When you’re asked to help a family member out in constructing a 10′x10′ shed for a run-of-the-mill lawn mower, never ask someone to help that has a history of bad temper and couldn’t graduate high-school.

I started a project for my aunt last week, building the foundation, a breeze, building the front and rear walls, a breeze.  Then my aunt called in my brother to help and that is where everything went to hell in a paper bag. Read the rest of this entry »

“Breaking news today; two men accused of murder are now being accused by the NAACP of performing hate crimes”, “In other news today, the three employees that were cited for starting a fight with a black man is now being held on criminal accounts of hate crimes”, “Otame publishing is being sued for racism in a typo they released in their cook book that stated “grind up black people” instead of “grind up black pepper” (yes I’m guilty of that typo, pepper for people….).

Sound familiar?  This is what I see/hear on the news on a DAILY basis! DAILY!

[rant on]

I’m tired, TIRED of people playing the race card whether it be from African Americans, Caucasians, Latinos or Whatchanots (people with no race).  I hate no single group, but I hate ANYONE who tries to use a race card on me, my family, or dear God, just in excess.  Here is what I mean: about 4 years ago I was approached by an African American stating; “You’re white, so yo homie, owes me for slavery to my ancestors”.  I had two really witty come-backs for that;

“Hey homie, what was that ancestors name again? I didn’t catch it?” and oh my favorite, “You are looking at a bonefied CUBAN, yes, CUBAN, that is LATINO, and as history dictates the Hatian (black people) came in and ravaged the CUBANS on several occasions, so if you want someone of English decent to give you representations for that, then you owe me for damages to my ancestors 1,200 years ago, for injustice knows no blood-line or time boundaries!”  I’ve never seen a black man turn white, but it was quite fun watching this guy turn another race right in front of me!  But it comes right down to this:  White people (and yes too many times because of my heritage, I’m placed in this category by about 100% of the black population) are constantly accused of being racist as a RACE, which thereby means the person considering them racist via their race is consequentially racist themselves.  For a group of people or even a small “sect” of people to auto-assume that an action that someone performs is done so because of their race screams racism so loud that everyone’s ancestors from 3,000 years ago can hear it, even Jesus Christ.

Why can’t we get along?  Why can’t “white people” just leave black people alone? (Oh yeah I remember, that’s racist and segregationist) Why can’t black people leave white people alone?  You guys seem to leave the Latinos well enough alone especially when we can bring up the Haitian raids!  But as the ultimate question to that, why do black people have to be so ignorant (not all but quite a few)?  What group of people pushes a government to allow you jobs because of your race, saying you can have the job based on race implying that you’re not as qualified as a white man, call it affirmative action and then applaud it and write songs about it?  It is pure ignorance to applaud a government to imply that my entire race, my entire heritage is less qualified at obtaining employment just because of my skin color!  Ridiculous!  If I fell into this category my dignity would be permanently tarnished for being associated with a group of people that allowed and applauded such atrocities.  I get it, this is why African Americans are so up on “Don’t stereotype, its racist” because I wouldn’t want my skin color associated with them either!  Yes Cubans have their downs as well, and I say this for all, we have people that tarnish our “race” and culture by remaining loyal to Castro’s regime and running drugs all over the states, in which I believe those people should be hung for their toes, have their tongues cut out so they can both suffocate on their own blood while bleeding to death (what nice torture tactics the US Army has taught me!).

But it comes down to this:  Cubans do not play race cards, though we have, if not more racial incidences against us than black people.  We do not demand affirmative action (we’re not that willing to give up our dignity!) and we DAMN SURE don’t walk around waiting for a white man or black man to brush up against us so we can take him to court for racism!  The pure crap I’m seeing in the news today is complete and utter bull shit.  I have a dream, yes me, the Cuban — I have a dream that all of the races had no race just to see if people would find something else to gripe about; eye color? hair color? pets hair color?  Seriously what the fuck is wrong with people?

Oh and when the hell do Caucasians get their “White history month” or us Latinos get our “Tan History Month”?  Huh?  Whats up with that?  Are black people so insecure about their culture that they need large groups, entire months, and other memorabilia to help them understand it and remember it?   Maybe I just don’t get it; how can someone of African decent, get their own month for their race, their own day in honor of someone of their race (which white or latinos do not get mind you) and still have something to complain about society not being fair?  I don’t get it; I know I’m not black, I wish I were for just a day so I could understand.

But here is the doozey; and this I haven’t figured out either.  Why is in the federal law’s logic that if a group of white men (or latino men) attack a black man (or group) it is a hate crime (this is automatic mind you! no reason needed just the fact that the victim is black) however if the opposite situation is true, it is a gang-crime?  Mind you the penalty for a “hate crime” is 20-life, while a gang crime can be as easy as performing military service as a sentence!  This is just stuff that makes no sense to me, NONE! ZIP. ZILCH!  And then, I get black people that have the audacity to come up to me, and tell me I owe them for slavery?

WTF!

[rant off]

The opinions and views of this post are my own.  They do not represent the views of my company, affiliates, or partners (unless they other wise post so =P)

This is one game that I think will be a hit for years to come — it has to be just in pure breath-taking surreal graphics!  There really isn’t but one way to summarize this:

• Graphics -  10/10
• Story – 10/10
• Content – 10/10
• Game Length 50/10!!!

How this missed the game of the year awards is beyond me unless only a dollar is the persuasive factors.  The game starts right at the tail-end of Assassin’s Creed, playing Desmond (in his real life) fleeing the Templar facility.  You arrive at an “assassin” facility where they have made a make-shift anabus and where you, Desmond, must go to learn the ways of the Assassin to use against the Templar when the time comes.  One of the most noteworthy features is that this is the first time combat is introduced outside the anamos and many forms of transportation in the anamos are allowed: swimming, flying, and boating.  You get to visit ancient Florence, Vieanna (where you even use boats to get around)  All of the old features of Assassin’s Creed are STILL USED in its second version, all of the moves are there, and even the assassin look has been preserved over the ages. Pros

1. Graphic detail will stun any user — it is not photo-realistic, it is just realistic, the clouds are 3-d as if you’re looking head-on at them, the far-scenery has amazing detail, and close range scenery looks real no matter how close the camera gets!
2. The moves, the abilities, even the modes of transportation are inventive and intuitive, though it may require a slight learning curve to master, once you do, they are invaluable to you during your game-play.
3. Animation is one of the most noteworthy things about Assassin’s Creed I, in II, it falls just behind the stunning graphics still coming in as one of the best animated games I have ever had the pleasure of playing; every swing, assassination, and swordplay looks as real as it would in real-life striking out at vital organs, sparks flying from two blades colliding, and dings showing in the blade after doing so.
4. There are REAL timed events and puzzles in this version that will challenge your skill and tricks that you have learned forcing you to use them in order to complete main plot items ensuring when you get to the end of the game, you, Desmond, has truly learned the art of becoming an Assassin.

Cons

1. This game is a beast even on my graphics card which isn’t top-of-the-line but is not at the bottom either.  My graphics card was given a score of 81/1,000 (1 being the best 1,000 being at the bottom) of the graphics cards on the market today, which means its in the high-range category, yet there were times in intensely detailed fields and pastures (where the grass looks as real as real life grass and plants) would take my frame rate down to about 5-10, though most of the game stayed around 30-60 which is extremely decent.
2. There are some really sloppy camera controls (only 4 areas were this was noteworthy) — in some areas the camera will become locked at a tactical view-point, so if you’re trying to jump from one place to the next, just in the middle of that it will lock the camera to one side making it so your control pad (keys) go in complete reverse usually resulting in the player accidentally jumping off the side of a ledge or cliff to their death (or restarting an event).

In short, when they decide to come out with the third version of this franchise, I’m sure that they will be able to sell the game for over $60.00 and people that have played Assassin’s Creed II will gladly pay for it.

As most are aware, Dragon Age has come out with a new game, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening as an expansion pack to Dragon Age: Origins.  Most of us know that just about every game BioWare has released in the past 2 years have been down-right AWESOME hits, but I fear that this new expansion pack may have hurt them more than it helped keep the game alive.

When you first start playing this content, it opens as you would expect, there are some awesome cliff-catchers from the previous Dragon Age: Origins story line but the drawback is that this content leaves the same cliff-hangers in tact, even though some catch you, it will still leave you hanging at the end.  The story-line is more of an add-on story than it is anything that completes a sequence or ending of a story from Dragon Age: Origins.  The game is awesome for the loot happy players, but for those that are interested in story and lore, this expansion pack is more of a deterrent to Dragon Age: Origins than it is an enticement.

Pros

1. You get to play again and keep your character — or most of him/her; though the player looses nearly all gear and is replaced by Grey Warden Commander armor which is massive armor that is placed on rogues, wizards, and warrior’s alike forcing you to start your scavenge for new armor near-immediately.  It is pretty though!
2. New lore added and some questions answered such as to the blight question (will there be another?).
3. The game seems to have near-to-no bugs — except that any of the previous DLCs will not work and/or may be buggy (ie, Wardens Keep items + abilities DO NOT WORK)

Cons

1. The story line was very VERY shallow
2. Characters are not remember-able — there are no side-quests to do per character, character approval makes no diffrence to the end-game, and there are no romantic options available.
3. The map/content was very small with very little side-quests to take part in, almost 1/10th of what was in Dragon Age: Origins.

In short, if you are a fan of the Mass Effect franchise, and are expecting Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening to be like the huge addition to the plot as Mass Effect 2 was, you will be sorely disappointed — I was.

I have been asked by a few people to submit my review of the newest BioWare creation, Mass Effect 2.  First I would like to point out that Mass Effect 2 is already a great game with a great story line, but if you did not play Mass Effect 1, you are missing out on about 50% of the story.  Many questions are not answered or addressed in Mass Effect 2 that are answered or addressed in Mass Effect 1 leaving you clueless if you have not played the preceding game.  But without further adue, the review:

The Short
Pros – Mass Effect 2 has excellent story lines, and a genius way of “deleveling” your character without you becoming completely furious about it by masking the deleveling process in the story line itself.  Though the graphics could have been improved upon by allowing some higher resolution textures, the overall look of the game is still absolutely stunning.  But, this game is possibly the most immersive game yet to be released!

Cons – The game is based in part on a DLC system in which is the only means to add content to the game.  The community has been given no tool set to add their own content as of yet, and the game itself seems to have been released with pieces missing that are only buyable through their “Cerberious Network”; a site in which you can buy these DLC’s.  For instance, in Mass Effect 1, you could take an exploration tank called the Mako to planets and explore the surface of said planet to uncover resources, items, and quests in fact, this vehicle was also vital in some of the main story lines.  In Mass Effect 2, the exploration vehicle was intentionally left out, forcing players that have bought the game to have to pay extra to make use of this vehicle.

The Long
When you first start up Mass Effect 2, you expect to be Commander Shepherd, a high-ranking human whom has just saved life in the Milkey Way Galaxy.  BioWare granted the fan’s wishes, with the opening scene showing you’re star-ship, The Normandy SR1, hunting down remnants of the Geth (suspected rogue robot race of beings created by the Quarian race in which contributed heavily to the downfall in Mass Effect 1).  During this sequence, an ominous ship appears and starts to pursue the Normandy SR1.  Within seconds of this ship engaging the Normandy, its weaponry slices the Normandy in half effortlessly and shows Commander Shepard and Ashley Williams (depending on your story line in Mass Effect 1) evacuating the crew.  Navigator Presley is shown dying from the initial impact of the weapon impact.  As Ashly is refusing to exit the ship until you do, she states that Joker is still aboard and will not leave, even though it is totally obvious the Normandy is in worse condition than the Titanic is today.  Shepard makes his way toward the cockpit, and convinces Joker to abandon ship in the escape pods.  As you sit Joker down in his pod, an explosion “spaces” commander Shepard, but not before he hits the “evac” button for Joker.  Commander Shepard is then seen entering an unknown plannet’s atmosphere in the same dramatic way a meteor would on earth, burning on his way down.

Miranda Lawson

Jacob Taylor

At this point you are introduced to the Cerberious a pro-human organization (that border-lines terrorists), those playing host to the Lasurious Project, a project solely intended to bring Commander Shepard back to life as he was before he died.  You find out that this project cost in the BILLIONs price range, and with the price of comic book, that is more like tens of trillions of US Dollars.  After 2 years, you awake to the installation you are on becoming under seige by the robotic security centuries that are supposed to be guarding the installation.  You then escape and meet your first 2 squad members, Miranda a Cerberious loyalist, and Jacob, a Cerberious Operative skeptical of Cerberious.

At this point you meet the Illusive Man, a person in which only a video can truly describe — he is very ego-eccentrical, and appears to be synthetic.   He acts as the protagonist of the game, and requests communications with you through your Yeoman as you progress through the game, but at this point, he meets with you for the first time, and if you walked the path of a Paragon, you’re not happy to owe this person your life due to his organization’s track-record.  From here you find out that humanity is being plagued by an unkown threat in which entire colonies vanish into thin air, with no trace of battle, or any evidence of anything out of the ordanary except their posessions are still present at the colony and they are indeed gone.

It is now your responsibility to find out why, who, and stop it.

This game begins with a bang, and goes out the same way.  The game has a miraid of possible endings, though the focus of this game isn’t about your character, its about your team, and your ship.  You upgrade your ship, you build your team, gain the loyalty of your team members, and when you are ready, you go in and kick some ass.  Depending on how many of your team members that prove loyal to you, and depending on the upgrades you obtain for your ship, and depending on your timely responses to certain situations, well, things can go really well, or really bad at the end.  “Anything can happen” said BioWare, and they were right, your entire team (all, just a few, or just one) can die or survive, your entire ship crew can die or survive, and even Commander Shepard can die or survive.

“We wouldn’t be serious about calling the final mission a “suicide mission” if there wasn’t a good chance Commander Shepard dies at the end.” ~ Lead Designer, BioWare

In short, this is the most story rich, intensely immersive game released to-date in 2010!