I WANT MY DPS, NOW!

Okay, it's hard for me to be quiet about it, but...


I. WANT. MY. DPS. NOW.

Yes, even I cannot wait for Wrath of the Lich King. And right now, I want to see my crits, DPS's, mounts, yes, even Karazhan again!

I want to see my guildmates work well together or fail miserably, leading them to constantly blame each other for reasons ranging from pathetic to understandable.

I want to sneak my enemies from behind during BG battles by sneaking my way into casting DPS spells while the can't do anything either because I'm hiding somewhere they can't find me, or they got FEARED instead.

I miss overselling my enchants just for me to get gold, more popular before Daily Quests were implemented.

I miss humiliating the Alliance every time they try to get past me even if they think I'm fully exhausted from a previous encounter with a creature.

I miss all the Chuck Norris jokes in the Barrens.

I miss having to collect tokens to get better loot.

I miss needing, even if it's fair to go greeding.

I miss going to Gruul's lair just for the heck of it, especially if we're just collecting better stuff for our weaker guildmates.

I miss screaming "Captain Planet" in BG's.

But I won't have to miss them any longer, because it's all coming back very soon. If it's not obvious, I love WoW that much, that I'm getting the PC updated all the way for its release. =P

Better hum this one till then.

The Greatest Irony Within Castlevania

I've just finished playing Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS, which is a feat all by itself (try it, and you'll know why. Sorry, non-veteran players! Don't lose it, now). By all means, it is the Castlevania game that could trump all other Castlevania games since Symphony of the Night, and by my count, it would be more than 10 years now since the game was released.

And this brings me to a point what I've thought of as the greatest irony is Castlevania, and in the history of gaming for that matter.

The Castlevania series has always been associated to the Belmont clan, those who wield whips to slay demons and keep the Dark Lord, Dracula, at bay. It is a point to consider that the Belmonts and Dracula are mortal enemies whose rivalry has spanned for many, many generations. So on paper, the Belmont clan should have been the true heroes if you want to put it on a typical protagonist perspective.

In 1997, a surprising entry to the Castlevania franchise came about for the Sony PlayStation, known as Symphony of the Night. The story surrounded on, and unheard of during that time, the son of Dracula, Alucard. It is, undoubtedly, the very definition of how 2D side-scrolling RPG's/games should be. It went on to become a success financially and overall, eventually marking this game as the benchmark, or the standard-bearer if you will, of side-scrolling gaming.

It's really funny, because the most successful game in the Castlevania franchise, a title which is supposedly Belmont country, is headlined by the son of the very creature the clan has been trying to kill to begin with!

Since then, the games that have adapted the SotN system have become regarded as successful games in their own right, most of which are not headlined by a Belmont. Notice that these games (Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia, etc) are exclusive to portable systems. Smart, successful, amazing. They should REALLY consider the SotN system to the console games in the future. Seriously.

Castlevania: Judgment is a fighting game title I cannot wait to see personally. It's the first of its kind under the franchise, which is a total risk to say the least. But you know, anything can happen.

Until then, by popular demand...

DC = Dark Chocolate?

This is a follow-up to my previous post on MK VS DC Universe, and at this point, this should matter to the comic book and movie fans as well, besides the gaming fans.

As you guys may know, as a result of The Dark Knight's ultimate success in lieu of being able to capture the right formula, DC has opted to make their future movies as dark as the history-making money machine heralded by the Batman. To that effect, the Superman franchise will be restarted and not pay any attention to Superman Returns, taking a page out of the Hulk's restart during the year. I guess they finally found the hidden recipe they've been looking for after all those years, and with great movies come movie-based games that range from sucky to mediocre. Oh, the humanity!

That being said...



You're well on your way, Clark. You're well on your way.

Define "Hard", Please.

Sorry for the long delay, guys! I just had a lot to do for the past few weeks, so I kinda got lagged. But now, I hope to do this on an everyday basis. Thanks for the patience =P

More than a month ago, me and some of my friends had a drinking session just for the heck of it. During our usual chatter, we reminisced on our childhood, when things were really simple back then.

My friend, MJ, then made good mention of how games were truly difficult back in the day, especially in the arcades. And you know what? I SERIOUSLY AGREE WITH HIM.

Yeah, people tell me how difficult games are in today's generation, and I actually agree with them on certain areas. But to say that today's games are really difficult, this just goes to show that they have never played the games we grew up with. Let's face it, relatively speaking, games today are pretty friendly to the customers, with virtually limitless lives, easier mechanics, and all that jazz. Not to say that they are hampering with the gameplay by any means, no no no. But in retrospect, I believe there is quite an argument to be made when you consider the games of today and yesterday.

And there are a lot of wonderful examples, but I cannot think of a better game to throw my point across than with a certainly iconic arcade game (especially for comic book fanatics out there):


The X-Men Arcade Game. (C/O racketboy.com)


How many times has your character died in the course of the game? How many times did you have to spend your credits just so you can take out Magneto in the final stage, after having to deal with a gauntlet of bosses you have encountered throughout the course of the game, ON THE SAME FINAL STAGE?

But it was fun as heck.

Six players (or four in different locations) get to team up and beat the living heck out of all the enemies in the huge screen, making for a fun arcade experience. I remember having to go play the game every Sunday morning just to play the game and get through the same wacky mechanics all over again. It was tough, but it's simply priceless just to experience that kind of fun.

Same goes with games like the Simpsons arcade game, the Bucky O"Haire arcade game, TMNT: Turtles in Time, and even Street Fighter 2 (even with the modded ones, with the double hadoukens and rocket-launching shoryukens). They are really tough, but it's nothing compared to the experience you get to feel after going through the game and finishing it, all for the sense of accomplishment.

And I believe that's what we need right now. We need hard arcade games that cater to not only our generation, but to introduce that same sense of fun to today's generation. When I look at the arcade games of today, I still cannot believe that they are not as difficultly fun as what we in the times of old have gone through. Perhaps, if games like these come back, maybe we are in for a treat ourselves. I mean, okay, fighting games are a huge exception. They have phenomenally improved, after all. But for our usual adventure games, why not? Oh, Gauntlet is not included in my arcade wish list, for the record. That's just my opinion.

By the way, I now have Twitter added on the right side of this blog. For more information on Twitter, please check out their website at http://twitter.com =)