World of Warcraft: A longterm relationship comes to an end

My Dearest World of Warcraft,

I remember when we first met, back in January, 2005. We were at first hesitant to really get to know each other. I struggled with letting myself go, I was timid and shy, unused to your sometimes abrasive behaviors. Barren’s chat scared me, as did skill points, talent trees, spells and abilities, and gear.

But we had a chemistry that was certainly undeniable.

Soon after reaching level 60 you showed me that I was pretty damn good. I was valuable and you needed me. I topped the healing and dps charts, toppled dragons, and slayed alliance while you adorned me with bragging rights, phat lootz, and a sense of accomplishment.

I gave my life to you willingly, after all I was young, in college, and really didn’t have a life anyway.

We lived happily together for a good four years. We made friends and defeated baddies together. My previous inhibitions were but a mere echo of a memory as I trolled trade chat for people with bad grammar, poor class understanding, or any other feature I deemed a fault.

However after about two years you began to change. Sure you still bestowed me with the gifts, and bragging rights but for some reason they seemed less and less meaningful. I would walk the streets of Shattrath and later Dalaran and see other priests with the same gear. Priests that I had played with before and whom I knew were not good!

I tried to stifle my jealousy. I was being unreasonable. But you had become completely different. My value as a “damn good” player wasn’t meaningful anymore. You handed out loot to any noob that just so happened to have 24 friends.

I tried to leave you. When I was finally able to pack my tier pieces, and put away my Tel’thas, Dagger of the Blood King, you sent me an email; I was invited into your beta! I ran back to you instantly, maybe you had changed.

But you hadn’t changed. You watered yourself down, spread yourself too thin. Did you realize that you weren’t capable of keeping our relationship interesting and simply stopped trying? I know you tried to disguise yourself as a completely new entity and for a while even I was fooled. But at the core you’re exactly the same as you were at level 70 and 80, maybe even worse.

I wish we could go back to the days of level 60, when things were still fresh and exciting. But our relationship has fizzled and died. I need more and thus I am leaving you.

You will always hold a special place in my heart,
Arawn

Take “Party” Games to another level

Last Saturday, my sister along with some of her friends and I found ourselves to be completely too sober. So we invented a drinking game. It was 1v1 Naruto Ninja Storm II, winner takes a shot. Why the winner? Well obviously because if you were still winning you weren’t drunk enough! Unfortunately for me, I apparently kick major ass at Ninja Storm when I’ve had too much to drink. Though I was undefeated by my fellow drinkers, I definitely got KO’d by the Vodka.

So now I’ve rummaged the internet in hopes of finding other video game drinking games you and your friends can enjoy! There are tons out there (some of which are way too complicated for someone whose goal is to become completely smashed) but here are my top three:

1. Putting the Party in Mario Party

Any one that knows me knows I loathe Mario Party. And why? Because it’s completely unfair! Random stars to crappy players… stealing my stars because I landed on the wrong space! It’s the only game where one can win every single mini-game and still come in last simply due to sh*t luck. So how can we make this fun? Alcohol!

Seeing Stars: Any player that earns a star makes everyone else take a shot. If you happen to have stolen that star from another player, the player that is now minus a star has to take two. Sorry buddy, tis a cruel cruel game.

2. Little Binge Planet

Sure this game is all about getting along, working together and achieving a common goal. But for this one it’s all about being the last man standing. Anytime you kill a friend, they take a shot. If you kill yourself, count that as a kill and take a shot.

3. Super Smashed Brothers Brawl

SSBB allows for a lot of creative shot taking. The drinking game I found suggested taking a shot anytime someone is blown off the map with no hope of return. This happens…. A LOT, so if you want a few other suggestions here are some I came up with:

Pokeballin: Anytime a player uses a Pokeball, every other player must take a shot. If the Pokeball turns out to be Bellossom, Goldeen, Jirachi or any of the other super lame Pokemon, the player that unleashed it must take two shots. (Can also be used for smash balls)

Drink away your sorrows: Anytime you commit suicide, you drink.


Know any other fun video game drinking games? Let me know in the comments below!

11+ in 12 months... cake.

Now that I have finally broken free from the ball and chain that is WoW it’s time to start playing catch-up on some titles I didn’t have time to play because I was busy raiding.

Here is my tentative list of games to have played by this time next year. And no, this doesn’t include games that are coming out… so throw a handful of new releases in there as time goes by.

I'll try to post my thoughts on the games as I play through them!

Xbox & XBLA:
Mass Effect I & II (in-progress)
Alan Wake
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes
Braid
Alice: Madness Returns
Nintendo
Castelvania: Dawn of Sorrow
Donkey Kong Country Returns

PC:
Witcher II
Civilizations IV

iOS:
Cut the Rope (in-progress)

Happy B-Day Link, Princess Zelda and the rest of the crew

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the very first Legend of Zelda!

Few could deny the impact this game has had on the video game industry. IGN is featuring a pretty awesome article about the history of Nintendo's gem that is definitely worth the read: http://wii.ign.com/articles/115/1150966p1.html

Insert Mandatory Personal Note:

This gaming staple has and will always be one of my favorite franchises. Though the first handful of games were a bit before my time, playing through them today is just as much fun as playing through the shiny new games that are out now.

In fact, Ocarina of Time remains the game I most attribute to my love of video games. I sat and watched my brother play through the entire game... even suggested shooting an arrow at the sun in Lake Hylia, just to see what happened (fire arrows tyvm).

That being said, if you happen to spot a red head with a Legend of Zelda lanyard be sure to say hi!... I also accept checks, credit cards, SSN, etc.

A little introduction

I’ll never forget the first time I died.

Desperately hoping I could escape I found myself cornered between my pursuers, Inky and Blinky. Sadly, I watched poor Ms. Pacman meet her pixilated demise, determined that next time those pesky ghosts wouldn’t get the better of me. What an interesting way for a 6 year old to learn about death.

After that day video games started becoming a passion. Growing up, my family always had the latest platforms, just as eager as I was to try our hand at another game. However, it didn’t take me long to figure out that not everyone shared my passion for gaming. In high school, I found it difficult to find fellow females that would fend off alien assailants while I reloaded my ak-47. It became my goal then to introduce my friends to what they were missing. After four years I adopted the philosophy that everyone has a little gamer inside them, they just need to find the game that will awaken it.

That is where this blog comes into play. I’ll be posting reviews of the video games that peak my interest as well as cool gaming news and videos that I happen to come across. My hope is that I can offer a unique perspective to the casual gamer and hardcore gamer communities alike.

This is an experiment on my part so please post any feedback, good or bad!