Gears of War 4 Deebee Campaign

"What the hell did you guys do?!"
"Funny story, Dad. We have no idea."

I loved Gears of War, all the way through, even the rough patches. The rough patches being much of Gears of War 3. Overall, I had a great time with it. It wasn't as creepy as the first two, not as tense. There were moments that were just as difficult, though, like the enclosed area with that huge lambent Berserker, and I was playing on Hardcore. So, when I finally killed that one it was satisfying. Normally I would play through a second time so I could play on Insane, but I don't think I bothered with another round of Gears 3, because it wasn't smooth sailing.

There were some problems that, while not terrible, had me moving onto a different game right after the credits rolled. I was more satisified with the emotional storytelling than the gameplay because of the silly-stupid decisions the AI would make. They would either rush off into the fray and get themselves knocked down, while I was pinned down fighting everyone by myself just trying to inch toward my brothers in arms before they died, or they would mow down the Locust and leave nothing for me to do. And then there was a certain suicidal-sacrificial character. I was okay with that because it worked within the story and seemed to be where he was headed since the second game. There was no coming back for him.

Related article: Read Rod Fergusson's comments about what he thinks went wrong and how that was addressed that in Gears 4.

But my brothers were having none of that; those few problems outweighed the good for them. One was so disappointed in it that he regretted purchasing the deluxe edition and never fails to take an opportunity to remind me. He just can't look at the statue of Marcus without being annoyed with the decisions that were made for Gears 3. That and his disappointment in Assassin's Creed IV, Dead Space 3, *Halo 5, and some others over the years, have made him very wary of the last in a trilogy or the next sequel that has been rushed out. If that ever happens to Grand Theft Auto or his newest obsession, Shadow of Mordor, then I'm afraid it will dampen his enthusiasm for games in general.

Well, I hope The Coalition does enough to convince people who who felt betrayed by Gears 3 or Judgment (my brothers didn't even bother with that one) to give the series another chance. I'm excited at least. The gameplay looks like Gears, I hear Marcus, I see enemies being taken down by the Lancer. Crossing my fingers that this is one worthy of our time like the near perfect Gears 2. I say near perfect because nothing is perfect, but I had not one complaint with that game. Just a damn lot of fun.

*By the way, I adored Dead Space 3 and Halo 5. Crank up the difficulty, turn off the lights, and send the Necromorphs or Guardians my way. Holy shit, those Guardians were tough bastards and the Necromorphs always had jumping out of my skin.

Related article: More news about Gears of War 4.

Gears Goodies

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Lambda Boy

Half-Life and Fallout together! There have been a lot of mashups with Vault Boy, but I think this one is my favorite so far. I adored Half-Life 2 and I've wanted to replay it for quite a while. But maybe I should finish Fallout 4 first. I loved that game, too, spent so many hours with it. Then one day my brother moved away before I finished it, taking his Xbox 360 and all the games that he hadn't played. My other brother and I moved on with a different box and I've played many games since, now having an Xbox One and even more to play. I still have a backlog of games for all the old systems, a couple even dating back to the SNES and Genesis.

So, you can see how I sadly never got back to Fallout, though I do now have a copy and my saved game. Maybe I should start over from scratch. That seeems like a lot of work, but it's not like I remember too much about where I left off. There's also a side mission that would never end because the NPC disappeared.

But enough about me. Here's the information on the tee. It's available today only from RiptApparel. Shirts start at $11 plus shipping. Hoodies, posters, sketchbooks, coasters and more are also available.

Buy at RiptApparel

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Kill Him, Mr. B

Life. It's half of the name of this blog. It's a wonderful thing. It's also an exasperating, exhausting thing that often prevents me from doing what I want. What I want is to update this blog with something...anything! And I finally have a few minutes to do so. I could not pass up the opportunity to showcase this gorgeous Bioshock t-shirt. There are so many I would have loved to post - and still will eventually in the future - but I've been so bogged down with other stuff that it was impossible.

Since Bioshock is one of the most memorable games I have played, this is the perfect excuse to finally interrupt life for once. Go away work, no thinking about Christmas shopping, put the tons of holiday baking out of my mind, because "Kill Him, Mr. B" perfectly captures this underwater nightmare in shades of green and blue, with menacing eyes of red, a Big Daddy towering over the ruined city that quakes underfoot and cowers with the spin of his drill, protecting the Little Sister in his charge. Chilling. I screamed every time I heard one of them running at me from behind. I need to play it again. It's been too long.

Buy "Kill Him, Mr. B" at TeeFury

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Missed this tee? If it's any day other day than the day I published this post then the answer is yes. If I haven't updated the links yet, just ask and I will try to find it at another site for you.

Got your fill of gaming tees? Looking for something else? Please also see Reinbeast.com for other shirts, hoodies, posters and more depicting, and often mashing up, my favorite things, such as Doctor Who and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Not only do I post shirts; often I'll talk about the particular series or movie and what it means to me. Sometimes I'll even start with a novella's worth of words about an episode and then maybe have a shirt at the end. It all depends on what's avaialble on the day and the mood of the piece I've written. Sometimes I don't even post a shirt at all. If you'd prefer to not wade through all that, I'll be sad, but you can just go directly to all T-Shirts.

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Emergence

Finally I have a reason to post again! There have been other opportunities, but nothing got me to stop in my tracks because I just had to write about it. This one is special. I have never seen a more eerily gorgeous Batman shirt, or Batman anything. I would absolutely buy this for me, or my brother (who is REALLY into this series), if only I hadn't spent so much money satisfying my new Twin Peaks obsession recently. I'll definitely be buying it in the future if the artist, AlynSpiller, makes it available somewhere else. For now it's available for today only starting at $11 at TeeFury.

[UPDATE] At the end of the day I ended up buying my brother this t-shirt in two different colors, because I asked him if he wanted it and he couldn't decide which was better. :)

I heard this morning that the PC port of Arkham Knight is buggy, via this hilarious Ctrl+Alt+Del comic and then in a comment below this shirt at TeeFury. But I don't play on PC anyway usually. Always had to do with the fact that I was perpetually broke and couldn't afford good tech to play the latest games, so I was console most of the way. So I'm not disappointed by that, and it looks like Arkham Knight is getting good ratings on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

I walked away from Arkham Knight shocked, satisfied, and in dire need of someone to discuss the story with.

~ Andrew Reiner, Game Informer

Good thing, because my brother was putting off getting into the shiny new generation of consoles. No games really interested him enough to justify spending so much money again, especially since there's such a huge backlog of games for every console previous that are just sitting around gathering dust while he works. You know, being an adult means games come last far too often. Happens to me, too. Every day I have to choose between playing a game and actually getting off my butt and exercising or taking care of my blogs...or, *ugh*, household chores. I'm actually finishing up some side missions I missed before Arkham Origins forced me into catching The Joker and completing the game. Yes, I'm still on Origins. I haven't even started Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and I just remembered I never finished Okami! It's been years. I think I've said that before. If only someone would do my job for me. I just want to play all day.

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Wander Vs Fox McCloud

I'm a couple days late getting to TeeFury's Super Gaming Collection, but don't worry because there are still five days to go. The two tees here are my favorites of the collection. McCloud's Arwing Academy and Wander's Colossal Creature Control, both by GamerPrint, are $15 each. I loved the loneliness that pervaded Shadow of the Colossus and had tons of fun with Star Fox 64. It would take too long to write about all 18 shirts, and 2 posters, but I encourage you to check them out. There are shirts inspired by mainstays, such as Mario, Zelda, Pokemon and more. Now, it's time to go start a new game plus of The Last of Us. I'll share thoughts about that one soon. I wonder if there are any good shirts featuring Joel and Ellie.

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Grand Walking Dead

I've seen a few Grand Theft Auto-themed shirts before, but this is the best. It's The Walking Dead! Unfortunately, there is only so much room on the shirt and it's missing Maggie, Glenn...wait a sec, where's Carol? Rick and the Gang only survived Terminus because of her. But Gareth gets recognition? Well, yeah, I can see that, because season V started with his nonchalant murdering people for food. Carl should have given up his spot to Carol. Because of this little oversight, I checked IMDb just to be sure that the show and game match up, that this is the fifth season of The Walking Dead, so I Googled it because that's always faster with the way my iPad first puts the cursor in the search box. The snippet said "Spoiled playboy billionaire Oliver Queen is missing and presumed dead..." I think we have another crossover here. ;)

Anyway, I'm just now realizing that I don't think I have a TWD tee or a GTA tee. That's not right. I have to remedy this situation. Eventually. I have bought too many things lately, like an iPad Air that should be arriving by tomorrow. But you can get one for $10 today or $15 tomorrow at Ript Apparel.

Buy Grand Walking Dead

 

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Dragon Age Origins Free for a Limited Time

Through tomorrow, October 14, you can download Dragon Age: Origins for free! Yes, I know it came out years ago, so it'll be a bit dated. But free is free, and that's great for me because I never had a chance to even think about buying it. In 2009 I was running a 5-year-old PC, and I only just replaced it a couple years ago. I hope this one lasts like that one did, though I don't suspect I will wait as long this time to upgrade. It was a matter of not having extra cash then and so I was never much of a PC gamer. Just too broke. Anyway, my brother loved the game and now I get a chance to play. I'm definitely going to have to remember to keep a watch on that site to see if anything else comes along for the right price. I think I've gotten emails before, but I just forgot to do anything about them.

Oops, not enough free space. Let me change the install path then. It would have been nice if it let me do that in the first place. I have too much crap on my small SSD. No, wait a sec, I have room on my SSD but not in my programs drive. Don't want to put it one of my media drives either. Been meaning to get a another, but, again, money is required and I have more pressing concerns. SSD it is.

Get Dragon Age: Origins at Origin.com

If you miss the giveaway, you can get Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition for PC , Xbox 360 , or Playstation 3 on Amazon. The regular editions are also available.

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Portal Balloon

I just realized that out of the few shirts I've posted here so far, now two of them are now about Portal. There have been a fair number of video game shirts, but I either miss them because I'm busy or they're about games I never played. Somebody please make some more for Bioshock. Actually, that's well represented. You know what I never see? Halo, Splinter Cell, Gears of War, God of War, Psychonauts, Alan Wake, and many, many more. I'm currently playing The Last of Us, so that would be a great one to see.

This shirt is by Valentinaocchiblu, creator of the adorable Some Peanuts UP There. You can get Portal Balloon today for $10. Tomorrow it increases to $15. After that it will be gone forever unless the designer puts it up for sale elsewhere.

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If You Have Always Wanted to Wear an N64

It's about time there's a video game shirt that I actually want to post. There have been some since the last one that I've liked, but I completely missed them while I was working. Also, I don't do Link, and it seems more than half of the game shirts I see feature him. I know it's terrible of me, but I never got a chance to play more than a few hours of one Zelda game. I probably got distracted by the latest FPS or racing game, and my brother played it enough for the both of us. Eventually I may finish Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, or Wind Waker, but I have a backlog of games extending into the dozens of dozens. Just like all the books on my shelves I'll never have a chance to read, some games keep slipping further and further into the past. But I will always fondly remember the little N64, which I still have and which still works, for giving me Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, and Goldeneye. To this day I love bouncing on top of things, shooting things out of the sky, and thinking about martinis while shooting things on the ground...virtually, of course.

Today is a versus day, so you can pick Titan Pilot Traing Academy over 64 Bit. Or get both! I don't have money for an Xbox One yet, but I really wanted to play Titanfall. By the time I can afford a new console, everyone will be playing the next thing. Hopefully a sequel.

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8-Bit Legend ~ E.T. Tee

Gaming tees are few and far between at the daily shirt sites, and there are even fewer that I like enough to post about. So I'm very happy that there's a great one today that also happens to be connected with a real-life story. I was always interested in the game so bad all the unsold copies were supposedly trucked to and buried in the desert in New Mexico, It's part of gaming history; all of it interests me. And now they've unearthed poor little E.T. But why? It's for a documentary that Zak Penn (The Avengers) is doing for Microsoft. I might just watch that doc.

8-Bit Legend is available until the end of the day and starts at $11. Shipping starts at $3.

Related //
A First-Hand Account of the E.T. Landfill
The Dig Uncovering the Arari E.T. Games Buried in New Mexico Desert

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I Need More Time to Read

I have been really neglecting things here lately, and besides reading that Ken Levine is "winding down" Irrational and moving ahead with a smaller team, I've hardly kept up with gaming news. I only knew because I follow him on Twitter. Whatever time I have I usually spend improving my blogs, drawing knives, tweeting, or writing about The Blacklist - the incredible James Spader series, not the Splinter Cell entry I'm playing right now, though I really like the game so far. Of course. It's Splinter Cell.

I still get my beloved magazines Game Informer and EGM. Yeah, sadly, it's down to two, but that's all I have time to read. Even then I have hardly looked at them in the past year. I spend way too much time on everything else and have none left over. When I play games (a few times a week) I will write down thoughts about them. I've been doing so since I started L.A. Noire last summer. I vowed to do something with this site, but my original plan years ago had changed and then I didn't know what I wanted. So I kept that diary, but then I hardly did anything with it. The Blacklist and other favorite shows, like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Almost Human, always took precedence. Well, not today. I finished a long Blacklist post yesterday and I have no current worries about anything with a deadline. Got a bunch of things done this week that have been hanging over my head, like insurance.

So now I have a moment to at least get one idea across here. It's about gaming magazines. I am going to be really sad when physical magazines go away completely. It's really the only way I find time for gaming (or entertainment) news. I just don't read them online. I'll read the random article now and then, but I never sit for an hour or two at my PC and read an entire magazine. Just doesn't work for me. If I'm on my computer, I'm working, writing blog posts, making GIFs, etc. If I'm reading articles, it's for research. The only time I relax is while reading a book or a magazine (even while watching TV I'm usually doing something else, unless it's a favorite show) and I can't do that staring at a computer screen. I love feeling the pages in my hand, smelling the paper.

I started writing this because I recently finally forced myself to spend some time away from the iPad and spend it with the magazines I always forgo for more pressing things. When I opened it I got an instant contented feeling that this was always how it was and how it should be. The smell brought back memories (admittedly always near the surface) of hilarious sessions of Bumper Hogs (smacking the crap out of Halo's Warthogs to see how high they could fly into the air) with my brother and a flash of nostalgia that reminded me of when I was younger and gaming magazines were my most prized possession...after my plastic Voltron with the missing yellow lion.

Speaking of magazines as a prized possession, they can be yours, too. I don't have room anymore and I can't throw them away. I'll keep a few of my favorites, like a beautiful issue of Game Informer with Dead Space on the cover. But you can buy most of my other back issues of Official Xbox Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Next Gen, Play, Game Informer, Nintendo Power, Computer Gaming World, GamePro and more at eBay. I have hundreds. Just don't tell me if you're going to make papier-mache out of them or throw them into a bonfire. I couldn't handle that.

Gaming Magazine Back Issues for Sale

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Nintendo Shutting Down Servers for the Wii and DS

I never had a Wii and I don't utilize the multiplayer component of any game, but this Nintendo decision to shut down their servers still got under my skin. Prepare to no longer be able to play any of your Wii or DS favorites online on May 20, 2014. Of course, it's their business and they have to do what they feel is right for the company, but it's still a crappy decision. How does a worldwide company not have the money to keep the servers going or give an option to fans? According to CNN, Nintendo's revenue last year was $7.7 billion. That's billion. And according to Forbes, their market share is $14.4 billion. It seems ridiculous. But I guess the big guys have to be always moving forward.

This is just another reason for me to never play multiplayer. The other reasons are that I can't spend all my time with one game, and I don't need the aggravation of other people. On a related note, I've always been hesitant of the move towards download only. Some titles being downloadable only are fine, like the independent ones that don't have the support of a big publisher. I'm all for that. But imagine that game you bought a few years ago that you haven't had the chance to play yet was a download. I'll use Grand Theft Auto IV as an example. (Yes, I know it's not a download.) I might take a while longer to get to it. I have so many to play. I'm currently on GTAV, and then I have Assassin's Creed Revelations and Mass Effect 3 to start. At some point I have to finish Borderlands, Fallout 3, and even Okami. I really, really want to finish Okami.

There are dozens of games I never got to play, but if they were online only they would run the risk of being shut down when the number of players dropped, or for any arbitrary reason. Imagine spending hundreds of dollars on a bunch of code that did nothing. Even if that didn't happen, anything else could. Your console could commit suicide, your account could be shut down, you could lose your purchases because of some idiotic glitch. You ever have a hard drive die that had software you paid for from a company that has incredibly poor customer service, who wants to charge you for support and then charge you for a new copy even though they have your order in their system, you have the receipt and the serial number, and you even have a copy backed up but it can only be installed on one machine or a certain number of times? This is a thing that happens. (Actually, that's probably the worst that can happen. It's an amalgam of a few things that I've been through before.) You can probably tell I have a hard time letting go of physical media. I want to own what I buy and have the ability to play it forever. Screw the companies who take that away.

More about the Nintendo shut down is available in the place I read about it, The Day the Mario Kart Died ~ ArsTechnica.

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Shadows, Shadows Everywhere

You might ask why I'm posting a TwoFury battle between Doctor Who shirts. Look more closely at Shadow of the Dalek for a second. See it? The glowing blue star? Remind you of something? Yup, I didn't realize the Shadow of the Colossus reference even though I've played and enjoyed it and recently watched Adam Sessler talk about it on Rev3's Spoiled Games. Anyway, both of these are beautiful designs for any Doctor Who, Shadow of the Colossus, or The Time Machine fans. But you only have until the end of the day to get these for just $11 each with shipping starting at $3. After that they go to the Gallery and may still be available for $18 if proven popular enough. Sizes go up to 3XL for men and women.

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Columbia: Impressions of a Floating Madhouse, or My Time With Bioshock Infinite

For the past year, I have kept my iPad by my side whenever I played a game and took constant notes. I kept meaning to post them, but something always got in the way. I've decided to change this, and it's about time. I felt like keeping the dates I played, because I will be doing this out of order and I'd like to remember. This isn't a walkthrough, and it's far from comprehensive. What you'll see here is basically a video game stream of consciousness. It's more like a diary that's been left unlocked and out in the open. I can't promise this will be spoiler free. It's not a review. But I will keep the ending to myself.

8/12/13

Alrighty, now on to BioShock Infinite. Yeah, the whole world has played it already, but I don't get paid to play. I have to make my "living" elsewhere, so I'm perpetually behind. Plus, it takes longer when I have to stop every few minutes to write this stuff.

So far, a few minutes in, the style and music totally puts me in the Bioshock mood.

I ring a three-bell combo five times and apparently call Columbia. Holy crap, that would be scary. The sky lights up red and a giant horn sounds, like an enormous ship in the night. Made me think of Unheilig. Best listened to with the speakers loud enough for the neighbors to complain.

If you don't have Spotify, please download it here. That link gets me a free month of Premium Spotify ($10/month) for every five people who sign up, but you can choose Free or Unlimited ($5/month).

Oh, sure, I'll get into the glass capsule, which I assume shoots me up to my destination, like the Wonkavator. Looks like a terrifying ride. Speaking of terrifying (yet terrific and funny) ride, I saw The Wolverine yesterday. Always loved that character and what Hugh Jackman brought to the role, but this was my favorite, in no small part due to the bullet train sequence.

Yay! 5G just for starting the game. Ha!

A short time passes and...ah, well, thank you for drowning me at my baptism. So that's how this is going to go. Don't feel very welcome here.

Some guy is knocking on the door in my dream (memory?) wanting me to pay my debts. So what do I do? Ah, yes, I'll just dance on my desk here. "That idiot priest needs to learn the difference between baptising a man and drowning one." Oh, Dewitt, I'm sure that was on purpose.

Wow, there's a lot of water here. These people mus be very pruney. You guys are praying to the Father Washington statue - sword bearer, freedom fighter - not Father Comstock. Get your facts straight. Seems they were put in front of the wrong statue. "Our prophet fills our lungs with water so they may better love the air." My lungs love the air perfectly fine, thank you.

Thought there was a glitch already. A bird was floating in the air instead of flying. Nope, that was a hummingbird. Aww, he's cute. Love the detail.

"What is Columbia, if not another Ark for another time?" Well, that sounds ominous. Seems like they're not just preparing for disaster but bringing it about.  Ooh, especially when the say something like "The seed of the prophet shall sit the throne and drown in flame the mountains of man." I've seen that lovely message twice now.

Overheard: "Damn inconvenient when buildings don't dock on time." Scary thought that buildings are docking at all. I really don't want to see where this leads in the end. I kinda don't want to fall thousands of feet to my death.

Why do I try to jump over railings? At least respawn was really quick. And that paper boy didn't even try to stop me! WTF?! Little asshole. If I lived here, I really would want the railings to be higher.

Hmm, I wonder if I'm The False Shepherd.

The Grocery Store is on the honor system, so I left the money in the basket. Felt wrong. Yes, I know it's a game. Taking it from everyone else, though. Why not? These "lambs" I'm sure will all turn against me soon.

Love these posters for Vigors. Love that they aren't just snake oil like they would be in real life. Now reminiscing about Bioshock's Plasmids.

Is that the best place to spin yourselves dizzy, kids? The railing may be tall enough, but you could fall right through the wide gap. I have a feeling some mothers are going to be losing children.

Songbird, the protector of the lamb. Creepy that there are Songbird dolls, since he would most certainly rip apart anyone that got close. Ooh, a chocolate bar. Now I have a craving. Got to get to a checkpoint. Need to stop for the day.

Yup, there it is. I have the mark of the false shepherd. Might want to hide that for now.

Ooh, time for a raffle... Really, Dewitt?! #77?! The mysterious note said not to pick that number. Well, that turned ugly real fast. No way was I going to throw the ball at the people being held prisoner. Great raffle.

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Available at Amazon for XBox 360
BioShock Infinite - Xbox 360 | Bioshock Infinite: Premium Edition -Xbox 360 |
Bioshock Infinite: Ultimate Songbird Edition - Xbox 360

For Playstation 3
BioShock Infinite - Playstation 3 | Bioshock Infinite: Premium Edition - Playstation 3 |
Bioshock Infinite: Ultimate Songbird Edition - Playstation 3

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Back in My Day

Finally another shirt that forces me to take action here. I keep getting sidetracked with work, Reinbeast.com, ShinyDangerousThings, and Reinbeast Expanded. I've been writing for this one, but I never get a chance to finish my posts. That has to change. I'll start with this. There have been quite a few gaming-related shirts since the last one, but they just haven't dazzled me. Mostly they are Zelda shirts. I'm sorry, I know I should have played at least one of those games over the years. I just never had the chance. While I watched my brother enjoy Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker, I only ever got through half of Ocarina before something distracted me and I never got back to it, moving onto a new game probably. One day maybe I'll have the money to take a year off and play all the games I never finished or even started. Hmm, actually I may need two years for that.

Oh, yeah, I was supposed to talk about the shirt. It made me think of my poor, old GameBoy, which I finally recycled this year. It hadn't worked right in years and finally died. And since I got my iPad two years ago, I've barely used my DS or PSP. Not because I play more on the iPad, but because I do so many other things now. Blogs and drawing take up the time that handheld gaming used to. I still play my PS3 and Xbox 360 as much as possible, though. I recently bought N+ for my PSP, though, so I have to get back to that. I love that the "iPhone" has a pear on it instead of an apple. If you love the design, it's available today for only $10.

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The Last Act is (Almost) Over

I was listening to Meat Loaf in the truck last Friday because the CD player wouldn't give it back to me the day before. It has to cool down before it will eject anything. I have an iPod and iPad and listen to most of my music ripped to my PC, streaming from Spotify, Pandora, MOG, and YouTube, but when I'm driving it's CDs. I don't have an iPod adapter. Don't really want one. I have ten times more music than I can fit on it anyway. So, lately I've taken to closing my eyes and picking any CD from the rack, because they're all choices I love. I've sold all the CDs I haven't cared about in years, from back when I was still trying to find my musical taste, so what's left is what I want to listen to for eternity. Guaranteed to always be in the mood for whatever I grab.

Wait, why did I come here? Oh yeah. So, The Very Best of Meat Loaf was stuck in the player and "Not a Dry Eye in the House" came on. It immediately brought up memories, as it does every time, of Virtua Racing on the Sega 32X. Yes, unfortunately we had one of those and maybe three games for it, but at least I played the crap out of Virtua Racing. Every day after school I would bring my CD player into the kitchen and play on the tiny 13" screen, always listening to Meat's Welcome to the Neighborhood. Wow, that was in 1995. It's been a while. That got me to thinking of the PS4 announcement and how I am so not ready for a new console. I never am. Not only because they're always too expensive and I never seem to save money for them, but that there are so many games to finish. I still have games from the Dreamcast I haven't started! Okay, new rule: When a new generation is coming, everyone stop making games for at least a year before so that I can catch up.

Adam mentions how there isn't much of a difference in graphical quality. That's not the factor in getting a new console for me, though. I don't expect leaps and bounds, never have. It has to be because everyone from gamers to developers to publishers are adopting it and there must be unmissable exclusives. If a sequel to a favorite game is only available on that console then I'll eventually get it. What I'm concerned with is it should have room to grow. The full potential should be reached at the end of the PS4's life years down the road, not months after it debuts.

I would love to be an early adopter for all consoles, since it always seems like the new generation comes so soon after I got into the last one, but that would break the bank. Hopefully, PS4 is a little cheaper. I don't know much about it yet, because I've been too busy to read up, but something Adam said about it being more accessible ("It's made for people to make games, to get those into the hands of the audience so they have more games to play.") makes me think it might be. It sounds as if they're not so adamant about power without regard for what it takes the developers to get a grasp on it. Though, I wouldn't expect games to be any more affordable.

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A Companion Cube for Valentine's Day

So far Portal is winning today's TeeFury battle. Yay! I'm finding I have a bit more free time after being stupidly busy for months, as evidenced in how little I contributed here. So, I thought now would be appropriate to start posting about video game shirts. Don't know why I never did before, because that might have kept me blogging. I used to do so quite a lot over at Reinbeast.com before Fringe took over.

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Glad to Have Revision 3 Games

No gamer should ever have to go without the Sess, so it's great that Revision 3 Games came along and Sessler's Soapbox returned in the form of Sessler's Something a little while ago. I was very disappointed when G4 cut him loose, but at least I could keep up to date on Twitter. And now that they've rid themselves of X-Play completely, meaning no more Morgan or Blair, I have no reason at all to watch that pathetic channel. X-Play was the only reason I came back after they cancelled Call for Help. That and the Quantum Leap marathons. Oh, well, nothing lasts forever. All I really need are Adam's opinions and reviews anyway. It doesn't really matter how I get them. Here's the latest...

I always dread a new console generation. I never have the money for it. I would love just once to be an early adopter, but I need to wait for some kind of deal or a price drop. Wouldn't mind if someone got me one as a gift, though. Hint, hint. ;) As for microtransactions, I don't usually care for them, but I don't go nuts because they're available. Of course, if a company makes microtransactions necessary to finish a game then I will certainly make a fuss. As always, Sessler is a level-headed source of gaming info. Probably why I've been a viewer for more than a decade.

Oh, and a little thing called Dead Space 3. Besides Halo, I have to say this is my favorite series. I played the first two much more than I should have. It never got boring and always had scream-for-mommy scares and creepiness to rival Silent Hill, even on my fourth play through. (I just can't stand being pursued by something that can kill me in seconds.) I try to always keep my hopes very low, especially with trilogies since the third installments can be let downs and ruin your opinion of the first two. That way I'm never disappointed. I'm either surprised or indifferent to the results. The only time I let expectations run rampant was with Fringe, and I was still amazed by the incredibly well done ending. So, with Dead Space 3, I went in expecting nothing and I'm very happy to see it's been getting some great reviews. It will be the next must buy game for me.

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Finally Selling Gaming Magazines

Gaming Magazine Back Issues

In the last few weeks I forced myself to get off the iPad for a while every day and start reading gaming magazines regularly again. It used to be one of my favorite things, but I've been so preoccupied with posts about Fringe (still am) for the past many months that they've mostly just piled up unread. And damn do I have a lot of them. I certainly can't keep them all. I've pared my subscriptions down to Game Informer and EGM due to the cost and time constraints, but I used to have every one I could get my hands on: Playstation the Official Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Play, GamePro, et cetera. I even went to Barnes & Noble a number of times to get a couple very nice British mags, but they were too expensive to keep that up.

I haven't rid myself of them to reclaim valuable space yet because gaming is one of my passions. I don't like the thought of them being recycled, and BackIssues.com doesn't buy gaming magazines. I am stubbornly holding onto this form instead of moving digital, because when I'm online it's for work, play, or blogging. If I don't have a physical magazine I just don't read about gaming. Even if I paid for a digital subscription, it would go unused. In fact, I have the new EGM, but the digital portion of it I've looked at only once. I watch videos instead, like the ones from Revision 3 Games with Adam Sessler. I'll follow the Sess wherever he goes, because I've gotten more game news from him than any other source over the years.

I don't know when I'll get the chance to actually put any of these magazines online, but if I wait until I'm not busy then I'll never start; it's happened to me before. If I list one that doesn't have a link or isn't in bold, that means I have it but haven't put it on eBay, eCrater, Bonanza, or wherever, yet. The list will continue to grow for some time, because there are so many. Please don't hesitate to ask if I have a certain magazine from the 2000s until now that's not listed. I just may, but it could take a while to find.

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The Chronicles of L.A. Noir, Part 1

I'm driving to a street crime half way across town in L.A. Noir. Seeing how fast and far I can go with my siren on and without hitting with someone. I accidentally take a wrong turn and it's when I'm going maybe 5 MPH that some a-hole sideswipes me. Why not? Well, really, it's kind of my fault. Then a few mnutes later I'm almost there and see a dump truck I know I've never been in. I stop him and get in number 71 of 95. Woohoo! But I stopped near a gas station. Of course, I had to drive right into the pumps to see of anything would happen. Boom! Officer Down. Case Failed. HA! Oh, wait, now I have to drive to the street crime again. Damn it. That's me. Always thinking ahead.

Why didn't I take a screenshot? Because I thought of it only after it reloaded. Then I finished the case and ended up back at the precinct, where there was another vehicle I hadn't driven yet: a firetruck. :D And right across the street was another gas station. >:D So, I did it again. Then the game wouldn't pause when I blew myself up and I didn't get a picture. *grumble* *sigh* I guess I'll try again later...maybe.

There will probably only be a couple posts about this game since I'm certainly more than half way through and life is busy.

Xbox 360, $19.99 @ J&R

PS3, $19.99 @ J&R

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