There comes a time in one’s life where they must move on to bigger, better things. You can’t stay in you’re old ways, you must move on to new, more exciting things. Like, I don’t know, having your own domain? Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen. As of today, this site will no longer be used by the likes of Nate and I, we have spawned our own domain: www.lawnofthemonth.com. Don’t forget to update your RSS Reader. You know there’s some old person group out there wishing they would have jumped on that domain before we did. Oh well, slow people end last.

Update: Looks like I had to edit my picture because it was temporarily gone.

I’m an avid Digg user and I go there daily for my news. Today, May 1st, has been the weirdest day on Digg. Everyone is posting this secret HD-DVD code that allows you to strip off the DRM and watch them on your Linux box. It’s comes up for submissions and also randomly throughout every story as a comment. When a submission containing the”secret code” gets to the front page, it is immediately taken down.

Yes I know what the code is but I’m way to lazy to rip a HD-DVD just to watch it on a Linux box that I don’t have. I have nothing against pirates but I rather buy my movies from Best Buy because I like to have a physical media in my hands to collect. Music? Well that’s an entirely different story for a different time. I’m sure that if you really wanted the code, you would be able to find it. When will the industry learn that you can’t stop a committed community when it comes to DRM. Only time will tell.

So while visiting one of my favorite sites, Kotaku, I stumbled across this contest to come up with the best acronym for the letters within F.E.A.R. The winner of this contest would win a copy of the game for the PS3. Well guess who won? That’s right boys and girls, I won. “So what was the winning entry?”, you maybe be asking yourself. Free Eggrolls After Rebate is what won it for me. Very random, semi funny, and off the wall is the way I approached this. You can check out the start and finish of the contest here, here, and here. And apparently they are going to let me gloat with a post on their site. How awesome is that?

So unless you have been living under a rock for a year, everyone should be aware that there is going to be a massive Halo 3 beta for the multiplayer side of the game. That date has finally been confirmed for May 16th.  Bungie has also released a video that shows a lot of stuff that has been added to the game, stuff previously not seen by the public eye. I won’t spoil it for you; you’ll just have to watch the video for yourself. Personally, I can’t wait for May 16th to come. The beta is scheduled to last until June 6th.

Here’s an awesome video I found on YouTube. I love Halo, I love 300, therefore I love this video. Watch and enjoy.

I can’t believe the insanity that a maintenance gone too long has caused. People are literally going nuts without there Xbox Live fix. If you didn’t know Live is, or was by the time you read this, down for schedule maintenance. While visiting a forum I go to regularly, I noticed that most of the stories on the front page of the 360 forum are Xbox Live related. Everything from I love or hate Major Nelson (who has nothing to do with the keeping Live running) to we should sue Microsoft. If you really need that 30 cent back that was lost from the 60 bucks you spend a year on your subscription to Live then I’ll setup a PayPal account for you.

People are even speculating  different reasons for this “maintenance”,  saying that it is a cover to get the Halo 3 beta up and running…which would be awesome. But seriously who cares. I think around 10 tonight Major Nelson is going to let loose the secret that he works for Sony and he is the one who shut down Live. I mean seriously people, get a grip of your emotions. It’ll be up when it’s up. Then we can all go back to listen to that whinny 10 year old about how we are hogging the shotgun in Halo 2. Or even better, yelling at his mom to get him some chocolate milk.

Realistically, the Terminator would destroy Robocop without even thinking about it. That doesn’t change how awesome this video is though. Watch and enjoy!

Achievement points: some people hate them, some people find them pointless, and people like me love them. I use to be that guy who played a game once, beat it, and proceed to turn it into GameStop for store credit. Ever since I’ve purchased my Xbox 360 back in December of 2005, I have not once turned in any title for the console and I don’t plan on doing so.

With the implementation of gamerscores and achievement points, many ask what does it mean to beat a game now? Well to beat a game remains the same; once you have completed the single player story line and have seen the credits role, I believe you have successfully beat the game. Completing a game is another story and one that I believe plays to the success of this new phenomenon called Achievement Points. In essence, achievement points have changed the way I play games and the way I ultimately decide which console I will buy games for. If a game comes out for all 3 consoles, chances are I’m going to buy it for the 360. This really sets the 360 apart from the PS3 in a remarkable way.

As stated earlier, I love the whole notion of a gamerscore and achievement points. The fact that I can, at anytime, log onto www.xbox.com or startup my Xbox 360 and see the progress I have made, the games I have beaten, and compare my achievements with the rest of world is amazing. I wish that Sony and Nintendo would have just flat out stole the idea and used it for their new consoles. I would love to see Zelda for the Wii with achievement points because I don’t think I’m ever going to play that game again now that I have beaten it.

Does you’re achievement points do anything for you as far as gaming goes? Well besides the fact that I can say I have more points than someone else, no. But for me, achievement points aren’t about anyone else. It’s more about me getting the most out of my games and for that, I thank you Achievement Points. Whoever thought of this over at Microsoft, you are a genius. Because of you I’m doing weird and crazy things in games that I never thought I would be doing.

Do you remember SlamBall? I know I do! Trampolines, jumping above the rim, slamming all over someone Vince Carter style? It was amazing and then it just fell off the face of the planet!  I want it back and I want it back now!!

Quick Recap:

• 360 dies 12/12/2006
• I send in dead 360
• They received dead 360
• I receive 360 on the Friday before Christmas
• I play 360 for 10 minutes on the day after Christmas
• 12/26/2006 is the day the 360 dies after 10 minutes of play!

I kid you not. So once again I have to go through the hoopla with the outstanding (sarcasm) customer support team that Microsoft has put together to help all of us less fortunate individuals who bought into the hype around the Xbox 360 console. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my Xbox and I still think it’s the best console in the new era of consoles; except they are not built to last. How many times has Microsoft issued extensions to everyone’s system? How many people are on there 4th or 5th system repair? This is BS and they either need to re-make the 360 or just send me my $400 back!

The rep that helped me this time acted like she was doing me a favor by repairing my system for free and not making me pay for shipping. ARE YOU SERIOUS? It’s not my fault that the company you work for can’t make a system that has a life span of 1 year or less. And on top of all that, I CAN’T PLAY MY GAMES FOR ANOTHER 2 WEEKS!! I’m glad I have a Wii because it’s going to be seeing a lot of love this month. Would I recommended someone buying a 360 at this point and time? Yes but with some serious warning and caution attached to that recommendation. Halo 3, Crackdown, BioShock, Mass Effect, and other exclusive titles are not worth the crap or headaches someone has to put up with to own the system they are running on. Maybe Halo 3 is, but I’m pissed right now so I’m not even going to make that argument.

So now that I have free time to play my Wii, what should my next game be? I’ve already beat Zelda and Wii Sports gets old without the family to play it with. Any suggestions?