The other day, while I was snooping around Gamespot, I ran across a program that checks to see if your computer can play today's PC games.  I ran the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion test, and it failed with flying colors. 

It basically had a range from a picture of a CPU with cobwebs to the lightning fast on the other end.  2 lines divided the range signifying minimum and recommeded requirements.  Put it this way - my home computer couldn't even reach the minimum to run Oblivion. 

Fortunate enough for me, I plan on playing Oblivion on the 360 anyways.  (Whenever, I get the damned thing - no thanks to Micro$oft!)  But geez, I had no idea that my computer was so far behind when it comes to minimum specifications. 

And, I'm not complaining here.  I'm not about to freak out and go to Fry's so I can upgrade immediately.  Like I said before, I am still content playing older games for the moment at least.  But how up to date does my PC need to be in order to be able to play today's games? Are specifications a deterrent for PC gaming?  Do people decide to forego the cost of upgrading when they can just buy the game with slightly worse off graphics on a console? 

Oh well, I still plan on playing new games for the PC.  I suppose if you really really wanted to play a game on the PC, not much would stand in your way.  Maybe it's just Oblivion, and not the whole lot of PC games.  I'm sure that if Oblivion has high requirements, I should wait and see UT 2007... more upgrades!

I'm sure you'll hear me rant about how cool it is being late to the gaming scene.  The first and most obvious benefit is that the next 10 games I plan on getting are no more than $7 each.  I'll be spending $70 max on stuff that collectively used to cost $500+.  Don't get me wrong, if someone were to ask me about current games on the market, I could tell them all about new and future releases despite not having played it yet.  (I should work at a damn game store.) 

In fact, I don't just limit myself to cheap games.  If I'm really jonesing to play something new, not much is going to stand in my way.  My deal is that I'm quite content playing the awesome games of yesterday.  For example I'm playing a GBA game that came our 4 years ago.  And it's actually a port of a game that came out 10 years before that.  I missed out on the Super Nintendo, and boy let me tell you I am loving on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past!  If I remember correctly, I think they added it to the greatest games of all time feature not too long ago. 

Call me crazy, but it's my first Zelda game that I'm actually planning on finishing.  (I had finals and couldn't commit to a long story.)  In my past I was never interested in RPGs.  (I know Zelda's different, but hear me out!)  I woudn't touch any sort of RPG with a 10 ft pole.  My perspectives changed when I decided to give Final Fantasy a try because I didn't want to be a hypocrite like some other gamers you run into and call a certain genre stupid when they hadn't really given it a chance. 

Anyways, long story short (too late! - I love the movie, Clue) I'm open to RPGs of all sorts, and I plan on trying out some good Strategy games in the near future.  It almost breaks my heart to think I would have missed out on a gem like A Link to the Past.  It's easy to see why this game struck a chord with gamers both in the past and present, and is another testament to being one of the benefits of showing up late.

I think I'll give this blogging thing a try.  In the past, I usually reserved this space as a place to keep reminders for myself.  But since it seems most people love to hear themselves rattle, maybe I'll give it a shot too....

Moving on, I cannot describe how much I miss sitting down in front of the TV to play a game.  My new baby boy has been keeping me up.  Luckily my wife and I have managed some sort of schedule where we can each get about 5 hours sleep.  But it seems tonight, we're looking at 4 or less.  -Swell! 

Take it from me boys and girls.  When you fall in love with someone and end up having a baby later on.  Your gaming time drops to almost zero.  But you know something - it's worth it. And it won't always be like that.  But it's been a long time since I played something that wasn't a GBA game I could just pick up and play...

I hear Greg Kasavin is in the same boat, except he works at a company where playing games is his job.  I wonder if he goes home at night to get his fix or just stays away from it all together.  I wouldn't mind switching jobs with him for a day! 

I tell you one thing, I sure am thankful for my SP!

Well, I'm a college student who somehow manages to scrape enough cash together to support my addiction to gaming. Much to the detriment of my studies, I gleefully use the PS2, GC, DC, GBA, and PC platforms. Thankfully, I do have a social life in the form of my beautiful wife whom I've convinced to monitor my potentially dangerous habit should I neglect to restrict my gaming to 2 or 3 hours a day.

My gaming history started off with the Atari, but I was still a little too young to fully enjoy it since my 5-year old hands would not allow me to rise to expert level. I was then fortunate enough to discover the wonders of Nintendo, and did my fair share of staying up way past my bedtime with the likes of The Super Mario Bros 1 - 3. Unfortunately, rough times for my family meant that I could not partake of SNES, SEGA, N64, or PS. Luckily my best friend and cousin James kept me interested through the years in his excellent taste for Final Fantasy and other great adventure hits. So it wasn't until some time ago that I decided to let my greedy tendencies get the better of me and purchased the glorious PS2 system.

Since then I've also taken an interest in PC games, and must continuously argue with myself about the ethics and morals of playing games at work. Although I missed out on some important years in the evolution of gaming I look forward to the future of many finger sores and bloodshot eyes as the industry becomes even more rockin' each year!

Rockstar Games brings a new Grand Theft Auto game, set in the world of Liberty City, to the Sony PSP. -- Editor's Note: We are unable to bring you a review of this game until after its release in stores because the publisher chose to work exclusively with other media outlets. GameSpot does not accept exclusive reviews and actively discourages publishers from brokering them.

This is why I chose this website over all of the others!

Note to self:

Ask Gamespot what's up with rating Spongebob games?  Do they really hate him or something?  Can't say I blame them...