Blog are up at Gamercastnetwork.com.  So if you are an existing member, or want to sign up if you're not, you can now have access to your own full featured blog.  You'll have the ability to make posts, of course, share links, post pics, and many more options to check out. 

If you don't know what GCN is it's the central hub for podcasts like Video Game Show, Achievement Junkies, Uncle Gamer, and many more.  Also GCN provides users with a great place to discuss everything from Retro Gaming to what's the latest episode of Heroes.

 

A few weeks back I traded in some old games that I had finished and decided to get a PS3.  I bought one for a few reasons.  I wanted a Blu-Ray player especially with movies like Ratatouille and House of Flying Daggers only available on Blu-Ray Disc format.  I also wanted it for gaming of course.  I wanted to see what was making the other side so confident that "their" system could rule all.

At this point everyone know the 60GB PS3-yes they still have them available in stores-does not come with an HDMI cable nor does it come with any component cable.  I had an extra lying around my house so I hooked it up and went through setting up my user name, account information, and tweaked some AV settings for my TV and surround sound system all of which took about an hour.  Then came the frustrating part-network set-up.

Since my Xbox 360 was connected to my router with a wired connection, I opted to connect the PS3 wirelessly.  I must have spent hours trying to get an open NAT (an open NAT basically means you'll have the least trouble connecting with other gamers) and an equal amount of time on the phone with Sony and on Internet forums (thanks GCN) to figure out how the hell to make the PS3 work properly with my router.  Most of the suggestions pointed me to do things to my router that I didn't necessarily think was safe so eventually I said screw it.  So far I haven't encountered that many problems playing online but then again I think I've played one single match online but we'll get to that later.

Now that I had my PS3 set up I downloaded a few demos, all of which looked and played great.  Motorstorm was incredible looking and Need For Speed Pro Street was equally fun.  And just a few day ago I had the opportunity to play Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and was blown away.  However, the PS3 may have these great games coming out or already out that are also on the Xbox 360 like Call of Duty 4 but most of my online friends play them on the Xbox 360.  So at this point any cross-platform game that comes out from now until the foreseeable future is most likely going to be a 360 purchase.  And since the PS3 doesn't have a lot of first party games coming out this year, I really don't see the need to purchase much else besides Uncharted. 

Should I feel bad that my PS3 doesn't get a lot of use or nearly as much as the 360 sitting proudly right next to it?  Should I feel a bit sad when I play COD4 on the 360 instead of the PS3?  The answer is simply no.  They are machines.  They don't have feelings.  But in all seriousness the PS3 is going to be fine.  After spending hours with it and watching gaming sites and listening to various podcasts, most people including myself feel that the PS3 has a lot of potential especially in 2008.  Developers will have had plenty of time to get use to programming for the PS3 and  first party titles should be coming out of the wood work and away from the delay table.  The big question for gamers is can they wait?  Or better yet will they wait any longer?

It's been far to long since I've posted anything but I've kind of been in a weird funk lately.

Two months ago my pet dog, Tori was put to sleep on a rainy August morning. 

I had Tori since she was a puppy.  We, as in my sister and the rest of the family, bought her from our church youth director's farm in July 1993.  I was 12 years old at the time and very excited to get another dog.  (My other dog Madison had past away in 2002 or 2003)  We taught Tori how to sit, and shake but she was too stubborn to rollover.  She loved to play in the backyard and be outside all the time.  She would lay in the sun for hours and come inside and chew all her toys up.

Over the past few years, Tori really started to show her age.  She became less active and stopped playing with her toys.  This became especially prominent after my other dog, Madison, had passed away in the arms of my mom at the pet hospital.  It became tough for Tori to eat her food so we started to have to saturate her food with warm water so it would go down easier.  Then on top of that, while I was watching a movie with a neighbor, and her Tori yipe from outside.  She had just ruptured a tendon in her back leg.  She was later taken in for surgery where she recovered remarkably well yet still never the same.  She never once tried to go up the stairs anymore and began to have problems standing up on our hardwood floors months after that accident.  She would then have problems holding her bowls and that's when it became time to make a decision.

After what seemed to be weeks of talking with my parents, I came home one day and my mom told me with tears in her eyes that Tori was to be out to sleep in a few days.  My heart sank to the floor like a ton of bricks.  I cried for hours.  I couldn't help it.  I was so upset I had to go out and the garage and punch my heavy bag until my knuckles were sore.

The next few days were rough.  Sitting at the dinner table with my dog Tori still begging for scraps yet in an akward stance due to her weakened state.  There she was.  Already sentenced and still being her old self.  It's almost as if I could look her in her big brown eyes and see her as a spunky little puppy ready to eat all my socks again and play in the sprinkler and ty to eat the water.  Then the morning came.  It was time.

I had fell asleep that might with her walking leash clutched in my fist and awoke with crusty eyes from crying myself to sleep.  I walked downstairs and Tori was snoozing away under the table as she usually does.  Then the doorbell rang.  It was the Vet and her assistant with a medical box full of gear but in one of her hands was a syringe and a couple bottles.  It was time.  Time to say good bye to my best friend, my favorite dog in the whole wide world.  Good bye to the little puppy we had bought for $5 at a farm.  It was time to say good bye to Tori.  I stroked her velvet like ears one more time just like she had always liked and brushed her oily labrador hair back one more time.  With tears streaming from my face I gave her one last kiss on the nose and stepped away.  The Vet stepped in and just like that, Tori lay motionless on the floor.  I couldn't help myself.  I had to give her one last stroke of her hair and one last hug.  My best friend Tori was gone.

Tori led a pretty good life for a 14 year old yellow Lab.  She was a loyal dog and a very protective dog.  She once fought off three pitbulls that had attacked her while my mom was walking her in a park one day.  She was tough and very loving.  I miss her a lot but I know now it's time to let her go.  I'll always remember her in my heart.

Happy Late Halloween!
It's late I know, but better late than never.