Temporary Hiatus

Well if you received my messages last week over XBL, it has finally happened. Our interne, phone, and cable have all been shut off. We still have basic cable so i have died of boredom just yet. I will be away from XBL and the general gaming world for 2-4 weeks and hope to be back soon. However with this absense from Xbox Live I can get a lot accomplished in the single player games. COD4 has finally been completed. I am now a member of the Mile High Club, and I did without a girl and a tiny ass bathroom! Apart from COD4 im going to continue to play NCAA08 and probably NCAA Basketball 2K7 as march madness nears. I think i’ll also dive back into the Game of the Year; Bioshock and have another go at its achievements. So, without XBL i hope to get a lot accomplished and catch up to some of you other gamer score whores!

–BD

So many games, so little money

With Christmas time right around the corner (yes its November!), I should be happy that I don’t have to go out and purchase in hopes that I receive them for Christmas. Instead, I’m upset at the fact that I cant go out and get GHIII or COD4, and hell even Orange Box. Assassins Creed and Mass Effect are coming and I’m stuck with Halo 3! By the time 2008 is here hopefully all those games will be in my collection, but right now I’ve got to continue to wait until I get a job.

Needless to say, BD is a SAD PANDA…

 

Have fun with the games.

-BD

Launch Day Remembered

                        

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November 21st, 2005 was a day that I wont ever forget. The first time I camped out for a console started out as a rough one I settled in for the night outside of a local Circuit City. Meeting these other 10 people in line all awaiting the Xbox 360.

But first, let me start you off on how I got to that Circuit City. We began calling around stores that would carry the Xbox 360 at 6:30 PM. Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Toys-R-US, and even Comp USA made the list. We had questions, none of them had good answers. We knew this launch was going to be BIG, but from what we have heard, we did not think it was possible.

Walking into Wal-Mart at 7:00 PM, I had 1 mission, get in line for this baby. Before this mission could get started i realized that the line was twisting its way through numerous isles, where i eventually saw one sad looking guy sitting on the ground. I asked him "is this the line for the 360?" he answered, "yeah….they only have like 6 consoles." I didn’t say anything after that, because i really didn’t have a back-up plan. I realized this was going to be tougher than i thought.

We leave the store, grab something to eat, go to the grocery store to pick up some food for Thanksgiving and come back home. By now, its well after 8:00 PM. We give some more stores a call before i decide we should just drive around and see what we can find.

First stop on the tour was Best Buy. The line was wrapping around the store, people all bundled up, looking like they where having a great time. My hopes of getting this console where slipping away. Next stop…and my savior…Circuit City.

To get into Circuit City, you have to pass it first, then do a U-Turn. I noticed there where about 10 cars in the entire parking lot…not a line forming. We pulled into the lot, right up near the entrance where an older lady was standing and i asked her "are you waiting in line for the 360?" she replied "well, my daughter works in the store and SHES going to be waiting for the 360, but she wanted me to hold her spot until she got off." My hopes looked good.. "how many consoles do they have?" she answers "well, from what I’ve heard 6 total consoles…you’ll have to ask her for more information." That’s all i needed to know, i looked at my dad and told him to go home and get me a blanket, a chair, and a form of entertainment.

I hopped outta the car…got behind the older lady, and now the waiting began.

Soon, the lady leaves and her daughter takes her spot. I’m not good with names, so i have no idea what hers was…my first guess was Sarah. Anyway, another employee comes out and says he’s next in line. It really doesn’t matter, because i will later find out that they have 4 premium and 2 core. I say ok, and let the guy have his spot. As time goes on, my dad arrives with my things and everyone else managed to get their gear also. We talk for a bit about the console and the games.

Its around midnight when more and more people show up. We let them know the low-down on the quantity of the consoles and they decide its not worth it and leave. A few times they would get in line, talk for a bit as if they are coming up with an alternate plan and then they leave. We just sit, in the 20 degree weather, trying to stay warm.

Around 1 AM, i am good to go. I wasn’t given any caffeine so I’m running on pure excitement now. The manager of the Circuit City actually stopped by a few times to check on us. Calling us all crazy for staying out there. He was pretty cool about everything and even brought us some hot chocolate from McDonalds. Around 3AM, one the ladies decides to pull up her van and we can all take turns sitting in there getting warm. No one has showed up in a couple of hours, so we assume its safe. I, being the smart one, take her up on the offer to get in the van and stay warm. If she wanted to kidnap me, she could’ve, but then again she was waiting in line for her son’s Christmas gift.

We talked….a lot. It passed time by rather quickly and before you know it, the sun was coming up. I was running out of energy as the excitement wore off. I packed my things together, set them off to the side and took my spot in line….2nd in line. We decided a whole spot wasn’t going to make a difference so the guy let me get in front of him. My dad is there to pay for my console. The time was near. They came out, handed us our vouchers (see below), and told us of the plan. We would form a line leading into customer service, hand them our ticket, which was good for 24 hours, and get our console.

                                             

Finally inside, and ready to pick up my console, my dad looks into his wallet and realizes that he does not have his debit card. I kid you not, i nearly crapped myself right there on the spot. He took some money out of the bank earlier and left his card there. So i waited off to the side with my ticket still in hand. 20 minutes later he is back, pays for the console…and i am out of the store in a hurry.

Back home, i get it hooked up, with no games i didn’t have much to do. Just downloaded lots of demos and trailers. Now, looking back, i consider myself lucky that my console has lasted this long. Its still alive and doing well and I’m very fortunate that i haven’t had to go through customer service.

What a year it has been for the 360. Packed with games that define next-gen, packed with news and the upcoming titles in this next-gen war. Thank you Microsoft and Xbox for making me one happy customer!

–backdraft123

#129

Looking Back on the Year That Was

                                                             

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I didnt honestly think i would make it this far with my blog. All my other personal webpages that i put, were pulled back down in less than a month. Generating page views, comments, typing out entries, staying up to date on current gaming news, and keeping everything fresh is hard to manage, unbelievably. But somehow, i made it.

Now i really dont have much to say. Thanks to everyone for making this blog happen and keeping me motivated. Thanks to my common viewers Haloaded, TormentX, SuperGhost, Cru, ICandee, and im sure there are a ton more. Sorry if your name wasnt mentioned but my thanks still goes out to you.

 

Ok, lets cut the bullsh*t and see some statistics, eh?

 

Total Entries: 126 blog entries

Total Comments: 535 blog comments

Total Trackbacks: 1

Total Page Views: 14,279 page views as of November 14th, 2006.

 

Expect more blogging, more reviews, more opinions, and the return of Gamers Behind the Spaces. Thanks once again to everyone for stopping by and checking my blog out. Dont be shy, send a friend request!

 

–backdraft123

Becoming an All-Madden Player

                                             

So after playing Madden since its release i’ve gotten surprisingly better at the game. Of course i’ve played for nearly 30+ hours since i got the game which is considerably good. Each session usually lasts 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the pace of the game. Now, i started out on Pro, which is the middle difficulty setting. Struggled for a bit then as soon as i busted up 2 teams and beat them by 30 or more points i knew i was good to move on.

Then i moved onto All-Pro. Now this is where it gets a tad harder but i still did pretty good. I went undefeated in my franchise, winning the Super Bowl at the end. I only had about 2 close games. 1 game i won on a hail mary that was from 80 yards out. Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne to win the game. Ask Torment, he was talking to me when i did that.

 

Moving onto All-Madden. Without a doubt its the toughest brand of football i’ve ever played. I start trying to read defenses, select audibles for my WR’s, set-up blocks with my HB’s, select blitzes with my DBs and such. I then noticed the game’s faults. The defensive AI is about as useless as a shit covered rock. Not even kidding.

 

I then decided to take a break from that. The frustration was overwhelming so i went online to play. Immediatly i noticed that nearly everyone plays the same kind of ball. All-Blitz and long bombs on offense. They KNOW the defense of any team is pretty useless then add on the fact that the game plays much slower online they are ALWAYS open downfield.

 

So, if your a straight up player and play the game with logical thinking, shoot me a FR. I’ll be playing as the Colts, i never play as any other team, unless im tired of beating you over and over again. Hehe, only joking.

 

–backdraft123

 

Update

Im feeling a ton better, but still kind of under the weather. So when i get healthy, i’ll be back to my regular blogging updates. I apologize to my readers who look forward to my updates. Thanks to everyone for wishing me a speedy recovery. I’ll see you all online!

 

–backdraft123

 

PS– Oh yeah, for anyone who is wanting to work at Taco Bell, you might be in luck.

 

 

Kidney Stones Suck!

This morning at around 12 AM, i began having some lower to mid back problems on my left side. For about 30 minutes the pain was just uncomfortable. I got up took a shower and tried to just walk it off, thinking that i must have been leaning on my side the wrong way…..i was wrong.

 

After my shower, at around 1:30 AM, i start having more problems. You can laugh if you want, but my left testical (or nut, ball, whatever you want to call it) was hurting. I felt like i just got a swift kick in the nuts…about 20 times. Again, i had no idea what the problem was, and just thought that i would "go away." I was wrong about that too…

 

About 1 hour goes by before i finally give in and wake up my dad. I could hardly stand, i couldnt sit and i couldnt lay down. I go into his room and just tell him everything. Oh, and not to mention, i got sick a couple of times also. All that came up was water…no food at all.

 

After about 1 hour of him searching around on the internet trying to figure out what in the world is wrong with me, he finally decides to take me up to the hospital. I havent been to a hospital in a LOOOOOONG time. I think the last time i was there for my own personal need, was when i slipped a disc in my neck and was there to get Xrays and such.

 

So, we get to the hospital i tell the 2 people that ask me what happened. They check my vital signs and such, and have me just sit there with some of the worst pain i have ever felt in my 16 years of life on Earth. They finally tell me to go back into one of the rooms with the standard hospital bed, needles, and stuff like that. I thought i was staying overnight….i was wrong about that.

 

I pee in a cup, they take some samples. They stick an IV in me, which didnt really hurt at all. Take some samples of my blood, and give me a pain killer. Morphine, which i thought was going to work wonders, just dulled the pain. Made me a little light-headed for about 20 seconds and then that went away. By now, its about 4:00 AM and i am dead tired. Im pretty sure it wasnt the morphine that made me so tired, but anyway….more fun was still yet to come.

 

They take me over to the room where they have their CAT-SCANS. Its another first for me. Basically lay down on the bed and they scan your body for anything suspicious. I almost fell asleep on that bed, but the guy woke me up when it was done.

 

Go back to my room….wait about 10 minutes before they give me 2 more things of morphine. Again, it just dulled the pain, nothing else. 20 minutes later, DR. comes in and says "well, its a kidney stone for sure". Im like "im only 16….not 50. How do i get a kidney stone?" She just smiled handed my dad this pink sheet explaining everything, and that was pretty much it.

 

So now, i have 2 things of medicine. One if a pain killer and the other is medicine to clear out any urinary diseases. That was my fun and exciting morning.

 

–backdraft123