FED! SAY IT ISN"T SAY IT ISN'T SO!

So what the hell...was she using him just for his sperm? Because honestly I think Willy, the kid with down syndrome on my block would have been better than K-Fed.

::sigh::

Big decisions need to be made.

Anyone who knows me and keeps in touch will know what I mean.

Lol at Faith Hill. Way to be a sore loser.

Matt Casamassina, the IGN Nintendo editor has up his impressions for the Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess 10-hour hands-on from this past week.

I was floored. I already knew the game was going to be great, but I had no idea the amount of new things they've put in, how well the Wiimote control scheme was going to work, or the expansive size and length of the game.

Needless to say I'm more excited for this launch than any other. You just can't beat a Zelda game.

Wow. NPH just came out. Doogie Howser was gay?

Your parents are getting divorced.
Santa killed himself back in 1974.
The Easter Bunny is a hermaphrodite.

The iPod TouchScreen isn't confirmed.

:(

They just dropped the release specs for my new phone. It's out November 15, conveniently the day after my contract is up for renewal and I get my phone discount.

It's the LG Chocolate flip-phone. It's not stupid like the original Chocolate or the soon-to-be-released Chocolate Platinum. Slider phones are st00pid.

So some people out there hacked the Guitar Hero 2 demo that was in one of the October gaming magazines. Result? More than the 10 default songs supposed to be on the disc. Now 30 are accessible, 3 weeks before release date.

Freebird is on the tracklist for GH2. Here's a video of a very talented player.

To quote Brian Crecente of Kotaku.com

"The song enters holy fuck mode at about 5 minutes and super holy fuck at 7. I believe it causes grand mal seizures at 9."

It does Brian. It does.

Oh...my....God....this is too funny.

Some stupid 13 year old tried to scam someone into giving him their Steam password. (Steam is the online software distributor and game launcher used by Valve Software, creators of Half Life/Half Life 2 etc).

Luckily the would be pwned knew a thing or two, and scammed the kid right back.

br0kenrabbit says:
hi

Greg_ValveOLS says:
good evening

br0kenrabbit says:
What’s ip?

br0kenrabbit says:
up?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
my name is greg a member of the valve online Support team

br0kenrabbit says:
On MSN?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
yes :)

br0kenrabbit says:
Why?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
we logged multiple ips from your account and ned to verifi your information

br0kenrabbit says:
My information?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
we believe someone may have stolen your account mmmm you havent shared youre account infomation with anyone have you?

br0kenrabbit says:
No. I don’t even have it written down.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
hmmm maybe a keylogger on you r PC then maybe you need a format?

br0kenrabbit says:
Well…

Greg_ValveOLS says:
if you can verify your account information to me i can insure that only your ip have access to it Its a new security feature were trying because this happens so muchlogin names and passwords aint safe anymroe You know. L:)

br0kenrabbit says:
Well

Greg_ValveOLS says:
dont worry this connect it secure

br0kenrabbit says:
Can I be honest with you, Greg?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
k

br0kenrabbit says:
Look, I don’t know how you go this MSN account name, don’t really care, either.

br0kenrabbit says:
Unlike you, I DO work for Valve. Trace my ip and you’ll see.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
huh?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
bs

br0kenrabbit says:
Trace it.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
how

br0kenrabbit says:
Start/run/cmd type Tracert and then my IP address and hit enter.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
oh k

br0kenrabbit says:
As an employee, I know that Valve employees will NEVER contact users over MSN. I also know a valve employee will NEVER ask a user for his/her username and password.

br0kenrabbit says:
I’m putting a temporary hold on your Steam account.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
why?

br0kenrabbit says:
Have you read the ToS?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
Tod?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
tos

br0kenrabbit says:
terms of service

Greg_ValveOLS says:
were?

br0kenrabbit says:
Greg, this is a serious infraction against the Tos. You are at risk of losing your account.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
why

br0kenrabbit says:
I just told you why

Greg_ValveOLS says:
:(

br0kenrabbit says:
I need some information from you if you want me to unlock you account. I’m going to write you up but I will only suspend you account for three days, since this is your first infraction, okay?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
k

br0kenrabbit says:
First, what is the name the account is registered to. Not the user name, the persons real name who created the account. This is for verification purposes.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
xxxxx xxxxxxx

br0kenrabbit says:
Is this you?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
ya

br0kenrabbit says:
Are you the only user of this account?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
ya

br0kenrabbit says:
Okay, and what is the username

Greg_ValveOLS says:
xxxxxxxx

br0kenrabbit says:
Okay.

br0kenrabbit says:
I see you have purchased a few of our games, thank you. :)

Greg_ValveOLS says:
some. dude

Greg_ValveOLS says:
m

br0kenrabbit says:
Do you always log on from the same IP?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
ya

br0kenrabbit says:
And who is your internet providers, your ISP?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
xxxxxxx

br0kenrabbit says:
Thank you. One moment, please, let me verify this information.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
am i gonna be bale to play 2nite?

br0kenrabbit says:
What is your city of residence?

br0kenrabbit says:
That depends on if you cooperate. You’re doing fine so far.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
xxxxxx

br0kenrabbit says:
Illinios?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
yes

br0kenrabbit says:
Okay. And what is the password associated with this account?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
xxxxxxx

br0kenrabbit says:
Okay. Do not try to log into steam. If you are connected now you need to log off.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
why

br0kenrabbit says:
So I can update your account.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
can I play 2 nite

Greg_ValveOLS says:
clan fight

Greg_ValveOLS says:
wont win without me heh

br0kenrabbit says:
Heh. You’ll have to wait a few minutes. Are you logged off?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
ya

br0kenrabbit says:
Okay. Give me just a moment.

br0kenrabbit says:
Try to log in now.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
k

Greg_ValveOLS says:
It says login failed wtf wtf!!@?

br0kenrabbit says:
Greg

Greg_ValveOLS says:
did u ban me???????????>WHY

br0kenrabbit says:
Greg

Greg_ValveOLS says:
what

br0kenrabbit says:
Valve will never ask for your username and password.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
what????

br0kenrabbit says:
I don’t work for Valve dude, but you just got pwnt.

Greg_ValveOLS says:
omg dude wtf why?

br0kenrabbit says:
Why were you trying to steal my account?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
i wanst

br0kenrabbit says:
Then why were you asking for my information?

Greg_ValveOLS says:
i was just making a joke but not cerious honest dude just give
my acount back pllllleeease i’m only 13 and save d up for like a year to buy it

br0kenrabbit says:
Greg

Greg_ValveOLS says:
dude pleas

Greg_ValveOLS says:
what

br0kenrabbit says:
Go mow some yards, bitch.

Freezepop, an indie electronic group that I've loved for over 4 years is offering some free song downloads all zipped up pretty for ya. Snag 'em here.

I first heard of them way back in a game called FreQuency. It was a PS2 game by a company called Harmonix. It was a music game where you had "tracks" of music to activate. They came out with a sequel, Amplitude. Man were those games fun. The first was more house-esque music, and techno beats. Despite the fact No Doubt was on there it was a remix of Ex-Girlfriend and not that great. Amplitude had amazing artist support hough. POD, Run DMC, Garbage, Weezer, David Bowie, Papa Roach and Blink 182 just to name a few.

Harmonix set their sights on ROCK next and gave us Guitar Hero. I haven't had that much fun with a game in ages. You may have seen posts about it in the past, since Guitar Hero 2 drops on the 7th of this month. Needless to say anyone who's played the original is excited. The track list is amazing, and the game is at least 5x as hard.

You play with a plastic guitar controller. Chords are held with 5 buttons that are on the frets, each a different color. You "strum" a toggle bar in time with the notes on the screen while holding the correct chord combo. It's a little confusing at first but anyone I've watched play for the first time had the hang of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock And Roll" by the middle of the song. Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert are the difficulty modes. I can only do a few Hards so far. The experts are enough to give one an aneurysm. Take a look.


Freezpop has had songs on every Harmonix game and they've apparently got a close relationship with them. Harmonix has used a lot of indie groups in Guitar Hero 1 and 2, a majority of which are bands of Harmonix employees!

I've gotten into maybe 12 new artists I never knew of. Talk about good exposure for a group.

This may be the best Gamer's Manifesto I've ever read. It's hilarious yet stays true to many of the gripes of the gaming community. Worth a read.

Some highlights:

The crate has long been held up as an example of lazy game art design, a crutch that game level decorators have been falling back on for fifteen damned years. Come to think of it, have you ever actually seen one of those wooden crates in real life? And did you smash it to see if there were bullets and medicine inside?

Once upon a midnight madness sale I sauntered, steeped in sadness,
Through the shiny piles and aisles composing my computer store.
Suddenly there came a rapping. "Skeet skeet skeet." Had I been napping?
Energy, it had been sapping from my soul for weeks or more.
Yea, those loathsome customers had chilled my being for weeks or more.
Back-to-school had drained my core.

Soon the winds would bring the winter - time to sell each mouse, each printer.
"Profit!" said I, "Thing of evil? Nah," applying Avacor.
For while came the rare exception, money flowed from deep deception.
Ignorance would find reception warm throughout each corridor.
From these fools I'd find the dollars flow down every corridor.
Idiots I did adore.

There I saw him, by the mobos, dressing like those unkempt hobos -
Greasy hair atop the fat and pimples that adorned each pore.
Mannerisms quite absurd, he stood there mumbling, looking nerdy,
Yet I could not find the word he brought to mind inside the store.
In that squalid rust of malice did he slither through the store,
Saying naught and nothing more.

Fate approached him as a customer who seemed at once to trust him.
"Are these cameras any good? I've never shopped for one before."
Glasses thick, stubble unshaven, spewing trivia like Cliff Clavin,
On he went, this crazy maven bragging of his Slashdot score.
"If you read my blog, you'd know my postings rate above a four.
'Funny' and 'Insightful' are the words you'd see with five or four."
After which she fled the store.

Then a man who lacked acumen caused his targeting to zoom in.
"Windows spyware drives me nuts. Removing it is such a chore.
"This Mac mini sure looks swell so buying it would end my hell, no?"
"Apple's switching to Intel so I would wait a year or more
"And you'll want new software too if you don't wait a year or more."
Quoth the maven, "Leave the store."