E3 2010: Some random things on the E3 floor...

Just fresh from his last kill, Issac starts to eye my limbs...

Wouldn't it have been great if one of them was actually a real person in costume and waved to the crowd?

A rather timid Sonic, not sure if his presence was known on the E3 showroom floor.

E3 2010: Day One over...

...But I'll get to posting this day's discoveries tonite! Stay tuned!

The calm before the E3 storm

Portable devices...check. Laptop...check. Pen and paper...check. Camera...check. E3 pass...check and double-check. Looks like I'm good and ready to report! Remember that if you want me to ask any particular questions, send them (one question at a time) to GameritisGuy@gmail.com, and I'll do my best to get some answers!

Gameritis also has a facebook page, so please "like" it if you want to receive updates through there.

I'll also be coverage over on Akiba-Station as GameOrDie, so please check for updates there as well!

Less than 6 hours til go-time...

Bit Trip Runner...finished!

The last few levels near the end of Bit Trip Runner were nail-bitingly difficult. I mean, so-close-to-the-end-but-then-running-into-an-obstacle-and-having-to-restart-to-the-beginning-all-over-again-50-times difficult. But finally completing each level was still so worth it.

Did I mentioned that this game is a recommended purchase?

Cave Story: What I was missing...

Let me set this up for you.

• I have never played Cave Story before on my own.
• Most of my information came from the updated sprites for the WiiWare version of the game.
• I played a version of the game briefly last year at E3, with little or no knowledge of what I was actually doing.

Cave Story was a game that appealed to me in two ways: its indie status and its retro style. Nevermind that this game is 6 years old, has received game translations and tribute sites, and was completely free. Some how, some way, the game never got through to me.

Until now.

After I downloaded the game, I told myself I'll play just about 5 minutes since it was late, and then call it a night. An hour later, I was forcing myself to turn off the system.

The gameplay mechanics are so simple and addicting. You collect life capsules to increase your total health, and you have weapons in your inventory that level up depending on the triangles that you collect from defeated enemies. Collect enough of those triangles, and you can level up your weapon to a stronger level, up to level 3 max (when I first played the game, will probably increase later, I'm sure). The devilishly evil aspect is, when your character takes damage, so does his weapons level. Not only does this force you to desperately try to level up your weapon to maximum status, but it reminds you that you can't blaze through a corridor of enemies in a split second unless you're not taking damage at all. Suddenly, this has become a horizontal SHMUP!

The story is as eclectic as its character design, both done by Daisuke Amaya (aka Pixel). It starts up with a character that has no knowledge of himself or why he's there, but that's where the game shuts up. It's not constantly in-your-face that he has amnesia, nor do you get any reaction from him of any concern for that fact. Unlike most games using the "lost memory"approach, Cave Story just lets you explore the world and worry about it later. The nicely-decorated levels and assortment of random art explains itself as you traverse the world. It's a nice no-nonsense approach to giving the gamer what they want, while letting the environment and ambiance tell the story instead.

While I've heard there are some audio issues, the game is still a much-needed departure from all the "next-gen" content that comes out on a weekly basis. If you feel adventurous, download Cave Story on WiiWare and go spelunking. Hopefully, you'll encounter a gaming nirvana you've never realized you were missing.

Recap: Mega Man Zero Collection event at Capcom

The Capcom-Unity event had about 30-40 guests gather for its pre-Mega Man Zero Collection event this past Friday, giving fans the chance to sample the DS game days before its release.

The event, which was held at the Capcom offices in San Mateo, was equipped with a room of about 11-12 TVs all running Mega Man games from their anniversary collection in celebration for all things Mega Man.

The center table, which was decorated with Mega Man Zero fan art, was devoted entirely for Mega Man Zero Collection playable on 4-5 Nintendo DSes.

There was even a small theater setup to play a staffer’s Netflix queue of Mega Man: Upon a Star anime, which, despite the dubbing and dated animation quality, was a pretty decent portrayal of the blue bomber.

Food and drinks were provided for fans, including the Mega Man E-Tank drink, a red-bull-tasting energy drink that was a very dedicated shade of Mega Man blue. While it wasn’t exactly like the E-tank drinks sold in Japan, the cans were still theme-appropriate and well accepted.

There were plenty of opportunities to win raffle prizes throughout the event, and the host was playfully reminding everyone that most of them were donated from Seth Killian’s Mega Man personal collection. These included many toys and figures that, frankly, I wasn’t even aware were out in the market at all; the Battle Network electronic toys were something I thought were never going to make it from Japan. There were even some Mega Man vinyl figures (like decorated Munny figures), and even some Japan-exclusive Mega-Man-themed Kubrick figures.

But the most coveted prize went to the winners of the Endless Mode competitions for both Mega Man 9 and 10. Players survive through a random gauntlet of enemy-filled screens with all weapons unlocked and available to them, with only one life to use. Top scores are measured in how many screens you can survive through. The player with the most screens won a Mega Man 9 press kit (the faux NES box and cartridge) and T-shirt. And boy did they compete. The winner from the Mega Man 9 Endless Mode competition was doing so well not dying that the host had to tell him to manually stop due to time constraints, forcing his hand at after 41 screens and still strong.

All attending fans also got a free Mega Man Zero T-shirt of the winning design from their recent contest, which will be mailed to them at a later date.

Overall, the Mega Man event was a living embodiment of the franchise’s strength and lasting power. For a company to be able to “reboot” their series at its 9th installment AND create not one but FOUR successful branching titles using a side character AND still remain strong says a lot about their game, their quality, and their fans.

Mega Man Zero Collection is out for the Nintendo DS now for $29.99.

3D Dot Game Heroes: Sending Link

Sorry for re-using a good joke, but I've finally put my 3D Dot Game Heroes Link character up on a hosting site. And I've fully fooled myself into thinking this is a new Zelda game with this custom hero in my game now.

Thanks to everyone's positive comments on my first creation! I'll have to see what to make next...any suggestions? Post them below!

Click the link below to download your own copy of Link to play in 3D Dot Game Heroes! Directions to upload the character are located here.

Download link for Link in 3D Dot Game Heroes

Gameritis attending E3 2010

It's nearing the magical time of the year where the game industry's best come out to reveal what they have in store for the new year - E3 2010! And again, I'll be covering the floor as much as possible this year. Only this time, I'll have more than a silly Blackberry and Twitter account to report my findings. Well, there may be still be Blackberry posts here and there (for when I can't whip out a laptop), but no Twitter this time. I'll try to remain ever vigilant in keeping posts coming both here and Akiba-Station, so please think of me as your inside E3 man.

Like last year, I'll be accepting questions you want me to ask on the showroom floor to whatever company reps I can find, so please post them on the Akiba-Station post that will be up shortly. Let me know which vendor I should ask, and what question you want me to ask. Please limit questions to one per post...I don't want to see full surveys of questions from each person. And real questions, not childish stuff like "Why do your games suck" and "When will you make a game I'll actually buy", k?

Still don't know what Akiba-Station is? Check it out in the Links section today!

As for any Gameritis faithfuls, you can send me your questions at GameritisGuy@gmail.com, with the subject "E3 2010 question."

Super Mario Galaxy 2 and ModNation Racers arrive fashionably late

While I'll be too busy this Memorial Day weekend to enjoy Super Mario Galaxy 2 and ModNation Racers, they've still managed to reach me right before the weekend began to rub their noses in my face. At least they'll be waiting for me when I return.

3D Dot Game Heroes editor easy to grasp, pleasant on the ears

There was no choice more obvious than Link to base my first custom pixel character on in 3D Dot Game Heroes. While the game was very enjoyable with its default blue-armor-clad character, it was still missing that je ne sais quoi.

But using any editor without the comfort of a mouse and keyboard made me a little hesitant at first. Sure, it's still pixel placement when you come right down to it, but there are so many things that could go wrong when implementing tools to operate in three dimensions. Fortunately, the tool set that was given was very simple to grasp. And the background music while you create is so upbeat and catchy, making time melt away - I could listen to that all day!

The cursor you work with is always relative to you and not on the camera angle. So, if you rotated your creation to the left and hit left, the cursor will go left relative to you. This makes navigating around a real breeze, making all the hard-to-reach areas much more manageable. Also with the left and right analog sticks acting as the zoom and rotate, respectively, observing your work at all angles is very smooth.

Their color palette is quite diverse, despite the lack of a real color wheel (like what ModNation Racers has). I really only had to change one color from the default palette they started me on to get all the colors I would need for Link. And you have all your typical "undo," "redo," and "erase all" commands at your disposal. But what I really enjoyed the most were the "resize" and "move" tools.

To resize, you just need to hold the X button and create how big you want your cursor to encapsulate, from all 3 dimensions. And, with their simple no-fuss navigation system, it's very easy to set up a huge block cursor with a change in camera angle. With a variable size, the now can be used to place larger areas of pixels, delete larger areas of pixels, and, most importantly, MOVE a large area of pixels. A lot of games can use a lot of the rules set that make this editor so hard to put down.

The approach I went to create Link was to first re-create the 2D sprite on the closest layer, and re-create the side angle sprite to one side of the area. From here, I eyeballed where all the pixels would meet up in the middle, and then worked my way out. After probably a good hour, I had the initial stand pose up and ready. Considering that artists never intended the pixels to coordinate and match from the front and side, there were a lot of liberties taken to make it all work.

From there, a simple command allowed me to copy over that same pose to other poses, and then I just chiseled Link to match his walking technique for one walk pose. Thanks to their "flip" command, I took the same walk pose and just flipped it for the second walk pose. Walking done!

Next up was the Hurray pose, which appeared when you grab an item, or just fall from a certain height. This probably took the longest time since I had to work on both arms at once. After this was done, the attack poses were a quick edit away before I was able to preview my creation in their test arena.

Overall, I think the final result is quite impressive for a first try.

Needless to say, this has now become my character of choice when playing the game.

And yes, I figured that some people have already tried their hand at making Link. Heck, From Software even gave promo disks with Link as a bonus additional character to use, made by those folks. But it feels good to make a character from the ground up, and it's something I'll likely try again in the near future. Something tells me, though, that it probably won't get posted up on their Hall of Heroes upload page.

I'll try to see if I can upload the character on this blog, but if you want a copy, feel free to email me.

Bit Trip Runner downloaded, reminds me of Master Higgens

The very first thing I thought when I started playing Bit Trip Runner (800 Wii points) was my speed run memories of Adventure Island. I don't think many people realized how well designed the levels were to a point where players can just run through the level non-stop and cleverly jump, dodge, and attack enemies in a precise and consistent pace.

Bit Trip Runner, on the other hand, has your character already constantly running, so all you have to do on your end is jump, duck, and kick your way through their very-addicting levels.

I've only played through the first world and boss, and halfway through the second world, and I'm quite addicted. However, I must the game credit for that addiction, seeing that they'll automatically start the next level after every level completion. In addition to the constant level barrage, your character gets reset back to the beginning of the level if you screw up, without missing a beat. There is no extra lives to hoard, no powerups to obtain - you either pass the level, or you don't. There's not even any real interface or tutorial in the game; you just simply play.

The only items you pick up are either gold or these plus-shaped icons that not only improve your score but give you a rainbow streak when you collect all 4. And when you collect all the gold in a level, you're treated to a bonus level done in the familiar style of Pitfall, from which they drew a lot of inspiration. The bonus game even had a grainy filter and familiar static hiss that's reminiscent of all classic Atari 2600 games.

Sound is a strong presence in the game, performing on cue with all your gameplay actions. I found myself almost immediately bobbing my head to the beat, making the already-challenging game that much harder to enjoy and rock out to at the same time. The rhythmic beats also serve as audio cues that accompany the gameplay very smoothly. I was slowly becoming more concerned about not disrupting the beat rather than trying to finish the level, as ironic as it sounds. There were a couple of moments when I considered not picking up all the gold, to just complete the level without getting scathed. But doing just that would defeat the game's audio purpose, and would just give me bland beats.

Finally, the inclusion of ANAMANAgUCHI to Bit Trip Runner is simply awesome (If you ever get a chance to check them out in concert, please do so!). My only disappointment was that it's only used in the intro and end credits and nowhere in the game itself. At least the songs they used (Blackout City as the intro, Mermaid in the credits) were appropriate choices.

Probably the only gripe I've had with this game so far is that on some levels the colors are so vibrant that it's sometimes hard to distinguish the objects you need to dodge. Other than that, Bit Trip Runner is a glorious time-sink that is worth your time and Wii points...I highly recommend it.

3D Dot Game Heroes arrives with pixel goodness

In a time when games get more and more realistic, it's a nice departure to return to a retro, 8-bit world. Well, a 3D 8-bit world, at least. Thanks to 3D Dot Game Heroes, this dream is a weird reality.

And yeah, sure, this game is EXTREMELY similar to another game that rhymes with the Megend of Relda, but I personally think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I think without people who are fans of the classic game this is based on, this game would fall flat among the masses.

There's still yet the editor for me to play around with and create my own pixelated heroes.

Super Street Fighter IV...finished!

What did you expect? It's not like Super Street Fighter IV is anything new, and I've technically beaten it before. I just had to go through a once-over to sample the new mechanics, characters, and bonus stages for myself.

But this time I've exposed my (terrible) skill to the online community and secured my first win...after several losses.

Super Street Fighter IV is a week late...

...getting to my house. While everyone is enjoying playing online battles and tinkering with the new characters, I'm left in the dust, a week behind everyone else. Heck, a day earlier than when I get my hands on it will set the spread already.

No matter...Super Street Fighter IV is in my possession now, so it's time to dust off that joystick and get to practicing!!

New Super Mario Bros. Wii...finished!

I actually feel a little shameful that I didn't complete the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game sooner, being quite the Nintendo fanatic. But I guess the rounds of multiplayer-madness I had with this game detracted me from finishing the main game too many times.

But there's still more time I can sink into this game, what with acquiring the 3 big coins in each level to unlock the levels located in World 9 to conquer. But that will have to wait for another day.

Giving the PS3 more breathing room

It's been almost 2 years since I got my PS3, and the 80 gb hard drive served me well during that time. However, it's reaching its limit now, so a new hard drive is in order. What with all the large-sized demos coming out and the ridiculous downloading games to the hard drive for easier load times (I'm looking at you, Heavy Rain), I'm surprised I didn't upgrade sooner.

Hopefully this time I won't be filling this up fast anytime soon.

God of War III arrives, beheads minotaur along the way

There's something to behold when a company, going through a game twice over, decides to give the boxart for God of War III a full zoom of Kratos's angry eye. I mean, for a man who has seen the slaughtering of countless enemies, allies, and his own family, they is not a spec of red veins anywhere, no baggy eyes. What's his secret?

I guess if Kratos is killing you, the last thing you'd see are his eyes and face breathing down your own. Probably would be a bad time to comment on his long eye lashes.

"I think you need to man-scape your eyebro-AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Zero Punctuation review: Just Cause 2

This week's "Lazy Wednesday" has Yahtzee wandering around the sand(box) in Just Cause 2, a game where that guy from Bionic Commando and his grappling arm are the star, and magical parachutes come out of his ass. It also gives Yahtzee the excuse to say "just 'cause!"

To be honest, there haven't been much sandbox games I've been diving into as of late, after Grand Theft Auto pretty much beaten the dead horse long ago. So maybe the arcade-style antics of a sandbox game like Just Cause 2 or Saints Row 2 would be a nice departure.

NSFW below, so enjoy!

Tatsunoko vs Capcom...finished!

Continuing the trend of actually finishing games, I throw in Tatsunoko vs Capcom into the "finished" category as well. While it's not as thoroughly "finished" as the other titles, like Street Fighter IV I deemed it complete when I see the final credits roll before my eyes.

Overall, the gameplay is as decent and as fast as any game from its VS series has been, and the gameplay is augmented with the fightstick. And the character roster is still impressive enough for me to play through the game again, especially for the game's final boss which was a pleasant surprise.

But it's great to know that the VS franchise is staying strong, what with the recent announcement that Marvel vs Capcom 3 is happening now.

God of War II...finished!

A little late to the party since God of War III has already been released, God of War II is now tucked nicely behind my "finished" belt, thanks to the God of War Collection. I had already finished the first iteration in the series, but that was before I started this blog. Now that I'm finally caught up with the main story (yeah, I forgot the PSP game, but meh), I'm ready for what God of War III will bring.

And after a taste of it last year at E3 (along with careful dodging of other videos and demos released later), I expect a wild ride the third time around!

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story...finished!

After about 25+ hrs of gameplay and an unexpectedly-long final level journey, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story can finally be laid to rest. The game was successful in keeping the humor level in par with the previous games in its RPG series, and the active gameplay made the game all the more satisfying to play. And while the plot of being stuck in your arch enemy's body seems a bit silly, Nintendo was still able to mesh it with a plausible background story and give Mario, Luigi, AND Bowser enough time in the spotlight to shine.

Now if only they include Princess Peach into the action instead of ALWAYS playing the damsel in distress, then that would rock! You got that, Nintendo? I want Princess Peach to be a playable character in the next installment!! MAKE IT SO!!

Zero Punctuation review: Red Steel 2

This week's "Lazy Friday" has Yahtzee doing another Wii game review, this time for Red Steel 2. Be prepared for a shocker, though, because I think Yahtzee actually liked this game! And he's certainly the stickler for the system's infamous "waggle" control. Thankfully, with the requirement of a Wii Motion Plus attachment, the controls behave more accurately in this sequel.

But of course, it wouldn't be a Zero Punctuation review without any criticism. So check out the NSFW video below and enjoy!

Zero Punctuation catch-up: God of War III

This week we're playing "Lazy Wednesday" catch-up, as I post up about 4 weeks of missed review posting. And finally, we come to God of War III.

I think by now, the whole game's plot is quite ambivalent. Kratos is pissed at the gods, and wants to kill them, the end. All I want to do is just slaughter hoards of enemies with my two chain blades stuck on my arms. That, and see how tiny I can be against the mondo-humongo boss battles I'll encounter the third time.

At this rate, I think Kratos is running out of ways to kill. Decapitate a head...yawn. Tear their bodies in two...meh. Chop off their limbs and beat them with it...been there, done that. Pretty soon, Kratos would have to jump into one of these monsters' homes and slaughter their yet-to-be-born mini-minions just to get us to say "that's fucked up, even for Kratos!"

Anyways, this marks the final catch-up before tomorrow's new Zero Punctuation. Hopefully I won't be quite as backlogged in the future as I was this week.

NSFW below, so enjoy!

(Anything but) Zero Punctuation: April Fools

This week we're playing "Lazy Wednesday" catch-up, as I post up about 4 weeks of missed review posting. This time it's April Fools!

Apparently this April Fools joke was tucked away in another video series at the Escapist called Game Dogs. It would've been much more logical to just use the direct link to the video reviews as the location of the joke, but whatever.

As for the joke itself, it's slow to pick up (get it?), but it gets its point across (not to mention commas, pauses, and ellipses).

SFW - you heard me, SWF - below, so enjoy!

Zero Punctuation catch-up: Final Fantasy XIII

This week we're playing "Lazy Wednesday" catch-up, as I post up about 4 weeks of missed review posting. And now...Final Fantasy XIII.

Surprise, surprise, Yahtzee doesn't like the JRPG that is Final Fantasy XIII. But before you take your ridiculously-huge cosplay sword and take a swing at his head, consider this: it IS a Final Fantasy game. You've only played, oh, the same game 12 other times at least, just in slightly different flavors. Is it any surprise that people would criticize this franchise?

But for the first time, I believe that I may be able to finally finish a Final Fantasy game with Final Fantasy XIII, which is both a good and bad thing. Good obviously being the fact that I'll finish one of these lenghty ordeals, but bad being that it's a Final Fantasy game. You see, these games were built on the foundation of nerds that have endlessly grinded their time away just to inch their levels up just to make battles shorter and easier; Final Fantasy does not. Which bodes well for me, seeing that I don't have the luxury of time nor youth to spend mindlessly playing through the same dungeon over and over again just to gain +2 points attack after a level up.

Whatever the case, if you're a fan of the series, you won't mind the XIII iteration. If you're NOT a fan - or you're Yahtzee - then stay away from it and go play something else.

NSFW below, so enjoy!

Zero Punctuation catch-up: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

This week we're playing "Lazy Wednesday" catch-up, as I post up about 4 weeks of missed review posting. Next up...Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

I don't know how much more realistic Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is suppose to be. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the first like a first-person war shooter but with some personality thrown in with more memorable characters instead of general NPCs that you know will eventually die? Or maybe the term "realism" is more to the fact that nothing is arcade-y and all the action is still dirty-and-dusty brown colored.

If there was any war game I would play, it would've been Battlefield: Bad Company...which I haven't. That probably says something right there. More something about me than anything, really.

NSFW below, enjoy!

Zero Punctuation catch-up: Heavy Rain

This week we're playing "Lazy Wednesday" catch-up, as I post up about 4 weeks of missed review posting. First one at bat...Heavy Rain!

First off, if you haven't played any Heavy Rain yet, this review is spoiler-city, so if you truly want to remain "pure" for the game, watch the review afterwards. If you don't care, continue anyways. Spoiler-alert...Yahtzee hates it.

Yahtzee makes some valid points though - not triggering the right action to progress the story is a common thing a player will do, but that's only the thorough nature in all gamers looking to wring out EVERY SINGLE OUNCE of value from a game. Often times the only reward in fiddling with every accessible area is just to turn on and off something. I don't hear any player scrutinizing another for not turning on the radio before going into the next scene. And unless there's some minor trophy rewarding you for interacting with the entire fucking world, I'd spend less time playing "nightclub" with the light switch.

The biggest point Yahtzee makes is that the game is not a game but a movie. If you play Heavy Rain like a game, you will not enjoy it; if you play it like a movie with you in the driver's seat, then it's another sensation altogether. The game goes by its own clock at times, so your decisions bear real consequences - unless you hit the reset button and replay those scenes over again, but then you're playing it like a game all over again.

I've already put my two cents about the game, but I'll stand by Yahtzee and agree with his views - Heavy Rain is not to be enjoyed as a game, but if you like a good movie, then give it a whirl.

NSFW below, enjoy!

Metal Slug XX...finished!

A game that's good for a quick plow-through at a moment's notice is any Metal Slug game, provided that infinite continues are at your disposal. If you don't like the thought of "infinite" continues, you can just imagine the idea of stuffing an arcade machine full of your laundry money. As long as my game binge is not disrupted, infinite continues are welcomed in my house.

After 44 continues (some of those levels are just RIDICULOUS hard), I completed Metal Slug XX with Fio in one sitting. And yes, I found out too late that the PSP game is just a fancier version of the Nintendo DS game I got earlier for the cheap. So sue me.

As a Metal Slug game, it satisfied the run-and-gun urge I had at that time. As for replay, there may be times when I'll try to see if I can best myself, perhaps taking less continues to finish. At one time, I was able to complete the entire first mission without dying - that would've made me do a fist-pumping "hells yeah" in an actual arcade...followed by awkward stares. There's also the side missions where you just play through a mission trying for the most kills, saving the most prisoners, or just surviving.

Bottom line, if you're a fan of the series, you know what you're gonna get: lots of guns, hoards of enemies, and bullets galore.

My wife + iPad + Plants Vs. Zombies = win

Getting my wife to play games is a daunting task. My general rule to peak her interest would be the cute factor in any game, and try to work my way from there. So when I saw the simplicity of the graphics in Plants Vs. Zombies, I thought it would be easy to persuade Heidi to play. But the iPhone version of the game proved to be too small for her, and she quickly lost interest.

Fast forward to last Saturday when the iPad just launched. I had to pick up some for work, and fiddled with one to try out. I uploaded a backup of my iPhone apps on it to test it out, including Plants Vs. Zombies. After handing it over to my wife nonchalantly, I left to do other tasks. When I returned, I was surprised to find her COMPLETELY ENGROSSED with Plants Vs. Zombies. She was tapping the screen like mad, placing her plants strategically, and taking out waves of zombies - all on her own, with no persuasion from me.

My wife: "Is this [iPad] yours? Do you get to keep this?"
Me: "No, it's the company's. I need to bring it back tomorrow."
Her: "Aww...can't you bring it to work on Tuesday?"
Me: "No. You know, this game IS on the PC. You can play it on your laptop."
Her: "But you have to use the mouse. I like the touch screen!"
Me: *sigh*

While it's a bit tiring to get her to play games, it's all worth it when she DOES get into one. Just her reaction to the pole-vaulting zombies hurdling over her Wall-nuts is so adorable.

I just hope it won't cost me an iPad to get her to play more games...

Sir, you have your 2 o'clock meeting with Disgaea 2 today...

There probably will be no solution to the over-saturation of games released on a weekly basis. And let's face it - unless you have no job, life, relationship, OR kids, you won't have enough time to squeeze out every ounce of gameplay from every game you keep purchasing. So what are the possible solutions to command this chaos?

Sure, there are sites like backloggery.com to let you chronicle your purchases and progress throughout each game, and there are the typical trophy/achievement systems that digitally date and mark how tolerant you are of your games. But despite all this, we gamers just get overwhelmed by "shiny and new" games every week enough to make our heads spin.

So you have X amount of games you've amassed - how will you tackle them?

Call me old-fashioned, but one tangible solution is just keeping a written list with you. And this is not the first time I've made this argument. But in addition to a list, why not set up a schedule to distribute your free time over your games?

Say you have three games you're playing concurrently. If you have 2 hours of free time a day, you can dedicated one hour to one game, and half-hour segments for the other two. Or, space out your time by dedicated 2 hours apiece to each game for 3 days a week.

Granted, there will be times when you just cannot leave a game to follow your schedule, whether it's trying to find that elusive save point, or you loaned your scheduled game to someone else. The best thing to do at these times is to exercise good judgment and self-control; mark the extra time spend, and redistribute your free time with your other games to compensate. And like any schedule set, you shouldn't overexert yourself and exceed scheduled time. That would just throw your planning out of whack.

But through careful time-management and creating a checkoff list, any game you own can and will be eventually cleared. Unless you just clock in a full 24-hour game-fest - then it's just a matter of sheer willpower.

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time...completed!

Among the constant struggles of trying to complete games amidst these recent game releases, I bring you another playing-through-the-game-in-hard-mode moments, complete with my first Platinum Trophy! The game this was accomplished in? Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time!

Though earning it wasn't easy, considering the glitches that thwared the trophy system. But after playing through the game once more in Challenge Mode and completing more of the side quests, getting that 100% was all the more sweeter. Now, that game joins Batman: Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves as games I've completed through all difficulty levels.

In actuality, this was done back in January 14th, but I needed to get it off my chest and documented properly on this blog.

Plus, it'll make me feel better when I'll buy God of War III later.

Braid...finished?

With all the rave reviews going into a gorgeous and well-thought-of indie game like Braid, you'd think it would be as satisfying when you finish the game. Well, not too recently, I did just that, but it is not in the category of finished games where I am left even more confused as when I started playing.

I won't enter spoiler territory, but the game created more questions than answers. So much so that it has spurred discussions in forums about the game's story. In that sense, Braid is truly a game of art; it is gorgeous to look at, and, at the same time, is perceived differently from each person that interacts with it.

All abstractions aside, the game's puzzles are the most creative that I've seen in any game for some time. I think all but one eluded my grasp at a solution, but there were certainly a number of them that had my brain struggling for an answer. But each puzzle I solved only fueled my persistence to figure out the next unsolvable puzzle. The calming and somewhat therapeutic atmosphere of the game was almost zen-like, making me rationalize a path to the solution instead of throwing my controller down in frustration and storming away.

I think Braid would be a game a doctor would prescribe to a gaming patient who's given up games for their increasing difficulty and convoluted gameplay mechanics. On a higher plain, it's a game that allows you to appreciate other games.