With about a half hour to go in the movie I see someone approaching me in the theater out of the corner of my eye. It turns out it's a friend of mine that my wife called up to come find me. My wife had been doing a load of laundry while I was away and later noticed water dripping from the ceiling (our laundry room is on the third floor). Our washing machine Sh** the bed and dumped a few gallons of water out into the hallway, which traveled through the floors and left large puddles on all three floors of our house. We cleaned it up as best we could with towels and a shop vac, but needed to pull up the carpet and pads because they were soaked.

My wife called the insurance company and they hooked us up with a buisness that specializes in water damage. They are in the process of drying the entire house, and will paint the cielings, re-lay the carpet, and steam clean it for us. So by the middle of next week the house should be back in order. But for the time being it sounds like a wind tunnel in our house due to all of the high pressure fans that are blowing at the walls to try to dry them.

The good news is that the movie theater is going to let me come back and watch the movie again for free.

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Be safe and don't drink too much.

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We have a baby swing hanging from the porch in our back yard and when I swing him on it I always say 'Weeee'. Now my son walks around the house all day going Wii . . . . Wii . . . Wii. Even at home I'm bombarded by Nintendo's crude marketing ploys.

Also, a guy that my wife works with bought his kids a Wii and he was telling my wife, the non gamer, that we should get one. My wife thinks that it would be great and now she wants one. Not sure if she is serious or not.

And in releated news, my wife thinks I'm depressed or have social anxiety.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_he_me/video_game_addiction

I just told her I think she has an addiction to her Blackberry. That ended that discussion!!

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It will be a long 4 months with not much on the release calendar to tide us over. There are 4 big RPG's coming out toward the end of the summer and early fall, but none have firm released dates.With E3right around the cornerthere shouldbe some good announcements.

Forza 2 will be my go to game for most of the summer.Then there is always searching for the last few orbs in Crackdown or catching up on my backlog. Also, Pac Man CE has me really intrigued dispite the complaints that the 360 D pad doesn't get the job done.

Summers are always long, hopefully I'll have something to keep me occupied.

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So how does it work?  Well everyone knows what Bejeweled is.  Well the game is a take on Bejeweled, except you are going up against an enemy that is trying to kill you.  The gameplay involves switching two objects that are next too each other on a grid to try to make matches of 3 or more identical objects.  The objects are 4 different colored orbs that correspond to magic, skulls that deal direct damage to your opponent, coins that can be spent in town, and stars that give you experience that allow you to level up (just like an RPG).  You and your opponent take turns flipping objects on the puzzle board to try to make matches.  When you make a match of three or more objects, you get the effect of those objects.  For instance if you flip a blue orb to cause three blue orbs to sit in a row, you get +3 to your blue magic.  If you get 3 skulls in a row, you deal damage to your opponent, etc.  You continue to take turns until one of you reduce the others hit points to zero. 

But you also have spells that can be used against your opponent.  The spells require a certain number of several types of orbs.  For instance, one spell may require 5 red orbs, and 6 green orbs.  If it is your turn and you have collected enough orbs, then you can cast the spell against your opponent.  Some spells cause damage, while others have different effects like giving you every experience star on the grid, or giving you an extra turn, or causing you to deal extra damage when you get skulls.  Your opponent will also have spells that they can use against you.

Another thing to know about the gameplay is that if you get 4 or more objects in a row, you get to go again.  This is very valuable as you can continue to rack up magic orbs, experience, coins, or deal damage to your opponent while they must sit and watch.  It can get frustrating when your opponent continues to get 4 in a row and skips your turn repeatedly, but I've found that this is really the key to victory against most enemies, to just not let them have a chance to deal you damage or cast a spell.

So how does the rest of the game work?  You start off in a town and can talk to people to get quests.  Most quests involve going a slaying a monster, or escorting someone to another town.  All quests ultimately involving getting into combat at some point which leads you back to the puzzle part of the game.  But while in town you can buy equipment, listen to rumors, and add to your stronghold if you have the right amount of money. 

Eventually you'll be able to get mounts, companions, research new spells, learn the spells of your enemy, forge new weapons, and a bunch of other stuff.  Like I said it still breaks down to being another take on the puzzle genre, but I think it's a pretty innovative take on a genre that I don't normally get into.  Very fun game.

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The first game I got into I was matched up with a bunch of guys that were all playing the game for the first time, which was cool.  We ended talking about the map and the graphics more than we were serious about winning the match.

High ground is my favorite map of the three.  It has a lot of different areas that add variety to the map.  There are interior levels, caves, tunnels, vehicles and just about every weapon available.  It is set up as a perfect one-flag CTF map, with good defense points and backdoors into the complex.  The map has a lot of really cool details and is probably the most visually stunning map.

Snowbound takes a little longer to get used to because of all the ridges and tunnels all over the map.  There are two bases that are really close together and they both have force-fields on the doors that allow Spartans through, but not thrown grenades or bullets.  This map looks to be a really cool team-slayer map, or possibly any of the no team modes.

Valhalla is really big.  I may even say too big.  In the game I played on it, it was 4v4 and it took a really long time to find a target.  Also, the weapons are really spread out and difficult to get too quickly.  This would make a really nice CTF map with 8v8 if that many players were allowed.  Also, Banshees would make this map really fun.  It is rather stunning with the waterfall and the high walls and reminds you a lot of Blood Gulch and Coagulation.

The new weapons are all really fun, but some take a little getting used to.  The Spartan laser is really powerful when you land it, but it works more as a sniper rifle and is useless in closer-range combat.  A good Spartan will just keep moving and you will never get a shot off with it.  The new brute gun is great dual-wielded up close, but loses its effectiveness at farther ranges.

The two vehicle weapons that are wieldable are interesting.  They are really powerful, but you are slower than dirt when you have them, and their ammo is limited once you remove them from their perches.

I haven't tried out the vid feature of the game yet, but it looks to be really fleshed out in the final game, even if it is in a much more basic level at this point.

I can't wait to play more of the game tonight, and the rest of the beta.  Which btw, has been extended for 4 days because of the delay.  Totally worth it in my mind since we get another weekend out of it.

If your in the beta I'd love to hear your thoughts, or if not, your thoughts are welcome anyway.  I'll also try to answer anyone's questions about the beta if you have any.

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Xbox360

• Forza 2
• Eternal Sonata
• Blue Dragon
• Mass Effect
• GTA IV
• Half-Life 2: Orange Box
• Halo 3
• Lost Odyssey

That is only the games I have to have on day one.  Then there are the ones that I will probably wait a little on or check out the reviews:

• BioShock
• Two Worlds
• Assassins Creed
• Beautiful Katamari
• Culdcept Saga
• Overlord
• Guitar Hero III
• Project Sylpheed

The DS has fewer releases the rest of the year that I'm interested in, but they are all big ones:

• Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Etrian Odyssey
• Dragon Quest IX
• Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

And then the PS2 is surprisingly releasing a couple of games that will imho become legendary along the lines of Panzer Dragoon Saga:

• Odin Sphere
• Grim Grimoire

Everything I've read about Odin Sphere is telling me this game will be amazing.  Everyone who's seen it has been describing the game as a work of art and the last great game on the PS2.  I really see this game becoming one of those holy grail games that no one buys and everyone looks for months later.  The game is destined to be sold on Ebay for $200 by the fall.  I have my copy pre-ordered, and I emplore everyone reading this to order a copy and give this game a chance.  This is the originality that we always scream for and its right in front of us.

So as you can see it will be an expensive year if everything hits.  Of course there are always games that come out of left field and surprise us.  Hopefully there won't be too many of those or I'll have to sell a kidney.

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Problem is the PS2 is still selling pretty well.  In fact only the DS is outselling the console.  There are something like 500 billion PS2's in gamers hands, and software is still selling (see God of War 2).  On the other hand the PS3 is priced too high and not connecting with the majority of consumers.  Should Sony have waited until Blu-ray prices came down a bit further before releasing the system?

Yes, MS has built a lead with the 360, and Nintendo is selling a crap-load of Wii's, but with a well priced system and a better developed software line-up Sony could have caught up eventually.  The problem would have been developer support.  Would developers hungry for more horsepowered jump to the 360 and never come back?  Well the Wii has shown that maybe the general consumer is not yet ready for the 'next gen'.

I'm curious to hear your thought.  I'm no industry analyst, so what do I know about when the right time to release a console is.  All I know is that the last gen consoles still had some legs left and may have been abandoned to soon, especially the PS2.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI-V3Uw1b3U

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/odinsphere/index.html?q=odin%20sphere&tag=result;title;0

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I actually was a charter member of Xbox live back in the day when it first released, but there weren't any games that I wanted to play online.  There was Mechassault and Unreal Championship, and I enjoyed both of them, but they didn't hold my attention.  I ended up letting my subsciption run out and never renewed it.  I missed the Halo 2 phenom due to a lack of a connection while living with my then girlfriend, and now wife. 

If you want to meet up sometime on live and blasts some fools, add me to your friends list, my gamertag is danmp18.  I'd love to play some co-op Gears or maybe mess around with some exotics in PGR3 or Forza 2 when it drops.

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And when are we going to see the first batch of downloadable songs?

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I had bought Phoenix Wright a few months ago.  I played through the first case, and thought it was ok, but still didn't understand what all the fuss was about.  Well recently I played it a bit more, and even though I'm not done with it, I'm loving it.  It is very clever and I love the over the top characters.  Definetly the best game I've played on my DS so far, although I don't have very many.

The other game I referring to is Guitar Hero 2.  I never thought I would enjoy this game, but after playing it at a party my wife and I were having, I knew I just had to have it for the 360.  I don't actually have it yet, but will by the end of the week.  I'm looking forward to getting good at the game and playing through the single player portion of the game.  I'm even thinking about trying to find a controller and the first game for the PS2 just so I could play through the additional songs.  I know they will probably be in the marketplace, but I'm not sure I can wait for it.

The next games that I thought I had no interest in, but have gotten such great word of mouth are Elite Beat Agents and Puzzle Quest.  I'm sure I will like these as well even though a month ago I didn't think I would have any interest.

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I ve heard a lot of people complain about the story in the game, but for me it has been really refreshing. It is not your typical over the top Final Fantasy story about a crazed psycho trying to take over the world (although it kinda is). The villain in the game is actually not a really big part of the story is only shown a couple of times during the course of the game. The story is very political and moves at a nice clip. Overall I m pleased with the story.

The gameplay is where this game excels. I absolutely love the Gambit system. It is flexible for many different situations, and allows changes on the fly to deal with different enemy encounters. Some may feel that the game is hands off and takes the player out of the battles, but I think it is more strategic than hitting the attack button over and over during random encounters.

Which is another thing I appreciate, the lack of random encounters. Random encounters have been a staple of the RPG genre since the dawn of time, but I think it is an archaic system that needed some change. Chrono Trigger fixed this back on the SNES, but too many games didn t pay attention. In FFXII you have the ability to avoid enemies on the battlefield, or run past them if you choose. If you engage the enemies, the battles take place on the same screen so there is no loading before and after battles. This makes for a very smooth transition between fights.

The license board is another nice addition to the game. It is very similar to the sphere grid from FFX, but is not as linear in the progression of your characters. My only complaint here is that every character has the same license board. It would have been nice if each character had a unique board with unique skills and magic and weapon selections. As it is every character in the game is the same if you want them to be.

This leads me into my biggest complaint of the game, the characters. I feel that the characters in FFXII were a little dry. None of them had the over the top personalities found in past FF games, and none are developed that entirely well. I had a stronger attachment to the characters of FFX by the end of the game. I would have liked more sections where the characters interacted with each other and dove into each other s back-stories. It also would have been nice to have characters that were different from each other on the battlefield. It is very easy to make one character a tank, and another a mage and another a thief, but if you wanted 3 tanks or 3 mages you could. Every character can use every weapon in the game and no one has a specialty. This may sound like a plus, but in my opinion, I enjoyed the system in FFX where every character had their specialty.

I think a character bonus for certain weapons would have been a nice addition and a way around changing the license board. For instance, when Vaan uses any sword he receives a bonus in attack damage. He could still use an axe or mace, but would not receive that bonus. This would have lent more personality to the characters in my mind.

The graphics in the game are nice, although it is clear that the PS2 is over matched trying to display all the great things Square has thrown in. Some of the areas are really beautiful and full of nice details. The characters are well animated and look nice (even if the outfits are still a little over the top). There is a lot of pallet swapping of the enemies, but that is the case for every FF game. I think that the next gen systems have really spoiled me because although I appreciate the artistic beauty of the game, technically it looks dated. The cinematics are still top notch and unsurpassed by other games.

The music in the game is nice, but it lacks the magic of past FF games soundtracks. Overall, the soundtrack suits the game, but doesn t take it to the next level.

Like I said, I m not completely done with the game as I still have a few side quests I would like to complete before I take down the final boss. But I ve enjoyed the game a lot. It ranks up there with the likes of FFX, FFIV and FFIX, but falls short of reaching the pinnacle of the series in FFVI and Tactics.

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My son is now 10 months old.  It's really hard to believe that in 2 months I'll have a one year old.  It wasn't too long ago I was single and getting into to trouble, now I'm responsible for another life.  One that is crawling and pulling himself up on everything.  I can't wait to teach him how to shoot a basketball, or catch a football, and of course teach him about gaming.

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To update everyone on my son, he is now almost 10 months old.  He is crawling and pulling himself up on everything.  He is getting really long, but lost almost all of his baby chubbyness.  He is in the 85th percentile for his height, but only the 40th for his weight.  What this equates to is tall and thin, which is exactly what I was until I hit college and discovered the weight room.  I hope this means he will be 6'6" and can get an B-ball scholarship, or 6'4" 230 and get a football scholarship.  We'll see.

As for gaming, I now have both a 360 and a DS as far as next gen gaming.  I feel like this combo is the best choice for me at this point.  I've been really impressed with both systems as far the quality of the games that they are getting. 

The 360 with Gears, Oblivion, CoD2 & 3, GRAW, Dead Rising, PGR3, Crackdown, Lost Planet and others is a fantastic lineup of games.  And 2007 looks even better with Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Half-Life Orange Box, GTA IV, and Bioshock looks to take next gen gaming to the future.

The DS has a great lineup as well with Phoenix Wright, Final Fantasy III, Advance Wars DS, NSMB and others.  2007 looks good for the DS as well with the new Zelda, possibly a new Dragon Quest, and the Final Fantasy XII spinoff as well as others I'm forgetting.

The other system that has my attention is the PSP.  It wasn't really on my radar, but the announcements of a Final Fantasy Tactics remake, as well as the Dracula X collection have me wanting one now.  Looking at the current library of games there are a couple that jump out right away, such as Genesis collection and Valkyrie Profile Lenneth.  There are a couple others as well.  Games such as the GTA games and MGS PO, Daxter and Ratchet & Clank would also get my attention if I were to get one.  A price drop would go a long way to me picking one up.

Both the Wii and PS3 are intriguing to me more on the potential games that will be released for the systems, but neither has enough for me at this time.  The 360 had Oblivion (that was supposed to be at launch) that got my attention right away, but the Wii and PS3 have games that are nearly a year away that would be the only reason I'd want either one.  The steep price of the PS3 will keep me from owning one for a good while, while the Wii has to prove to me that it has some staying power and 3rd party support before I throw my money that direction.

I never intended to go on this long, but now hopefully people are caught up.  I will try to update more often in the future.  Jonathon has inspired with his Gennies to do something similar, but I will try to make it unique and not rip off his concept.  Stay tuned to see what I can come up with.

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With the recent TGS event in Japan, MS has come out firing again with Japanese specific titles.  It looks like there are at least 6 Japanese RPG's either released or in development for the 360.  The recently released Enchanted Arms has not been recieved critically, but gamers seem to be enjoying it.  Microsoft demoed the Sakaguchi developed Lost Odyessey and Blue Dragon games, and both look good.  There is also the Tri-Ace developed Infinite Undiscovery which looks interesting, as well as the very anime looking Trusty Bell.  The strategy game Culdcept Saga is a sequel to the PS2 boardgame/strategy RPG Culdcept.  One other title that hasn't been talked about recently is Cry On, which I don't happen to know much about.

This is really exciting news to a fan of Japanese RPG's.  In a console generation where it will not be easy to be a multi-console owner, its nice to see that my console of choice is getting games in a genre that I have always enjoyed.  I'm looking forward to more games in the genre being announced in the future.  So my question to you is: Is Microsoft finally getting it?  Will the 360 finally catch on in Japan?  I guess it is up to the Japanese gamers now, MS has done their part.

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I make it no secret how big a Penn State Nittany Lions and Philadelphia Eagles fan I am.  The Eagles play their first game Sunday against the hapless Houston Texans, while Penn State fresh off their tune-up with Akron go to South Bend, Ind to face the Fighting Irish. 

The PSU/ND game is shaping up to be a monster game.  With the Heisman hopeful Quinn going up against one of the country's best defensive units.  The linebackers from Penn State should be flying around the field Saturday, and hopefully putting Quinn on his back.  We shall see.  Should be a great game.

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One company I would love to see get into the collection genre is Konami.  Konami was the king of the 8 bit generation in my mind.  Between Castlevannia, Contra, TMNT and all the great shooters (Gradius) that they released, as well as Metal Gear, and unreleased (in the US) games, Konami could put together a great collection.  Again, one can only dream.

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First of all, how much is this going to cost?  At the very least this is going to be a $60 game.  Sure Half-Life 2 came out on the original Xbox, but it really was a next gen game disguised as a last gen game.  The framerate wasn't great, and even though it looked pretty, it wasn't completely optimized for the Xbox.  It should look great on the 360.  I could see this game costing as much as $100, though that could be a bit extreme, and could limit the sales of the game.  I'm going to guess a $70 package marketed as some sort of collectors edition so that the price is easier to swallow for the average consumer.

The next big question is how many discs will this game ship on?  I can't imagine it will ship on one, but I could be wrong.  It will probably be split into two discs with HL 2 and Team Fortress 2 on one disc, and Portal and Eps 1 and 2 on the second disc.

The last big question is when is this game going to ship?  I'm super stoked about Portal, it just looks like a fun challenging game.  But also, I haven't played Ep 1 or 2 (obviously, it hasn't come out yet) and never really got my fill of HL 2 (rented it in a weekend, and wanted more).

To sum it up, this game has quickly shot to the top of my most wanted list along with Mass Effect, Gears of War, Halo 3, and Blue Dragon.  Lets hope Valve makes a really good port of these games and the package turns out really well.

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