I guess it seems natural for me. I don't like to JUMP into MMORPGs. I usually wait a year after it's release because of the amount of bugs on a release it makes me cautious about buying into a commitment like that. So I tried out the 10 day free trail of World of Warcraft, http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/worldofwarcraft/trial/trial.aspx and I must say It's been 3 days and I'm impressed. Although it's the game of the year from Gamespot, but I have to say I'm impress on it alone. It's fast, fun and very simple. Now I'm deeply considering about buying it, which is yet ANOTHER commitment then just a free trail.

I'm also playing Resident Evil 4 and Soul Calibur 3. First off Soul Calibur 3 is a bit of a let down. It feels like Soul Calibur but with the volumn turned down. Sould Calibur is there, but after 7 years it feels like it's growing stale. Resident Evil 4 is amazing on the PS2, I really was expecting a let down, but that's clearly not the case.

So the XBox 360 is out, and a few crappy video game movies have been announced and I'm broke. At least I've got a few games to hold me over. I'm seriously wondering how I'm going to make holiday shopping this year? Oh well, as long as I put a lot of though into it, maybe it won't be that bad. :]

So it's christmas coming up, my sister just got an early gift the new Apple iPod. Which is a VAST improvement over the first iPod she got 2 years ago. I was offered a Sony PSP, so it got me to think, do I even want a PSP? As I look at it, the frame rate looks pretty low, and some games look really sloppy PS1 ports. Honestly Wipeout Pure and Lumines really would get me excited about the system but the rest just looks really crummy. Metal Gear Ac!d would have gotten me into a PSP, but it's a major dissappointment on what you could show off all that the PSP would have to offer.

How about I just put Porn on the memory card? Kidding, The price tag on a Sony PSP and a memory card too expensive for my taste.

So now I've thought about it, how about the Nintendo DS? Honestly reading up the RAVING reveiws for Mario Kart DS  http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/920788.asp Nintendogs looks interisting, Final Fantasy 4 is coming up soon, and Metroid Prime Hunters looks really stylisticly interisting on the Nintendo DS cabilities.

Well, first off I lost my Gameboy SP in San Diego airport. So it would be good to have a replacement system, but I don't want to spend too much money on the new Gameboy Micro. The DS looks really promising, it's completely different from last year's game line up. I guess a part of me is still that Nintendo fan-boy at heart, but uppon seeing a lot of what the other companies have to offer on the Sony PSP, it doesn't look like they are interisted in just focusing on gameplay. Have you seen Socom on the PSP??? Or even GTA Liberty City Stories? I love GTA, but my first time seeing it I ask, "Will there be a PC version coming soon?" It's too muddy and choppy frame rate for me to enjoy. So when I see a game like Mario Kart running at 60 FPS on the DS while online, it looked like Nintendo was serious about making this a top notch game.

Although uppon my moment of thinking all of this, the Nintendo DS and Mario Kart DS bundle SOLD OUT! In the span of 2 days :P do I feel like such a dumbass. Oh well, I guess I can try to order it online of check out Target or other stores. Still it's gotten me axious for a Nintendo DS.

After my last post, I went out of my way and tried to fix my NES.

Fallowing a FAQ in Classic Gaming http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/nesrepair/ it turns out my problem was loose springs on my NES 72 Pin connector. Simple enough process, although it was quite a thrilling experiance. The only problem is now it's a bit mroe tighter to instert and remove NES cartridges out of the console. Aside from that the NES works perfectly!

Now I've been deeply considering buying some more classic NES titles I missed out on. It might become an expensive hobby, but I'll try not to go over board with it. Although, I feel a lot different after seeing the inside of a 20 year old console.... Definatly don't know why I didn't do this sooner.

I never really considered saying that out loud.

I mean I enjoy old school gaming just as much as the next guy, and I keep my NES in tip top shape. Although at frequent parties I go to majority of NESes that are there to play are misserable shape. Slaped on with a dozen stickers, dents, scratches and stains all over but the worst part is majority of them can't even play a game longer then 5 minutes. All we want to do is have a head to head competition of T&C Surfing, and we can't make it to surfing portion with the only some what console at the party.

So that's when I start thinking? Am I better then these guys? So with little effort I pull out my NES which I keep beside me at all times and plug it into the TV.... Time hasn't treated my system well. I belive the biggest concern is the process if inserting the cartridge, through out the years, I've knwon the blowing into the cratrigde DOESN'T imrpove how well the game loads up. It's all in the matter of how you insert your cartridge into you system. So you have to sit there carefully pressing it down not too far to let the game enter the slot, after a few failures and gitchy screens it's then when it hits me....

How well do I know my system? I don't even know how it constructed and i have no idea how it works. For years I would believe the biggest concern was dust, but as were approching the 20th anniversary do we even know how it works? So now, I feel I should definatly step up and learn my NES. I don't know how I will achive this goal, but I know it can be done.

As I was playing some Super Mario Bros 3, Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda 2 and Double Dragon the controller is really irritating me. It's has too many sharp corners and the empty space on the side make your hands in an akward position. I WOULD love to try out the re-designed NES that came out in the early 90s designed loosly on the SNES. So for now, I press down on the bone of my thumb then on the fat, a friend of mine recomended me that.

I was deeply considering buying Shadow of Colossus, the videos and the reviews have been nothing but a Jewel of a PS2 game that I couldn't resist..... Although something distracted me. As I was at Gamestop I was easily distracted from the used game section. I found a copy of Metal Gear Solid 1 for 5 bucks..... I never owned a copy.... I only own Tekken 3, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Alpha 1 and I don't even own a PS1. My close friends would let me barrow their PS1 so I could play Final Fantasy 7 or Resident Evil. So I have played through Metal Gear Solid, just never owned it.

I don't feel like a damned fool for passing up Shadow of the Colossus, it's more like getting re-acquainted with an old friend. Although I don't have a PS1 Memory card, so I'm forced to play the game straight through. Which isn't that bad. I mean I've played MGS2 and 3 to the point where I've seen it all. It's good to just go back.

Settling back to MGS1...... I guess I don't know if I can complain, instead I'm just eager to play and take in all the theatrics of the original. The Melodramatic and silliness of MGS series is something that I've grown to love as time goes on. Now, I've noticed the voice acting is a bit improved on the later versions, Ocelot doesn't have that raspy tone in the front of all his lines. Snake is just a bit off with some of his lines, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Considering how MGS-Twin Snakes came out a year ago, some of the changes there...... well, the first thing I could compare it with would be Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. Just controversial changed that really divide a fan base.

Personally, I'm taking my time and trying to discover each and every little surprise within the game. As I've grown older I'm happy to always look back on some genres of games. I love the changes made on the sequels, but it always felt that Kojima always wanted to make the series into more of a platform to be a storyteller. MGS1 feels like a modern day graphic adventure game. The gameplay is really about just solving the puzzle, and that's why I don't feel too insulted by Kojima's "Gameplay" designs. I quote gameplay only because that's a debatable idea if MGS series have gameplay? Especially considering the whole convoluted plots. Although going back the the 1998 game and seeing it was a drastic change into graphic adventures....... I think I have a new hope for the genre after seeing MGS1 all over again.

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On another note. My sister beat all the tracks in Brunout Revenge. It's really nice she left me all the Crash Modes, but WOW! She did it all, and now it just feels really disappointing.

I've been hooked on Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater. It's brilliant, beautiful and sublime.... although the game came out over 8 months ago. So You can read that from just about anyone has review or journal. So I decided to nit pick on a few things on the game.

1. Control - There is a noticeable Control change from MGS2 which had a very consistent and solid mechanic. Now there are just some slight modifications that made jumping into MGS3 unsettling. There is no real solution to the problem instead you have to just deal with the changed mechanics.

2. Camera - I'll admit I enjoyed the pre-positioned camera from MGS1 and 2, I felt it gave a unique charm to the franchise. Although in 3 it becomes more of a problem since you end up dying from unclear camera placement and enemies off screen. Sure the in game characters keep yelling at you "Hey, watch what your walking into." "Be aware of your surrounding." or "don't go in half-cocked." But For example when fighting the Fury, there are moments where the camera will collide between stone pillars where you can't determine anything on screen.

3. Loading - I'll admit that the game is beautifully designed because there is a lot of one screen at a time. But there are these noticeable load sequences just when you want to change camouflage during key moments of gun fire.

Although I've seen WORSE in a lot of games out there, but you expect the best after the fine polish that MGS2 received 3 years ago. This makes one really a calm and collective gamer in order to appreciate this unique game.

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On a side note, Devil May Cry 3 is impressive as well as Katamari Damacy.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/08/news_6120012.htm

I can finally die happy!!!!!!!

Although deep in the back of my mind I'm yelling at myself "Why are you excited over a platformer?"

I guess I would like to see something that the kid in me would be happy with. Although I have this feeling I'm gonna regret typing all of this upon the game's release, because the Sonic series has had moments where I wanted to rip out my eyes and ears out in brutal manner. But for the time being this is fun news.

Personally, I'm more hyped up about Psychonauts, and if I have to be excited about a platformer. It would be that game. What can I say, I'm a big tim shaffer fan. I love Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle..... I still wear my Full Throttle shirt with pride.

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I've always been eager about this year, more so then last year. Again, I think I'm gonna regret saying that as well. It was really a year of content, and that comes 2 or 3 years down a system's life span. So are we really ready for a new system? It doesn't feel like the end of the N64 and PS1, where we all strained at the idea of seeing those screens again.

There is nothing like the new smell of a new console season, something about that new console smell! So much promise, and hope that this will be something ambitious

So who knows, this could all be a building up for something just horrible..... and isn't that alone exciting enough to be anxious?

I'm replaying X-Men, X-Men clone wars and Spider-Man VS Kinpin on the Genesis.... WOW! These games are hard. I cannot recall a friend who has beaten these games, but I do remember they were all the rage in middle school. I never owned a Genesis, but I'm now downloading Emulated games and starting to see what I'm missing all these years. For some cases, I do agree the Genesis is an amazing system, but in some cases the SNES did it better.

Although I am now starting to see clearly the line when games were difficult to when they started getting easier. I believe it was around the time when the Playstation came about. I would complain all the time if I beat a game too easily, I mean the experiance is something that I still rank in highly, but even the biggest titles were just too simple even on a normal setting. Now that I'm replaying Genesis games, I'm just wonder if I'm a hard core gamer to even play these games?

I intent to play along and see how far I can get on these game, but WOW!!!!! I feel so much smaller in the presence of these games.

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I'm replaying a lot of the NES, SNES and Genesis Batman games. I believe that so far from my research Batman Returns is probably the BEST out of all the Batman games ever game. A great side scrolling/fighting game with this brute strength that really makes you feel like your as Hard Core as Batman. Although I deep in my heart I do long for a more larger Batman game that really does take advantage of the Detective of Gotham City.

Currently right now I'm going through Final Fantasy 1 on the new GBA "Dawn of Souls". It's been 12 years since I played FF 1 on the NES and I ask myself one thing, Was this game THAT FAST to go through? Already in a small amount of time I have level 15 characters just annihilating dungeons and fiends that crosses my path. To be honest the energy of the game was something I wasn't expecting. It was one of the first Christmas gifts I was handed but I actually refrained from playing till quite some time. I was going to expect LONG dialog, slow walks down repetitive cities, towns, dungons and landscapes and dull fighting mechanics. That's due to the fact that I've grown tired of the current FF titles and all the insecurities I had for the current games have been passed down to the original game. I was just all wrong, instead the game is deeply stimulating after 14 years, and like I said, everything seems to have an update for the better.

It's just easy to pick up at your own leisure, go into a small battle or quest, quick save, shut off the GBA, go back to the analog world, then turning the GBA back on and then going back into the game easily. Honestly this is what I desire in my portable games and the reason why Tetris has been by my side for over 14 years. You don't really expect that coming from an RPG game... But then again I heavily question if I should call this an RPG?

It's really something I've been thinking about since the introduction of FF1 and Dragon Quest brought in this new style of Japanese RPG that's far limiting then the classic paper and dice RPG here in the US. Much like popular music or film it's really brain washed a lot of newbies gamers to believing that this digital system of Role Playing is the official definition of RPG. Although now with Star Wars KotoR, Neverwinternights, Worlds of Warcraft, Grand Theift Auto and even First Person Shooters have really been re-defining the whole idea of entering a role of a character by giving the gamer so much freedom and immersion that no other medium can provide. I don't think I can ignore FF1 as being a part of the Role Playing Game genre, in fact I think this new GBA port does improve the whole portable gaming medium.

Now, I don't think I can give a fair review of the game just yet. I mean I firmly believe that a good review is given by someone who's spent a long time digesting the game and has been able to really observe what the game really is.... But we've had over 17 to 14 years to do that with Final Fantasy 1. Right now it's the best game I have, and I recommend it to anyone who needs a long game that they can pick up and go if it's a simple bus trip or even a bathroom break.

I do wonder if Square-Enix have plans for any more GBA re-releases of classic Final Fantasy titles. I know that FF3 is coming the Nintendo DS, but do they have any plans for 4,5 and 6? I would definitely LOVE to see FF4 get this kind of attention to detail on a port. On the same topic, is Square Enix also planing on releasing Dragon Quest 1 for the GBA as well? Replaying FF1, just reminded me how much fun it was playing Dragon Warrior when I got it for free when I renewed my Nintendo Power magazine subscription.

Simple enough title.

I'm currently going through Prince of Persia Warrior Within and at first I was really forgiving about the new Tone shift from all the publicity and previews. After maybe a year or two after the Prince learned his lessons from Sands of Time he would have grown up into a darker universe in which he would have to adapt to. That was the Prince's first battle and his first love so your walking into Warrior Within with the expectation that this would have been an older and experienced Prince. Even if war made you jaded, but that doesn't explain the changes within prince and in fact there isn't anything explain the change over this new prince. It doesn't feel like the charm and the charisma that made you fall in love with the first game.

Oh well, about the gameplay. So far it's very good, as much as you would expect a sequel to be. Although it does seem the learning curve is meant for people who had played the original. This time the the combat.... Not everything is challenging. I died about 7 times to the crow in the begining of the game, and it just goes to show you that there isn't anyone there really helping you out here. Although once you get a hand of things the game will take a while to understand and adapt to.

Right now, while I'm inhabiting the world, I enjoy for what it's worth. Definatly the change in character in tone really did make me like it less. I know that's something one would have to argue with, but I'm not going to love this game more then the original. Oh well, as I was saying. I love the whole emphise of the art, unlocking the art tresure boxes and letting you enjoy them later is definatly a testiment to the hard working artist of this game. It does feel that each stage and character was heavily thought about and richly detailed. I love the design of the Dahaka, and the animation to when he catches you and consumes you. I'm a very big fan of Sparth, one of the game's enviorment designers and it's just amazing to really inhabit a world which he designed.

The thing that bother me the most. Definatly have to say the women design, WOW! Big Boobie action, Sluty clothing and generic stripper dialog. I mean, I don't mind a nice ass and a big rack, but tone it DOWN! It's hard to really take any of this serious if your really wondering how the hell does a metal thong can go that deep into an ass crack? And definatly with the real time low poly models the chicks really look cheaper. Same thing goes with the Prince, sure, in the original Farah's neck twisted to the point where it looks messed up but you at least had this well writen dialog and an amazing story to at least respect the character. Here you don't have that, and you find yourself making jokes about how messed up the Prince looks

The main theme, by Godsmack, "I Stand Alone." You just can't help but thing of the GAWD AWEFUL Scorpion King. Is this really the only song that was able for them to liecence? I mean originally it sounded like they would get someone like Korn especially with the Bass driven cinematic at E3. You know, I bet Megadeath's "99 Ways to Die" would have been cheaper to get and would have fit aproperatly with the whole combat system.

By the way, where is Monica Bellucci? Definatly feel like she's not in the game, especially since NONE of these women even can hold a candle up to he as a seductress..... After seeing that Kelly Brook's voice was dubbed over in Need for Speed Underground 2, It's been a misserable year for Hot Chicks in games..... Sigh, I feel so Robbed from this game.