Hi everyone! Sorry for the dearth of updates thus far this week; a sad event happened in my family. We lost my grandfather, and I spent the last several days at my family's home in Massachusetts for the funeral. He was a very good man, and we'll miss him very much. You might have noticed Aberrant Gamer is also on hiatus this week -- it will be back with a vengeance next week, of course!Life has this way of going on, though, so I'm happy to report I'm back on board and working on catching up. If you've sent me email and are waiting on a reply, it might be a good idea to re-send lest your missive be buried somewhere in the avalanche of my inbox.
I've got tons of ideas in the pipeline, so you can expect to see more LIFE-CHANGINGLY PROFOUND articles and a new Best Of game soon. I've been very busy at Worlds in Motion with the Virtual Worlds Conference currently going on in San Jose, but I will make time for SVGL. Until then, let's start with a basic question -- whatcha playing?
As for me, a friend of mine lent me his copy of Dawn of Sorrow for the DS. I hadn't played any of the DS Castlevania games, and the only thing that sucks is how long I waited. Like Symphony of the Night? Dawn of Sorrow is almost as good. I'd say "as good or better" if such talk wasn't blasphemy. Also, Alucard is awesome in a BUSINESS SUIT. I'm still into Rune Factory, though I have a really full slate of reviews right now, so it and the equally time-devouring Persona 3 are still on the "haven't finished, but really, really want to" pile. Which reminds me, here's the link to my Persona 3 review at Paste Magazine, which is in print this month, I think.
I just picked up DK Barrel Blast for the Wii -- reviewing for Destructoid -- and, of course, I won't spoil the details, but it's surprisingly rad. I was a big Rare fan back in the SNES days and Donkey Kong Country is one of those games, perhaps oddly, that I've totally memorized, so it's fun to have the same music and look back for this convulsive Wii racing title.
I also just finished reviewing MySims; though I played both the Wii and DS versions, the review focuses on the Wii edition. Summary judgment? Mm, not so much, but I swear, I skewed the review up a couple points unconsciously because it is so damn cute I feel bad not liking it. It has its good points; buy it for your kid. Check out the full review for details; I collaborate on it with Nex.
Also, I bought a PSP. I figured it was about time; I'll be reviewing the PSP version of Innocent Life ahead of the PS2 release, and there's Crisis Core and Portable Ops + to look forward to (not to mention, I have actually not played Portable Ops! METAL GEAR?!) You guys have any PSP recommendations? Caveat: "Why did you buy it, are you crazy?" Is not a recommendation.
And, lastly, I'm still playing IF Competition entries, and you can be sure I'll discuss a couple very shortly. So what about you?
