Posted by Kevin Carruth on 2008-12-18 @ 17:48:55 , edited on 2008-12-18 @ 17:49:22
Well, as of yesterday, my Drum Rocker kit for Rock Band is finally shipped and on its way here. However, what a hassle.
First, before I go into the latest development, let me provide a short timeline of events:
- Oct 8: Placed order for Drum Rocker and Rock Band 2. Website ship date said Oct 14. Was told the kit might be in stock before the game.
- Oct 14: Picked up Rock Band 2. Drum Rocker not in stock. Website ship date pushed back to Oct 17.
- Nov 1: Website ship date continually pushed back 3-5 days at a time. Called store to see if I could get more info. Not in stock.
- Dec 5: Call store again requesting status. Told Jan 5 expected date. Website says Dec 12.
- Dec 9: Place order with manufacturer.
- Dec 12: Request an estimated ship date from manufacturer. Receive email that credit card # is invalid (apparently triggered by my help request). Place a new order.
- Dec 14: Receive "shipping confirmation" from manufacturer, with a notice that I will receive another email with tracking # when it leaves their warehouse.
- Dec 17: Receive tracking #s for my order. Estimated delivery date Dec 24.
OK so, that brings us up to Wednesday. After my meeting, I went to Gamestop to cancel my order from them. When I told the guy at the counter this, he said that it was there, in his stockroom. Had no one called me? I replied "no". He checked, and sure enough there it was. It had been there over a week, he said.
I went ahead with the cancellation, figuring it was easier to wait a few more days (after waiting 2 months) than deal with shipping a giant box back via UPS. Pity they weren't on top of their game, or I'd have had it a week ago!
Posted by Kevin Carruth on 2008-12-11 @ 16:05:16 , edited on 2008-12-19 @ 16:33:21
w00t! The guitar controller I ordered Tuesday shipped today, and should get here by Tuesday next week.
Now I'm just waiting to hear something about the drum controller!
Posted by Kevin Carruth on 2008-12-10 @ 16:45:17 , edited on 2008-12-19 @ 16:33:34
So last night, I went to see Punisher: War Zone. I had high hopes: The trailers looked good, Ray Stevenson (whom I'd previously seen as Titus Pullo in Rome) looked pretty imposing, and the villain Jigsaw looked great.
Boy was I disappointed. I can't even say this movie was "OK"... it was bad. There were some good points, but I found myself checking my watch towards the end hoping the film would be over soon.
The high points: Ray Stevenson makes a very good Punisher. He's big, imposing, and handled his action scenes very well. I particularly enjoyed the scene towards the end where he ascends the hotel floor by floor, dispatching gang members as he goes. Wayne Knight was a decent Micro, but wasn't given enough screen time to do much. Jigsaw's makeup was great. The action scenes were competent and well done for the most part.
The low points: everything else. The villains had the most ridiculous Brooklyn accents I've ever heard. That, combined with poor acting and uninspired dialogue made me cringe more than once. I was particularly disappointed with Doug Hutchison, who played Jigsaw's brother. I've seen him before in several things, in particular The Green Mile as Percy Wetmore and The X-Files as Eugene Tooms. He was genuinely scary as Tooms, and was superb as Wetmore; there are few movie characters as hateful as him. Now, I have no doubt that he wasn't given much to work with, but here he was so far over the top it was ridiculous, and his lines consisted of relatively silly, incongruous one-liners. Yeah, OK, he's supposed to be crazy, but this bordered on goofy.
In the end, this movie felt like an action shooter from the late '80s or '90s. Not much plot, cheesy dialogue, but good action. Unfortunately, after Thomas Jane's outing as Punisher (which I thoroughly enjoyed), I had high expectations, and this fell far short. I wouldn't bother with this movie, unless you're a fan of crazy gore and violence and can ignore the rest.
In other news, I ordered another Ion Drum kit for Rock Band, this time through the manufacturer's website. I called Gamestop last week and they told me the one I ordered from them wouldn't be available till January 5th. So, I'm hoping the manufacturer can get it shipped earlier. I really want it in time for Christmas break. I also ordered a Starpex guitar controller, I'm hoping it'll ship soon too. They still aren't shipping the Sunburst one I really want, but I ordered the black one for now. I'll probably get the Sunburst one after Christmas.