Well, it's been a long time since I've put up a blog post, and while I generally find myself at a lack of content which to post with, I shall give it a go.

Firstly I should note if I haven't already, I built myself a new PC about a year or so ago, and so far it has been fantastic. Now mind you, I grew up as a console gamer and I still very much enjoy the experience of sitting down in front of a TV and playing games, it's a very enjoyable experience, but having played games like Spore, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead on the PC has proven to be a very memorable (and time-consuming, as the case may be.) Experience. It might be due to proximity to the screen, or maybe some other factor, but I find that gaming on the PC tends to be a much more intense experience, and I generally feel more "involved" with the game. I think Half-Life 2 would be the best example of that, after replaying it on the PC (First run was on the 360 in Orange Box.) I found myself picking up a lot of missed smaller details here and there that really added some depth and, well, details to the world. Of course, I've practically filled up my "To Get" list as far as PC games go (With only Starcraft II looming somewhere in the future.) but I feel it's worth pointing out to anyone and everyone that it's quite fascinating

That being said, at this moment I am currently sitting with a Wii, Xbox 360, DS, PS2, and a PSP, and I'm finding that lately the choice of games has been spread fairly evenly across those system. Granted, time I commit to a game at any given time tends to be biased towards my 360 and the PC, but even that aside the other systems still have their perks. I am also finding that it's a great time to go back and pick up games I missed for the past two generations or so, as they can be fairly cheap to pick up. (Not included re-makes, of course.) Not sure where I was going with this, mostly a state of being marker, I suppose.

E3 was interesting this year. I am very excited to see Golden Sun being brought back, which in addition to the DS remake of Pokemon Gold (Third favorite game of all time.) and Phantasy Star Zero, which is supposedly close to Phantasy Star Online in style, should make for an interesting DS line up in the near future. In addition, the new Metroid game looks... Interesting? On one hand, it looks like it should be good. Team Ninja has done a great job with the Ninja Gaiden games, and based on the videos it looks like some "Over the top" action which may or may not be fitting of Samus (Always thought of her as a bit more tactical with combat, but that could just be me.) but hopefully they won't take too many creative liberties with her. But that all has yet to be seen. Other then that, Xbox 360 has some good stuff to be sure, but on the other hand it's became "The Norm" for Xbox style of games. Then again, that holds true for Nintendo as well I suppose. There are a lot of comments I had for various games/ideas, but I'll save those for a case-by-case basis.

So, I suppose, with all that said, I am still hard at work to pay for games and my school. Of course, the best game of all seems to be Dungeons and Dragons, but that is an entirely different topic. Take care ya'lls.

-Slug aka Raygor

P.S. On a semi-video game related note, if you are looking for some new music, check out the bands Powerglove, The Megas, and The Protomen. All three are quite good, and have music either on or based on video game music. It's pretty neat stuff. (Especially Powerglove, arguably the best cover band out there, and that might not seem to be saying much, but they are very entertaining to watch/listen to.)

Well, today in my free time I was playing some of my older Xbox Live Arcade games, and while attempting to update "Undertow" with the auto update, my Xbox did something I thought I could avoid: The dreaded Red Ring of Death. I checked, rechecked, and tried all the trouble-shooting tips, but here I am, waiting for UPS to send me a box so that I might ship this thing away. To be fair, I really wish Xbox would fix the problems that cause the RROD to occur, but I was lucky enough that even though I technically wasn't under warrenty, the recent 3 Year expansion for such causes caught me, so I still get a replacement for free. (Or mostly, at least.) At anyrate, the hotline people were friendly enough, if not necessarily clear with thier wordage.

Anyways, so now I have to wait for this to get fixed, so I suppose it'll be Wii time for me... OR, time spent with my new computer. I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed, but I recently built a new computer that can run almost any game out there, so I am ready for Dawn of War II, Starcraft II, Spore, Left 4 Dead, and more. (Plus Team Fortress 2 is running so smoothly now, I love it. Go get that game or the Orange Box if you haven't already, one of the best FPS games I have played in my life. How that game keeps its charm and personality so well is beyond me.)

Still, it is a shame that my xbox had to poop out now of all times, as I have a few new games that caught my interest, and everyone seems abuzz about Castle Crashers. Oh well, maybe when it comes back. In the meanwhile, School and Work for me.

Slug out.

Such as it does when you spend most of your weak working. Anyways, of late not too much up. Pokemon Pearl is amazing, 360 hijinx are still afoot, and with the advent of Pokemon Battle Revolution, RE4 Wii Edition, and soon to be Metroid Prime 3, my Wii is getting some much deserved love that doesn't involve making horrible, horrible, grotesque abomination of Miis, or Wii Sports with friends. The Halo 3 beta is long past... it was neat, to be sure. Got a heads up as what to expect, and the new items/weapons were neat. Still glad I got Crackdown, though, that game has proven more then worth its weight in uh, gold. Speaking of gold, I've actually found some decent PSP games of late, namely the Mega Man rehashes and Guilty Gear... not the most stellar games (Well, I think so, but that might be beside the point.) but they are solid to play and fun, and nothing quite like Megaman games with, zomb good voice acting. Uhh... Chromehounds is revived again, thanks to a friend gaining interest, so that's fun. Otherwise, just picking up a game here and there. Guess I'm finding less time to play games, but oh well. It's all cools, really, and I guess that's what weekends are for.

Well I finally got enough funds for an Xbox 360, and I've got to say it's a pretty engrossing system on the whole. At first it's the XBL Arcade which features some highly addicting games, (I got N3 off the bat, it's decent but rather hard and annoying at times.) and as soon as I borrowed Dead Rising from my buddy, I find myself having a hard time getting anything else. Sadly, doing all this seems to have left me broke, and I have a very short amount of time to get more money before several key things come out: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red, the Wii, and other such fall releases. Seems like this is gonna be one of those times I might splurge too much into games, but oh well, too much great stuff is coming out.

So life's been good I suppose. I really can't complain. I often get sad and depressed with life, but when I look, a deep look, I realize I have so much to be fortunate for. A home, family, friends, and even to the lesser extent, things. However, I've started to realize if I'm abusing that right. I mean I know so many people out there seem to have almost nothing, and then I look at me, with so much stuff I hardly have time to use it all. Then I look at my games, my systems, so much I have, and then I wonder: "Should I cut back? Should I only play the games I need to?" Because as I see it, I really only need like three games right now, and would be fine with that. I mean sure having a wide variety is healthy, but when is it too much? When do you know that you have "too many games"? To make matters worse, I see no forseeable end to the "next gen" systems. That means consumers (such as me) will keep buying more and more games, leaving our old ones in the dust. At least there are ways to recycle games. I suppose you can keep them to play later, or sell them at specialized stores, stuff like that, but I just feel so low, so greedy, it can't be good.

In other news, Xbox 360 comes out in like 2 weeks, and while I can only say PDZ catches my eye at the moment, I'm sure that other games would be worth a trial. Sadly, Microsoft had to make the Premium out of my league and the Core just a bit over what I can grab. Damn them, I hope the price drops later. Or worst case, I'll sell my body to science for the cash...