Working with the public for so long, I have found that shoppers' attitudes can have an adverse effect on the sales peoples' and vice versa. Recently I had a woman fly off the handle because our store policy is to check ID with credit card purchases and she didn't have an ID with her. "I've been shopping all day with no problems!" The associate (who is quite young and inexperienced) turned to me for assistance. I helped explain to the woman that it was our policy and it was put into place for the protection of the consumer. "I don't NEED your protection! I'm covered by the credit card company!" I told the associate to run the card to avoid any more unplesantness and I would take the blame if anything were to happen. The woman stormed off after her transaction was complete. I didn't think twice about it until I was on my lunch break and happened to overhear another woman talking with a friend about having to show ID for a purchase. It was then that I realized that some people are just dead-set against policies and proceedures. They are obviously so set in their ways that they don't care that these policies are put in place to deter credit card theft and fraud.

Another incident involved our store receiving an email complaint that we were too slow and inefficient. Translation: someone was too impatient to wait in line. We have a small store. We have only a few employees on the schedule for any given day. We only have 2 registers. If there are more than 5 people in line, it's a little crowded. I don't know any other way to make things more efficient than to have a straight line from the registers allowing shoppers to freely move about the store around the line and everyone wait their turn to be called up for assistance.

These incidents along with people rudely interrupting me while assisting another customerwith questions such as "Got any Wii's?" or "Where you keep the (insert system/game title here)?" are the purpose for today's rant. I smile at people for 8 hours straight and try to be as kind and considerate when helping find that perfect holiday gift for someone. Why? Because I've had too many bad things happen in my life recently to be able to fully enjoy the holidays like I want to and I want to make someone's day just a little bit brighter. I've been divorced this year, lost my job, totaled my truck, moved 600 miles from my daughter,lost my second child (still-born), had to move in with my parents, and work a jobmaking less than $7 an hour, but I still manage to maintain a damn smile and keep it together while some b**** gets irritated because they have to wait in line, have their ID checked, or can't get their spoiled-*** brat the hottest video game system because they wait until the last f***ing minute to shop for it. Walk a f***ing mile in my shoes andTHEN complain to me about how bad you have it because you had to park at the far end of the mall and walk through the parking lot just to get into the shopping mall only to find that we're sold out of Wii's or PSPs. Idon't think you quite have it as bad as I do right now. Sure,there are people who have it worse than I do, but I don't think they're b****ing because they can't get a Silver PSP Daxter bundle in time for Xmas. If I ask for your ID, show me your damn license. I don't give a s*** if it's ever so slightly inconvienent.

Ok, enough ranting for now. It's my day off. I'm actually enjoying a quiet day alone, playing Lost Planet (Xbox 360) and taking it slow while the world hustles around me. My sister's new boyfriend decided he was going to attempt the near-impossible and try to get a pink Nintendo DS Lite for my sister. Too bad they only got together a few weeks ago. I could have ended his search easily. But alas, he decided a day or two ago that it would be the perfect gift, so he went searching. He was ready to drive 200 miles last night to get one, but I told him to let me look around. It really is amazing how good I am at finding things for others. A couple of quick and easy calls today and I had it nailed down for him. I wouldn't do this for just anyone...it's just that my sister has finally found a man that was worth a damn. So, I did my good deed for the holidays, I'm watching the shoppers rush around frantic, and I'm just taking in the sights. I've gone through too much and I'm getting too old to be arguing with these people and quite frankly, I don't care if someone wants to b****. I leave work at work and home at home.

In continuing memory of London Rose - Sept. 16, 2007

For those keeping up with me taking full advantage of my game check-out policy at work, I've chalked another title up in the "completed" category. I clocked in 9 hours and 22 minutes into "Call Of Juarez" on the Xbox 360. For a full review, Click Here. And while I'm on the subject of completing games, it's time I had a moment to rant. So here goes...

Game Length.

Kids do it. Parents do it. Reviewers do it. Hell, I do it too. We ALL complain when a highly anticipated title offers up a few measly hours of game time. Of course we want to get our $40-60 worth out of a title, but does it mean that games offering up even more playing time should go up in price? Or should developers reduce prices on games that are considerably shorter? There's a few things I think we should take into consideration when we look at this issue:

1.) Game genre & content - We all know by now that FPS games are going to be shorter than some epic RPG. So why do we complain when the story mode clocks in at 8 hours or less? Because we're not looking at the big picture. Most FPS titles these days are being created for multi-player experiences. Sure there are some people like me who don't go online and play with the masses, and we enjoy the story for as long as it lasts. But when you consider how many hours people clock in for online play, that's where the extra dollars make it worthwhile. I must have played thousands of hours of Goldeneye 64 with my cousins while we had Nintendo 64's, but once I completed the story, I didn't really go back and play again. Unless a game has tons of unlockable content, the multiplayer mode is what people are really buying a game for.

2.) Downloadable content/expansion packs - These, of course, will extend the life of great titles. Look at what the multiplayer map pack for Halo 2 did for the game's longevity. Look at the expansion packs for Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, F.E.A.R.,and Final Fantasy XI. If developers are going to make a great experience last longer, this surely is the way to do so.

3.) Game quality - How many times have you said "oh my God, this game is freakin' sweet and well worth my money"? I'm sure that there are tons of fanboys (and girls) who say this about every title in their favorite series, and there are fanatics that feel the need to get certain titles the day they hit the stores, but that's not my point...we've all had that game we bought at full price and we were so p***ed-off when it didn't live up to expectations. I, for one, was so glad that I didn't spend money on Blacksite: Area 51 simply because it would have hurt my feelings more knowing that I had waited so long to play it only to find out exactly how flawed it was AND have dropped $60 on it. (For more information, see my recent review.)

What I propose to designers (the rant begins) - 2 disc games. Plain and simple. Put all the story content on one disc and the multiplayer content on a second. For those who want just the story, it's available. For those who want multiplayer, it's available. $30 each and you have your $60 game. And, of course, the story can still unlock bonus multiplayer content. Let's face it, how many times have you wanted to trade in Halo (1, 2, or 3) because you finished the story, but wouldn't do it because you love the multiplayer? And while I'm at it, what the hell is up with developers charging $60 for an expansion pack??? I'm looking right at you F.E.A.R.! It's not a full game! You have to purchase the full game in order to play it! Greedy a** mother-f***ers! And why was Marvel Ultimate Alliance re-released with extra characters (Gold Edition - Xbox 360) for the same damn price as it originally released for??? $60 for the original then another $60 for 8 MORE CHARACTERS?!?! Shouldn't you have put those in from the beginning? Or how about making it AN EXPANSION PACK! "Get all 8 extra characters off Xbox Live for only $5." Sounds great doesn't it? You wouldn't have had to print even more discs which, in turn, would have cut some serious costs. And MAYBE the game wouldn't be bundled with the 360 as a way of getting rid of all the surplus copies of the standard edition. Just a thought.

What I propose to gamers (I conclude my rant) - Let's think about this in terms of other media...you'll pay $20 for a comedy DVD that runs for about an hour and a half. (That's 90 minutes for those that can't keep up. ;)) You b**** about a game being too short when it's8 hours long (Again, that's 480 minutes) and you pay $60 for it. So doing a little math, you'll pay $0.22 perminute for a feature film that you WATCH, but you'll complain about $0.13 per minute that you INTERACT WITH. Something's not quite right here. And I KNOW you've all bought movies that turned out to be pure crap. Did you b**** about how bad or short that movie was? Maybe you should. Or maybe we should all just quit our b****** and just enjoy gaming.

Just something to think about for the day. Cheers everyone.

After spending a few hours cursing at "Call Of Juarez" (Xbox 360) I decided to post a few reviews, so here they are, the latest games I've completed:

Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Blacksite: Area 51

Stranglehold

Cheers!

So things didn't work out so well on trying out Conan over the last 2 days. I ended up being far too busy to give it more than 5 minutes of my time each night before waking up to the system complaining to me that the controller had shut itself off due to inactivity. In other words, I fell asleep the lasttwo nights trying to start the game. I turned the game back in this evening and decided to try something else since I haveTuesday andWednesday off. Perhaps I'll have time to write up a few reviews and put together a proper blog tomorrow.

Tonight's check-out: Call of Juarez (X360)

Well, I've gone and done it yet again...I checked out John Woo's Stranglehold for the Xbox 360 from the store a couple of days ago, and less than 36 hours later, I have completed the game. It's not that I'm trying to rack up gamer points because I'm not even hooked up to Xbox Live. I'm just weeding out the ones that I had looked over but didn't want to pay $50-60 for. That, and I've watched the reviews and saw which ones are listed as being a bit short so I just play through them and return them to the store. Long story short; save your money on Stranglehold and rent it for a weekend...just like Blacksite: Area 51. As I have more time, I'll write reviews for each title I run through, but for now, I'll keep a list of titles that are definately worth a few dollars and hours to rent.

Tonight's check-out: Conan (Xbox 360)

For those who read my previous rantings about Blacksite: Area 51, I'll have a full review posted as soon as I get some time. I've been extremely busy with work and the holidays. However, know that I did end up finishing it in less than 48 hours (less than 8 hours of actual playing time) so I suggest anyone seriously thinking about buying this game, RENT IT FOR A WEEKEND! It's definately not worth $60.

Moving on, I finally finished Legend Of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass. Great game, but not without moments of frustration and screamed obscenities. I really think it could have been better if the option to use the thumb pad were available. The touch screen was mostly reliable, but not always. Some of the side-quest missions could have used a little more clarification. Especially the mermaid questnear the beginning...I went through almost the entire game before finding out that you could get a fishing rod. I had to find out in an online FAQ. It didn't ruin my experience and I finished the game without it, so all is well.

I broke down this morning and decided it was time to unlock the challenge mode on Contra 4 (so I could work on unlocking Contra and Super C), so I set it for the Easy modeand tore off through it. I'mglad to reportthat the final stage of the game is unavailable unless you play on Normal or Hard difficulty. This is what it's all about. REAL challenges requiring REAL skill to get through. Games with unlimited continues that you can run and gun your way through without thinking about your next move...that's not a real challenge. I applaud Microsoft for having the achievement goals on Xbox 360 titles.

Speaking of 360 titles, I've finally taken the time to check out Assassin's Creed. I thought this would be a title that wouldhave alot of hype surrounding it and not much substance, but after spending a good hour playing, I'm looking forward to purchasing it. I'm reminded of Gun with the open world and horseback riding, yet the different approach to combat and stealth and the enormous map have far exceeded my expectations. This is one to spend plenty of time searching for every hidden flag just to see how beautiful the world is. Even the surprise twist at the very beginning was a great way to begin the game.

Lego Star Wars Complete Saga (DS version) has now taken its place as one of my favorite multiplayer titles. The console version is fantastic, but being able to move freely without having to wait for your partner to explore an area makes it far more enjoyable. (In the console version, both players have to move before the screen advances within the same area with no option of playing in split scree.) The new mini-games are quite fun as well, but can be a bit difficult when trying to accquire the gold bricks.

I think the next game I'll check out is John Woo's Stranglehold. I figure the more games I check out from the store and complete, the less money I'll end up spending on titles I may be disappointed with if they turn out to be extremely short. The only thing that bothers me about this is that I may not be taking the time to fully enjoy some of the games. It's also taking away from time I could be spending on other games like Bioshock, Blazing Angels,and Blue Dragon. (I've been stuck in the B's lately.) But this is a throw-back to the days when I used to pride myself on finishing a game in less than a week (or in the time I had for a rental) and chalking it up on my 'board of victories'. It would be a shame to not take full advantage of the benefits of working for GameStop and check out as many games as possible before I start classes and don't have time to play anymore. I guess it's better to save the money though and have more to give to my daughter...which brings me (finally) to this week's rant:

What is wrong with people??? Why is it that everyone wants to "make a deal" on video games and systems? "What kind of price can you give me?", "What's your price on (insert system here)?", "How much can I get this for if I trade in x-amount of games?" Just because it's the holidays, it doesn't mean I'm going to pull some secret deal out of my a** that you only get if you ask me about it quietly in the corner of the store. I am NOT your friend. I am a 30 year old sales associate that is trying to do his damn job and provide you with the product you are looking for so you can spoil your rotten child with the newest game and/or system that said spoiled child MUST HAVE for their respective gift-giving holiday. I don't know when we're getting more copies of Guitar Hero 3 or Rock Band. We told you to reserve it before it came out, but you didn't want to listen. And by the way...I'm not hiding any systems away from you. I don't have some secret stash of Wiis I'mkeeping out for that special person to come in and ask just the right way. When our store receives them, we will sell them. No, I will not hold one for you. No, I will not call you when they arrive. No, I don't know when more are coming in. And I don't f***ing know when we're getting more.

So, this rant is all about stupid people and holidays. Stop trying to weasle deals from a retail store...our prices are set by the company and I cannot change them. Stop spoiling your children...I am a father and I like my daughter to have what she wants, but they can't have everything. Otherwise they don't appreciate anything. And finally, stop waiting until the last minute to get that sure-to-be-sold-out gift. I had people telling me they bought Wii systems this summer and fall and have them hidden away for the holidays. F***ING BRILLIANT! Why don't more people try this approach? Then you wouldn't have to call me day in and day out looking for something that we are not going to have! But this will never happen. People will always be stupid and children will always be brats. And that's all I have to say about it.

Happy freakin' shopping season everyone!

Xbox 360 games are quite expensive...so I've been taking full advantage of the "check-out" policy at work and I can say it's helping me do a lot of "product research". Not only have I been able to better serve our customers,I've gotten a chance to check out several titles that I was unsure if I wanted to purchase, but now I know exactly what to expect. There have been some that I may wait for the price to drop on, some I feel are worth the full retail price for, and then there are some that are HUGE disappointments. Actually, only ONE has been a huge disappointment. I marveled over the beauty of the underwater world ofRapture in Bioshock. My girlfriend and I pounded away at villain after villain in the button-mashing frenzy of Spider-man: Friend or Foe.AndI got my first look at the Orange Box. So what could have me disappointed?

Blacksite: Area 51

Oh Midway, what have you done to me? The original Area 51 from the arcades was one of my favorite rail-shooters. Then the PS2/Xbox FPS came out and I drooled over the pictures in GameInformer magazine. When I got my PS2 in 2006, that was the first game I bought. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. What's not to like about infiltrating an underground military facility with some seriously kick-a** weapons? So, naturally, when I got the demo for Blacksite, I was ready for more alien-slaughtering goodness. The demo showed beautiful graphics, semi-destructable environemts, and a decent difficulty...and it was only a few minutes long at that. But it was enough to wet my appetite and have me planning to purchase Blacksite as soon as it hit shelves. Lucky for me, we're allowed to check out games free of charge, HOWEVER, I wasn't expecting what happened next...

Episode 1: The Phantom Glitches - I loaded up Blacksite Thursday morning hoping to enjoy it for a few levels and then take it back to the store and buy my own copy. What ACTUALLY happened was more embarrassing. I actually stopped and stared at the screen long enough to get killed. Why? Because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had run through a good portion of the firstepisode of the game (apparantly it's 6episodes, divided up into several chapters, with checkpoints throughout) when my team enters what I assume is a large freight elevator. Suddenly, the ceiling starts collapsing down on me! And none of my teammates react to it! I realize that it's the ceiling of the floor I was on pushing through the elevator. What kind of graphical glitch is this??? Then I start to see pieces of (what I assume to be) the elevator shaft pushing their way through the walls! What the hell??? I was so confused by this that once the elevator stopped, I was destroyed by the enemies waiting at the top. I continued my game (trying to ignore the obnoxious load time) and pressed onwards.

Episode 2: Driving Ms. Daisy - Moving on to episode 2 was a bit of a chore at this point. I wanted so badly to like the game, but it was hurting my feelings with the previous episode's graphical 'hic-ups'. I make my way through some of the storyline crap and then hop into a military vehicle and set off for my next location. I was hoping for a good amount of a**-whoop en route. Nope. Shoddy vehicle control made it difficult to get where I was going, and constantly hitting roadblocks slowed things down. (The vehicle AND the action.) Stop at a roadblock. Get out. Kill a few baddies. Back in the vehicle. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. It wouldn't have been so bad if it were only once or twice. No. This was the entire episode! Constantly having to get out just as you get the vehicle rolling,and if you weren't clearing the wreckage, there was another vehicle convienantly placed on the other side of whatever barricade. And it looked just like the one you left behind! Then there was one really bad graphical no-no that left a bad taste...when you order your squad to enter the vehicle, they run to it and then magically appear inside! What idiot figured it would be ok to omit animation of the soldiers actually getting in or out of the vehicle? You see them run up to doors, place charges, and kick them open...and it looks cool. But when you get in or out of a vehicle...it's in or out.

Episode 3: Revenge of the Glitch - Here we are...I finally arrived at the level I had played in the demo. I was so excited. That is until I found the next big glitch. Here I am trying to make my way through the gas station and I'm getting my a** handed to me by these tall, robotic alien things loaded up with machine guns that can partthe hairs on a fly'sscrotumfrom across the Grand Canyon without a scope or aiming. I've continued several times. Finally, I decide to bumrush the first robot-thing and then circle-strafe the second around the perimeter. Worked good in theory. Then I found the afore-mentioned glitch. I fell THROUGH the street into a void that consisted of the sky and a solid grey...uhm...void. I noted that the sky was beautifully done and proceeded to find a way out of my predicament. Well, tried would be the more appropriate word. I couldn't move. So, I did what any good soldier would do. I went for suicide by grenade. (A side note to the grenades - they are armed as soon as you touch the button. You can't holdthe buttondown and then lob it like all other games I've played. It's throw or blow.) For once, I couldn't kill myself with the grenade! I only had 1 left and it didn't kill me! Fortunately, I moved my characteraround a little while I was cursing and ended up falling deeper into the glitch void and must have landed hard on something that killed my character. It was at this point that I realized that there was yet ANOTHER glitch in this level...the loading screens. As the level re-loaded from this point on (I never noticed if it happened before this point), some of the squad's dialogue would start playing during the loading. At first I thought it was funny when my comrade says "What are we waiting for sir?"...pure comedy! Of course I yell at the TV "the loading time you idiot!", however that got old as there were more and more sound glitches every time I was killed and it had to load.

So here I am on Friday...50% of the game completed...and a much wiser person for not having spent my hard earned money on this title. I intend on finishing the game today, but it makes me sad. I wanted to like this game so much, but the stupid mistakes the developers made have cost it, and it will be reflected when I write my full review. (Not that anyone really gives a s*** what I think...however I do think I write better than most of the GameSpot staff. But that isn't hard to do now is it?) Off I go now to defend our world against the aliens, government conspiracies, and horrible graphical glitches. Hopefully, this won't take much longer.

Cheers!

I can't believe what I read this morning...well, it's probably afternoon at this point. But that's not important right now. I log in today and the first thing I see is the review of Silent Hill Origins. While reading the review, I can't help but to translate it into "I don't like this game, I don't want to be playing this game, I don't even think I'll finish this game." Every last line of the review seems to say "this has all been done before" and"what is good about the game was good in other games so it doesn't matter here". I know for a fact that I am biased when it comes to Silent Hill titles, but this review just pushed me over the edge. GameSpot has gone downhill with their reviewers lately and this was the last straw.

First of all, Silent Hill Origins is absolutely beautiful...for a town in ruin and pure evil. What the reviewer completely ignored was that this game is on par with all of the other entries in the Silent Hill franchise in terms of graphics. This isn't so impressive until you take a moment to consider that THIS IS A HANDHELD. You can't compair a handheld to a console. That said, this isone of themost impressivelooking games the system has seen as of yet. The graphics weren't even taken into consideration. The only thing that was mentioned was (and I quote) "Origins certainly looks the part, thanks to the traditional Silent Hill mist and its fine re-creation of the environments we've come to know over the years. Interior environments feature a lot of fine detail and crisp textures, and the contrast between the real world and the otherworld is palpable." What about the creepy movement of each of the creatures? The enemy that most impressed me was found in the sanitorium. It looked like some kind of floating harness for restraining lunatics until your light shone on it and revealed a human shadow on the wall...yet the harness was still empty.

Moving on, there was nothing but complaint about how everything had been done before in previous Silent Hill games. Well, let's think about this for a second...IT'S A PREQUEL! Of course things are going to be recycled. Look at every Mega Man title. Every Legend Of Zelda title. Every Mario title. The fans of the series come to expect certain things in every entry. Mario has his mushrooms and fire flowers, Link has to find his bombs and boomerang, and Mega Man collects the boss' weapons. You can't have Silent Hill without fog, rusted metal walls, and freaky creatures.

And finally, there was complaint about the story. "Travis doesn't have any pressing reason to visit Silent Hill, save for pursuing the strange child." As I remember, all of the Silent Hill stories have been left a bit loose for the sake of player interpretation. I interpreted the opening as Travis being on a long haul past Silent Hill (oh wait, that was told in the opening) and maybe his character isn't as uncaring as the reviewer and Travis is just concerned for the child's safety. It's not an uncommon thing for someone to stop their vehicle when they almost hit someone/something. Being a father, I would have done the exact same thing. I would have been looking for the child to make sure she was ok. The reviewer sounds like he would have made sure there was no damage to his truck and went right on through the night without another thought except that it might make him late for his next stop.

Overall, this was a completely rediculous review and the "official" rating is far from well written. Sure, I gave it high marks, but I said it was because I'm a big fan of the series. I wouldhave liked to see the review include some recognition of the graphics and the overall game being a great entry into the series. Hell, even I commented in my review that it was a bit short by today's standards and the camera could get in the way, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the game. Obviously the reviewer wasn't playing to enjoy the game. Sad really. So many people are going to read that pathetic excuse for journalism and not buy it because they didn't look beyond the score and see that it was poorly written, as most GS reviews are.

For once I'm not going to rant and rave about stupid children, stupid people, stupid people's stupid children, or anything else that may get my blood pressure going. No, today is starting off to be a good day. Over the last few days, I've checked out new 360 games...one of the perks of being a game store employee. That way I can find out what is going to be worth my hard earned money, and I can better sell the product. (I'll move to other systems soon enough, but for now, all the titles I want and can't afford are on the 360.) I must say that I've been completely in awe of the power of Next-Gen.

But let me pause for a moment and remind everyone that I'm not a rich man...I haven't always had 200+ games in my collection...in fact, in a previous blog I mentioned that I had to sacrifice a large number of games so I could be a good father and provide for my child. That said, it shouldn't be much of a surprise to those who didn't know me a few months ago that I've only recently joined the next-gen family. I was a child of the Atari generation who moved up to a Commodore 64/128 when the rest of the world was moving up to the NES. In fact, I've always been about 2 or 3 years behind on the latest systems. I didn't get a GameCube until 2003...right before Wind Waker hit the shelves. I got my first PS2 in the Spring of 2006, I never had an Xbox, and I just got my 360 about 3 or 4 months ago. I've kept up with the handhelds a lot better than consoles lately. So, this is probably why I am in complete awe of some of the games I've tried recently. So, history lesson out of the way, here's what's got my attention lately...

Bioshock - HOLY ****! What else can you say? I turned this on and could not believe how beautiful this game is! The opening scene with the main character making his way through the water and fireywreckage...WOW! My girlfriend was watching as I went into the first corridor and remarked at how real everything looked. This is by far the best looking game I have EVER seen.

Silent Hill Origins - I don't really need to say much about this one since I wrote a full review for it. I love this game. It needs to be recognized as handheld game of the year. Hands down, this is the best PSP game I have played...and having a library that once contained 80+ titles, I think I know a little somethingabout PSP games.

Legend Of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass - I'm currently hooked on this one...I've finished Silent Hill Origins, so I'm working on this now and I'm quite impressed. The only thing I have to complain about is the control set-up. I have learned how to handle the stylus-only control scheme, but I would have liked it more if they had made it so I could use the directional pad. Some places the control is perfect, some places the control decides to be overly or underly sensitive. Otherwise, I'm happy with my purchase. (I'll do a completereview when I've completed the game.)

Contra 4 and Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles- Oh yeah! Classic side-scrolling action is back! This is the kind of gaming I grew up with so I can't help but to love them. And not to mention that Metal Slug 7 is coming to the DS next year...BOOYAH!

And last but certainly not least...Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - When I recently sold off a large portion of my collection, I included my GameCube copies of Lego Star Wars 1 & 2. I haven't replaced these yet, but the plan is to get the 360 version. I did get the DS version and so far I'm having a lot of fun. I just wish that the graphics could have been a little better. Legos are supposed to be square (or round, depending) and shiny plastic...not fuzzy. It's not that the graphics are bad by any means...I just wish they would have made them a bit sharper. I do also appreciate the attempt to add the cut-scenes into the game, but let's take a look at other games by comparison...these kind of cut-scenes could be done on the GBA. Luminous Arc has a beautiful opening in full motion video. Couldn't the original console videos be compressed and added to the game? Otherwise, I like this one as well.

Moving on to another topic...

I was having a brief conversation with my GameSpot buddy LexLas today, and I wished him a happy turkey day. This reminded me of an old tradition Comedy Central used to have of playing 40 hours of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those of you unfamiliar with this show, take a second to jump over to Wikipedia and look it up. Here, I'll even provide you with a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MST3K

It wasn't until I read the Wikipedia article that I realized that the show was canceled some 8 years ago. (This is what happens when you don't watch television for 10+ years.) But wouldn't it be great to have a Turkey-day marathon once again? I would love to see the old MST3K episodes...especially such great episodes as Manos: Hands Of Fate and Mitchell. Ah well, we can only hope. Which reminds me...did anyone else watch Mad Movies With the LA Connection back in the 80's? That was a great pre-cursor to MST3K. Too bad there's not much information on it online. ANyways, I'm starting to ramble...maybe the old man needs a nap. Until next time...

Cheers!

I have recentlyhad a post deleted by a moderator. This is not the first time it's happened, but this was the last straw. I am tired of being censored for my opinion or for having a disagreement withanother GS community member. I just posted a thread in the "ask the moderators" forum. If, for some reason, it get's memoderated or banned, here's what I had to say:

"This has gotten completely out of hand. It's gotten so every disagreement between any GS members turns into a moderation session. I was most recently moderated during a disagreement in the DS forum about th "konami code" and the only thing I can see that would have been wrong with my post was that I put a QUOTE from wikipedia in bold type. If we aren't allowed to accent our posts, then why are there text format options available?

And while I'm at it, why allow users to post their reviews of games if they are going to be deleted? It took me a little while to figure out what review was deleted, but I have it figured out. I was moderated for "trolling" in my review of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. That was the biggest load of horse hockey I've ever been moderated for. IT WAS MY PERSONAL OPINION! If I'm not allowed to post myHONEST OPINION about a game, then why bother posting a review at all. Oh, I'm SO sorry that it was an "Editor's Choice" title, but I thought it was absolute garbage and I posted my opinion. If you don't like my opinion, then don't allow users to post reviews. Otherwise, QUIT CENSORING! Not everyone is going to think that the sun shines out the backside of your reviewers...in fact, I hardly ever agree with them. That's why I write my own reviews.

And in closing, if I get moderated for this post, or this thread gets locked,it goes to show that there is something wrong with the moderation system. And of course, if I do get moderated, there will be some BS reasoning behind it like "using too many caps" or "flaming the moderators". I await a response but with no hope for any changes for the better of the community."

We'll see what happens from here...I really don't expect anything to be resolved, but it's worth a try. If I should get banned (which I wouldn't be surprised if they did ban me), it has been great knowing all of you and I wouldn't fight it...If I get banned, then I wouldn'tWANT to come back.Keep up with me through my sight on MySpace if something should happen. ( www.myspace.com/markedbyashesmusic )

Cheers!