It feels odd writing a new post onto my blog here. In many ways, I've graduated from GameSpot and gone onto other endeavours, even choosing to commit my reflective ponderings into other places I feel more suited for a general audience, rather than the game-focused userbase of GameSpot.

What spurred me to write here was reading through my old posts. A healthy dose of nostalgia and amusement washed over me, reminiscing about when I was more enthusiastic about video games, writing about them on GameSpot and indulging in the more social sides of gaming, like the unions on this very site. It was interesting and also kind of sobering to read through them, finding posts that gush over new game releases, new console purchases and my almost-but-not-quite full time dabbling in graphics designing.

I've spent the last hour or so on GameSpot's Sony's See the Future meeting site, waiting for PST 3 PM and EST's 6 PM to roll around and bring to me the fruits of history unfolding in front of me, and me getting to spectate from a safe distance, taking in the sensations it spawn, without any added worries, like fiscal profitability, market share prices, or even, indeed, whether you need to take a trip to the bathroom or if the chair is soft enough while you observe, in the position of a semi-active participant, all the excitement of whatever Sony's going to announce coupled with other real-life annoyances, from business-related to physical atmosphere and all that it entails.

I guess if anyone reads this and turns to my old blogs to get reference for the content I've laid down a paragraph and/or two ago, I should make a short summary of history. Lots of things have happened, and in many ways, everything in life is more open to me. I've still persevered with a PS3, and acquired a 3DS and a Vita, both fine, with wildly differing features-games ratios. I've turned 18 in the meantime, and am just waiting to graduate high school for now, as it is disrupting me and my family's place to move from Finland, where we currently reside. I can take my Vita with me, but the region-locked 3DS will have to part with its games, and with itself in the context of being in my possession.

It's interesting to take a look at my old blogs. In many ways, it feels like GameSpot is a completely different place. All of the people who I used to talk with on here and who commented on my blogs are gone from the site, or at least don't actively participate in the community. Back then, the internet, to me, at least, was much newer, and more exciting. The two competing systems - the Xbox 360 and the PS3 - were newer, and instead of standing on more equal footing with less in-fighting amongst gamers about their features, had more to argue about, especially while developers were getting used to Sony's Playstation 3. There seemed to be more passion for gaming for me, and maybe it's just my fault and I'm just an old geezer talking, coming from a position of someone who's consistently used GameSpot to look up information, but for a long time now, never taken the time to delve beneath the surface or sow my own contributions into the site's soil.

All the drama seems so distant, and in a way, I wish I could go back to the old times, even if just to apologize to everyone I hurt and distressed with my actions years ago, even if most of them are gone. In many ways, making a blog here feels like it's just an amusing little reflection on the nostalgia stirring itself around inside of me, but in other ways, doing this is more sombre and self-reflective. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree here, and my blog on GameSpot is not the right place to seek redemption, but it's what I've decided to do nonetheless.

I don't really intend to drown myself in the no doubt busy social underbelly I know GameSpot hides within its luscious curves, unless any commenter can concretely point me to some place I'll be enamoured by.

On a brighter note, gaming isn't lost to me. Sometimes I just feel like what I desire is an injection of enthusiasm towards the community aspect of the gaming culture.

Maybe one day, I'll find myself in the halls of gaming conventions of the West, and serendipitously happen upon a circle of gamer friends, something that has, sadly, seeped away from my life in the past few years.

I know, I know, it's late to talk about the start of school, as it's already gone for a month. Don't worry though, I'm not going to talk about it. I'll keep this rather short, because I don't have much to talk about, but I just wanted to write a blog for god-knows-what reason.
So, since my last, technically and scientifically ancient blog, I have gotten my DS back, gotten Scribblenauts, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for it, and while the former is a neat little game, I couldn't play it for very long, but the latter I love, because everyone who knows of my love for the Kingdom Hearts series (which a very scarce amount of people do) then you'd know that there is no way I could have hated it.

Even with me liking it, the game is definitely worse than the PS2 games and was a disappointment. The D-Pad sucks for 3D action-RPGs, the graphics are good for a DS, but generally still ugly, there is a very small amount of different worlds, and many of them far smaller than they were in the PS2 games, and the missions very repetitive tasks, and the storyline, while it, at the end, turns into something more to what it should have been the whole time, it picks up very slowly, and in the beginning, is almost nonexistent, or at least doesn't provide anything substantial or interesting to the story. Also, a very big minus to me is that the game is a prequel to a sequel. It's crammed between two games, we know what happens after it anyway, so it doesn't feel like this adds to the series' storyline very much. Also, as the Organization XIII is a "secret" organization, they cannot be seen by other people living in the worlds. That means less talking to other characters, and more just doing what the mission tells you (almost always "Kill an unidentified giant Heartless" or "Kill X (type) Heartless"). The game doesn't feel as alive and epic as the others did. Still, a pretty good game, but it's only "pretty good", not among "one of the best ever" that the other Kingdom Hearts games are to me.

So, due to this, and my birthday being in a month, I decided to get myself a PSP. I've always kept my eye on one, mainly because of Crisis Core, the GTA games, Prinny, Dissidia, Daxter, Tekkens, Patapon, LocoRoco, some of the car games, PSX emulation and a few other PSP games, but the main one for me that I am waiting, longing, being crazy for by waiting is Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Another Kingdom Hearts game, but this time looks like a far bigger and more important part of the storyline, more variety, SE wanted to do it themselves, so they surely have more enthusiasm for this project, larger, more and new worlds (like they said), as much interaction with characters as Sora did, and of course, better graphics, more voice overs, and 3 storylines.
Ahh, if the game ever comes out, I will die happy.

Well, other from gaming, I don't think there's anything else I have to add. Nothing that major has happened in meat-space that I'd have to tell this here. School, have gone there for a month...and life has been fairly normal.

So, this is the end of my blog. Signing out,
-Fraught

So, recently, my DS hasn't gotten much activity from me.
I mean, I went away from the city, and it entertained me with Hotel Dusk: Room 215, but it was more of a novel, and I was hungering for more of a game. Unfortunately, from all of the games I own, none appealed to me/I weren't in the mood for them.
Luckily, recently (yesterday) I got a game named Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. The game is a jRPG.

I had heard of Shin Megami Tensei before, and while it seemed I wasn't in the right niché for those games, something about Devil Survivor appealed to me, so I bought it.
You can move around different "districts" on a list, they have different activities on them (free battles for grinding, story events etc) and then you enter them. In battle, you move around in a top-down isometric view.
You can have 4 characters, each of them with different abilities, moving distance, bla bla, you've heard it all before.
It's basically like Final Fantasy Tactics A2, only that when you attack someone, you go into a first-person view and you get one turn every time you attack, plus you can acquire extra turns, as can the enemy.

The game has a branching storyline, and often you get to choose what line of dialogue you want to say (in fact, everything the main character says is chosen by you). Depending on that choice, you get different endings, and it affects the gameplay. For example, you can lose a party member permanently from the game, depending on the choices you make. The game has a wierd, but compelling storyline. The game requires some grinding, but it's fun to do so.
All in all, this game got me out of my "don't-want-to-play-anything" mood, and that really goes to show that I love this game.
I'd definitely recommend this game to anyone owning a DS and interested in RPGs. While I've never tried such an RPG like this, I'm liking it.

So, I'm trying to keep my recently initiated habit of atleast trying to do a blog once in a while.
What shall we kick off with?
Well, I didn't have the chance to see Sony's or Nintendo's, Ubisoft's or EA's Press Conferences live, but I watched Sony's and Nintendo's later.
Nintendo's was pretty boring, and Sony's was pretty good.
A big list of exclusives and awesome footage.
I've recently become to miss the Xbox 360 (because I had so much games for it), but when I regain a more "stable" economical situation than we have right now, I'm going to buy many of the games I've been wanting to purchase for many, many months, but haven't because of financial problems.

Recently, I haven't played with the PS3 almost at all, with the exception of Resident Evil 5.
I'm playing through with it on co-op with my brother, and it's great fun.
We're going to do a second playthrough also, to get the Trophies (damn, why won't the PS3 let two profiles log in at the same time) and because we like the game that much.
Mainly been on DS.
Chose to try to play The World Ends With You to find hidden stuff I couldn't before, but I'm not able to go through the game the second time, because I'm just not interested enough.
The one flaw the game has, is that it's replay value is pretty low, atleast for me.

Also, Peggle Dual Shot and Big Bang Mini are totally awesome.
They're more like minigames you'd find somewhere.
They don't have storylines, and all levels are basically just the previous one, but with more obstacles/enemies etc.
Both games are great though. They're addicting, and...that's all.
They're just addicting.

I'm also very much looking forward to Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (loved, loved, luuuvvd KH I and II for the PS2) and Scribblenauts for the DS.
Both come out in September, 2009 (estimated), so seems like September is going to be huge for my DS.

Now, off from the gaming stuff.
Schooooooooooooool's. Out. For. Summer. *guitar playing ensues*
Anyway, summer started.
Atlast I'll get a break from school.
The weather hasn't been very warm in the recent days, it's been pretty cold, windy, and for 4 days, it's only rained.
Definitely not a good start for this summer.

Also, I got a new haircut.
I cut my really long hair to a much, much shorter haircut that almost lets me stylize my hair without using gel.
I usually sty|ize my hair after I come from the shower.
It's easy to do spiky hair all over my head, and experiment.
Overall, I like shorter hair.
In my opinion, looks better, and it's fun every day using a different hairsty|e, trying different hairsty|es etc.

Well, that's all, really.
Nothing sensational has happened, so there's not much to talk of.

Bye, and I hope you found my blog atleast mildly enjoying to read.

Okay, so, I got my PS3 back, and I checked the serial numbers, and they just gave me a new one.
Good for the being-silent part, but a very grim situation for my save files.
Also, I've recently tried to run through Mirror's Edge, since I didn't complete it with my previous PS3, but this time I've gotten much farther in the game and I'm trying to run through it as much as I can, as fast as I can.
I'd say that the core mechanics of the game are very awesome, but the story is boring, it's very short (my brother already completed it, while I played Dead Space) and I'd like to see a more urban setting in future installments, now that we've seen the whole utiopan, white, red and yellow city.

Speaking of which, I got pretty far in Dead Space also, but now I have to do that again.
'Least this time I know when those damn 'morphs are showing up.
I swear to god, there were more times when I turned slightly to the left or right while aiming, and then a necromorph was already charging into my face, than there are square nanometers on Earth.
Needless to say, I freaked out (some might say "jumped out of my seat").

Also, I've played alot with the DS lately.
My two main games that I play at the moment are Henry Hatsworth In the Puzzling Adventure and GTA: Chinatown Wars.

From my experience (aka, completing the storyline) in GTA: Vice City Stories on the PSP, I can say that GTA: Chinatown Wars is better.
It does more for the DS, than VCS did for the PSP (if y' know what I mean), also, in my opinion, the game has more personality, and is more unique from the other GTA games.
The touch-screen minigame are short bursts of the example of how fun this game is.
Also, the drug mini-game, which is just meant as an addition, can make up most of the time it has taken you to complete a playthrough.
The graphics have alot of personality, and the top-down view suits this game, although it's a shame that there aren't any helicopters or planes you can ride.
Also, the missions are fun, and have alot of variety (that is lacking from recent GTA games) in them.
And also one thing I'd love to point out that I hate is the grenade/molotov throwing. It's just troublesome to quickly take it out, throw and then put it back, and the throwing with the stylus isn't the most comfortable way to do it.

And then there is Henry Hatsworth.
When I first saw this game, I couldn't help but immediately think of Professor Layton and the Curious Village (which, is one of my favorite DS games).
Unfortunately, the game isn't in the same sty|e.
Instead of a game with lots of going around and doing different puzzles, talking to people and unsolving a mystery, a point-and-click adventure, is a platformer, where you collect suit pieces, which give you different powers. There is walljumping and stuff, but mainly it's just a platformer with a gun and a melee weapon.
But, you can go into this "puzzle realm", where you (obviously) solve puzzles.
The matter is that it's just a puzzle where you put blocks in rows of three.
Atleast the problem with me is that I find point-and-click adventures more interesting that platformer, and compared to the platforming portions, I only went into the puzzle realm when the blocks were invading the top screen, and only then I didn't find it particularly interesting to do so.
Also, Layton is a LOT more story-driven than this game, which is something I preferred in Layton.
All in all, the platforming segments are refined, and definitely a treat for fans of platformers.

Reviews of those should be up soon (soon, meaning when I get time, when I am willing to do it when I have time, which happens once in a month, probably, sometimes even less).

Okay, soooo, I took the PS3 to the guarantee repair.
It kinda saddens me, because contrary to what is said on the internet, I didn't have any problems with the Xbox 360, but now I did with the PS3.
Anyway, when I turned it on (a week ago or so), the PS3 started to make a noise like the ventilators were going against something solid.
I procrastinated for a week, until I finally took that mottafawka to repair.

In fact, I took it there yesterday.
It's getting repaired and I will get it back in a week, so I can not play with the PS3.
Anyway, atleast they said they'll replace the whole ventilation system rsmthn, so I guess it was just a manufacturing defect, and let's/I hope that it won't happen again.

So, I don't know how many people care, and how many people who care read my blog, but I'm just here to say I just today bought something that I've been against for so blindly, for so long, but I recently realized how foolish I was.
Yes, I really bought a PS3 (and sold the Xbox 360, as I don't have enough money to buy both)
I visit The Escapist Forums very often (every time I get on the computer) and there I see many people thinking the PS3 is a failure, because of it's price, and that it doesn't have many good games.
I think otherwise. The thing that sparkled my desire was the God of War III trailer.
So, I looked what exclusives the Xbox 360 has in 2009, and I only found Alan Wake and Mass Effect 2 (that are also coming to the PC) that caught my attention.
But the PS3 had alot I wanted, like Killzone 2, inFamous, God of War III, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2, the list goes on and on.
Plus, many of my friends have it, so I can borrow games from them, play with them etc.

I don't have any games for it at the moment, but yesterday I ordered Dead Space and Mirror's Edge from GAME.co.uk, so I'm hoping they get here fast.
The system's been awesome (even though I only have one PS1 game so far) but there is one thing I passionately hate: the installing.
I get it if you install to play a game to get faster loading times, but c'mon, even freakin' demos need to be installed?

So, I found a new interesting thing to entertain myself with - papercraft!
I actually got this idea immediately when I saw an awesome papercraft, made of the Castle Crashers soldiers.
Here they are.

This, I call "The Big, Baronial and Battle-hardened Blue Barbarian Behemoth"

This I call the "Petite Pink Pygmy" (yeah, compared to the Blue Behemoth, I ran out of words)

And here is a comparison of the size of the two (now you can see why the excessive bigs and petites)

Since I didn't have any decent paper, I did Petite Pink Pygmy with regular paper.
TheBig, Baronial and Battle-hardened Blue Barbarian Behemoth was made with the same paper, just with 3 layer, which were glued together.
And yes, I simply, with a glue stick, couldn't glue the whole paper, so in the process of the making, many of those layers came off of eachother, so I had to glue them together again.

But, they both have dried for 2 (PPP for 2, BBBBB for 1) day(s).

PS. Petite Pink Pygmy is missing a sword and a shield because I started making Big Blue Behemoth right when I printed out the new ones, aka when Pink Pygmy was only missing his/her shield and sword.

Okay, so first, I'll show 2 sigs, then an LP, and then a custom/un-official box art I made.
All made between this and my last blog post.

"Sora in Space" LP

Custom Box Art

Yeah, that's a (ta-dam) Killzone 2 custom box art. I made it in Photoshop, and as far as I've seen the Killzone 2 box, I like this more than the official one. I'll try to get find out the right size to print, so it could be put to replace the official one.
Anyway, if I can find out the right size, I'll tell here, or say it in the next blog.

Anyway, hope you like those, and hope you've had, and will continue to have a good day (and of course the days afterwards)! :)

EDIT: Here is the new box art.
I added the side, reflection, and the Playstation Network bar on the back.
Now I can say that it's really as similar to as what a real box art would be as possible, in terms of the ESRB logos, Playstation Network bars, barcodes etc, etc.
Also, I just made a printable version of it, and uploaded it on VG Box Art.

Yes, your eyes are not fooling you.
Here is the finished version of my second drawing I, uhh, "did" in my computer.
The first one was some elf douchebag, and it was drawn by another person, as in someone who wasn't me.
Things I've added since my last update is: more shading, highlighting, "Rising Sun" in the sky and clouds.
But this time, my atrocious drawing skill and Photoshop combined bring you this