I'm all for next-gen.. any gamer would be, but like many I appreciate what has come and gone as well. That said, I have to say that I am really impressed with the PS2s final bow. Bully, Rogue Galaxy, Final Fantasy XII, Guitar Hero 2, God of War 2, there are still SO MANY great games for this system that I want, it's almost overwhelming. Granted, I admit that in the case of Guitar Hero 2, I'm patiently awaiting the 360 version.... everything else, I feel like I should go buy all these other games at once so I don't risk missing out on them. I think the PS2 still has some life in it though, so I'm not too worried about it.

It's been awhlie since I made a post. Since this is my first one of the year, and tomorrow marks my offical "been wasting time on this site for 3 years" day. I decided to just go ahead and post about something.

I've not had much spare time lately with work and going to the gym... not to mention I went off on a drinking bender for a solid month at least, and needed a couple of weeks to recharge from Christmas parties, new years parties, after new years parties, and just for the hell of it bar hopping celebrations. Anyways - moving on.....

I got my February issue of Game Informer magazine recently, and there is a pretty decent write-up in there about Blue Dragon (360) This is one of several games I'm really looking forward to, it's in my top 3 for sure, the other two being Assasins Creed and Mass Effect. Of course Will Wrights 'Spore' would be there too if I expected to actually play it within the next year - but since everyone on that project are being as vague as possible, I've tried to forget about it until one day it ambushes me from a shelf in a game store out of nowhere. I've noticed though that Microsoft seems to be making quite an effort to build a decent RPG library up on it's 360. For which I am extremely pleased and thankful. The Xbox in it's first form was completely lacking in this genre, although it had a few notable titles, it was just not enough. I'm glad to see them balancing things out a bit more. Although it's still heavy on the shooter front, I'm looking more to what it will be showing in 6 to 12 months. This is looking to be a good year for me and my 360 (providing the release dates hold) Of course any gamer that has been at this for more than a few years knows, the estimated release dates are tentative at best. Quite frankly, I wish they would just not tell us about games in development until they've hit beta phase. Then they can do a full scale marketing push, and if the game is promising, the hype machine has just enough time to snowball to the point of ridiculousness, but not so much that we have another Fable on our hands. (I'm still angry that my Xbox didn't shoot out 20 dollar bills for every wasp I killed) It gives the game plenty of time to be tracked and watched by potential buyers, but not so much that rumours start building things up in the buyers minds to something that is, for lack of a better word, impossible. Not saying that throwing potential ideas and possibilities out on a board are a bad thing, but you all know how these things go by now.

Example : Gamer A says to Gamers B and C "This is in the game!" Gamer C is skeptical, and lets it go, but Gamer B gets excited and runs off to another forum and tells Gamers D, E, and F "omgz! This is in the game! I bet it will be like THIS!" E may not buy it, but D and F then run off to more forums and give THEIR versions, and before you know it we're all waiting for a game that barely exists, because Gamer A had to go make a stupid assumption and tell more people about it stating it as fact. That bastard.

Sure that stuff would still be going around - but usually the bulk of that nonsense starts turning up when we've gotten no new information in months, or years even, and the fans start getting desperate when they've run out of points to discuss and/or argue. It wasn't always like this - you think there was a lot of hype surrounding Pong? HA! Of course, if they had the internet back then, especially in the capacity we have it now, there probably would have been some amount of ridiculous hype floating around. "It's all going to be holographic! Oh! and we go INTO the game, like in that movie TRON! ......purple monkey dishwasher"

The internet is slowly killing us all I think. My gravestone is probably going to read "Interneted to Death. Buried with a Laptop and an extra battery."

Well this whole Christmas frenzy is finally over for yet another year. My bank account is empty, and everyone around me has gifts that will keep them busy for a good week, maybe two. I am flush with gift cards now, unfortunately what I really NEED is cash. Atleast I'll be getting a paycheck this week. This has been a rough year all around. I for one am glad to say my goodbyes to 2006. Good riddance. There have been no games released that really "wowed" me. I'm hoping whatever is in the works for 2007 will be a bit more innovative. All the next gen technology has been released, and now it's time these companies got in gear and started making use of it. If they are going to raise the price of games, then they need to start raising the quality standards as well. Superman Returns should not have seen the light of day, and they need to just cease and desist on this World War 2 shooter thing once and for all. Or atleast give it a rest. There is a lot of good stuff to work with now, and there is no excuse to keep leeching off these old ideas. I realize that developing a new franchise is a lot of money, and each dollar spent is that much more risk, game development is beginning to climb up to ridiculous costs.. but as this industry gains more and more steam in the mainstream arenas, the general public is going to expect more. I'm glad to see video games becoming more and more ingrained in pop culture.... but at the same time, it kind of angers me. The gap between the "hardcore" and  "casual" gamer is narrowing, as games become more and more tailored for "everyone" - Those little niche games, and the cult classics are becoming a thing of the past. I like complexity, and plot twists. Character depth and intensity. This kind of stuff to me seems like it's becoming harder and harder to find. It's all button mashing, and sports. I feel like those of us that helped build this industry, not literally, but by spending our money on it by purchasing the products are now being left in the cold. It's fine that games are created now that cater to the sporadic gamer. They don't require you to remember any particular plot point, or the peronality of a character, pick it up, load, and continue your mindless buttonmashing and shooting to your hearts content. What I DO mind however is the games that were the opposite of that are becoming sparse. There has to be a studio out there somewhere that no one knows about yet, creating something, far from the eyes of EA, or MGS, that is exactly what I've been looking for. In the meantime, so far, the only game I'm really looking forward to is Spore. Which at this rate should be out roughly the same time tie-dye comes back into style.

I have, in recent weeks, found myself completely uninterested in any games I own, and only a mild passing interest in games being released. I don't know what is wrong with me!

Part of it I think is because a lot of games coming out are (shock!) Shooters. As I've said in an earlier post about Gears of War. I bought the game, but I lost interest in it before the day was through. The game I'm currently sort of looking into is Viva Pinata. Now, is that because Viva Pinata is so completely different from all these damned shooters, and I'm so desperate for something new I automatically go for the non-fps, or because I'm genuinely interested in it? I don't watch it, nor had I even heard of it until I saw the commercials and the synopsis telling me it was based on a tv-show. I can't help but think I'm just drawn to the most apparent alternative, since everything else being advertised is SOCOM: Navy Seals and Call of Duty, etc. etc.  - I realize that is what is popular right now, but there are a lot of other genres out there that need some attention too. I wouldn't mind World of Warcraft so much - except that I generally hate playing with other people online, and I DEFINITELY don't like pay-to-play model. I realize that these fee's are a necessary evil, however, if thats the case, then the game should be less to purchase in the first place. If you play for a year, you've essentially bought the exact same game 4 or 5 times in a row, not including your initial purchase. Plus I'm highly unlikely to play the same game over and over again, trying to get my moneys worth.  Just based on my own gaming habits, that would be a waste of money for me.

Most people I talk to about this of course negate whatever I say with things such as "Theres lots of awesome games coming out!" Then proceed to name off every FPS under the sun. I just can't seem to say enough how utterly sick of shooters I am. I've run the gammut from feigned interest, to mild frustration, to apathetic, and now onto flat out hatred. Companies are obsessed with relentlessly cranking these things out, because there are apparently a large group of people who blindly buy everything that centers around a first-person view with a gun bobbing back and forth on the screen.

I can see the draw I guess for creating one - the stories all revolve around 1 of 3 or 4 different templates, and you don't have to worry about detailed character models since the object is to make them explode as quickly as possible, and you rarely, if ever, even SEE the main character. If you do, it's likely in a cutscene. Sure you can draw up some great looking art to slap on the box and place liberally throughout the game manual - but thats not what is going to be seen in the game most of the time. Most of the dev time seems spent on making the environments pretty. I realize there are some exceptions here and there, Gears of War tried something new by setting to a 3rd person over the shoulder view, which I love - but the story is still pretty much the same as Halo, or Doom. Run around blow things up, watch a cutscene, repeat. The story unfolds a bit more, more aliens/monsters show up. The main character never gets any stronger, or smarter. Same thing over and over and over again.

My ideal game comes with a deep storyline, and excellent character development. 3rd person view is an absolute necessity, as I want to SEE my avatar on the screen. Graphics should be further down the priority list than they currently are, I think. Storyline, Character Development, and intuitive gameplay should be at the top. Then Graphics. The old RPGs are certainly not known and loved because of their sweet graphics, Napolean.

This is a post I made in the off-topic forums. I usually keep my beliefs to myself, but there is so much of this going around lately, I finally just threw my thoughts into the grinder with the rest.

Yeah, well god was apparently a little too vague in the begining, because somehow theres hundreds of different religions now... some older, some newer, not to mention cults... and they all think THEY'RE right, and that everyone ELSE is going to hell. They contradict each other as well as themselves at almost every turn, and this makes it very difficult for someone like me who tends to over-analyze everything, to take them with more than a grain of salt. Personally, I'm just going to keep sleeping in on Sundays. Joining in the Pissing Wars between Muslims, Christians, Jews ... carrying on about "my god will beat up your god" and so on is in a word...ridiculous. It's enough just to have to make the Jehovahs Witnesses go away on Saturday Mornings when I'm trying to sleep off all my sinning from the night before. I'm not saying Jesus or Mohammed didn't exist... I actually believe they did, and I think they had some good ideas, that back then seemed overly-idealist and I leave it at that. No prophets, or sons of god titles. Religion came about in a time where the masses were largely uneducated, and I think that the few who were clever enough, found a way to control those masses via spooky non-provable entities that live in the sky. (Including the Egyptions - this goes back WAAAY before Christianity) I mean... come on. The Pharoh's claimed to have been chosen by the gods themselves to rule. Just when no one was looking, right? A Magician at a 5 year old's birthday party wouldn't get away with that sort of thing today. At one point George Bush said that "[god wanted him to be president]" - anyone remember how well that went over?

As this method of control gained popularity, and people believed it more and more, others came up and did the same thing. It wasn't hard, as humans have been obsessed with their own mortality for their entire sentience, our minds have developed a powerful imagination that can come up with literally *anything* with one exception... We cannot imagine a nonexistence. It's impossible. To do so requires you to exist somewhere else as something else, so good thing everyone is going to heaven. (Or Hell). This is all here because it has become a base necessity for so many people that have grown up with it... to believe in something. That is fine for them, some of their communities do really good things when the photo op presents itself. In my opinion, I think that organized religion is the biggest scam the world has ever seen. I simply cannot believe that we've all somehow managed to descend from 2 people. If you've ever seen Jerry Springer, you know that our genetics don't allow for this sort of thing much further out than maybe the 3rd generation, when you start seeing some grotesque mutations. X's and Y's people. Gotta have 'em. It's basic biology. Then there are the Dinosaur Fossils... actually, I'm not even going to get into that one. They're there. Enough said.

If you need to be spiritual, thats all well and good. Be spiritual. You want to believe in an old man watching you in the shower making sure you don't touch yourself? Have at it. However... NEVER press your faith to those that don't want it. I refer to you to George Carlins '2 commandments" for clarification. I am not at all religious (obviously) nor is anyone else in my immediate family. I have my own set of principles and morals that I live my own life by. Most of them are common sense. I know that I'm a good person. I don't need that reassurance from a priest, preacher, evangelist, shriner, monk, nun, bishop, or a pope... and especially not from a creepy watcher in the sky.

P.S. this is all my opinion so you plate-passers put away your killin' sticks.

I demoted Superman from a 'must buy' to a rent.... and thank god I did. As the Gamespot review says - if you have demo, than you have experienced the best the game has to offer already. The disappointment in this game is obvious almost immediately. I don't have to write anything about what is wrong with this game, as it's faults are not hard to find at a glance, and every website around is making it clear that EA's quality control needs a serious wake up call. Instead, I will say that the mechanics behind the gameplay are solid. Superman is physically invulnerable, but his weakness lies in the people he cares about, which in this case is the entire population of Metropolis. The life bar to the city is exactly the right way to maintain the structure of a video game without really taking Superman out of character via a health meter, etc. Flying truly is an experience, and once you get the hang of it, it is by far the best feature, next to it's music. While it is not the Superman March, (a theme which is sorely missed here I might add) the music is in the same style as Williams score, and best of all, it's very dynamic. I don't honestly see how they could have gone so wrong on this. They had all the source material they needed, it's based on a movie, so it's not like they had to pull together to come up with a story. I can't really blame the developers, obviously if that is their chosen profession, they love games as much as any of us, and to work on a Superman Title, I would think it's a safe assumption they're fans of the beloved icon. EA the corporation though has become a faceless tyrant, I realize it's a business and it's purpose is to make money, but the big wigs over there seem to have forgotten that the money they make is because of us. Sure there are droves of people who will buy anything they drop because it's based on a liscence that so many love, but I really think they're going to take a hit on this one though.

I am NOT buying another console in 2006. My 360 is enough for now.    I am NOT buying another console in 2006. My 360 is enough for now.    I am NOT buying another console in 2006. My 360 is enough for now.     I am NOT buying another console in 2006. My 360 is enough for now.    I am NOT buying another console in 2006. My 360 is enough for now.    I am NOT buying another console in 2006. My 360 is enough for now. 

Oh-EM-GEE. I want a Wii.:?

I ended up grabbing Gears of War afterall, out of sheer boredom I guess. For what it is it's a really good game, but it's not really MY sort of game. Sure the graphics are great, but it's still a shooter, the story is as shallow and undriven as any other shooter, aliens attack, shoot at them, get a cutscene from the relentlessly fearless and mostly emotionless characters, rinse, repeat. While I slightly regret buying it, I'm sure I can squeeze some entertainment out of it, at the very least it can serve to entertain guests that are more into this sort of game. I played it for about an hour yesterday, got bored, and went to play the Superman demo. Superman, I have to admit does not appear to be quite as refined as I would have hoped for a game with a 4 month delay - the controls are kind of wonky, but they're solid once you get used to them. There are a lot of things you can't do in the game that doesn't make sense. Why must superman stomp into the ground when he's only an inch above it? The demo overall lacks a certain finesse, and as a result it feels slightly clumsy. However, despite the shortcomings, it is still fun to mess around with. I'm hoping this demo was made on a slightly outdated build of the game, leaving the final release to be closer to what their customers are expecting from them.

Well, upon one last investigation, it turns out I actually WAS cheated on, so ending it today was the only choice I had. So much for giving people 2nd chances... or 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th chances. I am now a newly single man! Given the way things have panned out, I don't really feel all that sad about anything. I'm relieved, if anything. Now it's time for a much needed break from supposedly intimate relationships, and just focus on myself for awhile, get back in the gym, reconnect with some old friends I may have neglected...maybe complete some of these games I've purchased over the last couple of years I've never been able to finish because of lack of time. Ahhh, the freedom and independence, how I've missed them! Game on everyone!

I read last night in Game Informer that Wii Points would be a penny a piece! Now that is good news to me, since I can't seem to find anywhere that has a direct dollars to points ratio listed for Marketplace points on the 360, and I don't have the brain power to figure out any kind of formula for it. 1 point = .01 cents however is easy as can be!  5 bucks for a NES game, 8 for an SNES game, and 10 for an N64 game, the Wii just continually beats the living crap out of other consoles price points! Bless you Nintendo people, bless you and your wise marketing gurus. I doubt it will happen, but I really hope nintendo comes out on top this generation, however since so many people focus on graphics and realistic violence over gameplay, and thats what the dev's crank out most of the time, it's unlikely.  Nintendo has always been steadfast in that games don't always have to have a gun centered on the screen to constitute fun. So those uncomfortable with what others might think of them if they're ever caught playing Animal Crossing categorize most of Nintendos library into the "kiddy" zone, thus deemed unplayable by the "hardcore" to kool for skewl gamer. I dislike these titles, as hardcore more often than not is almost always referencing to an adolecent, or pre-teen who's parents have indulged his whims far too often. The kids that are trying so desperately to be clever in their insults and rampant (mis)use of curse words online. A true "hardcore" gamer, to me, is a person who plays a game because the game is enjoyable to them, reguardless of which platform or "category" it's in. If it's fun, and an enjoyable experience, play it. It may look ridiculous, or "kiddy" but who cares? get over yourself.