I could've made this entire blog about how awesome it is to be out of school, but I'm sure all you East Coast suckers would throw sharp objects at my face if I did. So I'll condense it into one sentence and move on. *ahem*

HOLY SH*T IT'S FINALLY OVER TIME TO SLEEP FOR TWO F*CKING DAYS STRAIGHT!

Alright, now that that's over and done with, I'll talk about some other stuff.

Uh... You know, there's really not all that much to talk about. I played a Bourne Conspiracy demo at Gamestop the other day. Most of it consisted of being hit by oncoming trains, thanks to the controller's ghetto control stick, but once I was actually able to move the direction I wanted to, it was rather fun. Something that really threw me off though, was the fact that the Up/Down aiming movement is inverted, whilst the Left/Right movement is not. I'm sure there was something to fix that in the options menu, but I refuse to let the game beat me. So I stuck with the confusing method, while people laughed at me for aiming down instead of up, therefore resulting in me getting shot. A lot.

Speaking of getting shot, the enemies in this game must have developed some super f*cking advanced body armor plastered to their faces, because no matter how many times I fill their skulls with bullets, they manage to get up and keep shooting. And that's not even counting the torso. I'm sure I put at least 4 bullets through that guy's heart.

Then there's the hand-to-hand combat system. I must have been missing something here, perhaps it was because I was thrown into the level with no idea how to perform hand-to-hand combat, but in this scenario, it basically consisted of hitting the Y button as fast as I could, until I had beaten the crap out of my enemy enough so that I could slam his face into the pavement with the B button. Oh, and you press the A button sometimes. Rinse and Repeat. Now I'm sure there's more to it than that, or at least I hope there's more to it than that. Perhaps by the time it's released, they'll have a combat system that ISN'T just button mashing. Either that or a decent tutorial.

Overall, I'm really hoping this game lives up to the awesomeness that is Bourne. But the demo doesn't give off a very good first impression.

Alright, that's enough about that... I'm still hooked on Tales of Symphonia. I've got almost 20 hours into it, and I'm not even done with the first disk. Well, at least the Gamecube's crappy hardware helps give you an idea of how far you are in the game. I'll rant on about it again once I've beaten it though. However, I will say Lloyd wouldn't see a plot twist coming if one hit him in the face. And they do. A lot. I mean, if he'd paid any attention at all, he might see these things coming. Think of it this way...

Lloyd: Huh!? What's going on!
Generic Bad Guy: Well, after talking openly about it for almost two weeks, we decided we were finally going to steal your ship.
Lloyd: NO WAY!
Generic Bad Guy: Oh, and we'll be needing help carrying our Pirate Treasure Chests that we've been storing in your room up to the deck.
Lloyd: WHAT!? You said they were water coolers!
Generic Bad Guy: Oh yeah, and we're pirates also.
Lloyd: B-But you said you got that peg leg and eye patch in a Tennis accident!

Yeah, I think you get the point. I may have exaggerated that a little, but honestly, that's how it usually goes down. The sad thing is that sometimes the supposedly 'smart' characters miss this stuff too.

And last, but DEFINITELY not least...

Travain.

I've been playing this a lot lately, ever since a friend recommended it to me. It's like, crack or something, because I can't get enough of it. Not that I've ever done crack or anything. *cough*

Anyway, the game is an RTS. (That's Real-Time Strategy for all you non-nerds out there) It's a bit like say... Starcraft, in the sense that you build up your various resources, and use them to build buildings and train soldiers and stuff. Then when you have enough soldiers, you can send them out to either Raid, which collects resources and MAYBE kills a few innocent women and children (Read: Pillage) or Attack, which is an all-out brawl. This is for guys you really want DEAD. (Read: Burn) Now the best part of it all, is it's all ONLINE! That's ight, you're crushing REAL hopes and dreams, not just computerized ones. It makes the hope-crushing experience a whole lot sweeter if you ask me.

One of my favorite parts of the game is the fact that it doesn't end when you stop playing, much like that stupid horror movie with Frankie Munez in it. Except it doesn't suck. Your resources will continue to build up, your troops will still move, and your enemies will invade your village while you sleep and kill everyone. If only that's what actually happened. =( This is a concept that's always fascinated me, and it could really be improved upon in future games.

However, unlike most MMOs, this game actually ends. After 300 days (100 days on a Speed Server), a computer controlled race is introduced. you attack one of their villages, steal their plans to Stonehenge, and continually upgrade it until you get it to Level 100. This is called a Wonder of the World, and when you reach Level 100, you win. That's it. Game Over. You are the champion. You just won 5 points of internet street cred. But yeah, fun-poking aside, it's a really fun game, and it gives me something to do this summer. Because as you all know, I have no life.

And that's all folks. If you had the resolve to read all that, I congratulate you. Here's an imaginary cookie. It's whatever flavor you want it to be...