AI Art - Yuffie Kisaragi

AI Art - Lightning Farron

Playing Video Games

A well-known fact that is known that boys and men play games. Be it video games, NZ online gambling games or just games. The world knows that men love to play video games. Less is known about the type of games that ladies play.

Memorial Day Respect

Don't forget the true meaning of Memorial Day.  RESPECT!

Get a Life Podcast Ep. 7 - The One with Video Game Adventures and Gateway Video Games

Hey there.  Ready for another episode of the Get a Life Podcast?  Awesome!  In this episode, Brian and I discuss our video game adventures.  Gaming has seemingly slipped into our everyday lives and occurs even when NOT gaming.  lol  Also, we touch base on that one gateway video game that molded us into the gamers that we are today.

During our show, we posed the question, "What kind of video game adventures have you had in real life?"  Let's hear it in the comments, friends!  Also, we mentioned one of our favorite charities on our show, the Child's Play Charity, and if you are interested in donating or simply looking for more information, please make sure to check out their website at ChildsPlayCharity.org.  Over $5 million was donated to the organization in 2012 and it would be awesome if 2013 brought that and more for kids in need.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Winner

Hey there.  It's time to announce a winner!!!  I asked you guys which Final Fantasy game was your favorite and there was no doubt that the majority love Final Fantasy 7.  Final Fantasy 6 came a close second!  Personally, I'll always give Final Fantasy 7 the edge since that was the first FF game in which I pulled all nighters to play.  Anyways, we are not here to reminisce.  We are here to announce the winner of Final Fantasy XIII-2.  And the winner is...

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Giveaway

Hey there.  Who's ready for a game giveaway?  I've been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series since I was first introduced to it by a good friend of mine.  I remember playing Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest on the SNES (I know... not a great installment of the series) and I payed no more attention to it after I finished it, but once my friend handed me Final Fantasy 7, my mind was blown.  I was up all hours of the night trying to find out what happens to Cloud and Sephiroth.  Ever since that day, I've gone out and searched for all the Final Fantasy installments and played them.  I've finished pretty much all of them except for the PSP games.  Anyways, as I was thinking about what game to give away, I decided that a Final Fantasy game was in order and I decided to give you the chance to win the latest in the series:  Final Fantasy XIII-2.

I enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII-2.  I love the battle system.  I love the monster training aspect of it.  It is a relatively short game considering that the series owns some games where you can easily log over 100 hours playing.  I think that at this point, many fans either love it or hate it.  I strongly believe it's because we grew up with some of the best games in the series.  For all of you that are still iffy about it and don't want to pay for it, enter to win the game for the PS3 or Xbox 360!

The giveaway will run from now until August 20th.  Anyone can enter, but the game prize is only available for US entries.  An Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to our International winner in lieu of the game.  Good luck, friends!

This giveaway is brought to you in part by my good friends at Zombie & Toys and Chic Girl.  Make sure to stop by and check them out for awesome zombie stuff and trendy fashion!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Can wait to see if you've won?  You can get Final Fantasy XIII-2 at Amazon!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Collectors Edition

Hey there.  There are few games that I pay full price for.  There are even fewer franchises that I am willing to shell out extra for the limited edition or collectors edition.  Final Fantasy, however, is one franchise that I would definitely spend the money on a collectors edition. When I ventured into Gamestop a few weeks ago and saw that I could reserve my copy of Final Fantasy XIII-2, I just had to do it.  Recently, I learned that you can upgrade your reservation to the collectors edition!  I NEED THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION!!!

Motivational Monday - Final Fantasy

Almost as misleading as The Neverending Story!  Almost...

How Long Should You Play a Video Game Before Moving on to the Next One?

I'll play this until the NEW one comes out NEXT WEEK!!!

Hey there.  Unless you are living under a rock, you should be well aware of the "army guys shooting stuff" games that recently were released.  More specifically, Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.  Now, I love me a good session of Black Ops.  Hell, I even started playing it more with my oldest son (which by the way is WAAAAAAAAAY better at it than I am).  Last night, when I got home, he started to tell me about his day and said how many of his friends waited for the midnight release of the game so that they can be one of the first to play it.  I knew quite a few people that also attended those midnight releases (I'm looking at you, Devious!  lol) and I thought that it would have been awesome to attend one myself.  BUT... I simply cannot commit to more than a game or two at a time.

Motivational Monday - Moogles

See!  I told you not feed 'em after midnight!!

Call of Duty: Elite

Hey there.  You know, I've been spending a lot of time recently on finishing Final Fantasy XIII so that I can be caught up for when Final Fantasy XIII-2 hits shelves.  During the "down" time, I figured that I would play a little Black Ops and Rise of Nightmares to kill the time.  Well... it looks like Black Ops is beginning to take over.

Breaking Out of This Writing Lull

Hey there. One of the worst things that can happen to a blogger is taking a few days off from writing. I did just that. I try to post something every day just to keep it fresh but I have not written a post since Saturday.  Blame it on the DTK loss, blame it on laziness, blame it on Final Fantasy XIII, or blame it on whatever you want.  I made it clear to myself that I needed to get on the ball and create more quality articles as opposed to small snippets of stuff because I don't have time.  I used to be able to get work done at night with the laptop, but since that's out of commission at the time, I'm regulated to work on the desktop computer and I'm not really feeling that.  Well, it's time to snap out of it.  I have plenty of great ideas that I'm working on and I have a few awesome reviews that are coming this way.  The giveaways are also a huge success and I have a few winners posts that need to go live.  I've been invited to events and would like to get those up as well.  Things are happening, people, and I need to let you guys know what's up!!!

It's happening, friends.  I'm evolving.  It's time to shed this skin and break out into bigger better things.  Stay tuned!  Later!

Motivational Monday - Food Fight

Let the food war begin!

Motivational Monday - Final Fantasy XIII

Because you don't mess with a woman called Lightning

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is Scheduled for a January 2012 US Release

Hey there.  I'm a huge Final Fantasy fan.  I have gone through most of the games (my boy is hogging the Dissidia series on the PSP) and I must say that I have enjoyed them all.  Even the Final Fantasy bastard game, Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest.  Yeah, it was horrible, but if you were new to the CONCEPT of RPGs, this was an easy game to get through and get the gist of how to get through a FF game.  But seriously, how can you not fall in love with the story, the characters, and the music?  Some of the characters and story lines have stuck with me for more than a decade and even today, I've gone back and played some of the classic FF games just to relive those memories.

Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Trailer

Freakin' awesome!!!

Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Announced

Hey there.  I'm giddy.  Not too long ago, there was word that Square Enix was trademarking logos and potential names for future Final Fantasy projects.  Me being a huge fan of the series, saw it as a sign that we may be getting a new Final Fantasy game soon.  Well, it looks like we will be getting a new Final Fantasy game and it's going to be a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.  Check out the logo below.

Looks like we're in for another adventure with Lightning.  Well... at least the woman on the right looks like Lightning.  As with all Final Fantasy logos, there definitely is an insight to the game there.  Black and white?  Good and evil?  Maybe the reinvention of Lightning?  Who know but I'm definitely looking forward to this game!  Until then, later!

Final Fantasy: Type 0 in the Works?

Hey there.  When G4 announced that the name and logo for Final Fantasy: Type 0 was trademarked, it immediately grabbed my attention.  Square Enix might be releasing a new Final Fantasy game!  It may be a spin off... it may be a continuation of an existing Final Fantasy title.  As of right now, it's way to early to tell.  G4 doesn't have info on the project but they're willing to spill what ever they do have.  Check out the brief announcement here.

Intrigued?  Yes.  Excited?  Not so much.  Not until we receive some more details.  For all we know, this is Square Enix trademarking POTENTIAL names.  And even if they are, I would assume that because they are trademarking anything Final Fantasy, some sort of product will become of it.  Until then, later!

Is Final Fantasy XIII Too Difficult?

Hey there.  Have you had a chance to play the latest game in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XIII?  I received it as a gift for my birthday but because I recently purchased a new XBOX 360, I haven't had a chance to dig into the game.  Until now, that is.

I've been having this week long discussion with my compa in regards to the difficulty of the game.  He's played it a lot longer than I so he's farther along in the game.  We're both die hard fans of the series and have been through the majority of the games.  I've missed out on some of the DS and PSP titles.  Anyways, he's had some quips about the difficulty of the game and the battle system that it introduces.

FFXIII introduces a new battle system which emphasizes on strategy more than the accustomed "menu-select action-wait your turn- Active Time Battle" system.  Since the days of the NES version, fans grew used to having an enemy wait until you've inputted your commands before the battle starts, and with FFXII, they introduced a more "active" battle where you were allowed to move your character during battle, but the stopping of the action was still present while you were allowed to access the menus and select commands.  In FFXIII, there is no stopping of the battle while you select commands.  This is a huge shift for most Final Fantasy fans and from what I see, many are having a difficult time adjusting.

Because the action is continuous, you must be quick in selecting commands.  Another aspect that makes the game more difficult is that you no longer can control the actions of your party members.  You are responsible for your own character and hope that your team will take the appropriate actions during battle.  Now...  not all is left to chance.  You do select a paradigm (which is the equivalent of jobs) for each character and that character will take that role and act accordingly.  A three paradigm set can include a medic, commando, and ravager (other paradigms are also available but to simplify things, I'll only mention these three) which would be the equivalent of a white mage, knight, and black mage respectively.  The difference in FFXIII is that you'll only be able to command one of the characters and hope that your party members fulfill their roles.  This method involves more strategy than just being stronger than your enemy and pummel it to death and in my eyes, it creates a more realistic battle where your team goes in for the attack with specific roles.

Now, I'm still in the "honeymoon" stage of the game where the battles are not too hard, but not are easy either.  I'm not at the level where gamers are complaining of the difficulty.  Nevertheless, I feel as if the shift in the battle system is what irks them the most.  They can no longer go into a battle and then act accordingly.  FFXIII forces you plan your method of attack BEFORE you head out into battle.  If the game does get difficult in the up and coming chapters, I'm looking forward to the challenge!  But until then, later!