So I was eager to get home all day today, not just because it was the first day back from school, but because I was positive that after the post office was closed for 3 days, my orders had to have arrived by now. When I got home, the mail hadn't arrived yet, so I waited on pins and needles until the mailman finally arrived. He came bearing only one package, which turned out to be the Skies of Arcadia game I had ordered. I was disappointed that it all hadn't come, but I figured that it was better than nothing.

A while later, I decided to take another peek outside to see if maybe something had been too big to deliever on the first trip, and low and behold, a large box greeted me! Inside was the completion of my entire Christmas order. The first thing I broke out were the computer speakers, which are now nicely positioned on the top of my desk to create a nice surround sound effect. Then I looked at the rest of the games I'd ordered. Unfortunately, I had to eat dinner first, but afterwards I started playing and manged to start off three of the games. Note that there may be slight beginning game spoilers for some of these.

The first I tried was Tales of the Abyss. In a comparison of the three tales games I've tried so far, Symphonia, Legendia, and now this, I find the style to be much more closley related to Symphonia, which I like because I found Symphonia to be a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Legendia was good, but it wasn't as open ended, and Abyss seems to be moving towards an open experience. I have to say that Luke right now is an absolute brat, whose attitude I'm despising. I can understand that he's not very social from being locked away in a mansion for 7 years, but his parents could've at least taught him to respect others. I guess it comes with the whole aristocrat attitude. I'm hoping he grows a lot during the course of this, because he's like a 5 year old in an 18 year old's body right now. Side note, I like Tear already, something about her is just so awesome in general. I'm only up to the first town right now, so this is going to take a loooong time.

The second game I tried out was Okami. Oh my good god, I am in love with the art in this game. It's absolutely stunning graphically, as someone at Gamespot said, it's like you're playing on living watercolors. I've only just begun to explore the brush system, and I'm already liking it. It's a fun concept that I've never seen done before, though I can't help but feel it could be executed better on the Wii, but of course, most point and paint things are easier on the Wii than on other consoles. I'm about to leave the village after getting the swordsman to slice the boulder, and I can't wait to see wha awaits.

The final one I took a look at was Phoenix Wright. I played through the first court case to get the feel, and I have to say, it's quite fun. The first case wasn't all that hard, but it got me in the crime solving mood, and the court system is well executed and doesn't leave you hanging. You could come back months later and be able to pick up where you left off with relative ease because of the court records and cross-examination system. The characters are also quite endearing, I love Mia already, and for some freaky reason she reminds me of Cuddy from House MD, though Phoenix is definitely no Greg House =D.

That's the lineup so far! Next on the list is to try out Jak and Daxter, and Skies of Arcadia. Then I'll probably be back on trying to complete Twilight Princess, and onces that's done, I'll be set for gaming for the next few months. Today was my Christmas, and it was a great Christmas indeed.

~Nighthawk~

It's the start of another year, and I'm hoping that '07 will be the best yet. I'll be a legal adul tby the end of the year, and I'm hoping I grow and mature this year to feel like one.

I'm making resolutions this year for different things, so here is my list of gaming/gamespot resolutions for 2007.

1. Find a Wii and get it!
2. Get a job and earn enough cash to purchase a 360 and fund the online capabilites of the Wii and 360.
3. Game more constructively, with emphasis on playing unfinished games instead of replaying finished ones or running out to buy a new one.
4. Game responsibly, not shirking my duties in favor of gaming.
5. Blog more on gamespot and post more game reviews.
6. Find more gamespot blogs to read and increase my friends list.
7. Get more emblems!
8. Be more active in the gaming community, including attending at least one convention and diversifying my gaming tastes, as well as interacting with fellow gamers more often.
9. Become a 1337 game master!

Happy 07 to ya'll! Hope your new year is filled with fun times and gaming experiences!

~Nighthawk~

So reader, you might be wondering why this is being typed at around 3:30 in the morning. That would be a very good query indeed. And I have an answer. First though, let me give you a summary of my day. That might help things along.

So I woke up this morning and called down to the EB Games I'd visited yesterday. Alas, not a Wii in sight, now or in the near future. Surely Nintendo cannot keep us Wii-less beggars in the dark forever? Bah, it matters not. My next mission was holding out till around 3pm for the mail to arrive. Considering it was around 10am at that point, frustration seems apparent.

Luckily, I had Resident Evil 4 to amuse me. I progressed into a few sub chapters, but after becoming headless for the third or so time that day, I decided to call it quits. I then sat down with the last DVD of my 4 DVD Will and Grace Season 2 set. After the first episode, I went and made lunch. By this time, it was about 12:30 or so. I figured that the DVD would take about 2 hours. During the last episode, I ended up leaving the TV room, and took a chance at the mailbox. I was not dissappointed. Sitting inside, in all their glory, were my brand new copy of Chrono Cross, and an original Playstation memory card, brand new. Amazingly they shipped from different people on different days, but managed to appear together. This was definitely a good thing since I bought the PS card specifically to use for Chrono Cross and any future PS games.

I only got to play about an hour or so however. Mom wanted to go to the tailor to get a skirt done for me. We stopped at the EB games in the plaza while we were there, just to make sure. Again, no luck. Mom suggested Toys R Us on the parkway. I complied because I figured it couldn't hurt.

Mom waited outside while I scouted the game section. Of course, no Wiis. Then, what did I spot? A copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, for the Gamecube.

Now, as the reader may know from my last posts. I recieved the Wii version of TP for Xmas with a promise to find the Wii to play it on. You may also remember that I am a diehard Zelda fanatic. My fanatiscism plus the delay of that do not equal a fun mix. I looked at the game box gripped in my hand. I'd had enough of waiting. The Wii and its shiny graphics and cool control scheme could kiss my rear. I was going to play TP, and I wasn't going to wait any longer. I was going to play it the way it was made for, on my lovely little cube.

I called Mom on my cell phone, asked her about getting the cube version and returning the Wii one. She complied. It was a relief for both of us, because the console searching would be less urgent now that the one game I truly craved would be in my posession. She didn't pick up the first few times, and I was afraid to go out and get her and risk losing the copy I held, though it only was a display copy, and the store had about 20 more behind the desk. But she finally picked up and ok'd the purchase. Finally. Twilight Princess was mine. TO PLAY.

In conclusion, that's what I've been doing for the last nine or so hours. Hyrule is slowly opening up to me, and so far, I'm blown away.

~~SPOILERS START HERE~~

Epic. Truly epic. The entire feel of the game is on a grand scale that can't be matched. Even Wind Waker, with its ocean, feels less looming and open as this. Graphical quality is amazing. The most thrilling aspect of graphics for me is probably the water, just because of how beautifully it's been done.

The storyline is much grittier and dare I say, more adult level than others? I can see the T rating for this. Lots of dark themes. Plus, Link dies in spectacular ways, with spastic body motions and horrid screams. Getting thrown off the bridge in the jousting boss battle was practically sickening; seeing Epona sent sprawling downwards into oblivion was just a tad creepy. No, the creepiest part was the 3rd light spirit's history lesson. Something about pupil-less link and Ilia was just damned creepy. That belongs in Resi Evil 4, not TP! Maybe I got the disks mixed up :D

I love Midna. She's hilarious. This is the first Zelda game where I've actually felt like laughing out loud at points. It's especially surprising because of how dark this game actually is. When Colin is kidnapped a 2nd time and the bomb seller and the orc rider parallel their helmet moves, I literally LOL'd. A lot of slapstick and wit in this one, most enjoyable.

One of the biggest happinesses from this game for me is how versatile you are on horseback and exactly where you have access to. You can ride Epona almost ANYWHERE. And you can use almost every weapon while riding her. Sword fighting on horseback is still the coolest, but whipping out your lantern when the sun sets and having it light the way while galloping across Hyrule adds realism and just feels neat.

~~SPOILERS END HERE~~

All in all, I'm addicted, and will be playing this obsessively to try and finish before school starts up again, so it won't distract me from that.

And now reader, here is where I collapse into bed. Probably getting more stuff in the mail tomorrow. I don't think I'll be buying games for the next 6 months =D

~Nighthawk~

So, here's a list of things appearing in my mailbox today.

1. The first of my Amazon.com buys, Resident Evil 4!



And a day before the expected due date! Gotta love Amazon, for some reason they always deliver earlier than they're expected to.

2. For ordering another yearly subscription to Nintendo Power, I got the Twilight Princess game guide!


*oogles it* so pretty... And along with this came...

3. The "Official" Twilight Princess Soundtrack!

Front


Back


Only 7 songs, but still totally awesome.

I started on Resident Evil 4 tonight, and oh my god, so awesome. The gore, the explosions, the creepyness, it's already got the classic makings of a Resident Evil. I like the ganados; zombies are cool, but it's even more unsettling that still living humans are doing things like... harpooning and burning police officers... for instance. Plus Leon's voice acting is awesome so far, love his little quips. I just realized that at least one zombie is cursing during the village lookout scene. It's kinda funny to hear this woman dropping the "s-bomb" over and over in Spanish. Ah, thank god for online translators and my urge to understand all foreign curses. Playing at night adds creepiness, but I think I'll stick to daytime playing, knowing that I'm horribly weak when it comes to dealing with scary stuff.

So I called every game store around today, and no Wiis to be found. Afterwards, the younger brother of one of my friends who came over tipped me off that he'd seen about 30 of them in the game store that happens to be a short walk from my house. I stopped there on the way to Dad's house, and asked the employees. No Wiis; if they had been in stock, I wouldn't be typing this, I'd be obsessively playing Twilight Princess until 4 am. But they expect to maybe get some in tomorrow. So my battle plan is to wake up at 8:30, get down to the store by 9, question the guys about the arrival time of the UPS truck, and then plant myself somewhere in the vicinity until the time of the truck's arrival. If the truck comes bearing Wiis, that's great. If not, I'll inquire about whether they might come on Saturday. This is really the best time for me to attempt this, since I'm off because of the holidays. I'm gonna pack myself a few books, my DS and wear a nice warm coat and see how long they'll let me huddle in the store.

If I'm lucky, pictures of the Wii next post! If not.... then more reports as my Amazon shipments arrive!

~Nighthawk~

So the good news, I got Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii for Christmas. The bad news, we have no Wii. So I'll be staring longlingly at the game box for a while until we can find the goddamned system. Gah! So frustrating.

However, there is other good news. Considering I made a boatload of cash, I can hold off my zeal for Zelda with other games I'll be getting. Here's what I just ordered off of Amazon.com today:

Resident Evil 4
Chrono Cross (and an old PS memory card to go with it)
Jak & Daxter
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Okami
Tales of the Abyss
Skies of Arcadia: Legends


Hopefully some of this stuff will get here in a few days so I have some new fun stuff to play with. I used the Free Super Saver Shipping thing for some of these things, so it's going to take a little longer to get some, but I don't mind so much. Stippling my order will give me time to check things out. Plus, I'm planning on ravaging local game stores to find other good titles to buy. The used game racks will fear me and my awesome buying prowess. I still have Star Ocean to play as well as everything I'm working on right now, so it's not all that bad.

I hope you all are having fun today and celebrating with your families. I also hope you had better luck console scouting than I did. I'm hoping that they'll get more systems in because it's after Xmas, and I hope to have my Wii sometime in the next two weeks. Right now I'm really glad I'm not a diehard Sony junkie, because it'd probably take me another 3 months to get a PS3.

Also, one last thing. Is anyone having as much trouble as I am with iTunes today? It keeps saying that it can't process my purchases, and I have to keep trying over and over to be able to buy songs. Plus it's taking a helluva long time to download. This can't be a Christmas rush, can it? There can't be as many people like me who need to use their gift cards immediately, can there?

That reminds me, Barnes and Noble will feel my pain as well >D

~A very bouncy Nighthawk (And Season 2 of Will and Grace on DVD= a very happy me)

Picked up Star Ocean: Till the End of Time this weekend. It was used, so I got it for a nice price, plus there was a discount in the store. 16 bucks, whee.

Good story so far. I'm on Vanguard 3 right now, Fayt and Cliff just escaped jail with Nel's help. Fayt is so friggin cute. Just can't help it, I love his personality. The battle system is quite interesting, though I can see how it can get tricky fast. Need to learn how to heal mid-battle X_x.

And now to restart my computer, as my keyboard is totally messing up for some unknown reason. I have to type REALLY slow for it to work. Stupid Acer.

~Nighthawk~

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear Nighthawk
Happy Birthday to me

And Zelda GC got an 8.9? In the words of Lewis Black, "SON OF A B***"

Right now I need to concentrate on school before the semester is over so I don't totally die. Therefore, I'm taking off of gaming until Xmas, except for the birthday gaming session I'm doing this weekend with friends. I'll report on that, but not much news from me for the next two weeks. I'll try to comment on all yer blogs like I always do, but I'll be stressed out until the holidays, so don't expect long psychoanalytical comments :).

And if TP GC gets a bad rating, I'll most likely be ranting, but whatever :D

~Nighthawk~

So I finally finished Star Fox Adventures tonight. I'd completed everything, twice over in fact, but I couldn't beat Andross, the final boss. I finally accomplishd it tonight. It was ridiculously hard compared to the rest of the game, I mean come on, give me a break! That was insane! They had to make the last boss an R Wing level, when barely any of that game was like that? Besides that, it was a pretty great game. I've never played other Starfox games, and I know they're not really like that one, but I'm interested. Maybe if they put Starfox 64 on the Wii Virtual Console I'll try it out. Expect a review for SFA in the next few days.

I am in love with Amazon.com. I've been on there, checking out game prices, and it's great. When I get my Christmas Money, I'm going to game stores for used games, and shopping online for games I wouldn't be able to find in game stores (2001-2003 era gaming). Then the fun shall truly begin.

So, anyone have Elite Beat Agents? One of my friends said they really liked it. Any other opinions?

~Nighthawk~

I've noticed something quite amusing. Every once in a while I click on one of the people I track on the "my watched blogs" column, and proceed to click on their "watched blogs" to try and find new and interesting blogs to track. Whether I track the new person or not, I then look at their watched blogs and continue onwards to try and find more.
I've found that usually all of the bloggers I watch are interconnected somehow. I end up seeing that many of the people whose profiles I end up on have the same tracked blogs I do. This begs the question, how connected is the GS community, how are they connected, and is most everyone connected through the titular phenomena described above? Do the connections run in one giant circle, or do they branch out into other areas of the community? Can you clump people together and find similarities depending on whose blogs they watch? Or do I just happen to always watch blogs that are the most interesting of the community? It's all very fascinating to see. I could have clicked a route through ten blogs, and have one of my contacts pop up out of the blue on someone else's watched blog list. It would be interesting to see the levels of interspersed connection that blogs show.

One other note, I also managed to finish Super Mario Sunshine. The last boss fight was disappointingly easy, but overall, this is a great Mario game. I'll post a review soon. And blame Bettybot for me posting my Hobbit review already, she wanted to know how the game was ;) :P

~Nighthawk~