So it apears the GameSpot Glitch virus has struck us once again. Now, I cannot go even on some of the game's pages! I mean what gives? I wanted to add Silent Hill Homecoming to my collection, but I can't view its page. I don't know if this is just me, but once again, GS is been having some problems.

Oh, and the new layout for the reviews is bad. Just bad.

Here is my review of Casltevania: Symphony of the Night. Sorry if it is too long, and for the huge amount of comparissons with Super Metroid, but it was needed.(http://www.gamespot.com/ps/adventure/castlevaniasymphonyoftn/player_review.html?id=778903)

Next review: Plants vs. Zombies (DS)

So, a few days back, I wrote a few reasons why I decided to join GameSpot. And while I really do love the site, there are some things that bug me, and this blog is dedicated to listing them. Thank youSuper-Poke-Brosgiving me the idea for this. ;)

The new layout is rather confusing
While I maybe late to the party to talk about this, I do think that the new design of the website is much more confusing and counter intuitive than what it was before. I liked the way they listed the news and the new game stuff, and its blog like aproach feels much worse and cumbersome. Having to go on a separate window to check news (for example) is much sillier than being able to just see them on the main page.

What the firetruck is Fuse for?
We have this feature for more than an year I belive, and it was always optional, mainly if you wanted to sync your PS3 trophies or 360 achivements here, but now it has taken over the updates page as well. While it is a minor complain, I just want to ask "why?". It was so good to have all in one website, where we were familiar with the layout, and tell me: who here uses Fuse instead of the main website? It is much simpler here, as Fuse's "Facebook like"design really is counter intuitive.

Constant glitches in the website
For the almost two years I have been a member of the website, we have had experienced some really awkward situations here, which I can remember mainly two: when Fuse took over the Updates, we had to do everything from it, like check our friends updates from there as well, and that really was bad. I don't know if it was due to outcry or a glitch, but we have more freedom now. And second is that our updates page were missing for a couple of weeks, and made it harder to track anything. I also experienced some problems with my game lists, which persisted for quite a while. Annoying stuff is annoying. Nuff said.

Having to constantly track games
Back then (less than a year ago), you could select if you wanted to track the game, but on you now playing list, on your owned games list or wish list. Then you would automaticly track the game as soon as you wanted to do anything with it. Now you have to track the game, and from your lists you have to move it to your other lists. THAT SUCKS. It is just annoying. Think of the situation: I got Metal Gear Solid 3, and added to my owned games list, and automaticaly to my following. I forget that is there, but as soon as a Metal Gear 3 is announced, I will get bombarded with updates for it. It may seem like I'm bit**ing about it, and while it is the simple task of unfollowing the game latter, the point is: you shouldn't have to. It should be much more like you want to do.

News section is lacking
Look at this site's new section. Now look at Destructoid's or GamesRadar. See the difference? GS only posts what it feel is important, while these other two post everything. I really wish we could have access to everything only here, since it would be much simpler.

Reviews
This is a special mention, that I belive other users feel the same. Ever since I have started to write reviews, I have take in consideration the users score and reviews much more than I did before. Before, it was "GS gave the game a 5, it must suck then". Now I still read their reviews, and some like the Sonic The Hedgehog for PS3/360 really hit the mark, while others like the Persona 1 and 2 for PSP have the right idea, but get lost in the way. Also, the website really is harsh at times: did Sonic 4 and Scott Pilgrim really deserve a 6.5?

So, these are the things that bug me on GS. They are mostly nipicks, and none really distractwebsite that much. I still love doing what I do here, and seeing what other people do, and that will get me hooked on the website for much longer

As I was goofing around on the website and other video game sites, I started thinking why I write stuff here, and why not on other places. And I came down to a few conclusions. The first and foremost is that GameSpot is probably the most popular gaming website around, I many people read its reviews, articles and it has a lot of user posted stuff. So I though I should take advantege of that. And as I cycled though user reviews, I thought they were pretty good in general, and they are plentiful often.

So the comunity is something else as well. It isn't present in GameTrailers for example, where the coments sections for the video review just get bombarded with "this review sucks" or "Buy This Shirt for 1 Dollar". GS also gets points for the stuff the main editors post, such as the news sections which is good, even though it pales in comparission to blogs like 1UP or Destructoid, and the editorials, which are normaly quite good. It isn't like the absurd things that IGN post, like a riduculous article that said that gamers are too soft nowadays.

And the main reviews, of course, also were a big reason. I think they are normaly pretty damn good, and the website tends to not be very biased towards games, unlike IGN, which will give a 9+ to a shooter and a 6 or - to anything that is original.

And for last, I like that people of the comunity, as in people share their thoughts on stuff, and if they don't disagree with you, you don't get blasted with stupid coments, and there are some nice talks you can have wiht people.

So yeah, GS is win. Why are you here and not there?

For my review of Advance Wars Dual Strike check this link out (http://www.gamespot.com/ds/strategy/advancewarsds/player_review.html?id=776858)

Next review: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS, but played on the PSP)

I have said it many times and will say it how many times I need: Persona 4 is my favourite RPG ever. Is even one of my favourite games ever. And when the anime adaptation was announced, I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to watch it, and those 5/6 months of expectation went away for pure fangasm.

So, I will just give a brief sumary here. The story is about a teenager named Yu Narukami who goes to the small town of Yasoinaba, since his parent changed jobs, and so he has to stay there with his uncle till next year. That is the basic premise. On his new school, he becomes friends with Chie Satonaka, an energetic girl, Yosuke Hanamura, a clumsy boy and Yukiko Amagi, a reserved girl. They are all very detailed characters, and are brougth to life in the adaptation.

What I was doing when I was watching, which is probably what anyone who played the game will do too, is compare the scenes from the anime to the game. And they were almost perfectly mirrored. I mean geez, the moments are captured with such perfection it is almost like you are playing the game yourself. There is one difference, and that is how the episode ends, which is very different from that point in the game, but it was nicely segwayed.

The style and music also feel like the game. The colorful Midnight Channel and the conservative Inaba are just like in the game, and the animation itself is much better that the ones found ongame. The music is the same from the game, and it is just as awesome as ever, and fits perfectly on the anime.

In other words, this is just incredible. If I had to find any negative, it would be that it has a very fast pace, since they got about 2 hours of game into 20 minutes, but it doesn't feel forced, if a bit rushed. It still is followable (?) to a newcomer. WATCH IT NOW!

I just wonder if the GS comunity is trolling everyone, since the game Street Cleaning Simulator has been featured in the Top Games of the website for quite a while. And even more noticeable is that it has a user score of 9.1, compared to GS rating of 1.5 and critics of 2.7. So... is there something I'm unaware of?

For my review of the DS version of Mario 64, see this link (http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/dssupermario4x4/player_review.html?id=775709)

Next review: either Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1/PSP) or Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS)

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time playing game, either alone or with my cousin, and ocasionaly with some friends at school. And, regardless of what the game was, I usually had a lot of fun. I say that in the sense of, nowadays, there are some games that I just can't enjoy as much, but they had a really important place in my childhood. In this list, I will compile a few of those that I can remember.

-The Kirby series, mainly Kirby 64-
I frickin love Kirby, and when I was young, I loved it even more. I was so interesting for me to check out all the power ups and what I could do with them, I just loved it. But as the years gone by, the series became incressingly boring to me. I still have fun with them, specialy Super Star on the SNES, but the slow and easy gameplay hinders it for me a bit. The special mention goes to Kirby 64, since Kirby moves pretty damn slow in that game, and it is just so easy, that I have a really hard time playing it now and enjoying it like I did before.

-Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, mainly the latter-
These were the two Mario RPGs I grew up with, and I played them to death, specialy Paper Mario, which I have lost count on how many times I have beaten. While I never finished Mario RPG when I was young, I still played a lot of it. And I can still play these games and have a great time, but they are shadowed by the best Mario RPG ever, Paper Mario 2. I love that game, and going back to the first Paper Mario is kind of awkward, since it seems to move so slowly compared to its succesor. With Mario RPG, the nostlagia is enough to carry me for a long period, and the fact that I haven't finished it that many times makes me want to play it more over it succesor. That, and the fact that the N64 control stick is a piece of sh** kind of detract me from the game.

-The whole Pokemon franchise-
I am 15 years old, and still admit that I play Pokemon. The gameplay is incredibly addictive, and I always seem to do some stuff diferently than I did on my last playthough, but the novel appeal of the whole series has been kind of lost to me. Going back and playing even SoulSilver, I find the games rather easy and, even putting my own challenges it still is rather predictable. Truth, it is because I have played them so much, but it is also because I watched the animes when I was a kid, and kind of related to the games when I was younger, something I can't do anymore.

-Fire Emblem 7 and Metroid Fusion-
I put these two games together since I played them around the same time. You know those two games that you played over and over and you just couldn't get tired of? Well, that was me with these two games. Even though I never owned them, I rented them all the time. But with the superior sequels to the first, and the superior prequel to the latter, they don't do much to call me to play them that much nowadays. FF7 is shadowed mostly by Radiant Dawn and Path of Radiance, mainly due to their bigger challenge and length, and Super Metroid just feels a bit more compeling, and is so much fun. Out of the two, Fusion I still play ocasially and have a great time, but I still had a better time back then.

-Super Mario Sunshine-
I have said this many times and will still defend it: I think Sunshine is better than Galaxy 1, even though Galaxy 2 just beats the crap out of them both. This is kind of a special mention, because that was a game that I basicaly just played for the novelty factor. I mean the game is jsut so different from other Mario games, and it is pure awesomeness, and out of all the games on the list, this is the game I have not played the longest, about 4 or 5 years. And if I were to pick it up now, I would not like it as much. I have watched quite a few Let's Plays of this game many time, I sorta see the complains, and can remember some of them frustrating me as well. Of course, I would still enjoy the game, but not to the same degree.

So, these are some games that have a special place in my heart, although I do have other. Comment down below some of yours as well.

I have rewriten my review of Sonic the Hedgehog, so check out this link (http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/sonicthehedgehog/player_review.html?id=746527)

I'm sorry for its length, but its was necessary.

Next review: Super Mario 64 DS