Thanks to recent announcements at E3 of the xbox one and PS4 I'm thinking its time for an upgrade.

Recently I moved out of home so I can't use the Xbox 360 my brother owns. With this news at E3 I thought maybe I can get back into the Sony/Microsoft market again. I've stuck firmly to Nintendo lately because they are more affordable and I always know there will be a few games I'm nearly guaranteed to enjoy (huge Zelda fan).

However surely this will bring the price down on the Xbox 360 and PS3. I can't believe its taken the next gen coming out before I could get these consoles but oh well finances aren't great. Any games stand out on either console? I've pretended these systems don't exist (since I couldn't play) so I don't know all the best games to play. I've already marked FF series, Dragon Age, Assasin's Creed as must plays. I love my RPG and action but I would not be averse to a first person shooter. Goldeneye was a stable in our household growing up.

I bought the 3ds and I bought the remake of Zelda Ocarina of Time last weekend.

As you can imagine many whoohoo moments followed. I've played only a little and the graphics are great but I have yet to really give it a working out. I did notice that you have shouldn't move around too much for some games because you see the lines in the 3d effect. Oddly enough when playing games where I'm running around my house I did not notice this. I think it is because I have difficulty sitting still but want to leave the 3ds is same position!

The 3d effect is more like looking through a window and you keep wanting the screen to expand even more so you can see what's going on to the side of the 'window pane' so it's quite fun andI don't have any eye strain problem. I'm used to the DSI XL which is double the size and really decreases eye strain compared to all the other models of DS so that may be a problem later on but the 3d effect isn't going to be a problem.

Otherwise so far so good. I will tell you after I've had a while to experiment but I will say I'm suprised about people complaining about decrease in cost. Everyone everywhere knows that the purchase price at launch is more expensive then if you wait. The only odd point is how quickly they did it. So please, I don't ever want to hear about it again.

Move on folks and let it go.

I was posting a question for the lastest politican to pretend to care about R18+ being introduced and asking what the hold up was and thought it best if he knew my particular bias on the matter. And by bias I mean where I was coming from, i.e my history on the subject. Then I realised something terrible. If you judged by the amount that I play games and the involvement of everything around those games (i.e the goldeneye deathmatches, merchandise etc), I would have be, and it pains me to say this, considered onlya casual gamer*

*I vowed to NEVER play those facebook game apps. I draw the line there.

Ouch! That hurt. Direct hit captain!

Then I think about it. I occassionally do nothing but play games on random weekends when I don't won't to go out, or don't have money too. Occassionally I won't play games for weeks on end. It goes in cycles between my books and my games.

Maybe this isn't all that bad. I get most of the references to games when someone brings it up but can still go out into society and converse as if I am a reasonable, rational adult (I'm not). Surely that would be a good thing, right? Best of both worlds kind of idea.

So I test it out. Normally I resist talking about replaying the Legend of Zelda: A link to the past to my 'normal' friends who only look at me blankly when I mention these. Then I get my geek on when talking to my closest friends who get my fantasy/paranormal romance/horror books or my games. Now I'm not being mean or elitist about the difference between normal, booknerds or gamers, especially as I consider myself the last 2. It is simply fact that if I mention Laurell K Hamilton's latest porn, um I'm sorry I meant to say 'horror' novel to anyone not a fan of paranormal stuff then people start wondering about my sanity and that gets really old, really fast. So sadly I simply stop talking about it when I'm around those people *the world's smallest violin is playing right now*.

So what happens? It seems that popular culture is determined to **** up my system. Thanks to that abomination Twilight (which sadly I have read and own - hey its not ALL bad if you remember that you reading this from the perspective of a 17 year old hormonally challenged MORON of a girl) it seems that Paranormal is 'in' at the moment. This means there has been a plethora of terrible stories that normally, would not have otherwise been released and have allowed to be spawned into the world. Then on the game front Wii got normal people off the coach and onto the Wiifit board and those stupid DS boutiqueyand imagine games got girls into gaming.

At first I thought this would be a good thing since its becoming more mainstream then I maybe I can mention some important things that are important, to me at least. You know, whilst talking to my normal friends slip in a bit about the Mariokart on the Wii and its faults (NO individual battle mode? What were you thinking Nintendo!). Or maybe mention a little about the Tolkein books to my gamers. After all since they made it a film and a huge number of games, surely they will get what I'm talking about when I start mentioning hobbits now?

Um, this did not happen.

At my friends parties (they bought a Wii) I generally beat them, a lot. The husband takes it well but his wife, well how should I put this? Not so much. Maybe if she had my 2 older brothers beating the crap out of her on N64 golden eye for 2 years (after those 2 years I held my own) she would have developed a thicker skin. Sadly even when I don't try too hard it just seems to just happen. Not always but a fair amount of the time. Then my gamer friends were not interested in hobbits and the myths behind it, just the warhammer books and how big the guns were.

Sadly this means that I still have no one person who bridges over 2 of those categories so its back to square one, but things are even worse now. There are crapper books being released in my favourite book genre. Some brat is trying to sell me that DS boutique gameand all my friends think I LIKE that crap!

*Sigh* I 'm going back to my room now. Call me when there is a Harry Potter party on okay?

Recently I went extremely over budget for buying games / books and to get back into the clear I had to go 6 weeks without buying a new game or book. I'm an adult I figure I'll survive. I'm 2 weeks into it and I'm starting to feel the affects. I don't normally spend big but usually I will buy a game on the DS/PSP/WII/WII virtual console or a $15 book etc every so often but that is not allowed either. Damn you anime DVD, you're the reason I'm in this fix and I watched them all in a weekend!

This is not looking good. I_have_4_weeks_to_go. Surely its been longer?

One of the things that has been helping is that I've been keeping track of the 3DS as, I'm sure many of you all are, and whilst usually I never buy anything during its initial release, I think I will make an exception for this. I've played a demo of a game on a 3D TV and I started getting a headache pretty quick so whilst the 3D graphics look great, on its own, it does not persuade me. However practically everything else about the system does. Nintendo has outdone themselves with the graphics for this system. Also looking at the game lineup. Zelda Ocarina of time, Professor Layton, Mariokart, Resident Evil. Ah what goodness. Also I've never played Metal Gear Solid before and I've been really chomping at the bit to do so.

Saying that I would like to try those games would be something of an understatement. Saying that it's an understatement is also a major-freakin-understatement.

So aside from obsessing about a system that won't be out until next year and therefore I can't possibly spend any money on it, I have found odd ways of dealing. I started playing every Final Fantasy game, from the beginning, and number 1 was not that great. The music was nice but the grinding nature of the battles in that game were HORRIFIC. There is no other word to describe it. There is this one tunnel where you have a battle every step of the way. It was not pleasant. I'm also replaying Secret of Mana which I haven't played in years, and surprisingly still holds up pretty well after all these years.

So whilst it has been fun to replay many old gems I am starting to get twitchy about not being allowed in game or bookstores. After all if I walk in, I will buy something. I have to pass these stores everyday on the way home to/from work.

By the end of this 6 weeks-of not-buying-anythingI suspect I will develop a nervous tick, will alternate between stuttering when talked to and staring at the wall in my office blankly whilst imagining the 3DS or a whole batch of shiny new games and books in my room. When I finally get to buy something I can assure you, I will be doing my best Golem impersonation 'its mine, its my precious.'

Back at work in Australia after a great holiday in... JAPAN! I loved it. The electric city (which is where you get all the gadgets & games etc) has such a variety over there. FFXIII is just about to come out over there so hopefully next year we will get it.

Japan is amazing. The temples are interesting (just don't go to too many of them). The shopping possibilities are endless. The sights fascinating. However the thing I'm going to miss most? The food. Not just the Japanese local food. I mean ALL food. They do italian, french, american, indian, chinses, thai, hawaiian etc. and they do them well (and if you know where to look CHEAP). Im trying get back into my routine here in Oz and I found that some foods that I used to enjoy just doesn't taste the same anymore (too greasy, oily etc). I think I have a food problem on my hands here. Perhaps I should start learning how to really cook. (spaghetti doesn't count).

Wish me luck.

Here's a though about the Greatest Hero debate. They said make a bracket for you THINK will win and then ask you to vote for you WANT to win. What if they are different things. I want to win the brackets but I also want to support my favourites that probably won't win. Conflight of interest right there.

For example Master Chief versus Sonic. I wanted Sonic to win but everyone keeps going on about Master Chief. So I vote Master Chief. After that match up the winner versus Samus Aran. I wanted Samus Aran to win that match-up. But noooo, I though everyone was so obsessed with that Master Chied that he/it would win again. So who do I vote for this time?

So I constanly am faced with the options of:

a) vote against my own bracket and hope my favourite would win

or

b) vote for who I 'd think would be the most popular and thus extending my chances on winning the bracket.

This sucks. You know what I decided? Bugger bragging rights its not worth it at this stage (i'm sooo not going to win) + I live in Australia, so I don't get any prizes. I think I wouldgetgreat satisfaction in seeing my favourites win as they deserve to. On that note Link better win it. So to whom ever wants someone else other than Link to win it:

BRING IT ON.

I just joined this group , as up until now I've reading the reviews and using the cheats that you provide (many thanks). Then the greatest hero competition began and I wanted to join in despite the fact that i live outside USA so I WON'T get any prices. (Sigh). Oh well until I figure out what the hell I am supposed to do with this blog, just know this: I HAVE NO FRIGGIN' IDEAD what I'm doing. Until next time See Ya Vanyel