I'm very much looking forward to this weekend, computer-wise. The rain is coming down hard furious, making indoor activities a requirement. For me, that means computer games. The new patch for Silent Hunter 4 came out a few days ago, and I am still playing The Sims 2 Bon Voyage regularly. Time to boot up, and have some fun!

Today I posted my first review on mp3.com. I did a review of one of my favorite artists of all time, Michael W. Smith. It was a rather lenthy undertaking; writing it took several hours. But, I think the results are good and I am hopeful it will get some folks to try out his music. Take a gander!

I wish you and yours the best possible holiday season!

Today I am a happy sim! In the mail today was "The Sims 2 Limited Edition" which includes "The Sims 2," "Nightlife," and "Bon Voyage." Nothing against "The Sims Life Stories," but playing in story mode and the limited play of freeplay within that game was getting old. The actual game is wonderful, and it is a pleasure to have on my hard drive again!

Last night I uploaded the railroad scene to my background image. Like it? It is of a model railroad that I have on display in my barracks room.

It seems that every few days I "fall in love" with a different game in my collection. Of course, I love train games, and "The Sims" games, but I also love submarine simulations. It started with the first "Silent Hunter" quite a while ago, and I also played "Silent Hunter 2." When Jane's "Fleet Command" and "688(I) Hunter/Killer" came out, I was completely intrigued. Finally what captured my complete interest was the modern-combat naval simulation "Dangerous Waters" and Ubisoft "Silent Hunter 3" which is a phenomenal representation of German U-boats during World War 2. Of course, in real life I am in the USA Navy; so I longed to be the skipper of a US vessel in the 1940s. Finally, my dreams were realized with the release of "Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific." In that simulation the player is in command of a US submarine during World War 2, and has charge of the Pacific. It was ironic that I was stationed at Pearl Harbor, the main base within the game, when the game was released. I have been playing it off and on since its release (more on than off) and have recently posted some screen shots on GameSpot. I plan on reviewing it soon. I am really looking forward to the release of the expansion in 2008, which will once again bring the Germans into the war....!

It is my intention to start a union on GameSpot called "Union Station." It would be a union dedicated to train and railroad games. I personally love these games, and they are among my favorites: the Railroad Tycoon series (all except the most recent "Sid Meier's Railroads!"), the "Auran Trainz" series, and of course "Microsoft Train Simulator." I'm anxiously awaiting the new version from Ace Studios, which will be built on the Microsoft Flight Simulator X engine. It would be wonderful to get the union up and running before the release of the new Microsoft game.

However, I need users! In order to form a more perfect union, 4 members must join at the time of initial creation. If you are interested in becoming a founding member of Union Station, please email me and we can get started!

Today I received notice that two games are on the way to me, shipped from an online retailer. One of them is Sim City Societies, which I am immensely looking forward to playing around with, since the Sim City series is one of the first computer games (other than flying games) that I really enjoyed. As I recall, SimCity had sort of a college-cult following. At least, my brother, who was just out of college, really enjoyed it. He should, considering he went to architecture school!

The other game that was shipped to me was The Sims 2 Deluxe. Of course, I've had The Sims 2 since it was released. But, if you read my profile you will discover I am currently living on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It's a very remote area with no computer or software store! I thought I would get by in my freetime by playing The Sims 2 Life Stories for my "sims fix." As good as that little game is, it is somewhat more than a glorified demo version. I recently reviewed the game here (and gave it a favorable rating) but I have found it is not enough to satisfy my taste. So, I got the deluxe version this time (which includes Nightlife and a DVD) along with Teen Stuff and Bon Voyage. Soon I'll be once again be playing one of my favorite games!

EA must be very happy with me. Today I pre-ordered "The Sims 2: Freetime" and "Spore." I haven't seen too much about Freetime, exept that it is EP7 for "The Sims 2" series, and that it has something to do with hobbies. Personally, I'm hoping for a scale model railroad club your sim can join. 8)

Spore is an exceeding interesting concept. Apparently, you control an entire race of creatures from initial creation to intelligence. The videos of the game look fantastic. Score another big win for Will Wright! At least, I hope. I have upmost confidence in him, his team, and their creative abilities to come up something that will remain on my hard drive for years!

They are both scheduled to come out around late February/early March 2008.

In the last couple days I've written several reviews for GameSpot, including for the games Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Sid Meier's Railroads!, PopTop Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum, and EA The Sims Life Stories. I'm an experienced computer user and have played a wide variety of games, and so I am only happy to share my knowledge with others.

Greetings Everyone!

Today I purchased the "Total Access" package on GameSpot and started downloading. When you have a massively slow Internet connection like me, having no ads really helps the process along. I also updated my profile and added most of my games to the updates section.

I joined a union relating to "The Sims." That game has had a nice relationship with me. Before it came out I was very much into Will Wright games, especially "Sim City." I was delighted to find out one could fairly accurately simulate humans. The game was better than my wildest dreams, and I have been playing it off and on since the initial release. I am really anxious to get my hands on the new Sim City that just came out ("Societies") and to see what The Sims 3 will be like.

Over the years my passion has been aviation and flight. That especially was true in the PC world, and have been a major Microsoft Flight Simulator fan. I still am to a minor degree, but I think my focus has shifted. You see, when you have flown thousands of hours in the sim (and in real life) the coolness wears off. My new passion is turning out to be railroads.

As a kid I remember my Dad and Brother working feverishly downstairs on the model railroad. I, too, was fascinated by the prospect of controlling miniature trains, and thus began my first experience of simulation. Model railroading really encompasses everything that I find good in the world: plastic scale modeling, American history, electronics, and of course simulation. When I am away from my model railroad (like I nearly always am) I contain myself by working on the PC railroad on my laptop. I have quite a few of the railroad related games, but my favorites tend to be the PopTop Railroad Tycoon games. Ten years after its initial release, I am still playing Railroad Tycoon 2. I also enjoy the Auran Trainz series, but am really looking forward to the new Microsoft Train Simulator which is supposed to be built on the FSX engine. The screen shots look wonderful.

It is my intension to start a Railroad Union. If you wish to participate, please contact me as I need the four initial members.