In Memorium: Mike Singletary's Tenure as Head Coach of the 49ers

A great American lost his job today: "Samurai" Mike Singletary, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Singletary is most well known as playing for the Chicago Bears for his entire career, being a member of their legendary defense as a linebacker in the 80s, and winning Super Bowl XX in 1986. Singletary originally joined the 49ers as the Assistant Head Coach and Linebackers Coach under Mike Nolan in 2005, then later replaced Nolan after his firing in the middle of the 2008 season.

Under Singletary, the 49ers defense became well-regarded to the point that for a time, Patrick Willis was in the conversation as the next Ray Lewis. In his first full season as head coach, the 49ers managed a record of 8-8, the first time since 2002 that the 49ers have not had a losing season. After their performance that season - as well as an impressive Monday Night Football win over Kurt Warner and the Cardinals and a near victory over Brett Favre and the Vikings - hopes were high that in 2010 the 49ers could win NFC West with Kurt Warner retiring, the Seahawks continuing to age, and the Rams continuing to be the Rams. After the NFL Draft, the 49ers drafted where many felt they were most weak - on the offensive line. With new, younger, and stronger offensive linebackers, many predicted an easy ride for the 49ers to have their first winning season since 2002.

...Unfortunately, the 49ers began their season 0-5 after going 4-0 in the preseason. The 2010 49ers also share a dubious honor of being one of the few teams to lose to the Carolina Panthers. To make matters worse, Alex Smith was injured and David Carr came in 2nd string, acquired from the Miami Dolphins. Carr was a disaster and was immediately put on the practice squad following the game. 3rd string QB Troy Smith managed to win a few games and showed initial promise, but as the season went along it became clear that his play style did not gel with Singletary's plays. Compounding problems, offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye was finally fired for being a moron and needing to speak with intermediaries to communicate which plays he wanted done.

Today, the 49ers had the first half of their last chance to salvage what seemed like an impossibility at first: a shot at making the playoffs. Because of the Cardinals' predicted collapse, the Seahawks ever increasing age, and the Rams being the Rams, the 49ers actually still had a shot at making the playoffs. If they could beat the Rams and Cardinals in the last two games of the season, they would qualify for the playoffs as long as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also beat the Seahawks.

The 49ers squandered this opportunity with terrible play calling, horrible clock management, and immature players on the offensive line. Singletary benched Troy Smith after getting into very public arguments with him on field and Alex Smith completed more passes in the only quarter he played than Troy did in the previous 3 quarters. It became clear that Troy has potential, but has a long way to go from being a starting QB. David Carr will more than likely be cut or traded by the team, and Nate Davis will move to either 2nd or 3rd string QB where he belongs. The 49ers decided to fire Singletary since the next game is meaningless. I expect Nate Davis to play and prove to everyone in the 49ers organization that he deserves the starting job.

And so ends Samurai Mike's run as head coach with a record of 18-22, a respectable record, but simply not good enough for the legendary 49ers. This summer the 49ers are expected to find a new General Manager, a new Head Coach, draft more offensive linebackers, a quarterback or two, and possibly make a trade for a QB to fill the starting role where Alex Smith has been legendary for his uselessness.

Good night, sweet Samurai prince.

Best Buy Has Lost a Customer... At Least for Their Media Section.

I once worked for Best Buy from November to January 2007-08 in their media section. As of yet, that was my favorite place of employment. Being a movies and video game expert, I greatly enjoyed giving people advice on what movies and games to buy and not buy as well as recommending hidden gems that many people would frequently overlook. However, I also learned of the many ways Best Buy, and pretty much every electronics retailer, rips people off. As an employee, I received an employee discount where I would be able to purchase items at the same price Best Buy purchased them for - essentially Best Buy makes no profit off of employee purchases, hence why they encourage moderate employee discount usage. As an example of highway robbery, and why you should always do the research beforehand, in December 2007, Best Buy sold 6 foot long Rocketfish HDMI cables for somewhere around $60. I purchased 3 of those for $4 each. If that isn't highway robbery, I don't know what is. Nevertheless, I remained a loyal Best Buy customer when it came to purchasing movies, computer hardware, and PC games because they have the best selection on all of the above outside of Fry's - the nearest of which is in Canoga Park.

Earlier this week, I had an experience that has forever changed my opinion on shopping there. Dragonball Z Kai Part Three was released last week, but I neglected to purchase it then because I actually forgot what the actual release date was. I went in on DVDuesday (a term coined by Sarah Lane, formerly of Tech TV then briefly G4), a day Best Buy generally has fresh supply of recent releases. I was disappointed that they only had the DVD version of DBZK Part 3 rather than the Blu-Ray because there is really little point in buying the DVD version of a show specifically remastered for HD viewing. I fetched for a Media employee and was disgusted at the handling of the situation.

"All Action, No Filler!" is a bit of false advertising, but DBZ Kai is unbelievably fantastic compared to the original, especially the new, far more accurate English dub.

The employee, who I purposely picked because he looked like an otaku, responded he wasn't sure if DBZ Kai Part 3 had come out yet, but I whipped out the DVD copy I had found. He was definitely surprised to see that it existed and just as curious as me as to why the Blu-Ray was not on the shelves. He looked in the system and Best Buy apparently had zero copies, but we were both even more shocked to learn that Best Buy's official website did not even list the Blu-Ray version on its website! This really pissed me off because Funimation has an exclusivity deal with Best Buy to make it the only physical store one can buy DBZ Kai from, other than online retailers Amazon.com, Rightstuff.com, and the Funimation store.

I went home and immediately jumped to Amazon where I discovered that of course they had the Blu-Ray in stock. I not only managed to get it with free 2-day shipping with some free trial Amazon was offering, but I bought it for the same price Best Buy was selling the DVD for! I ordered the Blu-Ray on Tuesday afternoon and I woke up Thursday morning to find the package at my doorstep.

Needless to say, I am never buying movies from Best Buy ever again and neither should you.

Updating My Graphics Card - Nvidia GeForce GTS 450

This behemoth is my new graphics card. The GTS 450 was released sometime around September, designed to be a mid-range performance graphics card (compared to current high-performance) that is also affordable. I got mine for about $170, incredibly cheap considering I was upgrading from a previous mid-range performance graphics, the Nvidia GeForce 8600GT. The 8600GT was basically the beta version of Nvidia's future graphics cards. Most games for PC recommend an Nvidia card 8800GT or better; Mass Effect 2 and Starcraft 2 both recommend the 8800GT or better. I purchased an HP Pavillion desktop as a Christmas present in 2008 which came preloaded with an 8600GT, then a very high caliber graphics card. The main reason for purchasing it was to improve the quality of FFXI and for future PC games. For 2 years, this graphics card has served me well, but it was time to update. Rather than simply buying a new PC, I got an Nvidia GTS 450 as the only update to my gaming PC. Although my power supply is 350 watts and the GTS 450 "requires" a 400 watt power supply, my computer hasn't blown up running Mass Effect 2, my most demanding game, on max settings.

The GTS 450 is a behemoth of a graphics card, I just needed to reiterate that. It's so big that it requires two slots on the rear of the computer for a dedicated vent! This is the first graphics card I've ever owned that is that gigantic. I've owned one in the past that an enormous fan the size of the entire PCB, but it wasn't large enough to require its own vent. The GTS 450 like every Nvidia graphics card since the 8600 is SLI compatible, meaning you can connect two graphics cards together (they must be the same model) on an SLI compatible motherboard (which I don't have). The purpose of getting two graphics cards is you need that many input slots for 3 monitors to get 3D Vision. ATI currently does not support 3D gaming, so Nvidia is making serious headway by supporting 3D gaming for the past 2 years.

I have a dual monitor setup for the first time right now, but I don't have two widescreen monitors yet. I can probably get a cheap 22" widescreen monitor to accompany my main monitor, but I really don't have a reason to have a dual monitor display other than being a total geek.

The difference between the 8600GT and GTS 450 is enormous. Just to put things into perspective, Nvidia ended their numbering at the 9800GTX and reset the numbering with the GTS/GTX series, starting with the GTS 100, so I basically jumped 14 graphics card upgrades. Mass Effect 2 was the only game I own that I was experiencing lag with, but the GTS 450 cured almost all lag issues. The only area in the entire game I've experience lag is the first area when you run through some smoke. When I was playing the PS3 demo, I also experienced lag there as well as other areas. Seeing that lag in the PS3 version, which is running Mass Effect 3's engine, made me that much more confident in my ability to run Mass Effect 3 when it comes out. Bioware previously said that if your computer could run Mass Effect, you could also run Mass Effect 2, but what many forgot to take into account is that the PC version of Mass Effect does not go up to 1920x1080. If you play Mass Effect 2 with the max settings from the original, then of course it will run, derp. Mass Effect 3 is a year away, but hopefully I will not need to update my rig anytime soon.

Also of note, I re-ran the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark. On the 8600GT on default settings, my computer was not good enough to run FFXIV. With the GTS 450 my score jumped from sub-500 to 3200, more than well enough to run the game in higher settings than the default. I am strongly considering getting Final Fantasy XIV for the sole reason that I can run the game and it is currently free to play.

I've debated upgrading my RAM from 4GB to 8GB, but I have yet to find a game that has recommended settings above 2GB.

Mass Effect 2 - PS3 Demo

Earlier today, Sony provided a Christmas present to PS3 owners, demos of Mass Effect 2 and Little Big Planet 2. The PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 has been hotly anticipated since its announcement only a few months ago, it being the first time PS3 owners will be able to experience the world of Mass Effect. Mass Effect 2 for PS3 will also have a downloadable interactive comic that will affect your ME2 save files, affecting 6 key decisions from Mass Effect, including which teammate dies on Virmire, if Shepard romanced a team member, and whether or not Wrex survived. The remaining 3 decisions are most likely whether Shepard saved the council or let them die, whether Shepard killed the last Rachni, and whether Shepard followed the Paragon or Renegade paths. The main reason for the interactive comic, besides the lack of a PS3 release for the original game, is the original was published by Microsoft Game Studios and will more than likely never see a release on the PS3. Because of the extreme delay in bringing Mass Effect 2 to the PS3, the PS3 version will also include the following DLC packs pre-included: Kasumi - Stolen Memory, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker. The Blood Dragon armor previously only accessible for pre-ordering Dragon Age: Origins will be be pre-included since Dragon Age did not see a PS3 release. A Cerberus Network activation code will also, of course, be included, which will also include the DLC for Zaeed's mission line, the M-44 Hammerhead, and "extra weapons," probably referring to the now infamous Eviscerator shotgun that makes Vanguard a force to be reckoned with even before acquiring the Scimitar or Katana shotguns.

A special treat is also in store for people who purchase the PS3 version. ME2 on PS3 will run on a beta version of the Mass Effect 3 engine. I've played the demo already and the game is very close to the graphics and performance of the PC version, but nowhere near dethroning it. A completely affordable gaming PC can run Mass Effect 2 just fine. I have Windows 7 64-bit, an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU running at 2.66 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 graphics card. Other than the graphics card, the computer will be more or less standard fare in 2011 for a PC. Of course if you don't want a gaming PC and already own a PS3, Mass Effect 2 is a MUST. I won't be purchasing it for PS3 since I already have 1 and 2 on my PC, but if I hadn't ever owned an Xbox 360 and experienced Mass Effect for myself, I would definitely be lining up in January to get it on PS3.

The PS3 demo includes the opening sequence consisting of the destruction of the Normandy SR1 and playing through the Lazarus Facility, then skips ahead to Omega where you do the mission to recruit Mordin. Gameplay is similar to the Xbox 360 with its obvious lack of buttons compared to a keyboard. Assigning powers to shortcuts was a giant step that needed to be made since constantly pausing the game just to use Pull on an enemy got tedious after a while when I played the 360 version of Mass Effect. Teammate powers are much easier to assign compared to the PC version, but having only 3 buttons to assign Shepard's powers is severely lacking compared to the PC version's 8 slots.

Here's to hoping PS3 gamers heed the call and get Mass Effect 2!

Tomb Raider: Anniversary

This review is about the Wii version. The Xbox 360 and Wii versions has their own exclusive features and the PS2 & PC versions are the most bare-bones versions. The main reasons I'm reviewing the Wii version is the improved visuals over the PS2, lack of an Xbox 360, and the fact I could not find the PS2 or PC versions.

 In 2007, Tomb Raider celebrated its 10th anniversary. Before the impending release of Tomb Raider: Underworld (which Eidos rushed Crystal Dynamics as quickly as possible), Crystal Dynamics decided to make not just a remake of the original Tomb Raider, but a re-imaging taking the best of the old while combining the new engine of Tomb Raider: Legend. Other changes besides gameplay included removing boss fights against humans and turning them into cut-scenes, changing various puzzles to make Tomb Raider: Anniversary for challenging even for those who had completed the original game multiple times, and retconning the story to fit in line with Tomb Raider: Legend and its retcon of Lara's background.

The Wii version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary features (for the first time) a free aim system utilizing the Wii remote's pointer and replacing the target lock-on with a camera lock-on, allowing the ability to lock-on to one enemy while shooting the other, similar to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Another feature is new secrets involving making rubbings of Incan hieroglyphs as well as puzzle solutions involving rubbings. The game suffers a bit from gimmicky controls here and there, requiring you to raise and lower your hands to pull switches, shaking the nunchuk back and forth to move across cliffs faster, and throwing the nunchuk down to fire your grappling hook (which can be aimed for the first time). There are some double inputs as well, such as being able to press Down or B to drop down cliffs and either shaking the nunchuk or pressing Down to roll. What made me upset is that Tomb Raider: Anniversary does not feature more than one control scheme (at least for the Wii version), something that Tomb Raider: Legend featured.

Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Presentation: 9/10
Replay Value: 9/10

Average Score: 8.8/10


Tomb Raider: Anniversary succeeds in taking the best of the early Tomb Raider games and combining with Crystal Dynamics' new direction for Lara Croft. The story has better pacing and makes far more sense with the retcons and sets up the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld incredibly well. Audiovisually, the game is fantastic. Although I would have preferred to play this game on a console that supports 5.1 surround sound, it doesn't really matter since the original game was designed for plain old stereo sound. There is some incentive to play again after beating the game as there are various pieces of artwork and audio commentaries that go deep into the process of re-imagining Tomb Raider, as well as collecting costumes from each Tomb Raider game up to Legend and even the ability to play as PS1 Lara. The controls have a bit of a steep learning curve. The camera is controlled by holding the C button and moving the pointer to the edge of the screen. It's possible to move the camera, camera lock-on to a target, and fire away, but it can be incredibly difficult. The amount of gimmicky controls for the Wii version is disappointing, especially with how frequently they come up.

Nevertheless, Tomb Raider Anniversary carries forward and Crystal Dynamics again did a fantastic job with their trilogy of games. It's going to be very hard waiting for their next Tomb Raider game, the reboot, in November 2011.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light before release was an incredibly controversial game for multiple reasons. It was the first Tomb Raider game to be published by Square Enix, which had purchased Eidos, the game would not be titled "Tomb Raider", and there would be a heavy emphasis on co-op gameplay. At first, many thought that all these factors would lead to a complete detraction from what made the Tomb Raider series. All doubts were taken care of when Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was made available for download from Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

The game has a rather simple premise compared to the last two original games, Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Underworld. Lara is on the hunt for an ancient pre-Colombian artifact, the Mirror of Smoke, which is said to contain the spirit of Xolotl. Lara easily finds the Mirror of Smoke before the game starts, although it turns out she was not the only one searching for it and is captured by a local warlord named Vasco who uses Lara's skills and knowledge to get the mirror for himself. Vasco accidentally unleashes Xolotl's spirit from the mirror and a nearby statue comes to life, taking the form of Totec, the titular guardian of light, who opposes Xolotl. Totec has revived to return Xolotl's spirit to the Mirror of Smoke and immediately darts off in search of both Xolotl and Vasco. He finds quickly that he needs Lara's help and depending on whether you play the single or multiplayer modes, Lara either teams up with Totec or they split ways to search for Xolotl and Vasco individually, although the team-up story is the canon story.

The Guardian of Light is split into various levels, much like a pre-PS1 era action/adventure game. You can replay levels as soon as you clear them and go back to collect treasures, get a better score, and complete level unique rewards. Because of the ease of being able to jump into a level and completing a level for the first time in about a half hour, there is a lot of incentive to go back and perfect your performance in a level.

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 9.5/10
Replay Value: 10/10

Average Score: 9.4/10

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is without a doubt, the best Tomb Raider game made in years. One could wonder what it would have been like if this were made into a full-length game in the more traditional style, but the nature of the plot and style of play fits this spin-off better. The game uses the exact same engine as Tomb Raider: Underworld, but the nagging issues of the clipping planes and collision detection are completely gone. The graphics are also much better and Lara looks better than ever (other than the pictures from Game Informer). Square says that if Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is successful (which it is), we can expect more from this spinoff series. I, for one, am definitely looking forward to the next one. You can download Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light from Xbox Live or PlayStation Network for about $15. It's worth every penny!

3 Trailers for the Most Anticipated Games of 2011

Uncharted. Mass Effect. Batman: Arkham Asylum. Each of these games has achieved so much success that two have even better reviewed and performing sequels and all will get a sequel to be released in Q4 2011. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Mass Effect 3, and Batman: Arkham Cityall had full length trailers revealed at the 2010 Spike TV VGAs and I cannot possibly be more excited for 2011, what will probably be the greatest year in gaming to date. 

Uncharted 3's trailer surprisingly featured an FMV, incredibly rare for non-Japanese games these days, and gameplay footage. The biggest surprise came at the end, the reveal of the release date, November 1, 2011. As revealed previously by Naughty Dog, Uncharted 3 will have 3D support, so if you have a PS3, now is the time to go get a 3D-supported TV.

Batman: Arkham City also debuted with an FMV with unbelievably impressive visuals from Batman and if rumors are to be believed, we may get the first definitive canonical depiction of Bruce Wayne since Jim Lee's images in the storyline Hush. Arkham City is still being developed by Rocksteady, but Eidos (now Square Enix Europe) will not be publishing it, instead Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will be financing. Batman: Arkham City will be released in November 2011, just like Uncharted 3.

Mass Effect 3's trailer was shorter than the others, but direct and to the point. An Englishman soldier is narrating while shooting at what appear to be humans and telling that Earth is under attack and Shepard needs to be there before it is too late. The camera pans out and London is under attack by at least 3 Reapers while Shepard is seen inside a ship, presumably the Normandy SR2, seeing a view of Earth from afar. The human soldier seen may share something with the first trailer for Mass Effect 2 and could be the first new squad member shown already, just as Legion was shown in the first trailer for Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 3 will be released in Fall 2011, no month has been set yet.

Tomb Raider is already confirmed to be released in November 2011. If Mass Effect 3 also comes out in November, we could be looking forward to the single most profitable month in the history of video games. the Nintendo 3DS also comes out next year, so now is the time to start saving up for what will be 4 incredible games and the most hyped handheld system since the Game Boy Advance.

You can see the trailers for the Big Three at Gametrailers.com.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

This is one of the first images we have for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, which will feature a trailer at the Spike TV Video Game Awards Saturday, December 11 (later today!) Many details have been revealed, most notably the premise. Drake and Sully are on the hunt for an ancient lost city in the Arabian Peninsula, following the adventures of T.E. Lawrence, a figure most well known for the movie Lawrence of Arabia, the true life-story of the Briton ally to Arabian freedom fighters. A teaser trailer has been released which features tons of references to T.E. Lawrence's life and the actual book he wrote detailing his journeys. This news is unbelievably exciting because not only are we getting a new Uncharted much sooner than any of us had hoped for, but one grounded in reality, unlike the discovery of El Dorado, the Golden Man, and Shambala up high in the Himalayas. The lost city that Drake is hunting for is something people to this day are hunting for and it will be very exciting to see how Naughty Dog can come up with a "solution".

One new feature to gameplay has already been revealed, the ability to fight multiple enemies at once in melee combat. More features will be revealed later today at the Spike VGAs! Coupled with this announcement, the Arkham City trailer to be shown, and rumors of Mass Effect 3 being revealed, this will be the first time I watch the VGAs for more than one trailer. This doesn't legitimize the show, but it sure as hell makes it more watchable, especially with NPH hosting.

Tomb Raider: Underworld

Tomb Raider: Underworld is the direct sequel to Tomb Raider: Legend and is the first Tomb Raider game on the current generation of consoles. Underworld takes place a few months after the end of Legend and also features a very important returning character from the very first game (or Anniversary, whichever you prefer). Underworld's story basically could not have occurred unless the story of the original was fresh in gamers' minds, thus the reason for Anniversary being made. As the first Tomb Raider on the current generation, it features updated visuals, but unlike Legend, it is not on par with the graphics of other games, notably Uncharted, the new competitor to the Tomb Raider series. Although the scenery does feature fantastic visuals, they don't compare at all to Uncharted 2. The gameplay is very similar to Legend with a few minor tweaks on button placement, removing the R.A.D. mode from the binoculars, and expanding on the climbing and gymnastic mechanics. The weapons are much easier to use, no longer requiring picking up enemy weaponry and ammo throughout levels. Lara now begins each level with all her weapons and will eventually run out of ammo on each weapon until she is limited to using her pistols. A new feature to make you use her pistols is the ability to aim at two targets at once for the first time in Tomb Raider. A feature I wish had been included is firing each pistol separately, but maybe a future game will have this feature as Tomb Raider (2011) will not feature Lara's signature dual pistols.

One of the main complaints of Legend was how short the game was and how little incentive there was to play it again despite the game being above average. Underworld's levels have far more thought put into them and they are long. The length of the first level was easily as long as the first two levels of Legend and then some. You'll want to replay Underworld just to experience every level all over again (except maybe one, but I'll get to that later).

Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Presentation: 6/10
Replay Value: 8.5/10

Average Score: 8.5/10

Underworld is an improvement on every level over Legend with the exception of one notable area: the clipping plane and collision detection. I shit you not, when I was doing a puzzle involving jumping from wall to wall, I managed to actually jump through the wall and fall to my doom inside a giant area of purple space. The collision detection is awful when trying to jump onto platforms, which is a real problem since you have to do it so frequently. Underworld is also the 2nd game I've ever played that managed to get my PS3 to freeze, the first being Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This wasn't much of a problem since both games save automatically periodically. My biggest problem with Underworld's graphics, however, is not the clipping issues, but the entire Southern Mexico level. It's raining the entire time you're there and the frame rate (at least on the PS3 version) is horrendous. I'm not sure if this is limited to the PS3 version, but I took a look at comparison images between versions and the PS3 actually has better visuals than the 360, so it must have something to do with designing the game for the PC and porting it to the PS3, a known issue with other games like The Orange Box.

During the development of Underworld, Crystal Dynamics was already making plans for the next Tomb Raider, making minor improvements to Underworld's engine, especially after receiving mostly positive reviews. However, once the sales figures came in, it became clear that gamers were tired of Tomb Raider and moving on to the Uncharted series which has better writing, better graphics, better gameplay, and better replay value.

And thus, we have the reason for this:

Seriously, Game Informer's images and story got me so interested in Tomb Raider again, I can't wait for the new game to come out approx. November 2011.

Tomb Raider: Legend

Tomb Raider: Legend was the game that saved the Tomb Raider franchise. Tomb Raider: Chronicles and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness were so poorly received that Eidos gave the franchise control to a different developer, Crystal Dynamics. Crystal Dynamics preserved many classic features from the previous games, but added new gameplay functions, including much more acrobatic maneuvers. There were updated visuals as well, taking Lara into the PS2 generation with graphics more on par with other PS2 games while maintaining the cartoonish look of the previous games.

Tomb Raider: Legend is important for another reason: it retcons Lara's family history to make her into a countess involved in a plane crash in the Himalayas when she was a young girl that she survived along with her mother, but her mother lost her life in a mysterious incident involving an ancient relic. At age 18, her father died and left her his entire fortune, allowing Lara to pursue her love of archaeology with nearly limitless resources.

Story: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Presentation: 8.5/10
Replay Value: 6/10

Average Score: 8.1/10


Tomb Raider: Legend isn't the greatest game in the world and features poor replay value, limited to unlocking more outfits for Lara to wear, but it was a gigantic step in the right direction. The story is excellent, tying together Lara's retconned history to an ancient artifact of immense power split into various pieces throughout the world. The lock-on system of gunplay works, but it would be have nice if Legend had moved to a more traditional style of free-aiming. The graphics are on par with other PS2-era games, but features a cartoonish style trademark to the Tomb Raider series (at least until the new game comes out next year). Tomb Raider: Legend should be easy enough to find at your local Gamestop, so pick it up and try it out, you just might find yourself falling in love with Lara all over again.

Stay tuned for my reviews of Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Tomb Raider: Underworld once I finish each game!

Tomb Raider: The New Lara Croft

That is the new design for Lara Croft. Definitely a much younger Lara, she's also missing her previously cartoon-ish look in favor a far more realistic appearance. In her last game, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara looked like this:

The basics are still there, she still has huge lips and a tiny nose and her breast size has been preserved from the Alison Carroll model used in Underworld, the first current-gen Tomb Raider game. Less than two years ago, Eidos, the company behind Tomb Raider, was in serious financial troubles and was purchased by the most unlikely of video game companies, Square Enix, the creators of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest. There were a few jokes that Lara Croft would have her design changed to include as many belts and zippers as possible, but all worries were put to rest when SE decided not to let go any staff from Eidos and change their company name to Square Enix Europe, basically just a renamed version of Eidos.

The new Tomb Raider, which has yet to receive a title other than Tomb Raider, will be a reboot of the entire series. This is a bit of a shock since Tomb Raider: Legend retconned Lara's family history while preserving the events of the first 5 Tomb Raider games. The gameplay will also feature a few changes, differentiating Tomb Raider from the Uncharted series, two games that took the Tomb Raider formula and made it better with impressive visuals, better stories, and better acting. Tomb Raider will be the 2nd Tomb Raider game made under Square Enix, the first being Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, a spin-off game made in a different style from the previous games. The game was extremely well-received and many reviewers said the likes of "if this is what Square's funding can give Crystal Dynamics, sign us up for more." Lara's new design is obviously heavily funded by Square Enix's budget, which was able to give us the outstanding visuals of Final Fantasy XIII.

One of the biggest gameplay changes is that Tomb Raider will feature a system in which Lara has to hunt for food and medicine to stay alive, very similar to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. If the new Tomb Raider has as good a system as Snake Eater had, the new Tomb Raider is a day 1 purchase for me.

I decided to look into the last 3 Tomb Raider games and was surprised to see they actually got pretty good reviews, but poor sales due to the stigma of the last 3 PS1 era games. I'm playing Tomb Raider: Legend right now and wow, it's definitely a lot better than those last Tomb Raider games I played way back in middle school. So, here's to hoping Lara Croft gets a successful reboot when Tomb Raider (tentative title) gets released in 2011.

Playboy TV

I haven't been up to much this last month, just enjoying games I haven't finished yet (notably GTA4, I still haven't finished the Complete Edition) and enjoying Playboy TV! Playboy TV is one of the greatest channels on television and you get more "bang" for your buck than you would from getting a subscription to HBO/Cinemax or Showtime. Playboy TV isn't just a TV version of the magazine like it used to be back in the 90s. Since then, Playboy bought the Spice Channel and now broadcasts hardcore porn movies at night. Night Calls is being phased out due to the phone sex phenomena dying out in favor of sexting and is being replaced by shows like Totally Busted, a Candid Camera clone with naked porn stars, Foursome, a "reality" show taking two girls and two guys and giving them lots of sex toys and booze and seeing what goes, and of course, the continuing of Naughty Amateur Home Videos, formerly the only show on Playboy TV that showed both penises and both oral and vaginal penetration.

There's a few new shows that are regular length TV shows that are basically nothing but hardcore porn, Bang U, Hardcore Partying, and Dropout Delinquents. This trend in Playboy TV becoming more of a porno channel clearly has to do with garnering more subscribers and the people behind the channel know exactly why readership of the magazine is down. In case that wasn't enough for you, you also get Playboy TV en Español which is a lot more like Playboy TV 10 years ago (and strangely enough mostly in English event though it's broadcast as being in Spanish), but still broadcasts hardcore porn and some of the porn shows late at night. Usually the two Playboy channels broadcast their movies at the same time so if you don't like one movie you can change the channel and "watch" the other one.

My biggest problem with Playboy TV though is how infrequently new episodes come. Once. per. week. Of every show. I've seen the same tits, the same pussies. the same cocks for all of a week waiting for new fucking episodes of these shows which I will supposedly get tomorrow. But hey, I can't complain, I'm watching hardcore porn on my 42" TV.