New Transformers Babe

I don't know whether to cry or smile. Yes, I did hear Michael Bay was dropping Megan Fox as his female lead due to her erroneous behavior on the set or something. Anyway, I'm still a loyalist for Fox. Cliche as it is, she's like the hottest woman in the world, minus the tats and stuff. And, after all, who else could bring that dynamic, fantastic Oscar-grade acting Fox possesses? Okay, maybe not so, but she does kind of remind me of Elizabeth Taylor.

So from this:

To this:

I guess it could be a hard one. What do you think?

Peyton Hillis Makes Cover of Madden 2012

Here's a story for reference:

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/04/browns_rb_peyton_hillis_to_app.html

In case any of you don't know, Hillis is a running back for the Cleveland Browns NFL team, and amassed over 1,100 yards rushing last year in his breakout season. In doing so, he also becomes the first white RB in a long time to successfully hold the position. Yes, astounding I know.

In all honesty, though, this guy is a beast and well deserving of the honor.

Hillis exemplified the image of the speedy, yet bulky and durable back during his 2010 NFL season. While the ending may have been a downer for Browns fans, they were certainly excited by the play of their star. It's not common to see a man with the speed to outrun the linebackers and the strength to beat down the DB's.

As a Packer fan myself, I can't be called out for bias on this one. No, Hillis is just a great role model (No arrests of note), and an inspiration for those facing adversity, especially in sports. He could have quit, being a no-name benchwarmer for the Broncos, but instead he used his trade to the Browns to make a new start.

Let's hope he continues to rise, regardless of the Madden curse.

PSN, Oh Boy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8475728/Millions-of-Sony-Playstation-users-hit-by-massive-data-theft.html

"Tons of PSN Users Hit by Data Theft."

Millions in fact. All at the disposal of what appears to be a few hackers. This severely hurts the momentum Sony has had with the PS3 as of late, as well as almost destroys all remaining credibility pertaining to the strength of their online service as compared to Xbox LIVE.

What began as a simple shutdown of Sony's servers was revealed to be a full-fledged breach of their entire system. This is bad, really bad. Seriously, who has the resources to do this?

Somewhere, Bill Gates is laughing and uncorking a fresh bottle of Dom Perignon.

Yes, there is indeed a shitstorm imminent. It's only a matter of time before the lawsuits emerge, and Sony has to scramble to save its house of cards. Maybe they should begin development of their new system, now?

End to the Lockout?

The NFL has been issued an end to the lockout by a U.S. Judge. They are going to appeal, but as it stands, Pro Football is back in business, baby! I'm extremely elated, I hope it lasts, but really I don't see the NFL doing much after this.

It angered me when the Packers, after over a decade of rooting for them finally, go back and win the Super Bowl, then suddenly, lockout? No, I don't think so.

I think it's going to be another Packers year...

Smosh Pokemon II

While most of the recent Smosh material has been mediocre, I actually enjoyed this one. Yes, once again they're satirizing Pokemon, but hilarious regardless.

As I'm sure all of you can attest, it was impossible to find a way around the annoying trainers who stood like stones waiting for you to walk by. It was probably the only thing the developers could do to prevent trainers from speed-running their worlds, however. In case you didn't notice, the Pokemon worlds were fairly small, and the only reason the games stretched on was due to the fact that Game Freak forced you to walk every acre of the bastard: paths, paths everywhere.

After Rock-Smashing, Fly-ing, and Surf-ing your way to victory, however, nothing could surpass that adolescent urge to...do it again!

Nintendo On The Offensive

This was obviously expected. I have heard that Nintendo would most likely make the first move in the next-gen console race (more like casual stroll at this point), mostly due to their outdated Wii hardware. Microsoft and Sony are sitting pretty on their high-powered HD systems, while the Wii flounders in its sea of mediocrity and crapware.

It is kind of funny. It's 2011 and there hasn't even been any official announcements regarding new systems. Isn't this the longest timeframe since the 90's? It seemed to have become standard 5 years of shelf life for the systems before a new announcement, at least, was made. Maybe it's the recent recession that has contributed to video game publisher's fear of another 1984 video game meltdown due to an over-saturated market.

And, hey, maybe for once Nintendo won't release a gimmicky, kiddish little toy, along the likes of the Wii, GameCube, and arguably N64. Hey, I loved the N64 too, but I WAS a kid back then. Come on, guys. The color schemes and controllers look like they're crafted from a melted down Lego set.

Nintendo finally gonna catch up in performance? I actually don't think so. They've been riding this little niche for a while now, the kid-friendly wave. I guarantee it's going to be another next-gen slugfest between Microsoft and Sony while Nintendo once again sits in the audience.

Help Me

www.nyan.cat

I'm sure you've all heard of this at some point or another.

I've been listening to it for an hour and for some reason it's still enthralling. What is so catchy about this? Damn you poptart cat. Or toast cat now.

FML

Why, Rockstar?

I've played a lot of Red Dead recently. I beat the game within a week and earned the Legend of the West outfit in two days. Yes, it's safe to say I'm loving the game. Unfortunately, I have to deal with a little problem, however. That problem is John "Jack" Marston Jr., John Sr.'s bitchy little son who seems to spit out annoying one-liners as fast as a 12-year-old on Mt. Dew. Plus, Jack seems to think about his dad in every instance.

"Just how you showed me, Pa."
"My Pa told me how to do this one."
"My Pa warned me about women like you."

Oh yeah, the last one annoys me the most. (btw, in case you didn't know, *spoiler--John Marston dies at the end of the game, so you have to play as Jack), Jack is timid around the ladies. Rockstar games are renowned for their liberal sexual themes and gritty realism, and that includes the universal truth that people have sex, a lot. You could understand John's case, he was married after all. But Jack? "You're a little too old for me, lady." Jack, you're 19 at least. Stop acting like you're still sucking Abigail's tit.

Honestly, Rockstar. You make the western landscape swarming with hookers, and give us a forever-alone, extremely beta character to deal with who can't even make moves with GOD, DAMN, HOOKERS.

Plus, what's up with Jack's whiny little bitch voice? I want John's rustic, grating tones back. He's a real man.

Jack can't stop being a boy. You want ideas for DLC, Rockstar? NEW CHARACTER.

Please..

Hello, Folks

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I will be taking a leave of absence due to the aforementioned masterpiece. It is beyond good. That is all.

Poor Sonic

As funny as I found this vid, it really makes me think. Sonic started out with fantastic momentum. I can remember playing the Genesis for hours, savoring every moment as I passed through zone after zone. All of the recent games seem stale in comparison, and there is no real sales when a Sonic game hits the shelves.

So what is the root of the problem regarding stagnant Sonic? I will admit the games lack vision nowadays, they seem almost generic rehashes of previous entries. Unfortunately, I have no real idea as to how Sonic and Sonic Team could recapture his former glory and actually compete with the Mario mega-seller once again.

Sundays

Sunday always makes me pensive. It's a relatively lazy day, so you have a lot of free time on your hands. I spend that free time concocting some type of awesome scheme for life that usually gets lost in the confusion of Monday and then next Sunday I'm at base one again. I know one thing, though, and that is summer is fast approaching. That means about five straight months of:

Yes, another great season of football practice and play for me. Then I get winter to recuperate and gather my remaining brain cells, but that's another story. I've made great gains physically over the past winter, I've raised my bench to around 250, and that's pretty good for a skinny-built, 6' 2" teenager. I'm at 180 lbs. weight right now, from 155 in December, so I'm optimistic.

I've been playing Red Dead mostly. I go through many phases, and my chief ambition for the time being is to be a mysterious Cowboy. It tends to be a battle between that, a WWII soldier, and a member of the Italian Mafia. Haven't played Godfather for a few months, though. Black Ops has gone stale.

You guys play any sports? I played Soccer for a few years, and it was fun other than the continuous running that my Midfielder position required.

Battlefield 3

The game's going to be released November 2nd. I've got to admit, the graphics do look great, and from what I could hear from my dingy laptop the sound's good too. Digital Illusions is apparently taking Call of Duty head-on, and I've got to admit this game has the potential to unseat the CoD behemoth assuming that EA does its job and gets the publicity out there.

The game features DiCE's new Frostbite 2.0 graphics engine, so the look is revamped. I feel like the gameplay looks like a more-realistic take on CoD's High-Framerate style. We'll have to wait for the reviews..

3DS

So the 3DS was released on March 27th. The system is touted for its greatly improved hardware including 3D capability and an expanded memory cache. I really wonder if it's worth the $250 price tag, though.

After years of GameBoy, then DS, then PSP, I came to a realization: handheld games don't entertain me. I simply played them out of a necessity for stimulation rather than enjoyment. To be honest, any old iPod game today will do for me. So are handhelds still relevant?

I can't see much use for them other than to revisit old, favorite labels.

Impending Government Shutdown.

I think this whole thing is a joke. I'm an independent, but conservative-leaning, and I think both sides are screwing this shit up. The Republicans need to stop making this a big power-show, and maybe concede a little. I agree wholeheartedly that their original budget plan wasn't too drastic at all and basically a step in the right direction, but they didn't need to make it a virtuous struggle. The Democrats need to concede as well and stop being so spend-oriented. They already achieved their goals of the past two years and we have the deficits to prove it, so they could just as well have allowed for more of a balance.

In the end though, it's whoever gets the media fair winds to paint the hero, and the people are going to vote accordingly, very soon in fact. 2012 isn't too far after all.