I finished Shadowgate (NES) today.  Review will probably be up tomorrow.  Fun game.

*edit*  Review's up. 

I finished Contra (NES) tonight.  I seem to have gone on a bit of an NES run.  The review will probably be up tomorrow.

*edit* Review's up.  Took me a day longer than I figured...wife's birthday was yesterday.  Priorities, you know... 

Well, I just sat down and beat Wiizards & Warriors (NES).  That was easy...

**edit**Review's done.  I'm feeling prolific tonight!!

The console that started it all for me, the Atari 2600 holds a very special place in my heart.  The simplicity and novelty was more than enough to keep a then two year old pirate-to-be occupied while his baby sister was brought home.  So many games give me a case of the warm-and-fuzzies, and it's ridiculously hard to pick just five.  But here goes...

5. Pitfall-I never really knew what I was doing when I was a kid...all I knew was that I loved swinging on vines and jumping over scorpions.  Widely regarded as one of the top Atari games of all time, it definitely makes my Top Five.

4. Astroblast-Basically a rip-off of Intellivision's Astrosmash (or vice versa, I'm not sure), this game was one of those "in the zone" titles where you just stared at the middle of the screen and hoped you hit that notch where you were unbeatable.  Otherwise, it was a very short game.

3. Breakout-There's just something satisfying about getting the ball lodged up on top of the wall and having it go crazy.  Kind of like one player Pong. 

2. Target Fun (Shooting Gallery)-This game gets in solely on its simplicity.  Shoot at the boats, planes, helicopters, balloons, etc. with your little turret at the bottom of the screen.  Sometimes you can move, sometimes you're anchored into place.  Great to play with a friend.

And, my favorite Atari 2600 game of all time:
1. Yars' Revenge-Take one fly, one multi-colored safe zone, and a heavily fortified...um...target that gets really pissed off and flies at you periodically, and you've got the game that has singlehandedly accounted for approximately one year of my life.  I played this obsessively from the time I was four until we got the NES after third grade.  I reacquired it recently and rarely does a week go by that I don' t spend at least fifteen minutes with it.  Its hard to believe that it was programmed by the same guy (Howard Scott Warshaw) responsible for the abomination that was E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Honorable Mentions-Berzerk, Donkey Kong, Dragonfire

I've decided to put together lists of my favorite things from the world of videogames...systems, games, peripherals, you name it, I'll rate it. 

Here's the criteria:
1. I've played/used the items on the lists.  Its pretty pointless to rate something you've never experienced before.
2. I've spent more than ten minutes with the items.  Same idea as above.
3. Lists are subject to change.  If I play a game for the first time and decide its the greatest game ever, I'll update the list with subsequent versions.

Keep in mind, I'm rating MY favorites.  So if I don't agree with you, don't call me names. 

The first list should be up soon...Top Five Atari 2600 games.

I just finished Grand Theft Auto III (PS2) again.  Another 100% completion.  While it falls short of Vice City and San Andreas in so many ways, it's still my favorite.  The review should be up soon.

**Edit**  The review is up, but the stupid scoring system keeps resetting itself to 5.0.  The real score is 9.2.

Most people don't think of Sears as a place to buy games.  And, until recently, neither did I.

Videogames are an afterthought at Sears (at least at the one in my town).  Sears is more interested in selling hardware or appliances.  They generally don't have a bunch of triple-A titles or a huge selection.  But they often have dirt cheap games.

I walked into my local Sears store yesterday on a whim.  I walked out with two brand new, sealed games.  Total spent: $11.94 (US).  I paid $1.97 for James Bond 007 in Agent Under Fire (Xbox) and $9.97 for F-Zero GP Legend (GBA).  Granted, not the greatest games out there, but at those prices, I couldn't resist.

This isn't the first time I've scored cheap games at Sears.  I got Soul Calibur II (PS2) and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA) for $10 apiece.  Had I not already owned Jak II, I could have had it for under $5.  Every time I walk in there, there's another game that I don't have priced ridiculously cheaply.

As I write this, I feel like I ought to be paid for producing a Sears commercial.  But its true.  If you're a budget-conscious gamer, you might want to check your local Sears store and see if there's anything interesting.

Let's face it.  If you're a gamer, you've heard of Jack Thompson.  You know, that self-serving ambulance chaser that blames videogames every time a kid does something wrong, even if said kid doesn't have electricity in his house?  It's obvious that we'd all be a lot happier if he'd just find some other crusade.

My mom (God rest her soul) always told me that if you ignore someone, eventually they go away. 

That said, we give Mr. Thompson waaaay too much attention.  We wear t-shirts that say "I Hate Jack Thompson," we buy toilet paper with his name on it, and continually piss and moan about him on message boards and blogs.

Obviously, I'm guilty too.  I leap to the defense of my favorite hobby and the First Amendment every time that weasel shows his mug.  I laughed hysterically at his appearance on Attack of the Show, where Adam Sessler, of all people, exposed him for the bug-eyed nutcase he is.  But, I've decided not to waste my energy anymore.

You see, I've studied Mr. Thompson a bit.  I've checked into his battles with 2 Live Crew and Howard Stern.  I've read his book, Out of Harm's Way (funny stuff, lots of third-person referrals and other egomaniacal musings;  I suggest everyone read it if they want a good laugh).  And I've come to the following conclusion...Jack Thompson is a religious alarmist bordering on insanity.

This is a man who thinks that God has given him a personal crusade to rid this world of the interactive evil that is videogames and make Earth safe for all.  Now, while I'm not a particularily religious man, I do believe in God and understand the need to ask for guidance and to live one's life according to one's belief system.  But, I don't believe for one minute that God came to Jack Thompson at breakfast one day (or however it happened) and told him to go out and rid the world of anything that he deemed offensive.  Jack Thompson just decided to go out and try to force his personal moral code on the world. 

As long as Jack Thompson has a soapbox on which to stand, he'll continue to blame every new game that comes out for society's ills.  And as long as we start howling every time Thompson finds a new target, he's going to have that soapbox.  And while his credibility is plummeting, he's still got just enough pull to make things uncomfortable for us.

The legislation passed (and, usually, subsequently overturned) is aimed at keeping explicit games out of the hands of minors.  At twenty-seven, it doesn't affect me at all.  So while I don't necessarily support it, I have no personal reason to oppose it.  But that's not even the real threat.  Every frivolous lawsuit Thompson files drains money from developers.

To be completely honest, Jack Thompson's day in the sun has probably passed.  How about we bury him for good?  Whenever he's on television, all wide-eyed and predicting the Apocalypse According to Rockstar, don't react.  Whenever he files another lawsuit bacause a "That's So Raven" game caused two little girls to get into a fistfight, ignore it.  Maybe, once he figures out that no one is listening anymore, he'll go back to Florida and back to anonymity.

The bottom line is this: Jack Thompson had his fifteen minutes of fame.  And now that he's starting to fade, he's doing everything he can to keep his name known.  I, for one, am checking out.  Starting now.

The first game (and its subsequent review) has been completed.  I won Super Mario Bros. the other night for only the second time ever.  I had seven lives left when I fininshed it, which leads me to believe that I could have continued indefinitely.  Anyway, next up appears to be The Legend of Zelda, unless I forget about it while playing Grand Theft Auto III.