I've lost my way

I've had a really hard time recording games lately.  And it hasn't been fun.  There's one game where I can't get past a boss even though I've filmed 3 sessions attempting to do so. 

There's another game where I exhausted all my lives before even finishing the first level.  After restarting and refilming getting through a couple of levels I exited the game thinking it would save at the end of the level.  Turns out it doesn't.  If you want to save you have to pay gold to do so.  So when I came back to play and film more I found out I didn't have ANY save file.  So I restarted . . . again . . . and filmed the first couple of levels again and got to the point where I could save, but I really couldn't.  It costs 100 gold to save and I had 98 coins and no way to get more.  I wasn't in the mood to play any more, and it was very late, so I just shut the game down and deleted the film.  That was no longer a game I wanted to play.

I tried another game but after 30 minutes of tram and elevator rides with nothing happening I was bored.  And if I'm bored anyone watching would be bored too.  Not good either.

I was so upset after messing around with these games for a couple of weeks I found myself with absolutely no desire to play video games.  At this point I had burned through my backlog of videos and had nothing left to post.  I felt like I had lost my way and I needed something to get me wanting to play again.  I needed something I would love to play and it would put in a good mood. 

I knew the perfect game.

There is one game that I love and always put me in a good mood.  I've wanted to play and finish this game for so long but I've had other games in the works.  The game is Final Fantasy IX.  I love that game.  Whenever I feel stressed out I like to watch Twitch streams of this game and it always make me feel better.  I was less than 10 hours away from finishing this game before my stuff was stolen and I would love to see it through to the end.  Maybe now was the best to restart the game.  So I did.

It did not go well.

At the first moment you get control of the character and start the kidnapping of the Princess (about 5 minutes in) my screen froze.  No big deal.  I'll just restart.  I did.  It froze again and then changed to a screen full of pixilated colors in a funky grid.  Okay, maybe my disk is dirty.  So I took it out and cleaned it off . . . and tried again.  Third times the charm, right?

Nope.

The same thing happened.  My game disk was fucked up and there was no way to get around that.  I talked to my brother to ask him if we knew where his FFIX game was so I could borrow it.  He wasn't sure and I wouldn't be able to borrow it (if he found it) for a couple of days.  Damn.

So now I'm out of videos to post and have no desire to play a video game ever again.  Now you might think I'm over reacting but there's a lot of other life stuff that was contributing to this feeling.  So what was I going to do?

After a good night's sleep I remembered that I started my YouTube channel to help me finish the games I want to play.  It's not about playing games that are current or topical or trendy or whatever.  I post games on my channel to make a commitment that I'm going to see that game through to the end.  Games that I want to play.  Games that I want to finish.  So I've decided to take a break.

I might not be posting regularly for the next while.  How long?  I don't know.  I need to find my gaming mojo again and I don't know how long that will take.  What does that mean for the games I currently have in progress?  I'll still post videos when I can but I'm having issues with those games too.

For Dark Cloud I'm still bummed about my supped up sword breaking.  I've got a replacement and I'm currently grinding to get it back up to an acceptable level.  Once I'm happy with what I have I'll get back to actually playing the story and filming more videos.  As for Summoner, I got really frustrated with getting lost in that game and hated having to keep referring to my strategy guide to find out what I needed to do and where I needed to go.  I know that's what a strategy guide is for but I really prefer discovering things on my own and only using it in an emergency.  I hope the whole game isn't an "emergency" for me.

I might make some "What I'm playing" videos so you can see that I'm actually playing.  I can tell you that I've played a little bit already in Fallout Shelter, Gems of War and Slime Rancher.  I might branch out and play some other games, but for right now those games or all I can muster at the moment.

If you lose the urge to play games what video game gets you back in the mood?  Any suggestions for me?  I might be fumbling around while I've lost my way but I'll find my way back and really start playing games again.  I always do.

2 Year Anniversary on YouTube

Today is my 2 year anniversary of posting video on YouTube.  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  Thanks to YouTube I’ve finished a bunch of games with several more about to be finished.  Before I started my channel I don’t know that I would have been able to say I’ve finished ANY games.  I’m not perfect.  Not even close.  But I’m getting better.  (I will never be perfect because there are just too many games out there to play.)

What have I learned:

It take a lot of time to get a video filmed, edited and posted on YT.  Sometimes I wish I could just film and someone else do the editing and posting.  Other times I wish someone else would play the games and I could just edit them.  I’m currently in a “I like to film” phase.  I’m hoping to store up a lot of videos to edit later when I’m in that “I like to edit phase”.

I still don’t have a rhyme or reason to what I post and when I do it.  With the exception of the month of October (scary/spooky/Halloween games) and a military game for Veteran’s Day in November.  It’s hard to pick a game around a holiday but those 2 holidays make it easier.  I’ve tried planning on playing an older game when a new sequel comes out but I can’t time it right so I never know when to start filming or posting them.  Maybe I’ll figure that out later.

If howlongtobeat.com says it takes about 10 hours to complete a game it will probably take me about 18-20.  I thorough and ’m a completionist.  I like to check every nook and cranny in a place before moving on to the next.  And sometimes I have to check 2 or 3 times because I was talking and not paying any attention to what I was doing so I might have missed something.  It’s probably annoying to watch.  I know it’s annoying to me but I can’t help myself.  It’s a small OCD thing that I have that even gets on my nerves (but not as much as if I DIDN’T check everything a couple of times before moving on).

If I have to concentration and focus really hard to get through a difficult section of the game (like a boss fight or tough puzzle) I tend to get really quiet.  I don’t know how other YouTubers can carry on a conversation yet still focus on the problem at hand.  I can’t seem to divide my attention enough to do either one of those things well in those situations.  So I usually just keep my mouth shut and concentrate on the game.  Maybe I’ll get better . . . .

I don’t think I’ll ever get better at video games.  Even though I’m playing more than I use to, I don’t think I’m learning anything to make me better.  My reflexes aren’t getting any better.  My problem solving skills aren’t improving.  Sometimes I even think I might be digressing and going backwards.  I’m still having fun so I’ll keep playing.

Some games are so much easier to edit than others.  The Lego games are easy to edit.  Other games like Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits and Dark Cloud are a little more time consuming to do.  A lot of that has to do with load screens.  Some games have a lot of them.  Some have really long ones.  And some have a lot of them that last a really long time.  Personally when I’m watching videos online, I find it frustrating to sit there for 10 seconds (or more) staring at a blank screen because it’s a load screen.  Edit those dead spaces out!!!  I do.  For some games that’s tough.  For others it’s a dream.

I never thought I would like the editing process.  It seemed the most tedious and boring part of the whole thing.  At first, it really was boring and tedious.  The more I’m doing it the more I find I like it.  Even when I’m not really in the mood to edit.  There’s something about the editing process that makes it more creative than what I feel when I’m playing the game.  If I could find a way to do that for a living I think I probably would.  There’s still A LOT about editing that I don’t understand and know, but I’m willing to learn.

Every game I play (or plan to play) I think of in terms of “will this make a good video/series”.  There has been one game that I filmed 3 videos in and when I went to edit it decided that it wouldn’t be a great game to post.  The game itself is not bad, it just doesn’t lend itself to compelling gameplay that I would want to watch if someone else was playing.  People have made videos in this game, but I can’t watch them for more than a couple of minutes at a time.  On the other hand there are games I really want to play and I know they would make a great series but I don’t have the time to devote to those games now so . . . I don’t play them.  This sucks and I don’t like it, but I don’t want to start a game and play it for a while only to restart it later because now I want to film it.  Tough choices man.

I’ve decided that I will play and post videos of the games that I want to play.  I’ll try really hard not to think that I’ve only got to play and post new games.  Or games that are famous.  Or popular.  It’s not fun to play a game when you feel like you’re being forced to.  It takes all the fun out of it.  If I want people to enjoy my games then I’ve got to enjoy them myself.  Even if I lose.  Or die a lot of times.  That’s why there’s a long time between videos for Psychonauts and Rayman Origins.  I’m not feeling those games right now so I won’t play them until I’m more excited to do so.  This means that I might be playing a bunch of older games that have been around for a decade or more.  I like some of those older games.  But I’ll also try to play things more current because I like those games too.  My channel will just be a smorgasbord of the things I like at any given moment.

For some games I think I want to have a big chunk of the game recorded before I start publishing the videos.  I find it easier to remember what to do, or remember what the controls are if I keep playing it for a while before I get in to a schedule of posting videos.  Not all games are like that.  The Lego games are easy to sit down and record just one level here and there as needed.  Not all games are like that.  I also think that having a large part of the game already recorded before posting gives me a better idea of how long the game will last.  Maybe I can do better at scheduling topical games if I do that.

Doing this is like having a second job.  I’m spending 20-30 hours of week to get 5 or so videos posted.  It’s not leaving a lot of room for any other hobbies or things I’d like to do.  It’s a sacrifice I’m still willing to make even if my family doesn’t understand why I do it.

Right now I still love what I’m doing and I will continue to record videos and post online.  I won’t stop until I no longer find any enjoyment out of playing games and finishing them.  And I don’t see that happening any time soon.  I love seeing my audience grow.  Slowly.  Little by little.  But it’s growing.  I love that.  And when I say I’m open to suggestions of what to play, I mean it.  I really am.  I might not get to it right away, but I’ll put it on the list of what to play next.  So far I have 6 or 7 on the list.  Some suggestions by friends, some for other reasons.  You’ll learn more about those later on.  All in all, it’s been a good couple of years.

Things to work on this next year:  1) learn how to use Photoshop and 2) make better thumbnails.  3) Make intro channel animated slate for videos (might need a LOT of help on this one).

2017: The Year of Playstation has begun

I have dubbed 2017 The Year of Playstation.  The majority of games that I will record and post to YouTube will be Playstation games.  I'll still throw in a few Xbox games from time to time (or on the weekends) but my main focus will be playing (and finishing) a bunch of Playstation games.

The first game I'm focusing on is Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.  (click the link for the playlist on YouTube)  I'll be getting back to playing more Dark Cloud if I can ever get past this one dungeon level I'm stuck on.  I think I might have figured out how to do it so maybe some of those videos will be coming out soon too.

I'm working on making some upgrades to my gaming set up but until then I can't get my Playstation 3 hooked up.  I'm hoping to get that done this weekend so I can start recording PS3 games again.  I got Bioshock Infinite from my Secret Santa so that will be one game I play and record.  After Christmas I kind of splurged an quite a few PS3 games but I won't tell you what ones those are . . . you'll just have to watch my channel to find out. 

What do you want me to play?  If you have any suggestions, let me know.  If I don't have it, I'll try to find a copy.  I love shopping for video games.

December 2016 and beyond YouTube plans

I figured I should probably share my plans for the month here so you know what to expect on my YouTube channel.  Hopefully you're reading this and will go over there and check out some of my videos.

My plan for December is mostly finish up a couple of games I'm playing or at least get further along in them.  First up is Far Cry Classic.  I started that in November but got stuck part way through and was having a really hard time in the game.  I ended up playing Call of Duty Classic more so that game got finished but I'm still working on Far Cry Classic.  Since I've figured out the swapping guns issue and brightness (or lack thereof) issue I'm sure I can finish up the game this month.

I've also go some videos for dlc missions for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  I've got those filmed already so I've just got to edit them and get them posted.  I'd also like to make more progress in Lego Harry Potter (yrs. 1-4) even thought I know I won't finish it this month.

I don't know if I can finish this game, but I'd like to get a few more videos from Halo: Combat Evolved up on my channel.  We'll have to see.  Maybe even some more Rayman Origins if I've feeling particular psychotic.

My plan is to finish or get more videos posted for as many Xbox (360 and One) as I can because I have a plan for 2017 which is just around the corner.  It will be here before you know it.  It doesn't help that I've been extremely sick the last couple of days and haven't had the chance to post anything.  I'm feeling better so maybe I can make up for lost time.

My plan for 2017 is to make it "The Year of the PlayStation".  Even though I will continue to play Xbox games, I think I want to focus on playing more PlayStation games.  They may be old.  They may be new.  They may be whatever.  I figure I have a PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now membership (or whatever it's called) so I might as well use it.  I haven't logged in to my PlayStation account for months so this should be interesting.

Some of the current PlayStation games I'm already in the midst of will continue and hopefully finish sometime next year.  Those games are Psychonauts, Dark Cloud, and Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.  I've already started recording a couple other PlayStation games and hopefully I'll be able to get those started and finished next year.  I don't want to tell you what those are as I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.

There are a couple of Xbox games that I will be playing as well next year.  I told you I wouldn't stop playing those games.  A friend of mine suggested 3 different games and I've committed to playing them all.  Those will come up periodically throughout the year so keep on eye on what they are.  I've already started playing one of them and I guess if you're nosey you could check my achievements.  Unfortunately I don't think I've picked up any achievements in that game yet.  Almost though.

If you know of any PlayStation games (I, II, or III) that you'd like me to play, let me know in the comments.  I'm open to suggestions and if I don't have the game I just might have to go out and do some bargain hunting for a copy.  I love shopping for video games.

September YouTube schedule

So, now that Lego Star Wars is complete I can finally focus on some other games.  The problem is I'm not sure exactly which game to focus on.  For completing the story or earning all achievements/trophies.  So for the month of September I'm trying a few games out.

I'll still be playing and posting Rayman Origins.  I think I'm getting close to the end on that one so I want to see it through.  Those videos will continue to be posted on Thursdays.

For Monday's I'm posting some Dark Cloud videos.  This is an old PS2 game that I had almost finished before my stuff got robbed.  I loved the game so I would really like to see if finished (even though there are no achievements or trophies to earn).  This can be a really long game and I don't know if I want to tie up Mondays with this game for a very long time.  We'll see how it goes and if anyone watches those videos and says anything.

For Tuesday's I'm posting Halo videos.  I have a confession to make about Halo.  I've played Halo in the multiplayer a lot, but I've never completed the campaign in any of the Halo games.  So . . . I thought this game might be a good one to keep myself on track and finally finish the campaigns in all the Halo games.  Kind of like what I did with Lego Star Wars.  This too might take a while but at least I can finally say I've played them.  Even though I own all of the versions for the first Halo game I am playing the one in the Master Chief Collection on my Xbox One.  It looks pretty.

On Wednesdays I'm trying out some Prototype 2 from my PS3.  This isn't a game that I would normally pick up and play but it was a free PSN download a while ago and I tried it and liked it.  It's vastly different than any type of game I've played so far.  And while I'm loving the game I'm having a hard time going back to it.  I can't seem to remember the controls and I fumble around trying to do things that came naturally the last time I played it.  I just might need more practice in the game.  This is one I'm not sure if it will be a full play or not.  I'll have to wait and see what people think before I decide.

On Fridays I wanted to do something special, but I couldn't decide what . . . or exactly which game.  I'm going to do "Final Fantasy Fridays" and post videos from Final Fantasy games.  The problem is I can't decide which Final Fantasy game to play.  I like so many of them.  I want to finish FF X-2 because I'm curious about the story because I've finished FF X.  But I was almost finished with FFIX when my stuff was stolen and I REALLY liked that game so I want to finish that game.  Plus, I really like Final Fantasy Tactics and FFVII is a game that started this whole blog so I should really try to finally finish that game.  Maybe I'll rotate and do a different game per month.  We'll see.

As for October, I've got some Halloween inspired games that I'll like to post so anything that I post in September might take a break for awhile.  I hope you don't mind, I'm just trying new things out here.  I'll keep you posted.

Is there any of those games that interest you?  Have you played any of them yourself?  What game would you like to see me play instead of those?  I'll take suggestions.  If I don't have the game I might be willing to go out and get it so I can post videos of it on YouTube.  Just let me know in the comments.  And check out my YouTube channel to watch me play games, die (a lot) and generally make a fool out of myself.  That's me.

12 Games in 12 Months

So my friends tease me and give me a hard time because I can't seem to finish games that I start . . . at least not in a reasonable time frame. And although I've decided not to set specific New Year Resolutions for myself (they always lead to disappointment) I couldn't get the idea of "12 games in 12 months" out of my head.

What that idea is, is for me to finish the story lines of 12 games within a 12 month period. That doesn't mean I get all the achievements for those games that have them, but that I actually get to the end credits of the story so I can now talk about it with my friends. By saying "12 games in 12 months" I'm also giving myself a whole year to work on all games. I'm not limiting myself to 1 game a month. If the end of February comes along and I'm not close to finishing a game I don't want to get down on myself.

I got this idea when I finally finished the story in Gears of War 2 in December. I was at the start of Chapter 5 when my stuff was stolen so I had to spend some time retracing my steps before I could get to things I hadn't seen yet. The good news was this allowed me to work on several achievements that I hadn't gotten before. The bad news was by the time I finished the game and wanted to talk about it my friends couldn't remember what exactly had happened when in the story any more.

I plan on finishing games over several consoles and hand-helds. I keep throwing around a list every week or so but I'll let fate and my current mood decide which games I'll work on at the moment.

One game that I know I want to finish is Puzzle Quest 2. I think I'm getting very close too. I hope so any way. I love playing this game but I get bored of the battles rather quickly. After I've won my third battle I just want to play something else. It doesn't help that 3 battles might only get me to the other side of the room and not very far in the story. I've played that game so much that I've dreamed of it at night and heard that little beep that indicates your turn everywhere. I can't wait to finish the game.

Some other games I'm considering are:

Eternal Sonata
Final Fantasy Tactics (for PSP)
Ratchet and Clank
Dark Cloud
Lost Odyssey

Obviously I'm going to need more games and those games listed might not even be ones I try to finish either. It's just a list of the games I'm interested in playing right now. I could throw in the story modes for some of those online shooters I'm always playing. I hear those stories are kind of short. I could throw in a long game like Fallout 3, Blue Dragon or Borderlands and work on it over the entire 12 months.

I guess that really is only 11 months now because I got this idea in January and decided to go for it then. Yes, I know I'm a little behind in posting about it. I just hope I'm not behind in finishing games and have 10 or so to finish once December rolls around. If you have any suggestions for those "must play" games that you think I should play, let me know. I make no promises but if I do finish them we'll have one more thing to talk about.

Not again

So in an effort to recapture some of that excitement of playing video games I decided to dust off my PS2 and play some old school games. I had good intentions, but things didn't turn out so good in the end.

First I had to find all the cords and equipment I would need to play on my PS2. It's amazing how the Dualshock 2 controller feels so foreign in my hands when it use to feel so comfortable. After I got everything hooked up I put in my first disk.

I decided to start with a great game that I spent more than a hundred hours playing and even more watching dain play as well. That was Final Fantasy X. It's one of the few games that I've finished yet I still go back and play it every now and then. I was hoping this would be one of those times. Unfortunately my PS2 said it couldn't read the disk.

After a few failed attempts I tried to put in another game. This time I picked up Dark Cloud. I was so close to the end the last time I had that game that I'm eager to get there again. It's one of the few games that I don't mind replaying all the earlier stuff to get back to where I was. Thankfully that game worked and I spent a couple of hours fighting my way through the dungeon levels and rebuilding Narrune.

Unfortunately I got a little cocky while battling an enemy and I thought I would defeat them before my weapon broke with still plenty of abs left to repair it, but I somehow miscalculated and my weapon broke and is now lost forever. It was a mighty powerful weapon. Let us bow our heads in silence for the lost of my shiny, strong sword.

And we're back.

After awhile I decided that I wanted to play something else. I played a little Final Fantasy IX but thought I should really be working on Final Fantasy VII since that is the game dain and I are suppose to be playing. I put disk one in for Final Fantasy VII but that game wouldn't load either. At this point on Saturday I turned everything off and went to my parent's house of dinner and to watch the hockey game.

On Sunday I wanted to try my PS2 again. Final Fantasy X still wouldn't work. Final Fantasy IX wouldn't work either. And now Dark Cloud wouldn't load up. I finally got a game to work. That was Muppet's Party Cruise but when it started to load the first screen of the game after I logged in it froze. When I tried to reset the PS2 it wouldn't read the disk again.

While on the phone talking to dain I finally found a game my PS2 would play. Balder's Gate Dark Alliance. I played that for awhile and found that I had to backtrack through a lot of areas that I had already been. Why I was back at the Inn I can't remember. At least the game worked.

The game I really wanted to play was Final Fantasy IX. Actually I really just wanted to play Tetra Master the mini game that you can play with villagers. I pulled a disk out of my case and put it in my machine. Much to my surprise the game loaded up. Unfortunately I had put in disk 3 instead of disk 1. After 4 or 5 failed attempts to get my machine to read the first disk it finally did and I spent a couple of hours fighting my way through an open field and an ice cave before I finally got a village. By then I was too tired to keep playing so I turned everything off for the night.

I had to send my Xbox 360 back three times in one year because it started to fail at reading disks. Now I'm having the same problem with my PS2. It's only a year old and hardly been played at all. And it's been stored in a nice dry dust free environment when not in use. Why is this machine having the same problem as my 360? And most importantly WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME AGAIN?

All I want is a nice quiet evening playing a game with a great story, engaging characters and fun game mechanics. I don't need life-like graphics and nonstop action to make me happy. For someone who's use to the level of realism in current generation consoles it was a shock to go back to the spiky hair, Popeye-like biceps of the characters of FFVII and even FFIX. We've come a long way since then in graphics and power and such. Why can't we have also come a long way in making consoles that actually read the disk that they're suppose to?

It wasn't like I was sticking an Xbox game in my PS2. Those games I tried were meant to played on that system. Maybe it's not the console but the disks themselves. It's possible. It they were my original games I know they would work. I take great care with my game disks. They're the closest I'll probably get to having kids so they get all of my love and attention. Unfortunately when I had to replace all of my games I had to take what I could find on some of them. Not everyone loves their games or takes care of them as much as I do. Either way I miss playing MY games on MY machines. I'm getting deja vu all over again and I don't like it. Please no more 'disk read errors'. Not now. Not again.

My game case looks like a photo album

Have you ever opened an old photo album and sat and stared at the pictures? Some things you probably remember but then you see a photo of something you don't remember at all; or a photo you forgot even existed. I experienced this the other day, not with a photo album but my game case.

When I buy a game I put the disks in a folder. Four places for a disk on each side of a page. When the case is full it's about 4 inches thick. Currently it's over flowing. I have no more open slots and only disk #1 from Lost Odyssey is in the case. A couple of years ago I never thought I'd be able to fill it. Now I've got to figure something else out. I'm going to have to replace the case soon because the straps on the spine are tearing and one of these days they're going to rip right through. But having all my games in one place is fantastic and it makes things so much easier to haul them around if I go somewhere else to play.

But while dain was fiddling with my and his systems trying to get his dashboard back I opened up my case and decided to organize it a bit. All the games are alphabetically by title (regardless of system) except my latest purchases Lost Odyssey and The Orange Box which were stuffed into the last two slots open. I started at the back and started pulling out the disks and stacking them up so I could place the newest ones into order.

There were a few times when I pulled a game out and thought "hmm, I own this?" or "have I every played this?" or "when did I get this one?" Some of them really surprised me. Some of them brought back a lot of good memories and made me want to put them in again and play them. Some of them seemed like I was seeing them for the first time. And some of them made me feel guilty. Guilty that I've owned it for so long but haven't played it hardly at all.

One of the biggest shocks to me was looking at my Playstation games. I remember when I'd flip through the case and all I could see was Playstation games. Even after I owned a Game Cube and Xbox it always seemed like my eyes went straight to the PS and PS2 games and glossed over all the others. I always thought I'd play Knights of the Old Republic someday (I finally did) or I should give Pikmin another shot(the first couple of tries were terrible, but I love the game now). Instead I'd put in SSX Tricky, Dark Stone, Legend of Dragoon, Bust-A-Move, Dark Cloud, Time Splitters or Xenosaga. Or any number of other games. I've only finished a couple of them because I had so many to choose from that there was always something else to play.

Now when I flip through the case it's the Xbox 360 games that my eyes are drawn to and I tend to gloss over everything else. I had to pull my Game Cube games out of there a year ago. Because those disks are smaller they'd fall out every time I moved the case. Those are now sitting in a Gladware bowl that's the perfect size for them. Those games don't get looked at at all. Their like the photos stored in a shoebox just waiting for you to put them in an album.

Now that I've looked through them and really seen them all I want to play them all. You know, take a couple of days off from work and do nothing but sit in front of the TV and play games. I want to relive those glory days of the older systems and games. I want to experience memories for the first time. I want to laugh and cry and scream at the screen just like you do with old photographs. And like an old photo album my game case is a reflection of who I am as a gamer. From embarrassing baby photos (A Bug's Life) to prom night pictures (Time Splitters). It's my gaming life right before me eyes. If you ever stop by I'll have to pull out my "photo album" and show you. You'll know more about me than you ever wanted to know in the first place. But isn't that what photo albums are for anyway?

When do you play a sequel?

So you play a game and like it. Maybe a year or two later a sequel to the game comes out. You buy it intending to play it as soon as you get home only to realize that you haven't finished playing the first game. What do you do?

Do you put the game in and play it anyway even though you don't know how things ended with the first one? Or are you like me and just tuck it away in a game case for that time when you know you'll (maybe) get around to finishing the first game?

I don't like it when the ending of things (movies, books, games) gets ruined for me. It takes that emotional punch away after all your hard work to see things through until the end. I watched my brother finish Final Fantasy X. I was fascinated with how the story was unfolding, but I wasn't close to finishing the game myself. By the time I got to the end it was still great but it didn't have that "blow me away" factor. Been there; done that.

I can trace this aversion to spoilers to a specific incident all the way back to when I was seven years old. Star Wars had come out and me and my older siblings wanted desperately to go see the movie. Unfortunately my mother couldn't take us when it first came out because she was pregnant with my youngest brother. After he was born she still couldn't take us because she had a new baby. My older sister (13 years old) concocted a plan for her, my older brother (10 years old) and myself to take the bus to the movie theater. We had everything planned out when we presented it to my mother. She agreed. We were thrilled we were finally going to see what everyone had been talking about all summer.

What we didn't figure on was that the bus schedule we used was out dated. When we got to the spot where we needed to transfer routes there was no bus to be seen. We waited for 20 minutes. Still no bus. So we started walking in the direction of the theater. We paused at each bus stop along the way but still no bus. When we were half-way between 2 stops a bus drove by. We waved our arms, screamed and ran after it but it wouldn't stop. We ended up walking the whole way there (I learned later about 2.5 miles). When we finally got to the theater and bought our tickets the girl said the movie just started.

She lied.

We crept in and sat down and started watching the movie in the middle of the cantina scene. Now if you've seen the movie you will know that the cantina scene is NOT at the beginning of the movie. It's about 30 minutes in. I didn't know who any of the people were on the screen. Who were the bad guys? Who were the good guys? Why should I care?

By the end of the movie I couldn't figure out why everyone liked the movie so much because I didn't know what was going on. My sister called my mom from a payphone (yes they did have payphones back in those days) and told her about the buses. Because we had missed a bunch of the movie we were all crying. My mom suggested we talk to the manager to see if he could let us stay to watch the part of the movie that we had missed. I guess looking into the faces of 3 crying children was enough for him because he agreed. We ended up staying for the whole thing. And now that I had seen the WHOLE movie, from beginning to end, I knew why everyone liked it so much.

But when the movie started I also knew a lot of other things as well. I knew what would happen to Obi-Wan by the end of the movie from the moment he walked out. I knew to fear Dark Vader and the Empire even before that Star Destroyer crawls across the top of the screen. I knew Luke was more than a whinny farm boy and that they would save the princess and Han wouldn't do it for the money. I knew the ending. Before I had seen the beginning. Because of that Obi-Wan has always been my favorite character. But since then I've never liked to know how things end before I had seen how things started.

I have video game sequels to Ape Escape, Halo, Dark Cloud, Grandia, Legend of Legaia, Xenosaga, Kingdom Hearts, .Hack, Jak & Daxter, Rachet and Clank, Metal Gear Solid, Spyro, Wild Arms, Suikoden and many other games. And I haven't finish any one of them. Their sequels sit in my large disk chase just waiting for me to play . . . the originals. I have enough games to play a new one every day of the year but that's not going to help finish any of them. And I couldn't play some of them because their sequels.

So when do you play a sequel? I wait to play mine.

My Favorite Games - Playstation 2

One thing I love about the Playstation 2 was that when it came out it was backwards combatable. There was no need for system updates, or downloading files in order to get your old Playstation games on a new system. It just worked. I’m sure that’s one reason why Sony led the video game industry for so long. I don’t even think Nintendo even heard of the words “backwards combatable.” At least when it comes to their consoles. Here’s my list of favorite games for the Playstation 2:

#1 Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2
I played. I cried. Then I played some more. The story for this installment of the Final Fantasy series is wide in scope and breadth but intimate and tender at the same time. It’s been said that die hard fan boys cried in Final Fantasy VII when Aeries died but I wouldn’t blame them if they did the same sometime during this game. And who can forget Blitzball. If this sport could actually happen I’d love to go and watch it. I wish I could play, but I can’t hold my breath long enough.

#2 SSX Tricky
“I am King of the mountain!” Who hasn’t wanted to shout this just before gliding down the mountain turning Uber Tricks left and right? Nailing all those different Uber Tricks in one run can be tedious or a riot of laughter. Who wouldn’t want the laws of physics that govern this game to apply at the next Winter Olympics? I still haven’t mastered every mountain and every type of run but they’re all unlocked and they’ve given me many hours or elation and despair. That's why I keep coming back for more.

#3 TimeSplitters (all of them)
This was my first adventure into the shooting genre of game play. I was hooked right away . . . and dead. I can still remember when I finally started to get the upper hand in matches with my brother. I was no longer the perpetual respawner because of all the times he killed me. Now I could roam around and pop him off a time or two before having to spawn again. The characters are hilarious to look at and their behavior in the selection screen under the spotlight is just another chance to laugh before getting into the game. Just remember the zombies only die if you shoot their heads off.

#4 Dark Cloud
Who knew that being the only member of the Village Planning Committee could be so demanding? You fight through a dungeon in order to save a part of your village and when you go to restore that person you’re met with thanks and then a request to make their life better . . . and subsequently yours. Pretty soon you have a laundry list of things the villagers want and getting all the pieces in the right place takes a lot of trial and error. Is it worth it? Yes. And fun too. You’ll find yourself going back to past dungeons over and over again in order to get more treasured jewels to attach to your weapon to make it stronger. And have I mentioned you have to figure out how to keep fish from rotting so you can do more things in the game? Ice, ice, baby.

#5 Lego Star Wars I & II
So that’s what it looks like when a Wookie rips the arms off of someone . . . if you’re a block constructed action figure. Use the power of the Force to move something or your blaster to blow it away. It’s action packed and demands replay just so you can go back to areas that you couldn’t access before. But be prepared to laugh. Try walking down the hallways in Bespin City when Lando keeps grabbing Leia’s hand to kiss it. “The Force will be with you . . . always.”

#6 Racer Revenge (Star Wars)
Finally, a game that shows the true power and speed of pod racing. And just how making repairs mid-race really affects things. The landscape will zip by you when all you want to do is stop and admire the scenery. But don’t do it. Sebula will win and you’ll be labeled Bantha Poodoo. You don’t want to happen now do you. The only down side is it only supports 2 players in multiplayer game play. I would love to see this game support 12-16 humans players in a real race.

Honorable Mentions:
Balder’s Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2, Champions of Norrath 1 & 2, Ever Grace, Jak & Daxter/Ratchet and Clank, Maximo: Ghost to Glory, Super Bust a Move, Xenosaga I, Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, and Muppets Part Cruise