So my vacation is over and I`m back in Camp Bodin wich is placed far north in Norway. Three months left of the "first time service" and I`m really depressed because those three months are probably gonna feel like forever. As luck and finance might have it though I have my trusty laptopp and introducing for the first time in Camp Bodin, the Nintendo DS (what a surprise). I don`t now what I would have done without these precius parts of silicone but I wouldn`t be pretty that`s for shure. I just bought my second game for the DS and so far I must say that Mario 64 DS is excelent, the controlls are a little awkvard at first but once you get the hang of it you wont lock back. Internett acces is scarce to say the least and that means no WoW for me :cry: . Hopefully other people on base will buy the DS soon and the linking madness can truly begin on the DS :D

"Peace out and play!" - Boored soldier saying

So it`s over, The Gathering 05 ended and another great trip to the strange land is yet again over. Windows destroyd some of the fun of course but that is to be expected. Summed up: I spent alot of good time with my friends wich I see to little of, I played alot of World of Warcraft, I saw some pretty cool stuff. That`s about it really.

Moving on.

Lately I feel there has been a lot of focus on three companies and five consoles. I am off course talking about Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and their respective future consoles. I feel that Nintendo and Sony are in some extra spot light, this because of the "handheld wars" between the DS and PSP. Speculation on who will "win" this war is hard, the DS is selling great, but now the PSP comes with it`s shiny style and graphics just waiting to pick up that young adult male market share across the world, the market that already bought the PS2, GTA3, GTA Vice, GTA Andreas and off course GT3/GT4. The same thing will almost without a doubt happen with the PSP, these games are very social acceptable games, this makes the PS2 and PSP very social acceptable systems. It`s a little harder to buy a Gamecube and DS and still be as cool as the dude that`s killing bithces in the street. I`m a Nintendo fanboy, there is no denying that, but I`m also a gamer, a casual gamer and the way I see things now it looks like people who don`t play games with much passion but just loves to play as Liverpool or drive a Ferrari, they buy a PS2 and will likely buy the PSP, people who like to endure huge adventures as a little green dude with great entusiasm buy the Cube or Xbox, and I`m not forgetting about FF here. I know that FF is huge, but the bulk of PS2 owners do not buy rpg or adventure games, they buy these games :sports, racing, GTA. This is the case here in Norway and from what I`m getting it`s pretty much the same situation else where in the western world, Asia may have other patterns. With the Revolution and DS Nintendo is doing a daring and bould move, they are actually trying to focus on the pure fun of gaming itself, not just prettier cars, guns, and sports players. This is quite a move in the fiscal world of business gaming, if Nintendo are doing what they are claiming, the next generation war will be a possible skism in gaming, one wich follows the path today with mainstream games for the masses, one wich aimes for that same market but with a new apprach and form. Will one fail and other succed, or will they live side by side? The year 2006 will probably give us the answer, being a gamer and expierencing this will be quite a feat anyway.

Im rooting for Nintendo by the way

I just stayed up all night, it may be because I`ve been out of normal rythm and it may be because im totally pshyched for this years The Gathering. I`m packed and ready to go, got my laptopp and my ds, and other irrelevant stuff like clothes, money and food. I`v been playing alot of Zoo Keeper lately and it`s just hard to stop playing the damn thing. Is it just me or are the standard high scores really hard to beat! Also I`m actually starting to "like" the new Daft Punk album "Human after all" wich may or may not lead to taking acid, the music sort of implies that you should. Also got the chance to play som WoW, never played mmporg before but seeing as this is Blizzard I felt I had to, by the way, IT ROCKS! Can`t wait to finish my year in the service and really start som character developing.

This wednesday me and my buddies are going to Hamar to attend at the annual The Gathering. The Gathering (TG) is a huge LAN party with ca. 5500 people inside a large hall called Vikingskipet (The Viking Ship losely translated). It will be five days of playing games, attending seminars related to gaming and checking out lots of stands that are also in some way or other related to games. This has become a tradition for me and my friends and I`m really excited about this years attendance. I will be bringing my new and lojal companions the Nintendo Ds and my very own laptopp. After carrying my 19 inch crt screen for three years in a row I`m ready to just walk inn with my laptopp without straining any bones or muscles this year. The Gathering is a very special happening here in Norway and being there is like being on another planet were technology has taken over completly, maybe just a sneek peek on life to come.

About two days ago I bought the new Nintendo Ds. I decided to buy the Ds for many different reasons, first of all it`s relativly cheap, other reasons include : it`s Nintendo, it`s portable gaming, many of the games coming to the Ds look amazing, it`s a bould attempt at creating a different gaming expierence and I can really respect that. Currently I`m serving my country as a soldier in the Norwegian Air Defence division in Bodo (Bodø) Norway. That means that im living with to other guys in a small rom in a large barrack inside the base. I have already played alot of Gameboy Advance Sp and since bringin my gamecube is out of the question, a portable gaming device is entertainment of choice. After a couple of days using the Ds I`m very satisfied with the pruchase and I now believe this console has a wealth of potential that I really hope will be explored by upcomming games. Metroid Prime Hunters is a brilliant tech demo and shows that first person shooters now can enter portable gaming for real, playing with just two players against each other ist just so brilliant that I can`t wait until it comes out and I`m really excited to se all the other fps games for the ds. I have but one game for the Ds, namely Zoo Keeper. I love playing bejeweled on my Pc and have dreamed of it for the Gameboy, but alas you need a mouse, then come the Ds and save the day! Zoo Keeper is an excelent time killer game and i really enjoy the stylus gameplay.

The Ds has a lot of potential and I`m now just hoping that games will come to met this potential. A tip of the hat to Nintendo for daring to try new ways to play games.