If there's one thing I like about my new job, it's the ability I have to sleep until noon, work until 9:00 pm, and then play video games until about 3:00 in the morning. It almost feels like I'm in high school on summer vacation again. I just wish it paid better...

At any rate, it's been a fairly slow month. I haven't had too much going on, which has made it a banner month for completions. These put me at 16 for the year, 2/3 of the way to my goal of 24 for the year. The fallen games include:

13. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (PS2)
14. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PS2)
15. Champions: Return to Arms (PS2)
16. Metal Gear (NES)

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is yet another one of those mindless hack n' slashers that I love so much. Blue Warrior became a Level 99 Legend and saved the world. There isn't much to it and if you want to actually play the game to completion, you will do a TON of grinding (or, slappin' slimes, if you're in my family). But it's good to turn your brain off and just kill things.

I didn't like Max Payne 2 quite as much as the original, but it's still a great game. I'm not sure why, but as soon as I heard about the upcoming Max Payne 3, I decided that I had to rip through it NOW. I'm now looking forward to the third game's release so I can continue in Max's snakebitten shoes.

Remember what I said about Gauntlet? Well, the same could pretty much be said for Champions: Return to Arms. It's a little prettier and a little more complex, but it's the same idea...and that's not a bad thing. I finished the story mode in this one, but it also has several side missions that are almost impossible to complete with just one character. I have yet to bother with some of those.

Metal Gear is one of my childhood favorites. I played the hell out of it when I was about 12 and I surprised myself with how much I actually remember about it. It took me about four hours, but I took it down in one sitting. Now I just have to get through the awful Snake's Revenge (the existence of which isn't even acknowledged by Hideo Kojima, if I remember correctly).

I was finally relatively successful in scaling back my acquisitions this month, although I do have an interesting story. First, the list:

July Acquisitions-
-Dark Sector (X360)
-Forza Motorsport 2 (X360)
-WCW Nitro (PS)
-Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (PS2)
-Fracture (X360)
-Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party (PS2)
-Comix Zone (XBLA)
-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Arcade (XBLA)

Short list this month. Now, see Fracture on that list? It's a relatively nondescript purchase, until I tell how I obtained it.

I had taken my wife out to dinner at this little restaurant in our town. They had advertisements on the placemats, one of which was for this little secondhand shop that advertised a ton of video game stuff. I went over there the next day and, while they didn't have much, they did have a couple things I was interested in. Unfortunately, they didn't accept debit cards so I had to go back with cash a couple days later.

When I returned, I nearly fell over when I saw my aunt working behind the counter. It turns out that she and my cousin run this little place so they have something to do. I had no idea they were the owners of the shop. But now I have another place to go look for stuff.

As for the upcoming month, I don't foresee much in the way of acquisitions, but I'm hoping for a little more of a dent in my backlog. I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through Earthbound (SNES) and have Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden hanging out next to my NES for practice. I'm ahead of my pace right now, so anything I finish this month just puts me farther ahead. I'm kind of ready to get this over with so I can play something a little more involved. I've got some great games sitting there waiting on me...I just need to find the time to knock them off.

Before I leave, here's a couple more places to find me if you wish:

Twitter: jollyroger3251
Backloggery: jollyroger78

Add away if you like. Until next time...