We've been witness to a lot of things in the last two years. Scorsese finally won an Oscar, there were at least 3 good episodes of Lost and we saw the fall of the Berlin Wall (not really, but as a Cold War kid I'm legally required to include that in every flashback). Nestled in there, somewhere, I came to work for GameSpot. While working at GameSpot will never compete with something as momentus as the release of Doomsday, the last two years have been among the most important and fullfilling of my career.

This Friday ( 05/09/2008 ) I produced my last GameSpot show, our Guitar Hero 3 Tournament TV. I'm happy to say that it was as fun, out of control and rewarding as anything I've done here in the last two years. I feel really good moving on with GameSpot where it is today. I've always been a user of GameSpot and when I finally landed my job here I tried my hardest to add a little something to one of the classiest places on the intertnet. Through the fun times and not so fun times my feelings for GameSpot, and the people that work here, have never changed. This is still one of the greatest sites on the internet manned by some of the greatest people in the business.

I got to work with folks I had spent years reading and laughing with as a user and then got to meet and work with all of the other people that make GameSpot tick. And though the GameSpot machine has many important pieces that you rarely see, like Frank, Jim, Tyler, Takeshi, Jan, Wernher, Dan, Dave and so many more, the essential gear that keeps it all working has to be Ryan MacDonald. I cannot say enough about his enthusiasm, trust and dedication, both for the site itself and its employees.

Then there are all the people I have to thank for letting me point a camera at them. When I think of the things they've agreed to do, and the energies that they've put into those projects, it really makes me appreciate what lack of sleep can do to a person's inhibitions and common sense.

I still get a kick out of a lot of the stuff we did. Below Stupid? Boss of Bosses? Bliss Island? Les Wampas? Why Naruto? Why Now? I'm pretty sure my girlfriend thought I was crazy because I sat at work and cracked myself up all day. Personally, I think I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world.

As always, thanks for listening,

Vinny

You can keep up with Mr. Caravella at the following:

http://www.mostlyforme.com

http://www.mindcavity.com (Currently on hiatus. To be updated after the next election)

Hey Mom,

Things are going well. I made some new friends. Hope you like the picture.

Say "Hi" to Ranger for me, don't let him eat too many Airheads.

Love,

Vinny

I dare you to tell me this isn't in the top 5 most incredible things ever:

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So he may not be able to [insert exaggerated air quotes here] save the world, but my wolf, Howlton, can tell the difference between at least 3 different types of animal urine.

That's right I'm talking about WolfQuest.

1/3 game, 1/3 edutainment, 1/3 pure heart.

I'll save the details from this blog, but head over to Mostly for Me for more on the last game you might ever play.

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Some old flames never burn out. They just sit smoldering while we build our fancy little lives on top of the embers, until one day they reignite, reducing us to mooning eight-year olds with boyhood crushes.

Why'd it have to be snakes?

And why did Marion have to be so damn spunky?

In case you haven't heard, Indiana Jones is coming back, but that's not all. Joining Indy is Karen Allen, the actress who played the character who would forever forge my perception of what the ideal woman should be. Marion Ravenwood.

Of course people change, and characters change...and Marion looks like she's sporting some new bangs. Strike one.

Hopefully she won't get watered down into some wimpy damsel in distress. The lady owned her own bar in the middle of Nepal for crying out loud!

"I always knew some day you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable..." - Marion Ravenwood

Animated Even!

I'll let her handle the spontaneity business...

Zelda = 1 game Play Time = 40 hours Batteries = 4 AA (almost had to change the batteries twice) So what to say about the Wii battery life? It's no Wavebird, but maybe one could squeeze a little more life out of it if he turned the speaker and rumble off. As for Zelda, it seems that if you turn the speaker volume all the way down on the controller the sounds will come through your standard speakers. Since the speaker on the controller basically sounds like a blown out headphone, playing the sounds through a real sound system may be for the best.
Regardless of the battery life, I think The Twilight Princess is a lot of fun, with some interesting characters and interactions, though maybe not as much charm and charisma as other Zelda titles. It seems like, since Ocarina at least, Nintendo is attempting some kind of cohesion between the titles, and I wish they would pursue that more. It's interesting to think about how this game fits into the overall legend, but it's sad if there really isn't a grand story arc and any hint of a unified timeline is purely fan fiction. I think Ocarina has added the most in terms of fleshing out the Zelda mythos for me, but Twilight definitely adds some unique wrinkles.

it's not a contest but there WILL be a winner -- stephen colbert
name this game!

You'll have to be quick to take down the name of this contender.