What The Phuck, Philly!?!

I just don't friggin' get it.  What is it about Philadelphia sport teams that always seem to bite the bullet at the end.  Even with all the hype, even with all they shown coming up to a point, it always seem that when it comes to close the deal, they phucking choke.  And I am nothing short of a die-hard Philadelphia fan.  I love my Phillies, I love my Eagles, hell, even the Flyers and Sixers (when the Sixers had something to make of themselves).  I am just disgusted like other true Philadelphia sports fans are right now.

Take the NLDS and the Phillies.  Coming in to this they had the best record in MLB, 102-60.  They were favored to breeze into the NLCS past the wildcard Cardinals.  And what happened, they choke a few games and wasn't able to score shit for game 5.  Thus, pissing away a sure thing.  Now I'm thinking with such a great lineup like Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard, and, well do I have to spew out the entire lineup.  It's friggin' mind blowing how such talent produce such little profit.


And speaking of talent pissing away, how 'bout them Eagles.  Starting the season off at 1-3 after the so-called Dream Team they have been hyping up is now becoming a Nightmare at the Linc.  With the acquisition of star players like Vince Young and Nnamdi Asumugha to an already stacked lineup of Vick, McCoy, Jackson, Avant, Celek, etc., it was a shoe in for at least the playoffs.  Now it's a laughing stock of the NFC, if not the entire NFL.  I'm practically ashamed to support such a crap team.  And it's not really even the team, outside of those that are inactive to play and Vick's inevitable series of interceptions each game, it's the coaching that need to take the blame.  Many of years we stuck with Andy Reid taking us to the playoffs and when it counts, it fails.  We need a new coach.  We need new coaches.  We need a new dream here in Philly.


We need to wake up and smell reality and do something about these accusations.  It's too late for baseball, we got next year.  It's still not too late for football, but I"m not gonna hold my breath.  the NBA is postponed for at least two weeks for the strike, so it's not like the Sixers are gonna fill that void.  Hell, I'm just glad that hockey starting up and here's to the best for the Flyers.  So I ask again, WHAT THE PHUCK, PHILLY!?!


BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

(Seemingly) No More Originality in Gaming

It would be a misnomer if I said that there haven't been any kind of originality in videogames in this current generations of consoles because they're have been some diamonds in the rough. But as for the vast majority, it's pretty damn obvious that most things are a rehash of the same damn game from last gen.

I mean, if you look at games within the past decade (that's this generation and last generation of consoles) the only thing that has vastly improved was graphics. That's a pretty big obvious with everything and your grandma is on 1080p. But graphics can only carry a game so far. There has to be gameplay that separates that from its competition and the overall experience should be unique. There been innovators yeah, I'm not shitting on their parade, this is for those whom harp on a dead horse well past it's original novelty. And the worst offenders are at times the originators themselves. I'll get more on that later. Lets start on what I think is a major player in this; first-person shooters and the blandness that they crap out day in and day out. 

It used to be that gamers were those who escaped into a world of fantasy and lure. Now it's appears to trend to gung-ho, frat-boy, meat heads who couldn't give two shits about where a game takes them as long as it makes them feel more like a man while they're blowing the crap out of zombies, terrorists, aliens, or any other moving target programmers could think of that would look good when it goes BOOM!!! And I'll admit I was caught up at one point when Counterstrike came out way back when, but I was enlisted during that time. I matured since then. And it wasn't the only thing I was playing (or doing) at the time. But it seems that it's was only yesterday that Call of Modern Warfare 15: Black Ops Opus with it's Sector Seven DLC which added on 40% more sand and brown crap and insta-nuke capabilities and it's being outshun by that Master Iron Chef that blows up aliens with their intergalactic insta-nuke. Don't anybody else see that it's the same damn game?!? It's friggin ridiculous what leaps and bounds his tripe keeps coming into peoples living rooms. I don't understand it, I don't believe it, I'm through with it. It's crap. Please, get me off this hell genre and on to the next fail before I die of a brain aneurism then get shot by an asshole meathead. 

Let's tackle something more my alley, rhythm games. When did these fuckin newbs think they get off thinking they're rock stars because they waste four months of their lives trying to finish Dragonforce and then declare themselves kings of rock? Pick up a real guitar and do that I tell them and do it, then I'll might consider you alright. Tapping on a toggle and frisbees with chopsticks don't make you a bad ass either. I swear it's like an electronic Dummies manual for those that walk a friggin straight line. Now I'll give credit with that game that's supposed to have an actual six-string as a controller, but if it's just a piece of shit novelty like the toy guitars I give my sons if they're good at K-Mart, than I'll let that be the last straw that kills this. Honestly, WE'RE RIPPING OFF OF SIMON!!! Who doesn't see this crap. I mean to advance as far as to adapt a memory version of Solitaire from the 70's?!? Im disgusted. It's just about as bad as those paper guitars... So lame...

As for public videogame enemy number three, the crapshoot goes to those that continue to shell out the same damn game but under a different title. The worst of the worst is sport games such as Madden, the 2K franchise, and NASCAR. Madden in my opinion haven't changed or even evolved since 2001 and in my opinion stopped giving a shit singe they've became the NFL videogame monopoly. That alone pisses me off cutting down some of the other variety to such a great alternative to the actual sport. I mean Blitz was a great variant much like NBA JAM did for basketball in the arcades. But now were left with mediocrity and lameness. Speaking of lameness, the 2K series of games are just that. Just a newer variant of what was originally perfected from the Dreamcast era of gaming. It was a golden nugget of gaming then, now it's just a nugget of feces where the only gold you can see is the corn I ate last night. Of course that could be my bias since I was a hardcore Dreamcast fanatic (still am), but hey, it's my blog. I fan be as bias as whatever the hell I want. And then of all the sporting games there's NASCAR (yes it is a sport). It's no Need For Speed or GTA, it's just turning left for hours on end and timing pits at the right time. It's just boring as a game. Doing it in real life is friggin exciting, but on a plastic steering wheel on your lap, hell no. Sport games are and will always be lame cause its meant to be PLAYED, not SIMULATED!!! And no, online poker is not a sport because it's not on ESPN, just real people playing with other real people.

But that's my grief in gaming for the moment. Next time I come back to talk about gaming, I'll bring up some goodness to talk about. Because let's face it, videogames are meant to be fun and enjoyable. Then again, it's also fun to bash on something that is in dire need to be put in it's place.

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

Oh, and just to be fair, RPGs are all in the same damn mix too.  Don't believe me, here's a flow chart that proves me right.

If it's in HD, I'll watch it

That is the cold honest truth. I am an HDTV whore. If it's shown in at least 720p than I'll pretty much put it on my living room. I'll admit; at first I didn't really understand the whole new high definition revolution. Sure it was cool, but it was way too expensive. But I finally caved in and about 9 months ago I was amazed. I knew of how great it was from my friends (mainly playing either XBox 360 or PS3) and every time I went window shopping with my family. But I can tell you my friend from personnel experience, that having it in your house is a totally new game. I love whatever is on it and I can't seem to get enough of it.

I'm amazed of how many things are available in HD. I don't even have cable (or satellite for that matter, that's what friends are for, lol) and just picking up all the digital over-the-air signals are great; even thought I've posted on that already. But what I'm talking about is some of the things that I find myself watching in high definition. Some of which does makes sense, but others are just odd for a grown man to be watching.

One thing I never thought would be more interesting was local news. I'm actually more interactive in local happenings and current events due to news channels showing their broadcasts in HD. It's wonderful how clear it is seeing an birds eye view of a fire in progress or the weather being shown. I never felt that connected before and the only thing that I can think that attributed to this was my HDTV. Another thing that I currently enjoy is watching certain syndicated shows, not just re-runs. I loved watching 'Jeopardy!' before, but now I curse myself if I miss a day of it. Hell I even started watching 'Wheel of Fortune' again and Vanna White looks just as hot in high def as when she was young and hot twenty-some-odd-years-ago. And some syndicated re-runs of shows are shown in high def as well (at least where I'm at.) Shows like 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and 'Two and a Half Men' weren't on my list of must see TV, but are now things that I try to watch for a quick snippet of humor now that they're shown in HD. Even the 'Price is Right' is awesome to watch. My only regret on that is that it's friggin' Drew Carey and not Bob Barker. But with high def still in an infantile stage for most television viewers, you just have to take what you can get.

Which brings me to some more of the things that I find myself watching because its in high def. If you have children and actually give a damn on what they watch on television, than you might be able to relate. My kids watch a lot of educational programming and there's this show called Wordgirl. It's the only show on my PBSkids lineup that I know of that is shown in HD; and I submit myself to watching it because it's in HD. Essentially it's an animated cartoon about a super heroine that is very linguistic. But me being the HD junkie, I'm friggin hooked to it, it works! That's my pledge to all those dads that don't spend too enough time teaching their kids values; more HD educational and moral programming. You might learn something and, I dunno, bond with your children!?! What a concept...

But as we all know, HDTV was meant for us guys that loves to see guy stuff. And since I know that my wife is reading this, I AM OWNING THE TV ALL DAY SUNDAY FOR FOOTBALL!!! No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Football is awesome, it is meant to be seen with the utmost clarity. You can have your NASCAR (which I enjoy as well, lovez ya babe), your gymnastics, your equestrian riding, your whatever non-football sport that you have to watch, but I own it for football. No I am not foaming at the mouth, yet; but it is destiny that I shall be one with the gridiron. So I'll lay down a few guidelines. If your team is on, I'll give you superseding rights to watch your team (lose) over mine. If it's a game that I'm not interested in, you can have control until the next game of interest. And finally, there shall always be a cold beer near by. This is my offer, take it or leave it (please take it, that couch really sucks monkey nuts.)

But really, all sports are pretty damn awesome in high def. It gives the smack-in-your-face feel of being there, and that's to include all of the previous mentioned sports as well as professional wrestling. I know it's fake, but damn does it look awesome. Some other things that look awesome is graphic intense prime time shows such as CSI, NOVA, Law and Order, and even some of those reality shows like Big Brother. I like my HDTV, a lot (now I'm foaming at the mouth.) And I'm just talking about television programming in HD, not anything about Blu-Ray or videogames, or other media outlets that can be viewed in high def. Maybe another rant, but for now I think we need to rest. If you need me, I'll be waiting for Antiques Roadshow to come on, in high definition of course.

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...