Controversy

Xbox 360 Sales Ranked #1 in 2011

Throughout 2011 and 2010 the Xbox 360 has been the industry leader of the videogame market. Every month of 2011, and the majority of 2010, has seen the Xbox 360 dominate the English-speaking parts of the world – even setting sales records that now appear in the Guinness Book of World Records! All throughout 2010 we saw the Xbox 360 continue to rise in popularity.

This demand for Xbox 360 products continues to accelerate each month according to sales provided by NPD and other sales groups throughout the world. For the month of March, 2011, the Xbox 360 sold an incredibly impressive 433,000 units. This new sales information was recently released, but it was not reported by several websites due to the fact that the Gears of War 3 beta is getting all of the attention from the videogame world right now. The Gears of War 3 beta is available to everyone for free, if you place a preorder at Gamestop.

Microsoft recently announced that from January to March 2011, the Xbox 360 sold an additional 2.7 million units of Xbox 360 hardware. This is over one-million more units than Microsoft sold during the previous quarter! This puts the number of Xbox 360 units sold at over 53 million units around the world. Microsoft can be proud to say that the Xbox 360 took the Xbox brand in the right direction this hardware generation. There is no doubt that Microsoft leaves this generation better off with a much larger percentage of the market than when they started – all thanks to great games and great online services.

This fiscal quarter, Microsoft saw revenue of $16.43 billion. This was an increase of 13% over the previous fiscal quarter from 2010. Microsoft’s fiscal third-quarter profits were $5.23 billion – which results in a profitable earning of $0.61 per share. In a recent statement, Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein said “We delivered strong financial results despite a mixed PC environment, which demonstrates the strength and breadth of our business. Consumers are purchasing Office 2010, Xbox, and Kinect at tremendous rates, and businesses of all sizes are purchasing Microsoft platforms and applications.”

With all the excellent first-party and third-party games being released for Xbox 360 in 2011, it looks like 2011 will be the best year ever for Xbox 360. The same can be said about Xbox Live Arcade games and the hundreds of exclusive Indie games we will see online. Kinect will also be seeing the release of games that people have been looking forward to ever since Kinect was first shown.

For example, Star Wars is a game I’ve been looking forward to ever since I first saw that game on display at a trade show. Gamers will use their Kinect to simulate a Jedi duel with a light saber, which is very exciting! And then gamers will get to use the motions of their hands to simulate using the force to throw an entire group of androids against the wall!

With all of this in mind, it appears sales of Kinect and Xbox 360 are going to remain very strong throughout 2011.

Update 5/12/2011: The NPD sales results for April were just released for the month of April. Once again, the Xbox 360 is the top-selling console. The Xbox 360 sold a very impressive 297,000 units. This means that for 10 of the last 11 months, the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console according to NPD sales figures.

Gears of War 3 Beta - Detailed Thoughts & Impressions Epic Needs to Review

Gears of War 3 is a beta that I really enjoy playing a lot, especially with my excellent home theater setup that actually influences game play. You often know when someone is coming up behind you because of which surround or stereo speaker you hear the sound of footsteps coming from. The graphics are absolutely amazing – far better than any other Gears of War game. The color palette has been enhanced, there are far more customized items, and the draw-distance allows you to see further than in previous Gears of War games. Even the weather has an impact on both graphics and game play in Gears of War 3.

At this point I’d like to share my thoughts with Epic. During the course of a beta, the developers of a game are supposed to be listening to what gamers have to say in order to fix problems that exist. I am now going to explain some of the situations I have experienced with both glitches and game play. I will also be pointing out some issues that I am impressed with that Epic needs to keep in Gears of War 3.

* The first thing I noticed about Gears of War 3 is the fact that you now need to hold down the X button for a half second in order to pick up a new weapon or extra ammunition. This is a wonderful addition to game play because it completely solves the problem of accidentally picking up the wrong item unless you are in the perfect spot. Now, a visual X shows up on the screen and a white arrow moves around it in a clockwise rotation so that you see exactly what it is you are picking up. If you don’t want it, just let go of the X button. This is a great addition to game play!

* Spots! The ability to pull the Left Trigger and then press in on the Left Thumbstick in order to put a "Spot" on an enemy that you have seen adds a tremendous amount of teamwork to Gears of War 3! This type of ability to put a mark on an enemy that is hiding out makes it so your entire team can work together to track down an enemy that is hiding. This is a form of game play that did not exist in previous Gears of War games.

Previously, if an enemy was hiding out at the end of a match, it was annoying that your team could not work together to find the enemy and isolate the enemy. If there was one enemy left and three people on your team, you just needed to grab your shotgun and hope that one of you would be able to kill the enemy since the odds favored your team. Thankfully, Gears of War 3 adds teamwork!

Now, if you or one of your team members spots the enemy, you can put a mark on the enemy. This will allow each of you to go after the enemy from a different direction. Or you can use machine guns to pin him down from a greater distance than the shotguns would allow. This is a great part of Gears of War 3 that truly does add awesome team-based game play! Epic did a great job adding this feature!

* The next thing I should mention is that I once experienced a glitch with respawning. My character spawned in the traditional spot, but I was not able to move. I was frozen in the same spot and I could see all around me, but I was unable to fire weapons or move. Apparently the only way this was able to come to an end was when someone killed my character. And the strange thing is that I believe it was one of my teammates that needed to come in and shoot me with a shotgun. This only happened once, but I sure hope Epic makes sure this doesn’t happen again.

* I’m not sure if it was a glitch, but it is very annoying the way the Gears of War 3 beta sometimes works when you try to shoot an enemy while using a heavy weapon near a ledge. Several times, I was using a heavy weapon while balancing it on a ledge when I saw someone trying to sneak up behind me. Instead of letting me shoot in the direction I wanted, the ledge behaved like a magnet and forced my heavy weapon onto it. This was not fair and it caused my character to die.

For example, when I saw someone trying to get behind me,  I pulled the large weapon off of the wall and faced the enemy that had gotten close to me. I tried shooting the enemy that was close to me (now with my back to the wall that I was previously using as a type of tripod rest for the heavy weapon). But rather than letting me shoot in front of me like I wanted, the Gears of War 3 beta instead forced my weapon back onto the ledge so that I was literally shooting 180 degrees in the wrong direction. The enemy just walked up to me and shot me in the back because there was nothing I could do. This problem definitely needs to be fixed by Epic.

* There are several close spots on a couple of maps. These close spots can cause problems because the Gears of War 3 beta currently does not always recognize what it is you want to do. In the old town and on the map where there is a loud horn, I was trying to take cover. I wanted to run forward by holding A. Instead, the game made me move over to the next side of the wall, as if I tapped the A button in order to try and seek cover there. I think Epic might want to make it so there are very few “tight spots” like that in Gears of War 3.

Whenever a map gives gamers the “opportunity” for something to go wrong, it significantly increases the odds that gamers will be complaining that something went wrong – especially when millions of matches will be played. The solution is to get rid of that part of the environment.

* Hammerburst is a weapon I enjoyed using in Gears of War 2. The Hammerburst is a weapon that I absolutely HATE using in Gears of War 3. In Gears of War 3, the Hammerburst is the weakest weapon I have ever seen in a videogame. I have literally lost count of the number of full clips I unloaded into enemies running right at me, and it didn’t kill them!

What is worse is that after I started shooting the Hammerburst, hitting the enemy the whole time, they just start running directly at me! The people being hit with the Hammerburst have the intention of taking all those shots until they get close enough to fire off ONE round with the Sawed-Off Shotgun, Gnasher Shotgun, Chainsawing you with the Lancer, or stabbing you with the Retro-Lancer. The single round from the very powerful Sawed-Off Shotgun instantly kills. I’m not saying the strength of the Sawed-Off Shotgun is a bad thing, since that weapon has a very long reload time and is risky to use. What I am saying is that when you spend five seconds unloading a full clip into someone, they should easily die! … Epic, please take the time to fix the Hammerburst weapon by making it more powerful.

To be honest, Epic really should have spotted this problem already. When you choose your default weapons, you are allowed to choose the Lancer, the Retro Lancer, or the Hammerburst in one arm. And you can place the Sawed-Off Shotgun or the Gnasher Shotgun on your back. The two shotguns make a great choice – you can’t go wrong either way. Some people will like the extra close-range power of the Sawed-Off Shotgun, while other people will like the extra range of the Gnasher Shotgun.

But the Hammerburst is a weapon that is immediately identified as an inferior weapon. The Lancer and the Retro Lancer vary in power and range, so some people might like one and other people might like the other. But the way Epic currently has the Gears of War 3 beta, only an idiot would want the Hammerburst. The menu shows a range and power rating that visually makes it 100% clear the Hammerburst is inferior to the Lancer weapons. Epic should have noticed this and done something to make it so the Hammerburst is mower powerful. Seriously, it is a shame that the Hammerburst is so weak that you can unload a whole clip into a character and they will still live!

* Sawed-Off Shotgun is a weapon that I really like. It is incredibly powerful – it easily kills in one shot at close range. In fact, there have been two times when I witnessed the Sawed-Off Shotgun simultaneously kill two characters! If someone is hiding around a corner and waiting for you, it means the instant you turn that corner you are going to get blown to pieces by that powerful weapon! I’ve found it helps to run around corners the long way in order to get a better point of view of what might be hiding, sort of like taking the outside track in a racing game.

The Sawed-Off Shotgun has awful range, though; it is not the sort of weapon that you can use in an open environment against people with long-range weapons. The Sawed-Off Shotgun takes a very long time to reload, too. But in all honesty I think this is a good thing for game play in order to make things fair. The Sawed-Off Shotgun is so powerful that if it reloaded quickly it would mean someone using it would be invincible. The way things are now, if you risk using the Sawed-Off Shotgun but miss, you better start running away immediately in order to have some time to reload the thing. Epic has things very close to perfect with the Sawed-Off Shotgun, so I recommend keeping things as they are.

* Mortar is a heavy weapon that seems to function perfectly right now. The range, power, and reload time are excellent. I recommend Epic keep things exactly as they are with this heavy duty weapon. It can take out an entire group of enemies, but you need to aim it perfectly and it usually has only about three rounds of ammo. You are also 100% vulnerable while using the Mortar, which is fair, since the Mortar is so powerful. This adds strategy to the game, too. Don’t use the Mortar to fire those heavy-duty shells unless you have someone there to cover your back.

* Retro Lancer is a weapon that adds a new element of team game play to Gears of War. The accuracy and precision is not as good as the traditional Lancer, but the Retro Lancer has extra power and kickback. You can literally feel the controller of the Xbox 360 vibrating BIGTIME with the Retro Lancer, which is awesome! Epic has done a nice job in this area and should keep things the way they are.

The Retro Lancer has a very unique form of Melee Attack, which Epic should keep the same. In the same way that holding the A button causes you to run, holding the B button will cause you to run while holding the Retro Lancer. This does a great job of simulating what it would be like to Charge against the enemy. The part of game play that is interesting is the way you need to hold down the B button for a long enough time period in order for the bar in the upper-right side of the screen to turn red. Once this happens, it means you will slaughter the enemy.

This Retro Lancer is also a great form of team combat. I’ve seen several intelligent groups of online gamers stick together while each of them held the Retro Lancer. Each of them would start holding the B button at the same time, while charging at the same enemy. This meant there wasn’t much the person being charged at could do, since three people were simultaneously charging right at him! One of the three Charging Retro Lancers almost always got him.

I like what Epic has done a lot with the Retro Lancer. The one and only area Epic might want to change is making the Retro Lancer be a little bit more mobile. If you are running with the Retro Lancer, it is common to accidentally charge into a wall. But, if Epic did make the Retro Lancer more flexible it might make the Retro Lancer too powerful. Epic needs to take this one into consideration and evaluate what people say – maybe I just needed some more practice.

* Lancer is the traditional chainsaw-equipped automatic weapon we all know and love in Gears of War. In Gears of War 3, the Lancer still has excellent range. The strength of the Lancer seems to have been slightly toned down, though. The Lancer is one of the weapons where it is not entirely uncommon to empty an entire clip into an enemy running at you, with a reward of being killed in one shot with some form of Shotgun. I believe if you empty a full clip into someone, they should die. With that in mind, I am asking Epic to please increase the power of the Lancer.

The chainsaw element of the Lancer still kills the enemy effortlessly. The chainsaw duels also have the same type of game play we saw before. The one part of the chainsaw that seems to be different is that if you decide to use the chainsaw by pressing the B button, it takes a very slight amount of time longer to start it. This means that if you are holding a Lancer waiting to peak around the corner and use the chainsaw, but your enemy is holding a pistol, you will lose the battle more often because it takes longer to start the chainsaw. This seems fair to me because the chainsaw always results in a death when you use it.

* Digger Launcher is a new weapon that many people believe is their favorite new weapon. The Digger Launcher is incredibly powerful; it can kill off an entire group of enemies at the same time. The Digger Launcher is fired in a direction where it causes what appears to be a type of earthquake that you can see coming at you. The first time you see this, you will be saying “What is that?” and then you will die. But, once you realize what the Digger Launcher attack looks like, you will realize the way to counter it is by tapping the A button to roll out of the way. Just make sure you get the heck out of the way of someone using the Digger Launcher and you should be alright. I really like what Epic has done with the Digger Launcher.

* Boltok is a pistol that definitely needs to be modified by Epic. This weapon is incredibly weak and it takes too long to reload. If a weapon like this is going to take that long to reload, it should at least be powerful enough to take out an enemy with a headshot at relatively close range. It was very disappointing the way I would hit enemies three times with the Boltok, including two headshots, and the enemies would just keep running at me. Epic, please change some things with the Boltok; it needs a faster reload time and/or more powerful ammunition.

* Gorgon is a pistol that fires multiple eight-shot rounds. This weapon can be very powerful if you fire it at close range. In Gears of War 2 this weapon seemed like if you hit the enemy with all, or at least the majority, of the rounds, you would put the enemy down or set him up to be taken out with the next shot. In Gears of War 3 it doesn’t seem to be like that. The Gorgon appears to have lost some strength, which is annoying.

The simple fact is that most gamers come from the camp of “If you empty an entire clip of ammo into an enemy while he is running at you, it means that enemy should die.” The Gorgon no longer functions in that way. You can keep shooting an enemy repeatedly while he runs at you, but the enemy will not die! Most of those rounds will miss. As soon as the enemy is close enough to you (after running at you while you were shooting them with the Gorgon), it means they will shoot you and kill you with one shot of the Sawed-Off Shotgun or the Gnasher Shotgun. This is simply NOT FAIR!

Epic, make some changes in terms of power with the Gorgon. Nobody has a problem with dying when they are hit that much! If an entire clip of ammo is emptied into your character, people expect to die! Even people that live say things like “Man that wasn’t fair to the guy shooting me all that time.”

I’d like to make something clear to Epic that they really need to focus on. On one map I grabbed the Gorgon, and then I ran behind an enemy that was scoping enemies and firing. I walked directly behind the enemy at close range – the point that I was almost touching the enemy. I shot the Gorgon, and all of the shots hit the enemy. I then shot again, and all shots appeared to hit. But the enemy did not die! Instead, the enemy switched weapons and hit me one time – killing me instantly! This is NOT FAIR! Epic, please upgrade the power to the Gorgon!

* Epic Forums: If you have suggestions that you want to make for improvements, visit the Epic website here: http://forums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=400 

* If you don’t feel like taking the time to create a screen name for the Epic website, you can post your comments here and I will gladly share your thoughts on the Epic forum.

I will be writing an update within the next several days about the Grenades and some of the other weapons in the Gears of War 3 beta. It is difficult to find out what using the new grenades is like because people are always in such a rush to grab them on the maps. I will write an update within the next few days so that we can share thoughts with each other.

Note: I am currently unemployed and seeking work. If Epic or anyone else would like to hire me as a writer, business manager or in areas of marketing, I possess the qualifications to be hired in these areas of work.

President Obama has Trumped Donald Trump

I am very pleased to report that President Barack Obama has trumped Mr. Donald Trump. For the last several weeks we saw Donald Trump form a political following making false claims about Barack Obama. Everything from whether or not Barack Obama was really born in America to whether he possessed the status of a "natural-born citizen" was brought into question. All of this was caused by the loud mouth and selfish attitude of Donald Trump. Of course, it did help that millions of people were dumb enough to believe what Trump was saying without investigating the facts.

Normally, a hospital will not allow a birth certificate to be shown to the public. But President Obama asked the hospital he was born at in Hawaii to make an exception this time. The hospital did as President Obama asked and officially put an end to whether or not President Obama was born in America. Now that President Obama has "shown us his birth certificate" there is absolutely no doubt Barack Obama Jr. was born in America and is a natural-born citizen of the United States of America.

I also want to make something clear about the term "natural-born" citizen. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is the term "natural-born citizen" defined. And nowhere in our current law is there a requirement that a person be born on American soil and possess two parents that were both American citizens.

The way "birthers" claim people are required to have two American parents in order to be classified as a "natural-born" citizen is nonsense based on a document that related specifically to John McCain. This document talked about the life of John McCain and his American parents (plural) and made a specific reference to him as a "natural-born" citizen. But this document was talking about John McCain and only John McCain! This document was never labeled as a definition of what a "natural-born" citizen is! Barack Obama even helped write that document for John McCain!

Again, I want to make it 100% clear that in no part of the universally accepted law applying to all Americans (plural) is the term "natural-born citizen" defined in any way capable of preventing Barack Obama from being President of the United States of America. If that were the case, a lot of American citizens would lose eligibility to run for president. Those same people would lose the right to call themselves "natural-born" citizens, even though they were born on American soil as a child to an American parent.

I'm pointing this out because Donald Trump doesn't know when to fold. This is why millionaire Donald Trump has gone bankrupt in the past while running businesses worth billions of dollars. In a book about Donald Trump, it has been reliably reported that Donald Trump is worth approximately $150 Million right now. But when this was reported we saw that Donald Trump took the author of that book to court because he claimed that this report damaged the "brand" of the name Trump. Donald Trump "claims" to be a billionaire, but his tax records would obviously reveal that he is not anything close to being a billionaire. Thus, the revelation of tax records would show that Donald Trump is a liar.

Previously, Donald Trump had said that the only way he would be willing to reveal his personal tax information is if President Obama is willing to reveal his birth certificate. This means the ball is now in the court of Donald Trump. Will Donald Trump do as he promised? Or will Donald Trump once again make a fool of himself when America is reminded that his foot is just as big as his mouth -- proven by the fact that every once in a while Donald Trump manages to put that foot in his big mouth.

Fold Donald...You were trumped last week by me, Michael Zoran. And this week you have been trumped by President Barack Obama!

Senator Blumenthal Criticizes Sony’s Playstation Management

For more than a week, Sony’s PSN online network that works with the PS3 game console has been down because it was hacked into by pirates. Yet Sony’s management has refused to even admit that it was hackers that caused the problem. Connecticut Senator, Richard Blumenthal, carefully listened to the situation regarding millions of people that have been influenced in a negative way by Sony’s poor management. Thankfully, Senator Blumenthal recently took the time to responsibly act on behalf of millions of people across the country.

Senator Blumenthal took the time to write to the president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Jack Tretton. In this message to Tretton, Senator Blumenthal criticizes Sony’s lack of effort to inform users of the PSN service that their personal financial information has been compromised. Problems such as identity theft, illegal purchases, and many other troubles with credit cards and debit cards can easily occur in this type of situation when people are not informed within a reasonable time period. Yet Sony’s management seems unwilling to accept accountability for all of these problems due to the fact that it would generate even more negative publicity for the PS3 – a console that has been criticized for disappointing sales ever since it launched in 2006.

On his official website, Senator Blumenthal makes the following key statements:

“A breach of such a widely used service immediately raises concerns of data privacy, identity theft, and other misuse of sensitive personal and financial data, such as names, email addresses, and credit and debit card information. When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised. I am concerned that PlayStation Network users’ personal and financial information may have been inappropriately accessed by a third party. Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach.”

You can read the entire letter that the very responsible Senator Richard Blumenthal writes to SCEA president Jack Tretton, here.

UPDATE: PSN is Down and Hacked - Tips for Credit Card Security

Update: As of 6pm reliable sources are reporting credit card information probably has been compromised on the PSN. This means that if you use the PSN, hackers probably have your credit card information. You should probably read this article, and then look to the bottom of the page for some advice on what to do.

The PSN (Playstation Network) is still experiencing technical problems this week. This is a very unfortunate problem for PS3 owners, especially when you consider that the PSN service stopped working last week. Last Friday, we saw that Sony said these technical problems affecting both the PSN and the Qriocity musical service were being caused by “An external intrusion,” which many people initially interpreted as a form of piracy caused by hackers. This was particularly true considering that from Sony’s legal point of view the PS3 recently experienced many forms of high-publicity online piracy associated with the PS3. 

The really stressful dilemma with these PSN troubles is that Sony claims there may be personal data that may have been “compromised” on the PSN. Compromised is a word that has a very large scope, which is a bit disturbing to some people. Does this mean that personal data such as screen names has been compromised by gaming thieves? Or does this mean that personal data such as credit card information has been compromised by financial thieves? 

Based on the way this situation was recently described on Sony’s Playstation Blog, it appears that Sony did recognize what was happening fairly quickly – motivating them to shut down the PSN service right away. Let’s just hope no form of problems end up haunting the users of the PSN. When personal information is stolen and abused, it really is annoying to people in the 21st century. 

Regrettably, as of April 26, 2011, Sony is still saying they do not have an update or time frame when the PSN or Qriocity services will be functioning correctly online again. Thankfully, Patrick Seybold, speaking on behalf of Sony, has said that he is aware of the fact that PS3 owners are waiting for additional information regarding when the PSN and Qriocity services will be online again. Although the PSN online gaming environment is still down, at least Sony is aware of the fact that consumers aren’t happy. Sony’s public statements suggest they are doing their best to fix the problem. 

Originally, many people thought these online problems were being caused by another group of high-publicity hackers that had breached the PSN again. However, most industry analysts now believe Sony is having some technical problems internally with their online servers. This seems like a reasonable theory considering there are quite a few PS3 games scheduled for release soon. Perhaps one of these external disc-based games has caused some internal compatibility issues with the online servers.

Many gamers point out this could not have happened at a worse time for Sony. There was a recent banking holiday in Europe, which meant gamers had plenty of time to play online. Plus, Microsoft recently gave all Xbox 360 owners in Europe a free weekend of Xbox Live service in order to try and set a world record in online gaming. This really took a lot of attention away from the PS3 and shifted it towards the Xbox 360 in parts of the world that do not speak the English language. 

Let’s hope Sony can get these problems with the PSN online service solved quickly. A lot of PS3 owners are very disappointed right now, since they can’t play online with their friends anymore. Kids at school and adults at work that enjoy talking about videogames aren’t talking about playing games online on their PS3. This certainly helps the competition, especially when you consider Microsoft is currently running a beta test online with this year’s most-anticipated game of all – Gears of War 3. 

Controversy is a website that will keep you updated on the status of the PSN online service. We will let you know when the PSN service starts working properly again.

UPDATE (6:30pm 4/26/2011)

Many websites have confirmed that the PSN has in fact been compromised in ways that put credit card data of PS3 owners at risk. My best advice right now is for you to take a look at the great article on IGN that talks about "How to Protect Yourself." You can take a look at this great article here.

For now, I can briefly give you some tips on how to monitor your credit information. First, monitor your credit cards that have been used with the PSN service. You can easily do this online in the same way you pay credit cards online. If you see that something was purchased that you didn't buy, make sure and report it to the phone number on the back of your credit card. As long as you do this within the appropriate time period (usually 60 days), you will not be required to pay for this illegal purchase. Also, by reporting the illegal purchase, you will be helping to track down the hackers.

Second, make sure that you try to keep track of when your credit card statements normally arrive in the mail. If you suddenly realize "Hey, my credit card statement should have arrived in the mail by now," it means your statement was either lost in the mail or sent to a different address by a hacker. This needs to be brought to the attention of the credit card company right away so they can find out what is going on in a way that makes it so you are not charged for things you didn't buy.

Finally, if you start receiving credit card bills from cards you didn't previously have, if you start receiving calls from debt collectors, or if you are declined approval for credit cards, car loans, or mortgages that you should have been approved of, it may indicate your identity has been stolen. I strongly suggest you visit that article on IGN in order to learn more. Whenever a company like Sony allows software piracy and hacking to occur on this level, it really is an unfortunate scenario that costs consumers a lot of time and money. 

Kelly McGillis - Acting No Longer Defines Her

Kelly McGillis is known best for the amazing role she played in the 1986 movie, Top Gun. Although she has continued to be an actress in Hollywood, she makes it clear that she no longer believes acting defines her life or personality. Kelly McGillis specifically explained that she has grown and matured over the course of her life.

When asked about this subject, Kelly responded by saying “I have a lot of other interests I'm passionate about and I'm willing to explore what they might be." For example, McGillis specifically said she enjoys stage work in plays such as The Graduate. Kelly McGillis also said she is passionate about helping a clinic in New Jersey that deals with people needing encouragement and assistance overcoming problems that deal with alcohol abuse and substance abuse.

In Top Gun we saw that Kelly McGillis worked for the military; she was familiar with controversial projects dealing with the Soviet Union. But Top Gun was just a movie. In the real world we see that Kelly McGillis is a class act because she is passionate about helping others. This type of defining role is what she may take pride in more than any other, since this is what she will always be remembered for most in the lives of people she has helped.

The Third Xbox is in Development!

Microsoft has recently started posting job offers to engineers. The way the job descriptions describe the situation, it appears obvious the jobs will be focused on the design of the successor to the Xbox 360. But several analysts have pointed out that since Microsoft hasn’t even determined which parts will be used in the third Xbox, it means the Xbox 360 has a lot of life ahead of it.

This seems particularly true when you consider Nintendo will be releasing the Wii 2 console in 2012 to be a direct competitor of the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Obviously, Nintendo would not want to release a Wii 2 console that would see vastly superior competition just a short time after its release. Let’s assemble the facts so that we can try and come up with a fact-based theory.

Here is a list of facts we know so far:

* Nintendo recently announced the Wii 2 will be released in 2012. The Wii 2 will not be a direct competitor of the PS4 or the third Xbox. The Wii 2 will be the direct competitor of the Xbox 360 and PS3. I wrote an article about this here, and another article with additional information here.

* The hardware specifications of the Wii 2 show it will offer performance similar to what is used by the Xbox 360, PS3, and PCs of today. Wii 2 uses 512MB of RAM, just like Xbox 360 and PS3. Wii 2 uses a GPU that is nearly identical to the one in the Xbox 360. The same can be said about the 3.0Ghz tri-core CPU used by the Wii 2 compared to the 3.2Ghz tri-core CPU used by the Xbox 360.

* The third Xbox currently rumored to be in the very early stages of development will obviously not be competing directly against the Wii 2, since that would mean it is competing directly against the Xbox 360.

* Nintendo feels confident enough to release the Wii 2 in 2012 because they believe the eighth generation of videogames represented by the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and Wii 2 still has a lot of life in it.

* Sony said the PS3 will have a 10-year life expectancy. If this is true, the PS3 is on schedule to be released in 2016 – ten years after the release of the PS3.

Now that these facts have been gathered, we can try to form some theories and hypotheses. If the PS3 had a 10-year life expectancy, it seems reasonable that the Xbox 360 would also have a life expectancy of 10 years. In this scenario, the third Xbox would be released worldwide in late 2015 – 10 years after the release of the Xbox 360. This seems like a logical theory based on the facts available and the success that Microsoft has enjoyed by beating Sony to market by one year.

From this point of view, it isn't a surprise or a concern that Microsoft is waiting on assembling engineers for development of the next Xbox. Even PCs at their highest and most expensive points right now do not offer a significant improvement over what is seen in the graphics offered by Xbox 360 and PS3. This is important because history has always shown that whenever a new generation of consoles has been released, there is a brief period where the consoles have the hardware advantage over PCs.

For example, when Xbox 360 launched in late 2005, it did so with a revolutionary ATI GPU based on Unified Shader technology, which PC graphics cards didn't see until 2007. The same thing can be said about the eDRAM technology used in the Xbox 360. And in 2005 when Xbox 360 launched with a tri-core CPU, PCs were only using dual-core CPU processors.

We haven't seen technology evolve enough for a new generation of consoles to replace Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii 2. Remember, based on the specifications known so far, the Wii 2 is evolutionary – intended to compete directly with the Xbox 360 and PS3 in a high-definition online environment. This is an online environment where the Wii 2 is at a big disadvantage compared to Xbox Live.

The third Xbox will be revolutionary due to the fact that it will be made up of customized technology that PCs eventually become based on in order to make multiplatform programming easier for developers. Over the course of time, PCs will eventually catch up and overtake the consoles again. This is a cycle that has continuously repeated itself throughout videogame history. PC technology is the one form of technology that we can look at and use as a constant measuring stick to estimate when we might see new consoles overtake high-end computers.

I believe consoles will not be able to make a significant improvement over PCs until at least 2014 or 2015. This is when rumors indicate new forms of technology will be available for use at a price the public would see as reasonable. But just because technology is available doesn’t necessarily mean companies will want to rush something to market.

From a business perspective, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are only now starting to reach their peak. Xbox 360 is now the top-selling console every month in North America and other English-speaking parts of the world. And only recently has the PS3 started consistently earning net profits each financial quarter.

With that in mind, Microsoft and Sony probably aren’t in any rush to kill off the Xbox 360 and PS3, even if the technology was available. Microsoft recently released the Kinect, which immediately became the fastest-selling electronic item in history. By selling ten million units within a 60-day time period, Kinect is now in the Guiness Book of World Records. It would be foolish to put an end to the life of an Xbox 360 performing that well!

Sony’s initial investments in the launch of the PS3 caused a net loss of nearly $4 billion. After the disappointing launch of the PS3, Sony continuously saw net losses of hundreds-of-millions of dollars each financial quarter afterwards. From a financial point of view, it seems reasonable to presume that Sony wants the PS3 to last until 2016, if possible. This would be the only way for the PS3 to have any chance of earning an overall net profit during the course of its life on the market.

At this point in time I really doubt we will see a new Xbox console by 2014. But, we do know that Microsoft wants to expand the Halo series and Gears of War series. One hypothesis of mine is that a new series known as Pendulum Wars (a prequel to Gears of War) would be released with the third Xbox. If Epic spent three years developing this game, it would be ready by the end of 2014.

The question is if the technology available by 2014 would offer revolutionary advancements that a competitor like Sony would not be able to eclipse two years later. To be honest, I think Microsoft probably could have a big game from Epic, such as The Pendulum Wars, released by late 2014. But, it might be better for Microsoft to take their time getting everything right and putting all the icing on the cake. This would probably make 2015 a better release date, especially since Microsoft would continue earning money from the Xbox 360 the whole time.

Donald Trump is Officially Trumped by Michael Zoran

Recently, Donald Trump has been criticizing President Barack Obama in very personal ways. In particular, Mr. Trump has selfishly questioned whether our president is actually a citizen of the United States and whether our president is actually a Christian or a Muslim. Mr. Trump went so far as to arrogantly ask President Obama to personally show him his birth certificate.

Thankfully, President Obama does not believe Donald Trump deserves any form of special treatment. President Obama is not the type of man that believes a wealthy person such as Donald Trump is any different from any other American citizen. This is the concept that America is based on – the one that specifically states “All men are created equal.”

Donald Trump has foolishly claimed that President Obama “Almost certainly will go down in history as the worst president ever.” Fortunately, President Obama has responsibly proven that he is not going to waste valuable time replying to foolish comments made by an arrogant millionaire like Donald Trump any more than he would waste time replying to anyone else making a foolish statement. In all likelihood, President Barack Obama will be remembered for the fact that he is the first African American President of the United States and the fact that he is one of only four American presidents to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize honor.

Unfortunately, in the controversial world we live in, this still leaves some people wondering if there is any merit to the subjects Donald Trump mentioned regarding the birth certificate of President Obama and his birth origin. Thankfully, anyone that invests even the smallest amount of time researching this subject can easily find the answer. There is no doubt that the original birth certificate with a raised seal and an official signature stamp exists at Hawaii’s State Health Department. This birth certificate document confirms that Barack Obama meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship.

I want to confirm this fact and reinforce this subject. Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now called Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Barack Obama’s original birth certificate is also on file at this hospital. In addition, several local newspapers in Hawaii have documented his birth at that time with public announcements of birth. This means that in August of 1961, local newspapers in Hawaii showed Barack Obama listed as a Newborn Baby.

Here is a quote from The Associated Press:

“State officials say there’s no doubt Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Health Department Director Dr. Chyome Fukino said Friday she and the registrar of statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama’s original birth certificate.” Dr. Fukino went on to say that no state official, including republican Gov. Linda Lingle, ever instructed that Obama’s birth certificate be handled differently. State law bars the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest.

Obviously, Donald Trump does not have a tangible interest in the life of Barack Obama. This is the reason why President Obama has not taken time away from focusing on important areas of war, gasoline prices, taxes, and national debt in order to concentrate on childlike nonsense with a man like Donald Trump – a man that enjoys portraying himself as a bully but always runs away when confronted by even the weakest people.

For example, Donald Trump loved aggressively bragging that he was rated ahead of President Obama in a hypothetical political poll conducted last week. But after that subject drew a lot of publicity, it obviously affected the results conducted the next week. This week’s poll showed President Obama with 49% of support from voters, while Donald Trump had only 34%.

When Megan Alexander of Inside Edition asked Donald Trump about his declining support from poll voters, he incorrectly told her that the results of that poll were from a long time ago. When Megan tried to tell Mr. Trump that the poll was just released, he quickly pulled his microphone off and said he needed to leave. This is the clear act of a self-proclaimed bully running away when someone stands up to him.

Donald Trump continues to say “Why doesn’t Barack Obama give his birth certificate?” The answer to that question is because President Obama doesn’t need to! Doctors, registrars, and newspapers have already confirmed the birth of Barack Obama in Hawaii! Any critic that invests a small amount of time can visit websites such as FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com to see high-resolution 3D scanned images of the original version of President Obama’s birth certificate. This proves the birth certificate has a raised seal and it confirms Barack Obama is a citizen of the United States.

Now that I have proven it would have been effortless for Donald Trump and his staff of employees to obtain the answers he was asking about President Obama’s birth certificate, it raises a very important issue that needs to be answered. Did Donald Trump really care about President Obama’s birth certificate and his status as an American citizen? Or did Donald Trump have some other motive, such as politics, for continuously talking about this subject?

Donald Trump’s inability to find the answer to his question about the birth certificate of Barack Obama has confirmed two very important issues. First, we have learned that Donald Trump lacks the enthusiasm and intelligence needed to be Present of the United Sates of America. Donald Trump’s actions, or lack thereof, reveal he is incredibly lazy and/or incredibly stupid – to the point that he doesn’t even know how to personally use the Internet or read official statements confirming Barack Obama is an American citizen.

Second, we have learned that Donald Trump lacks human resource management skills, since the staff currently working for him is incredibly lazy and/or incredibly stupid – to the point that the staff of employees representing him doesn’t even know how to use the Internet or basic search engines. If Donald Trump, his children, or the delegated employees that represent his management skills would have taken just five minutes to enter several keywords into an Internet search engine like Google, they would have easily found all the answers to their questions from official sources representing the state of Hawaii!

With that in mind, it is possible to make two logical conclusions about Donald Trump. Both of these conclusions prove Donald Trump does not possess the qualifications needed to be President of the United States. These two conclusions are listed below:

1. Donald Trump is a man that lacks management skill. The employees Donald Trump feels confident enough to delegate responsibility to do not possess the level of skill needed to answer the easily-answered questions he publicly asks. If Donald Trump’s staff of employees lacks the skill needed to find and analyze the answers to easily-answered questions, such as President Obama’s birth certificate, it is logical to conclude Donald Trump does not possess the skill or human resources needed to solve complex problems as President of the United States.

2. Donald Trump’s primary motive for continuously asking to see the birth certificate of Barack Obama is inspired by one word: Greed. Each time Donald Trump immorally questions the citizenship status of Barack Obama, Trump believes it helps his political career. Donald Trump currently has a desire to be the 2012 republican nominee for president. But even if Donald Trump decides to change his mind, he still places financial value on all the promotional publicity the media is currently giving to him. Donald Trump sees this publicity as a free form of marketing promotion, even though it actually comes at the expense of another man – Barack Obama.

Once again, I’d like to reinforce that these two logical conclusions confirm Donald Trump lacks the qualifications and skills needed to be President of the United States. It is logical to conclude that even if Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States, he would lack the skills needed to hire a qualified staff capable of responsibly assisting him in ways that would provide answers to questions he considers crucial.

I’d also like to discuss something very disheartening and very discouraging. Donald Trump’s recent public comments reveal that he analyzes information based on selfish points of view. These selfish points of view allow Donald Trump’s mind to perceive himself as a superior individual. In addition, when Donald Trump is presented with facts he doesn’t want to believe, he aggressively accuses the person presenting the evidence as a conspirator against him!

For example, the New York Post specifically said "$ize Matters," because Donald Trump claimed that he's much more wealthy than potential GOP rival Mitt Romney.

"My net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney," Trump said on CNN. Obviously, this exaggeration-filled statement reveals that Donald Trump lacks the management negotiation skills needed to be President of the United States.

Afterwards, at a news conference, Megan Alexander of Inside Edition asked the specific question, “Should a presidential candidate be decided on their wallet size?” Donald Trump replied by saying, "No not exclusively. All it is is an indicator. I have had tremendous success and have done a great job with business and as a company. Frankly, if I run, I will have to disclose financials and when I disclose my financials I can tell you people are going to be very, very impressed. I have done a good job.”

However, during an interview on Good Morning American, host George Stephanopoulos questioned whether the American public would believe Donald Trump did a good job with finances after those financial records and taxes were released. Donald Trump foolishly responded by claiming that he may not be willing to release these financial records unless Barack Obama is willing to release his birth certificate to the public! This certainly proves Donald Trump does not have the ability to handle tough questions under fire – confirming the logical analysis that Donald Trump does not possess the negotiation skills needed to be President of the United States.

But this was not the only absurd statement Donald Trump made in this interview with George Stephanopoulos. Donald Trump’s other statements confirmed the logical analysis that Donald Trump lacks the management skills needed to be President of the United States. This is especially true in the area of human resource management, as we saw when George Stephanopoulus questioned Donald’s Trump about the lack of evidence his private investigators have found regarding President Obama’s birth certificate.

During this interview, Donald Trump questioned whether Barack Obama is an American citizen. Stephanopoulus immediately stood up to Trump by saying “There is no question” regarding the status of Barack Obama as a natural-born citizen of the United States. Trump relied by saying “I know exactly what you’re getting at,” but Stephanopoulus fired back by assertively saying “The Facts!” At this point Stephanopoulus started citing official sources that provided those facts – facts that Donald Trump obviously was not interested in learning about.

If Donald Trump was an unselfish American with a true “Hope” to learn Barack Obama is an American citizen, Trump obviously would have listened to the mountain of fact-based evidence presented by George Stephanopoulus. Instead, Donald Trump made the ludicrous statement saying, “George, they’ve co-opted you.” When Stephanopoulus asked “Who’s they?” Trump replied by saying “Well, obviously, Obama and his minions.” This statement clearly shows that Donald Trump is not willing to believe facts that he does not want to believe.

George Stephanopoulos then asked Donald Trump if the investigators he hired to visit Hawaii were finding anything about the citizenship status of President Obama. Previously, Donald Trump had told the media that his investigators “Could not believe what they were finding.” Donald Trump replied to Stephanopoulus by saying, “That’s none of your business right now.”

George Stephanopoulus calmly asked “Have they found anything?” Trump replied by saying “We are going to see what happens.” Stephanopoulus asked “What have they found?” Like a broken record, Trump replied “We are going to see what happens.” Stephanopoulus asked “When?” At this point a shaken Donald Trump continuously answered “We are going to see what happens,” and then like a bully that had been called out on a bluff insisted that George move on to the next question.

All of the statements of Donald Trump focus exclusively on the good things that he has done in his life. But Donald Trump apparently doesn’t realize that in order to make it into the White House you need to be able to withstand the hot white spot light or else you are going to get burned by the media. One of the rules of this world is that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

With that in mind, why doesn’t Donald Trump talk about the times he declared bankruptcy? From that particular point of view, I – Michael Zoran – am a far more qualified candidate for president than Donald Trump is. After all, I’ve never been forced to declare financial bankruptcy the way Donald Trump has.

Scoreboard Points
Michael Zoran: 1
Donald Trump: 0

Well, I’ve written a long article since I type far faster than most people in the world – over 100 words per minute. This is many, many, many, many times faster than Donald Trump. While we are only looking at things from this one point of view, let’s conduct the election right now so I win. In case you hadn’t noticed, I was being very sarcastic in a way that mocks the exaggerating statements made by Donald Trump (although, I really do type over 100 words per minute on a keyboard).

I believe life is like a game of cards – you need to play the hand you’re dealt. Donald Trump really has done a nice job of using the last name he has been blessed with for marketing purposes that helped make him a millionaire. On the other hand, I’m just a regular guy that graduated at the top of his class in business administration – but I have an epileptic disability that has severely hurt my career since I can’t drive.

This time I am the one that has been blessed by the name of Trump. This time I am the one that gets to use the name of Trump for marketing purposes associated with standing up to a bully. I’m not co-opting with any man or his minions; I’m merely co-opting against a bully. This time the hand I have been dealt is a hand that allows me to publicly declare:

Donald Trump is Officially Trumped by Michael Zoran!

Hopefully, this headline and this article will get some media attention and allow me to pull some of that unearned spotlight away from a bully like Donald Trump. I’d love to be able to tell a story someday about how I moved from the bottom of the ladder to the top, even though I have epilepsy. But will this career-changing and life-impacting event occur with the media? We will see what happens!

Here is some useful information for you to see:

Birth Certificate Photo 1: Fold and Seal:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_1.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 2: Full Certificate:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_2.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 3: Full Certificate:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_3.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 4: Top Third:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_4.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 5: Middle Third:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_5.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 6: Bottom Third:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_6.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 7: Stamp and Seal:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_7.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 8: Seal:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_8.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 9: Stamp:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_9.jpg

Who is Your Favorite Gears of War Character?

Who is your favorite Gears of War charater?

This is the question many people have been asking recently. What I would like to know is who your favorite Gears of War character is and why.

Just write a brief statement like the one I write here:

Clayton Carmine once told his two younger brothers something they remembered for the rest of their lives: "Failure is a Badge of Honor."

Clayton Carmine used to live his life as a successful businessman. Clayton told his younger brothers that one of the classes they needed to take at the academy was called “Every Business is Built to Fail,” because you learn a lot from making mistakes in life. But the locusts killed his younger brothers, so now it’s personal!

In Gears of War 3, Clayton Carmine becomes an entrepreneur as a Locust Headhunter – a market he will dominate at the expense of the Locusts!

As long as the Locusts have manpower, Clayton Carmine Exterimation will remain in business with one very enthusiastic boss!

Where did Optimus Prime's Trailer Go When He Transformed?

Optimus Prime is one of the greatest characters of all time. Every day, I would get home from school and watch Transformers on TV. And every day I would see the Decepticons come up with a plan to defeat the Autobots. And, you guessed it, every day I would see Optimus Prime play a key role in saving our planet from being conquered by Megatron.

The Transformers come from the planet Cybertron. Every Transformer has the ability to change shape into at least one other type of vehicle, weapon, or device. This helps each transformer gain power, usefulness, and marketability.

I mention the term marketability because all of the Transformers started out at toys. The producers of the Transformers often talked about the pride they felt after being able to take existing toys and place them in an excellent story. Usually, it is the other way around – characters in a TV show being turned into toys.

Unfortunately, some of the transformers experienced fundamental flaws with the way their toys and overall design interacted with the TV show. These flaws were so basic that even little kids realized something was wrong. This often motivated both children and adults to ask questions about why certain things were happening.

The Transformers first appeared on TV in 1984. Now, in 2011 there are still several questions those children and adults still want answered. At the top of the list is the famous question, “Where does Optimus Prime’s trailer go when he transforms into a robot?”

I’m now going to list several of these puzzling questions. I’m going to try and brainstorm the situation in order to solve the problem. I’m going to analyze what works and what doesn’t. Hopefully, we will have some answers that lead to a definitive conclusion by the time I’m done with this analysis.

Now, on to the list of puzzling questions:

* Where does Optimus Prime’s trailer go when he transforms?

* Megatron is the same size as Optimus Prime when the two of them are in robot mode. Optimus Prime transforms into a huge truck. But Megatron transforms into a gun small enough to fit into the hands of his fellow Decepticons. Is this reduction in size achieved with an increase of density? If so, Megatron would be a very heavy gun! Or, does this mean Megatron’s weight decreases whenever his size decreases in order to make it easy for other Transformers to aim him?

* Soundwave is the same size as Megatron and Optimus Prime. Soundwave has the ability to transform into a tape player so small that he fits in the hands of a human being such as Spike Witwicki. This strongly suggests that the density of Soundwave has not remained the same; otherwise he would be far too heavy for Spike to lift. So the question is, “How can Soundwave become small enough and light enough to fit into the hands of a human being and be lifted effortlessly?”

The next subject is really an interesting paradox that has left me wondering quite a few times. Tell me your thoughts on these subjects:

* Megatron has the ability to decrease his size to the point that his fellow Decepticons can use him as a lightweight weapon. However, Megatron apparently does not have the ability to decrease his size or weight to the point that a human being such as Spike Witwicki can use him as a lightweight weapon.

For example, after being dropped, Megatron was on the ground as a gun. As a gun, Megatron was even larger than Spike! Megatron was also so heavy that Spike could barely move him. But it appeared there was no way for Megatron to resize himself to be small enough for Spike to fire.

What I want to know is why Megatron remains heavy when he becomes smaller. And why does Megatron’s size appear to be limited? If Soundwave can become small enough and light enough for Spike to place in his hand, why does Megatron remain heavy?

* Astrotrain was a triple-changer that transformed into both a train and a space shuttle. As a robot, Astrotrain was the size of Megatron and Optimus Prime. It seemed reasonable that Astrotrain could turn into the front of a train or even a space shuttle, since Optimus Prime turns into a huge truck. But in Transformers the movie we see that Astrotrain has turned into a space shuttle so huge that he is carrying dozens of Decepticons! How in the world could Astrotrain transform into something so large? And if Astrotrain had that ability, why didn’t he just keep on getting bigger so that he could kill off all the Autobots?

* Soundwave and Blaster both transform into tape players. It’s true the Transformers crashed on our planet over four-million years ago, but were they really that far behind us in that area of technology?

I’m now going to investigate some hypotheses and theories about why these paradoxes seem to exist. Hopefully, I will be able to come up with some answers now that the questions have been clearly asked. If you have some ideas, please feel free to write about them here.

First, we know that the trailer is a separate part of Optimus Prime. We also know that he does have the ability to walk into the trailer and use it as a form of battle station; although, we only saw this happen a very small number of times. My only theory right now has to do with the fact that the original Transformers TV show was broadcast in a 4:3 ratio. Perhaps if the show had been broadcast in a widescreen format we would have seen that trailer transformed into a battle station next to prime all along in every episode!

Second, we know that several transformers have the ability to change their size when they transform. In Transformers: The Movie, Astrotrain told Starscream that it was necessary to “Jettison some weight” or else they would never make it back to Cybertron. This seems to indicate there are limits on how far a transformer can modify its size.

Third, Soundwave was able to become so small and so lightweight that a human being could place him in his hand for the purpose of deception. Perhaps the reason why Megatron appeared unable to do so was because he never had a desire to allow a human to use him as a weapon. The fact that Spike was able to lift Megatron at all in his reduced size suggests there is a weight reduction ratio that exits when a transformer changes its size. Although Megatron’s smaller size was still heavy to Spike, Megatron probably was still lightweight to other Transformers firing him such as Starscream or Skywarp.

The one problem that isn’t answered by this has to do with the scientific way Soundwave is able to become so incredibly lightweight. We seem to have proven that a mathematical ratio of size and weight exists when a transformer changes its size. However, we sill haven’t proven the way that this occurs. You are welcome to share your thoughts on this issue.

Does the mass of the transformer decrease in some way when size and weight are changed? If so, are dimensions other than space and time involved? Perhaps Soundwave speeds his cassette tapes faster than the speed of light in a circular motion (increasing mass and gravity), contains the reaction with his powerful eject button, and transfers some weight to another dimension – similar to what some scientists believe occurs in a black hole.

But if that is the case, how would Megatron and Astrotrain do the same? Megatron’s specifications on his box say that his technology is based on anti-matter, so this may be possible. And perhaps Astrotrain’s rocket technology is based on a nuclear source of energy, which would explain why he needs to be a triple changer in the form of a train. You are welcome to share your thoughts on this issue.

Last but certainly not least is why Soundwave and Blaster would need audiocassettes over four-million years ago on the planet Cybertron. I think the main thing we need to remember is that Teletraan 1 changed most of the Transformers in at least some way in order to make them compatible with the culture that existed on our planet in 1984. In all likelihood, Soundwave and Blaster probably did not use audiocassettes on Cyberton.

Well, I hope this article has helped you find the answers to some of the questions that all of us have wondered about for a long time. If I did help you find the answers you were looking for or if you found this article fun to read, please make a donation to this website. This website is not free to run, and I do have epilepsy. Any extra income I can get is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Michael Zoran

 

...

UPDATE: Wii 2 - Additional Info

UPDATE to my previous article here.

Over the course of the day, several new pieces of information have been revealed about the Wii 2.

First, it appears Nintendo will not be concentrating on 3D HDTV sets with the Wii 2. This is not a surprise, considering less than 1% of HDTV sets offer compatibility with 3D technology. Nintendo didn’t focus on HDTV sets with the Wii and they are not focusing on 3D HDTV sets with the Wii 2. Plus, using 3D technology has a negative impact on graphics, since it requires additional processing.

Second, the controller of the Wii 2 will apparently be some form of tablet technology. In other words, it will be similar to an iPad, but it will have buttons on it. This is going to be one of the big surprises that will be unveiled at E3. I know I'm already looking forward to seeing this!

Finally, the Wii 2 appears to offer hardware performance very similar to what is currently seen in the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 uses a 3.2Ghz triple-core CPU along with a custom GPU from ATI. The Xbox 360 GPU shares many similarities with the R500 and R600 series of PC graphics cards from ATI. The R600 series assimilated many of the custom Xbox 360 technologies such as eDRAM technology and the Unified Shader architecture. This shows how far ahead of its time the Xbox 360 GPU was, since PC graphics cards didn’t see those features until 2007. The Xbox 360 hardware includes 512MB of Unified RAM and 10MB of eDRAM.

According to reliable sources, the Wii 2 will be based on a custom triple-core PowerPC processor from IBM. The Wii 2 will also probably be using an AMD graphics processor offering performance similar to an ATI 700 series graphics card. The Wii 2 will also include 512MB of RAM. This means the Wii 2 hardware will be virtually identical to the Xbox 360, which will make ports to and from the PC and Xbox 360 very easy and very inexpensive. It appears the Wii 2 will probably have the hardware edge over the Xbox 360, but it seems as though the high-end PC will remain king of graphics.

Compared to the PS3, the Wii 2 is very different. The PS3 uses 512MB of Non-Unified RAM, and is based on an outdated Non-Unified architecture. The overall design of the PS3 shares nothing in common with the Wii 2. The PS3 hardware has a reputation for being difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to program, since it is not based on standard PC technology that developers are familiar with. Ports to and from PC and Xbox 360 games often result in the PS3 version having graphics that aren’t as good as their counterparts. The same can be said about multiplatform games released simultaneously for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

This trend looks to continue for the PS3. In fact, it appears there is a risk that the situation will become even worse for the PS3, since the balance beam will be tipping even further away from the PS3. The Wii 2 will carry a lot of weight with third-party publishers looking to reduce development costs. Multiplatform games will be virtually identical on the PC, Wii 2, and Xbox 360, while the PS3 versions will probably offer a lower level of performance than ever. Developers aren’t going to want to hold themselves back from doing the best things possible on PC, Xbox 360, and Wii 2, just to keep the PS3 happy. The main areas that will be affected in multiplatform releases are resolution and frame rate.

Nintendo appears to have done an excellent job in the design and concept of the Wii 2. The hardware and features included in the Wii 2 have already generated a lot of hype due to the fact that they will be optimized to work with HDTV sets and home theater surround sound. This year’s E3 really will be one of the most exciting in a long time. I believe it will be particularly interesting to see how Microsoft and Sony respond to this announcement from Nintendo. Personally, I predict a price drop of at least $50 from both of them.

Wii 2 – New HD Console Being Unveiled by Nintendo at E3

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, usually referred to as the E3, is going to be particularly interesting this summer! Nintendo has recently let it slip (probably for publicity purposes) that they will be unveiling a new console based on high-definition technology. Reliable sources have claimed that the Wii 2 will be launched worldwide at the end of 2012.

This new Wii 2 console will be fully backwards-compatible with the existing Wii console. Backward compatibility is a feature gamers of the 21st century truly appreciate. It’s very common to hear Wii owners talk about how they love it how their Wii is backwards compatible with Nintendo’s Gamecube console. Presumably, the Wii 2 will also be backwards compatible with the Gamecube technology in the same way that the Wii is.

The Wii 2 is apparently the most powerful HD console ever created, with a design very similar to the Xbox 360. Currently the Xbox 360 has the most powerful GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and has the ability to display more polygons than any other console –500,000,000 polygons per second. The Playstation 3 console can display up to 275,000,000 polygons per second. This is the reason why Xbox 360 versions of multiplatform software released by third-party game developers often have smoother frame rates and higher resolution than their counterparts on the PS3.

Apparently, the Wii 2 will be capable of displaying games in 1920x1080p resolution on a regular basis. The Xbox 360 and PS3 already have games that run in this 1080p resolution, but they represent only a small percentage of games. In reality, it would make more sense for the Wii 2 games to be based on a native resolution of 1280x720p, which would allow a smoother frame rate and a greater amount of lighting and shading techniques to be used.

Multiplatform games released for all the consoles may see the Wii 2 versions of games use the higher native resolution of 1920x1080p. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions would be based on native resolutions of only 1280x720p. We have already seen quite a few Xbox 360 games run at resolutions of up to 40% higher than their PS3 counterparts.

For example, Soul Calibur 4 on the PS3 runs at a native resolution of 1280x720p. However, the developers realized the Xbox 360 had quite a bit of power remaining. This motivated the developers at Namco to increase the resolution of the Xbox 360 version by 40% so that it ran at a native resolution of 1365x960p. This is the type of environment we might expect the Wii 2 version to run at a native resolution of 1920x1080p.

Publishers that have seen this new console have claimed that Nintendo has already revealed to them that the Wii 2 will use a new form of controller, rather than an update to the existing Wii controller. Obviously the motion-control technology must still exist, since the Wii 2 keeps the name of Wii and is fully compatible with Wii software. This makes people wonder if Nintendo will be trying to use something similar to the very successful Kinect controller used with the Xbox 360.

What’s really interesting is that the Wii 2 controller is said to have a screen on it. This is something that hasn’t happened since Sega tried it in 1999 with the Dreamcast console. The Wii 2 takes this a step further by making it so the screen is touch-sensitive! The Wii 2 controller is also said to have some other surprises that Nintendo will show to us at this years E3. The first thought that springs into my mind is some form of 3D compatibility with the new 3DS handheld product from Nintendo.

I believe Nintendo is in an excellent position to continue their domination of the global videogame market. In 2005 Nintendo realized that only a small percentage of the market owned an HDTV, which is why Nintendo stayed away from that market. The Wii was less powerful than the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but the Wii sold far more units worldwide due to the fact that the Wii cost less money. Most people didn’t even consider the Wii as a direct competitor of the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Now, in 2011, the HD market has significantly grown, and will continue to grow by the time the Wii 2 launches in late 2012. Nintendo has always done their best to launch a console at the price of no more than $249. With that in mind, the Wii 2 will instantly be priced to compete with the various packages of Xbox 360 and PS3 when it launches in 2012. Considering that the Wii 2 will offer better graphics for a similar price, it seems reasonable that the Wii 2 really will allow Nintendo to remain leader of the videogame industry.

The Xbox 360 console currently can be purchased for as little as $199 for a new unit, but this does not include a hard drive. We do not yet know if the Wii 2 will include any form of hard drive. The Xbox 360 unit with a hard drive costs $299. You can also purchase an Xbox 360 without a hard drive with a Kinect packed in for $299. For $399 you can purchase an Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive and a Kinect packed in.

Playstation 3 sells for as little as $299 with a 160GB hard drive. For $349 you can buy the PS3 with a 320GB hard drive with the Move controller packed in. The Move is a motion-sensitive controller similar to what is used in the Wii. The Move has not been nearly as successful as the Kinect, so it remains to see what form of motion technology the Wii 2 is based on.

The Kinect technology is revolutionary and has very little in common with what is used in the Wii. Kinect launched during the fall of 2010 and quickly sold 10 Million units. Kinect is currently in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling item in electronics history. There is no doubt that Kinect technology will be a part of Microsoft’s plans for a long time to come in areas of gaming, computers, home entertainment, and many other areas of living.

At this point in time it really did make sense for Nintendo to release a new console. Over the last year, the Wii has been declining in sales – each month being outsold by the Xbox 360. Right now, the Wii is often the odd-man-out when multiplatform games are released by third-party game companies. For example, games will be released for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, but not for the Wii.

Even when games are released for the Wii, gamers often stay away from the Wii version because the Wii version has graphics that are far less impressive than what is seen on the PC, Xbox 360, or PS3. But with the Wii 2, gamers will want to buy the Wii 2 versions of games since they will be the best-looking console versions available. Only expensive high-end PCs will have graphics as good as the Wii 2.

This places some stress on Microsoft and Sony. Both companies are now being pressured into released consoles sooner than they wanted. Sony said from the beginning that they thought the PS3 would have a 10-year life expectancy. Microsoft never said how long they felt the Xbox 360 would be on the market, but they did say they believed this generation would last longer than any other previous generation – which it already has done.

Microsoft referred to the Kinect as a new launch for the Xbox 360. There is no doubt that the successor of the Xbox 360 will remain fully compatible with the Kinect. But we don’t know when Microsoft’s next console will arrive. Xbox 360 is selling better now than it ever has. Microsoft continues to earn net profit with the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Live gaming service.

Sony has a tough decision to make. Unless the PS3 can last 10 years, it is very likely that the PS3 will result in an overall financial net loss for Sony. It cost Sony billions of dollars to launch the PS3, and Sony continued to lose hundreds-of-millions of dollars each quarter afterward. The amount of net profit Sony has only recently started earning is very small; it won’t put a dent in the billions of dollars of loss the PS3 has cost Sony. This is why Sony needs to ask themselves if it would be better to forget about this generation in order to get an early start on the next generation or if it would be better to try and get as much as possible out of the PS3.

From a graphic point of view, it doesn’t make sense for Microsoft or Sony to launch a new console by 2012. The balance between graphic quality and the price of a console – directly related to the cost of launching that console – clearly shows that Microsoft and Sony would be better off living in a world where the Wii 2 has better graphics until about 2014. The Xbox 360 will continue to sell well and generate profit thanks to Kinect and Xbox Live. Net profit is the name of the game in business and Microsoft has achieved this goal with Xbox 360.

With that in mind, I think the soonest we will see a console from Microsoft is 2013 or 2014. Only then will graphics technology have reached far enough beyond the Xbox 360 that it makes sense for Microsoft to start a new hardware generation. Remember, the Wii 2 is a direct competitor of the Xbox 360 and the PS3; the Wii 2 does not start a “new” graphics generation the way the next Xbox would. The simple fact is, that type of graphics technology will not be available for a while.

Sony is a different story due to the lack of financial success associated with the Playstation 3. The PS3 is the least successful Playstation console that Sony has ever released. It was very arrogant of Sony to launch a console for $600. Sony had an amazing amount of momentum heading into this hardware generation. Yet all of that momentum attained from the success of the PS1 and PS2 was lost because they stumbled over their own arrogance.

This arrogance was directly related to Sony’s desire to try and turn the blu-ray disc into the format that replaced DVD. We do not know what format the Wii 2 will use. At this point in time it seems reasonable that Nintendo could include some form of blu-ray technology into the Wii 2 for a low price. However, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see Nintendo develop a proprietary disc format of their own. I doubt this will happen though, since many people believe the market failure of the Gamecube was caused by Nintendo’s decision to avoid the DVD format.

My prediction is that Nintendo will play it safe and use blu-ray technology for now. After all, Nintendo is designing the Wii 2 to be direct competitors with the Xbox 360 and the PS3, not their successors. I do believe that once Microsoft and Sony eventually release their next consoles, we will see that blu-ray becomes an outdated format. Developers in this generation have already said that blu-ray discs do not offer enough storage space.

Once the Wii 2 is released, we will see that Nintendo is once again included in the lives of console gamers that want the best graphics. Games will be released for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and Wii 2. Console gamers that want the best graphics will be purchasing the game for Wii 2.

It also will be interesting to see what type of online services Nintendo will be offering for the Wii 2. Currently in the videogame industry, it is generally agreed upon that the Xbox Live service of the Xbox 360 is a full generation ahead of what is offered by Nintendo and Sony for the Wii and PS3, respectively. But the Wii 2 isn’t meant to put Nintendo into the“next” generation. The Wii 2 is merely meant to pull Nintendo into the current high-definition generation in a way that competes directly with the Xbox 360 and PS3 on a technological level. I believe the Wii 2 will probably use the same form of online service as the Wii.

This year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo will certainly be a very interesting event that all of us are looking forward to!

UPDATE: You can read more about the Wii 2 here.

Stock Market Proves Trade Success, Indicating Economic Recovery

I believe the stock market is a way to reliably estimate what lies ahead for a nation's economy. The stock market is a very basic way to measure the success of large-scale trading in an economy. Generally speaking, the stock market of an individual nation reveals what lies ahead for the economy of that particular nation and its citizens since an economy is based on trade.

Economics is a very complex subject taught in colleges by highly educated professors using well-written textbooks. Economics can be a subject that helps form a plan toward the recovery of a nation if executed properly. But we also need to remember that these complex economic lessons based on intricate mathematics are what helped put our nation in debt. Economics is a subject very vulnerable to random variables such as natural disasters and selfish spending.

I believe we need to look to something far more basic to examine whether or not our economy is on the way to recovery. Mathematics, logic, and science are good subjects to compare to economics. But I believe that making comparison in basic real-world ways is better than making comparisons in theoretical ways that few of us ever experience in the real world.

For example, if you want to do things in a complex way, you can easily show that 2+2=0. All you need to do is show two pieces of matter being added to two pieces of antimatter and you end up with nothing. But in the real world of everyday living, the 300 Million citizens of America don’t face that situation.

The world we live in is based on very basic principles each day. If you catch four fish, you have four fish to either eat, store, or trade for something else. That form of logic really is what the concept of trade, and therefore economics, is based on.

When President Obama took office, the Dow stock market was only at 7,000. Now the Dow stock market is over 12,000. If it wasn't for the fact that the nation of Greece experienced an economic bankruptcy that affected world economy, our Dow stock market probably would be over 13,000 right now.

This means the American economy has definitely come out of its recession and is well on its way to prosperity again. Proof of this is the fact that the number of jobs in America is rising. It is only a matter of time until this initial seed of prosperity grows and starts producing financial fruit that all American citizens will enjoy the taste of.

Even states hurt the worst by the recession, such as Michigan, are now reporting a huge growth in jobs. I was watching TV a couple weeks ago and I saw that analysts had predicted only 6,000 new jobs were going to come to Michigan during that particular time period. Instead, 60,000 new jobs came to Michigan – literally ten times what was predicted!

The only thing that isn’t great in this scenario is that these jobs aren't high-paying jobs. Obviously, having some form of job is better than no job at all. Unfortunately, most of these new jobs aren't the types of jobs that you can raise a family on while living the quality middle class life we have grown to desire in America.

This new wave of jobs tends to be based on low-paying work done by unskilled employees in entry-level positions. These types of jobs are appreciated by college students and adults looking to make extra money on weekends. The good news about these entry-level positions is that there is room for advancement as time goes on and experience is gained. This type of career advancement usually results in an increase in pay, which hard-working employees always value.

These types of entry-level jobs do play a role in the economy; they actually represent what economies are based on. With a larger number of jobs of any kind, a larger sum of money will be circulating in the economy. More people will be purchasing products and services, which will result in a need to hire more employees. This creates an economic cycle that, in theory, should gradually continue to improve the economy.

As a larger number of employees are hired to satisfy production needs and service needs, it will be necessary to hire skilled employees that earn higher wages. Employees will be hired as well-educated supervisors and well-trained managers – roles that usually pay a higher salary. This is when the economy really starts to take off and an even larger number of jobs are created. The only bad thing about this scenario is that it won’t last forever.

Currently, the flood of jobs is helping college students and adults work and spend money on hobbies and food. Things like videogames, electronics, clothes, movies, jewelry, and other items. But these jobs are planting the financial seeds needed to produce a financial harvest in the economy. In other words, these jobs help circulate money around us in our own nation – a crucial factor to achieving a strong national economy in world trade.

Now, rather than watching our government pay unemployment to Americans living in an economy with no jobs, we see that more Americans have the ability to work on their own and make their lives better. We just need to make sure that we continue trading with each other as often as possible; that way, our money remains circulating in our own economy. This is particularly true in the automotive industry.

President Obama literally saved both General Motors and Chrysler from going out of business. Ford would have survived, even without the bailout of President Obama; however, it is obvious that Chrysler and GM would have gone out of business. Companies like Ford and Toyota would not have been able to simply “Eat their share of the market.” The inefficient share of the market held by GM and Chrysler would have been poisonous to Ford and Toyota.

If GM and Chrysler would have gone bankrupt, as they inevitably would have, it would have instantly put hundreds of thousands of workers out of work. But most people fail to realize this negative impact would have continued to affect millions of others. Companies that supply parts to GM and Chrysler have millions of workers all over the country that would have been put out of work.

I believe this economic impact would have produced a domino affect so huge that it proved something for the second time in history. This domino effect would have demonstrated that the concept of exclusive capitalism is always destined to kill itself, just like we saw during the Great Depression. Thankfully, our economy isn’t entirely based on capitalism at this point in time. Our government now runs a slightly modified form of capitalism that has the ability to help companies like Chrysler and GM, which are crucial to the economy.

Now that President Obama has given GM and Chrysler the ability to restore themselves, it is amazing how these two companies have been restored to net profitability so quickly. In fact, these auto companies have already started issuing large profit-sharing checks to entry-level factory workers on production lines! This is something I hadn’t seen in a very long time. Thanks to the auto bailout, it is obvious that the American auto industry appears to be on a long road of success. ;)

It's only a matter of time until we feel this economic recovery in other industries, as well. Quite a few of the industries in America were never affected at all by the recession. I’ve seen quite a few statistics that prove the industries of electronics and videogames have always remained very strong.

For example, Kinect is a product recently released for the Xbox 360. This revolutionary motion-controller device has already sold over 10 Million units. Kinect is now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling item in electronics history! This seems to be a great example of how several industries were not affected at all by any form of recession.

I am 100% convinced the economy is well on its way to a recovery. The only question is “when” everyone will feel the blessings of this recovery. This prosperity package has already been ordered, it’s just a matter of time until it arrives. Please share your thoughts by writing a Comment.

Xbox 360: Great Discounts and Free Deals!

Microsoft has announced that from April 12-18 you will be able to purchase five Xbox Live Arcade games for 50% off. These really are some great games from Capcom that can be purchased for some great prices!

Here is a list of these Xbox 360 games and their prices:

* Final Fight: Double Impact (400 Points)
* Marvel vs Capcom 2 (600 Points)
* Mega Man 10 (400 Points)
* Bionic Commando: Rearmed (400 Points)
* Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (600 Points)
Note: 400 Points is equal to about $5 while 600 Points is equal to about $7.50

Epic has recently announced that they are releasing the soundtrack of their videogame called Bulletstorm to the public for free. All you need to do is visit their website and download the file here: http://epicgames.com/community/2011/04/fan-freebies-get-the-bulletstorm-soundtrack/

If you enjoy that type of videogame music, you will probably be glad you were able to get that type of soundtrack for free.

Once you have downloaded this file, just right-click on the file and click Unzip or Extract, depending on what operating system you are running.

Gears of War 3 is King of Graphics and Co-Op Gameplay!

Gears of War is generally considered the greatest Third-Person Shooter game series ever released. This has been proven time after time by incredibly high reviews from professional sources and incredibly high ratings from all the reliable fans in the world. Gears of War is the games series that has spent more time on top of the graphics throne than any other videogame series this generation. 

Recently a new game called Crysis 2 was released for the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version of Crysis 2 has been called “The most graphically impressive game ever released for any console.” But Gears of War 3 definitely proves that Gears of War 3 is the new champion waiting to be crowned when it launches this September. 

One of the main reasons why Crysis 2 looks so great is because you can see so far into the distance – far further than a game like Killzone 3 on the PS3. The campaign of Crysis 2 is amazing in that aspect. The outdoor environments are filled with realistic types of lighting, shading, reflections, and lens flare that most First-Person Shooter games don’t focus much attention on. Cyrsis 2 obviously uses the newest technology available to developers in modern-day graphics engines. 

Gears of War 3 uses graphics technology based on the newest version of Epic’s Unreal Graphics Engine – the most popular graphics engine this generation. Developers programming Gears of War 3 now have access to all sorts of graphics techniques that were not previously available in videogames. Gears of War 3 is a showpiece designed to illustrate all of the amazing graphic and gaming features developers will now have access to if they use the new Unreal graphics engine technology that Epic has created. 

This is the reason why Gears of War 3 has such an incredibly high development budget and developers are taking their time to make sure everything about the game is nearly perfect. Normally, shooting games such as Call of Duty, Halo, and Gears of War are limited to two years of development time. But Gears of War 3 has been given three years of development time so developers know how to use all that new graphics technology. The thought of the skilled developers at Epic having that much time to work on Gears of War 3 really puts a smile on my face. 

Gears of War 2 used the same graphics engine as the first Gears of War game. Only minor adjustments were made to improve graphics. The reason for this is because the first game was created in about two years, while the second game was actually released with less than two years time of development. Gears of War 3 is the first Gears of War sequel that will be using technology that has been significantly updated.

Gears of War 3 almost looks like a "next-gen" type of game because it is so far ahead of Gears 1 and Gears 2 in so many ways. Gears of War 3 has an incredibly far-reaching line of sight, similar to Crysis 2. When you are playing in an environment where it is possible to see small details from a far distance, you see all of those details in Gears of War 3. 

What’s even more amazing is that weather has an affect on virtually everything. The lighting, shading, reflections and lens flare are just as good as Crysis 2, if not better. But Gears of War 3 takes this a step further by adding storms, lightning, rain, and other environmental affects that are each influenced by moving objects and weather. The reason for this is because the new Unreal Engine has so many graphics modifications and improvements, it is absolutely incredible! 

I studied the new Unreal Engine and everything new to Gears of War 3. Like I said, there are all sorts of weather tricks and graphic techniques to make fire, smoke, wind, lighting, shading, and reflections react perfectly in relation to everything else. For example, now we see Cole's Thrashball helmet has high-gloss reflections and lighting, just like a real football helmet. 

Another example would be how the women in Gears of War 3 have faces and hair with so many polygons it looks vastly superior to other games. For example, I was watching how a new female villain character in Uncharted 3 has an area of the face around the jaw area that is made up of straight lines instead of curves. Having a face that isn’t curved shows there’s not enough polygons available for the character in that graphics engine. It isn’t like that in Gears of War 3 where the female characters have nicely curved faces. 

This can also be applied to hair seen on characters, which is why it is much more noticeable when looking at a female. In Uncharted 3 the female villain looks like she has about four or five patches of texture-mapped polygon hair, similar to a low-polygon PS2 game. These patches of hair are clumped together in a triangular way that doesn’t look realistic compared to the men in Uncharted. In Gears of War 3 the females have nicely designed hair that curves and runs smoothly, even blowing in the wind while fighting during thunderstorms! 

One look at Gears of War 3 and you will see the new Unreal Engine is absolutely phenomenal. This is particularly true when used with the high-power GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) of the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 GPU is the most powerful GPU ever in a gaming console. 

The way Epic has it set up so you can customize and unlock your weapons in Gears of War 3 is awesome. The thought of having a pink lancer or an orange shotgun really brings a smile to my face for one simple reason: it is fun! This is the Gears of War equivalent to having a Star Wars collection of light sabers with various colors. 

The way Gears of War 3 has 4-player Co-Op in the Campaign mode is fantastic! There are parts of the Gears of War 3 Campaign where you will be fighting alongside all four of your teammates. There will be other times where two of you split down one road and two of you split down another road, and then meet up somewhere. And there will even be certain spots where all four of you split up on your own! 

During these co-op moments, all of you will still be talking with each other on your Xbox Live headset microphone. Even when you are split apart from your teammates, you will be telling your friends what or whom you are fighting against. Just hearing about what your friends are going through, hearing them say things like “Whoa!” and “Man that hurt!” and “I finally got that guy!” is going to add to the fun of Gears of War 3! 

Gamestop is the best place to preorder Gears of War 3. You get the ability to play a beta test of Gears 3 later this month. You will be helping to improve the game! Plus, you will also be able to earn custom forms of weapons, armor, helmets, and other stuff that can be used in the final version of the game when it is released in September! With your input and suggestions, virtually every aspect of Gears of War 3 is going to be nearly perfect! 

And just so you know, those custom forms of weapons, armor, helmets, shields, and other items are actually valuable in the real world! Believe it or not, custom items like those sell for quite a bit of money online! Gears of War 2 launched with a special Golden Lancer if you preordered the game. I’ve seen the token code that allows you to get that Golden Lancer being sold for hundreds of dollars online! 

Gears of War 3 is definitely ahead of the pack! It will definitely be the king of graphics when this year comes to an end, and it will have the best Co-Op Campaign mode any Gears of War game has ever seen. There is even a new mode where we get to play “as” the Locusts and beat up on the COG soldiers such as Marcus Fenix, Dom, Cole, Anya, and the oldest brother in the family, Clayton Carmine (seeking revenge for the death of his younger brothers). 

Gears of War 3 is definitely a winner, so preorder now while you still can! … And let’s hope the character named Clayton Carmine lives! 

Here is a video for you to see for yourself:

 

More Gears of War 3 Videos

Here is a great new video called the Horde 2.0 Briefing. The graphics are unbelievably impressive -- far beyond anything seen on a console so far. The new game play modes add unlimited replay value and significantly increase the strategy level used in the game.

More Gears of War 3 Videos