Tomorrow's my birthday. I have the rest of the week off and am going to get down to some serious gaming.

Latest rentals: Star Wars: Battlefront (XBOX) - proceeded to buy it

Just in today: X-Men Legends (XBOX) - (just about to pop it in)

Despite having a ridiculous amount of new games to play, I'm looking forward to adding to my collection tomorrow. Just because.

I really love the new feature that allows you to add games to your Gamefly Q from Gamespot!!

Thanks Guys

A possible reason for my general negativity occurred to me this morning while showering. I've become so accustomed to things happening in the way that I'd like them to that I tend to only focus on, am only aware of, things that don't work - negative things. If I can bring myself to focus on all of the things that do go right, the negative will become outnumbered and thus less significant, less irritating. When I focus on the good, I see myself filled with potential. The potential to actualize anything that I desire to experience.

Over the weekend I bought Guilty Gear X2 #Reloaded and The Sims 2 and have been enjoying both a great deal. Even though I'm not very good at fighting games, playing online has generally been a blast. In the Sims 2, to familiarize myself with the game, having had limited exposure to the first title, I've tried to recreate my personal life. Before long, my apartment expanded to make way for my greenhouse. I quit my job to harvest money full time! If only things worked like that on this side of the monitor...

Rental activity:

Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA) - last two weeks
R-Type Final (PS2) - shipping today

(they couldn't have waited another day and sent me Fable instead?!?!)

Playing this week:

Halo (PC)
UT 2004 (PC)

Looking forward to the onslaught of new releases to come by year's end, the first of which being released today. I wasn't a huge fan of the sims (never bought an expansion) but I did find the game somewhat enjoyable. If anyone happens to read this and has played Sims 2, feel free to leave a comment containing your opinion of the game - namely, has it been improved enough over the original to warrant paying the 50 clams required?

I am writing in this journal for the exercise the opportunity presents. I earned my B.A. in English 4+ years ago but for many, varied reasons (or excuses, however you choose to view them) haven't written much outside of the occasional email since that last summer of freedom after graduating.

Another confession:

It's Friday night and I'm done exercising!

Some of my earliest memories are of games and gaming. As I've revealed in my Gamespot profile, I was born in 1978. I consider myself fairly lucky that I've been able to witness, somewhat vicariously, the birth and growth of the gaming industry. And lucky to have had such indulging parents.

My parents saved their change in an Incredible Hulk piggy bank that had been a gift to me at age two or three, doubtlessly from some Christmas or birthday past. I believe it took a couple of years to fill the green three-foot bust of Banner's berserk counterpart. Once it was topped off, we drove to San Jose (from Tracy) and cashed it in for an Atari 400 and a couple of games.

I was led down this little path of memory lane a few moments ago while scanning my profile page. When I originally wrote something for the "About Me" section of this page I wasn't sure exactly which Atari model I had had. The number I originally included in this section turned out to be inflated, an overly optimistic nonremembering of the past.

After a quick search through pictures of these ancient relics on the internet, I discovered that the correct memory should've been of a generation (or model, at least) lower. It's occurring to me that a possible cause of this inflation is likely due to the influence gaming has had on my life. As time progresses and the industry and audience of gaming grows, games and gaming in general are all about being bigger, better, more, faster, keep spending more money every year...

But I'm digging it.