One Reason Why I Hate Halo 3

The following represents one reason why I hate playing Halo 3.

This example seems to showcase how I'm always on the short end of random happenings in the game.

I'm very much aware of the fact that the main reason why stuff like this happens is my severe lack of skill. I'm horrible at this game. I could seriously challenge for worst player in the Halo 3 universe. I used to be decent, but now I can't even sniff a 1/1 kill/death ration. I don't know how Eric & Chang put up with me, as I severely hinder any chances of them winning a match. (I think they're mathematically challenged since they argue with me when I explain to them how I only have a negative impact on our team.)

I know you're wondering why I bother playing if I hate it so much. I play because I like playing with Chang & Eric. All my other cronies have moved on to Call of Duty 4, but I will play Halo 3 occasionally out of loyalty to my friends. I used to get extremely aggravated by my horrid play, but I've changed my mindset to make it tolerable. Now I don't care about my kill to death ratio. In fact, I'm trying to lower it as much as possible. I might as well be the best, worst player, right?

Anyway, onto tonight's little issue:

This is me sneaking up on an unsuspecting opponent. Usually, a melee attack from behind results in an instant kill, which Halo 3 calls an assassination. The difference this time is that this guy doesn't die.


As you can see by the flames (I have no idea why there are flames), I made contact.


Not only does he not die, he apparently can levitate, hanging over the edge, before coming back to attack me.


See that electricity on my body, a la the Emperor? That's me taking damage. Notice that the shots coming from his gun aren't even close to hitting me.


Yup. That's me. Dead. "Respawn in 4...3...2...1..."

By the way, here's a link to my stats from the game where this took place. I went 6-22. Not bad!!

Virtual NBA... Fantastic?

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to take over a team in an NBA 2K7 online league. I had requested to be in the league when it started, but all the teams were taken. Once the season started, some owners left, thus creating the opening. I said sure, picked the Atlanta Hawks and was told to make up the games the previous owner missed as soon as possible.

(Just some quick background info. There was a fantasy-style draft before the season, so the rosters don't reflect their real-world counterparts. The games are played online with the Xbox 360, with results and statistics recorded on the league's fabulous website, located here. Each team plays three games per week, with each game representing "one week" in the season. My team had played three game and the rest of the league was pushing 20.)

I played two games right away and was destroyed both times. It was at that moment I began to wonder if I had made a sound decision. I was home sick last Wednesday and played four more games, all losses. I told the guy who invited me that this really wasn't fun and I know I'm not helpful to the league, being a pushover and all. He asked me to wait until I played him, since he's not that good either, and then see how I feel.

Before I had a chance to play him, I managed to win a game. It was a great game, one where I was losing early, fought back, took the lead, lost the lead in the fourth quarter, but held on and survived a last-second, potential game-tying 3-pointer to win 107-104. I felt a little better. Then I played last night and was destroyed again.

It's not the losing that bothers me the most. Sure, it really stinks to waste 45 minutes being embarrased, but it's everything else that comes with this league.

All the league members are now on my Xbox Live friends list. Before joining the league, I had maybe 20 friends, mostly all people I know personally. Now I have close to or over 50 and I don't know any of them.

Whenever I turn the machine on, I'm innundated with messages from these guys either looking to get our game in or to pester me about a trade. It's non-stop. Being in this league is more stressful than my job. The league feels like a job. (There is an option to "hide" and appear as if I'm offline, but I enjoy being connected to Xbox Live and seeing if other friends are on, etc.)

I hate to quit something I've committed to, but this is much more involved than I expected. Work is only going to become busier and busier the closer we get to summer and that means less time to play these games. I also want to play other games, not just NBA 2K7. I have lots of games that I want to play but I can't since I'm always being asked to get the league games in.

Any thoughts from my readers before I send off a message to the commish? Even though I'm 99% sure what I'm going to do, I'd like to hear some other thoughts.

Happy Easter!

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

I honestly plan on updating the site more often, especially since Eric said he will start checking. I have some post ideas & changes in mind, so hopefully I will get to them soon.

Guitar Hero II is amazing. I stink at it, but I enjoy the heck out of it. Whoever thought playing a Cheap Trick song on a fake guitar would be so enjoyable???

The Mets lost their first game of the year yesterday. I was hoping for a longer streak to start the year, but that's okay.

If you're looking for me today, I will be planted on the couch, enjoying the Masters in HD, which is one of the showcases for HD. Everything looks amazing in HD, but the Masters is extra-stunning.

A Requiem for SOCOM

Christmas, 2003. I received a copy of SOCOM 2 for the PS2. The commercials sold me, as I thought the game looked pretty cool. I played the single player game a few times, but wasn't thrilled with it. I also received the network adapter that year and had read good things about SOCOM 2 online, but I didn't know anyone else who played.

For the next seven months, the game sat in its case while I played Madden, GTA Vice City & NCAA Football. Then it happened.

I was contacted by a couple of buddies from my Foxwoods days, Aaron & Eric. In conversation, they asked if I played SOCOM. I told them I had the game, but didn't play it. They told me they were in a clan with other old pals from Foxwoods & invited me to join them.

From the very first night I played, I was hooked. It became an obsession. I was playing a virtual game of hide & seek with friends, twice a week, sometimes more. Thursdays & Sundays were SOCOM Nights. Nothing else. Even Red Sox fans gave up on the Sox during the ALCS in 2004 to play SOCOM. (I'm pretty sure some managed to watch a World Series game or two.)

The Geeks with Gunz clan was a machine. We played constantly and always seemed to have at least six, usually eight, players on a given night. New recruits were added. We tried to have a tournament. We bombarded each others emails with roll call for the coming night & recaps of the previous night's skirmishes. We even spent $100 on the useless hard drive that allowed us to play three new maps. Anything to expand the SOCOM universe.

Eventually, some players left us, including Aaron. He moved onto World of Warcraft, where he still lives today. The core of the group held strong under Zman's leadership, keeping up with the sequel, SOCOM 3, which arrived in the fall of 2005. However, the end was near.

In the spring of 2006, Sony promised new maps. They arrived in July. Then, SOCOM 3.1 was announced, titled Combined Assault. As the number of regulars dwindled to around four or five per night, the writing was on the wall. Combined Assault wasn't good enough to justify paying the money for and many GwG members were gaming on next-gen systems. There were a few stragglers, but with Zman finally purchasing an Xbox 360 this past Friday, the final nail was pounded into the SOCOM coffin.

Since Dean (PudClot) is the only idiot former member to buy a PS3, Geeks with Gunz is starting anew, this time on the Xbox 360. There are currently five former members actively involved with Rainbow Six: Vegas, a game that’s just as much fun as SOCOM was in it’s heyday, only better.

The beauty and joy of next-gen and HD gaming can’t take away from the hours of enjoyment that SOCOM delivered the past few years. Friendships were made as were the memories. Here are some words & images to ponder as we say goodbye…

A little bit of everything:


A little Crossroads:


A little Frostfire:


A history of Desert Glory:


A little SOCOM 3:


Final Roll Call:

KernelPanic
ZMan
CaptainNapalm
CaptainMorgan
Spankinator
StormSurge
PudClot
B52Buff
Spellbound
Rhavage
CaneCorso12
SJHustle
Softball
Phatback
Shootuintheye
SnakeEyes23

T Minus 4 Hours

Just a few more hours to go before my surgery. I'm looking forward to getting this over & done with. It will be nice to not have to worry about the cartilage tearing all the time. Plus, the few days off will be nice. Nothing like sitting around napping, watching TV & playing some 360 to help you recover. I will miss my Payton though. :(
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Speaking of Miss P, this is what she wrote in her journal (yes, she has a journal) Monday night, with no prompting:

In football you can not pul down there fas mask and it is a foul.

Is my little girl going to be a football announcer?? I've heard John Madden say things much more obvious than that!
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Speaking of my Xbox 360, there's a new way to keep track of my gaming. There was always my 360's blog (which is linked on the right), but that only gave a daily recap. (It does have some interesting statistics, but is limited.) My 360 LiveEye breaks down my gaming hour by hour, game by game. Pretty scary, but pretty cool too, at least to me.
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My first quiz in English Lit? An "A". Sweeet.
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Before I leave for surgery, here's a passage from one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, The Jimmy, (Top 20 coming soon!) that always pops in my head when I hear "surgery":

KRAMER: "So, you're heading home?"

JERRY: "No...Got dental appointment."

KRAMER: "Ah! what.. Tim Whatley?

JERRY: "Yeah!"

KRAMER: "Oh yeah.! I got a check up on Thursday."

JERRY: "Oh! How d'you like that?"

KRAMER: "You know.. You really shouldn't brush 24 hours before seeing the dentist."

JERRY: "I think that's eat 24 hours before surgery."

KRAMER: "Oh no, you got to eat before surgery, you need your strength."

(I haven't had anything to eat or drink since 8:30 PM last night.)

My Top 20 Atari 2600 Games

For Christmas 1981, I received an Atari 2600 & a few games. Over the next few years, I accumulated many, many games & played even more games with friends. This machine has obviously had a profound effect on me, as I've never stopped playing video games ever since.

This isn't a list of the best games of all-time, the most critically acclaimed or the most popular by fans. This is MY list, the ones I enjoyed playing the most & the ones I look back on most fondly.

This was difficult to narrow down this list to 40 or so before narrowing it down to 20. I may have even left off a game or two by accident.

Before I get to the Top 20, here's some that just missed the cut:

HONORABLE MENTION
Air Sea Battle, Atlantis, Berzerk, Bowling, Cosmic Ark, Defender, Demons to Diamonds, Donkey Kong, Dragonfire, Enduro, Frogger, Kaboom!, Megamania, Ms. Pac Man, Phoenix, Pole Position, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Venture

#20
VANGUARD

I remember my grandmother buying me this game at Caldor in Vernon, CT. (I think I also nabbed a couple Star Wars figures that day, but that's a story for another day.)

#19
STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Obviously, a Star Wars game holds extra-special memories. This was a unique game in that it allowed you to try & take out the nasty AT-ATs. Very cool.

#18
SPACE SHUTTLE

This has to be one of the most in-depth 2600 game ever created. There was an overlay for the console that took advantage of every switch on the machine. It was a little too complicated for my young brain (X & Y axis?), however it was cool to watch the Shuttle take off.

#17
FIRE FIGHTER

Aside from Pac Man, this was probably the game I anticipated the most. I had a poster of the box art hanging in my room & played the heck out of it. It was fairly easy, so the challenge wasn't really there. Still a fun game though.

#16
GRAND PRIX

There will be a lot of Activision games on this list. They produced a ton of great games over the years. They also offered a patch for those who could achieve a certain high score & mail a picture of the screen in to prove it. (The father of the highly addictive Xbox 360 achievements??) This was a game I never had much luck in sniffing the patch, but it was still a blast to play.

#15
HAUNTED HOUSE

A game that really captured the spookiness of being in a haunted house. This is the father of the Castlevania games that exploded on the NES a few years later.

#14
KEYSTONE KAPERS

Man, did I waste away many a Saturday morning playing this baby. A simple cops & robbers game that forced you to run the floors of a department store, trying to reach safety on the roof.

#13
VIDEO OLYMPICS

This was basically Pong, with many different variations, but it was still Pong. My Dad & I had many classic battles on this game.

#12
ICE HOCKEY

Speaking of battles with Dad, this was another game we played a lot. It was as simple as the picture shows. 2 on 2 hockey, with some checking, simple passing & shooting. This was the game I could've earned a patch, but we couldn't get the picture without the flash screwing it up. :(

#11
E.T.

Probably the most maligned game of the era, one that definitely contributed to the Great Video Game Crash. It was obviously rushed out to capitalize on the success of the movie & the gameplay reflected that. I'm not sure if anyone was able to finish this game, but did I ever try.

#10
CIRCUS ATARI

One of the first games I had & along with Video Olympics, one of the two games that used the paddle controllers I played the most. I don't think I'll ever forget the sound of those balloons popping.

#9
SEAQUEST

No, not the TV show. Just another great Activision game. This is the game I can still rack up a ridiculously high score. (Still no patch.)

#8
CHOPPER COMMAND

This game was very similar to Defender, but better, in my opinion. This, along with Pitfall, spurred me to pen a book in 5th grade titled, "How to Win at Video Games". This chapter was called "Chop Chopper Command". (I still have the book somewhere.)

#7
COMBAT

Who doesn't love Combat?? Everyone had one, as it was packed in with the majority of the 2600's sold. This was a great party game & the replay value was, and is, fantastic.

#6
SPACE INVADERS

Another classic. There weren't many arcades around during this time for me (Norwichtown Mall, downtown Mystic), so I can't really speak to the closeness of this port to the arcade game. This version is the only one I know & I love it.

#5
ASTEROIDS

I have played the arcade version of Asteroids & to me, this version is far superior. It's probably the color asteroids that do it. I always loved the sound that was made when earning an extra life. I always thought it was the sound of the fry machines beeping at McDonald's.

#4
PAC MAN

I remember receiving this game for my 9th birthday in 1982 (along with a boombox & "Freezeframe" by the J. Giels Band) & thinking that this looked nothing like the game that everyone raves about. Still, I had a blast playing it over the years.

#3
YARS REVENGE

These next three games could really be a toss-up. All are equally great in my mind. I remember being transfixed by this game, loving the comic book that came with it to give the game a true backstory. I wasn't particularly good at it, but enjoy playing it to this day.

#2
RIVER RAID

I probably logged the most hours played on this game. I loved the premise & it always presented a good challenge, but never too hard to make me stop playing. Still, no patch.

#1
PITFALL

No surprise here. This is probably #1 on most people's list. This is an all-time classic & has spurned many variations on many different consoles over the years. The chapter in my book dedicated to Pitfall was cleverly named "Pound Pitfall". Still, no patch.

I Should Be Home!

Right now, it's pouring out. It rained hard all last night, all morning & it isn't supposed to let up until early afternoon. The date is January 8. There should be enough cold air here in Connecticut right now for this to be a major snowstorm. Not this year. Not when it was 72 degrees on Saturday, the highest temperature ever recorded in January in CT. Ridiculous.
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I'm pretty excited about the upcoming release of Battlestations: Midway for my 360. The story line for the game looks like it will cross over nicely with the book I'm currently reading, "Ship of Ghosts", the story of the USS Houston.
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I miss Foxtrot. It's a Sunday-only comic now, which stinks. It was the only comic I read on a daily basis, along with my favorite, Get Fuzzy. I need to grab some books to enjoy this now.
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I suppose I should start taking down the tree & other Christmas decorations this week.
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UConn got spanked again this weekend. They're definitely showing their age as they face tough competition, especially on the road. Thanks to their easy early schedule, they'll probably make the NCAA tourney, even though they may be better suited for the NIT. The last two times UConn missed the NCAA's, those teams that played in the NIT ended up doing well years later.
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Even though UConn lost, it was till a positive weekend, what with Duke falling to Virginia Tech, at home! Add that with the Dallas Cowboys losing, along with Notre Dame getting spanked and it was a great week!
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Speaking of the Huskies, enjoy this photo gallery.
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In a blatant rip-off of my buddy Brian's blog, look for some video walls soon. I need to come up with some topics first. Other things to look for here soon are details on why I'm in love with my Xbox 360 and the once promised addition of more links.
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If you need one reason to watch "Knights of Prosperity", look no further than Sofía Vergara. Give her a Google image search.