It's about 11pm and I'm sitting in my family's van on the way home from picking up my brother from school for his three-week-long summer break. All of a sudden, I get a text from one of his friends asking, "hey, are you online?" Thinking she accidentally sent a text for my brother to the wrong phone, I replied, "um no. I'm sitting in the van en route back home from picking Dom up." At this point, Dom notices that his other friend Josh tried calling him earlier. These two events combined were very suspiscous. Cassie never texts me, usually, and Josh rarely calls Dom on his cell. Anyway, no sooner did we begin pondering what could be up, Cassie actually called my cell. Dom asked me to hand him the phone. They start talking, and we find out that Jagauric is online, doing Godknowswhat...while not being controlled by yours truly. My inactive (for over five months) account had been hacked.

First off, isn't it nice to know you've got friends in-game that are also friends out-of-game that noticed this was suspiscous and did something proactive about it? Josh even put in a ticket to the GMs for me, since I couldn't obviously do it myself.

I wasn't really upset, just frustrated. I don't play WoW anymore; I have no interest in playing WoW ever again. Yet, here I am, having to see this situation fixed and repaired. When we got home, Dom and I checked the Armory to see if it had updated to show some of the damage. Yes, all my Tier 9 gear was still equipped, but everything else was gone. One can assume most of my bank's contents were gone, as well as my twelve thousand or so gold. It's okay, though, because Blizzard's always very good at getting everything returned. They have a log that tells them everything I had, so I'll get everything I'm missing back.

At the moment, what blows is that I tried logging in just now to see if Blizzard had already mailed me back my stuff but encountered an unexpected obstacle: The little jerkwipe that hacked my account also maliciously associated an Authenticator to my account (I do not own one, though my brother does for his account), so it was asking me for an Authenticator code that I just couldn't provide because I don't have the Authenticator!

The one "good" thing about this is that Jag luckily wasn't a high enough rank in Josh's guild to be able to access the guild bank, so the doofus wasn't able to tap into that resource. Just my own. The problem, of course, now that I think on it, is that he could have checked out the guild roster at some point and taken note of all the other potential targets he could hit.

Why do hackers exist? Honestly. Is their sole purpose just to make themselves feel better by knowing that they are capable of wreaking such havoc on others? It can't just be for fun...

Let me set the stage for you: I'm sitting on the couch watching the conference play out live on G4 (don't worry, I asked my mom to set up her laptop to be on Gamespot so I could get the emblem, lol) since I got off from work at noon and knew I'd miss at least fifteen minutes. DVR lets me rewind and pause so that was used to full effect. Anyway, I show her the part about the Goldeneye remake and even she gets excited (she knows how huge that game was back when me and my brother were that age). Then I think there was something else next. My mom's just lingering by the door and I'm just sitting, watching. Then, as Reggie continues to talk, I hear music playing in the background that I can swear on my life is "DK Island Swing" from the first DKC. Sure enough, the music gets a little louder and Reggie says something like, "I bet some of you can already recognize the music." I'm immediately like, ""NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." in a low, deep voice, tears welling up in my eyes. I look at my mother and she looks back at me like she recognizes the music, too (because she did). It was a freakin' MOMENT. I turn back to watch the TV screen and I don't know what to say. I felt like the Nintendo 64 kid, except all my excitement was staying pent up in my chest (actually felt a little "heartburn" for a short time after the conference from all that contained excitement).

Excited is not even a strong enough word. There is no word strong enough.

All I can say is that I hope it doesn't flop. I hope it's diverse and presents some new ideas and isn't just a tour of "aww, this is just like X part of DKC#". And Funky and Dixie Kong better be in it. And it better have a stellar soundtrack (and not just great remixes of nostalgic tunes) because that's another DKC series staple. And we need catchy, rhymey level names. And it needs K. Rool. Yes, I'm asking for a lot. Well, you can't call a game an actual Donkey Kong Country game unless it looks, feels, and sounds like Donkey Kong Country.

And as if this alone wasn't enough, there was everything else they showed off and announced. Screw time for mental digestion: it's time now for the Sony conference.

So as of two hours ago, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has been officially beaten. Good ending, phenomenal game overall.

And yet, I still can't decide whether or not I like it more than Drake's Fortune. At this point, I don't think I do. I know that sounds almost blasphemous, given how much better the sequel looks, sounds, plays, and all-around is, but truly, I'm still clinging to Drake's Fortune. It might just be because it's the first third-person shooter I'd ever played or maybe because there are just certain aspects of that game that Among Thieves does not possess that I really fell in love with (e.g. the mood and scenery had a real "Myst series" vibe to it and I LOVE those games).

I will say that one thing is clear. If I were to compare Drake's Fortune with Among Thieves, Drake's Fortune is a jetski,

whereas Among Thieves would be one of those gigantic speedboats that's like a rocket on water.

They took everything that made the first game so innovative and revolutionary and mind-blowingly awesome and somehow managed to make it all seem terribly primitive and underwhelming. Kinda ridiculous.

So yes, I did like Among Thieves. A lot. I do not mean to sound like I didn't enjoy it. I'm just saying that, well, while I'm super glad I played through Drake's Fortune beforehand, I almost feel I would have enjoyed Among Thieves a wee bit more if I hadn't first played its predecessor...or maybe if I'd waited a little bit before jumping right into the sequel. Oh well. I'm sure the game will grow on me more as I grab the rest of the medals/trophies and attempt Hard and Crushing (which I can tell will be easier than it was in DF). :)

To anyone out there who owns a PS3 but neither of the Uncharted games, I say to you, "What's wrong with you?" You're really missing out on some SUPERBEXCELLENTFANTASTICEXTRAORDINARYMAGNIFICENTAWESOMESICK exclusives.

Hello Gamespot friends!

It is me, drummer131, sending you this postcard from...well, I don't really know where I am if I'm being completely honest with you. My buddy Nate doesn't even know, and he usually knows quite a bit. If I had to make a safe guess, I'd say we're somewhere in Tibet.

The picture on the front is of the chilly mountain vista we and our "guide (I suppose that's what he is)", Tenzin, were standing around in, ohhh, about three hours ago. You can even vaguely see us in the picture! Though, that begs the question...who took the picture, and...why are there only two people in the photograph when there are supposed to be three? Ah, I'm not going to worry about it. Tenzin had probably already gone inside the cave and well, maybe it was Elena who snapped the photo. She's always dropping in when you least expect her to!

Anyway, inside the cave? That's where we're heading. Into the cave. Who knows what we'll find there, but if the recent past is any indication, I bet there will be lots and lots of insane climbing! Good thing I've got Tenzin and Nate with me; it's been years since I've worked out. I'm going to get sore REAL quick!

Well, Nate's signaling that it's time to start moving again, so I've got to wrap this up. I just want you all to know that I'm still in one piece, I'm in good hands, and this wild and crazy adventure I'm on is really getting good!

Until next time,

drummer131

It's been quite interesting so far, I have to say. I thought I was going to be able to just go from Drake's Fortune and be good in UC2, but that hasn't been the case. There's a lot to get used to. From how the guns sound (they sounded good in DF, but they sound even better now) to how this game handles grenade tossing, from the changes made to the cover system to the changes made to melee combat, from the enemies' different death/dying animations to how truly different the shootouts are (they're much less "you're in a firefight now! Cover and shoot!" and much more "enemies are upon you; do what you must to survive." There are even platforming parts that feature a shootout at the same time!), it really has been interesting. I mean, for starters, the first game did not have throwable/shootable propane tanks and riot shields!

Now, if I remember right, I'm up to chapter 8 or something. To be honest, while I've laughed out loud quite a few times, I haven't been sucked in like I was with Drake's Fortune. The story just hasn't done it for me just yet. I really hope it does because even with all the advances made to the gameplay and the graphical improvements (no screen tearing and my god, does this game look photorealistic), at this moment, I still prefer Drake's Fortune.

I am loving the whole "Chloe v. Elena" aspect of things right now, though. It is very plain to see that Chloe is the tomboy/"bad girl you can't resist" while Elena is the "white bread, picket fence" hometown girl who just happens to have her wits about her and can handle tough situations. I feel like there should be a Twilight-styel "Team Chloe"/"Team Elena" thing going on here. Personally, I'm more for Elena than Chloe. Chloe's too "tough", but Elena just plain rocks. On first glance, you wouldn't think much of her, but when the circumstances are such that she needs to rise up and grab a gun or something, she can definitely take care of herself. The play between the two of them right now is highly entertaining; Nate is clearly feeling one of two emotions (or both). He's either "hell yeah, two awesome, beautiful girls following me around" or "dammit, I want to hang out and flirt with Elena, but Chloe's here!" I'm eager to see which girl, if either, wins out in the end. You can guess who I'm rooting for.

Best line I've encountered so far (spoken by Nate): "Great, power's out and a girl's trapped. I swear to God, if there's a zombie around the next corner..." :D

Conference Dates and Times! Emblems!

I have to say...they look really cool this year. I'm shooting for five, personally.

• E3 2010 Nintendo Press Conference Attendee
• E3 2010 Sony Press Conference Attendee
• E3 2010 Early Bird
• E3 2010 Groupie
• E3 2010 Tourist

There's no way I'll be able to watch every live show, so I won't be able to grab those. But, who has the time to anyway? I'm lucky enough as it is that I won't have to work through the press conferences. I found out just today that I'm tentatively not scheduled during those times. Needless to say, I'm super happy about that. :)

So how much coverage do you all plan to watch?

Screw Crushing and screw the Platinum trophy. I am getting shot at through walls, enemies need to be shot at least five times before they go down, and sometimes I don't even get a shot off before I'm killed simultaneously by three or more baddies somehow. It's just not worth the rage. It's only a stupid trophy.

Regrettably, giving up on clearing the game on Crushing also means I'm giving up the chance to earn the game's remaining unlockable rewards: the Doughnut Drake skin, the Atoq Navarro skin, Eddy's Golden Gun in Weapon Select, the rocket launcher (forget its name) in Weapon Select, the Dragon Sniper Rifle in Weapon Select, the Infinite Ammo cheat, and the One-Kit Kills cheat. That's a lot of good stuff I'm missing out on, but I just get the feeling that all Crushing will do besides unlock all these items is make me despise every part of the game. It's best to just leave while I still love the game to death and have fond memories of this part or that part.

So on to Uncharted 2.

It's been a little while since I last updated about my quest to earn the Platinum trophy for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. So, here's what's been happening.

Still on Easy, I went and earned all the other trophies I didn't already have that didn't require me beating the game on a particular difficulty. Then I went on to beat the game on Normal. I noticed real quick that I couldn't lollygag my way through the game even at this difficulty. My fired shots would have to mean something, and I'd have to way better at taking cover. Not just that, but I'd also have to be a bit more mobile and not just stay hiding out behind one particular pillar or piece of ruined stone building. The final chapter still gave me minor bouts of frustration and rage, but I overcame the obstacles. If I remember correctly, I beat Normal this past Saturday morning. I started a Hard savefile that afternoon.

Hard was, well....hard. Hahaha. Seriously! No longer was it enough just to be a bit better at taking cover; my aim really needed to be good or else the baddies would advance on my location and overwhelm me. I had the most difficult time of this entire playthrough not too far from the start of the game. The game is split into twenty-two chapters and in the middle of chapter 4 and towards the end of chapter 5, there are firefights that are unbelievably tough, literally, no matter which difficulty you're playing. I felt I'd hit a wall I'd never be able to climb over...until I went on Youtube and found some truly fantastic playthrough vids. FinalAeon is a god among men; I'd still be stuck on those firefights if it wasn't for his videos. You see, evidently, in Hard and Crushing, it's not enough simply to know how to alternate between shooting and taking cover, or to have decent to good aim; You must begin learning how to aim and shoot while strafing behind things you'd originally have taken cover behind. It took a little getting used to, but I'll tell you what: It got me through those two insanely difficult parts and I flew through the rest of the game after that.

And now I'm up to Crushing. Beating the game on Crushing is the only accomplishment that remains to be achieved before I get my Platinum trophy. Already, this difficulty setting is making me play the game in an entirely different way. It's forcing me to take everything I grew to be so good at while playing through Hard mode and exponentiate my skill to almost superhuman extremes. One or two hits (or one really good shot from any distance) and Nate's down. Right now, I'm stuck (once again!) at the firefight in the middle of chapter 4 that I referred to earlier. I know I can do it; I know where enemies spawn and I think I know where to take strafe-cover. But, it's almost like I need to consistently get headshots because enemies don't even go down in three shots anymore. And forget about taking cover the old-fashioned way like I did back in Easy and Normal. The baddies take you down before you can get two shots off if you go about it that way.

So yeah, it's gonna be rough and I'll be taking it fight by fight. I probably won't ever come back to Crushing mode ever again after this (I'll probably never go back to Easy mode ever again either...too easy), but I swear I'm going to make it through the game on Crushing. I know I can do it. I just need to be very precise in where I hide and when I shoot.

We are here. It's the month of June 2010. In just about half a month, E3 2010 will be upon us and personally, I will be glued to my computer screen to view live feeds of the conferences, in addition to all the trailers, previews, and live demos and interviews that we all know Gamespot will feature. I cannot wait. E3 is like a freakin' holiday for me. Growing up, it was just a special article in my June or July issue of Nintendo Power; but now, it's a weeklong celebration of sorts, where I stay glued to my computer screen waiting for updates. I love the aspect of not knowing what's coming next and living in a constant vibe of elation and suspense. We might be overwhelmed, or we might be underwhelmed. We could be very surprised, impressed, and/or thrilled, or we could become very frustrated or disappointed. Regardless, it truly is the time for gamers. It's the Gamers' New Year.

And with that, here are my predictions for what I hope Nintendo and Sony will show off on the floor and/or at their conferences (I don't own an Xbox 360, so therefore, I have no idea what to predict for that console.).

Sony:

I may be new to Sony's current gen scene, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'd like to see at this year's E3. I don't expect to be blown away like I hope to be with Nintendo's conference, but I do hope to be very pleased and excited by what I see. We already know about LittleBigPlanet 2, so here's what I'm hoping to see from Sony's camp besides the return of Sackboy:

• Uncharted 3 (seems likely; would be the first Uncharted game I could get psyched for pre-release)
• Kingdom Hearts 3 (not a game I'd probably buy, but fans have been waiting quite a while for news of this one and I'm at least eager to see what it would look like)
• Final Fantasy Versus XIII (can we have more than years-old Japanese trailers please?)
• MotorStorm 3 (wishful thinking, sure. I mean, where would it be located? Where has the franchise not been already?)

Beyond PS3 games, they're sure to have Playstation Move on hand, hopefully in a form that people can try out themselves. They'll certainly have some software on display for it. The one thing I wonder about besides all this is whether or not Sony will announce their next portable handheld. Even though the life cycles of the current handhelds and consoles are only about halfway through, it seems about time for some new hardware announcements and the "PSP 2" might be Sony's (besides the Move). I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Nintendo:

Nintendo really needs to come out packin' punches this year. The last two years have been awful. And now, with Microsoft and Sony toting their own motion control technology at the show and Apple's hardware making a move on the handheld gaming front, the Big N really needs to make things explode. It would be nice to be pleasantly surprised by some game announcements this time around, like if Nintendo listens to the fans' cries for a Star Fox game or for a Metroid Dread to materialize. But, you never know with Nintendo. Well, here's what I'm expecting to see - and what I wish I will see - at the conference:

• Metroid: Other M
• Zelda Wii (An actual game title, some gameplay footage, maybe a general idea of the plot. Anything beyond the lone, mysterious picture we've been rubbing our chins at for the last year.)
  
• Pokemon Black & White (I'm not too impressed with what I've seen so far and after the horrible failure that was Diamond and Pearl, imo, I'll need to see actual significant changes to the gameplay before I begin jumping up and down along with all the mindless Pokemon fanboys.)
• Golden Sun DS (Last year, we got an epic trailer out of left field and a twenty second demo. The game never came out this past year, so we definitely need more this year. A more detailed trailer? A more expansive demo? Something.)

Wishful thinking:

• Star Fox Wii
• DKC 3-in-1 DS port (Every year, I mention this. One can hope, right?)

As for hardware, the 3DS has been confirmed to debut at E3 2010. They'll probably announce the handheld's official name, but beyond that, I'm eager to see what this puppy looks like and more importantly, how it works (and how we, the online audience, will be able to see how it works). It'll also be exciting to see what kind of software Nintendo has in the works for its launch. The original DS's launch was kind of weak, in retrospect, being led by a remake of an old cl@ssic. Actually, now that I think of it, Nintendo has been kind of lackluster with its list of available software at a hardware launch for its last three pieces of hardware (at least in my opinion). Maybe that'll all change with the 3DS. Personally, I'm hoping for a Mario game to start things off right, even though we have been seeing lots of Mario lately as it is, what with NSMB Wii and most recently, SMG2. But, it would be really good for the 3DS to launch strong with a game like that. If not a Mario game, then it'd have to be something else that's fun and meaty that shows off the new technology to some exceptional degree. Maybe this is where we might see a new Star Fox title if we don't see one for the Wii? That could be exciting…

P.S. Have any of you seen the Japanese advertisement for the three new DSi XL colors coming out over there? Yellow, green, and blue. Not since the Game Boy Pocket days have we seen such bright color options. Can I tell you, I have been waiting for a blue handheld like that since FOREVER??? Even the green looks freakin' awesome. If these come stateside, I have no idea which I'd pick between green and blue, even though I've wanted a blue handheld like that for a reeeeeally long time.

Great news, everyone! I made it through all the dark, creepy chapters towards the end of the first Uncharted, the ones filled with what Naughty Dog calls "descendants", to beat the game on Easy difficulty!

Even with the morning sun shining outside and my cat meowing on my bed for attention, the pitch black hallways and pasty zombies still freaked me the **** out. Just like I said would happen, I played two or so chapters last night and encountered the first lot of "descendants" and even though I mowed them down, my heart was still racing as I played and I sustained nightmare after nightmare through last night. It's crazy - I wish things like this didn't affect me so bad - but it happened. Luckily, this morning, I still felt compelled to finish what I started and see the game through to its conclusion.

I do have to say, Naughty Dog did a fantastic job of being very minimalist in "The Bunker" while still causing your senses to be heightened and your heart to race just a little. It's completely dark, save for your lowly flashlight. You hear the "descendants" coming for you long before you see their white visages in person and then BAM! They're right in front of you, trying to slash your face off. Making matters worse, I found myself in a huge room filled with sewing equipment. Some tables adjacent to actual sewing machines had mobile tray carts with ceramic jars lined up on top. Thinking I was back in the days of PS1 and PS2 games, something possessed me to walk right into one of these carts; I figured the table was "cemented" to the floor and wouldn't move. But can you guess what happened? With creepy ambient music playing in and out in the background, some of the jars toppled over and fell to the floor and broke, with much sonic clatter! I literally shouted "OH ****!" out loud when it happened. There's no telling if any of the zombies heard the noise I was making and I really didn't want to trigger an ambush.

I had a similar incident with a stupid metal chair that lay right at the intersection of some similarly dark hallways. It was just sitting there and Nathan accidentally brushed by it as I kept on running. It made so much noise, scraping against the floor! I thought "descendants" were going to rush out of every pipe and ceiling vent in sight! So kudos to Naughty Dog. I know that's exactly why those dang jars and chairs were just sitting around and it sure had the desired effect on me. When you've got pasty zombies chillin' out in the walls waiting to prey on your warm-blooded body, you really don't want to be running into random objects, making all kinds of loud noise. The total darkness was ridiculous. I don't care how many times I play those couple of chapters; The moral of the story is I'm never playing them at night, let alone with my bedroom lights off.

Now that I've beaten the game on Easy, I plan on jumping back in to pick up the rest of the medals/trophies I've yet to earn. The only ones I should have left once I'm done are the three for clearing the game on each of the other difficulties, as well as the Platinum trophy. I really think I can get it. Hard and Crushing will probably make me hate life, but I think about how much of an accomplishment that would be...and how much better at taking cover and aiming I'll be as a result. It'll be great practice for Uncharted 2. I'd love to just jump right into UC2, but Uncharted: DF was just so much fun to explore and play. I want to enjoy it and savor it some more before I move on to what is clearly going to be an even better game.