Hey Guys!

Just wanted to pop in after another disappearance. 2010 is turning into an awesome year for me so far ( hope I didn't just jinx it ).

I've been focusing all my time on the college project I keep complaining about. It's about 80% done now!! I've got 26 pages of the 40 page report done, and the final circuit boards are almost ready to go. With any luck it will be finished in the next couple weeks, then it's job hunting time. I don't have enough for rent next month though, so I may have to live at school until it's done

Beat my first game of the year today: Assassin's Creed 2. Ubisoft really fixed all the repetitive problems the first one had. The ending and Subject 16's video really floored me! I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a story so much in a video game. I highly recommend it even if you hated the first one. Plus it's a great way to pick up some Italian words I'm planning to go for the platinum trophy now. Just need No Hitter, Messer Sandman, Sweeper, and Kleptomaniac.

Speaking of platinum, I also got my second platinum PS3 trophy for InFamous. Wasn't too hard, but I never want to see another blast shard or electric sticky grenade again.

See what I can do when World of Warcraft doesn't take up all my gaming time? I'll be moving on to Uncharted 2 once I'm bored with AC 2. Then, I swear, my Xbox 360 will be dusted off.

So yeah, having lots of fun gaming and doing lots of work on my project have kept me away for the site this time. Sorry I've been missing all your blogs too but I probably won't be around or another few weeks.

Quote of the Month: "Nulla e reale, tutto e lecito" - Ezio Auditore, Assassin's Creed II.

Merry belated Christmas, Happy 2010, and whatever other holidays you celebrate! I hope you all had a safe and happy hoilday season!

I had a really great Christmas and birthday on the 24th! Although I do kind of feel old now that I'm 21. I didn't get everything I asked "Santa" for last blog (his car broke down and he had to pay over $1000 to get it fixed so I understand ), but I'm really happy with my haul this year. I got Assassin's Creed II, Uncharted II, and inFamous (all for the PS3). For my birthday, I got The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks.

I managed to beat inFamous on New Year's Eve giving me a grand total of 2 games beat in 2009. It was dangerously close to only being one so I'm happy. inFamous was amazing, and the ending was a real shocker! (bad pun, sorry) I beat the game as good first, and now I'm working on the evil side/collecting all the trophies. I kind of feel bad making Cole evil though

Since it's a new year, I've decided to make my own best and worst of 2009 blog. Looking back, 2009 turned out to be one of the fastest and most challenging years I can remember. Surgery, failing my project, being stuck in debt, getting my wisdom teeth out, and worst of all: an even more dismal gaming year than last year.

So without further adieu:

[Overall Best Game Played]

This is my favourite game of 2009. Since I only played a couple games this year, it wasn't exactly hard to pick the winner:

Resident Evil 5 - I really enjoyed the story, the action, and the graphics were just simply jaw dropping.

[Boss That Killed Me The Most]

That one boss who just wouldn't go down, and inspired the worst "hurl my controller at the TV moment" of 2009:

Ndseu, Resident Evil 5 - Sure, he's a pushover on easy/normal but try beating him on Veteran/Professional. A couple smacks with a light pole and a few annoying Majini rockets then it's game over.

[Best Game I Think I Missed Out On]

This is a tough one! 2009 was one of the best years for games and I never got a chance to play most of them:

Batman Arkham Asylum - With amazing scores, and everyone saying how fun it is, I feel like this is the best game I never got to play. I'm definitely getting it this year though

[Biggest Acomplishment]

I'd like to say it was graduating college (stupid project... ) but instead this award goes to my best gaming achievement of theyear:

Resident Evil 5 Platinum Trophy -I had to play through the game 3 times, and tons of Lickers lost their lives to raise enough money to upgrade everythig but I did it!

[Best Virtual Item]

Sure it's nothing but shiny pixels, but this award goes to may favourite in-game item of 2009:

Raven Lord Mount, World of Warcraft - I must have killed the boss that drops this at least 100 times but I finally got it in 2009.

[Most Annoying Enemy]

This enemy wasn't hard to beat by any means. This one enemy just had some annoying quality that got on my nerves the most last year:

Scrap Crab Spider thingys, inFamous – It doesn't take much to kill them but they can really get under your skin. They tend to scurry away and hide, then track you down after you've forgotten about them. Don't get me started on their rocket launcher wielding master though.

[Biggest Dust Collector]

This award sadly goes to the gaming console that was neglected the most last year. It's really not its fault, I just can't seem to find the time to play the poor thing...

Yep, it's my Xbox 360. Anyone who has me on Live will notice it's been over 2 years since I logged in. I vow to play it more in 2010. I just hope it doesn't go "Red Ring of Death" on me as its revenge.

[The "Just Plain Fun" Game of the Year]

This award goes to the game that I simply had the most fun playing. Blasting things, making decisions that effect the story, it was all just shockingly awesome:

inFamous. I could go on forever about how much fun it is to zap people with lighting and surf on power lines. Let's just say I had a blast!

***

I hope everyone has a great 2010! It's The Year of the Tiger so I have a feeling it'll be a good year

This blog is kind of hard to type since I'm holding an ice pack up to my face. In case you're wondering why, I got 4 wisdom teeth removed yesterday so my face kind of hurts... a bit The surgery wasn't too bad though. I have no idea what was in the IV they hooked me up to, but I have never been that relaxed before in my life (even when I heard the ripping noise my teeth made)! It only took 10 mins. too I just really miss being able to chew solid food. It was also nothing compared to the surgery I had in Sept.

Luckily this is a great time to relax, play games, eat ice cream (which feels awesome after you've had teeth removed!), and catch up on GameSpot stuff!

-Gaming Stuff-

Now Playing: I've dug out my DS (which is still the old "fat one" by the way ) and I've started playing Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga and The World Ends With You. These are two titles from my pile of games I need to beat from last blog. I'm not far enough into The World Ends With You to offer any opinions on it, but Superstar Saga is really fun! I love the sense of humor in it

Christmas Wish List: It's Dec. 1st which means it's Christmas in 25 days (oh and my birthday in 24 )! I can't afford any new games, but my parents said they'll get me some for Christmas! I've asked for 7 games but told them they only have to get me my top 4. Here's my list:

1. Banjo Tooie (N64)- Yes, the old Nintendo 64 version of it! I owned it a while ago but sold it. I loved the music and atmosphere in the game and would love to own it once again.
2. Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360) - I enjoyed the first one despite it's major flaw: repetitiveness. Based on the reviews, it seems Ubisoft got the sequel right! They need to work on the commercials though
3. InFamous (PS3)- I've Heard nothing but good things about it!
4. Uncharted 2 - Haven't played the first one but oh well.
5. Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)- Again, I've heard nothing but good things.
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)- I'm not a huge fan of shooting games but I've decided to give this one a try.
7. Dragon Age: Origins (PS3) - It's been a while since I've played a new RPG and this one looks awesome!

You'll notice that there are more PS3 versions of games on my list than Xbox 360 games. That's only because I want to try and have an even number of games for both Also, notice there's not a single Wii game on my list. That's mostly because I can't think of any Wii games worth getting this year... 2010 should be a great year for the Wii though (new Zelda, Mario, and Metroid! ).

-Life Stuff-

I'm taking a slight break from my project this week due to the pain where my wisdom teeth use to be I thought I'd explain how my project is going so far though. I won't bore anyone with details, but if you're considering a career in Electronics, here's some of the cool stuff you get to do!

Right now my partner and I have our first circuit board made (well I did this board but my partner has to do the next one ). It started out with a schematic, and then I had to make a board layout design with a computer program. After 2 days (and lots of frustration) here's what the finished layout design looked like:

Way harder to make than it looks like

I used this to create files for the machine that actually etches, drills, and cuts out the board from a special piece of cooper. Thankfully, the instructor made an easy to use guide on how to get all the files right (otherwise I would have been totally lost). Here's my board being created by the machine:

It took the machine about 6 hours to make my board. That means I had to sit there and stare at itmake the board for 6 hours. I took the pictures above mainly out of boredom. The machine also costs about $30,000 so I'm glad I didn't break it! Once the board was finished, my instructor told me to put it in liquid tin which will help me solder components to it:

My circuit board's nice relaxing "Tin Bath"

There were about a dozen warnings on the Liquid Tin bottle so I was a little scared using it. My instructor gave me gloves though. After I was done, he did one of his boards and took it out with his bare hands! All that's left is to solder the parts on to the board, then I can start testing it. It better work after all that!

So yeah, my project is slowly coming along. I still need to worry about that 40 page report once all the hands on stuff is done though.

***

My head hurts, my jaw hurts, and I really want to eat something solid! Other than that, I'm happy since it's my favourite month of the year!

Have an awesome week everyone!!

Quote of the Week: "Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself." - Tom Wilson