I don't know what brought me back to gamespot. I didn't really have time to keep up with it after I started working my full time job. I've been gaming on a semi-regular basis, although I haven't had the time to do as much playing as I would've liked. I missed the community here, and was somewhat saddened to see that my SSBB friends pages were pretty much dormant now (more on SSBB later).

To get you guys up to date, I've been working mostly; still for a major SEC university where one of my responisibilities, among others, is the management and supervision of the university's student union gameroom. That's right, games is my job. It's interesting to be apart of a gaming community after being active on gamespot for so long. On here, we give our opinions, argue and speculate on what the realities of the gaming universe are. In the gameroom, I've got a very clear picture of what those realities are. The demographic is 18-25 year old people, mostly males, of varying interests in gaming. Some play recreationally, some play occasionally, and some religiously. It's a much more accurate depiction of what the general populus' gaming habits are than arguments between the mostly heavy-duty gaming community here on gamespot.

My responsibilities are to hire & fire workers, pick hardware & software, make purchases, manage a checkout process, and keep things running smoothly in every way possible. Most of my time goes toward making sure the workers are doing their job. For anybody who has to supervise people, you understand how frustrating it can be to have to constantly make sure that people are doing what they're supposed to do. What's frustrating for me is that the job is so simple that not doing the job correctly is just plain...lazy. I'm a nice boss, so we haven't had any firings for lack of performance. We have meetings, talk everything out with the whole staff, and problems usually get corrected. Unfortunately, most people are not inherently law-abiding and likely to follow rules on their own accord. People need supervision. I've got about 10 gameroom workers and 3 of them are outstanding. They enforce rules as it relates to the students, they follow rules dictated to the staff by myself and the other gameroom supervisor, and they do so proactively. The other 7 are interchangeable. I love them as people, but as workers, I could swap them out and have it be exactly the same.

The experience is really fun though. Sometimes I can just pick what the pre-ordained "hits" are going to be, put them on a system, and it's a success. Sometimes we actually have to consider what games would be the biggest draw based on what we know about our existing gameroom crowd. A game like Wii Sports Resort draws the passers-by and girls, but the regulars are affixed on 3 genres: FPS(Halo 3 [ODST]-COD:MW2), Fighting (Tekken 6-MvC2-SFIV-) and Super Smash Bros Brawl. Of course I know that SSBB isn't its own genre, but you wouldn't know it by being in that room when it's being played. The Brawl station is consistently crowded and almost always competitive. As I had had my fun organizing the friend list forum for Brawl here on GS, I of course took a liking to the Brawl station. And much as is the case with any other game, good competition makes you better. I love the competitive spirit, and the mulititude of skillful players that the game draws.

I hope to take some photos and put some details about the gameroom up in time. It's a really fun experience to say the least, especially since I get to play games for a couple of hours a day...and get paid for it. It's good to be back. Is anybody still playing Brawl? Anybody!?!?

Well, I've finally finished Foklore. I'll be posting my review before the end of the week. It was somewhat underwhelming, but the full scoop will be in the review. Besides that, I'm seriously considering buying Soul Caliber IV. I love fighting games, and I need one that keeps me wanting to play it. Dragonball Z: Burst Limit gave me exactly what I thought it would: a great fighting system with subtle adjustments to it, some major differences, and an overall enjoyable experience. However, since most online matches are decent, some are laggy, and a handful are just unplayable, it's not something I look forward to playing. Playing friends locally was fun for a day or so, but I soon became significantly better than them and no competition is just no fun.

So here's my plan: Trading in Folklore and DBZ: Burst Limit toward credit on Soul Caliber IV. I might play DBZ for the next couple of days just to get my fill, and then say my farewells. I won't be too sad though, since it'll be back in a much more feature laden sequel in the next year and a half or so. My only qualms about purchasing a fighter at this point are the heavily anticipated alternatives to Soul Caliber: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Street Fighter IV. Same series, but completely different fighting systems to get used to, and I plan to invest a heavy amount of time in both. If I really enjoy Soul Caliber IV, then that's the game I'll want to run constantly and be looking forward to jumping online to play. And if that's the case, I won't want any part in another $60 fighter. I'll most likely settle for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and miss out on Street Fighter IV, at least for a little while. I've never been one to spring for a game just because its new. I've still yet to play Heavenly Sword, DMC4, Grand Theft Auto, or MGS4; all of which I planned to own before I owned a PS3.

I'd like some recommendations about Soul Caliber IV, so if you've played it, let me know how it feels.

E3 is gone and has left me, a PS3 and Wii owner, with a bitter taste in my mouth. With the PS2's dominance of the market and surplus of RPGs, it was a natural assumption that its predecessor would come with plenty of pull on the Japanese favored genre. Too bad that was an incorrect assumption. Not only has the PS3 seen little to no RPGs whatsoever, but Xbox 360, the FPS paradise, has seen more RPG releases and exclusives, including former PS2 exclusive titles, than its archrival PS3.

Disappointed? Of course I am. I thought it only natural that since SquareEnix had such a great working relationship with PS2 that they would be supplying games out of the wazoo for it's younger brother. Unfortunately, Sony's arrogance may have gotten the best of them and, consequently, the best of us. The biggest blow for me may have been Star Ocean 4's 360 exclusivity. I loved the last installment of the series and felt it was underrated by many. And having invested good money in Sony's flagship product, I have absolutely no plans to pony up for a 360.

FFXIII loses its exclusivity and I start questioning what the hell Sony was thinking. Microsoft proved something that we knew was vital to business, but downplayed the importance of since our little hearts get wrapped up in the product of this industry: Money talks. The Japanese PS3-only news lets me know that the end result won't be a stunted FF installment, so I'm not too shaken up by the announcement. I am a little disappointed, however, that the selection of games I was told were going to be exclusive to my platform of choice has slowly dwindled into...well, MGS4.

Nintendo gave me little to nothing to cheer about either, as their press conference yielded nothing but old news, a respectable attempt to silence critics of Nintendo's lack of voice chat (*tilts hat*), and an array of community titles that scream "give me your money middle aged people". Wii Sports Resort may have been good news if the motion plus peripheral hadn't been added. So basically, if I want to the enjoy the sequel to the Wii's biggest hit via its revolutionary interface, I have to purchase an attachment which makes it as accurate as it should have been to begin with (for multiplayer purposes), and going forward, I have to own this attachment for future games to play as the developer intends? And the resort game includes throwing a frisbee to a dog? How is that a sport!? What made Wii Sports so great was that it featured competitive, familiar sports that were easy to play. The sequel can make no such claim, only featuring easy to play "sports". The sword fighting does look interesting, but I'm not excited about having to buy another nintendo peripheral to do so. And to add insult to injury, they still haven't included, or at least haven't announced, online play. Wii Sports would've have been infinitely more valuable if the simple gameplay and intense competition could've been transfered over Nintendo WFC. Not that the games in the sequel are comparable to the package that was put together in the original, but the effort would've been nice. After showing an excellent effort on Mario Kart's Wi-Fi, there's simply no excuse for a mediocre or missing online component.

Now, let's look at the +.

The PS3 is turning out to be the media module that I expected it would be and more. I've downloaded games onto my PS3 expecting to get a diversion from the disc-based games I had purchesed. What I got instead was a game that I can't stop playing. PixelJunk Monsters, as a $16 game when including the expansion pack (which doubled the game), has been the game I've played the most this gen. I've owned and played Ratchet & Clank and Folklore, two games with limited playability due to their story format. I've owned and played Super Mario Strikers: Charged (which comes in a close second), SSBB, Mario Kart, and a Dr Mario Game that is earning more of my time. PixelJunk Monsters has presented me with the greatest challenge of any game that I've personally owned this gen. And what's more, it was the second least expensive. In the same vain, I've started to look for downloadable games that will give me the most playability.

The PS3 has also impressed me with its movie store. I was never a big proponent of getting up and leaving the house and going to the video store. Why? I just always felt like a rental was a stay at home affair. If I really wanted to leave the house, I'd go see a movie. --- Sidenote: GO SEE BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT --- But with this feature, I decide what I want to watch, purchase and download it without entering any information, and the download starts immediately. All I have to do is wait about 30 mintues for the download to get to about 50% (for the typical standard definition movie...HD takes a LONG time) and I'm watching a movie. I usually use the 30 mintue head start to ready the snacks, take a leak, and grab the blanket (you know...for the lady). The quality is great. You would've never know that it wasn't a DVD. Actually, the SD plays better than an upscaled DVD. The HD video is amazing. This is a very useful feature that I plan on using on a regular basis.

I guess that's all of my gaming thoughts for now. If you wish to test my resolve in Dr Mario online, please send me your FC and I'll give you mine. The same goes for Mario Kart...I'm getting pretty good at that game.

That's right. Since the summer started, I've had my wii up at work to help my crew waste the hours of dead time. As a result, I haven't had it at home on my wi-fi network. So I've pretty much had to put my online brawl and mario kart campaigns on suspension. That leaves me with just a ps3 at home, so that's been getting most of the burn lately. And it sucks, because I haven't had any good games to play. But with this DBZ title being everything you'd expect a DBZ title to be (simple, deep fighting system) I've got something to waste away my hours on at home. I'll be fine-tuning and getting adjusted to the new system before I go online, so look for me on in about a week. Until then...u better hope you're not mediocre. I crush mediocre.

I'm a big fan of quirky, random humor, and the last 6 months have provided me with quite a few commercials to laugh at. So I'll be ranking the top 5 ad campaigns in order of the amount of joy they've brought me. I'm not just ranking a single commercial, but a campaign of at least two commercials with the same theme. So here we go...

5. Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin Donuts isn't big here in the southeast, so I had never really seen any Dunkin Donuts ads. But they've broken through with an ad campaign that first caught my attention with its mockery of sophisticated coffee. With a catchy, funny, sing-songy real-life song in every ad, this campaign makes number 5 on my list.

4. Skittles

Skittle has always had a somewhat entertaining run of commercials, but the last two put them over the top. The office environment with a zany twist brought us the long-bearded potential employee who feeds his interviewer with 15" of chin hair..."No experience..." The second commercial shows a psychologically damaged employee with a paper-like exterior who had been beaten by a coworker who regrettably but innocently wanted some chocolate skittles and figured that his coworker's appearance meant that he was just a pinata full of candy. Priceless.

3. Jack Link's

Big foot running ramped in the woods with idiots who think that mocking a sasquatch was a good idea...what more needs to be said. Big foot always gets the best of these guys, and it's always funny.

2. Budweiser

They've scored big with the "Wassup!" campaign and the Budweiser frogs. And while this campaign is a little more subtle, it's no less effective. Highlights from these commercials are the disgusted "dude" as he watches his friend marry a female bodybuilder (or a man?) in Las Vegas, and the slightly perverted "dude" as he listens through the wall of his hotel. Great Stuff.

1. Snickers

This medieval/modern day mash-up of misfits has brought me much enjoyment over the last few months. "Alas my love you do me wrong to cast me off discourteously..." followed by a chorus song from a hawaiin warrior, a pilgrim, an English king, and two other characters who I can't remember. These commercials are all about the feast. Even Robin Hood has gotten into the act, stealing the feast from the rich to take back to the poor. "The feast...it's ruined."

So what are your thoughts? Different order? Did I miss some? Let me know.

Oh yes...that's right. Just as the PS3 seems to be stockpiling the great titles, another reason to own a 360 instead of PS3 has evaporated into thin air. Bioshock is coming to the PS3 this fall. Being released to great reviews, the game was praised as an RPG hybrid of sorts with great imagination and execution...and I am all about that over here.

This will effectively give PS3 a solid RPG and a proverbial "nanny nanny boo boo". I'm psyched because I figured this would happen, I just didn't know how long it would take. Anybody wanna celebrate with me?

Link

...A shooter from either the first or third person point of view where you play an officer of a unit in some armed force. The location is quite possibly on earth, but very easily another planet where the political dynamic is the same and you stand to make a national, if not worldwide impact with your mission. You use weapons that always follow the mold of a machine gun, a shotgun, an automatic pistol, and several grenades. Your forward, backward, and lateral movement are all controlled independent of your ability to turn. Oh, and there's guaranteed to be one exceptional weapon at your disposal that is supposed to make this game different from every other game like it.

What game is this? Too many to name.

I had heard so much hype about Haze that I was certain that this was to be the game that changed my mind about the ridiculously stale genre that is FPS. So I download the demo and I'm severely disappointed. It's just like every other FPS there is. Haze, Halo, and Call Of Duty 4...they don't differ enough to gain merit as separate games imo.

In my eyes, you could take every "great" FPS of the last 5 years, give them all 1 generic name, and release them 6 months apart as 1 massive series of reivented installments; similar to the Final Fantasy universe. Some installments of the series are good enough to spawn their own sequels & prequels, but they're all part of the larger monster which include very similar gameplay, circumstances, and objectives.

How can anybody get excited about the same old thing over and over again? The FPS genre is very hard to get excited about. And as an individual who disliked the genre since I first played Doom on PC, I find it absurd that the genre gets so much attention and single handedly powers 360...along with Madden.

Well it's been a solid two months of solid gaming. Since I've gotten my PS3, it's been nothing but gaming, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the PS3 experience as a supplement to my Wii experience.

Over the last two months, I've done something that I said I'd never do: buy into hype. Whenever a highly anticipated game is soon to be released, the forums light up with glee as gamers attempt to express their barely contained excitement over the title. Being apart of the online gaming community is still somewhat new to me, having joined GS less than a year ago, so wasn't aware of the kind of influence that the community can have on you. I found myself looking forward to games I had never heard of, one of which was Super Smash Bros Brawl. I truly had never heard of the game since I hadn't owned a Nintendo console since SNES. But after reading countless threads, previews, and hands-on analyses, I decided that the game might be for me.

And I was right.

SSBB is, quite simply, pure fun. It's deep enough as a fighting game that you will need days to truly get the hang of any one character. It's simple enough (only 3 main buttons) that anyone can pick it up and play it. I've had a great time playing online with long time SSB players and sharpening my skills. The diversity in character design is outstanding, so everyone plays different (which the exception of a few characters from the same universe). Each one of my friends uses different characters, so their personal tendencies multiplied by the different character strengths gives me multiple opponent sets. I can turn the game on, jump online, and run 1 on 1 matches for at least a couple of hours.

SSBB panned out for me, mostly because I enjoy a solid, strategic fighter. The last one I really took a liking to was Marvel Vs Capcom 2, so I was long overdue for another. I could possibly see another 2 full-fledged fighting titles coming my way in the next 3 months with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (whew) and DBZ: Burst Limit coming out. That should supply me with enough fight for the rest of the year at least.

PixelJunk Monsters is the most fun downloadable game that I've played this gen. It has a way of feeling incredibly rewarding. Just looking at all the rainbows from the perfect stages feels great. It has also got a way of not making you feel like a loser when you lose. Monsters got the best of you? It's ok. You remember which monsters come on what waves, what direction they go, what towers work on them, and just try again. I'm quite excited about Sony releasing additional content for the game. That $10 is the best money I've spent this gen.

I was madly in love with Folklore when I first started playing it, but the game has started to slide a little. I'll save the details for my review of the game.

Now, there's the business of Grand Theft Auto 4. It's quite amazing that for the first time this generation, a consensus can be reached that there is finally a fantastic game all the way around. What I'm curious about is the fact that the game can have so many technical problems and not catch any flack for it. More than anything, it shows that a game's reputation has a tremendous effect on how it's received. I don't think a new franchise could have as many bugs and still receive a perfect score. But then again, if the reviewers didn't encounter any problems with their copies of the game, the game's score shouldn't suffer. Not to mention that I was quite disappointed with GTA3. It was the same thing over and over again with bad graphics and pointless (honestly) violence. This game seems to be different tho, so I won't judge it from its predecessor.

At any rate, the overwhelmingly positive reception of GTA4 has me seriously considering purchasing it. Before that, I'll most definitely buy Mario Kart Wii, an extra Wiimote, and an extra wii wheel. It's summer time, and I'll have my wii up at work for a mostly slow summer so that all of my staff can get acquainted with Nintendo's fun machine. After that, GTA4 may get a serious look, if not Okami for Wii.

That's all for my gaming update. More to come soon.

There's been building exciting about Nintendo's WiiWare platform, particularly after its Japanese launch. There have been some promising looking previews, some outlandish title announcements, and some less-than-fulfilling DLC details. But what really concerns me about WiiWare, what will make the break the service for me, is the longjevity of the content it sells.

Big whoop, right? They're only $5 and $10 games, right? I shouldn't be expecting so much out of content with such tight tight size restrictions, right? Well I find it hard to disagree with any of those objections. And if it wasn't for the fact that original games have already been offered on the other two platforms, I'd say you're right. But unlike the great online debate where XBL gives you a superior service for a fee and PSN & Wii give you something for nothing, this debate is an open & shut case since there is one uniform similarity between downloadable games on all platforms: Price.

The $10 I spend on a WiiWare game are the same $10 I spend on a PSN game. And it's just hard for me to consider spending money on an updated flash game where my mouse is replaced by a remote pointer. This isn't the majority of the WiiWare titles, so let's consider the incredibly promising looking ones. Lost Winds looks particularly interesting imo, as does Square Enix's rip-off Final Fantasy RTS ($15 for the game, and up to an additional $15 for all of the dlc). But outside of these titles, very few catch my attention. There's the Super R Type, which IGN has detailed as extremely disappointing due to its lack of a 1 player campaign. It seems that the game only has a time attack mode (?). Then there's the zany competitive eating game, the game with stick figure people, and a couple of other titles that have me wondering exactly what the standard for these games is going to be. I downloaded PixelJunk Monsters off of the PSN store for $10 and have enjoyed the game for 50+ hours. And I'm still not done. That kind of playability for a $10 is the kind of value I'm looking for from WiiWare. There seem to be mostly short, quirky thrills headed to the service, and it's got me wondering whether everybody's looking forward to WiiWare because it's showing some promise, or simply because we're happy Nintendo has an original dlc service.

Family Guy fans will understand the title.

The time has come for me to catch a break.

And I did.

In my relentless quest to secure a 60GB PS3, my steps have landed me in a giant pile of luck. Sheer, unadulterated luck.

If you didn't know my plan, let me enlighten you...

The 60GB PS3 is discontinued. This was the only model that offered full PS2 compatibility and wi-fi connection. At this point, it's anybody's guess as to whether or not BC will be offered in the future. But seeing as how the lack of it has benefitted Sony greatly, I wouldn't bank on it. The only option that wouldn't leave me kicking myself was to somehow obtain a 60GB model. I understood that this may take some time, effort, and even more money than the 60GB was worth, but I had come to terms with that. Even though I really didn't want to pay more than $450 for a PS3 (see my first blog post).

The first option, which wasn't really an option, was to buy a brand new 60GB PS3. Going price? $550+

On to option 2...used.

This would have been a great option, but at $400, I just didn't have the money to buy a PS3 in November or December. Money was dry and I was in transition from school to the real world. A $400 pinch wasn't an option at that point. But since the price was still within reason, I made sure to check back for the used units just after I got on my feet. Too bad the price had risen to $450-$500. That, my good people, without the security of a warranty or included software was simply too much. Plus, I really couldn't afford that big of a chunk of change. I could barely afford the $400. So no, a used unit wasn't an option anymore either.

Option three was the most cost efficient, but also the most time consuming. Whiles searching for PS3s on Ebay, there are as many broken units on sale as there are functional ones. Why? Some poor saps sell their broken PS3s to some chain or store for less than $100 and these stores in turn sell them on ebay for $150-$300. Why would a non-functional unit fetch so much? Because it only costs $150 to get it up and running again. That's right. Paying Sony $150 gets you a refurbished unit with the exact same specifications as the one you shipped them. Buy a broken 60GB unit for $200, pay $150, BAM. A somewhat like new 60GB PS3. For me however, this method would require a bit of time since I didn't have the money to buy and fix.

My first step in this process was to buy a unit that was broken, but didn't have the guts busted out of it. There are units on Ebay that sell like this, and I questioned if Sony would take these in a refurbishment/exchange. So, I just searched for one that was as close to working as possible. The best bets were the packages complete with all accessories (buying missing accessories would've cost more money) and with dysfunctional disc drives. Call me crazy, but I'd much rather have a PS3 that lets you play demos, download PSN games, and movie trailers than one that does nothing. I found the unit that I was looking for, but getting it for the price I wanted was another thing completely. For those who aren't familiar with ebay, bidding can be quite competitive. In my mind I had a set price that I wouldn't go above because to do so would negate the price advantage of this option. If I end up paying upwards of 300 with tax and shipping, I wouldn't be benefitting at all. I might as well just buy a used unit. My set price was $203.71. At that price, the tax and shipping would land me at an even $250. Along with the $150 refurbishment, we're looking at an even $400 to get a 60GB PS3 up and running.

So I've got a plan, but I soon got discouraged. Very discouraged. Sure, the price would hover between $175-$200 for the most part, but during the last minute of the auction, the price would skyrocket. Sometimes, you'd see a $50 jump during the last 30 seconds. I was pissed because I didn't want to pay that much for the unit. Sometimes I even bid above my predetermined price, but those bids were quickly surpassed as well.

Until one day, I had set my price at 203.71. I kept a close watch on my bid as usual, and the strangest thing happened...

Nobody outbid me.

5 minutes left, little to no activity. 1 minute left, almost no buzz. The last 30 seconds of the auction saw no price increase at all, and the auction ended with my winning bid of 203.50. So I paid, waited for shipping, and proudly patted myself on the back. I was on my way to owning a PS3.

The best part of this story is yet to come. I got the package, opened it, and quickly dove into the interface to familiarize myself with all the options. Running visuals in 720p is mighty impressive. It even made my wii look less than stellar after a few days of HD game demos. Of course I tried the disc drive anyway, and as advertised, it didn't work. My wii was getting repaired, so I didn't have much else to do but play demos and free games.

But yesterday, a miracle happened. I thought I'd try the same thing that got my PS2 back up and running after its disc drive went on the fritz: a DVD lens cleaner.

That's right people. The dreaded PS2 disc drive failure wasn't a failure...the lens just needed a little dusting. I bought it one day when I was down to no options with my PS2, which also served as my DVD player. And even though the discs that I had put into my PS3 hadn't evoked any response from the system, I figured it was worth a try. So I put it in, wait a second and...nothing. Oh well. I walk away from it, grab a snack, and come back to it to lay it horizontally. I heard that helps it dissapate more heat. As soon as I lay it flat, the disc starts. I figure hey, I might never get this disc to start again, so while I've got this thing running, I'm cleaning the lens. So I run the track that cleans the disc. Twice.

I test out the original God Of War. It works.
I give Marvel Vs Capcom 2 a try. It works.
I pop in Final Fantasy IX. It works.

I just got a 60GB PS3 for $250. That's right, I paid the same price for my wii and my PS3. The tax return I was going to use to get it fixed will now get me a couple of games. Ebay is a great option for action/adventure games since they're beaten quickly and don't have a lot of replay value. And most of these games sell on ebay for 50%-60% of their retail price. Why? Gamestop gives $10-$15 for a $60 game. On ebay, the seller can keep all $30-$35 that you pay them for the game. You get it for cheap, they get a good return. Check it out.

So yes, I've finally got my PS3. And, for a hell of a lot less than most people did I'm sure.
Not that I'm trying to rub it in...sorry.

I'm looking for intelligent, like-minded gamers to befriend. Once I get some games, I'll be looking to jump into some co-op adventure games. Add me and PM me yours.