Wow, so it's December already.  Not sure where the rest of the year went, but here we are.

The Amazon wish list is finalized for Christmas, I'm going to stop changing it around now.  As hinted in the last entry, I've kind of switched again, so I figure I'll mention some of my new interests here:

Magic: The Gathering.  This one's kind of a re-run, so y'all should know what to expect here.  Collectible card game with cool artwork on all the cards.  The current "block" (which is the phrase for a year's worth of expansion sets--a big one in September followed by two small ones in February and June) is very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with it next.  Time Spiral is out now, and the second set Planar Chaos is due in February.

DreamBlade.  This game is new this year, from the makers of M:TG (Wizards of the Coast).  All four of these games are from WOTC, in fact.  It's one of their Collectible Miniatures Games, and I find it interesting because the game that's played with the pieces is more abstract and strategic, rather than tactical "line of sight, hide behind walls" skirmish stuff.  It resembles a game of chess, in a way, and the object is to control certain "scoring cells" on the board at the end of each turn.  As with all WOTC products, collecting the pieces (which are fully painted and quite attractive) is half the fun of the thing.

Star Wars Miniatures.  This one is a more "traditional" CMG, which represents a tactical duel on a map.  There's actually two games here now, one in which your miniatures are characters from the Star Wars saga and the other where the minis are starships and fighters.  The pieces look great and the game looks simple yet interesting.  Plus, I just like Star Wars.

Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures.  This one has actually been around the longest (about four years now, I think).  The figures represent heroes and monsters from the D&D universe, although it's worth mentioning that this is a tactical battle game and not a role-playing game like the main Dungeons & Dragons game is.  The Star Wars game actually uses a simplified version of this game's skirmish rules.  Some of the miniatures in this line are very impressive, ranging all the way up to the Colossal Red Dragon which probably stands over a foot tall (as compared to probably 1.5" tall human characters, so it's representing around a 50-foot-tall firebreathing dragon).  Although I have little-to-no interest in the D&D roleplaying game, this looks very cool just as a stand-alone dragons-&-swords product line.  Everybody loves dragons.

As a final note, as I see this blog moving further and further away from the video-game subject matter, I'm considering moving it off of GameSpot and onto something like LiveJournal.  I feel like I'd have more freedom to talk about whatever I want on a different venue.  If I do so, I'll leave a link here to the new spot.  Just mentioning the possibility.

I'm going to start this story off by saying that I have almost definitely talked myself out of buying that XBox 360.  If I were to buy the console, a couple of games, and some accessories, it could easily cost $700, which would be all the christmas money I could possibly conceivably get this year.  I can't sit here and say with a straight face that I'd ever get $700 worth of good out of the thing.

Meanwhile, my recent excursion into HeroScape has mainly just piqued my interest into that *other* game that I collected.  You know, the one I maligned in my last entry for being too expensive?  Well, that same $700 would probably be a whole year's worth of cards plus a whole year's worth of leagues on Magic Online, and I don't even have to spend it all up front.  I'm leaning heavily in that direction right now.

I'm not sure I can explain what the difference is, but all I know is that opening a HeroScape product feels so anticlimactic.  When you open a pack of MTG (or Dreamblade), there's this excitement to see what cards I got this time--Is there a foil card?  Is the rare a good one?  What about the uncommons?  Plus, the game really is amazingly fun to play, and it can also be played online when there's no opponent handy.  Of course, the online cards are a separate collection, but the point is practicing online is useful experience for playing the physical game too.

So, yeah, despite my best resistance, I guess I got myself bit by the Magic the Gathering bug again.  I guess there's worse things to be addicted to.  A pack of Magic is still healthier than a pack of cigarettes, last time I checked.  But probably just as addictive. :wink:

I indulged my toy-collecting side a bit this weekend and picked up the newest Toys 'R Us exclusive HeroScape sets from the 'Crest of the Valkyrie' wave.  HeroScape may just be my perfect match for collecting, because:

• • The figures are extremely high quality and are suitable for displaying, which is the main thing I like to do with my toys.  They're also built onto little bases which make them very stable unlike action figures. The landscape pieces are also very well done and add immensely to the visual presentation.  They're not 'kiddy' looking at all, unlike some other toy lines.
• • They're actually a game system, so there are things to do with them other than just stand them around. 
• • Unlike Magic The Gathering or the normal Collectible Miniature Game, the sets are *not* blind-boxed and you know just what you're buying when you make a purchase.  None of this stuff about getting extra copies of commons you don't need while you're trying to find that last 'rare' piece.  This also means that the overall price is very reasonable and so it's very possible to collect the entire set inexpensively.
• • Also unlike those games, older sets are reprinted from time to time so that new players can catch up without getting shafted on eBay.

I added all the HeroScape stuff to my Amazon.com wish list, although that's really not the best place to buy them from; Wal-Mart seems to have the best prices on expansion packs.  It was a good place to show the quantities of everything I would want, though.  (Quick primer:  There are two 'classes' of units, Common or Unique.  While Common armies can gain an advantage when used in multiples, there isn't any use for owning more than one of the Unique Army packs.  That's why I listed some packs in quantity and not others.)  I know that Amazon doesn't have very good pictures up, but this website has good pictures of every pack.  Between the two, hopefully the potential gifters can figure out what they're looking at.

Springfield was really busy this weekend; I guess everyone's starting early.  It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas! :D

EDIT:  As per the next posting, the HeroScape stuff is removed again from my Amazon list and replaced with some Magic: The Gathering stuff.  Yes, I plan to stop changing my mind until after Christmas now.  No, I can't guarantee anything.  Yes, I'm a nutcase.

So, if you've convinced yourself you can afford something, but then when you look back you see that your account balance has been slowly dwindling away ever since you started doing that thing you think you can afford, what should that tell you?

Yeah, that's what I thought.  So we're going to go back to using that other plan, you know, the one that was working until we stopped using it.  Time to quit acting like a millionaire playboy, and start being real again.  It'll be nice having weekends back for normal hobbies anyway.

I'm so freakin' addicted to Final Fantasy XII right now that it's just pitiful.  I really didn't think I could forget about Okami that fast, but it almost feels like a chore to go back and work on that one instead of playing more sweet, sweet Final Fantasy XII.  Dammit.  Sorry, Amaterasu. 

I'm also sitting here at work listening to my Final Fantasy VI soundtrack (Thanks Laura!) so as to make sure the withdrawals don't kick in before I can get back home.  Speaking of which, I'm not sure how this got past my radar (probably while I was off on that MTG-Transformers-collecting kick) but apparently iTunes has all the Final Fantasy soundtracks available for purchase.  Not the crappy US releases either, the Japanese-release complete ones.  I'm pretty sure I won't be resisting those much longer either.  (I'm just going to be wanting money for Christmas this year, everybody.  Or maybe something with Final Fantasy on it that I don't have.)

I shoulda finished Okami before I bought FFXII, because I knew this would happen.  Dammit.  Oh well, at least Okami takes notes for you, so I shouldn't be too lost when I finally go back.

I gave Final Fantasy XII a good workout this weekend, about 8 hours worth on the game clock.  So, my first impressions as promised:

•  Very first impressions:  The graphics in this game are *gorgeous*.  Especially in the CG's, where all the landscapes and vehicles look like you could just reach out and touch them.  Nice eye candy to hook me into wanting to play, for sure. :)

•  There's something... odd... about the character models, but I can't put a finger on it.  Either the shading is off, or they have a weird texture on the skin, or something, but everyone looks like they're either covered with or made out of sand.  A little distracting at first but I don't really notice it now.

•  The storyline so far is very heavy for a Final Fantasy game.  The first tutorial level ends with your guy getting killed by his own mentor fellow, then when the 'real' game starts, you play as his little brother two years later.  A few tutorial-style fetch quests later, and I'm currently thrown in a dungeon and left for dead.

•  As much as has been made about the combat system, I personally like it a lot.  There's just as much strategy in the 'gambit' system as the old ATB stuff, it's just that now once you figure out what you want your strategy to be, you only have to tell the game once.  You still have to pay attention during battles to make sure everythings going according to plan, and really, did any of us play Final Fantasy because we just *really love* choosing stuff from menus repetitively?  I am looking forward to being able to buy better gambit targets, though.  It seems very limited so far, so I'm having to interject manual commands a lot for things like stealing and antidotes.

This one also rates a 9+ from me so far; I'll just call it a 9.5 for now.  Between this and Okami, it looks like I have stuff to play at least until Christmas, now.

I picked up FFXII on the way home tonight, because I had the money and I knew I'd be buying it soon anyway.  I somewhat expect it to be on the back burner for the time being until I finish Okami, but of course I'll be playing both. 

So, the Now Playing list is getting fleshed out really well now; I have an RPG for long game sessions, an Adventure for medium sessions, and for quick games I have a fighing game and a... volleyball-dating-sim-gambling game?  Whatever DOAX is....  Plus a portable game or two for on-the-go.  (I do really need to get me something backlit for these Gameboy games, though.  The old GBA's lighting situation is totally unacceptable; I basically have three choices:  Darkness, Glare, or Disturbing-Reflection-Of-My-Face.  No good.) 

I might get back to being a gamer yet.  First impressions of Final Fantasy XII will be forthcoming during or after the weekend!

It seems I may have completely forgotten how to play Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate.  That was not pretty.  If anyone had been watching, it would have been downright embarrassing.  (So naturally, the next thing I do is head straight here and admit I suck on the internet.)

Ah well, something to practice I guess.  DOA4 is likely to be one of my initial-purchase games when I get a 360 so I need to get back into the series.  Plus, there are unlockables that must be unlocked.  I'm not exactly the master of unlocking, but I'm going to see how much I can get.  It'll be fun.  But probably not pretty.

Step 1:  Shut the #!$% up.

Seriously.

Take the 'big' race here in Missouri as an example, because it's the one I can't avoid right now.  Here's what I've learned so far from watching campaign ads:

• Claire McCaskill supports the stem cell initiative because she wants to clone an army of Stormtroopers and take over the galaxy.  She also evaded property taxes while her nursing-home-owning husband sold patients' organs on the black market and they're currently hiding the money in Bermuda.  And clearly her mom doesn't watch TV much because she still thinks her daughter wouldn't stoop to running negative ads.
• Jim Talent, on the other hand, opposes the stem cell initiative because he doesn't want Parkinson's patients to have things like hope, cures, wheelchairs, beds, food, or water.  He also thinks wars would be cheaper and more fun if we made the troops fight in their underwear with no guns, and he voted to kick puppies 483 times while in the Senate.  But the most damaging charge is that even though he is a Republican, he votes with Bush 94% of the time.  (And clearly, the other 6% were the puppy-kicking bills.)

And after seeing this crap endlessly for over a month, I'm supposed to care which one of these Anti-Christs gets elected?  Give me a break.

If we're going to ban online gambling because the average American can't be trusted to do it responsibly and pay their bills anyway, then we also need a complete ban on political advertisements, because the average politician has demonstrated that they cannot use them responsibly.  Instead of an expensive campaign designed to mislead American voters, lets have a controlled system designed to inform voters.  I'd suggest:

• First, a standard 'report card' compiled by the media, which shows each candidate's true voting record and stands on the main issues.
• Then, candidates may only address the people through sponsored forums, which should be pre-recorded so the statements made by the candidates can be checked for accuracy (and inaccuracies displayed on the screen). 
• Lastly, candidates should be absolutely banned from trying to tell us what their opponent thinks.  Tell me about yourself, or shut the #!$% up. 

For non-candidate issues, follow these same rules with representatives from the committees supporting and opposing the issue.  I'm not saying the media is completely without bias either, but they're sure as heck less biased than the candidates are.  And who knows, the newly informed voters might care more than the old, misled ones did.

So I get this message in my email, right?  Turns out someone is gonna be reading this stuff after all.  Hi Mom!  :D

I've been playing Okami pretty much non-stop since I bought it and after a week-and-a half's worth of playing (about 22 hours on the game clock), I would say that this game is contending for best PS2 game I've ever played, with the competition being only Final Fantasy X and God of War.  I'm still holding off on writing a review because I'd prefer to play through to the end once first, but I suspect the final number will be somewhere between 9.6 and 10.0.

I'm still trying hard to swear off of things like Transformers and Magic: The Gathering cards in order to be able to afford some upcoming releases, and maybe an XBox 360 to play some of the upcoming releases *on*.  I made the mistake of looking at the MTG website last week, but I already convinced myself that collecting a 2-player game without having 2 players isn't a very good value.  I think it'd take a *lot* of Transformers to equal the fun in one Okami disc, too.  (Maybe that's why I stopped wanting Transformers and started wanting NES games when I was thirteen...  Was I actually smarter about this stuff back then?  Seems that nostalgia is a powerful psychosis indeed.)

And now that I've given myself very good advice, all I need to do is take it.  Maybe I should print this out, fold it up, put it in a phylactery, and wear it on my forehead.  Or maybe I'll just keep playing Okami to keep my mind occupied.  Chances are that I'll be picking up Final Fantasy XII this weekend, too, so that'll be some good "rehab". ;)