What I'm Doing Now

I've been focusing on video game talk for the last several posts and have pretty much stopped posting about making any money. The reason is pretty simple, I've already bought the PS3 so my goal has been reached. But I've had a request to update on this topic and explain what I did, so here you go.

To answer the first question I got, no I'm no longer doing anything with CashCrate or FusionCash. Both of these sites were great and they both paid. I made somewhere around $175 with them combined, which is nothing to sneeze at for next to no effort. That's with zero referrals, too. I've seen some folks that make $600+ a month just off their referrals. So, if you're interested please use my link, hint hint.

The reason I stopped using the GPT (Get Paid To) sites is because I found the Thirty Day Challenge. What is the TDC, you may be asking. It is a course that was put together by a couple of internet marketers (Ed Dale and Dan Raines) to teach people how to make some money on the internet. The goal is to make your first $10 in the 30 days. It officially runs through the month of August, but due to the success and high demand of this year, they've left the site up and kept the forums running. They're also adding new content, but not often. Can't really complain though since it is 100% free.

I got into the TDC a week or so late, but even with that I was able to catch up and more than made my $10 by the end of the month. I won't go into a lot of details about the TDC, because Ed Dale really explains it better than I ever could. The course uses some YouTube videos and podcasts to teach the lessons and they're fantastic. I'd never even heard of internet marketing before this and was able to be successful at it, so anyone should be able to follow the advice.

I want to say that it isn't easy money. I mean, it is easier than working my job, but there is still effort involved. If answering surveys is all you feel like doing, then stick with the GPT and hope for some referrals. The TDC consists of doing research into what markets you can get ranked in Google and then posting some quality sites about those markets. When I say markets, I'm talking more like interests or hobbies. For example, my first site was about aquarium enthusiasts. I got ranked highly in Google for my search term, too. But not all sites pay. In fact, my first 2 sites didn't make a single sale, even with plenty of traffic. That's why you have to do research first.

The thing is, some people put up total crap sites. You've seen the kind I'm talking about, where it is nothing but spam and ads. That's not what the TDC is about at all. The TDC is all about putting up good, quality sites with good, quality information on it. Besides the fact that it is the ethical thing to do, it has economic benefits, too. If someone goes to a site and finds the info they're looking for, they're going to be much more likely to buy something advertised on that site. That's where the real work comes in. I wrote a ton of articles that I put a lot of time, effort and research into so that whether people bought the product or not, they at least got some benefit from coming to my site. Also, I only advertised products that I thought were decent.

As for the products, I went to Clickbank and found some that were related to my site. I also set up some Amazon.com links. Also, my sites weren't covered in links. There was one ad at the top of the page and sometimes a single link at the bottom of an article. That's it. No spam, no crap, just a link saying, "Hey, if you're interested in this topic, you might like product x."

If you've been reading this blog, then you know the end results. I expect to get the PS3 in around 6-12 months. I got it in less than 6 weeks. The TDC method works, big time. After I got the PS3, I stopped updating my internet marketing sites but they're still making money for me. I've made over $1000 so far and am still getting sales, which is really nice. Since I've totally neglected my sites, the Google rank has fallen and sales have dropped off, but I'm still seeing $50 or more a month, which buys me a game.

So there you go. That the method I used to buy a PS3 in a nutshell. If anyone has more detailed questions, I'll be happy to answer them here. However, I can't suggest strongly enough to check out the Thirty Day Challenge if you want to try it yourself.

Game of the Year

I haven't been posting much lately because I've been too busy actually playing video games. The last several weeks have seen more great games released than the rest of the year combined. This is also the first time in a long while that I've felt like I need to hurry to play a game so I can move on to the next one. Even better, I feel like I need to complete each game, where my normal MO is to play until I get bored and then move on. That means I've got stacks and stacks of half-finished (or never started) games. But now I'm putting a good solid dent in my backlog.

Rock Band - Man, I've played a ton of this. I got just the game, since I'm waiting on the wireless guitar for the XBox 360. It seems easier to me than Guitar Hero, but I like it better. I still haven't picked up GH3, but I've played my friend's copy of it and this is the better game. But don't take my word for it, my friends agree, too. When we get together, we're playing Rock Band, not GH3. I can't wait for February to get here so I can pick up the drums.

Call of Duty 4 - This is actually the first CoD game I've spent any time with. I've played 1 & 2, but only for about 30 minutes each. I guess that from buring myself out on WWII with Medal of Honor. For those of you that don't know, CoD4 is a modern day shooter and a damned fine one at that. I picked it up during a pre-Xmas sale on the cheap since I wasn't sure I'd put much time into it. I couldn't have been more wrong. This game is fantastic. I also give it points for not making me sick like many FPS's do. I have to build up a tolerance for first person views or I get a headache, but there have been no ill effects from CoD4, which is nice. The missions are fun and varied, plus there are multiple ways to finish them. I prefer to take a slower, sniper kind of route and am able to do that with no problems here. I should also mention that the tutorial put me in the average difficulty level, which is fun. I normally play an FPS on easy for two reasons. First, I suck at the FPS (though I can usually hold my own in local multiplayer. Maybe my friends suck, too) and secondly because I like to play games for fun not for frustration. But the average difficulty is challenging for me without being annoying. In fact, once I finish the single player campaign, I plan to retry it at a harder level. Now, why haven't I finished the game when it is only 5-6 hours long?

Mass Effect - The first few hours can be kind of slow, but once the story really gets going, this game is amazing. I was rushing home every day after work to play this and once I beat it, I started a new playthrough. I did the math, and it is going to take me 4 playthroughs to get everything I can out of this game, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

Assassin's Creed - This is a late-comer to the party, but a very welcome one. This is another game I picked up cheap after Xmas because I had read some spotty reviews. Turns out the reviews were wrong. I think that the nature of reviews ruin this game for the reviewer. The reviewer has to play and beat several games in a short amount of time, so they don't get to really savour what they're playing. AC is a game that is best played slowly and carefully. If you just rush through the game, you're missing out on all the best stuff. In fact, you can complete an assassination with very little investigation, but if you do that, you're really missing the point. I also think this is the best Batman game ever made. You're running on rooftops, climbing, and kicking ass. Just reskin this puppy and you've got an amazing Batman game.

Ratchet & Clank - I haven't gotten too far into this one, but I'm really enjoying it so far. A fine platformer with some good humor and fun puzzles. The graphics are fantastic, but that wouldn't mean anything if the gameplay sucked. Luckily, it doesn't.

Ok, so after all that, what is my game of the year? I've got to go with Mass Effect. No other game this year made me start to replay it as soon as I'd finished it. The fact that I'd just spent over 20 hours playing it and still wanted more is the sure sign of a great game to me.

So, here's my top games. I'm factoring in fun plus the amount of time I spent playing each one. Unfortunately I missed some games that look great this year (Uncharted: Drake's Fortune) and haven't spent as much time playing some as I would have liked (Super Mario Galaxy).

1. Mass Effect
2. Bioshock
3. Rock Band
4. Assassin's Creed
5. skate.
6. Call of Duty 4
7. Rachet & Clank - Tools of Destruction
8. Pokemon Diamond
9. World of Warcraft - Burning Crusade
10. Lord of the Rings Online

The Year in Review

Wow, I've been pretty lax about updating this the last 6 weeks. Too many games to play. Since all the major releases are out now it seems to be a good enough time to go over the highlights of the year. I won't be doing Game of the Year and what-not, I'll save that for another post. What I really want to do is write about some of the games that have been taking up all my time the last few weeks.

The Simpsons Game (XBox 360): This game is a lot of fun. My wife and I have been playing it co-op and having a blast. As a game, it isn't great but certainly isn't awful, just kind of average. Fortunately the writing and humor save the game in a big way making it an awesome amount of fun for a Simpsons fan.

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PS2): This is a port of a Japanese game from like 2 years ago. It is also the most in-depth wrestling game to hit the US. The Create-A-Wrestler mode is so deep it is scary. I mean, I spent a good couple hours configuring my guys in the Smackdown series (not looks, I'm talking moves) so I have genuine and legitimate fear that this game take over my life if I let it. The gameplay is all timing based, so button mashing won't help you at all. All that having been said, it is the most fun you'll have with a wrestling game since No Mercy on the N64.

Orange Box (XBox 360): I've only played Portal on this, but damn was that game awesome. I wish I'd played some Half Life 2 since I've never played it before, but stupid me let a friend borrow it since I was planning on playing some other games first.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): To be honest, I'm not drooling over this game like so many other people are. That may be due to the fact I haven't spent a lot of time with it, though. I'm glad to finally have another good game for the Wii, which went through some serious dry spells over the last year. But really, if you love Mario 64 (which I do), then you'll love this game.

Rock Band (XBox 360): I got the stand-alone version of this since I wanted to wait for the Stratocaster to be wireless before I got one. I like the song selection on this better than Guitar Hero 3, though GH3 is also fun. But whereas GH3 seemed kind of "off" to me, Rock Band really delivered. I've only done guitar and singing, but I've had a blast with both. The guitar sections seem easier overall than GH2. I can say this because I've cleared like 4 or 5 tiers on expert in Rock Band and only been able to beat one expert song in GH2. I'm still waiting on my slack friends to come over to try some multiplayer since my wife won't touch this one.

Mass Effect (XBox 360): This game and Rock Band have been fighting it out for control of the XBox on any given night. I'm about 8 hours into it and still haven't even scratched the main story line. The combat is fun, much moreso than a standard RPG. I like the conversation system, even if it isn't as amazing as advertised. Pretty much everything in this game is just spot-on awesome. It felt to me from the beginning like I was playing some kind of 80's sci-fi movie. There's even a filter to add film grain you can turn on and off. The music is even perfect, making full use of synthesizers just like the 80's. It sounds like a movie off MST3K, which is a compliment.

You may have noticed I didn't talk about any PS3 games. I did play Fire Pro on the PS3 but I don't think that really counts. Part of the problem is that if a game is multi-console I'm going to get it on the XBox due to achivements. But have no fear, PS3 fans. My Xmas list is chock full of PS3 goodness, including Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Rachet and Clank, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, so I'll be reporting on at least one of those after the 25th. I'm also wanting to try Assassin's Creed, but again, that will probably be on the 360. Also, I've got Lair coming, but I've got pretty low expectations for that. Luckily I didn't pay a dime for it, nor did anyone I know.

An Overload of Options

I never thought I'd say it, but I wish there weren't so many video games coming out. The only saving grace is that there is still nothing of note coming up for the PS3, so I'm safe on that front. But look at this list of games I'll be too weak to resist buying.

Phoenix Wright 3 - 10/23 - Nintendo DS
Guitar Hero 3 - 10/28 - XBox 360
The Simpsons Game - 10/30 - XBox 360
Super Mario Galaxy - 11/12 - Nintendo Wii
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - 11/13 - PS2
Smackdown vs Raw 2008 - 11/13 - XBox 360
Mass Effect - 11/20 - XBox 360
Rock Band - 11/23 - XBox 360

And that's just through November! Yes, I'm well aware that some of those games will also be out for the PS3, but unless there's a damn fine reason for getting the PS3 version, like extra levels or something, I'll get the XBox 360 version. Why? Because I'm a bit of an achievements whore. Plus, my friends all have 360s, so I can do multiplayer with them. Only 2 of my friends have PS3s, and of those two, one has a 360 also.

The worst part isn't even how my wallet is getting raped without any lube. No, the worst part is how I don't have enough hours in the day to play this. I suppose my weekends will be opening up in November, which is nice, but between these games, the games I already own and haven't played enough of (Hi, Halo 3!) and the few tv shows I watch, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Adding insult to injury, I'm picking up Beautiful Katamari today and I'm going to try to have the strength not to grab Orange Box at the same time. The only good news is that Katamari won't suck up too much time since I can grab it and play for a short time. I'm also really glad now that Heavenly Sword is only like 5 hours long. I may actually beat it! Of course, I have to actually start it first.

The only other thing of note to happen is that the wife and I got Eternal Sonata a couple weeks ago and started to play it the other night. Well, to be truthful, we started to watch all the damn cinematics at the beginning of the game. It took like 20 minutes before I was actually playing anything. Hopefully I'll be able to add a second character to my party pretty quickly, since we want to play the game co-op. I haven't really gotten far in the game since our work schedules have conflicted since we decided to play it. I'm not really a big JRPG fan, that's my wife's job (though she insists she doesn't like them, she really does) but I play them on occassion. Because of this passing familiarity with JRPGs I can't be sure if Eternal Sonata is more emo than the average JRPG or if it is just way, way emo. All I know is there's a whole lot of whiny "woe is me" type dialog in the beginning movie. Maybe its just me getting older, but damn is it annoying.

The PS3 - First Console Designed by Trained Monkeys!

Alright, I've spent some more time with the PS3 and I'm still pretty happy with the purchase. Come to think of it, the PS3 hasn't actually been turned off since I bought it, I've left it running Folding @ Home the whole time. I have to admit I wouldn't have the confidence in my XBox 360 to leave it running like that.

The wife and I have spent a lot of time playing We Heart Katamari this week, getting ready for the release of Beautiful Katamari in a couple weeks. I kind of like the irony in playing a game on the PS3 to get myself geared up for an XBox 360 release.

I spent a bit of time at a PS3 forum yesterday, trying to really get into the role of a new PlayStation 3 owner. I check out 360 Arcadians daily, so I figured I should balance that out with some PS3 love, too. Man alive, nothing could have prepared me for the fanboys at the PS3 site. The Arcadians, while an XBox 360-centric site, still gives plenty of love to other consoles, because at its heart it is a gaming site/forum. Over at the PS3 forum, you'd think Bill Gates and Major Nelson had gangbanged these people's dogs and forced them to watch.

The big complaint was the Microsoft was paying developers to delay their PS3 releases. Um, yeah. That's called a timed exclusive. There were also many cries about how Microsoft is paying for exclusive games for the 360. I'm still failing to see the problem. Microsoft is doing everything they can to make the 360 the leader of this console generation. There's nothing wrong with that. Of course, some of these folks are so paranoid, they think Sony took money from MS to delay Home. Yes, you read that right. In fact, I'll have to quote the post, because you'll never believe me otherwise.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Insanehead
You think MS also paid Sony to delay HOME?you never know. i
don't think its a case where ms blatantly gave sony money but microsoft probably
knew 360 would be dead along with live as soon as home came out so they probably
made some sort of deal like you delay home for 6 months and afterwards we'll
give up this and this exclusives cause they knew ps3 would kill them anyway. and
by getting sony to delay home for 6 months, it means they could launch halo 3
and other games successfully without sony killing them with home so early, and
sony gets back some of the exclusives in the deal. probably haze was the first
game on the ps3 side from the deal.

That's user Nariko Rulz, who has unforunately been banned since yesterday. That's a shame, because I really enjoyed his paranoid fantasies.

Look, I know it is just plain stupid to suggest that Sony is trying to fail with the PS3, so I'm not going to do that. What I will say is that I have to seriously wonder about whomever is making their decisions. From the beginning, Sony has displayed a level of hubris not seen since Nintendo's heyday back in the 80's. First, the release a console at the $500/$600 price point a full year after the XBox 360 launched, so they knew what MS's price was. Sony just felt that since the PS2 sold so well, people would buy the PS3, too.

There's also the problem of the game library. Right now, there are very few AAA titles for the PS3. That list narrows much further if you try looking for PS3 exclusives. There's Warhawk, Heavenly Sword, Lair, and Resistance. Some people would include Ninja Gaiden Sigma in the list, but that's just the third rehash of a title for the original XBox. I was being nice in adding Lair to the list since it was really supposed to be this awesome game. I figure someone that never reads reviews could be tricked into buying it, so it'll go on the list.

But really, just 4-5 "must have" games after a year? People like to say that the Xbox 360 was in the same boat its first year, but I'm not buying it. In the first year, the 360 had PGR3, Dead Rising, Saint's Row, and DoA (3, 4? I hate fighting games, cause I suck). Plus they had Fight Night: Round 3, Oblivion, and other awesome games that weren't exclusive, but they weren't available on other next-gen consoles at the time. Add in XBox Live Arcade, which is far superior in every way to the PlayStation Store, and the games were looking pretty good in the early days of the 360. You'll also notice I left out Gears of War, since it snuck in just after the console had been out a year.

And now Sony is goofing on rumble. Yes, they've finally settled their lawsuit so they can put the rumble back in their controllers. But they seem to be in no rush to do that. Japan is getting it by the end of the year and then North America gets it sometime next year? You would think Sony would be rushing to get that to the US before the holidays. Rumble doesn't sell systems, but some people will wait to buy a console if they know a new model is coming out soon.

Look at Mike Tyson. Way back when, Tyson (Sony) had a fight against a young up and comer named Buster Douglas (Microsoft). Douglas has pretty much a no name in boxing circles and it seemed like Iron Mike was going to steamroll another opponent. So, Tyson was lazy coming into this fight. He didn't take it seriously and didn't prepare properly. Douglas, on the other hand, made the most of this shot. He trained, studied, and generally prepared to kick some ass. Tyson was caught off guard and next thing you know, there's a new World's champion. I'm not saying Sony is going to try and bite the ears off Nintendo, but they'd certainly do well to try and get in the damn fight.

PS3: First Impressions

This is kind of a supplemental post to the buying the PS3 story.

I've had an XBox 360 since April 2006, so I'm pretty used to it and how it works. During that time, the XBox 360 controller has also become my all-time favorite video game controller, a spot that was previously held by the DualShock controller. Actually, the WaveBird is probably the best controller ever, hampered only by the screwy button placement Nintendo decided on for the GameCube and the lack of rumble. But I digress.

The Good:

• I liked the fact that I was able to use my old PS2 component cables with the PS3. I've got an HDTV, but it is old enough to only have a DVI input, no HDMI.
• Going back to the SIXAXIS is like riding a bike. I haven't actually turned my PS2 on in over a year, but picking up the SIXAXIS was like I never stopped playing it.
• I like the opening music when you turn on the PS3. A minor thing, but I enjoy it.
• Folding @ Home. Its for a good cause and it looks pretty.
• The wireless internet was simple to set up and offered no problems at all.
• I heart the Emotion Engine chip. No software emulation backwards compatibility for me!
• The PS3 is certainly an impressive looking piece of electronics.

The Bad:

• It is impressive looking because it is HUGE. Like it dwarves all my other systems. It is currently sitting where my original XBox sat and is way bigger.
• I really like the XBox 360's UI better. I like the blades and the way things are organized, it makes sense to me. The PS3's interface, on the other hand, is functional but ugly.
• When I first turned it on, I had to download a rather large update. It took forever. I've been told that it is faster to use my PC to download the update, then apply it using a flash drive or memory card.
• The PlayStation Store. I understand why they made it like they did. Having it be a webpage means they can quickly and easily change it whenever they want. I mean, a total conversion kind of change, too. But it looks ugly. The icons are ugly. And I hate using the controller to move my "mouse" cursor around. It is slow and very easy to overshoot your target. This was especially annoying when I was trying to buy something on the store and kept missing the scroll down bar for the credit card expiration date.
• To go along with the previous two complaints, when I bought a couple items from the store (flOw and Super Stardust HD), they took forever to download. Same thing with the demos I got. I actually started downloading the Heavenly Sword demo, put in 300 and watched it, and when I was done, the HS demo was only 83% done. There's no excuse for that. I've got 10mbs cable internet, so it isn't a speed issue on my end.

The Unknown:

• I haven't tried out the unit to play non-DVD movies yet, so I'm looking forward to that.
• Same thing for music and pictures.
• I'm also looking forward to trying some multiplayer in Resistance. I've got a couple friends coming over tonight so I'll try that. I'll also try some online play soon.
• Warbirds. That game looks so awesome and I really want to get both it and Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but I know with Halo 3, I won't actually play either of them for a while.

So that's my intial review of the PS3. I know it looked pretty heavy on the critical side, but I'm really pretty happy with my purchase. I'm anxious to get a game that can really show what it can do, though.

Halo 3 and the PS3

As usual, my timing is great. I'm probably the only guy dumb enough to pick up a PS3 four days before Halo 3 hits the shelves. But, I had the money in hand and just had to buy it. That's the good news. The bad news is now that Halo 3 is out, I won't be touching it. I guess I'll have to let Folding @ Home keep it busy for me.

The actual purchasing trip wasn't as uneventful as it should have been. I really wanted to just buy the PS3, some games, a Blu Ray movie and leave. Unfortunately, it couldn't be that easy. Last week, Toys R Us was running a "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" video game sale. I decided to try and price match at the store I was buying the PS3 at to save a trip. The problem started when the customer service person told me they don't price match from Toys R Us. I asked for a manager and things went downhill from there.

Just so I'm clear, if they would have said they don't price match Buy X Get Y deals, I would have accepted it and made the trip to Toys R Us. But the manager's reason for not doing it was that he didn't want to. I pointed to the price matching policy about 3 feet to my left in giant letters on the wall, but he said that he made the policy and wasn't going to be price matching that day. The best part came when he said he wouldn't match it because on the Toys R Us website, it says the sale is for "select" games. I told him that wasn't relevant since the store in question doesn't price match website prices, only actual retail locations. He didn't like that. But the deal in the Toys R Us stores isn't on "select" games, it is on any game. So I asked him to call the Toys R Us to verify, as this store normally would do. He refused. I again asked him and told him that this didn't need to be such a pain in the ass, and that's all she wrote.

Ok, so maybe using the term "pain in the ass" wasn't appropriate, I'm not really sure. Since I wasn't calling the manager a pain in the ass, but rather was talking about this whole situation being a pain in the ass, I don't think I crossed any kind of line. But, whatever. I went to a different store who was more than happy to take my money. Plus, they matched the Toys R Us sale, so I picked up Resistance: Fall of Man, Eternal Sonata, and Overlord along with 300 on Blu Ray and the 60GB PS3. Yeah, yeah, I got two XBox 360 games and only one PlayStation 3 game. But really, the only other game I was interested in at the time for the PS3 was Heavenly Sword and once I heard it only lasts 5-6 hours I decided spending $60 for it wasn't the smartest idea. I'll pick it up on the cheap later.

Once I got home and set everything up, I tried the demo for Ninja Gaiden, which is awesome. I never played the XBox versions for some reason, so I was blown away. Had I known the game was this cool, I would have picked it up instead of Overlord.

But now Halo 3 is out, so it looks like my PS3's days of love are going to be delayed.