XBox Live is completely effed today...

Thanks Microsoft!

I'm not sure if there's been an official announcement yet, but forums everywhere are furious as to why XBox Live has essentially, ceased to function since about 2PM PST.

If anyone has en explanation, lay it on us!

Call of Duty 4...

When Call of Duty 2 came out, I wasn't too impressed with in initially.

I thought the game was repetitive, boring, unbalanced, and lacked the inspiration on the maps that other games had. I thought Moscow was too big, Tunisia too bright, and every other map seemed either too busy or too dull. I continued to play with my friends, having a good time, and then I realized I was getting good at it.

What followed was a series of nights that were, minimum, five hours long. These nights were full of Team Deathmatch games, where it was 5 on 5, with myself usually faring the best out of all the competition. I can recall one game where I went 30 kills to 1 death, and knew right then: This game had staying power.

Now Call of Duty 4 is here, and it does all the things Call of Duty 2 did not. It keeps track of total kills, ratio, score, etc. It also keeps track of play time, and while my number keeps getting higher and higher, I don't feel like I've actually played the game for that long in comparison to Call of Duty 2. Now, with that being said, I think that Call of Duty 4 is a much better game in many ways. Only time will tell how long I clock in for total before the game gets old, or how many times I can shoot someone in the head before the novelty wears off, but as of right now I do not see that happening any time soon.

I've already notched 10,000 kills, with a ratio right around 2.75 kills to deaths, easily the highest on my friends list. It's a great hobby no doubt, and it's been super fun, the only challenge is going to be to keep playing with the same guys night after night, and hope that they enjoy the game as much as I do.

Dunks, Bourne, Rapture and Moving Out...

There's a lot going on right now to say the least, and most of it is positive.

To start off, I'm moving into a place in Bellevue in about a month. It's a three bedroom condo I'll be sharing with Monte and Dima, and I can't wait. While I'm not looking forward to paying rent, it's going to be awesome because of the two I'm moving out with. We all have a lot in common, share a lot of ideas, and in general it's just going to be a good time.

Speaking of good times, the Bourne Supremecy was one of the best movies I've seen in a LONG time. It's been a while since I've felt giddy at the end of a movie, and the third Bourne left me feeling that way. I'm actually watching the second movie in the series right now, and it's seriously great.

Bioshock... wow. More than likely the best FPS that I've played in a long time. There are times when playing this game that I can't put the controller down, and other times when something so cool happens that I have to take a step back and think: "Whoa, that really happened?" Such a great game, such an intense environment, it's worth every second to play through.

Lastly, Dunks. If you don't know yet, I've been obsessed with Nike Dunk SB's for a while now, and in November my obsessions will ring true. Nike brings me the Freddy Krueger SB's. There's really not much I can say. Check the pics below to see exactly what I'm talking about.

I leave for Cupertino for some Apple training on Monday... But really, how cool are these shoes?

AT&T Ruining iPhone experience...

AT&T is throughly ruining the iPhone experience.

I would encourage all new iPhone owners who are using AT&T for the first time to check their monthly statement.

A $36 activation fee + a $70 a month plan (Including the $10 more for 1,500 text messages) + 8.9% tax does NOT equal $139.73. Yet AT&T has no explanation as to why this costs what it does. It should be AROUND $117.

When I called AT&T on Friday, they said it was part of the plan and there was no way around it. I was told to call back on Sunday and speak with a representative, (which by the way is IMPOSSIBLE to find on their web site, if it exists at all) to find out that AT&T's customer service department is not open on Sunday.

Apple is known for their customer service, and yet AT&T is going out of their way to make it as hard as possible to use the iPhone, and even get ahold of a representative.

Can ANYONE give an explanation as to AT&T's logic, and again, I would encourage everyone to check their first iPhone bill to make sure AT&T is not trying to pull a fast one on all new iPhone owners.

Freefalling!! (In Crackdown)

I don' have much to say here, aside from the following video I took of the highest jump you can complete in Crackdown.

This is probably as close as I'll get to base jumping in my life, nevertheless it's fun to do. I'm far too busy jumping around to bother with a true entry today, but this should be sufficient.

Check it out:

It's here (Not just Crackdown)!

I'm usually not that excited about game releases.

Sure, I get excited while putting the disc into the system for the first time, but as for waking up and saying: "Yay! It's here!", that's a pretty rare occurrence. However, today was an exception.

I was in Vegas this year for CES, and noticed a playable version of Crackdown. The line was short, and people didn't seem too excited about it, so I passed go to Guitar Hero 2 instead. I immediately put Crackdown aside, telling my friend: "That looks like crap", and walking away. After hearing my friends rant and rave about it, I decided to download the demo, and have since put a pre-order down on the game, picked it up, and played it for the hour that I've been home. I've come to one conclusion regarding Crackdown, and I never thought I'd say it, but...

It's a great game.

Running, jumping, shooting, cel shaded, action, open city, XBox Live; all these things add up to create an experience I know I'll be playing for months down the road, and for the hour I've been playing it I haven't even started a mission. I've run around, shot thugs, jumped from building to building, and had a great time. Truly, Microsoft has come across something that's going to capture the hearts of gamers everywhere, and I apologize to them for immediately dismissing it as: "Just another GTA clone."

The second coming today, is my cousin Sydney. I assume she's being born now as my uncle send me a text message saying: "I see a lot of hair!"

Can't wait to meet ya' Sydney. Until I do though, it's back to Crackdown!

Crackdown and P.Rod's.

It's been a rather eventful afternoon, and when I say that I mean an expensive one.

Crackdown comes out tomorrow, and I vowed to my friend Chuck that I wouldn't play without him. When Call of Duty 2 was released for the 360 we played it for about 5 hours a night for a solid 3 months. Seeing as there hasn't been a co-op game out for a long time, and he refuses to play Call of Duty 2 anymore, this will have to do.

The demo was a lot of fun. Being as I've never played a Spider Man game before on a console, it was fun to run around jumping from building to building and fly through the air. The idea of gaining stats to increase certain abilities, all the while doing that with a friend adds a ton of replayability to the game. XBox Live is a great tool, but I feel that studios aren't using it enough to play TOGETHER, rather against your friends.

I also pre-ordered two pairs of shoes (Pictured below), the highly anticipated P.Rod II's from Nike, releasing in mid-March. I don't know why these have caught my eye so much, but I already see myself picking up each and every colorway they have to offer.

Well, time to count down until I get my hands on Crackdown, until then I'm gonna pick up a Wiimote and do some bowling.