I normally refrain from talking about PC titles because quite frankly I have a serious lack of PC gamers on my friends list (shame on all of you!) so it'll likely be received with little interest but recently I've had a crazy desire to play some classics. I normally go through this phase sometime during the year. It's one of the reasons why I enjoyed Retro Revival Week from back in the day on Gamespot. As it turns out, I found out that my Acer Netbook works as a great retro machine due to the 1024x600 resolution and the portability (thank you China for my 9 cell battery *_* ).

Right now I'm getting into Baldur's Gate II, everyone keeps mentioning how Dragon Age Origin's is its spiritual successor and one of my all time guilty sins (aside from never finishing a single Mario game) is never having played Baldur's Gate II which is unacceptable being the huge RPG aficionado that I like to claim to be.

is it me or does this portrait look surprisingly like Vin Deasel?

On the TV side if things, I just finished watching the latest episode of Dexter. I can only sum it up with a HOLY SH#$%T! I didn't see that one coming , probably the best television episode I've seen this year (or should I say online) Any Dexter fans out there?

The Good

Visually similar but artistically superior…

The sandbox games of this generation have had certain familiar design traits, modernized locations like Liberty City (GTA IV), Stillwater (Saints Row 2) and a fictional empire city (Infamous) all come to mind, so it shouldn't be a surprise when I say that it's extremely refreshing to play a game set in these old aged cities of yesterday.

While Assassin's Creed II sports the same basic visual pallet as the previous version, from a design perspective it looks different enough to still make my jaw hang open. Fifteenth century Florence looks far more beautiful than any city I'm accustomed to seeing in a videogame, the clothing and even the NPC behaviors scream of authenticity. I'm about 12 or so hours in and having seen Romagna and Tuscany in all there digitized glory; it makes me want to go back to Europe. Simply put, the game looks just as beautiful as before, if not more.

Assassin's need purpose too…

One of the most glaring flaws in regards to Assassin's Creed's storyline was Altaïr's personality. To put it simply he had none, he was flat as a character and killed simply because he was ordered too. We had very little background information about the character or the personal motivation he got out of his job as an Assassin so as gamers we were left feeling very little for him as a character -- At least that's how I felt.

Ezio on the other hand is the exact opposite and this is perfectly illustrated in one of the first running missions you're given -- Comically trying to escape an angry father who just caught you in bed with his daughter while you try to deny the allegations during the chase. So yes, he's an Assassin with a sense of humor but naturally he didn't start out as one. Without revealing too much about the storyline, I'll simply say that due to a betrayal of sorts you begin to understand why Ezio has to take up the calling of an Assassin and it's this fact that made all the killings performed feel justified.

The Music..

Amazing…

Being an Assassin never felt so badass…

I remember commenting about the sheer amount of ways there were to kill people in this game during my short time with it, but I don't think I completely understood just how much you could do providing that you had enough imagination. Instead of describing all the various upgrades you can gain I'll simply describe a memorable situation I encountered.

• I had my character walk casually towards the square where my target was located. In order to get In I ordered a few prostitutes I just hired who were lingering near to distract the guards at the entry way. As they did there thing I casually walked in and eyed my target while I stood next to a group of NPC's having a conversation. I made sure to make note of the amount of guards surrounding the area before I proceeded. There were conversations being held conveniently around the square so I reached for my gold coins and dropped a few on the floor which momentarily caused a ruckus. Afterwards while the crowd mostly centered on the dropped change I went in for the kill from the back. After the short exchange of words the guards were suddenly aware of what happened and I patiently waited for them to close in before dropping a smoke bomb which engulfed the area. I then knifed every damn guard, about 8 in all before the smoke even cleared. I then looted the bodies to the dismay of onlookers and dashed out.

..crazy

Micromanagement…

Everything you collect in this game provides you with money, every kill you make results in money, every person you loot, provide you with…yes money. At a certain point in the game you end up in a villa that is basically yours to maintain. It'll go from a crusty hellhole with a relatively small population into the same sort of beauty you'd find in Rome with a large populace to boot. It all depends on how much coins you end up putting into the renovation of different structures. As a result you'll receive discounts at stores as well. It all gives the act of collecting and currency some worth.

The Bad

Where am I?...

Well the overall map needs some work. It's still pretty easy to get lost in the middle of a city when you're just trying to find an exit. A simple dot on the screen doesn't do a good enough job sometimes despite the countdown timer. When you have large areas surrounded by walls that are impossible to leap over, it makes finding the two only possible exits an annoying headache.

Facial animations look...Less than human...

Movement animations aside, which are still amazing btw, say little in the defense of the pretty poor facial animations in Assassin's Creed II. It's nothing that particularly bothered me too much but it was an unfortunate flaw considering how polished the rest of the game looked.

Final Thoughts…

I think Assassin's creed II towers over the original in the narrative, gameplay and length based on what I've played so far. The fighting is a lot more fun and varied, the characters are so much more appealing, the environments are sometimes breathtaking, the music is excellent, and the missions aren't as annoying as before as most of them are optional. I think if you even remotely liked the first game, you should definitely pick this up and there's not much to say after that.

Just yesterday I got the opportunity to try out Assassin's Creed II alongside one of the developers from Ubisoft Montreal.

For the few of you who caught my previously deleted entry, I actually thought I was going to visit Ubisoft's new Toronto studio but it turns out some wires were crossed in the translation so it turned out that I actually ended up going to a pretty trendy lounge/bar that just happened to have a ton of HD televisions and developers within along with an open bar – an environment I can definitely get used to.

("stop talking!", but really he was a cool guy lol)

I wanted to have more play time but the funny thing is that I made the mistake of starting my interview with the question "could you start off by telling us what's new with Assassin's Creed II?" So he basically went over everything while I pretended like I didn't want to just grab the controller from his hands and start playing, this lasted a good 15 minutes...ugh, I definitely have to work on my interview skills.

Well let me start off by saying that one of the striking things about this game comes from how brutal it is, despite all the ways you were able to take out foes in the first, this edition just seems to take it to another level. Placing the game in debug mode, the developer showed me several ways to take out opponents. Taking a guy's own sword and sticking it through his chest, using dual wrist blades and sticking it in the temples of two guards who just happen to be standing side by side, using opponents as shields and then killing them afterwards, I mean the list goes on. I'm convinced at this point that they must have a team dedicated solely to figuring out just how to kill people in the most badass ways possible

Visually the game looks amazing as you can tell by the vids and screenshots, not a huge step above but when you consider how great Assassin's Creed looked in the first, I was left satisfied. It also seems like they did away with most of the repetitive missions and made them somewhat optional based on what I was told. You're able to hire people this time around to handle certain tasks for you, along with creating distractions which seems like a great addition.

One of the possible flaws however is the notoriety aspect. It works much like the first game where for a certain point in time you had the attention of guards everywhere, but this time around they make it a chore to get rid of it. You're tasked with removing wanted posters, bribing etc, I can see it becoming repetitive after a while especially for a gamer who isn't keen on stealth. So far I'm really looking forward to it, especially since our main character has an actual personality this time around where you actually know what he's fighting for, makes all the killings seem slightly more justified. Felt good, looked good, played good, I'll just have to see what the finally product brings.

On an unrelated note, I finally got Batman Dark Aslyum and picked up GTA: Episodes from liberty city. Combined with Forza 3 and that Left 4 Dead 2 demo..

...I'm in gaming heaven right now.

I wanted to give my take on the whole airport scene controversy – a certain level in Modern Warfare 2. Now I'll start off by saying that I support it, and I'm not going to give you some lame reason like "It's just a game", it's statements like that which simply demean this medium and the messages it could offer. I also wont' downplay just how serious a scene like that is, its terrorism displayed in one of the most realistic ways imagined and it's interactive to boot. To put it simply, I've been waiting for a developer to make a bold move like this for a while - a game that tackles a highly controversial topic in a way that only a videogame can. It's clear that the minds behind Infinity Ward wanted to create a scene that would portray terrorism in a way that we don't often see to an almost emotional degree. As viewers or individuals we are largely used to the aftermath of most tragedies – almost completely desensitized by them.

We hear about people getting killed but rarely ever witness it as it happens. It's one of the reasons why 911 was such a powerful event; many of us were given the unfortunate opportunity of witnessing the horrors as they happened. I've read arguments from all sides, many saying that this scene could have been handled differently. I'll simply support my argument by stating how I felt when I first watched it. Disturbing summed it up pretty nicely, and the fact that you had little control over the outcome, the subtle use of music in the background along with the screams and realistic scenes/movements of people crawling for help as these guys casually mowed down civilians with bullets helped illustrate this. I have my doubts that I would have felt the same way if this were simply a scene from a movie. This is a perspective we rarely get to witness and it's why I found it so disturbing.

Now the question brought forth is, whether or not it was necessary to give the player the choice to participate. I think it would have lessened the impact if it were a passive role (flashback) and it would have removed the unique ways in which videogames can separate themselves from a film that would try to portray the same experience. Gamers for this scene or neutral to it have compared it to the likes of GTA, but this is a ridiculous comparison to begin with because the two have completely different tones. One is going for realism and another is going for humor - different mindsets all together.

The main negative that'll come from this one scene is all the attention this game will attract from the people ignorant of the rising maturity of videogames and the parents who'll choose to blame a game before their own parenting. The fact is that difficult scenes like this (with an actual purpose) must and should be present in gaming, it's the only way this industry can truly mature. Quite frankly I'm an adult gamer and I won't have my videogames dumbed down for the kid that isn't old enough to play this title or take in the subject matter.

For a great opposing argument check out Brad Rice's post on Destructoid. I'd love to hear your opinions about this if you've seen the scene, whether you're for it or against it.

I think I'm hooked people; I've been playing Forza 3 for the entire day after finally upgrading to a gold account. I never knew how addicting online transactions could be and to be honest I've been spending more time in the storefront then I have actually racing, the only time I stepped away from the store was to earn more money so I could buy the next vinyl design. It feels good to be reintroduced to a genre that I previously backed away from - now I just need something similiar to come out of the fighting genre. Right now I can confidently say that Forza 3 is the de facto racer right now, nothing can touch it at the moment when it comes to the online features and the accessibility.

Here are a couple of screenshots of a punisher themed car that I'm particularly proad of, I'm going to try my best to get through the entire career mode on this girl.

Aint she sexy?

Last but not least, I just want to mention that it's my birthday today. 26....eww I'm starting to feel pretty old, no offense to my oldtimer friends on this site

You guys ever have a moment when you hear a theme song or a phrase and it just brings back a flood of memories? I just had one of those nostalgic moments when out of the blue I said "it's letter time" when opening the mail and the phrase sounded so familiar but I couldn't for the life of me remember why till I typed it in google and low and behold, Video and Arcade Top 10 was the second result. Damn that was the sh@t back in the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6zwtbBb-Ak

For those who aren't Canadian, this was a game show which aired on YTV that allowed young gamers to face each other by gaining a certain score or time record. I used to watch this religiously and at one point I remember mailing them some pathetic sounding letter just so I could hear him read it. The main host Nicholas Picholas had this thing where he'd shout "It's letter time, it's letter time!" just before reading a fan's letter and he said it so often that it's still engraved in my head. It really got me thinking about all those retro video game themed shows that used to air here in Canada, during a time when gaming wasn't nearly as popular.

Another one that came to mind was The Electric Playground (before G4techtv touched it); at the time this show provided me with everything visual (before the internet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ_HNsBX9S0

It had a cast that consisted of Zoe flower, Victor Lucas, Tommy Tallarico and Kelly Benson - a wide range of personalities that fit the show well. Oh and it had one of the most epic introductions for a video game related show ever. These shows were the next best thing to owning these games for me, a glimpse into the present and future of gaming. It's a shame that with gaming becoming more popular, a lot of shows that emerged from these relics of the past are being dumbed down imo to appeal to a larger crowd as a way with competing with the beast we know as the Internet. Do you guys have any favs of your own?

So I just came back from the exclusive preview event and I'll just say that it was a great experience. I won't go over what was said, the developer present pretty much restated many of the things most of us gamers already knew but the event gave me an idea about many outlets of the Canadian press that cover videogames and how relatable we all are just as gamers. After asking the lead producer a few questions I proceeded to play the game on a setup I could only dream about and I'm definitely not used to a wheel much less one with force feedback. Had a few lengthy discussions about the state of games with a few individuals there and the general reception was that it was about time a simulation actually taught us how to play a game instead of pushing us away.

(This setup was surprisingly difficult to play with, but you get a greater sense of speed, I had an amazing time with it)

(This whole setup most likely costs as much as a car, two or three 360's, three HD screens plus the wheel and chair, but it looks oh so sexy)

Now I'm really limited in terms of the photos I could actually display; in fact I could only show you the crappy one or two selections that I have . Sorry if this sounded bland, I'm pretty exhausted mentally and physically bah, but I had an AMAZING time!

(Gotta love the perks of going to an event like this. My first free game, wee!!)

Good Night..

I wanna say thanks to the two whole people who wished me luck in a sense on Saturday it was appreciated. It seems like I lost a lot more readers then I thought due to my time away, ah well.

At the moment I'm reading more then I'd like to on Forza 3 just so I feel prepared, watching endless video previews, reviews and interviews to the point where I managed to make myself look forward to a simulation racing game. I haven't done that since Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2. I guess the appeal comes from Forza 3's attention to accessibility and on not making me have to run through tracks in order to gain licenses or punishing me for making slight mistakes on the road.

This is a problem that has always plagued simulation racers – where they seem to try way too hard to please the core fans without doing enough to bring in people who just happen to like cars but aren't necessarily adept gamers. In the world of racers the word simulation has become synonymous with punishing difficulties and thrown controllers so I'm glad that devs are starting to understand that it's still possible to cater to both crowds - the racing enthusiast gamer, and the general racing enthusiast.

On another note, Sony is calling me back to their ranks, I've been waiting for the perfect reason to get a PS3 and if Metal Gear Solid 4 wasn't enough for me Uncharted 2 definitely convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I need to get my hands on a PS3 immediately.

It has been described as an amazing cinematic experience? Are you kidding me, this game was catered to my taste for all things cinematic and epic. This console just seems to be on a role when it comes to exclusives at the moment and my increasing interest in team ICO's The Last Guardian, and Demon's Souls provides me with little doubt. I'm so looking forward to getting my hands on a slim right now.

As it turns out, my next assignment happens to involve going to an exclusive Forza 3 preview event where I'll get to interact directly with key developers from Turn 10 studios and shortly afterwards review the game along with documenting about the overall experience.

My only thought at the moment is "this really happening?" just the other day I was posting blogs for fun and now I'm going in an event as a freaking video game journalist (it sounds so weird to me). I almost feel like I'm not worthy. I wasn't exactly an avid game reviewer yet I landed this gig somehow and while the thought of reviewing games crossed my mind growing up, I was sure I abandoned that dream when I was 15 years old. At the moment my feelings consist of extreme excitement with bouts of nervousness that simply comes from a general lack of experience and not knowing what to expect. I also wanted to post this because I know some people on my friends list have done this kind of thing before. I'd appreciate it if some of you guys could give me some advice from a gamers perspective. Everyone, wish me luck and I'll try to fill you guys in on as much as I can without breaking my contract

Man I feel ancient on this site, 7 years on a website is a big deal for me. I've never dedicated that much time to any online community – 2 years being the average breaking point. If anything it's a testament to how much I love this gaming community and as a result how loyal I'm willing to be to it.

I've had my fair share of temptations to leave during the whole Jeff fiasco and as a result I ended up losing a lot of great friends but I'm glad that I stuck around to see how GS might evolve from that situation and lift itself back up and it seems to be doing well thanks to all the staff and the tireless work being done behind the scenes. I won't bore you about my history on GS, I think my past posts including the second blog I ever made explained my attraction to this site pretty well. Instead I'll leave you with an imprint of my contributions (my favs), which isn't much. o_o

User Vids:

Blog Posts:

Some of my favorite gaming moments/sequences

Rich Storytelling, A Forgotten Ingrendient

Talent Or Practice

Segregation...in 2008?!

Choice in Video Games, The Major Divide

Primitive Births: The Stealth Factor

Community Moments (favs) :

Megaton 2002 (what an anticlimatic moment for Nintendo fans, it benefited me as a Sony fan in my SW days )

E3 2005 (Killzone 2 demonstration had the forums in an endless and heated debate)

Zelda Twilight Princess review (what a backlash by Nintendo fans o_o, Jeff actually recieved death threats )

The moment the terms sheep, cows, and lemmings came into existing on SW (had a hand in this believe it or not

Well that's it for me, I hope to have several more great years on this site.

The following is purely my opinion, agree or disagree but it still stands.

Every once in a while I may stumble upon a device that makes me question how businesses make decisions. How a board room consisting of several suits with rather impressive educational backgrounds can agree upon a product so out of touch with reality – "What were you thinking?" comes to mind. The gaming industry has gone through several of these money making concepts that just seemed fated to disappoint just from a logical standpoint. Here are a few products I remember associating with the abbreviation "WT#".

Product – Steel Battalion

The Expectation$:

Release a Mech game unlike any before, with an ultimate focus on realism. It'll do much for the industry.

The Reality:

You're essentially making gamers pay 200 dollars for a game with little replay value. Gamers can buy an entire console for the same amount of greens. This won't do much if anything for the industry aside from creating an expensive cult cl@ssic and ensuring itself as a collectable rather then something practical.

Product – Virtual Boy

The Expectation$:

Virtual reality is the in thing right now. Nintendo would be the first to introduce this to a broad market; thanks to the game boy brand they have the trust of an existing fan base and the titles to back the system up. Regardless of whether or not they rush the system to the market, it'll succeed because they're Nintendo.

The Reality:

"Ahh my freakin' eyes!" - Where were the testers to let them know that this would be a problem? It used a red monochrome display which saved the big N money so it was an inevitable complaint. Our eyes are just not used to that much red. It was also rushed to the market so the games sucked for the most part. A console based around mediocre launch titles for such an experimental, yet expensive system is just plain suicide.

Product – Nokia's N-Gage

The Expectation$:

Create a product with the best of both worlds for a mobile gamer. A phone that can play games at the same time. Give it a hardware advantage over our main competitor, the GBA and we have ourselves a winner.

The Reality:

Everyone could see the inevitable doom for the N-gage because it was being marketed too much as a gaming device and not enough as a phone. Hence the immediate problems surfaced. Not enough developer support, a design that suited a phone and not a hand-held gaming system and the added fact that it was going up directly against Nintendo. It had fail written all over it from the get-go.

Those were just a couple of examples of products that I felt were going to fail before things really got started, it was that logical, stingy side of the average gamer that warned us to stay away from them for the most part. Well I have one more to add...

Product – PSP Go

The Expectation$:

Create an ultra portable version of the PSP where the focus will be on definite portability. Make all future PSPGo games purchasable on the Playstation Network so we can have ultimate control over the pricing and solve a battery life issue we may have had with the now non-existent UMD drive. Let's also create all new accessories for PSPgo owners to buy instead of it being compatible with older versions. It's a win win for us.

The Reality:

Sony controls the content; they control the online pricing so this essentially means no more room for possible discounts at the local store. No rentals, no ability to sell your own games. You're basically tied to a network in order to acquire anything new for the device. This means years down the road it'll make a great doorstop.

PSP 3000 owners need not worry because PSPGO games are completely compatible with older versions but amazingly there's no way to play your current lineup of titles on the new GO for some reason – Why should I not get a 3000 instead again?. You can also say goodbye to all those accessories you purchased for your older PSP, they won't be recognized by the Go whatsoever.

I just don't get the logic behind this device and this is not mentioning the various other flaws like a portable hand-held focused on digital distribution using an older version of 802.11b wireless interface. (This means possible hour long downloads, if you're lucky enough to keep a connection going, otherwise you'd have to start over again). In this rare case I see a device that is the victim of its older self. It offers less in terms of convenience and prices it at a steeper price.

Now some of you may be offended with the comparisons between the Go and the other products in this list but in my opinion the GO offers the same minute amount of positives as most of these other devices. I'm surprised that Sony made the decision to release this alternative. Imagine releasing a PS3 slim but with no Blu-Ray drive and a subpar wireless connection for getting games and content. It just does not make much sense in my opinion for a platform designed specifically for games.

It's been a while since I did one of these so here I go and just for your info I rarely edit these so I may ramble.

The PSP that had to GO

So it turns out that my PSP didn't please me as long as I had hoped, I ended up selling it Kijiji and the whole experience just reminded me of the uselessness of hand-held gaming, particularly for me. I'm a gamer that values atmosphere, it stems from the same reasons why I love the Metal Gear's and the Final Fantasy's and I just can't get that feeling from a hand-held. Another thing, I just don't make a habit of playing games in public which is the whole reason for having one in the first place.

This takes nothing away from the PSP as a valuable device based on its capabilities but it just isn't for me. I could hear a few people echoing I told you so right now ~_~. I guess someone with my particular tastes can only hope for a hand-held with some subtle VR glasses as a substitute, maybe I'll be able to ignore the elders that stare at me on the train wondering what strange device I'm operating, or the kid that wants to constantly peak over my shoulders while trying to guilt trip me for a try.

Netbooks vs Notebooks

As a result I ended up purchasing something a lot more practical given my situation. I recently grabbed a Acer one, 10" Netbook and I couldn't be more satisfied with this purchase. Netbook's in my opinion define portability and they end up being in my eyes what Laptops should be. A lot of notebooks today just lack identity.

They keep getting bigger when they should be smaller, the thinnest of the bunch end up being more expensive then much more powerful desktops that are intended to be the primary computing options. To top it off a lot of these same notebooks lack the battery life necessary for real travel. The obvious weak points with a Netbook are the lack of an optical drive (but who really uses one with today's externals), the obvious hardware sacrifices (although this baby flies with everything I throw at it, games excluded) and the smaller screen but it's definitely a worthy trade off. I can easily see this becoming a trend as I've already convinced a brand new condo owner (a friend of mines) to purchase one with ease.

My first review assignment….meh

So I got my first writing assignment at Urbanologymag and I ended up having to review a recently released Guitar Hero 5 for the wii ~_~. Talk about a challenge because for one I'm not a big fan of the series mostly because of the repetitive feeling I get with each new sequel and I also had to condense my thoughts to a mere 250 words.

This was a problem for me because as you can tell from this long winded blog, I enjoy rambling on and on so 1000 words fits my writing sty-le perfectly but a mere 250 means a lot of summarizing and just making sure that I include the important points while still trying to sound like I give a damn. This was more of a test then anything though since this fall I'm sure I'll be busy with a lot of the bigger titles which I'm looking forwad to trying out.

Subject Zero…really

I recently viewed the new character introduced in Mass Effect 2 and I gotta say I'm not really a fan. If the idea is to step away from the typical bimbo infused females we're used to in most Videogames then I'd suggest a personality st-yle more deserving like say The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3.

She had a certain feminine appeal, strong, independent, but at the same time she had that deadly ambiance. Sure it's apples and oranges but I thought they could of came up with something better then the whole punk rock, kill anything that moves type. Of course I have to play the game to understand how a character like Subject Zero would fit, but I'm not buying this character's edginess upon first glance.

It's amazing how a bite of success can sneak up on you like a homeless guy at a train station sometimes. As some of you guys know I applied to write for a Canadian mag by the name of Urbanology, who's primary focus is urban culture (this could mean anything from music to technology). After my pre-interview I didn't hear from them for several months so they were completely out of my mind – I figured I wasn't good enough. I have to admit to you guys that I seriously questioned my writing abilities. It's partly why I stopped blogging as often, add to that the situation I was going through.

Well it was only a couple of days ago when I received an email stating that I'd been chosen to become an intern and if my interview were successful I'd be able to write for them. I obviously jumped at the opportunity, I expressed my passion for the gaming industry and I also highlighted why I believed it was the most important medium since the modern film and as a result, starting Thursday I'll be starting my first assignment/training session and I'll likely be handling there gaming/tech coverage. I can't tell you how good I feel right now and it's really thanks to most of you guys who kept reading my material and refused to withhold your positive words that this came to be.

It seems like I only come ever couple of months to ramble about something but I couldn't resist sharing this with my fellow bloggers. Expect more updates and blog comments from here on, I mean it this time

So what's new? let's see, I recently had a job interview for a tech support position at TigerDirect. Like always with me and interviews I carried with me a layer of nervousness but overall I gotta say that it was one of the coolest interviews I've had regardless of whether I got the position or not. Instead of the typical "tell me about yourself" questions, I ended up feeling like I was being tested for my inner geekitude. Imagine going into an interview prepared for a professional suit only to end up being asked who your favorite super hero is, favorite movie trilogy, and about video games by a guy with a batman tattoo and another who actually knew about king's quest and police quest. If only more interviews were that fun.

Now I don't know if any of you remember the slight hint I provided you guys with about the device I just purchased to keep me sane. Well it ended up being a PSP slim which I got for a great deal on craigslist for a much lower price then it would have cost me just for the core system. Were talking about a limited edition God of War PSP slim packaged with Vice city stories, God of War Chains of Olympus, Burnout Legends, Sims 2 Castaway and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2, the Superbad UMD movie along an extra, Crisis Core.

I really have no idea why the kid wanted to get rid of the thing considering the near mint condition I received it in but I was happy to say the least. I can give you a variety of reasons why I prefer this over my DS but I'll only list a few. The games just have higher production values all around and depth (I'll get more into that in another blog), the sound output via the headphones is far superior which is important since I'm anal about sound in general, and the extra multimedia capabilities are a plus. It also seems I picked a perfect time to get one with all the titles announced for the system in the coming years which I discovered only after purchasing the thing. I have a lot of things to say about Crisis Core since I only just completed the game but I'll save it for another blog. Let me go on the record and say that many of the negatives things I've heard about the PSP are unwarranted and it's a shame. It's an amazing device.

Writing a blog on Gamespot seems so alien after a 2-3 month absence. Hell it took me a good 5 minutes just to remember my GS password. I felt it important to let the few of you guys who still remember me know that I'm not dead, not yet anyway. My predicament hasn't changed much since the last time I posted, and while I'd normally reveal all the details, instead I'd appreciate it if you guys just allowed me to keep it to myself for a little while, at least until I'm at a point where I feel open enough to talk about what got us in our current situation. I'll just give you a hint and say that I've been off the grid longer then my current sanity should allow.

I'd like to think I've changed a lot over the past few months, but the reality is that I still think about the gaming industry every now and then, just not as often. I read consistently rather then occasionally, I've familiarized myself with fiction, non-fiction and history of all kinds but even after all that I still wouldn't mind picking up a controller right about now. It proves that gaming for me is more then a hobby, it's a lifestyle just as relevant as the common book, just as rewarding. Up until now I've lent all my systems away to friends just so I wouldn't have to look at them gathering dust.

It seems like I missed E3, for me it's the equivalent of skipping out on Christmas, it just hasn't happened before. Despite my absence, you should see me blogging more often (often for me is once a week btw) thanks to the wonders of 3G technology and Rogers (Canada's premiere internet provider...blah blah). Maybe I'll leave you guys with a detailed account of what it's like to go this long without power for my next blog since the gaming content is scarce except for a little device I bought to keep myself at least a little sane (a hint, it's slim). I hope you people have been doing well even though I've noticed a general lack of the GS population around which isn't to my surprise but I hope to get familiar with you guys again. See you aroundthe blogs.

For the two or so of you that have been wondering where I was, I'll just fill you in. Without going into details, I've been put into a situation where the hydro company is giving us a hard time. It seemed to come out of nowhere (I was blind sighted, I won't blame anyone but I'll just say I had no control over this)but at the moment I've gone a week without power and I'm potentially faced with an additional week or more in the same condition.

As someone who practically relied on technology, this is an extreme. All modern forms of entertainment no longer exist, the most simplistic of devices such as microwaves and stoves are no longer a convenience, and I've mostly relied on the written word (books) to keep my mind somewhat stimulated. I'm really starting to realise just how much I took these basic things for granted and while I think I'll come out of this experience with an all new appreciation for hot water (yes, it's that bad) and moving images, it's not something I ever want to experience again.

Life without power is both therapeutic and torturous at the same time. Flashlights replace bulbs,take out replaces the stove, books replace most forms of entertainment, the radio replaces my dailynews, talk radio replaces my podcasts. My thirst to see moving pixels again is only satisfied by my Nintendo DS at the moment, and luckily I have cunning ways of rechargingit in public areas. At the moment the best way to describe how I feel at times is disconnected. How do people who live on farms, or secluded from modern society do it? probably because it's all they've known. Maybe another week will help me get used to this sort of life style but by then it would have been over.

Is this service honestly the future of gaming as we know it?

I have to say that this little black box packs a whole lot of ambition within its plastic (on the television side of things). Its technology promises to provide users with an unprecedented ability to play video games as if it were actual interactive video in a sense over an internet connection. It gives that extra oomph to the term "video" games. The service essentially means that if you have a PC capable of running MSN messenger you'll be instantly given the ability to practically play a title like Crysis according to them. It really boggles the mind.

I've seen services and technology attempt to offer all in one solutions to steep hardware requirements etc. One such example would be a system we all remember as an absolute failure. The Phantom.

It was a console that touted the unique ability of playing the latest PC games. Of course any logical person would come down to the conclusion that eventually you'd need to upgrade the Phantom's hardware to keep up, essentially still making it a PC without the same customizable functions.

Onlive however doesn't focus its offerings to PC titles however; it also serves to provide gamers with Xbox 360 titles and to a lesser extent, certain PS3 titles.

As I hinted to before, the technology relies on a relationship between your internet connection and Onlive's servers. So imagine playing a game from another person's house as its being instantly projected through your own TV screen. This also means that a person could allow literally thousands of spectators to watch them play there favorite game at any given moment. It all sounds really cool and convenient on paper. However, like the Phantom I see a few flaws with this method.

• Lag:

I'm sorry you just can't avoid this. We're talking about streaming an entire game instantaneously over an Internet connection, and what happens when you want to play online at the same time? Hell what if something happens with their servers, I don't even want to think about a day when virtually every individual is suddenly stripped of the ability to play there offline game of choice.

• Mods:

If I'm essentially playing a game from another person's server, how will I have the ability to manipulate my own game? I'd seriously be constrained to what is given to me in its original package. That seriously hurts the modding community as far as PC games are concerned.

• Price:

This will fluctuate and get higher as the demand grows. There is no way that any company can handle the cost of millions of gamers streaming title after title with a modest price tag.

• Competition:

Do you really think Sony, Nintendo and MS will allow this to succeed to a great degree? I know I wouldn't want these three in my cross hairs. Makes me doubt just how much flexibility they may have to succeed on a grand level.

Despite those concerns, I'm really impressed by the promises being made and the technology certainly has the potential to be groundbreaking if done right. At this point however I can only see it as some sort of casual alternative that will help bring in more gamers rather than be a replacement. It'll also help the PC industry in a way by both eliminating the piracy problem and hardware requirement issue in one swoop. (Providing you have a damn good Internet connection).

Note: I wrote this before Onlive's Press conference, so check it out here to inform yourselfs on the technology if you're interested.

What do you guys think about this tech?

It seems like I find something new or generate a new hobby every year, a couple of years ago it was video editing, and now it's 3D rendering and so far I'm loving it. Now let me be real here, I'm no animator, I'm not at the level where I can create an entire model from scratch so all the credit goes to the talented individuals that provided the meshes, textures, etc. I do know the basics after days of research however. So behold I give you my first 3D scene rendered from Poser 7, along with Photoshop for the post work. Allow me to show you just a glimpse of my geekiness during my free time.

Wanted: Dead or Alive with his suit intact.

Last seen: November 2020

Codename: Bullet

Profile: His body suit is a product of military experimentation, a system that revolves around the shock of certain muscles triggered by mental signals allowing a regular human an almost automatic super human ability to both dodge bullets and move at incredible speeds through the forceful actions of the technology. He is no ordinary subject due to his ability to handle the suit's wear and tear. He's gone through several years of mandatory training funded by the government's tax dollars. This involved pain resistance, mental training and the overall control of muscle spasms.

The gloves and boots were especially designed to provide Bullet with soft impacts, due to the forceful speed of his movements, punches, kicks or simple landings without added protection would end up breaking more than just his bones. Vice versa, recieving a blow from Bullet is the equivalent of being shot by the very object he's named after. After growing dependant on the suit's offerings he suddenly went rogue. At the moment he's wanted by the government for stealing a piece of technology that is financially irreplaceable. If you see this individual and do not think you can retrieve him with your current AE (anatomy enhancement), contact the XIE immediately.

So there you go so I plan on doing some video game themed stuff. I'm currenly working on an Assasin's Creed 2 deal so look out fo rthat. I also put this little scene together. She's extremely rough around the edges (I don't know what I was thinking with those gloves), I'm to lazy to add decent hair at the moment. .

It's been a while since I last posted and I just wanted to apologize to all the folks that wrote blogs, since I pretty much avoided providing any comments, although hopefully you didn't notice. I just went through a period where I just wanted to disappear from any and all online scenes. This is the personality of a Scorpio, I need my moments of extreme privacy or seclusion but it had more to do with my current feelings at that moment. First of all like most sane individuals out there, I generally hate rejection. One of the reasons why I strive for perfection is to avoid it on a regular basis but when I do come across the beast I learn to deal with it.

(yeah that's me, except replace those with spiked running shoes o_o! )

But if there's one sort of rejection that takes me a while to get over it's the nonconstructive type. You know kind when you go up to a girl, try to be nice and she brushes you off without a word leaving you hanging (never happened to me btw). Well that recent job I spoke of stinks of this kind and I being the kind of person that over analyzes every last detail I literally was left second guessing my own writing ability (was it too long? Is my writing boring? Etc) because after several weeks of not getting a response and even after I requested a number so that I could call, my cousin reassures me that I probably got the job but he'd check back. Well that was a week ago so I'm not about to hold my breath.

So yes I really hate it when certain employers feel its ok to not tell you why you didn't get the job or the reasons so at least the person could improve. Blah! I may be writing all this for nothing and I'd end up getting a call the next day, but I had to get this off my chest. But man, it's like dangling a 1000 dollar bill in front of a person's face for a gamer, really now. Ok I'm done. @_@

On another un-related note, I hooked myself up with Street Fighter 4 and so far it's exactly what I expected it to be. An extremely polished Street Fighter game that accomplishes everything a fighter should. For one, most of the fighters are pretty damn balanced (except for that bastard of a bum Seth), love the revenge meter which provides some pretty amazing come backs, the visuals are beautiful matching the typical aesthetics of the arcades and the difficulty levels are fairly spread apart for both beginners and pros. It's the perfect combination of old school with new school which is what most gamers wanted.

Playing this game however will not suddenly convert you into a fighting game fan, and aside from the typical improvements it doesn't change or bring anything new to the genre in any way. I wrote about this previously but the Fighting game genre continues to be a grouping of titles that stifles any sort of innovation. It's one of those few types that relies way too heavily on a certain hardcore fanbase to keep it alive and it completely rejects any new franchises from entering the fray. For instance, would you honestly buy a new fighting series, with entirely new characters etc in this day and age? Probably not and that's a problem.

note: The 360 Dpad is an absolutely horrid contraption for fighting games, I almost forgot about this fact until I tried to perform some combos with SF4. I know some of you were wondering how it controlled with the pad so there you go.