At the risk of riling up the powers that I be, I must put this blog post up and I must speak my mind now.

There is one reason I come to Gamespot at all, it is for you guys on my friends list, and friends in the RPG Temple union primarily. I come for the community and discussion and the occaisional helpful thread on a certain game. That's it.

Gamespot has no credibility anymore to me, and has not for a long time. The Game of the Year Awards 2008 prove that. No, it's not so much who wins (although I'm pleased with MGS4's success so far), it's who was nominated and how it truly illustrates how much Gamespot is biased whether personal preference of the reviewers or due to political reasons.

Let me go over some discrepancies that are intolerable.

1.) Gears of War 2 wasn't nominated for technical excellence, but Burnout Paradise was? (wait for it later, it will make sense).

2.) Original Soundtrack : Mirrors Edge (WTF?) Last Remnant, The World Ends With You, Wrath of the Lich King and Patapon. No Persona 4, Metal Gear Solid 4 or Gears of War 2 was pretty much a kick in the teeth there.

3.) Most "Innovative" : Patapon, Braid, Echochrome, Mirrors Edge (WTF again?) and NHL09 (Double WTF?) Now the first 3 might be worthy, but I think we all know what game should be up there, like it or not... BTW, Mirrors Edge got a 7.5 against Little Big Planet's 9.0

4.) Probably my biggest contention of the list. Valkyria Chronicles wasn't reviewed until almost a month later. "The copy didn't come and Kevin Van Ord didn't have time". Please, they snubbed it for RPG of the year when outside of Fallout 3, Fable 2, (two games I don't care for but Gamespot gave high marks to) and Persona 4, there just aren't a lot of good or great RPGs. "But since Valkyria Chronicles is a strategy RPG, it belongs in the strategy category"... OK, so no RPG nod...

5.) No strategy nod either. Sid Meier got 2 games on there and Advance War 2 was on there. 3 out of the 5 games only scored an 8.0 out of 10, where as VC scored an 8.5. Shouldn't it by default be one of the games on the list with a higher score?

6.) Valkyria Chronicles wasn't even nominated for "Best Game no one played" category. A bunch of crappy DS and Wii games were. Obviously very few people played it, and it's 8.5 was higher than the 8.0 at best that were nominated.

7.) Funniest Game : Obviously they never played Persona 3 FES. Yakushima Beach was laugh out loud funny. Fine don't include that because it was a rerelease of a game from last year. Hell, GTA 4 and Saints Row 2 were miles ahead of the list on there. I mean hell, "The Battle of The Century" in Saints Row 2 is pirates vs. ninjas with flame throwers and rocket launchers has gotta count for something. Strong Bad's game wasn't even nominated. This might be more of a matter of choice, I'm sure, so I'm not so angry at this, but still there were a lot better choices.

8.) Finally, The 360 GOTY list was : Braid, Burnout Paradise, NHL 09, Fallout 3 and GTA 4. With the exception of Braid, none of those were exclusive. What about Gears 2? That wasn't worthy to be an Xbox exclusive on that list? This isn't Multiplat of the year.

At least the PS3 got MGS4, Burnout Paradise (AGAIN... do you see the pattern here?) GTA4, LBP and Resistance 2. 3 out of 5 exclusive... not bad. But I'm thinking Valkyria Chronicles should have been there as well.

9.) Finally, Left 4 Dead at 8.5 was nominated for GOTY while Gears 2 and Dead Space at 9.0 were not.

Now from an objective standpoint, these games according to Gamespot's own ratings are less valued than the games that weren't nominated? And Burnout Paradise was nominated in like 5 categories including GOTY?

Why vote for a multiplat as 360 GOTY when there are at least a few other worthy choices? Why snub games that were clearly rated higher by the GS staff but not nominated at all?

Your thoughts on this?

After a week of waiting and a full term of training (32 official training hours, a number of self practice and a 4 hour unofficial training), I have passed my first ranking examination of Shotokan Karate, earning myself the rank of 8th kyu and this :

(that's a yellow belt if your monitor isn't very good by the way)

Although I'd never tie my belt this sloppily. No way. I messed up the very first day I got my gi and white belt and sensei made me do 50, yes, 50 pushups.

Even more important than the ranking is I've made more friends in this one semester of karate than I have my entire life (we had like 30+ people in the dojo by the way). Karate does teach you about discipline and respecting others and it gets you in shape, all things I aimed to achieve and have done so. I will be continuing next term with my friends and hopefully get an orange belt next time and continue to move up in ranking.

And in case you didn't know, the whole reason this school of Karate was invented was so that people wouldn't have to use it in the first place.

Karate while literally means "empty hand" is more about a journey to understand oneself and others while as recited in the Dojo-kun, to "Seek perfection of character, be faithful, endeavor, respect others, and refrain from violent behavior".

If anyone has had the inkling to take up a martial art, I suggest doing it, it's a worthwhile experience for so many reasons.

Here it is, the final installment. Sony and Nintendo have been out for 2 years with their newest consoles this generation, 1 year behind Microsoft.

Funny, as amazing as it was to knock off HD-DVD from the market, Sony honestly really hasn't pushed forward in terms of market shares outside of the PS3 being a Blu-Ray player. Yes, there are a number of us GAMERS who bought the PS3 for what it actually is, a gaming console, but a great number have it as a Blu-Ray player. Still, Sony is fighting an up hill battle against the Wii and the 360 who both have larger market shares and in terms of multiplats, the 360 outsells the PS3 version consistently.

Sony should be thankful that the 360 is such an unreliable piece of hardware, otherwise I would dare say after the loss of Tekken and Final Fantasy exclusivity amongst other things, Sony would be pretty close to pulling out of the race.

But like I said, poor business tactics and the fact that someone has to progress technology forward and be the guy at the lead, Sony has tremendously upped their ante in the gaming market I feel, much better than the previous two years of the PS3's existence.

How?

To put it in System Wars parlance "AAAAE kicks M$ ass lulz". Yes, a game that garners near perfect to perfect scores from critics and consumers is a major score for Sony. Selling 1.3 million copies the first day and selling 100,000 PS3/MGS4 bundles says something about the power of this franchise. I do not remember the exact figures, but I believe this game is hovering around 4 million units sold, maybe more now.

And with due cause. All fanboyism aside, this game is a drastic advance in the gameplay from the previous entries, appealing to the more shooter intensive players and those who look for more variety (this game certainly has it, from sneaking, to shooting, to rail shooting chases, to mech fights to fisticuffs, MGS4 has something for everyone). But most importantly, this game wraps up the saga of the Snakes in beautiful package. I honestly cannot find any objective flaws in this game whatsoever.

I know some of you won't listen, but you owe it to yourself to play this game if you have a PS3. You may not appreciate everything there is to offer, but you will see what people are talking about when they call this the game of the generation.

I can't believe it, a Sega game that would fall directly behind Metal Gear Solid 4 in terms of my favorite game on the system and one that is the most important. In case you don't know about this dark horse, it is a delightful mashup of Strategy, RPG and Third/First Person Shooting that works wonderfully. Set in a fictional parallel universe that essentially is Europe of World War 2, down to reasoning and setting (aside from the whole gruesome torture and war crimes that most games try to avoid), this game comments very intelligently on the state of the world and war. Particularly one scene where Squad 7 runs into a wounded enemy, they care for the poor man who dies in their care, realizing he is a human just as they are.

Graphically and sonically this game is superb, and gameplay wise it is the most unique thing you will probably ever play, but a few things eat at me. First, Snipers tend to be extremely innacurate at even close ranges until you get better weapons (scouts or engineers are even better at sniping, and this isn't hyperbole). Second, the enemy is definetely more accurate than you in all aspects, but thankfully they are not nearly as agressive unless the battle script calls for it. Third, if you move into range to shoot and aim all things stop, but when you are getting your gun ready to fire, the enemy can still shoot you. You can also fire defensively, but enemies can easily stop and fire at you preventing further retaliation. This may seem insignificant and maybe hard to understand, but when playing you will see what I mean.

None of these though ruin the game whatsoever, but are minor detractions that would keep me from warranting a 10. 9.0+ for sure though, no question.

Damn shame Sony is not promoting this game whatsoever and it is becoming fairly hard to find. Pick it up while you can.

I actually greatly enjoyed the first Resistance because of it's amazing 2 player coop (perhaps why I enjoy Gears of War 1 and 2 so much as well). But sadly, the campaign is entirely single player (and for the most part could easily be turned into a two player campaign). The story was good, better than the first, but I don't see why the 2nd player just couldn't have been Capelli or another Specter. Additionally, the game needs to tone down some of the fights, especially after a huge battle, you think its over, turn the corner and BAM, a chameleon decloaks in front of you and kills you. If it's not a chameleon, you get jumped by literally 20 different enemies and if you don't have the right weapon Insomniac pigeonholed you into you get screwed.

Those difficulty gripes and design choics aside, the game is nothing short of amazing sonically and visually and it makes you feel like you are truly fighting for the future of humanity. Just take the first level where the giant Goliath is bombarding your camp or the huge battleships over San Fransisco burning. It feels like the end of the world, a feeling the designers came across with beautifully.

The multiplayer coop is interesting with 3 different ****s who are all symbiotic and it is impossible to play without balance. Sadly, even with me trying to rally troops together, people run off separately and get owned because medics (usually me) can't heal everyone nor can the spec ops give more ammo to them. Then kids start chewing each other out just as bad as on Xbox Live. So, in this case, people are just as immature as on the PSN and vice versa. But 8 players working in unison against the Chimera hordes is pure gaming bliss and very addicting. My medic is maxed out and I'm the 1208th ranked Medic in the entire world of almost 200,000 users based on experience (probably top 10 in terms of skill, no joke, my score is on average 50,000+ to maybe 28,000 as the nearest score).

I can't say I'm a fan of competetive multiplayer.

Regardless though, there's something for everyone here who likes shooters.

I know this isn't a PS3 game, but it is a Sony game for the PS2 nonetheless. And it happens to be my 5th favorite RPG of all time as you may have seen in another blog. Persona 3 FES is essentially Persona 3, but with an additional chapter and extra social links and Elizabeth quests. An RPG unlike any other... well... not unlike Valkyria Chronicles is unlike others, but something else, something good. Makes me hunger more for :

Expanded social link system and improved graphics plus other bonuses? Yes, please. Mine is preordered.

With the exception of the rap channel, EVERYTHING in Saints Row 2 has improved over Saints Row 1. And I daresay that Saints Row 2 delivers a better overall experience in terms of diversity, fun and customizability in comparison to

Now let me say this, Grand Theft Auto 4 is more polished and generally is more proficient (with the exception of the draw distance issue that has plagued the series since GTA 3), but GTA 4 is more of the EXACT same chase missions over and over and over. And many of them include frustrating parts where it is easy to fail and have to start over. What's new with gameplay? Taking people to eat or bowling or what not. If I hear Roman ask if I want to go play pool again, I'm going to puke. It's cool at first but annoying later.

I guess to each their own, and don't get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto 4 is a splendid game, but it wears on me, where I felt Saints Row 2 felt fresh and varied throughout.

And the fact I listed both on the PS3 shows my faith in the system's stability, rather than the 360.

I dont' have much to say on the PSP front since the only game of note in my book to come out since FFT:WoL was Crisis Core, and while pretty graphically and a great addition to the FF7 universe, it is highly button mashy and pretty generic otherwise. I'm holding off for Star Ocean 2, and that reminds me, pick up Star Ocean 1 sometime.

This says something to me, hand held gaming doesn't appeal to me, the games generally don't have enough substance anymore. Hopefully Parasite Eve The Third Birthday will fix that.

In all Sony does appeal to me just the same as Microsoft in that they offer games with substantial depth and quality on all fronts. Sony offers more functionality and stability at a higher price, which is enough to scare off many potential consumers. A price drop is due for larger install base and retention of key exclusives are what Sony needs to stay viable and not in last place in terms of console and software sales.

You're heading in the right direction Sony, the games on my list prove it, now get your heads out of your ass and get Home ready and keep making games... and market them for chrissakes.