Xbox 360 Games For Sale On Ebay

I am getting rid of all my Xbox 360 games! They are on Ebay now, but you if are interested in any of them give me a holla' and I will pull it off the site for you. I'm only asking for $20 to $25 per game which is a steal! You can check them out here:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsympka21QQhtZ-1

DT

Barack, Hilary, or John?

With the 2008 election just over a year away it's time to start thinking about who will be our nominee. Our Democratic nominee of course. It doesn't matter who the Republicans put up there this year, because they aren't going to win. They've had 8 years to muck it up, and they have taken full advantage of it. Since the countries experiment to elect a "common man" into the White House failed miserably it is good to know we will have someone with intelligence occupying the place on the next go round. Don't get me wrong, you do have to have some intelligence to get as far as Bush did, but not much. This presidency reminds me so much of a massive Hollywood production from the first election up to now. I still can't believe he was re-elected!!!!!! And I bet some Democrats voted for him in the first and second election. Was Gore and Kerry really that bad? I thought they were both smarter than this guy, and he still managed to make it close in both elections! Amazing really.
But back to the democrats. Webster and I were talking about the candidates today, and who we would like to see on the ticket. We both agree that Hilary won't win the nomination and I doubt she would want to be on anyone's ticket as the understudy. I think she wants it all, or nothing at all. If she was vice president I would be afraid of her staging some kind of coup just so she could become president. Even if she one the nomination so many republicans have been convinced that she is the devil incarnate that they will never vote for her. If you listen to Rush, Hannity, and O'Reilly long enough they will convince you Mother Theresa was evil.
My dream ticket would be Edwards as President and Obama as Vice President. Obama could run for president after Edward's second term. This gives him more of the expereience that everyone says he's lacking. I liked Edwards for president over John Kerry in the last election, but I would have been more than happy with Kerry. No matter who you want to win make sure you get out there and vote. Your vote means more than you think!

DT

Can't Sleep

Lately I've been having trouble sleeping. I can get to sleep okay, but I always wake up to go the bathroom and can never get back to sleep afterwards. Probably due to stress or anxiety. Work, bills, life. Shannon asked me if it had anything to do with her, but I couldn't tell her the truth! No, I'm only kidding. It has nothing to do with her or anyone else. I end up laying awake in bed thinking about everything but sleep. Was I shopped today? Do I have to get gas in the morning? Did I sell enough accessories today? How are we going to pay the gas bill this month? Does she like me? Eventually I fall asleep watching Jimmy Neutron or Spongebob but it takes a couple hours. If it gets any worse I will see a doctor, but I've grown quite attached to Spongebob and Jimmy Neutron so I will let it go for now. The Fairly Odd Parents is a great show too. My kids got me hooked on those shows! Spongebob is very well written for adults, as some of the jokes are of the variety that only adults would get. Very clever writing.

DT

Go Buckeyes! Directv Sucks!

I'm sitting here watching he Buckeyes make a huge comeback against Tennessee for a bid to the "Elite Eight". While I should be watching it in HD, Directv's satellites continue to screw up. Or it could be this lousy receiver they delivered to the public. I am so close to switching to cable! If only I didn't have so much money invested in this system I would do it tomorrow.
OSU was down by 17 at the half, now they've trimmed the lead to 4 with 11:53 to go in the half. I think they have this one wrapped up. I don't think Greg Odgen is the real deal. Is that his name? I keep think of Kevin Garnett when I see him play, but he doesn't have anywhere close the skill that Garnett had at his age. And Garnett skipped college. He remains one of my favorite players to watch, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Not as good as Kobe, but then who is? I don't know if I'll stay awake for the ending, but I will try. I just haven't been into the tournament or college basketball this year. Probably because Duke was so bad. I guess you could I'm not one of those "die hard" sports fans and you would be right. If my team isn't winning in any sport it makes it less interesting to me. The one exception is football. Pro and college.


DT

A New Column

Okay. I give in! I can't believe how many requests I get every day from my friends asking me for advice on everything. I get asked about marriage, work, relationships, etc, etc... so I am going to begin an advice column for all my peeps. Don't worry I will keep the names confidential to respect the privacy of everyone involved. These stories are real and not made up or fake in anyway. I will keep it real as best I can, but don't be offended if you don't agree with my recommendations. Peace.

DT

The Last Mimzy

Any of my friends will tell you that I am not one to rush out and see any newly released movie. I think movie theatres charge way too much and the atmosphere isn't as comfortable as my own home. However, every once in a while a movie comes along that piques my curiosity, and the latest one to do so is The Last Mimzy. Hey, I know it's being marketed as some kids fantasy movie but I love science fiction movies like this. I've been toying with the idea of taking my two girls but I'm not sure if they would enjoy it. They're 5 and 6 so maybe their old enough. At any rate I will go see this movie, so you can expect a review once I do.

DT

Update On My New Laptop

I had my new portable for a few days now, so I've had a chance to put it through its paces. Well sort of. I have no intention of making this a game machine or anything else multi media which is why I didn't spend a ton of money on it. So for what I primarily use it for things are going quite well. I am having some issues with the DVD drive playing movies all the way through, but I'm not sure if it's the drive or the software. I am beginning to think it's the drive because from day one I had problems opening it at the press of the eject button. I had to keep pressing it and it finally opened. Once you get it opened the first time it opens up every time after that. Minor annoyance but I'm not sure if I'm going to send it in just for that. Maybe I will.
When I try to watch a movie from either a DVD or even a DVD +/- it locks up. And when it locks up you have to hold down the power button to reset the machine. Now that's a major annoyance that I will probably send it back for if I can't figure out what's going on. Other than that everything works very well. I was given a pair of Dell usb speakers that work great! I'd like to give out a quick thanks to Ryan for the speakers and to John for the carrying case. The "China man" is calling us. Peace.

DT

Dell? No Thanks

Everyone knows that I used to work for Gateway, so I'm somewhat partial to the company. It was very good to me and I would go back to work for them in a minute. Well at least the Country Stores. I'm not sure about the other channels, but we used to have a blast in that place! Tons of great memories and stories from Gateway! I'm sure I will share a few of them with you guys in this blog in the future, but for now I want to share a little story with you about my brief experience with Dell.
Two years ago, I bought my dad a Dell computer from Aaron's Sale and Lease. Why from Aaron's? You know what they say about black folks and credit? Well there you have it. Anyway, his grandchildren somehow managed to muck it up and it either needs to be reloaded or the drivers for the modem need to be reinstalled. When you buy a computer from Aaron's you don't get any software. In fact I think a lot of the computer manufacturers are making you burn your own restoration disks nowadays. Not a horrible thing if they charge you less for the computer, and with the prices of them these days I can't complain. We don't have the restoration disks so I decided to call Dell. It took me several minutes on line looking for a phone number that didn't lead to sales, and when I did find it of course it didn't give me an option for tech support! I only wanted to ask them how I would go about getting the disks sent to me even if I had to pay for them. Since I couldn't get a hold of anyone on the phone, I decided to hop back on line and download the drivers myself. Of course navigating Dell's website wasn't took me longer than it should have. It drives me crazy how difficult PC makers make the websites to navigate. Gateway's used to be the same way. Anyway I found the drivers I needed, at least I thought I did! I found at least 10 different files for the modem, 4 of which were labeled "drivers". How in the world can there be 4 drivers for one modem? So I just start downloading like a mad man until I realized that once I burned these to a CD and took them to my dad's place I would have no idea which one to install! Now I'm getting pretty frustrated and as a last resort I decided to join Dell's forum to get some help from other Dell customers that may have experienced the same thing I was going through.
I fill out the application to join the forum which seemed more difficult than it needed to be! It took me 6 attempts just to pick an "approved" password. Finally I find one then I have to wait for an email to activate my membership. This is something that I'm used to because I join tons of forums and if they didn't do this you would have all of your friends signing you up for stupid off the wall stuff that you wouldn't know about until you started getting strange emails! What I didn't expect was for it to take as long as it did! I opened my email program up and expected the message to appear immediately, so I hit update. Nothing. I hit update again. Nothing. I hit update again. Nothing. I go and make myself a hot dog, and when I come back nothing. I go and make myself another hot dog. Nothing. I hit update. Nothing!!!!!! What could possibly take so long to activate an account for a forum????? I finally went to bed and gave up in total disgust. When I woke up to go to the bathroom I couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to go downstairs and fool around on the web. Sure enough the email was there! Too bad I had no desire to visit their stupid forum! Ugggggghhhhh!
I'm going to try my hand at reinstalling the modem before I do a complete reload on the system. If I can just get the system back on line I can hop directly onto Dell's website and download any drivers or updates it needs instead of burning them all to a CD and hoping I downloaded the right one. Wish me luck.

DT

Blogging In Bed. It's Kind Of Cool

Ok. So I got this new laptop and I've been dying to try using it all over the house. Well now I'm in my bed blogging! While it's kind of cool, I can't say that it's all that comfortable. At least not while you're lying on your belly. Maybe if I wasn't a touch typist it wouldn't be so bad, because it would be more comfortable for a "hen pecker" but I am what I am, as Popeye would say. So while it's cool for now there will be few and far between entries on this blog from the bed. And I can tell already that my wife hates it......

DT

Refurbished or New? What Should Your Next Portable Computer Be?

When it comes to purchasing a laptop computer you can't help but consider the cost of the unit. While they have come down in price considerably since I sold them for Gateway back in 1998 through 2002 they are still a significant investment for most people. When I was working for Gateway the idea of purchasing a refurbished anything electronic was strictly out of the question! Man how times have changed! A wife and three kids later, two cars, a house payment, insurance, etc, etc........ Well now you can see why refurbished seemed a little more attractive at this stage in my life.
After several months and weeks of consideration and weighing the pros and cons of new and refurbished I (thanks John) I finally decided to go the refurbished route. Do I have any regrets? Well, I'm happy to report that I don't have any! In fact I may never buy a new laptop again! When I purchased the unit I knew I would have to wait at least 5 days to get it, and during those five days I went over and over in my mind of what the condition might be once I got it. Would there be dust and lint stuck between the keys? Would the screen have scratches all over it? Would there be burned out pixels? Would the chassis be dented and scratched? Boy was I relieved when I pulled it out of the box and noticed only 1 imperfection. The front grill of the speakers has about an inch long dent. I hardly noticed it until I stepped back and viewed it from a distance. The screen is in excellent condition, as is the chassis and keys. No dust or lint in the keys, and it looks just like you would expect a brand new laptop to look. I was really put at ease when I pulled it out of the box and saw the HP seal on the sticker that held the box shut.
I purchased mine on EBay but you can also buy them direct from the manufacturer. I paid $599.99 for mine, plus $39 shipping and handling. for what I got with it I have no complaints and I highly recommend anyone looking for an inexpensive laptop to check out a refurbished model. You might be pleasantly surprised just as I was.

DT

Review: NBA Live 07' Sony PSP

Summary: Last year's version of NBA Live for the PSP was the best basketball game on the system. Unfortunately, fatal flaws grounded this game faster than a Steve Kerr slam dunk.

I usually go into this long winded diatribe when I review games, but I'm going to keep this one short and too the point. This game feels like NBA Jam for the Sega Genesis. It has all of the prerequisites of an over the top arcade basketball game. Let's go down the list shall we?

• No defense? Check.
• No play calling required to win? Check.
• No fouls called? Check.
• Catch up A.I.? Check.

As you can see all we are missing to truly make this an NBA Jam styled game are two less players on the court per team, and that wacky over the top announcer that yells "boom shock a locka!" or "Is it the shoes?" In all fairness to NBA Jam that game was way more fun because you knew what to expect when you sat down to play it. With NBA Live 07' for the PSP you expect to be to able make a 4 foot pass without having the frigging ball stolen every other god blessed time!!!!!! You expect to be able to make a wide open 3 pointer using Kobe Bryant, while playing on the default difficulty level, and playing against the Golden State Warriors who don't know what a defensive play looks like!!!! You expect to be able to hold Steve Nash to under 56 points when you're playing as the Lakers!!!! You expect to be able to block at least one shot out of 5 games played!!!!!! You expect to take at least ONE FREE THROW during that same 5 game stretch!!!! I can't even tell you about the free throw mechanic used this year because I have yet to take a single free throw!!!!!!!!!!! UGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! But wait! There's more! The computer has no problem playing lock down defense on you, but they seemingly score at will! Your computer controlled teammates do a horrible job of stopping the ball handler from driving right down the middle of the lane for an easy dunk or layup. But when you try the same move, you are instantly double teamed and more often than not, the ball is stolen from you! Curses! To make matters worse, when you see players like Steve Nash own the paint it gets really frustrating! He's making layups over Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom at the same time!!!!!!!! That will never happen in a million years!!!
In closing, do not buy this game. Do not rent this game. Do not even pick it up to look at the back cover when you go to the store. I'm saving you the disappointment of wasting $40 of your hard earned money on a steaming pile of horse sh**t! Peace.

Graphics 6/10 Their passable.

Gameplay 3/10 Utterly hopeless attempt at arcade styled basketball using simulation rules.

Lasting Appeal 3/10 You wont want to play it again for a long time.

Overall 4/10 The menus look nice, and the packing is decent.

DT

The Denny's Conundrum

Denny's. I've been going there for over 15 years, and I could never understand why until now. Think about it. The food isn't that good. The service can be absolutely dreadful. The atmosphere until recently was smoke filled, and it isn't exactly the cleanest place to have a meal. But every month or so I found myself back there with my wife, and sometimes with our kids. Now that I've taken the time to "analyze" the hold this place has on me, I think I've figured it out. It comes down to comfort. I just feel comfortable in those uncomfortable booths, I enjoy inhaling that disgusting second hand smoke, and I enjoy my pancakes burnt and dry, my eggs bland, and my soda watered down. What I find most humorous about Denny's is that they give you this ton of food for next to nothing, but it is so disgusting that you can never finish it! Doggy bag? I don't think so. I wouldn't feed that stuff to my neighbors dog, and let me tell you, I'm not particularly fond of my neighbor. I haven't been to Denny's since December, and I can't see going back there for a long, long, long time. Unless I have this sick and twisted craving for nostalgia. I'll see you at Pete's.

DT

MLB 2K 7 Review

Summary: If you're into simulation styled baseball games this is a must have title to add to your collection. The minor deficiencies aren't enough to knock this years game off the top perch. Batter up!

My favorite genre in video games is sports. Football, baseball, basketball, and hockey are my top purchases every year, so when the new version of MLB 2K7 came out 4 days early I had to pounce on it. While last years game was more than adequate, there were some shortcomings that kept it from getting scores hire than 7.9 to 8.5. Were these issues fixed this year? Is this years game a perfect 10? Read on to find out.
Baseball is a sport that's very hard to perfect in a video game, because there are 3 separate areas that need to be spot on. Pitching, batting, and fielding. If even one of these is less than perfect it will ruin the entire game. Let's take each of these areas in this years game and see just how 2K faired.

Pitching: 8.9/10
This year 2K took took the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" to their approach to pitching. Last year the pitching mechanic was made up of a 3 step process. Select your pitch type, aim your pitch with a cursor, then throw it. When you begin the wind up process a circle appears on the screen indicating your power. The longer you hold down the button, the larger this circle becomes indicating a harder throw. Once your power is set that circle begins to retract and the key is to stop it right in the center of the bullseye, which determines your accuracy. If you nail the bullseye you will throw darts on the mound. But if you miss, prepare to do your best imitation of Jose Mesa during the World Series against the Marlins. The computer will make you pay for your mistakes which is a refreshing touch. It adds a nice risk reward to pitching that makes you think about the situation. Do you reach back for a little more on that 3-2 count to finish him off, or do you play it safe and stay within yourself? On the default difficulty you will probably average 4 to 6 strike outs per game because the computer is really aggressive. I would like to see the computer take more pitches, but they do swing at balls which is cool. You can adjust the settings and sliders to "fix" the AI, but you will miss out on any achievements! The best camera view for pitching is behind the pitcher because it looks just like a TV broadcast. The camera is zoomed in enough to give you a great view of the batter and the plate.

Batting: 7.0/10
Batting is probably the hardest thing to get right in a baseball video game, especially when you're playing against the computer. This year batting is made a little more difficult than least year due to the speed of the pitches. You have so little time to react to the ball that you really can't tell if its going to be a ball or a strike. Now I know some of you are thinking "well it's supposed to be fast! These are major league players here!" Well, that's true but this is still a video game and the last time I checked I wasn't making $4 million per year to hit .300 from my couch, thank you very much! That being said it does make the game more challenging, and once again the sliders can be adjusted to your liking. Home runs seem to be a little too plentiful this year, and I wish there were more walks. I have played several games and I have not been able to draw one walk! Not a single walk! I would be a lot more patient at the plate if I knew I stood a chance of drawing at least a few walks per game, but as i currently stands your only strategy is to go up there and whale away at just about every pitch. This is one slider that I may eventually adjust, because it's just not baseball without walks. You have too choices to swing the bat. There's the old school method of just pressing a button and hitting away or theres the "MVP Baseball" method of using the right analog stick to swing, which is the default setting in the game. To swing using this method you pull back the right stick just as the pitcher comes out of his wind up, then as the pitch approaches home plate you either let go of the stick for an average contact swing or push it up for a power swing. Both methods work fairly well, and you don't have to push the stick up to hit a "big fly". Instead, your timing plays a big part in how much power you generate on your swing. The more in sync your loading up your swing the more power you generate. Pretty cool. Batting is passable this year, but I'd like to see it overhauled for next years game.

Fielding: Fielding is what really brings the score down for this years game. While you can adjust sliders to fix the issues with pitching and batting, there's not a whole lot you can do about the fielding portion of it. Fielding just seems so "mechanic" this year. Its almost as if you don't actually control your fielders. Last year the fielders had too much momentum that hampered their movement. This your it seems they over compensated for this by completely doing away with momentum. You will over run several balls because they players move so fast. What should be routine put outs become infield singles that eventually lead to costly runs. Another problem with the fielding is that they did away with the option to add power to your throws by holding down the turbo button. In fact the turbo button has been done away with all together. This really puts you at the mercy of the computer left to determine how hard to throw balls from the outfield back into the infield. Now where's the strategy in that? It might as well be auto fielding! Lastly fielding is made even more difficult by the size of the baseball after it leaves the bat. You can barely see the ball! In fact if it wasn't for a blue trail left by ball coming off the bat fielding the ball would be nearly impossible. I'm hoping for a code that will make the ball the size of a beach ball! I know they're going for realism but next year make the size 4 times larger!

Presentation: 9.5/10
This is where this game shines. You know how some reviews say that if your friends or family members happened to walk by as you were playing they might mistake it for an actual broadcast? Well it's definitely true for this game! Last years game looks average compared to this years. The crowning jewel is the player models and animations. I don't think they are as good as NBA 2K7's but they are the best we've seen in a baseball game to date. Now some of the lesser known players still look like crap but the big name guys look great. Heck, they even nailed the managers and coaching staff! Mark Hargrove looks just like Mark Hargrove! I"m playing with the Indians and it is really cool to recognize your players on the bench just by looking at their faces! "Hey, that's Cliff Lee!" As for the animations they included all of the big time players swing animations, mannerisms at the plate, and what their on deck warm up routines. Its really amazing. The stadiums look just as good too. If there's one complaint about the graphics its the rain effects. We've seen the same old effects for the last 10 years! This is a "Next Gen System" isn't it? Surely they can do better than vertical lines crawling down the screen. Maybe next year.

Overall this game is still work checking out if you like realism. I highly recommend it even if you do have to adjust some of the sliders to make it more playable. My final score for this game is an 8.1 / 10. Swing for the fences!

DT