For anyone who may not know, I adore the Simpsons show... damn near more than Star Wars and Star Trek COMBINED. Besides watching the yellow colored family nearly half my life, I'm also a big fan of Futurama. Another one of those shows that to my great surprise not many people like. Oh well... to each their own...

My girl ended up tending to some unexpected family business late last week, which meant she would be traveling out of town and not returning until later this week. I do hope all is well, and it does kind of bum me out that I can't assist on the matter... but... having the place to myself is GREAT! 8) Its me and the cat, so I'm not completely alone, which is really cool when watching movies. I've had some friends over and we got down on some RE5. Everyone was pretty surprised by how action-oriented the game is now. Being that the series started off as THE survival horror game, its now breaking into new territory with motorcycle zombies and online interaction. If you ever played the Ourbreak spin-offs, this online stuff is not completely new, but its definitely refined.
The co-op experience in RE5 is a must play! You could rag on the anicient controls and the extreme neglect for ignoring the original themes that made RE, but in all respects the game is so polished you can't help but enjoy yourself. Throw in a friend online, or even better, someone in the same room and things get really exciting. Maybe we had a few too many beers, but we were laughing at silly mistakes and cheering eachother on during tense moments. As always, my neighbors love it :P I have to admit... even without all the creepy locations and c|assic zombies appeal, RE5 offers some great thrills.

I've finished the game alone, which blows, but the excitement in replaying with others is worth mentioning. Navigating the game with the computer partner is tough from start to finish, but when you join up with a human player the overall experience becomes a whole new ball park. Yes, the environments are a bit constricting, but with the game difficulty turned up and a decent partner you can be sure all that "RE is meant to be suspense and horror, not action" nonsense goes right out the window.
In truth, thats not nonsense... I never mean to offend fellow gamers and fans who spend just as much money as I do on the goodies that keep us all entertained. But honestly, do you believe Resident Evil would have been worth playing if it remained on the stagnant path of old mansions and slow zombies? Think about that. I love me some zombies, and the lore has been some what "tainted" with all these new approaches the last few years that portray them as infected flesh eaters or track runners. I was a bit turned off at first too... but the more I thought about it... the more scared I became. Every creature, even the undead deserve a chance to evolve, and the few that excute such a daughting task deserve some props also. Overall, RE5 is a worth-while experience for hardcore fans and action fiends alike... hopefully I can get my little review up sometime soon here.

Besides being an acheivement monger with RE5--which is not so difficult when you have time to spare and no female distraction--I've been sampling a few other titles.

Star Ocean:Last Hope
Still grinding away, but I don't really need to emphasize it as if its some mysterious struggle. I'm at the end of the game, more than 100 hours logged in, and there is still plenty of nicks-knacks to find and other side quest to complete. Being another JRPG, this one actually entertains me more than it bothers me. Since I don't really talk about story and such when I review games, I might as well state it here... the game has an immensely disgusting amount of friendship themes :? If you can stomach the childish nonsense that Japanese developers feed by the buckets, there is a good game here worth playing.

Genesis Collection
Why... why would someone who praised Sega and all their efforts, even the failed attempts, actually purchase a collection of games he mostly owns on the original console?! Its a good question, and there is no logical answer... simply file this one between achievement hunting and impulse purchase :oops:

Conan
Since I'm not online, and most of my friends and family have lives that don't revolve around keeping me happily entertained, I felt this was a worthy rental. I look forward to posting a review, but I kind of feel silly since most of the text will consist of, God of War and a dude with hair. Pretty decent game for under 20 bucks, but there a few rough spots that keep it in the rental only camp... I'll explain more later.

The Simpsons
Before returning my last rental, I was a bit strap for cash and didn't know what I was gonna do to keep myself occupied while the misses was away. She doesn't mind me gaming, especially since I do it mostly when she's away, but I wanted something fun and worth-while to hold me over for a weekend. With high hopes, I approached the Simpsons game as a big fan of the show and a strong desire to wear as little clothes as possible. Nearing the end, I can happily say that plenty of fun is being extracted... but not much worth. The game is cheap, so I can't really complain. But in all respects, if you ARE a gamer, the refferences and borrowed gameplay with inserted Simpsons characters really rides a thin line. On one half, its easy to jump right in and play the game and be very familiar with whatever they throw at you. The other half is mostly the frustration in working with the unpolished mechanics.

Well... the apartment is clean, the cat is fed and comfortable, I've watched my fair share of anime, bills are lined up and ready for payment, and my weekend gaming splurge is coming to an end... *sigh*

All is well. I went shopping at the 24 hour grocery store the other night when I couldn't sleep and got some goodies to make pasta tonight. Being a meat-a-terian, I've been trying all sorts of different methods to keep my health tip top without sacrificing my joy for flavor. No doubt, fruit and veggies are getting their regular due, but something about turkey is rocking my little world. It works great in most of my pasta dishes, its one of my favorite lunch meats when making sandwiches, and doesn't feel as heavy as most other meats once in my system. Beef patties still hold the burger title though... I doubt that will ever change :lol: