This union's (link) a special one to me, not only because I was one of its founders and was its original leader, but because I was there (in 2007) since I was twelve years old. Just a kid who spent his time after school on one of two things: PS3 games or Gamespot.

It was summer here in my country, and I had nothing to do. Thankfully, I found out about GS Unions at the right time: when the community was thriving. I immediately found a way to open my own union and spend my time writing articles, posting threads, inviting people and talking to my officers. Was it a success? Well, no. A few months in, I gave up because activity wasn't at the level I expected it to be. There were only about five to ten people visiting the union. So I left without anyone complaining.

After a few years I gave it one more shot, just because I was that passionate a PS3 gamer. I came with the idea of inviting lots of people from the PS3 forums, because they surely owned a PS3 or at least were interested in it. It was a success and activity was sky high.

I remember some of my partners from ChrisPperson all the way to JasonDarksavior and how they were instrumental to the union's success all those active years. Could you believe we once had a Twitter account with over 150 followers and a YouTube account with over 4500 views? And we were going to break the 2000-member barrier. This is one of the reasons why I came back again after the union's second death.

I left last year I think because I felt burnt out. I couldn't keep up with school and it hit me that I would earn nothing from being this aggressive in managing PS3FC. And so I left again, but this time, I assigned a replacement for my position.

Fast forward to now and things have changed big time. My parents found out about the iAcademy here in the Philippines. And it's the first in Asia to offer a Game Design and Development Course in College. I passed the entrance exam and now I know that I have enough time to manage PS3FC not like before (too much effort) but in a better way for myself and the union in the long-term.

Now the union that I created when I was twelve has a third life. And I want it to be its best. I guarantee you it will be the last. PS3FC now has daily news from yours truly. And I have some other plans for the near future. Care to join me at PS3FC?

It's an awesome game, deserved all the awards it received two years ago. Graphics, physics, ai, soundtrack, voice acting, script, mocap were a notch or two above the previous games, and the new "realistic" touch kept it from being stale. Euphoria certainly helped in keeping the game immersive throughout its running time of 60+ hours. Sixaxis controls were a blast, but I ended up using analog controls once again after a few days.:P

Liberty City never seemed so alive. Every street is littered with details you wouldn't normally find in a previous game. Niko Bellic's character, dialogue and attitude made sense, and his abilities were exceptional. Niko was certainly one of the best videogame characters I've ever played as. The controls took me a bit of getting used to, but overall, they were better than previous games by a long mile. The new cover, targeting and fighting systems, as well as Niko's agility helped the game's accessibility. The story and supporting characters were clever and unpredictable.

And on top of that, Rockstar also icluded a 16-player online multiplayer component that's better than what many had expected. GTA4 is that good, and based on my experience, it just tied MGS4 for last last year's GOTY. It may not be revolutionary, but all-in-all, Grand Theft Auto IV was a big leap forward for the entire franchise. Congrats Rockstar, the switch from the state of San Andreas to Liberty City just made me realize that sometimes, less is more.

What are unions? The newbies might ask. Well, they're community-run, community-driven websites within Gamespot. They resemble Gamespy's Planet Sites, where gamers who have a common interest on a certain console, game, genre, way of thinking, etc. unite to form a site where content and ideas created by people for the people are constantly being made and exchanged.

Unions were thriving communities a few years ago, Gamespot even held an awards ceremony for the best ones back then. It was constantly improved and rewards kept coming, the unions of the old days had incentives, and when they reach certain goals, awards waited for them.

A few years ago, Gamespot suddenly stopped the leveling system. They said it was to stop unions from spamming in order to level up faster than others. It was for a cause, but why take away something that so many people have worked hard for? It gave us an incentive to work harder and to increase the quality of the content our unions offer, it helps in the competitiveness of the community.

Sentinelrv, leader of the Headcrab Union, had a vision. A new era for unions, a rebirth, even. That would change the way the GS Community thought about unions. It will be feature-packed, streamlined, and smooth. But Unions Version 2 never materialized, even four years after the vision was created and shared to the Gamespot Community.

Unions have been hit and miss lately. There's been a lot of new ones, but most of them aren't active anymore. Because no one is joining them, and no one is providing good content. There are a few exceptions, though, and I wish all of them the best of luck.

Here's my list of updates I wish Gamespot would finally implement. They aren't the sweeping changes some want to happen, these are some simple, logical changes that could change the face of Gamespot Unions forever.

1. Bring back the level system!

2. More Emblems

3. Consistent tracking of page views. My union's number of page views has been at the same number for a few months now, I'm sure we now have a lot more page views already.

4. Include Personal messages in Invitations.

5. Show off more stats in the Stats page, such as number of published articles, etc.

6. More archive categories. Such as reviews and previews.

7. Image Section that contains uploaded images from the leader and his or her officer/s.

8. Increase character limit for telegrams.

9. Delete union button. Could be the key in lessening the clutter and dirt in the directory.

10. Unions section in the inbox. Should include telegrams and invitations

11. Add a link to the union directory on the front page

12. list unions in search results

I'm sure there's a lot more than what I just said. Unions contain a lot of untapped potential that when harnessed, could make for the most active and most competitive Gamespot community in years.

Here's my union, by the way. Join us if you haven't yet. :D

Madden NFL 11 Bundle

They say: PSP isn't selling

I say: 60 million Units sold, Best-Selling System in Japan every week

They say: PSP has no games

I say: God of War: Chains of Olympus, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Burnout Legends & Dominator, Persona 3 Portable, Socom: Fireteam Bravo 1-3 & Tactical Strike, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, LittleBigPlanet, Patapon 1 & 2, Locoroco 1 & 2, Locoroco: Midnight Carnival, Exit, Echochrome, Echoshift, Pixeljunk Monsters Deluxe, Gravity Crash Portable, Everyday Shooter, Lumines 1 & 2, Pusuit Force 1 & 2, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank, Wipeout Pure, Wipeout Pulse, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow, MGS: Peace Walker & Portable Ops, Buzz, Blazblue Portable, Guilty Gear Accent Core 2 Plus, MGA 1 & 2, Twisted Metal: Head On, Every Extend Extra, Rock Band Unplugged, Fat Princess, Tokobot, MLB: The Show, Supreme Commander, NBA 2k, Madden NFL, Fight Night Round 3, GTA: LBS, GTA: VCS, GTA: CW, Eye of Judgement Legends, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 1-3, Young Thor, WWE: Smackdown VS Raw, SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny, FF1, FF2, Jeane D' Arc, FF Tactics: War of the Lions, Phantasy Star Portable, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce 1 & 2, Star Ocean 1 & 2, YS Seven, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 1 & 2,Tomb Raider Anniversary, Patchwork Heroes, Modnation Racers, FIFA Soccer, Gangs of London, Disgaea 1 & 2, Disgaea Infinite, Half-Minute Hero, Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman 1 & 2, Hot Shots Golf/Tennis

They say: PSP has no Originality/Innovation

I say: Comic Store, Echochrome, Echoshift, Patchwork heroes, Patapon, Locoroco, LittleBigPlanet, Talkman, Qriocity, Modnation Racers

They say: PSP has minmal third-party/first-party support

I say: Qriocity, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, UFC 2010: Undisputed, Ghost Recon: Predator, Split/Second, FIFA Soccer, NBA 2K, Madden NFL, Monster Hunter Portable 3, God Eater, Yakuza PSP, The Third Birthday, YS Seven, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Echochrome 2, ZHP, No Heroes Allowed, Untitled Resident Evil Game from Capcom, Angry Birds, Phantasy Star Portable 2, Eyepet, Invizimals, Dissidia Duodecim, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

They Say: PSP is dying

I say: Everything that has been said up to this point. And while sales really are slowing, mainly because it's already late in its life cycle, there's definitely more life left in psp's remaining years.

What Sony should do to improve PSP's standing:

Price Cut - Somewhere around $130 - $150

PSP-4000 - Twice the battery life, 16 Gig Hard Drive, Include a Real Analog Stick instead of the crappy one in the current models, Bluetooth, Better Screen, Louder Speakers, Sturdier Shoulder Buttons

Discontinue PSP Go

Cheaper Games - $30 Max in retail stores, and $20 Max in PSN

More Connectivity, Better Advertising, Dynamic Themes, Trophies, PSP Home, Cross Game Chat and Invites

Burnout Legends has long been one of the best Portable Racing Games OF ALL TIME, it can stand up to any racing game on any console. Wi-Fi Tournaments, Championships, and Events with up to six players are fun to play, and the single player Tour Mode offers hours upon hours of intense and action-packed gameplay. Graphics, EA Trax, Crashes and Effects are spectacular. Medals and rewards add replay value, and the game rewards you with every good performance. It's challenging but very rewarding, what more could you ask for? Value is great, and now that you can buy it for under ten dollars, get it now if you have a PSP, and if not, why don't you have one yet? With GOW: COO, Persona 3, CC: FF VII, Gran Turismo, GTA: LBS, GTA: VCS, Daxter, GTA: CW, Tekken 6, Resistance: Retribution, Twisted Metal: Head On, Tekken: Dark Resurrection, R & C: Size Matters, LBP, AC: Bloodlines, and about a hundred other awesome games out there for under $15, now's the best time to get a PSP, or just wait until November to get the beautiful God of War: Ghost of Sparta Limited Edition Bundle:

Verdict: Buy it