Actually, they're not that bad... I like the stratocaster style. They just break easily. After I got my Rock Band set, I think my guitar started having down strum problems after the first week. I was able to fix it with some compressed air, but that still shouldn't happen for new equipment. Apparently, alot of people are having the same problem. I ordered a replacement from EA a couple weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived yet. I also heard online that they're giving a free game to those who have had issues with their set. I should probably call them up to check to see what's going on and to make sure I get part of that free game deal.
I've still been playing Halo 3 alot in the past month, but I think I'm about to hang it up on the shelf. I've gotten my Triple Star Colonel rank in multiplayer and have 815 of 1000 gamerscore in the game so far. I think that all I really want to do left in the game is finish it on Legendary, however, it is kind of hard to do that by myself. I'm guessing that most people pass legendary with two players or more. Maybe I'll do it, maybe I won't. Who knows!
What else have I been playing? For Wii, I picked up Super Mario Galaxy, which is alot of fun. Marielle likes it too. I've mentioned Rock Band and Halo 3 already. Other than that? Some DS games! I've been playing Brain Age 2, Elite Beat Agents, Hotel Dusk, Bomberman Touch, and Yoshi's Island 2. Of those games, I really seemed to like Bomberman Touch. It was a nice surprise because of the mini games. In a way, it's kind of like Feel the Magic X/Y, I suppose.
As for the progress in the game, we've solved the problem that I've posted last month and we're moving forward. There is a new version of XNA out that supports networking, so that will be one of my next tasks to get working hopefully by next month. Other than that, there are lots of art assets that the team is working on to complete by next month too. It'll be fun.
As for the news, Jeff Gertsmann from Gamespot gets fired, supposedly for giving Kane and Lynch a negative review score, but that could also be speculation. That was pretty sad because Jeff Gertsmann was a pretty big voice in the gaming community and one of my favorite co-hosts for Gamespot's "The Hotspot" podcast. He'll be missed from the podcast for sure. Gamespot did a big farewell to him on the both the podcast and vidcast "On the Spot". Check it out if you're interested in it. Capcom is making a Street Fighter IV, which will feature 3D modeled characters that look like they're painted, but will feature similar 2D style fighting similar to Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. EGM did a special feature on the game and it sounds like my kind of fighting game, which is cool because I usually don't like fighting games too much. Xbox 360 gets a fall dashboard update which allows for Divx and lets you steal your friend's friends. That's pretty cool, but I only like having a friends list of people I actually know, so yeah... Other than that, PSP is getting a version of Phantasy Star Universe which will be titled "Phantasy Star Portable" and will not feature online play, but will have ad-hoc support. Sounds like a game that I will most likely pick up eventually.
As for new games, I've mentioned Rock Band, which is for PS3 and Xbox 360 so far, and Super Mario Galaxy for Wii. There is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for PS3, which actually looks like a really cool game from what i've seen in video reviews. It's currently scoring the highest metacritic score on PS3 in terms of exclusive games, so I may check that one out eventually. Xbox 360 gets Mass Effect and Undertow for XBLA. DS gets Contra 4, which sounds like it could be fun. And finally, PSP gets its own version of Disgaea.
That's about all for this month. I will probably start doing the year in review posts next month with a recap on the games I've been playing and my personal top 10 of the year. Man, that's going to be a whole lot of games to list... Anyway, here's the video of Jeff Gertsmann doing the Kane and Lynch review before Gamespot recieved a complaint from their ad sponsor Eidos and then Jeff Gertsmann was fired, which all supposedly happened to be not in relation to each other, but coincidentally. =P
