It's been 4 months since I last posted something on here so I think I should start over by introducing myself to anyone who may be unfamiliar with me. My real name is Francis Lambourne, I go by njsykora on the internet and as NJ when with people from the internet. A few quick things about myself and the way I do things first. I'm a furry, not exactly hardcore but it's something that's always close to my mind. I own all 3 consoles and both handhelds so I feel I can say with authority that the PS3 is my favourite console and the PSP my favourite handheld. It's no fanboyism or loyalty, I actually hated Sony with a passion until halfway through the PS2 era while waving a Nintendo flag around. I still hold a flag for Nintendo, but it's more like one of those little American flags you see idiots waving at patriotic rallies now.



I collect figures, the most recent additions being Aigis from Persona 3, the Executioner from Resident Evil 5 (thanks to the awesome people at Capcom who take good care of Dtoid UK) and Master Assassin Ezio from the Assassin's Creed 2 Black Edition. I'd say my prized figure though is my 12" Sonic statue. Truly it is a thing of beauty, not to mention a low number in the run.

I'm a Cblog Recapper, a job which I do on Wednesday nights. I'm the only UK member of The Sacred Knights of Recappia which means I'm the one who stays up until 5am to get them posted for midnight US time. Don't let anyone say I'm not dedicated to the post.

I also hang around in the Destructoid IRC, click the little chat link at the top of the page if you feel like getting in on that. It's a great place to organise games or just make rape jokes. Occasionally we have serious discussions about politics and shit as well. Occasionally.

Now have 3 random facts about me.

1) I used to harbour a burning hatred of Dtoid UK leader Phoenix-blood. Having met her and discovered that she is in fact one of the nicest people on the planet I have been forced to accept that she is, in fact, kind of a big deal.
2) I know it's fake, but I adore the WWE. No matter how dull and contrived the storylines get I will always follow along.
3) On the wall opposite my bed there is a drawing I was given as a gift of myself being molested by Bakura from Yu-Gi-Oh. That's just how I roll.

WARNING: THIS BLOG WILL NOW DEVOLVE INTO AN EXPLANATION OF MY NEW BLOG SERIES!! SKIP TO THE END IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED!!

What I'm bringing to this blog (that's sparked this re-intro) is what I named the Xbox Indie Game Recap, a feature I started over at Negative Gamer. This is my way of bringing attention to the great games that are released on this often overlooked section of the Xbox Live Marketplace and also drive the knife into people who abuse things to release pithy little applications or just try and get people to pay money for the sort of flash thing that would disgrace 4chan. The way I do this is to download the play the trial versions of each and every game that goes up, then distil my opinions into a bit of writing before slapping on one of my 3 judgements. Buy It, Try It or Leave to Die.

Leave to Die is fairly self explanatory, this is something to steer clear of at all costs. Either it's useless and rubbish application (hello Entrager) or just a terrible game. I've drawn some flak from developers for my choice of wording.

Try It ratings mean you should give it a shot. Maybe I didn't like it but think you might or I'm unsure whether it's worth the money. It's effectively me sitting on the fence.

Buy It ratings go to the elite. Those rare few games which deserve a place on your hard drive without question. Games that I've included in this group before include Trino, Clover, College Lacrosse 2010 and of course I MAED A GAME WITH ZOMBIES IN IT.

I wrote a blog a little while ago with what I think are 10 essential games on the service (back when it was called Community Games, just so you know how old it is) and following the first recap to go on Dtoid this Sunday I hope to do another list of 10 games that you really should check out. The recaps themselves will either go up late Sunday or early Monday so as to best cover the full 7 days, not to mention hopefully give you something to read at the weekend.

Oh yeah, if someone could whip me up some small images for the ratings I'm sure I could find something to show my gratitude with.

OK, YOU CAN LOOK BACK NOW!!

I thought what I'd do to leave you is to show you some of my blog posts that I'm most proud of. Just to try and convince you I can actually write.

This is my crib
My 5-step plan for saving Sonic the Hedgehog
I have a Turbografx-16, a console never officially released in Europe
My original intro, I once referred to myself as Brian Crecente's lovechild.....

So that's me. Thanks for reading if you did the whole thing. If you didn't eh, thanks anyway.