Electronic Arts, Harmonix, and Energizer have all teamed up to give me one hell of a headache. The past month my girlfriend gave me Rock Band 2 Special Edition (you know the one with a bunch of fake instruments) as a present and since then I have drained the batteries that were included with my guitar controller and the drum pads. Being the thrifty gamer I am I decided it was time to invest in some rechargeable batteries. Not familiar with the inherent pitfalls of different battery types I went ahead and purchased some relatively cheap NiMH batteries which I discovered after charging them that they did not fit the inside the guitar controller. Like any man should do in the first place when faced with an unknown I went to the instruction manual that came with the controller and found this: "Use only fresh AA standard alkaline batteries." OK fine that's great, I'm sure there is some sort of design advantage to using 3 standard alkaline batteries. Then I remembered seeing this offer in the store when I was looking at rechargeable AAs. A four pack of Energizer AA batteries with a special offer for a free Rock Band 2 downloadable track. There was only one problem, the batteries were not alkaline but lithium and anything but alkaline are FORBIDDEN making the promotion pointless because the batteries would void my warranty if I used them in the controllers. I'm no battery expert and I'm definitely not familiar with the inner workings of Harmonix or Energizer but you'd think someone at one of those companies would read their own freaking instruction manuals. After a long search through both Harmonix's Rock Band forums and support and EA's support search engine I came up with a single thread with a voice of reason and he is known as Thorr69. So what's the deal you three? I'm not saying you guys need to own up to your mistakes, Thorr69 has taught me better, but why are the forums my last hope to obtain information about your products? Also why do I have to register with your website to email you a question? I guess that's another rant for another time.

Arriving at the hotel Renaissance in Agoura Hills, CA was almost horrifying. As an Ohioan I've never been exposed to the wild fires of California. The sky was a yellowish haze because of the smoke that filled the valley and ash floated from the sky and were blown into small piles by the wind. Needless to say it was an interesting start to the THQ Smack Down vs. Raw 2009 preview event. Eventually the fires died (or the wind shifted I'm not sure) and the smoke cleared. California is a pretty nice place when it isn't on fire. The hotel was stylish and very bisiness and the bartender is the kind that will go out of his way to find out how to make a drink that you request that he doesn't know how to mix. After a few beers and an Irish car bomb the drinking continued at the resturant MOZ which was right across the street. The group of 12 journalists followed the three PR ladies and we all sat down for a delicous if somewhat intresting dinner. The conversatoins that took place were of video games and food and eventually devolved into random Family Guy qoutes and talking about someone's favorite episode of South Park. It felt like college and the lunches I would have with my friends. None of the journalists there were from highly popular sites like IGN or Gamespot. We were just a bunch of people who were enthusiasts that loved all things video games. My kind of people. Later after the food it was back to the hotel bar and drinks with Brian the lead creative director for the game. While many things discussed were off the record (partly due to the consumption of alchol) it was obvious that he was a man who passionate about his job and very passionate about the game he worked on. He even talked about how he reads all the feedback from the press and the players and took everything they said to heart. While I haven't been excited about a wrestling video game in a long time Brian's passion was infectious and now I can't wait to get my hands on a controller tomorrow. Of course I also can't wait to get back and play the Call of Duty World at War beta but that's another post for another time.