Well in addition to playing some more Street Fighter IV from time to time, I've been really getting into Final Fantasy VIII again. Not only is the story amazing, but the game play is exactly what I wish we were still getting from Square! Why do they keep changing things?! Especially that crap they put out for Final Fantasy XII, it was the first Final Fantasy that I played for about 3 hours and quit. (Note: I did not play Final Fantasy IX or XI because they both looked lame.) From the looks of it, Final Fantasy XIII is going to be different again. While I don't think the combat system could be worse than Final Fantasy XII, we shall see.

One other thing: I'm watching a new Sci-Fi reality show WCG Ultimate Gamer. So far it's kind of lame since everything has to have a reality show these days, but at least it's keeping my interest. DVR FTW!

So the SFIV fun continues. I'm still playing Akuma and getting pretty good at his strategies. I still have trouble with Cammy, M. Bison, and a couple of other guys. That being said, some people like Guile and Ryu/Ken/Sakura/Dan are no longer threats. Fei Long is another one that is a big problem if I get stuck in the corner. However, if you do a dragon punch as soon as the match starts, it seems to catch him off guard and you can pwn him in the face from that point on.

I also got into some online play. Connection issues are seriously a problem -- it's really tough to kill somebody when the screen is so choppy. In my two matches, both opponents picked Ken (big surprise!). The first one beat me cause that connection was freaking terrible! The second one wasn't so lucky -- twice he dragon punched me into oblivion and, when it looked like I was down for the count, I blocked his dragon punch, hit Akuma's Ultra attack, and pwnd Ken! Yay Akuma!!

Well I picked up Street Fighter IV for the PS3. It's pretty good, though I only really have Street Fighter II to compare it to (I didn't really play the ones between. I think it's a lot harder than SFII just because AI technology has come a long way and I haven't played in ages. Some aspects I find to be ridiculously hard, though, like some of the combos they expect you to string together in the character challenges. Everything would be a bit easier with a joystick, but when it costs $150 for a joystick, I'm fine with the normal PS3 controller.

So far I've taken a liking to Akuma. His attacks are extremely powerful and his ultra combo is waaaaaaaaaay OP! That being said, he takes a *ton* of damage when he gets hit. I still have one of the same problems I had back in the day with SFII -- those stupid dragon punches. With the way all of the extras are organized in this game, I'm sure I'll have ample opportunity to practice those punches.

Here are my character impressions (compared to their various Street Fighter arcade incarnations):

Ryu -- Same ol' same ol'

Ken -- (see Ryu)

Chun-Li -- A little nerfed compared to what I'm used to

E. Honda -- Haven't played him much, but he seems to be a bit better than I expected (that's not saying much though)

Blanka -- Was bad before and is worse now

Zangief -- Jesus Christ!! This guy hits HARD!! They buffed him up considerably

Guile -- Seems less of a threat than I remember

Dhalsim -- **** on a bull

Balrog -- He hits harder and now has an overhead punch so he's better than before

Vega -- Hits like a feather but is still pretty quick, so he's not a Dhalsim

Sagat -- Improved and definitely a threat

M. Bison -- Generally the same, which means he's still trouble

Dan -- He's so-so

Fei-Long -- Nimble and does decent damage

Sakura -- Another Ryu/Ken incarnation

Cammy -- Less of a threat than I remember

Gen -- Who?

Rose -- (see Gen)

Abel -- Hits like a runaway truck!! Definitely watch out for him!

Crimson Viper -- That distance hit she has is annoying, but other than that she's so-so

Rufus -- Big threat!

El Fuerte -- Fast but does very little damage

Akuma -- Can dish it out but can't take it

Gouken -- He's pretty solid

Seth -- Lots and lots of options

There you have it: my unofficial version of the toons to watch out for. Like I said, I'm sorta into Akuma at the moment, but I see some big potential in some of these other characters if I can ever break out of my old Ryu/Ken shell. We shall see!

I watched some Street Figher IV videos last night. The game looks pretty much the same with a few new characters and better graphics. I think the plan is to pick it up, but I dunno if I'm going to be thrilled or not. I always liked the arcade version of the game anyway. I can never do as well with console controllers.

There's another game I found that looks pretty much the same as Jumpgate. It's called Black Prophecy and, with the exception of some storyline differences, it's exactly the same as Jumpgate from what I can tell. The only difference is it looks like Jumpgate might actually come out sometime soon.

Well back to my gaming boredom.

So I'm still bored with WOTLK and haven't played for days. I've made 2 trips to Best Buy to try to find a game that interests me with no luck. I'm sort of having nostalgic moments when I see all the hype for Street Fighter IV, so I may try that out this week. Other than that there are no good-looking prospects until Jumpgate: Evolution. I may have to go back to playing old games for awhile. >.