knowledge, wisdom, understanding...

I had an interesting week to say the least.

 

Without going into to much detail, I got into a "situation" earlier this week and while it didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would, it still turned out bad. 

 

ONe thing that Anna taught me was to never trust anyone, and that includes myself to a certain degree.  It was a bad idea for me to listen to myself in the since that I havent' taken my medication for awhile and for the lack of a better word "relapsed".  Oh well, things happen and i'm eager to move on and put this behind me.  As embarassing as the whole mess was, i'll learn from it (and I have) and i'll move on.

 

Now on to the games.

 

For the first time ever, i'm interested in a GTA game.  This offcourse being GTAIV.  I"m picking it up tonight at midnight and i'll be leaving my impressions shortly after.  Other than that i've wrapped up Dark Sector and Viking Battle for Asgard and i'll be giving impressions of that soon as well.

 

Until then, happy gaming.

I have a lOT of gaming stuff to cover, which i'll do tommorrow because it's late, i'm tired, and more importantly i'm playing Halo3

Gears of War 2 looks freakin amazing, better than any game i've ever seen.

 

FYI, for those of you asking about  Cortana, don't.

 

I"ll post more later.

Having the dubious honor of being if not the first, one of the first "next-gen" games shown, Dark Sector is a really good game.

 

D3 has been sitting on this one for a long time.  Innitially, the game was supposed to have a real sci-fi spacey edge to it, and for the most part, I was intrigued.  Admittedly, once the game had under went a massive shift from it's intiial concept I like many other gamers no doubt, had given up on the game ever coming out and was shocked when not only did the realese the game,...

 

But it's good.

 

The best way to describe DS would be to call it a mix between Gears of War and Resident Evil IV.  Gameplay is centered around one central (and awesome) weapon called a glave. 

 

The Glave looks like the fantasy ninja star thingy from the 80's movie, Krull.  Simply tossing the bladed boomarang like weapon at an opponent wreaks awesome rewards but it's the cool things you learn to do with it that makes it stand out and in turn effects the overall gameplay itself.

 

For example, you can throw the glave into fire, and it will take on the poperties of said fire allowing you burn things etc, and open new avenues previosly unavailable to you for game progression.  The levels themselves are laid out kinda like a puzzle that alllows you to find your own way thru yet being linear enough to keep you moving at a steady pace.  Sometimes a combination of elements will be required to progress thru said stage and my only problem so far is that it sometimes is hard to find ones way.

 

On a visual level, this game looks as good as Gears and in some spots alot better.  You would be mistaken to think that the engine is Unreal Engine, albeit its key to note that some of those who worked on the game are former Epic guys (Digital Extreme) and it shows.  It's not the art that wills impress you as it more or less, standard faire but from a technical standpoint, it's amazing.

 

More to come once I finish the game.

Thanks to a conversation i've had recently, i've decided to change a few things.

 

First and foremost i've decided to not take any crap from people anymore, for to long i've allowed myself to be a doormat, and and i'm donew with it.  Certain people and situations will never change, no matter how you put it, your damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

In this context, I choose to be damned.

 

I'm the type of person that wears their heart on their sleeve, it has become a target to some and to that I also so, no more.  Deep down i'm a good person and I don't deserve to be treated the way i've allowed people to treat me.  It's time I look after myself for a change and i'm looking forward to it.

 

WIth that out of the way, lets get on to what really matters...

 

Gaming!

 

I've been playing ALOT of different stuff lately.  Halo3 is still my favorite time burner.  Weither it's the excellent online or the superb single player, Halo3 continues the sereis greatness will thrills for everyone.

 

Lately I've gotten into Virtua Fighter 5 again, and i'm loving it.  I just wish they had a kenpo practioner in the game.  It's very well balanced and marks the pinacle of hand to hand fighting games in 3D.

 

Lost Odyssey continues to amaze me and Army of 2 lets me get my terrorist ass kickin itches scratched.  Condemned to is an execellent sequal to an allready great game adn PGR4 makes me think "Why did I wait so long to play this game?".  As you can tell its' a great time to be a gamer.

 

Viking: Battle for Asgard releases soon as does Dark Sector, so look for my opinion on those hot titles soon.  I"ve been debating on weirther or not start giving reviews for gamse i'm playing and soon i'll decide if I will or not.

 

IN conclussion, i'm reallyl going to try hard to keep my blog up to date.  I've had to erase a few entries, but that is a topic for another day.  Until then, happy gaming, be safe and don't take shit from anybody.

like many things in life, games (despite some opinions) can inspire emotion, thus becoming a work of art.

 

I've been a gamer my whole life and have seen games advance in ways unimaginable.  Despite genre, games inspire emotion.  Albeit, most of the time it's purely visceral, the thrill of the hunt so to speak, but every now and then a game comes along that touches another side of us...

 

and dare make us cry?....

 

Final Fantasy creator Hironubu Sakuguchi has just released an excellent JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game) for the Xbox360.  While some my scorn it or reviewers "underscore" it, I think it's arguable that it's one of his finest works yet. 

 

For me, one of his best works was Final Fantasy 8, a game hated by most but loved by a select few, this game follows in it's footsteps of trying to create an adult storyline, complete with character tention, love and other various emotions.  Lost Odyssey casts players in the role of Kaim, an immortal who has lost his memory of his life that has spanned 1000 years and as the game progresses regains said memories.

 

This isnt' intended as a review, and it won't be, rather, the point of this blog is how pleased I am to see the medium  I enjoy so much coming into it's own.  Much like film, games have the ability to inspire, dream, remember and dare I say, give hope in some way.

 

We all have memories we wish we could lock away, never to be seen again.  Regardless of why, we as humans have a tendancy to "run" from our pasts.  But, much like the plaque at Splash MOuntain at DIsneyworld reads right before the big drop, "You can't run from trouble, aint no place that far".  THis of course doesn't mean that ones past is necessarily trouble, rather, I think it points to a greater point, you can never forget.

 

Walking in a park, one might hear the song of a passing jogger, happily jogging along lifes road in an effort to stay in shape.  To them the song is nothing more than a song, encouragement if you will.  But to the one who hears it outside of the joggers mind it can jar memories of a love once lost....

 

A freind who has passed...

 

A bully in class...

 

An abusive spouse...

 

Any number of emotions can be felt, depending upon th person it becomes a catalyst.  Weither it be music, a flower, a color, a certain smell, we all have emotional triggers that bind us to our pasts.  THis game gets that basick human attribute and performs it flawlessly.

 

Several times thus far into the game, i've caught myself remembering, maybe even wiping a tear or two away from my young eyes.  The main character, Kaim, is someone we can all relate to, even though he is immortal, the long life hes lived has shown to be one that has traversed the field of humanity to and fro and left him void, or seemingly so, of emotion.  Disenchanted with life, he wonders aimlessly, only knowing that he can't die.

 

THis past year has seen a rather large amount of emtionally chargred games, and for that i'm greatful.  However, this game stands out to me for some reason.  Maybe, in some ways, I feal as though I understand Kaim and his ordeals as they are revealed.  Certainly I understand the disenchantment of life.  From fair weather friends who plot against you, to loves that are lost, it's all to familiar how you become detached from this world in so many ways.  Yet, much like Kaim has recently found out during my play time thsu far, there is allways that reason(s) to stay in the game, such is the way of life.  It is when we run out of reasons, or don't see them, refuse to see them, that we lose hope and cash in our chips.

 

In conclussion, if you have a 360, get this game and experience it, don't play it.  As I try and do with all games I play, try and get lost in whatever the game is doing, what it's trying to say to you the gamer.  Weither it be blasting alien hordes, slaying demons or in the case of Kaim searching for answers, enjoy it, relish the experience.  You might be surprised at how much fun you might actually have....

 

until next time.

I have waited for so long to play Halo 3 and the time is almost here.

 

To me, Halo isn't a game, it's an experience.  You can experience how you please at that, for example if you just want to play the game, you can it's an excellent game who's story pushes the plot along at actually gets you into it.  This is important for the simple fact that most FPS's don't do that at all.  If your like me, you want to explore the Halo universe moreso and you can through vairous books, graphic novels action figures comics etc., that aren't hastily or badly done but rather, they stay true to the Halo mythos created by a group of some of the most talented gifted artists in the gaming industry today and certainly the world.  Most would consider games nothing more than the assumed sum of  parts and dismiss them as games only. 

 

 

Agreed, not all frankly speaking, most games don't do what Halo has done and just like there is "bad" art there are bad games.  Halo is art.  There are a myriad of other games I would also consider "good" art but none like this.  After 23 years of avid hardcore gaming I must say Halo holds a special place in my heart.

 

I will return to finish this entry once I have finished Halo3 and will go much deeper into my thoughts on the series as a whole.  Until then, good gaming to you and i'll see you after I finish the fight.