yet more reasons not to support xbox live

I guess the monthly subscription fee wasn't enough of a kick in the balls from Xbox Live, because they seem to have staunchly set standards for their online service to really screw over quite a few loyal gamers out there. First it turned out that if your free email account from Hotmail or Yahoo expired and was the email you signed up with for XBL, your gamertag expired along with it with no hope of recovering achievements or gamer scores that went with it. Now it turns out that Microsoft feels so strongly about certain "offensive" buzzwords that gamertags with words like "gay" or "Jew" in them are getting banned. One girl who identified herself as a lesbian in her profile was actually personally kicked off XBL after being harrassed repeatedly by other members. People are assholes as we all know, but it just seems worse when a company like Microsoft is willing to ban the expression of one's identity. Nevermind the hordes of thirteen-year old boys engaging in violent and misogynistic games while calling each other faggots. I guess the use of the word 'gay' is only offensive if you're talking about yourself actually being gay, according to Microsoft anyway.

done with hotel dusk... sigh

I finally finished Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and it has left me with a serious yearning for another great point-and-click! To anyone out there who enjoys games with an unfolding mystery, a great sense of character and an interesting plot above all else, this game is a wonderful find. I seriously am on a hunt for another good one to spend my time on so any suggestions are welcome. Next in line for the DS is Trace Memory, which I’m hoping will turn out to be just as fun.

gta iv: the lost and the damned full frontal!

The Xbox 360 version of the latest GTA expansion, The Lost and the Damned, will apparently feature nudity. Full frontal nudity. Full frontal male nudity! I guess some character delivers a monologue in a cinematic in the nude, ultimately baring it all in what is described as a very graphic depiction. Hilarious!

New 'Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned' Shows Full Frontal Male Nudity

deadly creatures was fun

I picked up Deadly Creatures this weekend and while it was not the longest game, I have to say it was one of the more original gaming experiences I've had in a while! A Wii exclusive title, Deadly Creatures got an 8.0 on IGN and I definitely agree with most of their review. This game could have used just a little more love especially as you near the end of the game; graphic snags and weird glitches happen a bit more often, plus the plot really rushes along to what you could call a pretty anticlimactic ending. Still, I had a great time fighting snakes, rats, lizards along with other insects with my protagonists, the tarantula and the scorpion. The camera follows you all over the place, up walls, across ceilings, giving you a very unique perspective of the game. This works especially nicely with the unfolding of the human plot, voiced wonderfully (if not too sparingly) by Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton. I definitely recommend this game to anyone looking for a fresh and fun approach to Wii controls with (for the most part) really stunning graphics. Two pincers up!

resident evil 5 is scary

I finally got around to trying out the Resident Evil 5 demo on Xbox Live and it is, as expected, very scary! The latest installment in everyone's favorite survival horror series takes protagonists Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar to Africa to investigate the origins of the virus, apparently. We tried one of the two levels available on the demo and we did not fare too well. There is very limited ammo which doesn't really compliment my "ahhhhhhh a zombie fire away!" strategy of survival. Still, the graphics are amazing and the full game promises to be terrifying, and hopefully will retain some of the classic horror elements of the previous Resident Evil games. Anyway if you haven't tried the demo yet, it's definitely worth checking out.

worst. game. ever!

Hah. It figures that of all the crap games out there made for dudes, of course the game to receive one of the lowest scores ever on IGN would be one targeted at girls! Action Girlz Racing (the name kind of says it all) scored a whopping 0.8 in a recent review, causing IGN to declare it the worst game of '08, which is really something considering how many bad Wii games were released in 2008. This review is worth reading just for the funny factor, as many negative reviews are. Enjoy!

You could turn left, as the arrows suggest. Or you could just keep driving straight, because the wall would probably just let you pass right through anyway.

IGN: Action Girlz Racing

you had me at 'bikini zombie slayers'

A recent release for the Nintendo Wii, Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is getting pretty mediocre reviews, although most generally agree that it is a guilty-pleasure type of game that is good fun even if the game itself might be crap. I think this one might be worth a rent or something. Is anyone else a little suspicious at the likelihood of IGN's review just so happening to give this game a 6.9? LOL, I'm clearly M for mature.

IGN: Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers Review

interesting... ps3 movie/game combo discs

If you're a fan of movie games then you'll be happy to know that Sony is planning on releasing more Playstation 3 game/movie combo Blu-ray discs in the future. An interesting idea although if it's going to be all movies like Transformers (crapfest) then the games will probably be pretty crappy as well. Movie games have not been good since the old Sega Genesis disney games. If I had a PS3 this might be more exciting news...

Blu-ray/videogame discs to be released for PS3

perfect guitar hero round

I don't claim to be some kind of guitar hero goddess or anything (not like my coworker anyway, who practices on the in-store system during her breaks..) but I have gotten pretty good at GH2 and have been considering making my XBL debut and trying out some matches against people other than my boyfriend and friends. Until then though I will just have to keep inching towards Expert, and it certainly helps when I have perfect rounds like this one!