I have been playing the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii, absolutely loving it, never did beat the series the first time through. My brothers purchase of the aforementioned game also fueled my desire to buy Metroid Zero Mission from the used game store. Ton of fun, short, but definitely worth 8 dollars. Thinking about working on speed runs in Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission, I have never cared that much about that type of stuff though. Have been playing the Heroes of Newerth beta. If you have read anything about me up to this point you know that I am huge in to DotA. Read my review, its very enlightening (here's a preview, stick with DotA). Outside of video games I have been reading Children of the Mind, finishing up marching band, sort of quit cross country at the very end of the season (its a sad story). Oh, and I am going to join the army. Life is going pretty good, though my senior year has corrupted me a bit. Meh, life goes on.

Video games have become a villain, a monster that I wage an epic battle against every single day. I have only been addicted to a handful of games, unlike many people who can sit down and play any video game in their collection for hours on end, but these games haunt me. Like I said in my previous blog, my Xbox 360 has severely disappointed me, every game that I have shelled out dough for has left me disappointed. Call it a work of art, I don't care, what I want is entertainment, I don't care if it entertains the biggest bros in the business, I am selfish when it comes to my entertainment. When I play a game I want it to play me, to pull me out of the room, to make me forget everything else in the world for that time period. This happened every time I played World of Warcraft. My phone would buzz, my friend had probably just called me or texted me, but I didn't care because what I was doing in this miserable little video game seemed more important than the outside world at that point and time. I will not allow myself to play World of Warcraft ever again. There is no way to controlledly play the game, you may be able to for a week, maybe even a month, but it will always suck you back in. I would always burn out, but whats two months worth to a human being? Its worth a hell of a lot to me, I see that now, and one month of social disconnection and lack of studying or enjoyment of my summer is not worth the price. Halo 2 had me pumping my fists into the air like a madman, sitting on the edge of my seat for the next game to get started, yelling at my TV, praying that grenade will find its home. I grew out of shooter games after Halo 2, none of them seemed to pull me in the same way, none of them seemed to make me as thrilled and excited, not even Call of Duty 4 (though Infinity Ward makes an excellent product). More recently I found myself addicted to Diablo 2. The game is so simple, you make a character and you kill a ton of monsters, but it is so much deeper than that, you have to pick your build, your skills, hunt down your gear. I found myself spending real world money on runes (its shameful, I know, both in respect to my state of mind and the impact it has on the game). This desire to be the best is hypnotic, it sucks you in and its hard to let go. Alas, I uninstalled it just yesterday. Then there is Warcraft 3. Oh Warcraft 3, I feel like I disrespect the game by not even allowing it on my computer. Defense of the Ancients is so amazing, there aren't even words. It is the true player verse player experience. WoW always required you to play the game for hundreds of hours to get the right gear to really take down a seasoned player, though I made due with the scraps I had, but DotA is much different. You start out on an even playing field and you battle to the death. Every item you purchase, every monster you kill, every creep you deny is extremely important. I don't have a CHANCE to answer my phone or respond to a text message while I play DotA. I literally had to choose between DotA and my girlfriend, it was an extremely easy decision, but the fact that it consumes me so wholly is both marvelous and horrific. I don't allow myself to keep video games I have been addicted to in the past on my desktop. They sit there and they eat away at me, eventually I will crack and play them, and if I am addicted to them it is extremely difficult not to click that beautiful little icon. In my current state I try to do everything but play video games. I read as much as possible, I stay involved in as many activities as I can, I have a very happy relationship going on. All these things make my addiction to these few select video games look petty and shameful, and I am happy for that, I enjoy the light.

it is really weird looking back at that old blog from 8th grade and realizing that I am still playing the same games. Money has come and gone out the window on games more often than i care to admit, yet i probably could have gone the whole time just playing DotA. DotA is still great, makes me very happy, its like WoWs pvp except you are on the same playing field, one person doesn't just have godly beast weapons and gear to punish you to hell. I was disappointed in basically every 360 game I bought, I continue to find myself forking out money on stuff I know I won't really play that much, and the things I do want to play, like GHWT drums, are jacked up (MIDI fixer cable, comes in, i fix, next day, bye bye green pad, lame drums) I am sticking to my good old dota and pacman, they make me happy and I dont have to spend a bunch of money.

I can't say that I am to horribly impressed with my DS.  I've already beaten Castlevania, of which I got really pissed at because i couldnt get the dang valkyrie, and so i cant upgrade my sword :evil:!  Also i am so addicted to dota-allstars on warcraft 3 tft.  that game owns.  i like the nerubian assassing ALOT.  I would also like to know if the PS3 is ACTUALLY going to freaking come out, because if not that would definitely be interesting.  The xbox 360 is gonna rock also.  Perfect Dark Zero looks absolutely amazing!  Well i gotta go.