I consider my self a gamer now and not a poor gamer, even though I'm poor.

I can cite an example of how my perspective has changed. I'm replaying Super Mario World to get through all the levels. I used to look up the FAQs and find the quickest route but now I'm just like; **** it." I hold the controller differently too. I clamp my right hand so I can always hold Y and my thumb is free to do a regular jump or spin jump. I learned a spin jump goes practically as high as a regular jump and it makes for some pretty awesome looking things.

I got this perspective I guess from tool assisted speed runs, specifically the 5 minute Super Mario 64 one. I realized that video games are all about entertainment and that's how I treat them. The old me would just want to get to the end of the game and be done with it, that's probably why WOW engrossed me so completely, because there is no end. Now I just want to find out the objective of the game and see how I can make it fun.

It's why I love Mario and Zelda so much. I can just mess around with the environment and find secrets. I only care about the objective when I get bored with the task I've created for my self.

Einstein said; "Imagination is more important than knowledge.", and that is the mantra I'm living my life by, it has turned me into a critical thinker.

Well, it is 11:02 local time, I got into the Fire Temple at 10:15:PM and was out in 45 minutes.  The good ol' fire temple.  I'll keep this spoiler free.

I've been playing Ocarina of Time, it has been some time since I purchased a new game.  All of my games are hand me downs or old Christmas presents... as is my copy of Ocarina of Time.  I preordered Ocarina way back in 1998, I was 13 years old.  I still have my gold cartridge and my box.  Could I sell it for a nice chunk of change?  Yeah, I could, but I'm not.  This game still manages to awe me.  Playing through the fire temple I was amazed that a game like this came out eight years ago.  It is such a fun game.

The Fire Temple is probably my favorite temple of all of them.  I like it's song, I like its item, and damnit, it is easy.  Seriously, I beat it in 45 minutes without a strategy guide.  My notion was, if you don't know which way to go, take a left... and oddly enough, it worked perfectly in this dungeon.  Next is the daunting task of diving into the Water Temple.  I am not looking forward to that.  It took me three hours to beat it the first time through back in 1998. 

Ever since I quit World of Warcraft I've been playing games less and less.  Today I've only played for under an hour.  One thing I was considering doing today is finishing Chrono Trigger for the SNES.  I got to the final encounter and I died, it was the first time I died and I just sort of lost interest.  The story was perhaps one of the greatest virtual stories I ever got into... but the ending is sort of predictable.  The reason I never got around to attempting it again is because the fight is long, I died at the 15 mintue point and just didn't have the drive to finish it.

In the mean time I've been browsing forums, reading Gamespot and Joystiq news and, well for today, watching Football.  I got to catch the Greenbay Pats game and the Cowboys/Colts game.  Both were amazing games.  Right now I put on the Broncos/Chargers game and I'm happy to say I'm being entertained.  The Broncos' defense is fun to watch and being able to watch LT is always a pleasure.

So, until tomorrow, this is Mattson the Poor Gamer signing out.

*cough*

Well, I watched a good chunk of the Wii launch coverage. I started at 7:30PDT and ended at around 10:00PDT.

Some things really bored me and I actually left for a few minutes. They had some latina chick who made sure people knew she was from TRL. Infact, she drilled that so much that I don't even remember her name, just the fact that she was from TRL. She took the stage with a Troy Maclure-esque intro. "You may remember me from such works as....", I kid you not. Then, if you had no idea what she was talking about she'd go into, "if you don't remember that, then you may have seen me here." Seriously, talk about a low sense of self worth.

Then, came Reggie Fils'aime(holy crap, I got that right). He came on stage and tried to do his trade mark "I'm about kicking ass" sthick. It fell flat. He didn't give an epic speech, infact I think his entire time on stage lasted around 60 seconds. But hey, it's Reggie, what more can he say? It was the Wii launch and more then 4,000 Nintendo faithful were in line and would cheer anything he said.

Then came one of my highlights for the night. The CEO of Toys 'R' Us took the stage. I believe his name was Jerry Storch? This was so funny. He seemed so uncomfortable up there. He spoke like he has never done a live event before. He said the Wii was the greatest 'toy' ever... that's a stretch, but what ever. He seemed like he was beat up alot in highschool and he just wanted to please all the Nintendo fans or get an asswhoopin'. But he'll get the last laugh you bullies... all the way to the bank.

Well, the GameSpot crew showed more pre-recorded content then live it seemed. And, lots of the things they showed were hit and miss. The whole talking Mario thing was probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Then they went to the Nintendo World Store and talked to the people in line. One kid came up and said he was a huge fan of GameSpot. He made me chuckle, "Why isn't Alex here." I guess he's not a huge fan because then he'd know why Alex isn't there.

Well, that was it. The highlight of the whole night for me was actually around the time I left. Ricardo interviewed some dev's from Marvel Ultimate Alliance. It was very insightful and I actually enjoyed everything about it. These dev's were charismatic and cheerful and it was nice to see. Infact, I enjoyed it so much that if I ever get a Wii, I hope to get Marvel Ultimate Alliance with my copy of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Well, this is Mattson the Poor Gamer signing out. Gamespot's Wii launch coverage was top notch and the only thing bad about it in my mind was the fact they gave that Fanboy airtime to bash Jeff's review. Ryan played it well though, massive kudos to him.

So, as I type this it is 8:45PM local time and the Wii is due out in less then four hours. Yet, I, sadly will not be getting one, for a while at least. I've been following this console ever since E3 and have been hoping to save all extra money I could for the Wii.

I figured if I saved a couple of bucks here and there by November I'd have the money for a console. Well, sadly... I have zero dollars saved up. There simply were more important things I needed to spend my money on. Rent, winter clothing, and car insurance, etc. So, I will be sitting back and watching Gamespot videos and reading about everyone else's fun.

As for the videogames I have been playing? Well, I dusted off my N64 and popped in my Golden Ocarina of Time cartridge. I've been playing that in anticipation of the Twilight Princess, which I will not be getting. The game is extremely fun. The last time I actually played Ocarina of Time was in 1999. So everything seems new to me, even though it isn't. I have vowed not to use any FAQs and right now I'm at the second temple. Just got the red tunic and now I must travel up Death Mountain.

It's amazing how that game is still fun, even after all these years.

As for my last gaming purchase? I got a Nintendo DS on June 2nd, 2006. I was going to hold off but I just needed something new. The last game I purchased before the DS was Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal... back in 2004. An awesome game that I would have never of purchased if it weren't for the reviews it got on Gamespot.

But, sadly, my cats chewed through my NDS charger when I was sleeping and now I can't even play it. So I'm stuck with my old console games and PC games. I play Counter-Strike 1.6 occasionally and I just quit the virus that is World of Warcraft.

All in all though I'd say my gaming life is particulary fun. Even though I won't be getting a Wii this year or in the foreseeable future.