.....................

.................

Who would have thought I'd go from zero next gen consoles to owning all three within the span of around four months? Craziness, I tell you! Finally found a Jasper system - opted for the Arcade over the Pro since I was having a heck of a time finding a Pro, and during that hunt, I decided that backwards compatibility really wasn't worth the extra $100. No online yet (I reserved my online tag, Andaley, a long time ago however, so feel free to add me and I'll get to you when I can), as I didn't buy the adapter - have the funds for it in Gamestop credit (which is how I bought the console in the first place), but I am hoping to perhaps find a better deal somewhere else.

It's a cluster of wires right now - that's NOT how everything is going to look in the end (ie: the 360's not staying on the floor...at least, not if I can help it - and why there's a random pile of PS1 titles sitting there is beyond me), but I wanted to give you an idea of the mayhem I'm dealing with. But really, this only covers the current gen situation - you should see where the NES, SNES, Dreamcast, etc. are... But that's for another time.

Even though I'm SUPER stoked about finally getting a 360, when thinking about it further, this probably wasn't the best time. Not in terms of money, but in terms of my already massive backlog of review games. I've received... I'd say around ten games in the past week, so adding in my collection of 360 games (that I had purchased on clearance, etc. knowing one day I'd own a system) only makes things worse. At least those don't have to be reviewed... Gotta see the silver lining.

..................

...Creative title, I know. But it's only 9AM here, and I've already been up for over three hours (various reasons), so sue me. :-P

So yes, the PS3. I've been giving the thing quite the workout. Have tried out a little bit of everything, in terms of what the PS3 has to offer: created a character in Home and won a few games of pool, downloaded some themes (my current them is Flower), played about a dozen hours of Need for Speed: Undercover (even though the game is of questionable quality), and downloaded both Zuma (I have 8 out of 10 trophies) and Flower (I have 12 out of 14 trophies) from the Playstation Store (reviews for all three games can be found at the end of this blog). Flower in particular deserves every bit of praise that it has received, and will probably make it onto my Top Ten list at the end of the year (if I actually decide to do one this year), regardless of the fact that we haven't even made it out of winter. I've also played a bit of Vampire Rain: Altered Species, which is like MGS with vampires, only nowhere near as good.

I also downloaded a bunch of demos, including Bioshock and Mirror's Edge. While I am willing to play any game once, no matter what others may say about it, any game with a first person perspective normally ranks somewhere VERY low on my list of "wants." Imagine my surprise then, when I made my way through the Bioshock demo and had the time of my life. Furthermore, I had just as much fun with the Mirror's Edge demo.

Other than the PS3, I've been busy working on my backlog of games for the Wii and DS, including Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, which, in my very humble opinion, is so bizarre and absurd that it totally works.

Got a PS3

But first, bullets! HUZZAH!

• Have finished 23 songs on Hard in GH3. Five starred a couple of them, but those were definitely flukes. Hit a brick wall with stuff like "Rock You Like A Hurricane," so have put that game on the back burner until I feel like practicing that and a couple other songs a few more times (I'm not a fan of that much repetition).
• Played through Coraline on the Wii in one afternoon. Please avoid this game at all costs - even if you were a fan of the book, movie or both, the game is practically broken. It is a movie game, after all, so I'm not expecting it to be on anyone's "Must Play" list, but if you've got kids, nieces, nephews, etc. - You've been warned.
• Am looking forward to getting Dead Rising: Chop Til' You Drop and House of the Dead: Overkill on the Wii. I know people have been rolling their eyes at the former for a while, but I never played the original, so I'll take any zombie killing adventure I can get at this point. Hopefully, I'll have a 360 by the time the second game comes out. Then there's that Bikini Zombie Slayers game that I'm also supposedly getting... a bit of a head-scratcher that one. But at least these three will end my streak of "kiddie" games on the Wii, which will be a nice change of pace.

But yes - the blog title. Today's my birthday and I feel nasty (figures), plus it's pouring cats and dogs outside (and will be all day). I'm going to play bingo with a couple of friends tonight (you play free on your birthday), so hopefully the day will end better than it has begun, with me winning anywhere from $50 to $1000 (the ending "blackout" bingo has the highest prize). Either way, I asked for nothing for my birthday other than money, so today should get me a bit closer to that 360 and/or Zune..but we'll see. I'll be sure to let you all know how it turns out...

.............

.................

In keeping with my last blog's theme of GH3, I thought I'd start with a bit of an update on that front. So much for my never wanting to attempt the "Hard" difficulty, as I decided I would take the advice so many of you gave and put it (or try to put it) to good use. I've made my way through three of the four songs on the first set, even getting a four star review on "Slow Ride," which I didn't think was a bad deal, considering the panicking that insued as I first started said song. I am having more trouble on "Talk Dirty to Me" however, and failed it my first time through... But, as many of you said, practice makes perfect, and I'm sure it'll all come to me in time.

In between bouts of frustration and pinky finger pain with GH3, I finally jumped into Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, which I have had since Christmas, but for various reasons never started. After spending quite a large chunk of time with the GBA original (which I borrowed from a friend and unfortuantely never finished), I must say that the switch to 3D battles is a great one. That being said, I'm on the fourth floor of Castle Oblivion right now, which is Wonderland, if you follow the pre-set order of floors.

Instead of simply button mashing my way through the game as I did with the original, I am now taking my time, clearing out each and every room for experience points before I even go through the "Key of Beginnings" door (or whatever the first cutscene door is called), and using as much strategy as possible in boss battles, making them (not surprisingly) a lot easier than I remember.

My one complaint comes not from the game itself, but with the TV I play it on, in that it is at least 10 years old and is understandaby NOT a flat screen, meaning that a lot of the card information (for instance, when trying to determine what sort of room you want to create with your various cards) is covered by the "curve" of the TV itself. But, this curvature issue plagues not only video games, but everything from the ESPN ticker on the bottom of the screen, to the NASCAR race standings that scroll along the top, so I guess I should be used to it now.

In other gaming news, I received Big Bang Mini yesterday (you can play a demo if you have a Wii or access to a DS Download Station), so both of the aforementioned games will have to be put on the backburner for a while. I also should be receiving the Max Payne DVD any day to review as well. Hopefully I'll enjoy it more than everyone else I've talked to...