Tis been nearly a month since I last updated.  I recently moved, so I've spent the vas majority of my time dealing with that and the things that go along with it.

With 2 games (Valkyrie Profile 2, & Baten Kaitos Origins) I want coming out this month, I decided that I wouldn't buy either of them until I finish at least one of the games I'm currently playing. Judging strictly on progress, the first would be Shining Tears as I'm on chapter 13 of 18.  But as I went through my "Now Playing" list, I realized that a lot of the games I'm currently playing are "unpopular" or just considered "bad" by the general public.

Castlevania 64, Shining Tears, Sigma Star Saga, & Tales of Destiny are all not well received games.  I have to wonder why the games I'm playing right now are so unpopular.  I'm thinking that it's related to my outlook on life in general.  I can very easily focus only on a good point of a person or an experience, despite how bad it may be.  The same is probably true for game.  So what if Shining Tears has load times for every transition in the game?  It still tells its story in a very immersive fashion.  So what if the characters control like they weigh 500lbs during combat in Tales of Destiny?  They still take a proactive role in the story instead of letting events just sweep them along.

I guess the point of this entry is to not listen to what others say about a game.  You might miss out on something you'd truly enjoy.

Like every year, I always leave Otakon with some cool stuff.  Costs a pretty penny, but I think it's worth it.

The plushies:
Baby Bowser, a FF7:AC moogle, and a Kirby

Soundtracks:
Wild ARMs3, Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2, Chrono Trigger, Castlevania Curse of Darkness, & DDR MAX2

Figurines:
Ansem & Cloud from Kingdom Hearts

I must say I am pleased with this year's haul.  I think only two of the soundtracks are bootlegs (DDS & CT), but I have yet to confirm/deny that.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to get pictures of the cosplayers like I wanted to.  It's a real shame because despite the 50+ slapdash keyblade wielders or lazy Namine cosplayers, there were some really good costumes this year.  I only got this Yuri (SH2: Covenant) before my camera bateries died.  I am NOT spending $8 on 2 AA bateries.  Stupid tourist town....

I'm going to Otakon this weekend.  I've taken work off through Monday.  Chib-Ten's (laptop) coming and I'm gonna try and get Internet access, but I make no guarantees. Worst case scenario, I'll be back bright and early Tuesday.

E3 to be much smaller next year.

Like everyone else, I'm disappointed by this.  I actually had the chance to go to E3 05, but it never happened.  Life won't be the same without the deluge of information at May's end.  But I'd rather these companies spend more money developing and localizing games, rather than trying to "1-up" each other.

RUMOR: Square Enix may consider releasing Dragon Quest 9 exclusively for Wii. A final decision will be made based on the sales of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker for NDS and Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen & the Tower of Mirrors for Wii. In addition, Square Enix is working on a Mana MMORPG for Wii.
- from TheMagicBox.com

If this rumor proves to be true, it could really redefine the current state of the gaming industry.  It's no secret how wildly successful every Dragon Quest game is in Japan.  This is easily something that could catapult Nintendo far ahead of Sony and Microsoft.

I'm kinda worried about this happening.  I'd rather the PS3 come out on top, but that 's because the only 360 games I'm interested in are years away in development and I find the Wii's new control schema more frightening than interesting being such a departure from the norm.  At least the DS games can be controlled with both the buttons and the stylus.

As for a Mana/Seiken Densetsu MMO, I say sign me up now!

Tuesday I had gone out for dinner with my parents.  No big deal.  They wanted to go to Barnes & Noble afterward, but I wanted to check out the local Gamestop.  To my surprise, I found a copy of Megaman III for GameBoy for $15.  I was stunned.  For the past month, I'd been looking on eBay and other Internet shopping places wit no results.  I had finally found a copy on eBay and had resigned myself to paying a large sum of money for it.  Add to that Viewtiful Joe for $5 and I walked out of there a happy man.

So I wake up this morning after having a very odd dream.  I recently bought a copy of Tales of Destiny 2 for the PS2, a Japanese-only game.  First weird thing, I was playing it on my PSP.  Now, a PSP version has been announced, but no screenshots have been released.  Anyhow, as I was playing,  I realized the game was in English, which surprised me, even in the dream.  I ran to show it to my best friend, but I woke up.  Very strange....

So yeah, being sick sucks.  After 4 days of a head cold, I'm still not any better.  Which sucks majorly.  However, it did give me a lot of time to invest in video games.  I played a good bit of Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and  Trauma Center on my DS.

But the big winner was Shadow Hearts: Covenant.  I've invested a surprising 25 hours in that game over the course of 4 days.  It's really worth it.  That game got a major up in production value since the original Shadow Hearts.

It's interesting.  Those in the hole don't realize how deep the hole is until they are out.  Case in point: my GBA.

I got my DS about a week ago.  I've played about 2 hours of Lunar on it since then.  A day or so after getting it, I had the urge to play a GBA game as "advanced" as my new system.  I picked up Sigma Star Saga, a game I had received for Christmas, but never really touched due to to it's difficulty level (which starts high, but drops quickly).  Basically, I was stunned that I didn't have to plug my DS in to charge after a few hours.  I never realized how little charge my GBA batteries held anymore.

The question is now, do I get new rechargables for my GBA?  I have a rather extensive collection of GB and GBC games that the DS can't play and I don't want to be left with only the GBA Player as access to them.  On the other hand, it's more money I have to spend.  Yuck.

Oh well.  Hopefully I can actually use my DS as a DS when Castlevania arrives.

So, as of last night, I joined the hordes of Nintendo DS owners.  No, not a Lite, just a regular DS.  Save money.  Besides, if I didn't see the need to upgrade from an GBA to a GBA SP, then I certainly don't need this upgrade.

Anyhow, I grabbed one game with my DS, Lunar: Dragon Song.  Yes, the battle system is just as bad as everyone says it is.  But I don't care.  It's Lunar.  As in related to Lunar Silver Star Story, one of only 3 games I've given a perfect 10 to on Gamespot.

Anyhow, I'm looking to pick up Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow & Trauma Center.  Not so sure about New Super Mario Bros or Mario 64 DS.  Still wondering what else currently out there is good.  Suggestions are welcome :D

Oh, and a word to you DS lovers that hate the PSP, I still prefer my PSP.  Granted, I've had the PSP for 5 months and the DS for a day, but the DS still feels like a GBA with 2 screens.  And besides, my PSP library is already larger than my wish list for current DS games.

Well, after a month and a half, I've finally finished Kingdom Hearts II.  There is NOTHING left to do, other than the boring stuff like maxing out my stats.  I seriously even maxed out my level, which is something I almost never do.  But after my 12th failure at the Hades Paradox cup, I decided that I had to.  Strangely enough, it wasn't round 49 that gave me so much trouble.  It was the Titan Cup rules on rounds 11-20 that kept me kicking the bucket.  Well, whatever.  The final boss actually still held a minor challenge at that level, which I liked.  But now, it's onto Xenosaga Episode II.

I saw my extended family on Sunday for a Mother's Day picnic.  Of course, they all wanted to see my new apartment, so I took some photos with my digital camera.  I think I'll post them here for your enjoyment too.

The building. I'm upstairs.
My office.
The living room. Only that TV has cable.
The sun room, simply because it's too small to really be of any use.
The dining room.  The video game TV is in the entertainment center cabinet along with the PS2, GameCube, & Xbox.  All my console games are on the lower 2 shelves of that book case.
The table in the dining room.
The kitchen.
The very lived-in bathroom.
Last, but certainly not least, my bedroom.