The Playstation Network re-release of Final Fantasy VIII happened much quicker than I would have imagined. When I came home from the airport late Thursday night, my podcast co-host Al informed me that Sony had just thrown the game online and I immediately booted up the MediaGo software to begin downloading it. $9.99 (plus tax) and five hours of sleep later, I had Final Fantasy VIII on my Playstation Portable--PSP, as acronym-loving humans like to call it. Considering that I had put in a handful of hours before the PSN release, starting it over again on the PSP would mean that those console hours would go to waste. Well, say hello to the wastebasket, hours.

I haven't done much with the PSP release yet since I've been busy with other obligations, so I haven't even reached the point where I stopped on the PSone (that being just after finishing the SeeD exam). I did get a chance to see how the emulation fared on the PSP, and so far it works just fine. Pete, our third podcast member, told me he heard that when Final Fantasy VII was released on PSN, a critic on another podcast mentioned something that implied that the emulation was pretty bad. I hadn't experienced that with FFVII in particular, myself, and in the limited time I've spent with FFVIII, I haven't experienced bad emulation either. I will say that it's slightly irritating to not have that second set of shoulder buttons, since it forces you to map the L2 and R2 commands to either the d-pad or the analog nub. I liked playing FFVIII with the analog stick on the Dual Shock (it's more accurate on the world map), and obviously using the d-pad for menu commands (it's way more precise), so being forced to choose one or the other was a bit saddening. But that's just a small gripe inherent with the PSone-to-PS3 conversion, obviously.

There are a lot of conflicting comments on my previous blog, mostly pertaining to how to best play the game, with a few Final Fantasy VIII detractors here and there. This all seems to ultimately speak to Final Fantasy VIII's greatest strength: There are so many ways to play the game, that depending on how you play it, you might love it or hate it equally. I'm not talking about Oblivion / Fallout "ways to play" in terms of your decisions and their impact on the game world around you but rather how you choose to customize your characters' abilities and whether you choose to spam Guardian Forces; use or not use magic; power-up your party by leveling up traditionally, or not leveling and instead relying completely on the Junction system; et cetera. It's actually quite fascinating, really, and it's precisely the reason I chose to give the game a second whirl. I have to re-iterate that no matter how interesting or deep a game is, if it doesn't end up coming together for me--and that's a totally subjective, je ne sais quois type of thing, as it is for everyone--my opinion won't be making that 180-degree shift to the positive. But in fairness, no matter what happens in the end, I'll definitely be glad I gave it a shot.

My current machine is a Dell Dimension 9200: C2D 6300 @ 1.8ghz, 4g RAM, Radeon 4670 w/1g VRAM. Its a great computer and still works very, very well. But, sadly, I like gaming and thusly I am wanting to upgrade sometime in the future.

Its very tempting to want to go out and spec out the biggest, baddest thing possible. Its also pretty darn easy, I might add. No, what's challenging is trying to get a good machine that's pretty darn affordable, yet provides an upgrade path!

* Keeping my current video card

* Centurion 5 case

* Antec 550w power supply

* 4g DDR3 RAM

* 640g HDD @ 7200rpm

* DVD burner

* Windows 7 64-bit OEM

There's the easy part. This would be the same no matter what I got in all likelihood. The real trick? Choosing a CPU, which then determines motherboard type. Intel's i5 CPU is nice. Very nice. Its $200, and a motherboard for it is going to be at least $100. Now, the trick for me is that since I live in Hawai'i, I don't get free shipping from Newegg. So, saving money here and there can help me out with my budget. So, what am I looking at? AMD CPU's. And here is where it gets hard! For $100 or less, I can choose from:

* Athlon II X4. Slower speed, but quad-cores are great for multitasking and multi-CPU games and applications. However, according to Tom's Hardware, there's not much benefit to having four cores for gaming right now, as it offers little benefit compared to three cores. $99.

* Phenom II X2 BE. Very fast; much faster than the Athlon II X4, even performing quite respectably compared to Intel's i5. But, only two cores means its not going to be quite so nice for multitasking, and some games will do noticably better having a 3rd core. $99.

* Athlon II X3. Gaming performance is good, comparable to the XP4 yet costs $10-20 less depending on which one I went with. $79-89.

What fun! On top of that, all these are AM3 socket CPU's, so (at least according to the current roadmap/plans) I would be able to use AMD's Bulldozer CPU's come 2010-2011. So, really its a matter of deciding which of three good options would work best for me.

What's fantastic is they'd all be significant upgrades for me, give me better future options, and would be cheaper than my computer was back in 2006 when I bought it (around half as much)! It would improve all my current games and applications (especially the multi-core friendly Adobe Premiere Elements 4 and FRAPS), and I'd even be able to give my current computer to a teacher friend of mine.

I love technology. Even when it drives me crazy. Decisions, decisions!

edit: Right now I've specced things out on Newegg...

Athlon II X3 $562.92 ($148.01 cheaper than an i5 system)

Athlon II X4 or Phenom II X2 $584.93 ($126 cheaper than an i5 system)

Intel (i5) system $710.93

Hi everyone, and long time no post!

As I do every year, I have compiled a list of my top games of the year--though this time, I did it in a slightly different format. Rather than list my top 10, as I did last year, I am presenting individual awards to the games I think are most deserving. Mind you, these are based on my own personal preferences; they should necessarily be construed as reflecting the winners in any official GameSpot Best-Of category.

This was an impressive year. I played a lot of games in 2009, and while some were immediately forgettable, others lingered, either because they were awesome, or because they were lousy. I enjoy this time of year, for what it's worth, and enjoy being part of the official GameSpot discussions. But the best part is getting to recognize games that would have otherwise been forgotten, had they not done one or two things exceedingly well. For example, Velvet Assassin will not blow anyone away, but its atmosphere was incredible--so incredible it was what made the game worth playing. Cryostasis was somewhat buggy and little-played, but its sound design and story were amazing, and we get to recognize it for those things.

It's also a time of surprises. Some readers believe that we buy into "hype," while others suggest that we should only include games they've heard of. (Obviously, those two things can't coexist, but that's lost on many.) But it comes down to this: What did we play, and love? We're in a unique position. We played a lot of games, the popular and the undersold both, and so we're not concerned with whether a lot of people played a game and are in a position to agree with us--we're simply concerned with whether it was good. In games, as in every other form of entertainment, what's good isn't necessarily what's popular, though sometimes it is. That's why you see categories that include The Sims 3 and Comet Crash living in harmony. (You may never have heard of Comet Crash, but you should damn well play it.) It's because we want to recognize what's good, not what's popular. If there's one hope I have this year, it's that you consider playing a game on our list you hadn't payed attention to before now. Never heard of Deadly Creatures or Bit.Trip Void? Now's the time to see what you were missing!

And so on to the Cubbies!

The Paris Hilton Award for Style Over Substance
Ninja Blade

I read occasional complaints from folks that see Ninja Blade as a sort of poor-man's Ninja Gaiden or God of War. And all I can say is: So? Gleefully silly, knowingly derivative, and brilliantly over the top, Ninja Blade is pure fun, and doesn't need excuses made for being exactly that.

The I Don't Get It Award
Borderlands

Borderlands gets a lot of love from various corners, but I haven't quite grasped what it is that people seem to love about it. It doesn't draw me in, because it doesn't do enough to hook me. There's no story worth mentioning, the world seems very bare-bones, and I can't shake the feeling that the art style is trying to compensate for a general lack of personality. Borderlands is a great tech demo, but it is a mere shell of what it could have been.

(Runner-Up: Shadow Complex)

The We've Seen This Before So Why Is It So Damn Good? Award
Dragon Age

There's nary an original bone in Dragon Age's fleshy, scaly body (which is what makes Bioware's recent comments about JRPGs' recycled elements seem hypocritcal), nor does that really surprise me. It's part Lord of the Rings and part D&D, and features enemy designs ripped right from the Tolkien playbook. Yet it works. Not because the plot is going to set the world (or Middle-Earth) on fire, but because the world is well thought out and filled with memorable characters that bring it to life. We've seen it all, but great writing and dialogue make us care in spite of the familiarity.

The Nicholas Cage "I Know You're Better Than This" Trophy
Creative Assembly

Empire: Total War is a great game, but a buggy, flawed beast as well; I have high hopes that Napoleon: Total War improves on this shaky foundation. But it's Stormrise that earns CA this nod. Tellingly, publisher Sega released Stormrise at the very end of its fiscal year, just as it did with Universe at War the year prior. It's a sign that the publisher had essentially given up and needed to get a product on shelves that would continue use up resources without any benefit to revenue. In other words: Sega likely had no faith that the game would get any better. And that's because Stormrise is flawed to its very core--and as we all know, you can't polish a... well... you've hear the saying.

(Runner-Up: Rebellion and Bethesda, for the shameful Rogue Warrior. What were they thinking?)

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Prize For Brilliance Over Bugs
Cryostasis

Had Cryostasis not been so buggy, it could have been 2009's PC game of the year. But in spite of its technical issues, its story, its ambience, and its originality stood out in a year of endless sequels. This is an awesome and flawed game that deserves its day in the sun. In this cases, an Arctic sun.

The John Cougar Mellencamp "Hurts So Good" Award
Demon's Souls

It's hard. It's unforgiving. And it's the most brilliant and innovative game of 2009, taking old-school dungeon crawling and infusing it with an incredible online component that's built into the very soul of the experience. And everything is implemented so well, never removing you from the world itself with "gamey" elements that intrude in other games. No "co-op" mode menu, no "player hint" menu, no "invite" menu... it's all built into the Demon's Souls' fabric. This is a game that will be played and loved by its fans long after 2009's sales juggernauts have been shelved and forgotten.

The Barry Manilow "I Can't Live Without You" Award
Moxie

"What the hell are you talking about, Kevin?" You thought this to yourself just now, didn't you? Well, fear not, for I am not insane. Moxie is an excellent word game for the iPhone that has kept me busy on my commute to work almost every day for months, when most iPhone games have gotten boring, even popular favorites like Bejeweled and Bookworm. You should check it out.

The Stripped Tease Award
Tie: Demigod and League of Legends

It seems like a great idea: Take the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III and turn it into a full-fledged product. The problem is, we're still waiting for a full-fledged product. Demigod could have been good had it worked at launch, and we garnered a lot of flak for criticizing this competitive online strategy game for barely working online. Fans felt it deserved the benefit of the doubt, but as it came to pass, we see that games shouldn't require that kind of benefit. Demigod still doesn't function properly (though it has improved), and it serves as proof that you can't trust patches to make it all better.

As for League of Legends, it's a great free game, but a lacking retail product. Again, it's a game built around future promises and expectations that delivers very little up front. If this sub-genre is going to take off in the retail market, we need a full-bodied game, a complete product. Until that time comes, there's simply no reason for DotA players to convert; not when it costs money.

The Unsung Hero Award
Killzone 2

It was easy to look at Killzone 2 as that "incredibly good-looking shooter." But when I wrote the review, I didn't write about the visuals until the second page for a reason: They weren't the defining feature of this fantastic first-person shooter. Killzone 2 is moody, intense, and the most fun I had with a shooter this year, including the super-anticipatedModern Warfare 2. Its multiplayer is an overlooked and amazing haven for 2009's best firefights, thanks to its multi-mode matches and lots of little features (spawn point cameras, for example) that kept me coming back. When other shooters delivered more of the same, Killzone 2 felt unique, and was more exciting than any multiplayer experience I had this year.

The "You Can't Go Home Again" Needlepoint Plaque
Tie: F.E.A.R. 2 and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena

Some games exist as perfect points of light. They were the right game at the right time, and yet hold up years later as well. But some games are best left shining in the darkness. F.E.A.R. had already suffered from a couple of disappointing expansions, but with Monolith at the reigns of its sequel, I expected more, or at least, something on par with the original. F.E.A.R. 2 is a good shooter, but it isn't a special one. Dark Athena suffers in a similar way, which makes me wonder: Do developers sometimes forget what made their games so wonderful in the first place? It's not always about checking off all the right boxes; the best games grab you by the heart or the bollocks and don't let go.

The "It Isn't Just More Of The Same" Award
The Spore and Sims 3 teams at Electronic Arts

We've come to expect expansion packs that just give us more of the same. Rather than lazily crap out mundane and expected expansions, EA gave us delectable delights with Spore: Galactic Adventures and The Sims 3: World Adventures. In the Spore expansion, you got to create and experience little adventures, and in the process, be a bit of a game designer. In World Adventures, you took your sims on holiday to explore tombs, where all sorts of surprises were waiting. In both cases, we got something unexpected. And for that, I am thankful.

The Dan Brown Award
Assassin's Creed II's ending

You know what? It's nutty, maybe even a little cheesy. And you know what? I loved it. But one thing I am sure of: Whether you liked it or hated it, I bet you'll remember it. I'm already formulating ideas for what I think Assassin's Creed III could be (like I did with the first game), but this time, I didn't feel cheated. An awesome game with a memorable conclusion that had me eager for more. What more could I have wanted?

The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Dissidia Final Fantasy

Along with The Sims 3, this is the game that I had a hard time pulling myself away from late at night, bleary-eyed, desperately needing some rest. The action is great, but what makes Dissidia so difficult to put down is how it keeps doling out the rewards, never running out of wonderful things to give you. More importantly, it doesn't feel like you start with half a game to start with. Instead, the joys just pile on.

The Gift That Could Have Given More
Scribblenauts

I don't know a single person in our office that wasn't psyched about Scribblenauts. That is, until we finally played the full game. It's a fantastic toy if you're the creative type, but as a game, it lacks. It's exploitable and controls poorly, and after playing through a few levels, I have absolutely no desire to return; the controls killed it for me.

The "On A Roll" Award
Relic Entertainment

Relic has yet to release a bad game. From Homeworld to Impossible Creatures, each of these game delighted and sometimes astounded me, and with Dawn of War II, they have another winner. It wasn't a home run, mind you. Dawn of War II's identity crisis is an issue, and the single-player campaign is nothing compared to Homeworld II's astounding story. Yet online, Dawn of War II is a thrilling and dynamic experience that reminds me that even when it takes chances that don't work out, Relic is a developer you can rely on, when so many others can't consistently deliver.

The "It's Better Than You Think" Award
Tie: Comet Crash and Dirt 2

Forza 3 is brilliant in its own way, but Dirt 2 is a beautiful and thrilling game in its own right. Justin Calvert and I had a conversation not too long ago in which I mentioned that it is very difficult to find anything wrong with it. The cars drive so well, and the game looks and sound so good, that it's hard to find anything to criticize. You may argue that it could have done more, but it's hard to see how it could have done what it does any better, from it's cool menus to the pure fun of kicking up dirt on the tracks. It got overshadowed by Forza 3 (which is a different kind of experience), but I would argue that it's every bit as worthy of your time and money.

Comet Crash is this year's "huh?" game that showed up in multiple categories, including strategy game of the year. And it totally belongs there, though it's easy to see why someone who hasn't played it might be vexed. 2009 was the year of the tower defense games. Yeah, I am getting sick of them too. But Comet Crash does it much differently by keeping you constantly active, and its multiplayer is a total hoot because it lets you create unit paths using the turrets you place. It's an extra layer of strategy that keeps every game different from the last. Don't let its unassuming looks fool you: This is a game that everyone should play, and is deserving in every category in which it appeared.

The "I Will Remember You" Award
Tie: Red Faction and Infamous

Don't worry, Red Faction and Infamous. You're still awesome, and I will send you Christmas Cards every year so you remember how much I love you.

So that's it for this year's Cubby Awards! Don't forget to vote in GameSpot's Reader's Choice awards, and feel free to let me know what your favorites and least favorites were. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter, where you'll get a lot more from me on a daily basis than you will here. Until later: Ciao!

Hi all, hope your all well and looking forward to Christmas. I'm just wondering what you or your mom's & pa's will be cooking up on Christmas day, and if you have any family traditions as far as the food?. Also, what videogames will you be playing on Christmas day, if any?.

I wont be doing a Turkey myself, that's one bird I've grown sick of, it's bland and lacks flavour, no meat should need a sauce in my eyes, good meat should shine on it's own. Anyway, I've ordered a full rack of lamb instead. Here in the UK, Welsh salt marsh lamb(-from Wales, it's a country Americans ) is the best, those lambs graze on herbs and grasses in sea meadows which are kissed by the prevailing sea breeze. The herbs they feed on consist of exactlywhat you would add to lamb traditionally; mint, thyme, (sea) lavender, that sort of thing. The meat is sooo tender and delicious, It should look and smell impressive when carving up at the table. So anyway, how about yourselves?

Americans eat Turkey on thanksgiving right?, do many eat it again on Christmas day also

Currently Playing: Zelda Spirit Tracks - I think I must be one of the few gamersthat reallyenjoy the choo-choo train stuff. I really like the chirpymusic that plays.

Love you all, will check out your blogs now.

@INKling I'm making beer dude, the brew will be ready for Christmas day

Take care all,

Linky

PS:

Sorry to any of you who were slightly offended my my last topic, I can assure you it was simply a case of me pointing out nonsense in jest, it's in no way an attack against the Christian religion itself, far from it.

The fact is I actually used to be a born again Christian myself many years ago, but of course my days of speaking in tongues and pretending to feel the power of the holy spirit (-falling down intentionally), are long gone.

Rockstar Games has reportedly picked up the Tiger Woods endorsement and gaming franchise at a bargain price after EA Sports divorced itself of the young sports star in December, 2009. Rockstar will be developing Tiger Wood's golf titles exclusively in its new five-year deal. They have a lot of ideas for the franchise.

"We wanted to take (Tiger Woods PGA Tour) in a new direction," Rockstar spokesman Rodney Walker told us, "Golf is great and all, but we feel that we can take the best elements of the core game and combine them with the winning aspects of Bully, Leisure Suit Larry, and possibly a splash of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law."

In addition to existing statistics such as "approach" and "accuracy," players will be managing the personal life of their avatar. A new "PR Rating" system is being introduced, which will increase with game performance, allowing the gamer access to product endorsement deals and merchandising, achievements, swag for their character, and access to high-powered attorneys. Adding mistresses increases game performance stats such as accuracy, putting, and luck, but can significantly reduce the gamer's PR Rating.

While best-known for its Grand Theft Auto franchise, Rockstar Games is no stranger to sports games. Its title Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis won significant critical acclaim. The game is scheduled to release sometime in the third quarter of 2010.

This is a quick personal reflection on the ten games (well, nine games and one series of games) I found the most meaningful and memorable over the past ten years.

SSX: I start here not because this is the least of all the games on this list, but because it's the first. It was very early indeed in this decade when I stepped into a GameStop...it may even have still been a Software Etc...and saw a PS2 demo kiosk showing off SSX. I was sold. With one glance, it seemed clear that the power of the PlayStation 2 was going to enable games to deliver bigger thrills than any console before it. How apt that the development studio for this game was called EA Sports BIG. The PS2 was the first new console of the decade, and SSX was its glorious herald, a speedy, stylish, adrenaline-drenched snowboarding game for the new era. It's certainly true that SSX 2 and 3 improved on the original in some respects, but when I think of SSX, it's that first glimpse of Snowdream that I remember most, the voice of Rahzel mocking and praising me as I boosted my way down the slopes.

Halo: Some of the very best gaming moments I had this decade were spent with friends crowded around my modest television, the screen split four ways as we assault-rifled and pistol-sniped each other endlessly. Halo 2 and 3 took the multiplayer online in a big way, but the best Halo times of all for me were those early days on Hang 'em High.

Burnout 3: What an exciting innovation this game was, building on existing arcade racing game conventions but making crashing and running your competitors off the road a spectacular, visceral part of the gameplay. I consider this the original Xbox's ultimate Xbox Live title. For several months, some friends and I ritually played this on an almost-daily basis,while games these days are unlikely to see consistent online play from us for more than a few weeks. It was also, for me, the first game in which custom soundtracks were an essential feature. I still can't hear certain Death Cab for Cutie songs without them conjuring up images of Burnout 3's environments.

Ninja Gaiden (Black): My favorite skill-based, challenging action game of the decade. When Ninja Gaiden first came out, I rented it and found it difficult to a fault. It was frustrating, not fun. Then the bargain-priced Black came out and I decided to give it another chance. I hit the same wall I had before but kept pressing on and somehow, at a certain point, something clicked, and I just naturally found myself getting better at the game. That sense of just feeling my skills improve, and the results of it--being able to effortlessly slice enemies to pieces (and look awesome doing it) who had previously made mincemeat out of me--was incredibly rewarding.

Metal Gear Solid 4: It's goofy and messy and totally absurd, and I admire the hell out of it. I think it's an inspired conclusion to this totally crazy series, and for all its flaws, I love the fact that it is so clearly Kojima's uncompromised vision. He may be the first auteur of games, and I think the series would have been far less interesting if it was made by committee and some of Kojima's crazier, more self-indulgent impulses had been reined in. It somehow creates a thoroughly satisfying conclusion that ties up all the loose ends, and it unforgettably pits the hero and villain against each other in a climactic fistfight that's also a brilliant summation of the entire series. Masterful.

Grand Theft Auto IV: I Heart Liberty City. Moral choice was a fun gimmick in a lot of games over the past ten years, but many of those games presented those choices in such extreme black and white terms. Grand Theft Auto IV was the first game in which I felt legitimately troubled by some of the choices I had to make, the first game in which pulling a trigger and taking a life often felt impactful and irrevocable. The writing is far superior to what you find in most games, with complex, damaged characters who, for all their flaws, are often trying their best to make a go of it in this ugly world. The cutscenes feature terrific subtlety and are willing to take their time to just observe the characters. For me, its themes of culture, cIass and consequences really work. It ain't The Wire, but for my money it's far and away the best crime story, and the best story of any kind, I've encountered in a game.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door: Mario has starred in many exceptional RPGs throughout the past ten years. This is the absolute best of the bunch. It's charming, inventive, humorous, and even oddly poignant. An absolute delight from start to finish.

The Rock Band series: When I was younger, I was an enthusiastic air guitarist, desk drummer, and sing-along-er. But these are all private, slightly embarrassing expressions of the emotions a song might conjure up in me. One of the biggest, most important innovations in games of this decade is the way that the music peripheral games have taken those private expressions and made them a shared experience. Performing songs with friends in a game like this is an absolute joy, and a totally valid and new way for people to experience music together. In the Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero battle, the Rock Band games are the clear winner for me. The atmosphere and the song lists deliver just want I want in my fantasy fulfillment, and the Guitar Hero games feel a bit crass and soulless by comparison.

And now, my two favorite games of the decade. I can't choose between them.

Super Mario Galaxy and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Super Mario Galaxy is as close as any game has come to perfection for me this decade. It's an absolutely incredible achievement, feeling both like a natural extension of the series' roots, and a totally fresh, at times exhilaratingly innovative experience. The level designs are nothing short of brilliant, and the music, visuals and gameplay frequently combined to foster a sense of ebullient joy in me akin to what I might feel at the most inspired moments of a great Pixar or Miyazaki film.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, by contrast, does not quite approach perfection. Instead, it's a sprawling, audacious, flawed but utterly incredible game. The story is not the serious tale of revenge or forgiveness that you find in GTA IV, but a fever dream of West Coast culture and styIe. The plot lacks focus, but the cast of characters is memorable, and the outstanding voice work (JAMES WOODS!) helps tremendously. And while the story is messy, the setting is unforgettable. I love it all, from the ghetto where CJ begins to the mansions in the hills. I love the small towns and the beaches. I love the huge bridges and the airplane graveyards. It understands Los Angeles hip-hop culture in the mid-90s, and its climax rings true in echoing some of the rage that fueled the Los Angeles riots of 1992.

I can't separate the fact that I've lived in LA for many years from my feelings for this game. Standing in the cul-de-sac where CJ's house is located, I can almost feel the warm Santa Ana winds. But the reason I rank it above GTA IV as one of the absolute best of the decade is not just that its setting is more personally resonant for me. It's also that I simply think it's a bit more fun. For me, this is still the best entry overall in what I consider the definitive game series of the decade.

I finally was able to play DAO out of my system. I finally got to the point where I not only felt competent at the game, but felt I could very easily best any challenge it presented. I'm not recanting any of the things I held against that title, but if you want something for just a whole lot of playtime hours then you might as well stop putting it off and go get it. Either that or WOW.

Anyway, this leaves me in an odd place for this time of year. I'm left without any game I really want to play. Normally there are four or five titles that have just been released that I'm asking people to buy me for Christmas, if not running out and buying myself. This time... nothing. I'm waiting for Mass Effect 2 and Lost Planet 2. Seriously publishers dropped the ball this year, at least for me.

Got alot of stuff this month but I'll post the Black Friday stuff first along with some other stuff I got on sale on Cyber Monday. Btw, I've been addicted to Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer! Soooo good and frustrating sometimes, hehe...

I didn't find too many great deals I wanted this year, sorta disappointed but I guess that's the way it goes.

Got:
Lots of great Blu-ray sales from Amazon. Some arrived pretty late since Amazon was probably selling a ton of them. Did I go overboard? :3

Games!

A portable HDD.

Impulse buy cuz this was dirt cheap...lol.

Top 50 Best Games of the Decade

1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

• Publisher: Rockstar Games
• Developer: Rockstar North
• 2003

Vice City simply goes beyond having an open-ended world and varied, superb gameplay - the amount of styIe Rockstar poured into this game is unmatched. Neon-lit art-deco 80's Miami, fantastic music, a plethora of colorful characters, a cIassic rise-to-power crime storyline, and finally a cool, no bull**** protagonist voiced by Ray Liotta. Vice City also sports the groundbreaking series' most engaging side-missions including masterminding a bank heist and managing a porn film studio.

2. Half-Life 2

• Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
• Developer: Valve Software
• 2004

From the opening Point Insertion level, I realized I have embarked on something truly unique - City 17 was a cold, uninviting place in which the easy-to-see-through propaganda of a puppet human government is brainwashing you from the very first few seconds of gameplay. The atmosphere is palpable, you can feel the misery of the people that surround you, and you fervently want to join in the revolt. There is something distinctly real and human about Half-Life 2 despite the fact that you're fighting off an alien invasion. One of the very few games in which the reason to fight is as important as the fight itself.

3. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic

• Publisher: LucasArts
• Developer: BioWare
• 2003

BioWare managed to provide the most complete Star Wars experience with this RPG of epic proportions. Incredibly well-written staying true to its source material, it has some of the most interesting characters in the Star Wars universe, and it sports the best Star Wars storyline since the first three movies. On top of all that, you actually get to traverse through a massive Star Wars universe and decide its fate. Knight of the Old Republic is everything an RPG can possibly be.

4. The Longest Journey

• Publisher: Funcom
• Developer: Funcom
• 2000

This is the absolute pinnacle of adventure gaming and storytelling. The gameplay is exquisite, the puzzles are challenging and, more importantly, make sense. The writing is superb, you will not encounter better developed characters than this, and the voice acting is organic and natural. After playing through this game, I felt as if I knew April Ryan, as if she was someone I was once friends with. April Ryan's journey should not be missed.

5. Team Fortress 2

• Publisher: Valve Software
• Developer: Valve Software
• 2007

A multiplayer game that has it all - a wonderful art-styIe, awesome characters, insane amounts of polish and balance and--this is what it truly excels at--teamwork. The cIasses give loads of gameplay variety, the goal-oriented teamwork paves the way for awesome battle scenarios and the fantastic community provides a bottomless amount of maps, mods, servers and everything in-between.

6. Ninja Gaiden

• Publisher: Tecmo
• Developer: Team Ninja
• 2004

The guys over at Team Ninja are undeniably a sadistic bunch who managed to bring me to tears out of sheer frustration - this game is ****ing hard. I'm no fan of such punishment and if it were any other game, I'd quit in a heartbeat. But there was something about Ninja Gaiden that constantly kept me moving forward no matter how badly I got schooled by the AI - and to keep playing after enduring such punishment and ending up looking like a complete wuss to simple computer AI is Ninja Gaiden's greatest feat. Because the game is just so incredible you can't put it down no matter what.

7. Civilization IV

• Publsiher: 2K Games
• Developer: Firaxis Games
• 2005

Civilization IV elevated the venerable series' formula to unseen heights. The interface was streamlined in order to avoid unnecessary, boring micromanagement. It's also the most accessible game in the series providing lots of options and making the game faster. But most importantly, these changes were made without compromising the insane depth and scope old fans expected. Just the opposite, it has more features than ever such as the fantastic religion system.

8. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy

• Publisher: Strategy First
• Developer: Strategy First
• 2002

The easiest way to describe this game is to compare it to Heroes of Might and Magic. But you would be doing it a horrible diservice as well. Disciples II is as different from Heroes as it is similar to it. It's an absolutely brilliant turn-based strategy game with a compelling universe, deep tactical gameplay that is easy to learn but difficult to master and a fantastic art-styIe.

9. Grand Theft Auto IV

• Publisher: Rockstar Games
• Developer: Rockstar North
• 2008

The game that took the series in a very different direction. It is a back-to-basics game showcasing Rockstar's incredible restraint and vision. Grand Theft Auto IV tells a dark New York immigrant story with believeable characters and great writing. It features one of the most amazing and detailed gameworlds ever created, stunning graphics, a great combat system, refined driving mechanics, competent AI. On top of all that, there's also the video editor and the fantastic Independence FM.

10. Dragon Age: Origins

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Developer: BioWare
• 2009

The best thing to say about Dragon Age is that nothing feels like an afterthought in this game. Everything, absolutely everything is well thought-out and deliberate. An incredibly detailed gameworld with rich culture and history, a teriffic cast of characters, insane amount of fully voiced NPC's and a deep tactical combat system that never gets repetetive.

Left 4 Dead 2 - the first few hours

After a sudden switch in decison from Dragon Age Online to Left 4 Dead 2 for my next game purchase, I am happy to say it was a good choice (though I plan on getting Dragon Age at some point still). My first play on the game involved playing through the first chapter/campaign on single player. This was an interesting affair as I found on normal I was running out of health packs quickly and also the AI seemed shocking. At times it will help you and other times it drags behind taking out every single enemie. Now thats pretty good but when you are having to rush due to low health and respawning enemies and your team mates do nothing it starts to get frustrating.

I managed to get to the rollercoaster with the AI for those who have played the game. Overall I was left with mixed feelings, whilst it felt an improvment on the first game, I felt the AI was not up to scratch and lack of checkpoints and health packs made the game more challenging but rewarding at the same time. The next day I finally got online (not due to lack of players, due to lack of internet connection where I was playing on the xbox). When putting this online the game felt alive all of a sudden, having other people who know what to do is great but having people who wont help you is a pain in the backside. I managed to get online with a friend though by pure chance as I was not aware he had the game until it came up friend playing game at loading. We had a blast doing achievments and even managed to rescue a certain gnome so I am happily sporting a pink t-shirt award (which the game gives for avatar awards, such as X ammount of zombies killed, story completion to more challenging things like carrying a gnome through 3 chapters). Versus also was an interesting experience, the game rotates which type of zombie you are each time you die to keep you on your toes. Again with this mode you need to have good planning and communication with your team.

So far this has been a great game with a few problems such as checkpoint issues and health packs being too spread out. However if you have friends with this and can play online, its a blast, but if you only want to do single player, you will have to really consider the AI issues before choosing. If you have any questions let me know, this is purely a first impressions blog and not a review.

Also for those interested, the "Hey Ash What are you playing- Left 4 Dead" video got me interested in Left 4 Dead 2, man the music was catchy on it.

Acitivity note:

I have decided to not post for a while at the unions and main boards. I am getting fed up of the silly arguments and random flame comments that are intended to make people upset and what not. I am not sure if I will return to any of the unions as really I just want to game more. However I am planning to do blogs more frequently on the games I have been playing and what I think of them. I may post from time to time but chances are its going to be much less frequent. I am sorry to those who are at the unions who did a good effort and were friendly but there is a trend of the anamosity of the internet turning peoples comments more and more extreme and silly which just stops me wanting to post due to just not caring anymore.

It has been a while since i have done a review here at Gamespot, to be honest i've not written a review in general in months. Just too busy enjoying playing games to write about them.

So to get back into the swing of things ive written a quick review for Nintaii on the iPhone. Check it out here - Link

It feels weird only having one semester left until I finish uni and need to find myself a career. I'm still uncertain on what I want to do. I'll have to figure that out. So yeah, I finished this semester today. I handed my final essay in (which is due on Monday, but I did it early) and did a little exam in class today, which was just a close analysis of a clip from a film, which was chosen by my tutor. It went well, so all should be fine.

Anyway, this means I have time to play games again and I have a lot of them to play: Left 4 Dead 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, Fallout 3, the rest of Fable 2, more Forza 3, the rest of Ballad of Gay Tony, Spore (which I got in the steam sales), the entire THQ collection (also from the steam sales), and, of course, more Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer with friends.

And I still need to buy Assassin's Creed 2, Uncharted 2 and the new Ratchet and Clank.

That's about it for now. I actually want to go and play these games that I have mentioned, so that I can actually talk about them at some point.

Nothing fancy, just trying to keep my HTML in line

10: F Zero GX
9: Timesplitters 2
8: Rocket Knight Adventures
7: Super Mario Galaxy
6: God Of War 2
5: Half Life 2
4: Shadow of the Colossus
3: Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence
2: Silent Hill 2/Resident Evil 4

***SPOILER***

I never go on this and damn gamespot has changed ! + Hello to all gamespot friends I don't know ;D

Oh Hai,

I've been a busy boy of late. Whats that? I should compartmentalize these events into a list? Sure!

Raised over £600 for children in Need.
The great Citizen Game community banded together to play games throughout the night of Children in Need, raising over £600 for somthing they probably would have been doing anyway. Horah!

Wrote a Modern Warfare 2 Review
9.0, still loving the multiplayer.

Started a Forum on CitizenGame
Eventually I got around to it. Already saves some cash from the deals in our "Bargain Hunter" section, so it was worth the dev time already.

Recorded a few Podcasts
We have the formula down to a tea now. 45 minutes every week. The first every week too, available from 9:30 Monday Morning.

Bought a new TV!
My projecter exploded the day after the gameathon. Perfect excuse to buy a 42 inch 1080p HDTV.

Other Games I've been playing:
DJ Hero - fun, but got it for free.
AssCreed2 - fun, but stupid story
Left4Dead2 - Far better than the first. Refined.
CrossFingers, Beneath a Steel Sky, Minigore, Doodlejump (all on iPhone)

Everything else is cool. Work is going great, going home for 2 weeks at Christmas and recording some fantastic CitizenGame content in the run up to Christmas. I might post somthing here in the lead up to Jesus day, but for now, thats what Dannys doing.

If you live in the States, you're a lucky one. Hugo Chavez's government in Venezuela has passed legislation that now makes it illegal to sell, import, or produce video games with a stiffer penalty than providing firearms to minors. If you have a few minutes to read, it is well worth it:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/05/venezuela-chavez-adm.html

I ain't here to discuss politickin, but how some of America's (referring to the broader sense of North and South America) political figures see Chavez as a saint instead of the tyrant he is confounds me.

Well, I haven't blogged ever since I announced I was taking a break from GS because I was going through a lot of work at school and other problems. I managed to get over that a while after that and I'm pretty sure many of you have already known that for a while.

Now I'll having a bit more time to spare to hang around here since I'm out of school again until next January. I won't just spend all my time here though. I'm planning on getting more in-depth with music theory and I plan on getting on shape to join my High School Football Team, something I always wanted to do but for some reason I always missed the try outs. And I'll find some other useful ways to use my time and I'm open to suggestions.

Anyways what really got me into typing this blog is the fact that I got tagged by 4 people >_>, don't worry though I love confessing

So here are 5 + 4(Times I got tagged) things you might not know about me:

1.My dream University (literally) is the University of Cambridge.

2.I'm a Steelers fan but you didn't know that because I don't usually talk about football.

3.It annoys the hell out of me to see someone barefoot and wearing jeans at the same time >_>

4.Ever since I started High School I get all As and one damn B

6.I'm totally digging Porcupine Tree even though I had looked over them before

7.Daft Punk were the first thing I listened to voluntarily when I was a child, mainly because I used to be and I still am obsessed with robots and I used to think they were robots. But then I got to appreciate them because of their music.

8.I have an M formed by my veins on my left arm, I like to think it stands for metal

9.I am undecided of what I want to do in life, and the things I want to do I am not very good at. But there's always room for improvement.

Please? http://www.youtube.com/user/MaceH1ndu

So, I just got home and my plans to jump right into Aion: Tower of Eternity have been temporarily put on hold while I wait in a queue to get into my chosen server. Right now the wait time is sitting at 22 minutes, but it said something similar about 10 minutes ago, and when the number changes it's not always moving in the right direction. Anyhow, since I can't play just yet I figured I'd post an early impressions-style reviews blog entry about the game. And, since I'm having some trouble accessing the reviews blog right now, it's gonna end up here instead - at least for the moment.

In case you're unfamiliar with Aion, it's a new MMO from NCSoft that's been available in Korea for a while, but which officially goes live here in North America tomorrow. I preordered the game several weeks ago, so I was able to get in on the "headstart" launch that went live at noon yesterday. After seven or eight hours of play I'm still only level 12, but I'm starting to get a good feel for where the game is headed I think, and so far I'm liking it a lot. And here's why, in an easily-digestible bullet point format:

• Character Creation
  Aion's character creation tools are extremely powerful - like, EA Sports powerful. Sure, you can just pick a head, a body, and a hairstyle if you don't really care for this stuff, but if you want to recreate Pygar from the movie Barbarella, you have the option to tinker with just about every facial feature imaginable. The flipside of the character editor is that it gives you the freedom to make unrealistically proportioned characters with, for example, heads that are far too small for their bodies, or with tree-trunk arms and legs bolted onto a puny torso. Save for some presumably PVP-minded players opting for the tiniest character they can come up with, though, most people appear to be opting for something that at least resembles a human being.
• The Launch
  Perhaps it's not surprising given that the game is already out in Korea, but queues aside, Aion's launch has been an incredibly smooth one thus far. I was able to get into the game around 10 minutes after the announced midday start time, and although I was disconnected about 10 minutes later, I've experienced no problems since. With new players descending on the starter areas like a swarm of hungry locusts, content was getting devoured quicker than it could respawn, but getting quests completed was rarely a problem.
• Combat
  So far the assassin that I've spent most of my time playing as is a lot of fun - somewhat similar to a rogue in World of Warcraft, but with less emphasis on stealth. There doesn't appear to be a combo system as such, at least not in the WoW-rogue sense, but you can chain attacks together and, rather than having to map every move to a different button, every move in a chain is mapped to the same button. So, for example, after I perform my "Swift Edge" attack, I then use the same button to perform a "Soul Slash" and, when I reach level 22, I'll be able to press it a third time for a Rune Slash. It's been done before, but after sinking so much time into WoW and into organizing dozens of different buttons, it's a feature that I very much appreciate.
• The Visuals
  Even if I end up posting a dozen of these blogs before I'm ready to write a full review of Aion, I think I'll find it tricky to ever do so without mentioning how great it looks. The aesthetic is somewhat similar to that of Guild Wars, but with superior animation and the CryEngine under the hood. I posted some new screenshots, taken on my relatively modest home PC, to the gamespace today - definitely worth checking out.
• Flying
  Perhaps the most unique thing about Aion is that, from level 10 onwards, your character has angel-like wings that you can use to fly. Initially, you can only sustain flight for one minute, but my understanding is that increases as you level up. Also, you can only fly in certain zones, which seems a little odd, but is necessary so that you don't just bypass enemies and stuff completely.
• Gathering & Crafting
  Although I've trained as a weaponsmith, I've yet to spend much time crafting - there are a lot of materials that need to be purchased in order to work with metals it seems, and I came close to bankrupting myself long before I was able to craft a simple steel dagger. Gathering is interesting in that, rather than having to train in order to learn how to pick things up off the ground, everyone can do it. So, providing you take the time to pick flowers and fruit early on, you'll find that you're able to mine iron and gather other higher-level resources later on. Bag space is an ever-present concern, of course, but these things seemingly stack in massive numbers (I have 110 of one resource right now), you get big bags (known as "cubes" in-game), and there's a bank/warehouse system with both character-specific slots and account slots that can be accessed by all of your characters on the same server. I'm a pack-rat by nature, so bag space is always a "thing" for me, but right now it's not taking up nearly as much of my time in Aion as it always has in WoW.

And, with that it looks like I'm ready to get back into the game. Be sure to go and check out those screenshots, and expect more Aion coverage from me in the near future.

Cheers