I feel like crap and I can't sleep.....this sucks.....

Well, since I promised I was gonna write an update blog here you go. I'm busy...super busy...busy enough that it feels like I can't even stop to catch a breath at times.

To Julia and the rest of the UGUU, I'm sorry about not keeping up on my duties very well lately, I've just had a ton going on and not enough time in the day to deal with it all. With school, a new girlfriend, writing for the paper, school, arguments with parents, and studying for school I hardly have any free time any more. Even on weekends nothing is guaranteed as "free time" now. On Saturday I was out of the house from 10:30 AM until 1 AM Sunday morning. All I can really offer now is between 3 and 5 hours a week, at some point it may be more, but things are hectic right now. Thanks for being so welcoming every time I stop by.

Overall things are good, even if it seems like life is moving at 1000 mph. I'll check in sometime this week for a few minutes, but I'm heading to bed now since I have to get up in 5 hours.

That's right, I now have a blog banner. :o And I made it myself. :o :o That explains why it probably stinks, but it's my first try and I don't have any nice photo editors like Photoshop so I don't think it's too bad.

Let me know what you think!

Well, another week of school starts again tomorrow. I'll pop in if I can, but I'm pretty busy with classes/studying, writing for the campus paper, and hanging out with friends. I'll be back on again during next weekend for sure. I usually like to get on GS when I have more than 15-30 min. to spend here, maybe I'll be on Thursday afternoon during my 3 hour break in between classes.

So I'll see everyone soon....

I expect comments by the time I wake up. :P

I finally decided to check out the Rhino Videos Games store in town and see what they have. I was definitely pleased. It was great to see a video game store with old games again. They had DC, PSone, N64, Genesis, SNES, and NES. They also were selling all of those consoles, with the exception of the NES.

For those who are curious about what I purchased, here's the list.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 - I can't believe I found this. I've been playing the original for more than 6 years, but in just a few hours I can tell that this one is definitely better.
P.S. Why does GS always knock racing games in their reviews? :?

NFL 2K - The original. Only .99 cents, I couldn't pass it up.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - My favourite in the Tony Hawk series. Ever since our Xbox controllers went on the fritz, I've been wishing I could play this game on DC.

ESPN NFL Football 2k4 - It was only 3.99, I figured I should pick it up and complete my collection of the 2k football games.

Sega Dreamcast VMU - I thought I should pick another one up so that I would have space to save my new games. All my old ones are almost full. :(

I was also gonna get Space Channel 5, but they didn't have any copies despite the display being out.

I can't remember the last time I've played as much as I have the last few days. Sorry I haven't been on at UGUU lately but I've been very busy.

The games I've been busy with:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest-I'm on the Water Temple now, and it's official, I still love OoT.

Animal Crossing - I now have the two-story house with basement for all 3 of my characters!

Shining Force:Resurrection of the Dark Dragon - I'm only on chapter 2 right now, but I'll be further soon. I prefer the Genesis version, but I've never completed this version yet.

The Sims Complete Collection - This game can be really addicting.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - I finally completed the game on hard a few nights ago. I can't wait to try out Double Agent.



I just got Final Fantasy VIII from a friend the other day, but I haven't had the time to start a file yet. I'm also wanting to finish up RE: Code Veronica, I think I'm almost to disc 2. Halo is finally on the way, so hopefully I'll have that by the end of the week. And I just "obtained" the SNES Fire Emblem games and I've started to play through a couple of those, a lot of fun even though I don't understand what's going on. :P

Woohoo! I finally made it to Tagger King!

http://www.eon8.com/
What is eon8 counting down towards? Halo 3 info? Info on Casino Royale, the new Bond film? Details about The Phantom game console? Less than 20 hours to go, I guess we'll find out soon.

additional links:
http://eon8whatthehellisit.blogspot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eon8
http://eon8theinvestigation.ytmnd.com/

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6152609.html

Oh my, where do I begin? First, one of the oldest ways that power has been gained by individuals, corporations, and governments throughout the ages, is by appealing to people's fears and worries about the unknown. Many of the people who create these laws and the majority of the citizens who support them do not understand video games. I would say that I expect that most of the Gamespot user's parents grew up without access to cable TV some with probably a significant portion of their childhood without having a color TV. But they had the rock and roll music that had continued on from the rock of the 50's that was "corrupting" the nation's youth. And we've had video games and cable TV for our entire lives. It is hard for many of us to think of a world in which we didn't have video games. Yes, they had video games in the 80's and as someone who enjoys several "retro" titles, I don't mean to ignore them.

However, one can't deny that there have been some significant changes and enhancements in the last ten years with the "3D Revolution." Every few years we've had a new system come along with "revolutionary" graphics beyond anything we've seen, and bringing along with it bigger discs with more storage for bigger stories, more cutscenes, and more immersion in the experience. In just a few years, we've gone from playing NFL 2k1 on the Dreamcast using dial-up internet to having millions of people who play on Xbox Live on a regular basis. We aren't in the days of Pac-Man, Galaga, Balloon Fight, and Duck Hunt anymore. But since the video game crash of 1983, the North American market has not had to deal with Adult games such as Custer's Revenge. Video games are not an age-exclusive experience; tastes vary between people and the same goes for their interests and what games they want to play. But there have been video games that cross age and gender boundaries. Despite what some politicians in Washington DC might think, gamers aren't exclusively children, or teenage males. Breaking people's preconceived thoughts and stereotypes about who gamers are or how they think is essential to prevent laws like this. Check out these next two links for more in-depth discussion about gaming demographics.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-05-07-poll-gaming_x.htm
http://www.womengamers.com/doctork/myths.php

Another often disputed claim is whether video games are art, or whether some games are and some aren't. In my opinion art is a word almost as worthless as describing music as "emo." But that's a discussion for another time. :P Any creative endeavor falls under the broad umbrella as some type of "art." We tend to want to define art as whatever we think is beautiful, disregarding what we find repulsive or mundane claiming it isn't art because we don't like it. 2+2=4, the earth is round, we need oxygen, gravity exists on earth, and you can't deny these facts no matter how much you don't like it. The repression of creativity by those who refuse to acknowledge the possibility that other people might find beauty in different things in different ways is scary. Such a way of thinking is damaging to individuality and individual expression.

Sadly, this seems to be a never-ending battle. Artists, philosophers, and scientists throughout the ages have had to endure prison sentences, death threats, and excommunication from religious groups because they wanted to express themselves creativity or for positing an idea contrary to popular opinion. Individuality is one of the best aspects of humanity in my opinion. I am fascinated by the idea of how no two people are 100% alike despite the fact that there are 6 billion people on this planet. It is amazing to see how humanity has learned to overcome differences to build a better world and at times capitalize on those differences to improve the way that things are done.

Now, it’s time for a little civics lesson. The three-branch government in the U.S. is a good example of that. There are some issues of corruption that are presents because of man's desire to do good, his opinion that he knows best for the people, or ignorance about what the public wants. The government branches exist to balance each other and keep any one from getting to powerful. The problem is when politicians (legislature) forget that they are elected representatives of the people. They are not "higher" or "better" people like in a monarchy, the power is given by the people as a way of organizing and streamlining actions agreed upon by the majority of people. But is the majority always correct? We can be misinformed or apathetic about very important issues and we may end up carelessly giving free reign to politicians to do whatever they think is best, because "they wouldn't harm us would they?" That is why we have the judiciary branch, to balance the legislative branch when the majority is in favour of passing laws that are opposed to the Constitution. And we have the executive branch to sign bills into law, command armed forces and foreign relations, and to appoint judges. Congress has been given the power to impeach leaders to ensure that the executive doesn't attempt to weaken the other branches or use unauthorized force to disrupt the balance of powers. If a judge is appointed who wouldn't properly handle his position, it is Congress's job to prevent said judge from gaining approval. All three branches are equal for a reason and it is for a good reason. All three branches are connected to each other and must rely on each other in order to thrive. It is the responsibility of each branch to perform its task’s responsibly and to ensure that the other branches are doing the same.

Some of you might be wondering what all this has to do with what video games we play and I'm getting to that point. If we don't understand how the system is set up and how it works, it will be difficult to persuade anyone to our opinions. Do we value liberty and freedom like we say we do? Are we willing to realize that just because we might disagree with those who pass these laws, that the reason behind the passing could have good intentions behind it? I believe that many of the advocates of these laws think that they are doing the right thing by doing this "for the children." And who can argue with that? Don't we all want what's best for the children? The question is who should determine that, you as a parent or the government?

As I stated towards the beginning people fear what they don't know, video games in the form that we have now are a new phenomenon and one that hasn't been addressed yet. We have conflicting studies seemingly every week about what impact violent video games have on children. I've seen studies that say video games are bad, they make children anti-social, stupid, and illiterate. I've seen studies claiming that video games are a good way to vent frustrate and anger without doing damage in the real world, that they make children think creatively, engage the imagination, and promote hand-eye co-ordination. Is any one study "right?" It is likely that no study can be completely accurate. Every person is different, what is excessive violence to one person isn't to another. What calms one person could further aggravate another. This is why we can't have the government creating laws like this, they violate our personal liberty and are only capable of creating a black and white landscape, in which what's good for one person is good for all. It's more complex than just the ratings system or classifications like this law contains. I believe that the ratings system is a fine start. It is something that gives parents a tool in the process. Let parents determine whether their children are ready to play a certain M-rated game.

I know that this has been a very long entry, but I hope that I have done a good job at beginning to outline what we must do, how things work, and why laws like this are a bad thing, despite the good intentions behind it. Though we might be talking about "only" video games right now, this issue is more important than that. At the core, the question is one of personal liberty and responsibility. The reasons for society's "downfall" are not because of weak laws, bad parents, or not enough regulation; but rather because of an erosion of personal liberty and responsibility for one's actions. How can we expect people to assume responsibility for their children, when they have heard that they can't be responsible for their own actions? This is an important battle reaching beyond entertainment, stretching into how we live our lives. The people fighting for this may not realize this importance yet, but it is my hope to enlighten people as to what I believe and why I believe it. Even if I can't convince those on the other side to agree with me, I desire that they will be able to understand why I believe what I believe. When we know what we are fighting for, we can be far more effective. Don't get caught up in the moral panic and media hype, think for yourself, look at the situation from both sides, and form your opinion. Tyranny is often a progression of small events, not one sudden big event. Will we give up our freedom of choice to be safe from the "dangers" of videogames? Or will we defend our rights to creative expression, individual thought, and the ability to take responsibility for our actions.

I'll leave you with a quote from Benjamin Franklin. "Those who would give up ESSENTIAL LIBERTY to purchase a little TEMPORARY SAFETY, deserve neither LIBERTY nor SAFETY."