Best Buy hmmmm where do I start. Well first off this is about a video game reservation and how the company shows it’s true feeling for it’s customers. So anyway I made a pre-order at Gamestop for Little Big Planet (LBP). I decided that I really wanted the God of War Kratos skin that Gamestop offered. Pretty soon it was announced that LBP was going to offer another skin, Nariko from Heavenly Sword, and my fiancée wanted it being a Heavenly sword fan. So I decided to pre-order the game at Best Buy.

This was my first and last time ever using Best Buy (BB) for my reservation needs. So I go to the BB website and reserve the game. They give you 2 options, 1: they can ship it to your home or 2: ship it to a local store for pick up. I chose to pick it up at my local store. Hey everything seemed well at first. I received my Nariko skin and was set to pick the game up on the 21^st of October. I made the first mistake by canceling my Gamestop reservation since I received my Kratos skin and BB deducted the price of the game from my account.

The first sign of trouble comes in the form of a delay. They announce that LBP has been delayed and all copies recalled due to some references to the Karan in the soundtrack for a stage. The length of delay was one week. Not bad, but I receive an email from BB stating that my game is due for release on November 30. WTF. I begin to second guess my decision for canceling my Gamestop reservation. Thinking that this was an issue I receive another BB email a couple of days later. This one stating that the official release date has been moved to December 30. Hahahaha December now! Why would I want to keep my reservation with your company? Hoping that this is just a mistake I waited until the launch of the game.

October 24, what a great day I get an email stating that the release has been moved up to the 24^th. So I decide to call BB and see when exactly my game is going to be ready for pickup. The rep tells me that it shipped today and will be ready within 24hrs. I should just look for an email on it’s delivery soon. I assumed that there was no Saturday delivery, so I wait for Monday.

Monday arrives and my relationship with BB ends. So I awake to an email that says my item can’t be found and I need to call customer “support”. They tell me that were not enough in the warehouse to fulfill my pre-order and if I still wanted the game I could go to another BB store and pick it up. Question? Does that makes sense to anyone reading this? The warehouse did not have enough to fulfill my pre-order but I could go to 3 other surrounding stores and pick it up. WHAT THE FUCK! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! So I ask the woman does that makes sense to you that you charge my card and tell me to go to another store to pick it up? According to her they are doing me a favor by allowing me to pick up an “extra” copy even though I specifically pre-ordered it to my store. This is from the Best Buy site:

Link here

It is great to see that Best Buy stands by their policies. At that moment I blew up on the phone and the customer rep hung up on me. My fiancée took the phone because I was highly upset and decided to call back. My fiancée asked to speak to a supervisor and made her aware of the situation. The supervisor told the my fiancée that they (BB) knowingly takes more reservations than quantity received and that even though they charge your card, you are not guaranteed the item reserved on the day of release. So my better half being nicer of the couple says she will pick up the order at a the store, which happens to be 20 miles away from the store I initially reserved the game at. In fact the store is in another fucking state.

To top it off after we hang up the phone, we call the store to make sure they received the message and “low and behold” the store states that they don’t have LBP. In fact no store in the area has the game and she told me the woman I talked didn’t have a clue about what was happening. So the fucking bitch lied to me and the company tried to steal my money. Don’t worry fans there is a happy-ending to the story. I happened to call Game Crazy around the corner and they had a free copy in which I purchased. Tomorrow I will be calling the corporate office of Best Buy (612 291-1000 for anyone else that needs to call) and file a complaint to get my money back. It seems that after looking at other forums, Best Buy is notorious for this type of service. If the game was not in, then why not say there was a mistake and your game is due by……..such a date.

The moral of the story is simple, reservations are useless because they are not guaranteed, there is no such thing as customer service at Best Buy anymore, and Best Buy as a company sucks fucking ass to the point they have lost another fucking customer.

Maj

There are three major next generation systems and I have yet to voice my opinions on them. The systems overall aren’t bad per se it’s just that there is room for improvement. It has been a pretty long time since the launch of the Wii, 360, and PS3 and most consumers know what each system offers. I figured that I would review each system as they stand and there potentials. I will also include my personal request for the next iterations of the systems.

Lets start out with the most popular (sales wise) of the systems. The Nintendo Wii was the laughing stock of the next gen systems when first introduced. I figured like others that it was nothing more than a gimmick. YAY another kiddie Nintendo system to play Mario and Zelda part 456 games on. Since their launch they have proved that they are more than just a gimmick (to an extent). Outselling both the 360 and PS3, the Wii has jumped to the top of almost every holiday wish list. It seems that every year there is shortage of systems or accessories.

I received my Nintendo Wii right after the holiday of it’s initial launch. I really didn’t have any interest in procuring a system, but I received it as a Xmas gift from my fiancée. When I first loaded the Wii I was intrigued by it’s channel interface. I quickly created my avatar, rather Mii and played my first game of Wii sports. I come to realize that the Wii was not that bad of a console. Easy to use interface and fun simplistic games. I enjoyed playing Legend of Zelda and later on Smash Bros.

The one thing I hate about the system is that it is too simplistic. The games seem to be crafted for a 6 year olds or my grandmother. If I wanted simple games like that all the time I would go to yahoo games and play them for free. I hear that Super Mario Galaxy is the game that suits my needs, but really how many times is Mario going to be forced down my throat. I understand that is your Icon and their games rake in the money but Come the Fuck On! Remake Punch-Out (I know it is coming out) or F-zero. Give us some classics that don’t have 500 sequels too.

The next thing I hate is the internet interface. Nintendo I understand the reasoning behind the Wii code but make that a parental fucking control option. Why the fuck do I have to look up a 16 digit code and send it to everyone I want to play with. Then I have to wait for them to send me their code. Why can’t I say hey so and so my username is blah blah blah add me to your friends list. This has to be the most annoying option EVER for playing a game online. It is almost like everyone at Nintendo is opposed to having fun playing online. Are you guy/gals even fucking gamers. Once you connect to a game it’s nearly almost impossible to play because of the lag. Maybe it’s because everyone is on a wireless connection, who knows Nintendo needs to look into it. Oh I forgot Nintendo doesn’t care about online so it will never happen. I had better connection playing on a 28.8 dial-up modem.

Man I can probably write a 500 page document on my issues with Nintendo but I will limit it to this last gripe. There is something about your games that kill my interest in finishing games.. Maybe the whole kiddie/family persona is a turn off, but I have yet to complete one game to completion. I play it for a good amount of time and lose interest. I used to beat Zelda games 2 or 3 times, but not this new one. Paper Mario seemed like a waste of time also. Maybe it is the controller. Maybe I am tired of wagging it around looking like a fool having a seizure. Who knows they seem to be fun for a bit and then lose their flare. Perhaps I am filled with so much animosity over the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube, that my subconscious won’t allow me to enjoy anymore Nintendo games. I will get into my hate for their previous systems another day.

Nintendo has a lot of useless games coming out this holiday season. Many fans will be treated to gems however in the form of Rock Band 2 and Animal Crossing. The hate is so strong in me over this review that I really don’t give a rat’s ass about continuing. If you are a Wii fan then you’ll have fun this holiday season. Me on the other hand, well I am wondering who I can con into buying my system and games. Oh that’s right it was a Xmas gift and unfortunately it will be stuck on the shelf collecting dust. Some thing I would love to see out of Nintendo’s current or next system is an improvement in the online infrastructure. Get rid of the Wii codes or put it as a setting in the parental controls. Next is they need to go to HD. My GOD 480p is ugly on a 50 inch HD TV. The jaggies just kill my eyes. Thirdly create a controller that can connect together and make it feel like a normal controller then you can separate into the Wii remote. Lastly put some new hardcore games on the system. We need to see more games like “No more Heroes” grace the system and less Mario and Zelda titles.

The Wii gets a:

C

Maj

The next review will be the Microsoft Xbox 360

Reasons I don’t like watching this show(but am forced to because apparently everyone else in my house loves the shit):

• The writing is getting pretty terrible.

I already know what’s going to happen. For better or for worse. And the things that I can’t see coming from a mile away, make me ask “Why the fuck did they just do that?” The characters do not have any real development. They are pretty flat except when they start to run hot and cold. Suspicious to wide eyed and trusting; vicious to trying to be accepted.

• The characters are kind side-show freaky. Sylar especially. But Hayden Pantierre isn’t a prize either.

Ok, I know not everyone is attractive. And what maybe attractive to one, may not be attractive to someone else. But I mean DAMN. The dude that plays Sylar, has a face for radio. I an not seeing people who look that… gritty on TV. Hayden Pantierre doesn’t have anything going for her except that she’s blonde. I also understand that how someone looks shouldn’t impact their acting ability. But if the person can’t act, and they’re funny looking you start to wonder how they got the part in the first place.

• Is there a story?

Off hand, I’d say no. They are grasping at strings to have any real continuity in the story… and try to keep you interested by throwing in more flat characters, but it’s not realy working.. Shit is in the tin.

Today I had the pleasure of seeing Max Payne in the theater. The trailer got me hyped to watch another video game transition into a movie. Will Max Payne fail like other video game based movies or will it break out of the mold and be entertaining? Fuck it I am not going to force you to read my review, it can be summed up into one word “Shitty”.

Max Payne is based off an early Rockstar game of the same title. The story pretty much follows the games storyline. You have a cop who’s come home to find his family killed and won’t rest until he has had his revenge against the person(s) responsible. Sounds pretty good so far huh?

Well let me first state that the game was rated M for mature, but the studio decided to release a PG-13 version. PG-fucking 13! WTF people! A games that progresses through shooting every living thing in sight you decide turn into a PG-13 Disney fucking movie?!

Sigh… That should have been my first sign, but as I stated before the trailer had me hyped. I figured that there would be a lot of good gun standoffs, but you know no blood. Wrong! Strike one! There was a minimum amount of action scenes in the whole movie and when it was shown it was actually boring.

OK my next gripe happens to be with the effects and style of the film. Max Payne the game pretty much defined bullet time within video games. So understanding that bullet time has been done to death in movies, I was curious as to what movie magic the director was going to use. Well guess what people they did use bullet time. Awesome right? Wrong! Strike two. Bullet time was used for one scene and the scene was horrible! Basically they slowed down time to show bullets hitting bottles….. you heard me BOTTLES.

YAY! The one scene they use it in was pretty fucking useless.

So lets break this down again, we have a movie with no good action sequences, no great bullet time moments, and then to top it all off there was no good acting supported by an even more horrific plot. From what I can remember of playing the Max Payne game, the story and characters were awesome. The movie  had so many plot holes it’s amazing it got past the editors. The acting was atrocious and Wahlberg, Ludacris, and Bridges’ roles were not even slightly entertaining. If you were going to throw a man in the water why would you remove the handcuffs from the prisoner first before tying him up with rope? There are plenty of “why would you” moments in the movie. The movie didn’t even have more than a slight resemblance to Max Payne the game until the very end. The video game had a climatic scene in a building involving a helicopter that never happens in the movie. Anyone who has played the game knows the scene I am talking about and why it is so important. Strike three, your out!

In conclusion Max Payne is a piece of shit. I would suggest that anyone that has an interest in seeing this should keep their money and wait for it to come on cable TV. Even then I feel by watching this turd on TV you are still being robbed. There isn’t really anything positive I can say about the movie. The Valkyries did look good and the special effects for the Valkyrie were visually beautiful. Outside of that everything else about Max Payne was a train wreck. I so wanted to act out the scene in “Family Guy” when Stewie went to Will Ferrell home and hit him with a bat for making “Bewitched”. The movie studio needs to refund everyone who saw that movie and pay them extra for visual assault and battery. My mind has never been raped like it was while watching the movie. The only thing that could make this movie worst is the fact that after the credits there is a special scene that sets up the sequel for another movie. If we are all lucky hopefully it will never be green lit or Uwe Boll will be named the director. Trust me he could only improve the movie.

Max Payne gets a

F

Maj

When opening a website about things you hate, and you happen to be as bitter as me, you realize that the content will be pretty much endless. The first post however is the most important one, like a first impression on a date. I need to express my deep feelings about something that is really getting under my skin that people can relate to. So I decided to voice my opinion on the current debacle involving 20th Century Fox(Fox) and Warner Bros. (WB) over the “Watchmen”.

Let me first start by saying I used to be an avid comic book reader. I remember as a kid going to the local Rite Aid (yes I said Rite Aid) and purchased whatever comic that I could grab and afford. Living in Camden, NJ there weren’t many places nearby that I could get the newest comics at, so I relied on cousins and friends to trade and catch up on various story lines. I never unfortunately got a chance to read the comic “Watchmen”, but I currently have a copy and will post a review later. I was quite interested the first time I same the Watchmen trailer. It sucked that it was during the Dark Knight picture, so you had a lot of kids and idiots making noises that detracted from the overall experience. Of course after discussing the trailer with friend I hear that Fox wanted to make the movie like 10 years ago and some how still owns the rights to the movie. So I am like, wow they are gong to sue WB and take away a good chunk of the profits. WRONG! Fox being that pompous asses they are, would rather not sue for money and have the movie never release. WTF!

After screaming some obscenities I tried to figure out why a company would not sue for money. I mean the fucking world revolves around money. Right? Then it dawns on me, Fox puts out a good number of Marvel movies like the X-men. Fox has a new Wolverine spin-off movie dated for the same year as the Watchman. You dirty sons of bitches. You would rather deny the world a movie based on a comic that has won the Hugo award and appeared in Time magazines “top 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present” for a run of the mill Wolverine movie. Man that is some heavy HATE Fox, that you would turn down profits from a lawsuit just to keep a movie from lowering an already projected box office failure Wolverine movie. I saw the trailer for Wolverine and it doesn’t look good in my opinion. Don’t think that the cheers you received at Comic-con were for a trailer fans adored. Oh no they were just cheering a comic book icon, that they will soon realize has been destroyed by you as if Uwe Boll was directing the movie. For that Fox you win the Haters club “Hater of the Month” award. Fuck you for ruining my day.

Maj