I'm not one for the "w00t!! LEVEL insert number!!!!" posts, but being a huge Dragon Warrior/Quest fan I just had to bring it up. Can you kill it before it runs away? Because if you can, get ready for insane amounts of XP...

So I started playing ICO the other day, and so far I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed. I had assumed that it was one of those under-appreciated games that I (with my GameSpot-endorsed 'Good Taste' :P) would really enjoy. But it's sort of the proto-Shadow of the Colossus.

Side Note: Just what exactly is the deal with GameSpot's crippling of the post editor. I've begrudgingly accepted being unable to use <embed> tags for the HCU, but what nefarious deed could I possibly accomplish with the <acronym> tag? Not even to mention that this is my third attempt at this post, clicking the "Toggle HTML Source" button having crashed Firefox twice!

But I digress... I appreciate the peacefulness & artistry of ICO's setting. And the thoughtfulness of the puzzles from the game are a refreshing break from the other 3rd person titles I've recently played (God of War & Jak II). But when the shadows appear, you'd better get ready for some tedious button-mashing madness. And that's where it starts to break down for me. More on this in the future.

I mentioned in a Union Improvement thread that I was going to be attempting a Ruby on Rails proof-of-concept for my Union Frontpage enhancement. Just as an update, I'm still reading and learning about Ruby/Rails, but my brother is looking for an application to help track client data with his law firm, and I'm going to be working on that for a while. So progress on my Ruby education will have to take a backseat for the time being.

That's all for now. I'm going to check out the premiere of "Thief" tonight at 10pm (ET) on FX. I'm a big fan of Andre Braugher's work, so I'm looking forward to seeing this new show. Although, when I saw a promo for it (featuring Michael Andrews' excellent Mad World of Donnie Darko fame) that showed Mae Whitman from "Arrested Development," I couldn't help but think to myself:

"Her?" :lol: