I feel like I need to say something but I don't know what to say, or what I can say. This has been a difficult week. The current situation hurts GameSpot, me, you, and anyone who has ever read or written for the site. I've read the rumors, gotten your emails, browsed the forums, and visited the websites reporting the news/rumors/speculation. I can't comment on any of that. After all, I'm still a GameSpot employee and there are certain things I can't discuss as an employee. This isn't GameSpot suddenly clamping down on me or any of us here--this is how it is for anyone with a job. If you work at Wal-Mart and you have an issue with management you can't go to the media yapping about it and management can't go to the media complaining about your performance. It's what I agreed to when I signed on over a year ago.

I'm not making excuses for GameSpot. I'm just trying to explain why your questions haven't been answered directly by the GameSpot staff--we can't. Just know that your voices have been heard by the folks that bring you the news, previews, editorials, features, reviews, and video. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but it's been an incredibly difficult and emotional week. Thank you to those of you with supportive things to say. And to those of you that don't feel like there's any reason to be supportive, I understand that as well. Hopefully we all get through this. We'll see...

*Edit: I appreciate the sympathetic comments to this post, but I want to make it clear that I didn't write this because I was looking out for myself. I wrote it for you, so you would know that there are people out there that hear you and care about what you're saying.

My girlfriend and I just started playing Super Mario Galaxy and we're having a great time. It seems like every few minutes we're discovering some new gameplay mechanic or the game is bending and twisting our minds like we never thought possible. We've only collected eight or nine stars so we've just barely scratched the surface of what will surely be an amazing experience. The pure joy I've experienced while playing Super Mario Galaxy is something I don't feel very often. It's the simultaneous feeling of being reunited with an old friend while at the same time experiencing something totally new. I love that feeling--it's why I review games for a living. Here's the problem: I'm enjoying the game so much that I want to play whenever I get the chance. But if I do that I'm going to beat the game too fast and I want to savor the experience. Because while I can play through the game again it won't every live up to that first time. This has gotten thinking about what game I'd go back and play if I was somehow able to revisit just one game as if I had never played it before. That game would be...

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
I don't even know where to start; I loved everything about Link's first appearance on the Nintendo 64. For starters, I was just excited to play a new, awesome game. The system wasn't exactly home to tons of games, so you were pretty much forced to wait for Nintendo to release a first-party game if you wanted a quality title. Just like it's great to be playing as Mario in the role he's meant for (platforming, not the Olympics), it was awesome to slip into Link's boots and run around once again. After all, it had been six and a half years since A Link to the Past on the SNES. While maneuvering Link about in three dimensions felt totally new, Nintendo was wise to not switch things up to much. It was a joy to do the little things that make Zelda, well, Zelda: chop grass, collect rupees, grab chickens, get new heart containers, and of course, wield a vicious sword as well as a handy bow and arrow. There were lots of familiar sound effects, and while the music was all-new there were many memorable themes that fit the adventure perfectly.

The real star of the show, at least for me, was the huge world Link could explore. It might not seem that big now and in hindsight it was probably pretty empty, but for the time it was something else. There were so many places to travel and there was always something new to see. I still remember climbing up the mountain at night and then after a beautiful sunset, admiring the lights of the town far below. There was no shortage of ways to stay busy, either. If I didn't have time to tackle a dungeon I'd try to help out a townsperson, go fishing, go swimming, or search for a special item. It felt like I was a part of this world, and I was happy to be a part of it.

I have no idea how long it actually took me to finish the Ocarina of Time, but I remember carefully rationing out my playing time so as not to finish too quickly. Just like I'm doing now with Mario. I also remember the mixed-emotions I felt as the credits rolled. I was happy that I had saved the day and satisfied after a great adventure, but I was also sad to say goodbye to the people Link (and I) had befriended during the game as they were shown during the credits. What really made me sad, however, was knowing that the game was over and that I could never relive the experience again.

I've shared my story; now it's time for you to share yours. Leave a comment here or send an email to AaronT@GameSpot.com telling me all about the one game you'd love to go back in time to play again for the first time and I'll devote an entire editorial to your stories next week.

I've been super busy lately so I don't have time for some grand old blog post, but I hate it when people abandon their blogs for weeks at a time so I figured I'd post at least some random thoughts.

Portal=WOW
I finished Portal earlier this week and I had a great time with it. It was such a refreshing experience to play an original game with a unique concept, perfect difficulty, and outstanding sense of humor. Portal is one of those rare games that reminds me of how good games can be and how taking risks and trying new ideas can result in some amazing, refreshing games. Damn the song that plays in the credits though--I can't get it out of my head and I was actually late for work because I had to get it on my iPod so that I could listen to it on BART.

Need For Speed: ProStreet might be good
I really loved NFS: Most Wanted so I was pretty bummed when NFS: Carbon deemphasized the cop chases and changed the setting from day to night (for some reason I usually don't like racing at night as much as I do during the day. Perhaps it's because things tend to look the same at night). I was browsing the PlayStation Store last night and figured I'd download the ProStreet demo and take it for a spin. I had a good time with it. I dug the graphics, the cars handled well, and I got in some pretty nasty, but cool-looking crashes. Will it be as much fun as Most Wanted? That remains to be seen. But I'm hopeful it will be a pretty good game.

Virtual Console does something cool
Just when I finished ranting about how the Virtual Console hasn't lived up to its potential, Nintendo goes and says "How's this for ya?" and releases Sin and Punishment and Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, two games that were released in Japan, but not in the United States (yes, I know about Lost Levels on the GameBoy). This is a cool idea and we could see some really good games if Nintendo keeps it up. Now let's see if the they do...

Rock Band
OMGWTF another Aaron Thomas post about Rock Band. Yep. I've been playing it a bunch for some contest thingy and I've been having a blast. I like knowing my role in the band is to play the most kick ass guitar possible and not worry about what everyone else is doing. I've been in a few bands before and this game captures what it's like in many ways--you argue over what songs to play, give people dirty looks when they mess up, and when the drummer falls apart, so does the band. Good stuff.

The Internet is a great/horrible place
It's amazing how a little controversy brings out the best and worst of what the Internet has to offer. On one hand it gives every moron capable of using a mouse and keyboard a voice and they often use that voice to say the most hateful, horrible stuff you can imagine. On the other hand, it lets people that are intelligent, tolerant, and thoughtful to discuss ideas, listen to opposing viewpoints, and participate in some genuinely insightful discussions.Kudos to anyone that doesn't think the fate of the world lies in some random System Wars thread.

Five Years
Today marks my fifth anniversary with my girlfriend, Erin. What does this have to do with games? Well, she loves them and she has some serious skills. She's finished Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, and a ton of other games. She can play a mean game of DDR, rock in Guitar Hero, and she's unbelievable at puzzle games. How is it that I'm the one that has to tell her to put down Puzzle Quest and go to bed, when I'm the one that does this for a living? Smart, beautiful, and a gamer? Here's to five more years...

OK, so it's not quite Christmas, but it might as well be. As you probably have already noticed the holiday release schedule is in full swing. This means that the stack of games that need to be reviewed on Alex's desk is growing perilously high, which in turn means that as soon as one of us finishes a review there's a new game or three waiting to take its place. I've been playing games for most of my life and I've been writing reviews for over seven years so you'd think I'd be ready for this glut of games, you know, the glut that happens every year. But I'm not. The game avalanche sneaks up on me every single year.

My brain knows that Christmas is in December. It also knows that developers and publishers all strive to have their big titles out by Christmas. Here's the problem: Publishers are tired of having their games buried amongst all the other games that are released in the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some of them have gotten the crazy idea that "people actually buy games in months other than November and December" in their heads and they've started releasing their big holiday games in October. When this trend first started they'd release them in late October, but now it seems the whole month is fair game.

Heck, what am I talking about? Thanks to Halo 3 raking in like a billion dollars in 12 minutes, even September is ripe for blockbuster games. Now you see why every year I'm cruising along thinking I've got plenty of free time before the review schedule gets hectic, and then all of the sudden I'm getting smacked in the face with a new game from Alex every time I make the mistake of making eye contact with him.

Yep, poor old me. I have to play a bunch of great games for the next two months. Waaaahhhh. Ah well, I'll be ready for the rush next year.

I was going to write an editorial today griping about a number of things that have been bugging me. But I've written plenty of those over the last few months so I figured it was time to mix things up and focus on some of what's good in the world of games. Allrighty then, let's see what's good!

Rock Band
I know, I know I'm always yapping about Rock Band. I'm yapping about it today because I'm going to get to play it tonight at the GameSpot Players' Ball. I imagine I'll have to fight through a crowd to get my grubby little hands on it, but I'll do my best. That brings me to something else I'm looking forward to...

GameSpot's Players' Ball
You're going to be watching, right? We'll have the Tournament TV finals of Rainbow Six Vegas, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, Need For Speed: ProStreet, Ratchet & Clank, and a whole bunch of other cool games playable for the masses. If you're not one of the lucky few who got an invite, you can check it out on the site at 6:30pm PST. It should be sweet!

Orange Box
I have never played Half-Life or Half-Life 2. Yes, I am crazy, but hear me out. Half-Life came out when I was broke and had a crappy computer that couldn't play it. I was going to get Half-Life 2 because I actually had a PC that would run it, but I'm not a big PC gamer, so when I heard it was coming to Xbox I decided to wait. Then it came out for the Xbox and had a terrible frame rate so I decided I'd get it on the PC. Then I heard it was coming to the 360 so I decided to wait again. It comes out tomorrow and I'm super-excited about it. Toss in Episodes 1 & 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 and I don't know where to start.

The new Xbox 360
OK, it's not a "new" model that looks totally different that I'm talking about, but it might as well be. I don't know if it's because of the new drive, the smaller chip that runs cooler thereby reducing how much the fan runs or what, but this new 360 we got in the office is QUIET. It's crazy. I'm totally buying one as soon as I know for sure that I can get it in an elite model.

Thanksgiving
I look forward to Thanksgiving every year because I love Thanksgiving dinner and I love lying on the couch watching football while I try not to explode from said dinner. This year Thanksgiving gets an extra boost because I'm going to sit around and play games for an extended weekend. My girlfriend is headed back to the East Coast to hang out with her family so that leaves me all alone with a stack of games and lots of free time. Games, games, games!

Candy
No real reason. I just love candy. Nerd Ropes are awesome.

I was going to write more but I've got to get ready to head to the Players' Ball. Tune in tonight to check out all the shenanigans. I'll wave to you, I promise!

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TGS is finally over, but it's the gift that keeps on giving. Not only am I still trying to adjust to the time difference and struggling to figure out what day it is, but I've also got a bunch of video left from the 3rd day of the show. This was the first day the show was open to the public and it's when things got really crazy. We're talking droids, booth girls, cosplay, games where you scrub down other men, and the longest line you've ever seen in your lives. It's all in this video. Check it out!

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You may or may not have seen the segment on On The Spot yesterday where I talk to booth girls about current events and then try my hand at speaking Japanese. If you missed it or you want to see it again, I've uploaded that clip as a user video. I know some people thought I was making fun of the girls and being mean, but we let each one know ahead of time (in Japanese) that we were shooting a humor piece, so they knew what was going on. It was all in good fun! :)

Dear Nintendo,

My name is Aaron Thomas and I'm a frustrated Wii owner. You see, my problem is that I own a Wii and I have nothing to play on it. I've played and enjoyed Wii Sports (thanks for the free game), but there's not much else to play. I'm a huge Zelda fan, but I wasn't digging the whole "your remote is a sword" thing and gave up after two hours. I'm hoping to get back to the game again, and when I finally get motivated I'm going to play the GameCube version. I thought Wario Ware would be really cool, but I can't play with my friends until I beat the game? Lame. I don't want to sit through that game's idiotic story; I want to play minigames with my friends. I hear Metroid Prime 3 is good, but it sure sounds a lot like Prime (which I didn't like) and Prime 2 (which I never played), so I don't think I'll be buying it the third time around. I think the Mii concept is a cool one, but you've failed to capitalize on it. Why aren't more games letting me play as my Mii?

So where are the good games? I own an Xbox 360 and a PlayStation 3 so I don't want to play some watered-down port with tacked-on controls and lousy graphics. That eliminates stuff like Call of Duty 3, Medal of Honor, The Godfather, Mortal Kombat and the like. I have nobody to blame for myself for not getting around to Super Paper Mario, but the rest of your lineup is so uninteresting poor old Super Paper Mario has fallen by the wayside because I'm not often thinking to myself "What good games are there for the Wii that I need?" because good new games are so rare. It also sounds like SPM has the Wario Ware issue where you force people to suffer through an inane story when all they want to do is play. If you couldn't tell by now, that's one of my pet peeves.

I'm also not a fan of what you've been doing with the virtual console. Now part of this is my fault--I own pretty much all of the great NES, SNES, and N64 games so there's little reason for me to buy them here. But maybe if you guys spruced them up a bit, added extras, new modes, online play, or something to the deal I'd be more inclined to pick up a game or two. I realize that I'm in the minority in that I already own most of these games, but I know I'm not alone in not being able to figure out just what in the heck you're doing releasing so much garbage. Play Action Football, J.J. & Jeff, Milon's Secret Castle, and China Warrior weren't really games people wanted to play 20 years ago, much less today. I'd love to know how many people have purchased Soccer. I'm sure it's dozens. Why are you diluting the service with crap?

I know people are buying the Wii in droves, you guys are in first place, and the company is more valuable than ever, but you don't seem to be doing anything to sustain this momentum. Maybe there's a whole group of people out there that like last-gen graphics and pretending their Wii Remote is a sword, but I'm not one of them. Step it up or my Wii is going to get buried even deeper under crap on my desk than it already is.

Regards,
Aaron Thomas

P.S.
I think online play is here to stay. You might want to come up with an online model that doesn't stink. Oh, and maybe some online games too. Just a thought.

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Yesterday I:

- Slept for 3 hours
- Spent 3 hours on the subway
- Tried to steal 50 copies of Halo 3 from Bungie (I was going to give them to you guys!)
- Had a phenomenal dinner on the 47th floor of a skyscraper with an incredible view of Tokyo
- Interviewed the president of Clap Hanz about the history of Hot Shots Golf
- Got paid to video booth babes for a video blog
- Saw Sumo highlights on a Japanese newscast
- Played some games and wrote some previews

Yeah, it was a good day. Check out my latest video for some of the highlights.

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Ahhh, there's nothing quite like covering a video game convention. I spent 12 hours at different events today and then went back to my hotel room and got to work on my latest video blog. I've got to get up in about four hours to head over to the convention center where I'll pick up my media badge and then spend the rest of the day playing (hopefully) awesome games and writing about them.

Since I need to be up in less than 4 hours so I'll make this a quick intro. Today's blog covers pretty much everything I've done the last two days: the cool park near the hotel, Harajuku, Akihabara, Namco Bandai, and Sony's press event. And as a special bonus General Awesome makes another appearance doing what he does best--being awesome.

I'll be back in a day or two with more video of the fun that is TGS. Enjoy the video!