Yep, I got it; 30" Bolt plush, less than a week to arrive. For those that saw my previous blog, I ordered this product before checking the store's reviews, which were horrible. Fortunately, my experience with Toy Store Inc. was phenomenal. I just feel like I should tell you about this because all the negative reviews the site has aren't accurate at all; hey, maybe this store has changed its ways and cares about their customers. I was certainly pleased.

Moving right along, I'm gonna be very busy for the next two months or so; I'm on my way to a job! I gotta get a website up, business cards, a resume, an online and physical design portfolio, job interviews... Sounds like a pain, and it is, but I'm very, very excited to get it all over with and land a position as a 3D architectural artist (basically, making buildings in 3D to show clients how they will look once built). I'll definitely share my website and final designs with you guys when they're ready; I'll keep you posted!

You guys know Bolt, right? I love him! I found a 30" plush of Bolt and shopped around for the lowest price. The website toystoreinc.com had the cheapest one, so I went ahead and ordered. Right after, I had a strange feeling; maybe I should check the reviews for this site, just in case. Well, yeah, I should've done that before...

You guessed it; I found a ton of bad reviews and just a handful of good ones. Most people never got anything and struggled to get a refund, or got a wrong item and the store refused to make things right. Given the rarity of the item I purchased, pictured above, I'm afraid I might have stumbled into a deadly internet trap. What's worse is that something very similar happened about a year ago, when I ended up buying a fluke copy of Pokemon Emerald, going for the cheapest price and ending with a bootleg. Ugh.

If I lose my $60, I'll consider myself downright stupid from now on, with no chances of redemption. I'll keep you posted...

Hi everyone, nice to talk to y'all again. Here's my first official GameSpot rant against the Chase chain of banking.

I hate you, Chase; WaMu should've died with dignity instead of being swallowed by your evil forces. Take this; I had my college commencement ceremony yesterday and received $500 as a gift. I go to the local Chase bank, thinking 'neat; it's $500 in CASH, my money should be avaialble right away after I deposit it'. Right?

Wrong; oh God wrong indeed. I gotta wait at least five business days, because good ol' Chase hadn't fully transfered my old WaMu account to their evil servers of misfortune. So here I am, no cash, no money in my checking account. Great.

There is some good to this travesty, though; seems like the perfect time to change banks and actually get a real credit card and not just debit. Rest assured, Chase won't be involved with any of my money for too long.

---

DS Collection Update: 239
DSiWare: Everything as of June 29 (Sudoku Master)

Here we go...
As usual, I like to have an updated list of my DS games here in this blog. The problem is, I hadn't updated in a long time, so this one took a while.
223 games; neat! DSi is coming, and a few other games as well. I know I promised pictures, but I'm going to postpone those until the 250th game makes the list :)

1-Super Mario 64 DS
2-WarioWare Touched!
3-Yoshi Touch & Go
4-Polarium
5-Zoo Keeper
6-Meteos
7-Nintendogs; Dachsund and friends
8-Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
9-Trauma Center; Under the Knife
10-Pac-Pix
11-Feel the Magic XY/XX
12-Trace Memory
13-Pac-n-Roll
14-Phoenix Wright; Ace Attorney
15-Mario Kart DS
16-Animal Crossing, Wild World
17-Tony Hawk's American Sk8land
18-Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
19-Metroid Prime Pinball
20-Daigasso Band Brothers
21-Sprung
22-Kirby Canvas Curse
23-Ultimate Spider Man
24-Advance Wars: Dual Strike
25-Castlevania; Dawn of Sorrow
26-True Swing Golf
27-Electroplankton
28-Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll
29-Frogger Helmet Chaos
30-Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
31-Viewtiful Joe DS
32-Super Princess Peach
33-Sonic Rush
34-Tetris DS
35-Metroid Prime Hunters
36-Rayman DS
37-Brain Age
38-Dig Dug: Digging Strike
39-Monopoly/Boggle/Yahtzee/Battleship
40-Bust-a-Move DS
41-Pokemon Trozei
42-New Super Mario Bros.
43-MegaMan Battle Network 5 DS
44-The Rub Rabbits!
45-Age of Empires: Age of Kings
46-Big Brain Academy
47-Magnetica
48-Break Em All
49-Lost Magic
50-GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
51-Spiderman 2
52-Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
53-Star Fox Command
54-Point Blank DS
55-Mario Hoops 3-on-3
56-Sudoku Gridmaster
57-Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
58-Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
59-Mario VS DK 2: March of the Minis
60-Cooking Mama
61-Clubhouse Games
62-Yu-Gi-Oh!: Nightmare Trobadour
63-Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
64-Tao's Adventures: Curse of the Demon Seal
65-Magical Starsign
66-Contact
67-Children of Mana
68-MegaMan ZX
69-Pokemon Ranger
70-Elite Beat Agents
71-Puyo Pop Fever
72-Bomberman DS
73-Scurge: Hive
74-Yoshi's Island DS
75-Final Fantasy III
76-Lost in Blue
77-Bomberman Land Touch!
78-Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
79-Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
80-Nanostray
81-Deep Labyrinth
82-Over the Hedge
83-Spiderman: Battle for New York
84-Gunpey DS
85-Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
86-Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
87-Hotel Dusk: Room 215
88-Uno / Skip-Bo / Uno Freefall
89-Touch Detective
90-Konductra
91-QuickSpot
92-FIFA 06
93-My Frogger Toy Trials
94-Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
95-Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
96-Purr Pals
97-Pokemon Pearl
98-Elf Bowling I & II
99-Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Tamashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
100-Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle
101-MechAssault: Phantom War
102-Nacho Libre
103-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
104-Alex Rider: Stormbreaker
105-Picross DS
106-Brain Age 2
107-Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
108-Phoenix WrightAce Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
109-Wario: Master of Disguise
110-Drawn to Life
111-Professor Layton & The Curious Village
112-Touch Detective 2 1/2
113-Apollo Justice
114-Custom Robo Arena
115-Jam Sessions
116-Hamsterz Life
117-Tiger Woods PGA Tour
118-Flash Focus
119-Devilish: Ball Bouncer
120-Meteos: Disney Magic
121-Dementium: The Ward
122-Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol
123-Brain Buster Puzzle Pack
124-Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games
125-Nervous Brickdown
126-Crosswords DS
127-Major League Baseball 2K7
128-Ping Pals
129-PKMN Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
130-Guitar Hero: On Tour
131-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
132-Arkanoid DS
133-Space Invaders Extreme
134-The World Ends With You
135-Nodame Cantabile
136-Boogie
137-Balls of Fury
138-Asphalt Urban GT
139-Big Mutha Truckers
140-Rafa Nadal Tennis
141-Daigasso! Band Brothers DX
142-Mario Party DS
143-Orcs & Elves
144-The Sims 2: Pets
145-Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires
146-Lunar: Dragon Song
147-Race Driver: Create & Race
148-Ford Racing 3
149-Peter Jackson's King Kong
150-World Championship Poker: Deluxe Series
151-Madden NFL 2005
152-Dragon Booster
153-Underground Pool
154-Lionel Trains on Track
155-Brain Boost: Beta Wave
156-Harlem Globettroters: World Tour
157-Guilty Gear Dus Strikers
158-Spectrobes (Collector's Ed.)
159-Madden NFL 2006
160-March of the Penguins
161-Wiffie Ball
162-Monster Bomber
163-Princess Natasha: Student / Secret Agent / Princess
164-Densetsu no Stafi 4
165-LOL
166-Planet Puzzle League
167-Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts!
168-Nanostray 2
169-Geometry Wars: Galaxies
170-Interactive Storybook Vol. 1
171-The Simpsons Game
172-Superman Returns
173-Contra 4
174-ATV / Thunder Ridge Racers / Monster Truck Mayhem
175-Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise
176-Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
177-Kirby Super Star Ultra
178-Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
179-WordJong
180-ANNO 1701: Dawn of Discovery
181-Prism: Light the Way
182-Summon Night: Twin Age
183-Ninja Reflex
184-Insecticide
185-Jewel Quest: Expeditions
186-Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals
187-Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
188-Dragon Quest IV
189-Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
190-Rune Factory 2
191-Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
192-Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
193-Touchmaster
194-Personal Trainer: Cooking
195-Teenage Zombies
196-Exit DS
197-Legend of Kage II
198-Fullmetal Alchemist DS
199-Etrian Odyssey II
200-Game & Watch Collection
201-Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City
202-Elements of Destruction
203-Top Spin 3
204-Etrian Odyssey
205-Dragon Ball Origins
206-Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
207-Bubble Bobble Revolution
208-Soul Bubbles
209-Namco Museum DS
210-Original Frisbee Sports: Ultimate & Golf
211-Mega Man ZX Advent
212-AWAY: Shuffle Dungeon
213-Kirby Squeak Squad
214-Rondo of Swords
215-Pokemon Diamond
216-Lunar Knights
217-Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
218-Moon
219-Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
220-Draglade
221-Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest
222-Nintendogs: Best Friends Version
223-Labyrinth

So I was Brawling like I do every day, just playing random people online, when I save this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBtwD3UqFjM

What!? That red box has always been there, hiding from players!? Inconcebible!

...someone else sees what I'm seeing, right?
---
sergioalb64

Yep; it's that time of the year again; I go through the games I've played and finished and try my best to arrange them from best to worst. This year, I didn't have much room to choose from; only two games were cut from the top 10. Yep, I only truly played 12 games this year; however, you have no idea of how many games I played but didn't finish; way too many. So, let's go to the list; I don't think you'll be surprised as to which game took the No. 1 spot:

10 – Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (DS)

09 – Dementium: The Ward (DS)

08 – Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time / Darkness (DS)

07 – The Dog Island (Wii)

06 – Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii)

05 – Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (DS)

04 – Guitar Hero (III, Aerosmith, WT; combined because of similarity – Wii)

03 – Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations (DS)

02 – Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)

01 – Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Missing in 2008: Zelda (no new games, didn't replay any either)

Returns in 2008: My love for the Trauma Center series

Best Import – Rhythm Tengoku (GBA)

Funniest Game – Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (DS)

Best Sound – Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Best Multiplayer – Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Old-School Game of the Year – Pokémon Puzzle League (VC – N64)

Biggest New Character – Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil 4)

Greatest Moment – Beating the final boss in Trauma Center 2 (DS)

Garbage of the Year – No More Heroes (No! Don't get me wrong; this isn't a bad game, it's just the worst game I played this year in my opinion; I just didn't like it, at all)

Biggest Surprise – Resident Evil 4 and the third-person shooter genre; I had a feeling I would like it, but sheesh; I love it!

Most Disappointing – Pokémon Emerald; didn't seem balanced, I thought I would like it more; I guess it's not too fair since I played the beauty that is Pokémon Pearl a year ago., but disappointing nonetheless.

And so begins 2009, with a few games already in the playing queue; Chocobo's Dungeon for Wii, Pokémon Crystal for the Game Boy Color, and Dead Space for the PC. Should be a good year!

Finally; I've reached my goal of owning 200 DS games, all complete in cases, with manuals, in great condition! WOOT!

I'll have the full list and some neat pictures later in the week; next step: 250!

I don't celebrate anything around this time, but I know most of you do, so have a safe and happy holiday season, stay warm (if applicable), and have tons of fun!
---
sergioalb64

Today, the Nintendo DS celebrates its fourth anniversary, and so do I :)

 What a great year for the system; tons of great games of all sorts of genres; and here I was, thinking this wouldn't be so good of a year for the DS :)  I was wrong, and I'm glad I was!

Check this out; a tribute post at GoNintendo with a little tribute video by yours truly.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=63845 

Thanks, DS; may you live long and thrive!
---
[=[_]=]
[+[_]+] 

Well, the new computer is up and running, and running quite well and fast :) I've decided to name it MAX (the name has to be in caps; it's just to the max, like, MAX :))

For those interested, here are the specs:

- Fans, good PSU, standard CD/DVD drive, mouse, keyboard and speakers

Finally, I'm updating this dinosaur to a brand-new beast. Desy will now be my sister's, and I've got the parts for the new PC right here. I'm buildig it next week, and I wanted to ask for some name ideas from you guys!

Just think of a computer name other than Desky or Lappy (real original those two, huh?). If I see anything I really like I'll use it :) I will post some of the specs below. I'll announce the final name later :)

Case: Antec P182 Mid-tower
CPU: Intel Quad-Core Q9650
MOBO: Asus Maximus II Formula
GPU: GeForce GTX 280
RAM: OCZ 16GB (4x4GB) DDR2 800Mhz
HD1: 10,000RPM WD VelociRaptor 300GB
HD2: Seagate 650GB 7200RPM
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
(built for the fastest 3D renders possible, at a reasonable budget - $3500)