• Contact (DS) - I’m almost done with this. I have one more island to beat and I’m done. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this game through and through. I may come back later and try to get 100% complete, but I doubt I will. Who knows.
• Final Fantasy 12 (PS2) - I got much more into this game when I was in Cincinnati. Since my parents lack an HD TV, and the PS2 I have is a slimline, I through this in my suitcase and brought it. I’ve got a ways to go, but so far, it isn’t bad. The story hasn’t gripped me nearly as much as others in the series, but I’ll give it time.
• Gears of War (360) - I beat this with my old roommate, Justin, when I was in Seattle, and I still play multi-player with a bunch of guys at the office on a regular basis. It’s awesome. That’s all I have to say about that.
• Children of Mana (DS) - I swap this with Contact on the train. It’s much more mindless and I like that. This game is also a great travel companion given that it’s very quick to get in and out of.
• Ray-man Raving Rabbids (Wii) - It’s a collection of party games that is awesome. It’s the surprise of my recent purchases in terms of games. Everything else has turned out to be as I expected. But this has gone beyond my hopes. It is awesome. Seriously.
• Wii Sports (Wii) – There hasn’t been a “everyone has fun at a party” game like this since Golden-eye. Strike that, this is even better. Everyone who plays this loves it. I play it at home because it’s just awesome.
• Zelda: Twighlight Princess (Wii) – I’ve kind of put this on the back-burner. For a while, I was hooked, but then I hit a puzzle and just don’t feel like trying to figure it out. So I’ve gone to other games. It’s awesome, and once I get back into it, I’ll probably go nuts again.

So what about the other games I listed last time? Not much has totally changed. I picked up FF3, but I’m waiting till I finish Contact. I figure I have enough games on my plate. I’m actually going to hold of purchasing the next major game that’s coming out, Lost Planet. Even though the single player is awesome (I played the demo too many times to count), I just can’t justify spending the cash on it. When I widdle down some more of the games on my list, I’ll pick it up. I just have enough on my plate.

Sigh…I love this. I have enough games and systems that I can play games dependent on my mood, not based on if it’s all I have. It’s actually nice to not have to force myself to play something. It’s like my music collection, I can play based on my feelings. It’s so enjoyable. Mind you, I have a lot of very very good games to get through, but I also have enough to get through the spring/summer lull.

Currently Playing
• Contact - I’m seriously enjoyig this RPG. If you have a DS and don’t have this game, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a really good RPG. It’s a bit quirky, but I think it’s great. I’m totally hooked.
• Lumines - This is my new casual game de jur. This game almost had me being a PSP, but it wasn’t enough to buy the system. Thankfully, it came to the arcade, and I love it. Very very fun.
• Touch Detective – I’m slowly getting into this game. It’s what I pop in my DS when I want a small break from Contact. I’m still just getting into it, but the game is growing on me.

On Deck
• Children of Mana - An action/RPG from Square in a series that I already love? Oh yeah. It also doesn’t hurt that my office mate is into it and we’re nearing completion of our project. It’s pre-ordered, I’m picking it up on the way home.
• Final Fantasy 12 – This was one that I was going to skip. I didn’t play 10 and figured I’d be ok. But now that I own a PS2, I have no excuse. As my buddy Kratville put it:
  

  Kratville: well, whatever, I’m just saying, piss off the girlfriend or not, you are NOT missing out on FFXII
  Me: you won’t stand for such a thing
  Kratville: fuck no I won’t
  I mean, there is a rather finite number of things which fall into that category
  (1) watching the Super Bowl
  (2) eating a lot of food on Thanksgiving
  (3) playing every game that is a true iteration of the FF series

  So yeah, I’m picking this up along with Children of Mana.

In The Hole
• Gears of War - A game from MS that is going to be awesome. A friend of mine on the Zune team has already played it and said it was awesome. I trust his opinion on such things. I’m psyched.
• Final Fantasy 3 – This game has never been released in the states before. It’s coming out for the DS and it looks friggen awesome. So yeah, another RPG for the DS. As I said before, I’m going to be playing games on Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for a while.
• Elite Beat Agents - An American release of Ouendan. I’m going to be on this like a fat kid on a cupcake.
• The Wii and Games – I should be getting it from Amazon at the end of November. This is another one I’m looking forward to. Although, if I dont’ get it soon after launch, I won’t be destroyed for the reasons above. Plus Kratville is getting one.

Riding the Pine
• Dead Rising - This is a good game, and I like it a bunch. But it leaves me so drained after playing it that I have to leave it and come back. Unfortunatly, I last left it and kept playing other games. I’m going to get back to this, but for now, it just isn’t a huge priority.
• Enchanted Arms - I’m over half way through and just haven’t been able to get back into it. I’ll probably get back to finishing it once I’ve completed a bunch of other games. Maybe.
• Megaman ZX - So I’m basically done with this game. I need to find the last level and beat it. Which shouldn’t take too much time, but it’s not very story driven (it’s a Megaman game) and so I basically know how it ends. I’ll probably finish it when I have a serious platforming jones. Till then, it’s just not going to get the playing time that a lot of upcoming games will be. Consider it the Bernie Williams of my DS lineup.

The Bullpen (Not everyday games, but still get good attention)
• 99 Nights – It’s mindless and fun to play. A lot of people didn’t like this game but I got into it. So much that I basically tore through it in about a week. I come back when I just need to stop thinking. Think of it as the anti-Lumines.
• NCAA 2007 Football - This is the serious middle reliever of my game lineup. I can use it for quick games with friends to unwind by myself. At the same time, I can rock this game for a couple of hours playing back to back games. Dan and I have made this game last whole nights. It’s really good. I also see this one getting me through the college football offseason.
• Mario Kart DS - This game is fun. I picked this up to play in the car going to Chuck and Rebecca’s wedding and I still just break it out. It’s a great game, and I definitely see myself playing this a lot with friends over the internet. Plus it’s Mario Kart. How can you hate it?

Wow…that’s a lot. Yeah, I’m definitely a gamer.

So not all of my video game news was bad yesterday. While at lunch, we stopped by Best Buy and I was able to finally grab a copy of Katamari Damacy. I had played it briefly while visiting Pat at Princeton last year. I wanted te game, but even after getting my PS2, I couldn’t find it here in Boston.

Then I discovered it in Best Buy. I have only had it for one night, but it is truly awesome. I fully understand what people were going on about. And it was only 20 bucks (the original price). Seriously, the game is awesome. I’ve had the music for a while, but hearing it in game just makes it more fun.

So what do I think of it so far? To be honest, I’m not totally impressed right now. It’s kind of sad, because I have high hopes. It’s just not totally sitting right. Mainly, I’m taking issue with what Sqaure-Enix feels is appropriate for difficulty in the game. There seems to be no correlation between the bosses and the random enemies. Right now, I see no reason for having bosses that are so much more powerful. I wouldn’t mind if I were further in the game, but I’m already finding myself doing more grinding than I want to be doing. At least in the first 6 hours of the game.

It is also possible I just haven’t played a J-RPG in a long time, but something just seems not as good with this one. *Shrugs* I guess I’ll figure it out as time goes along.