Holy be-jeezus, it's been a while since I logged in. I've been visiting the bomb every day as usual, but I simply neglected to actually click "Login" and blog. It's probably because subconsciously I realize I don't get that many clicks, and that's ok -- but when you don't get many responses, your motivation to post everywhere starts to slowly atrophy. Hell, I think it's been just as long since I copy-paste-blogged on my 1up.com account. Of course, the one blog I've been keeping up is hosted by my evil freelancer overlords, aka sworn nemesis of a certain icon, aka oh you get the drill.

I've still been podcasting, and recently we've gotten Pete aka Ryvvn from Gameslaves Radio on as a recurring guest. I smell something brewing in the Gameslaves waters, and I think anyone on Facebook should friend him and try to keep up with him. He's been recording "GSTV" and posting it to his Facebook account, so, yeah. There's something to check out. And behold -- his URL isn't a dead link anymore! Doesn't do much, but it's a purty picture.

In any case, I think the biggest industry news for me since my absence -- how could it not be? -- is EGM's shuttering and the unceremonious guillotine action that came down on half of 1up.com's staff. If you don't know what I'm talking about, and really you should, now you do.

Though entirely different in nature, the fallout from the sale of 1up by Ziff-Davis to Hearst Publications (read: UGO.com) leaves me with a heavy-hearted sensation similar to the one left by a certain event last year which relates to the aforementioned certain icon (for those who are still boycotting That Site, it's a link to Alex Navarro's depressing blog during the fiasco). I put up a rushed editorial on my site and I plan to discuss it with the podcast folks more. Of course, please feel more than free to send in any questions or comments about the sale and what it means to our mailbag -- before 11AM EST this Saturday, January 10th, please. It'll probably be our only news topic for episode 119, for two reasons:

1) It's huge news, and we want to make sure to give it enough time to talk about, because...

b) ...Kellymae, who is a member on that-evil-site (I'm not sure if she's here on Giant Bomb...) will be joining us to talk about the topic she submitted for the contest, that being "Parents' Responsibility Towards Their Gamer Children"... or something that sums up her email to that effect. She propositioned me as both a mother and an avid gamer, and I agreed that she shared a unique perspective on the situation, so prepare to hear the wondrous chef speak on our next episode. We also want to give this topic enough time, especially with a guest in tow.

I'm hoping to talk to Anthony Gallegos, one of the many victimized by the 1up.com layoffs, just to get an idea of what had been going on during that whole fiasco. I'm upset that I never got to talk to Jeff or Alex or anyone else from That Other Site when Kane and Lynch invaded the party, but seeing as I wrote (and still write) for them, I think it'd have been more than a bit dangerous to be talking about that on the air. Plus, as far as I remember it, there were clear non-disclosures in tow.

For those who haven't followed me on That Other Site, my two months have been filled with GMAT cramming and grad-school-app-essay writin'. Hasn't been pretty, and I haven't put up a freelance review since the middle of December. I've still got to take the GMATs again, even having taken them a THIRD time at the tail end of December, because my stupid ass missed my minimum goal by 10 points -- AGAIN. So since then I've been drowning my sorrows in Age of Empires: Mythologies for the Nintendo DS. That shit is quality, son. Also, I finally finished Half-Life 2, am almost done with Episode One, got way deep into the single player of Call of Duty 4 (yeah, I know it's a year old), and got motion sick playing Full Spectrum Warrior (thanks Steam for selling it to me for pennies! Yay holiday sale). I've got impressions on the way for those who are as backlogged as me.

Question for you frequenters. Even as I've been visiting the site every day, I mostly look at the news blogs and the occasional GOTY 2008 video. I haven't been diving deep, and so I have no idea whether or not you can actually download Giant Bomb videos. Are they ONLY streaming videos? Is there a way to download them onto your portable media player, like via iTunes or Zune?