My pre-order for Super Smash Bros. Brawl is set! I was told that a midnight launch is possible, but I don't honestly think it will happen; many people would rather pre-order at GameStop than my local Game Crazy. I did, however, ask if the game would be available on Sunday, and looks like it will. Wether I get it at midnight or not, I want it...no, need it, on Sunday; I'll play it all day, and then on Monday morning too, so that I can sleep at my college on Monday afternoon :)

All jokes (or predictions) aside, I cannot wait for this game. I'll do everything I can -homework, chores, etc. - before the big day, giving me as much free time with the game as possible.

Anyone else got a pre-order yet?

So, how was your 2007? Mine was great, even though my gaming time decreased quite drastically due to school / homework. Here are some factors that made my 2007 a great year:

1 - GoNintendo


An amazing blog with tons, and I mean TONS of Nintendo news every day. Previews / Reviews, news, screenshots / boxart, game-related videos, interviews; everything you could ever want to know is here, updated very regularly. Not only that, but GoNintendo has a weekly podcast; one and a half hours full of Nintendo news and crazily hilarious comments and discussions.

2 - 24


One night, for some reason, I turned to my local channel 9, and some helicopter was shooting at a group of people inside a building. I hardly watch TV, except for The Simpsons and some Soccer / football matches here and there, but this show grabbed me, and hasn't let go. Mind you, I know nothing of quality TV series, but I love this one, even though many people's opinions of the show has gone low. I watch re-runs every Sunday at 1 AM and eagerly await for season 7 to finally start.

3 - Design

My game development degree has taught me something; I actually enjoy design! I learned and mastered Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and thanks to that I now trully appreciate good design, composition, and quality game graphics, for which I really didn't care back in the day. I still stand by my slogan, 'Gameplay > Graphics', but great-looking games look much better to me now. Part of my design experience also includes photography, another thing I thought I didn't like but actually do.

4 - The Simpsons

I enjoyed this show every since I was little, but this year I've become quite a fan. I watch every episode that airs, usually three every weekday and about three over the weekend. I really enjoy the humor of the series. I like Lisa's personality, but Homer's lack of intelligence makes him my favorite character.

5 - Videogames

And, of course, the main issue; games. Tons of DS gaming, revival of good GameCube playing, and introduction of the Wii are the highlights of my gaming year. I finally got back in touch with my favorite series, Zelda, and experienced a few new genres that I really enjoyed; dungeon crawlers and survival horror. My increasing love for adventure games continues, and so does my decreasing interest in platformers; interesting, since I used to love them back in the day.

Who knows what 2008 will bring. I'm honestly confused as to what type of gamer I am; I play games a lot, but am I trully 'hardcore'? I play weird games, some of which aren't very popular. I hope to get both a PSP and a 360 soon, although I'm a bit coonfused on that as well. I somehow feel that I would be betraying my favorite system, the DS, with a PSP purchase, but I love portable gaming and the PSP would be the next step. The 360 seems to have a ton of hardcore titles, but perhaps most of them aren't meant for me. Either way, I hope to expand my Wii collection as well, starting with the awesomeness of Brawl, and who knows what will happen after that. For now, let's enjoy the start of another year, and may you all have tons of health, happiness, and quality gaming!"
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sergioalb64

It's that time of the year again; as a new year begins, my head and feelings struggle to determine my personal favorite games of the past year. As usual, I don't limit my choices to this year's releases; if I replay an old game or just play a game released on a previous year, I'll still put it on the list. Also, if you don't see certain big hits (Mario Galaxy, Contra 4, Halo 3, BioShock), it's because I didn't play them :P And unlike last year, I did play games on other systems besides my DS, although it took most spots on the list.

Without further adu, here they are; sergioalb64's 2007 Videogame Awards!

TOP 20 GAMES - ALL PLATFORMS

20 - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (DS) - Released on my birthday, I thought this would be much higher on this list. However, although I liked the mini-games, I don't like card battlers at all, and this factor just made me stop playing this game after a while.

19 - Wii Sports (Wii) - My first and only Wii game so far, Wii Sports finally showed me that the Wiimote can be very fun to play with. I like Tennis, Boxing, and Bowling, the first two being games I thought I wouldn't like at all.

18 - Trace Memory (DS) - Beat it, twice. Too short, but a good story keeps it all going quite well. Certainly not the best DS adventure game, but a worthy one if you can find it for cheap.

17 - Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (DS) - I've played through this game three times and it still made it into the list. It started my Phoenix Wright Summer Marathon in which I played all three versions. My favorite of the series, but not the most impressive this year because of my previous extensive experience with it.

16 - Metroid Prime (GameCube) - Almost finished it, and enjoyed it a lot even if it was my third play-through of it. Awesome GameCube graphics and great gameplay made Prime a good game of this year's list.

15 - Super Mario Strikers (GameCube) - I love soccer, and this year I had no FIFA to get my kicks on it. Striker's whacky, crazy, insane and randomly hilarious gameplay still crack me up.

14 - Touch Detective (DS) - A good adventure game for DS with just a few very frustrating puzzles. Crazy and somewhat kiddy story, but the adventure gameplay which I love is in here, to some degree.

13 - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon BRT (DS) - This one barely made it; I'm playing it right now! My first dungeon crawler that showed me that I actually liked this genre, and I'm a moderate Pokéfan, making the whole package a good one for me.

12 - Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All (DS) - My second playthrough, and this time I enjoyed it much more. I loved cases 2 and 4 the most, but the whole game is quite well done and not as far away from the first one as I initially thought.

11 - Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (DS) - My first Resident Evil game; actually, my first survival-horror game...and I loved it! I even like the horrible voice acting in it! If I hadn't played too many good games this year, this one would be much higher on the list.

10 - Ouendan 2 (DS - Japanese Import) - I loved the series, but this one didn't do much for me. Great songs, good difficulty increase, but I'm sad to say that, for me, more of the same awesome gameplay isn't gonna do it as it used to. Still want more though :P

09 - Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GameCube) - Even with no friends to play it with, Adventures offers a great 2D Zelda single-player experience, with a whole bunch of 'mini-dungeons' to go through and classic Zelda gameplay.

08 - Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA) - Second playthrough, one that I also enjoyed more than the first one. Good story, TONS of stuff to do...but some things that you can only do at a certain point in the game and can't do afterwards, which killed the whole experience for me.

07 - Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations (DS) - The third in the series and my least favorite one. Mind you, it's awesome, but I didn't feel the story packed as much punch as the previous two. It's only higher on the list because it was a brand new experience.

06 - Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS) - Now we're getting to the really outstanding stuff. A great an innovative art style, a good, intricate plot, interesting characters and somewhat of a feel than more than just a game, Hotel Dusk really shined for me; I even beat it twice. Sure, there's lots of reading, but it's like an amazing game-book that you just can't put down. It almost made me cry at some point!

05 - Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (DS) - Wow; to think that blending RPG gameplay elements with Bejeweled-style puzzle action would turn out this good. It's fun, very addictive, and the game offers a ton of things to do and collect. The story is 'meh', but the gameplay will keep you glued to your DS for months; you will see puzzle pieces when you close your eyes, trust me.

04 - Pokémon Diamond / Pearl (DS) - I have Pearl, and I hadn't experienced a new Pokémon title since half of Pokémon Crystal. As I said before I used to be a huge Pokéfan but now I'm at a moderate level, but this game packs so much value, including online connectivity for battles and trades, tons of monsters to collect, a great soundtrack and a new, well-designed region; this is the Pokémon game to have. This one took almost 100 hours of my life!

03 - Picross DS (DS) - I knew I was going to like this; I just didn't know it would become such an addiction. Once you learn the basics, more advanced puzzle-solving techniques just come to you naturally, and before you know it it's 3 AM and you're loving this game. Tons, and I mean TONS of puzzles, plus downloadable ones, but the ability to create your own and trade them with friends, and it's only $20! Move over, Sudoku; logic puzzles just found a new grand daddy.

02 - Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - The battle for the top game was a close one. Phantom Hourglass gave me the freshest Zelda experience to date, with wonderfully well-executed touch screen controls. Sure, it's too easy and somewhat short, and the soundtrack is really on the low side, but as you can see Zelda with a stylus really, REALLY did it for me.

01 - Zelda: Twilight Princess (GameCube) - To be honest, this one seemed like a disappointment at first. Too easy and too short, I thought, but I've been replaying it over the past couple of weeks and I can see that this truly is worthy of the second best Zelda game in my opinion (Ocarina of Time being the best one). The best game graphics I've seen (don't have a 360 / PS3 and don't play too many 3D games), great audio, a very good story, huge dungeons and an overall huge world, and a lot of stuff to do; I still haven't found the last three Poe Souls, and I've clicked in over 70 hours of game time. I played this game last January, and it was great and managed to hang on to win my Game of the Year award!

System of the year: Nintendo DS

Missing in 2007: Good Wii games; can't afford any right now

Returns in 2007: Zelda; I played and loved four of them this year, compared to zero last year!

Best...

Adventure - Hotel Dusk Room 215 (DS)

Shooter - Metroid Prime (GameCube)

Rhythm - Ouendan 2 (DS - Japanese Import)

Action - Zelda Twilight Princess (GameCube)

Platformer - 30 minutes of Yoshi's Story (Wii's VC)

RPG - Pokémon Diamond / Pearl (DS)

Strategy - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon BRT (DS)

Puzzle - Picross DS (DS)

Simulation - Um...none

Racer - Some Mario Kart DS here and there

Sports - Super Mario Strikers, kinda

Misc. - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (DS)

NEW - Survival-horror - Resident Evil DS (DS)

Best Import - Ouendan 2

Funniest Game - Phoenix Wright T&T

Best Sound - Zelda Twilight Princess

Best Multiplayer - Clubhouse Games (DS)

Best Old-School Game - Star Fox 64 (Wii's VC)

Biggest New Character - Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk)

Greatest Moment - Getting the heart container from Phantom Hourglass's ghost-shooting mini-game!

Garbage of the Year - Purr Pals (DS) - Nintendcats? Hah; yeah right.

Biggest Surprise - My first survival-horror experience with Resident Evil DS; loved it

Most Disappointing - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales - card battles just don't do it for me.

And that was sergioalb64's 2007 Videogame Awards! 2008 is looking great, what with good Wii games finally coming, more DS greatness, and perhaps a PSP and / or a 360! See you next year!

As you might know, I write DS articles for a website, www.portablevideogamer.com. As January marks the first anniversary of the site, we aim to expand. We are looking for a portable gamer who would like to share his / her experience with portable games, as well as news / reviews / previews and articles concerning the DS and / or PSP.

We need:
- A good commitment; there are times when schedules get rough, but 5+ posts per week can be done well.
- Good knowledge of the handheld gaming market and industry
- Photoshop or other image editing skills and basic HTML knowledge are welcome but not required

We offer payment via PayPal, and although it isn't much at the moment who knows how much we mignt expand. Not only that, but I know many of you want to be game journalists and this could be a great first step towards that goal, and you could share your portable gaming thoughts with a lot of people over the net.

If you're interested, all you need to write is a short 'About Me' page and two DS / PSP articles (news, reviews, previews, etc) that could be posted on the site. Check this out and send your writings if interested.

Thanks for looking, and I hope to see some entries from you guys!

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Cocker Spaniel I believe, very playful but still quiet and peaceful. Two years old, and quite heavy :)

I...

1 - Re-touched and cleaned up my Photoshop work for my final presentation, which itself took a while to produce, and don't even remind me of how much work my final illustration took (check my previous post for more info on that)

2 - Finished building my 3D plane using Maya. Not as great as I would've wanted it, but I'm still learning the basics and scratching the surface of the program; I guess I did well.

3 - Caught up on my game design assignments (teacher didn't check them on time, so I kept putting it off until the last day; BIG mistake; went to bed at 4 AM last night). Finished my presentation and did a great job on it.

I did great on all my subjects and I expect three As to pop in the mail in a week's time. I also produced, practiced, and delivered a speech at my congregation (a.k.a church), discussing wether years and months of Bible times were shorter than they are today or if they were the same length (which the Bible shows they are).

AND, to top it all off, I got my dog on Tuesday. His name is Scrappy and he's a great buddy; quiet but playful, medium-sized, and downright awesome. I'll take pictures tomorrow; it's raining right now.

So I had a heck of a though week, but it's over, and I pulled through and did quite well. I honestly hope that I finally realize that procrastinating isn't the way to go. I usually end up with great work, but the pressure and lack of sleep isn't good. Besides, I wasn't like this before. The fact that I didn't procrastinate in high school but I do so in college is beyond me; I will try my best to stop this on the upcoming quarter.

So, it's two weeks of freedom and gaming for me. I have a few blog updates planned; dog pictures, the 'famous' Games of the Year Awards by sergioalb64, and a blog post discussing the new and exciting parts of life that were introduced to me during the year. For now, everyone have a great end of year!

Here it is, the revised, final version of my Wolf Link figure + environment illustration. In fact, I decided to show you the 'making of' of my work, via a GIF. You can see how each of my 73 layers stacks up with the rest, and at the end they create a cool design of a possible setting for the next 3D Zelda with Wolf Link involved (if any, although I hope it happens soon :))

Here it is. Please wait for it to load :)
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i242/sergioalb64/gonzaless-wk08-fn01-unmerged.gif

The wolf; so beautiful, so majestic. I've always liked dogs a lot, and you guessed it, Twilight Princess made me realize just how awesome wolves can be. Strong, corageous and fierce, just plain awesome.

I want a wolf, to be honest, but not only is my backyard uncapable of holding it, California strongly restricts the keeping of wolves as pets :( Otherwise you bet I would get one eventually, you know, when the bought house and family come in the next few decades. I guess I'll have to do with one of those dog-wolf 'blends'.

By the way, I'm getting a dog this weekend; it's a friend's, and well, nobody in his family cares about the dog anymore, so I'm taking it. I'll post picks over the weekend :)

Do you happen to want a pet that you can't have, for any reason? Why, feel free to share!

It is done; the illustration that took many hours but also gave me a great sense of accomplishment (and happiness).

You take a few well-matched pics alongside a picture of one of your favorite game character toys and you make a few adjustments...

Hmm...getting there. But, this setting being the Twilight Realm, we need more atmosphere; something glowy and attractive.Well, I found it.

Check it out here, full size and full glory. Now it's time for me to embark on the never-ending quest every designer must go through after finishing some work; how can I improve this...?

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta hit the hay :P

I just...felt a huge bolt of happiness flow through me! I was working on my final project for my Photoshop course. I'm doing an illustration based of an action figure; I picked my Wolf Link figurine. I wasn't getting right at first, but I eventually figured out which composition to use. Everything was going well, and then...

I gave it a glow. A beatiful, Twilight Realm glow, and it looks AMAZING. You bet I'll show it to you tomorrow when it's finished! My God, thanks for this moment!
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sergioalb64: HAPPY DS Fan!