The World of Joel

So sporadically I am going to make posts about my various TV Blogs that I began developing over a month ago. In the first part on this post sequence I would like to take the second opportunity to introduce OfficeTVBlog.com my blog for The Office on NBC. So far the blog is bringing in about 50+ page views a day which isn’t fantastic, but its growing thats for sure. One of the more popular portions of the website are the several Youtube video links which seem to be bringing in the greatest amount of traffic and response. Please check out the site, I edited a pre-made theme for Wordpress and have really been tweaking it to the best of my ability. Any suggestions are always appreciated. So there you go your introduction to the Office TV Blog!

This may be a little late, but after watching all of the conferences and checking out a lot of what each company had to offer I have a hands down winner for best looking game at E3, and its Assassin’s Creed the most gorgeous, thought provoking, and next generation experience we have seen to date. Here is a preview of the game from GameTrailers.com

Most of you probably didn’t even know I was gone but on Saturday morning I made a quick trip to Tucson for my great grandma’s 90th Birthday party. I flew out of Ontario International Airport at about 6:30am and made into to Tucson at 7:45am. I went with my brother Jake and my girlfriend Jenn out to Tucson and let me just say the trip was smooth. We went on Express Jet (www.xjet.com) and I have to say I was impressed. The planes were on time, small, cozy, and for the most part very nice. They served food, which for an hour flight is pretty unheard of these days. Having spent much time in Tucson it was nice to visit and the party was nice. We made it back last night at around 4pm (twenty minutes ahead of schedule) and now we are already back to the daily grind.

Well it has happened again. Back when I had the radio show GameTalkLive we had a whole show in regards to the terrible Xbox 360 repair process. It took weeks to receive a box, weeks to receive my 360 back, and just a terrible time in between. Well about one year and a few months after the first repair the unthinkable happened, or well according to Microsoft the thinkable happened, it broke again. I got the infamous red rings of death which are covered now by a three year warranty since Microsoft was having terrible problems with there units. So in essence I get to play the waiting game again, and unfortunatley I have about 5-6 Xbox 360 titles I need to review including DIRT and Transformers two games I was looking forward to checking out. So now I sit and wait, the updates on the support will come. I called on 07/12 at 9:00pm to report the problem and my support order was issued. 3-4 Days until I get the box. Lets see when it comes! That will be the next update! Please Lord give me patience.

So I should be out of class by the start of the Sony E3 07 Conference so I am hoping to do live updates just like I did from the Microsoft conference. The show starts at 11:30am Pacific, only one hour away! I believe we are all hoping to see some big announcements along side the showing of Killzone 2. A prediction before hand would be showing of Ratchet and Clank and maybe even the next Sly Cooper title either for PS3 or PSP or both. Interested to see where Sony is going to go, could there be the unveiling of God of War 3 for the PS3? Sony needs a big E3, so there is a lot riding on this presentation.

11:43am: Just like in the previous two conferences, Gamespot is having trouble getting there live feed to work, so until they get it up, I have no idea what is happening.

11:50am: I am still not up and running, looks like a slimmer PSP was announced.

11:56am: I am up and going, and we are moving now to the Playstation Network.

11:59am: Most gameplay and least graphics, Echo Chrome? I am just sick of puzzle games I am sorry! Can’t we get away from puzzle games. However the trailer is impressive, looks like an interesting and very different game. Actually the more I watch the more it looks really good.

12:02pm: Four game video montage. Wipeout HD will be fun, they are always just good enjoyable times. Pain looks very different, not sure what to expect from this one, could be a good time. Having played Warhawk beta I have to say that it was pretty fun, I can’t wait to see the full version it looked amazing. And last up is SOCOM Confrontation is the first PS3 SOCOM game, which is a downloadble game which is awesome. Using Crossroads a very popular map is awesome. The game looks gorgeous and is available both on Blu-Ray and downloadable!

12:06pm: Back talking about Home, which is ready for Fall. You can run on Home on a Sony Ericson phone. The environment and the new spaces of Home look really good. To me Home is either going to be great or fall flat, I like the look, I am just not sure it will take off.

12:09pm: Talking about Singstar on PS3 with a Blu-Ray version and then downloading more content further.

12:10pm: A mention of the Sony Eye (new Eye Toy), showing it off with Singstar on the PS3.

12:11pm: You can put photos from your phone onto the Home server, as well as the other way take your pictures from Home onto the internet.

12:14pm: You can open up any game in Home, which Phil decides to go into Motorstorm, and this seems like a great use of the feature. So in general you can play any game directly from Home. You can play either Singleplayer or Multiplayer.

12:16pm: We are going back to Jack now with more information on the PS3. Two goals this year, more owners and games. Phil throws a little joke into the price drop and the leaking of the price drop. 11 Million Units world wide by the end of the year?

12:19pm: Talking up the Blu-Ray , 2-1 Sales Blu-Ray over HD-DVD, and Blockbuster staying with Blu-Ray not HD-DVD.

12:23pm: Ubisoft’s Haze looks pretty good, Ubi Soft loves giving different consoles exclusive.

12:25pm: Sony gets the Unreal Engine for the PS3, to give it to other developers. 100 Games already into the works, and Epic is making Unreal 3 an EXCLUSIVE! Mods are able to go from PC to PS3 which is huge It is going to be out November 07.

12:26pm: PS3 Third Party Montage: Call of Duty 4 is the first and it still looks just as amazing as last night at the Microsoft conference. Assassins Creed is the second game showed and once again I said it was the best looking game last night and continues to be the best looking game today. Kane and Lunch is a game I haven’t heard much about but it does look like a good time. Resident Evil 5 not a Playstation exclusive, but still will probably be a gigantic release. Burnout Paradise, another Burnout title, and probably more arcade racing, not much to say here. Madden NFL 08 is the next trailer, and it hopefully will get some last minute touch ups as we have been hearing it looks a good degree lower in quality then the 360 counterpart. Next is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which I have played and reviewed, not that exciting. The Simpsons Game is probably going to be a bust, but hey there have been good Simpsons games in the past. Next up is Guitar Hero 3 which is going to be great, lets face it! Medal of Honor Airborne is a game I am personally looking forward to mainly because I have loved previous Medal of Honor games especially on the original Playstation. Rock Band is the next trailer and we all know we are looking forward to this one. And thats the third party support!

12:33pm: There is a surprise third party exclusive, and it is in its 20th Anniversary. It is METAL GEAR SOLID 4. Hideo Kojima is now on stage! He says it is the final game of the series! That is very surprising. The story of Snake will end and he will be done with the series now. The plot lines and such will be revealed. The game itself will be stealth, but new elements will be introduced in the battlefield. There is now a trailer for MGS4, brand new, ALL GAMEPLAY. Throughout the trailer the visuals are amazing, Snake definitely is showing his older age, he still looks good though. It still seems like we are looking at cut scenes still though, the object is to kill Liquid. However it looks amazing, can’t wait for MGS4! Early 2008 Release! Next week they will show a full demonstration of the game for the official unveiling. There he will have more information on the game.

12:44pm: We are now moving back to the Sony first party titles, which are coming in this financial quarter. First up is the new Ratchet and Clank game, Tools and Destruction.

12:47pm: Next game is Folklore, a new action RPG game. It is really a different loking game, a lot of different genres thats for sure. It has a lot of wierd elements not sure what to expect from this one. This is one that will be a pure thumbs up or down.

12:48: Heavenly Sword has looked amazing in previews before, and this trailer is no exception. This is one of the titles I am looking forward to, that is for sure. I think if the story is right, it will make for a great experience, which should be good for this title. The game is really one of the best looking games on the Sony conference thus far.

12:50pm: I am really excited about NBA 08, NBA 07 was really a good game, one that I still play, and the new game looks solid. Weekly content was huge and continues to be huge.

12:52pm: Little Big Planet is different, a lot of people talked it up, I am not sure. Play, Create, and Share is the idea behind the game. To me this requires a lot of work from the user base and if the user base isn’t initially interested it is really hard to get a game like this off the ground. I am also interested in the pricing.

12:54pm: Naughty Dog is showing off Uncharted a game that I think could be the big experience on the Sony Playstation 3. The story looks good. It has been called a Tomb Raider title, but to me it looks like even more then that. I am excited about this one.

12:56pm: Suckerpunch (makers of Sly) is coming out with a new Sandbox title, Infamous. All I can say is, WOW. Now this is what Sony has needed, a super hero/creative sandbox game experience that looks absolutely fantastic. Big thumbs up for this announcement. Although would love to see another Sly Cooper game!

12:57pm: Gran Turismo is coming back, and it is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue!!!! This will have full online functionality. They sure are hyping up GT5. Visually I have never seen a better racing, and that is coming right after play Forza 2. My question is why give us all these small games, why not just work on GT5 and give us that? And that is all from Phil!

12:59pm: Everything you are about to see is real time, that means Killzone 2! This is the trailer we already saw earlier today, so not that exciting. The game does look pretty though! Does it live up to the original trailer that was CGI? Not necessarily but still good. This is a pretty long trailer to, shows off quite a bit of content.

1:05pm: Jack is here to wrap it up! Playstation only around for 13 years, interested to see how the PS3 really ends up turning out! And thats a wrap, all three conferences are done. What did we learn? Not any “huge” announcements from Sony, that was actually probably the biggest surprise. I also wanted more info on the Playstation Eye? I guess not!

So I am having trouble watching the Nintendo E3 conference, so that is the reason for not having a life updated E3 coverage of Nintendo’s conference. I am also in class right now so it is very difficult to listen to the show and update. However here are just some thoughts from what I have seen.

- Big news was the November release of Super Mario Galaxy which continues to look amazing.
- Some new peripherals were announced from Nintendo including the Wheel and Zapper which I think the zapper looks fun but the wheel looks like a cheap toy.
- Wii Fit was one of the big announcements of the show as it looks to further the Wii’s development into the household. I am not one to work out, and I think the way this game acts like Brain Age could really be a good thing for me. The pad that comes with Wii Fit actually looks like a good size and from the on stage demonstration the recognition looks pretty good. I did feel terrible when Reggie took the stage on the platform, he is a big guy, having to be on stage doing that seemed a little awkward for him.
- Another huge release of the beginning of next year (however expect delays it is Nintendo) is Mario Kart for the Wii which I think looks visually pretty stunning and comes with the cheap new wheel.

All in all my half watching of the Nintendo Conference left me with the same feeling of several Nintendo conferences of the past years. I never get all that excited by there conferences. Reggie seems like the most “real” person of the three conferences but then again not that entertaining. I did grab a domain during the conference (WiiFitGame.com), maybe I will develop it? I think it might be good!

So I am here watching live the Microsoft conference of E3 online on Gamespot with my brother ready to see what Microsoft has to give us here at E3! So here are my thoughts going through the event

8:37pm: I am not liking this musical introduction to Halo 3, it is the same music we have heard at so many conferences before hand!

8:43pm: Harmonix shows off Rock Band, not a huge surprise to see it showing up, the game does look pretty amazing, but then again nothing all that exciting yet!

8:50pm: Microsoft always finds ways to spin the stats, I love these graphs, they are more ambiguous then anything I have ever heard. How many games from third parties hit were on the other consoles! Here is a thought, Nintendo has had several top ten titles, along with Sony. So I don’t take a lot of there stats to heart.

8:56pm: The video montage of games that are coming out in the future are pretty impressive.

8:58: The new Xbox 360 controller is announced along side Scene It. I think that is very impressive! You can see Microsoft s definitely trying to get into the Wii market share, I am not sure Scene It is the way to do it, but should good!

9:02pm: So it seems as though Microsoft thinks throwing on Reggie Bush will make Madden 08 look different from 07. I want to hear whats new, not watch Reggie Bush play Madden and tear it up.

9:08pm: Xbox Live Arcade has so much potential, but unfortunately nothing is jumping out at me! Hopefully something original surprises me.

9:12pm: Disney movies coming to Xbox 360. How many gamers are going to go buy Winnie The Pooh tonight?

9:17pm: PGR4 was shown on stage and it looks as though we were watching a replay and not live action. We all know the game is going to be good, so I don’t think anyone is really amazed by any of this.

9:25pm: The two Windows games Gears of War and Viva Pinata not that exciting, but at least they haven’t given up on PC gaming.

9:30pm: Games for Windows montage goes live and I have to say nothing really jumped out at me!

9:35pm: Call of Duty 4 Looks so far the best game at the Microsoft Event.

9:40pm: Why are we seeing the GTA4 trailer again? We have all seen it 1000 times, show us something new!

9:43pm: Resident Evil 5 Is Announced, good stuff.

9:46: Assassins Creed maybe actually a lot more interesting then Call of Duty 4, this looks like it could be an amazing experience. Truly looks next generation.

All in all it was a pretty typical Microsoft conference, nothing major in terms of announcements. The two games that look good are Call of Duty 4 and Assassins Creed.  I have to say out of everything the only thing exciting is the Scene It announcement which could be fun. In general good conference, nothing out of the ordinary though.

So today is the start to this years E3, in fact it feels like it has been a long time since last years E3 and a lot has happened since that time. The Wii has taken the market by storm, the PS3 has needed a quick price drop to try and grab more of the market share, and it seems as though the Xbox 360 has begun to fizzle out a bit over the past few months. The gaming industry in general has not been as strong as it has been in years past, and E3 is a time to see what could make that change. Tonight Microsoft has there big conference where Peter Moore is bound to speak about the great Xbox Live success rate and I am sure his amazing sales of the Xbox 360 as well. He will of course speak up more on Xbox Live Arcade which in all honesty I believe has been a major disappointment. I am interested to see more on Fable 2, Halo 3, and hopefully something original. I am sure we will see more on Call of Duty 4 which looks amazing and possibly the upcoming 2K and EA sports titles. I want Microsoft to show off something new, something original, something new to get excited about. Halo 3 will be good we all know that, but we want to see something new and original. Tonight at 8:30pm down in Santa Monica should be a good time for Microsoft and I personally am interested to see what is going to turn out from the conference. I could see it being a big disappointment, but who knows, Microsoft has surprised me before.

After Roger Federer took his fifth straight Wimbledon title, Nike aired a commercial starring Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. The commercial is one of the most unique and yet enjoyable minutes of advertisements I have watched in a long time. Enjoy the commercial! Plus you got to love that Roger beat Nadal in Five Sets, one of the best championship matches in Tennis in a long, long time.

So as many of you have been reading over the weeks, I have been working on a big new project, and lets just say it has grown since the conception. It all began back in April when the TV series were beginning to hit there stride down the home stretch and I realized something I really enjoy watching TV. Why don’t I make a few fan sites for the shows I love. So that was just the beginning of what then turned into a much bigger project. I started out with just two sites OfficeTVBlog.com and HeroesInsider.net both shows that are moving forward with there viewers and two shows that I particularly love watching. I noticed right away within the first couple of days that I was generating traffic and some some ad revenue. So then came the announcement of the new Fall TV Shows for 2007 and I realized I should be buying domains right as they are announced and creating a network of fan sites, and thus the project we have today a compilation (just the beginning) of TV fan sites that all include News, Episode Reviews, Interviews, Wallpapers, Quotes and More. Want to check out what I have been working on? Here is a list of the fan sites currently completed or nearing completion:

OfficeTVBlog.com: Fan Site for The Office on NBC
HeroesInsider.net: Fan Site for Heroes on NBC
JerichoBlog.net: Fan Site for Jericho the recently saved show on CBS
FNLBlog.com: Fan Site for Friday Night Lights on NBC
PushingDaisies.org: Fan Site for New Show Pushing Daisies This Fall on ABC (Best Domain I Got)
ChuckTVBlog.com: Fan Site for New Show Chuck This Fall on NBC
BionicWomanTV.com: Fan Site for New Show Bionic Woman This Fall on NBC

I have so many more that are in the process that I will continually be updating here at WorldofJoel announcing the expansion of the network. In fact for those who think this seems somewhat disorganized, I agree and I actually have a grand scheme that I hope to have completed by this Fall season, but it is rather complex and is taking a lot of hours, so only time will tell. However any feedback on the sites, designs, content ideas, interested in writing for any of them, let me know! Thanks for reading everyone and the continued support!