Why hello Mr. Xbox 360 slim

So in preparation for college I needed a gaming system for the dorm. The family owns a Wii and Ps3. No one used the Wii much anymore so it's a given I'll take it. The system I needed to ask for was the Ps3. And so began the following conversation with my little brother.

Me: Hey Alexander can I bring the Playstation-
Little Brother: No.
Me: Crap....

So that idea was quickly dashed. And so it came down to me buying a Xbox 360. I wasn't keen on using $200 graduation money for a system, so I dug through my closet to find my PSP and DS Lite. I went to the local gamestop and traded my:

• PSP
• DS Lite
• Uncharted 2 (I shed a few bitter tears, but 3 is coming out Nov.)
• AC Brotherhood
• LBP (I already had 2)
• Gran Turismo 5
• A Number of DS games at least 9.

and Bought:

• Refurbished Xbox 360 slim 4gb
• Halo Reach (Preowned)
• Powerup reward pro

And it all came down to..... $21. So ya, It was a pretty good deal. I'm not really keen on selling on Ebay.  (I know I could've gotten more, but considering all the time selling and shipping, not exactly worth it).
I also bought Xbox live gold for 2 months for $2 on this awesomely convenient deal. I got a bunch of games from a friend who doesn't play anymore, and finally go a headset for $20.

So my opinions on the Xbox 360?

The Controller:

Compared to the Ps3, the Xbox 360 has a much better controller for shooters. The Ps3 does pretty well for all games. But the triggers on the Xbox 360 controller feel much more natural for shooters. Unfortunately for any other games, the Xbox 360 controller feels weird, like I never really liked playing racing games on the 360.

And between the Kinect and Playstation Move. The Kinect is so much better. The Playstation Move just seems like a Wii controller except for Ps3 games. The Kinect on the other hand. I had doubts on it, but after playing Dance Central it's awesome. However that seems like the only game I'll actually enjoy with the Kinect because all the others just seem like reboots of Wii games I've already played.

Graphics, Dashboard and Gameplay:
I already established the feel of the controllers. The Xbox 360 pretty much has similar graphics and gameplay as the Ps3. The only thing I have to get used to is the different dashboards, which isn't anything to complain about it's just a matter of adapting. Only problem with the 360 is no bluray player so no awesome HD movies.

Gaming Services:
PSN: I loved the free service. But ever since it was down due to the hackings and the lack of any of my friends online, it felt lacking. Ya I got some fun out of multiplayer, but it is nothing compared too....

Xbox Live: Yes I have to pay for it, but that's the small fee for an awesome experience. I finally got to play in full parties with a lot of people I know, it's extremely fun. I also do better with people I know. 

Verdict: I really like both the Xbox 360 and Ps3 and I can never choose which is better between the two.
If you were to choose between the two it depends on a number of factors:

• Blu-ray? or no?
• Which Exclusive games you want? You really have to make choices and sacrifices on which games you want. For awhile I gave up on Gears of War and Halo for a bit for Uncharted and Final Fantasy.
• The importance of multiplayer to you. Do you want to play with your friends? If so what system is the majority of your friends on? and if it's Xbox live, would you be willing to pay for that?

Wow I can't Believe how Fast this Day Went

Note my friend's little brother cute photobomb.

Hypnotism

So my Grad Night for High School was in our gym, and I was thinking how lame it was going to be.
It turned out to be the most awesome time of my life ever. I'll go into detail on another post of my whole slew of events that happened yesterday.

So for every Grad Night at the school I go to, the staff always hires a hypnotist. And at my school there's a billion rumors about how it actually works and what people have done. Also none of the events were really ever posted on the public (probably for a number of reasons).
Ya I was a bit skeptical if this thing could actually work.

And I can tell you one thing, It Does.

After seeing what the guy had my friends and classmates do. I can pretty much tell you hypnotism is real and the people I saw weren't faking it. The first things the hypnotists had my classmates do still made me doubt because you can generally fake it. Like you can fake acting cold or hot. The later ones though knocked me off my seat and made me believe. After knowing my friend Juan for 4 years and him generally being a guy, I know for a fact he wouldn't take off his shoes and paint his toenails in front of the school.

Hypnotism really is psychology at one of its finest. You really wouldn't expect someone to be at the mercy of what someone else is telling them, but it happens. There's a 6 minute process that all my classmates who volunteered had to go through with the hypnotist breathing in and out and such. He prompted them about random events happening and have them imagine it like flying through the sky and falling into the sea and doing things with your eyes and looking in the middle of your forehead with your eyes shut. I tried it out myself in the audience and I stopped because I had this feeling like I was getting lost in my own mind and I might actually be hypnotized if I continued on.

Then two things happened. People either got hypnotized or they didn't.
If they weren't you could tell they weren't and escorted off stage. It's basically due to the fact they weren't comfy what they were doing, they pretty much were conscious of where they were and what was happening. They weren't really comfy where they were. That's pretty much what I gathered when I asked my friends and classmates who sat down
The people who were hypnotized were just asleep and just looked knocked out, no matter what the hypnotist did. And once we all started cheering and they still didn't wake up, we all immediately learned that hypnotism was real and these guys were screwed.

What ensued was an hour of fun. It felt like 5 minutes to them, Inception? I think so. It's really shocking and hilarious seeing people you know doing things that they wouldn't do. No scratch that. They wouldn't do what any normal person would do.

But they did get something out of it. I didn't think this could work either, but at the end the hypnotist made our classmates sleep again. And he told them that when they "woke up" they would be re-energized (we all wish we had that because it was four in the morning), and that they would have a good night's rest (another one we all wished he did to us).

And right now I'm look amongst, a bunch of my classmates complaining about how tired they are, myself included. Except my friend Juan who said he and the best sleep ever along with another classmate of mine who said something very similar.

So if you ask my if hypnotism is real, I'll pretty much say yes.

I'm going to miss these guys...

End of the World May 21st

So during Finals, a lot of people were talking about the world ending.

There's actually a billboard, exactly like the one pictured above, on the highway near my home.
I didn't bother taking a picture of the one where I live:

1. Because I didn't want to die in a car accident, bringing my judgement day earlier than what the billboard says.
2. It's nothing, but a stupid advertisement for a radio station (most likely a religious one)

Really I don't believe in any of these Ending of the World prophecies. I would say most of them are pretty untrue and pointless.

When people in my class were talking about how the world was going to end May 21st (Today), no one was taking it seriously. Like it's so random and out of place for the world to end on such a day. If the world was ending, I think there would be a bit more obvious hints like the skies darkening and other such abnormalities.

Well there is no Hellfire and Brimstone yet here. If the world does end now, I guess the conspirators were right, but I would not CARE. I have no regrets in life, I'm happy with what I have accomplished in my life and hope that I'm happy in my next one.

My Mind's Finally Cleared of Stressful Clutter

I'm finally done with my Finals!
It felt like such a long week of studying and worrying, but I'm finally finished! And with pretty decent grades no doubt. But ya I'm technically done with High School! It's official on May 28th on my graduation ceremony. I still can't fathom it that I'm almost off to college. It is such a surreal feeling that in 3 months I'll be leaving so many things and people behind. But it's best to just stay in the present and enjoy the time I have left and make the most our of them!
So ya I'm back (again). So I'll be going crazy with content with all this time I have again!

Going Incognito for a Week

Alright so I just got back from an awesome Prom and in recovery mode. This week I'm going to be taking Finals so I'll mostly be studying and getting ready for graduation. So no Blogger for at least a week, but I'll try to post what I can if I get the time you never know!

O ya so I was pondering and thinking over this so I'll connect my facebook, tumblr and twitter to this blog so I'll start adding my contact info for them.

So if you want to chat, agree, disagree with me directly not in my comment box feel free to add me. And you can see a lot more of my less artistic photography. And please tell me if you're friending me from this info on blogger on a message, because I've got a big stalker (no lie) and he's been making a different account to try and reach me it's very creepy.

Tumblr: tehviray.tumblr.com
Facebook: just search in through my email gviray@pacbell.net and the picture is the same one I have on my profile here under Gabriel Viray
Twitter: Viray707

So ya I'm heading towards a big event in my life, see you again blogger in a week!