During my winter break off from university, I had something of a short-sighted insight, and decided it would be a good idea to bring my 360 back with me, games and all. It was hard being away from gaming during the fall semeser, and the 360 seemed a better option than lugging my PC across the country. I figured it would at least satiate me during that period before Friday night begins but after Friday morning classes end at the very least.

Fortunately, I've pretty responsible so far, and haven't played anything while work/midterms/homework stands in the way. Unlike some friends I know, I haven't ditched classes or gone to bed late--at least not past "college late," which around here is about 3 am-ish.

Sadly, though, the network here does not allow for wireless 360 internet connectivity, and while I've heard there's various workarounds and such, I really don't have the energy. I've never been a huge online gamer anyway, preferring to enjoy the game at my own pace in a single-player environment.

This left me in a bit of a quandary as I looked through my game collection, though, as suddenly a lot of the games I had seemed a lot less appealing without the internet portion available. I looked for a good, single-player game in which I could sink a lot of time, and stumbled across my old copy of Mass Effect. It took me a while to really sit down and play the game, mostly because I was worried that the game would pale in comparison to the second and third games, the latter of which I had beaten the prior summer. I figured I knew the ending of the series anyway, so why play what is nominally the worst quality game? But, I yielded, mostly due in part to a desire to see the trilogy through in a shorter span than I had waiting for each game to release.

So, I popped it in, and suddenly became engrossed. I had forgotten just how well the first game draws you into its lore. It probably helps that I'm pretty big into sci-fi, but the series opening rivals that of Star Wars in terms of how easily you become invested in Shepard's plight. Yes, the character customization is a bit dumb in hindsight--Udina and Anderson immediately discuss whichever "background" you pick for Shepard at the game's opening--but I remember thinking that that was really cool back when back-story for your character was game-defined.

Besides an accessible universe, Mass Effect also features the most exploration, the reduction of which in successive games I feel was a mistake. This Citadel is the most explorable one of the series, and you're able to stroll from one area to another if you so like. As someone who's a huge fan of futuristic city-scapes on DeviantArt, I found this to be just so cool. You saw the arms of the Citadel stretching off into the distance, and saw futuristic lakes and shrubbery dotted throughout the Presidium. Sure, by the second or third visit to the Citadel I began to use the Rapid Transit (probably like everyone else), but the fact that you had this explorable hub world is just awesome to me. If my memory serves me correct, the following games only allowed travel to certain areas, without the in-between filler.

This notion of explorability manifests itself throughout other parts of the game as well. You can travel anywhere throughout the galaxy, land on most planets, and drive your Mako--the verticality of which I had forgotten--to find resources and complete side missions. Sure, all the side missions were the same in environment and layout, and sure, the Mako sections were a bit unbearable, but the fact that there was this sense of a wide universe just floored me in my original playthrough. I'm glad the side missions improved throughout the series, but I think this came at a loss of explorability. Didn't they also get rid of the equipment customization? If they did, that was a mistake too.

I've started Mass Effect 2, and though I like it, and remember liking it, I don't think it has the grandeur of the first game. The introduction of the clip system and the streamlining of other features sort-of dumbed down what was, to me, a flawed but customizable system. The first game was undoubtedly clunky, but I think this clunkiness was removed without care as to the nature of what the Mass Effect series seemed to be.

I'll try to remember to write something on the second game when I finish it. Till then, thanks for reading!

During my winter break off from university, I had something of a short-sighted insight, and decided it would be a good idea to bring my 360 back with me, games and all. It was hard being away from gaming during the fall semeser, and the 360 seemed a better option than lugging my PC across the country. I figured it would at least satiate me during that period before Friday night begins but after Friday morning classes end at the very least.

Fortunately, I've pretty responsible so far, and haven't played anything while work/midterms/homework stands in the way. Unlike some friends I know, I haven't ditched classes or gone to bed late--at least not past "college late," which around here is about 3 am-ish.

Sadly, though, the network here does not allow for wireless 360 internet connectivity, and while I've heard there's various workarounds and such, I really don't have the energy. I've never been a huge online gamer anyway, preferring to enjoy the game at my own pace in a single-player environment.

This left me in a bit of a quandary as I looked through my game collection, though, as suddenly a lot of the games I had seemed a lot less appealing without the internet portion available. I looked for a good, single-player game in which I could sink a lot of time, and stumbled across my old copy of Mass Effect. It took me a while to really sit down and play the game, mostly because I was worried that the game would pale in comparison to the second and third games, the latter of which I had beaten the prior summer. I figured I knew the ending of the series anyway, so why play what is nominally the worst quality game? But, I yielded, mostly due in part to a desire to see the trilogy through in a shorter span than I had waiting for each game to release.

So, I popped it in, and suddenly became engrossed. I had forgotten just how well the first game draws you into its lore. It probably helps that I'm pretty big into sci-fi, but the series opening rivals that of Star Wars in terms of how easily you become invested in Shepard's plight. Yes, the character customization is a bit dumb in hindsight--Udina and Anderson immediately discuss whichever "background" you pick for Shepard at the game's opening--but I remember thinking that that was really cool back when back-story for your character was game-defined.

Besides an accessible universe, Mass Effect also features the most exploration, the reduction of which in successive games I feel was a mistake. This Citadel is the most explorable one of the series, and you're able to stroll from one area to another if you so like. As someone who's a huge fan of futuristic city-scapes on DeviantArt, I found this to be just so cool. You saw the arms of the Citadel stretching off into the distance, and saw futuristic lakes and shrubbery dotted throughout the Presidium. Sure, by the second or third visit to the Citadel I began to use the Rapid Transit (probably like everyone else), but the fact that you had this explorable hub world is just awesome to me. If my memory serves me correct, the following games only allowed travel to certain areas, without the in-between filler.

This notion of explorability manifests itself throughout other parts of the game as well. You can travel anywhere throughout the galaxy, land on most planets, and drive your Mako--the verticality of which I had forgotten--to find resources and complete side missions. Sure, all the side missions were the same in environment and layout, and sure, the Mako sections were a bit unbearable, but the fact that there was this sense of a wide universe just floored me in my original playthrough. I'm glad the side missions improved throughout the series, but I think this came at a loss of explorability. Didn't they also get rid of the equipment customization? If they did, that was a mistake too.

I've started Mass Effect 2, and though I like it, and remember liking it, I don't think it has the grandeur of the first game. The introduction of the clip system and the streamlining of other features sort-of dumbed down what was, to me, a flawed but customizable system. The first game was undoubtedly clunky, but I think this clunkiness was removed without care as to the nature of what the Mass Effect series seemed to be.

I'll try to remember to write something on the second game when I finish it. Till then, thanks for reading!

Though I've never really understood why Animal Crossing exists--must be a Japanese thing--I've always enjoyed playing the games. I spent a bit too much time than I'd like to admit on the original Gamecube version, and though I never owned the DS versions, I always had a strange fascination with the series. The hardest thing for me was getting to the game every day or so, because the game relies heavily on daily involvement. For those that don't know, the series is something of a recreation/life simulator, similar to the Sims in that you manage your furniture, but dissimilar to that series in that the main mechanics are based around interacting with your town via fishing, selling, buying, hunting for bugs, etc.

If this all sounds somewhat boring, there's good reason for it--the game's fun is derived not from the enjoyment of the activities themselves, but of the joy in building a miniature and somewhat ridiculous community for yourself within the game. With New Leaf, I'm able to spend a bit more time with the game than I could with the original, if only because the portability of the game affords it convenience of play. The thing about the game is--and others have said this--everything interesting happens "tomorrow". Your house expansion won't be finished until tomorrow. The fun community event won't happen until tomorrow. Plus, there's always something new happening