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Hooked on Gears of War 3

Posted by Rob on January 20, 2012 – 8:06 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, beast mode, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, co-optimus, cole, cole train, dungeon defenders, gears of war 2, gears of war 3, headset, horde mode, marcus, online, payday: the heist, PS3, px21, ticker, xbox

One of the best games of 2011 that I didn’t get to play til 2012

I picked up Gears of War 2 for my birthday last April. By then most people weren’t playing it as much, so I just ran through the campaign on my own. I never touched the Horde mode or any other online mode. But I felt like it was something that would be a lot of fun online. So for Christmas Gears of War 3 was on the top of my list, and Santa ended up delivering. However, I didn’t really start playing til this week after figuring out how to hook up the PX21 to the 360. Now that I started playing Gears 3 online, I’m pretty much hooked.

I met up with four other guys from Co-Optimus last night and they walked me through my first Beast Mode. I really, REALLY had a blast. If you’re not familiar with the game or mode, it’s basically a survival mode with a twist…YOU’RE THE BAD GUYS! You and up to four friends can team up playing as the Locust. You earn cash for beating up the good guy soldiers and heroes (like Marcus and Cole) and use that cash to purchase respawns of different Locust units, ranging from the usual grunts with guns to gigantic centipedes and beserkers. I’ve grown quite addicted to the Tickers, which are pretty much running suicide bombers. You use these little beauties to run up to enemy troops and with the tap of a button you explode, taking anyone nearby with you. Unfortunately there is a slight delay as you ignite, and it’s easy for enemy troops to evade the explosion. With some more practice I think I’ll get better at guesstimating their reactions and plan my explosions so they are more devastating.

Nothing’s more satisfying than blowing yourself away for the good of the collective

PS3 Review: Rayman: Origins

Posted by Rob on January 19, 2012 – 8:09 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, collectibles, game review, local, online, platformer, PlayStation 3, PS3, rayman: origins, super mario bros, xbox

Yup, you punch and kick without having arms and legs

I was initially indifferent to Rayman: Origins after playing the demo. The brief sample of gameplay displayed a typical platformer: run about a side-scrolling level, making ridiculous jumps and jumping on top of enemies as you race to the end of the level. Also, IT WAS HARD!!! I really hate being frustrated with video games, and this one seemed like it was full of punishment. But then the reviews started pouring in, not just from review sites but also some several friends who were praising the game. In the end I decided that I had to rent it to see what all the hubub was about.

I think there’s a story somewhere in Rayman: Origins, but I definitely missed out. I think someone was snoring, and this pissed off someone else, and then a bunch of evil inkblot-looking thingys were released into the world, and then you’re running around saving scantily-clad and heavily-endowed fairies. Luckily you don’t play a platformer for the story, so this incoherent attempt at crafting a reason to be running and jumping all over the place is rather unnecessary. You control your choice of one of four characters, all who have the same exact skills and stats. This is quite silly as they look uniquely different, ranging from the normal-sized Rayman to some big fat frog dude to these two little midgets with long noses. I was hoping it would be like Super Mario Bros. 2 where each character brought a slightly different skill to the table (Peach floated, Luigi had his crazy-legs jump), but what are ya gonna do. Also, the game does support four player local co-op, so you and the family can run around jumping on old men all you want. Unfortunately, the game does not support online co-op which is a real shame. I would have really enjoyed playing the game with someone else, and having someone there with me to support me would have probably been beneficial during really frustrating levels.

Four characters to choose from, though it doesn’t matter which Read More »

Napoleon Dynamite Animated Series Does Not Disappoint

Posted by Rob on January 15, 2012 – 11:58 pm

Filed under TV Shows
Tagged as animated series, big bad bob, bigbadbob, fox, kip, napoleon dynamite, rex kwon do, series premiere, tv show, uncle rico

It’s flippin’ sweet

I’ve been cautiously optimistic ever since FOX announced they were developing a Napoleon Dynamite animated series. I’m a huge fan of Napoleon Dynamite and was bowled over by this news. At the same time I was a bit scared of how it would end up being. The series premiered tonight with two episodes, and I have to say that I was very happy with them.

The “entire cast” from the movie returned for the show, which was a very big draw for me. Most of the characters sounded great, particularly Napoleon, Kip and Rex. I was a bit put off with Uncle Rico, and Summer didn’t sound like Summer at all. However, what was touted as “the entire cast” was a bit off, as the actor who portrayed Don in the movie was the only one who did not return for the show. Also, Lafawnduh’s character does not make a return at all, and Kip is soon seen chasing other women on the internet. Overall, the voice acting was top-notch, even if Uncle Rico sounded like he was dazed and and spaced out (more so than his character was in the movie.)

They’re about to receive a roundhouse kick from someone wearing those bad boys

Fifteenth Platinum Trophy: WWE ’12

Posted by Rob on January 13, 2012 – 2:15 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as allstars, big bad bob, bigbadbob, brawl, caw, master of the brawl, online, platinum, server, skyrim, smackdown vs raw, svr 2010, svr 2011, trine 2, trophies, trophy, wwe, wwe 12, you have fans

One of the lamest-looking WWE Platinums, and one of the most annoying to get

Gotta catch ‘em all: I have the Platinum trophies for Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, WWE Legends of WrestleMania and WWE Allstars. Thus I was destined to continue the tradition and work towards the Platinum trophy in WWE ’12. It was a mediocre one…there were a lot of easy trophies, but two in particular were a real pain to snag.

“You’ve Got Fans” was a particularly difficult one to obtain, and it should not have been. The trophy requires you to upload something to the servers and then have five players download it. Well the big problem is that the servers were constantly down. If you’ve played WWE games in the past then you’re used to servers being down or laggy when trying to get an online match going. But the servers are so messed up in WWE ’12 that it took me a couple of days just to get on long enough to completely upload a CAW (create-a-wrestler.) So with me having a hard enough time just uploading, it took even longer for five people to find my CAW and then download it. The servers have been cruddy since the game launched in Novemeber, and to this day they have not been fixed. It’s a shame not only for people who want to get this trophy, but for others who just want to download a crappy Hulk Hogan CAW that has an overall stat value of 100. Read More »

It’s Not a Purse…It’s a Map Case!

Posted by Rob on January 6, 2012 – 1:31 pm

Filed under Randomness
Tagged as amazon, apple, army, bag, big bad bob, bigbadbob, indiana jones, ipod, map case, messenger bag, military, nathan drake, purse, rothco, satchel, sunglasses, uncharted

I’ve got a lot of stuff, and I’m a pretty forgetful guy. So when I jump in the car to drive either five minutes to the store or eleven hours to my parents, I forget to bring a lot of the things I need for car drives. The most important item is my prescription sunglasses, as without them it it a pain to drive in the daylight. I also tend to forget my iPod (the only Apple product I will ever own) which means I’m stuck relying on finding a decent FM station to listen to. Then there’s the bluetooth headset for my phone, as well as other things. Long story short, I wanted something that I could put all that stuff in so that I could just grab it and go.

So I had to find something that didn’t look feminine or would label me as being “fruity”. I have a couple of messenger bags that I used for my laptop and other supplies when student teaching, but that was too big for non-business every day use. I didn’t want a backpack since I did not want shoppers thinking I was some hobo who was going to go camp out in the outdoors section or alert security that I would attempt a five-finger discount on DVDs and men’s shaving razors. So then I thought about my two favorite treasure hunters/ archaeologists would do: Read More »

My Top Ten Posts of 2011

Posted by Rob on January 1, 2012 – 11:52 am

Filed under Music, My Personal Life, Randomness, Sacred 2, Site Updates, TV Shows, Video Games
Tagged as 2011, american idiot, big bad bob, bigbadbob, character build guide, firefox, ghost, google analytics, google chrome, green day, high elf, internet explorer, jurassic: the hunted, nedna, oneonta, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, rogue, Sacred 2, safari, shadow warrior, Simpsons, skyrim, stumbleupon, top ten, undertaker, web traffic, wrestlemania, wwe

With the start of the new year, I will once again take a brief look at my ten most popular blogs of the past year (thanks to the cool tools available through Google Analytics. I’m really curious to see which old blogs are still getting activity, and which new ones were strong enough to make their way into the top ten. Before I get into that, I just want to spout out some statistical info:

My site had 69,771 unique visitors over the past year

9,536 of these visitors liked my blog so much that they became repeat visitors

42,852 of these viewers found my blog off of a typical Google search, while 16,831 came across my site via StumbleUpon

42,969 visitors were from the United States, 6,282 were from Canada and 5,536 were rocking from the UK

The average visitor spent 31 seconds looking at a particular post before leaving the site

31,240 visitors used Firefox, 20,858 used Chrome, 11,540 used Internet Explorer and 8,665 used Safari (I wonder if next year will be the year that Safari beats IE)

Now on to the blogs!!!

Fourteenth Platinum: X-Men: Destiny

Posted by Rob on December 31, 2011 – 2:25 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-optimus, collectibles, dead island, gamefly, platinum, skyrim, trine 2, trophies, trophy, wwe 12, x-men destiny

I would say that not only was X-Men: Destiny the easiest Platinum I ever received, it is also one of the “unplanned” ones. I rented the game because I knew it had a short campaign, and I wanted to get something nice and light from Gamefly. This would allow me to devote only a limited time to it and then I could get back to playing my own games while waiting for Gamefly to ship the next game on my queue.

I finished my first playthrough in under six hours, and I found it to be a pretty entertaining super hero button masher. I decided to keep it around for a second playthrough on the hardest difficulty just to get the gold trophy, check out the other faction (my first playthrough was with the Brotherhood) and to rock through the new game +. So eleven-twelve hours later I finished my second playthrough and looked at the trophy list. Much to my amazement I had 92% of the trophies, and was only missing some of the “kill X amount of Y enemies.” I jumped in to the level selects and played some of the later levels through just to kill the required number of enemies, and then bam! I was in Platinum paradise.

PS3 Review: X-Men: Destiny

Posted by Rob on December 31, 2011 – 11:44 am

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, activision, big bad bob, bigbadbob, brotherhood of mutants, button mashing, colossus, comics, cyclops, destiny, game review, Juggernaut, magma, magneto, mutants, mutie, PlayStation 3, powers, PS3, psylocke, pyro, redbox, super hero, Wolverine, x-gene, x-men, x-men destiny, x-men legends, x-men legends 2, x-men legends 3, xbox, xp

Destined to be yet another mediocre Marvel super hero game

When I first heard the announcement concerning the release of X-Men: Destiny, I was excited yet pessimistic. The fact that the game allowed you to create a unique character with their own powers was a great idea, but I immediately thought about how horrible this idea worked in Activision’s X-Men: Legends game, in regards to the character Magma. I enjoyed both X-Men: Legends games in general, but how would this game, that was focused so much on a non-cannon character, end up being. I can tell you that after spending twelve hours across two complete playthroughs, X-Men: Destiny is a mindless, fun little romp yet leaves you yearning for quite a bit more. Spoiler alert: Activision has failed to live up to its work with X-Men: Legends.

At the start of the game you select one of three unique characters. Which character you choose doesn’t necessarily matter… they all have access to the same pool of powers and there are no unique missions or anything associated with each different character (though there will be dialogue changes to coincide with your selected character’s backstory.) Once your character is selected they immediately find themselves in the midst of an attack, during which they will finally discover that they are mutants. As you continue through the game your character will develop their skills, equip the genes of famous mutants, and ultimately decide if their loyalities lie with Cyclops and the X-Men or Magneto and the Brotherhood.

Your three character choices: the football jock, the ninja chick and the ex-soldier

Meet the Turtle Beach PX21 Headset

Posted by Rob on December 30, 2011 – 11:13 am

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bluetooth, christmas, co-op, co-optimus, headset, mac, microsoft, official, online, pc, PlayStation 3, PS3, px21, socom, Sony, trine 2, turtle beach, voice chat

When I first picked up the PS3 and was in need of a headset, I went with the Official PS3 Bluetooth (since for some bizarre reason Sony refuses to box even the lowest quality headset with consoles like Microsoft does) At the time it was bundled with some SOCOM game, and I immediately traded in the game once I had the Bluetooth in my possession. I’ve been using it for almost three years, and it got the job done. However, over the past year I have begun to find it uncomfortable in my ear. With Christmas over, I decided to use up some cash and treat myself (and my ears) to a new headset. Enter the Turtle Beach PX21 Headset!

Here are the things I like about it:

It’s versatile: It works with my PS3, 360 and PC (and a Mac if I was silly enough to blow my money on such an overpriced piece of junk)
It’s comfortable: The official PS3 Bluetooth was extremely uncomfortable when I had to jam the bud into my ear hole. The PX21 is a nice comfy set of headphones that fit nicely over my entire head and are made of a much softer material. And while the headset is wired, the wire is long enough (16 feet) where it’s not an issue at all. Read More »

The New PS3 is Here!!!

Posted by Rob on December 15, 2011 – 7:42 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bluray, dead island, dragons, harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2, lord of the rings trilogy, PlayStation 3, PS3, skyrim, ups, wwe 12, zombies

I’ve been waiting patiently all day for that beautiful brown truck to pull up in front of my apartment and drop off the precious cargo. While it says it’s the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ bundle, I call it the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, WWE 12 and Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition BluRay” bundle (thanks to the Amazon promotion for purchasing the PS3.)

The first two things I’m going to do is install Skyrim and Dead Island and make sure those two bad boys are ready to go, because I’ve got a hankering for going dragon and zombie hunting.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Release Date for March 31, 2012?

Posted by Rob on December 15, 2011 – 5:59 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, aliens: colonial marines, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, borderlands, campaign, co-op, gearbox, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, release date, xbox, xenomorph

Not the best screenshot but if you click on the pic you will be it clearer

I was zipping about Amazon today and for whatever reason decided to look at Aliens: Colonial Marines. I was shocked to see a release date set there for March 31, 2012 (which happens to be my mother’s birthday.)It’s still officially set for “Spring 2012″ but could Amazon have leaked the release date details?

All I know is that this is a guaranteed purchase for me. Four-player campaign co-op from the Borderlands studio set in the Aliens universe? Sign me up to kill ‘dem xenomorphs! Who else is excited for this potential 2012 Game of the Year release?

New PS3 is Finally on the Way

Posted by Rob on December 14, 2011 – 5:36 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, aliens: colonial marines, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bluray, bulletstorm, bundle, co-op, crimson alliance, dead island, dead space 2, elder scrolls v, gears of war 3, harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2, lord of the rings, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, saints row the third, skyrim, war in the north, warhammer 40000 space marine, wwe 12, xbox

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two weeks since I sent my PS3 back to Amazon after it got fried. In that time I’ve been keeping busy by playing on the 360. I rented Saints Row the Third and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine through Redbox, rented Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm through Gamefly, purchased Crimson Alliance and played through Lord of the Rings: War in the North (which I won.) But I still missed the PS3, particularly Skyrim and Dead Island. Even though I got my $250 back from Amazon I still wanted to know I was getting a deal.

I finally found the deal I had been waiting for today on Amazon. They had the 160GB Harry Potter bundle for $250 with a $50 trade-in credit. So the way I see it, for $250 I get a 160GB system, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II on BluRay and a game of my choice for $260. That’s just the deal I was waiting for, and I’m pretty happy. The best part of it all is that I get to choose any game I want, though I’ll definitely wait until after Christmas. Maybe I’ll pick up WWE ’12 or Gears of War 3 if I don’t receive them for Christmas, or maybe I’ll save it for a future pre-order like Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Either way, I’m pleased as punch to finally get a PS3 back in the house. Worst part is that it must be on back order or something since Amazon is quoting me with a delivery date of Tuesday, even with my Amazon Prime two-day shipping. I can’t wait to get back to the ol’ PS3!

BigBadBob’s 2011 Game of the Year Awards

Posted by Rob on December 14, 2011 – 3:53 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as action, adventure, batman, batman: arkham city, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, dead island, dungeon hunter: alliance, ea, elder scrolls v, fall of man, fighting, game of the year, gears of war 3, hockey, house of the dead overkill extended cut, infamous 2, insomniac, lord of the rings, mortal kombat, multiplayer, nhl '12, oblivion, online, pre-order, rail shooter, Resistance 2, resistance 3, rocksteady, RPG, skyrim, smackdown vs raw, Spike TV, Sports, sucker punch, thq, trailer, vga's, war in the north, wwe allstars

Move over Spike’s VGA…you were and still are a whopping disappointment to the gaming community. Why you think I’d rather watch some jerk jump onto a Velcro wall or some deuche in a mouse helmet spin tunes rather than allowing the winning developers to give a one-minute speech that didn’t end in a tea-bagging incident is beyond me. But enough of that…this is my personal Game of the Year awards. These are the games I played and enjoyed the most this year, and some may be expected or a surprise. Just sit back, relax and enjoy.

Action/ Adventure Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham Asylum was successful in making a game in which you actually felt like Batman. It concentrated more on stealth, gadgets and puzzles than any other Batman game before. With Arkham City, Rocksteady Studios built on top of what it had already achieved and made it a bit better by adding a sandbox-style environment that the player could explore at will to uncover side missions and search for crimes in progress. The supporting cast of heroes and villains (and the voice actors that bring each to life) is phenomenal and despite all the baddies Batman faces the game never seems over-crowded. The combat is simple to learn yet complex to master and the urge to track down every last Riddler trophy is tempting (especially when the lives of hostages are on the line.) Batman: Arkham City makes for a fun romp through Gotham as the caped crusader and is easily the best Action/Adventure game of 2011.

Best Buy Hates Santa

Posted by Rob on December 13, 2011 – 6:54 pm

Filed under Randomness
Tagged as ads, advertising, best buy, big bad bob, bigbadbob, christmas, commercials, dr. pepper, dr. pepper 10, santa claus

When it comes to the Christmas season, I’m quite the jolly fellow. I especially love the whole culture behind Santa Claus and have even written a story or two diving further into the mythos of the big guy in red. So when I saw Best Buy’s new campaign ads this season, I was a bit turned off. Here is one example of their holiday-bashing. I tried to get more off youtube but Best Buy blocked any direct link to them from their youtube account.

So Best Buy’s idea for a great marketing campaign is to bash on Santa. I’m not exactly a fan of this…what are kids going to think? They’re going to ask their parents “oh Mommy did you buy me these gifts instead of Santa?” And how does this make mothers look? They are a bunch of kids themselves, taunting Santa as he brings their children free gifts. Who does that?!

How could Best Buy possibly think that a bunch of commercials that make Santa look like a chump could possibly be a good idea. This is almost as bad as Dr. Peppers “Dr. Pepper 10″ marketing strategy that says their new drink is too manly for women to drink. But attacking Santa is going to put you on the naughty list faster than making stupid, cliched 1930′s sexist comments.

My Top Five Simpsons Christmas Episodes

Posted by Rob on December 9, 2011 – 12:31 pm

Filed under TV Shows
Tagged as a christmas carol, bart, big bad bob, bigbadbob, charlie brown, christmas, christmas with the simpsons, christmas with the simpsons 2, dvds, funzo, gary coleman, grift of the magi, holidays of future passed, homer, lisa, marge, marge be not proud, miracle on evergreen terrace, mr. burns, ned flanders, santa, santas little helper, Simpsons, simpsons roasting on an open fire, simpsons world the ultimate episode guide, tickle me elmo, tis the fifteenth season

Every December Shell and I get ready for the holidays by pulling out all of our Christmas movies and begin watching them. Of course I consider my two “Christmas with the Simpsons” DVDs part of this tradition and it’s nice to get to watch a bunch of Christmas-themed episodes back to back without having to switch through all the DVDs. Unfortunately not all of the episodes on the DVDs are Christmas-related but are included as a filler mainly because there is snow in the episode, or if Christmas is briefly mentioned but not the center of the episode. So I decided to put together a list of my five favorite Christmas-themed Simpsons episodes. Most of these can be found on the DVDs, but one is not present for some unknown reason.

5. Miracle on Evergreen Terrace

How You Can Watch It: Season 9 DVD, Christmas with the Simpsons DVD

Rundown: This episode is based around Bart ruining Christmas. He decides to open his presents early and ends up burning the tree down on accident. Rather than tell the family that he ruined Christmas he buries the remains outside and then tells the family that he saw a burglar steal the tree and toys. The townspeople gladly donate money to the family a la “It’s a Wonderful Life” but once Bart confesses and the truth is known, the townspeople feel like they’ve been scammed. The Simpsons are shunned until the townspeople believe that the only way to make things right is to steal stuff from the Simpsons to get their money back, and the episode ends with the family fighting/bonding over their last remaining possession: a washcloth.

Why I Like It: It’s a great Christmas story. You have the family all excited and geared up for Christmas until Bart ruins it. The Simpsons soon find themselves stripped of all their stuff but still find happiness having just the washcloth. It’s not the best Christmas episode but it’s more Christmasy than Mr. Plow. Read More »

Unboxing of Lord of the Rings: War in the North Collector’s Edition

Posted by Rob on December 7, 2011 – 5:22 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, amazon, arrow, art book, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, co-optimus, collectors edition, lord of the rings, map, middle-earth, quiver, skyrim, sticker, ups, war in the north, xbox

I love the folks over at Co-optimus. Not only have I met a ton of online friends through the site, but they also have pretty frequent contests. For the approximately three years that I have been a regular on the site I have won an Xbox 360 console, a copy of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and now, as of today, I am the extremely proud owner of a brand-spanking new copy of Lord of the Rings: War in the North for the 360. And it’s not just any ol’ copy…IT’S THE FREAKIN’ COLLECTOR’S EDITION!!! I was anxiously sitting by the door all day waiting for the UPS dude to deliver my precious…

Crimson Alliance: A New Breed of Hack and Slash/ Dungeon Crawler

Posted by Rob on December 5, 2011 – 9:59 am

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, crimson alliance, dlc, dungeon crawler, game review, hack and slash, leaderboard, online, rogue, RPG, Sacred 2, warrior, wizard, xbla, xbox, xp

That’s the Soul Siren, your arch-nemesis

I’m sure many of you fellow gamers are familiar with the hack and slash/ dungeon crawler RPG genre. Here’s the generic laundry list that typically defines this genre:

Fantasy setting
Two or more players
Simple, button mashing combat
Several different classes of character, each with unique skills

Develop skills by assigning points to skill trees

Grind to get XP

Smash boxes and open chests to find gold and equipment

Purchase new equipment and sell off old equipment

Here’s what Crimson Alliance does:

Fantasy setting
Two or more players
Simple, button mashing combat
Several different classes of character, each with unique skills

~~Develop skills by assigning points to skill trees~~

~~Grind to get XP~~

Smash boxes and open chests to find gold and equipment

Purchase new equipment and ~~sell off old equipment~~

Seems like your everyday, run of the mill dungeon crawler

My First Time with a Redbox

Posted by Rob on December 2, 2011 – 12:59 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, DVD, food lion, gamefly, harris teeter, movie, netflix, PlayStation 3, PS3, redbox, rental, saints row the third, video game, xbox

No more feeling guilty when you hand the video clerk a copy of “Disney Universe”

With my recent console dilemma I was stuck with PS3 games from Gamefly yet no PS3 to play them on. I only have a handful of games for the 360 so I wanted something new to play for a little bit to tide me over until Gamefly can send me a 360 game. Enter the Redbox. I had never used one before, and Netflix has always fulfilled our movie needs just fine. Now that Redbox offers games too I figured I would finally give the service a whirl.

In case you don’t know, Redbox is a giant vending machine located in certain grocery and pharmacy stores that dispenses movies and games. You select your title, slide your credit card through, and they pop the disc out for you to take home. You have until 9:00pm the next day to return it and only pay one day charge ($1.20 for movies, $2.00 for games). If you keep it longer it’s an additional days charge per day. The really neat thing I discovered is that you can go onto their website and see what each kiosk offers, as each one not only has a few different titles but you can also see which discs are available and which are currently being rented. You can even rent a disc off their website and have it reserved so you can pick it up later! Read More »

Fried Game Consoles, or The Importance of Having a Good Surge Protector

Posted by Rob on December 1, 2011 – 6:28 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bundle, christmas, dvr, Gamestop, Jurassic Park, microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, power supply, PS3, refund, repair, surge protector, Wii, xbox

Only slightly exaggerated

So there I was…Shell was doing some research on the computer last night, which meant it was time for me to play a bit. I turned the PS3 on, booted up the new Jurassic Park game, and was in the options screen getting things situated when all of a sudden my PS3 just died. There were no blinking lights, no beeps and blips, just complete and utter silence and stillness. I pushed and held buttons, plugged and unplugged wires, gave the PS3 a tour of all the outlets in the apartment, but no such luck. I was horrified, and it got even worse as I tried to turn the system back on without success. I was crushed.

This morning I gave Amazon a call to see about getting an exchange. I had purchased this system in September, so the 30 day return policy was long overdue. But I didn’t let Amazon’s policy stop me from getting what I wanted. I spent an hour talking to two customer service reps and one supervisor before I convinced them to give me a refund. It was a battle, but a battle worth fighting, as the alternative was to wait weeks for Sony to “fix” it, and we all know those don’t always go as planned. So I packed the PS3 up and took it off to UPS so that Amazon can do what they want with it. Read More »

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Character Build Guide: Rogue

Posted by Rob on November 29, 2011 – 5:16 pm

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, alchemy, archery, argonian, assassin, big bad bob, bigbadbob, brotherhood of darkness, character build, dragons, elder scrolls v, giants, hunter, khajit, lockpicking, perk, pickpocket, PlayStation 3, potions, PS3, quests, rogue, RPG, scout, skills, skyrim, sneak, stealth, thief, thieves guild, wood elf, xbox, xp

My character, the Wood-Elf thief/assassin/hunter (let’s just call him a “rogue”) Roland

Skyrim is a massive RPG that allows you to make pretty much any character you want. While this is an awesome feature, it can also be quite a lot for the average gamer. Since there are no classes to choose from, the player is forced to build their character from scratch without any guidelines, and with so many skills and play choices to choose from the novice player can quickly become overwhelmed. That’s where this guide comes in: I knew what I wanted from my Skyrim character and through over sixty hours of character development (plus hundreds of hours of playtime logged into Oblivion) I believe I have the information you need to make an unstoppable rogue character. The rogue is also the build you will want if you have dreams of being a sneaky thief or deadly assassin as well.

Race: Of the eight races available in Skyrim I would recommend a few as being built for the rogue class. The following three races have initial skills or abilities that are beneficial to a rogue:

Wood-Elf/Bosmer: The Wood-Elf receives a +10 to archery as well as +5 to alchemy, light armor, lockpicking, pickpocket and sneak. Wood-Elves also have a 50% resistance to poison and disease (meaning there’s a 50% chance you won’t catch a disease or be affected by poison). The Wood-Elf is my personal choice because this rogue build is heavy on archery and sneaking, and not having to worry about diseases is always a nice perk.
Argonian: Another great rogue choice with a +10 to lockpicking and +5 to alteration, light armor, pickpocket, restoration and sneak. Argonians also have a 50% resistance to disease and also have waterbreathing, meaning you will be able to hide in a body of water to avoid enemies that are chasing you.
Khajit: These felines receive a +10 to sneak as well as +5 to alchemy, archery, lockpicking, pickpocket and one-handed. The really neat thing about the Khajit is that they have night vision which allows them to see easily at night (which just so happens to be the best time to sneak.)

The Khajit make a great rogue thanks to their night vision

Any of these three races will make excellent rogues. They all receive an initial bonus to sneak, lockpicking and pickpocket, which are the bread-and-butter of the rogue build. Since the game is so open as to creating own character, you could technically make a sneaky Orc if you wanted to, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The Wood-Elf, Argonian and Khajit are the three races you want to look into if you want to make a really solid rogue.

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