Been a LONG time since I've been on, just seeing who is around after all the changes and such. Life has pretty much taken over and I've only been mobile gaming a bit lately. That's really all I've had time for. Hoping things will slow down soon and I can get back to some consoles (but not holding my breath). Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

I for one do. There really hasn't been much change in gameplay over the years. Sure they have the addition of new Pokemon and new animations, but the storylines remain constant. Yet, something about those games still draws me in. I've played almost all of them since they were first released back in 98. Yes, it really was that long ago. I was drawn more into console gaming the last year or so and never really explored Black or White, the first 5th generation games. While I was at Gamestop the other day, they had a used Black 2 sitting there for about $25. I figured what the hell, might as well pick it up right? Haven't put it down. I'm not into hardcore EV training or using several of the different methods to find shinys or anything like that (though who doesn't like shinies?!). I enjoy the gameplay, catching as many as I can, training, etc. Seems they made Black 2 extremly easy to replay, with many side missions and battles to be had after the champion is defeated. Nice additions with the Dream World, and I'm glad you don't have to carry anything around with you like the little Pokewalker thingy. Obviously my Pokemon game playing back when I was 13 wasn't a big deal. Well how about now when I'm 27? Surprisingly, there's still quite a few people out there that I've run into that still play them. Not many of my real-world friends are gamers, so when I heard that plenty of them enjoy these games I was shocked. Kinda made me feel better about the fact that I still like them. So, any of you still play them? If so, I'm always looking for trading partners to complete the pokedex and help me evolve those Pokemon that need it. Feel free to PM me your friend code. P.S. Yes, this is my first blog in almost a year. Sue me :P

Diablo III (I like III instead of 3 for this one) beta. I got invited just now.

Should I play, or should I not play? I've been anxiously awaiting this game for years as Diablo II was probably one of my favorite games that I've ever played. On one hand, I really really want to play. On the other hand, do I really want to play the beta version which might have a few bugs in it?? What are your thoughts? If you were me, would you play?

Estimated time of absence: unknown Activity during absence: DIABLO III FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes or no? I've come to note over the years that you either love Apple, or you hate it. I can tell you from using a friend's iPad 2 that it is certainly fun. There's a game called Plants and Zombies that I absolutely love. It's one of those "tower defense" type games, but adds a new twist to it. If you have an iPad, I highly suggest checking it out. Anyway, new iPad (yes, that's what they called it) looks to be pretty legit. They are calling it a Retina display even though it's technically not. Still, the resolution on the 9.7" screen is better than any 17" laptop can produce currently, so I'm excited to see it in person. 5MP camera isn't bad for those that want to take pictures. I prefer a camera for taking picture, since that's what they are made for, but that's just me. Increased battery size for the new processor and graphics chip (Quad-core from what's reported) keeps battery life at the same times for the new iPad which is impressive considering the new processing power and the amount of energy a 4G antenna sucks. I'm thinking I'll get one, only because I can get no interest at Best Buy for 6 months and spread out my payments, and I've been waiting for the new display for a while.

Yea, 6 months is a while. I've never been much of a blogger, but hey, I should be getting on this a bit more than that. In any case, lots of stuff happening, almost all of it good, but too much to go into detail. I'll give you a list instead: - Work is great. Got promoted to Technical Account Manager at a software company. Now have 6 people under me. - Due to said promotion, I can finally afford a house AND my school loans, so I started that process a few weeks ago. Lots of paperwork involved...almost too much! - Lost about 10lbs (4.5kg), and have myself what you'd call "abs." Due to this work, went and spent a significant amount of money at Express for my first "brand name" clothing purchase. - Finished Arkham City's main story, moving on to challenges. I thought the main story was a bit lacking, and the same as the first one in terms of an ending. - Got my roommate hooked on COD: Black Ops. I think he plays more than I do. - SOPA sucks, as does the US Congress's ability to get anything useful done. - 2012 Presidential candidates are all terrible. See South Park episode "Douche and Turd." Hope everyone else is having a good 2012 so far! How do you like the new Terms of Use? Been flaming and trolling away?

It's about time right? Best Buy has a nice little deal going on where if you buy a PS3 you get a $100 gift card. Well, I've been looking to get one, and my Blu-ray player just died. Combine those two things, and it just made perfect sense for me to get one. It came with COD: Black Ops, and I also picked up God of War 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 for $20 a piece. I still have a huge backlog of games to get to, but why not add a few more to that list? Right now I'm watching a Blu-ray and I do have to say it looks great and runs smoothly. I'll be setting up my PSN ID tomorrow (without CC info ;)), and once I have that I'll be sure to share! There's a ton of menu options and settings, and if it interacts at all with the PSP, I might have to give it a break from collecting dust. We shall see. Looks like I'll be spending even more time gaming in the near future!

So, it's been quite a while since my last blog post, and I got tired of seeing those pictures there, so I figured I better update everyone on what's been going on. Since the time I was in Japan (which was waaaay back in Feb) things got a little crazy! Once I got back from Japan, I was then sent to Colorado, DC, South Carolina, and a few places in California. I counted the number of night that I spent on the road in the first 3 months of the year, and it was more than I was home. On top of all that traveling, I also moved. I'm not sure if any of you have ever had to move, but moving sucks. Sucks hard. I had a week to move, then I traveled, I was back for a weekend and traveled again. Needless to say, I had no time to be around here, and I wasn't for a little while. Things have finally calmed down though, the house is all settled, and traveling will continue shortly. In fact, shortly = Thursday. Luckily, I will only be gone for 5 days. That's been my life for the last little bit. I am back now, so look for me more often! On the gaming side of things, not being around has severely hampered my time to play anything. I started Bioshock 2 a while ago, and I'm probably half-way through it. I need to finish that soon. Next on my list is Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. I bought that game before the craziness above started, but I am anxious to see where the story leads. I spent plenty of time with AC 2, so I'm looking forward to getting into it. After that, I want to sink my teeth into Mortal Kombat. That was one of those games that I always remember as a kid. When I was growing up, a Game Boy was the only system I was allowed to have until I was able to buy my own, and MK was probably my 2nd most played game series behind Zelda games. I hear great things about MK, and it'll probably look great when played in HD. Portal 2 is also on the list, but not very high up there currently with so much else on the plate. I'm sure that many of you know that I own a couple motorcycles. Well, during the insanity that was my life the last few months, I managed to sell one! Since I'm down to one, I figured I'd spend some money on it, so I ordered a custom exhaust, race ECM, and a few other little mods to make it look sexy. The thing is going to sound like a monster though. I plan on doing a speed-run video on the exhaust change, as well as before and after sounds. Look for that in the next few weeks. Also, California Highway Patrol sponsors a drag day down at Qualcomm Stadium and you can pay $30 to go down and drag race on a 1/8th mile track. You are allowed to race other bikes, and you can take as many runs as you want. A buddy of mine and I went on down and ended up doing about 15 runs. My best time was 1/8th mile in 7.504 seconds @ 103MPH. Completely awesome for my first time at the drag strip, plus the fact that my bike is completely stock currently. I plan on taking her down there again after all the mods are on to see how she does. I can tell you one thing...it's WAY hard to keep the front tire on the ground ;) If you haven't been watching any of the NHL playoffs, you need to be. Spectacular games so far. Comebacks, hitting, intense action, goalies robbing people...it's the best. Red Wings swept their first round opponents and are waiting on the result from tonight's Vancouver-Chicago game 7 to figure out how they play. I hope Chicago wins, because I'm going to be in Detroit this weekend, and they will host Nashville in round 2 if that happens. I will definitely be going to the game if that's the case!! What's that??? NBA playoffs you say? MLB is on too? BORING. Watch some hockey! I think that's enough rambling for now. Hope everyone had a nice Easter (if you celebrate it), and happy gaming!

P.S. Go Vote. Webby's People's Voice Award for Best Game-Related Website. Info is here. /shameless plug :P

So, I was walking around the mall the other day, and what did I happen to come across? Well, I'll let you see for yourself: Now, I have no idea why, but before I got here I totally didn't put 2 and 2 together and figure there'd be a giant Pokemon store. Anyway, they have all kinds of stuff in there...stuffed Pokemon, key chains, cell phone charms, and I could go on and on. What struck me as being pretty cool was the "Pokemon Center." I didn't manage to grab a good shot of it, but basically, they had some wifi in that room, and you could hang out with your friends and battle or do whatever. It was pretty neat. There were some screens in there and they had the anime on, and some info on upcoming events, etc.

I was hoping they'd have some sort of Japanese Pokemon give away so I could snag myself a super awesome one, but no luck :( Guess I'll just have to stick to getting them the hard way! Lots of posters and such for black/white which comes out in August or September, and they already have some merchandise ready. I'll try and get some more shots soon. Just something interesting I thought I'd share from Japan. I'm here until Saturday, then I head back home!

That's right, work has me going on another trip. This time, I'm headed to the other side of the world to Japan. I'm excited. I'm not sure how much sightseeing I'll get to do, but I'm going to try and work pretty hard to be able to travel around a bit. I'll start in Tokyo, be working in Yokosuka, and be staying in Yokohama. That's a decent amount of time on the train. Either way, it should be a solid trip. The thing I'm probably most looking forward to is being in that different culture, especially one so different from the American way. I'll be there for 3 weeks, so I'll have plenty of time to soak it all in. You guys/gals been anywhere fun recently??