So, SOCOM.

So the 1.3 patch for SOCOM: Confrontation came out today, and all I have to say is "Thank you Slant Six." Finally, FINALLY, SOCOM is fun to play. Though, I'll still never completely forgive them for releasing the game in such a bad condition. Even though I was never a really big SOCOM fan, I still felt like they betrayed the franchise. But I guess the redeemed themselves to an extent. So that will probably take up the majority of my multiplayer gaming time (well, that and Left4Dead and CoD: World at War now that I can actually refresh the server list!).

So my plan is to play through Uncharted, Battlefield: Bad Company, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, and Grand Theft Auto IV over the next couple of months (hopefully getting most of it out of the way before Killzone 2 comes out). Why? Trophies! I think I'll start with Uncharted today before I go to work. I don't plan on going for Platinum trophies right now for most of those games. I am really close to getting the Platinum in Burnout Paradise -- all I need to do is get my Burnout license and then send a Mugshot...though I don't have a camera yet. I'm also pretty sure the Platinum trophy for Uncharted is within my grasp, so I'll probably go for that too.

Speaking of work, it's really nice being able to go back and work at Fazzini's. The people there are fun to work with and I'm good at what I do. Everybody there loves the crap out of me too, which is good because it's a job I will be able to fall back on throughout my college career. That kind of job security is really nice these days. So when I'm not gaming I'll be working, and when I'm not working I'll be gaming. I'm not going to be able to go back to college until Fall of this year, so until then it's going to be nice a relaxing.

I also have a LittleBigPlanet level that I'm working on. It's nothing very innovative or crazy cool, but so far I think it's pretty well-done. I have absolutely no idea when I'll end up finishing it, as I just don't have the time with this "backlog" of mine (calling it a backlog is kind of a misnomer because I've already played all the games I need to play). By all rights I could have had it done so long ago, but I hit this wall for some reason and I haven't been able to get past it. Maybe playing more community levels will reignite my desire to get something of my own out there.

On a related note, the Metal Gear Solid pack that came out for LBP was absolutely fantastic. I recommend it to everyone. I didn't think that anything could make Metal Gear "cute," but this sure did. The premise behind it was great too: Liquid Ocelot had an auto-level creator that just made Trophy-whoring levels. Great stuff. I hope (and I'm sure) that LBP gets this kind of support in the future.

After some more thought, I've decided that I'm probably not going to end up buying another 360, despite the fact that I've said before that I will. I don't know, my PS3 and PC serve every gaming purpose I need. I don't feel like I'm missing out by not having a 360 (or a Wii, for that matter). I'm pretty satisfied. Don't get me wrong though, that's not a knock against either the 360 or the Wii (and if you know me you know that's not supposed to be a knock), it's just that I don't need either system.

To go further, I'm probably going to sell my DS, as the only thing I use that for is...Sudoku. Which I can easily live without. I'd say the same for my PSP, but for my birthday my brother got me a $20 PSN card, and with it I bought the LBP MGS add-on and two PS1 Classics: Destruction Derby and Crash Bandicoot. I put the PS1 Classics on my PSP, and now I use that thing all the time. It's fantastic! I look forward to buying Jet Moto when I get some more cash. Resistance: Retribution looks like it's going to be pretty sweet too, especially with the connectivity it'll have with Resistance 2 (which was discussed at Sony's CES press conference).

Christmas from my dad was delayed a bit (probably won't happen until the end of the month) because of taxes, college, expenses, etc. You know the deal. I've been thinking about what I want to get from him, and I think I want to get a 3G iPhone. AT&T apparently has a $100/month service plan that gives you unlimited EVERYTHING: internet use, text messages, etc. I'll probably get that (because I'll be able to afford it now that I' working yay!), and as a result I'll probably get fully addicted to Twitter. I already have an account (which is simply GlenHaupt), but it's not the most practical thing to update when you're just sitting at your computer (I can just hit up my Facebook status). When I'm on the go, though, a thought might pop into my head or I might see something interesting and want to spread it around, and Twitter is perfect for that!

I'll also be able to stalk people like Shawn Elliot and Adam Savage ENDLESSLY...

Now, onto sadder news. 1UP.com is a shell of its former self, and EGM is dead. This seriously sucks. First GFW magazine, now EGM and 1UP?! It sucks. I don't know what UGO was thinking. I can understand letting EGM go, but firing most of the great talent that made the 1UP network what it is? That was just a damn stupid thing to do. I loved 1UP. It didn't feel like every other gaming website. I felt more connected to the staff, more involved. However, I had always like the GFW staff the most (Shawn Elliot, Jeff Green, Ryan Scott, etc.), so the bulk of those guys leaving was hard, but now, with almost nobody left...it's sad. And EGM...besides Game Informer, EGM is the only other magazine I subscribe to. I mean, Game Informer is fine and all, but EGM was tops as far as gaming magazines are concerned. Such is life, I suppose.

But anyway, I hope they all get really great job soon, because they more than deserve it. Sorry to end on a ajor downer like this, but I need to hurry up and get my Uncharted on before my shift starts.

Oh, but before I do, Burn Notice! Coming back Jan. 22! Whoo!

Going Back to Work, College Limbo.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but Fazzini's the place I've worked at for the last few years (while not in college) was closed down about a month ago. Something to do with the rent or payment to the previous owner; I don't really know many details. So for a while there I was wondering what I was going to do for a job once the fall semester let out. Jobs are pretty scarce right now, and I wasn't about to work at some fast food joint because that sounds like such a shitty job.

Luckily, though, I got a call from my old manager saying everything was getting sorted out and Fazzini's was going to reopen in early January. Kind of flattering that they called me up after I hadn't worked there since I left for college months ago. But then again, they love me over there at Fazzini's because I'm good at it and I'm reliable. So that all will be a nice boost to my future resume (fuck the accents in that word).

The title of this entry is kind of misleading. I don't mean to say that work is college's limbo (although that does make some sense, when I think about it), I mean that I'm literally stuck in a limbo of sorts. I'm not enjoying UMBC, and by that I mean I'm not enjoying the standard 4-year-to-get-a-BS setup and everything that entails. It just feels too damn much like High School, and there's no way I'm putting up with that bullshit for 3 more years. The only thing that UMBC offers me right now is convenience because it's only a 45 minute commute from my house (not that that matters because I lived on campus anyway).

The food was terrible, the general classes that you need to take to graduate were either annoying and useless (like English 100, a class in which I learned nothing) or do not sound appealing in any way (like Physical Education -- yes, fucking P.E.!). It is just straight-up not what I want to get out of college. That combined with the fact that I don't even really want to be a programmer within the video game industry makes UMBC the wrong place.

So it's not just UMBC that isn't right for me, it's conventional college in general. I don't want to spend four years being distracted from my major by having to take these bullshit classes that I already took -- for free -- in High School. I think back to when I was first looking at colleges, and my first choice was a school called Collin's College out in Arizona that had a strictly game design-oriented program. I was actually originally supposed to go there, but something went wrong that I can't really explain (not because I don't want to, but because I really don't know exactly what went wrong). For some reason they just stopped talking to my father (the person who is paying for everything), and sent me an application with a pages missing after I had already been accepted there. So bollocks to that.

Regardless, I figure that's what I want to get out of college. To me, college is one of two things, or a combination of both: It's a learning experience or it's a business decision. But I'm tired of learning experiences. I've been doing that for my entire life. I want college to be a place where I become a expert on something specific. I have always been something of a jack of all trades, master of none. I'm not bad at any one thing -- I can do math, I'm a great writer, I know history, I know enough about science, and I'm well-read. But I don't excel at any one thing. There are people who are extremely creative but can't understand algebra and people who are great with numbers but can't draw for shit. I was always just average at everything.

Going to a four year college, so far, has felt like nothing but a continuation of that. I've been looking into Full Sail, a college down in Florida, which has a great-looking game design program. It's a 2-year deal with long work weeks. That's what I want. No distractions, no prerequisites to graduate beyond what is pertinent to game design.

No, as far as "college limbo" is concerned, I use that term because I'm sort of stuck between UMBC and Full Sail. I haven't severed all ties with UMBC yet, and I don't have everything sorted out with Full Sail yet. I imagine what is going to end up happening is I'm going to go to Full Sail in the Fall of 2009 and simply work at Fazzini's until then. I'll go to Full Sail for 2 years, working at Fazzini's during breaks, graduate, and then work at Fazzini's again until I get picked up by a game development house.

That's the plan anyway. My plans have already been dramatically altered twice, so who knows what will happen.

Christmas was good. I got a brand spanking new GeForce GTX 280, one of the best nVidia cards on the market. Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 used to run a little iffy, but now they run smooth as silk. I love it. Crysis still gives me problems though -- I think I need to overclock my processor.

There haven't really been any game releases recently, but I'm still looking forward to Killzone 2 and Resident Evil 5 early next year. Until then I think I'll get back to Stalker: Clear Sky, which was put on hold back when it came out in September. I also haven't barely touched MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, and the SOCOM patch is finally coming out in early January. FINALLY.

So that's what I've been up to: thinking about my college future and installing video cards. 'Tis a good life.

!

!

Let's all calm down here.

Look at those Kotaku comments. People are going WILD. They think this means an Xbox 360 Metal Gear, be it a port of MGS4 or a multiplatform (or even an exclusive) sequel. Everything the Konami site displays points in a different direction.

Of course, I'm not saying "Metal Gear will always be PS exclusive and all you xbots need to let it go." I'm not saying that at all. In fact, I would be surprised if the next entry in the series was exclusive (to any console, for that matter).

Take a close look at that image.

Now, a lot of people are jumping all over that power button icon, saying that it's existence means Metal Gear is coming to the 360. But take a close look at that thing. There are a couple holes in that conclusion:

1) "A NEXT METAL GEAR IS..."
a. First of all, it says "next," which severs pretty much any relation to Metal Gear Solid 4.
b. Second of all, it says "Metal Gear," not "Metal Gear Solid." That goes beyond this not being about Metal Gear Solid 4, but I'll get to that in a minute.

2) The vertical line of Konami's power button is an exclamation point, not a solid line like the 360's.

Clearly that power button is supposed to be some kind of a Metal Gear spin on the ubiquitous object, not some implication of 360 - MGS4 portage or exclusivity of any kind.

Back to the "Metal Gear [not Solid]" issue. The "Solid" in the titles of the past 9 or so games (that includes ports and expansions and such) was a reference to the fact that the games are in 3D, not the protagonist Solid Snake (which is why Metal Gear Solid 3 is called just that and not "Metal Gear Naked" or whatever).

Now, I don't know if Konami decided not to put "Solid" in there because they were trying to differentiate this "Next Metal Gear" from all the baggage from the series before it or what. The first thing I thought was "Metal Gear is moving into 4D, so it's gotta be PS3 exclusive." Then I realized that's god damn retarded and went with the more sensible thought.

So what do I think this thing means? I think it's all got something to do with the theme of the game. What that theme is I've got not solid (pun kind of intended) idea. Maybe the green resembles radioactivity? And the power button resembles just that? So nuclear power? Maybe it's got something to do with the energy crisis (if not the one in the real world then maybe one created in the Metal Gear world)?

See, I've got nothing good. What I can say though is I doubt this teaser has anything to do with which systems the next Metal Gear will be on, and I do think the plot is going to be separate from the Metal Gear games of old. Maybe not in a different universe, and maybe not forgoing some familiar characters, but probably unrelated to the Patriots, the Snakes, and all that business.

All in all, there are some pretty interesting things going on in that little equation. A lot of unanswered questions. What does that "i" stand for (something I intentionally did not bring up in this analysis of mine because I'm completely stumped about it)? Why is it green? What happened to "Solid?" What does the power button indicate? I've got no clue. And god dammit Konami, it is way too early for me to get all worked up again over Metal Gear. Just look at this fucking post! I don't have time for all this!

UPDATE:

A couple of things. One, a bunch of people on blogs like Kotaku and PS3Fanboy are saying that this means "A Next Metal Gear is On," as in, "in development." I don't think that's the case. I don't see how "i + ! = (!)" translates to "A Next Metal Gear = On." Also, I don't think such a cryptic message is necessary to say that the next Metal Gear is being developed. That's an incredible waste of hype.

Also, apparently the letters "mgst" appear in the web address for the site.

"http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/mgst/?ref=kjp_eng"

Yep, there they are. People are saying this is significant, and I agree with them. The odd thing is "s" is included in there. Could it stand for "Solid?" If so, where's "Solid" in "A Next Metal Gear is...?" Maybe I'm looking too much into it (meaning: maybe Konami just is trying to separate this new game from the franchise) but it still seems odd to me.

What's in a Name?

You're probably wondering what the hell the title of my blog means. No, it doesn't mean that I'm copying news stories or whatever from the fine folks over at redvsblue.com, it means that I'm copying my blogs from my Red Vs. Blue profile, which is ShirtGuyDom. This is only because that's the place I usually feel compelled enough to sit down for a while and just write. I don't know why. At any rate, here's the copy of my lates RvB journal, verbatim, for better or for worse:

Eh, these blog things. I don't know, I just don't have anything very interesting to talk about that you people don't already know about. Yeah, there's LittleBigPlanet being awesome an Call of Duty: World at War being better than everyone assumed it would be a SOCOM being fucking broken, and Far Cry 2 being the best game EVER and all that.

Then there's the whole me being in college thing that nobody really cares about (well, in the sense that you probably don't want me to ramble on about how I won a button that says "Glück" on it for winning a game of Bingo) because it's not really that, you know, exciting. I did steal a Caution: Wet Floor sign from the chemistry building though.

But my life right now is pretty much a blur of studying and gaming. I am having a LAN party this weekend because Left4Dead came out (yet another fucking fantastic game that I have no time to play!). My brother built himself a new computer consisting of a kick-ass quad-core processor, 4 gigs of RAM, and an nVidia 260. So that's all well and good.

I'd say the game I've been playing most recently is Call of Duty. The multiplayer is just as addictive as COD4's was. That fact that it's World War 2 doesn't hurt it at all. But maybe that's because I'm somewhat of a "fan" of World War 2 (fan is a bad word, because what the hell is a fan of war?) and all the weapons and stuff. And the game is really gory, which is satisfying. I do have Fallout 3, and I did get to Megaton City, but I haven't touched it beyond that. Again with the time thing. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is another game I've barely touched. And I've played a lot of but recently completely dropped Mercenaries 2 and more recently Far Cry 2. I imagine I'll pick up playing all of these once the semester ends and I just have work to consume me otherwise free time.

I figure I'll move on to the election for a minute. So how about that Obama winning? Pretty unprecedented, right? I hope he does well. And I'm certainly glad McCain didn't win. Not only can I not stand him, I couldn't stand Palin. But this horse is deader than Elvis (don't sue me Ubisoft*). Also, apparently Obama is Hitler. Some crazy-ass Senator made that comparison. I don't know, aside from the whole mass genocide thing, I kinda liked Hitler...

Saw Quantum of Solace, and pretty much agree with the idea that it's a good action flick, but not the best Bond movie and not as good as Casino Royale. House and It's Always Sunny are still my favorite current TV shows. I can't wait for the next season of Burn Notice. I came for the Bruce Campbell, I stayed for the surprisingly cool show.

I wish I still had my 360, as I really want to play Gears 2, and Halo Recon sounds kinda cool (I'm a secret sucker for Halo, but I think I've mentioned that before). Oh well, maybe when I go back to work. Course, I also have to buy some new speakers, and I'm working towards putting together a nice LAN box (you know, a computer in a small case that's easy to transport...for LANs). Maybe I'll sell my DS and PSP to GameStop for credit. Unfortunately I don't really play them anymore. But then again, I'm never in an environment where a hand-held gaming system is...appropriate (the toilet doesn't count because I always read a magazine then).

I guess I do have shit to talk about. That's kind of how I write. I don't really brainstorm or anything. I just write. With a little editing this could probably be a sensible and cohesive blog. But fuck that, I've got a research paper to edit. Anyway, it's 4:50AM, and all I have is my 11AM German class before I go home and have what is going to an amazing LAN because Left4Dead is the absolute perfect LAN game. We might throw in a little BF2 co-op.

Who am I kidding. I'm not going to go to bed. Let's see here. Oh, apparently Rammstein started writing music again. So I'm all excited about that. Also, I'm wondering how the next Splinter Cell is going to pan out. The last thing I heard about that was that it's going through an entire redesign. Well hurry up! I wanna give you my money! Also, give me some Assassin's Creed 2! Motherfucking ending to Assassin's Creed 1...

I hope that development for the next Brothers in Arms is...smoother than for Hell's Highway. A BiA with no technical issues would be the greatest thing ever. GTA IV on the PC should be great. I don't know if I want to drop $50 on a game I already own though. Maybe I'll torrent it, despite the fact that I'm against pirating (these cases where I already own the console version of a game but want to play the PC version are the exceptions).

Speaking of fucking pirating. A common excuse people use for "pirating" is the fact that it's not technically stealing, it's only copying. Okay, fine, then stop trying to be cool by calling yourself pirates. If you're not stealing, you're not pirates, mothefuckers. Buy your games.

Man, this post is all over the damn place. Should've done an outline or something. Or multiple posts. I'm just Mr. Schizophrenic right now. Probably because it's 5AM. Shit, it was 4:50AM like three paragraphs ago! Okay, I'm done.

*Extra friend points to whoever can catch that reference.