When I heard the ESA was announcing something regarding E3 and downsixing, I thought "great.  Maybe developers and people trying to get into the industry will be able to get in instead of stupid kids who works at EB and therefore have "a connection.""  So needless to say when they announced more intimate meetings and a smaller setting, I think this is a great idea.

It makes it sound more like the GDC where people can learn something from going to the expo instead of it being a pissing contest between companies.  I also never liked the fact that celeberties could waltz into E3 yet I hear about developers struggling to get in.  The people who MAKE the games can't get into E3!  Am I the only one that sees something wrong with this?!  I'm sorry but since when is Paris Hilton THAT deserving of getting into an Expo she probably doesn't care all that much about?

My few readers should know from reading my profile that I am seriously trying to get into the video game industry as a composer so I've frequented gaming developer sites and the developers have pretty ill feelings towards E3.  I can see why given what it's become.  I actually feel like now I would benefit from going to E3 instead of it just being a gamers wet dream, not that I have a problem with that mind you ;)

This isn't to say that I think we won't get to witness the plethorea of news delivered at E3.  It'll probably be no different than the covereage at GDC or TGS.  It should be still exciting for us gamers.  We'll just have mini holidays that's all.

I'm still in my old school craziness phase. I'm near the end of FF VI, trying to level my characters up to 99 right now. For the first time ever I'm deliberately holding off getting all the espers until I can utilize the speed boost in Odin. It's nice seeing Locke's speed at 81. It would have been higher had I had the speed +2 option. I wanted to give him at least some magic power and some strength.

I also imported a DS Lite from Japan. It's light blue and beautiful. My phat DS had two stuck pixels and this one only has one. They don't really bother me so I can live with it. I must say I baby it more than my old DS. I have a case for it and I keep a microfiber cloth in the case...the case I also imported from Japan (it was $9 after shipping) and it has three slots for games. I think this is very useful to have "pick up and play" games like Brain Age ready. I had to bring my car in this week to the dealer and to kill time I played Brain Age and Tetris. Never thought I would get into the Touch Generation games so much.

Last week I also went to Comic Con and got to try a bunch of games that haven't been released:

1. Castlevania Portrait of Ruin- a very cool game and a lot better looking than the screenshots say. It plays like the other portable Castlevanias but you can switch characters, which has some neat potential.

2. Final Fantasy 3- I've had the luxury to have beaten the original on the NES so I know it's a good game. I'm floored by the remake so far in a way that most people won't be able to appreciate. Let me just say that for its time the story was pretty in depth and they made it even better now.

3. Slime Mori Mori 2 or "Rocket Slime" in the US- This game is #1 on my birthday list (it comes out the week before my bday). I had so much fun playing as this cute little slime firing misc. stuff out of a tank. I even shot myself out of the tank so I could wreck the engine of my opponent. The people at Squenix have been complete jerks leaving nothing but a teaser site and I wish they would share more. I've seen pictures of the characters and a few screen shots, but the game I played wasn't a demo. I was just running around and happened to get into a battle. They better have more to show come August....

4. Dirge of Cerberus- I had issues with this game. It looks fun, but I couldn't get the controls down and the camera angles were really weird. I'm used to the "down is up and up is down" aiming and got tripped up so many times (I know that sounds stupid but I'm a creature of habit). It also seemed weird that R1 was the fire button for my gun. I guess I would have liked a little bit better explanation. They had a panel for the controls, but it was on the little stand where the controller was. I had to keep looking down and was getting beat up. They needed the controls up on the TV, and it was a weird control scheme! I think I was hoping that I could pick up the game and it would play like Devil May Cry. I'll still give this a chance and blame me for it, but I don't know about this one.

5. Phoenix Wright: Justice for All- I wish I had more to say about this one. I only got to play it briefly because I started to sick and clausterphobic. From what I played of it it was a lot like the original which means it will probably be awesome.

6. Mega Man ZX- I lie, I didn't actually play this one, my fiancee did. However I'm interested in it and he really liked it. He said it played a lot like the Mega Man Zero games, so if you're a fan of those, you should like this.

Man the DS has to be one of the greatest things ever. I'm so sorry for ever calling it a gimmick. I'm eating crow like it's nobody's business.

I'm pausing from Wild Arms at the moment because I have this sudden urge to play oldschool games.  I'm not sure why but I have these phases that come and go and I end up playing the games that I never get tired of.  For some reason I have yet to run into a game made after 1996 that has done that for me.  Does this happen to older gamers or is this some way of me reliving my childhood?

I find it funny from a lot of people on these message forums that argue the only reason some of these classic games are good is because they remind us of our childhood.  When these kids reach their 20's and 30's will that happen to them?  Will they want to play GTA San Andreas because it reminds them of being kids?  It wouldn't surprise me.  Then who will be calling the kettle black?  ha ha

Well when I go through my old school phases like this I try to be objective when I play through a game, especially if it's been a while because I want to revisit why I loved the game so much:  is it because the game is good or is it to relive my childhood.

All in all, I find that the games I loved then I still love now, though some become stale and I acknowledge it may be the nostalgia factor, or that I'm getting better at playing games, because I find them to be easier than I remember.

Take Chrono Trigger for example:  I still love the story, I love the gameplay, the controls are solid, the graphics and soundtrack good for their day, but I plowed through the game in 25 hours!  Now I did EVERYTHING in the game to boot, every side quest and hidden twist, and yet I flew through the game.  My characters levels were in their 50's which I remember being sort of on the low side (I remember the first time being in my 70's when I beat it) and I creamed the final boss.  I seriously don't remember the game being this easy.  Hmmmm...

There are other examples that I don't want to fill up this entry with because it would be a short novel.  But the point is that I can acknowledge the short comings of classic games yet still appreciate the good things that they provided.  It's as objective as I can try to be.

Or I could be an old fart and blame it on everything going 3D, but that's another entry for another day :P  (and no I don't hate all 3D games, things just haven't been the same).

As some of you may or may not know, I'm an aspiring film composer. Since I moved to LA I decided I wanted to give it a try. It's more in line with what I want to get out of my career as a composer and other such nonsense I won't get into here. Since moving here I've been to quite a few career seminars to network with people and such and I have attened a few involving video game composers. Most of them write music for games I have heard of, but have never played. Most of them are PC games that just don't appeal to me. I've met the composer for WoW, Halo, God of War, Advent Rising, all american composers for american games. There is one thing that I find so weird about every video game composer I have met: They claim that you should be a gamer if you want to write music for video games, yet based on their attitudes they're all a bunch of obnoxious casuals whom I'd like to hit. They obviously rave about Halo for how much it's sold and for the soundtrack. Now don't get me wrong. If I were to ever play Halo, it would be for the music and I think that's it. They raved about 50 Cent Bullet Proof which made me laugh. God of War is also raved amongst them, not just for the music but for the game play. I can't answer for any of these since I haven't played them. God of War interests me but I haven't had the extra money to pick it up yet. I'd like to at some point because it looks like fun and the score is pretty incredible. Now with all of this you'd think that they would at least acknowledge the biggest video game icon in history, Mario? Uh, no. One of them refered to the DS as "the gameboy DS" which I think is pretty bad. If you supposedly need to have a clue about the video game industry, you should at least know the names of the systems, but what do I know. I'm not in it yet. Oh and the Wii, good luck trying to convince them that it looks cool. I went to a seminar the first night of E3 and they talked a little bit about the next gen systems "there's the XBox 360 and the PS3, and there's a new Nintendo system but that's up for debate whether or not it's any good." It's so sad that the fanboy blinders are up even in these adults. Man I thought only 12 year olds were bad. Sheesh. So anyway I'm done ranting. This is why I need to be in the industry, so I can set these people straight. I mean seriously, there are good games for all the systems. Why blindly ignore a whole pillar in the gaming industry? Because they're japanese? Because of the "kiddy" rep from like ten years ago that no one can let go? Do they have issues with their manhoods? They need more chicks in this business I guess. Good thing I AM one.

Oh come on, you knew I was gonna comment on E3! I don't think I could ever predict my reaction to E3 (well Sony's conference didn't surprise me THAT much). I've been pretty sure I was gonna get a Wii but I was up in the air about the 360 and PS3. I'm not saying I'm sure yet but I was surprised by the number of 360 games that caught my interest. Yes you heard that right, I'm actually sort of interested in the XBox. Their whole stance on trying to woo Japanese developers has me intrigued. Blue Dragon keeps looking better and better, among other RPG's. Ninety Nine Nights actually looks pretty good too. Not that I can afford a 360, but it's something to think about in the future, maybe in 2007. I was dissappointed by Sony's conference. They're so pulling the same crap Nintendo pulled back in the day; their popularity is causing them to get an inflated ego. I don't care what spiffy features there are, $600 is WAY too much money for a video game console. It worked for them with the CD and DVD formats, but they also both launched at $300. If the PS3 launced for $300, that would be one thing. But $600 for the real version of the system (not the $500 stripped down version) is higher than most systems release price, only being beat by the $700 Neo Geo. I think their name will give them more sales than the Neo Geo, but if they keep this up I bet the numbers will show in the following generation after this. It happened to Nintendo. The N64 was awful but still sold 32 million units. Despite the GCN being better in terms of 3rd party support and the controller, the damage was done. FFXIII and its spinoffs is not enough for me. Lets see which system KH3 and DQIX come out on... I'm so glad to see how excited people are for the Wii. My fiancee and I are making it a point to buy one at launch and I never buy systems at launch. I think if they continue to agressively focus on shedding the "kiddy" image like they are and stick to the launch they will supposedly have, I'll be sold between Metroid and Zelda alone. Brawl looks awesome, as does Mario Galaxy. I can totally forsee them gaining market share worldwide. Maybe we'll have a tie this gen. Anyway, I wish I could have been there. It sounds like it was a fun week and loads of awesome looking games were showcased. Looking at the portable stuff It's going to be a DS summer for me! Yay Squenix RPG's!!

Shame on all these gaming websites and gaming stores for making the dumb general public to think that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a game. It got reviewed like a game, it got a release date from game sites, and less so on movie sites. I listened to the radio and the guy listing top video rentals wondered why Advent Children was listed because "hey isn't this a game?" You people all suck. Yes it was beautiful, yes the guy who remixed Uematsu's music did an incredible job (don't you DARE think Uematsu did that himself. Watch the credits), but the plot was so sub-par I actually liked the game BETTER. People who know me know that I don't care for the game (it's not a bad game, but a horribly overrated one and I'm sick of it). I'm sick of PSP owners toting it as the killer app for the system. It's a MOVIE folks! If Sony really wanted to move PSP's they should have released it only on UMD and force people to buy their system. So shame on you all for treating it as a medium different from what it is. Why don't we review all movies that come out on UMD then? Yeah it sounds pretty stupid to me too. I feel better now, I will go back to thinking about how I live so close to the LACC and can't get into E3 :(

I'm starting to think that the internet is a double-edged sword for the gaming industry. On one hand people get the latest info quickly. On the other hand, they get the latest info quickly. Case in point: Nintendo. Poor Nintendo, no matter what they do everyone picks on them. The Japanese came up with a great name for the next gen system that has a positive meaning in their language. Here in America, it is the subject of toliet humor. They don't know any better. On the other hand, this doesn't bode well on their quest to market the mass consumer here in America. The name is weird but it's not going to change my view on whether or not I want to get the system, and it shouldn't. Why have we (no pun intended) become so superficial that a name can have such an impact on product placement? The system still looks good and has interesting games coming out. I continue to lose faith in my society. In other news Kingdom Hearts II has drained the life out of me the past few weeks. It was an amazing game; I completed 100% of the journal in normal mode just to see the secret ending. Wow is all I have to say. Now back to next gen, I really want to know where my RPG franchises are being made for, so I can decide where my interest truly is with the 360 and PS3. It's about the games man, all about the games... I wish more people would realize this.

Oh the Game Developers Conference. I've been looking forward to this to hear what Sony and Nintendo have to say about their consoles and portables. First off, I hear that Sony is making the PS3 region free which I think is a good move. What I want to know however, is if PS2 and PS1 games will now be region free. There are some import games I would love to get my hands on and if I don't have to fork over the money to get a Japanese system, I could use that money towards a PS3. Frankly there really aren't any games announced that make me want the system yet. There are some that have peaked my interest but I'm not at the point of total desire yet. On a side note, it's the same sob tale regarding the 360. Nintendo on the other hand, had me at "hello." I love their first party titles and I know they will most likely kick total butt. Now they've announced Sega and Turbo Grafix games will be available for download. I've died and gone to heaven. Many nay-sayers (fanboys) say that this is a ripoff of Gametap. The big difference is that I won't need to spend $15 a month to enjoy the same service. I also have a mac and wouldn't be able to use it anyway (I guess I could dust off my Dell). Either way, Nintendo has it right. Now I just want to hear prices. That will make or break things in terms of getting a system. I'm bothered by the stupid kids who say that if you can't afford a $500 video game system you don't deserve to game. What?! The people saying that belong in one of three categories 1) Software techy people who make at least six figures and can afford to say that. I'll let it slide for them. 2) PC gamers who upgrade their systems every six months and are used to it. They probably don't play console games anyway. I'll let it pass for them too. 3) Rich kids who need to be shot. Mom and Dad are buying the PS3 for them, not the kids. The rest of us will be forking out our own money. People like me probably also remember the days when video game systems debuted between 100 and 200 dollars and came with a game. This 300, 400, and 500 dollar nonsense is garbage. I blame the advent of big tech giants like Sony and Microsoft trying to get into the gaming industry. Ugh whatever. So back on topic, the GDC had some interesting news. On a side note I decided to clean out my collection of games and trade in the ones I only had a minor interest in playing. I need to save money and my backlog has gotten too huge. I'm not 12 anymore; I don't have time to play every game in existence. So sad...

I finally finished Lunar Eternal Blue, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit.  I looked at my collection of video games and I realized that my backlog has gotten to the best of me.  Some games I'm no longer interested in, and I probably should have rented them to begin with.  I think I've discovered that I should just join a rental service and spend less money on games.  I would probably save money overall. 

I've also had this compulsive habit of getting a game only because I've played other games in the series and I have to "complete the series."  But I don't have the time anymore and I just can't seem to catch up, especially with console games.  Since I travel a lot I seem to keep up with the portables (note they're also cheeper).  It's harder for me to keep up with the console-based games and I think it may be time for me to stick with the games I REALLY like.  In terms of my collection this will mean I will be playing fewer PS2 RPG's.

It occurred to me that Kingdom Hearts 2, after a long silence from Square Enix is finally coming out in North America with a March 28th release date.  It looks and sounds like an amazing game.  However, even if I got a copy at launch, I couldn't play it because I want to play Dragon Quest 8 first.  I can't play that until I catch up with some of my previous RPG's.  See how I'm stuck in a cycle.  Of course I could just decide to play something else, but here's my point:  those games I was only marginlly interested in I will never actually play.  So why waste the money and just rent those games? 

I started Suikoden IV and I just couldn't get into it.  It wasn't awful, but I did spend about a half an hour trying to line up the boat to the port so I could complete the first mission.   I earned a ton of money from the enemies I fought, but I don't have the patience to deal with faulty mechanics. 

Now I'm left with a quandry:  What do I play next?  I'm working on Four Swords with Dave, and Legend of Heroes (which is a cute game despite the bad translations.  Hey at least it's not Lunar Dragon Song) as my portable game.  Since I'm moving across the country I want to keep my portable games available for the trip, I can't work any more on that one.  Decisions Decisions.

Well okay, my options are any game in my collection that I haven't personally reviewed.  I've also started packing, and the game cube is resting in its cute little case.  I think that leaves me with the few PS2 RPG's that aren't 500 hour N1 games.  I think I'll wait on La Pucelle for a bit.  :/

I like to take online surveys.  I have memberships where as I take surveys, I get points which are later redeemed for gift certificates, which I then use to feed my addiction towards DVD's and video games (tee hee). 

Now occaisionally I get a suvey on video games.  I love those the most because I hope that people will actually listen to me and stop making games that suck.  Well today, I took one that prooved a couple of things:  1.  General survey sites don't know poop about video games and 2.  People REALLY don't know about video games by Nintendo.

I think I've made it pretty clear in my collection and based on the games I'm watching and want, I'm not a fangirl.  I'm potentially interested in games for the 360 and PS3.  I own every major console and portable by Sony and Nintendo in this current generation.  I get systems that have games that interest me (which is the sole reason why I don't also own an XBox). 

Having said all of this, I always feel bad for Nintendo getting picked on so much.  They're like the little brother who likes to march by the beat of his own drummer, and because of that, get's beaten up.  The mainstream media has proven time and time again that they choose to ignore what Nintendo is doing and have a completely false perspective about them.

In the survey I took today, I was asked what genres I like and was given examples of each genre.  They picked games that were exclusively made in America (which most of them are crappy games) with the exception of the VERY mainstream franchises.  I'm talking Mario, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, kind of mainstream.  Looking at the choices I knew that these guys were clueless.  The tip of the iceburg hit when I was given the list of systems that I own or plan to own.  For starters I don't even think the PSP was listed which was surprising.  Second the list of next gen systems made me cringe: The XBox 360, The Playstation 3, and The Nintendo Gamecube 2.  Yes you read that right folks.  They take so little time to do the darn research that they don't even have the name right.  I was appalled.

I plan on complaing to Survey Spot for their lack of reasearch, and I would urge people not to believe the surveys conducted by these types.  If these are the kind of questions being asked how accurate can their results be?

On a happy note, I've decided that I needed to play some short old school games to revitalize my love for video games. I just needed a good old boring turn based Japanese RPG to cure my sorrows :)