To say that I'm a Nintendo freak. I even want to join the Nintendo Power Club. I wish I was Howard. That could be cool....

-Mike

that if a video here is labled "Game Play", it'd better contain some frigging game play, and nothing else.  All cut-scenes should be labled as such, and I'm not interested in seing characters talk.

Why do I feel this way, you ask?  Because flashy cutscenes are the last thing that convince me to by a game.  Yes, they're pretty, but I couldn't care less if, despite the work that went into the cinematics, the game play is boring.  And I can't tell what the game play is like when I'm seeing pre-rendered fluff or dry exposition.  Let me see some action, people!  And not static shots of the player standing there; he'd better be doing something to progress through the game.

-Mike

to buy a used game from Gamestop and have an old sticker on the cartridge.  Usually, the annoyance is just that I can't get it off, but when the game is Boktai and has a nifty solar sensor that's covered up by the sticker, I get particularily steamed.  I've tried my best to get it off, but there's still a residue.  One of those times you say to yourself, "come on, guys, use something a little less tacky for your adhesive so I can actually get it off.  I won't forget who you are, or that I can buy used games from you, I promise".  Ah well, I'll keep working on it...

-Mike

... with turn-based roleplaying games.  I used to spend hours leveling up and leveling up so that I could continue on.  I'd tell people that the games were great "because of the stories".  I bought the soundtracks.  Then one day I woke up and realized that these games were boring and best, tedious and a waste of time at worst.  I still crave a good story, well fleshed out characters, and great soundtracks, but I think we've moved past the days of holding down the "a" button -and maybe selecting who we're pressing "a" at - and calling that combat.  Unless Final Fantasy XII marks a wise paradigm shift for Square-Enix, I won't be continuing the journey with them anymore.

-Mike

One thing I noticed about myself today: I never trust DS games that rely heavily on touchscreen control.  I always think "Man, I'd so much rather use a traditional control scheme with buttons and a d-pad."  What can I say?  I'm old fashioned sometimes.  So I stubbornly play Metroid Prime Hunters and get cramps and frustrated at the lack of accuracy, or I hesitate to get Star Fox Command.  But every FREAKING time that I give in and try the touch screen control, I fall in love with it.  I'm almosty ready to want Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.  We'll see...