Yes, the football season is finally over! Which means more hockey for me! The season has already reached it's half-way mark and now it's a mad scramble for points as the teams compete for a spot in the Playoffs. With only a few true leaders in the standings, most teams are only separated by a couple of points. Which means, one game could decide it all. I think it's going to be a really great Playoffs this year and a great year for my Sharks as well. They aquired a new player, Jody Shelley, from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's a great enforcer and will do wonders for the Sharks.

In other news, not much to report. I start going to work every week day starting this Tuesday. School is still going. I've been playing Burnout a bit but found that if I play it too much I might just break another controller again. I don't really get PO'ed too much, actually very rarely, but something about Burnout just sets me off, all the time. So, I take it in little pieces, lol. I'm getting excited about some of the new games coming up too. Army of Two, Rainbow 2, Lost Planet, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and Conflict: Denied Ops are just some of the ones I'm planning on getting. Other than that, not much going on. How have you guys been?

I have to say, 2008 is shaping up to be an odd year :P After surviving my first week of school and extra hours at work (due to a State Inspector), I was really looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I decided to sleep in so I set my alarm for a blissful nine o'clock wake up. After falling asleep to my usual composer of choice, Giovanni Gabrielli, I was abruptly awoken by the sound of my dog barking and horrid country music. I rolled out of bed so fast that I almost choked myself to death on my earphone cord. Then my mother came and bang on my door, yelling "It's eleven, get out of bed!" To my shock, my alarm had not awoken me at the preordained time. "What happened?!" I exclaimed in amazement when I walked into the kitchen 30 minutes later and fully dressed. "Someone crashed into the power poll again." my father answered as he read the morning paper scouring the obituary section to see who got the most "cases" for the week. "The guy completely cut the poll in half too. Destroyed his truck as well as another car when the poll came crashing down. They said they should have power back by seven tonight." he finished, then muttering to himself, "They got two more than us." My mother continued on, describing the scene in detail but by that time I had tuned her out to ponder more important questions . . . What to do with my weekend? I had no power, which meant no weekend terrorist hunting in Las Vegas or crashing billboards in Paradise. My PSP was dead from uploading new songs a few days before. And my Vaio was also drained of juice from my Heroes marathon. My bad habit of forgetting to charge things came back to bite me. I sighed in disbelief. Here it was, the perfect weekend. I had spent countless extra hours preparing for the State Inspector while writing two papers for the first week of college. And to top it all off, my parents were going to help a friend set up his new business, so they and the dog would both be gone for the entire day.

Here it was, Utopia, the perfect day, and what happens? Some idiot crashes into the main power line and utterly decimates my glorious Saturday. Though, I decided I would try and make the best of it. After my parents and the mutt left, I sat down at the piano and tried my hand at composing something new. I hadn't written anything since Christmas. After what I thought were hours of ill attempts and washed up ramblings of odd sounding scales, I felt it was time to move onto other ventures. I walked back to the kitchen to check the only working clock in the house, and to my astonishment, I had not spent hours at the piano . . . only a mere twenty minutes. It was only a sad and pitiful twelve-twenty. I wasn't ready for lunch, so I thought I'd try my hand at reading one of the new books I bought the week before. I was actually quite interested and hooked by the book that was assigned in my college course having not read a book for months, I thought it might have sparked my vigor to read again. I was apparently wrong. After attempting to read four different books I once again resolved myself to find other means of amusement. After practically pacing around the house for an hour, I figured I would depart from my brooding and make some lunch. Unfortunately, everything I thought of involved power. How about soup, it's awfully cold outside. *buzz buzz* I could make a sandwich . . . but there's no meat. *buzz buzz* How about cereal . . . no milk. *buzz buzz* Just as I was about to give up my hunt for food, suddenly with a flash of brilliance and beeping all around (it set every alarm off in the house), the power came back on. It was one-forty. I rejoiced! I thought I would starve in the barren frozen wasteland of my home, but I was saved by the wonder people at PG&E! I had heat, I could cook food, and most importantly; the lifeblood of my PS3 was back! Though my rejoicing was short lived. To my utter disappointment I found that not all of my high tech goodness had returned to me. Nay, the fates seemed to take pleasure in my agonizing pain . . . the cable . . . was out. No internet, no television, no gaming with friends, or even a simple text chat. I was alone in the world once again. I resorted to desperate measures as I found myself watching a VHS tape . . . I was shocked at the lows I had sunk to. It was not until seven-twenty that evening did the cable return to me. And by that time it was too late to salvage my Saturday . . . and that was just Saturday.

Sunday! I awoke with a new found zeal for life! I was going to game, talk to my friends, and do all the other things I could not do without power and cable. Yet to my dismay, yet again my day would not go as planned, but this was for a different reason. Errands . . . wretched errands. No food in the house meant grocery shopping, no soba and rice in the house meant stopping at the Japanese Market, the cars needed gas, there was the Costco run to perform, the dog needed food, trash need to be disposed of, and the dry cleaning needed to be picked up. Why do the fates mock me so. This must truly be Hitzusen, for that could only explain the events happening to me. I am an Usagi (rabbit) in the year of the Nezumi (rat), I knew this year would bring ill events my way but not on this level. And to make matters worse, a most uncommon event had to happen while all these errands were being completed . . . it snowed. It might not be so uncommon to some people but here at sea level snow was a rare sight indeed. I believe I've seen more snow fall in the Mojave Desert than where I live now, in Far NorCal. This amazing spectacle (to some at least, to me I am of the opinion that snow is scary white stuff that falls from the sky) was both a sight to behold and a complete hindrance. People were stopping everywhere to view this once in a life time event. Lines took forever, traffic laid out miles beyond the horizon, and it made carrying the endless number of bags a chore.

Needless to say, my weekend did not go as expected. Hopefully, this isn't an ill precursor for things to come.

Well, I seem to be at a loss on what to blog about next, so I decided to post my research paper I did last semester for Psychology. Ironically, this is probably one of my lowest scoring papers due to it's subject matter. My teacher's reasoning for my low grade was that I didn't use credible sources and references. I should have known I'd get a low grade though since he had made it clear earlier that "the vast majority of video games is filled with violence that corrupts those who play. Nothing, and I mean nothing good can come out of living in a virtual world."

Video Games:

A New Frontier in Learning

Learning is an active process in which a person acquires knowledge through practice and experience. This knowledge may be accepted, rejected, or forgotten depending on how much merit an individual places or values the information presented. If the information is accepted, the individual will modify his behavior to assimilate and utilize the information acquired. This active process needs to incorporate an active stimulus that assures the person that the changes he adopts will benefit him in future and potential behavior. Of course, how people respond to the stimulus offered largely depends on the approach or method used. Repetition and memorization are two of the standard learning techniques used in schools and have been proven adequate in teaching or conveying information in past generations. Yet in the last three decades a decline in learning and retaining information has evolved. Studies done in 1986 and 1996 found that American students fared poorly compared to Japanese and Chinese students in math and reading (Morris & Maisto, 2008 ). The question needs to be asked: How can academia adjust their teaching methods or approaches to learning to stimulate and encourage an active learning process for our students? New approaches that create an active learning environment must be investigated and not be labeled ineffective or dangerous based on bias of not understanding a new and a unique learning approach.

Winston Churchill stated: "I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught." Perhaps Mr. Churchill would have been intrigued with all the technological advances that have been employed since his era. Even still his interest may have peaked when he realized that learning through technology could be an individual process of teaching oneself. Technology has progressed to the point that interacting with information is a daily occurrence in most homes today. Through this technology the advent of computer and video games has become extremely popular and is starting to be viewed as interactive vehicles that promote and encourage information and learning processes. Perhaps these games may hold the key to discovering a unique learning genre; a learning process that is completely controlled and managed by the student. Interacting with a computer or video game allows the individual to make decisions based on circumstances that are revealed to him and allows him to accept information and adapt his response to the presented scenario accordingly. A group at the University of Texas in Austin has developed a new genre in video games. Their idea was "to create a game in which learning is indispensable, in other words, without learning NERO (the video game) could not exist as a game." (Stanley, Corneius, Miikkulainen, D'Silva, & Gold, 2005, p. 1). The game actually has the player assume control and initiate changes and skills in the game agents. In a sense, this game solely rests on the player's ability to relay his learning experiences and encourages the player to learn more so that his agents directly benefit through the player's learning process.

Researchers at the University of Toronto discovered that there is an unknown sex difference in spatial attention. The first experiment revealed that women do not perform as well as men in directing their attention to various or different objects. The second experiment involved the subjects' interaction with an action video game. It was then discovered that the women improved their spatial skills and caught up to the performance of the men. "Professor Ian Spence, director of engineering psychology laboratory in the Department of Psychology, speculates that the action video game experience 'may cause the expression of previously inactive genes which control the development of neural connections that are necessary for spatial attention. Clearly, something dramatic is happening in the brain when we see marked improvement in spatial skills after only 10 hours of game playing and these improvements are maintained for many months.'" (Franca, 2007, p. 5). Professor Ian Spence then goes on to comment that these improvements in spatial skills could encourage or attract more women to enter the fields of mathematical science and engineering which would help create a gender balance in these fields and would in turn help promote economic health.

Another area in which video games are being utilized as an effective learning tool is in language and reading skills. The article "Undoing Dyslexia via Video Games" (2004) has introduced an approach to improve the specific learning areas of a person who has dyslexia. The definition of dyslexia is "a language -based learning disability and is often severe enough to make it difficult for children to succeed academically."("Undoing Dyslexia", 2004). Paula Tallal, PhD, a psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist, and Michael Merzenich, PhD, neuroscientist, teamed up "to develop neuroplasticity-based computerized video games that can 'rewire' the brains of children with this form of dyslexia and activate those areas of the brain critical to reading skills." ("Undoing Dyslexia", 2004). As the child plays the game, the game re-adjusts itself and advances to a new level when the child demonstrates mastery of the previous one. A study conducted in 2003 reveals that brain functions in dyslexic children changed after using a computer program. As stated in the article: "This application of psychological knowledge and new neuroscience-based learning methods blended with new technology has resulted in enhanced quality of life for children with language and reading problems. . ." ("Undoing Dyslexia", 2004).

The previous paragraphs have demonstrated that particular video games are able to address specific educational issues that are of concern in the learning and performing processes. James Paul Gee (2007) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison takes these specific examples of technology benefiting the act of learning a step further in suggesting that "game design involves modeling human interactions with and within complex virtual worlds, including learning process as part of these interactions." (p.1) He considers the process of designing a game similar to design research in educational psychology. Both areas use creativity to develop and convey methods or situations that will encourage learning through active participation. In a sense, the player of a video game adopts a character and that character's persona to engage in a progressive simulation that involves constant interaction and different approaches in which to accomplish a desired effect. For example, James Paul Gee suggests that students who are attempting to learn a special content area in school, that the area should be considered a special domain. This domain would encourage research and innovative avenues in which to approach a specific learning atmosphere. As James Paul Gee (2007) states in his Learning About Learning From a Video Game: Rise of Nations article: "When students are learning a content area in school---such as some area of science---this domain could be seen as a special world of its own, the world doing science in a certain way and acting with certain values. Students could be encouraged to take on identities as scientists of a certain sort, to see and think about themselves and their taken-for granted- everyday world in new ways. In this case, school would be functioning more like a good game than traditionally schooling which stresses knowledge apart from action and identity." (p. 7-8 ).

James Paul Gee also approaches learning and literacy through video games in his book, WHAT VIDEOS HAVE TO TEACH US ABOUT LEARNING AND LITERACY. He has developed thirty-six learning principles that can be derived through interaction with video games. These principles that James Paul Gee has identified come from his own interaction and involvement with video games. Essentially he views the technology of video games as a process that a player goes through to reach a specified goal that can only be reached by adapting to change, learning new skills, and handling confrontation. According to James Paul Gee (2003), "They (video games) operate with-they build into their designs and encourage-good principles of learning, principles that are better than those in many of our skill-and-drill, back-to-basics, test-them-until-they-drop schools. It is not surprising that many politicians, policymakers, and their academic fellow travelers who think poor children should be content with schooling for service jobs don't like video games. They say they don't like them because they are violent. But, in reality, video games do violence to these people's notions of what makes learning powerful and schools good and fair." (p. 205).

Research into the effects of video games and the methods that encourage and instill learning processes is still in its infant stage towards becoming a viable alternative to standardized learning. Technology has presented us with a vast realm of uncharted discoveries and it is our obligation to the future of learning to investigate and experiment with the effects and the potential success of video games upon interactive learning. As George Santayana once said, "The wisest mind has something yet to learn."

References

APA Online: Psychology Matters (2004). Undoing Dyslexia via Video Games. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://www.psychologymatters.org/dyslexia.html

Franca, S. (2007) Students Key Members of ePresence Development Team. University of Toronto Bulletin: Research News. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/spence/University%20of%20Toronto%20Bulletin%200925-07%20Page%205.pdf

Gee, J. (2007). Learning About Learning from a Video Game: Rise of Nations. Stanford University SimWorkshop. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://simworkshop.stanford.edu/05_0125/reading_docs/Rise%20of%20Nations.pdf

Gee, J. (2003). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Morris, C., and Maisto, A. (2008 ). Understanding Psychology (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Stanley, K., Cornelius, R., Miikkulainen, R., D'Silva, T., and Gold, A. (2005). Real-time Learning in the NERO Video Game. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://nn.cs.utexas.edu/downloads/papers/stanley.aiide05demo.pdf

Rock Band, it's a great game but it's only as good as the controllers that you use with it. I thought I had solved my controller problem when I received my replacement guitar from EA after 2 months of waiting, calling, and hounding them to send me one. They even said I'd get a free game because of the amount of time it took to get my new guitar out. So, here it is, a week after I got my new guitar, and guess what? It stopped working! So, I called EA Support once again, to tell them that I either want another guitar or my money back, and that I'm still waiting for that free game. Guess what they said? They told me that if I wanted another guitar, it would cost me $125 for them to send one! That's how much I paid for the entire bundle! So, needless to say I was a little torqued by that. And it doesn't help, that everytime I call, they tell me something different. So, hopefully it will all get sorted out or the fur is gonna fly.

In other news, I start back at college next week :cry: Which sucks because I won't be online as much. I reserved Burnout Paradise but I get it the day I start school, bad timing, lol. Other than that, not much happening. We are still trying to get the new place up and going for work, once that's running, I'll be there 5 days a week. Though, ironically I won't be making more money than I am now :P Anyway, I hope you are all well. Take care mina!

Happy New Year mina!!! Can you believe it's 2008 already? 2008 marks numerous events which include - a leap year, International Year of Planet Earth, International Year of the Potato, and the Year of the Rat (which is one of the most favored). We also see the departure of Bill Gates on July 31, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will be held in Beijing from August 8th to the 24th, the 44th U.S. President will be elected on November 4th, and Suicide Booths will be invented (at least according to Futurama)!

I also think that 2008 is the year of something else that Wikipedia doesn't mention - the Year of the PS3. Probably half of my audience just rolled their eyes and moved the mouse to the "back button", but I ask that you stay with me for just a bit. I am a Sony fangirl, a huge one, but not a bad one either. I realize the importance of the other two consoles and I don't hate them (ok, maybe just a little bit). I'm very glad that they are in the market though, because competition is what drives greatness. So, with that said, this next statement will probably shock my fellow Sony fanboys. I'm glad that the PS3 is 3rd in the three-way console race. *gasp* I know, I probably just gave Shacks210 a stroke with that (since he knows how diehard I really am) and there will be a "dismissal" email from the Gamer Advisory Panel in my inbox shortly. But it's true, I'm glad, why? Let's rewind to the last generation console cycle. Do you remember a little console called the GameCube from Nintendo? As I recall (though my memory could be a little off) it had a hard time competing against the PS2 and the Xbox and ended up 3rd in a three-way console race. Now look at Nintendo and their new console, the Wii. It is sitting pretty as top dog. Not too shabby for Nintendo. They did what was necessary to achieve that success; they persevered with hard work, competitiveness, and dedication; and made sure to put out the best that they could offer. That's why I'm glad that the PS3 is sitting in 3rd right now. It makes Sony work, and hard. Undeniably, the PS2 was an amazing console with lots of support but the PS3 hasn't been shaping up to be the same as its predecessor. The PS3 has some extremely stiff competition, and that's a good thing. Like I stated before, competition drives greatness. With the PS3 sitting low man on the totem pole, it tells Sony that they need to work hard, put in the effort, and deliver. Just like an athlete, too many wins can go to your head. So you need to get back to basics and ensure that you are truly in it to win it. That is why I am truly happy that Sony has to play "catch up" to get closer to the leaders of the pack, because it can only benefit us all.

HARDWARE - The PS3 wasn't even out for a full year and we saw two new SKUs and a price drop. Some people saw this as a bad thing, but I think this was a good move. The PS3 is expensive compared to other consoles, though it's a good deal when you consider that it has a Blu-Ray player in it (yes I know, I'm going to play every card). Offering two different price points helped the PS3 sell well during the 2007 holiday but many people were disappointed with the fact that the new versions don't support full backwards compatibility (though the 80Gb does have emulation, just not the Emotion Engine).

"So, What Does This Mean For 2008" - With HDTV prices dropping everyday, the PS3's high definition capabilities will only further its appeal to the public. Also, the RSX chip is now being produced at 65nm instead of the 90nm seen in current PS3s. The RSX chip might even be down to 45nm by Q3 or Q4. This means, once again we could see another price drop quite soon for the PS3 (the redesign of the Cell chip from 90nm to 65nm is equated with the price drops of the 40Gb and 80Gb SKUs). We could even see a "slimed down" version of the PS3 similar to the PS2 slim model. We are also seeing a lot of game themed consoles, which is a great idea. Who wouldn't want a MGS or DMC themed PS3?

SOFTWARE - One thing you have to give Sony credit for, they have the most 1st party studios out of all the console players (and a lot of 2nd party support as well). Wikipedia sites 19 different studios (GameSpot only mentioned 15), that's more than Microsoft and Nintendo combined. So, while the 3rd party support was slightly lacking during the first year and exclusives were few and far between, Sony was truly dedicated to supporting the PS3.

"So, What Does This Mean For 2008" - Great things. To start, the 1st party developers (and 2nd party developers) are quite experienced now. Insomniac is already on their 3rd game and the PS3 just turned 1 last November. Naughty Dog's Uncharted looked spectacular, especially given the fact that Uncharted has Naughty Dog's first crack at a PS3 game. I can only imagine (and drool) what their next title will look like. I also think that we will see fewer delays on multi-platform and 3rd party games. With more developers with PS3 experience under their belts, we will finally be able to enjoy those great games instead of waiting a month while everyone else soaks in the goodness. We will also be seeing some nice 3rd party exclusives like the much anticipated MGS4, FF XIII, and FF Vs. XIII.

PERIPHERALS - This is where I think you can truly see a difference from the Sony of today and the Sony of yesterday. The first thing I said when I saw the SIXAXIS (I love how it's a palindrome) was, "Where's the rumble?" Well, I'm truly happy that Sony listened to many PS3 gamers by going back to the drawing board and redesigning the SIXAXIS into the DualShock 3. I think if it had been the PS2 that lost its rumble feature, it would have stayed lost. But because Sony realizes that they have to put in the effort to gain our loyalty, they didn't just ignore our outcry; they actually listened to us, and listened closely. So, thank you Sony for bringing rumble back. As for motion control, I like that it's included but dislike how "tacked on" it really feels in most games. Is it necessary to have in a controller? Probably not, but I am waiting for that one game that takes motion control to the next level. Now, onto Sony's other Periph, the PlayStation Eye. I've always been a big supporter for the EyeToy, so I was quite excited about the new Eye for the PS3. Though the PS2 version never achieved wide range success, hopefully the PS Eye will.

"So, What Does This Mean For 2008" - Now, I can get a nice hand massage when I play Tekken 6! I think we will finally see motion control used in a good way. Look at Army of Two, you know how when you go to snipe, the scope always bobs up and down. Well, in Ao2, that bobbing is actually going to be you. Yes, the motion control will actually pick up your movements, so I'd start practicing on holding your breath. As for the PS Eye, I think it's much more useful now with the PS3 being connected to the internet. It's a great peripheral to use when chatting as a webcam and a mic. It has also been implemented in some games as well. Look at the game Eye of Judgment. Who, would have thought that you could do that! I absolutely think that is one of the most innovative games I have ever seen or played. Then you have Burnout Paradise with the "mugshot" feature. Totally pwned a friend? Send him a friendly pic letting him know how much you rock. Totally got pwned? Send him a pic reminding him that you will get your revenge next time. The Eye totally opens up some interesting possibilities in gameplay. I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

NETWORK - It's Free! (oh, c'mon, you knew I had to mention that) Ok, so most good things said about the PSN are on features that aren't even out yet (Home, anyone?). Well, I'll admit, it's no XBL, but it hasn't been out as long either. I think the PSN got off to a pretty good start. Demos, downloadable games (some of which actually don't suck too badly), videos, themes, wallpapers, and other random garbage that no one cares about (really, who downloaded the Click Blu-Ray trailer? If you did, please let me know). But all in all, it's a good start though it's lacking some key things. In-game xmb (or at least messaging, that's all I want), bigger friends list, custom soundtracks, play video and music in chat room, bigger chat room, a chat room that doesn't look like an insane asylum, and some other things would be nice.

"So, What Does This Mean For 2008" - HOME. All I can say is Home is going to fix it all (or at least I pray it does, but I'm pretty sure it will). If you haven't seen the latest videos on Home, go now, really I'll wait. 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi . . . oh you're back already. Well, what did you think? Pretty cool, huh? But no, I do realize how some of you feel. Whiney boy, "Oh, it looks like the Sims." Annoying girl, "Why don't you go and just get a real life?" Creepy dude, "w00t, now I can stalk her in virtual life too!" But no, for me, I'm excited about Home. I have a lot of really good friends that don't live in my area (no one would live here by choice, I'm only here because they feed me) so Home is the perfect opportunity to just kind of socialize with them. I mean, we chat in our insane asylum (I'm not joking, the chat room is a white room, that's it!) but it's not the same as walking around in our virtual space and catching a quick gaming of bowling. Even, if you aren't a big fan of virtual lives, the features that Home offers are great (or at least will offer). Movies, music, in-game connectivity (I'm hoping the Helghast invade Home and kidnap people, just kidding . . . or maybe not.) and a boat load of other features make home an online feature that Sony did not have to provide. And if you aren't too big on the idea of Home, don't worry. Sony isn't completely forgetting about the PSN. They plan on revamping it and upgrading it as well. So, rejoice my comrades!

PSP CONNECTIVITY - I absolutely love this feature, but never use it, lol. I think this was a great idea to allow gamers to access their PS3 content on the PSP. Everything from PSOne clas-sics, movies, music, and messaging; you can almost do it all. Though in game connectivity doesn't really exist right now, but the potential still remains. Think about it, you are alone in an urban battlezone, there are enemies everywhere and you need to find and rescue a nuclear scientist. This scientist alone is going to save the human race by developing a diet that consists of liquid sugar injected straight into the blood stream that makes you stay awake for 48 hours, giving you the energy to exercise for 24 hours and then to work for 24 hours. So, what do you do as a highly trained, super human Navy Seal that was raised as a Spartan warrior? You, throw out multiple cameras to survey the area, using the PSP to view each one while still keeping a look out for robotic ninja dog monsters that use caffeine to enhance their already powerful nose. And, then, oh no! You've been spotted. So, you quickly through out some Glade bone scented candles and grab your PSP to blow up the C4 you strategically placed by the pound, releasing the numerous cat gladiators who thus begin to attack the robotic ninja dog monsters who turned them into slaves. As you make your way to the scientist, you use your PSP to send out a homing beacon for your monkey comrades to drop a carpet bomb on the compound as you summon your awesome skidoo to make your escape. With the scientist and you safely off the island, you pull out your PSP for the last time to check your bank account to see if those 2 million steaks that you were promised are sitting in your bank account.

"So, What Does This Mean For 2008" - 300 Splinter Sniff coming to a store near you. Ok, probably not, but the potential for the PSP is there. I'd love to see you using it as a camera that you can place in stealth games; maybe to check your stats or to buy things instantly in a game and have it airdropped to you right on the battlefield; in strategy games and RPGs, it could be used to keep stats so that you can actually see more than 1/3 of the screen; or maybe even use it to view the PS3's xmb in game. Either way, I hope that 2008 will bring some games that use the PSP and its connectivity to the PS3. And we might even see some other devices connect to the PS3 like cell phones and microwaves (I can only hope that happens, then I can cook a pizza while crunchin' skulls).

BLU-RAY - It really annoys me when other PS3 gamers say, "I don't care about Blu-Ray, I don't even watch high def movies." Bakana! Every single game for the PS3 is made on a Blu-Ray disc, so Blu-Ray matters! But yes, all the news, data, and random information I get from that homeless guy down the street say that Blu-Ray is doing quite well. Don't forget too that Sony owns a lot of different movie companies including Columbia TriStar, Sony Pictures clas-sics, Screen Gems, and numerous others. Blu-Ray is truly a great form of media storage. I mean 50Gb of data on one disc!!! Insane!

"So, What Does This Mean For 2008" - Blu-Ray has a great chance of winning. Even if you don't buy Blu-Ray movies ("Buy Them! Buy Them Now!" This subliminal message is brought to you by E.M.T. Industries, where Energy. Machinery. Technology. = Life) you still support Blu-Ray by purchasing PS3 games. Plus, HDTV's are becoming more common which will only further Blu-Ray sales. Blu-Ray also means better and bigger games. It's rumored that the 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3 won't include all of the features in the PS3 version, do to disc size. And if you aren't excited yet, Hitachi is creating a 100Gb Blu-Ray Disc! That's double the size of current dual-layered discs! So, whether you have 100 BRD movies or just 100 PS3 games, Blu-Ray will affect everyone, in a good way. Blu-Ray for life!

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR NON-PS3 GAMERS - Maybe it's time to give the PS3 another look. With a lower price point, two models, more games, and a boat load of features; the PS3 and Sony deserves a little more credit for their continual hard work in trying to make the best console. Though, there have been many blunders on the way, I truly feel the 2008 will see the PS3 flourish as it deserves to.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PS3 GAMERS - You aren't going to see the light of day for a while! Really though, we finally got Sony to listen to us! Yay! I know, we've all been patient and it has been a long time coming, but rejoice my fellow PlayStationers! The time has come, we will triumph, and we will get to play way b3yond our hearts desires.

In closing (holy cow, this is a long blog. Mina, gomen!) I guess my whole reason for this blog is to say, don't be so hard on the PS3. It gets really annoying when people dismiss any of the consoles for no good reason. All three are needed because it furthers competition and competition only means good things for us, the gamers. Also, though some of my predictions are a bit wild and out there, I hope that we will see some of those things happen this year. So, happy 2008 mina!!! I hope it is a prosperous, game playing, zombie shooting, rubber burning, mugshot taking, bomb throwing, terrorist fragging, demon slaying, turn-based action, mech fighting, hand massaging, monster summoning, stealthiest, rippin' car doors off, co-opin', awesome new year you ever have!

For more information on all things mentioned:

• http://www.wikipedia.org/
• http://www.sony.com/
• http://www.sony.net/
• http://www.scei.co.jp/index_e.html
• http://us.playstation.com/
• http://store.playstation.com/store/index.vm
• http://www.blu-ray.com/
• http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/home.php?union_id=ESLS

Hey mina! How did Santa treat you? My Christmas went really well. Everyone liked the gifts they got, especially my dog, Monty. He loves wrapping paper, so he was in heaven. I got a bunch of cool things like Heroes Season 1 and a bunch of Anime DVDs. I also got a bunch of CDs as well, I think my favorite it one is Carnavas by the Silversun Pickups. I also got some books on ancient weapons and armor which is totally awesome. The only game I got was Lair . . . I think Santa was mad at me :P Though, it really isn't that bad of a game. I finally got my inventory all finished up too, so I thought I'd post some of my stats, lol. Just as a note, all of these stats are from items that I physically own, I don't count downloaded stuff. Also, all of these are official Region 1 or Region 2 products, since I don't buy pirated items. :P

CDs

• Total Number Owned - 204
• Unique Artists - 80
• Total Number of Discs - 212
• Estimated Total Value - $3,751.17

Anime

• Total Number of Series - 92
• Total Number of Completed Series - 87
• Total Number of Discs - 389
• Estimated Total Value - $8,393.74

Manga

• Total Number of Series - 65
• Total Number of Completed Series - 47
• Total Number of Manga - 318
• Estimated Total Value - $3,106.55

Games

• Total Number of Games - 223
• Total Number of PS Games - 28
• Total Number of PS2 Games - 84
• Total Number of PSP Games - 49
• Total Number of PS3 Games - 62
• Estimated Total Value - $6,955.98

So, there you have it, my stuff, lol. My OCD really shows through with this, I so enjoy keeping inventory, it's really sad actually. Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas mina! Ok, I'm a little early but my break off from school has really gone to my head. On Monday I slept in 'til noon :P So, I thought I might as well wish everyone a happy holiday before I forget, lol. Anyway, what are you plans for Christmas and the holiday season? For me, it's the basic "spend time with family" scenario. Though I can't wait for Christmas dinner! On Christmas Eve we usually do a huge Japanese dinner, Christmas Day is turkey with all the trimmings, then there's New Year's Eve dinner which is a nice Italian type one, and lastly is New Year's Day which is Ham :D Can't wait!

Gaming wise, I picked up UT3 and plan on picking up The Orange Box when EA sends me that free game they owe me for being so late with my guitar, which I haven't got yet. Other than that, not much to report. I'm trying to finish off a lot of my old games so I don't feel so bad spending all this money on stuff I don't play. I'm also doing my final audit of my inventory so it's accurate when I add in my new stuff from Christmas.

Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome Christmas and a great New Year! Also, make sure to drop by to check out my New Year's blog, I've been working on it a bit now, so hopefully you'll like it :D

Tadaima! I'm home! Yay, well I have to say my trip was seriously a killer!!! I had lots of fun. We ended up leaving at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 8th. We didn't hit any traffic on the way down, which was amazing considering we have to go through San Francisco. We (the we being me and my father, lol) got into San Jose around 1:00 p.m. Since we had so much time before the hockey game, we went over to the Tech Museum and saw an exhibit called Body Worlds. It deals with real human bodies who have been plasticized. It was kind of cool (and creepy at the same time) since you could actually see the body's muscles and what not. They had a bunch of different organs on display as well. Plus, the entire nervous system, that was cool. Though I have to say, I'm never going to eat again. We also saw an Imax Dome documentary about the human body too. If you have been to an Imax theater before, the Dome is 10 times better!!! And again, I'm never eating, ever, ever again :P

After that, we walked through San Jose Downtown park. They were having their annual Christmas in the Park, so there were hundreds of decorated Christmas Trees all around. It was really cool to see. Too bad my mothe wasn't there since she's the big Christmas lover.

Then it was on to the Sharks Hockey game against the Sabres!!! All I can say is that I'm glad I like the Sabres! They are my favorite East Coast team! Other than that, it was a sad, sad, game :(. The Sharks lost 7 to 1. Ouch :cry:. But I got pie to help ease the pain from that terrible game.

The next day, we headed back up home. We stopped in Santa Rosa at the mall to buy some Christmas presents for my mother and then it was back home!

Unfortunately, I had finals the next day though I'm glad to say that I've gotten and "A" on all of them so far. I only have one left to do and that's a paper!

So, I'm glad to say that I'm back home and I'll soon have a lot of time to play games! Good luck to all of you who have finals as well! Hope you are all well!

In other news, I have another Wish List question. What 3 things do you want for Christmas that are over $1000? For me it's 1. 40" Bravia HDTV, 2. High Def SLR camera with lens, and 3. Yamaha Clavinova (electronic piano).

It's that time of year again, winter storms! Yup, it's getting pretty rough out here. The place where I work, had both the porch and roof ripped off! My neighbor's fence was also destroyed when a Redwood crashed through his backyard. Yeah, if you didn't know, Redwood trees can grow up to 300ft tall. Yes, 300 FEET tall. They are massive trees! It doesn't help that we're getting 80 mph winds and 30 ft waves. Plus, the high waves set off the tsunami warning, so we had sirens going off everywhere! Man, the mall was like nuts (it's right on the bay, so it would be the first to get hit) and everyone was panicking. So, needless to say, I'm charging everything for the long haul, lol.

I probably won't see you for a bit, considering the power is really iffy, plus I'm also going to be gone this weekend for hockey. Serously bad timing though. I'm hoping that the mountain pass holds up so we can go down. My area is notorious for slides, and when that happens, nothing comes in and nothing goes out.

Also, it's finals next week!!!! Again, seriously bad timing considering a lot of my finals are done on a computer! Hopefully all will go well though. Wish me luck!

I'll probably be back on around Wednesday, the 12th. I'll let you know how the hockey game went and if my house is still intact. So take care mina!!! Ja!

The PlayStation Magazine is finally official!!! Now called PlayStation: The Official Magazine (wow, so creative there :P) it still sports the same staff, which is why I'm sad :( If you didn't know I was a huge fan of OPM! I loved all the staff and I really trusted their reviews. I was so bummed when they were axed back in November 2006. I even wrote a lengthy goodbye letter to them :cry: But now, PSM has been turned into POM. I'm happy but not at the same time. It's like, why didn't they just keep OPM if they were going to make another official magazine later? And why do they still do the stupid cell phone game section? I'm a console gamer, does it look like I play those sucky cell phone games? So yeah, I'm a little bummed, glad that they are official now, glad that we have an official magazine, but bummed out too because it makes me miss OPM even more.

On the plus side, my father was looking at the magazine cover (which features one of Nissan's new cars from Gran Turismo 5) and he said, "Wow, that's a nice looking car, when does it come out?" I replied, "Well, the game is supposed to come out sometime next year. I don't know when the car will actually hit stateside though." Then my father was like, "Wait, that's from a game?" Yeah, it's that amazing looking. You can barely tell the difference at first glance. Ah, I can't wait to play it. Though I completely suck at GT, I only have 0.03% done on GT4 :P, I still always pick it up just to show off. People always come over asking me about my consoles, especially the PS3 since it's in the news quite a bit. So, I'm glad that I'll have GT5 soon to show off my wonderful Ani!! Well, maybe soon, lol, hopefully sometime in 2008 :P

In other news, I beat Uncharted, yay. And started playing it again right after I beat it. It's that good. Though I'm still trying to beat R&CF, I only have the last level to do. So close. And I'm taking a break from Rock Band. I twisted my wrist playing the drums too much :P So, it's still a little stiff but it should be better by this Saturday. Been playing co-op Rainbow Six Vegas with zeke2040 too. Just can't get enough of that game. I'm really close to finishing up school too, which is nice. I'll have more time to play games :D I also get to go down to San Jose on the 8th, for a Sharks Hockey game against the Sabres, which I can't wait for!

P.S. I usually don't mention when I get new emblems or level up, since I never notice, but I will mention this one.

Games are more important than paying for food or paying the bills.
The serious collector has made a lifelong investment in the pursuit of having way more games than you do. Ignoring review scores, maintaining few friendships so as not to commit oneself to additional spending on birthdays or holidays, this individual is single-mindedly intent on owning lots and lots of games. A noble pursuit, indeed.

^That right there is me to a "T" :D