It's been a whole 10 days since launch, but I finally got my hands on a PS3. I got Resistance with it, and so far I've downloaded MotorStorm and Blast Factor. I will be posting my reviews of those games in the upcoming week. My first impressions of the system itself are very, very positive. It is a sleek machine, and it runs very smoothly. Very quiet too. Sixaxis is incredibly light, and the tilt function is touchy. I have to go to work ( they know I just got my PS3, and they wouldn't be fooled) so I have to go, but there will be more to come in the days following. Look out for my reviews on Resistance.

Well here's how things sit. I work for a retailer. I am a manager for this retailer. I know how many consoles my store is going to get. I have Thursday and Friday off. I thought my chances of getting a PS3 were pretty good. But things have changed. When I went into work yesterday, I saw a LINE!!!! Two people, just sitting there in front of the HDTV wall with laptops, obviously making themselves comfy. Now these two people are not enough to deter me, but I have to close tonight. That means that I have to be on my company's time until 10 o'clock tonight. So if in the next 12 hours 4 more people get into line. I'm screwed. But, if on the off chance when I get off, there is less than 6 people in line, then I will begin my 26 hour wait. I don't have a laptop. All I have is a PSP with about 6 hours of life, and a book of Sudoku puzzles. Oh, and a large well of patience. Oh yeah, patience. So wish me luck. There are three games I am completely stoked about. Madden '07  after seeing the making of the game, I am convince it is truly next gen. MotorStorm  have you seen the videos for this game on IGN.com? Amazing. Simply amazing. And last but certainly not least Resistance Fall of Man  the makers of Ratchet and Clank make a first person shooter with awesome guns. You just gotta play that one. 40 online with very little lag or framerate issues. You gotta love that even more.

If I don't get one on day one. I won't be too sad. Because then I can watch the backdoor. And while there may be laws against understocking a street dated item, there are absolutely no laws against it once the date has hit. My company probably won't like it, but oh well.

For starters, why is it so hard to write in this thing more often. I post everday, you think I would be able to say something in here everday as well. For those of you who don't know there was a hold put on all of my gaming account by my wife in lieu of the upcoming PS3. If I want to buy it I have to go without for a while, in other words. No big deal, I say. I cancel my GameTap, I cancel my Blockbuster GamePass, I cancel my Xbox Live account, I cancel my World of Warcraft account and I busy myself playing my dusty collection (The last game I bought outright was SOCOM 3: Navy Seals last October.) So in my quest for gaming satisfaction I have played many games. At first I picked up San Andreas, but I quickly remembered why I stopped in the first place. But then I looked up all the cheat codes, (something that before I had avoided) and commenced having alot of fun with jetpacks on demand and flying cars. Soon though even that got boring. I played Madden 05 and got some enjoyment out of that, but again I have been there and done that for many, many hours. I played SSX and tried to build up Moby as the ultimate snowboarder again, but halfway there I lost the motivation. I played Jak and Daxter, Return of the King, Final Fantasy Tactics, Legends of Dragoon, Mario Kart 64, San Fransisco Rush, ATV Offroad Fury, Morrowind, Dungeon Siege, Driver, Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Mega Man 2 & 3, Ghost Recon(even though I hate it), Aggressive Inline and every other game in my collection that I could possibly try. Right now I am playing Diablo II online with a friend, and I have to say that it might hold my interest until Nov. 17th (or beyond if I don't get one that day). But if it fails, I have one more game between me and complete gamers insanity, and that is... Syphon Filter: Omega Strain. So here's to the vintage classics and the recent familiar faces of SSX, ATV Offroad (because yes, I am talking about the originals.) We love you, but for god sakes I need something new.

I know most people could probably care less, and I also know that nobody reads my pathetic profile page, but notheless it makes me feel better by writing on it. Anyways, the purpose of this post is to inform the world, nay, the universe that I got 898,460 as my high score on Lumines. My previous best was 564,230. I blew it out of the water man. Now I just learned that if I get 999,999 as a high score I unlock a new skin. I thought I had them all, but I was wrong! My current run is at 450,000 something and I'm holding strong. Wish me luck!

Addendum: Shortly after this post, my PSP battery went dead at work. With no way to immediately charge it, the above score of 450,000 was lost.... forever.

I finally signed up for Gamefly.com. I haven't gotten anything yet, but I will write an entry on what I think of their services. My first two games coming are Archer McLean's Mercury, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I can't wait!

I have gotten my hands on a copy of Jade Empire at long last. I have to say, I have read reviews that went both ways on this prior to playing it, and by the time I put it in the system I did not know what to expect. At first glance the fighting system was a little bland and shallow, but once you see the sheer number of styles you have to collect throughout the game, the system quickly goes from one dimensional to multi-faceted. The good and evil thing is like most games, superficial at best. You can choose to talk to people in a civilized manner or you can be a sarcastic ass. I thought there was much much too much dialogue, especially in the beginning where a less seasoned gamer is either hooked or driven away by lack of excitement. Visually a very pleasing game. The environments really make for an immersive experience in the fantastical orient.( That has alot of common ties to a book series called Wheel of Time). The character development could have really been done better in my opinion. Also, I got tired of losing battles that I had no business losing due merely to being outnumbered. I really felt like I was playing rock /paper /scissors alot of the time. Block beats normal attack. Normal attack beats Heavy attack. Heavy attack beats block. Solid game. A definite for RPGers. A casual gamer I don't think is going to go for this game. It's immediate eye appeal, and decent fighting system does not make for a prolonged experience to those that do not appreciate a fine story.

Good:

Graphically stunning

Superb storyline w/ multiple choices for dialogue

Deep style pool to draw from. Quick fisted

ass kicking, and slow deliberate dominance

Bad:

Poor character development (aren't we past that by now)

Rock/Paper/Scissors combat

Won't hook any casual gamers.

I give it a 4 out of 5

Yesterday I popped in a few old games because I told myself that they were still fun. Well, I was wrong. Why is it that I have a problem letting games go. I can't seem to trade them in while they are still fairly valuable. I think to myself, "Self, you paid 19.99-49.99 for this game, and now you want to turn around and trade it for a quarter of it's value. Then, these people are going to charge other people twice as much as they gave you for the game." Somehow that seems wrong. I think that renting is going to be the way to go in the near future. With Blockbuster and Gamefly making it easy and fairly cheap to get as many games as you want, and keep them for an indeterminable time, publishers are not going to be allowed to charge the ridiculous prices they currently are. On the flip side however, I fear that if the developers are forced to make games with a smaller budget, the immediate result would be poor quality games. The long term result would be an increase in the gaming market, but would there be a long term. Atari proved that the gaming market will not stand for a throng of underdeveloped games. I look for a dip in the earning of a few of the big boys in the next couple of years. I hope I am right. But I hope it happens a little differently than I am seeing it now.

Not a large entry today, just here to write that I don't get nearly enough time to play my games, nor do I get to try the games I would like to try. This is largely due to circumstances, but not all of it. I am getting ready to play a few precious minutes of SOCOM II. I am sure it will be fun, but not long enough. I can sense it already. That is why I am not going to go on too long today. Here one day soon I might try that Gamefly.com thing. I hear they will rent PSP games. :-)

I know that in the shadow of the upcoming Soul Calibur III a review of Soul Calibur II (PS2)seems a bit hinky. However, this is one of the many games that I play and I must review it if only to hear myself ramble. I have not been a huge fighting game fan the large majority of my gaming life. However with the coming of Tekken 3 my world changed forever. I have never played a game for so many hours, had so much fun, and still walked away from it wholly and utterly sucking. I'm not much of a graceful loser, but no matter how many times I lost , I wanted to play another round. The character design was flawless. There was a perfect mix of familiar and unexpected (although I must say that Voldo still kinda creeps me out). I would have to say that I am drawn to some of the weaker, yet faster characters. My favorites would have to be Talim, Raphael, and Yunsung. Yunsung had power and speed which is why he is one of the easier characters to play with. But it is hard to win as Raphael, let me tell you. Especially when the other person is playing with Necrid. Necrid has to be the most unbalanced character in just about any fighting game. Not that I have played every fighting game, but I have played my fair share. I never played Soul Calibur I, but I can say that the Story Mode was great, and so was the Team Battle. In fact my wife actually played the Team Battle with me. She is a shameless button masher, but I love her anyway. But A 1, best character in the game would have to be (drumroll) Cervantes!!!! Not only is his name totally cool, but his fighting style all the way down to his outfits outstrip anyone else. Oh yes, I even mean IVY. On the downside of things, I would be remiss if I left out the cheesy one liners, and the horrible, horrrrible, HORRIBLE music. After dozens of hours logged on this game, I can just about quote every freakin line that is said by that deep voice at the beginning of every battle. I also found the blocking system to be highly unreliable. Usually when I curse and call the computer a cheating bleepity bleeper, I know deep down that I just really suck at the game. But this time I knew when I was blocking, and when my opponent wasn't. All in all a solid fighting game that continues to grace my television. A solid 4 out of 5.

I will begin my journal by writing about my latest addiction. Lumines. Thankfully my wife allowed me to get my PSP out of layaway ALOT earlier than I thought she would. However, due to her kindness I now have a gripping monkey on my back. It answers to the name of.... Lumines! I would be lying if I said that Lumines was my first choice for my first game. I originally wanted Mercury, but it was not out yet. I had to have a game to try out. So I "settled" for the highly acclaimed tetris style title. Instant hook-age. The gameplay is so simple, yet so innovative that it makes you wonder how this sort of game wasn't released years ago. The way each skin has a unique feel to it amazes me with everyone I unlock. Every move you make, every block you clear adds a new layer to the sound scheme. The vs. CPU aspect of the game is delightfully challenging, but after the 3rd or 4th opponent it gets downright insane. These however are the most rewarding skins to unlock. Challenge mode is the place to hone your skills. It's amazing how the unnatural need to unlock the next skin will drive you to new heights of skill. The puzzle mode is an interesting side game that allows you to move away from the break neck speed of the other modes, but neither the tutorial, nor the instruction book offers much of an explanation for how to actually do it. For example: It took me two days to figure out that the picture of the small cross in the back was not the area that I needed to fill, but a big picture of the block design I had to create. Once I figured that out I tore through the next ten puzzles like undercooked Chinese food tears through.... well anyway. Then I came upon the 4x4 puzzle, and I still haven't figured out what the hell it wants me to do. Overall I would give this game a 5 out of 5. (That's right I am basing my system on 5's) Now, to anyone reading this, I don't want you to think that 5's are easily gotten by me. This game simply deserves it. If you have a PSP and are wondering if this game is worth your money, let me tell you a story. At work, today alone, I let 2 other people play my game ( they were whining, and I'm a softie), within 5 min. both of them were telling how addictive this game is. BUY IT!!! If you have a PSP, this game is a MUST HAVE!!!