Well, I seem to have managed to end an old journey recently, but begin a new one.

For a while now, I've had the idea that BloodRayne 2 was going to be coming out in Australia. As such, I managed to pre-order myself a copy and had managed to fully pay the game off some months ago. Since then, the release date of the game has shifted no less than three times - in theory it was due out much earlier this year, but the most recent date I had listed was August 2005. Now this was somewhat annoying, but I'm a patient man. Last week, I decided to check in for a more current release date, and found to my surprise that there was no longer to BE a release date. For some reason, Blood Rayne 2 was no longer going to be coming to Australia. What the...? The staff could not explain why there was no longer a release date, so it's all a bit of a mystery really...

So, mumbling under my breath I chose to convert my prepaid game into two games that had actually been released at some point. Thankfully, due to some price matching and a local store having a sale going, I managed to secure a couple of decent games for less than I would normally have paid, so I was pretty happy all round. In keeping with my recent Nintendo trend in games, I managed to pick up a couple of titles from series I already have titles from. More specifically? The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker, and Metroid Fusion - for the 'Cube and GBA respectively.

Now after checking both games out for a while, I'm fairly impressed. After being quite used to playing Samus Aran in the slightly more 3D Metroid Prime, I must admit it was a step back to be playing a more side-scrolling adventure. But the game itself seems decent enough, so I'll have to play it more thoroughly when I finish up on some other Gaming projects. The Wind Waker is almost exactly the opposite, funnily enough. I've played The Minish Cap on the GBA previously, so to suddenly be running around in 3D in a Zelda game is quite nice. Again, I have only barely scratched the surface of the game - but what I've seen so far has been good fun. :)

I must admit, the 'Cube is rapidly becoming my favourite Console of all of those I currently own. The DS holds a close second, and I really should be playing around with the PS2 and 'Box occasionally. It's just that there are so many GREAT Games out on the Gamecube. It truly is an undervalued Console in the big scheme of things. I look forward to seeing what Nintendo manages to do with the Revolution (whenever it manages to be released, or developed, or designed, or whatever... *grin*)

On another note, I should update you on my search on E-Bay for The Longest Journey. The previously mentioned copy I bid on was a bit of a failure. I actually forgot I had put a bid in, and the closing date for the auction passed before I realised it. Of course this means that someone else won the game, but that is just to be expected. My second attempt was more successful, and so about a week ago I received in a sturdy package my very own copy of this classic adventure from the recent past. Having read of this Game in other's Journals, and checked out some online reviews, I'm looking forward to making my way through this adventure in the nearish future. It looks like I'm going to have to reinstall Half Life 2 at some point due to some buggy behaviour, so I might make this one my next PC Game to play. *grin*

I am doing quite well in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, having now completed over 150 missions in my second run through of the game. I've now developed some quite useful mixes of characters and broadened the skills I have available, as well as laid out Ivalice slightly more efficiently. This has netted me more than a few nice items, so I'm pretty happy with the way things are going. A more specific update of my progress will follow in a future Journal Entry.

Well, that should do me for the evening. I'm going to go back and explore some more of the Forsaken Fortress in The Wind Waker before getting some well earned sleep. Hope all is well out there in Gamespot Land people, and that you're all getting some sleep from time to time.

Game on! :D