Since last post I finished Kingdoms of Amalur, and I really enjoyed it. I still need to get about 6 lorestones and do a couple of things that I didn't try for my first go around like parrying and pickpocketing. Overall it was a very fun game. 9/10.

Dead Island's price dropped so I finally had a co-op partner and decided to pick it up. I played as Xian, sharp weapons specialist. Overall the game was a lot of fun, though it did have its fair share of issues. The game froze a lot, especially when riding in a vehicle. Also it was hard to connect to a co-op partner sometimes, it wouldn't recognize they were online, and we had to keep signing in and out of PSN. And one of the most annoying things that happened is when we started new game + it wasn't giving experience for turning in quests. But technical issues aside, the gameplay is entertaining. At some points it reminded me of Borderlands with the randomized weapons and waiting around at shops to change inventory. (Can't wait for Borderlands 2, btw) I did enjoy the game more than Dead Rising, so that's a plus. 8.5/10.

And lastly, Diablo III. I don't have a lot to say about it yet, since I didn't play the beta, but I'll be playing it in 2 days : )

Off to see Avengers now... Happy gaming!

A friend let me borrow Kingdoms of Amalur and I kept hearing it's what Fable should have been. Personally, I enjoy the Fable series (despite its glitches) and was ready to see for myself. As far as that goes, it seems more like an Elder Scrolls game to me. Even so, I've always given up on Elder Scrolls games after just a few hours of playing, never putting in more than 15 hrs or so. With Amalur I'm at 43 hrs now and still ready to play more. I've completed 127 quests and only 3 of them are main story quests, so side quests are definitely not lacking.

The other game I've been playing on the side is Lumines. I've always enjoyed the series and this one is fairly decent. I just can't complete Voyage mode. I've only got 5 areas to complete, but it's always at least an hour and a half each time and then I end up failing.

Anywhoo, more updates later.

What is this madness?

In my absence, I attended and graduated ultrasound school, got a new job, moved out on my own and am racking up an enormous amount of bills. ;) Life is good.

On the gaming side of things, I'm pretty sure there's no way to even begin to remember all that I've played. However, I'm currently addicted to my PS Vita. As for retail games, I started with (of course) Touch My Katamari. It's a fairly decent addition to the family although it takes out a lot of aspects the fans loved, mainly the item list. 100% collection... gone. However, adding in the candies with new purchasing of the King's outfits, songs, and other goodies I think was a good move. I just need to get the ultimate item for the final trophy.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss was my other retail purchase. Some of the new Vita controls I like, some not so much. For the most part I like the gyroscope aiming. At times it seems a bit slow and wonky, but it was my most used method once I got the hang of it. I also started using the touch controls for platforming in my second playthrough, which was pretty handy. Overall, I really enjoyed the game, the humor, and of course Nathan Drake. I feel it fit right in with the series, but did miss a little something special with Naughy Dog not doing the developing.

I also downloaded Escape Plan which I didn't enjoy a whole lot, but I'll try and play a little more later. I did like Mutant Blobs Attack quite a bit, though.

Anyway, I don't know who still gets on this site anymore, I've been gone 3 years, lol.

... crazy right?

Obviously, I've not been keeping up with this site as much as I used to. There were a few games here and there that kept my attention for a good while over the past few months like Borderlands and Uncharted 2 (great games) but overall I've kinda been seperating from gaming.

I played MW2 and didn't really care for it all that much, despite its acclaim. Granted there were some good moments, but I guess I just don't like CoD games, and the multiplayer of that series has never kept me coming back for more like other titles.

Here and there I've been playing SMT: Devil Survivor which is pretty good. I should get around to playing it more, but I just haven't been in the mood. School will be starting up in a few weeks and I probably won't be playing games much at all unless Bioshock 2 takes over my mind and makes me buy and play it, which will probably happen.

Mmm, I just had an omelette. It was tasty, but I digress. This current entry is on a much more positive note than the last since all of my systems are now in working order.

Even so, I'm having gaming ADD. In the past 3 months I've started Mirror's Edge, Breakdown, Gears of War 2, Dead Rising, Chrono Trigger, Demon's Souls, inFamous and LocoRoco. There may be others, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. I did play through Resident Evil 5 a couple more times and have been doing plenty of Mercenaries 2 co-op. Basically, I've been playing a lot of online multiplayer games. I am working on inFamous the most, but I haven't been putting time into it like I should.

I'm looking forward to getting my copy of Katamari within the next week or so. It will be my first platinum trophy. D:

Anyway, I'm sleepy, I should get some rest. I was going to make this longer, but I can see that's not happening right now.

Starting with the PS3 dying, many of my electronics are taking it as their cue to do the same. The weekend after my PS3 gave up the ghost, my Blackberry also suffered a great deal. A fall to the gravel created a huge crack in the screen. I can replace it for $50, just haven't gotten around to it yet. My computer was next in line as it took one for the team living to a ripe age of 3 years which is pretty average for a laptop. It has already been replaced since I can't go very long without a computer.

I was thinking of a game to pass the time since I haven't been playing that many in the past month, and I had narrowed it down to Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP) and Chrono Trigger (DS), FFT was what I had decided to play so I attempted to power up my PSP only it wouldn't. I plugged in the charger thinking all was well, 30 seconds later it turns off with no response. Not even the charge light comes on. It may just be a defective charger, but I didn't want to waste $15 if that's not the case. No one seems to have used chargers for me to test my theory at the moment so I'm just going to wait it out.

So of course I decided to play Chrono Trigger. Everything was fine and dandy until yesterday when I opened the system... and the hinge broke. I've had the DS for 4 years and haven't had any problems so this is just a minor thing since it still actually works for now. Maybe now I'll grab the DSi since I still have my GBA, but I haven't decided yet.

I finally shipped off my PS3 on Monday and now I'm anxious for it to arrive safely home again. I had purchased Demon's Souls and it has been sitting here patiently waiting for me to play it for the past 2 weeks. I also imported Katamari Damacy Tribute (aka Katamari Forever in the US) so I definitely wanted my PS3 back before that arrives.

I haven't bought any games in the past 3 weeks which is pretty impressive for me, but I've been kind of unmotivated with the recent string of events, plus being busy with my new job. I look forward to getting into the swing of things since life is starting to settle down around here. My next blog will hopefully be a lot less depressing.

This is going to have to be somewhat quick, but I wanted to check in with you guys to let you know I'm still here. A lot has gone on in recent weeks. I'm only gonna touch a little on the personal, but I have a new job and I'm moving out of town and even though it's only a couple of hours awayI'll be moving away from the people I've spent the last 18 years aroundand I'll be changing from a job that I've had for the past 7 1/2 years. I'll be moving this Thursday and starting work on Friday so I'm kinda going crazy from packing and training people at my current job.

I started playing Mirror's Edge and I'm enjoying it so far, but I can't play it anymore right now because my PS3 has suffered from the yellow light of death. I'll have to get it repaired or replaced sometime, but I'm in no hurry as of yet because I want to get settled down in my new place first and Sony will most likely charge $150 for repairs as well as completely wipe out my HDD. I did rescue some of my save files, but not all of them can be copied (whoever thought that was a good idea >:-( ) So of the ones I actually care about I lost RE5 and Rockband/Rockband 2. *sigh*

Since my PS3 kicked the bucket I started to play Viva Pinata. I've had it for a while, but never got around to it and I wanted something that I could just kind of pick up and play whenever. At first I was very wtf, but it's definitely grown on me.

Anyway, gotta run now, but that's the jist of the past few weeks. Hectic, but good.

With the recent rumors (now confirmed) of Patapon 2 being available only through download, it seems this is possibly a test to see how well a future of digital downloads will withstand if that is your only option. What does "digital only" mean for you? Most people have access to the internet now, but do you prefer hard copies of your games? I personally do. I don't trade in my games, but I do buy used games and this will most likely affect retailers that depend on trade-ins for profit.

There are pros and cons for almost every situation (helping developers vs. helping retailers), but as for me personally if they go completely digital with the PSP2, I'll be somewhat disappointed. I will always choose a disc over a download if the option is available.

I believe there is supposed to be a new entry for Patapon 2 today on the Playstation Blog which I've been following pretty closely lately.

I keep starting blogs and not finishing them, so let's see how this goes. I've been pretty busy over the past few months, but it hasn't really been a bad kind of busy, just always doing something. As far as gaming goes, I left off saying I started Resistance 2. I finished it, and though i know a lot of people didn't like it (especially the end) I thought it was a pretty good game. It left fonder memories than the first, but then again I wasn't playing a lot of shooters at the time. I haven't checked out the harder co-op play yet, but I should definitely get around to it at some point.

I've been playing Resistance Retribution since then, and I should really be finished with it, but I tend to take my time with handheld games. James Grayson has a much more dynamic personality than Nathan Hale and he doesn't mind mouthing off to anyone. I find his character to be much more interesting than Hale's was. Is it worth it for the PSP? I was a bit skeptical given the system's background for shooters (I haven't really played that many), but it's proved to be a worthy title. Auto-assist does not make the game too easy in my opinion and some parts are fairly difficult (mech driving, I'm looking at you).

I just started Bioshock over the weekend. I kept hearing buzz about Bioshock 2 and it really started to interest me. So far the game is fantastic. I haven't gotten too far in the game, but the whole atmosphere is great and the story is interesting.I'm saving the Little Sisters this time around, but if I decide to play it again, I'll probably choose to harvest.

I've also started to play more PSN games lately. Noby Noby Boy is a totally random game, but pretty fun if you want to play a game with no point. Linger in shadows came free to Qore subscribers and I decided to give it a whirl. This "game" (no it's not really a game) is interesting to say the least, but I'm glad I personally didn't pay for it. I did manage to get all the trophies in less than an hour, though. High Velocity Bowling is another PSN game I got for free with my Qore subscription and it's not bad, but definitely not worth the pricetag they have in the store, it is bowling after all. Unfortunately, all the trophies are obtained by playing online so I'll have to find a willing victim to participate before even attempting those.

Flower I purchased 2 months ago. I had every intention of playing it when I got it, but it soon got the back burner to other games. I played through it over the weekend and it's a really beautiful game. It is another PSN game that utilizes the motion controls and I thought they fit pretty well here. The game is very mellow in parts, but it's not all just pretty meadows and flower blooming, there are actual obstacles to overcome. It wasn't bad overall, just a bit too mellow for my taste. PAIN finally got the update I had hoped for when it was released. Honestly, I didn't play it that much when it came out, but since going online I've played it quite a few nights. I recommend getting the Smack pack as it does add some pretty fun gameplay. Be forewarned you probably won't be able to get online with just DSL, you need to have at least 256kbps upload speed.

Playstation Home has been going through some changes that almost make it worthwhile to hop on every once in a while. Xi, the new mysterious area in Home, offers several quests to complete which often requires you using your detective skills or.... Google to figure out passcodes to give you access to the next quest. New quests are added periodically so you are required to keep coming back. It stillhasn'tmade home the killer app that it was supposed to be (where's my movie with friends option?), but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

It's been nearly 2 months since I've posted a blog, I guess I just don't have much to say really. It is definitely not for lack of playing games. In January, I put nearly 90 hours into Persona 4. It was my first SMT game and I really enjoyed it. I haven't gotten the true ending yet, but I plan to at some point. Since then I started up Persona 3 FES, but it soon got the back burner due to me starting Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.

Disgaea has all the quirky humor you could want in a game, and its game play is addictive to boot. On the surface it seems like a simple game, but it's easy to get sidetracked knowing there are other worlds out there to venture into besides the main storyline. Lovable characters and a humorous storyline definitely make it a series worth playing. I believe I'm a little over halfway through it.

When Resistance 2 came out I played a lot of co-op, but never got around to completing the campaign. Amid all these RPG's I've been playing, I wanted something a bit shorter and faster paced. While looking forward to Killzone 2, I thought I would try to brush up on my FPS skills (which are greatly lacking) and fire up Resistance 2. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it. I just started playing yesterday and I got through a third to halfway through the game, which is really long considering my short attention span with shooters. The controls just feel right to me, and I could actually see myself playing the campaign again, which is also something I would never say about a shooter before. It's not what I would call amazing, but it's a lot of fun.

I've picked up a few games as usual.

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia
Resident Evil 4 Wii
Valkyria Chronicles

I also upgraded my PS3's HDD to 320GB