After a blitz of rare and expensive purchases (most that I have failed to mention on here since starting the new job) I have decided to call it quits on the collecting for a bit in order to save up for the Fall semester.

I did however go out with a small sort of bang, and by bang I mean acquring some very nice junk that I most definately paid too much for. The truth is though, I've grown tired of buying and collecting games for now. In all honestly I want to take a break and actually play some.

So hopefully for the next few weeks (in between the hours of being saturated with chlorine and dealing with those crazy children of the community) I will be enjoying some nice peaceful hours of unadulturated gaming nirvana.

I haven't quite decided what to play yet though. I would love to play through an old SNES RPG, or perhaps one for the 'Station. Something that I can get lost in, but at the same time keep my normal sleep patterns.

Well, it's been a good run for a bit, now for some well deserved time off to let the account refill itself.

Well, I was browsing my usual run of stores looking for older discontinued stuff, and at Comp USA of all places they had a playstation one/LCD combo on the shelf. I calmly asked the sales staff if they had a price and it turns out it wasn't in the computer. I told them I was interested in maybe buying it, and they said they could pull it down and price check it. Since it was a discontinued item it came up just under a $100. It's possible I could have purchased it cheaper off of ebay or some other means, but for some reason after the chance of finding it on my own at a retail store I decided to go ahead and buy it.

I then went through a small philosophical dilema. I contemplated keeping the box sealed and waiting, then selling it at a later date. This first struck me as ridiculous as it really isn't all that rare or expensive. The thought of perhaps turning a profit out of it though caught my attention.

This however was exactly what I promised myself I would not do when I began collecting games on my own a year ago or so. I told myself back then that I was going to collect games to play them, picking up rare titles in the best condition I could for my personal collection. Not to horde rare or sealed games and hardware to then sell back later. For one, it would be a huge strain on my funding, but secondly I would turn gaming (something that I love dearly and enjoy) into a greed filled personal business.

After slapping myself for ever thinking of that horrible money making plan, I opened up the box and threw in FFVII. As I sat watching the sharpness of the 5 inch screen and listening to the opening music through my headphones, all doubt that this wasn't the right decision was removed. I sat back and enjoyed a moment of gaming bliss.

Hopefully that experience will be the last invasion of capitalism into the purity of my gaming passion.

One of my most satisfying gaming adventures has come to an end, and it was quite a ride I must say. With a little skill and luck God of War's god mode was completed today. "I feel satisfied."

This is probably the 1st game that I've "completed", not just beat. I have unlocked everything there is to unlock, granted it wasn't much at all. All of those classic RPGs and collecting everything and maxing out your character I never really got into. Although I loved to play them, doing all that stuff just didn't seem that interesting (possibly because it was such a great task). I think that now though, after my gaming tastes have matured quite a bit, completion of games might be something that I'll strive for in the future.

Now I believe I will relive some of the good ol' 64 days with a 1st playthrough of Conker before L&R drops.

As I opened the mailbox today I found 3 manila packages waiting for me. I was totally excited, even though the games I received were nothing really special.

I also just received a nice box from UPS. It contained my Sega Saturn, and it's in perfect condition. I'm now officially stoked.

This collection business is almost as satisfying as (dare I say it) playing video games. Ok ok, maybe not that much, it sure is fun. It won't compare to the countless hours I will pour into these systems though - that I truly cannot wait for.

Alright, so it's "the morning after" of my largest gaming session of God of War. I'm at the Final Battle at around midnight, and I'm cruisin' along and I go ahead and finish that puppy off. I have a test the next day so instead of studying I wanted to go ahead and beat it tonight. It was one incredible experience, let me tell ya.

So I then decide to browse some of the insane amount of extras that become unlocked. I watch Kratos' backstory and perhaps the prequel to the game that might be in development. After that though, I come across the Challenge of the gods. Now I had heard about it, but knew nothing about it; so I fire it up to give it a shot.

It's some great fun, and a little challenging at times. I get past the 1st few challenges and realize that I will not be able to save my progress. I glance at the clock - 1:30. It was here that I was faced with the moral dilemma that will affect my entire day today. Do I shut the machine off, get some much needed sleep so I can study tomorrow. Or do I play until I finish this series of challenges and if I have to skip my 1st class tomorrow.

Well, as you can see - I chose the latter, seeing as how my 1st class started over 30 minutes ago. I still have my test later, and guess what - instead of studying what am I doing? Writing in my gaming journal about how I was playing games instead of studying.

In conclusion, staying up till around 3 in the morning on a test night and beating the Challenge of the gods put forth upon me was one of my most satisfying moments in my entire gaming lifetime.

Why are all these so called "gamers" endlessly debating which games are better than others. It's a never ending spam of "game x" vs. "game y". Frankly it's so pointless and foolish that I think these people deserve the endless amounts of arguments that they get theirselves into, instead of enjoying and actually playing these games. In fact I hope they argue so much they never get joy out of games again, because they honestly aren't made to play them, but instead yak about the minor details.

I recently read a biased review of a fanboy about a game that "rivaled" one of his favourites. It was evident from the beginning that this "gamer" had not even played the game, stating a ridiculous clear time that was under half the minimum stated. So of course he whined that it was short, making up a flaw that is not even apparent. He then compared the game being reviewed to two of his favourite games, one of which he hadn't even understood completely, and wrongfully compared.

True gamers should be (and many are) rejoicing that good quality games are steadily being released, even when it's not a huge sales period for games.

Top quality games have been pouring into our market steadily for the good part of about a years time. Who cares if you like one game or another, that doesn't mean that it's "rival" is a peice of junk. Games shouldn't have to compete against eachother on this level, that's for developer's and publisher's to do. Our job as gamers is to enjoy the titles they put out, which lately have been incredible.

Simply put, games are made for enjoyment. When you start to politicize the games that are out and attempt to make them battle for status against eachother, all such enjoyment of the games is lost. Now, I love discussing games, and I think it is a very reasonable thing to do when you love them so much. But when the game no longer has an "outstanding and deep story element" in now has a "story element that pwns game y cause game y's story sux0rz" it's a different story. Why is game y's story horrible when most of the time, the person doesn't even know what it is. The probable truth is (or at least in the most recent cases) both games have excellent stories, and I'm thankful that I now have two games to buy instead of one.

Of course we do have the make the decision over which game to buy, and this could be the start of the battle. Do they only have enough money for the one game that get's hyped more than the other? So the game they can't afford is out of reach, and therefore the worst peice of game material out there? The cause is only speculation I guess, because I for sure have no idea what's going on in these little punks heads. I just play video games.

-James Logan

Alright, so we found the A800 carts layin around here and I was very pleased with their condition. I still have to hook up the XL to make sure everything works fine, but I think it will turn out nicely.

Also dug up the good ol' SNES. This system was just in perfect shape, unfortunately though there is a slight problem; if the machine is bumbed or the cart moves back and forth in the system, it crashes. Haven't decided on the best course of action yet, but it'll work itself out.

Another hiccup is the NES games that are still MIA. Super Mario Bros. 3, Excitebike, and Bases Loaded II. Also our working light gun is nowhere to be found (but I of course found the non-working one).

The Sega Mega-Drive 2 is in the mail, and I am super-stoked about this piece of equipment, especially since I found it brand-new. I don't know about other gamers and collectors but I am a huge nerd about stuff being brand-new. I will go out of my way and pay much more money for a factory sealed item than a used one. In the case that I can't find a brand-new one, I have to go with the mint condition with everything included route. It's sickening.

That's about it for the moment. I still need to purchase a lot of games for each system. and I still have a couple of systems to buy. The next order of business I believe will be the psone.

So, I'm here at the house during spring break and my father and I decide to look for some of the old Atari 800 games that we have in boxes somewhere. No luck with those yet, but what we did find was 99 Atari 2600 games. Boxed and complete, which made me extremely excited.

I actually was given an original 2600 a couple weeks ago from a friend. It came without a power supply so we ordered one today. Should have both systems set up for gaming in the coming week.

I have a grand view for a gaming room.

My brand new Dreamcast arrived today.

The collection grows.

Well I gave in and have made the decision to buy a Dreamcast. I haven't ordered the system yet; I believe I will wait until I am in good financial standing before I pursue that. I do have in my possession a brand new controller for it, and a new copy of Sonic Adventure. They are just my ensurance that I will eventually have to buy a system.

So holding off on the Cast has allowed me scoop up more games. I bought Panzer Dragoon Orta for the Box, and ordered the 1st Devil May Cry for the 'Station. No recent Cube purchases as of yet.

My goal in the next few months is to stock up for the summer. My plans are to board it up on the lake during the day, soaking up the sun and play games all night long.
I'll just sleep on the weekends, we'll see how it works out. :D