Recently I have been feeling as if the magic of playing video games has diminished for me. It's not that I don't enjoy games, I love them, it's just that I rarely find myself staring at a screen in awe of the game I'm playing. Sure I found heaps of games great last year such as SMG, MP3, FFXII and Metal Gear Portable Ops but unfortunately they always come off as being done before.

Possibly my most magic memory of gaming was playing through Ocarina of Time upon it's release on N64. At the time I had never played a thing like it and I loved every single moment of it. The only games off the top of my head that have provided me with similar enjoyment are the Metal Gear series and Okami.

It would seem I enjoyed Okami in a similar fashion not due to never playing anything like it before but the fact that it is quite similar in gameplay to Zelda games. And yet Twilight princess, although a great game, did not truly capture the magic for me.

Maybe Ocarina is to blame for my lessened enjoyment due to the high bar it set for me as a kid. And maybe that is why I play games and will keep gaming, waiting for the next Ocarina of Time to appear on the horizon...

Ahhh...what a day. My day today has consisted of nothing more than video gamesand writingor reading about video games. No interuptions, my brother went to the movies so hewas not playing when I wanted to, and the games I've been playing have all been of the highest quality. Allow me to outline my day.

This morning I woke up after a lovely sleep in on a monday morning. Picking my DS up off my desk I settled in to a session of Elite Beat Agents (my most recent buy for DS) and played through a heap of missions and took on my high scores.

After this I got up and, in need of some more rythmic gaming, rocked out with guitar hero. I'm playing medium now but havn't been able to get above 93% on a song as yet.

Ear's bleeding I ripped the Wii-mote from behind the Gibson and took to the stars in Mario Galaxy. Though I am really enjoying Galaxy I tend to only want play short sessions and pick up only about 5 stars at a time before switching it off.

So, after getting the obligatory 5 stars I switched off the Wii and realised I had not eaten all day and it was after lunch. While eating my gourmet meal of toast and toast the Fed Ex driver arrived at my door with an Indiana Jones IV poster and a limited edition Temple of Doom photo for my collection (no. 142/250). I'd been waitingfor these for quite a while so this only made my day more awesome.

After getting back to lunch and finishing my toast I swapped console to PS2 to give Sam Fisher a workout.

Currently, Double Agent is paused behind me and I am infiltrating a money train for the terrorists in the story. This bargain buy ($29 AUD, down from $100 AUD) is proving to be my most played game over the past week and I don't feel very far into it. I'm enjoying taking my time, taking every possible route through a mission, and most of all trying not to be noticed.On hard difficulty it's not all that easy.

At the time of writing this blog it's mid afternoon in Melbourne so there's still planty of hours left in the day which I will fill with more gaming and will hopefully containthe postman arriving with MGS2 on PS2 in hand.

Then after many an hour of gaming comes sleep. Ah yes, these are the days.

Over the last two weeks all my game purchases have been about PS2 preservation.

What is PS2 preservation?, I hear you ask. Well it's a bit like a squirrel storing up acorns for the winter. Allow me to explain...

A recent visit to my local EB had me informed by a friend who works there that PS2 games a going to probably be phased out by the end of the year. A shock to be sure as Sony's gaming goliath has always had an auraof invincibility surrounding it, as if it would sell forever.As the gamecube was phased out I picked up a few AAA titles not to do myself the dishonor of missing some classics, but I had expected it's passing into console heaven for a while. But it will be a sad day when I look upon shelves in video game stores to see no PS2 games left.

Already it has reached the point where I no longer eagerly anticipate any upcoming titles on Sony's last gen console but I am thankful for the time I have left to collect the remaining gems gathering dust in EB. I have recently picked up quality titles for good prices such as Splitner Cell: Chaos Theory, Rogue Galaxy, Soul Caliber III and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. I am sure that these titles will bring much enjoyment in the months to come.

Sure I have a Wii in my TV cabinet as well as some top notch games to go with it (Mario Galaxy, MP3 and Twilight Princess to name a few) but this revolutionary console is still unproven despite it's uncharted potential, due largely to a limited library and a slew of sloppy 'Wii-makes'. It would appear that the Wii will not satisfy as my 'gaming security blanket'.

My goal for the moment is to keep collecting the best PS2 titles which are missing from my 'collection page' on Gamespot, with Shadow of the Colossus atop the list. Not only that though, I will delve into my existing games and replay the classics, conquer the unfinished and remember what a great console the PS2 has been over the years.I will do this with hope thatafter afew more quarters of good releasesthe PS3 will become a console of equal standing to it'sfather so as to convince me to purchase it. Thenpossibly I will find just as many hours of gaming goodness as my faithful PS2 provided.........and with Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII on the way there's hope yet!

Upon the release of the official title of the new Indy movie, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", starwarsshop.com have released an official T-Shirt available to be pre-ordered before shipping on the 17th of September.

I felt compelled to pre-order one and cannot wait for it to arrive. Once I recieve it, it'll be hard to get it off me. Only 250 days to go until the new film!

Sifting through games on eBay the other day I discovered a wealth of games that caught my attention. All being games that are in japanese (me not speaking the language) I was slightly cautious about whether or not I should buy one. The games I speak of are Jump Superstars and Jump Ultimate Stars, FFXII: Revenant Wings and also Osu! Tatakae! Oendan.

Now, I hear people saying; 'Why not buy Elite Beat Agents if you want Ouendan?' but apparently EBA just doesn't hold up when you have played the Japanese version. After hearing this I wonder though, whether the sacrifice of being able to understand the language and what is really going on, is an equal sacrifice for better music and other differences to the game.

Regarding Revenant Wings, I just don't know if it is worth purchasing the game if I face a language barrier. Sure Final Fantasy games have great gameplay but in the past my favourite aspect of the games has been their stories. But once again the tradeoff of living in beautiful Australia but suffering when it comes to game releases rears it's ugly head. Us Aussies tend to recieve all Square-Enix game about 12 months after they have made it onto shelves in the US. With a decent wait for RW in the US I am made to wonder is the wait going to be worth it just for an English translation.

And finally with the Jump! games. I haven't yet but, if I see one for a cheap price I'll snap it up straight away. With the gameplay being the major reason for purchasing that game and let's face it, a destiny of never having a western release, I see nothing holding me back from playing this game with maximal enjoyment. Once I can navigate the menus and get onto Wi-Fi (the main attraction) to thrash some newbs I reckon there'll be no turning back.

But unfortunately this method seems only to be attractive with fighting games and others where story plays little or no part in the game. And furthermore there's no 'Try Before You Buy' scheme with eBay. Once your money's gone into the abyss you might only be left with an unplayable game and a skinnier wallet. I suppose that's a risk worth taking for the chance at a truly unique gaming experience. And besides with the DS and PSP being region free, that at least gives us gamers the option of importing. Yeah... Look on the bright side.

Here in Australia the PS3 midnight release has been met with "modest crows", the biggest being 100 at a Sydney Myer. This might baffle some spectators as to where are the people with the supposed "millions" of dollars worth of preorders have gone.

I hate to point this out but sony made a great mistake in releasing it on the 23rd of March. No it's not that we have bad weather in March. It's great in fact. And no, we Australians don't go into hybernation at this time of year. It's just that everyone has forgotten that they preordered a PS3. Why? It is because of a certain man. Next to this man the PS3 holds no significance to many Aussies. Sure, people can play the PS3 but can the PS3 play for the people?

This man is the biggest selling independent Aussie artist in history. This man is John Butler! And with the release of his new album being on March 24th Sony's sales have consequently taken a beating with buyers waiting till Saturday to brave the stores. The new album "Grand National" promises to be great with ripper tracks including 'Better Than', 'Good Excuse', 'Nowhere Man', and of course 'Funky Tonight' Instead of pre-ordering a PS3 I pre-ordered a copy of 'Grand National' and can't wait to pick it up tomorrow.

Keep on the blog for a review of 'Grand National' in the days following release.

Note: I highly doubt that the release of the album seriously had any affect at all on Sony's sales. I just wanted to make a point of how good the album will be.

Why do us Aussies always suffer the rough end of the stick when it comes to game releases? Games that I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of just seem to take even longer if they're already out in some other part of the world.

For any Americans reading and wondering how bad it really is; Kingdom Hearts 2 is only coming out in Australia today! That's right, the 28th of September. That's almost a whole year after Japan got it. I know, I know the voice acting had to be done in English but if the US got it earlier this year, why couldn't we?

"What about importing games", you must be asking yourself. Well it just happens that in Australia we run on PAL systems so unless you are one of the lucky people who have a modded system importing is only a distant dream.

Recently this issue has been getting on my nerves slightly and it came to a head when I logged onto gamespot the other day, only to be notified that Australia "MIGHT" have Wii shortages at launch! "MIGHT" generally means definitely when it comes to us Aussies.

The only possible means of guaranteeing yourself a Wii is to pre-order and put your faith in Nintendo's vastly untried machine being a success. Don't get me wrong, I personally think that Nintendo are on a winner with the Wii but I still don't wanna bet $400(AU) on that before it's release.

Gaming is on the brink of becoming a form of entertainment accepted by everyone. Therefore now is the time for game developers to start getting serious about Australian releases and releasing the games to us along with the rest of the world. Their faith will undoubtably be justified.