Welcome to Gaia! ::

So, AG. It's Fanime time and things here are going well. Went to AMVs as always and there were some good ones. There was certainly enough to get me motivated to download a couple things to use as my study breaks while getting ready for the bar (if I can take any breaks when I'll be playing catch-up after this weekend. XD) I'll be asking for some recommendations from the past three years once I go through all the various single episodes I downloaded and seeing what I want more of.

More importantly, though, I was working Swap Meet again and helping to keep order/making friends/etc. While working, I found something I just couldn't pass up. A 40 gb 360 of the type that's not supposed to red ring and is covered in case it does. For $80. Thus, I will now be able to join in AG online shenanigans soon!

Awesome. Lemme know if you're looking for a list of games to get and what you're interested in. The biggest upcoming recommendation I have right now for immenent bro-op potential is Earth Defense Force: Alien Armageddon, which hits shelves July 5th for the cool price of $40 bucks new. Three-player online co-op against hordes of giant alien insects. Borderlands, Red Dead Redemption, and Saints Row 2 are also stong candidates for co-op mayhem for 16, 4, and 2 players respectively. Several of us also have Portal 2, if SCIENCE! is up your alley (and I know it is), and I should be able to chime in on how Hunted: Demon's Forge (fantasy third-person cover-shooter/hack-n-slash/rpg) is soon.



Also, eyes need to be feasted on this: http://youtu.be/3XbfrJaZSM8


And now, thanks to the genius of Cave Johnson, I officially CANNOT wait til the next time life gives me lemons.

>get home from work
>play Brink
>go to bed
>have a dream about Brink
>wake up
>play Brink
>go to work
>think about Brink

gonk

Recipe: Forcing Kin, Stream, and maybe Zero to come play with you.
Serves: 2 players plus the unwitting victims citizens of a video game city.
Prep time: 2 minutes plus however long your internet connection takes to dl necessary components.

Ingredients: 1 copy of Saints Row 2 for the Xbox 360, 1 1600 point Xbox live card, 1 Xbox Live account

Preparation: Input points card. Select all Saints Row 2 game add-on DLC packs (about $15-$17 dollar value). While allowing for download time it may be beneficial to get in the proper mood by stripping to your socks and a fedora, mixing a few molotov cocktails (and downing a bunch of more convential cocktails... or just whole bottles of hard liquor), tearing a nearby street sign out of the ground, and running the wrong way on a busy freeway while singing "Take On Me" at the top of your lungs, stopping only to shout the occasional obscenity in a cockney accent or hurl a molotov at any mimes you might see. When DLC finishes downloading, insert SR2 disc, set options to allow only friends to join your game, begin playing, and wait for your Xbox to notify you that Kin, Stream, or Zero have quit whatever game they were gaining headway in and are now scratching at the door, frothing at the mouth, and filled with a desire to visit delicious ADHD mayhem on the city of Stillwater yet again.

By this point in this post, I'm certain that Kin and Zero are not only nodding their heads in agreement with not only the suggestion, but the incredibly accurate details of the recipe... assuming, of course, that they aren't in too much pain from laughing their asses off... something this game also produces a lot of. s**t, Kin and I spent nearly 20 minutes doing nothing but driving blinged-out mail trucks into gas stations with the intent of using the resulting explosion (from the pumps) to propel our mail service into low-earth orbit.


Given Kin's recent addiction (he's in recovery til late September, when he relapses) to the Gears of War 3 demo, I could see us running some crazy private GoW 1/2 multiplayer matches if we can get the populations for it. If enough of us grab the Orange Box, I could see some TF2 insanity too... and, of course, Borderlands is ALWAYS relevant.

FOR SCIENCE!

After all, Science! is why bullies are currently being put on notice.

So, I think you've mentioned that Randy is a CoD player, but does he play any Battlefield and/or does he plan on getting Battlefield 3?

Ouch, crazy OT hurts the soul.

If you have Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and like to play it, I'm trying to get Kin and a few others to grab it so we can do Onslaught together or form squads for Conquest & Rush. I'm a damn good medic and passable at Engie and forward-style Recon. I think Kin would make either a good forward Recon or Assault, and I'm not too sure about anyone else.

I don't know how much he likes over-the-top shooter stuff, but you and Randy might want to take a peek at the Warhammer 40K: Space Marine trailers and Dev video blogs/interviews. Holy s**t, but that games looks awesome so far. It'll be hitting September 3rd, so that should be outside of your wedding money-crunch.

Lastly, a fun budget title he (and you) would be able to co-op with people would be Earth Defense Force: Alien Armageddon... $40 bucks for 3 player co-op (both online AND split-screen!!!), and 6 player survival mode. Comes out July 5th. The pre-order stuff looks nice, but isn't necessary by far for fun if the last one (EDF: 2017, a game that came out for $30 4 years ago and still fetches nearly $20 used) is any indicator. The first one is great fun if you want 2 player split-screen with shittons of giant bugs, stupidly powerful weapons, and blatantly obscene levels of collateral damage.


So, what games are you guys looking forward to?

Yes, we're fine.

We actually live in West Springfield (but it's right next to Springfield), and the tornado that ripped apart downtown Springfield touched down in our town less than a mile from where we live... gonk

But we were very, very lucky. If it had turned northbound instead of south, it might have been a different story for us. Our half of the state is pretty much shut down. A state of emergency has been declared, and FEMA's already here.

I was watching the weather report when the tv station's camera caught the tornado forming and rampaging across the Connecticut River. Needless to say, I was freaking out.

It really took us by surprise. I mean, we had been having tornado watches all day, and every summer we get a few, but very rarely does it ever happen. And to have at least 2?

We were very lucky the tornadoes were likely F1s or F2s, but even seeing the damage from the weakest kind of tornadoes is scary. A good chunk of our town is devastated, and several parts of Springfield, Wilbraham, Westfield, and Monson are destroyed.

Next time a tornado watch flashes across my screen, I'll be taking it way more seriously.