this.

Three new RPGs for Xbox:  Fable, X-Men Legends, and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.  Hopefully these will confirm my love for the genre.  I also got Enter the Matrix, just cause I am a big fan of the movie and it was buy two get one free on two of the above, so ETM was the freebie. 

I finished (beat!) X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse! Happiness and Joy, I now like video games again. Awesome. RPG seems to be my thing, I'll have to get a hold of some Zelda or Final Fantasy next.

Well, here I was all ready to tell how I figured out the problem.  As one could likely deduce from my games collection, I am in my fourth decade of life.  This isn't a tragedy, but it has cost me something in the way of hand-eye coordination and reaction time.  Thus, games dependent on me reacting, with great speed, to the thing that is attacking me, are likely to result in major failure (see below).  This pretty much means that I'm going to get hella frustrated with First Person Shooters.  I tend to achieve nothing more than being first-person shot.  

The X-Men II game I've been playing is apparently in the Role Playing Game category.  This seems to be much better.  I have to wander around the environment looking for all the pieces of the puzzle so I can put them together.  I have to use my brain to figure out how to solve problems.  (Hmmmm...that thingy I'm supposed to collect is waaaaaay up there on that post.  I just need one of those X-Men who fly, yessiree....) I have been really enjoying this game for many hours.

At the moment I have reached an impasse.  Why?  Because I'm battling the third (of five) boss and I can't beat him.  He just kills all my little X-Men and I have to start the level again.  Problem is, you see, this is again dependent on my reaction time and coordination.  Which is my Achilles Heel.  If I can't get past him, it's a real shame because I was having such a good time only to find myself in the same bloody situation as before.  Getting killed repeatedly by the same dude.  Sigh.

I hate video games.  I hate video games.  I hate video games.  The frustration is now even more profounder.  Halo 2 was a lot of fun until the VERY LAST guy who I can't beat.  The whole way through the game there was the perfect balance of difficulty and payoff. Since then I have been profoundly frustrated by games WAAAAAAAY before reaching anything resembling the "last guy." 

Ultimate Spider Man was going swimmingly.  Fighting? check.  Webbing? check.  Then "Johnny Flame" or whatever his name is challenges me to a race around the city.  Everything is fine except my steering.  I would be ahead of him, then suddenly take an accidental ninety degree turn due to where my web landed (but I can't AIM it...) and he would flame right by CALLING ME NAMES AND MOCKING ME.  After losing to this dude four times in a row, my left hand had an awful cramp and I threw the controller across the room.   

The Punisher (xbox) was going okay, I killed a lot of people, I advanced through the levels.  But somewhere in the first third of the game...I kept dying violently due to the sheer number of people shooting at me.  Again, I played the level about four times, died, and threw the controller.

Metroid 2 (gamecube) has now killed me thrice with a giant version of what got put in Chekov's ear in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan.  I am sick of this.  This is NOT fun.  I can play video games for hours, but I cannot play THE SAME LEVEL for hours.  I am now officially stuck and not even close to the 1/3 mark in this one.  

Star Wars Battlefront kills me in the very first level.  I finished the training, and get killed every time on this first planet.  I've tried running, I've tried using the rocket launcher, I've tried riding the AT-AE or whatever it's called. I've played it ten times and I cannot get past the FIRST BLOODY LEVEL.  

I hate video games. 

I have decided that there are two types of games: those that never end, and those with a definite ending.  

Of the former type: there is always another board to play on Pac Man. The blocks always eventually reach the top in Tetris.  No matter how far I got (Act 3 on Ms. Pac Man, the medium-sized rocket on Tetris) I always eventually "lost" the game.  Game Over.

Of the latter type: Super Mario Brothers, and everything that comes out these days it seems.  Super Mario and TMNT (on easy) are the only games I can recall ever having "beaten."  I saved the princess, yes I did. 

I bring this up because my present problem, and a problem I now realize that I have had for YEARS is playing games that HAVE an ending, I just can't BEAT (or reach) the ending.  Games of this class historically included Double Dragon II (stuck on the haunted house bit) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (past the dam I had no hope).  Now, I have added Halo 2 to this rank.  The development of self-esteen and mastery supposedly involved in video games comes to a crashing halt for me at this point.

Am now playing Metroid 2 on the Gamecube.  Thank FSM for online walkthoughs and guides.  We'll see...

Bloody hell.  I've made it all the way to the very last guy on Halo 2, and I cannot beat him.  CANNOT.  I've played the level at least 30 times.  Terrible, terrible.  The very first game I play on a "new" console, and I'm throwing the controller and cursing.  Time to switch to Star Wars Battlefront II for a while.   

My quest for modern gaming continues.  Now Nintendo gets a try to rock my world. I'll be adding the new games to ye olde collection in a minute and seeing if I have purchased anything rated higher than two.  I'll keep you posted.

Well, I have now sat down to play Halo 2 on three separate occasions. The third was last night and I accidentally played for six and a half hours. Today will require significant coffee intake, as I got far less sleep time than Halo time. Do they make "Halo 2 ate my life" bumper stickers?

I have decided to allow myself to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the semi-modern video games era.  I am not yet ready to take that Seventh-generation console leap (although I have enjoyed kicking it on fractal343's Wii).  Thus, I am sticking with the Sixth-generation and have aquired an original xbox.  I do plan to try the xbox live dealy whenever I reach a point where I dont' suck completely at all games as I do now.  Will add said games to ye olde collection; I am open to any advice for essentially first-time gamers.