When I kill Myself And Others Please Make Sure My PS3 Is Taken Care Of

When I kill Myself And Others Please Make Sure My PS3 Is Taken Care Of


Well this was an interesting story that I couldn't let slip through the cracks...

PORTLAND, Ore. - Police said suspected gunman Erik Salvador Ayala was reportedly depressed and unemployed when he left a note for his roommate that insinuated suicide, drove to downtown Portland and opened fire on a random crowd Saturday night, killing two people and injuring seven before turning the gun on himself.

Police released those new details Monday afternoon during a news conference on the shooting spree investigation. But they still don't know why the nine people were gunned down in what police said was a random shooting that lasted but a few seconds. They also don't know how Ayala obtained a 9mm semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting spree.

Meanwhile, Ayala remained in critical condition Monday at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Police said he shot himself in the head following Saturday night's shooting rampage outside the underage nightclub called The Zone on Southwest 2nd Avenue.

Eight of the nine victims were teenagers, many of them foreign exchange students. Investigators don't believe they were targeted but simply just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Following the shooting, investigators executed a search warrant at Ayala's Milwaukie home on Sunday afternoon and found a case for the 9mm handgun as well as ammunition, numerous video games and a note Ayala had left for his roommate.

In the note, Ayala said he was giving all his possessions to his roommate, Mike Delisle, including his video game system and car, which Ayala wrote could be found "somewhere downtown, but I'm not sure where. I'm sure you'll get a letter about it soon."

Police said the note "insinuated possible thoughts of suicide."

Investigators believe Ayala drove his vehicle to the area of Southwest 4th Avenue and Southwest Main Street before walking to the nightclub and opening fire about 10:30 p.m. Police found the car and cordoned it off after the shooting.

Delisle told KATU he found the note hours after Ayala had left it. Delisle said he initially went looking for Ayala but then stayed home, hoping his roommate would return.

Delisle, a college student, then went to work. Sometime later, police found him there and told him what happened.

"I was sick to my stomach and shaking," Delisle said. "I wasn't even aware that he had a gun - or let alone that he could even afford it."

Delisle said his roommate was unemployed and seemed depressed but otherwise had not shown any signs of violence.

"Everyone that knows him is really shocked," Delisle said.

Much of Ayala's recent life is a mystery. He attended McNary High School, where he was in the band, and he worked for a temp agency. Delisle said his roommate liked to play video games and was quiet and "kind of a loner."

Anyone who had contact with Ayala in the days before the shooting or anyone with additional information was asked to call Portland Police Detective Ken Whattam (503) 823-0696 or Detective Mark Slater (503) 823-9319. Anyone with information concerning when and where Ayala obtained the handgun used in the shooting should also call the above detectives.

The following is the contents of the note police said they recovered in the suspect's home:

To my friends and family:
I am sorry.

And to my friend, (redacted)

I am especially sorry. I know it's not much consolation but as my friend and roommate you are entitled to everything that I own. Maybe these things can bring in a few bucks.

Good luck in this (expletive) world.

Erik

If you need my personal information for any reason, here it is:

My ssn: (redacted)
My bank account number: (redacted)
My alien number: (redacted)
My ODL: 974739
My birthdate: 03-10-84

The check I wrote you should be most of the money in my account. I gave you an affidavit in case you want to check what's left but it's probably less than $20.

Qwest account login: (redacted)

(redacted)
(redacted)

My car is up to date with maintenance. It just leaks a little oil. You can probably get at least 2.5 grand for it. It'll be somewhere downtown but I'm not sure where. I'm sure you'll get a letter about it soon.

You know my ps3 is special. Similar USED ps3's go for AT LEAST $450-$500. Our landlord guy wants a ps3 like mine. Let him know that $400 would be a GOOD deal. If he doesn't want it, format the drive by going to Settings>System>Format Utility. You can say it "comes with the latest firmware software" to help market it on the internet. In case you don't know, it's the special "100% backwards compatible" (60 GB) ps3.

I'm sorry to put all this on you buddy, good luck.

The story is out of the way now and I'm left confused. I'm fascinated how someone can do something so heinous but be in the sort of frame of mind to make sure his room mate is taken care of and his beloved "special" PS3 fetches the most money and that someone takes care of his phone bill.

I mean, it seems reasonable to me, killzone 2 is coming out soon and there's always Little Big Planet and Street Fighter IV to be concerned about. So why go on a killing spree? You could just write this off as a guy just dissatisfied with life, but it completely doesn't make sense that he decided to shoot up a few people as well as himself. Really, it's confusing, and doesn't fit the tone of the letter or anything.

I think we are going to see more of this unfortunately as time goes on, with the way things are today, things only look worse for PS3 owners. Those of you wondering what drove this guy to shoot strangers though?

I'm guessing he drove himself. The car is parked somewhere and there's sure to be a letter about it. I'm curious if his roommate would have preferred a 360, but ya know, whatever.

Home Is Where The Harddrive Is

Home Is Where The Hard drive Is

The pitch:

PlayStation®Home is a 3D social gaming community that allows PLAYSTATION® 3 users to meet, chat, plan, and launch into games together. You can create your own custom avatar, decorate your personal apartment, play mini-games, shop, watch videos, attend special events, and much more - it's all part of PlayStation®Home.

Social avatar mini-game product placement special event shopping? Hell yes. This is what we live for.

We stopped playing board games long ago because aside from the company's logo on the box, there just isn't enough advertising to keep us interested. Worse yet, once you buy Scrabble, your wallet goes back in your pocket. There's no chance to buy Letter Packs or a Red Bull brand beanie to impress the people you're playing with, or even a Lignet Roset sofa to sit on. What's up with that?

Home promises to deliver all the advertising and microtransactions that board games lack, while eliminating all the fun and the sense that you're communicating with other people. Avatars are sort of creepy in a sleepwalking hipster sort of way, and since typing with the controller is a painstaking and painful process, most people communicate by standing directly in front of one another and using one of a few canned dance moves.

The few games that exist within Home's virtual worldosphere are simplistic and overcrowded. One can't shake the feeling of being the thirty seventh guy in line at a bukkake where the starlet is, in fact, just a blow up doll. At least I can't. I've had that feeling all my life.

Maybe that's a bit unfair. Home delivers so much more than marketing in the guise of social interaction - it also provides yet another layer of abstraction between you and the games you bought a video game system to play.

As gaming grows, console makers try to appeal to wider audiences with the swiss army knife approach. Gone are the days of putting a game in a system, turning it on, and instantly being greeted with a prompt to "Press Start" and play. Now every system bombards you with dashboards, channels and media bars filled with featured downloads, weather updates, advertisements (sensing a pattern?) and system update notifications.

Our video game machines can do more than ever, but it seems that none of the added capabilities do much to improve our experience of, you know, playing video games. One could even argue that premium downloadable content has soured things more than it has provided actual, valuable content that shouldn't have been on the disc in the first place.

If you plan to use Home to "meet, chat, plan, and launch into games together" then you will have one more step to go through after being presented with the XMB and installing any software updates before you can get into your game of choice. I'm not really sure why you couldn't just do this from a friends list within a game.

If you don't plan to use Home as an unnecessary and somewhat awkward platform for launching into games with friends, you will basically have Second Life with no user creativity or deviant sex, but more fauxhawk than you could ever possibly need.

Holiday Gift Ideas: Video Games

Holiday Gift Ideas: Video Games

Black Friday has come and gone. Guess what, you're fucked. You're still stuck without a gift for those ingrates. You only have 23 days to be a consumer whore and shop shop shop! But what exactly will you be buying them? Who knows. Who cares? Well, they will, of course. And if you aren't lazy enough to slap together a gift card and toss it to them and actually put some effort into the gift, then I can help you with this 2008 gift giving guide to the galaxy. Well at least when it comes to video games and other shiny electronic items.


Fable 2 - A boy and his dog, and his top hat, and his trail of bastard children in broken homes, and his fledgling wood chopping career, and the never ending quest to stand in front of strangers and thrust your pelvis in hope of getting their love. Perhaps it's not the best gift for those young impressionable types that will just choose the path of evil and end up pouring ale endlessly at some bar for a ton of gold.


Left 4 Dead - What's there left to say about this? Other than I haven't played it since the demo I can blind recommend this on the amount I have played. Let me tell you, I don't play many games... not after the accident... So when I'm excited about a game, it's special. The game has realistic A.I. which uses Black Friday physics. The 4-player online co-op means you'll hear less insults and more curious inquiries on why you just shot your buddy in the back. Highly recommended for any fans of zombies.


Red Alert 3
If Joseph McCarthy was still alive to see a communist Gina Carano in leather hotpants and a skimpy top, he would prefer Company Of Heroes for its attention to detail and superior depth of combat. Me on the other hand.. Holy shit. That's CRUSH! drool! So yeah.. what was I saying? Yeah, I guess I'd let her totally break me. I mean.. have you've seen her? Who wouldn't want to unwrap tha.....



So yeah. I guess buy this.. and um.. yeah, sure...
Moving on now!


Fallout 3 - Lives up to all the expectations, especially the expectation that Bethesda still hasn't learned how to make convincing human faces. If you're in Bakersfield, the appeal of this game may not run so deep since you are pretty much living through it daily.


Mirror's Edge - "The gunplay in this game about running is terrible" is 2008's "the weapon selection in this game about portals is too limited". What can be said about this. You run. Simply run. Off buildings. Into glass windows. Get this game for all those fans of running away from you... without actually running anywhere.


PDP Rock Band Stage Kit – Wait.. what the fuck is this shit? You have got to be kidding me. So you want to be a rock star but you don't want to put any effort in actually touring. Do you really thin that smoke and lighting effects will help your skills on Smells like teen spirit? Groupies will not flock to your small apartment in WeHo and want to screw you if you have this. Seriously. You get this for someone you're pretty much telling them that they need a life.


World Of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King - If you have someone who is addicted to WOW and doesn't have this already, why bother? Just get them a case of Hot Pockets and just hope they don't have to use your bathroom.


Boom Blox – Frankly, you couldn't pay me to play this game all day. I mean, perhaps you could. But it would have to be a good amount. Sure it's a Steven Spielberg venture into the world of gaming world as I'm sure he felt it needed some Jaws or Jews. Either way, it's fun and you throw things around. A good game for the kids and the special effects look better in this than the latest Indiana Jones film.


Wii Points Card - Buy old games for five bucks online instead of wasting time looking through old thrift store or game stop bins. It's as bad as a gift card. But if you have someone on you list that likes games, it's worth it.


Super Smashbros Brawl - This game is all about button mashing. I seriously don't get it. Give me a game like Street Fighter where there's form and function. Where it's a matter of combos that aren't simply button mashing. That or I'm just really bitter that people can kick my ass any time in this game while I'm king of the mountain when it comes to most fighting games. Great gift. Just not for me, thank you kindly.


MarioKart Wii - I'm sure if they haven't gotten this game already, they really don't want it. While I love the game, don't waste your time finding it for someone.


Sony Blu-Ray Remote – Cause you're too damn lazy to walk the five feet to the tv to push buttons.


Nyko Media Hub – Besides being a tool to play Metal Gear and Dead Space, what else is a PS3 good for? I suppose a USB hub.


DEAD SPACE - So scary, you'll think twice before going into outer space by yourself again. Be aware that the person asking for this isn't going to piss themselves upon playing it.


Little Big Planet - I really don't know anything about this game. The ads tell me nothing and I'm too busy killing zombies (not in a game, mind you) to bother checking in on this cute looking party game. I assume it's a fun party game. If it's not, then just buy some booze and make it a fun night.


Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe - If you like to argue about who would win in a fight between The Flash and Raiden, now you can argue about it while playing a so-so fighter and waiting for Street Fighter IV. Really, I'm a nerd and I have no desire to see Sub-Zero get beaten by Batman. We all know he'd get something from his belt and that'll be it.


Naruto: Who gives a shit - I seriously don't know. I guess if that Final Fantasy game is too mature for person you're shopping for, you can always go with this? Just assume it'll be tossed away for the latest fad in a matter of months... weeks.. or who knows.

For those of you with Hand held systems who aren't confined to the master of a wire and a flat screen tv, here's some things to play while on the train or just avoiding social interaction in public.


Professor Layton and the Curious Village – I give Penny Arcade shit all the time but even a broken clock is right twice a day when they summed up this game in their comic strip. Get this for anyone who wants to be driven crazy by point and click mazes and questions.



Littlest Pet Shop - Great for your niece or gay nephew. Take your pick.


Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia – What is a Castlevania game on the DS? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk... Have at it! There's something magical about a Castlevania game on the DS. A great gift for any gothic relatives or those who like to endlessly walk through a castle and kill skeletons.


StarOcean: Final Departure - Does anyone still have a PSP? I mean, seriously. Stop it. The UMDs sucked. If you have someone on your list who still relies on PSP games to stay entertained.. buy them a fucking DS already.


Final Fantasy IV: Crisis Core - Beating a dead horse of the Final Fantasy franchise like squeezing blood from a stone. Only you'll still get droves of anime and those who's first exposure to an RPG was this game. I suppose if you see a bunch of anime scrolls in the giftee's place, this will be a good thing to get them. Otherwise, assume that anyone else has long since moved on past the point of caring about Cloud and stopped crying about some dead flower girl.

There you have it. Use this guide to give your children and your boyfriend some gift that they'll use to dodge spending time with you. Nothing like passing time pressing buttons to a TV screen. More guides to come before Christmas so you don't have to fall back to awful gift cards.