I can't say I wasn't expecting this when the first perfect score for the game popped up. Now that IGN's review exclusivity is over, reviews are popping up all over the place. 20 of which are considered important by game rankings which currently has the game a full percent higher than the previous top-spot holder, Ocarina of Time.
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/simpleratings.asp?rankings=y

Does this surprise anyone? It seems Mr. Sterling believes that some pockets were lined to assure such success, which seems plausible with EA low-balling Take-Two and that deal being put on hold.

Have any of you gotten your copy yet? How does it hold up to the scores? Is it truly deserving of such absurdly high marks? Or was there bribing involved?

http://uk.gamespot.com/users/Adam_B/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25233743

A blogger on Gamespot UK's site is keeping a running total based on comments to his blog post as to how much money Gamespot has lots as a result of the recent craziness. As of this posting, the total is up to over $3,000.

Is $3k in lost money going to be enough for the bigwigs to see that they've made a huge mistake? Probably not, but nice to see that there are a number of people willing to rally behind the cause, and try to speak the language of CEOs. That language being Profit Loss.

I've been trying to sell my laptop for the past couple of weeks, and finally I've just decided to throw my story in my item description. There are a RIDICULOUS amount of scammers on ebay lately. I've never had such a problem selling things before. Is this just something that happens with high-dollar items, or what?

From my auction description:

Ok, after several failed listings, this is now the fourth time I'm listing this item. First, I had to learn the lesson not to put a "buy it now" option on a high-dollar item. Then I had to learn that everybody apparently seems to get their accounts hijacked. My first listing
got bought on a buy it now for $1400, but the buyer's account had been hijacked. The second listing suffered a similar fate of being purchased at the buy it now price, but the account belonged to a scammer. By the time I had to list it the third time, I was convinced that I was now a smarter man thanks to experience, so I removed the buy it now option. That auction went the full run, with a bid for $1200 at the last second. I was happy that it sold, and confident that everything would go smoothly.

HA

About ten minutes ago, I got the email from eBay saying that the buyer's account had been hijacked and that the listing had been removed. That brings us to now. Relisting again. After so much fraud on ebay, I'm thinking that if it doesn't sell this time around, I'm just not going to sell it. I'm running this as a 5-day auction because, to be completely honest, I need to pay for having my wisdom teeth removed. I went for a long period of blinding pain before buckling down and having it taken care of, exchanging my physical discomfort for financial discomfort. Please, for the love of god, make legitimate bids! I'm well aware that this won't hold back the scammers, but I NEED to air my frustration through this whole process.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220171889134


If it doesn't sell this time around, I guess I'm just going to have to keep it and do some freelance web work to pay for my recent dental bill, but seriously, why are there so many people on ebay that are intent on fucking you over? It's just been a total nightmare.
I guess my message is, either find a friend that wants to buy your stuff, or expect to relist and relist and relist again if you're trying to sell on ebay.

This isn't exactly gaming news, but I assume most of you have heard of the most brutal band on the planet, and some of you may even enjoy the show, so I thought I'd share.

As you may know, the fictional band Dethklok recently went on tour. They had 12 show dates, and I was lucky enough to get a ticket to our local show in Madison, WI. It was a cold night, and a small venue, but I was willing to brave the worst to check this out live.

My friends and I were greeted by people asking if we were going to be drinking (of course I will.) We were then informed of a Guitar Hero III contest going on upstairs. This peaked my interest. I consider myself a "Guitar Hero" and I was anxious to put some little kids to shame. Unfortunately, by the time I'd gotten to the game room, it was packed. I overheard a couple of door guys talking about how they were way above capacity limits for the room, and that no one was allowed in until people left. They estimated that there were 100 people in the room which had a capacity of 50. So I said fuck it, I'll find myself a decent spot to watch the show from.

The first act came on, a band called ...and you will know us by the Trail of Dead. Definitely epic stuff, but not very well executed. They had two keyboardists (one of them doubled as a second drummer), two guitarists, a bass player, and a full-time drummer. I think they try a little too hard at being epic. Every single song had a five minute ending where they just sustained a strong beat, so you were always lead to believe that every song was the last song they were going to play. Talented musicians, for sure, just not exactly the sound that I'd seek out.

After Trail of Dead was done, the winner of the Guitar Hero III contest got to come on stage and "perform." Apparently all it takes to win a Guitar Hero contest is to do a shitty job playing Lay Down by Priestess on expert. The whole time he was being booed (until he activated star power) ultimately ending with four stars and walking away with a free copy of GH3 for the 360. It makes me wish I'd been a bit more patient when trying to enter the contest.

A bit more waiting, and Dethklok took the stage. We were greeted by the government fucks that are trying to destroy Dethklok and their latest scheme (being played on a projector and two high-def displays on either side of the small stage). Apparently they plan on turning us all in to mutants which will be incapable of spending money by planting an operative within Dethklok's stagehands. Easily identifiable by the biohazard tank he carries around. After the plan was revealed, there was no delay. Straight to the music. A music video played for every song while Brendon Small and his crew played perfectly in sync with the video. Every few songs, there would be a video break where more of the plot was revealed, or where Dethklok's boneheaded mascot would describe to us what moshing is. They even went so far to play an encore.

All in all, it was an epic and amazing night. If your town is among the few that Dethklok is visiting, take the time to pick up the FREE ticket and check it out. It's an absolutely amazing show, and I hope it's not the last time they tour. On the way out, we were given sampler CDs with a couple of Dethklok tracks and a couple of Trail of Dead tracks on them and some Dethklok music videos. Thanks to Adult Swim for organizing this awesome tour. It was brutals.

Note: If you do attend one of these shows, you will not be able to keep yourself from headbanging. Prepare for neck pain for the next couple of days. Tour dates can be found here: http://www.adultswim.com/williams/music/dethkloktour/index.html

There you have it. Sacrificing the fame and fortune for a desk job.
via http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/04/teaching_worker.html

Nab it while they're uploading. :P

http://ocremix.dreamhosters.com/songs/ff7/MP3/