Currently occupying my time......
NHL 10 XBOX 360
EA Sports scores a natural hattrick with this one! The gameplay is scary real. From the added board pinning to subtle moves the goaltender makes to tip-ins that'd make John LeClair blush this is the real deal for hockey fans. The franchise mode has been revamped and retooled into the Be A GM Mode. Where you get rewarded for how you build and manage your roster, scout your draft prospects and with your wheelings and dealings with the other GMs around the NHL. Trades are no longer a walk in the park either. The A.I. for computer teams can be downright crabby to deal with, but it makes for a more realistic feel. No longer can cobble together a couple of minor leaguers and a draft pick for Ovechkin. Scoring is more of a task as well. Defenseman, even the journeyman types will do their best to keep you away from their netminder. Fighting has been fixed somewhat, taking a cue from Fight Night, you now do all the punchin' and dodgin' with the analog sticks. Is it perfect, no but its miles better than previous efforts! NHL 10 is a hockey fan's dream come true. Easily the best sports game since the 360 launched!
Borderlands XBOX 360
GearBox and 2K Games have created a new genre of sorts. Dubbing the action in Borderlands "RPS" or role-playing shooter. The randomized weapon generation system allowed GearBox to give the players over 500,000 (?!?!?!?!) different guns in the game. Ranging from rapid fire pistols to room clearing scatterguns to shock charged SMGs you'll never see any player using the same weapons load out. Featuring four player co-op and leveling-up that comes fast and furious this a great looting and leveling game for those who just don't want to get bogged down in the world of Fallout 3.
Dragon Age: Origins XB360
Wow!!! BioWare destroys, Dragon Age: Origins is an RPG fanatics wet dream! Taking a huge lead from Tolkien and the Dungeons & Dragons set; Dragon Age is nailed with aplomb. You can micromanage your party's battle tatics and still have your battles take place in real-time. This is no yawn-fest turn based stuff yet, a hack n slash action/rpg this is not. Timing plays a huge role and enemies will swarm you from all sides. Every time you a defeat a foe, it feals like an accomplishment. There's poison crafting, trap building and talents to learn. My particular favorite is the grease trap. Enemies will slide and stumble all over the place, but if you got a fire embewed weapon or flamethrowing mage you can set that slick ablaze and watch the baddies burn to a KFC extra crisp! I can't pass judgement until I've played CoD: Modern Warfare 2, but NHL 10 and Dragon Age are two of best games I've played in the past 5-8 years!!!!
Convenience Store Coffee Showdown:
In the interest of fairness I've tried 2 brews from each joint. A milder "House" Blend and a bolder French Roast. As a control I 'enjoy' each the same way: All have 2 creams 4 splendas/extras.
1. Valley Dairy: House Blend fairly safe. This isn't going to win any WOWS or Ohhhs & Ahhhs, but its certainly consistent. It has a sweetness that makes it mildly addictive. Since the flavored coffees are not my jam I usually play it safe and get this because what it lacks in bold it more than makes up for with it's sheer consistency. Sort of like batting .280 with 20 homers and 80 rbis year in year out.
2. Holiday: House Blend is suprisingly strong. Not bitter or anything but it is a bit overpowering. Even the cream and splenda don't even it out. It's not the worst thing I've ever imbibed but it doesn't leaving me with a craving either.
3. Simonson's: House Blend. Here we have a winner with one caveat: It has to be from the new Simonson's on 32nd Avenue South. This one bold and smooth. A nice amount acidity and sweetness. It's never been lukewarm, either. ALWAYS hot. My only complaint is that this store isn't open 24 hrs!
4. Ortons: Well, this is basically Folgers. Its a safe bet for people who think coffee shops make it too strong. It's not that its awful there's just nothing noteworthy about it. Several times it has had burnt flavor. I don't know if it gets changed over as much as say Valley Dairy or Simonson's who have really gone out to take on the Starbuck's and Caribou's of the world.
Less Than 85% Awseome
My lack of extra time to devote to bigangrynate.com. This past year has been SUPER busy and even on the weeks that I just work 5 days I still work about 50-55 hours. However, I am still devoted to running this site AND in May 2010 the site celebrates it's 5th Anniversary!!!!!!.......I was just at the Xcel Energy Center to watch the Wild and Dallas Stars and while the facility is top-notch the popcorn was abysmal!!! 5 bucks for salt-flavored styrofoam, what the fuck?!?!.....Fallout 3's DLC exclusivity to Microsoft and XBOX 360 ran and as such it finally came to PS3 users. However, it is buggy and glitchy. Bethesda delayed the releases nearly 4 months for testing and quality? I picture one dude in a dimly lit room running lines of code while he begins to nod off.......Skinny Leg jeans who is the douchecougar who gave the okay for this. It might be the single worst look in the history of fashion!!! Chicks look like sickly stray cats and dudes look like emaciated dogs. Either way, tight jeans are fine. Jeans that look like they've been pasted on not okay. On another note, 75% of all skinny jeans in NoDak have been sold to hipster kids in Fargo. I think every pair (at least in Fargo) comes with a bottle of Patchouli and a prescription for Hot Topic branded angst!
