My New Rig!

I decided to upgrade my PC again this year (did it 2 years ago, but didn't go all out). My mom gave me $500 towards parts for my Christmas present, and I ended up spending about $100 out of pocket. I ended up doing more research this year and we just had a PC store open up literally a few mins away from my house. So between the store and the internet I ended up getting a pretty nice system. Here's what I ended up buying:

Chiefmax 2038 case
ASUS M3A78-CM Motherboard
WHLB 1TB HDD
ATI Radeon HD5750 Video Card
AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE CPU
Corsair 4gb (2x 2gb) RAM

I ended up keeping my Power Supply and DVD/CD drive for now, I also added the previous 2GB (2x 1GB) of Ram I had so I ended up with a 6GB machine. I also have Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate.

All in all I am very happy with my set up, I ran a quick test to see how many FPS I could get in Dalaran today (World of Warcraft) and I was getting on average 30-35 FPS.

Oh I also kept my 20" HP 2009m monitor, I plan on getting an HDTV for my birthday in March so I may end up connecting my system through my TV eventually :)

UGH!!!!

I TRULY HATE THEM!!!

Wins for Everyone!

Well since my last post Irish and Da Bears have both WON two games.

Notre Dame beat Michigan State 33-30 and Purdue 24-21, Michael Floyd is out for the season with a broken collarbone, and Jimmy Clausen has a pretty bad case of Turf Toe. Jimmy was only in for part of the game against Purdue he was able to get 15/26 for 171 yards and a TD, he threw his first interception of the year as well. This brings his total for the year to 77/117 for 1122 yards and 10 TD's, he's already had a huge year but if he keeps this up he'll have his biggest year numbers wise for us. He was also #1 on ESPN's Top 10 plays on Saturday.

Da Bears... Jay Cutler is looking a whole lot better after that debacle against the Packers. We beat the Steelers 17-14 and beat Seahawks yesterday 25-19. The loss of Urlacher is not helping us at all on the defensive end and Hunter Hillenmayer (his backup) was hurt in yesterdays game. As usual Lance Briggs is stepping up and getting the job done though, the line looks pretty good and we had a lot of pressure on Seatle's QB last night. Devin Hester had a big catch for a TD to put us ahead, Greg Olsen also finally got a TD catch! We play the Lions at home this week, dating back to last season they are now 19-1 (they won yesterday) so I don't think we'll have much trouble with them.

In Fantasy News :) I won the semi-finals of our Fantasy Baseball League and am now playing for the championship this week. I outscored my oppenent 250 to 208 last week so hopefully I will win.

I won my first game of Fantasy Football, lost my second game to Fatty (Chris Johnson got 45 points), and will win this week to my Dad (He has one player left so unless he pulls of a Chris Johnson performance I will win).

That's it for now, I will post again next week after the games!!! GO ND n DA BEARS!!!

One and Done :(

Well this weekend was not a good one for my football teams.

Irish lost to Michigan 38-34, our defense looked like crap in the 2nd half, and our offense couldn't hold on to passes. We have dropped out of the top 25 and with the win Michigan is #25 (boo).

The Bears also lost 21-15, Jay Cutler threw 4, yes FOUR, interceptions... That's the most in his career, now I understand playing in Lambeau must be difficult but Jay is not a new QB to the league he has played in big games. Granted the receivers were dropping the ball all night but we left what we said we planned to do, throw the ball to the tight ends, they got very few passes thrown at them. Defense for the bears looked good but took a HUGE hit, Brian Urlacher (my fav. player) is out for the season and will be getting surgery on his wrist after he injured it in Sundays game :(

My Fantasy Football team did not do anything special either, I should be able to pull out a win unless Lee Evans (WR Bills) does amazing tonight, wait and see I guess.

Boston Red Sox had a good weekend winning 3 games, I also won in Fantasy Baseball tieing me for 1st once again (3 way tie).

I'm hoping this weekened will be much better, ND vs MSU... Bears vs. Steelers, both at home!!! MSU looked like crap this weekend and the Steelers were not that impressive against the Titans. As long as ND can keep producing the big numbers on offense and the defense steps it up they should be fine. Jay Cutler and his receivers need to get it together and settle down they all looked very flustered, Bears D took a hit but still have plenty of weapons (It's gonna be hard watching the games and not seeing Urlacher in there the rest of the year).

35-0!!!

So it's my favorite time of year, NCAA Football has begun and NFL's official season starts Thursday!!!

Notre Dame played this pass Saturday and we looked sharp! Yes we were playing Nevada, but they are not a push over team. They recorded a total of 307 yards but were only 2-11 on 3rd down conversions (0-1 4th down), and they turned the ball over 3 times. Jimmy Clausen and Michael Floyd stole the show, Clausen was 15-18 for 315 yards and 4, yes four, touchdowns. Floyd was the recipient of 3 of those touchdowns passes, one for 70 yards and another for 88!!! We also ran for a total of 178 yards making it a 510 yard game.

Defense also looked good, but could be better we did allow 307 yards (154 passing and 153 on the ground) but we did the job we needed to do keeping them to an 18% 3rd down completion percentage.

Irish won 35-0!!! We entered the season at #23 and with this shutout win and a 510 yard day we moved up to #18!!!

Bears have a big opener on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers (Boo!) in Green Bay. We looked good on both sides of the ball in pre-season and can hopefully keep that momentum and drive to win going.

In other news...

I'm in 2nd place in Fantasy Baseball (BUBWAY PARK) still. I lost 205 - 204 last week against the top guy in the East. I am playing the top guy in the West this week and am winning 30-6 right now. RSBoston is Fatty and he is tied for last in the East, in our other league he is 10-12, his players are still not producing when he needs them to.

Our Fantasy Football will start this Thursday with NFL's opening game, Titans vs. Steelers (Titans are Fatty's favorite team, gogo Titans!).

Fantasy Baseball

I know, I know long time between posts...

This post isn't about not posting though, it's about Fantasy Baseball. My younger bro Fatty (Reflexions) has played Fantasy Baseball for three years now so I decided I would join him this year. I drafted a pretty decent team, and have traded, and picked up and dropped players throughout the season. I am really enjoying playing and it has given me a love for the game again. I loved going to games and watching the occasional Red Sox game on TV but just wasn't into sitting down and watching ESPN to see who was doing what in baseball. I started the season with a lose but only by 27 points, not bad for a rookie :) Since then I have done this...

Tied for 1st place!!! I won 7 games in a row before getting my next lose, 237 - 235... 2 points Come On!!! I then came back and won week 10, but lost last week (To the guy at the top of the East).

This week I am currently losing by 6 points going into today (Playing the guy at the top of the West). Hopefully I can get a win and go back on top of the West.

For those wondering Fatty is 3-8, bottom of the East. He has good players but it seems the weeks he takes the mediocre guys and puts them on the bench for the guys that are producing, the mediocre players end up exploding and the guys that were producing end up being mediocre. He is getting the points, 2375 points, out of his players but not enough to beat the teams he's put up against. Happily this week he is winning 104-51 at the start of today!

Chicago 09'

Chicago! I love the city, I love Da Bears, I love the people.

Fatty and I went for our annual (2 years now) trip to Chicago on Sat. and Sun. This time we decided to stay for 2 days instead of trying to cram everything into 1 day like last year. We got to Chicago at about 11am Chicago time and headed to Smoques BBQ it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It was great, large portions and it tasted amazing I got the Brisket platter with BBQ baked beans and fries. The Brisket was juicy and fallen apart, in a good way, and the baked beans were amazing there were so many fries that I couldn't even finish. Fatty had the pulled pork platter with mac & cheese and BBQ beans, he really enjoyed his too, it looked really good. From there we messed around for a little while in that area of Chicago until we decided to see if Hard Rock Hotel would let us check in early, they did.

We headed back towards the hotel and got valet'd for the first time, we then checked in and the concierge took our bags to our room. We had a deluxe king bed and a good size room, the Bowie room, and we were on the 17th floor! We had an excellent view of Millennium Park from our room and could see some of downtown too. We chilled in the room for a little while still somewhat tired from the drive, we decided to go to ESPN Zone before meeting my Dad and his gf for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (My Dad and his gf were going to be in Chicago the same weekend we were there and we had no idea until a few weeks before we left). ESPN Zone was fun like usual, for those that don't know it's a restaurant and an arcade, we just played the arcade. Basketball, Football, Air Hockey, Racing, Madden on a huge screen, it was fun!

We then walked to HRC to meet up and have dinner, my Dad and E were already there and we got seated pretty quick thanks to Fatty's HRC card. I had my usual, HRC bacon cheeseburger with fries, it was good as usual and my dad said his burger was most likely the best burger he has ever had. To my surprise my dad paid for our meal, he then asked if we wanted to go to the Hancock Observatory, 94 floors above Chicago in a giant room of windows. It was dark and the view of the city from up there was amazing, and my dad paid for that as well. We then went down to see how long the wait at the Cheesecake factory was, 1 hour, so we went to the Lux and the wait there was 2 hours. We decided to head back to my Dad's hotel and see if there was a wait for the restaurant there, none!, we got dessert and just talked for a while before heading to their room to hang out before we headed back to our hotel. Dad and E paid for our whole night, Thanks Guys!

Fatty has been sick so we grabbed a cab back to our hotel and Fatty and I ordered Giordano's small pizza and cheese bread and sprite about an hour or so later. We played cards ate pizza and just relaxed til we fell asleep. The next morning we got up and checked out of the hotel, but we checked in our bags and grabbed a taxi to Ditka's restaurant for my Birthday present from Fatty, thanks again! I've been there before but just to buy souvenirs, the ambiance was great sports memorabilia on all the walls. The food was great I had The Fridge Burger with Ditka Fries, it was the best burger I have ever had it trumps the HRC burger and the fries had a little spice and we good as well. From there we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and got our bags and had the valet get our car.

We headed to Navy Pier and started our shopping extravaganza, we spent the rest of the day walking and shopping and taking pictures of the water and the city from the Pier. We had McDonalds ice cream cones and large pops, walking gets tiring, before walking around and shopping some more. I got a lot of Bears and Chicago memorabilia and some random little stuff, Chicago golf balls, ping pong balls, shot glasses. I bought Fatty a Chicago shirt, Bears shorts, and a Chicago baseball. We ate at the Twizted Lizard I had nachos and fatty had two chicken tacos, it was good and my nachos were huge I only ate about 2/3 of them. We then decided to go see Watchmen in IMAX since the shops all closed at 7pm and we weren't ready to leave yet. The movie was good and seeing anything in IMAX is always better. After that we paid for our parking and headed home, we got home at about 1:30 am our time.

We had a great weekend, Chicago is always a blast oh and I forgot to mention that it being St. Patty's weekend they turned the Chicago River green that was a cool site to see (I'll post pictures up later when I get home).

Addicted Part 4

I've picked up four new games since the last Addicted post; Midnight Club: LA, Prince of Persia, Shaun White Snowboarding, and Devil May Cry 4 so it's time for my reviews.

Midnight Club: LA: This is a racing game, no real side stories just your car and the opponents on the "track." I put track in quotes because the city of LA is your track you can use every part of it to race or explore. There obviously is a story and racers will contact you via your phone, it pops up in the lower left hand corner of the creen and you can accept challenges from there. There are a wide variety of cars, and even a couple motorcycles, these can all be tricked out with new parts, paint, and vinyls. A cool feature of this game is that you can also trick out the inside of your car from the seats to the color of the dash. There are some really easy races and than there are some that I have yet to beat. This is another game that I have not beaten but from what I have played so far I rate this a 9/10.

Prince of Persia: This is another good game in the Prince of Persia line. The addition of Elika, the female character, adds some cool features to the game. She can throw you at mid-jump so you can go longer distances and when you are about to die she will save you. There is somewhat a lack of fighting in the game but that is not really a big deal since the boss battle are fun and later in the game get challenging. The biggest part of the game is getting places by using the environment around you. Climbing walls, jumping from pillar to pillar, and using plates (with the help of Elika) to get to the next location. I will say that PoP is repetitive there are four "levels" and you fight the same boss at the end of each "level" and then you open a door and finish off the boss for that area, rinse and repeat that four times. The last boss fight is easy to a point the camera angle messed me up a couple times but I think that is the idea there. I give PoP a 8/10 just because of the repetativeness, I still really enjoyed playing the game.

Shaun White Snowboarding: I have not put a whole lot of time in the game, but from what I have played so far it is fun, but not fun enough. I enjoy flying down the slopes and doing tricks but I don't know if it's the controls or if it's just me but the tricks I plan on doing don't happen half the time. I've done many of the slope challenges and don't really see the point, I think the game may have been thrown together too quickly. Like I said it's fun just to fly down the slopes and get some crazy air and do some tricks, Oh and throw snowballs at passersby, but for the actual gameplay it's lacking. I'll review this again (if I keep it) when I have put some more time into it, but for now I give it a 7/10.

Devil May Cry 4: I made the mistake of buying this and Prince of Persia at the same time and decided to play PoP first. I have not even put this in the system yet, when I play it I will review it for real.

I'm going to add a new addition to my Addicted posts not so much to say "look what I've done" but just so I can remeber which games I have beaten. * = complete with all achievements.

Games Beaten: Gears of War 2, Fracture, Fable II, Lego Indiana Jones*, Kung Fu Panda, Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Prince Of Persia.

Hard Times

Fatty and I were out shopping yesterday, Circuit City, Target and MuMM. Last weekend when we were at Target I saw a man with a sign on the corner near the entrance to the plaza. I didn't do anything but keep driving, you feel bad but never know if the sign holders really are in trouble. Well yesterday the same man was there, his sign read "Disabled Vet Kids Lost Everything Please Help." Once again I just kept driving but something was heavy on my heart that this guy may really need some help.

We get $5 at work on Saturdays, kind of our reward for working on Saturday (no one wants to work on Saturday). I had the $5 in my hoodie pocket and decided I would give that to him. I turned in the opposite direction that we were heading and Fatty asked me where I was going, I said "That guy needs help." I pulled up and handed the limping man the money and he said "Thank You, and God Bless."

Fatty and I saw another man later on near Meijer, so maybe this is a scam but I told Fatty I did the right thing and even if they aren't disabled or vets they are still standing out in the cold and snow and freezing to get some money. These are hard times for all.

Addicted Part 3

I've been putting some time into Fracture so I thought I'd rate it now...

Fracture: This game is fun and challenging, you make the game though. If you want to stand back and snipe everything than that is fine there are weapons to do that. If you want to make cover for yourself so you can get closer to the action than you can do that with the lowering and raising lasers (I previously said these were grenades, there are grenades that eventually run out but there are lasers that you always have). If you want to just go all crazy and run into the enemies and punch them in the face more power to ya, even though this strategy ends in death more often than not. Later levels you get to ride in a atv-like vehicle that will also lower the ground and allows you to create ramps, it also has an automatic machine gun on it that destroys anything in site. Now everything isn't that great, there are only 5 different enemies so you quickly learn how to defeat and defend against them. I give the overall game a 8.5/10.

On a sadder note, Matthew's beat me at Madden 09 every time we've played :(

Addicted Part 2

I forgot to list Halo 3 as a game I own and I didn't review Assassin's Creed.

Halo 3: The story is short but on higher difficulties takes a lot of skill, unless you enjoy being one shot multiple times. I have played through and beat the game on Normal difficulty and have recently been playing on Hardcore. The online play is great because of the amount of people that play and the bracket system works pretty well (matching your skills to others in the same skill range). Like any game you play online, well any game that faces you against other players, there are those that are just amazing at the game and pwn you over and over again. This helps the game though making those that are not as good play more to get better. For actual gameplay I give it a 8/10, for online play 10/10.

Assassin's Creed: This is a game I have bought or borrowed multiple times, the gameplay is great. Climbing walls, hiding in the shadows, and assassinating enemies how's that not fun. There are also some fun achievements to acquire, getting all the hidden flags in the game, killing all the templars, etc. It does get somewhat repetitive, your missions are always to go and kill the target, but there is always something to do or find in the towns/areas you are sent to. I give it a 9/10, this will be the next game I finish, need to get it back to work soon :)

Fable II 2: Well I beat the storyline last night, it ends kind of dissapointing I won't give any spoilers but it wasn't as epic as I thought it would be. I still say this game is a 10/10 though the ending does tie the story together and makes you want more, more DLC anyone? I'm now working to find all the gargoyles and silver keys in the game (50 of each) there are also 6-7 more Demon Doors I need to open. I'm also experiencing something I have not experienced in a council game since Phantasy Star Online or EQOA... The trading from the community of other players, I made over 3 million gold from selling items that I've gathered. There are also a bunch of players that are willing to invite you to tag along so you can get some of the achievements (even though I would not do this, achievements are something I want to get).

Once again let me know your ratings and what you think, Matthew hasn't beaten me in Madden 09 yet but we haven't played :)

Addicted!

My "big" present from my Mom this year was a Xbox 360 (this about the 4th or so that I have owned). I was without a console system for a long time and had missed playing the games, so I asked for one for Christmas.

The top three games that I asked for were Fable II, Call of Duty: World at War, and Gears of War 2. I ended up getting only one of the games from my list, Gears of War 2, but I also got Flatout: Ultimate Carnage, Fracture, Fight Night Round 3, and Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones which came with the system. I have also picked up The Incredible Hulk, Fable II, Madden 08 (my brother has this game and it was only $9.99) and Madden 09 Collector's edition. Oh and I also am borrowing Assassin's Creed from work.

I thought I would do a little review of the games, nothing too major don't want to bore you.

Gears of War 2: I love the first GoW and beat that in a few days, I also beat GoW2 on hardcore in about 3 days of gameplay. Keep in mind when I start playing a game I play for 6-7 hours a day so this game is not as short as the previous makes it sound. The weapons are better, the enemies are harder, and the gameplay and general look of the game is amazing. Some of the achievements for the game are outright crazy though, kill 100,000 enemies for example. I give it a 9/10.

Flatout: Ultimate Carnage: I have never seen or heard of this game, I was almost dissapointed when I opened it because some of the racing games out there are just horrible. This game however is one of my favorite racing games I have played. You race in three leagues; Derby, Street, and Race if I recall correctly. In all three leagues you get points and nitrous based on the amount of damage you do to others cars, that being said if you want to just flatout race and get first in every race you still have opportunity to max out your cars. I give it a 9/10, this is the best derby game I have ever played.

Fracture: I haven't put much time into this game, so I will not be giving a rating yet. I however will say from what I have played it has been fun, you are equipped with rising and lowering grenades. These raise or lower the terrain so you can go over or under obstacles and make cover for yourself when fighting enemies.

Fight Night Round 3: I have played and enjoyed this game before, in career mode you make your own character and change his features and attributes. The starting fights are pretty easy and don't take much skill, later fights obviously get harder and make you learn the fighting system. This is not a button mashing fight game, even though you can turn on that form if you want to, it actually takes some skill and getting used to using the right and left analog sticks to perform punches. Another feature allows you to buy new gear, fighting styles, tattoos, and even "dirty" moves. I give it a 8/10, reason being I got bored after doing the same thing again and again.

Kung Fu Panda: I watched and liked the movie so I was actually happy to get the game. Yes it is a kids game and it is beyond easy, I beat all 13 (If i recall correctly) levels in one night. The game however is fun and there are some challenging puzzles and boss fights, the last fight actually taking a little skill. There is also a pretty neat use of the points you earn, upgrading your moves to make them stronger or updating your clothing. I give it a 10/10, mind you if you do not like kids movies/games you may not like this game, who can go wrong with Jack Black though?

Lego Indiana Jones: Another kid based game, not that this game is only for kids it's Indiana Jones and Legos what adult doesn't like either of those? This game is just plain fun, there are a lot of levels, you actually play through the first three movies, hidden items, puzzles, hidden levels and even a hidden character... SPOILER ALERT: You can unlock Han Solo!!! I took the time to get all the achievements in the game, some of these are time consuming put none of them are impossible. I give it a 10/10.

The Incredible Hulk: This game is fun, I am a little biased though Hulk is on my top list of super heroes. Smashing buildings, bad guys, cars, civilians, and tanks, oh and jumping miles into the air... how is that not fun? It is a open world game, you decide where to go what to do and if you want to take the next mission or not. One of my favorite moves so far involves picking up a vehicle and making fists out of it. Some of the enemies get incredible annoying and make it so you have to kill everything before you can move on, but I think that actually betters the experience. I give it a 8/10, this is another game that I have not put a ton of time in however I will rate it again once I beat it.

Fable II: Ummmm it's Fable but better. There are so many things to do in Fable II once again you choose to go Good and defend Albion or go Evil and destroy Albion and it's people. Your appearance and even your dog's appearance change with your every decision. There are a long list of quests to be completed and achievements to get. You can buy houses, shops, can rent out your houses for cash (cash is paid every five minutes even if you are not playing), there are tons of clothing, tattoos, hairstyles, weapons, and books (used to gain emotions for you and your dog). You can also marry and have kids, but don't make your wife mad mine left me and Child Protected Services took my kid, what I was out killing bad guys and making us money. I give it a 10/10, people complain that the game is too short, co-op is not fun because you can't bring your own character into others towns and that the exp system is not made correctly. All of these can be altered by the way you decide to play the game (except for the co-op play issue, you still get exp and gold does it really matter if it is with your character or a pre-made one?).

Madden 08 and Madden 09 CE: I have not played either of these actually, I have played Madden 08 before but not since I have purchased it again. I will do reviews on both, well all three actually Madden 09 CE comes with NFL Head Coach 09 as well, once I play them.

Let me know what you think and drop your ratings on these game if you wish.