This has been a hard week. So far I’ve spent my free time going to doctor’s appointments, assembling baby furniture, buying a new lawnmower for my yardwork, and attempting to file a joint tax return for my wife and I. While I accept that these activities are part of leading a normal adult life, they really just aren’t much fun.

All of the routine chores and bill paying, along with going to work, are part of everyday life. For me, so is gaming. That’s why I sincerely hope that game developers can continue to keep the two separate.

I’ve seen a lot of posts on the forum about what people want to see from the next GTA game. I completely failed to get into San Andreas despite the fact that I was addicted to Vice City. The reason for my lack of interest in San Andreas had to do with too many of the tedious and boring aspects of normal life were also present in the game.

I love my life, and know that I have it better than a lot of people in this world. Still, I crave an occasional escape to relieve tension and stress. Playing a game that requires me to feed and dress the main character, along with making him work out and getting him dates, does not offer any enjoyment. I train jiu-jitsu or kickboxing in the mornings and lift weights for 45 minutes to an hour after each one of my shifts at work. Why on earth would I want to come home and do the same thing digitally for an imaginary character?

I am now begging developers to keep games fun, and leave real life to the 23 or so hours a day that I already dedicate to it. I fear that San Andreas will start a new realism trend in gaming. If real life were that interesting, we wouldn’t need games, movies, or television (don’t even get me started on reality TV).

Rather than play San Andreas on my PS2, I’m now playing Total Overdose: A Gunslinger’s Tale in Mexico. It’s a blatant GTS knockoff, only with an over-the top plot and the complete lack of a wanted level. My character magically heals himself, and never needs to eat or sleep. If my character dies, I just start again. It is completely unbelievable and has nothing in common with real life, and I thank God that developers are still willing to create such a cheesy little diversion from reality.

I have considered myself a die-hard Sony fan since the release of the original Playstation. My love of the system prompted me to buy a PS2 as my next-gen console of choice in 2001, and I consider it my best console purchase to date. I definitely plan to purchase a PS3, and am already setting money aside for it.

However, I am a little worried that I am going to be a little disloyal to Sony. I don’t plan to buy a PS3 at launch. There are still lots of great games that I want to play on my PS2, and I don’t feel an impending need to be the first guy on my block with a PS3.

Right now, people are treating launch sales figures as though they are the be-all-end-all of a system’s chance of success. People seem to treat game systems like movies just because they are a form of entertainment. While it is true that if no one goes to see a movie the first weekend it is released in theaters that the film will probably bomb, this isn’t the case with a game system.

Like it or not, game systems are a home appliance. Believe it or not, not everyone in the country bought a microwave oven the first week they came out, and last I checked the rate of market penetration and sales for microwaves is just fine. When the original NES came out, it took years for it to become a common sight in most American households. If the NES followed any pattern set by it’s launch sales, the unit would’ve been dead within months of its release on the market. We all know this didn’t happen.

The PS3 will cost a lot of money, just like the XBOX 360. I don’t see why most game oriented websites, and even some financial publications, don’t assume that most people are going to wait and see if the consoles are a quality product before rushing to buy one.  All other $500 products get a little grace period before they are judged to be a success or failure, and game consoles deserve the same treatment.

Truth be told, I may not even be the ideal Sony customer, despite having purchased over 100 games for my system. I bought my PS2 after the first price drop, and bought most of my games for $19.99 or less. I can count the number of titles I bought at $39.99 or more on one hand. Still, I have been very happy with the product the company offered.

Sony has apparently decided that I should not only be backlogged on PS2 games that I need to get around to playing, but that I should also now have a list of must have PSP titles.  

With a baby due on May 5th or 6th, both my time and money are now in a shorter supply than ever. The money isn’t that big a deal though, because I actually make just about enough to buy a new game for every hour of overtime that I work. My wife can now tell that if I stay late it’s probably because there is a new game that I want and not because there was some sort of last minute emergency.

The release schedule shows that Daxter, Mega Man Powered Up, and Samurai Warriors: State of War came out yesterday. I wasn’t all that thrilled with Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, but Powered Up looks too good to pass up (especially at $29.99). Samurai Warriors didn’t score too highly in the GS ratings, but as a die-hard hack’n’slash fan it is my duty to check out the new addition to the series. Daxter just looks downright cool.

To make matters worse, I’m still working through GTA:LCS on my PSP. The game is great, but much like X-Men Legends II, it just takes so darn long to complete. In truth, there will probably be PSP greatest hits before I’ve actually finished Liberty City Stories and Maverick Hunter X (the game isn’t long, I’m just really bad at it). The other thing slowing down my PSP progress is that I keep meaning to play Street Fighter Alpha Max for only a few minutes, and suddenly blow 2 hours before I know what’s happened.

In my opinion, he people claiming that there are not enough quality titles for the PSP either have way too much time on their hands, or pretty poor taste in games.

Today I sadly offer a tribute to the great Kirby Puckett. It’s sad that he left so soon and was already forgotten by so many people. I’m worried about how many people on this site read the title of this blog and think I am talking about Nintendo’s pink marshmellow guy (I’m still not sure what exactly he’s supposed to be).

Kirby Pucket accomplished more in 12 seasons than many Hall of Famers did in their entire careers. The only players who can even compete with Puckett’s numbers in his first 10 seasons are Joe Dimaggio, Wade Boggs, and Tony Gwynn. Thinking of those great players brings to mind something else that may have dies with Puckett.

Even if you met all three of the players that can be compared to Puckett in the prime of their careers, you would not have felt physically intimidated by them. Dimaggio was skinny as a twig, Boggs looked like Kenny Rogers (I hope at least some of you are old enough to know that you know who country singer Kenny Rogers is). And Gwynn was just plain fat. These were all natural, normal people with great talent and a love of the game. The rest of us could relate to them and little kids could almost realisticly dream of making it to their level.

Now the average middle infielder is bigger and more musclebound than an NFL linebacker in the 1960’s. Some of the outfielders look like today’s offensive lineman. I’m a huge man (6’5” 250 lbs) and have a little bit of athletic talent, and even I look at some of those guys and think they’re freaks. Success in sports now seems like it’s unattainable without a God-Given gift and a team of medically trained steroid dealers.

Amazon finally got back to me about my order that never arrived. All of the games (Tekken 5, Haunting Ground, and Silent Hill 4) except Lord of the Rings: Return of the King were out of stock. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

In truth, I not only failed to get the games I wanted, but got suckered into buying one that I really had very little interest in playing. I figured that it only cost $1 more to ship 4 games than it did to ship 3, so I ordered LOTR: ROTK because it sounded like a quality title. This will obviously be my last video game purchase from Amazon.

I’m still busy with Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition on my PS2 and Street Fighter Alpha Max on my PSP, and have Shadow of the Collosus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Cold Fear, and Killzone to get to. Looks like my new LOTR game will be collecting dust for quite awhile.

If any of you have read my recent blogs, you may know that my wife and I have been doing a lot of home improvement recently. One of the upsides to this was that I turned our smallest bedroom into a computer/video game room.

I had just purchased 4 or so new games, and things were looking good. My increase in gaming time is the reason for my somewhat limited blogging.

I have now become convinced that all houses actually grow smaller the longer you live in them. The longer you stay married, the more stuff you get (unless you get divorced, then you lose all your stuff). Now, my game/computer room also serves as a home for my Husky-mix, and my wife’s Miniature Dachshund and Yorkshire Terrier, and also has a sewing machine in it.

I finally got some new games today. For the first time in my life I have had more than enough money for new games, but just not enough time or ambition to get to the store and buy them.

I know it sounds weird not to have enough time to buy games, but I work different hours than most people. I either work 2pm-10pm or 3pm to 11pm with Wednesdays and Thursdays off. I’m always pretty lazy on my days off, and I have the most energy after work. Unfortunately, every place that I want to buy games when I get off work is closed.

Wal-Mart is always open, but I’ve just never been happy with their service in the games department. Half of the time you can’t find anyone to open the ultra secret security case they insist on keeping $20-$50 games locked behind. Meanwhile, they have countless other items priced much higher, or items that are much more frequently stole (DVD’s, CD’s) laying out in the open. An as far as their “always low prices” thing, I can walk into any game store, Circuit City, Best Buy, or Target and find cheaper games.

Anyway, I finally got to go to my local independent game store. They have the same prices for new games as everywhere else, but sell used games at $5-$10 less than EB or Gamestop and offer $3-$5 more for trades. Even if I’m not trading, I still try to buy from them because I want to make sure they stay in business. Big chains are nice at times, but I couldn’t stand if every store became like Wal-Mart.

Too many games, too little time. That’s my story recently. Right now I own about 5 PS2 games that I didn’t think I could ever wait to play, but I find myself doing just that.

I’ve gotten hooked on Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories recently. It seems like my PSP is my constant companion now. With my beautiful wife’s due date rapidly approaching, I’m spending more and more time in doctor’s offices these days. Luckily, the PSP makes all the waiting bearable.

Doctors have it so easy. In any other business, you expect to see the person you’re dealing with within a few minutes of your appointment. With doctors, people seem perfectly content to spend an hour reading crappy, outdated magazines and listening to elevator music, only to spend another 30 minutes sitting alone in a room before the doctor actually sees you. Something tells me if I treated people like that I’d be looking for another job.

For anyone who read my last few posts, I will no longer be fighting on Feb. 25th. I injured my shoulder during training and do not have enough time before the fight to let it heal properly.

While I am a little disappointed, I know my wife is secretly happy. She is being supportive and says that she feels bad, but I know that she is just doing it for me.

I have a child due on May 6th and have a very physical job. These things could both be extremely hampered and jeopardized by any further injury. For that reason, I am pretty sure that I will never return to the ring.

The more I read on the forums, the more I see the word “fanboy.” Recently, it has started to bother me. I can’t see why gamers are so set on dividing into segments. Has anyone else noticed that you never see this type of segmentation with other goods?

I have a PS2 and a PSP, and I bought a Gamecube for my wife. I do not nor, nor have I ever owned an XBOX. It seems that because of my choice to buy Sony products, I have been labeled a “Sony fanboy.”

I like Diet Dr. Pepper, and think Diet Pepsi tastes horrible. However, no one in the grocery store has ever referred to me as a “Diet Dr. Pepper fanboy.” Who knows, maybe I’m just a diet soda fanboy who doesn’t know it yet.

I find that the fanboy label goes too far. I may not own a Microsoft game system or a Diet Pepsi, but that doesn’t mean that I feel they are inferior products. They just don’t appeal to me. I do not think either product should be eliminated from the market, and in fact I support the concept of variety.

The only areas I see a similar segmentation are music and comics. When I was a kid, there was a distinct line between Marvel comics fans and DC comics fans. For all I know, there still is. I stopped collecting comics when I got older because they seemed like an immature hobby. I think the only reason they seemed immature is because of the childish attitudes of serious collectors.

The constant argument and childish bickering over any industry can keep it from becoming mainstream. If a product is not accepted by a substantial portion of the population, it will have a hard time moving forward. Innovation and growth become very difficult when a fan base works against itself.

There is a definite segmentation in music. Many hip-hop fans won’t listen to country or opera, and vice versa. However, there are enough people willing to accept pop music that the industry has flourished.  While people may base their fashion and lifestyle on a certain type of music, you rarely see them trying to seriously convince other people that all other music sucks and should be banned. That’s why you never see a united Punk coalition marching down music row in Nashville to try and stamp out country music.

Right now, video games are the only entertainment industry that is this divided. We have many consoles to choose from, and they all have exclusives. No other business does this.

Can you imagine if DVD’s and CD’s produced by Sony could only be played on Sony hardware? How well do you think the movie industry would do if in order to watch all of your favorite movies you had to own five different DVD players? Music and movie fans wouldn’t put up with it, and neither should we.

Entertainment is supposed to be fun. People do not want their entertainment to involve an entire political agenda with all sorts of debates and strife. People get enough of that at work. As long as fanboys put so much pressure on what system to buy and what games to play, they cannot expect many more average people to take up the hobby.

Hardcore gamers seem to think that the hobby doesn’t need casual gamers. That is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard. When any technology is embraced by the masses, it becomes less expensive and you see many more innovations. If you think all games should be RPG’s on the XBOX, then you’d better pray that you and your RPG friends have enough disposable income to keep a multi-billion dollar corporation afloat.

The right to exercise your personal choice is a great thing. Brand loyalty has its advantages, and friendly competition between companies can have great benefits. However, as long as gamers insist on going out of their way to slam any and all competition, they will see limited advancement in the acceptance of the hobby as a whole.