Sometimes all you can do is cling to your beliefs.

Good luck to all those who are staying here, but my time here on Gamespot is coming to a close.

You can find me as one of the admins of www.thevirtualunderground.net, a refuge for my favorite community on this site. All are welcome, so please drop by.

You can also find me on the PMS Clan forums (www.pmsclan.com), Scorehero (www.scorehero.com and #scorehero on gamesurge), and lurking around DOACentral (www.doacentral.com).

And remember... no matter how sad Parappa gets, he can get through anything because he believes.

I tend to make blog posts only when I'm really bored... and then I have nothing to write about.

Well, this time I actually am not super bored but I have some time and want to just post something so people don't think I disappeared off the face of the earth.

I've been spending my days mainly working, travelling for gaming, and of course, gaming. Current addictions include Team Fortress 2 and Guitar Hero 3. Cliffs of Dover is an amazingly fun song to play.

As for where I'm travelling for the foreseeable future, I will be in Philly for the VGXPO this weekend, at the Geforcelan 4 in Alameda Nov 16-18, possibly in LA for the CGS World Finals (just to spectate) and CPL Winter Dec 19-22.

I will probably also be at CES and GDC but that's next year.

Hopefully more updates to come.

Sadly, I've had to cut more friends off my friends list recently.

Apologies if I took you off - again, I took off either names I didn't recognize, or ones where I basically have never played with the person(or haven't played with them since the 360 came out), or I don't interact with them on a semi-regular basis on the GS forums (or elsewhere).

I'm still at 93 people. Only 7 more spots until I have to make the tough decision again.

Why does Microsoft put me through this? Argh.

I am reading through some of my back issues of Time (this one is dated July 16 - give me a break, I've been busy!) and they have an article on a study about addiction. What struck me in particular was this phrase:

In the brains of addicts, there is reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, where rational thought can override impulsive behavior.

Seeing as how every time I play Brain Age, the good doctor tells me how much I'm using my prefrontal cortex, does this mean I have more of the ability to stave off addictions?

It's been a hectic few weeks, that's for sure. Things have calmed down a bit in terms of my travelling for gaming but I'm still avidly following the CGS league through the website and TV and such.

Check out this epic match where my boy Swoozie wins it for my team, the LA Complexity!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkaJc6-I0qs

It's moments like this where I really believe that pro gaming can reach the mainstream audiences.

I've been out of town on and off for the past few weeks at a series of events. I don't really feel like getting into all the details, but y'all are welcome to ask.

Basic breakdown:

I am a taxi squad player for the LA Complexity (complexityla.thecgs.com) for Dead or Alive 4. This basically means that if for some reason the General Manager is not satisfied with the current starting player, he calls on me to fill in and I get to play as a salaried player. (Base of $30k/year, plus whatever bonuses) Not a bad deal.

I went to Showdownlan 2007 in San Jose and won myself a Sumo Beanbag for having the top score in Guitar Hero 2 - I actually had it on two different songs but they only let me win one.

This past weekend I was in Louisville for the World Series of Videogames - I competed in Guitar Hero 2, placing 6th in the open competition. That got me a spot in the bracket play and I ended up in 19th. But I'd only had a few days of practice so I'm not sweatin it too much.

Now I'm tired but in a good way. I met lots of awesome folks over these past few events and my next one is in Dallas, July 5-8th.

Watch for me on CBS July 29th when they air the Louisville WSVG segment! Since I was one of two girls in the bracket play I'll probably get inserted somewhere in there.

www.starcraft2.com

Revel in the glory that is the sequel to the greatest multiplayer game ever.

Pac Man!

And... Bubble Bobble

 Also - I placed 2nd in one of the tourneys (all female DOA4 - I lost to my mentor/teacher), and took 3rd place in a Quake 4 FFA. 

This weekend I drive down to Anaheim for the Buy.com LAN.    www.buy.com/LAN for those who are interested in learning more!

I'm competing in DOA4, though I already know I'm going to get my butt kicked, since I have played half the people who are going online, and they always kick my butt.  I use too many unsafe moves    But it'll be a good learning experience, regardless!

Lots of notable gamers going, plus some of my coworkers are going as well... gonna be lots of fun - I'll try to remember to take pics. 

And anyone who is in the LA/Anaheim area... spectator passes are only $5, if you feel like coming out find me and say hi. 

It's a pretty well known fact that I like to cook.  And subsequently, I also enjoy baking.  So here, my faithful readers, I will show you to what extent my geekiness lies...

Mario Cookies: 

Blue Pikmin:

And the rest - Easter themed cookie cutters are the best. 

Bon appetit!

Well, I do have to say that I am really excited for this service.

Why?

Well, primarily it's nice to see the console and PC world merging.  It has been so separate and I'm not entirely sure why - the PC has games, the consoles have games, so why do we need to be divided like so?

Besides, it'll be nice to get achievements for playing the games on the PC as well.    I can see it now... all of those achievement lovers out there will go upgrade their PCs just so they can play the latest and greatest PC games and get another 1000 points that way.  Suits me just fine.    Hope the voice chatting is as good as vent.

I'll see y'all on Halo 2!

So lately I've become addicted to Gun Game, a server mod for Counterstrike.  It occupies most of my thoughts during the day... is it healthy to continuously think about shooting people in the face?  I hope so.

I even have been neglecting Burning Crusade for it (sorry Bob!), as well as every other game out there.

I think I need help.

Play BF2?

A friend of mine over at Team HOT recently went through a family tragedy - his family's business burned to the ground, and a firefighter was trapped when fighting the blaze and died. 

His team, plus some of the other pro BF2 teams are putting together a benefit tournament - 5v5 infantry, 2v2 chopper, 1v1 armor and an all out knife fight.    They have a bunch of video cards and other items as prizes.

So, it's for a good cause and you can win stuff, for just a $10 entrance fee.  Plus since I'll be entering, you can all knife me in the face. 

Details can be found here:  http://teamhot.net/

And so, my audience, I invite anyone who will be getting this (like, everyone right?) to join me as I start a new character.

Like everyone else, I'll be making a Blood Elf (mage!  I can't get enough of casting spells) and probably playing on a PVP server.

PM/IM/Xfire if you'd like to get in on it with me.    Or if you already have extensive plans, let me know - I am open to joining someone else.

Another year has gone by, and again it is time for me to clean out my friends lists, both on here and on XBL.  This year it's even more necessary than ever, as I have hit the limit of XBL, apparently.  They really need to increase the limit on those.  I have way more than 100 friends.

Also, last year I made a resolution to FINISH more games.    I daresay I did a pretty good job, all things considered.  While many games I play are "unbeatable", I at least put in a good amount of time with them.

Some of the games I finished this year:  Quake 4, King Kong, Ape Escape 3, Psychonauts, Loco Roco, NSMB, HL2 Ep One, Black, and Gears of War.  I put in lots of time with Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142, as well as some time with Counterstrike Source.  I've played a lot of Dead or Alive 4 as well.

So I start 2007 with a slightly modified resolution - finish more games than last year, but have some of those be some of the backlog games that have been sitting on my shelf.  It's so easy to forget about these "I'll get to it later" games, but I'm going to make a conscious effort to play through them to the end.  Shouldn't be too difficult... after all, I'm probably halfway through a ton of these games.    Now the key is to just remember where I left off...

Another resolution, though unrelated (I find it better/easier to keep resolutions when they're written down), is to drink more, and varied wine.  Any fellow oenophiles out there?

If you had a chance to have lunch with Will Wright, what would you say to him?  What would you ask him?

Yeah, I have no idea either.

*Midna giggle*

Thus far, I am loving Twilight Princess.  If you're not a fan of Zelda games, this game won't do anything to change your mind... but if you are, what are you waiting for?    I don't know what else to say about the game except that it's well, Zelda.  And as such, it's eating up the majority of my gaming time.

But before I was caught up in the loveliness of the land of Hyrule, I managed to get through a good chunk of Gears of War on Insane.    I didn't find Insane to be that much more difficult than hardcore, but maybe it's because my problem areas in hardcore always involved one-hit deaths.  *shrug*

I also played a lot of Cloning Clyde.  I think I'm finished with all but the challenge levels.  It's such a fun little platformer - and for the XBLA price, it was completely worth it.  Wonderful little title, I've really enjoyed it.

Lastly, I've been playing a lot of Phoenix Wright 2.  I'm on case #4 now (I don't know how many there are, but I imagine there aren't many left), and the sequel is just as good as the original.  The cases are a bit more far fetched but the gameplay is still stellar.  I do believe it's gotten to be a bit more difficult now, as I've had to restart a few times.  All in all, I'm incredibly satisfied with the game and I can't wait to finish it.

That's all for now. 

Wait!  One last thing... play with me!  I think there are a lot of people who read this but I don't play games with. 

XBL GT:  wedgieroo
Wii Code:  6377 0911 1838 7198
Xfire:  wedgewu

See y'all online. ^____________^

And I have.

Namely, I have stuck to my list (which I mentioned before).  But not only that, I have actually spent some quality time with all the titles I've purchased so far.

As noted, I've spent a bit of time with BF2142.  Gotten some stuff unlocked, and I anticipate playing it a lot more.  Mechs are fun!!

FF12 I have played a bit of, but this is probably what I've neglected the most.  Not to worry though, I will return to Ivalice this Christmas.

Gears of War... where to even start?  I've easily put 50 hours into the game already - probably more than that.  I've beaten it fully, twice - once by myself on hardcore, and once with my roommate co-op on hardcore.  I've played co-op with some other people as well (co-op games are so fun!)  I've dabbled a bit with insane, and also spent quite a bit of time grenade tagging people online.  The ranking system is kinda dumb, but I've still been playing the ranked matches.  Met some fun new people that way. 

I finished Sam and Max Culture Shock.  It wasn't a very long game, so that's not a surprise.  I do love those point and click adventure games, and it was so refreshing to play.

I'm now level 10 in Viva Pinata, though that was essentially from playing it all in one sitting.  I'll have plenty of time in the next few days (I'm going on vacation and taking my 360 with me - yeah, I know, I need help) so I will hopefully have a teeming garden full of pinatas.  If only my pinatas would stop hating on each other!  BTW Justin, thanks for the Pink Flutterscotch.    Definitely livens up my garden quite a bit.

Another slight thing to mention is that I still play DOA4 a lot.  My stick is being put to good use, and I'm getting well trained in the game.  Look for me next year at Evo, cuz I plan on being there!!

I think we need to come up with a name for this time of the year... I've been using the term "gaming season" to describe this large influx of quality titles.  How is everyone else's gaming season going?

I'm enamored by the Gears of War ad that has been playing on TV.  Wonderful song choice.  Despite the fact that I know it's just marketing playing its game, I want Gears of War much more now than I did before.  Marketing 1, Wedgie 0.

I didn't quite realize this, but two of the games on my list release this week; Gears of War and Viva Pinata.  Given that the others on my list have already released, I believe these will be the last purchase I make before Christmas (my Wii is already paid for).

I've completed Sam and Max Culture Shock - very short, but given that I only spent roughly $6 on it (when you factor in the other episodes that I will inevitably get), I'd say that it was well worth the price of admission.  I urge everyone to at least give the demo a try.  What do you have to lose?

I spent a good deal of time with BF2142 this weekend - I was a little annoyed that practically all the items in the game were locked away, but now that I have my trusty defibrillator I feel much better.  It's getting better, but I still don't like the standard assault class weapon.

This entry won't feel quite complete without at least mentioning FF12.  I've been playing it a bit, though singleplayer games have a much harder time holding my attention now (Sam and Max did... but just barely).  For some reason I keep falling asleep while playing the game.  Now - I am a champion at just nodding off randomly (watching tv, watching movies, and yes, also many many other games), so I don't chalk it up to the game itself, but rather the pace of the game and the fact that I always play at night.  Thus far, I'm somewhat interested in the game... but unfortunately I know that it's going to fall to the back burner this week until probably Christmas, when I can devote some serious hours to it.  Multiplayer games almost always take a precedence for me, and with both Gears of War and Viva Pinata (which isn't technically multiplayer, but I'm anticipating spending a lot of time so that I can trade pinatas with people) poor FF12 will just have to wait.

January is fast approaching, and I remember making a vow last January to start finishing the games that I've started.  While I don't think I've done nearly as well as I would have hoped, I've definitely completed more stuff this year than I usually do.  At the very least, I haven't started a whole bunch of new things and just left them halfway through. 

This time of the year is usually quite crazy for gaming, but I have remained eerily calm.  Maybe it's due to my attempts at minimalism?