I got Guitar Hero III for my PS2 today. It sucked because Game Crazy didn't have a bag big enough to hold the box (unsurprisingly; I mean it is a big box.) So I ended up having to carry the game for more than a mile home. It probably looked real funny to see a kid walking across 185th with a guitar hero box by his side. I held it at a really weird angle so my left wrist got totally numb.

When I finally got home, I unpacked everything, hooked the wireless guitar up, etc. For some reason, my guitar was not producing a signal. After going through a whole pile of batteries, I finally realized that the switch on the guitar was not turned on. Dumb. After getting past my own stupidity, I really took a liking to Guitar Hero. I'm still having to deal with connection problems though; sometimes I'll flick the bar and get no response. I thought it was the batteries, but the game came with a fresh set of batteries in the box, so I don't know.

I also bought Final Fantasy X. Great game so far, I'm only about an hour in. Right now, I'm on the island full of blitzballers. I've already finished with God of War II, but I'm still stuck on the last mission of San Andreas, so I'll have to go back to that sometime.

By the way, having a Guitar Hero character that resembles Jimi Hendrix, but NOT having a Fender Strat to go with him, is a CRIME!

I just got through with finals this week, so I've had nothing to do over the weekend. I noticed that I haven't updated my page for my nonexistent readers. So I was like, "what the heck, I'm kind of bored anyways."

About a month or so ago, I finished all my college applications and decided that I wanted buy a new console. I'm going to college in less than year, and it'll probably be hard to play video games on a console in a cramped dorm. So buying something like a 360 didn't really makes sense since I'd only have 7 months to play it. So instead I bought a Playstation 2. Why not? The system and its games are great and dirt cheap now that all the next generation consoles are out. Here's al the games I bought and what I think about them so far.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy

This is probably the deal of the century as far as video games go. The trilogy comes with the original Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas. Grand Theft Auto III is still totally rad. I have a lot of respect for the guys who developed this game. It probably took a hell of a lot of work to create Liberty City, especially when the player can go anywhere he wants.

Vice City: totally awesome. I think Vice City is probably my favorite of the three. When you look back on GTA III after playing Vice City, it's hard not to notice the lack of style the game had. Vice City introduced to me to a lot of great music: The Human League, Corey Hart, Nena, etc. I've actually finished the game so I'll probably write a review about it soon.

Hey, guess what? San Andreas is also awesome. i came into the game thinking that it took place in three cities. But it's a lot more complex than that. A lot of the game actually takes place in the rural area in between the cities. So San Andreas actually feels like more like a state than three cities with nothing in between.

The only problem with playing so much Grand Theft Auto is that the game kind of gets repetitive after a while. There are plenty of differences between the GTA III games, but the basic gameplay is still the same. Having to drive across town to complete a mission can get frustrating, especially when you can't get past that mission. Hopefully GTA IV will change this.

God of War II

To be honest, I'm kind of disappointed with God Of War II. As far as the presentation goes, it's incredible. The game looks and sounds beautiful, and the action is totally visceral. But I find myself mashing the buttons a whole lot.

I feel kind of bad about critiquing any kind of game, since I know how hard the developers worked to bring that game to life. Especially a game like God of War II, which is beautiful even on the PS2. It must suck to have people dis your game when you've been working for years on making it (though I doubt the guys at SCEA are having that problem.)

GranTurismo 4

I thought I would totally love GT4. I've been watching the BBC program "Top Gear" for a couple years, and I totally love cars. But worrying about "under steer" and "the apex" just feels kind of weird in a video game. Gran Turismo is just too much simulation for me, so I've only done like about seven or so races. It doesn't help that I've been playing a whole lot of GTA for a month, a game where you only have to worry about the throttle, the brake, and the cops. I'm probably more of an arcade racer kind of guy, so I'll probably buy Burnout Revenge soon and try that out. As for GT4, I'll probably pick it up again after I finish GTA and God of War.

So yesterday I was once again in another exciting class of AP English Language. Our class is in a discussion about a book we're reading called "The Grapes of Wrath." Then the teacher closes his book and tells us to take out two pieces of paper.

F***. Time for another in class essay.

I'm sooooo bad at writing these things. But I was hoping it was going to be on the Grapes of Wrath, a book which I feel I can talk about. He turns on the overhead, and instead I find this:

"Write an essay about a controversial issue taking place in today's world. Show both opposing sides and propose a solution."

What the hell? The most random essay prompt I've ever seen. Instead of analyzing rhetoric or syntax, he throws something like this at us. So I'm sitting there dumbfounded on what to do, when it hits me. What's a controversial issue that I know something about? Why, what about the ever occurring debate about violence in video games? Perfect!

I write my essay, talking about the history of video game legislation with a brief mention of Jack Thompson here and there. Frankly, I think it's the best essay I've ever written in that class.

Right now I'm in the orchestra playing in the School Musical. That and the continuous supply of homework have kept me pretty busy these past weeks. I really want to get some free time somehow. Especially with all the games coming out. Supreme Commander, God of War II, Command and Conquer III? I've never seen a Q1 lineup like this in a long time. Should be fun.