I'm disgusted. There are some very sadistic people out there.

People are selling empty console boxes on eBay. I found one guy on Gamespot who sold his PS3 box for the price of a PS3. Obviously, the poor guy who bought it didn't notice it was only the box, and assumed it was the actual console. Sure, the buyer should have been more careful, but the sad thing is, the seller actually took advantage of this poor person and sold the box anyway. I'd post the link to the thread, but I cant find it anymore.

I came across another guy, who was selling an empty Wii box on Ebay. The idea was for parents to buy this, fill it with rocks and give it to their children. How could anyone be so sadistic? Here is the thread.

My friend has a very annoying little brother, who wanted a PSP last year for Christmas. His parents weren't going to buy it for him because it was too expensive - which I'd say is fair enough. My friend however, got an empty PSP box from EB games, and gave it to his brother for Christmas. Had I known about this, I would've tried to stop it, but sadly, this awful event transpired, and the little boy was devastated.

Just before the Wii launched, a guy on the Wii forums managed to get an empty display box for the Wii. He showed it to his little brother, who was thrilled to see that he could finally play the Wii. He was so excited, yet he became completely silent when he found the box was empty. The guy who did this sounded so proud for pulling this practical joke, and even though it's not nearly as bad as selling an empty box, or giving away an empty box for Christmas, it just wasn't a nice thing to do. Once again, I couldn't find the thread.

I can't believe people can be so despicably cruel. Some poor children may have their Christmases ruined, because someone wants to play a sick and nasty joke.

Where has the love gone?

After watching the latest trailer for Halo 3, I was filled with a strange emotion. Unlike what you'd expect, it wasn't excitement for the game, or awe from the trailer. No, it was a sense of...age.

I feel quite pathetic, ranting about how I feel this way - I'm only 20 after all - yet I just can't help but feel older. Why, you ask? Well, back in my day, we didn't have fancy trailers like the new Halo 3 one. No sir, we had this.

It's amazing how beautiful some games for the PS3 and 360 are looking. I can't help but wonder, can they get any better? It's hard for me to imagine graphics beyond what I can see now. Super Metroid looked as glorious to me at the time of it's release as Gears of War looks now. In a few years, will I be amused to think that I used to consider the graphics of Gears of War good?

But graphics aren't the only thing that are changing. Look at the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii and PS3 controllers. The fact that you can manipulate a console game - without even pushing a button, is nothing short of revolutionary. Just think what innovative ideas the future has in store for the gaming industry. It would be interesting to see how games will be played in two decades or so from now.

I stumbled upon this page, which has an MP3 of the music from the ending credits of Zelda: Twilight Princess. If I went back in time and played this to someone who had just came home with a shiny, new NES, and told them this music is from a game, they simply wouldn't believe me. I'm sure if I showed them the graphics of MotorStorm, they wouldn't believe it was a game either.

Yes, the gaming industry is not the same as it used to be , and it is continuing to change. I'm sure the Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 may be the first console of many a child. I wonder how they will look back on them, and how primitive they will seem. I can only imagine how older gamers must feel, who started gaming far earlier than I did.

I have memories of my grandmother coming into my room and watching me play Mario Party. After 5 minutes, she announced that she had no idea what was going on, and she could see no appeal in what I was doing.

Will I be like that someday? Did I just find a grey hair?

About an hour ago, I found myself in a state of complete and utter boredom. I was in no mood to play videogames, or watch TV and I was tired of the forums at Gamespot. Having nothing else to do, I found my mouse slowly drifting towards the Start bar, where I opened up Paint.
Before I knew what hit me, I had made several alternate versions of myself, and had killed a significant amount of time doing so.
I am proud to present the children of my boredom!
Dizzy_Cloud

Cat_Cloud

Cyclops_Cloud

Royal_Cloud

Inverted_Cloud

Blank_Cloud

After all that, I contemplated playing some Zelda, when I had a brilliant idea:

At this point, creating different Clouds started to get tiresome, so I decided to make one final Cloud. I wanted the last of the Cloud series to be the best so I poured my very soul into this next child of my boredom, and for a brief moment, I became one with the darkness inside me, and gave birth to...
Dark_Cloud - Happy_Cloud's evil doppelganger.

But what's the point of giving myself an evil nemesis if we don't do battle, as only mortal enemies can?
I present:

Dark_Cloud Vs Happy_Cloud

Dark_Cloud: We meet again Happy_Cloud - but for the last
time!

Happy_Cloud: Dark_Cloud, I will not allow you to stain the
sky with your evil!

Dark_Cloud: Ha ha ha! If you can stop me, then stop me!

*Epic battle ensues*

Dark_Cloud: You're strong - stronger than I thought, but
you're only prolonging your inevitable defeat!

Happy_Cloud: You're wrong! The power of darkness is no
match for the power of happiness!

Dark_Cloud: We'll see about that!

*More fighting*

Dark_Cloud: Why won't you die!?

Happy_Cloud: As long as I have happiness in my heart, I can
never lose!

*Intense battle unfolds, Happy_Cloud wins (Obviously)*

Dark_Cloud: No! My evil plans have been foiled! But how?

Happy_Cloud: Don't you see? Good will always triumph over evil! Love is far more powerful than hate.

Dark_Cloud: You may have one this round Happy_Cloud, but I'll be back! And when that day comes, I'll teach you the true meaning of the word ouch! And so, Happy_Cloud defeated the evil Dark_Cloud, but will the dark antagonist return with a vengeance? No matter what happens, our hero will be there to save the day!
As fun as that diversion was, It was time for more works of art. I fully embraced my artistic - and French - side...

...and in just...un....deux....trois...
Voila! C'est Art!

"Enough art!" I said, as I decided to get in touch with my literal side, and wrote a beautiful and touching poem.
Why is it?
Why is that boredom,
makes time go so slow?
Why is it that sunlight,
melts cool winter snow?
Why is it that good times,
will not always last?
Why is it that old folk,
will long for the past?
Why is it that children,
shed tears when they're sad?
Why is it that people,
will often grow mad?
Why is it that all things,
aren’t always just good?
Why won't the world be the way that it should?

Feeling quite pleased with myself for writing that masterpiece, I wanted to feel even better! How would I go about doing this? Simple! I would expand my vocabulary, by learning a new word:

machination mack-uh-NAY-shuhn; mash-, noun:
1. The act of plotting.
2. A crafty scheme; a cunning design or plot intended to accomplish some usually evil end.
Machination derives from Latin machinatio, "a contrivance, a cunning device, a machination," from machinari, "to contrive, to devise, especially to plot evil." It is related to machine, from Latin machina, "any artificial contrivance for performing work." To machinate is to devise a plot, or engage in plotting. One who machinates is a machinator.
Used in a sentence:
He was telling me how he could have married the royal princess as a reward for his bravery in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he was an infantryman in the Kaiserliche und Konigliche Austro-Hungarian army, but for the machinations of the evil Archduke somebody-or-other.
-- George Lang, Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen
I'd like to thank Dictionary.com for that little piece of learning.
Well there you have it - the fruits of my boredom. If this experience has taught me anything, it's that boredom is a blessing in disguise. Just think, if we didn't have boredom, people would be perfectly content to just sit and do nothing, because why wouldn't they? Without this incentive we have to do something, what would the world be like?
Why did Thomas Edison invent the light bulb?
Why did Sir Edmund Hillary climb Everest?
Why did the Allied Forces resist Nazi Germany?
These people all did these things because they had nothing better to do.
So next time you're bored, be grateful that you are, for without boredom, the world wouldn't be the place it is today.

To help fill in the wait for Twilight Princess, I've been playing through Ocarina of Time: Master Quest. I've found it to be quite challenging - but nothing I can't handle. 8)

...However, I have recently gotten up to the Water Temple. It can't be done. No dungeon should be that hard! It's not fair! :cry: I can't remember a time when I've been so frustrated at a video game. It's especially annoying because I was feeling so good about myself having completed all the significantly harder dungeons. It's not like I haven't made any progress, but I'm completely stuck. If I don't figure out how to do it soon, I may sink very, very low.

Yes, I may need to consult....a guide!

*Audience Gasps*

Let's hope I can do it! If not, I'll be a very sad cloud.



...And as you can see, I look ugly when I'm sad, :|

I'm starting to have a bit more time on my hands, so Ive decided to fix something I should've really done a lot sooner.

I've decided to improve my reviews.

I was not happy with the standard of any of my reviews, and want to take them more seriously now - which I wasn't really sooner. I deleted all four - which isn't that much, so it's no problem - and rewrote the review for Super Metroid. Well, actually, I cheated a little bit, as I only edited my review of Super Metroid, but I wanted to keep the 9 reccomendations, and if they reccomended the old version - they'd like the new one - which is better!

If you're interested, please read my review of Super Metroid - I haven't provided a link as you can access it from right here - and reccomend it - or don't - as you see fit.

Thanks!

I very rarely have dreams that I can remember, I dream nothing particularly vivid, or interesting, and I generally can't remember any dreams I have.

I have only ever had one nightmare, however I have had it many times. I used to have this recurring nightmare quite often when I was about 15. However, last night, for the first time in years I actually had that same dream again. It's very vivid, and I can aways picture all of it if I want to, it's quite a horrific dream.

It goes like this:

I arrive home after school (I am 15) and I walk into the kitchen. I see my mother laying on the floor, in a puddle of blood, covered in bloody wounds. She has a knife sticking out of her chest. I am absolutely shocked at this, but find I am unable to say anything. As I walk in, my mother starts to speak. She says: "Oh hi darling, your sandwiches are just on the bench" I always used to have sandwiches when I came home to put things in context. Anyway, I walk up t the bench and see the sandwiches there. The sandwiches are covered in blood. I start to feel very sick, and need a glass of water. I get a glass out of the cubbord and walk up to the sink. I put my glass under the sink and turn the tap on. Instead of water, blood comes out, and it's coming out very strongly too, and the cup was forced out of my hand by the blood, and it smashes. I turn the tap off, but the blood continues to flow very rapidly. The sink starts to overflow, and the whole room is filling up with blood. My mother, who is laying on the floor, starts to drown in the blood. I go try to help her, and the blood rises over her head, and she is completely submerged. At this point the blood is up to around my thighs. I feel around for her to try and save her, but I can't find her. Suddenly I see her standing beside the table, the blood being up to her stomach, and just at my shoulders. She starts to scream and I am submerged by the blood...

I always wake up at this point.

I always used to have this dream, and it was always exactly the same each time. It got to the point where I had the dream about every second night - which is a lot. I was often quite scared to go to bed, because the dream was so terrifying, and I never knew it was a dream when it was occurring, it all felt so very real. But eventually I just stopped having this dream, so I was very surprised to have it again last night, and the dream was exactly the same as it used to be.

Sorry if you found that a little too disturbing, but it's been on my mind all today, and I felt like sharing it.
 

This is it, the next gen is now! All three consoles are out - I can't believe it. I just tuned into the live Wii coverage and I have to say - it was incredible. I am very proud of the awesome emblem got for watching! I was virtually there! :P

I won't be getting my Wii 'till Christmas, but I'm really thrilled that the system is out. Everywhere people are plugging in their Wiis for the first time...

The revolution has begun.
 

Jeff Gerstmann's review of Twilight Princess is unacceptable.

I've read every other review of the game, and none of them make the obscure criticisms Jeff makes. Other reviews praise the game for the gameplay's innovation, and say that they much prefer it to old methods of control. Jeff says the motion sensing capabilities are like a glorified button - and he would've preferred the button. While all other sites praise the level of immersion the controller's speaker gives you, Jeff says it's "kinda lame". Every single review raved about the classic Zelda feel, but Jeff calls it: "Too nostalgic for it's own good."

Jeff's main criticisms, is that it dose n't make as much as a leap in gaming as OoT does...

No game does!

Of course, it's not going to reinvent the wheel - all console games are 3D now! How is it that he can bring down the score of a game because it's not as fresh as OoT was? If all reviewers thought like this, every game would have a much lower score.

It's almost as if Jeff wants people to hate his review! He says very little about the game, and most of what he says is negative. He neglects to compliment the game in so many respects, and creates ridiculous issues which no other site has mentioned.

It's unthinkable that he gave Wind Waker a higher score than TP. The ironic thing is, he complained about the story in TP, yet applauded the story of WW. If any other person on Gamespot reviewed TP, the rating would be where it should be.

Jeff clearly doesn't like the Zelda series - or the Wii, and I knew his review would be low.

Of all the reviews out of Twilight Princess - Jeff's is the outlier. When you have a group of numbers, and there is an outlier, the outlier is ignored, and the average is worked out without the outlier.

:D

Today I made a tough descision.

Thoguh the Wii comes out on December 7 in New Zealand, I've decided to wait a little longer untill Christmas. Why would I put myself through this extra wait? Well, I've been waiting for  Wii for over a year, so a few more weeks won't hurt. Plus, I want Christmas to be special, and if I get a Wii before Christmas, I'd have nothing to look forward to on Christmas day!

Let's face it, a new Nintendo console is better than Christmas, and considering Christmas comes but only once a year, I don't want it to be topped.

So just think, when Christmas comes I'll get a brand new Wii, and you'll all have one already, and will have nothing to look forward to!

I win!