Damn the video game industry for making so many great games that will be coming out in 2007. E3 has me wanting so many games. I think I added 30 games to my wishlist just today. I'm in quite a predicament here. Not only am I in dire need of a job, but I need a job that pays some serious money if I want to get all of the games that are in my wish list. I suppose it's called a wish list for a reason, but if I was still single and had no other responsibilities I'd probably buy all of the games on my wish list.

I finally beat Lumines on the PSP.  I've only owned the game for two years and for those two years the game has owned me. I have not played the game consistently for two years as I took a short haiatus from my PSP when I purchased my DS and DS Lite.  I got back into it only after I downloaded Lumines Live! which I beat a couple of weeks ago.  Now my only concern is what am I going to play on my PSP for short bursts of gameplay?  Is Lumines 2 worthy of picking up?  I don't know the answer to that.  From what I've seen I'm not happy about some of the music videos in that game, but maybe I can find it on the cheap.  Anyway, I'm just geeked I finally beat the game and now I can move onto something that offers the same kind of challenge.

That's not something I was expecting to hear when I came into work this morning, but those words were spoken to me.  It really sucks losing your job whether it be a position elimination or being fired for another reason.  Today I was being fired because my position was being eliminated.
At least that was the case today.  I've been fired before because my old boss told me I had an attitude problem so this wasn't nearly as bad.  I get to work for another month and I get 13 weeks of severance pay.  I won't be able to support my gaming habbit for a little while, but hopefully that will change soon.
Little did my company know that this is kind of what I wanted to happen.  See, I have been interviewing for other positions for the past month now and I have a second interview at one of those companies this week.  If I am lucky I'll be able to get the job and collect on my severance so I'll be getting two pay checks for 3 months...rock on!
For now though I have to act responsible and save all the money I can.  Sometimes it sucks being an adult.

    Many people complain that the PSP should have a second analog stick.  I for one agree with this.  There is one major problem though...ergonomics.
    The current analog stick is virtually useless as a second one is pretty much necessary to get true analog feel to any game.  Unfortunately the analog stick is in a horrible spot on the PSP.  Everytime I try to use it my thumb just cramps up and hurts after awhile.  It's so uncomfortable that I really don't like to play game that require analog control.  Many people think that this problem could be corrected if Sony just adds a second analog stick to the PSP.
    Yes, this could help a great deal, but where would Sony put it?  If they put a second analog stick on  the PSP it would make sense to put it under the buttons.  However this is where the ergonomics come into play.  If it's already difficult to play with one analog stick low on the PSP, just imagine the pain we'd be in if they wanted to add a second one.  People might say, well just move them above the buttons and d-pad...problem solved.  Wrong!  You've just created a new problem by doing this.  Instead of having cramped thumbs from using the analog sticks, you'd have cramped hands from the d-pad and buttons.
    Unfortunately I don't have the answer to this and it looks like Sony doesn't either.  It would be nice to have a second analog stick on the PSP, but that would call for a major redesign and much R & D.  I don't think Sony wants to put more money & time into something that they think already works, especially after dumping so much into the PS3.
    I plead with you Sony, please redesign the PSP to allow for two analog sticks.  If it happens, sales will shoot up greatly and you'll beat Microsoft to the street before they come to market with their own superior portable system.

Why is it when I call or walk into a game centric store (i.e. GameStop) they don't have the game in stock that just came out, but if I go into a "big box" store (i.e. Best Buy) there is 20 copies sitting on the shelf?  Don't these game stores realize that they are there to serve a specific kind of consumer.  The store is called GameStop, EB Games, Game Crazy, Game Rush.  Game is in the name of each of these stores, which means games should be in stock.  Why place an order for only people who pre-order any given game and leave the other gamer out to dry because they didn't want to pre-order?  It's a game people, it's not a console.  They stamp millions of discs to make these sales possible.  If you're purchaser who places orders for your company take all game consumers into consideration, not just the person who pre-orders.

Why is it when you are always looking for a peripheral you can never find them?  Two months ago I was in a local retailer and they had plenty of guitars for Guitar Hero in stock.  I now go into the same retailer and they have nothing.  I check their website and it's on back order.  I can add it to my wish list, but who knows when it will arrive.  Why can't game/peripheral makers get their act together, espescially around the holidays.  They know their game will be a hit since the first one was huge.  Why don't they make more controllers available to the public.  I can understand a shortage of consoles, but not a shortage of peripherals.  Please get your act together and give the consumers what they want/need in order to play games to their fullest.

When I first started dating my girlfriend she was not really into games all that much. Sure, she played the Nintendo growing up, Tetris and eventually moved onto play Final Fantasy VII. After that, it was pretty much the end of gaming for her. She might pick up something here or there, but was never really enthused enough to go out and make a purchase. The comes along Katamari Damacy.
    This is among one of the first games that I can think of she really wanted to play. A semi-casual to non-gamer asking for a new game. It was all due to the simplicity of the controls. I had tried many times to get her to play Halo 2. She feels that she's just so far behind with the dual analog sticks that it's frustrating and gives up. I can't say that I blame her, but a game like that comes easier to someone who's used to working on 2 planes. Katamari broke the mold for this. Granted it's not an FPS game, but it got her back into gaming. She has grown comfortable with that game enough to just come up short of finishing it. Where the serious conversion really took place was when Brain Age for the Nintendo DS came out.
    When I first got Brain Age, she wanted to play it more than I did. The controls are simple and the game is fun although it does grow old. However she played it enough to warrant a purchase of a DS Lite and that game among many others.
    Since playing the DS Lite for several months and after hearing me talk about the Wii for almost a year she's become a full blown gamer. It's all due to the simplicity of the controller. No, I was never able to get her into Halo 2 (although she wants to try Gears of War again), she's more heavily into gaming than she has ever been before. Last year she ended up waiting in line with me for a few hours for the Xbox 360. This year she sat in line next to me as a consumer for the Nintendo Wii. Mwahahaha, I have converted her and she loves it and so do I.
    All it took was finding an easy enough game for her to get into and enjoy enough to want to pick up the controller on her own next time. She's working on Zelda: Twilight Princess....slower than I'd like her to, but she's getting into it. Hopefully soon enough I can get her back onto Gears of War and maybe she'll be ready for Halo 3 by the next holiday season.
    I must say it's been quite a fun experience changing a non-gamer into a gamer. She wants to play games when people are over whereas before she would sit back, watch and be bored (understandably). There is hope for non-gamers out there. You just have to find a simple enough game to introduce them to and the rest will fall into place. Now I just gotta work on my parents next.