I've been short on gaming money for awhile and had never traded in games before to Gamestop so I decided to try my hand with a bunch of old GC and Wii titles that I had no use for anymore. I was going to be happy with getting 50 cents for each of my GC titles, but instead I got at least 1.50 for each of my games! [except for Madden 06]

I traded in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith- 2.50, Madden 07 [wii] 2.70, Top Gun [GC] 1.50, MLB 2K6 [GC] 2.40, Nascar Thunder 2003 [GC] 2.40, Madden 06 [GC] 0.78, and Excitebots [wii] 16.20.

I was really happy at the prices I got especially for Nascar 2003. I can't believe I got more for a game from 2003 than a game from 2006!!! I ended up purchasing Dawn of Discovery for the Wii and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for GC. Dawn of Discovery has been a blast so far except for some annoying characters that seem to follow you around everywhere. I have decided not to start Paper Mario yet because, as a veteran of the N64 edition, I want to devote a lot of time into enjoying that game to its fullest. I can't wait for New Super Mario Bros. Wii!!!!!!

I bought Paper Mario on the Virtual Console a couple months ago after reading the reviews. I didn't know whether I would enjoy the RPG style or not. I quickly found out after playing a couple hours through the game that it has become one of my favorite games of all time. The characters, graphics, and settings are just ridiculously charming and funny. The gameplay is even fun although it may be a bit simplistic. For ten bucks and over 20 hours or so of fun, I'd say that's a pretty great deal. I'm now looking into getting Paper Mario: and the Thousand Year door for the Gamecube which appears that it has the same great ideals that it's predecessor has. I also watched the review on Super Paper Mario for the Wii and I came away a little depressed. It looks like they totally changed the gameplay. I still think that Paper Mario is one of the most overlooked franchises in video gaming.

Last weekend, I unexpectedly received a payload of games that included: Lego Indiana Jones, Wii Fit, and a 2000 point Wii card. That's only four games but that is a lot for me to receive in one day. Lego Indiana Jones follows the footsteps of the Lego Star Wars series and makes many improvements that make the game a heck of a lot more fun. Wii Fit is a fun game to test your balance, strength and yoga skills. Hopefully Nintendo can improve on the Wii balance board at E3 with a sequel to Wii Fit and maybe compatability with Wii Sports Resort.

As for my 2000 point Wii card, I purchased Paper Mario and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time both from the Nintendo 64. Paper Mario is a very funny, and charming game, and it's overall a great RPG experience. As for Zelda, I've discovered that it's not for everyone, including myself. I find myself becoming frustrated with the dungeons and various puzzles, and when I solve them, I don't experience exuberance, but relief that I've cleared one more hurdle. I'm sure Ocarina of Time is a great game, but it's just not for me.

I also received Excitebots a while back. Excitebots is a fabulous improvement upon Excitetrucks and it even has multiplayer!!! Excitebots, Call of Duty World at War online, paper Mario, Lego Indiana Jones, and Wii Fit will keep me busy for a long time. Can't wait until E3!!

AL East:

1. Yankees

2. Rays

3. Jays

4. Red Sox

5. Orioles

Al Central:
1. Twins

2: Indians

3.Royals

4. Tigers

5. White Sox

Al West:

1. A's

2. Angels

3. Rangers

4. Mariners

NL East:

1. Mets

2. Phillies

3. Marlins

4. Braves

5. Nationals

NL Central:

1. Cardinals

2. Cubs

3. Reds

4. Brewers

5. Astros

6. Pirates

NL West:

1. Dodgers

2. Diamondbacks

3. Giants

4. Padres

5. Rockies

AL Wild Card: Rays

NL Wild Card: Phillies

ALCS: Yankees VS. Twins- Yankees in 6

NLCS: Dodgers VS. Mets- Mets in 5

WS: Yankees VS. Mets- Mets in 7

Well, I haven't posted on here for awhile but I thought that I might share the games that I received for Christmas. I got: Sid Meier's Civilization IV for PC, and Call of Duty: World at War, Wii Music, and Disney: Think Fast! for the Wii. I intend to return Disney: Think Fast. So far, Call of Duty 5 has been a blast in the campaign and the multiplayer. I was pleased to see that the multiplayer is largely the same as on the 360 save for Nazi zombies. It is definitely the best FPS and multiplayer experience on the Wii to date.I didn't think Wii Music would be entertaining, but it is...so far. Playing the instruments is fun, but I don't know if it will still be fun in a couple months. Civilization IV is very, very addicting. Sid Meier's Pirates and this game are the two games that make me stay awake late at night. It's going to take a while for me to get used to the turned-based strategy games as I am used to real-time strategy in Age of Empires III, Star Wars Empire at War, and Rise of Nations. So, I am largely happy about my game haul for Christmas 2008, and I wish to anyone who is reading this a happy and safe 2009!

As a proud member of a Nintendo Wii, I was excited to be able to play sports games on the Wii made by Ea Sports and 2K Sports. I just watched the all-play video for Madden 09, and I am mad. I bought Madden 07 for the Wii and was satisfied with everything. But now, EA has dumbed the controls down, the graphics look worse than in 07, and I haven't seen any franchise mode or superstar mode. The bad thing is that EA Sports is doing this to all of their games for the Wii. Tiger Woods, NCAA, NBA, and Madden are now all All-Play. I am also angry on some games aren't even made for the Wii like Fight Night, NHL 09, NASCAR 09 and until this year NCAA Football. I now am excited for the coming of NHL 2K9 which claims to have all the same features as the 360 and PS3 versions which is how it should be. I am unbelievably thankful for EA Sports not being able to buy 2K. On the contrary, I hope that 2K buys out EA. :) That would be the day.

Well, this year has been pretty much a total disaster for my San Diego Padres. Nothing has really gone right for our baseball club. First off, Jim Edmonds was such a complete flop that we released him. Then, we suffered a brutal 22-inning loss to the Colorado Rockies which escalated our slide. Next, Albert Pujols injuried two Padres players on consecutive plays. A comebacker hit pitcher Chris Young in the face sidelining him for months and then a collision at the plate twisted Josh Bard's ankle sidelining him for months as well. In the 2008 first year player draft, yet another of the Padres' first round picks has a high risk of injury. All this is happening as the Padres play subpar baseball having a 32-50 record through June 28th. What should we do? Do we trade and fire everyone and have some horrible seasons to wait for some prospects to blossom. Do we try to weather this and make a run for the postseason. As the MLB Trade deadline approaches, I hope the Padres have a plan.

Well, as a Disney fan, naturally I pay attention to Disney news and rumors. Coming out of Orlando, Florida is a new ride for Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's called Toy Story Mania and it's kind of like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters for those who know what that is. For those who don't, this ride is kind of like a shooter where you rack up points by hitting targets with you very own mounted "gun." This ride is also coming out in Disneyland Resort in California Adventure. Early reviews show that this ride is great, but I'll believe the greatness when I see it. Here are some pics.

In the past two weeks, I've gotten two new games. A new game and a game that is a couple of years old. First off, I got Age of Empires 3. It's a great game that could've been even greater if my computer had a decent graphics card. And on Sunday, I got Mario Kart Wii. What a great game. The online is what this game is all about. Wifi is much improved from Brawl and it even reminds me of Halo multiplayer on xbox live. Mario Kart Wii should've gotten a 9.0 from Gamespot.

It's coming. And there's no way to avoid it. No way at all! You guessed it! Three Words: California State Testing. My teachers tell me to do well, because it "impacts" our school's reputation. But, I would like to see what goes on behind the scenes at the test result facility. They probably alter the scores and freak some children out with low scores. Maybe that's what I should become when I get old. A test recorder. What does a test recorder even do? The answers are on a scantron. That must be boring putting in thousands and thousands of papers through the machine. Anyways, boredom awaits me at school during testing. The testing isn't even that bad, it's after you finish the test you say what do I do now. Because the teachers are watching you like a hawk to make sure no one cheats. Who would even cheat on a test that doesn't count for your grade. Come on!