The FFL faces possible lockout

Hard to believe that after so many years, the league might remain closed for this upcoming season. Players and team owners scramble at the last minute to come to an agreement in efforts to breathe life into the league.

At the close of last season a large portion of the clubs found their teams in a struggle to keep their teams going. Owners decided to close up and sell the teams off. Now in the closing minutes the league is faced with a deadline of restructure and finding new owners who can come in and take charge and run with things. It's a no huddle kind of situation and time is clicking away fast. It looks like hope is around the corner and we'll have to keep our eyes on the situation.

A mole, a dog, and the kids knocking next door

I'm trying to get some lunch going for the family and my wife said, "the dog is doing something in the backyard". I look up and she calls me outside to look into. She thinks the dog has a mouse.

Crazy looking thing, not what I expected to see and I'm having a hard time telling which end is the head and which is the tail. After researching more later I find out it was a mole.

If only our problem would have ended here. See we need to sweep the whole backyard and make sure its not some poisoned rodents through out the yard. That's when my wife says, "Our neighbors Trojan boxes have been thrown behind the shed".

"What?" trying to process everything, its been so long since I've seen a box of those. Then it hits me and I know what is going on. Flashback weeks to when we had the Tree guy out to give an estimate. He noticed through the fence a couple kids fooling around (during the day I remind you). I thought perhaps I should have said something at that point, but I didn't want to be the guy next door telling on everything I see.

I couldn't let this one go though, mind you at least they are being safe kids, but I don't want the open boxes, wrapper, and yes the goods dumped in my yard. My wife is disgusted, as I, but its out of our hands. The kid next door has told Dad, "it's not me, you know me Dad..." Dad has to believe him as he looks at the hickey on his sons neck. At least I was able to let the family next door know that someone has been getting in their backyard during the day to pass the time. I really feel for the kid next door, someone sure is making him look bad... Yeah RIGHT!!!!

Meerkat Manor - Family Business

So I was sitting in the theater for a free Kids movie and they brought up one of those preview pieces, a behind the scenes sort of thing. The show is Meerkat Manor and it looked cool and I decided to record it for my oldest.

Little did I know that it was a real circle of life kind of show and sad to say some of the little guys get whacked so to speak.


This show is very entertaining and educational. You really find that you want to come back and see what will happen between the Whiskers and the Commandos and which side will win the turf war.


But keep in mind that this is very real and what they do and explain to the young at heart that its how they live and survive. I think you'll be amazed at the quality of filming and how well they weave a story into or interpret the stories for the Meerkat's. The new season has just kicked off this week on Animal Planet.

From Screen writer to Novelist

Well its 3 months away and then I'll take my steps towards my next adventure so to speak. The feeling inside of me to write is hard to explain at times, but its a feeling that I'm enjoying all the same. That being said, the next upcoming contest I'll take part in is called NaNoWriMo and lasts for the whole month of November. During this time, anyone who wants to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel can take part in the free contest.

Yes I'm some what crazy, but I like to think I'm dedicated and will take this challenge head on. I'm not sure how easy this will be and I know the word count is a lot higher, but with out the constraints in formatting a Screenplay, I hope I'll do well and reach my goal.

Just like Script Frenzy, its not about quality as much as quantity in reaching the goal. It's more about being creative and just writing and letting nature take its course. It's all about creating a first draft and then at the end you can look back and edit and rewrite if you so choose. So wish me luck and I'll report back on my progress in November and at the first of December.

As for Script Frenzy, I haven't looked back at my script since I finished it. What I did was send it off to the President of the Dallas Screenwriters Association. He was nice enough to come out and speak to a group of us and reviewed the first 10 pages of our script. Here's a little bit of what he had to say and granted its only the first 10 pages, who knows what he would have thought towards the middle and end.

Hello Robert,

You've written an interesting beginning to a movie. The characters are multi-dimensional and its an interesting premise. I also thought that your basic sense of format was correct, for the most part. The free software that you used has a lot of useful features and I might recommend it to other writers who may not be ready for the industry-standard software.

I've made a few notes on the attached script, which I hope you will find more helpful than critical. Food for thought, but it's your story to do with as you wish. I'd say it's an excellent first draft for your first script. Whether you decide to continue screenwriting or not, realize that you can deliver, if you want to pursue it.

Take care, and good luck with your future writing plans.

Steve Davis
President,
Dallas Screenwriters Association

I was impressed with his feedback and I'm looking forward to next June and perhaps a sequel to my first movie script.

Ahhhh.... That's Cool now

For starters, the new AC appears to be working great now. Thanks to Edith's Uncle and all of his hard work. I also learned a few things about heating and air, as I helped him out.

But the real treat was seeing all of his guitars that he's been collecting. He has an amazing collection of guitars in all shapes, sizes, and colors. He also has a large number of Amps & Stacks to go along with the collection.

So I decided to ask him if he had a piggy back amp in his collection and he showed me one better. Like the photo shown above, only in a pack of Reds, that he produced for me to look at. This is one of the smallest looking guitar amps that I've ever laid my eyes on or touched. This little guy packs a wallop and all off of one small 9 volt battery.

One of the plugs is for the guitar... now get this, the other one will power a regular speaker. That's right, the little 9 volt will give out enough power to a bigger speaker for your listening pleasure.

To top off my day, I was introduced to a friend of his and saw a very nice home recording studio. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday all in all, oh did I mention that he fixed my AC too? What a treat on so many levels.

Too Hot!

So this summer has been nice and one of the wettest summers ever. Thankfully that has helped keep things cool for the most part. It's also kept me from riding on two though. Nothing ever stays the same though.

So I'm sitting at work and I get the call from my wife, "The Air Condition is not working!" Like I said, nothing ever stays the same, no AC and the rains have slacked off and now its getting hot. Its sad when you can actually step outside and its cooler. Its sad when you actually think about setting up the tent in the backyard and camping to stay cooler.

If all goes well, we should have some AC back by mid day on Saturday, I call that phase 2 of 4 phases. Today phase 1 was launched as a Co-worker has lent me his window unit. The replacement on Saturday will be next and later will be phase 3 with the replacement inside and out of new equipment. Phase 4 will be all new duct work and new insulation blown inside. Getting to phase 2 by Saturday is going to be a strong goal.

It's funny how in the winter, I can go with out heat and will pile on as much clothing or build a fire and use all sorts of blankets. Its not the same in the Summer, you just can't beat the Texas heat at times.

Harry Potter mania hits...

This Weekend kicks off Harry Potter mania, with the release of the final book 7 in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as its released at right at midnight on July 21st to all the true fans.

My wife got me hooked on these stories and as its been with the past books, she'll pick it up right at midnight and crack right into as soon as she makes it home. We'll see her around the house this weekend, but she'll be absorbed by the subject matter and all of the magic that we've grown to love.

I can read the book after her, but I can't bring myself to read it in a day. I'm picking up my copy, on loan from the library and can start sometime on Saturday and if needed, pick up her copy and return mine to the library.

That brings me to a funny situation today. I logged in at the library to see where I stood in the waiting list and couldn't find it on my list of requested books. Panic of a sorts sits in... not sure why, I'm sure I could pick up my wife's copy on Sunday or at least by Monday. Still I need to find out what's going on here and where the title went.

I call the library and give them my ID number. That's when I hear, "Uh, Oh!, please hold on..." Now I don't like the sound of this at all. So he comes back and tells me how they some how deleted all of the listings for this title and are working on restoring the list. They think they'll have it all back by tonight.

I'm not worried, like I said, I could have our copy by Monday, but still the thought and panic. What will they do if they don't get the list restored? I'm sure they'll fix it, I asked him if he could tell me how many copies they should have and he told me they should have a total of 63. Great, if my memory is correct, I'm number 58 on the list and I should pick up a copy Saturday evening before they close. As long as they get the list figured out. Only if they had a time turner, they could fix this problem real quick and slap the silly person, that hit delete of this very important list.

Can you hear me now?

Well I've made a switch and picked up some new toys. No I didn't go ultra-uber, with an expensive PDA style phone. I just couldn't bring myself to shelling out that kind of money for a cell phone, digital assistant, and Internet access.

Fact is I have Internet access just about everywhere I go and I can handle being with out it for short spurts. I don't have to surf the web on a tiny little hand held device.

So I wanted a basic phone and a good one. Wow how much they've improved over the past 4 years. So when he tried to talk me into one with a built in Mp3 player, I said, "nope, just a basic phone please."

I did want Bluetooth as an option though and it came with a camera. I've got plenty of choices for Cameras, but I suppose its nice to have a small digital one for basic things. Back to the Bluetooth thing, I had fun getting that all hooked up and going for sure. Success at last and now I'm apart of the crazy bunch now. You know the ones you see walking around an babbling freely to thin air. I'll be one of the guys with something stuck in the side of his head and his hands free now. "Can you hear me now? No not you.... I'm on the phone... see?"

Reining & More Raining

Howdy all! If your reading this, you're seeing my number 100th post. I've really enjoyed posting stuff and I know for some of my many fans, the spell of tech dribble was a bit boring I guess. So I'm sorry if that was the case, but for those of you missing that, you can visit my gamer/tech blog to keep up on the latest in that realm. Now on with the show.

World Show comes to a close
Wow, the end is in site. That's right, I'm about to wrap up the whirl wind 15 days of 15 plus hours of streaming, web updates, and taking pictures at the 2007 APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show. This marks my 8th show and the wettest show I've ever had.

So my theme is Reining or Raining for the most part. I would think one of my best Reining shots ever has to be the one your seeing to your left. One of my favorite events at the show, where the exhibitor rides a set pattern that includes sliding stops, a real crowd favorite.

This was the last run for the night in the Junior Reining class and both the rider and horse where on their game for the night and walked away with the win for the 2007 Junior Reining Championship. If you ever make it to a horse show, you have to check out the Reining events.


What a mess to say the least for this years show. The show takes places every year in Fort Worth, Texas and its normally a blistering 100 plus degrees out here. Last year we suffered with no Air Condition for the most part. This year we've thought about building an Ark at times. We have not had a day that it has not rained at the show. Luckily on the 4th of July it was a tiny one hour shower for the most part. The rain makes it a challenge to get show horses and riders from barn to arena and some can't use the tunnel and have to sprint for it at times.


The one thing for certain, is we wrap up the show on Saturday evening with Freestyle reining a real crowd favorite, where they do patterns, only set to music and with costumes. You can check out the live broadcast from the shows web site and get a better idea.

The thing I don't know about is when this rain will stop. It's been great for my yard to say the least. At the start of the year it looked bad and I thought it would be a mess, but with all the rain, its as green as ever. I do miss riding my motorcycle and I'm looking forward to some clear dry days. I'm also looking forward to get back to a normal schedule and seeing the family again. Thanks for reading and sharing in on my 100th post.

That's a wrap on Script Frenzy

Well I made it to the end finally. What a blast this has been and I did have fun, as well as learn a lot about all the hard work that goes into writing a movie script.

I suppose it will have me looking at movies in a whole other light now and that could be a good or bad thing. The main thing was the exercise in being creative and sticking with a goal.

One of the key things I learned about this process was to write daily. In some ways its like feeding your characters and keeping them alive. The hardest thing you can do is let them sit so to speak. So writing 667 words a day for 30 days was an easy goal to keep. I just made sure to set aside my time each day and write.

Can this project be made into a film? Not at this stage at all. Its really rough and was more of a learning step on writing scenes, building characters, and creating a story line from start to end. The whole point was to be creative and just write... let it all come out from the heart so to speak.

Rewrites come next in a project like this. You should have a very rough beginning, middle, and end for the movie and now you can go back and polish and make it flow better. I plan on letting it sit and will open it back up later and see what I think. The strange part now is not writing, after sitting aside time every night to write.

I'm happy I made it to the end and stuck with it and I hope to do this again next year and think I'll be ahead of the game now. So wish me luck on my next project. I have a 50,000 word novel to write in November for the NaNoWriMo Contest.

Change has arrived

I mentioned it in an earlier post, that I've been trying something different for a change and that my blogs here would be changing back to the non gaming issues. So from here on out, you'll need to look at TXPaldin on Live for those posts and anything gaming related. Just about everything else will show up here. Looks like I'll need to get busy writing more now.

Script Frenzy Finishline
Only a few days left and I'm still on target to complete this contest of sorts. I'm sitting at 17,354 words to my script and 3 days to hit the 20000 mark. Once again, the contest is more of an exercise in completing the task and not so much on quality. In other words its really expected to be very rough and I have not intentions on quiting any of my day or night time jobs. It has been a really cool learning experience and I'm using this as a warm-up for November and the NaNoWriMo contest. I'll attempt to write a 50,000 word Novel in only a month, same idea, write as much as you can and just let the creativity flow.

I've enjoyed the Script Frenzy so far. I was a bit scared at first, trying to come up with a good story for a movie and 2 hours at that. So I decided to jump all in and just go at it and much to my surprise I got into. My only goal is to make it to the finish line, later I can look it over and play around and see where I can improve it. It's amazing all the work that goes into the making of a movie and it all starts with a script. If you ever thought about writing, I'd recommend doing something like this or checking out the NaNoWriMo event in November.

Cool It Now!

The 'Red ring of death' problem should become a thing of the past for owners of troubled Xbox 360's and hopefully newer units and the latest Elites will have these new upgrades installed already.

The new Elites have already been modified somewhat to help keep things cooler and with an expected 65nm processor in the near future, these upgrades should help as well. But in the meantime, it appears a new Heatsink is the much needed answer to the dreaded 'Red ring of death'.

Reportedly, Microsoft is now taking returns of consoles which have suffered from the red ring of death and has upgraded them with a new heatsink. The service has been confirmed by French and Czech users and some American gamers are reporting upgrades as well.

From photos taken, the added heatsink seems to be an additional second heatsink and heatpipe combo which is running without a fan directly attached and which is cooling the 360's GPU.
With any luck then, the 360 modifications will continue smoothly on a worldwide basis and will go a long way to making the Xbox 360 a cooler, more stable platform.

Oh, Oh, It's Magic!

From the creators of Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, comes a new series called 1-800-Magic, the latest machinima project created with the newly released Shadowrun game for the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows platforms.

Rooster Teeth Productions is an award-winning production group out of Austin, Texas that specializes in the creation of machinima, or films created using real-time, interactive engines from computer and video games.

Halo fans have really enjoyed this highly popular Red vs. Blue series and have found the shows well written and really funny. With the new series out, I'm sure they will enjoy what Rooster Teeth has in store and the game should provide a lot of possibilities to entertain us. Check out the show online and give Shadowrun a try as well, you'll be pleased with both of them.

Top 5 Must Buy titles

With the original Xbox system, Microsoft originally planned on gamers purchasing at least 4 to 5 game titles. So the real money is not in the selling of the systems as much as the selling of the additional services and the games created for them. So for every game sold, a small amount of the sale goes to Microsoft and with the additional services from on-line gaming in Xbox Live and the Marketplace, Microsoft has a very successful business model in place.

With all of that being said and the steps I'm about to take towards getting into the console market. I've come up with a list of my Top 5, Must By titles for the Xbox 360. These are not necesarily the Top 5 games of all times on my list, but they are the Top 5 that I want to buy for sure. My main reasons for selecting the Xbox 360 is for the games offered and all of the online abilites that are in place. So here we go!

#5 GRAW 2 - Another Ubisoft title and once again the game play is incredible and this was the second Xbox 360 game I actually had a chance to play at a friends house. The Co-Op features and team based play is a key selling feature in my book and the game looks incredibly realistic.

#4 Assassins Creed - I saw some video footage of this upcoming title from Ubisoft and I'm impressed with all the features and storyline. The AI interactions are incredible and with the option to more or less do as you wish in taking out your target, plus it adds a change of pace from all the run and gun shooters out on the market. I also like the looks of Tenchu Z and will keep my eye on that title too.

#3 MotoGP 07 - I'm a huge motorcycle fan, I love to ride and I couldn't see letting a game like this sit on the shelf. The first time I held an Xbox Controller was at Best Buy and MotoGP 06 was loaded. I was hooked an sold for sure on both game and system. I'll download the demo or rent MotoGP 06, but holding out on the release of 2007.

#2 Viva Pinata - I really want to play games with my daughters and I'm hoping to find more kid friendly games or at least converted Xbox original games for them to play. Viva Pinata is a clear favorite to get them started and they already love the Cartoon show. I'm sure I'll find some XBL Arcade games for them down the road and I could even see them dancing to some DDR.

#1 Halo 3 - The Halo title was the one title I thought would be cool to play, but at the launch and with a small number of games. I just didn't see the big picture, I had no clue they had Xbox Live in the works and I was a solid PC gamer. Since then, I've been playing catch up on a borrowed Xbox and playing Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2. From what I've seen an heard about Halo 3, this is a clear winner for any Halo fan, old or new.

These are the games that I'll be looking at purchasing fairly soon. I'll be starting out with Shadowrun and Forza 2 Motorsport, both are titles that were given to me as gifts and would have made my Top 5 to purchase, but I lucked out in that area and that means I'll have easily 7 games in my collection, a huge step from someone who last played an Nintendo NES and only bought 1 or 2 games for that system.

360Zine - Halo 3 Edition

In the spirit of all things Xbox 360, todays entry is none other than a cool & free e-magazine titled 360Zine. The guys & gals at Gamerzines.Com have really put together a very well made digital magazine. Did I mention its FREE?

Each issue is packed full of great game reviews & feature stories, along with compelling images from the games we love to play and multimedia clips to help support the stories.

In addition to all of the above, each issue normally has free contest giveaways. This month's issue has a chance to win Halo 3 Legendary Edition, The Darkness, and Forza 2 Motorsport. It's free to download, great content about the Xbox 360 & Games, and free contest giveaways. That's what I call a No Brain'er in my book, if you ask me.

Win Big in the Halo 2 Challenge!

Just in from XBox.Com...
Master Chief wants you! Dust off your needlers, fuel up your warthogs, and recharge your overshields because the Xbox LIVE® Halo® 2 Challenge is here—with two new never-before-seen maps and two ways to win! Register and start playing for your chance to win an Xbox 360 Elite prize package!



It's time to prove yourself worthy of the title Master Chief. Before you start dual-wielding weapons, you need to register. Registration starts on June 7 and ends on June 25, 2007.

Win with the sweepstakes or in the online tourney.
Need another reason to register? There are also two new maps available. Download "Desolation" and "Tombstone" for only $4. Start playing them now through the Halo 2 game.

Halo 2 Challenge Tournament
First, compete in the Online Tournament from June 11 through June 25, 2007. After a 15-day leaderboard qualification round, the top 64 ranked players on the "H2 Challenge" Rumble Pit playlist will advance to the live bracket round. Matches during the tournament will be played on the new maps, so get them now and practice.

First place prizes: Top three finalists with the highest scores after Grand Final play will receive an Xbox 360 Elite game console with an accessories package including an additional Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black) and two Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kits.

Runner up prizes: The remaining five finalists not eligible for a Grand Prize will receive a 12 month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership subscription.

Play & Win Sweepstakes
Second, enter for your chance to win through the Halo 2 Play & Win sweepstakes. Register now and get one entry for every day that you play Halo 2 online between June 11 and June 25.

Grand Prize: Two winners will receive an Elite Pack (console, 120GB HDD, wireless controller, headset, HDMI cable, Xbox LIVE Silver Membership, and One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold).

Second Prize: Five winners will receive 12-month Gold Subscription Cards to Xbox LIVE.
Third Prize: 25 winners will receive 3-month Gold Subscription Cards to Xbox LIVE.
The Play & Win promotions from Xbox.com are an easy way to jump in and interact with the growing Xbox LIVE community. It's easy to enter and you could win some great prizes. Look for more exciting Play & Win promotions in the future.

And now for something completely different

The line was often spoken by John Cleese and used in just about every show of Monty Python's Flying Circus and will serve as my inspiration for the next month.

I'm stepping into some new shoes so to speak and trying something, well... completely different for a change. I've been thinking lately about writing more and trying to do something along the lines of writing a book or movies. Funny how reality FOX's show the Lot is now out too, I had this in mind before seeing that show.

June 1-30 is Script Frenzy month, a contest of sorts for writers & aspiring writers to challenge themselves in writing a full length script in only 30 days. Huh? That's right, I'll be stretching the boundaries of imagination and creating characters, scenes, hopefully a plot, writing dialog, and trying to move a story along a path and towards a goal of 20,000 words. Nobody will judge it really and only a word count will verify that I hit my mark.

It's more of an exercise in the whole process and at the same time I'm learning a lot more about something I truly enjoy, that being movies. So after 30 days I should have a very rough draft of a story and it's more about quantity and reaching the goal than quality. Sure I could write the same line over and over, but that wouldn't really do me much good.

Well if you made it this far and your seeing that I wrote something that doesn't involve what you've been reading in the past. Don't Panic... a line from a favorite author of mine. I still have a passion for the other, I just wanted to share something completely different for a change.

Forza Motorsports 2

It's more than just another racing game... It's the next big Online Community for Speed Freaks & Car Enthusiast alike. Forza Motorsport 2 is a racing simulator that not only allows you to select from more than 300 cars, but allows you to fully trick them out as you play through the game. But it's not just about winning races, it's more about building & collecting better cars, while learning more about cars as you play and win races.

When you first start out in the career mode you need to select either North America, Europe, or Asia as your region to hail from. Then as you race you earn and unlock rewards and discounts from that region. This means you can upgrade cars in your region at a decent price, but it could cost you more in collecting European Cars, when you've selected to come from North America. Cost me more you ask?

That's right its a Pay to play and another feature of the game allowing you the ability to collect cars through the Marketplace Online Auctions and use some of those credits you've earned in racing. That's right you can take your fully upgraded & tricked out ride and auction the car off to the highest bidder or purchase that next ride to add to your garage. Everything that is done to the car is included in the sale as well, now that's a true winner take all feature.

Skinning your car allows you the ultimate in personalization, from selecting a very rad paint job to adding custom decal graphics. This game will allow you to make your car a true one of kind machine to show off.

Forza Motorsport 2 is now set to burn things up in more ways than one and should become a huge favorite for car racing fans. I had a chance to see this game up close at the GSB Road Tour in Dallas and this game should have hours upon hours of fun. I hadn't thought much about getting the Wireless Steering Wheel & Pedals, but I can really see how something like that might be fun to play with now. Look for Forza Motorsport 2 in stores or try and download the demo and check it out for yourself.

Sheding light on Shadowrun

I've always heard, "Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover"... That being said, I'm guilty of just that it appears. I heard just little about the new title from Microsoft and how this would be the first game that they would release to play on Xbox 360, Games for Windows, play on Xbox Live and against or with each other. Interesting so far and I look at the artwork and think its some kind of Pitfall game on steroids perhaps. So I move on and look at something else.

Luckily I had a first hand chance to actually see & play this game at the GSB Road Tour in Dallas and I have to report that I now stand corrected. This game is awesome from the visuals to game play and all points in between. Not only does it blend the worlds of Fantasy & Sci-fi together in its usage of both Magic & High Tech weapons, this first person shooter bridges the gap between Console and PC gaming once and for all.

I really like the round based, reward style of play the game has to offer and how you can purchase certain types of Magic and Weapons in between gaming rounds. This feature reminds me a lot of Diablo II and upgrading your armor, weapons, or purchasing magic items before heading back out to battle. The various classes of characters you can plan and how they have certain advantages is a huge plus and encourages more team play than the solo run & gun style.

If I hadn't seen this game first hand, I more and likely would have just passed it up all together. I'll have to do a better job and look harder at games from now on or I'll find myself missing out. This title has clearly moved way up on the chart at a very close 2nd, behind Halo 3 and could slide into first perhaps. I had a small list of 5 titles in my head of must buy games for starters and I'm afraid that Lost Planet has now fallen out of my top 5 list.

Top Five Must Buy for Xbox 360

1. Halo 3
2. Shadow Run
3. Assassins Creed
4. Moto GP 07
5. Viva Pinata (So my girls can play)

Gamerscore Blog Road Tour - Dallas

The end of the Gamerscore Blog North American Road Tour wrapped up in Dallas last night with the event taking place at the very swank Hotel ZaZa, located in their Crouching Tiger suite. The setting was an incredible and very relaxed place to meet up with other local Gamers & Bloggers for an evening of fun, games, food and refreshments.

Some of the local gamers that made it out were none other than DeaconBlade 360, Soufizzy, RuKaMiR, GameSkills, willieb 52, NASCARVinny, and MiyamotoMusashi just to name a few. With about 7 Xbox 360 game systems, spread all through out and with controllers all around, what more could you ask for?

How about some first hand looks at some very fresh games? We got to look at a couple very new games and they only asked that we don't take photos or write about these games. So all I can say is they are very visual and appealing games to watch for down the road. So what games can I talk about then from the event?

How about today's brand new released Shadowrun & Forza Motorsport 2 for starters and clear favorites of mine for the night. I also had a chance to look at Tenchu Z and rocked out on Guitar Hero II for the night. It was really cool to put all of these games through their paces and nice to know that I'm not the only one that can send his car right into the walls while racing Forza Motorsport 2. The also had some really cool Live Arcade titles to check out as well, but all in all I think Shadowrun was the game people liked the most.

I also got to check out the soon to be released Wireless Keyboard adaptor and found it to look and feel incredible. It was only a prototype, but it sounds like it is very close to what they had on hand to show us. I can see how this will be a big plus for messaging your friends while on Xbox Live. Well I plan to have more in depth reviews on some of the titles later in the week, but in short and if your looking for a couple new titles for the 360, rush out and get Shadowrun and Forza Motorsport 2, you'll love them.