The LIVE Experience

On Sunday I purchased a pre-paid card for 13 months of Xbox LIVE Gold (49.99). After setting up an account I played several levels of Halo 3 (I will talk about the Halo trilogy tomorrow) to get a handle on the new controls. Then I "jumped in" to the multiplayer.

As many of the gamer community know, LIVE allows one to talk to other humans via a mike. While this requires one to ironically talk to others, there is something inherently cool about running inside the enemy base and killing everyone inside all the while screaming "I am the god of war!" Or it could just be me. Either way, I had fun.

After getting my required daily frag on, I decided to check out the other features of having an LIVE account. After looking at several tabs I clicked on the game tab. I was pleasantly surprised that one did not have to pay for some things. They were actually fee (not the kind free like free as long as you click on over 9,000 adds first, but free as in no charge). Among these where official maps from Bungie and several themes. I also secured several videos. However, not all is free. Many things still require buying. One pay for this with Microsoft Points. You can buy points on a pre-paid card or buy them directly online.

My final verdict? Xbox Live is worth every cent.


Fun Fact: Many sports games are ridiculously easy to get all of the achievements and thus a higher game score. How easy? Try 1,000 in 45 minutes.

Its Even Cooler When It Goes VROOM...

Transportation. Every person needs it at one time or another. And while we (the nerds, geeks, and gamers) stand back and are amused (and sometimes laugh at) the rest of the unenlightened humanity's strange desire to always be going somewhere; the sad truth is that occasionally we need to change our location to serve our needs. Whether it is getting the newest FPS or Final Fantasy, or another 10 packets of Ramon Noddle Soup to fill the daily nutritional needs of your carbon body(10 for a dollar is probably one of the best deals you'll get anywhere), the fact is one needs transportation.

Enter the driver's license. A piece of plastic that enables you to drive a motorized vehicle capable of going over 50 miles per hour. One may obtain the said license with a few simple steps...

1. Find a way to your local state traffic building (check out this web site if your don't know one in your location. http://www.dmv.org/drivers-license.php)
2. Brace your self to deal with other humans
3. Walk in to the building and enquire at the front desk where one be obtain drivers license papers.
4. Depending on your age you may need to fill out learning permit papers first
5. After filling out the said paperwork. Return to the front desk and enquire where to go next
6. Depending on the age one will either have to take the learners permit or drivers test
7. Obtain the paper that says you passed the test
8. Spend 60 hours learning how to drive(learners permit only)(if you have passed step 7 with and got a drivers test passage paper skip to step 10)
9. Repeat step 6
10. Enjoy transportation to multiple locations.

In other semi-relevant news: In the news has been canceled til father notice. Link to quotes of the week is: http://weekofthequote.blogspot.com/

Fun Fact: 11.5 million humans are playing World of Warcraft. Your just a number.

The World Has Turned Again

2009! A new year! Seriously though, why do people make such a big deal over the new year? I mean, its not like your points on your record get dropped or taxes get re-lowered(that would be pretty cool though).

Perhaps it is because we subconsciously believe that in the new year we can leave our mistakes behind and start anew(this is entirely false of course. You can't just leave you past behind. But you can let it stop haunting you).

Or maybe it is used to gauge how long one has until something can be obtained(Like when you where waiting until you where old enough to legally buy a "T" rated video game).

Or perhaps one believes that because of a resolution that whole world will change.

So, I end my musings with a question: What are you going to do different this year?

Fan Fact:The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

All I Want For Christmas

Christmas. The time of the year when people sing the same songs over and over yet its okay. Presents are bought and stores get lots of money.

To get in the spirit of things I have decided to start several weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly posts.
Monday-Friday: Thoughts from a Non-Normal Gamer will continue as normal.
Once a week: Quote of the week. I will post a cool quote from either myself or someone else's that I have found. So comment and tell me your best quote.

Bi-weekly: In the News. I will give the important news that happened around the world and then give my opinion on it.

Monthly: How much it costs.

Fun Fact: Santa's not real. Seriously. The government shot him down twenty years ago.

The Definition Of Epic

Epic. There are many game who try to receive this title but few secede. Even fewer can boast that a sequel gets the reword as well. I will talk about one of the few do to both.



The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This specific game and its expansions have reset the bar on how an open-world RPG should play(its sequel TES 4: Oblivion was epic as well, but I have not really played it much so I will talk about it when I know more).



Morrowind puts the player in the shoes of a unknown being set off a prison ship. After you make a few choices and such(Your name and your face for instance), what you do then is entirely up to you. Seriously. You can become a hero and save people and stuff or you could become a killer and lay wast to entire towns. Its up to you. Not only that, when you decide to you can partake in the main quest or take on one of the hundreds of misc. quests. Weapons and spells are pretty cool as well. So buy it!

Fun Fact: Your heart will explode after you have 50,000 grams of caffeine. It's a proven fact.

How Much Should You Pay? Part 1

For those you reading this post and wondering what the heck I mean in the title I will explain.
How Much Should You Pay? is a series of posts I will post periodically show casing one item that may be over priced. When you see [#] it means that is the highest absolute price.

Part 1: Gas
Gas. We all need it. Even if you don't drive or don't need to drive it effects you drastically. How? Anything that requires gas to move anything(shipping, food, and garbage disposal to name a few).
How much should you pay for gas? you ask. Well I will tell you the facts as I know them.
It costs about 12 US to remove a barrel of oil from the ground(each barrel is appox. 42 gallons and yields appox. 19.6 gallons of finished motor gasoline). [$.28 per gallon]The Federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and the average State tax is 21.4 cents per gallon.[ $.68 per gallon] Distribution is about and refining is about 90 cents [$1.58 per gallon].
Now let me ask you: How much are you paying for gas?

The Long Awaited Review!

Yes, its true. I have my Xbox 360. I will review the 360 system by sections. Firsts I will discus setup of the system and initial software setup. Then I will briefly discuss the dashboard. Then finally I will discuss the pros and cons of the system.

Set-up:
Set-up is relatively easy. Large picture instructions are provided for you. Each cord is individually packaged so make sure you have some type of cutting appliance on hand. Cords are color-coded for use. To switch the system from HDTV to TV is as simple as moving a switch.

Initial software set-up: The initial software set-up is quite easy and efficient. You do not have to have a LIVE account to make a user. All of the options are easy to change and customize.

The Dashboard: The dashboard is a blend of functionality and coolness. You can easily find what you are looking for. How is works that there are different tabs and each tab has on it different things. ENG: Games, Media, Settings....

Pros: Made in America. Designed for shooters. Can play non shooters with ease. Easy to use interface. Controller can be used to turn on the system on and off so you don't have to get up. Wireless controllers are standard. No discernible leg between controller and system. System it is quiet after initial load.

Cons: Beefy power pack for system. System makes semi-loud noises when initially loading a game. Controller may be hard to transition to initially from other systems.

Fun Fact: The first game Mach played was Sonic and the second was Star Wars Dark Forces.