Damn it, I was 90% done with this entry and then I pressed the stupid way-too-easy-to-press back button on this mouse and lost everything. >.< Let's see how well I can redo this entry.

I've just had no motivation to play games lately. The only game I've been playing with any frequency is Guitar Hero II. I never found my copy (or my copy of GTA:SA), but my friend loaned me his copy of GHII since he now had GHIII and had mastered everything on II almost perfectly. He's a freaking Guitar Hero God. For about 2 months I got myself re-invested in Civilization III as well, which I found to be as addicting as ever, but I just kind of stopped playing again at random, although I'm pretty sure I could still get many hours more enjoyment out of that game.

One of the major factors that has killed my motivation is the switch to my new hard drive. My old hard drive crapped out on me (it wouldn't even detect my CD drives anymore!), so I quickly got a new hard drive and am still struggling through the transfer of information over to the new one. One of my problems is that I have lost pretty much all of my CD keys, mainly the ones to World in Conflict, Call of Duty 4, and The Orange Box, three of the games I want to play the most. So I haven't been able to yet reinstall these games. Also, I seem to have misplaced my Microsoft Office disks; I think a "friend" may have them, but he's a huge flake. It's really no use spending money on another copy of Microsoft Office (which is probably the most overpriced software on the market) when I might be able to retrieve the old copies. Not to mention we're desperately short on money at the moment.

On another note, I also lost my wallet with $50 and my ID in it.

What? What do you mean I lose everything?

I don't know what you're talking about. >_>

For those more knowledgeable than I, is there a way to find the CD key to the installed games somewhere in the files or properties of the old game? I still have the old hard drive on my computer.

One thing I was able to accomplish before the switch to my new hard drive (since The Orange Box doesn't require a CD to play) was my playing and finishing of Portal. Although I think it got a bit repetitive towards the end and the final fight with GLADOS was somewhat disappointing, in all other respects it was a fantastic game, probably the most clever and interesting game I have ever played. It was also really fun, and the script was fantastic. I am eagerly anticipating how this will fit into the future of the Half-Life franchise. If and when I get Portal reinstalled, I will seek out user-made Portal maps online and will play the challenges already built into the game. Then I will play Half-Life 2: Episode Two and get around to Team Fortress 2. I'll probably replay Half-Life 2 at some point and see if there's something about it I missed on the first playthrough (I know this may sound like blasphemy, but Half-Life 2 was fairly average in my eyes). The story and universe they're creating around Half-Life, however, has kept me interested.

I did buy Sins of a Solar Empire recently (maybe 3 weeks ago). But after playing through the tutorials and starting a game, and despite finding it interesting (although with a fairly steep learning curve), I stopped playing that as well. What is wrong with me?

One thing I could possibly do to respark my interest in video gaming is to go to the nearest store with a bargain bin and search through it to find old classic PS2 games. I've never been a big console gamer, but I've warmed up to them recently. I'm still playing Guitar Hero II, and I have Final Fantasy X. Even though I got about 20 hours in and it's been quite a ride, I suddenly stopped playing that as well. I just have no explanation for my sudden stoppage in gaming, and maybe playing through old PS2 classics rather than worrying about the greatest and new games will respark my interest. I remember it was getting back into Starcraft that revitalized it last time. Speaking of that, I need to buy a new copy of Starcraft and play all the way through it before Starcraft II comes out...

...did I mention I also lost that?

I seem to have just become more interested in reading about new games and studying them and eagerly anticipating them than I am in actually playing them recently. I still avidly read every issue of PC Gamer.

Speaking of eagerly anticipating, I now have 29 games on my wishlist.

Let's start with games that are already out that I've so far missed out on. I still hope to eventually get my hands on Prey and F.E.A.R., especially before the sequels come out. I would love to get my hands on Supreme Commander (I had the demo installed on my old hard drive and it was intriguing). Out of these, F.E.A.R. is the only one that I really want to play. Another one that I really want is Company of Heroes, which I believe, from what I've heard, may be the best RTS game since Age of Empires II (although I never played Rise of Nations...which I may have to dig up sometime as well). I hope to get a new computer (with Vista!) by the end of the year, and when that happens, I want to get Crysis (forget about it on my current rig, although it may run okay on very minimal settings), and Halo 2 (stupid Vista-only business move), which I will just play for the campaign. One place I will start out on for the PS2 (besides Final Fantasy X), is God of War, which I have played and is pretty sweet. Also, once I finish Final Fantasy X, I'll get Final Fantasy XII and slowly play through that. I also hope to get my hands on another cheap copy of GTA: San Andreas. Finally, there's two relatively unheralded (but still fairly well-known games) that I hope to get my hands on; STALKER and The Witcher. Although RPGs typically disappoint me, I am intrigued by the free form, action-oriented world of STALKER and the moral ambiguity of The Witcher. The only other RPGs I've really consistently enjoyed (besides Final Fantasy X) are the Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate series. Finally, I think the next game I'm going to buy will be either Mass Effect or Gears of War for the PC. Although I've played Gears of War extensively, I've never played through the campaign. It would be totally worth it. As for Mass Effect...well, let's just say huge sci-fi RPG = instant win.

As for games that are still to come out, the ones I'm anticipating the most are Starcraft II and Spore, with Far Cry 2 not far behind. Spore looks like the most innovative, accessible, and amazing game to come out in years, while Starcraft II couldn't possibly disappoint. Far Cry 2 looks like Crysis on steroids. 'nuff said. Tom Clancy's EndWar also has me intrigued.

Another thing I could do to revitalize my interest is download more game demos. That usually does the trick for me.

Finally, I keep forgetting that I actually had a Nintendo DS that I bought off a friend for $40 (probably about a year ago). I don't have a single game for that and I really don't know much about the DS. Does anyone who happens to read this have any suggestions on DS essentials?

Well, that wraps up this long and mostly unnecessary post (that's what happens when you go 4 months between updates).