The bottomline is the PS3 will never have the opportunity to be better than the 360 if developers continue to develop for the 360 first. The best scenerio out of a port is equality. And in most cases there are little hickups that give hints to one being the lead platform. Whether that be a blurry image (that you can only tell by viewing both versions of the game), bad framerates, or poor texture/lighting. Oblivion and GRAW 2 are the only exception, but they spent a lot of extra time on both of those.

I sure hope this changes and more developers follow Infinity Ward by having separate teams and splitting the load. The PS3 may have more potential but we as gamers may never see it from certain developers. The two producers/developers I see this being an issue with are Ubisoft and EA. That is why for now, I choose to buy games from these two producers/developers for my 360.

Games have definitely improved over the past year for PS3. In my opinon the PS3 has done better than the 360 did its first year, but games will only be as good as they are made. And it just so happens two of the biggest names out there care more about 360 owners. This is obviously due to install base, but how is the install base supposed to improve for the PS3 if these key companies don't get their act together. Its a vicious circle. Our only hope is for Sony to support and "instruct" the developers and hopefully they'll get it eventually. I still have high hopes for my PS3. I honestly prefer the controller and just plain like the machine more than my loud white beast.

I finally received my token on Saturday, September 1st. It was the last official wave according Fourzerotwo. If you signed up for the beta during the 24hour open enrollment period and still haven't received a token he states to email him.

I have to admit I always thought pessimistical about the situation and thought if I was going to get a token it would be the last wave. Maybe it was my negative attitude that was haunting my luck or maybe it was something else.

First of all I would like to stress I have no problem with individuals from other countries. We are all a product of our society and surroundings. If someone is different than you it doesn't mean either are superior over the other. With that said, every time I get into a match and hear some one speaking a different language I can't help but feel bitterness inside. I'm sure it will go away, but it hasn't yet.

Now I do realize a small portion of those individuals may be living in the US. We do have immigrants that live here after all. If people want to get technical, we are all immigrants except for the Native American Indians, but I'm not trying to be overly technical. However I know a good portion, maybe all aren't from the US. How do I know? Well I'd say 98% or more of individuals where English isn't their primary language still speak English when they know they are surrounded by people that speak English. Maybe there are special circumstances and loopholes in my thought process but once again I'm not trying to be technical, just generalizing.

My hostility derives from the countless hours spent trying to get into the beta and checking my email every hour on the hour. There are few things that irritate me more than individuals breaking rules that in turn affect other people. Drinking and driving comes to mind. If someone gets behind the wheel intoxicated and injures or kills someone else it pisses me off. Illegal immigrants who take jobs away from US citizens is also very fitting and a metaphor of what we have here. Now I know those are more serious situations and this is just a videogame. But when we spend hours on end playing games amongst our everyday lives, it becomes a part of us and we get personal and competitive with it. The bottomline is when Non-US individuals sign up for the beta they are taking tokens away from those that are supposed to get it. This goes for those individuals that are under the age of 18 as well but that's a different story.

There are still people from the U.S. that haven't got in. I feel for you all. I know many non-americans are following the rules and waiting for their official turn at playing. And its not like I "hate" the people that are breaking the rules, its just a small irritation every time I hear someone you can tell isn't living in the US. There was no way Infinity Ward could patrol the situation. I tend to use the motto "It is what it is." I accept I have to deal with it, suck it up, and realize rules are meant to be broken by many people. Can we blame them? It is a game and Infinity Ward is doing a fine job to create something that so many people want to be a part of. It definitely is a dilemma. I just felt like voicing my opinion on the issue. I've heard the same sense of irritation from others playing online and wanted to say I can relate.

In the end I keep telling myself, "Its just a f**king game man!"

Note: I also posted this in the charlieoscardelta.com board.

Update 8.8.07

I've started my new Metal Gear Solid 4 wallpapers based on the 2007 E3 demonstration and trailer footages. My reason for this is to have wallpapers that show the "in game/realtime" footage of this awesome game. Since my source material are not super high resolution pictures, the wallpapers aren't as crisp as the Solid Snake on the right of the older MGS4 wallpapers. However, I'm using IGN Insiders' hi-def movies to capture the images so it still looks great on your tv (720p and 1080i). I don't have a 1080p TV so I can't comment on that setting.

I'm including the first of a three or four series. The new wallpapers are in 1080p and this time around I'm including my favorite XMB overlays and also just the wallpaper itself for those that prefer to go without it. Enjoy.

Update 8.1.07

Added 1080p (1920x1080px) MGS4_v1 "Raiden" edition link. More MGS wallpapers of E32007 trailer and demonstration coming soon!

Update 7.29.07

I designed some Assassin's Creed XMB wallpapers. They are my favorite yet. Let me know what you guys think.

Update 7.27.07

Revised the MGS4_v2. Made the red honeycomb shape darker to make it easier to see the main menu item in the xmb. Also made the spot southeast of the red honeycomb shape darker to see items that tend to hover over that area.

Also resized the images due to photobuckets size limit. The original size was 1920x1080 but once I uploaded them to photobucket.com they downsized to 940x529. I didn't realize this until many have already downloaded them. My apologies. The new size for MGS4_v1 and v2 is now 1600x900. MGS4v3 was within the size limit so is still 1920x1080.

Update 7.26.07

If you like what you see feel free to use them. Thats why I put them on here, besides showing my creative juices. This coming fall will be my last year in school for Graphic Design. I need to warm up before school starts back up.

I primarily make my XMB wallpapers functional, and then pleasing to the eye. So you should have no problem seeing the menus items.

Heavenly Sword:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/heavenlysword_xmb.jpg

Metal Gear Solid 4, (I really designed one and did some variations for fun):

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/MGS4_v1.jpg

1080p version:

http://www.simpledudesmedia.com/anderson/MGS4_v1_1920x1080.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/MGS4_v2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/MGS4_v3.jpg

Assassin's Creed:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/AssassinsCreed_v1_a.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/AssassinsCreed_v1_b.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/AssassinsCreed_v2_a.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f292/gamecrazed/AssassinsCreed_v2_b.jpg

http://www.simpledudesmedia.com/anderson/MGS4_2nd_edition_001.jpg

http://www.simpledudesmedia.com/anderson/MGS4_2nd_edition_001_none.jpg