Wow, sorry about that...

I haven't been keeping up with this blog lately. I'm not sure if anyone reads this anyway, but if someone has been, sorry! I have no good excuse for not keeping up with this! Its not like I'm actually doing something these days...lol.

With May coming up, though, I will try to write more in this. There are some really exciting (well to me) things happening in May.

First up, I'm going to see the Avengers movie this week! I'll try to have a non-spoiler review of it late Friday or on Saturday! Can't wait to see it.

Also in May, the television networks tell us what shows are coming back and what new shows they are getting. As soon as I hear what's what, I'll make sure to post my fall tv schedule here!
And even more stuff in May: May 6 Sherlock returns to PBS. Sherlock is a series about Sherlock Holmes and its set in the Present. Its a UK production and a really good series! Wish there was more than three episodes every season though...

Oh and Jessie Stone, the character created by Robert B. Parker (of Spenser fame) returns in TV movie in May too. Tom Selleck returns as the small town sheriff, Jessie, who solves mysteries and battles his own demons. Very cool series of movies.

That all said, JUNE really is going to the best month. I'm looking forward to E3 week (June 4-7) a lot. And I promise that week I'll be writing a lot on this blog! :)

So that wraps up the apology and I'll try to write again this week. At the very least, I'll have a new blog entry up this weekend in which I review the Avengers!

Introduction to E3

If your a video game fan, especially a Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft (or all three) fan, then you should be excited about E3.

E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Its held once a year in Los Angeles. This year is being held JUNE 4-7. The event is Press and Game Developers/Publishers ONLY (though I do think some rich and/or famous people get to attend too). Its NOT open to the general public (folks like us).

The event starts with Press Conferences from the major publishers: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. They each announce all their upcoming games for this year (and beyond!). Microsoft usually goes on Monday and Nintendo & Sony one Tuesday. (I'll update with the full schedule when I have it).

There's also press conferences from Game Developers like EA (Electronic Arts), Ubisoft, Capcom, etc.

E3 also has a convention floor where all the games (and new systems sometimes) are shown off to the Press.

In America, the Press Conferences are shown on a TV network called G4. Its a Video game network (although, lately, it shows more than just video games. *sigh* ). They air the conferences and then show some footage from the convention floor too.

But the Conferences can be found Online also!

I'll try to post some links to them when I find them (closer to E3).

Anyway, if your a video game fan, get excited! Some cool stuff is always announced at these events.

What I'm hoping for: Animal Crossing 3DS footage!!! (hoping the game itself is shown again before E3 and a release date is announced...but who knows...sigh...).

Remember, E3 is JUNE 4-7! :)

Netflix Saves the Day!

Sometimes, there's just nothing on TV at all. Either because of reruns or because its just a bad night for TV, like a Saturday. When that happens, I'm VERY thankful that we have Netflix Streaming.

When Netflix raised the pricing on both streaming and dvds awhile back, we knew we would have to drop one of them. And we knew it would be DVDS. We were watching a lot of Netflix Streaming back then and we still do. The dvds once or twice a week were nice to get in the mail, but Streaming tv shows and movies onto our Wii and/or PS3 was just GREAT. Some nights, there's just a bunch of bad stuff on tv. Its nice to be able to watch an old favorite TV show or a cool movie I've seen before (or once and awhile, a movie or tv show I've never seen).

Take tonight for instance. We didn't have much to do so we watched a bunch of Lost season 2 episodes! It was great to see those again and it really helped us get through the night. Tuesday can be awful sometimes (especially when Unforgettable is a rerun!).

Netflix is a great service. I'm glad we have it!

If You Liked...#2

If you liked...the X-Files...than you may like Fringe!

Now on its fourth season, Fringe is a really awesome show. Unlike X-Files, it has three main characters: Oliva, Peter, and Walter. These three (one FBI agent, two "normal" scientists) investigate, along with a few other people along the way, strange events in Fringe science (science not accepted by normal scientists).

There are no aliens in this show, but there have been monsters and some other really strange stuff (like another reality...well thats later on...).

If you liked X-Files, I highly recommend Fringe. I think you'll like it. Its best to start at Season 1 though, because just like X-Files, you'll be lost if you start watching the show in the middle.

Right now, Fringe viewers are crossing their fingers for a Season 5. I hope it gets it! Its just one of the best shows on TV.

I'm reading #3

I keep going back to reading Stephen King's writing book On Writing. This is the third time I've read the book. I'm a big fan of King's novels, especially his non-horror stuff like the Dark Tower, The Green Mile, etc. Though sometimes one of his horror books is good too!

I'm also reading a book by Andy Rooney, who was a news reporter and on 60 Mintues for a very long time. His book, Word by Word, is basically a collection of essays, Rooney talking about stuff that bugs him (like he did on 60 Mintues). Its good so far.

Oh and I had the library order me a book called Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by a writer I just heard of named Tom Franklin. It sounds like a mystery.

The library is supposed to order Stephen King's new book, Wind in the Keyhold (another Dark Tower book) and they are going to put my name on the list for it. Hopefully I'll be high up on the list and get to read it soonish.

Its a great time to be a reader. :)

One of my favorite Authors

Neil Gaiman is a really great writer. I love his two short story books, Fragile Things and Smoke & Mirrors and his novel American Gods. I also really like his comic Sandman, although I haven't read all of that yet.

And just yesterday I read a short story by him called The Truth is A Cave in the Black Mountains. You can read it here if you want:  http://www.fiftytwostories.com/?p=1338

Its a really fantastic story. Enjoyed it a lot.

Its orginally from a short story collection that Gaiman edited called STORIES. I haven't read this collection yet, but I really want to. Its got a lot of really interesting stories in it from some good writers like Joe Hill (who wrote an awesome, creepy book called The Heart-Shaped Box)

I recommend Gaiman to adults who like supernatural and fantasy stories. Although, Gaiman has written some interesting books for kids too, Caroline and The Graveyard Book. I have not read them, but I hear they are both good (especially Graveyard Book).

I wish I was as great a writer as Neil Gaiman.

Xenoblade: First Impressions

Today I went to Gamestop and picked up my copy of Xenoblade. So far, I have seven hours on the game. Here are my thoughts about Xenoblade so far:
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On the Playstation 2, fans of Japanese role playing games had a lot to be happy about. There were great games like Final Fantasy 10, Dark Cloud 1 & 2, Wild Arms 3, and many other cool rpgs. Just like the PS1, the PS2 was a great home for RPGS. Enter the PS3. It has some really great rpgs, but most of them are NOT from Japan.

What does any of this have to do with Xenoblade, a Wii rpg title?

Basically Xenoblade is a lot like a Playstation 2 Japanese role playing game in some ways. And that is a VERY good thing. Graphics-wise, the game is on the level of one of the PS2 greats like FF10 or Wild Arms 3. Its not a next gen looking rpg, but I have to say: SO WHAT. Seriously, the graphics may not be next gen, but its PS2 era and the level of design & detail on the game may even surpass some PS2 games. The areas you can explore are amazingly HUGE (think more like a PS1 rpg huge or maybe more so). I'm so very impressed by that. I'd say this game has even more exploration than a game like White Knight Chronicles (which had some really huge areas to explore). It just so very impressive and its not something you'd expect to see on a Wii game.

Oh and I haven't even mentioned the battle system yet. I have to admit at first I wasn't sure about the battle system, but now I'm really growing to love it. Its part real-time, part menu based. Think FF12 or White Knight Chronicles (but imo, better than both). You only control one character in Xenoblade during battle and all of your characters auto-attack, but you have special powers that you have to time just right to get the bad guys. The menu buttons are there all the time and they are big and you get a description of what each power does. Its a cool battle system.

There are a ton of other great things in the game like buying new weapons, armor, etc (and equiping them and seeing your character actually look different with them on), making gems and adding them to the weapons, armor, etc, going on sidequests, getting to know your team mates and even people in the towns, and more.  Also: NO RANDOM BATTLES!! You see the enemy at all times and can, mostly, avoid them if you want (expect for story battles of course).
As for the controls, I'm playing the game with the Wii remote and nunchuck. It plays really good with that, expect the camera can be a bit tricky to use sometimes. But I'm even getting use to that. Though, I hear the Classic Controller is the best way to play the game, so you may want to use that when playing this game. I may want to get one of these days, but for now I'm more than ok using the regular Wii controls.

In summary: Xenoblade is a wonderful game. Its one of the few great rpgs of, not just the Wii, but of any system out right now.

IF YOU'RE A RPG FAN, GET THIS GAME. Show Nintendo you want more games like this. PLEASE.

An epic Wii RPG?!

This Friday, a very strange thing is happening: a Role playing game is coming out for the Wii. Yes, the Wii. Can you believe it?!

The rpg in question is called Xenoblade Chronicles. Its been out since late last year in the U.K. and even longer that in Japan. For a long while, Nintendo didn't want to bring it over here for some reason. I'm not sure why. Maybe they thought there wasn't an audience for it here? I'm not sure.

Finally though Nintendo is bringing Xenoblade to America on Friday. Its one of the few rpgs to EVER be released on the Wii. While the DS was a great home for rpgs, the Wii barely has any. So its really amazing to see an rpg coming for the Wii.

Not only that but all the reviews I've seen for Xenoblade have been great. The game sounds great too.

Yes, I have pre-ordered. Just preordered the game today in fact! I wasn't sure if I wanted it or not (you believe that?! rpg nut that I am...), but after seeing some great reviews and reading about it a lot on the official webpage, well, I couldn't resist.

I will do a first impressions post of it on Friday or Saturday. Can't wait to see it! :)