anyone who was a kid in the late '80s and early '90s remembers them. they were pop culture icons. they had a Saturday morning cartoon, action figures, video games, and even several feature films.

I grew up with the turtles. I watched the cartoon religiously, and I collected the action figures. I had ninja turtles bed sheets, and when I was five, I even got a pet turtle named Donatello (he's 14 now :D )

anyway, there was nothing I loved more as a kid than the Ninja Turtles video games. in fact, this NES classic is probably the reason I became a gamer in the first place

it's sequel is still probably one of my favorite games of all time.

anyway, as the turtle's popularity began to decline in the mid '90s, I basically outgrew them, and moved on to other things.

a few years ago, someone had the bright idea to try to bring my childhood heroes back in the form of a new "darker" Saturday morning cartoon show. it basically sucked. along with the new cartoon came new video games, which, as a result of the new shows mediocrity, did not live up to the old classics, and were very bad games.

when I read a preview in a recent issue of Game informer magazine, I saw a glimmer of hope that my old heroes could be brought back to their former glory. a new ninja turtles game is being developed by one of my favorite studios: Ubisoft Montrial. I was intrigued, but then I saw the real news: the game will use Ubisoft's jade engine, the same engine used in the Prince of Persia: the sands of time trilogy!

I realize that this is a movie based game(which rarely turn out to be good), and that the turtles haven't had a decent game since the SNES era, but the PoP games were some of my favorite games of the last generation, and the acrobatic platforming from those great games combined with my good old ninja friends could turn out to be an amazing game. I cant wait until the game's release in March to see the results :D

thanks to a ps3 hater on the forums trying to comment on how ps3's aren't selling, I ordered my playstation 3 from best buy.com today :D

it should be here by this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited. now I just need to wait for my next paycheck to get an HDMI cable...and a game :lol:

Today, I purchased gears of war. it is, thus far, one of the best gaming experiences that I have ever had. I couldn't help but think that if I hadn't made it through a long phase of fanboyism, I never would have played this amazing game.

I started gaming in the late 80's, or early 90's with the good old NES. though I was too young to really know what I was doing, my parents say that I had a great time with the old classic games.

the first console that I remember playing seriously was the sega genesis. at this point, I was still unaware of things like "console wars" in fact, I don't think I even knew the SNES existed back then :P

in 1998, I was at a friends house watching him play the legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time, and later, we played super smash brothers for several hours. because of this, I got an N64 for christmas that year. It was then that I became a Nintendo fanboy.

over the next few years, I absolutely despised the playstation. I hated everything about it for absolutely no reason, other than the fact that it wasn't made by Nintendo. needles to say, I missed out on many great games

the exact same thing happened when the dreamcast came out. I totally dismissed it since it was not made by Nintendo.

at the time the PS2 was released, I was still happily playing my old N64. I had heard about the gamecube, and couldn't wait for it to be launched.

In the months leading up to the gamecube's release, I relentlessly tried to talk my friends out of getting a PS2 or xbox. It worked for the most part.

I camped out in the parking lot of my local toys r us on November 17th 2001 (the night before the cube's release.) which turned out to be totally pointless since we were the only ones there :P

after buying my gamecube, I was happy for several months playing starwars rogue leader, and super smash brothers melee. however, by the second year of the cube's lifespan, I was still playing those same two games. there was just nothing to play on the system that I called perfect just a year before.

meanwhile, my friend joe, who had bought a PS2, had more great games to play than I had ever imagined. at this point, I realized that even Nintendo wasn't perfect. unfortunately, I now thought sony was :?

I was a sony fanboy. I got a PSP when it came out (which I am still happy with) and decided to wait for the PS3.

when the PS3 was announced at E3 2005, I couldn't have been more exited. I couldnt wait for them to announce a release date. by the time that happened at E3 2006, I was ready to give sony my $600 right then and there.

over the next few months, I started coming to gamespot almost daily. I was sad to see that there was almost no good news regarding the PS3. I had started to think that even the PS3 could fail. It was then that I decided to buy an Xbox 360.

in August 2006, I went to my local EB games, slapped $400 down on the counter, and asked for a premium 360. I finally felt free. I had realized that none of these companies were forcing me to be loyal to them.

I still plan on buying a PS3 sometime next year. I still don't intend to get a wii (partially because I still don't trust Nintendo due to the gamecube fiasco, but mostly because It doesn't have many games that interest me) but I now understand that loyalty to these corporations is pointless. I don't benefit from sony winning the console war, so why should I miss out on all of the great games that the 360 has to offer?

I hope this will help any fanboy who reads this realize that they don't have to miss out on great games just because they are not on their system of choice.

we are at the dawn of the next generation of video game consoles. many have called this the HD era, and to fully experiance the great new games coming out for the new consoles, you will need to upgrade to an HDTV.

I have been answering questions like "is this TV good for games?", and "will my TV display games in HD?"in the PS3 HDTV thread for a while now, and I think this will be a great way to tell people which HDTVs I think are good for the next generation of games.

dont worry, I will continue to help people out in the HDTV thread, but please check here before posting your question since it may already be answered.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess I should start with my TV: http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/LCDTV/LNS2651DXXAA.asp?page=Specifications 

I have a samsung LNS2651D. It is a great LCD set for a small room. there are also 32" , and 40" versions of this set for people looking for somthing a bit larger, and a white version to match your xbox 360.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one is for the big spenders out there:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=KDSR70XBR2&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=tv_Full_HD_1080_Rear_Projection

This is a Sony 70" SXRD Rear Projection Television. It has been called the best of the best. just be ready to drop some cash.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heres a nice set for the budget-minded gamer looking for HD gaming: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7600955&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat95100050015&id=1130981752759

Its an Insignia HD CRT. not the best, but CRTs are cheap and reliable.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

another great 1080p set: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?storeId=15001&catalogId=13401&itemId=98039&catGroupId=24975&modelNo=PT-61DLX76&surfModel=PT-61DLX76&cacheProgram=11002&cachePartner=7000000000000005702

this is a 61" panasonic 1080p DLP set. not as expensive as the sony set above, but will still give you great 1080p resolution.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

for anyone who wants to take "bigger is better" to the extreme: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prModelDetail?storeId=11301&catalogId=13251&itemId=98057&modelNo=Content07192006102223667&surfModel=Content07192006102223667

I envy anyone who can afford this monster, or even has the space to have it in their home. the worlds largest plasma tv. 103" of High definition goodness. I cant reccomend most plasmas for gaming due to burn-in, but this one is the exeption.

(I just noticed that my little samsung has the same contrast ratio as this thing: 4000:1) :lol:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a 1080p set for a room thats too small for a 60"-70" screen:

http://www.sharpusa.com/products/ModelLanding/0,1058,1745,00.html

The sharp AQUOS LCD line is one of my personal favorites. if I hadnt fallen in  love with my samsung,(and if I had some extra cash)  I might have got this.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have had some trouble finding a 1080p screen for a small room. this might be a bit too small

http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/17/sanyo-epson-announce-7-1-inch-1080p-lcd-by-far-the-worlds-smal/

a 7" 1080p capable LCD! yes, I know it would not be practical to use this tech with your PS3 or 360, but maybe it could make its way into the next PSP. :D

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

there are more on the way. check back here every now and then to see if I find the TV thats right for you.