Announcement: Changes for GTSM!

We want to thank everyone that comes to GTSM and has really helped make this a family like community. As we always say, without our members this place would not be what it is and it brings me joy in the time and effort that is put in here doesn’t go wasted. We have several announcements to make which should make for a better site.

1-Like many have guessed, we have renamed the site to Beyond Media Online or BMO for short. After months of looking for a name, we finally settled for a name that best fits the kinds of content that we deliver on an almost daily basis. The new URL is at http://www.beyondmediaonline.com. We are going to leave up the GTSM site for about 2 weeks with a message that we have moved to a new domain, then 2 weeks after that the old URL will redirect to http://www.beyondmediaonline.com.

2-We are leaving Blogger which houses our content for the Blog and moving to WordPress. WordPress allows us much more functionality at a cost, but for what we can do to the blog it also has many capabilities of a regular website than just the standard blog capabilities found on blogging sites like Blogger. Again, this is all part of the domain and site URL change as described above. With built-in search functionality, addition of RSS Feeds, better stat tracking than Blogger and much better ease of use for the staff this is a more robust option.

3-The forums are going to receive a change in their URL, it will go from http://forums.gtsportsmedia.com/index to http://forums.beyondmediaonline.com/index, but we will not make that change for a few days so all members that haven’t logged in a few days can see news about the change if they are bookmarked directly to the forums.

4-George used to work for a site called Next Level Gaming for about 2 years writing reviews. We have formed a small partnership with them where George will be providing them with gaming reviews that he has written up in exchange that they add our message board to their site since they don’t have any forums. They don’t get the traffic they used to, but we might get a few more new members to the site.

There you have it everyone; we aren’t becoming a full fledged porn site or merging with anyone else. Our goal is to continue to take the blog and message boards in the right direction buy supplying our readers top notch articles on all media and sports as always, but with a new name that better fits our vision.

We want to thank everyone and I hope you all stay with us for the ride as we take another step forward on this journey.

If you have any questions or concerns you can message George or Ted.

Confessions of a Demo Junkie

After taking a year hiatus from console gaming and having recently joined the new generation of gaming consoles by purchasing a PS3, I was ready for the next level of the gaming experience. I started out with two games GTA IV and Burnout Paradise and even though they are a lot of fun my excitement level of owning a new system didn't hit its peak till I began to download playable demos.

I don't recall ever downloading demos from Xbox Live or if they were even available, I do remember waiting every month for my gaming magazines to see if they had a demo disc inside, so I could get a taste of a new game. In fact I still have my playable demo of Hot Shots Golf for the Playstation One, which turned out to be my favorite demo of that time period. I know I know you have downloads available for PC but there are certain games that are right for the PC and games that can only be played on a console.

Now with game consoles having the ability to download demos, I have become a demo junkie and I've learned a few things after being out of the gaming loop for awhile. I'm still really bad at first person shooters, my action adventure skills have eroded and my love for racing games has been rekindled and sports games are still my main attraction to gaming, strategy games are still not right but Civilization:Revolution is changing my perception and RPG's are hit and miss.

These are the games I have downloaded, so far in less than a month with my personal opinion on each game and please remember your mileage may vary on what type of gamer you are.

Iron Man
Not really my type of game, as I had trouble with the controls but as an action adventure games, if your a fan of of this genre, take this game for a spin.

Resistance: Fall of Man
As I mentioned earlier, I'm really bad with FPS, so getting shot in the head as I turn to look around is the norm for me but I see why people with great FPS skills love this game.

Uncharted: Drake's Fourtune
I really loved the graphics of this game and the adventure aspect had me giddy but once again the inability of shooting straight halted my progress, all I ask for is a lock on option and this is a great game for me.

GRID
I mentioned earlier I have a rekindled love for racing games, unfortunatley this wasn't the game to rekindle it, I guess it was to sim for me as I finished towards the back or my car was FUBAR, if your a hardcore sim racer this game is for you.

DIRT
pretty much the same thoughts as GRID but with dirt thrown in the mix.

MLB: The Show 08
The Show is the show when it comes to baseball games, I haven't bought the game because of the price and I tend to be a seasonal sports gamer, its hard for me to play a baseball game when Da Bears and Packers are playing in inclement weather at Soldier Field but once I see a price drop I'm on it like white on rice. This game is so good that I don't mind playing with the Sox over and over and over again.

Formula One
This is where my love of racing was rekindled, I really enjoyed this demo and it brought me back to my Formula One Playstation days a must bye for me soon and it has even got me watching the real Fomula One Racing.

Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
I've always been a fan of the series and I really do bad with my short game but its fun fun fun. This is one game I don't mind failing at, a must buy in the near future.

Tiger Woods 08
A good game but it took me a time to get the hang of it, unfortunately HSG took my golf mojo. If your a fan of the Woods series, its pretty much up to par.

NASCAR 09
This game was the one that stirred the embers of my racing game awakening but what really held it back was that I'm not a fan of the live version, if Formula One was not around, this would be my racing game of choice. I'm sure one or two forum members may persuade my decision.

NCAA 09
What can you say about the most annticpated College Football of this Gen gaming console, its fun and I'll leave it at that as we have a great forum, where you can find more in depth anaylysis, I'm only perplexed that I win with tOSU and lose bad with LSU.

Folklore
This game was under my radar, I liked the story and it had a Japanese feel to it. I had fun with the demo, till the boss was tought to kill at most for me a rental as the boss in the demo annoyed to no end.

Top Spin 3
I've enjoyed the Top Spin series for awhile. so I was caught a little off guard with the new sim controls, I hated the new system but after hearing some great impressions on our forums, I gave it a second chance and it a fun demo, if your not a fan of Tennis at least give this game a try just for the fun factor.

Ridge Racer 7
I wasn't to impressed with this Ridge Racer. I guess I was looking for a semblance of the original RR, so I was disappointed

Need for Speed: Pro Street
I felt it was in between Ridge Racer and Burnout, now after the demo, I feel it s more RR than Burnout which is not a good thing for arcade racing fans.

Civilization: Revolution
I'm a HUGE strategy PC gamer and I've never felt that these type of games have ever been translated well to a console, Pirates for the Xbox was a great start and Civ:Revolution just continues the trend if it wasn't for NCAA 09 this would be my July purchase. It is a future purchase for sure.

NCAA 08
I downloaded this because I needed my College Football and USC fix before 09 came out and now 09 is the only game in town.

Fifa 08
I'm a huge soccer fan, so I play this game a lot, I know the Pro Evolution is more sim but when I play a soccer game I want to have fun.

MX vs, ATV: Untamed
I enjoy the MX but not too keen ot on the ATV part loved the MX gameplay but not the rest.

UEFA Euro 08
same thing goes for this title but I consider it an expansion pack to the fully loaded Fifa.

Bourne Conspiracy
I read some great impressions about this game, which you can read in our forums but my level of skill was not up to the Bourne standard and it was too difficult for me to master but if you like quick button action and are a Bourne movie fan you have to give this game a look.

Hail to the Chimp
I thought this was a one player game, so I was surprised it was a party game, it was Okay but it was no Shrek Party of Fuzion Frenzy or even the Bible Game.

Demos are a great thing nowadays, long gone are the days that you would buy a game that looks cool but ends up being a disappointment and getting only half the price of what you paid for the game when you return it. Now I can experiment with games without taking a hit to the wallet and share my thoughts with friends.

I love demos and with PSN being free. I plan to download every demo available whether I'm bad at the game or not, because its all about being able to choose which games you can preview and play before you decide to buy.

Make your PS3 gamercard now!

Playfire.com has created a little neat program to make a PS3 gamercard for your profile or forums. At this time there is no way to auto update your stats but Sony promises things like these in the future will arrive. Till then, enjoy Playfire's gamercard system.

Source: http://www.playfire.com/a/ps3_trophies

PS3 Firmware 2.41 is live!

Yep that is right! Sony last night went ahead and released firmware 2.41; exactly one week since 2.40 was released.

This version however, fixes all mistakes of 2.40 and is said by Sony to not cause anymore problems to anyone. Those with 2.36 will download 2.41 and experience the all new 2.41 features. Those already with 2.40 will download 2.41 and notice a new feature.

The feature that has been changed is the platinum trophy has been replaced with a new icon. Before it was a purple crown which didn't look too good or make much sense. Sony has replaced this with a much better looking trophy. Hopefully they also adjusted the trophy unlock sound as it was barely audible. Also those interested in Super StarDust HD will be able to download version 4.00 with trophy support as it is up as well. Now go and download 2.41 and let us know if you experience any problems with it and start collecting those trophies!

Watchmen

I have never gotten into comics. I never read comic magazines when I was a kid. I have never read a "graphic novel" (aka comic book), although I own both 300 (which I will proudly tell you that I got well before the movie was even announced) and From Hell. I bought them because they are supposed to be very good and I was eager to try something new, but I never actually got around to reading them.

I started to get a bit of an interest in comics after I played Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the 360. I picked this game up mainly because it had so many characters to choose from that it seemed to have a lot of replayability. I enjoyed the game immensely. As I played, I slowly got sucked into some of the character's stories and thought it might be cool to learn a bit more about them. But I never followed up on that, either. In fact, I was very interested to see Iron Man in the theaters because of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but once again, I didn't followed through.

Then Time Magazine came out with an issue about the 100 greatest movies, albums, novels, etc. since 1923. Firmly planted within the 100 best novels list was Watchmen, a graphic novel by Alan Moore, the writer of From Hell. I started reading up on Watchmen and I soon discovered that many folks consider it the best graphic novel yet written. That really piqued my interest. I ordered it from Amazon.com and started reading it just a few days ago. And one word can sum up my feelings:

WOW.

It is incredible (so far). It completely turns the superhero genre upside down and at the same time takes it to spectacular heights. It is at times hysterically funny, especially when talking about when the first masked crime fighters arrived and how silly they all felt giving themselves names, dressing up in costumes and wondering whether it was practical to don capes.

But the amazing achievement of Watchmen is just how psychologically complex all of these characters are. They are presented as real flesh-and-blood people, each with their own code and philosophy. Some are inherently wicked, while others are noble yet misunderstood. Most of them have no real superpowers at all; they are just masked vigilantes who are trying to make the world a better place. Many are misguided and arrogant and most of them lose sight of what their original intent was. It has been an amazing journey so far and I am only about a quarter of the way through the book. I can't wait to pick it back up again. It is that compelling.

This experience has made me very anxious to try other graphic novels, at least the ones that are considered classics in the genre. I imagine that after I finish Watchmen, I will finally get around to 300 and From Hell. A movie adaptation of Watchmen is being made, to be released next year. I can't imagine they will be able to capture the magic of the novel, but I wish them luck. In the meantime, I plan to savor each and every twist and turn in Watchmen.

PS3 Firmware Update 2.40 Impressions & Improvements

As you may or may not know, Sony released firmware update 2.40 on late night July 1st or early July 2nd, depending on where you live in the world. Probably the most hyped firmware update to date, but the question is did it deliver? Actually, the better question is will it deliver?

Firmware update 2.40 promised to deliver on many new features such as in-game messaging with in-game XMB access, a trophy system, and many other improvements. Unfortunately this update was pulled as of Wednesday night as many forums were erupting with people having problems. The latest from Sony is that they are working to solve the problems diligently and are looking to have the update back up soon. But how many times in the past have we heard that?

Impressions:

I was one of the lucky ones that was able to download 2.40 and not have any problems at all. I played around with the in-game XMB in a couple games and even collected a few trophies. Now, the in-game XMB is just what it states. It provides XMB access for in-game. You will get your basic features like viewing trophies, messaging friends, looking at friends' profiles and changing blue tooth and sound options. Many features from the XMB are locked and if you want to access them you will receive a message to quit the game. Fortunately if you decide to quit the game, the PS3 will take you straight to the command you requested and not just boot you to the XMB. Some of these features that are locked are accessing the Internet browser or the Playstation Store. My thoughts on this are that it makes sense and these features aren't really necessary while you are playing a game. These kind of things just take up memory and resources and are not worth it as they are not necessary. The XMB in itself has the basic features you need for online gaming and to further your enjoyment. It sets nice ground work for future firmware updates. More on that later.

The trophy system; a must needed system to rival that one of the Xbox 360. Whether you love achievements or hate them, there is no denying that they have had a huge impact on sales. I myself can attest to this and say I wouldn't have played many games that I did if it wasn't for achievements; some of those ended up being great games. Trophies are here to do the same thing but the question is will it deliver in the same way? I think that it will; trophies in a way are a exact replicate of the achievement system. They allow you to view your trophies, see what the requirement for them are and are even time stamped with date and time. They also allow the ability to view your friends' trophies and compare them. Also what kind of trophy worth they are. In the achievement system there are points, in the trophy system there are no points. Instead we get a bronze, silver, gold and platinum trophies. These are then broken down in your gamercard. Instead of having a point system that is visible, the trophy system has a invisible point system. You have a level system much like a RPG game where you level up with the more trophies you get except you do not know the point value of the trophies other than bronze is worth less than silver and so on. The system is a great start and with each firmware update it can only get better.

Improvements:

The XMB needs improvement. One of the first improvements is the sluggish behavior of the XMB. Sometimes it just takes too long for the XMB to load. This rather is a side effect of the OS memory size still being too big. Over time the OS size will be cut down even more and so the XMB speeds will improve. However, the Xbox Guide still experiences this sluggish behavior but rarely so the problem might never be completely eliminated for either console as memory is very crucial in video games. Another improvement that is necessary in the XMB is cross game invites. Currently the PSN has no system is place and I assume Sony will one day put this in as it makes playing games with your friends just that much easier. Another feature that is necessary in the future will be in-game voice chat. In-game messaging does the job but many people want full in-game voice chat. I assume Sony over time will implement all these features.

Trophy improvements that are needed are as follows: increase the sounds of the trophy unlocked. The sound as is right now is very muted and it was something about that achievement noise that just make the achievement experience just a little better. Another thing that is needed is an API program, and from what I'm told Sony is working on it. This will allow users the ability to compare trophies online as with the xbox.com service.

Update 2.40 has implemented a very good and solid ground work for future updates for the PSN. Until now you can say the PSN was non-existent. By fall all this might be possible and Sony still has many things to release. If by 09 all the improvements are completed and they come out with Home and the Video Store as planned; PSN might not be behind XBL much longer. And remember, it still is free.

Currently update 2.40 has been pulled from download to fix bugs. We'll update you as soon as we know something.

Free Rosters for NCAA Football 09

Thanks to ODogg and Huskeraddict from OS for getting the banner made, but I recommend that nobody pay for NCAA Football '09 rosters as there are free alternatives out there. To get FREE rosters, go to http://www.fairdale-kings.com

The Great Novels, vol. 2: The Alienist

The year is 1896. The City is New York.
The hunt is on for a baffling new kind of criminal...

A serial killer.

This is the reading experience of a lifetime.

So read the cover of the paperback edition of Caleb Carr's tremendous suspense novel, The Alienist. I was hooked immediately and bought it on sight. I had read an enthusiastic review of the novel when it was first published in hardcover, so I kind of realized what I was getting into. But I had no idea that it would wind up being one of my favorite works of fiction. I started reading the book on a flight down to Florida, where I was heading for a week of vacation. I ended up finishing the book just a couple of days later; it was too hard not to go back to it, even while staying at a beach side resort.

I have recommended this book to lots of people and the most frequent response has been, "I'm not really into science fiction." Well, neither am I. And despite the strange title, The Alienist has nothing to do with sci-fi. You see, back before the turn of the century (the late 1800's; I keep forgetting about the recent turn of the century), people who were mentally ill were thought to be "alienated" from society. The experts that studied such people were therefore called alienists. They were the forerunners of psychology.

As noted earlier, the novel takes place in 1896. It is a time when future president Teddy Roosevelt is the New York City Police Commissioner. A series of ghastly murders begins; young boys who are paid to dress up as girls to prostitute themselves are being found not just murdered, but strangely mutilated as well. Roosevelt, who is new on the job as commissioner and clashes with the old-school police and high society (due to his effort to fight corruption) stakes his reputation on an unusual team he gathers to solve the crimes. He turns to well-known alienist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler to figure out not only who is committing these heinous crimes, but why they are compelled to do so. Kreizler is a compelling character, supremely intelligent and far ahead of his time but also widely distrusted by virtually everyone, as the study of the human mind was in it's infancy and often seen as crackpot science. Roosevelt has known Kreizler for a long time, however, and trusts his theories. Mutual friend John Moore, a crime writer for the New York Times is brought along by Kriezler, and it is through his eyes the story unfolds. Moore narrates the book and gives a spellbinding account of not only the crimes, but also turn of the century New York. The novel does a terrific job of actually transporting the reader back in time, to a place where carriage rides through dusky street lamp lit roads was the norm.

Kreizler and Moore also recruit Sarah Howard, a strong, fiery woman who yearns to be the first female police officer in the city. Steve Taggert and Cyrus Montrose, two former patients of Kreizler now in his charge, join up and serve various purposes. Roosevelt also wants an official police presence on the team and adds the brothers Isaacson, Marcus and Lucious, who are detective sergeants with a keen interest in criminal science. Through these brothers, we are introduced to radical new procedures such as fingerprinting and other, less successful methods of evidence gathering. And although Roosevelt doesn't interfere, he casts a large shadow over the whole investigation.

As more bodies turn up, it becomes obvious that the immense social divide between rich and poor will only make things more difficult for our investigators. The lowlifes and gangsters don't want their profitable businesses (including prostitution) to become the focus of a police investigation. The rich, meanwhile, don't even want to here of such sordid crimes and don't care one whit about the victims, as they are "undesirables" to begin with. Narrator Moore shows us both sides of the city and the culture war boiling below the surface.

The investigation takes many twists and turns, dead ends are numerous and promising leads vanish into thin air. All the while, Kreizler keeps us well informed about then-modern psychiatric theories and why he agrees (or disagrees) with them. These ruminations are fascinating and give discreet clues at to what is going on. As the teams gets closer to the answers, they also come closer to alienating everyone in the city: the rich, the poor, the gangsters and of course, the actual killer. And no one around them can be trusted.

Finding the killer is no easy task as they are basically looking for a needle in a haystack. With such seedy characters all around them, there is no shortage of suspects and no shortage of danger either. The pressure on them is enormous as the gangsters push back, the rich try to make it all go away, and the police board and society puts Roosevelt under terrific strain. It bears noting that the Roosevelt character is terrific, full of gumption and vigor, and he becomes flesh and blood before your eyes. Carr does a tremendous job of drawing him out fully and the novel is all the stronger for it.

The Alienist is many things: a page turner, a suspense thriller, an historical work of fiction and a treatise on the early days of psychology. It does all of these things remarkably well and the sum winds up being even greater than the parts. One of the original reviews stated that it was a cross between The Silence Of The Lambs and Ragtime. That's a great line, but mostly because it is completely accurate. You'll be enthralled by the crimes and investigation as well as 1890's New York come to life. Come for the suspense and stay for the atmosphere. The Alienist has it all in spades.

'Guitar Hero: Aerosmith' XBOX 360 Review

Aerosmith has been rocking for years and these guys are still playing music today as if they were first getting started in the music business. Aerosmith has not slowed down in their later years and that is good as many bands start to really take it slow later in their careers, but these guys love what they do. ‘Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’ is based off of the ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’ engine and is the 5th Guitar Hero title in the franchise. I will get this out of the way right off the bat, if you are not a fan of Aerosmith, the $60 price tag may have you cringing due to this not being a full release.

I am a huge fan of Aerosmith, didn’t mind spending the $60 on this release, but I also do feel like it is sorts of an expansion. ‘GHA’ follows the same exact formula as GHIII from career to unlockables. This is not a bad thing, due to keeping things familiar for fans, but there are a few things that I do wish were made different for this release. Personally, if you are going to go out and get a band to grace your branding for one title release, why not make this feel a little more special?

Other reviewers are off and complaining about the formula being the same over and over again with the ‘Guitar Hero’ franchise. I am ok with Neversoft copying and pasting the ‘GHIII’ career, which is essentially the same as the rest of the ‘GH’ games. The approach taken here for ‘GHA’ is a mixed bag, since it could have been so much more. In Career mode, we are using the same tier system that the ‘GH’ franchise is well known for since the original release. I like that a somewhat timeline structure is also introduced into the mix for the career mode. In Tier 1, we have our first gig at Nipmuc High where it all began for Aerosmith. That is fine and dandy since we are going to hit the main points of Aerosmith’s career. Neversoft even went as far to incorporate documentary like footage between each Tier, which gives off the sense that we are following their career in a chronological order. While this is awesome and thought what a great idea to help make this release even more special, there are a few other things that bug me. I hope that Neversoft and Activision are listening to everyone, because in Q1 2009 we are to get another release title ‘Guitar Hero: Metallica’.

Where things go awry for me in Career mode is the addition of 10 non-Aerosmith songs. In each Tier, we get 2 non-Aerosmith songs at first from different bands that also were out of Boston. Having these 2 songs as opening acts for each Tier is ok to a degree, but it just doesn’t feel right when this should have been all Aerosmith songs. Use the license to the full extent and even if the band didn’t want you to dig deep into their greatest hits, they have some good songs that never made it to “Greatest Hits” status that could have replaced these 10 songs. The documentary portion of the Tier’s is well done, but the songs don’t fit in the chronological order at all. In Tier 2, I was playing songs from 1993 with songs from 1979 and 1984. What is wrong here?

Then to top it all off, if we are going to take a semi-chronological approach here, why not have Aerosmith look different over the Tiers. In the 70’s, 80’, 90’s, and 00’s Aerosmith have looked different in appearance and of course age. It would have been cool to have their different looks over the years and also offer them as unlockables.

The track list of songs is pretty good for ‘Aerosmith’ fans, but could have been better. It makes you wonder if songs were being held back for ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’ or possibly DLC for ‘Guitar Hero III’. ‘GHA’ is much easier this time around when compared to ‘Guitar Hero III’, but the difficulty does ramp up a bit later on in the game as opposed to the previous games.

Graphically, the game is similar to ‘Guitar Hero III’ bringing back the characters from the last game down to each inch of pixel. ‘Aerosmith’ has been visually represented very nicely and the cartooney look really goes well with the band. Joe Perry and Steven Tyler did the motion capturing for the game. There are still some awkward animations, but that is all forgiven since the band looks so spot on.

I am coming off rather negative with this release since my expectations were a little higher hoping that this game would be more authentic and the structure comes off rather confusing with the documentary style approach. With complaints aside, ‘GHA’ is a nice addition to ‘Guitar Hero’ franchise for fans of rhythm games. I will be playing this till both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero IV release in the fall. ‘Aerosmith’ fans will be in all their glory with this release and non-Aerosmith fans could also enjoy this release since we have 41 new songs to play. For those counting, this equates to $1.46 a song.

Feel free to discuss in our forums

Mad TV has gone mad.

Let me put it out there in the open, I'm a fan of comedy. Even more so I'm a fan of stand up comedy. Most comedy films do not do it for me but give me four hours of Comedy Central Presents and I'll have a happy Friday evening. But ever since In Living Color, the comedy show that first showed us Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, and the Wayans brothers, I have had a love affair with sketch comedy.

My appreciation for In Living Color allowed me to stomach John Leguizamo's first step in the spot light with his short lived comedy sketch show House Of Buggin'. I then took that interest into my Saturday nights by catching Will Ferrel and Cheri Oteri cheer on their team as The Spartan Cheerleading squad on Saturday Night Live. But it wasn't until a well-known comedy parody magazine decided to lend its name to FOX to rival SNL that I began devoting every Saturday night to catching my new favorite show when it aired at 11 est.

Of course I'm talking about Mad TV. And yes, I've heard all the complaints. I've dealt with enough laughter to know that there are not many people that share my same affection for the show. But its been on for over a decade and my general feeling has always been that as long as it continues to rival SNL then Mad TV is doing its job.

However, like SNL when it hit its first, second, and third long slide, Mad TV is now in its first legit downfall. This past season, its 13th on FOX, Mad TV had what I call its worst season ever. The reasons for its awful coverage are obvious. It actually has less to do with their cast and comedy, but instead more to do with their aesthetics and poor technical decision making.

As if Mad TV needed a clear indication of their attempt to do away with everything that worked right for a dozen years, they made their first huge mistake in changing their theme song into a more rock infused melody. Gone was the constant, numbing reminder that you were now watching Mad TV and in its place an awful set of guitar riffs that would make Jimi Hendrix roll in his grave. I'm not arguing that their original theme song was amazing but I can only wonder why they felt the need to change something that became synonymous with the Mad TV brand. SNL has, despite its recent struggles, always kept the opening of their show relatively the same. Mad TV failed to stick with tradition and instead alienate its fan base from the opening number.

Part of my personal belief for this change is a financial increase in Mad's production budget. And it didn't take much longer for me to notice another dynamic change to their set when a cast member introduced himself and the staff to a stage audience. Immediately, any follower of the show can see that the simple set with a theater-like set-up and occasional prop had been replaced with a more modern, high-tech stage with brighter lights and a large screen in the back. The decision to go for greater theatrics screamed major FOX involvement and a desire to attract a less forgiving and less patient audience. It was almost as if Mad was trying to move away from its more mature crowd and draw attention to its high school and college fan base.

In addition to this move, Mad now incorporates one of their popular comedy skits into the opening of the show. Mad, unlike SNL, happens to air most of its skits via video. Very few actually air live in front of an audience and that is probably their most significant difference when compared to SNL, other than its more riskier topics.

The on-air shift to air a more commonly recorded skit in front of a live audience has taken away from the atmosphere mostly associated with their broadcasts. FOX may believe that by doing this they are staying the course with rivaling SNL but instead all they have achieved is showing the audience that SNL is far more gifted and visually prepared to present in front of a live audience. However, its the major shift in their recorded skits that especially affects their on screen presentation.

The casual viewer may never notice this change and chances are most routine viewers may even be unaware of the technical shift. But Mad TV decided to take its new wonderful budget and hire a new camera crew that has effectively altered the once visual appeal of Mad's lower quality production. Instead of presenting themselves as the ugly red-headed step child with a great personality once you got to know her, they have become the stunningly attractive blond with no substance.

Yes, their shots now look incredibly professional and they've basically done away with a three camera set-up in favor of a single camera, but the new focus directly contradicts the reason they might have chosen to present one of their skits live. Why try to enhance your personal relationship with the viewer in one instance and then purposely drift toward a more cinematic experience in the other?

Unfortunately, for most Mad TV fans like myself it does not appear that these drastic changes would be dropped and replaced by their more original and pure art direction. The changes have left me feeling empty and no longer anticipating a new season of my FOX favorite. Looks like I'll have to opt for a less enjoyable evening on a New York City dance floor. Might be about time I follow up on those invitations.

PS3 Firmware 2.40 First Video!

The first video of the PS3 Firmware 2.40 is now available and it looks amazing with what we can finally do. Granted a lot of these features have been in the XBOX 360 since day 1, PS3 owners have been waiting and waiting for 2 years now for this kind of update. I am truly excited and it is about time that they offered this for us. Now we must wait for release of FW 2.40.

Videogame & Movie Ads Week of 6/29/08

The Sunday ads is something that many look forward to on a weekly basis to catch the best sales of the week. Here at GTSM, we like to save money on our purchases whenever we can and I bet you do too.

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WWE Supplemental Draft Analysis!

I am back on for day 4 to discuss the WWE supplemental draft from yesterday afternoon. While many didn’t see this draft coming since on Monday night there was no announcements, there were a few moves made that will benefit all brands. With Smackdown readying to move over to a new network in the fall, management seems to have made a decision to stack Smackdown from top to bottom.

While some will say this was one of the worst drafts, I think it was one of the better ones to balance out talent on 2 of the 3 brands. There are some moves that have me scratching my head, and I really see a possible WWE house cleaning coming soon because there are way too many unused guys on all three rosters.







Mark Henry was drafted to ECW from SD!. This is a good move for Henry, he just didn’t look like he was fitting right on SD! as a top tier guy. But on SD!. I think he wins the ECW title on Sunday.

Hornswaggle and Finlay both were drafted to ECW from SD!. This is a great move for Finlay; he has been a top tier guy on SD! since returning to the ring and an ECW World Title is in his future. Hornswaggle had to also come with or else what was left for him without Finlay.

Super Crazy was drafted to ECW from RAW. ECW was Crazy’s former stomping grounds when he came to the U.S. and I think this is a good move for him considering that we only saw him sparingly on RAW.







Jamie Noble was drafted to RAW from SD!. This has to be one of the most confusing decisions yet in this draft. Noble was a backstage agent for SD! and now he is going to a show where he will probably get lost and buried. ECW would have been better.

Deuce was drafted to RAW from SD!. This move still made no sense breaking up Deuce and Domino; they were a good tag team and alone just won’t work for either guy.

Chuck Palumbo was drafted to RAW from SD!. I find this a little puzzling because Palumbo was the best yet on SD! since returning to WWE. I was a bit perplexed by this move at first notice, but I have changed my mind. I think that this will give Palumbo that added incentive to show how much better of a competitor he is on RAW. Watch, Palumbo is going to shine and be a breakout star.

Matt Striker was drafted to RAW from ECW. I think that this is another good move and even better if they would let Striker manage a few guys. Striker is Bobby Heenan Jr. when it comes to management style and how well he talks on the mic. WWE please give him that chance.

Layla was drafted to RAW from ECW. This is good for Layla since it will give her somebody besides Kelly to continuously feud with, but can she hang with the rest of the talent on RAW?

Kofi Kingston was drafted to RAW from ECW. I still feel that it is still a bit too early for him, but he is popular with the fans. Kofi should have stayed on ECW another 6 months, he has been coming along fairly well and I feel he is being rushed to RAW to become a punching bag.







Trevor Murdoch was drafted to SD!. from RAW. This is another good choice; I think that he could be a good mid card talent with a possible U.S. title reign in his future.

Big Daddy V was drafted to SD! from ECW. I would have left V on ECW; there was no real reason to take him on to SD! V has been gone since March on a weight loss program. WWE management were fearing for his health being so overweight, so hopefully he comes back healthy because as a heel monster he has a good chance to be challenging at the top.

DH Smith was drafted to SD! from RAW. This could be good for Smith to build up in the mid card, but there also goes the young guns stable and being Dibiase’s mystery partner.

Brain Kendrick was drafted to SD! from RAW. Good move going to SD!, but very bad move breaking up Kendrick & London as a tag team. Both should have come over where they dominated the tag team scene. I see both not having jobs down the road or just getting lost in the shuffle. They both reminded me of a young Strike Force and could very well have dominated the tag team scene for years.

Maria was drafted to SD! from RAW. This will be interesting to see how it works out for her.

Shelton Benjamin was drafted to SD! from ECW. I think that Benji is ready to move up, he has done a great job on ECW and hopefully he has that chance to shine on SD! now that his mic skills are improved.

Carlito was drafted to SD! from RAW. Good move, I just worry with him and H on the same show. Carlito made his original debut on SD! and he was on a tear.

Ladies and Gentleman, there you have it for 2008’s draft. We had a total of 28 wrestlers moved over a 2 day period. There is a lot of good that has come out of this draft, but there were also a few moves that dumbfound me.

Breaking up tag teams like Deuce and Domino or Brian Kendrick and Paul London was a bad move. They pretty much dismantled the tag team division on both brands. I am at a loss for words as to why WWE did that considering that tag team wrestling is very important for mid card of a show and also helps put 2 guys together that wouldn’t survive on their own. On another note I expect that somehow The Undertaker will find his way to RAW with all the Triple-H issues that I talked about earlier. It is time that Taker has a change of environment, which will benefit him.

The repercussions from this draft will be interesting to see how it affects “Night of Champions” this Sunday night. WWE has a good opportunity here to build interest back, but will they do that?

Feel free to discuss in our forums

Xbox 360 July 6 - KMart Ad $299

These are the KMart ads for next week July 6, 2008. It looks like the 360 is going to be $299, $50 price cut. Credit goes to MasterX of HDD.com.

Feel free to discuss in our forums

Microsoft DRM Tool Now Available!

Microsoft has finally released a tool that will allow us XBOX 360 owners to tie our purchases to our new console that we purchased. Here is a few more details on the matter, this is good news because having gone through 2 xbox's myself by trading in the previous version for a new one, I have tons of DLC that couldn't be accessed due to DRM.

"Microsoft promised to release a DRM tool that would "allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline." In other words, this is for the sad saps whose Xbox 360 red-ringed, only to have it returned with Xbox Live Arcade titles that required you to be signed into Live to play. Now instead of jumping through a series of customer-service related hoops, this new tool – available immediately at Xbox.com – will allow you to quickly manage that content. "

sourse: joystiq