Well, it's been a while since I wrote, and since an issue that concerns me has just come to my attention, I suppose this would be a good time.

Well, in a heated debate with a person that used moves in ssbm that altered lag, not for the entire field of battle, but for a single move. If that's not an exploit, I don't know what it is. First off, we established early that this was in fact a form of cheating, yet he persisted to give rationalizations. Ok, so once we know it's cheating, there's really no way to rationalize it right? Well, it gets worse. As it is, the entire field of competitive players think that these are fair. They use them in tournament matches, and you can't really be competitive according to most without using them. So, the question is: Do you use cheats just because the judges are too lazy/dumb to realize that these moves are not part of the actual game? Of course you don't.

Now, there's really not much you can do about it as of now, because all of those players are quite content cheating, and they wouldn't have it any other way. That's why I'm hoping beyond hopes that one thing is added now that all consoles will have online capability: patches for console games. PC games, FPS and MMOs in particular have already picked up that hint, and carefully monitor and regulate whatever people are using to get an unfair advantage by way of updates to the game, or patches. This would finally destroy these "Professional Cheaters" once and for all, hopefully. Until such time as console developers catch up, I suppose the only thing I can do is fight the good (and fair) fight, and try to convince people to do the same. Please all reading this, regardless of the game, never resort to cheating, exploits, or anything that would give you an unfair advantage No matter what others are doing.

A link to the debate:
http://www.touchds.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=2000&start=0

On a happier note though, I got a new game, and it is amazing! Meteos, a wonderful game by none other than Q, the developer of the popular PSP title Lumines. I was never a big tetris fan, but this game is extremely fun, and I enjoy playing it every time I turn it on. The gameplay is superficially similar to tetris, but if you look deeper, it quickly becomes apparent that it is much more complex. There are tons of planets to unlock, plenty of sound tracks, and lots of fun.

One of my favorite things about the game is the music. There's so much variety, and all of it is pure gold. All the sound affects are also custom to each track, to blend in and contribute to the music, so it never obtrudes too much but you know it's there. Not to mention you have a sound room, so once you unlock the tracks by fusing with meteos you sent back to space you can listen to them at any time.

At times the game can be incredibly hectic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Inherently there are two types of puzzle games. The first is one where you have plenty or infinite time to complete whatever task is layed out before you. The other, meteos included, makes you do decisions on the fly, and they normally end in fast and furious action. No game captures this better than meteos in my experience. The system works so that you consistantly end up in close calls, and with some well done moves you can often use the massive piles of accumulated blocks to smother your opponents. My favorite DS game yet.

On a side note, lv7, I'm a Sectoid! That means your brains are mine...