Ha!  I beat Fire Emblem!!!  ...took me long enough :P.

Yes, somehow I have attained Level 8.

Well, sorry guys, I'm going to transition my journalling to Xanga. I just wasn't getting much feedback here and I have a lot of friends that do the xanga thing.

Fortunately though, it'll be fairly familiar:
http://www.xanga.com/Genjai

I may continue to rant about video games here, though ;^)

Well well. I decided to brave the ridiculously slow modem to get off an entry.

Ahh yes, I turned 21 two days ago. I had a pretty good birthday - though I fought with the vaccuum while conquering the house for my mother most of the day, it was still good.

Christmas Update:

I did get enough money for the Game Cube. I ended up buying it the Tuesday after Xmas b/c Gamestop sold out of them Sunday and Monday. I also picked up Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door. Now that is fun. Probably the most entertaining game I've ever played. My friend Beers got me Metroid Prime for Xmas - wow, that is an amazing game.

Over the course of the next few weeks we had a lot of family time, and for me, catchup on video game time. During which I convinced my parents to go buy an inexpensive surround sound system from Wal-Mart, while Jon conned them into buying Risk the board game. That was a fun day. We did the surround thing, watched a borrowed copy of Day After Tomorrow, had a fire w/ S'mores, and played Risk. It just so happened that that was the same day I got my GC. Like I said, it was a good day.

Birthday Update:

Well, after the vaccuum incident, we went out to the Iron Bridge Inn, a very nice restaurant, with the presentation of gifts. Jon got me Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and a used copy of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. He had forgotten my wish list, so he did the best he could. I think FF:CC will be fun if I can find the money to get a GBA and link cable and find a friend to play with, which is possible, and as for ED: SR, I've wanted a game from that genre so this should be fun. It's rated pretty highly in GS, which is surprising after my run through of the intro.

My parents got me the Star Wars Trilogy - widescreen - just like I wanted. That made me pretty happy. Today I'm watching it while doing my laundry. Tonight I'll finish up watching ROTJ w/ Dad. I'm looking forward to it. :^)

No, I didn't consume any alcohol. I am not against drinking in moderation, but I want to set myself apart from what is considered normal in this world for Jesus Christ and His service. I did have a whole lot of Root Beer, though, ;).

Until next time, blessings on all and another blessed year for me!

Well, I made it home. 12h is my new personal best time. I was pretty pumped about it. Matt Reese and I took the trip; we only had to stop 3x - once just to call home to let them know we were in Akron. Good times!

Now that I am home, I am so happy. I haven't relaxed so much in awhile. I definately got 12h of sleep last night and then went to Geneva College to visit my friend Jenna for most of the day. China Banquet was good tonight, too. I got to hang out with my brother's special friend - Kylee - I knew her from High School.

WWWHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I really hope that Jon gets me a Gamestop giftcard for Christmas! I think that I'll be able to scrape it all together and sell back some games to have just enough to make the GC affordable right before New Years. I really don't want to wait until my Birthday, but if I have to, I will. I'll probably get something out of it then that'll help me get it. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna sell back Dark Cloud, Alter Echo, Splinter Cell, and the Dot.Hack series. I've been working hardcore on Splinter Cell the past few days. When I beat that, I hope to beat the Dot.Hack series through next week, just in time for Christmas. I actually don't own the third Dot.Hack - It's my brother's, and I'm just gonna rent the 4th one, but the second one is the highest priced in the series, so that should be good for me.

Well, my parents online capabilities smell like butt (28.8kb/s), so I'll only be online every once in a while. E-Gad! Right now, as we speak, the connection speed is only 26.4kb/s! Disgusting!! Ahh well, maybe another day.

Blessings all!

:lol: I'm having a great holiday season! Finals are on now, and none of them are really that hard (or I don't care if I make a B). So with this the last time I'll see friends this semester and being the holidays I've been to a bunch of parties and hangouts. Man, I've had a good time with friends - short road trips, movie nights, and birthday parites. Haha, and Jones soda!

Hey, I just realized how many movies I've seen in the past two days... let's see, a bunch:
Elf
Santa Clause Vs. the Martians - Myster Science Theater 3000 version
Bubble Boy
News Boys Down Under the Big Top
Bourne Supremacy

We also rented Hero, but it's getting late and I'm teaching Sunday School to my Chinese Middle-Schoolers tomorrow, so I want to give them what they deserve - no short-changing.

*yawn* okeydokey! Night night!

OH. and I've been asking all my friends to give me $ or Gamestop Giftcards for Christmas to donate to the "Get Steve a Gamecube for Christmas Fund." I've been checking out the new release titles, like Baten Kaitos - Tales of Symphonia - Prime Echoes - Paper Mario, and coupled them with some tried and true release titles, like Metroid Prime - Wind Waker, to create some serious reasons to buy a Game Cube. Mario Party 6 does look like a lot of fun, too.

Blessings for all! Sleep tight.

You know you're a RPGer when you've gone 4 days after beating an RPG and feel the need to pick up another one.

I beat Xenogears on Saturday, right before Open Dorms and felt very good about it. I've played pretty much just action games since then and nothing of substance - nothing with measurable growth. ahh, yes, I need measurable growth. Goal Orientation! Yes, I am a goal oriented person. That is what it means.

So I'm debating on whether I should start a new RPG here at school w/less than a week left or wait until I get home and tackle one straight through? I also could pick up on my Emulated Chrono Trigger save state. hmmm... oh, the options.

What do you think?

Yesterday a girl from my school died. In a college of only about 900, that's big. She died from injuries sustained in a car accident on Saturday. She was with 3 other students going to Dallas to see our Basketball team play. We had a memorial service in Chapel for her today. It's sad, but especially the ones closest to her. Though, I didn't really know her, I have several friends who were. In one big family, it's hard.

However, we do have this confidence that one day we will yet again be reunited with her, on the day when the Lord of Glory comes with the trumpet sound and we shall meet Him in the air. On that day we will see her again.

April Nettles. 1985-2004. We Rejoice With You.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FRUSTRATED WITH ANY GAME BEFORE! EVER!

...ok, that's a gross exaggeration, but Xenogears is causing me to sin. I must be ridiculously near the end: fighting Ramuses and Miang's Gears. They wouldn't be hard if I had the chance to refuel between them, but as it is, I have to equip for two different battles in the same.

To make matters worse, my hall is going to be up all night decorating for Open Dorms; the theme is Mario and I have to go to bed to be up early to help paint some steps at church.

...and I got a dumb campus-parking ticket. Yes, I was guilty of the violation; no, it would have never affected anyone else ever for me being 4 feet over so I could pull out easier.

*sigh* well, I feel about 0.72% better. Maybe if I sleep on it I'll be better in the morning. night!

Dark Cloud

I just played DC for the first time. I got it for less than 5 bucks at Gamestop. Good deal, since I was lookin for it. Uhhh, it looks promising. It has fantasy elements and a smooth, semi-cartoon look to it. I want to know about these extra playable characters.. But the whole dancing thing in the intro was just goofy.
Initial impression: 6.8

Legaia 2: Duel Saga

Ok, so I technically haven't played the game yet. But Ben keeps coming in my room to play it - surprising for a non-RPGer - so I've been able to get a good handle. 'sides, after beating the first Legaia (hmm, I think I did - no wait! My brother did!), I know the similar fighting system.
Initial Impression: 7.8

Spider-man

Uhhh, this one was ok the first time. Granted I only played the training session, not the actual start. The graphics left something to be desired, but I liked I versatility of the web action a lot. The voices and comic remedy really add to the icing.
Initial Impression: 8.4

Medal of Honor: Frontline

Good times. It was what I expected. Kinda freaky, realistic recreation of a war scene. It's fun to shoot people, and putting it in a kinda in an open war setting just adds to the effect. But on the other side, it's not too realistic that you die every shot either - which is the only way to play imaginitive gaming :^)
Initial Impression: 9.0

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Huh, that's funny - I didn't plan on putting them in ascending order. But wow, this game is sweet. Graphics, story, intro, system, humor, suspense - it's all there. Ok, so I've played this one more than an intro now - I've got the Lvl. 2 Card Key - but the intro itself is worth it to sucker me in - hey, it worked!
Initial Impression: 9.5