General Updates

I figured it had been over a week since I last updated this so I'd better get to it!

Overall things are going great in the clan, pretty much as always. Quite a few members are actually on vacation at the moment but with such a large roster we always have people ready to step in and step up.

We are closing in on our goal of top 50 for Black ops on the Xbox 360, hopefully we can get there before the end of the season which is looming a week away. I've been glad to see the veteran guys step up, lead, get matches and attend practices. It really shows their dedication. I know everyone is busy and has a life, but it's good to know that they can still manage at least some time for the clan.

The first month of MOH promotions is coming to a close and it's been a real success. We've gained some new members and some of the older members has a bit more inspiration to make practices and matches and to overall be active and do good.

Even though it was late, I finally released the preview trailer of Nomadic Mercenary Games first Xbox Live Indie game: Rudiger. Of course NMG is Hellhammer and my development team. People with barracks access have all seen it and when it goes live later this year I'll be giving it away to a lot of MOH members, though it'll only be $1.50 anyway.

The positive feedback I've received for the game is well taken, I really appreciate it. The company site will be up soon and I have some paperwork to file to make sure everything is legit and legal, then I'll reveal the site and things like that. Currently while we finish up Rudiger, Hellhammer is working on his own RPG engine and game. While I am working on coding Rudiger for not only XBL but also Windows Phone 7.

As sort of a joke Hellhammer came up with a neat little game called Konor: The Cock Goblin! It's a take on the Pac Man games and is pretty fun. You play Konor and you gotta gobble the cocks!

You can feel free to download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?i4z29by3cz2sdb9 -

What a crazy couple of weeks

The title to this blog pretty much says it all, E3 was pretty cool. I got to cover it for a couple of different sites, which was something new to me. I had to pay a lot more attention then I normally would. We got to see some very interesting apps and hardware this year, I was quite impressed overall.

The Wii U looks to capture the core market that they missed with the Wii, I admit the Wii U is intriguing. It's always fun when the next generation of consoles releases. If the Wii U is under $400 I will buy it on day one, I always like to get the new consoles to test them out. I don't think the Wii U will be the most powerful machine, but I like Nintendo games a lot and it's fun to play Mario, Animal Crossing, Zelda and Metroid.

I've been so busy though that I haven't had time to get everything I wanted out, the indie game Hellhammer and I have been working on is still not ready, but I have the trailer almost finished up and ready to show. I wanted to unveil it during E3 week but covering E3 and doing all that writing and also doing reviews for my new site has kept me very, very busy.

Speaking of my new site, its officially up! www.crappyreviews.com I thank Hellhammer for the idea to call them Crappy Reviews, kind of a play on words much like the name crapgamer was originally intended to be. I set that site up and the Youtube page pretty much as a test, I hope to get better as I go along and find a nice niche. Some of the people I was trying to impress with it were indeed impressed, so hopefully I will be able to do some reviews for sites in the future. Fingers crossed people!

Now that school is out for everyone we can finally start to be really active on GB again. Getting 4 Black Ops matches last night was a great start to our summer of gaming. Your only going to see more and more from us on GB. So get ready!

I was a little bit saddened with the majority of the PS3 team calling it quits, honestly we had contemplated taking a vote to close it down altogether in the past, but I didn't want to come across as a jerk. So I contacted some old members and Onslaught has agreed to come back and help lead it. Also I will be taking an active role with the PS3 side starting when MW3 releases. I will see to it that the PS3 side see's glory once again. Rumor has it, Grave might get a PS3 to help a bit with this as well. It'll be tough stretching so thin, but in the end nothing is ever accomplished without a little hard work and dedication. The PS3 team has had a top 20 COD4 team and a top 50 WAW team, so there is a lot of expectations there.

As we come up on the actual 4 year MOH anniversary things look pretty good. I know my clan is usually the talk of the town, which suits me just fine. I actually like a little controversy. I always find it funny and a bit flattering when people are talking about it, there is no bad publicity in my opinion. Honestly the ones doing the talking are ones that have been bested in matches by yours truly. Sour grapes tend to be hard to let go sometimes.

My advice to people paying a little too close attention to my clan... find something better to do with your time. If you dedicated as much time with your own business as you do my clan you might make something of yourselves, instead you all just come across as bitter and angry and even pathetic.

I figured it wouldn't take long for a "old member" to contact me recently about coming back, the main problem I have with this scenario is that I get tired of people leaving for greener pastures and then when things don't work out because running a clan is a lot of work they try crawling back to me.

Not that I am against old members coming back entirely but there is a point when you say enough is enough. Honestly what did people expect? even if you hate me you'd have to see there is a reason my clan has lasted as long as it has and why it's been successful as well. Nothing seems to get us down. I bet that fact is frustrating for the haters.

Anyway, until next time I want to say thanks to everyone for helping out as much as they have. I am proud of everyone in the clan for their contributions and support in my own personal quests as well. Everyone has been great!

Thanks!

-CG

Duh, Winning!

I just want to say how proud I am of everyone in the clan and how they have all stepped up. We could not have picked better leaders or recruited better members then we currently have. Also I want to say how happy I am with the new way's we are incorporating old members into matches, practices and public rooms. This new attitude seems to have paid off in a big way, we were surrounded by the most talented players you could imagine and yet it was going to waste.

I truly feel that right now the people that are in the clan probably feel more a part of the clan then at any other time. More now then ever this clan is for everyone, it's not mine or any other leaders clan, it's your clan.

It was so funny to me last night because we are playing so very well right now and communicating and actually backing each other up like a team is supposed to and it shows. The chemistry is there and all the pieces to the puzzle as well. Nobody is complaining or rage quitting, people are making practices and helping each other out. It's a welcomed change in attitude for certain.

I've never before seen so many people excited in the clan, not even back on COD4 when we were mentioned in the GB newsletter for having the highest win streak.

They say you learn the most about your team and yourself in a loss, and I tend to agree. A close, close, CLOSE loss to TVA on our practice team actually built us up and gave us confidence. I think attitude is where it all starts, if you have that mental edge then there isn't anything you cant accomplish.

Most people probably wouldn't even recognize the lineup's we've been using. To top that all off we actually have people giving up spots in GB's so that other people can have a chance at being in them.

Well enough about all that, I want to also talk a bit about the new MOH promotions that are off to a rocking start, it's a bit of extra work on my part with all the stat tracking and everything but I think in the end it will pay off for the clan as a whole. Everyone seems more then excited about the new promotions and I am hoping it keeps people active with gaming as well as on the site and participating there.

Even though this has been one of the busiest weeks of my life with work, personal life, finishing my game review site, writing for gaming sites and actually working on my own game, people didn't complain or whine or cry about me not being around.

Leaders and members not needing their diapers changed....what a concept.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who played and practiced and won! We go for 15-0 tonight and it feels so damn sweet.

Mostly news about myself

I usually write these things with some updates regarding the clan, but honestly I am being a bit selfish with it today. I have some interesting and fun news to share about some things I have coming up.

First thing I would like to share is actually pretty cool, around the time that E3 starts this year I will be posting the first teaser trailer to Hellhammer and my upcoming Xbox Live indie game. I hope people didn't forget because it's looking pretty boss right now.

We are hoping to launch this game by the end of the year and so far that is right on schedule. As I said it's not exactly clan news but it's fun and important news nonetheless. Hopefully some people are excited at least a little bit, I know I am.

The other thing I am excited about is the new direction I am taking with video game reviews. I always kind of did those off the cuff and hardly ever used actual gameplay because it was a pain in the ass to record in standard definition. Also my computer lacked the power to render videos quickly enough. Now that I have a high def capture device and my computer is upgraded I can do a much, much better job. Everything I want to cover will be generally scripted and I am hoping to get some sort of sponsorship out of it.

Keep your fingers crossed for me at any rate. Unlike most other Youtube based reviews I wont go out of my way to get subscribers, I want them to sub on my merit alone. Though I am thankful for the support I have gotten from the clan members who subscribed ahead of time.

I hope to have a constant stream of content, at least a couple done a week, I will be taking requests as well. www.youtube.com/user/CrapgamerReviews

The last little bit of news is clan related, June 1st, 2011 starts our clan promotions, so we will be keeping tabs of everything everyone does. At the end of the month the person with the most points wins MS points card and some other goodies. So make sure to spread the word.

It's definitely an interesting time if your in the clan right now, hopefully some of these things pan out and can bring more members and goods to all of us, were coming up on the 4 year anniversary of the clan and we've got some nice surprises lined up.

Thanks for your time everyone!

E3 2011

E3 is the biggest and most important event if you are a gamer or gaming fan. It's when we see new games, new consoles, new technology and new ideas. This is my first time covering it for a couple of different sites, at least the Microsoft aspect of E3 2011.

I think we all have some games we would like to see, each E3 brings us a chance to hope and dream of what we want most from the gaming industry. Sometimes we guess or hope right and sometimes not. Since I already expressed in two separate articles what I expect from Microsoft, I figure I can point out some other things I would like to see.

We all know Nintendo will unveil their new console that is currently code named "Project Cafe". I am sure we will get the official name and see some games played on it, I am more interested in the actual specs of the console, rumors suggest it uses Blu Ray or a completely new disk format. It's also said to lack a hard disk drive altogether and instead only offer 8 gigs of flash memory.

We wont know any of these things until E3 of course, which is what makes it so exciting in the first place. I personally feel that Nintendo is making a mistake releasing a console this early, I think in a couple of years when Microsoft and Sony release new consoles it will make Nintendo's Project Cafe as obsolete as the Wii is now.

I am interested to see how they integrate the touchscreen controllers in this new console and I am fairly interested to see the games and what it can do overall. If Nintendo is smart they will release the new console with a Mario, Zelda and Metroid game. Nintendo also needs to drastically review their online gaming strategy. I know they fear for the safety of kids, but that is a risk all the companies take, and if Nintendo truly wants to compete I believe they need a paid online service like Xbox Live.

So we all know we will see things like Gears Of War 3 and possibly the rumored Gears Of War Exile on Kinect. We also know it's all but been announced that we will see a Halo CE remake by Saber Interactive. I also highly suspect we might see something on Halo 4 which will be released next year. Some kind of play along the lines of "Where it all started and where it ends" or something along those lines.

I like to make some out of the box guesses and this is a solid list of some of those.

1.Star Wars Battlefront 3

2.Killer Instinct 3

3.Lost Odyssey 2

4.Grand Theft Auto 5

5.Jade Empire 2

6.God Of War 4

7.Kinect Sports 2

8.Dance Central 2

9.New Mario game for Project Cafe

10.New Smash Bro's game for Cafe

11.New Pikmen game for Cafe

12.Metal Gear Solid 5

13.Too Human 2

14.Fable 4

15.New Kingdom Hearts

I know now days people don't like to look foolish by guessing but I figure it cant really hurt much in the end.

Games are for entertainment and for fun, it's anticipation that makes E3 so much fun in the first place.

What are you excited to see?

Like What I See So Far

Whenever you rebuild something you tend to think it will take a while before you find the right fit. I was a little worried that I was replacing old trouble makers with possibly new ones, I am very glad that this is not the case.

While I still hold firm to the fact that MOH isn't for everyone, I am happy to see so many enjoying the new atmosphere and friendly comradery. It was hard at first to get older members to accept how things were going to be from now on, but I am proud to say everyone has really stepped up and produced both in matches and just as clan representatives.

Simple changes like having everyone in the clan add a new recruits Gamertag so they feel welcomed, also actually inviting these people to play with us is a huge step in the right direction. Now when we game, even if we have fourteen people on, we can easily split up into two or three groups and assign a team leader

Honestly I have been about as active as always, more active on certain day's but I certainly haven't changed up my schedule to accommodate anyone. I have continued to run the clan the same, steady way I always have. Nothing has changed. Really in all honesty it's proof of what a solid job the leaders (old and New) are doing. I am sure it irks some people that we continue on as if nothing happened, do our same schedules, practices, matches that we've done since the beginning. I take a (SSDD) type of attitude with it and it helps keep things in perspective.

People as a whole seem to have a better appreciation for each other and for the first time since COD4 and SWBF2 before that, clan members are actually proud of what they are doing and rededicating themselves to helping our wherever it's needed. It has freed me up to be able to do other things in life where needed, while I can still be confident that everything wont fall apart.

So in closing I like what I see thus far from the clan, glad we are expanding instead of standing still, it's always important to grow and move forward instead of linger and eventually die out. I've seen so many teams and clans come and go that it really makes me appreciate the stability of MOH. I think others are feeling that way too. I mean four years with a majority of the same people and the same leader is a milestone to be certain.

Method To Madness

I bet to some people I come across as cocky or even quite mad sometimes. I know it has to be frustrating for people that are constantly looking for a bad spot in the armor. To the outside it must have looked like my clan along with myself was headed into a downward spiral into mediocrity.

You forgot one thing though..... I'm motherfucking Crapgamer!

It's nothing new to me, I've been proving people wrong since I started {MOH}, but the bottom line is there is always a way to inspire those around you. So while it looked like we were stinking it up on a practice team, if you were in the know and on the inside you were excited by what was shaping up to be a great team.

Once the guys got a chemistry and once I got a good look at who could do what, I knew who to use where and what the strengths and weaknesses were for the teams. Nobody can ever say I failed to recognize talent or failed to utilize it. Even if you hate me or loathe me, you have to admit I've always managed to get the best out of my players.

The last few weeks have been filled with practices almost every day, new recruits, old members returns, solid loyal veterans all mixing into a magnificent group of Regulators. For the first time since Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Call Of Duty 4 gaming and practices are fun again, every actually get's along well, E.L.E. isn't just a buzz word it's a reality. There has been absolutely no rage, no pissed off members complaining. Everyone does there part, communicates and we are actually having fun!

It excites me to see the guys have faith and believe in what I am saying as well as believe in each other. I know it's not all me and I usually don't like to take credit, but I feel vindicated even though I felt like we as a clan and I as a clan leader had nothing left to prove. I mean four years of winning, fun and gaming speaks for itself.

I admit there was a bit of pressure this first game out, the fact that we drew a pretty good team, one ranked higher and one that sported some serious try hards and GB warriors didn't help my anxiety. Dropping the first map (Domination on Nuketown) did nothing to quell it either, I knew the second map, Demolition would be all us however, and it was. Not even close when it came right down to it. CTF on Array would be the deciding map. We shut them out.

Never before have I been around a happier bunch of people, they were celebrating and invited me to the Black Ops theater to watch the victory where we all agreed to give Tacoscrub the MVP. Though everybody played splendidly he was chosen for clutching in CTF.

Everyone played there part, even though I was not in the match, I gave a nice little speech to the guys before it and I hope it inspired them at least a little to remember to stay true to the MOH way. I am not in any way taking credit away from the guys who actually played, not now nor ever. They are the ones with the skill, I just try to find ways to make them mesh as a team and inspire.

Last night was the start if a rebirth for the Regulators, a step in the right direction. Are we perfect? I doubt it. Are we a good team? You better believe it! We believe in each other, we have fun and we now know we can overcome adversity.

When I say MOH 4 years strong it isn't something that has ever been broken, 4 straight, solid, winning, amazing years. Never has there been a break for us. We have had busy times certainly, but we have never stopped moving forward.

I know some teams or clans can put a Est. date by their names, but none can mean it more then us. {MOH} Est.2007

I want to thank everyone over the last few weeks for helping out, my leaders have all really stepped up. Hellhammer, Grave, Shotty, Striker, Saint, Hate. I appreciate everything you've done.

Not so bad for a noob team huh haters?

STFD!