As I type this, I keep playing two songs over and over in my head...U2's "A Sort Of Homecoming" and Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill". For those of you who may not be familiar with the songs, I'll post the lyrics:

U2: A Sort Of Homecoming (from UnforgettableFire)

And you know it's time to go
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
Light in the distance

And you hunger for the time
Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath
Your own dream landscape

Oh, oh, oh...
On borderland we run...

I'll be there
I'll be there...
Tonight
A high road
A high road out from here

The city walls are all come down
The dust, a smoke screen all around
See faces ploughed like fields that once
Gave no resistance

And we live by the side of the road
On the side of a hill
As the valley explode
Dislocated, suffocated
The land grows weary of its own

Oh, oh, oh...on borderland we run...
And still we run
We run and don't look back
I'll be there
I'll be there
Tonight
Tonight

I'll be there tonight...I believe
I'll be there...somehow
I'll be there...tonight
Tonight

The wind will crack in winter time
This bomb-blast lightning waltz
No spoken words, just a scream...

Tonight we'll build a bridge
Across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
Tonight

And your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
Light's in the distance

Oh don't sorrow, no don't weep
For tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home

Peter Gabriel: Solsbury Hill (from Peter Gabriel)

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
(I) just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
"Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."
(Back home.)

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
they've come to take me home."

Now that we're on the same page, here's what's on my mind...

After 3 years of growing my hair out, (and trying to be a rock star) I've decided to donate it to Locks Of Love. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this organization, I'll provide a link. What they do is collect hair donations and provide prosthetic replacements for children who have lost their hair to medical conditions or cancer treatments. I think it's time for me to grow up and do something for others less fortunate than myself. I lost my Grandfather to cancer many years ago, and my ex-fiance' lost her mother in more recent years, so this is something that I can definately get behind...especially being a father. So this is my farewell to arms...er...hair. And for those of you who want more information:

http://www.locksoflove.org

Now, for the reason I'm singing these songs...I've also decided that it's time to pack up and go home. No, not to be the typical video game junkie living in mom's basement...it's just time to get out of Florida and go back to my hometown in North Carolina. Life has thrown me a curve ball, and I've got to do what's best for myself and my children (I have a second daughter due in December). The radio business is no longer providing the means for my survival, and quite frankly, it's time I got a real job and quit screwing around. It was fun while it lasted (for the most part) but it is a major reason that I am now a single father. Maybe it's an early mid-life crisis, but I know it's time to be responsible and provide for my children and myself. At least I have a good collection of PSP and DS games for the ride! :D

"I am coming home"

I've now owned a 360 for 2 weeks, and what a ride it has been. The day I bought the system, I had "problems", but nothing too major. I initially bought a refurbished system from Gamestop that came with a wireless controller. I also purchased a 20GB harddrive, a wired controller, and Rayman: Raving Rabbids. I traded a LOT of games and 2 systems just to get that much, then went the next day to another game shop and traded more for Bullet Witch and Condemned: Criminal Origins.

The first 24 hours were not without incident, unfortunately. As soon as I got home I started setting up the system. Having never owned an original Xbox, I quickly discovered that their wired controllers had a break-away connector, and you cannot connect it to the system without this break-away piece. And, with my luck, the pre-owned, wired controller I purchased was missing the break-away. No worries though...I returned it and got another wireless controller.But what is this? The wireless controller would not connect to the system either? After a frantic phone search around town for another pre-owned wireless, I decided to try xbox.com for some troubleshooting tips (since my system didn't come with instructions). They were useless, but I did find the answer online eventually (that's what the little button beside the memory ports is for!). Now I have both controllers working and barely leave the comfort of my bed while gaming.

You would think that there would be no other problems at this point, but then I discovered that my 20GB harddrive was missing over 6GB of space. I tried reformatting, but alas, nothing.I went back to the internet where I found that this is where system updates are kept. I just wish I had been informed of this when I purchased everything, insteadof findinng out the hard way.

A lot of people have questioned my initial game purchase, but what they fail to realize is that I am sharing this system with my girlfriend and her 2 kids, so I had to get games for everyone. In the next couple couple of days, I found a cheap copy of Ridge Racer 6 and Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind.I would have gotten Oblivion, but I wanted to try something cheaper until I could determine if I would even like it. Rumble Roses XX was the final purchase for the week, and only because (yet again) it was cheap and multiplayer.

I finished Condemned in a few days and decided it was time to bump up to some of the more elite titles in the 360 catalog. A very well played "business deal" allowed me to pick up Gears of War, Lost Planet, and Perfect Dark Zero for a grand total of less than $20. I was very excited to try out all 3 titles, but what happened next I cannot explain. I put in Gears of War and got an error message! It told me I needed to place the disc in an Xbox 360! "Uhm...isn't that what it's in?" I asked myself. I figured it was a scratch on the disc, so I returned it and got another. While I was at the store, I had the employee put it in their system. Hmmm...worked fine. I took home another copy anyways and popped it in. The same error message! I called Xbox customer support and they were just as confused as I was. I finally decided to just take the system in to Gamestop and trade it for another.

All is well now. Hopefully there will be no more incidents in the future. It's been a hectic 2 weeks, and at times I've felt like I've been treating the system like you would a newborn...handling everything very carefully, only playing for short periods as to not overheat it, putting away everything when I shut down the system...but I'm sure most of you who know me will understand. I am not financially capable of buying a new 360, much less replace one if it were to get broken. I just hope that all is well from this point on, and no one else will have to go through the nerve wrecking experience I have.

As for the future...I have a bunch of titles to look forward to: Bioshock, Blue Dragon, and Blacksite: Area 51 are the highest on my list.

I love the 'Tales' series, and probably more than I like the Final Fantasy titles, but damn...I can't seem to get enough of these titles. I've put 24 hours of game time into Symphonia (before I had to set it aside for 3 months, then forgot where I was and where I was going), I found Phantasia on the GBA, and just picked up Radiant Mythology yesterday, and I've been trying and trying to get Eternia off Ebay for a decent price. Now I've found out that there is a 'Full Voice' edition of Phantasia and a port of Destiny 2 for the PSP, and Tempest for the DS...and they are only in Japan with more Tales titles on the way for both systems!

I know people complain about not getting import titles all the time, but I never realized it was this bad. There are tons of games that I'll never get to play just because they are in Japanese. So where are all the American exclusives? Show me a game that has not been made available to Japanese audiences (and was worth a damn).

I understand that there are licensing issues in America that prevent certain titles from being translated, such as Jump Ultimmate Stars for the DS, and Sony has said that American audiences will not get ports of older titles unless they have at least 20% new/additional content. Tales of Phantasia has FULL VOICE ACTING! How much more content do you need to get that released here? If the GBA version is what's keeping it from making it's stateside debut, I have one thing to point out -Final Fantasy 1 & 2: Dawn of Souls. That didn't stop the release of the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary edition for PSP...and it has almost the EXACT SAME CONTENT as the GBA version, except separated into 2 releases with "better graphics". We got the Riviera update didn't we? Isn't that just a full voice version of the GBA title with better graphics too? Sounds like the same thing as the Phantasia update.

It just seems to be a bit of a double standard, releasing some games and not others. I know there are some titles that are made that would not go over as well because of cultural differences, and there are some jacked-up licensing contracts in America that prevent others, but dammit, I want some of these games and I'm sure there are plenty of others who agree. What do we have to do as a gaming community to make it known that there are enough of us out there to warrant bringing these games to English-speaking countries?

Copy and paste the entire text, add your name and answers at the bottom, and repost as a new blog for everyone to see...

1. ) What was the last game that made you scream profanity and why?

2.) Name 3 of the biggest irritations in gaming history.

3.) What was your biggest video game disappointment?

4.) Most overrated game of all time

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MarkedByAshes:

1.) Mega Man X - have you ever played this game?

2.) a - Refilling those damn sub-tanks in Mega Man X games by killing enemies over and over

b - Leveling up in Final Fantasy games

c - Searching all over the levels in 3D platforming games trying to find those last few coins or gems to get 100%

3.) This is a toss-up between Diddy Kong Racing DS just sucking and Starcraft: Ghost being canceled

4.) Halo

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I worry about the state of the world as these children grow up and are exposed to such violent and disturbing images. It's not that I think we should not be aware of the problems in the world, it just seems that the American public has become jaded to the things that most people, 50 years ago, would faint at the sight of. Movies are becoming more graphic for the sheer sake of shock value, and games are becoming more and more contraversial. But before I get into the politics of gaming, I'll give you an idea of where I come from...

I was born in 1977 to a laidback, Southern (American) family, that didn't have a lot, but we never went without. My first taste of video games was going with my father to the local convienence store for a Yoo-hoo and donuts while he played Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, or Galaga (circa 1981). I would sit ona stool next to the cabinet, munching downon my snackand watch intently as he pulverized barrels with a hammer, or cheer him on as he grabbed the power pellet and chased the ghosts around the maze. Those were the simpler days...and also the days of the Atari 2600. Pong, Combat, and a strange version of Pac Man that looked nothing like the arcade, but still held my interest.

Fast forward a bit to 1983. I was already a sci-fi junkie, knowing the dialogue from Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back backwards and forwards (I had no concept of the 'Episode 4 - A New Hope' title at that point.), never missing an episode of Dr.Who on PBS, and taking a liking to the Tron arcade game...

1983 would also bring Return Of The Jedi (which I remember seeing one of the original posters for REVENGE Of The Jedi) and loads of action figures from He-Man, GI Joe, and of course, more Star Wars figures.Later years would bring Transformers, Go Bots, and their television and movie tie-ins. It was a time to use your imagination to create your own adventures with your action figures and make up your own stories that were not bound to licensing constraints. GI Joe could take on the Transformers, the Transformers could battle it out with the Go Bots, and the only thing holding you back was imagination...and the money to buy more action figures. I think back now and wish I had nevergotten rid of all my toys. I had what would be worth a fortune today, but I don't think I could trade the memories for any amount of money.

1985 brought about a change in the gaming world with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System...but I didn't get to move up from the Atari 2600 for quite some time. I did have the Commadore 64/128 computer system, but that was nowhere near as cool as my cousin's Nintendo. I remember the first game he had was Top Gun (circa 1987). He was off with his mother when I went to visit,so his father turned on the system for me and said "have at it". And that day was a foreshadowing of my gaming future...I landed that F-14 on the carrier the first time I ever tried. From then on, I hadsome sort of weird ability to do the near-impossible when it came to gaming.But, it wasn't until Christmas of 1988 that I got my hands on my very first NES. I started late in the game, but I'll never forget that first batch of games...Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Super Mario 2, Castlevania 2, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Throughout my gaming history, my family took note of the games I was playing. I remember that I wasn't allowed to play Ghosts N' Goblins in the arcade since it had "demonic themes". It sounds rediculous now, but not to my family at the time. Most of the titles I was allowed to purchase for my Nintendo were "family friendly" games such as the Mario and Mega Man series. I didn't really understand back then, but now, as a parent myself, I do. And this is where I get into the gaming politics...companies should not be held responsible for what children are exposed to. It's not up to the world of entertainment to raise our kids. Parents are solely responsible for the video and game content their children are exposed to. Buying a 12 year old child a Grand Theft Auto game is their choice no matter how irresponsible it may seem. But at the same time, parents should be more conceincious about what their children are being exposed to and take an interest in what they are doing instead of setting them down in front of a television with any videogame they ask for (or movie, TV program, etc) that they might have had exposure to through school, friends, or siblings.

My point for all this rambling is that I come from a simpler time and have watched first hand as the video game and movie industry have tried to out-do themselves with every game or film released. There have always been violent movies depicting gang violence and war, and even early video games such as Space Invaders and Combat depicted violence. It's the natural progression of things to be better than the last that brings us from Bela Lugosi as Dracula to Eli Roth's Hostel 2 or from Pac Man to Manhunt 2, but do we really need that progression? Do we need to see gory depictions of decapitations and genital mutilation for a movie to be scary? Do we need to see a zombie's head explode or think of new ways to eliminate an opponent with a fire axe or shotgun? If we are to have such a progression, shouldn't childrenbe allowed to mature properly instead of allowing a 12year old a copy of 50 Cent: Bulletproof? I have seen parents buy these titles for underage children and I have to wonder if this is the reason for the violence in schools and on the streets. I'm not blaming video games for exposing children to violence...I'm blaming parents for not teaching children how to behave. It's these parents who arewon't teach their kids about the rights and wrongs of social interaction that make it necessary for the ESRB ratings, but at the same time, these are the same parents that ignore the ESRB and will be the first to blame video game violence for their children's social deviance.

This is why I applaud retro-gaming. I want my children to develop an appreciation for video games as an art and to mature properly with the understanding that these games are a form of fantasy world similar to the days that I spent playing with my Transformers and GI Joe action figures, where imagination rules, but reality is waiting for when you put your toys away or turn the game off.

I just felt the urge to type today. No particular reason...just sitting here browsing the forums, fighting off a cold, and not really interested in any of the topics. I did see that there were people discussing the removal of GBA, GC, and Xbox from the navigation bar. That's sort of interesting. I actually hadn't noticed. But it is sad in a way. Here I am happily browsing then all of a sudden I got a sense of urgency that I should be out looking for the GBA and GC titles that I've wanted for my collection before they disappear from the market completely. But that's just stupid. Just because one website decides it's time to clear out the old and make more room for the new, doesn't mean I need to rush out in a blind panic and hunt down that copy of Star Wars Rouge Squadron that I traded in last year.

Or should I?

Once the Nintendo DS came out, I was extremely excited that I would be able to play all my GBA games...but there was a catch. Even with the wireless connection to other DS systems, you can't use it for GBA multiplayer games. And I can't hook up my DS to the Gamecube and play Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles with felllow DS owners. If I want to play Crystal Chronicles, I'll have to hunt down a couple of GBAs and link cables. And after being spoiled by the DS Lite, do you think I would settle for the old GBA system with no backlight? Hell no. GBA SPs all the way around! But what's this? Still $79 for a new SP? $59-$69 used??? Last I looked there weren't that many new games out for the GBA and with the DS Lite only $50 more, what's the point of an SP now? I still walk through Wal-Mart and see SPs and Gamecube systems on the shelves but the software is dwindling.

So how does this all tie together?

I have a feeling thatwe're about to go through a bad time for video games. Thhe old systems are cheaper and abundant (Gamecube and GBA) but the games are becoming hard to find due to backwards compatability (DS and Wii), so there's going to be this massive surplus of systems and the retailers are going to drop prices drastically to get them off the shelves and people will buy them thinking "there's tons of games out there for this system". And that's where they will go wrong. With thelack ofnew releases and newer consoles featuring backwards compatability, the Gamecube, GBA, and even Xbox and PS2titles are going to fade into obscurity making the demannd for them rise and collectors will start offering more and more for rare titles such as Ico and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.

What's my point?

Well, is it time to bail out? When I heard Sega was dropping the Dreamcast, I traded mine the next week so I could get as much as possible for the system and games. The problem with this generation is that the games are worth more than the system since you can still play them with the Next-Gen consoles. Being somewhat less than fortunate in the salary department, I am not able to afford some of these new systems unless I trade my older things towards the purchase price. But where does that leave me? A system with nothing to play on it? No money to buy new titles because they cost 5 times (ormore)whatI pay for my current titles? Or do I just stick with my current consoles and hope that some day there will be a way to enjoy all the games I want on one all encompassing system?

And that's my thoughts for today...