Starcraft II

I have to agree with the tagline:

"Hell, it's about time."

http://www.starcraft2.com/

Random Things

The term ended about a week ago here at Dominican and as most "break weeks" it's been slow. I've had a few calls and such, but nothing too severe. The big news has to be that the Pepper Construction trailers are not at the Parmer Hall site anymore which means we're closer to the building being handed over to Dominican. This summer will be very busy, exciting, and full of getting the new building ready for classes in the fall. Once there is some shape to the interior, I'll do a new photo album for the blog and for my Facebook profile. By the way, if you've not seen it, check out the links section on the right for some of the photos I've taken of the work done at Dominican over the past year. You can also find a link to out wedding site.

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Gears of War - New Maps / Annex

In the world of gaming, Epic released the Annex expansion and four new maps for Gears of War. I do like the new maps, with Subway being my favorite. All the new maps are based off of sections of the single player that we're represented in the original maps:

Garden - Probably my least favorite of the new maps, but I've played it the least. This map looks like the greenhouse you fight the 2nd Berserker in. In line with the free set of maps from last year, this map has an environmental hazard; to go into the greenhouses you have to turn off the gas or you will choke and die.

Bullet Marsh - This looks a lot like the areas outside the start of Act 4. It's a multi-level marsh setting with the environmental hazard being a generator you can turn off and then the Kryll will attack anyone stuck in the dark. Most matches seem to end up on the top middle of the map near the Boomshot. Watch out for snipers on the ends of the bridges.

Process - This uses the graphics from the end of Act 4 when you battle the Corpser. All the Imulsion around the level looks dangerous, but I haven't found a way to fall into it...yet.

Subway - My new favorite map. It's large and works best in 4 vs 4 matches. There is a large subway tunnel to fight in with derailed subway cars and a large above ground area with concrete guard rails to hide behind. Be you a sniper, a torque master, or a shotgun surgeon...you'll find something to love in Subway.

The game mode Annex adds a new spin to Gears. The other game modes rely on you sneaking around and taking cover as best you can to not get killed and then have to wait for the next round to help your team. In Annex, the goal is to hold a specific spot on the map, similar to King of the Hill in other games. After 60 seconds of being held, the hill moves to another location. To make it easy to find, the hill only appears at weapon spawn points. You also get a nice new part of your HUD so you can find it easily. Also, you respawn in between 2-15 seconds depending on how your previous life went. It seems the more good you do (killing opponents, taking the hill, etc) the quicker you respawn. It breaths a fresh air into Gears. Execution and Warzone were still good, but having Annex in the mix makes it feel new again.

Feel free to send me a buddy invite to my GamerTag - GrzeTim

In 40 Years...

I hope I can still be half the gamer this Grandma is when I'm 70. This is 100% amazing.

http://oghc.blogspot.com/

Lots of Stuff...Guitar Hero 2, Dominican Happenings

Wow,

Haven't done a post in a while and it shows since I have tons to write about now:

- Kathy and I got Guitar Hero II last week for the X-Box 360 and it is A LOT of fun. I never thought I would get into a game like that, but it's very challenging and most likely the closest I'll ever come to playing a real instrument. I would highly recommend it.

- I finally got to get inside of Parmer Hall at Dominican today (4/16). I thought the building looked big from the outside. It's even BIGGER from the inside. I took a whole bunch of pictures of the inside and I have a link on the side for both pictures of Parmer and the new Parking Pavilion, which is now complete and cars have been parking in it for about a month now. You can find the links to the pictures on the right of the blog in the Links section.

- While in the Links section, you can visit out wedding site as well. Six months and counting as of last Friday. Kathy maintains a lot of that page and she updates from time to time.

Well, I have to get back to Raw...

My "friend" Jack Thompson

Well,

He's at it again:

Thompson countersues Take-Two

I wish people would focus on all the REAL problems there are in the world. Remember when people used to play games for fun and that was it? Good times...

Latest "Parenting Terror"

So I was browsing through the web comics I read and I found a link to this news story:

Nintendo Hand-Held Child Molester Target

The story is about the Nintendo DS and its ability to do short range wireless gaming and chat. The "official" range of the wireless antenna of the DS, according to Nintendo, is about 65 feet.

Anyone who has worked with any type of wireless device knows that a lot of things can hinder your signal. These are not limited to physical obstruction, other wireless signals in the area or interference (electrical, environmental, etc). The folks at FOX Channel 6 Milwaukee took two DS units and went to the local shopping center and were able to connect across the food court (about 200 feet) with no problems.

This wasn't to show how powerful the device is, but how a child molester can use a DS to lure your kids into giving away personal information. They actually come up with a scenario where while you are driving and your child is playing with a DS in the back seat, a child molester can be driving next to you and chatting with your child. Let's ignore the facts that:

1. If they wanted to find out where you lived that badly, they could follow you home and
2. They are driving AND writing on a the DS with a stylus at the same time and not crashing into other things in the road.

The story then shifts to some parents whose children have the DS and were shown how easy it is for someone with another DS to start a chat with their child. Of course, this person would have to be within 65-200 feet of them, and the further they are away, the fewer obstructions there have to be. The parents are outraged that this can happen and wonder why Nintendo did not inform them of this feature. The sad part is, the ability to chat is right in the manual and on the information page for the DS.

In both the manual and on the website, Nintendo recommends talking with your children (imagine that, talking to them...) about the dangers of chatting with someone they don't know and about the dangers of giving ANY personal information away. But, why should the parent be expected to parent? Isn't that everyone else's job? Maybe if parents were smart consumers and looked into what they are buying and not just bending to the pressure their child is applying they could avoid looking like idiots.

Have a good weekend, true believers.

Wii Wii Wii

In a move that has shocked me and many others, my wonderful fiancée Kathy went to Best Buy at 6:45am on Sunday and got us the Wii and The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess. She had mentioned the night before she was going to go, but I figured that she was playing around and I went to bed.

The next morning, she wakes me at 6am or so to let me know she is leaving. I asked if she was serious and she walked out and was on her way. About two hours later, she comes walking back in with the Wii and Zelda. She then got together to go dress shopping with her friends for the wedding we're attending this weekend (only three days Liz & Ted!).

Later that evening, we played around with Wii Sports and had a blast. The Wii is not a gimmick; it works as well as the demo videos show. We just tried Zelda last night and, so far, it stands up to the Zelda legacy. I agree with some that the graphics aren't as impressive as you might have hoped from a next gen system, but it looks beautiful and it's a Zelda game at launch (the first time Nintendo has launched a system with a Zelda game at the start). I hope to have some more time this weekend to play with it. I also have to be sure not to ignore Gears of War and my 360.

Seriously, Christmas came early for me this year, in a big way.

It Lives!

I got my replacement X-Box 360 and it works! The overall experience is amazing; I can see why people were raving. Gears of War is intense and hard and fun all at the same time...and I haven't even tried online play yet.

Now for sleep, and then tomorrow a DSL install at Kathy's folk's house.

The Boy Who Cannot Win

There is a time when you wonder if there is a God. Then there are times if you wonder if there is God that takes joy in making your life crazy.

I FINALLY got an X-Box 360. There is a GREAT deal for the next week at Micro Center for the Core for $199 and the Premium for $299 after $100 mail-in rebate. It's a steal, no tricks, no hitches. I don't eat lunch and drive to Micro Center; they have a TON of them. I buy it and get a free charger for the wireless controller for being one of the first people at the new gaming section they just opened.

I wait all day to get home and open it. I set it up, power it on...and get an error. I call support and it's a hard drive issue. Since the unit is so new, I have to FAX my receipt and info so they can process a new hard drive. Until then, I can't use it. The WORST part? My fiancée surprised me after hearing I got one with Gears of War, the biggest game out for the X-Box 360.

So I have an X-Box 360 and the hottest game for it, but I can't play it. To play Gears, you need an update for the 360, which you can't do without X-Box Live, which you can't do without a hard drive.

As I said, God is a vengeful child with a hot poker.

Atari Quiz

Again, I am too big a nerd for my own good...

NES Quiz

This was a fun quiz. It shows you a screen from a NES game and the box art and you have to type in the title. I got all of them but one. Give it a shot.

The Plague

Well,

Raw was fun back in the first week of April. It was a good show and it was great to see it. Sadly, the day after I developed what can only be described as the worst cold / flu / ill I have ever had. I was DOA from Tuesday after Raw all the way though until the Wednesday before Easter. For the first time in my life, I got medicine from the doctor (two things, a five day antibiotic and a prescription level cough medicine). I, of course, forced myself into work Wednesday and Thursday of that week and then spent my three day weekend in bed. I'm about 100% again, almost a month later, but I still have a bit of the cough.

Of course, this pretty much made anything beyond watching TV and trying to breathe impossible. You know I'm sick when I'm off for a week and I don't get online or turn on the X-Box once. Some people at work thought I must be dead since I never miss that much work unexpectedly. But, here I am, almost back to normal.

A lot happened here while I was away. The head of my department had announced he was resigning and moving to a new job in Connecticut about a month ago. His last day is this Friday. My direct supervisor is moving up to fill his position. We're not sure if she is going to stay there full time since the original head's boss (the Provost of the university) is ALSO leaving at the end of April. The new Provost won’t start till this summer, so it's all up in the air. What do I do? Keep on truckin...

I started playing Madden 06 on All-Madden recently. Man, it's tough. The DBs and LBs seem to know where the ball is going before I decide. Has anyone played with the sliders in the AI section and found a good setting where they are challenging but not psychic?

I'm working on a post to recap the past few weeks of WWE and some Backlash predictions, which I'll have up by Friday (hopefully...).

Wish me luck kicking the rest of this cough.

The Pain! The Pain!

Well, it turns out that GameStop shipped the Empire at War pre-orders on Wednesday Night. So, it won’t be till Monday that I get to try the game. I can't win with pre-orders. When I do pre-order, there are copies everywhere. When I don't pre-order, I have to run around the world to find it. Life likes to give me lemons and then I set them on fire and chuck them right back... ;)

I'll have No Way Out predictions up sometime on Friday or Saturday (depends on when I get to watch SmackDown).

New Year - New Post

How I neglect this Blog. If it was a friend, it would have left me long ago. I'll have to try and be better about posting. Well, here we go:

There has been a lot of shakeup in the WWE as of late. Batista is injured and went out for surgery and now Kurt Angle has moved to SmackDown and is the World Champ. John Cena won the Elimination Chamber at New Year's Revolution only for Edge to cash in his Money in the Bank from WrestleMania 21 and win by beating a worn down Cena. Then, three weeks later at the Royal Rumble, we Cena gets the title back via an FU and a tap out. Rey Mysterio wins the Rumble starting at number 2 and is going to WrestleMania (maybe...watch for my No Way Out booking and WrestleMania preview for more on that).

With all the WWE has going for it (the rating have been pretty decent the past month or so) now Raw gets moved to THURSDAY this coming week for the dog show on USA. MY GOD, you would think that when they were coming back to USA they would have gotten out of having to move for the ruddy dog show. There has to be a 90 year old man at USA who loves the dog show and wont budge (maybe he should be budged out a window....I kid! I kid!) or the folks that run the dog show have dirt on a USA board member. It's still crappy to take Raw off for the dog show. I know where I'll be on Monday night...watching ANYTHING else, maybe even Spike TV...again, just kidding...

My birthday was a few weeks ago and Kathy got me a great gift. I am going to my first Arena Football game in March. It's the Chicago Rush vs. the Colorado Crush (the AFL champs). Win or lose, it's going to be a fun time :) I also got a mini Arena football and a sweet Rush shirt. Thanks again, Kath, if you read this.

That leads into my newest game; EA Arena Football. For a first crack at an Arena Football game, EA didn't do a bad job at all. If you've never watched Arena ball, you might want to rent it first, but if you like Arena ball, you'll love it. The options are not as deep; there is only quick play, online play, and a really basic season mode; but all the teams are there and the rosters are accurate for this season. They also support downloadable content, so there should be roster updates for online play and maybe some other tasty features (downloadable expansion teams?).
Next week, Star Wars - Empire at War comes out for the PC. It's a RTS (Real Time Strategy) made by a new studio called Petroglyph that is comprised of people from Westwood Studios (the Command & Conquer series). The premise is that you control everything from what you build, to where you deploy, to what strategy you use. They also removed some of the more tedious parts of RTS, like resource gathering and let you focus more on the combat. I'll post a bit on it here after I get it on the 15th.

I hope to keep up more on this blog...I know I say that all the time, but I mean it this time.

Take care.

Long Time

It's been a long time...yet again...since I added to this blog. Every time I come back, I say "I'll stick with it" and something comes along. Well, here goes another try.

The big buzz this week is the release of the X-Box 360. Anyone who knows me would expect that I would be excited. I have to admit, I am...but I have some trepidation with this new system. First and foremost has to be the backwards compatibility. With both Nintendo and Sony already being upfront about backwards compatibility (the Playstation 3 will play all old games and the Nintendo Revolution will accept all Gamecube discs along with the ability to play any 8, 16, or 64 bit Nintendo game via the web) Microsoft had a lot of ground to cover. I realize that the new system has a different architecture and that it would be hard to do it, but the lack of backwards compatibility would hurt them. They kept silent for a while on it, then released this:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm

A list of the games that, at release, will be compatible with 360. While it is a large list (200+), there are many glaring omissions from the list:

- No EA games to be found...this includes all EA Sports & EA Sports Big titles, Burnout Revenge, X-Men Nemesis, and many others. There is a 360 port of Madden 06, but from the reviews I've read on Gamespot and the like, it's Madden 2001 with pretty graphics.

- No Splinter Cell games. The latest Splinter Cell games have a LARGE following on X-Box Live (and the original line was that X-Box Live games would be the first brought over to 360...Barbie Horse Adventure?).

- Lack of backwards compatibility for recently released games. How many parents are going to buy a 360 and an original X-Box game, not knowing the difference, and come Christmas the game won’t work at all. As of today, the top ten searched for games on Gamespot for the X-Box (bolded games are on the 360's list):

1. Half Life 2 - Supported
2. Need For Speed Most Wanted - Not Supported
3. Halo 2 - Supported
4. Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Not Supported
5. 50 Cent : Bulletproof - Not Supported
6. The Matrix : Path of Neo - Not Supported
7. Gun - Not Supported
8. True Crime : Streets of New York - Not Supported
9. King Kong - Not Supported
10. America's Army : Rise of a Soldier - Not Supported

So, of the ten games, two of them work on 360. One of them is a Microsoft release and the other is a PC port which worked on most PC hardware. You would THINK any Microsoft game would work on 360 at launch. MechAssault 2 on the list? I think not.

In the end, Microsoft has their work cut out for them. They have to provide a full online community and try and build the list of legacy titles that will work on the new system. I can say for sure that I will be hesitant to buy into the new system unless I can play some of my favorite, and more popular, titles on 360.

I'm sure that the five people who bought Barbie Horse Adventure got their 360s at midnight...sigh.

So Much Time - So Few Posts

Well,

Once again I lack in the posting department...such is the "busy" life.

I've been playing MechAssault 2 a bit lately. It's a lot of fun...I just wish I had started playing the 1st one a bit before I got this one. Going from the run and gun in Halo 2 to the slower pace in Mech 2 is a bit hard at first...for people who try it once and get wasted, don't give up. Also, I don't mind people kicking my butt...at least it's other gamers who might be better than I am versus a computer who can tell what I'm doing and where I'm going.

If you play MechAssault, or anything on X-Box Live for that matter, give me a buddy request. My name on there is "GrzeTim" (big shock, huh?). I'm not the best gamer in the world, but I wont run from a fight and I'm pretty decent with the VTOL in Mech 2. (What's a VTOL you say? Read up on it here: http://www.mechassault2.com/ma2/tactics/vehicles/ and scroll to the bottom).

It's about time for the spring and summer movies to come out. Many goodies coming soon, including (I know I'll miss something...):

February 18th -
Constantine

March 4th -
Be Cool

March 18th -
The Ring Two

April 1st -
Sin City
The Weather Man

May 19th (Happy Birthday Kathy) -
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

June 17th -
Batman Begins

June 29th -
War of the Worlds

July 8th -
Fantastic Four

August 5th -
Doom

What can I say? I'm a nerd :)

MMORPG

Maybe it's just me...but it seems more and more of the universes I like are moving to MMORPGs. For those of you who don't know what that means...a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (or MMORPG) is where you purchase a game for $40-50 and install it. Then, depending on the title, you get 30-60 days of free play in a massive world that could take years to explore fully. This sounds great, but then after the 30-60 days, you have to start paying $10-20 a month to keep going.

First off, before people start flaming me, I realize that the fees are to maintain the servers and to pay the people who maintain them both in the physical and content sense. While the prospect of this ever changing world sounds great to the gamer in me, the cost is the key. Mostly, I would have to say, my problem is the sour I've had in the past. The only game that I've tried to be involved with from a community standpoint is Diablo II. For a short while, it was great online...then all you get is people who seem to fall into a few categories:

1. Begging - They stand in town and spam messages to the whole game asking for gold / runes / weapons / protection / quest items / etc / etc.

2. Player Killers - I think this one needs no explanation. I know some people enjoy dueling, but when I'm questing I don't want to be killed by a sneak.

3. Duping, Mods, etc - This is what killed Diablo II. People hacking or modding the game to make super weapons or characters or to copy one good weapon 50 times.

Some people might call me a whiner or a loser cause of these complaints, but it made the online portion of Diablo II hard to swallow. They created a ladder system to stop some of this. It is supposed to stop people from hacking but they've already reset the ladder once due to dupped weapons. While I would be upset at a character on there being erased when he is free...what happens when I get deleted in the game I pay $15+ a month for cause I found something or got something that was "bad" and I was deleted. Then would they be giving me back my money? Nope. Also, there is no way to try before you buy. Say I pay $50 and I hate it. Ok. I stop it so it doesn't charge again. I'm still down the $50+ for the game and the month. Then what do I do with it?

Again, I sound like a whiner, but it's not right that the latest Matrix and Warcraft games are MMORPGs. If I want to know what happens next in either world, I would have to play them. I wouldn't have minded if they were stand alone games and I would have bought them. But MMORPGs are a new breed and without the ability to try one without losing a fair amount of money, it's hard to adopt.

Sadly, it seems more and more games are going this route (Final Fantasy, Warcraft, Matrix). So, it seems, I'm being left behind since I can't devote 20+ hours a week to gameplay.

New Post?

Yep,

After a long, long time away, I'm back. (Pause for applause...3...2...1). Thank you.

It's hard to believe it's been over two months since I posted to the blog. Kind of sad in a way. I started off doing this and was all excited to have a space on the web again. Then work started kicking my butt (which is still is...) and other parts of my life started to demand more attention. Before you know it, two months have gone by.

The biggest thing to happen is the decision to move. Yes, I have left my apartment and moved into a condo in Glenview. It's a nice, two bedroom place that Kathy is already in. I get the 2nd bedroom. The best and worst part will be living with someone again. There are days at my apartment that I am happy I close the door and it's just me there. Other days, I yearn for company badly. Regardless, I'm looking forward to this and I will make it work.

The other big thing that happened this week is the release of Halo 2. It seems as if 10 years have passed since they announced the game and now it's here. If you have an X-Box and have, or are planning on getting the game, feel free to add me to your Friends List; "GrzeTim". Also add "Butcher" to your list. Butcher is a guy I work with who is pretty good too. Butcher and I have laid waste to people in LAN games on Halo in the past. Can't wait to get even more matches and fun going with Halo 2. I've already tried a few games online and the campaign is outstanding. Another excellent game from Bungie. I'm beginning to look at them like I look at Blizzard (the company that makes Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo). If they only bring out a game or two every few years, I wouldn't be upset. The quality of the one or two they make is worth 10 "cookie cutter" games.

Now, the countdown to MechAssault 2 starts. It comes out right after Christmas and then I'll be hard-pressed to choose; MP Halo 2 or MP Mech 2. Life is full of hard choices, isn't it? :)

Hopefully months won’t pass between my posts again.

Where's GrzeTim?

Hello all,

Sorry for not being around as of late, but the world has been kicking my butt. I'm doing fine, but just busy, busy, busy. Due to that, I've come to a decision: no more full reviews. I'm going to just do notes and thoughts from the wrestling shows and try to do more non-wrestling related posts. So, no time like the present. I recently saw The Village. It was good and if you like M Night's work, you'll be happy, but there is one problem; if you're good at figuring out his movies, you'll have this one pegged by the midpoint. This still doesn't detract from the movie, but it kills the "shock" at the end. Still, I recommend it to anyone who cares for suspense movies. Excellent date movie.

On the other end of the world, I got Mega Man - Anniversary Collection for the GameCube. What can I say? Mega Man 1-8 and the two Japanese Arcade games as unlockables. This was a trip back for me. Mega Man 1 is still hard as hell and Mega Man 3 is still a masterpiece that Capcom should be proud of. The best part? Mega Man 7 and 8 that I never got to play (7 was hard to find and 8 was for the PlayStation, which I never had). Good times.

I order Madden 2005 for the X-Box yesterday. I'm taking a risk here; never tried a Madden game before, but I have ready SO MANY good things about the series. I have played NFL Fever 2003 and liked it, so Madden should be good for me.

Check back later this week for my SummerSlam predictions.