With Katamaris Dancing In My Head

I'm writing to you from the Land of Window Displays (otherwise known as New York). Here I shall spend my Christmas, far away from 60-some degree weather and fried food...

But none of that matters now! Because I am not alone in New York, no never! I have brought a new friend along with me and although this could be a sweet mushy blog entry where I'm talking about my fiance alas this is not to be. For my new friend was given to me by my Boss under the name "Christmas Bonus". And the newest addition to the ICandee Gaming Family is...the PSP!

You know, I actually considered posting a picture of me licking my new PSP but that's been done...And a special thanks to my Man who ran right out and bought me "Me and My Katamari"...He knows me so well...

Shine on you crazy diamond! Roll on you katamari! And last but not least Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Bunnies Can't Stand Christmas

King Me!

Today I bought the Burger King games in an effort of being able to buy myself new games but only spend a few dollars. I was pleasantly surprised at how fun bikes and bumper cars are and was once again reminded how creepy that King character actually is. *shudder*

In bigger news, we finally have a BC game worth playing: the Ever Excellent Game Psychonauts. WOO HOO!!!

By the way, thank you very much for all your well wishes and congrats!

One Ring To Rule Him All

What is the hottest new accessory for the Nintendo Wii? Hmmmm...

Just in case you need more explanation, I said yes!!! Say hello to the soon-to-be Mrs. RuFfNeCk...

Happy 360 Thanksgiving!

I love this time of year...It's a time to reflect on what you're thankful for etc and so forth but I am not ashamed to admit that this time of year also brings back fond memories of the 360 launch. This time last year I was very much the kid at Christmas as I raced through London, cleaned up the mess my evil sister had made and avenged my father's death. My 360 was new (I actually still have the box it came in) and I was loving it.

This was my very first launch experience and I have to say that I had it easy. Mine was preordered at Game Rush. They only got 4 systems in so around 11:30 that night it was just me, my boss and the store employees. We hung around talking and what not and when it hit midnight, they rang me up and out the door I went at 12:05. It was pouring buckets of rain that night and I can still remember how heavy the box was as I walked to my car. Once I got home, I started playing Kameo and joined Xbox Live for the very first time. That was the night that I changed from "ICandy" to "ICandee" since the former was already taken. I rather like my double e's. Wait, what?

Anyhoo, I'd love to hear anyone else's launch stories now that it's officially been a year. And I would also like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! See you on Live!

Cannibalism and Inbreeding...On the Next Viva Pinata...

Now that my garden (North Pinalina) has reached Level 20, here's my opinion of Viva Pinata (short version):

Animal Crossing meets Harvest Moon while cheating on the Far Cry map editor...

The long version is: I've been playing this game for so long, I'm going to be sick (in a good way...I think). First, let's get the not so good out of the way: frame rate issues and your cursor targeting one thing when you're trying to target another. Whew, glad that's over! I have found (regardless of what other reviews might say) that there are times (especially in the beginning) where you find yourself with nothing to do. However, once things get going you'll find yourself with almost too much to do and it's neat seeing your hard work pay off (or watch some SOB of a Taffly destroy it, whatever).

An unofficial fansite has begun Wikipedia style, check it out here.

All in all, for anyone that digs Animal Crossing and the Harvest Moon games, Viva Pinata is the answer to our 360 "I need a quirky game for the love of..." prayers. Even with nothing to do I find it hard to turn the game off and once I do I always end up right back in my garden. Poor Gears of War...

Why Does Game Rush Hate Me?

So I painfully sacrifice a stack of games and movies to gleefully pay for Viva Pinata and Gears of War and how am I repaid for being a good little girl that trades instead of holding onto material objects and spending money unwisely? Why, by being told that I don't get Gears of War until tomorrow and I won't see Viva Pinata until next Friday! Umm....hello? I have to build the Garden of Sera so my aliens can dance and fight evil pinatas to eat candy while...wait...I think I'm a little mixed up...

So in conclusion, if books, movies and CDs all have specific release dates and every store/website has it on the same day, why doesn't that work for video games? So if you don't see me on Live, it's because I'm home alone crying, too ashamed to get on Live and watch 50 friends all playing GOW without me.

*cue sad 80's music montage: OK, I'm walking in the rain with sad eyes to "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner*

Oh well, here's a Viva Pinata commercial that is quite clever and funny..."Some day games will find me...break those chains that bind me..."

We Interrupt This Blog for a Special News Bulletin

Tis the Weekend of Cool Things...

1. Incubus is the Artist of the Month on Xbox Live...WOO HOO!!! I adore Incubus (I actually have their autographs...in your face!) and am very pleased that we've gotten away from the Simpsons and Bedingfields of the music world...for at least a month anyway...

2. I traded in the bulk of my game and DVD collection yesterday. *sob* On the bright side, I ended up with enough credit to pre-order and fully pay for Gears of War, Viva Pinata and DOAX2 with even some credit left over. I can't decide if I want to put that credit towards Rainbow Six, the 360 camera or the 360 wireless headset...decisions, decisions...

3. Apparently a member over at ShackNews has a famous cousin, none other than Richard Steven Horvitz. The name may not be familiar but if you are cool, you know that he is the voice of Invader Zim. If you are super cool, you know that he is also the voice of Raz from Psychonauts. (Two awesome credits in an enormous list of voice work including Destroy All Humans) Richard Steven Horvitz, we salute you!

4. How much do you love Wikipedia? Between Google, Wikipedia and YouTube, I'm not sure why I ever leave my computer...

5. If you haven't tried Cooking Mama for the DS yet, you really should. A simple, repetitive game has never been so addictive...

6. Anyone else think that IGN is getting a little too whiny? Quit complaining about the 360 launch already! Just a thought...

7. I was given a ticket to MacHomer last night and went to check it out. For those of you that are not aware of this excellent show, it's one man performing The Simpsons performing MacBeth. If you get a chance, check it out.

In other news, BSG rules!

God of War: Agean Sea

Ahhh...my first entry for September.

Well, my guests have gone home and things are returning to normal which means work which means blech...lol. I'd much rather hang out with Sean80 and RuFfNeCk (Chris) playing video games:



**You're seeing correctly, Sean still has the original DS...go make fun of him**

Or checking out the Live Bait vending machine:



Or discussing whether we should go on a murderous rampage because video games taught us to:



**Fake guns by the way**

Or meeting other TehBias members for dinner:



At any rate, that was the best time to be had in NC this past Labor Day weekend. We laughed, we cried, we played video games. Can a weekend get better than that? Oh yeah, we also drank beer...

By the way, thanks to everyone for your wishes and sympathies regarding my Grandmother's death. I really appreciate it!

Blogging Potpourri, Smell the Freshness! (or just smell the glove)

Well, my 30th birthday went off without a hitch (except for the 7 hour flight delay) and 30 really doesn't feel all that different...What does feel different is my name being on the list for Epic's Gears of War party this Saturday night! Woo hoo! I haven't decided if I want to drive 2 and a half hours to get to it but if I do go I'll be sure to post any pics I may take.

Back on the birthday front, my darling friend Sean80 sent me my very own copy of God of War (that's right, I have not played this game) so I will be doing some serious damage on the PS2 this weekend! Thanks Sean!

Want to really show off those 360 stats to others? Go check out my360stats.com (don't look at my stats though...I apparently finish very few games. :P)

By the way, have you seen the Chad Vadar, Day Shift Manager videos on YouTube.com? If you haven't, you must! Funniest thing ever...

Speaking of ever, BSG's episode last week? BEST.EPISODE.EVER. I can't wait for tonight's episode!

Most of you may have noticed my lack of playing the 360. Basically Cooking Mama for the DS took me hostage but with the November Deluge coming up soon, I'm sure to be back on board with the 360. Yippee!

I Echo Darth Vader When I Say Noooooooooo!

ATTENTION: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO FOLLOW

OK, so it's not really important so much as interesting...actually it may not even be interesting so I apologize in advance...alright...here goes...

As of this Friday, I (ICandee) will be 30 years old. Yes yes I know that is hard to believe but trust me when I say I don't want to believe it either...

Therefore, I am running away to New York (for the weekend). I will see you all when I get back and I'm sure to have more pictures of $10 beers and museum oddities. Now if you will excuse, I'm off to try out Lumines...

Have a great weekend everyone! If you see some crazy lady on the news running down the streets of NY screaming, it's just me...or it may actually be just a crazy lady...

Attack of the Show: The Day the Music Died

Oh AOTS...I remember when the good old days when you were relevant and spoke on important issues about video games...wait, no I don't.

But whatever those days were, they are gone now and we'll never get them back. On Friday's episode, we had a very informative segment on the newest sex toy that you can connect to your PC via a USB and download your favorite songs to it. One can only imagine that this is so you can not only sing about getting "jiggy" with it, but actually be "jiggy" while singing about how you're getting "jiggy". (Assuming I know the correct use of the term, "jiggy".)

But wait, there's more!

The next segment was an interview with the band "Deadsy". Now, I have met a member of the group (Creature), who is the brother of one of my good friends. (bully for me) I also assume that they take their music seriously as I suppose any good artist should do but this was no mere interview! This interview was not only about their newest album nor their tour...no, no! The greatest amount of time was spent on Layla Kayleigh (her birth name I'm sure) putting make-up on the front man, Elijah Blue, otherwise known as Cher's son. Stop the presses! What is news like this doing on G4? Get this on C-Span people! Hello!

I thought I was the only one that found that these segments both sucked and blowed, until I visited the good and noble town of Flynn:



Sheesh...no one's safe! Arrested Development just can't catch a break...

Adventure! Warlord! Human Canonball?!

First things first: HAPPY BSG SEASON 3 PREMIERE!!! Woo hoo!!!

As you might remember I mentioned that someone I know offered me an Atari system with some games. Well I went to look and see what she had, thinking I'd come away with a little something. Here's what I came home with (for free I might add):









Holy Pitfall Batman!

I also got an original "Frogger" box and inside was a stack of game manuals, including one for the infamous "E.T." game...What a deal! I mean who needs this:



When you can have this:



For FREE?!?! Excuse me while I do the free gaming happy dance...

*uh huh w00t lalalalalala me love free stuff dodeedodeedo*

How awesome is that?

A Long Time Ago in a 360 Far Far Away...

EPISODE I
ICANDEE AND THE ATTACK OF THE MINIKITS

It was a boring time for games.
Kameo's Power Pack was 400 MS Points and there were only so many weapons caches I could blow up in GRAW before something new was needed.

Something fun...
Something cute...
Something LEGO...

I rented Lego Star Wars II for the 360, courtesy of my Boss who let me use a free rental coupon he would not be able to use. I did not play the first Lego SW game, so I have to say that I was a little unnerved by the camera control (or lack there of) but pressing through I have gotten use to it and all is well. This game is a lot of fun, my only regret being the absence of Live co-op play of course.

The characters are cute...

The cutscenes are cute (and funny)...

The combat is cute (and deadly)...

There's something strangely satisfying in shooting a "stormie" and watching him bust into pieces...Yes!

All in all, I am having a great time with this game! I think I'm going to try and hunt down the first game and play that at some point.

So go play Lego Star Wars II...
And may the Force be with you...

Ain't That a Kick In The Head

Let's get the sad news out of the way first, shall we? As you know my grandmother died a few weeks ago and unfortunately my great aunt died recently as well so it was another funeral for me. So that sucked and hopefully my family's good for a while. There's only so much death one can take in the space of one month, yes?

So moving on to happier news, I missed the Bug Off that happened in my town of Flynn yesterday in Animal Crossing. Wait...that's not happier news!

Moving on to actual happier news, the pink DS has alluded me for the time being as my mortage company felt that I should pay them before using the money to buy a shiny yummy brand new pink DS....son of a...alright I got some happy news here somewhere...hang on a sec...

Ah, here we go! We are that much closer to the premiere of Battlestar Galactica: Season Frakking 3!!! Someone at work offered me an original Atari with a bunch of games (she's cleaning out her husband's gaming collection...how mean is that? It does benefit me but still...Muwahahaha). Peter Jackson has been talking about the Halo movie and maybe, just maybe it might not suck...too much...probably...I hope...

And last, but not least (although I know he'll want to kill me for posting it, he can't because I've been through too much lately) here is a picture of Sean80 holding a bag of dog poo. Enjoy!

Much Ablog About Nothing

I have been so addicted to Animal Crossing: Wild World lately that that has been almost all I've been doing with my "gaming time". Although I did put some time in with the PGR3 UNO deck and I have to say: I liked it, although the music got to me after a while. PGR3 will always remind me of Thanksgiving: I rented the game on Thanksgiving day after the 360 launch. Oh memories! Xbox Live Marketplace videos have also been stealing my attention such as the Viva Pinata video "sneak peeks" of the TV show which is shaping up to be a pretty cute I think and of course the Battlestar Galactica videos...enough said there, the show is awesome. Chris bought me a copy of Pirates! for the Xbox and I have to say that I think this game was a little overlooked when it originally came out. The learning curve on this game is a bitch, but once you get used to the controls, it quickly gets addictive! The Simpsons 18th season starts this Sunday and I couldn't be happier! (Well, I probably could be happier, but I'm still pretty happy about it) IGN Weekly talked about DOAX2 and once they got around to showing their segment with Itagaki, I am still super excited about this game. Yay Thanksgiving release! The pink DS is coming soon and I'm still trying to donate enough blood to have the money to get it. I'm just so happy they're actually releasing any other colors that I may just stand the in store and stare at the boxes a while. Then I'll elbow a 8 year old and 60 year old out of my way so I get mine before they're sold out. That's just life for a gamer...

Nothing Could Be Finer...

Ahhh...my first entry for September.

Well, my guests have gone home and things are returning to normal which means work which means blech...lol. I'd much rather hang out with Sean80 and RuFfNeCk (Chris) playing video games:



**You're seeing correctly, Sean still has the original DS...go make fun of him**

Or checking out the Live Bait vending machine:



Or discussing whether we should go on a murderous rampage because video games taught us to:



**Fake guns by the way**

Or meeting other TehBias members for dinner:



At any rate, that was the best time to be had in NC this past Labor Day weekend. We laughed, we cried, we played video games. Can a weekend get better than that? Oh yeah, we also drank beer...

By the way, thanks to everyone for your wishes and sympathies regarding my Grandmother's death. I really appreciate it!

ICandee's Top Five: Excuses Edition

Alright, alright, I haven't updated in a while. But I have a note from my mom excusing me from writing an entry in the last few days. In fact there are 5 good reasons I have not updated in a while, therefore may I present:

ICandee's Top Five Excuses For Not Posting a Blog Entry Recently

1. Texas Hold 'Em: This (!free!) Arcade game has been occupying what little time I've been on Live. I think it has something to do with the addictive quality of losing all your imaginary money. Reminds me of olden days when I would lose all my money in Monopoly but somehow the game still wouldn't end.

2. Blockbuster Online: I recently joined this online DVD rental club thing and let me tell you, if you join you will be frantically adding movies to your queue and watching them at light speed so that you can return them to get the next movies in said queue. Watching all those movies takes time that I would otherwise be on Live or writing for this here blog. I've been adding older movies to my queue for the most part, trying to remember ones I liked and/or scared the crap out of me when I was younger, i.e.-Freaky Friday (the good Jodie Foster version they used to show in school), Shag (filmed in Myrtle Beach where I used to go every year as a kid) and the Secret of NIMH which I still find horribly creepy. Which brings me to my next excuse...

3. Xanadu: OK, I remember seeing this movie on television when I was a kid so I decided to get it from Blockbuster Online. All I could remember about it was that Olivia Newton-John was in it and some guy rollerskates. Now that I've seen it again after all these years, all I can say is...actually there are no words. No wait, here's some words: Rollerskating, Michael Beck (who played the too cute leader of The Warriors) rollerskates and wears short-shorts while sporting a Farrah-do, Gene Kelly also rollerskates in this movie but in a tux (no short-shorts) and the most amazing end-of-movie number I've ever seen in my life (which includes: rollerskating, singing, dancing, costume changes and creepy 80's clothes and make up).

4. The Simpsons-Season Eight and Labor Day Visitors: Sorry, but when there's a new Simpsons season released on DVD, that's at least a week of watching every episode, then watching them again with commentary. (I am not ashamed, don't you judge me!) Plus, RuFfNeCk and Sean80 are coming down to spend Labor Day weekend here so I've been frantically trying to get my house in order. Yikes!

And last but not least:

5. Death Sucks: My grandmother died this past Thursday. I went to her funeral Saturday...Don't really have much to add about that.

So there you have it! ICandee's Top Fives Excuses For Not Posting In My Blog Recently or whatever the title of this thing is...yeesh...To help make up for it, here's that picture of Bob Ross again, he makes anyone feel better!


I'm off to make my rounds and see what y'all have been up to while I've been "away". Game on everyone!

Mech-A-Lecka Hi, Mech-A-Hiney-Ho

ast night was the TehBias Night of the Hound...Chromehounds that is, where we are losing the war but kicking butt wherever we can. I got a chance to try out the machine guns on my hound and oh baby, it was sweet. I come from the gaming school of philosophy that says "A lot of bullets at one time is better". If I can run around spraying bullets, I'm a happy lady! Of course in Chromehounds, you don't really "run" anywhere. Currently I believe Sweet Pea (my pretty in pink hound) has a speed of 144, but I'll be darned if I've ever seen her get that fast. It tends to cause a problem when you're in J-3 and your Commander is telling you to get to A-2 to help your guys out (sorry Sean!).

But it was fun and I did get the chance to use my combo of machine guns and a grenade launcher. I need more of those I think...Can you have too many machine guns and grenade launchers? Never I say! Never!!!

Everybody Was Kung Fu Writing...Hah!

Do you know, that yesterday I found an "article" written by an ignorant person regarding the Xbox 360. (If you were out and about yesterday, you probably read it too) So I immediately wrote a response of sorts here at ICandee, You Game which took me a good hour and a half last night. As I was finishing up and going to proof read, my browser froze and you guessed it, I had not saved a draft. So an hour and a half's work, all of my witty remarks and funny bits...dead....gone...I'm only telling you this so that someone out there knows that they could have been reading a very long, very funny, very right and true response to ignorance by yours truly (believe me, it was good too) and now that opportunity is gone forever...mainly because I have no desire to write it all over again and it's never any good the second time you write it anyway. Sorry y'all!

In happier news, my gaming "meh"-ness of epic proportions may be ending! Call out the trumpets, light the fireworks, never trust a big butt and a smile...I've been playing GRAW! Woo hoo! And if you've read Jay's latest post, I think I just found a reason to clean the weeds from my town in Animal Crossing...dear God, help us all...

ICandee's Top Five: Blog Edition

I decided it was time for another Top Five entry and here it is: my current top five blogs. Now, I know here at Spaces we have many many many many many many excellent blogs and if this were a Top 100 Blog List, everyone I visit here on a regular basis would be on it. But this is a Top Five (I don't make the rules you know) so I've picked 2 well known industry blogs, one news blog, one Spaces blog and one blog that isn't a blog at all. These are 5 blog-ish type sites that I make a point to visit almost every day. Welcome to the madness...

ICandee's Top Five Blogs

1. Tim Schafer at Double Fine: This blog is technically a "news" area for the company that brought you Psychonauts, written by the man that brought you Grim Fandango. But I must say that Tim Schafer continues to make me laugh out loud and sometimes even cry in uncontrollable guffaws while reading his news blog. I check for updates every day.

2. Jay at The FNG-Spot: Jay has a really well rounded blog including gaming news, his own adventures in life and gaming and a lot of top secret information on products coming out for various consoles. Sometimes I visit just to see what his gamer score has risen to over any given day. :P It also helps that he is a truly nice guy. Yay Jay!

3. Matthew at Tech News and Blues: This is a news site done in blog format that includes anything techie right down to computers, movie reviews and commentaries on the game industry. Matthew and the gang over at Tech News and Blues always seem to have their finger on the pulse of what's currently going on and there's always something interesting to read over there. They also have podcasts available for your listening pleasure.

4. CliffyB at cliffyb.com: If you don't know who Cliffy B is, you need to leave right now...no wait, come back! I always really enjoy reading the blogs of industry people, mainly because these are the people that give us Bottom Feeders our fix (read: games) and it's nice to know what goes on in their heads...sometimes. It also gives you the feeling that they're just like us...sort of. Cliffy B (who brought us Unreal and will be bringing on the Gears soon, woo hoo!) is a gamer that makes games. His blog is an interesting mix of what's going on in the industry, what he's working on, what he's playing and he even provides advice on getting into the industry.

5. Gordon Frohman at Concerned: OK, this isn't a blog but for anyone that has played Half Life 2 or knows anything about the game, they need to be a regular reader of this comic.

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

Well, well, well...G4's trying to discuss something video game related. *gasp* Check out this clip from "Attack of the Show" in which Adam Sessler (X-Play), Mark Friedler (CEO, Game Daily) and (wait for it...) Jack Thompson, Arch Nemesis of Video Games, discuss the subject "Too Much Violence In Video Games?" I was interested in seeing this clip until Adam Sessler said, "I'm rubber and you're glue" to which Jack Thompson replied, "Up your nose with a rubber hose". Kevin at that point started freaking out, "yada yada yada" and then he begged Lydia to come back on screen to show off her latest top that shrunk in the wash as she sweetly made some inappropriate sexual innuendo so that viewers would forget the "we got nowhere, what a waste of time" roundtable discussion with Larry, Moe, Curly and the AntiChrist...er Jack Thompson. Enjoy!

"Obey The Fist"

Where were we? Oh right: E3 will no longer allow us Bottom Feeders to play their reindeer games, I'm stuck at some catapillar boss in Super Princess Peach *pause for laughter*, the new Spaces/Windows/Live/Blog/Friends List Thing-A-Ma-Roo is starting to freak me out and Heath Ledger is the Joker. Hmmm...quite the eventful few days I must say...So then, we are all caught up...

Oh yeah, I have been a little absent from Spaces as well as Live, have I not? Well darlings, part of that is due to a general "meh" about games in general lately but the main reason is me running around trying to get my house in presentable order for the pitter patter of little feet that will join my household at the end of month. Actually, I should say big feet as Sean80 and RuFfNeCk are coming for a visit during Labor Day weekend. Woo hoo! We are planning to meet up with some other TehBias-ers while they're here as there are a few that live around the area.

I did try the Street Fighter demo out and after playing a couple of rounds and never getting one hit on the computer decided against purchasing the full version. Ah well, can't win them all!

You Ain't Nothin But a Chromehound

Well well well, we have a new look around here it seems...interesting. It's not bad at all now that I'm really looking at it. Of course, I use Firefox so what I'm looking at is probably nothing like what everyone else is seeing so let's change the subject before you really think I'm coo-coo.

In other news, I give you...Chromehounds! The game that has taken TehBias by the throat and shaken it around for the past week or so. I finally gave in and bought it. Single player doesn't do much for me but the online...wowowowow. If anyone sees a hot pink hound running around with just about 10 guns attached to it, that would be me...and you should run away...quickly.

Day of the D'Oh!

Well, I hope everyone got to take a gander at the Comic Con Simpsons animatics I posted yesterday because Fox has gotten them taken off of You Tube for copyright issues. D'oh!

If I'm not mistaken, when Super Princess Peach came out for the DS, one of the main complaints about the game was that it was too easy. Either I was too cocky about the game once I read that or I just plain suck because it took me multiple tries just to get past the first boss. (Seriously, I mean WTF?!) D'oh!

I watched Super Size Me last night and decided I would never eat fast food again....Well, after today's lunch at Jack In The Box of course. D'oh!

In other news, it's that time again! Now presenting "ICandee's Random Pictures of NY" starring me, ICandee! Actually, I'm not in these pictures, (no, no...don't cry!) but they're still pretty cool I think. One of the costumes and some of the crystal/kryptonite props from Superman Returns. These are on display at Toys R Us in New York City.

The Joys Of Cloning

OK, I realize that I have not been updating much recently, but I have good reason: Cloning Clyde has taken over my brain. Must finish every challenge...must be under par time...must throw controller when I miss a jump and get sucked into that pipe again...What a great little game!

I watched Final Fantasy: Advent Children over the weekend. I have never played a FF game, but I read up on FF VII to make sure I halfway knew what was going on in the movie. I, of course had absolutely no idea what was going on even after reading about FF VII, but this is the prettiest movie I've seen in a long long time. Worth a rental at least in my most humble opinion.

For those that have asked about the Apple Store: it was very cool. The structure itself is amazing because all you see when you first look at it is a glass building with nothing in it. Once you walk in you see the stairs to take you down underground to the actual store. I don't really have any Apple/Mac products myself, but the store is very cool!

Speaking of New York: Time once again for "ICandee's Random Pictures of New York"! Check out this family of skunks on display at the American Museum of Natural History...yay taxidermy!

I Fought The GRAW and the GRAW Won...Again...

Last night we tried out a little "Firefight" co-op elimination in GRAW using the new maps and one of the re-lit maps. Once again it occured to me how much I want to marry this game and let it knock me up.

Slight wrinkle in the wedding plans however as Ubisoft is making it increasingly difficult for me to continue to defend them. When the Chapter 2 content was announced, we knew it would hurt in the points department, but when the final point price was given many gamer friends I know blew a gasket. Me, not so much for the simple fact that I love GRAW and am willing to pay whatever for new content. I also felt that developers have every right to ask for money for content they've spent time making and although spending those points hurt, I thought it was well worth it seeing as how I worship this game.

Unfortunately I have since found out that if you do not have the Chapter 2 content (which some gamers have chosen not to buy simply on principle), you cannot join any host's game if they do have the content. This applies even when the host is using the old maps. You can host a game, but you cannot join anyone else's if they have the new content. The reason I know this is that one of my friends does not have the DLC for GRAW. When he was having trouble joining games he contacted Ubisoft Support and was informed:

"Unfortunately, you will not be able to connect to servers that have the DLC purchased. There are no plans to change this feature at this time."

Oh Ubisoft...silly game company...please quit giving my friends ammunition with which to shoot your foot with, it's becoming hard to defend ye.

ICandee Takes Manhattan

No, you are not seeing things...I am home! Did you miss me? Yes, I'm sure you all did. Well, cry no more...I have returned to you! And I have returned with pictures. Hopefully I can blog more about my trip after I unpack which means you'll be hearing from me again in about 3-6 weeks. Enjoy!

Some pictures from Nintendo World in NYC: some bling bling DS-es and a Gameboy that was in a barracks that was bombed in the Gulf War. It still works!

Frogger It All To Hell!

Frogger has invaded the Arcade!. When it was first announced that we would be getting Frogger I thought, "Woo hoo! Classic fun!" I fondly remembered all the fun times at Pizza Hut begging my parents for quarters so I could play Frogger, Qbert and Donkey Kong Jr. while we waited for the pizza to arrive. I can still see the table top machine for Donkey Kong Jr with Qbert and Frogger set up in the corner. (Those were the days when you could walk off to another section of a restaurant by yourself wearing a t-shirt with your name ironed on the back in puffy letters and "strangers" or being kidnapped didn't even cross our parents minds.) Ah, good times...

What I didn't remember about Frogger was how frakking &*#%& mother *!$%&^ angry it makes me. Oh that's right, if I even slightly brush the corner then my frog won't go into the slot and he'll die! Yes, yes frogs can't swim, how silly of me to jump into the water! What?! I totally made that jump you sorry sack of...Anyway, I pride myself being as lady like as possible, but I think the cursing I did yesterday while playing Frogger ripped a hole in the Time/Space continuum. I was jumping around and shouting obscenities like Yosemite Sam. Video games rule!

In conclusion, I'm glad I bought Frogger but I hate it with a passion.

Parting (for a week) Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Well, only one more day to go until I leave for New York City (New York City?!?!). I'm not sure that I'll get another entry in or if I'll even be able to get anymore gaming in before I go *gasp*, so I thought I'd fill you all in on what's been going on and next time you hear from me, I'll be in the Big Apple!

1. I bought the Halo books this past weekend and am currently in the middle of "The Fall of Reach". Yes, yes I know these books are old but I'm just now getting around to reading them. I must say that I am really impressed so far and I am enjoying this first book very much. This will be nice to have with me on the plane. Or...

2. I could play my new DS Lite I got a few days ago. I traded my old one in at GameRush for maximum credit and then was without one for about a week before I took the plunge and got the Lite. Very glad I did! Except now I'm hearing rumors of a pink DS Lite coming out in Japan which just figures.

3. The new COD2 map pack is coming out this Thursday which would be a good thing except that I will not be home to download and/or play them as I will be getting ready for my flight. Which means: no maps for ICandee until she gets back home. Up yours Infinity Ward! (Just kidding, I love you Infinity Ward!)

4. I saw Superman Returns last night and enjoyed it very much. Anyone that has a chance to see this in an IMAX theater should definitely take it. The movie was made for IMAX. My favorite parts in the movie were any scenes with Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey in them. Go Evil, Go!

So that's all for me folks! Get in lots of gaming while I'm gone...kill baddies while screaming "ICandee!" or better yet, in the game lobby make sure to say, "This one's for ICandee!" right before the match starts. That should be good for dramatic tension and team morale. Game on everyone!

Parting (for a week) Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Well, only one more day to go until I leave for New York City (New York City?!?!). I'm not sure that I'll get another entry in or if I'll even be able to get anymore gaming in before I go *gasp*, so I thought I'd fill you all in on what's been going on and next time you hear from me, I'll be in the Big Apple!

1. I bought the Halo books this past weekend and am currently in the middle of "The Fall of Reach". Yes, yes I know these books are old but I'm just now getting around to reading them. I must say that I am really impressed so far and I am enjoying this first book very much. This will be nice to have with me on the plane. Or...

2. I could play my new DS Lite I got a few days ago. I traded my old one in at GameRush for maximum credit and then was without one for about a week before I took the plunge and got the Lite. Very glad I did! Except now I'm hearing rumors of a pink DS Lite coming out in Japan which just figures.

3. The new COD2 map pack is coming out this Thursday which would be a good thing except that I will not be home to download and/or play them as I will be getting ready for my flight. Which means: no maps for ICandee until she gets back home. Up yours Infinity Ward! (Just kidding, I love you Infinity Ward!)

4. I saw Superman Returns last night and enjoyed it very much. Anyone that has a chance to see this in an IMAX theater should definitely take it. The movie was made for IMAX. My favorite parts in the movie were any scenes with Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey in them. Go Evil, Go!

So that's all for me folks! Get in lots of gaming while I'm gone...kill baddies while screaming "ICandee!" or better yet, in the game lobby make sure to say, "This one's for ICandee!" right before the match starts. That should be good for dramatic tension and team morale. Game on everyone!

In Your Face Coffee Plantation!

Last night we conquered the "Coffee Plantation" co-op mission in GRAW. Finally! This mission was a nightmare trying to complete...until we tried the Shipping Dock mission. Sheesh...Part of it is simply not knowing the maps yet or the best way to go about completing objectives and part of it is what I like to call "too many cooks in the kitchen" or "too many gamers in the map" syndrome. But we ended up with some great teamwork and you really need it during Coffee Plantation. (I admit to getting a slight thrill when I would tell them not to cross the bridge and they would do it anyway only to drop like flies. Muwahaha, I do know what I'm doing some of the time you know.)

The best part of the night for me was during the Coffee Plantation mission when there's a vehicle that shows up near the beginning of the mission. It will usually either come across the bridge towards you or come in behind you. What made the moments with this vehicle so funny was that if you didn't take it out right away, you'd hear one warning "Here it comes!" and then your team members deaths would start scrolling at the top of the screen. The vehicles in that mission are no joke. Awesome!

That's about as far as we got last night, completing one mission and getting schooled on another but it's all shiny happy fun. I'm hoping to get in much more GRAW action before I leave for New York on Friday. Go GRAW go!

That Really Sticks In My G.R.A.W.

Oh baby, GRAW Chapter 2 is in the Marketplace and after attempting to download it for 3 years I was finally able to get it around 5 in the morning. (Actually, I just re-started the download and went back to bed) So now it is mine, all mine! Sidenote: They show really cool episodes of the X-Files on TNT early in the morning. I mean the really cool ones, not the ones with all the government crap, I mean like the ones with inbreeding and the amputee that left his body to kill people...Rock on classic X-Files!

Anyhoo, despite playing for 2 or 3 hours and still not completing the Coffee Plantation mission, I am loving the new content. I even got to play with some Spacers last night which was fun. All in all, $15 is quite a lot of change to spend on downloadable content, but for GRAW I'll spend it gladly. Ghost Recon, I salute thee!

ICandee's Top Five: You Tube Edition

In lieu of any actual gaming, I decided to post entries involving my Top Fives. In this first edition I want to share some of my favorite You Tube videos. Instead of embedding them, I've listed the links for you. Most are older and you've probably seen them a million times but like an episode of The Simpsons, they never really get old, yes?

1. How To Talk Smack Over Xbox Live
This one is so well done. It's a spoof on those old 50's educational films they used to show in schools. This video is about smack talking using Halo 2. Very funny!

2. Marble Blast Level 60 in Under a Minute
I've seen this one more than a dozen times and it still amazes me. I can't even finish this one with no time limit, much less getting it done under par (which is 3:30), much less getting it done in less than a minute. I bow to thee oh Gaming One!

3. Napoleon Dynamite meets Halo
This one has been floating around a lot lately but it's still worth another look. Basically this one uses Halo to recreate the bike scene in Napoleon Dynamite using the Napoleon audio from the movie. I'm a big Napoleon fan so I enjoy this one quite a bit.

4. Let the Console War Begin
There was only one thing worth watching during G4's "coverage" of this year's E3 and this segment is it. Funniest representation of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to date in my mind.

5. The Daily Show on Congress and Video Games
I just caught this today. John Stewart's hit on Congress and the current political climate of video games. Classic!

And there you have it! My current Top Five Favorite You Tube videos. If any of you have any other gaming You Tube favorites, let me know!

The Art of Gaming Strikes Back

I decided to have Gaming Arts and Crafts time again today. Just a little Mario Bros. type scene this time. I made the figures, pipe, coins and bricks out of clay, printed a blue box with a cloud in Paint Shop Pro and then basically just super glued everything in the shadowbox frame so that it would stay put...forever. Voila!

Return of the Arcade

As you can see from my recent games played, last night was Arcade night for me. I keep thinking I'm in a gaming slump but I think the real reason is that I'm too excited at the thought of DLC for GRAW to concentrate playing much of anything else.

I cannot wait for this content and I'm hoping it does show up in the Marketplace this week instead of next week. I'm leaving for New York next Friday and would love to get plenty of GRAW action in before I go. We'll see...

Call of ICandee 2 and Underage Gaming

Call of ICandee 2 and Underage Gaming

Last night was awesome, both in the games played and the view of said games. The picture was so clear and sharp on my boss' TV that my retinas were burned right out of my skull, but it was worth it. We put in GRAW for a little while before they left and then once the kiddies were in bed I played some Table Tennis, Hexic, Burnout Revenge, UNO and Call of Duty 2.

Last night was the first time I had played COD2 on Live in a long, long time. This game really is fun in multiplayer. I got my share of kills in deathmatch as well as a run of "spawn-take two steps-die, spawn-take two steps-die" moments but it was a lot of fun none the less.

The best thing that happened last night was watching my boss' 8 year old son and 6 year old daughter play Star Wars Battlefront 2. The 6 year old kept forgetting to use the right thumbstick to aim and she still ended up with more kills than me. Oh well, start 'em young I always say. My boss says that his son is better at Halo 2 than he is...hmmmm....experiment time! I say my boss should keep his son up one night. His son could be playing Halo 2 with us while my boss would stay on the headset talking with us as if he's the one playing. I'd love to see if everyone would get schooled by an 8 year old.

Speaking of kids, to all the Dad Gamers out there: Have a great Father's Day!

Adventures in High Def Babysitting

Tonight I am off to babysit for my boss. His wife's birthday is today and they are renting a party bus to go downtown with a bunch of friends. Now you may be thinking to yourselves, "Poor ICandee, stuck babysitting while the rest of us get to play games...what a sucker!" Well you would be wrong my friend, terribly wrong.

The kids go to bed about 8:00 which is about the time I'll be getting there. My 360 hard drive is in my purse and ready to go and tonight I will get to play games on this:

That's right, my boss' 57" Toshiba CRT rear projection HDTV widescreen started acting up a few months ago and he had an extended warranty. They never came out to fix it so he got them to pony up for a 60" Sony 3LCD. So up goes the sort of still working 57" to the kid's playroom and yours truly will be playing all night on the newest TV hotness. Check out this screenshot of GRAW he took on the new TV and this is just taken with a digital camera (I resized it smaller so it doesn't look quite as smashing as in his thread at TehBias.com:

*drool* I love babysitting...

It's Like There's a Party In My Friends List and Everyone's Invited!

Well, I finally got a chance to play some GRAW last night with TormentX, SuperGhost, Schuey and CAtrainingbra, along with Sean and RuFfNeCk. You know, playing with them was cool in itself but the fact that we were playing GRAW made it that much sweeter. It was so nice to get a chance to play with some awesome Spacers after reading their blogs for the past few months. Thanks guys!

In other news, I have a lot of subjects I want to write about but I may have to restrain myself to writing one at a time. Keep a lookout here at ICandee, You Game...No telling what's going to be posted here in the near future...Not that it will be cool or particularly interesting, but watch out for it anyway...

Viva Xbox Live!

Psychonauts FTW!

You must all go read Tim Schafer's latest news blog regarding backwards compatibility for Psychonauts. You know, it's developers like this that make me like gaming that much more. Double Fine could put out a game where you wash dishes and file taxes and I would buy it.

Read it here. Go now...go on, you can do it.

In other news, I jumped into some Halo 2 action last night with the guys. I had my backside handed to me in a sling but it was fun. I so need to play that game more...any FPS teachers out there? ;)

"You Know What I Want Or Maybe You Don't"

What I Would Do If I Were Rich

by ICandee

1. I would create a video game where one of the bosses would be a prepubescent trash talking gamer. Everytime you shot at him, he would split off and multiply into 2 or 3 incarnations that would shout obscenities and slurs. After defeating him, you would be rewarded with the "Smack Talk" power up with would enable your character to upgrade to a "Smack Talk Fog" which when shot at an enemy would cause them to become offended and leave the level you're currently in.

2. I would create a television station specifically for gamers, by gamers that would only show actual gaming related programs. It would be designed to appeal to all types of gamers, including televised tournaments, interviews with industry members and game reviews for all game platforms and genres. It would not include The Man Show, Fastlane or Star Trek 2.0 and late night programming would not be called "Midnight Spank".

3. I would buy better dog food so my dog wouldn't jump on my bed while I'm sleeping and throw up all over me.

4. I would buy a PSP so that I would have the right to complain about the lack of a second analog stick, nitpick about the games and watch movies.

5. I would open up a retro/vintage clothing store called "Reservoir Togs".

6. I would pay Uwe Boll to stop making movies out of video games.

7. I would buy the 4GB hard drive for the DS Lite so that I would have the option of doing all sorts of cool stuff I would never end up doing..

8. I would buy a DS Lite.

9. I would buy all Oblivion players the Horse Armor from the Marketplace so they would quit whining about paying too much for it.

10. I would pay all the women that pose nude with game controllers in strategic places to quit posing for said pictures. Or at least teach them what the phrase "too much make-up" means. I would also pay boys to cease saying "I'd hit that".

And because this list goes to 11:

I would pay Double Fine to make Psychonauts 2.

Game On!

Yesterday was the Day of The Game as it seemed like I played a lot. I finally won the Amateur Circuit in Table Tennis, watched some of the TehBias guys play a tournament, got my 300,000 points achievement in Feeding Frenzy and worked a little more on getting that last achievement I need in Hexic. I ended the night in UNO with RuFfNeCk and Sean80. Quite a busy little night, but it was nice to get excited about playing games again.

I even played some Brain Age and started a new town in Animal Crossing on the DS. I decided to just tear down my previous town and start over since I hadn't been in my first town in months and I was scared to go back. I'm not sure that was the best idea because once I started over I realized that I had done a lot in the first one that I now have to do over again. (I had collected every fossil, caught a bee, had a few rare flowers, had every fruit and had the biggest house and store upgrade.) Oh well, back to the drawing board for me!

Podcast-O-Rama and Perfectly Dark Maps

Once again I have come face to face with my love/hate relationship with Perfect Dark Zero. You know when you break up with someone and you see them in public for the first time and it's awkward but you want to make sure that you look your best and that you don't care that they betrayed and disappointed you and you act like everything's ok? Well, that would be me and PDZ. I admit it to all of you, yes, I did spend 500 MP today for the new maps. Then RuFfNeCk (Chris) and I played through them all with some of the new bots.

Now, I was actually pretty impressed for the most part with the new scenery. My favorite is Trench for sure, but they all had their charm about them. One complaint I can make is that 3 of them are nighttime maps and let me tell you, they are nothing but night. That can make for some visibility problems and I couldn't help but wish that I had Lara Croft's boob light to help me see better. As Chris said, it was "perfectly dark". All in all, not bad. But once again, the spending 4-5 clips of ammo on a bot just to kill it is still very frustrating for me. But I did get quite a lot of kills so I was satisfied.

In other news, the podcast is up and running at TehBias.com. You can get it there now or wait for it to be posted at the TehBias podcast.net page. The TB podcast page is good to go to to download all the ones you've missed, so go there and the "girl" edition should be up sometime soon. Enjoy!

Can You Marry A Game?

I'm sure that's legal somewhere...

As all of you I'm sure know by now, GRAW is up for some major DLC at the end of June. All I can say is I love you GRAW! COD2 was vying for my affection but GRAW's coming back! New maps, new lighting on current maps, new game modes, new camo and faces and 4 brand spanking new co-op missions. Can this day get any better? When I first heard about it, my mouth literally filled with saliva. Yes...I love the game that much, I have no shame...

Oh right, my speed issues (internet speed that is). Well, my sweetheart of a RuFfNeCk brought up a theory that someone in my neighborhood was stealing my bandwidth. What?! That fiend! That thief! They must be found and shot down at once! So we investigated and yes, someone was stealing bandwidth and that devilish, devious miscreant was...

Me.

Apparently, the security on my router was set to "three sheets to the wind" mode which caused me to go from being on my router while on Live to someone else's router in my neighborhood and vice versa. For the love of...But RuFfNeCk fixed everything for me with tighter security to boot so all is right with the world once again. Sorry mysterious neighbor!

In other news, after we recorded the podcast, we got into some Burnout Revenge online and were actually able to get 6 of us in the room. What a rush this game gives you! Vrrrroooommm...

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Lagbusters!

Well, the dashboard update finally came in yesterday and I could see a difference almost right away. Unfortunately that difference wasn't all good and I'm really hoping it's just me and not the update itself. My 360 seems to not be responding to certain things, such as when I try to join a game with friends and when it asks me to insert the disc and I click "ok", it doesn't start the game.

The biggest issue I'm having at the moment however is that it seems something is funky with my internet speed (and I don't mean funky as in getting down with my bad self). Private chat, online games and even navigating the menus are running at slideshow speed. What it basically boiled down to last night was that I ended up playing Hexic while my friends where tearing it up in COD2. Nooooooooooooooo!!

On a side note, it looks like Ridge Racer 6 and Condemned have joined the ranks of the $40 360 games. Which would be great news for me if I wasn't such a sissy and could play through Condemned. I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the 360 game price drops. Yay Next Gen! (When do we start calling it "current gen"?)

The podcast is a go to record tonight so my 360 will be getting a rest although I'm going to try and get my speed back up so I'll be ready to get my frag on soon enough. I'm so going through withdrawls at the moment...

Coming Soon to an iPod Near You

In an effort for global domination...oops, I mean in an act of good sense, the Overlords (i.e. gracious mods) of TehBias.com have asked lil ole ICandee to take part in the next edition of the official TehPodcast. What?! Could this truly be? Yes, you read correctly...

Soon everyone will be able to listen to my mellifluous (it's a word, look it up) voice on their personal computers, laptops and MP3 players as I discuss gaming and mouth breathe into my headset microphone. Nations will be at peace, people of the world will unite and Double Fine will decide to make Psychonauts 2. Or we'll just quote Anchorman all night and no one will listen to it, whatever.

In conclusion, you have been warned. I will post a link when it's ready for your listening pleasure. Start making room on those hard drives and memory sticks now. You will want to download this edition of Teh Podcast...believe me...

Word To My Mother

1. Jewel Quest has seen fit to finally give me my "Finished the Game" achievement. Once I logged into the game again, it updated. Woo hoo! Finally, my Quest is complete...

2. I apologize for not being on Live very much the past couple of days, I find myself still in a little bit of a slump but hopefully that will turn around soon.

3. Part of the reason I haven't been on Live to play with anyone is that I recently bought New Super Mario Bros. for my DS. Anyone that has a DS needs to have this game. Period.

And the real reason for this blog: My mom is very supportive of just about everything I do and this includes gaming. She has listened as I tried to explain exactly what next-gen meant. She has sat patiently as I showed her Live, different games I like to show off to non-gamers (i.e. Oblivion, PGR3, etc) and even seemed interested in what happened at E3 this year. But I guess that's the role of moms, to support their children in whatever halfway sane hobby they may be interested in. My mom has recently entered the "My Mom Rules" Hall of Fame. Check out what she had made for me. If you can't tell what it is, it's a necklace that's says ICandee. The picture's posted below. My mom is so cool...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Backwards Schmackwards

There's a lot I want to tell you guys about, but I think that I'll just start with one topic at a time and add as I go today.

My thoughts on Microsoft bailing backwards compatibility. You know what? I really don't care about backwards compatibility. Yes, this kind of stinks but since I've gotten my 360 I've barely played any of the games that are currently BC, much less dying for others to be added to the list. Now, I would love to have say Psychonauts on that list, but let's be realistic here, I would probably play through one level if that and never touch it again. I really don't blame Microsoft for bailing on this. I would much rather have them focusing on new games to give me than old games, that while good and I would love to have available, I wouldn't play much anyway.

Case in point, I love Jade Empire and it's BC. How many times has it been played on my 360? Zip. Fable The Lost Chapters? Nada. I kept my original Xbox to play those games that didn't end up BC and it's currently collecting dust on my shelf. I love DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball, but with the new one coming out (hopefully) soon, why do I need to worry about the first one not being BC? If it's a choice between playing my original Xbox and playing on my 360...You'll always find me on my 360.

There are great games that will never be BC on the 360. It's regrettable but I'll survive. I'm much more interested in games coming for the 360 than getting my panties in a twist over Microsoft not letting me play old ones via BC. As far as I'm concerned, the important ones (i.e. the Halo and Ghost Recon games) are already up and running so I'm content.

The Art of Gaming

o bored today...need to be entertained...frightened by G4's new Filter hostess cupcake, now with 40% less fat and only 2 net carbs per serving...must find something to do...

I know!

Get out all of my old polymer clay and make The Prince from Katamari Damacy complete with Katamari for his sitting comfort!

Call of Duty 2: ICandee of the Year Edition

Well well well...Looks like someone has finally finished the entire Jewel Quest...uh...quest. Looks like someone cute has beaten this arcade game of torture. And that someone is...

ME!

In your face Jewel Quest! Take that you son of a motherless goat! Bam! Bow! Woo hoo! I am free! FREEDOM!!!!!!

Ahem...In other news, I have finally acquired a copy of Call of Duty 2. Not only have I finally bought this incredibly awesome game but it is none other than that Game of the Year Edition. Oh baby...Come to Momma. I watched the extras disc last night and was quite pleased with it overall. The mission walkthroughs with the developer commentary was great, my only complaint was that there weren't more. They weren't so much "walkthroughs" as one of them playing the mission and them all talking about the game and what not. Very very cool.

So Jewel Quest is done and out of my life, I've got my COD2 and I downloaded all four maps for COD2 which are free with the GOTY edition. Life is good!

EDIT: It has come to my attention that although "Achievement Unlocked" popped up on my screen, Jewel Quest did not give me my "finished the game" achievement. Everyone stay calm...try not to panic...everything's going to be...Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why Jewel Quest why? "Oh Mighty Smiter! Tell me who to smite and they shall be smoten!" Whew, ok better now. I do not heart Jewel Quest.

Let's Hear It For the Boys

I am a girl and I like to play video games.

I've been primarily silent on the topic of "girl gamers" and I have been so for the most part because I have experienced nothing but good things from the people I game with, the stores I buys games from and the industry that creates those games. I would like to say that while I do not doubt that there have been and continue to be female gamers that are harassed and belittled in the gaming community, I have been fortunate enough to have experienced none of that.

So I would just like to say thank you to all of the wonderful guys I game with and the great guys here at MSN Spaces. I have to say that it is a blast to play and talk with you all. For every headshot, takedown or Draw Four card I may receive from you, it's always comforting to know that I will soon be able to return the favor and we'll all laugh about it later. Thanks for the laughs, thanks for the smack talk, thanks for the games.

Podcasts, Pron and Free Schwag

For a larf, I decided to Google "ICandee" and see what came up. Actually, my blog here was the second thing on the list which was very cool. Some of the other things on the list were somewhat surprising and now I really really really wish I had: a. been able to get the gamertag "ICandy" like I originally wanted and b. never Googled my gamertag. Ah well, lesson learned.

In gaming news, I didn't touch my 360 last night and now I'm going through withdrawls. But I did listen to the latest podcast over at XBL Radio. It's actually a really good podcast. There was a comment made that Geometry Wars was the only "must have" game for the Xbox Live Arcade which I heartily disagree with, but it's still a good podcast.

GameSpot has a cool article "Pieces of Flair" which talks about the good, bad and ugly in gaming apparel. They're also having contest where you can win a "Bag 'O Schwag" from E3.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

The Return of Pong: Rockstar Style

Well, I broke down and added Rockstar's Table Tennis to my 360 library. This is actually a fun little game that induces much anger and various curses. In a good way of course. I've had fun playing (or trying to play) through the tournaments but I must admit that playing online with other people is a lot more fun. There also seems to be an option where anyone can watch you play which is a very cool mechanic...it's also a little creepy. "I always feel like...somebody's watching meeeee..." At any rate, RuFfNeCk and I played a couple of games and we discovered that there really are no losers...except for RuFfNeCk.

I Fought the GRAW and the GRAW Won

I missed out on all the GRAW action last night, but I've been told that playing was harsh due to frequent drops and stutters on Live. At least this gives me a chance to get in on the rematch.

I'm still working on Jewel Quest. I'm almost done with the entire game at which point I'm planning on yanking the game out of my Arcade, spitting on it and then lighting it on fire. That'll teach it!

In superficial news, I went for a girly day today and after getting a wonderful manicure and pedicure decided to get my eyebrows waxed for the first time. Now I did not yell out, "Kelly Clarkson!" a la 40 Year Old Virgin, but I think at one point I did whisper "Ruben Studdard" under my breath.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

X-Play vs Tommy Page

Today on my lunch break I came across an episode of X-Play on G4. This episode was a retrospective of "classic" X-Play moments and it actually turned out to be entertaining. It pulled my attention away from the Full House rerun I was watching anyway. You know, the one where Danny gets Tommy Page to sing at Stephanie's birthday party and then her and DJ fight over Tommy because they both think he's their boyfriend when actually he already has a girlfriend and the B story is Joey teaching Michelle to be funny so she can make Jesse and Rebecca's twins, Nicky and Alex, laugh? You know that one? Huh? Remember?


That's right, the babyface singer of mushy music that made girls swoon, the crybaby that opened for New Kids on the Block, the Tiger Beat pin-up that caused two sisters to turn against one another on Full House was this guy. Nice hat...Silly 80's! What the heck happened to Tommy Page anyway? Ever notice how puffy his face was like he forgot to take the cotton out after leaving the dentist? Ending tangent in 5...4...3...2...

Long story short (too late), this episode of X-Play is pretty good and I must admit their spoofs are actually funny...most of the time. In regards to actual gaming, tonight we will hopefully get some Burnout Revenge action going on Live and then Thursday I believe there's some sort of TehBias-America vs. TehBias-Canada "Sharks vs. Jets-West Side Story" type rumble planned for GRAW. God help us all

Heyyy Youuu Guuyyss!

Wow, three entries in one day? I must be feeling better!

New Oblivion content hit the Marketplace today: Think pirates...treasure...sneakiness...Goonies. That's right, for only 150 Microsoft points you can be the proud owner of the Thieves Den. Of course, you have to do some light cleaning at first but once the squatters are gone, woo hoo! Free place to sleep and hide your booty! Arrrr...I be gettin' me download fer sure matey....Arrrrr! Wow, I sound just like the Sea Captain. Or Patchy the Pirate...

Gamers Unite!

By now, most of you know my newfound friend, the fabulous Anna that created the beautiful banner and graphic for my blog. Well, it looks like a friend of hers could use some help rejoining the 360 family after going through some hard times. You can read about and help Tiffany here. Anna is offering free customized artwork to thank people for donations given. She is also making a special faceplate with the names of the people that donated on it for Tiffany to enjoy. This would be a great way to give to a fellow gamer and do your good deed for the day. Gamers unite!

A Case of the Mondays

Today is just one of those days where all you can do is hope the rest of the week will be better. Today hasn't been entirely terrible, for instance my interview is up over on Gamers Behind The Spaces which is very exciting, so go check it out and really just go see BD's blog in general, he writes a good one. Also, I just found out that I have Memorial Day off next week, which is another good thing. I saw Batman Begins for the first time over the weekend and absolutely loved it. So what's the problem with today anyway?

Well, due to circumstances beyond my control, I unfortunately had to miss the XUG Girl's Night on Live so I'm really bummed about that. The Nyko Gameface is not living up to my expectations and I'm just not all that satisfied with it at the moment. I'm still in my gaming slump and I think I'm coming down with a cold or something. Anyone have cheese to go with my whine? Sheesh...LOL

Anyhoodily doodily, I'll be fine by the time I get home from work and I'll be more than ready to meet others on Live and get the newest Oblivion download, that way I'll have it handy in case I ever actually start playing the game.

UNO the Barbarian

Wow, I actually didn't even log into Live last night! I can't remember the last time I wasn't on Live. It was a weird feeling, let me tell you. I have been on tonight: trying to finish Jewel Quest which has really turned into a joke and playing UNO with some of the guys from TehBias. I must say that playing UNO has taught me something about myself: I'm am on the path to the Dark Side. (Achievement points to me for Star Wars reference.)

This game brings out the absolute worst in me! I pride myself on my ladylike behavior while playing games (for the most part anyway) but this game turns me into some kind of 4-letter word connoisseur with a mouth that would make sailors blush. I've noticed that this actually happens to all of us when we're playing together. We're like some kind of Mega Beasts battling for dominance in the pack. Grrrrr...But I must say that it is all in good fun. We always end every UNO session with tears and good wishes so it balances out.

E3 High, Gaming Crash

Remember when you were a kid and you got all hopped up on sugar? You'd run around, screaming or hitting your sibling or whatever only to crash one hour later and not feel like doing anything?

Well, welcome to Post E3 Week. Last week I was like a kid in a candy store and this week I'm like Veruca Salt falling down the chute in Willy Wonka. I am in a gaming slump. Can anything be more depressing? I have so many good games and they all suck. So bored....

Unfortunately when I find myself bored, my hair is usually the one to suffer. It gets cut, bleached, dyed or something else bad happens to it. Happily enough, I find myself having a particularly fabulous hair day so it gets a reprieve...this time. So what do I do with this gaming boredom? Finish up the games that are currently collecting dust on my shelves? Nah... Go rent a new game I've yet to try? Nah...

I know! Change my blog theme and dress up my dog!

Ah yes...A blog so pink it'll burn the retinas right out of your eyeballs. A dog that loves me so faithfully, he'll sit still while I dress him up. I so hope this slump is over soon...for my dog's sake...

Shake My What?!

This entry doesn't really have anything to do with gaming, but I'll try to tie in gaming at some point as I really wanted to share this story while it was fresh in my mind:

Tonight after dinner, I decided to take a walk around my neighborhood. As I walked around waving to people I don't know and cooing at strange dogs, it occured to me that I'm very lucky to live here. For instance, it never crossed my mind to be afraid of being attacked or harassed. Anyone I saw that were out in their yards just smiled and waved. I admired their new flower beds and moved along. Honeysuckle is starting to bloom and kudzu is still trying it's hardest to beautifully strangle the trees that border some of the houses. I began to hear the chimes of the ice cream man in the distance and it made me smile to remember being a kid and going into cardiac arrest trying to get my change together and get outside before I missed my chance at a Nutty Buddy.

I turned a corner and saw three children waiting at the end of their driveway for that ice cream man. A girl that looked to be about 8 years old and two little boys, who both looked around 6 or 7. They had their change in a big pile on the ground and were arguing about how much was whose. I smiled at them as I walked by and felt that all was right in my world.

Imagine my surprise when all of a sudden I hear the angelic voice of a six year old boy, calling out after me, "Shake that little butt, girl!" What the frak? I thought I must be dreaming until he said it again, clear as a bell. I kept on walking because I figured that there was no point in acknowledging he said it, although the lecture I wanted to give him was burning a hole in my throat.

In gaming news, there's a bush growing in my neighborhood that looks like one of the bushes in the Far Cry Instincts map editor. There, now we're back to gaming. Whew!

My Prince Has Returned

I am quite the Katamari fan. Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari are games that have never gotten old for me and I keep praying that somehow these gems of the PS2 will become backwards compatible on the 360. (Hey, stranger things have happened...Wii anyone? $600 PS3...anyone?) So I'm sure you can imagine the sound of my heart breaking when it was announced that there would be no more Katamari games after the release of Me and My Katamari for the PSP. No more Katamari...ever!

Well today, while on one of my promenades through Gamespot, I came across this article: Pac-Man World Rally being released for the GameCube. Now, there would seem to be nothing incredibly unusual about this article until one of the screenshots caught my eye (see below).

Now, who could this mysterious kart driver be? Mario? Samus? Pac-Man himself? NO! It's the Prince! My sweet little Prince has come back to me in the form of a Namco-GameCube-PacMan-Kart game! Woo hoo! Time to dust off the ole GameCube. At least until I can play this on the Wii. Done and done.

ICandee Jones and the Search for the Holy Achievement

Jewel Quest is coming along nicely if I do say so myself (and I do). It's amazing how dedicated I am to finishing this game when I've finally reached a point that would cause me to stop playing any other game: busy work.

I suppose in an effort to make the game longer or "more interesting", you reach a rank where you are literally playing each board twice in a row. In the beginning of the game you're matching jewels and artifacts to turn the squares gold and clear the board. As you go up in rank, you'll have partial pieces or "bad" pieces to get rid of which is no big deal and is nice because it mixes the gameplay up a little bit.

But the rank I'm on now is a joke. You have to get rid of the pieces to turn the squares silver then you have to turn the silver squares gold, which essentially is playing the board all over again...Sneaky snake of an Arcade game! I can only say that I will not complain too loudly because I only have two achievements left in this game, so I will do whatever it takes to finish this bad boy. Plus, I figure that I'll finish this long before I get my 10,000 kills achievement in GRAW.

Wicked New Banner and Jewel Quest Madness

Yes, yes I've got a new banner here at ICandee, You Game. The entire banner was made for me by the Fabulous Anna of Anjo Banjo. Check out her art site and her blog. She is amazing. Thank you Anna!

In other news, Jewel Quest is driving me insane, making you basically play the game over and over again to get different rank achievements. Up yours Jewel Quest! I'm still continue to play the game so I suppose it's not Jewel Quest's fault.

Best Week Ever

Wow, what a week! So many great games and other things revealed, E3 seems to have been a success and now all we have to do is wait on the release dates on our favorite new games coming out for the 360. Aside from all of the frantic downloading and general drooling, here are my highlights:

My Diamond card came this week. It's finally here!!! The Frag Dolls added two new dolls to their ranks. TeamXbox has posted a good interview with DOAX2 daddy, Itagaki. I finally got to play with one of my MSN Spaces buddies! Noble Downfall joined the TehBias guys and I for some GRAW last night. Thanks for the game Brian, had a blast! I am officially obsessed with Viva Pinata. The figureheads over at TehBias should be posting a new podcast sometime today. Look for it here. Having trouble hunting down the Nyko Intercooler Fan for your sweaty 360? Look no further, RuFfNeCk found it at OGaming. I stumbled upon a very cool blog yesterday, Anjo Banjo. Quite the groovy chick gamer and fantastic artist, so check her out. I joined the forums over at Totally360.com this week so you can find me there as well as at TehBias.

I'm sure there's more but I'm still recovering from massive downloading on Live. Again, best week ever for gaming and I cannot wait to see these games and consoles in person, so to speak. I love gaming!

ICandee

Babes For Hire and Other Tongues In Cheeks

With every E3 comes the inevitable slew of "Booth Babe" galleries on websites and blogs. Apparently regardless of any restrictions placed on booth babes, this year's E3 brought us a flurry of tube tops, micro minis, bad wigs and some chick with an engine strapped to her chest for some reason.

Well I'm here to speak out against such injustice! Why, do you ask? Is it because women have no place at a gaming expo? Yeah right. Could it be because Booth Babes give women in gaming a bad name? Nah. Maybe it's because I feel that it's sexist and demeaning to women? hee hee, nope.

These are women that get free rides to the greatest gaming event of the year and they probably have never even heard of the games they're representing. No fair! I say that they need to find Babes that not only would represent games and gaming paraphernalia but also actually be excited to be amongst all the newest gaming goodness. I say they need Babes that can find decent wigs to wear! I say they need Babes that game! I say they need me! Bring on the Gaming Booth Babes! Let the cute gamers like me cheese it up for E3 in exchange for free access to all the exhibits and schwag! I'm a gamer and I'm cute so bring on the tube tops and throw out the underwear! We're taking E3 back Hot Ladies of the Consoles...who's with me?!

ICandee

Trailers and Demos and Themes Oh My!

As I'm sure all of you have been waiting to hear my impressions on the newest additions to the Xbox Live Marketplace, congratulations...your wait is over! Here's part of what I've been downloading from the Marketplace this week:

Halo 3 Teaser Trailer: I was thinking of passing on this one until I got an voice message from Microsoft saying that if I failed to download this trailer, my 360 would be confiscated and I would be forced to buy the premium PS3 priced at $600. I quickly obeyed. This looks (what else?) fantastic. I actually got chills by the end of it...Halo music gets me everytime. Yay Bungie!

Viva Pinata Trailer: Yes, yes, yes! How cute is this game? It's so cute I went right up to my 360 and squeezed the preciousness right out of it. I can build a disco for my pinatas??? I'll have them doing the Hustle in no time! This game is goes right on my list of "ICandee's Don't Need to Read Anything Else About It, I'm Buying it on Day One List" This game is Far Cry's Map Editor dipped in sugar and deep fried in chocolate. Yay Disco!

DOA X2 Video (2 min version): This video is amazing! I am a DOA fan anyway, but I adore DOA Extreme Beach volleyball for the Xbox. Now I'm getting a new one! Not only is it going to be for my 360, but will now include what looks to be jet skiing, tug of war, and more shopping? Woo hoo! Unfortunately, the girls of DOA now have breasts that instead of bouncing together, do this very creepy "alternating bounce" thing. *shudder* I ran around the house this morning just to test this and I'm sorry guys, but they only bounce in unison. I hope that is just part of the video because it looks bizarre. Add this one to my "Sold!" list as well. Yay Boobs!

Fable 2: Bring it! Yes, yes I know...This is totally pre-rendered, no play shown, etc and so forth...So what?!?! This looks great and I cannot wait for this to drop! It looks like there may be a possibility of playing a chick this time around. Woo! Please let this be good, please let this be good, please don't let Lionhead frak with the original formula too much...Yay Sequels!

Adidas, Xbox Live, X-Men Gamer Pics and Themes: Free, free, free. They could post a gamer picture of someone's butt and if it's free, I'm gonna download it. Yay Sponsors!

UNO: Only 400 points? No brainer...This is one of the best things they ever did for the Arcade. (At least until I get my grubby gamer hands on Pac-Man, Contra and Street Fighter) Nice soothing music, check. Fun colorful graphics, check. Profanity for when I get multiple draw fours and skip cards laid on me in one round, check and double check! Yay F-Word!

More impressions to come as I continue in my quest to get rid of every available inch of space on my 360's hard drive, until then...Good night and good luck (getting things downloaded)

Yay Live!

ICandee

Set Your Downloads to Stun

During last year's E3 I hadn't decided whether or not I was buying a 360. So for me, E3 2005 was interesting I suppose. This year's E3, however, is a different story.

Combine E3 with the Xbox Live Marketplace and you've got pure Microsoft genius in my mind. This was one of the best ideas they ever had. (Although a better idea would be to somehow get downloads faster when a bajillion people are all trying to get the Halo 3 announcement at the same time. lol)

Last night I got home from work and all I did was chat and download Marketplace E3 goodness. It took me over 2 hours to download UNO, but it's now mine...all mine! I was able to get the Halo 3 announcement, the trailer for Fable 2, Lost Planet Demo and UNO before I called it a night. And you can believe I'm going back for more tonight! I believe I'll wait to post impressions of all of my E3 Marketplace riches when I have all the ones I want.

Until then, keep reaching for the downloads!

ICandee

Me Love Wii

I was able to catch the Nintendo press conference today before work and I must say that I am even more excited about the launch of Wii. No pricing, launch dates nor launch games were announced, except for the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which will launch for Wii and GameCube. The games they did show (including Red Steel) look really great (compared to the GameCube at least). Their only comment on pricing and availability was that it would be cheaper than the other consoles and would launch in the 4th quarter of 2006.

After the disappointing Sony press conference, Nintendo was a breath of fresh air for me. I am ready for the Wii and may not even be embarassed to ask for it by name now. Go Wii!

ICandee

PS3 I Hardly New Ye

Alright, let's get this over and done with. Sony's press conference was last night and we got a lot of stuff: them showing GT4 for about 3 years, the PS3 controller, and the launch price.

First, I've been saying since day one that there's no way Sony is going to launch at a higher price than Microsoft. No way, no how. I said it would be suicide to launch at a higher price than your competitor and that Sony is not that stupid. So it seems that I was incorrect in that assumption. Now, I have to be honest, I do not think that this will kill Sony or the PS3. They are banking on dedicated fanboys and it seems to me that they are not interested in recruiting new Playstation gamers. Or they are depending on purchases simply because the PS3 will sub for a Blu-ray player that will cost much more.

Second, the 360/Wii/PS2 controller. I call it the "PiiS362". Nice one Sony! When I told you that the controller looked awful, I didn't mean for you to go out and bring me everyone else's. Sheesh. BTW, dual shock is out and motion is in.

That's all I have to say on it. There are other blogs and about a million websites that will give you actual information. This is just my two cents that will in no way afford me a PS3. Which I have decided that I am not getting after all. Unless Sony pulls a major rabbit out of it's hat and tells me it was just kidding...please?

ICandee

Does The Outfit Make My Butt Look Big? Part II

So I finally got around to playing The Outfit. This game is actually quite a bit of fun. Co-op is very intense with little time to rest which I find great in most games. I learned three things today, courtesy of The Outfit:

1. My character walks way too slow and running makes him tired.

2. Flame throwers on a tank are awesome.

3. I can't drive a tank.

Other than that, there's nothing more satisfying than blowing up vehicles and buildings in The Outfit. I had a lot more fun with this game than I thought I would. Hurray for destructible environments!

ICandee

Ghost In The Machine

In the days before E3, with all of the excitement and anticipation of new games being announced and shown, new consoles on the horizon (good luck PS3 online, you'll need it), we at TehBias.com are joining together tonight to ignore all of that:

Ghost Recon 2

I haven't had the chance to play this online with the guys half as much as I would have liked. It looks like tonight I will get my chance. Woo hoo! Now all I have to do is play without diamonds pointing out the baddies to me...I have been so spoiled by the 360. This could get ugly...

Let's lock and load, Boys!

ICandee

Crap, It's Joanna! Everyone Act Like You're Busy...

Old News: I have a love/hate relationship with Perfect Dark Zero. Well, ok...it's a "like/hate" relationship. I'm sure you have noticed my erratic blog entries: One day I make fun it, then I like it, then I hate it, then I accept it, etc. and so forth. When we last left off, I was mad at PDZ due to some ridiculous co-op "non-killing baddies rocket launcher" issue.

Talk has been swirling around about new bots and new maps. Looks like the new bots are here in an auto update. Here's a little bit more info, courtesy of Major Nelson:

DarkOps Bots. AI-controlled Bots are no longer relegated to DeathMatch games. Now they can challenge human players in any of the DarkOps multiplayer games. Just like in DeathMatch games, Bots can be used in either Live games or in offline games.

Additional AI variants for Bots. The PDZ team was not satisfied with just one version of Bot AI. Now a total of eight Bot Personalities are available. Is someone dominating everyone else in a match? Send a Judge Bot after them. Want to add chaos and confusion? Add some Feud Bots into the mix.

Vanilla = Original Bot AI.
Ghost = Invisible apart from when firing its weapon.
Judge = Attacks the player with the most kills.
Bully = Attacks the player with the least kills.
Venge = Attacks the last person that killed them.
Feud = Chooses a new random target on each spawn and hunts them down.
Prey = Picks on the player with lowest armor and health.
Random = Uses a random Bot Personality.

I am actually excited to try these bots out as I seem to enjoy "us against the AI" rather than a regular Deathmatch. And I think that, at least in theory, these bots sound like a good idea. Let's just hope they work correctly. Alright, so fine...I like Perfect Dark Zero again. At least for now...

Tune in next week when I will once again loathe this game.

ICandee