Just a Lark

I haven’t updated lately ’cause I’ve been super busy. Lotta crazy stuff going on around these parts. We had the GameSpot Player’s Ball, during which I helped to set up the area for our Rainbow Six Vegas tournament, which was a blast until we had crazy problems. Problems like not having enough power bricks for the Xbox 360s, or being shorted two copies of the game and having to make an emergency Best Buy run. Things worked out of course, but getting there was a journey. Then I did what I did best and rocked out, helping to run Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band booths, which was great considering I was explaining how to play games I barely understood to people.

Oh, in case you didn’t know, both these games are totally rad. Guitar Hero 3 kicks ass–even if you factor in that silly new battle mode–and Rock Band kicks asses you didn’t even know you had. Both are great games, and frankly, neither can really be compared to the other. Some dude asked me which I liked better, and I told him that I think the guitar game of GH3 is better than RB’s, but that RB’s overall package was way better. Really, both of them deserve a place in my home, and I don’t see them competing with each other as much as other people may think. But in the event of a heads-on competition, I’m reminded of a certain webcomic by some fairly well-known dudes…

Beyond that, I’ve been reviewing games on the side, and I’m actually enjoying it a ton. It’s something that I wanted to do since I started my job as I love games and writing, but I had some doubts as to whether or not I’d really enjoy doing it because a) I’d have to play games on a schedule, b) I’d have to play games that I normally wouldn’t play, and c) I would have to pay close attention to them so I could point out what makes them good and bad in an easily understandable way. Frankly, I was afraid that having to play games for work (sort of like reading books for school) would kill my desire to play games (like reading books for school killed my desire to read books until I realized I was just being stupid because books are awesome).

Anyway, that hasn’t happened to me. Sure, it’s something that I do on the side and it’s not my full job, but I think that the taste I’ve had of it so far has been nothing but positive. I think it appeals to the part of me that wants to design games to pick apart one and determine just where the suck (if any) is coming from and try to file that away for future reference. If you’re interested, I’ve got four reviews published thus far, with two more in the works. So if you’re interested in Metropolismania 2 (PS2), Harvest Moon Boy & Girl (PSP), Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol (DS), or Soul Nomad & the World Eaters (PS2), you might start your research with my reviews. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell people about games I’m currently working on, so I won’t. But they’re both DS games, if that’s any help.

So anyway, that’s where I’ve been when I haven’t been running in the rain, seeing concerts (apparently I see a ton of those these days), waiting in the car, playing Scrabble on Facebook, or doing traffic school online (boo!). I’ll get back on my once a week schedule, and hopefully update more often as time permits.