I think I spent more money on games in the past few weeks than I did all of last year. For some reason, I was pretty listless in the last console generation and part of that carried over in to this current cycle. I was slowly losing interest, but with all the recent and upcoming releases and announcements, my love for gaming has been reinvigorated.

But with this spark comes some feeling of regret. Since I skipped out on a ton of games, I felt the need to at least make up for some it. So along with all the new titles I planned on buying, I kept my eyes open for old gems I previously passed on.

My hunt (Mike Hunt?) started off perfectly with Gamestop's "buy 2 Xbox games get one free" sale some three weeks ago. I'm so glad they didn't advertise it because if they had, more people would have been out browsing and I probably wouldn't have found 3 of my most sought after Xbox titles:

Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic I - A while back, I found KOTOR II, and now the search for the first is complete. And even though there's no instruction booklet or original case, I'm more than relieved because this was one of those games I feared that I would never ever get my hands on. It was like finally finding your soulmate except it hurts when you try to shove your boner in it.

Jade Empire Limited Edition - I almost didn't get this because the box was more jacked up than Seal's face. And it's no surprise that the discs were just as ragged, but once more that was overridden by my fear of never seeing this game again, so I hesitantly bought it.



Beyond Good & Evil - Critically acclaimed, underappreciated, yada yada yada. But it's not BC!!! I'm aware of the downloadable versions, but I don't have the storage for that. Atleast the copy I found is in pretty good condition. Despite the yellow USED stickers and inexplicable spooge smudges on the case, the disc is pristine. Potential collector's item maybe?

Shenmue II - It didn't come with the DVD movie unfortunately. Not essential (I think), but the completist in me sulks in disappointment. There's a joke about sailors, but I'm out of the loop.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within - Sands of Time is one of my favorites, but I know that they're not quite the same so my expectations are low. And it's also not BC so I probably won't even get a chance to give it a go for a while. It's still nice to have.

Psychonauts - I found this brand new, semi-Sealed, at Walmart. I say "semi" because the plastic was ripped open on one of the corners. So I can't really claim mint condition, but I'm not sure if I was going to preserve it for ebay price gouging later anyway. It deserves to be played, and it will be eventually, but right now...



skate. - I'm currently playing this on and off. I love these types of games. Mess around or do the challenges, go at your own pace while grooving to the proper soundtrack. And it takes me back to highschool, back when THPS was still a brand new and fresh experience. I've got minor complaints, but overall it's very enjoyable. Plus, it has pretty awesome ragdoll.

Assassin's Creed - I grabbed this off the shelf on a whim due to the price tag ($25). It's funny because after I got home and took it out of the bag, I was like "What the fuck? I bought this? Uhm, okay!" It just snuck right in there, like some sort of... assassin. Though it does explain why Jade Empire looks like it's been stabbed a few more times.



Seoul Kalibur IV - I'll admit, I bought this because of the all praise it got on Dtoid. And I really wish I'd waited. Not that it's a shitty game, but I really didn't need this right now. And the character creation, while good and all, is purely cosmetic. It would have been nice have the ability to hand-pick individual moves from all the available characters to put into your creation, just to make it that much more unique. Plus, it has brought out the worst in my (undiagnosed) OCD, where I unnecessarily sit there for hours doing the math over and over because all the numbers for the stats/skills have to add up properly. After this, I swore I'd never let hype influence me again. But I fail all thanks to...

Braid - I was briefly in the "I'm not paying that much because MS is testing us" camp, but I've gotten over that (explanation in a future post maybe) and bought it. Anyways, the puzzles are top notch. I still maintain that it's not worth what they're charging because the replay value is not (immediately) high, but there's so much quality that my complaints are rather moot. As for the story, I read every single word and it went completely over my head, but hearing Blow's reaction to the nuclear bomb theory on podtoid made me snickerdoodle.



Bionic Commando: Rearmed - Action platforming bliss. I just recently beat the final boss, and now I'm going through the challenge rooms (Final Exam left to go!... and six of the seven secret challenge rooms). And I'm loving the soundtrack. I was going to mention my favorite ones but I'd just end up listing half the songs.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - I'm really glad I'm not as addicted to this game as I thought I would be. It might be because of the crushing feeling I get everytime I think about Conrad Zimmerman's high scores. Or it might be the fact that this is the type of game I can always come back to anytime I want. On a somewhat related note, thanks again to Kaciesaurus (Rex?) for the year of Xbox Live Gold. In return, I am giving you a lifetime supply of free mammograms.

Fable II Pub Games - Luckily, I got this for free from Workmeng. Good enough, if not a little too random and out of your control. I played it this past weekend, if only to enter myself into that Xbox.com Play & Win contest. Yes, another contest. Yes, I like winning free stuff. I feel kinda bad, but my wallet appreciates it.



Speaking of winning free stuff, anyone remember that Dream Car Challenge contest from Microsoft? Along with 1350 MS points, I won one of their weekly sweepstakes, snagging one of four possible awesome prizes. Was it an 8GB Zune? Nope. Copy of Forza Motorsport? Nah. 12-Month Xbox Live Gold Subscription? No way. A one year subcription to Car & Driver Magazine? Fuck... yeah!!?

Ok this has gone on long enough, thanks for skimming. In closing, ummm... did you know that Seal is married to Heidi Klum? Seriously, here's a picture of them making out. Also, don't get me wrong. I don't hate the guy. Hey, some of my best friends are busted uggos.

And lastly, just in case you're not tired of hearing about it, Castle Crashers is coming... and so am I.

[TrailerParkJesus started writing parts of this blog two or three weeks ago, when it kinda made some sense. A casualty of procrastination. Next year, catch the write-up on his first impressions on an amazing little gem called Bioshock. Also, why all of a sudden is he speaking in third person? What a pompous dickbag. Hey don't talk about me like that. Fuck off, he'll do what he wants.]