Well, I'm slowly getting back into the Gamespot community one forum post at a time. I'm going to attempt to get my collection up to date, write more blogs that actually have some interesting content, and hopefully even start writing some reviews (good ones too!)

Until then,

MrDziekuje

So I doubt any of you know, but my family has never owned a PC that was up to snuff for gaming. I mean maybe they could have run most current games shortly after we bought them, but they certainly were never powerful enough to keep up with the game industry. The most recent PC game I played on my own computer was World of Warcraft, and I only borrowed that.

Well all that's going to change by the end of the month. My parents and I purchased an Alienware MX15 for my graduation present today. The price was steep but I souped it up enough to where it should get me through college without needing any additions to power.

I'm not sure how many games I'll be getting for it as I also have a 360, but I currently own the Sims 3. I haven't been able to play it because my PC can't run it.

So that's it, just a quick update. Take it easy, kids.

Well, I think my days as an active member of Gamespot are long gone. I'll still try to pop in every so often and update my blog, maybe make a post or two in the forums, but I will no longer be involved in any unions, writing any reviews, or anything like that. Still, I won't drop my position as NPU Officer, as meaningless as that is at this point.

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Apparently my game list wasn't quite up to date. I went to delete Fable II and Madden 08 (I'll talk more about that soon) only to find that neither game was on the list.

Reason I had to remove them is because I traded them in along with Civilization Revolution.

Since then I bought Bioshock 2: Special Edition and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. Nice!

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So yeah, this officially concludes my status as a Gamespot regular. It's been fun, but it wasn't meant to last forever. After six years I'm finally throwing in the towel. Not for good though, I still pop in. That's all folks!

I recently connected my Facebook account to Gamespot. I don't see any benefits in doing this. If I'm logged in to Facebook it automatically logs me in as Kristopher Kwak on Gamespot. Is this an account completely separate from MrDziekuje? I really don't know. I connected FB and GS while I was logged in on this account. At any rate, I see no reason to use it.

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I also backed up my Wii's memory yesterday. Well, as much as I could at least. It seems that certain games won't allow you to copy or move save data. Pokemon Battle Revolution is one example. I wouldn't be too broken up over losing that data though. I can't copy my Brawl data and that makes me mad. Few other I couldn't copy were World of Goo and the FFCC:MLaaK add-ons. I think some of the older games that don't feature saving will only have data you can copy if you saved your progress via returning to the Wii Menu during gameplay (for those who don't know, it saves your exact location on any Virtual Console title.) I also found it interesting that some games notified me that not everything could be saved. For new retail Wii games, I noticed that the online-ready games like DBZ:BT3 fell into this catagory. I don't know why any VC titles give me this message though.

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I'm thinking about sitting down one day and writing a bunch of reviews. So keep and eye out for that. I need to get some free time from school work.

I got Phantom Brave. My dad stopped in on a whim to check after work and Gamespot had one copy. I played what I estimate is close to half of the first playthrough story. I'm really enjoying it so far and I really wish I could have gotten it a few days sooner.

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The reason I say this is because I also got Metroid Prime Trilogy. I had it the day my nearest Gamestop received it, Tuesday the 25th (it's really unfortunate that we rarely get games on their release dates where I live.) I preordered and as a result got a t-shirt and surprisingly a poster too (the latter was supposed to be for those who preordered it on the website.) I have to say this is a pretty darn good compilation. Three great game on one disc for the price of one new Wii title.

I've made it known on numerous occassions that I was never a fan of Metroid Prime. Back in my SW days, often times I'd rip on Halo on someone would start tearing into Metroid Prime as if that offended me. And I'd laugh at them for assuming I was a Nintendo drone that would praise anything on the Gamecube. I have played Prime and Echoes and on the GC and honestly haven't been thrilled by the controls. I think the graphics are fantastic to this day, both technically and artistically. The music is also fantastic and unforgetable, something that is true of most of the series. So the controls are really the only thing I didn't like. I'm not sure what it was, I just didn't care for it.

I put the two games in the back of my mind and dismissed them as titles I would never own and probably never play again. And for a while, this distaste prevented me from having any desire to play anything else in the series. Well then along comes Metroid Prime Hunters. I played it in an Electronics Boutique (geez remember those?) and once again was not thrilled by the controls. This was the first time I had tried a Nintendo DS (the original). I thought the system was uncomforatble to hold and because it was a store model the screens were probably a bit off (something I releaize today that I didn't then). So once again I put it in the back of my mind. Well, impressed by the DS Lite's looks I bought it on a whim and fell in love (figuratively, you sicko). One of my friends suggested we play Hunters on multiplayer. I was a bit hessitent but I agree to it. And holy crap did I get hooked. We played the multiplayer for hours. And my friend and I were fairly evenly matched. He was better at finding the weapons and going on the offensive, while I was much better at taking cover and escaping (something that I seem to be exceptional at in most games). I played a little of the campaign and felt the game was much better suited for the fast moving and more accurate stylus aiming system than dual analog. It was still lacking a little but I was content with it. Unfortunately, I put off buying the game and playing it further because I feared not knowing the full plot of the first two Prime games would hamper my experience.

Then along comes Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I see videos of gameplay and I'm blown away. This had to be the perfect system. Every good point the first two Primes featured, combined with point and shoot controls. And having played Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, I felt dual analog games could be strengthened by point and shoot when done properly. I was confident that I would enjoy Corruption. However, having not fully played the previous titles, I passed on this one too.

Some time later I bought Super Metroid (once again on a whim). I thoroughly enjoyed it, and played quite a bit of it, though to date I haven't finished it (I'm having diffuclty beating Ridley, he moves too damn fast). Normally I prefer the 3D offerings of long-standing action series over the 2D games, but this case was the opposite.

Then I hear about the first two Metroid Primes being reworked and relreleased as part of the New Play Control! series. I was excited. Now I could enjoy all of them. But time passed and nothing more was mentioned of them. Pikmin and Mario Tennis saw their transition to Wii but the Prime games were nowhere to be found. Where were they? Metroid Prime Trilogy. Nintendo beat offering two reduced price games with Wii controls by offering 3 for the price of one new game on one disc. How did it turn out? Fantastic.

Obviously I started with the first game. It was everything I imagined it would be. The control was fluid, it was easy to get used to, and before long I was plowing through Space Prirates, Sheegoths, and even those damn Metroids. I beat the game about a couple hours agao and I'm on my way to start the second. I'm probably going to review Trilogy when I'm done with it so keep and eye out for that.

So I was supposed to get Phantom Brave today from Gamestop. They didn't have it. They didn't have it? Why don't they have it? It's been out for three days, how do they not have it? I can't imagine there's an issue with the shipping. Games usually appear no later than a day after the release date where I live. I can't imagine it's a that much of a high profile game where all the copies have been sold. Well, maybe that, that could be the case because knowing Gamestop, the store only received a handful of copies (I'm thinking back to Moon here, they only had two copies of Moon on launch and I got the second.) At any rate, I'm pretty dissappointed.

If the 24th rolls around and they have no Metroid Prime Trilogy, I'm going to have to smack a ho. That's all I'm saying.

Level 33:

Took me awhile but I finally hit level 33, Goombella. Goombella is a great character. She is a member of Mario's little posse in Paper Mario The Thousand Year, for those who don't know.

Here's to another unspecified amount of level ups.

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Arcadegasm:

Yeah, so I got myself a 4000 MS point card. Second time I've bought $50 worth of points. So right off the bat I bought Log's Lost Challenges, the Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts add-on. It's okay, but some of the missions are a real pain in the ass instead of a challenge. Next I picked up The Maw. This is a really inventive game. It never really seems monotonous and the achievements are pretty easy to grab. I definitely recommend it. After that I bought the Fallout 3 add-on, Point Lookout. This is probably the most unique add-on thus far. Everything feels so eerie and a little on the insane side of things. Originally I planned to buy Monkey Island Special Edition and Fallout 3's Mothership Zeta with my remaining points. However I tried Monkey Island and was turned off by how slow paced everything was. I assumed Mothership Zeta would release later in the month. So I let one get cathc my interest too much. I bought Marvel vs. Capcom 2. I learned about an hour after making my purchase that Mothership Zeta releases tomorrow, and I don't have enough points for it now, so I'm kind of kicking myself after that. MvC is pretty fun though. It'll take a lot of practice to learn all the combos and stuff but I can certainly put the time into it. I'm left with 400 points and I haven't decided what I'll do with that. I'll have to look through the arcade and stuff.

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Membership date changed?:

I've just now noticed that my profile lists my "Member since" date as Dec 31, 2004. Until recently I was listed as joining on Jan 1, 2005 and I know for a fact that this is the real date on which I joined. I don't know why this changed. It's not a big deal or anything, it's just odd.

I bought a PS2. Second hand, but everything works fine. $30 USD for a slim console, all the cords, one 8MB mem card, one 120KB PS mem card, a Dualshock, and a MadCatz controller that has turbo and mostly works. Pretty good deal, I think. I don't actually own any PS2 titles (but I obviously didn't throw out my PS stuff, so I have that to play) so I'm currently borrowing some games. Right now I have Champions: Return to Arms (which I've already put about 40 hours into with a friend over the past few years), Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and Monster Hunter. As much as I like the idea of Monster Hunter, I can't get into the controls. The whole thing is sloppy. Navigation, combat, all of it. The controls suck. I'm hoping the Wii installment turns out better in that regard because I planned on buying it. Star Ocean TtEoT is great so far. A bit long winded in terms of plot development, but maybe that's just the first hour or so (I've been notified that this is a ridiculously long game). I haven't put much time into Champions. This is because of a number of reasons. First of all, I didn't request to borrow it, I ended up with it by mistake. Second, I've already put a lot of time into it with the owner of the game. Lastly, I tried to play co-op with my sister but as I mentioned earlier the MadCatz controller mostly works. It doesn't want to go left on the left stick instantly so my sister ends up dying a lot. Everything else on the controller works so I'll keep it for stuff that doesn't need analog. I'll need to buy another that fully works for multiplayer stuff.

Yeah, so... that's that.

Okay so as I said in my previous blog, I haven't been nor will I be spending a tremendous amount of time on GS. Not for now anyway, maybe in the future I'll become a frequent poster again. My reviews are very few and far between. But what I am adamant about doing regularly is updating my blog. So here's what going on for now.

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The Conduit:

So I got The Conduit. I'm not a huge fan of shooters but after all of the praise IGN spewed, it had my attention. So June 24th (Gamestop didn't have it in on launch day) I got a Special Edition copy of the game. It came with a special box art, a concept art booklet, and within that booklet two codes for bonus unlockables in the game. Interestingly enough, I didn't preorder it and on a side note, this is the second time I've received a special or collectors copy without doing so, the first being Majora's Mask. I like collectors edition stuff. The cover art always looks so much better. Why can't all games have really good covers? At any rate, The Conduit is a good game. Fast-paced, pretty challenging, interesting story, and great graphics. Oh, and let's not forget the achievements, cheats, and unlockable art galleries. I have yet to try the multiplayer but I will in time. Overall, I enjoyed this game. It's pretty short but it has good replay value because of the achievements and cheats. I reccommend it to all you Wii owners out there.

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Buying M:

So I'm seventeen years of age now, and as such I am legally old enough to buy M rated titles according to the ESRB. Well, today I finally got around to taking my drivers permit test. I passed, so I'll be getting my official permit soon. Then I'll have some nice ID to buy any M rated game I please without anyone's consent. I feel empowered.

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Metroid Prime Trilogy:

I honestly was never a fan of the Metroid Prime series. I didn't see what the hype was all about. In my opinion they don't control very well. But my confidence in the Wii's potential as a shooter-friendly system is great. I wanted to buy Metroid Prime 3, and I know enough of the story form the first two to get by, but for whatever reason, I held out. That said, I'll be purchasing Metroid Prime Trilogy in August. All three games on one disc, with Wii controls. Look at this!

Look at that box art! That is the sickest box art I have ever seen! I want to name one of my children after this box art! Damn! Collector's Edition? More like Coolector's Edition. And I'm a coolector. Do want! Comes with an art book too. Sweetness!

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What I'm Playing:

Yeah, so obviously I've been playing The Conduit. I'm happy with that.

I've also been playing Disgaea DS again. I never finished Etna mode because having Laharl kill everything in sight was my main strategy throughout the main story. So I've been working at that bit by bit. Etna still sucks in my game though.

I tried my hand at both MapleStory and Perfect World. I've decided that there is no substitute for World of Warcraft. I really want to buy WoW and the expansions but the online fee is steep. Maybe I'll just (censored)(censored)(censored)(censored)(censored) and just play for free. :P

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10,000 GS:

Yeah, so I just realized that I forgot to mention that I passed 10,000 GamerScore for my XBL account a few weeks ago so I made this edit to my blog. I topped the landmark number while playing Sid Meyer's Civilization Revolution. Awesome!

Okay, I've been pretty inactive lately. It's the end of the school year, lots of testing, projects and what all going on. All of my free time has been spent playing games. So I haven't been on GS at all. Uhh so yeah, this is what I've been doing.

-In the absence of my 360, I set out to buy myself a new Wii title. Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 went home with me. I proceded to invite my friend and fellow DBZ fan over and we played it until our eyes bled. Great game.

-I bought Art Style: Pictobits, the DSi Ware title. Pretty darn fun but it's difficult as all hell. Yeah, I beat maybe half of the regular levels but the curve goes WAAAAY up at that point. And the dark levels? Pfft, those are the worst of all. Talk about having my butt kicked. I mean, if I really sat down and tried each level a few times I sure I could beat more, but I got tired of it. I'll probably go back to it some day. So anyway, that's the what I spent the rest of my free 1000 Nintendo Points that come with the DSi. Overall I'm satisfied and I doubt I would have enjoyed any other title available at the time over this one. I reccomend it if you love puzzlers and/or are up for a good challenge. Plus I dig all the classic tunes.

-I turned 17 this past week. I got eight 1G SD cards. Yeah, eight. They were in four packs and they were on sale. As rediculous as eight of them seems, it works out. My mom requested one for her camera, which I'm fine with because I've still got seven left. I'm using one for my DSi pictures and music, one for my DSi games, and however many I need for my Wii games. I should still have a few empty cards for whatever I may need in the future.

-I've been playing Dragon Quest Monsters joker a lot lately. I'm working one party building at this point. I need to beat X rank in that desert colosseum thing so I can do Solitare's challenge. I almost beat it today, but my Black Dragon decided to defend instead of attack when it came down to the wire. I WOULD HAVE WON! Gah!!

-I got my sister MySims Kingdom for Wii. I haven't tried it yet myself but she seems to like it.

-My dad walked in about two minutes ago with Civilization Revolution (360) so I'll leave you now to go play that.

-MrDziekuje