Stupification + ignorance x escapism = degradation

We've all done it before. We pick up a game, watch a movie, read a book, and
engross ourselves with the enchantment of whatever that form of entertainment has to
offer. For must of us, once we are done with our forms of escapism; that's it. We continue
forward with our own realities.

That is not the case with all of us. As technology advances, our forms of escapism
become more complex. All the more real for us to enjoy. Movies, books, games, and music.
All of them create experiences that we can relate to. It's almost as if they know US.
In the end; the escapist cannot escape from their own fanatical fantasy.

We flick on our plasma televisions, and gasp! Gossip, and celebrities parade about in
a complete festival of ignorance. Slowly pouring their influence on those who would be
so accepting of the current fads. So sad is it not? That a good bulk of us are SO weak
minded as to base the important choices of our lives on such unintelligent perceptions
of what we should be. It's a sad truth, but as our forms of entertainment advance; so
too do their influence upon us.

Have you ever heard of the saying "Ignorance is bliss"? Escapism is a form of ignorance.
As we begin to deal with life as it were a form of entertainment; more of our actions
will bring harm upon others. Worse yet? We will become completely oblivious to the
actions themselves. Rarely will you find an individual that has the capability to think
for his/her self. The thoughts of such people will be and are nothing but a collection of
previous non-sense that was handed to them by one way or another.
With that said, the gears of degradation will grind forward. Corrupting
what little there is of individuals who adhere to their own common sense.
Only some individuals that are capable of actually seeing through this will actually
stick together.

So yes, while technology has become a great way to escape our problems. It can also
bring about issues that may go undetected by the user. It doesn't only fall upon technology.
It extends into books, music, movies, television and people themselves. In my eyes; it can become a devastating problem in itself; for those who seek a way to flee their own issues in daily life.

NOTE: Stupification is not a word.

Monster Hunter portable 3rd (psp)

Yes, it's official. The greatest game on the psp is getting a sequel.
After Capcom struck a deal with Nintendo; many psp mh fans were left wondering as to when the series would return to their handheld.

That question has been answered:

As you can see it features many of the enemies that are in Monster hunter: Tri, but new additions have been said to join the fray. Not to mention such staples as Tigrex and the much feared Nargacuga.

It has also been pointed out that all of your weapons, and items can be transferred into Monster Hunter 3rd. A great title in the making , but features are being hidden for the time being.

The ipad sucks.

It sucks beyond comparison. There comes a time when every company thinks it can sell a load of crap to it's loyal consumer, but this is just plain ridiculous.

The first and most problematic issue is that the ipad has NO flash support. Flash is commonplace amongst computers, so why not the ipad? It's been lauded by apple as being able to eventually "replace the computer", but anybody that takes a good look at the capability of the ipad; will without a doubt question it's ability.

Another issue. What kind of practical use will the ipad have? Will you see people walking around with them? Notebooks? Books themselves? This is another aspect of the ipad that is yet unknown. Who exactly is apple trying to sell this too, and to be honest; after a look at the specs, you have to be insane to purchase this thing. Whether you're an apple fanboy/girl or not. So far it's crap.

Ahh, and who can forget that the ipad DOES NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO MULTITASK! Woo-hoo. Let's use one application at a time! This leads me to believe that the ipad is not equipped with the tech to multitask. Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

Really. Would you read something on the ipad? For three or so hours? If so, I wish you the best of luck. The thing has a terrible display. Oh, but it doesn't end there! No it doesn't!

Can you say: LIMITED STORAGE CAPACITY? It'll come with sixteen gigabytes, and the storage limit as of now will be sixty four gigabytes. What a truly inspiring move! Apple is certainly pushing the bounds of technology. Apple, I was being sarcastic.

Oh, and take a look at the battery! The company itself has stated that it will last ten hours. Do they honestly think of us as stupid? I say three hours, of actual usage. (Surfing the internet, watching a movie etc)

The list goes on, and I'm sure apple is doing it's best to cover it up.

To sum it up: a horrendous product from my standpoint. Apple should redesign, and rethink it's strategy. Not everyone follows the ho-hum mediocrity that is dished out by companies that think the public will swallow whatever they manage to spit out.

Cisco: Faster is better.

Not too long ago; Cisco announced that it has the the tech, and know-how to move massive amounts of data in a small amount of time. One of the examples that has been thrown about is the ability to stream a full-length movie in about four minutes. Naturally, the realist in me thought it was a bunch of hype to something that won't deliver.

However, I can't help but to be excited at the possibilities. IF Cisco manages to pull this off; it will change the internet on so many levels. After all, the internet itself does need a boost. Especially as webpages become more complex, and as an offset; they have longer load times.

There are many more practical applications to this "insanely-fast" internet tech that Cisco is working on, but it may take some time for it to take actual fruition. Let's just hope nothing screws up and everything goes according to plan.

...but hey, nothing ever goes according to plan.

Bye-Bye Blue-ray.

Now that HD-DVD's are all but gone. (Hm, there's only one machine that uses that format.
I wonder which one it is.)

Many people have focused their attention to blu-ray. To be honest; my thoughts are that
Blu-ray is a pointless endeavor. Although sony has enjoyed moderate success with it's new
format; the truth is that disc based media is on it's way out. The era of digital based
media is about to begin, and disc's have no place within it.

Soon, it'll al be about massive hard drives, and even bigger media sources.

What's even more interesting is that sony has managed to start this process with the
launch of it's *new* psp-go. The handheld ditched the much lauded "UMD" disc. I
knew it was going to happen. The UMD was a worthless disc that added restraints to the
psp itself.

It's like sony is managing to collectively kick their own butt.

If you put two, and two together..it only seems like ditching blu-ray is the natural
thing to do right? RIGHT?

It seems that way, and it's without a doubt that microsoft will abandon the disc format
with the next iteration of it's Xbox. It's the smart thing to do.

Give me terabytes, or zettabytes!

The end of youtube.

Yeap. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. It was only a question of when,
and how. Youtube use to be about people being creating media for themselves, and others
to enjoy, but in the process; something went horribly wrong.

I'm sure that google didn't have this in mind when they bought youtube.

SERIOUSLY. Youtube sucks. It's bad. Just visit the site, and you'll see. Nothing
is what it use to be. There are ads everywhere, and the community itself is just
insane. Go ahead. Upload a video. and just watch all of the random comments that you'll
get. The bulk of them don't have anything to do with your video at all. It's mostly
just verbal arguements.

To make matters even worse; you have to be careful of what you're uploading. Any music
that's attached to your video will most likely get your account suspended. That or
youtube will remove the audio from your video. Which leads to a very boring upload.

So, what's exactly left for us? Well, you can always vblog. LOL

Atleast thats what the majority of featured videos appear to be.

Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)

The Left 4 Dead series has really gotten everyone by surprise. Even me! The game itself revolves around four survivors as they try to make their way to an evacuation point. Aaah, but did I mention that the world has been thrusted into a zombie nightmare? Such is the universe of left 4 dead. Players are forced to co-operate. If you are not a team-player; then don't expect to make it too far in here. You'll soon become zombie chow.

The game was really meant as a multi-player online affair. That or you can bring a buddy for splitscreen offline co-op. It is suggested that you have an account with LIVE...that is IF you want to truly enjoy this game to it's fullest potential. Modes include scavenge, versus, and survival. Did I mention that you get to have the chance to play as the zombies? Yep! Now you can smash those annoying little survivors! How cool is that?

If you plan on playing this game alone...don't expect much beyond the five single-player campaigns. They are fun, but not alot of story to them.

The game's great. Suggested for co-op fans!

Above: clockwise from top left. Coach, Nick, Rochelle, and Ellis.
Braving the zombie mayhem. One saferoom at a time.

Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

Welcome to my review of fallout 3.

First things first. I have already spoken on the matter of
this game freezing. Some people may encounter it on a daily basis.
With others it may not freezee at all, although that is unconfirmed
I suppose. The game does have an autosave feature, but if the game freezes
expect many a frustrating moment. Especially for sauch a vast game like this.
With that said, let us move on to the game itself.

The plot of the game revolves around a rather grim world in which everything
has been contaminated with radiation. It's upto the players to find out how
to survive in this world. It may be easy, or hard. It eventually falls upon the player.
I will not delve into the plot any further, since I do not wish to spoil it.

Gameplay is actually freeform. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want.
Survival will take top priority, and it may lead to selfish decisions within the
game. However, this is upto the player. The world itself is massive. Few games are
of this scope in the next gen arena. You can go exploring and forget about the
main quest altogether, but beware the wastelands are not a friendly place. Always
be prepared for encounters that will test your wit and skill. Feel like you're
cornered? Run away from battle! Not everything is expected in this game, so be
prepared to make tactical choices that will benefit you. The world also has a
vast number of NPC's to interact with. Some are good, some are bad. How you interact
with them is completely upto you. This is a true next gen game.

Graphics are nice, but don't expect much to look at. This is a wasteland after all.
Don't expect the vast open landscapes of oblivion. Expect garbage, and lots of it.
It is fun to look at, and the level of detail is astounding. Also, I have yet to
see another game of this scope.

The sound is one of this games highpoints. It is very well done, and sometimes when
you're out exploring, you may hear a distant gunshot, or explosion. At first I thought
this was some sort of pre-programmed effect, but I soon found out that these were actual
battles occurring within the game world. Expect a good audio experience.

To sum it up, this is the game is in a leage of its own. Sadly, the only thing wrong
with it was the freezing. It may turn away gamers. Some may even be daunted by the
massive game world. Even with its oddball flaws, the game remains a masterpiece.
Bethseda would be smart to make sure that the next fallout game is not in any way
glitchy.

The infamous Fallout 3 freeze.

This is my first encounter with this strange glitch.
I have now seen that many people have experienced the
same issue across all platforms, and I have tried to come up
with a solution to the problem, and I have found out some facts.
Please note, thats these facts are actually my opinion, due to personal
tinkering with the game itself.

1) I have first encountered this freezeglitch at the Shalebridge anthill.
Upon entering the anthill, I can leave and re-enter with no problem. HOWEVER,
upon traveling deeper into the anthill, I notice several actions within the game that
will trigger freezing. They are as follow. A) Two invader ants fighting with the docile ants.
B) There is an ant researcher that seems to fall into a radioactive puddle. C) A blotch of
red animated blood appears. It is in mid-air, and repeats its animation, over and over.

With that being seen, I left the cave and re-entered. Upon re-entering the game will freeze
while loading. It would seem that the problem is within the game itself. IT IS NOT A DISC PROBLEM.
IT IS NOT A HARD-DRIVE ISSUE. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CLEARING THE CACHE. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HARDWARE AT ALL.
It simply has to do
with the game not being scoped out completely for bugs. Thus, some bugs remained. This is
my personal opinion, and honestly I think that others will come to the same conclusion.
I would have to say that there are many other bugs like this within the game, at several
locations. How the bugs occurs is unknown at this moment.

Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)

One of the greatest co-op experiences in the current gen of consoles.

Resident Evil 5 sees you take the role as Chris Redfield, as he investigates reports of bioweapons in Africa. There he meets up with Sheva Alomar, and they become partners.

You can choose to play with the CPU as your partner, but it really is a great experience to hook up on Xbox live, and go at it with a friend. You can also grab another controller, and fight in splitscreen. It's a blast. Any fan of co-op has to pick up this title.

The graphics are incredible. They take advantage of the current gen of consoles. Expect alot of eye-candy.

The sound is fanastic. Expect nothing less.

Gameplay is top-notch. You'll have alot of fun, and there's alot of replay value.

Quite possibly, the best title of this current gen. Pick it up, if your going online, my personal advice is that you use Xbox Live. Have fun!