A Weekly Look Into Video Game Culture From A Casual Point Of View

By: Bren Inou

WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010

Just for the record, I`m a huge fan of the WWE. My favorite wrestler? The Undertaker. Watching him bash skulls in and breaking necks with his devastating Tomb Stone Pile Driver would send me into a whirl wind of imagination and day dreaming that was probably not good for a 26 year old Inou Bren. Thats what backyard wrestling is for, anyway. THQ just released its 2010 edition of its Smackdown Vs. Raw series.

The first thing I noticed is the trainning facility when you start the game. It really does help when you are new to the series but reading the instruction manual also works too. so pressing the start button brings you to several menus that are pretty easy to navigate. The game is really reliant on user created content. Be it a created superstar (My guy`s name is Mr. Wiggles), Createing your own WWE storyline. Meaning you can offically create a story line better then TNA wrestling. TNA wrestling is stupid*. Or createing your awesome entrance (I love the Wiggle Dance!). You can create almost anything in this game, Except better ratings for TNA wrestling, No one can create that.

The matches themselves work really well and have the feeling of wrestling in a real WWE live event. If you have not done so yet check out WWE.com for great deals on WWE merchandise and the latest news in the WWE universe. The ring announcers and color commentators tend to blend after a while. But after watching me as Gail Kim beat the good gravy out of Kelly Kelly for ten minutes I guess Michael Cole could not think of another way to describe Gail Kim`s finishing move. All hail gail!

My favorite thing is the fact you can defend the belts in exhabition mode and don`t have to unlock them or anything. Meaning I don`t really need to play through the Road To Wrestlemania and the career mode to achieve anything I want. Except maybe to play as the “Million Dollar Man” himself. Most people will want to unlock all the superstars so I imagine people will play through the various story modes.

The Royal Rumble, one of my favorite annual matches. Really is awesome to play through. Some wrestlers even have special Royal Rumble entrances. Batista`s entrance is by far my favorite. Cage matches are pretty simplistic but by far I think won too easily. The money in the bank ladder match is really cool. I never played Raw Vs. Smackdown 2009 so I`m not all too sure what the technical updates are but I imagine if it has “New” written next to it I`m sure its new to the 2010 edition.

Multiplayer is of course one of the funnest things you can do with this game. Try to get as many friends as you can for a ladder match or an extreme rules match. Which reminds me…I really miss the old ECW. I did have a problem trying to send my created guy from my Xbox 360 to a friends so I`m not too sure if I did it right or not. Anyway this is one game I really do recommend you play with a buddy. At least you now have a tag-team partner for tag matches!

All in all. WWE Raw Vs. Smackdown 2010 really is one of the funnest games I have played on the Xbox 360. Now, I know I`am leaving out certain details like who is on the roster and all. But I`m just telling about my own personal experience with the game. If I could change one thing though, It would have to be just letting me start with a full roster. But maybe next year right? For the best wrestling in the world though. Check out DDT wrestling in Japan. Nakazawa Michael and President Ramu are my two favorite wrestlers there. Ring Of Honor? “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. (Sorry if I misspelled his name).

* To be fair, I will review TNA Impact next time for the Xbox 360

A Weekly Look Into Video Game Culture From A Casual Point Of View

By: Bren Inou

Dancing The Night Away…

My name is Bren Inou. I’am the creater,producer and head writer on Games To Dust. A weekly blog about the casual life of a casual gamer. I don’t play a ton of video games. I wish I did,but life and responsibility has made sure I spend everyday working. I’am a former resident of Japan and very much enjoyed the time I spent there. I do plan to move back when everything is settled here. But for now I continue to write these blogs and I will continue to do so when I return to Japan.

The reason I’m writing this is because as of late,I feel that the quality of the blogs I have been producing have been of poor quality and for that I apologize. I do plan to turn things around this week by making a promise to all my readers that I will not only continue to write about video games but also I plan to start writing about other things too. So through prayer and and alittle bit of faith I have been able to turn around my overall attitude in life which brings me to this weeks topic….Positive gaming in Japan.

What is positive gaming? Is it something you can eat? Something you can wear? Well the answer to both of those questions is no. Positive gaming has always been around in Japan but the idea never took off in America or Europe. The idea is that the makers of games will send you special promotional items both in-game and in real life for just simply playing thier games. Usually the company sends you junk based on how many hours you played a certain game or for beating it. Game centers in Japan love giving away these little knick-knacks to ensure repeat visits. Positive promotion of a game leads to positive gaming.

A new Final Fantasy game comes out? Be the first one to get forementioned Final Fantasy game and get a t-shirt and maybe your picture with some of the game staff. Sometimes you can even get a free copy of the soundtrack from the game itself. Believe or not video game soundtracks do actually bring in some money in Japan. I once visited a game shop that was giving away energy drinks called “Potions” to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Final Fantasy 7 and had a contest to win a cool T-shirt (T-shirts tend to be big promotional items). So if getting junk from game companies for just buying and playing the games they make work so well in Japan,why does it not go over well in America?

Simple, The companies that pull off most of the big video game promotional give-a-aways are Japanese game companies. They probably figure it would be too much money to hold multiple promotional campaigns to promote the newest game world wide and would Americans wait for several hours outside in the cold just to play a game? You bet your ascots we would. Now I know GameStop (America’s biggest video game seller) gives out promotional items for the majority of its big releases but I would like to see a better reward for buying a game within minutes of its public release and standing out in the cold than a small ugly looking figurine.

Some games come with posters, some even signed by the game staff themselves. But I would love to see something like a book explaining the games production filled with fun-facts (I love fun-facts). Maybe a collectors cup like 4 in a set. This would be an awesome idea for fighting games. If Dead Or Alive 5 ever gets made, I would like to see cups made with each character getting its own cup design. This would make the cups collectable and probably make someone some money on Ebay.

WWE Raw Vs. Smackdown 2010 comes with Stone Cold Steve Austin as an unlocked character if you pre-order the game. Thats a good idea and I give THQ credit for making it worth something to preorder the game instead of waiting for it to just get released. I only hope I get to play as my favorite wrestler….Gail Kim, what? I think she is really pretty and she can kick some butt!

To conclude this weeks Games To Dust. I personally would love to see better promotional items for the hottest releases. The idea of a midnight launch was cool. But I want something I’m going to use like a T-shirt or a drinking cup. Game companies in Japan will always think of several neat ideas for video game promotions. But in America, I think the overall idea is that we have gotten too comfortable with just walking into a store picking up a game and going home. I want cool stuff for spending $60.00 on a game. Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia came with its own video game soundtrack CD. well just throwing an idea out there to video game companies both in Japan and America. (Don’t worry Europe, I have not forgotten about you)

See Next Week And God Bless!!

A Weekly Look Into Video Game Culture From A Casual Point Of View

By: Bren Inou

Xbox!!!

More like Xbox 360 actually. I finally own my own video game console that requires me to connect it to a television. I know its been a few weeks but there is a story that goes along with this. A few weeks ago a few friends who work with me on Games To Dust were talking about the new Halo 3 ODST for the Xbox. Well, I never played Halo (Shock!!) so the thought kind of came to me to finally try it out.

So a trip down to my local gamestop and a friendly female customer service representitive convincing me to go with a used arcade model later I was ready to get my Xbox on! Now first I needed to unpack this thing. Now not to complain but the console itself is huge! Also, it makes this really loud noise like a hum when its playing. Sometimes I think it was going to blow up on me. The key word in that sentence is “Was”. I started up the system and wait…why is the controller flashing green? whats going on? Nothing is happening. Thats right, I have to sync the controller. The controller and the console both have little buttons used to sync the system and controller together. I guess that makes sense being wireless and all.

My first Xbox game! Dead Or Alive 4. An awesome but sometimes needlessly difficult fighting game. Now the Xbox wants to create a profile, okay but oh no! I have no memory, You mean this gigantic machine does not have a hard drive!? The first Xbox had a hard drive built in so why not the 360!? So the next day I had to go back to gamestop to get a 20 GB hard drive. Another 50 dollars I did not look too forward to spending.

So Its back to the Xbox, iluvChizuko is now my Xbox profile name and finally I can play my game. After a few good fights and a few unlocked costumes I went to bed dreaming of Kokoro and all her fighting friends. Pop! a strange noise  came out of my Xbox. Not thinking of it much I drifted back into sleep. The next morning…Red. Thats right, I got the red ring of death. Kokoro was only with us for just a short day but she died…so sad…

Back at GameStop for a record third time in a week for me I had Kokoro switced with a Pro model Xbox. Kokoro was reborn! (Well, switched) and a few new games to go along with her. Since then I have not had a single problem with her except I stink at the games. Speaking of the games lets see what I got to play….Well, maybe I will blog about it next week. All I can really say is the Xbox looks amazing and Bullet Witch is a pretty cool game.

I know it was a short blog this week, But a lot of things have been going on in my life that well..are not the most positive. Thankfully I prayed and and can now get started in rebuilding my life so look forward to better blogs and and a more determined Bren Inou to achieve his life achievements and for all my readers a wonderful new set blogs are on their way!

Thank you all for your patience and keep supporting the blog!

A Weekly Look Into Video Game Culture From A Casual Point Of View

By: Bren Inou

My Shanoa!

Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS.  Now I know I have mentioned this game before in previous artcilces, But for some reason I never reviewed it. With no new games to play I thought it would be a great time to give my opinion on my favorite game. The game stars Shanoa, a young female warrior of the church of Ecclesia. A group dedicated to doing research and development into the powers of gylphs which Shanoa can use to destroy Dracula. To sum up the story…Shanoa needs to destroy Dracula and save the world from his eternal darkness. Anyone who has played any of the previous Nintendo DS Castlevania games will be back in familiar water. Just run around each area, kill a bunch of monsters and defeat the end boss to move on. You need to level up which I highly recommend you do a lot, I was level. 54 when I finished the game for the first time so its about where you should be before facing Dracula (My opinion anyway).

With dipping back into the 2-D Action/Adventure/Role-Playing Game well that Konami has yet to cap off with this series. The gameplay still holds up really well. The game has plenty of action and some of the toughest boss battles I have ever seen and thats probably one of the few complaints I really do have about the game. The boss battles are tough since its not just about knowing enemy weakness and which weapons work best. But also about counter attacks and quick reversals. Trying to beat the bosses without taking any damage to win the “Boss Medals” is a challenge yes, but unless your an expert at this game some of the later boss fights seem just too difficult to win without taking even a point of damage.

The games best point in my mind is the story telling. Shanoa’s journey has more then a few plot twists to it and seeing how Shanoa interacts with the villagers she rescues and how she reacts to Albus really gives her a stand out above the cookie-cutter personality. The way Shanoa talks is just awesome and her over all appearence is totally awesome and beautiful proving Shanoa has both beauty and power. Speaking of power, Shanoa does not need to have weapons in the traditonal sense. Her weapons come in the form of magical glyphs that she gains through out her mission. These glyphs can become powerful swords, Axes, and even elemental magic type attacks. The artwork is really amazing and a total breath of fresh air when compaired to other Castlevania DS games in my mind. Even the short video that plays before the title screen is just stunning in not only the animation but the still art really stands out. Awesome job on the artwork. Whoever did the art for the game should get a raise!

Another really big point of interest is the games music. In my mind it is one of the best in the entire DS library of games. The music certainly fits the mood of the overall game and compliments the well balanced gameplay and fine art direction. It is this detail that even I can appreciate the music and voice work, The actress that provided Shanoa’s voice did a fantastic job. The director and the rest of the development team at Konami did an above and beyond job with this game and hope to see another adventure with Shanoa soon.

But with even such a beautiful game comes well…imperfections. This comes in the disguise as the games multiplayer modes. First is race mode. All you do is race an opponent from start to finish. You battle monsters and climb and jump over obstacles along the way but for the most part its just a simple race. Then there is shop mode where you can buy and sell your goods to other players in hopes of gaining more gold or better items.

Another difficult spot was trying to find all the villagers. The villagers are well hidden through out many of the areas in the game prior to your battle with Albus. If you don’t rescue all the villagers after you fight Albus, you recieve the games bad ending and will not be aloud to enter Dracula’s Castle. Some of the villagers also offer some of the most tedious side quests ever. This can really bring the game down a level. Thank goodness that only rescuing the villagers are required to get the good ending and not having to complete the side tasks they give you (Don’t these people care about the fact Shanoa has to defeat Dracula?)

Besides a few minor details in side quests and a shallow multiplayer mode. Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia really is one of those games that makes owning a Nintendo DS worth it for both the casual and the hardcore…Or maybe for those who enjoy a night of zombie slaying in a wedding dress.

I give Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia a 4 out fo 5!

+ Awesome,Nonstop action game play mixed with role-playing elements.

+ Perfect presentation. Graphics, controls, gameplay and music by only the best.

+ Shanoa is truly one of the most awesome video game characters ever in my mind!

- The games multiplayer modes need to be more diverse. Co-op game play through the main game would have been cool.

- Can’t these villagers handle thier own problems? Annoying side quests.

- Death at the door. Some of the boss battles can be a little over whealming

See you all next week!

Ring Of Honor Wrestling: Being a pretty big pro wrestling fan I would love to see Ring Of Honor be made into a video game. Plop it down on every system and give me the chance to play as the man who single handedly made wrestling cool again….”American Dragon” Brian Danielson (Yeah I probably misspelled his name). I could really see this coming out in the future. Hey if ECW got a few games then I think ROH deserves at least one. Also, They have to have the real entrance music for the wrestlers.I wanna start banging the floor everytime I hear “The Final Countdown” by Europe.

Autumn Festival Gets Released World Wide: Okay so Autumn Festival already exists and I know its a game intended for young girls but by golly I have a pretty big collection of the cards from the various sets and It’s really the only game I’am actually good at. So seeing the game being enjoyed by other young girls world wide would make me happy Konami, It would make up for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5d’s World Championship 2009. Because that game sucks.

Figure Out The Zelda Timeline: Here is one for Nintendo. Legend speaks of a time line that connects all the Zelda games together. Choose from either the split time line or single time line theory and send the player on a quest to try and connect the games by having us run around dungeons and complete tasks without giving us enough information. Then after and only after we spend several hours trying to figure out what to do and call the Nintendo power line to get help through the automated tip line. Tell us there is technical difficulties and to call again later. Based on my real life experience!

Ringu: Yeah I know I have been bringing this idea to the table for a few weeks now but I would really love to see this game get made. Just dont make it a survival horror game like the dreamcast or an arcade game just make a straight point and click adventure for the DSi. Kind of like Indiana Jones and The Fate Of Atlantis. I think that would work. I could see the other films in the series get made like that too. Except Rasen, That movie was horrible.

The Simpsons Arcade Game: Remember Chuck E. Cheese? I sure do and any child growing up in the early 1990’s had one reason to visit America’s favorite giant mouse and that was to play The Simpsons arcade game. Don’t make it a hidden feature in another game, just give us the straight game Konami. If Konami won’t release Autumn Festival at least make this game for me. I would throw down $20 for a chance to play as homer again (Lisa was the best though) and try to rescue maggie. I just had an awesome idea. Release this game and release a few other arcade legends..Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time and the original Ninja Turtles arcade game and I would buy that for sure.

Also, I was even thinking about doing a game review. I want to do a game review next week though. I wonder what game I should review? Maybe a family computer/NES game. What game should I review for the Family Computer/NES? Let me know and maybe I will review it. I know I sound like I’m getting lazy but I just got into Dragon Quest 3 for the Family Computer and let me tell you its an awesome game. There is even a legend that says when the game came out it was so popular a fourth of the country of Japan called in sick or just plain skipped school or work just to play it. Now I think that is a little excessive for a video game but I’m sure everyone has faked being sick to stay home and play a video game maybe once (I never did).

I love a good RPG or Zelda game. You give me Zelda, You give a slice of evening unwinding. When I was training to become a better person, At the end of the day I would be so tired I would sometimes unwind with a game of Zelda or Tetris. Even now I play video games at night but I do look forward to Dragon Quest. I did not form a party or anything I think I’m gonna try to go solo. I’m still being an adult but all my free time comes at night and my bills are paid so I earned a little Family Computer time.

Makes me wonder, Does a certain actress I’m head over heels in love with, my inspiration in life and I trained to become a better person for play video games? Probably not. I don’t think many famous people play video games. I don’t know I just wondered for a minute. If she did though I wonder what she would play?

Now that I look at this, I guess I did get an article out of this. I know its not a gem but still I would love to know what games you like to play?

As always I welcome different view points and opinions.

I went with my cousin to Yamada Denki (comparable to a Best Buy in the US) and there were rows and rows of cell phones of all different colors and functions and abilities.  They’re all shaped the same for the most part: rectangular, long, flip phones, with a pretty good camera attached to it.  In fact, I had my Casio Exilim 8.1 megapixel digital camera with me in my purse and I found a phone that had my exact camera attached to it; even the same lime green color.  Needless to say, the selection of the device was overwhelming, but the headache didn’t stop there.  Finding the right plan came with another set of mind-spinning choices.

First, you have to choose a service provider.  Docomo is the most expensive but it is also the most popular and has the largest network.  Since calls made to phones within the same network are free, it might actually be cheaper.  The other major carriers are Softbank (anyone see the SMAP commercial?) and AU by KDDI.  I chose Docomo because I was able to join my cousin’s family plan.

Once you choose the carrier, you have decide what type of service to include in the plan.  In the States, this is pretty simple.  Nowadays, almost all plans come with free night and weekend (or something similar), as well as texting, voice mail and call waiting.  It’s also pretty standard to have a camera and internet access.  Here, however, I found out that you pay separately for each of those services.  That is, if you want to have voice mail, you have to pay for it (that was 400 Yen added to my monthly bill).  You can get a package of call options for about 650 Yen a month added to the bill.  Then you pay extra to have internet access and e-mail (not surprising).  However, here’s the real shocker: At least with Docomo there are about 5 different calling rates one can choose from: S to LL, as if they were T-shirt sizes.  S, the cheapest, allows for 25 minutes to talk on the phone and 18 Yen extra for every minute thereafter, per month.  Yes, you read right.  That’s 25 minutes PER MONTH!  That’s insane!  In the States, I probably spent an hour on the phone a day, at least.  There isn’t a plan that will cover that much phone use.  I guess everyone here just texts and emails each other.  But I like hearing people’s voice and it’s so much faster to communicate over the phone than through multiple text messages, especially when texting in Japanese.  Words and meaning get lost in translation.  It won’t be easy but I know that eventually I will get the hang of it.  Maybe I’ll just write using emoticons and pictures.  There are more than just smiley faces.  Here, they have a ton of little images you can imbed between words and sentences and some are really random; like a penguin (??).

After fine-tuning your preferences, be prepared to pay a pretty sum.  I originally picked out a phone that looked simple and basic.   On the back it had an 8 megapixel camera with auto focus and white balance on it (cool!).  The total for the day turned out to be over 50,000 yen.  I was ready to pay for it but I really wanted a white phone and they no longer carried the color for the model I had picked out.  I looked again and found one that looked similar except even simpler, with a 5.2 megapixel camera and it was lighter.  As it turned out, the second one I picked was an older version of the first and thus cost half the price.  I was relieved but I still had to pay 25,000 yen for the phone, start up fees and all the options.  I’ll be billed monthly depending on how much I use the phone, which will probably average 5,000 yen.  I guess I can see it as paying for not just a phone but also a camera, a mini TV and GPS (all which already came with the phone), and maybe some other functions I have yet to find.

I see this purchase as a rite of passage for participating and becoming a functioning member in Japanese society.  Everyone always has something buzzing in their pockets or their purse and have their nose stuck in one while riding the train or even walking the streets.  It’s an electronic extension of themselves.  So when in Japan, do what the Japanese do!

Just for those of you that are wondering about regional differences, Hikari Shinwa actually features save files vs. the American version with it’s password system. The sound effects in the Japanese version are a little better but that’s because the family computer disk system has more sound power to produce better sounds (Sometimes that works against some games).

The game play itself is awesome. The controls are really simple. The A button makes Pit jump. The B button makes Pit shoot his arrows and the directional pad makes Pit move around the game screen. Strangely enough this is one of those games I noticed that got really easy as the game went on. Most people complain the game is too hard. Yes, the first couple levels were a little tough. But once you get your life meter up and a few power-up items and regular items the game actually gets kind of easy.

The fortress stages were the most challenging in my mind since they were very maze-like and often I found myself lost. The most annoying thing about the fortress levels are the eggplant wizards. If you get hit by one of their flying eggplants you turn into an eggplant yourself. The only way to remove the eggplant curse is to find the nurses through out each fortress or to simply die and start again.

The boss battles were not that hard and I actually beat the first three bosses without even dying! Medusa can be a challenge but she still can be beaten. I do recommend that you get as many hammers as you can though so you can free the guards in the fortress levels to make the boss fights even easier.

I will admit, the backgrounds are a little bland and I feel not much really went into level design. The majority of the challenge comes from fighting the various monsters you will encounter. The thief was a pain in the neck too, since if he touches you, you will lose one of your power-up items (Power-up items are known as “Weapons” in the American version). The music was great though. Nintendo really knows how to make memorable background music for all of their games.

Hikari Shinwa is one of those family computer disk system games everyone should play at least once. Despite the fact it can be hard to play at first, once you get some items and a bigger life meter you can sit back and enjoy the game. Finishing Hirkari Shinwa was probably one of my favorite moments in my journey into video games. It really is a rewarding experience to finish such a challenging game.

Presentation wise, Sankyo Fever Fever is really impressive. The machines look great and the sound sounds good to me. Menus are easy to navigate through and it’s easy to set up and start playing. The game offers a tutorial mode for the first time players but once you learn how to play pachinko it will stay with you forever, like riding a bicycle. Using the left and right buttons on the directional pad you can increase or decrease your power bar to control how far your ball will go in and gives you a better chance of landing into the center hole below the slot screen to make it spin. You can also try to land the ball into multiple payout bonus holes which just increases your payouts.

When you start playing you can choose from two halls. The only difference is the money spent to play in each one. Each floor in the halls contain twelve of the same machine. At first I thought this was a negative. Why have twelve of the exact same machine? It was then when I pressed the select button that I found out that the game keeps track of how well I did on each machine. That way a player can see how well the wins and loses are. There are even graphs that keep track of how well you play on each machine. I never pay any attention to these though but a normal pachinko player probably would.

The bottom floor is where you can deposit your current money into your main account and collect your password to continue your game where you left off. Each of the machines on each floor play a little different but I’m sure everyone who plays will find one machine they like. This is the kind of game I love to play at night when I try to relax after a hard night of work and don’t be surprised if you find yourself doing the same thing. It’s simple, fun and relaxing. If you’re really into pachinko, looking to learn without fear of losing your hard earned yen or just looking for a nice game to play that anyone can enjoy. Sankyo Fever Fever! is a wonderful choice.

But if even for one second I turn on Cartoon Network and watch five minutes of Pokémon, I lose almost any credibility I have as an intelligent adult. Now I know that does not seem fair, But Pokémon is a children’s animated show. I’m an adult. I need more stimulation for my mind then just a half hour of cartoon characters running around really getting nothing accomplished. I need something I can learn from or form opinions with that I can share with other intelligent adults.

Video games also have that standard set of rules. If I play Pokémon or anything else a child would play, I seem unintelligent and nerdy. But if I play something casually like Tetris or Missile Command I can be seen as an adult who plays a video game every now and then just to kill time or when I have nothing better to do at night.

As an intelligent adult, I’m expected to know a lot about my local sports teams, Seems fair. I’m a man, Men watch sports. I watch Detroit Tigers baseball and Detroit Red Wings hockey. I can name off the roster for both teams. Seems normal, I also can name off the adventurers from Final Fantasy 6 on super famicom too. Maybe not so normal.

Video games are a medium. Like movies, Music and Television video games have a level of age appropriateness. For example a 26 year old man should never play Yu-Gi-Oh!..Ever!! My rule of thumb, if there is cartoons attached to it then keep it for the kids. Some games can be for all ages these are called games made by Nintendo. I gave up the yugi and the Pokémon and by golly so can you!

But that does not mean you can’t play video games anymore. It just means the type of games you should be playing will be changing. Instead of role playing games where you catch small creatures, you should now be playing role playing games where you kill small creatures. Instead of cute little sports games, you should be playing actual licensed games by MLB, NFL, NHL or NBA. (To a lesser extent WWE, TNA or UFC).

I like to read books, I love Tess Gerritsen. I love music, movies and surfing the web. To me a video game is a last resort to combat boredom. I know I can spend my time and money on more appropriate things. More productive things. When I do play video games though I do want to play something that makes me think. I love a good puzzle game or Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. I enjoy a video game. But I even enjoy it more knowing I’m being an adult about it.

Not throwing away my responsibilities and life for the sake of virtual bleeps and blips. For the sake of Games To Dust I do need to review games every now and then that require I actually play the game. Sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes not so much.

My final word on the topic is this. Its okay to play video games it really is. But at least act your age about it! No normal adult in any society or culture cares about which X-box achievement you just accomplished or which games you rank first in on the leader boards. When the games turns off so does my care for it.

As always I welcome opposing view points.