Hey, Scott Keith does it! Sure, he's earned the right to do whatever he wants and is a published author and all, but I'm nothing if not presumptuous. Hell, I presume I spelled that word right. Anyway, on to the musings.
So, like pretty much everyone who owns an Xbox 360, I pre-ordered Halo 3 months ago and picked up my copy this week. I was planning on being in line at 9 to wait for the midnight opening, but then I realized that all I was going to be doing was waiting in line for three hours to buy a game I couldn't play until the next day anyway. So I waited 'til the next day. Of all the people there to pick it up, I appeared to be the only one who wasn't a soccer mom.
Anyway, after grabbing a ridiculously late lunch, and running in to a fifth grader whose class I substitute taught in at the pizza place I went to, who was duly impressed with my purchase, I got the game home. And proceeded to fall asleep while playing it. Mind you, that's probably down to my late hours not synching up with the substiute teaching jobs I've been taken on, but it wasn't a good sign.
Also not good; a myriad number of problems keep me from connecting to Xbox Live at the moment, cutting off the most popular aspect of the game, and the one that's made it a cultural phenomenon; the multiplayer. I'm a little disappointed that none of these new FPS/shooter games don't at least offer bots, like all the old console shooters used to, for really sad simulated multiplayer matches; c'mon game developers, meet us friendless schlubs without a Live subscription (or an ethernet cable that fits in to our fucking outletes!) halfway!
All that said, I was finally awake enough recently to play the single player game without dying every two minutes (I'm up to ten), and I'm really enjoying it. Since I never owned an original Xbox, my Halo experiences were few and far between; I played a friend's copy a few times, and enjoyed it, especially the second one, but not enough to want to buy an Xbox. Of course, sort of tying in to this blog's main theme, my console purchases have been based on which one had the best wrestling games, so that's where my head is at. Thankfully, Smackdown vs. Raw and the TNA game are multiplatform now. And did you know that they're apaprently porting a Fire Pro game to the PS2? I'm excited for that, even if I never quite learned how to play the rom I downloaded years ago.
Anyway, back to Halo. I was leary of the fact that single player was going to be my main (well, only really) way of playing this game, especially after I bought the original after pre-ordering the third one and wound up trading it in because I couldn't get in to it. I'm thinking that owes more to the fact that a first generation Xbox game just does not stack up well at all to stuff like Gears of War, Bioshock, and the Darkness, because I'm starting to really get in to the game now. Hell, maybe it will even pull me away from my consumptive obsession with Smackdown vs. Raw 2007's general manager mode. I doubt it, but it's got a shot!
The game's absolutely gorgeous; setting the early levels (at least as far as I've got) in Africa was a nice decision. It's a real change of pace from the usual urban setting you find in these kinds of games, even in the dystopian sci-fi subgenre that games like Half Life 2 and Gears of War inhabit. The twitch gaming can be a little hard to get used to after Gears gameplay, which was more strategic; I kind of miss ducking behind cover in other shooters, which is how you can tell a game's really made a contribution to the genre. But still, there's nothing quite as satisfying as clubbing a charging alien in the face with the butt of your gun, and Halo delivers visceral thrills like that with gusto. I also love the ambient chatter of everyone from your fellow marines to the hapless grunt soldiers; bringing in considerable voice talent like Keith David and Ron Perlman just sweetens the pot (I swear I heard Firefly/Serenity's Nathan Fillion, too). So, yeah, count in me in with Halo lovin' masses. If I can ever join them on Xbox Live, I might really have some fun.
I was rather less impressed with the other game I picked up recently, the new Guilty Gear XX for the PS2. It had some fruity subtitle, but I can't be bothered to look it up. Which shows how little I care for the game so far. I'm a 2D fighter afficienado; I logged a ridculous number of hours in the various Street Fighter sequels and spin offs, and I've always dug SNK's serieses, from Fatal Fury to King of the Fighters, as well. Guilty Gear's about the only series in the genre I haven't at least sampled, so when I found a copy at Game Stop and had the credit to cover a purchase, I pounced on it.
That said, so far I'm not that in to it. The button commands alone look like someone decided that the problem with SF2's controls was that there weren't enough motions, and all of the different techniques in the instruction manual made it look like it would take me awhile to get the hang of this game. I guess you could make a case for a game actually demanding patience and commitment being something different these days, when most everything out there will take the time to walk you through the basics before throwing you to the wolves. That said, I'm not the type that considers inaccessability a challenge; I'm more likely to chalk it up to being tedious and look elsewhere for my digital entertainment. So we'll see if this game joins many others I've culled from my collection at my local Game Stop, or if it can gain a permanent spot on my entertainment center.
As far as fall TV goes, I've mostly stuck to my old favorites, although I have enough series premieres to last me from now until next fall. I kind of hate to admit it, but hell, I was pretty open about my OC fandom; I liked the first episode of Gossip Girl. The combination of Kristen Bell (I already miss Veronica Mars; damn you CW!) and OC creator Josh Schwartz was enough to get me to tune in, sinking feeling I'd dislike it and stupid name be damned; while the show has yet to display most of the qualities that made me hop on the OC bandwagon (and quite possibly derail it, since its ratings precipitously dropped once I started watching it); it lacks the humor Adam Brody provided as Nerd God Seth Cohen, or Ryan's point of view character in to the oppulence and absurdity of Orange County. It is, however, just as insidiously addictive, at least at first blush, and despite the fact that I don't particularly care for any of the kids portraying the lead characters, I'll give it a shot.
I also have to admit to liking what looks for all intents and purposes like another really guilty pleasure (in that I should probably be ashamed for liking it); Moonlight, CBS's new vampire private eye show. Now, I don't blame you for whatever thoughts you may have regarding me and my taste when I admit to liking this. The words "CBS's new vampire private eye show" sound horrible to me, too. That said, I had space on the old Tivo, and Veronica Mars alum Jason Dohrin was in it (I see a theme emerging here), so what the hell, I have it a shot. I really enjoyed it. The leads are really engaging and really, I'm just happy to have another vampire show on the air. Buffy was a long time ago. I have my doubts it will last, but then again, Ghost Whisperer is still around, so who knows?
I'd talk about comics, but I do enough of that here. That's right; comics, video games, trash TV, and wrestling; I'm a quadruple threat! If I get in to Fantasy Sports, I'll have all the dateless male niche obsessions covered in my writing. But there are some things to geeky for even me, and I do believe that's one of them. Next time, I have some ideas for an actual column. But I'll probably just snark about Raw and/or talk about Candice's boobs. I've got to keep it real, folks.
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