The Year in Review

Wow, I've been pretty lax about updating this the last 6 weeks. Too many games to play. Since all the major releases are out now it seems to be a good enough time to go over the highlights of the year. I won't be doing Game of the Year and what-not, I'll save that for another post. What I really want to do is write about some of the games that have been taking up all my time the last few weeks.

The Simpsons Game (XBox 360): This game is a lot of fun. My wife and I have been playing it co-op and having a blast. As a game, it isn't great but certainly isn't awful, just kind of average. Fortunately the writing and humor save the game in a big way making it an awesome amount of fun for a Simpsons fan.

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PS2): This is a port of a Japanese game from like 2 years ago. It is also the most in-depth wrestling game to hit the US. The Create-A-Wrestler mode is so deep it is scary. I mean, I spent a good couple hours configuring my guys in the Smackdown series (not looks, I'm talking moves) so I have genuine and legitimate fear that this game take over my life if I let it. The gameplay is all timing based, so button mashing won't help you at all. All that having been said, it is the most fun you'll have with a wrestling game since No Mercy on the N64.

Orange Box (XBox 360): I've only played Portal on this, but damn was that game awesome. I wish I'd played some Half Life 2 since I've never played it before, but stupid me let a friend borrow it since I was planning on playing some other games first.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): To be honest, I'm not drooling over this game like so many other people are. That may be due to the fact I haven't spent a lot of time with it, though. I'm glad to finally have another good game for the Wii, which went through some serious dry spells over the last year. But really, if you love Mario 64 (which I do), then you'll love this game.

Rock Band (XBox 360): I got the stand-alone version of this since I wanted to wait for the Stratocaster to be wireless before I got one. I like the song selection on this better than Guitar Hero 3, though GH3 is also fun. But whereas GH3 seemed kind of "off" to me, Rock Band really delivered. I've only done guitar and singing, but I've had a blast with both. The guitar sections seem easier overall than GH2. I can say this because I've cleared like 4 or 5 tiers on expert in Rock Band and only been able to beat one expert song in GH2. I'm still waiting on my slack friends to come over to try some multiplayer since my wife won't touch this one.

Mass Effect (XBox 360): This game and Rock Band have been fighting it out for control of the XBox on any given night. I'm about 8 hours into it and still haven't even scratched the main story line. The combat is fun, much moreso than a standard RPG. I like the conversation system, even if it isn't as amazing as advertised. Pretty much everything in this game is just spot-on awesome. It felt to me from the beginning like I was playing some kind of 80's sci-fi movie. There's even a filter to add film grain you can turn on and off. The music is even perfect, making full use of synthesizers just like the 80's. It sounds like a movie off MST3K, which is a compliment.

You may have noticed I didn't talk about any PS3 games. I did play Fire Pro on the PS3 but I don't think that really counts. Part of the problem is that if a game is multi-console I'm going to get it on the XBox due to achivements. But have no fear, PS3 fans. My Xmas list is chock full of PS3 goodness, including Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Rachet and Clank, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, so I'll be reporting on at least one of those after the 25th. I'm also wanting to try Assassin's Creed, but again, that will probably be on the 360. Also, I've got Lair coming, but I've got pretty low expectations for that. Luckily I didn't pay a dime for it, nor did anyone I know.

An Overload of Options

I never thought I'd say it, but I wish there weren't so many video games coming out. The only saving grace is that there is still nothing of note coming up for the PS3, so I'm safe on that front. But look at this list of games I'll be too weak to resist buying.

Phoenix Wright 3 - 10/23 - Nintendo DS
Guitar Hero 3 - 10/28 - XBox 360
The Simpsons Game - 10/30 - XBox 360
Super Mario Galaxy - 11/12 - Nintendo Wii
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - 11/13 - PS2
Smackdown vs Raw 2008 - 11/13 - XBox 360
Mass Effect - 11/20 - XBox 360
Rock Band - 11/23 - XBox 360

And that's just through November! Yes, I'm well aware that some of those games will also be out for the PS3, but unless there's a damn fine reason for getting the PS3 version, like extra levels or something, I'll get the XBox 360 version. Why? Because I'm a bit of an achievements whore. Plus, my friends all have 360s, so I can do multiplayer with them. Only 2 of my friends have PS3s, and of those two, one has a 360 also.

The worst part isn't even how my wallet is getting raped without any lube. No, the worst part is how I don't have enough hours in the day to play this. I suppose my weekends will be opening up in November, which is nice, but between these games, the games I already own and haven't played enough of (Hi, Halo 3!) and the few tv shows I watch, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Adding insult to injury, I'm picking up Beautiful Katamari today and I'm going to try to have the strength not to grab Orange Box at the same time. The only good news is that Katamari won't suck up too much time since I can grab it and play for a short time. I'm also really glad now that Heavenly Sword is only like 5 hours long. I may actually beat it! Of course, I have to actually start it first.

The only other thing of note to happen is that the wife and I got Eternal Sonata a couple weeks ago and started to play it the other night. Well, to be truthful, we started to watch all the damn cinematics at the beginning of the game. It took like 20 minutes before I was actually playing anything. Hopefully I'll be able to add a second character to my party pretty quickly, since we want to play the game co-op. I haven't really gotten far in the game since our work schedules have conflicted since we decided to play it. I'm not really a big JRPG fan, that's my wife's job (though she insists she doesn't like them, she really does) but I play them on occassion. Because of this passing familiarity with JRPGs I can't be sure if Eternal Sonata is more emo than the average JRPG or if it is just way, way emo. All I know is there's a whole lot of whiny "woe is me" type dialog in the beginning movie. Maybe its just me getting older, but damn is it annoying.

Secret Shame - My Massive Backlog

Time for another confession. I've mentioned my gaming ADHD, so it should come as no surprise that I've got a massive, massive backlog. I'm talking about a backlog so massive I honestly don't see any way that it will ever be beaten down. At this point I'm probably better off just admitting that I'll never actually play the games and be done with it. I sometimes like to think that I'm a collector of video games and that makes my problem better. I know that's not really true, but I it doesn help the pain just a little

Here's just a partial list of the games I have that I want to actually beat. They're not listed by system or any particular order.

• Halo 2 - Never actually beaten the single play campaign. Started running through it in co-op mode, but didn't finish it befored I moved.
• Paper Mario 2: The 1000 Year Door
• Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
• Metal Gear Solid 2
• Metal Gear Solid 3
• Eternal Darkness
• Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
• Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Viva Pinata
• God of War
• Kingdom Hearts
• Kingdom Hearts 2
• Guitar Hero 2 (Need to beat Expert mode)
• Crackdown
• Just Cause
• GTA: SA
• Pokemon Diamond
• Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations

And these are just the games that are at the top of the backlog. I've still got tons more games that I haven't beaten. Hell, in same cases I haven't even played them. And there's still BioShock to finish up. Then Halo 3 comes out, Mass Effect, Metroid Prime 3, and the list just goes on and on.

Console Gaming vs PC Gaming

I realized today just how little I used my PC for gaming anymore. I mean, I obviously have to use it for MMORPGs, but beyond that, the last thing I think I played on it was Oblivion. And I honestly can't recall the last upgrade I did. Probably switching up to a Radeon 9800 Pro a couple years ago. In a shocking turn of events, to me at least, I do way more of my video gaming on a console.

To put things in perspective, I've been playing console games since I got an Atari 2600 in 1980. Since then I've had a NES, Super Nintendo, Genesis, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, XBox, Gamecube, PlayStation 2, XBox 360, and a Wii. That's not even counting the handhelds I've owned.

I've also been playing games on a computer for a long time. I started with an Apple IIc back in the mid 80s, got a Commodore 128 just to play games on, and have had some form of PC since my first 386.

During all that time, the best games always came out on the computer. The console games were fun, but lacked the depth and scope of a computer game, for obvious reasons. Of course, there were exceptions, like how fighting games and platformers were always better on the console (except the original Prince of Persia), but the best games were on the PC. But now, consoles are pretty much little computers optimized for gaming. And the depth of PC games is no longer an issue with consoles.

Try Oblivion on the PC and then on the XBox 360 or even Playstation 3. Other than the fact that you can't download mods on a console, the games play the same. In fact, you could make a case for them playing better on a console. You need a pretty beefy PC to make Oblivion look great (not good, but great) and have to download several mods to optimize the experience for the PC. With the console, just put the CD in the tray and you're set.

Which brings me to the fact that I don't have to worry about drivers or patches for my console. Well, I guess there are patches, but those are auto-downloaded and have yet to cause more problems than they solve. Can't always say that for the PC.

Plus, I never have to upgrade my console. Sure, I may have to buy a new system every 4-5 years, but even still that's just the cost of a high-end video card for my PC.

The saddest thing to me, at least from a nostalgic point of view, is that I don't see the PC regaining its crown as king of gaming. The bright side is that the games are stellar all around, no matter the platform. The king is dead, long live the king.

What I Should Have Been Playing This Week

The weekend if finally here, so I'm looking at logging some actual time into some games. During the week, I've just been too busy after work to actually play anything except for a bit of Guitar Hero II and the Beautiful Katamari demo.


Guitar Hero II - Man alive, this game is way better than I would have guessed. I didn't play either Guitar Hero on the PlayStation 2, but finally broke down and bought the XBox 360 version a few weeks ago. Since then, it has been just about the only thing I've played, except for a little bit of Pokemon before bed. This game is an absolute blast, the music is great and the time flies when you're rocking out. Also, "Woman" on hard difficulty can go screw itself. Seriously.


Beautiful Katamari - I've played the PlayStation 2 versions and loved them, so I was pretty excited when this was announced. When I found out the demo was ready to download, I couldn't wait to try it out. The HD graphics look fantastic and the gameplay is as good as ever. The demo is really short, which is unfortunate, but this game is a definate buy for me. People have complained about the $40 price tag, but that seems completely fair to me. Wasn't We Heart Katamari eitehr $30 or $40?


Twilight Princess - So, this game had the misfortune of being purchased as I was trying to finally beat Oblivion (I'm still a couple quests from finishing it). I have't got very far into the game, shortly after meeting Zelda for the first time, if memory serves. I really want to go back and make the time to play this some more, because my Wii is seriously being underappreciated at the moment.


Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - Kind of a random choice, but I started this game about a year ago, and quickly put it aside for something else. Gaming ADD, remember? I've got all three MGS games, but haven't beat a single one. I keep planning to knuckle down and bust through them (as much as you can bust through an MSG at any rate), but haven't made myself do it yet.


Lord of the Rings Online - So, I quit World of Warcraft to play this one. I still stand by that choice. Haven't had time to play in nearly a month at this point, though. I do really like the quest system and how you level largely from quest exp. The graphics look nice, the world is plenty detailed, but I just don't have the time to enjoy it. It also doesn't help that the friends I started playing with became totally lame and dropped out, too.


The Sims 2 - I can be a kind god or an angry god. I'm just kidding, I'm always an angry god.

The Game I Really Want To Play

There was an interesting thread on the forums at Penny Arcade about what game you wanted to play that would probably never be made. That question was so easy, I didn't even have to think about it. I want to play a Zorro game on the Wii.

If you think about it, Zorro is the perfect franchise for the Wii. Tell me it wouldn't be awesome to play a game controlling a character that uses a whip, is a master swordsman, and rides a horse. Alright, maybe the horse part isn't a big deal, but there's no way the rest of the game wouldn't be the best thing since sliced toast.

So yeah, that's what I want, a Zorro game on the Wii. I don't care what it takes, someone just needs to make this happen. Alas, it will never happen. Mere mortals like us are not ready for such pure, unadulterated joy.

Start at the beginning

I suppose the first question many people will have about this is what is the point exactly? That's a fair question to be sure, but to answer it, I need to go back to before the beginning, which just made the title of the post a complete lie.

The simple answer is that I'm a consumer whore. I love new gadgets, though I've been known to quickly get bored of them and move on to something new. But if that were the sole reason, I'd just go out and buy the damn thing already.

So, another part of the answer is that I already own an XBox 360 and a Wii, so if I just went out and bought the PS3, my wife would, in all probability, kill me. And most likely she'd do it slowly.

But, I reasoned, if I bought it with money that otherwise wouldn't exist she wouldn't care. As it turns out, that line of thought was right on the money. I'll leave it up to you to decide if the pun was intended. In fact, when I mentioned the idea to my wife, she laughed in my face. I was not phased, being used to this sort of reaction.

I've got a lot of free time, most of which is spent aimlessly surfing the internet. Pretty often, I'll see websites offering money for various things. Surely, these sites aren't for real? But maybe they are, and it could be fun finding out what's real and what's not. And don't call me Shirley.

So that's how I started my quest. I will purchase a PS3 using only money earned online. Ebay doesn't count. I'll document the sites and methods I'm using and let you know what works and what doesn't. More importantly, I'll let you know who pays and who doesn't. Most importantly, I'll let you know how much they pay. And maybe I'll get some time to talk about video games, too.