After booting back up, I tried the game again, only to recieve a "Disc Unplayable" error. After trying several other games with the same result, I came to the conclusion that my drive was dead. Thankfully (i guess) my Elite is only 5 months old, and still under warranty. So after a brief chat with customer service, the rep told me that I will need to ship my machine back to good old Microsoft for repairs. While waiting for my return box to arrive, I caught up on some Live Arcade gaming. Ended up beating Puzzle Quest finally, and getting the achivement for forging a godlike item. Played some of the new demos in arcade, and downloaded the original Fable, which is grand, but still extremely buggy. (I plan on asking for a refund actually its so bad)
Ended up shipping the console back a week ago, along with Jack's PS3 which had a bad Blu-ray drive, interestingly enough. Anyway the repairs are already complete on my console, and I should be getting it back by mid week if all goes well. I'm actually pretty happy with the whole process. The rep from MS was knowledgeable and friendly, and I was only without a console for about a week and a half. Not too bad really. I mean it sucks that it broke in the first place, but at least they got it fixed quickly.
Anyway, Jack and I have been talking about the Fallout Series lately. Jack never had the pleasure of playing the best RPG series of all time, and with Fallout 3 due out late this year, I figured it was high time he got started. Jack borrowed Fallout and Fallout 2 from me, and hopefully will be playing through them soon. I have been playing a bit of Fallout Tactics, which is also a great game, but nowhere near as great as the other games in the series, and looking foreward to the release of Fallout 3. I can only hope that Bethesda does the series justice in their upcoming release. My biggest fear is that its just a port of Oblivion with a post-apocalytic feel to it. Not that Oblivion was bad.. It wasnt.. But it wasnt Fallout either. From what I have read about the release so far my fears are probably unwarranted. So I guess i'll just keep my fingers crossed.
On another note, Jack's buddy Earl, will be joining us as another contibutor soon. We are both looking forward to having some more help around here, keeping our content relevant, and timely. Earl definately shares our passion for gaming and we are sure you will enjoy reading his commentary.
On a final note.. If you are unforturnate enough to get the "Disc Unplayable" error, on a machine that is out of warranty, you may be able to fix it yourself. There are a couple of videos on You Tube which may help you.. The following link will show you how to fix the issue if its due to a defective magnet *you tube link*. I would only try this as a last resort though, and I asssume no responsibilty if you destroy your console attempting this.
Yes, SSBB is a fan service designed to shut the mouths of fucknuts, like myself, so we don't bitch that every other game they release is a jerkoff simulator that is neither fun, nor is it a video game. As angry as I am, there isn't much to complain about in SSBB. The graphics are actually quite good for such an under powered crap box, many characters to choose from, good tunes, and a very fun single player mode called The Subshop Ejaculation...oops, I mean Subspace Ejaculation.
Now that I've told you the good, let us rip into the ass of the everlasting nobgobler Nintendo for what they've screwed up this time, shall we?
Out of the 75 control schemes only 1 is good, you guessed it Gamecube controls. From a 20+ year history of iconic characters we get Mr. Game and Watch...really? So you're telling me he's a better choice than say Little Mac or The Eggplant Wizard? Shit, I'd settle for being able to choose the Excitebike rider, and when the fight starts he just stands there and says "where the fuck's my bike"? Of course that's an unrealistic request because Nintendo doesn't allow voice acting in their games, so I'd have to settle for speech bubbles and a 34 digit friend code to tell my friend to bring over his SD card so I can save my games (by the time I'm done with this you'll have forgotten what I'm bitching about and I'll have seemlessly transitioned into another rant) from the wii channel menu just to look at them and say "hey, if I want to play these games all I have to do is reload them back onto the wii channel menu. Where was I? Oh yeah, better characters.
Andy from Advance Wars- throws wrenches, heals self.
Fat Shop Merchant from the original zelda instruction manual, he's fat and is awesome! He can use all the items he sells-candle, arrows, etc. Now that's radical!!!
Fat Black Guy Trainer from Mike Tyson's Punchout - is basically a skin for Fat Shop Merchant, he's still fat, replace shop items with a gun, his finishing move is raping your white sister (that's both racist and stupid - not all black people commit felonies, and this is not Mortal Kombat)
That's it, just more levels and more characters, that's all it needs. Now go ahead and get back to playing it because I know you've already bought it didn't ya?
P.S. There is one other thing that Pisses me off. Lucas and Ness- playing as these 2 makes me want Mother 3 so bad I can fucking taste it! Hey Nintendo, enough with the yoga mat fuck me bullshit! Bring out Mother 1-3 on DS or virtual console!!!!
Total Tracks in Genre: 11
Length: approx. 38 mins.
This genre will leave you wondering how most of these bands got signed. In general, this is a poor choice to set as the background to the game, with a few notable exeptions.
Guide to rating: 1 = Avoid at all costs / 5 = Can't go wrong with this one.
Track 1
Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Track: Little Sister
Label: Interscope Records
Length: 2.53
Rating: 4
This rockin little track works very well for a variety of races. The song is quite catchy, and you will find yourself hoping it comes up in the playlist. The vocals work well, and the guitar phases are repetitive in a good way. Overall a good choice.
Track 2
Artist: Staind
Track: Right Here
Label: Atlantic Recording Corp.
Length: 4.18
Rating: 3
A catchy little rock ballad. The song isn't bad, but a little too 'tender' to work very well for a racing soundtrack. Not a terrible choice but there are other tracks in this genre which work better.
Track 3
Artist: Secret Machines
Track: Better Bring Your Friends
Label: Reprise Records
Length: 3.05
Rating: 2
This song is not a good choice for racing. It feels like a 3 minute long chorus. It just never really goes anywhere. Im not familiar with these guys, but if this track is indicative of the rest of thier offerings, I am scratching my head over which retard at Reprise decided to sign these guys. In any event, skip this one if it comes up.
Track 4
Artist: Mastodon
Track: Blood and Thunder
Label: Relapse Records
Length: 3.48
Rating: 5
This track is pretty bad ass. The guitar and vocals are very heavy. This track makes me wish my car was equipped with rocket launchers, or machine guns, so i could just gun down the other cars, and maybe even strafe the spectators. It works great for me for the big multiple car races. The best track in the genre.
Track 5
Artist: Dark New Day
Track: Brother
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Length: 3.50
Rating: 3
This song is a bit manic. The song goes from mellow to hard, to mellow. The vocals are non-descript. They sound like about a billion other bands. The track works resonably well for racing, but It gets boring after the first minute and a half or so.
Track 6
Artist: Thornly
Track: Come Again
Label: Roadrunner Records / 604 Records
Length: 3.46
Rating: 4
This song is a pretty good choice for racing. It starts off with a really catchy edgy guitar line. There is some use of keyboards/electronics which adds a bit of depth to the track as well. The vocals work well enough, and as a whole the track is diverse enough to sound fresh from start to finish.
Track 7
Artist: Head Automatica
Track: Beating Heart Baby
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Length: 3.24
Rating: 1
Umm.. I just don't get this song at all. It seems like they just didnt know what they wanted this song to be. The backgound vocals sound quite queer, and the lead tries to be harsh.. Then there is this key change at around 2.50 which is simply annoying.. Oh and they threw in a beating heart sound at the very end, just to ensure you know the name of the track is 'Beating Heart Baby'. How original. Ungh.. Just skip this track.
Track 8
Artist: Crazy Anglos
Track: Fade
Label: Atlantic Recording Corp.
Length: 3.10
Rating: 2
This song screams "We want to be Rage Against the Machine", as if that were a good thing.. I guess you would classify this as rap-core. Or maybe crap-core. Im going to give this a two, since im no fan of Rage, or anything derivative of it.. But other people may like this sort of thing.. And if you ignore the overwhelming desparation of it.. it is barely a passable track. Otherwise i would give it a 1.
Track 9
Artist: Unwritten Law
Track: Get Up
Label: Atlantic Recording Corp.
Length: 4.12
Rating: 2
This song screams "We want to be Helmet.. Oh wait we want to be Weezer.. Aw crap lets be both..". This song is just plain annoying to race to. Please skip.
Track 10
Artist: The Used
Track: I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes)
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Length: 2.20
Rating: 3
These guys remind me of "The Get Up Kids" a bit. Pop-punkish non-descript track. Doesn't work very well for any of the race types. But there are worse tracks in this genre.
Track 11
Artist: Skindred
Track: Pressure
Label: Atlantic Recording Corp.
Length: 2.20
Rating: 1
How do bands like this get signed? Highly derivative. Annoying. If you like this.. get your ears checked.
Next Up.. Hip Hop
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