I've had an account here for a while but I haven't really done much with it. I caught up with my game collection over the summer on the site and kept up to date with it until Christmas season started where working both my jobs really took near-all of my time. Before that happened I wrote a couple reviews I was proud of which my friends liked and even caught the eyes of a couple users here, which I really didn't expect. I've been wanting to really make use of my account here and have finally decided to take the first steps of doing so.

To start and get this out of the way, my name is Dan and I've been an avid gamer my whole life. My nickname is Narsk but in various places online I'm known as MarioKnight. I apparently made this account before I started using my nickname online and it was already tied with my e-mail, hence why I'm still using my old name on here. My main job is at GameStop, which I know isn't exactly a favorable company in this community, which I completely understand. It was an EB when it opened in my mall two decades ago this October that got swallowed up by the merge. I like working for the industry and being around things I love as a job. Unlike from a lot of the GS stores I hear about everywhere online, the staff in my store is actually competent and has a good handle on what's going on in the industry for the most part. We get along great together and it's great to work with all of them. Working for the company itself can be grating at times, but I can get into more things as they happen. I also read up on the history of the industry, owning many books and am always looking to read more about everything that got video games to where they are today. As for what I play, generally I like it all and will give nearly every game a good chance. However I don't really play sports games or first person shooters that much but I do pick them up on occasion. I love the music games and am happy to see the genre really start to pick up in the country making it easier to get my DDR fix, I've been liking Rock Band and really wish that beatmania did better over here. I also really enjoy RPGs and adventure games, as well as puzzle and "casual" games.

I wanted to kick off my first blog post here with putting up my review of Brawl, but it doesn't look like that will happen today, possibly on Sunday since it's a day off between both my jobs. I will also have to update my collection list around then as well. After Brawl I have a couple games I've been meaning to review that I've gone through, and ultimately want to play through and review my entire collection.

So now for an actual blog-like segment with the intro out of the way, I've been working on a few games lately. When I have time to dedicate a good chunk of time to, I have been loving Lost Odyssey. I am about a third into disc three and it has been simply amazing. I really can't think of anything I don't like about the game. The story is compelling, the classic battle system is good to see again, and the soundtrack is very nice. Like most of the world, I've been playing some Brawl which has been pretty enjoyable. I'm not as big a fan of the game as most people, but it is a good game that deserves praise. However various aspects of the game are unimpressive which I will detail in my review. Rock Band has been great, I just wish that the friends I play it with and I live closer together so we can play more often. I'm looking forward to the upcoming patch to make the downloadable tracks easier to navigate, and for the new fan caps in world tour mode to make more of the game explorable. And finally, I've been addicted to Bleach for the DS lately. I've been enjoying the anime (seen up to episode 115) but was very disappointed with how the Wii game turned out. Well my boss accidentally left his DS at work a few days last week when he went to the Big East tournament, and Bleach was in it. While waiting for him to come in one day to see the schedule and give my availability for my other boss, I saw this and played it. He didn't make it to work that day because of a flat tire on his way back, and I ended up playing the game for five hours straight. It is a great game, adding new elements to the fighting genre with status effect cards and the ability to do special moves. I also like how it can support up to four players while still retaining the same feel of classic fighters. I was hooked after playing his game for hours and unlocking so much of it. Sadly we were sold out, but it got traded in the other day so I picked it up, clearing the cart so I can get stuff on my own, and am almost caught up to where I got his cart. I pwned his ass last night after work which was great. XD

So that's about where I am now with games. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with games and the industry with everyone. Hopefully y'all will enjoy the ride as time goes on here. ^_^