This not Nemo making this blog entry, but a very close friend of hers. I was just passing time here at her place on her computer as she slept. I noticed she still had a window open in Explorer and it was GameSpot. I know she has been involved with this community for several years now so I figured you guys deserve to know what happend today. Something that will have a lasting effect on her.

Lori, her girlfriend of several years and childhood friend since they were in diapers died today in a freak accident.

They planned on dropping one of Nemo's cars off to a shop to get work done to it. Lori was driving the car that needed the work. Nemo realized she forgot her phone and ran back in the house to get it while Lori waited outside in the car. As Nemo was coming back out of the house it happened. A Neighbor's dying tree finally did what Nemo has been complaining to them about for over a year now. The tree fell and crushed the car Lori was waiting in. These are the same neighbor's whose negligence also caused their house fire two years ago. And now their negligence took the life of the person Nemo held to her the dearest right in front of her. I rather not get into the details of it, but this is the second time Nemo has witnessed losing someone she cared for right in front of her.

I don't expect Nemo to be in a proper state of mind for a long time. And I don't expect you guys will see her around here for awhile. And I hope me posting this doesn't get her in trouble as a moderator here. I am trying my best to help her through this along with the rest of her friends. I know some of you guys have her AIM screen name she linked to her phone. Feel free to send supportive messages her way through that. I am sure she will appreciate them. Though I can't promise she will respond. I hate to be the barer of bad news, but it's news I know she wants to say but can't bring herself to say.

That there is almost no chance of this game ever seeing the light of day on retail shelves. I was honestly still looking foward to the game. It was depressing to watch that video because 3D Realms looked to be really delivering the ultimate Duke Nukem game they promised us 12 years ago. So there is a bit of regret there now that I watched that video.

.

Dear Capcom:

Screw you.

Love;
Nemo

I just don't learn... I keep using my 60GB PS3 to play PS2 games and it has a habit of punishing me for it. I can't tell you how many times it has corrupted memory cards on me. It doesn't matter what game it seems because the cause of it seems to be random. The issue I have is that thisproblem has been around since the launch of the goddamn unit and Sony never bothered to address it. And honestly playing PS2 games on a PS2 on my TV is not easy on the eyes. The PS3's upscaling abilities make these games tolerable on a HD screen. I *ALMOST* lost over 30 hours in my Ar tonelico II journey. Thankfully I didn't shut off after I last saved and went to save again. When I went to save it said something about the operation wasn't able to be completed and none of my files showed up. So I changed cards and was able to save... while I lost one of the files I saved for a replay for the multiple endings I at least was able to save what I have done overall. It burns me that this keeps happening and that Sony doesn't fully support their products like they should. BC is a big deal to a lot of people. And I find it to be an important feature for me. Just like it was with the PS2 to play PSX games. About 98% of the time I am using my PS3, it's for PS2 games. I didn't expect Sony to drop the ball this gen and not have the software that would con me into playing. After I get through Ar tonelico II I think I am just going to disconenct my PS3 until something worthwhile come out on the PS3. Sony makes it very difficult for me to like their unit. Outside of being a decent Blu-Ray player, I can't think of one positive thing about it (BC would be something positive if it was reliable and safe).

Resident Evil 5 has caused a Resident Evil fan like myself to be very concerned with the direction the series is taking. While I feel Resident Evil 4 is a great game, it just wasn't a proper Resident Evil title. I think the engine crafted for Resident Evil 4 is awesome. But Mikami chose to amplfy the overall action of the series and heavily scaled back on the rest of the elements that won over millions of fans for years. Not only that, progression in the game is extremely too linear. The new engine doesn't make it impossible to create a classic-style Resident Evil. And since the new engine is overall better in every sense, they can apply thataction heavy mentality that Resident Evil 4 has while maintaining that classic-RE design. I can't tell you how much I pondered the possibilties of Resident Evil 2 remade with Resident Evil 4's engine and how much more it could improve the overall experience and keep all the elements that made the series famous. The series needed a kick in the ass in terms of gameplay and design, but is this direction what the series needed? I personally don't think so. And I am sure many others feel the same way. Resident Evil 4 wasn't a proper Resident Evil title, but it seems Resident Evil 5 is even less proper. Resident Evil 4 was easy to forgive and enjoy as aResident Evil fan, though it did turn off many fans of the series. Resident Evil 5 is almost offensive to it's roots. I am not at all judging the quality of Resident Evil 5, I have faith it will be a great game in the end. But as a Resident Evil fan, it's very difficult for me to get excited by it's release.

In release heavy seasons [Like right now], gaming almost feels like a part-time job for me. While I enjoy the hobby, but the amount of games flowing into stores right now make me feel I need to invest as much time as I can into them to keep up with the onslaught of releases. All in the while hoping I don't burn myself out on them. I praise companies that push back titles they originally had coming out this season into next year. There is no reason to dump so many games in these short three months. It's counter productive to sales. More so with the way things are right now. People only have so much they can spend on games. And only so much time to invest in them.

I finally finished up all the achievements in Golden Axe. Still chipping away at Saint's Row 2 and Dead Space. I still need to work on PURE more. I haven't even had a chance to play Fable 2 yet. Quantum of Solace has been a pleasent surprise for me. I have also been working on getting Gold Stars in everything in World Tour on Expert while chipping away that million dollars I need for that one achievement. And my portable RPG situation is quite messy right now. The madness doesn't end.

I have never been shy about expressing my grievances with GameSpot. This is no longer the site that I use to love. So why am I still here? This community is the reason. Without it I would've left awhile ago. GameSpot use to be a gaming site I use to view as a site that other sites wish they could be. News has never been their strong point. But no other site could touch them with their combination of features, community, quality reviews, editorials and editors comunicating with their community. GameSpot was in it's prime when Greg Kasavin was running the show. He wasn't perfect in how he handled things. But he was a great write with a great passion for gaming. He kept the quality of the content on the site at a very high level. Since his departure the site has fallen into a downward spiral with no signs of slowing down. Features have been weak and reviews falling along the lines of wordy user reviews. To make matters worse, a huge rift has formed between the editors and this community. And a lot of the old faces this community knew and loved are gone. Being replaced by faces that no one knows a goddamn thing about. They are just names at the bottom of their work. GameSpot is just another gaming site now.

Currently GameSpot is trending water to keep up with getting typical content on the site. The site no longer has a draw to it that makes it different from other big gaming sites. They worked so hard to merge the community and the main site they couldn't be any further apart. A lot of users in the community focus on that and could careless for the actual site. The community was closer to the site when the two parts were seperate. GameSpotting brought the editors down to a personal level with their users. Those names became faces with stories behind them. Faces we understood where they came from when it came to their reiviews. They ended up killing off that segment and replaced it with something similar that was quite interesting. I forget the name of it. But it had different editors posting editorials on a regular basis about a variety of topics. Ranging from their concerns in the idustry to game related personal stories. And all these editors would pop up in various features that ran on the site. They ended that feature when Journals were introduced to the community features. That is when this rift started to form.

GameSpot knows about these problems. They make excuses for the way things are. Excuses don't fix anything. Greg never made excuses, He got the site's act together and addressed it head on. He didn't sidestep issues, he was honest. GameSpot needs a little more honesty. A little more pride and honor. I think Ricardo is a great guy. I really do. But if he is struggling to get typical content up on the site at it's current level of quality, is he the right man for the job? Or is he not getting the proper support he needs to properly maintain the site? Do I care? I could careless honestly. I don't want an excuse, I want action. Greg left this place at a high point. Can Ricardo pull something out of somewhere and help GameSpot rise to it's former glory from the ashes of the burnt mangled corpse that Jeff left behind? I honestly hope so, but things are looking bleak.

So many games dropped all at once. Past couple of weeks I have picked up Dead Space, PURE, Saint's Row 2, Golden Axe Beast Rider and Castlevania: Order of Esslesia. I also got my hands on Guitar Hero: World Tour on Tuesday and got my, 100% legit, copy of Gears of War 2 on Friday. I just feel overwhelmed in games to play. Right now Gears and Esslesia are puling for most of attention with Gears just about finished. The tweaks they made to the gameplay make the game even more enjoyable. I enjoyed the first Gears a lot. And I'll end my impressions there to avoid spoilers. But I'll say the game is worth the wait. And Castlevania is just awesome as usual.

Another day, another port of Duke Nukem 3D. Which happens to be the best port of the famed title to date. 3D Realms has released Duke Nukem 3D for XBLA and it's bloody fantastic. But playing it with a mix of friends that either have played the game in the past or it's their first time being introduced to the Duke has made me realized how spoiled we are when it comes to FPS nowadays. Duke Nukem 3D does not have a straight forward level design. Infact, it has a lot of excess fat. But that fat is what gives the game it's charm. Duke Nukem 3D sports the sort of level design that promotes exploration and is very speed run friendly. Stages feature one starting point and one goal. It's up to the player how they accomplish this. Majority of the stages offer more then one way to complete them. The amount of varierty offered in each stage is second to none with little details sprinkled all over the place to add to the game's humour and charm. And Duke rocks a weapon line up that is easily one of the best ever for it's genre. So much variety each with their own distint personalities.

My playtime with my friends has made me also realize that Duke Nukem 3D isn't for everyone that enjoys FPS. The level design is bold and can be confusing your first time through. But it's these choices in level designs that also makes them so extremely memorible. Which is something they all agreed on. Their second time through each stage ended up being hundreds times faster and that more enjoyable. It's a game that can leave you with a wrong impression at first that gets much much better when replayed.

Duke Nukem 3D is a game I almost totally skipped out on when it first came out on the PC. But thanks to a friend of mine being relentless on getting me to play it, it ended up being on of the most pleasent surprises ever in my time with this hobby. It's crude, corny and preverted, but executed in such a style and flair that makes it extremely enjoyable and charming. And has rightfully claimed it's spot as one of my favorite games of all time.

Rock Band 2 tries and tries to please me. But it fails once again. The setlist this time around is way better then last year's original, but good songs don't always translate to fun songs to play. And the difficulty still doesn't live up to what they did in the first two Guitar Hero releases. I don't know if they are under charting, but Steely Dan's Bodhitsattva should not have been FC'd so easily [Did it on my third try].

People keep bringing up Guitar Hero III's overcharted songs [While ignoring properly charted DLC and GH: Aerosmith]. But at least I was able to have fun with those songs without having to play with a group of friends and an abundance of alcohol.

I dunno, maybe Rock Band just isn't for me.

I recently invested in a 2009 Viper ACR. I am no stranger to fast cars, but this thing usually has me going faster then I want to go. It's like it speaks to my inner demons. Without me knowing it I am suddenly dropping it and getting it up to speeds that can and will revoke my license if I get caught by a Police Officer. Despite me being on good terms with most of the big wigs at our local police station. I don't think they would be fond of me if they knew I got caught doing well into the triple digits in a 30. But overall I really love the car. It's a demon on wheels.