Mark your calendars now and join the rest of COGs online for thirteen days of playing Gears of War 2 and your chance at winning some cool prices. In order to get an entry for each day, you have to play in the following types of games for that day. Signup at Xbox.Com and we'll see you online. Details listed below as provided by Xbox.Com.

Sweepstakes Entry
Between February 1 - 13, 2009, registered players will automatically receive one entry (limit one per person per Daily Prize Period) when they log into Xbox LIVE and play the specified multiplayer match type in Gears of War 2.

Prize Periods
The Entry Period consists of thirteen separate Daily Prize Periods, as shown in the table below. In addition, if you earn a valid entry into all thirteen of the Daily Prize Periods (one valid entry per day during the Entry Period), you will automatically receive one entry into the Grand Prize Drawing.  Otherwise, each of your entries will only be eligible for the Daily Prize Period Drawing that corresponds to the Daily Prize Period during which it was received.

Prize Information
After the close of the Entry Period, we will randomly select the following winners from among all eligible entries received.

Sixty-Five Daily Prizes Packages (five winners Per Daily Prize Period):

• Gears of War 2 video game soundtrack
• Gears of War Aspho Fields novel
• A 12" x 18" Gears of War 2 promotional poster autographed by members of the Epic development team
• An in-game Golden Hammerburst and Lancer weapon

Thirteen Grand Prize Packages:

• A Samsung 40-inch 1080p flat panel LCD HDTV
• A Locust Bust
• A red Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
• A Marcus Fenix bronze statue
• Gears of War 2 video game soundtrack
• Gears of War Aspho Fields novel
• A 12" x 18" Gears of War 2 promotional poster autographed by members of the Epic development team
• An in-game Golden Hammerburst and Lancer weapon

The Play & Win and Download & Win promotions from Xbox.com are an easy way to jump in and interact with the Xbox LIVE community. It's easy to enter and you could win some great prizes. Look for more exciting Play & Win promotions in the future!

Funny how after all the hard work on a game is done and its release to the public has come, something always could be changed it seems to make it just that much more.

Not to long after people power through a game, the reviews will start to pop up every where. I'm not talking about all of the mainstream reviewers here, but the average gamer, giving his two cents here and there in the forums or blogs.

That's right your just reading a blog here and like everyone else, we all have points and opinions on the subject of our interests at the time. So where am I going with all of this then? A game comes out and in a lot of cases it will get high marks. So a 4 out of 5 or 9 out of 10, what ever the markings for the review, it gets the thumbs up at the end of the day.

Does it mean the game is perfect? Not all and I'd say you could pick at pretty much anything and find a flaw or something to change. Doesn't mean the game is bad, just means a feature here or there is flawed or missing. This game has Solo only or multi player, this game has this or that and on an on we could go.

Now some games have little bugs, screen glitches and flaws and at times they'll be fixed. I ran into one with Gears of War 2 during the campaign an half my screen would go white and the game would end in a death and send me back. Now the challenge was not beating the level as much as beating it and the flaw in the scene. I made it and hopefully that will be the last of that.

So when I look at a game like CoD4 and think to myself, this game rocks and is awesome in almost every aspect, I still think to myself, its missing Co-op and I'd like the ability to take cover an peek around things like other games.

Halo 3 is a real joy but I feel a bit let down with the type an way it ended. I wanted a huge battle with the Elites and Brutes I guess and didn't feel I got that in the game. I'd also like a cover system or at least the ability to go prone perhaps an not just stand or kneel down.

Looking at Fable II and the wonderful world to explore and the genre of this game is great. Still I could do with out all of the town people falling in love with me and following me about. If I go into one of my homes, let me shut the door and at least lock it. For now I never want to go home and remain out on quests it seems.

I could pick up just about every game in my collection and find a small part to tweak or add. Then again you can always wait for the next addition to come out. They are bound to fix that little thing that bugs you right?

Well I haven't noticed that with any of the Halo games at least, but the new Call of Duty, from another company mind you, at least it has added a Co-op mode. Maybe Infinity Ward will think about that with their next addition of Modern Warfare they plan to release. I can also hold out hope that Halo 3: ODST will have something more to offer in it an not just a new set of characters wrapped around an existing game engine.

Still good games and I'd say we over look those little things that lack and it gives us something to wish and hope for in the end. I for one at least get over it and accept all of the hard work that was put into the game when all is said and done, after all its just a game.

For new members here on Xbox Live, just getting around and meeting people can be a challenge sometimes. So a program was created to help people out and give them a friendly person to start things off. Xbox Live Ambassadors are volunteers from all over the world and from all types of backgrounds in gaming.

We love playing games and being on Xbox Live and want to help others have a great experience here on Xbox Live. We are available to try an help answer your questions and if we don't know the answer we'll try and find out what we can and get back to you. I volunteered to become an Ambassador and was selected towards the end of 2008 to help out with the Program.

Xbox Live Ambassadors are gamers just like everyone else and the main requirements are to have a Live Gold Account, at least 10 free spaces on our Friends List and a willingness to help out fellow gamers on Live. You can find Ambassadors in your area or learn more about the program by visiting Xbox.Com. Take a look at this video clip that helps explain more about the Ambassador program.

As an Xbox Live Ambassador for Texas, please feel free to message me on Xbox Live if you have questions or need help on Xbox Live. I'll do what I can to help you out and I look forward to meeting you and playing some games on Live.

Alright it was back in the summer of 2008 that I had wrote about finishing up some games. Now the list of games is still in the works and I wanted to update and add a couple games to the list. So we are looking at trying to finish up the story line campaigns for the following games. The following is what I have slated from here until July 2009 as my goal.

• HALO: Combat Evolved
• HALO 2
• Fable
• Bioshock
• Assassins Creed
• GRAW 2
• Half-Life 2
• Half-Life 2 episode 1
• Half-Life 2 episode 2
• Portal
• GTA iv

In addition to the list above, I have a few more games for 2009 to finish up. These are some games that I've started from rentals or purchased after my first post. I want to try and get a hold of these and wrap them up as well. All of these I'm looking at beating the story campaign. I'm not saying a full 1000 points in all of them.

• Gears of War
• Gears of War 2
• Fable II
• Fallout 3
• Mass Effect
• Frontlines: Fuel of War
• Rainbow Six Vegas
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Call of Duty: World at War
• Halo 3
• Halo Wars
• Halo 3: ODST

Well it looks like I have a pretty busy card ahead of myself for Games to work on for the Year. Only problem is some games in my bottom half of the list are close to finishing and will make working on my top half by the Summer a challenge.

Well 2009 is underway now and the next set of games have been locked and loaded by the gaming houses for the year. I'll have to start a list of what's coming and see if there is anything I can't live with out and start saving up a bit for the 2009 season.

Now this past Christmas I got some Xbox 360 boxer shorts with "Game On" printed on them and they came in this really cool tin, shaped like the Xbox 360 Controller. So I've decided that I plan to keep all of my loose change in this tin and see how much I can save up by the time the tin is full. My hope is that I'll have around $60 at least and I can buy a new game towards the end of the year. I've already started out with $0.07 even.

At the very least I think I should be able to afford some MS points or at least pick up some used games. Normally during a year I'll buy at least 1 or 2 games out right and then I'll get at least a couple games as gifts. Unless I start sticking dollar bills in the tin, that's not going to happen, I'm thinking I'll have at least $60 in change in the end.

I'll just keep telling my self that a Penny saved, will be a Game earned later on..." Now my only challenge is to keep the tin away from my kids. You know how kids can be when they find any hidden Treasures.

Well its 2009 now and I'm listening to my wife and her friend singing to the lovely tunes from Lips for the Xbox 360. The game is a blast to say the least and came with two wireless mics. Just add drinks and your all set to sing and have a blast. What could make it better? Adding more songs from your Zune or iPod, just missing the lyrics is all.

So I knew I'd have to hook up my Zune and run through the hundreds of songs it had as well. I grab the Zune 30 and fire her up. The Xbox 360 is waiting to talk to her now... what's taking so long and why does the Zune look like its stuck? I'll try the reset steps and see if that will help. Nothing.

Time to search the web for steps to fix this. Odd, this post says that on 12/31/08 that all Zune 30 versions will become a brick. That's what I have... say, that sucks! Some kind of software glitch has locked them all up and nothing can be done. I have to wait until the battery dies and then sometime tomorrow I might be able to get back into the Zune.