Wow, she’s been saying quite a bit lately!

Once again I was playing games in my chair while she slept on the couch. Suddenly she started stirring.

“Rob?”

“Are you alright babes?”

“Where’d you go?”

“I’m right here, where I always am.”

“You weren’t here anymore.”

“No, I’m here now. Is that ok?”

“Yeah…what’s your mom going to say?”

“About what?”

“About the hosting.”

“The hosting?”

“Yeah.”

“I think she’ll be ok with it. What do you think?”

“I don’t think so…”

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I beat Mass Effect 2 early this morning. In truth, had I known I was so close to the end, I would have stayed up last night to finish it. Anywho, it was a really fun game, and I can’t wait for the third one to come out next year! PS- my entire crew survived, so I will definitely be importing my character once again. I think it’s neat that I was able to play the same character from the first game through the third…kudos to Bioware on giving players that option.

I realized that, based on todays date and the fact that NHL ’11 releases on Tuesday, I should be able to snag it from Gamefly as my next game!  A nice plus to owning a PS3 and 360 is that I added both versions of the game to my queue, so I have a pretty darn good chance of getting the game next week. Although I just don’t like the fact that EA is making me pay an additional fee to play online since I’m renting the game…

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It’s not very often where the sequel to anything, be it a video game, movie, book, or some other medium, surpasses the original. Mass Effect 2 is one of those rare cases where everything good about the first game is included in an improved way along with some new features that make it better than the first time around. Whether you carry over your character from the first game or create a new one from scratch, the continuing adventures of Shepard and Co. prove to make a great story and amazing game.

The game picks up weeks after the first one, but Shepard’s adventures are briefly cut short when his ship is ambushed and he is left for dead. He is picked up by a mysterious company and over the course of two years his body is healed and he is ready to stand on his feet again. A new alien menace known as the Collectors are threatening the galaxy, and Shepard joins up with the company (who is headed by someone called the “Illusive Man”, who simply reminds me of the “Cigarette-Smoking Man from the X-Files), recruits his own hand-picked team, and prepares to take the fight to these new enemies on their homeworld. Along the way, Shepard will also have to gain their trust to make them completely loyal to him and their overall cause. To do this, you will need to talk to your new allies a lot, and also go on special “loyality” missions for them. These missions consist of helping that squad member deal with some demon from the past, which, upon successful completion, technically brings them at peace with their past so that they can give 100% devotion to the mission.

Mass Effect 2 remains what the original was: a squad-based, third-person shooter/RPG. The game has tons of improvements, making it superior to the first in many, many ways. The first things you will notice is that the graphics and animations are top-notch, and seem light years ahead of those present in the first game. The voice acting is superb, and like the first game, Shepard continues to have some great dialogue at his command (unlike many RPG games where the main character does not speak, or is extremely limited in what they say.) Many of the original cast returns (depending on who lives and dies during your first game, if you import a save file), and there are also a multitude of new characters to get to know (some more intimately than others, just like in the original game.) Visually and audioally (is that even a word?!), you will be blown away.

I think the best way to tackle this is to go over the changes. First off, there are no longer tons of different versions of the same weapons and weapon upgrades to get. There are between two and five different models of each weapon type, be it the assault rifle, shotgun, or “heavy weapon”, so you won’t have to worry about receiving ten copies of version IV of the same weapon. Same goes for armor…each character basically has their initial set, and that’s it. There are still upgrades, but they have to be purchased or acquired in the field first, and then brought back to the ship and “researched” in a lab. There are different kinds of research to perform, resulting in improved weapons, shields, health, biotics, and even enhancements to the main starship. Also, each character (excluding Shepard) has two active powers, a passive power, and a third hidden active power that is available once that character is loyal to Shepard. What’s really interesting is that, upon gaining a character’s loyality, Shepard can learn one of their abilities and use it himself. Thus, my soldier Shepard was able to learn how to slam enemies with biotic powers, which was pretty nifty.

Paying for this research is where things get interesting, and is one of my favorite improvements to the game. A new mini-game of sorts was created for scanning planets for resources. Now when you enter the orbit of a planet, you can turn a scanner on and use it to find mineral ore “hot spots” on the planet. When you find one, you can launch a probe, and depending on how large the ore lode is, you will receive an amount of that mineral/those minerals (some lodes contain more than one mineral, which you will be able to see on the scanner.) Mineral ores can also be found in containers in the field, and these different ores are what are used to purchase these research upgrades. This makes the need to explore all the new planets that more necessary, because you will need to do a lot of scanning and probing if you want to purchase all the research you find throughout the game. Oh, and by the way, the universe in Mass Effect 2 is A LOT bigger than it was in the original game (ie: there are a lot more planets to explore).

Speaking of mini-games, there are also two new ones for hacking terminals. In the first game all hacking was performed in a “match the button prompt on the screen” mini-game, which was mindless and simple and just not a lot of fun. Mass Effect 2 introduces two new kinds of hacking…hacking and bypassing. The hacking mini-game has you searching through scrolling lines of code to match the ones required to hack that particular terminal, while trying to avoid the security firewalls which will kick you out of the system. The bypass mini-game takes place on a circuit board, and you have to quickly match similar pieces together before time runs out. Both mini-games breath a new depth into the game, and remind me of the extremely fun hacking mini-games that made BioShock such a treat.

Combat in the game has remained similar to that of the first game, but with some little tweaks here and there. The enemy AI is a lot smarter now, and finding cover and firing from behind it is much more necessary than it ever was in the first game. Also, it is much easier to control your squadmate’s powers because you can map them to shortcut buttons on the controller. This makes taking out the bigger enemies much easier as you can use your allies different powers to take out the varying layers of an enemy’s defense (shield, barrier, armor, etc.) The powers themselves are more varied, and the inclusion of a scientist character who has upgraded his amp to churn out pure fire, ice, and electricity is extremely similar to having him use “magic”, and his powers are a pleasant change of pace. The inclusion of the heavy weapons is nice, as they range from missile launchers to a giant ray gun (my personal favorite.)

All these changes and the ones I didn’t mention cause Mass Effect 2 to be one of the best RPGs I ever played. Bioware has outdone itself, and Mass Effect clearly blows away Dragon Age in terms of story, graphics, and gameplay. If you haven’t played Mass Effect 2 yet, then just do it! It’s on the 360 and PC, and by January of next year it will be hitting the PS3 as well. It is a gaming marvel that everyone should take the time to experience. I personally can’t wait for the next installment of the series, and I’m curious to see what new changes they will bring.

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I had mentioned a few months ago that the local AHL team, the Albany River Rats, had been sold and moved to Carolina. I was extremely upset about this, since I loved being able to go to the Times Union Center, an easy twelve-minute drive from my apartment, to watch a cheap hockey game. Sure, they weren’t the Rangers minor league team, but I rooted for them anyway, because to me they were an Albany team.

Well the good news is that the people who own the Times Union Center have purchased a new AHL team…the Albany Devils! The Devils farm team is no stranger to Albany, as they were based here prior to the Hurricanes’ team coming in a few years back. So I will be able to continue seeing cheap hockey games this season. While I dislike the Devils, being a Rangers fan, I will be cheering on the Albany Devils as my home Albany game.

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This year’s Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey leagues are up and ready to go! I already registered my public team, and my live online draft will be tomorrow afternoon at 12:00pm. Here’s to another great season of fantasy hockey, which is how I keep up-to-date on all the players in the NHL, especially the players in the Western Conference which I no little about since I rarely watch them play the Rangers. I have been playing every year for the past four years now, and it really got me more into the sport than I ever was. It’s funny…I laugh at people who talk about their fantasy football and baseball leagues, yet here I am with a hockey one…I’m such a hypocrite!

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I went to a taping of WWE’s Smackdown show last night (Tuesday, August 31) at the Times Union Center in Albany (home of AHL hockey!!!), and enjoyed myself quite a bit. The arena about a twelve minute drive from my apartment, tickets were only $25, and the Undertaker was going to be there…all aspects which made me want to go, despite the fact that I haven’t sat down and watched wrestling since the very early 2000′s. I must say that it is a heck of a lot more fun when you’re there as opposed to watching from home.

Note: I did not bring my camera, since I assumed they would be searching and Shell was not around to hide it in her pocketbook. Turns out that cameras are encouraged, just no video cams, so I could have brought it, and if I had known, there would have been a lot more pics. Instead all I have are a few crappy ones I took with my cell phone.

Let me talk about the overall feel in the arena first. It was hot, sweaty, and stinky…I have to say that the stench was far worse than anything I had to endure at PAX East. But the slight discomforts made up for actually being there, surrounding by raving fans who probably believe that the WWE is the same as UFC and other MMAs, in that the fights are real. There were kids, teens, and full-grown adults walking around sporting various WWE shirts, signs, and even belts (professional and makeshift.) To hear the crowd react to the wrestlers in the ring was also pretty cool, from everyone shouting for a fan-fave to kick out of a pin or submission to the crowd booing at the heel when he flaunted to the stands. You could hear everyone say “oooh!” with each chest chop and dropkick that was received. The other mind-blowing reaction was when a wrestler’s theme music hit, indicating they were on their way to the ring. The people got so worked up to see their fan favorites, and it really did make the experience a fun and memorable one.

Next I want to talk about the actual wrestlers. I knew some who wrestled when I was still watching, including Undertaker, Kane, Christian, Big Show, Matt Hardy, and Mark Henry (though he didn’t actually wrestle, but just sat there.) Others I knew only because I purchase the newest edition of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw each year. These wrestlers who I never saw on television, but knew on sight from games and commercials, were the likes of MVP, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, Festus, Cody Rhodes, and Dolph Lundgreen. There were also other wrestlers present who I am not familiar with, probably because they started after the release of SvR 2010, but I will be familiar with them once 2011 comes out.

Now for the actual event. The show actually consisted of three different show tapings, followed by the “main event” which I’m fairly certain will never be televised. The first show they taped was simply called “Superstars.” It was basically a few jobber and low-card wrestlers, and reminded me of Sunday Night Heat, which I used to watch. It was nothing too special or flashy…just some decent wrestling with no storylines involved.

Next they taped Smackdown, which was kind of disappointing in some respects. There were only a handful of singles matches (one of which was a diva match) and a handicap match. Instead, I had to listen to a bunch of people blather on about their stories, and worst part was that I didn’t know who these people were, so I didn’t really enjoy it as much. One of the biggest reasons I wanted to come to the show was because the radio ad kept saying that the main event would be Undertaker vs. Kane for the title. However, this never happened. Instead, Kane started blabbing from backstage, then came out disguised as Taker in a coffin, then started blabbing in the ring…man, I liked Kane more when he was taller, leaner, wore a mask, and didn’t talk (and for all those wrestling fans out there, yes I know the Kane I am referring to and the current Kane are indeed two different people). Finally Taker came out, and I got psyched for the upcoming carnage. However, there was no match, and they eventually just left the area.

Once the Smackdown show was done taping, the announcer explained that the would next be taping the final episode of the reality show NXT, which was kind of lame. I didn’t really understand the premise, since they guys were fighting to see who would be the winner of the show, yet since wrestling is “fake”, how could they fight to see who would win? Anywho, I had to sit through an hour of random weirdness, waiting and waiting for it to be over so I could see an awesome Kane vs. Undertaker match.

By the time 11:00 rolled around, they were done filming NXT, and the main event was set. Kane’s music hit and he came out, followed by the Undertaker. Then the match started, and I was in all my glory. About forty seconds later I was brought back to reality as the match ended after Kane slammed Undertaker through an announce table and then fled back to the ring, thus allowing him to win by ring-out. I think the vast majority of the arena all shouted out “WTF?!” along with me as I just stared at what had just happened. To give them credit, they continued fighting for about a minute after the bell rang, and ended with Taker chokeslamming Kane and Kane rolling out of the ring and running away before he could get Tombstoned.

My overall impression: I enjoyed watching it live. Being surrounded by true fans who follow the show and take it seriously definitely gives it a whole new atmosphere, and you can’t help but get swept away in it. While I enjoyed the live event (and would go to another one in a heartbeat next time it comes to town), and continue to have a love for the video games, I will not be watching it on television anytime soon. While I enjoy the actual wrestling, some of the storyline processes with ten-minute dialogue/speech sessions are just enough to make me remember why I stopped watching in the first place.

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As I previously mentioned, I snagged tickets to go to my first WWE match for Smackdown tonight. However, I assumed it was going to be a shortened, un-televised match, so I didn’t expect much to happen. As big a fan of the Undertaker as I am, I doubted that he would win the title from Kane simply because the show was going to be un-televised.

However, as I was doing some random searches on the internet, I discovered an interesting fact…Smackdown, when televised on Friday nights, is not a live show. I have always known that Raw was, so I always assumed that Smackdown was also live. Much to my surprise, I discovered that Smackdown is generally filmed on Tuesday nights, but airs on Fridays. That means that the show I see tonight is the show that will air on Friday, meaning that it is possible for the Undertaker to win the title tonight.

The fact that I’m going to a show that will eventually be aired, and am able to watch it three days before the vast majority of the WWE fans, is pretty cool. So if you happen to be a WWE fan and want some nice spoilers, tune in to my blog tomorrow and I’ll give you the juiciest news of what went down.

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It’s a short one, but funny nonetheless.

So I was in my gaming chair, and Shell was asleep on the couch. All of a sudden I see her stirring. Then she begins to smack and rub the couch in front of her, as if she’s trying to wipe something away.

“Wiping bugs away?”

“Maybe. You never know what’s there…you just gotta smack it.”

Then she went back to sleep.

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The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin continues in the fourth novel in the series; A Feast for Crows. The tale of the struggle for the Seven Kingdoms and beyond continues, and old faces and new are abundant as the politics of the realm continue. Like the other books, A Feast for Crows continues to confound and surprise readers with plenty of twists and turns, and old favorites seem to return from the dead while others fall from their untouchable grace. From a fantasy standpoint, the book is lives up to it’s predecessors. However, I think it is safe to note a few disappointments I had with the book.

Both my complaints have to do with the contents of the book. When Martin first started working on this volume, he had intended it to be like all the others, where each chapter told the story of a particular character, regardless of where he was in the world. As he continued to write, he realized that the book was going to be too long, so he decided to make it into two different books: A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. The problem I had was that, rather than continue to tell everyone’s story over the course of two books, he chose to split the characters up between the two books. That being said, as you read A Feast for Crows, you will not be hearing anything of the events taking place on the Wall (where John Snow and Stannis are), what Tyrion is up to, and, the part of the story I missed the most in this book, the events surrounding Dany and her dragons, as well as some other characters. I would have much preferred that he contained all the characters in A Feast for Crows and then continued all their stories into A Dance with Dragons, simply because I find myself missing these characters. Also, that being said, it will be important to remember that when reading A Dance with Dragons that it takes place at the same time as A Feast for Crows, so I’m sure there will be some overlapping.

My other biggest complaint, being a fan of the series, is the absence of A Dance with Dragons. At the end of A Feast for Crows, Martin has a brief note to the reader where he explains his decision to split the book into two separate books, and states that A Dance with Dragons will be complete within the year. That was written in 2005, and as of 2010, there has been so sign of A Dance with Dragons. Don’t get me wrong…I love his work, and if he really requires all this time to get it done right, then I can live with that. I just hate having to wait this long to read the next installment of the series. It reminds me of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, where there was a huge gap of time between books four and five. However, in the end he popped out books five through seven really fast and ended the series pretty quickly. I’m hoping Martin does the same thing, and is in the midst of not only working on book five, but books six and seven as well.

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Ever since my first concert back in high school (Blink-182, Green Day, New Found Glory, and Sugarcult), I have loved going to them just so I could see my favorite artists perform live. Back then it was such a simple experience: you went to your local Ticketmaster dealer (which for me was Sound Trax) and they went on their computer and got tickets. Then the internets came along, and I started buying my tickets directly from Ticketmaster. Then I was plagued with crappy seats (as it was easier for everybody to get tickets) and outrageous service charges, on top of already expensive ticket prices. Today dealing with Ticketmaster for anything just makes me sick!

But that’s not my biggest concern. No, instead I am more pissed off at the actual concerts these days. As I said, I go to concerts to enjoy the music. I have never gotten drunk or done drugs or anything else like that at a concert. Call me crazy, but I just like to be clear-headed when my favorite tunes are being played live. But it seems that I am the minority in this respect, and other concert-goers are pretty much out of control. Now I have no problem if someone is going to have a beer or two to wet their whistle…they are not going to get stupidly drunk off that. However, when I’m driving to a concert and I look over at the car next to me and see a bunch of topless guys drinking 40s in the middle of traffic, that pisses me off, and I wonder where in the hell the cops are at a time like this. It also gets me going when people are literally stumbling back to their cars upon leaving a concert, and getting behind the wheel. Oh, and don’t get me started about when I’m sitting in the middle of a concert and all of sudden some moron blows a cloud of smoke directly into my face!

As you may have guessed, these emotions have all been stirred up by a recent event. We went to see Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers last night, and during the course of the night I personally witnessed what I mentioned above, and each case probably happened during five different circumstances. I don’t mean to sound like an old fart who’s complaining about punk whipper snappers partying too hard, but when it comes to crossing the line into really, REALLY illegal activities (driving drunk and doing drugs) then I get a bit angry, especially when I am stuck in the midst of it, and thus have to really watch my back to make sure some stupid drunk guy doesn’t go swerving into my lane!

I’ve been to some crazy concerts in my day…Metallica, Flogging Molly, three Warped Tours, and many, many others. When I was younger, I used to be able to look at the other drunken people at these shows and just laugh at them and call them losers, and they didn’t bother me so much. If anything it was worth dealing with them just because I had so much fun making fun of them! But I guess now that I’m older I begin to be concerned and angered by them instead, simply because I realize that their stupid actions could carry over and have a negative effect on myself. It’s gotten to the point where I tend to get more worked up with the process of going to a concert and enduring the other people there over enjoying the music. Ideally, I would be pleased as punch if I could just go to a concert, sit back, and get into the music being played, but it’s hard when you’re coughing on smoke clouds and making sure that the drunken moron walking up to you realizes you’re there and won’t step on you. I just think I’m at the point where it’s not worth it for me to go to concerts anymore, just so I don’t have to deal with the utter fools who spend $100 on a concert ticket just so they could get wasted and pass out.

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