Good Times, Bad Times, Updates And Embarrassing Stories

     This year so far has been one filled with plenty of things to be thankful for but at the same time it has been a rough year for many out there. For some reason the spring term in college and high school are both the most dangerous terms where we experience bad situations and even death either through accidents or bad decisions. Before we move to our stories for today we wanted to reach out to everyone and wish you all a good break this weekend, but please, please be safe, make sure to think before you act and surround yourselves with friends that will help you stay safe, loyal friends that will guide towards a better life. We also want to extend our condolences to all that are going through a tough time right now, some of us here have also experienced some tough times this year already. Know that you are all in our hopes and prayers. Now on a lighter side to news from this week:

   Bioware Finally Responds!

   For those of you that have not been following this controversy Bioware is a game designer that recently released the game Mass Effect 3, there was an uproar by fans based on the ending, many did not enjoy it, so much so that Bioware took note and decided to do something about it. This was a controversial move by Bioware because if they decide that the fans are right and their ending should be changed then this would set a precedence for future cases and artistic integrity would be lost, thus why the answer from Bioware released yesterday was a relief to many. Bioware announced that they will be keeping their original ending, but they will be adding sequences in between to explain the ending, this whole project will be released during the summer and it will be a free DLC (downloadable content). Some of us can't help but wonder if the Shepard indoctrination theory was correct in their video, we won't talk about it further for that would be a spoiler, but follow this LINK and watch it for yourself, it's a 20 minute video but it is worth it for sure, blew our minds. Overall this was the right move by Bioware, it gives the fans what they want while keeping the artistic integrity of the Bioware team intact.

   Total Recall Trailer Comes Out!!!

    A few months back you heard us talk about how Hollywood was going to be rebooting the old Arnold move "Total Recall" and how we thought that this was an atrocity, a bad move and so forth. The preview came out this week and we have to admit that it looks legit, this interpretation of the old story sure looks like it will be a fun movie to watch. Colin Farrell is a solid actor who happens to not land good enough movies but after seeing this preview one cannot help but think that not only does he play the part well but that this movie might just be a good one. Check out the preview and see for yourself why people are changing their minds about this reboot, we're still against rebooting for the most part, but exceptions always exist and this might be one of them.

  Dallas Storm

    Ok, we know we said this would be all good news, but we have to mention something about Dallas. If you have not heard, Dallas was hit this week with an incredible storm which spawned close to 18 tornadoes that ravaged the city. There is footage of 18 wheelers being lifted up and crashing into people's houses and so forth. This was a devastating storm, a great tragedy and we want everyone in Dallas to know that you are in our prayers. We were pleased to hear that the mortality rate was low and that everyone came together to aid the city, from rebuilding, to donating money, to taking people in that had their houses destroyed, there was sense of unity that came from this, sometimes it is through tragedy that we see the good in people come out.

    Titanic 3D

    Here is something else that we talked about recently how movie companies would start re-releasing old movies in 3D in order to make a quick buck off the fans, we had Star Wars lead the way and now Titanic is following suit. Not to worry though there are more coming as well like Finding Nemo who has been announced for a 3D viewing and again as we stated before we find this to be disappointing. We did write a whole article on this topic so we feel like repeating all that we already said would be repetitive but just so we're clear on this, we told you so. This was inevitable, and surely we will see more movies come back in 3D, hopefully they won't be the classics, let us hope that Hollywood still has a soul. 

    Super Light Note Story: My Embarrassing Adventures At The HEB

   A while ago I wrote an article on an unfortunate embarrassing story that happened at Hastings, this time the story takes place at our local HEB (the supermarket in Texas). This week was a friend of mine's birthday and her roommate decided that it would be a great idea for everyone to bring a dollar to put in a large card so that when my friend opened the card a ton of cash would fall out. I liked this idea but was also aware that many would not bring any cash and so I took it upon myself to bring 20 $1 bills in order to ensure that the card was full of money when she got it. So I went to the HEB, got some soda and at the cash register handed the lady a $20 and asked for all $1 bills back, to which she gave me a really weird look and proceeded to tell me that she couldn't do it and that I had to go to their customer service. I was confused here, I was like "what is the deal, why give me such a sour look and why couldn't she just change the $20?" the whole thing made no sense to me.

   So I go to the customer service and they're closed, just my luck, thus I have to go back to the cashier and tell her that the customer service is closed and I'm still in need of help, to which she replies by calling her manager over. Now her manager is a young girl, think early 20's and she asks me what the deal is so I explain to her that I need 20 $1 bills, and again I receive the strange sour look, but she does direct me to a cashier where she begins to change out my money. At this point, while being stared by three different cashiers and the manager I understand why I'm getting this look, they think I wanted to the money to go to a strip club, so now I'm half way panicking, "What do I do? What do I say? If I say something they'll think I'm really guilty and if I say nothing they'll assume I'm just another bad guy....what do I do?". So while fifteen thousand thoughts are racing through my head she finally finishes counting the ones and hands then to me, and like clock work I do the only thing I could do at this moment, I said nothing and just walked out as fast as I could. This story was, of course, a huge hit at the party, so I'm glad it happened but I swear that I get a weird look from the manager every time I walk into the HEB, such is my luck, lol.

   Well this week has been an eventful one for sure, we hope that you have a fantastic weekend and a glorious break, please be safe and have a great time. 

Love from your humble blogger,

March Madness Final Four And ME3 Story Update

        This last weekend we finally got to see who the final four teams are going to be and without a doubt more brackets were destroyed in the process. This coming Saturday we will have two great games occurring between Kentucky vs Louisville and Ohio St vs Kansas. We here can't help but to be rooting for the underdog in the Kentucky game, specially due to their everlasting rivalry, which rivals that of Duke and North Carolina, this game is promised to look fantastic, we sure are looking at an intense finish for this year's tournament.

       Since the tournament's beginning many have stated that Kentucky was going to win it all, they are the top choice to win for sure, but this tournament has been so bizarre at times that there is no telling what will happen next Saturday, these teams have all bleed on the court, they have given their all to get their schools this far and now we get to see what college ball is all about, the give it your all or go home mentality we only find in college sports. It doesn't matter if your team is playing the final or not, the final is always a fun game to watch, it's always an all out battle and very rarely has it not been a good game to watch, this is the beauty of college finals.

       We couldn't help but to cheer for Baylor this past Sunday even though we knew that there was a very small chance of them taking the win, it's nice to see the underdog win, but going home at this time is no loss, there is no shame in leaving this tournament at this point, specially when playing against one of the best programs in the country, so well done Bears. This goes out to all the teams that broke the odds this year, the teams that would not give up, the teams that we all thought were going to leave on the first round and not only proved us wrong but wowed us in the process, this tournament was reminded of the beauty it possesses due to your victories, we tip our hats to you.

      Ohio St vs Kansas will be a good game to watch for sure, some here are speculating that Ohio St is going to take it all but there is no real answer here, if Kansas plays like they did on Sunday then there is a good chance that they'll be able to show up again on Monday for sure. Both teams are no push overs, these are the four teams that have fought and won over hundreds of teams in the United States, thus these games should both prove to be fantastic to watch for sure. We're still a little bias against the tournament game being on Monday, we understand the reasons behind it but still, Monday is just never a good day for a final, this is something that needs to be reconsidered one of these days.

      Another thing that was beginning to get to us are the commercials that surrounded the tournament, there were so few of them, like 15 or so, and they just cycled between those for the entire thing making even the best of commercials become "that annoying At&t" commercial. Though this was occurring there was one commercial that took us by surprise, this Powerade commercial is so absurd, like a direct punch in Gatorade's mouth absurd, that we couldn't help but love it and laugh about it for quite some time. The whole thing is so brilliant that it surprises us that we never saw it coming, it definitely deserves a spot here for best commercial in this tournament, besides the "here we go" dog commercial.

     An update for the Mass Effect 3 people here, Bioware has announced that this next week (beginning of April) they will release new additions to the story, an alternative ending is rumored but not officially announced yet. If there is another ending that does get released you'll have to purchase it and rumors say it'll be close to $30 or so (more than regular DLCs). We'll def know more about this as the week progresses, but Bioware has heard your complaints and will be solving these issues very soon, starting another character in preparation for it might be a good idea, if not a fun one. This whole mess with creation of a new ending has brought on some concerns from artists all over the world, we'll give our opinions in this matter next week for sure.

     We hope your weekend was fantastic and though it is a Monday and they are generally rough we pray that it might be a great one for you,

Love from your humble blogger,

Mass Effect 3 "A Change In The Gaming Paradigm"

     Originally we weren't going to cover this story, we don't usually do articles on video games except for in passing and in collaboration articles, to imagine that a game is deserving of its own stand alone article had never crossed our minds until now. The first thing we should mention is the striking phenomenon that this game has caused, from ESPN to Forbes to CNN everyone has either covered the release, the impact or the fun they had while playing Mass Effect 3, and thus we decided that it was about time we did our own article filling you in as to why this game is such a big deal and why there is so much controversy circulating around this game. (No worries there will be *NO SPOILERS*)

     For those new to the series you play as Commander Shepard of the Normandy (name of your awesome ship) and its basically up to you to save the universe from calamity. Without giving too much away the first two games deal with you discovering this threat and meeting all the other alien races around the galaxy making a name for yourself and dealing with business while you're at it, but the third game deals with the big threat of the fist two games hitting everyone in mass and you having to deal with it, you having to go around and try to get the universe to join together and face this threat, this Reaper threat. That's the best we can do without giving too many things away, there is something to finding out the details while you play the game so we're not about to spoil that for you.

     The game is a mix between a real time role-playing game and a third person shooter, strategy is necessary when fighting the alien races who seek your demise, specially in the higher difficulties. The element that makes this game rise above its competition is the ability to mold the story to your liking, the game emphasizes the importance of choices and the result of your choices teaching you what the outcome of bad choices are and what good choices are. Every choice you make in the game affects the outcome of the story, so if you decided to save a character instead of killing them, they might come back to help you later on, or give you items and so on. The concept here is simple, in real life your choices have consequences, good and bad, and thus in the game you should have those as well, this is where the Mass Effect series shines, not to mention that your character is entirely customizable meaning you can play a guy or a girl and you can make them look however you want making the experience your own, unique to you.

   Not only do your choices matter while playing through the game which is not new but the choices you make in each game is imported along with your character to the next game and that is revolutionary. Meaning, if you play the first game and not worry about making friends and making good decisions then on the second and third games people will respond to you differently, where they could have been an ally now there is only contempt. What this means is that it places a very real concern on each choice you make while playing through the game, a wrong choice could cause a whole race of people to die out, which causes you to pause while playing the game and think about your choices, think before acting, this game in many respects can be a teaching tool about the importance of thinking before acting, about the effects of bad choices and their negative future consequences.

    This gigantic project started in 2005 with the humble announcement of the game and has now come to a glorious close in 2012, let us explain to you why the dates are important, in 2007 the first game came out and everyone loved it, in 2010 we got the sequel and our Shepards got to live again and save the universe and now in 2012 our Shepards got to do his or her thing again. What this means is that all that played the first game in its release have had an investment on this game for 5 years, that's a 5 year commitment to a storyline, this whole project was a brilliant move by Bioware. This means we have had a 5 year relationship with this story and its characters causing us to care about what happens to them, 5 years will do that to you, it's like reading a book that you have waited 5 years for where your choices affect the ending, the concept is brilliant.

   Bioware is the company responsible for this game, in the last few years Bioware has not disappointed us with their continual brilliance and creativity in the gaming world. There is a controversy about the ending of Mass Effect 3, we're not about to talk in detail about it but in short some people have found the ending to be lacking, after 5 years the public was expecting a massive incredible ending and thus the riots and letters began to be written, complaints that Bioware does take seriously, and has announced that it will make it up to all those aggrieved but that they want to wait a little bit until everyone has had a chance to finish playing the game, which we find to be a fair request.

    Overall Mass Effect 3 is a brilliant game, it hosts amazing graphics, great voice acting, fluid combat simulations and a good RPG balance within the gameplay experience, and of course the storyline is epic. This is the type of game where you become so invested on a character that you feel compelled to help them and be by their side as if they were your actual friend, you gotta give props to a game designer when he causes you to feel guilty when betraying a fictional character within a videogame. With graphics improving more and more being the "bad guy" in a game is going to be more and more difficult, which causes the games to be more and more relational and better at teaching moral lessons about life, love, war, and death. Mass Effect 3 has brought on a new paradigm in gaming, one where your choices in one game might affect the next game, and thus sequels take on a new meaning all together, this is a great influence on the future of gaming.

    For those that have finished the game we hope you enjoyed the experience and if you are dissatisfied just wait a little bit, Bioware has not let us down yet, we're sure they will pull through. For those playing through the game right now, enjoy the ride. And for those that have no idea what Mass Effect 3 is, we promise that you know at least one person who is playing it or has played it, it's just that big of a deal. We hope your week has been going well, and pray that it will continue to do so.

Love from your humble blogger,