OK, so finals are over! Woot! As a reward, I have come into a rather large collection of Wii games, and I've started to break them in. First up, some downloaded stuff that I have been wanting to play since I was like 12. I finally went through and beat Paper Mario, what I assumed, and have never been corrected, was a sequel to Mario RPG. It was pretty strait-up Mario RPG, which was cool- I actually liked that game, the way that the battles were kinda turn based, except you could defend or avoid attacks without wasting turns, with button combos. I like that. I always hated that I could be a level 99 fighter or something, and then get hurt by a cactar. Once you get high enough, no goomba can touch you. Fun, not really that challenging RPG.

Which is quite the opposite of the New Super Mario Brothers for Wii. I've only played through one level of it so far, so I don't want to make up my mind just yet, but so far, it's been pretty good, pretty true, but somewhat bouncy. I love that the Yoshis are back! Yoshi is probably my favorite character from the Mushroom Kingdom! Go Yoshi!

But anyway, Silent Hill 5, Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicals, 4, and 5 sit on the shelf- awaiting the day that I will be patient enough to play them. We Sonic kids don't do to good on survival horrors; see, we lived through an era that taught us to live without fear in video games, so the things that are supposed to scare me, like cinematic fixed camera angles, kinda just piss me off. But, they are all supposed to be good games and I really want to play them.

Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, I have but a single question for you. Why is it so hard to split the screen in half? What is up with all these new games having on-line only co-op? Look, that's great and all, but really, when I have someone that I'm gonna play with, they're usually sitting on the couch beside me, you know? Not miles away with their own system and game. We've been splitting screens since the atari era, so don't tell me that you can't do it.

Do you guys remember Harvest Moon? That game is like silicon cocaine; for no discernible reason, you find yourself lost for days at a time wondering how that chick you're trying to nail liked those turnips that you gave her. You find yourself saying, "Just one more day, then I'll get up to eat." and you have no idea why. This one is even more addicting then any before it, because of all the new touches that they gave it.

Hot chicks, hot guys, and more- Everyone in this game has a heart meter; which I'm hoping means that you can be gay if you want. That would just be a really cool feature- there's this guy, the carpenter that reminds me of a bishouen (sp?) Nathan Explosion who's pretty cool that I wouldn't mind marrying, but I'm going for the Elven blacksmith right now because she's awesome and my stepson would look like Link. Plus, they keep coming, at least the entire first month introduced characters at about one a week.

Critters- Unlike the other Harvest Moon games, this one makes you domesticate wild animals that you find. Now, since it's set in a fantasy land, there are in addition to normal fare like cows, you'll find crazy shit like orcs and bell-sprout looking plants that can actually do the farm chores like weeding, harvesting, chopping wood, ect, for you as long as you take care of them! This is awesome! I haven't found one that waters yet, but I really want to- that's the worst part. This elephant-looking critter showed up, isn't in the barn with the others, doesn't care if I pet it, can't be harvested, won't eat, and doesn't do anything. I wonder what's up with that.

Avarice- You can add on to your house like crazy with a forge, alchemy station, and kitchen. They all allow you to make different stuff that does different things, for example, you can cook food that, in addition to being used as a gift, can heal HP and RP. You can use the alchemy lab to create tonics to speed up the harvest or heal what ails you. You can use the forge to create better farm tools, armor, and weapons.

Dungeons- And why, you ask, would you need weapons in a Harvest Moon game? The answer is simple, there is now more going on in the world then simply tilling a plot of land. There are now monster-filled dungeons for the hearty adventurer in all of us. Here is where you are likely to find your domesticatable animals, your herbs, extra chopping wood, and crazy ancient runes that a scientist in town is studying. I feel like there's a deeper story here.

Oh, and on one more side note- usually, I'm not a big fan of Ash, more of a Team Rocket rocketteer you know? But when I logged into DA today I saw a pic that somehow made him likable, almost attractive. So for this stunning feat, I would like to congratulate Suikuro! And invite everyone to check it out here: [link]