I can honestly not think of a single time in my life when I have felt more crushed and disappointed than I am right now.

Context:
I played Banjo Kazooie 1 + 2 back in the day, and Banjo Tooie remains my second favourite game of all time (after Z:MM). I loved them both, they were just so perfect.

But now....

Well, since you're reading this I'm assuming you have already seen the screen shots and video of the upcoming game..."Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts" (why they couldn't have just called it 'Banjo Threeie' is beyond me.)

Seriously...wtf?
Why take something that works so well...and change it?
There's no point in changing something for the sake of it.

THIS PART WAS GOOD:


THEN IT WENT BAD:


Now I know it's been said that it will combine platforming with all this building/driving/racing/flying/sailing/shooting/playing football, but by the look of the trailer and the majority of the images; there isn't very much platforming.

(obviously, I will have to wait and see)

So as a hardcore fanatic of Banjo Kazooie I am very disappointed that Rare have decided to 'mix it up' with this new game. I was REALLY looking forward to a bigger, more attractive Banjo Kazooie game.

In fact; it was going to be the reason I was going to buy a 360 over a PS3.
That's right.

I own a Wii atm and I am going to buy a new console at the beginning of the summer, I couldn't make up my mind about which one to get, I wanted both the PS3 and a 360 equally. In the end I chose to get a 360 because of the new BK:3 game that would be coming out.

But now these revelations about the game have completely ruined it.

This is a very sad time for me.

And seriously? Rare? Nice blatent 'fuck you' to Nintendo with this thing:

(Banjo blows off Mario's head shortly after this frame)

ARGH! I'm so pissed off with all this.

It's a little bit long, but it has pictures, and if it stops you from giving these people money, then it was worth it.

These guys:

are f*****g criminals!

So you may have heard of these people before, you may not.

This is how they portray their service:
"SwapGame is the UK's leading video games subscription service giving members unlimited access to over 3000 games titles. As a member you will be able to try games before you buy meaning you will never buy a bad game again. We have no return dates which means you can try and play your game for as long as you like. Once you finished playing, send it back and we'll give you another one!"



So I saw an advert for this company in my regular gaming magazine (NGamer) and it said;
14 days free trial + Free Big Brain Academy game for Wii.
So i was all like:



So I signed up, gave them my credit card details, made a list of games that I wanted to borrow. All was well.

But i soon realised it wasn't.
After creating my account and all that Jazz, I was faced by a message telling me that my card had been declined (it used the 'Verified by Visa' - which you may be familiar with).

I tried again and again.
I knew my password, I knew my secret answer.
I could log into my bank and everything using the same thing, but not this Swapgame site.

So after an hour (literally), of going back and forth, resetting my password and all kinds of things, I said; screw it

At this point they hadn't charged my card so I wasn't too concerned.

Two weeks later I got an email from Swapgame, out of the blue, saying that my card had been accepted and my first two games were on the way.

A few days later my first two games arrived (Trauma Centre for the Wii and Excite Truck, also for the Wii). Now everything was good.

I played them for a few days, and then sent them back in the envelopes. I then cancelled my account at about 11 days into the trial (to be safe).

I was then charged £15 on my card. I emailed them and asked why. They told me that I had used their service for 26 days and as such they were charging me for my first month.

I then pointed out that the first two weeks was them fucking around with my card and not letting me register. They ignored this and said that i had used over 3 weeks of their service. I then told them that the first two weeks, I was NOT "using their service" because I had not received any games or even had an active account.

They ignored me.

I emailed them twice more explaining that they cannot include the two weeks of me having an (and I quote); 'inactive account' because it was what it said; 'inactive'. I wasn't using their service, and as such; I shouldn't be charged for it.

I emailed them again explaining the illegality of the situation.
I even threatened legal action.

And they just ignored me. No replies. No contact.

Luckily for them I'm too damn lazy to actually take any legal action. Instead I am posting this blog in the hopes that one day you might see an advert for this company and completely disregard it.



And I never even received my free Big Brain Academy game!

For a while now I've been wanting to post a c-blog, I had already posted a Turning Point blog and have since wanted to offer something a bit more substantial to Destructoid. I felt as though it was giving me so much and I was not deserving of the fun it gave me until I posted a real blog.

Then I spent ages trying to figure out what I could blog about which wouldn't immediately earn me a 'Fail' picture. And today I found my answer.

This game:


(neither of these pictures are from me as my camera cable has been lost, sorry)

Many moons ago when everything was Pokémon; I played this game with my friend Liam, at his house. He was one of those lucky kids that gets everything he wants and you were jealous of him as a child, but then you grow up and he tries to stab you with a knife at school, and you slowly drift apart...

But I digress...

He had this game, we played this game, I wanted this game, my parents bought me this game. (I guess we weren't that different after all)

I love this game.

It brings back so many happy memories.

Sadly it was lost or sold during the years from Pokémon's height till now. But all was saved today, when I found it for £2 in Barnardo's charity shop.

It's now sitting on my bed just begging to be played.

I write this to share with you the wonderful feeling that I have right now of finding this game and the memories that come with it. Such a simple thing, but it makes me feel so happy.

Do you guys have any game-related things that bring back happy memories to you?

This is my gaming rig for the Turning Point competition.
Dell Xps M170 Laptop:
2.26 Intel Centrino CPU
2GB Ram
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX
80GB HDD

My 32" AOC HD TV with 2.1 LG Speakers.

And last but no means least; my Nintendo Wii.

My Laptop's good for most games but it's not great for the more demanding games. And i need more storage. But alas; I have no money; I'm a student.