The lack of updates may lead one to assume that I simply don't game any more, but a more incorrect assumption couldn't be made. As it turns out, I've been gaming quite a bit...despite all of the odds (mainly a lack of time) that are against me. I guess it's just a situation where I haven't felt very inspired to share any lengthy opinions on any of the games that I've been playing as of late, despite having played some really good ones.

So without further ado, here are some random thoughts on a few titles I've checked out lately:

Midnight Club 3 is one of the more recent great mysteries in gaming. When it first came out, it got good reviews, sold a ton of copies, and even ended up on a few publication's "Games of the Year" lists. For the life of me, I can't understand why, because it's a terrible game. It's like some kind of underappreciated, cult favorite that nobody has heard of, except in reverse -- the polar opposite of an Okami or Ico.

One very cool thing about Oblivion is that it gives you much more freedom of action than the typical console RPG, but many of your actions have consequences. Break into someone's house and start taking their stuff (a completely ordinary thing to do in, say, Final Fantasy), and the town guards will bear down on you demanding you pay a fine, go to jail or fight them to the death. After spending hundreds of hours playing Oblivion as a law-abiding "good guy", I began to ponder living instead as an outlaw -- committing crimes without paying my fines, fighting guards that attempted to arrest me, and being chased by soldiers every time I went near a city.

Soccer is the world's most popular sport, but it has never really caught on here in the U.S. This sometimes gets us some derision around the world, as other nations assume that we are either too self-centered to follow a sport that's not exclusively "ours", or too ignorant to appreciate it. I think that's really unfair, if only for the simple fact that Canada also doesn't give a damn about soccer, but nobody ever makes them feel guilty about it.

If one were to make a list of gaming history's most frustrating titles (and I'm sure many people already have), then the original Ghosts 'n Goblins would surely make the cut. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the game made it into the top 10 of any such list. While possessing excellent audio-visuals and a great theme, it was almost as if Capcom didn't truly want the game to be played and set the difficulty accordingly. For every action you could possibly execute with the game's protagonist, Arthur, it was as if the game had a negative reaction to throw back at you. Whether played in the arcades of the late 80's or on any of the home consoles/portables that the game eventually wound up on, Ghosts 'n Goblins was just absolutely brutal.

Over on his website, country music legend, Charlie Daniels, expresses his distaste for Guitar Hero III (which includes his monster hit, The Devil Went Down to Georgia) and its questionable imagery. He's apparently worried that the all of the RAWK-tastic visuals in the game will somehow send young players straight to hell, where they will burn forever in a lake of fire:

Actually the game really has a dark side complete with grotesque monsters on stage with the band, strange, eerie lighting effects and all manner of weird things popping up on the stage.

I've never taken part in any PaRappa-themed cosplay or imported any PaRappa memorabilia from Japan, but I think it's safe to say that I'm one of the game's biggest fans. Since its original (US) release in 1997, I have played through PaRappa the Rapper numerous times, all without ever completely growing tired of it. With its (at the time) revolutionary gameplay, unique visual style, awesome soundtrack and quirky characters (complete with often-bizarre and hilarious dialogue), every bit of PaRappa the Rapper just shines. To this day, over a decade since its release, the game remains one of the more memorable high-points of the Playstation era for me.

After spending close to 200 hours playing Oblivion, I'm ready to say that I'm done with the traditional, turn-based, menu-driven RPG. That goes for upcoming releases, games that have come out in the last few years, and even all-time classics from the 16-bit days. I don't care if it's Lost Odyssey, Legend of Dragoon or Final Fantasy III; I can no longer justify wasting my time with a game whose idea of "interaction" involves being teleported to a battle screen and then choosing my actions off of a list.

Well, after months of deliberation, I've finally picked up a PSP Slim. Sure, it took 3 years for the PSP library to get to a point where it's worth the recognition of its existence, but hey...it's finally there, and I look forward to playing all of those titles that I've been secretly pining for.

After so many months of diligent work, I'm beginning to think that I will NEVER get all of the old TJG content converted to the new site design. It started out a rather daunting task, and has certainly remained that way ever since. (I guess that's to be expected when you have 7 years of content to trudge through.)

But nontheless, I have made great strides, and a great deal of the old content has been restored. The most notable of which, would be our super-sized The 100 Greatest Games? feature from 2005. I know a lot of folks really enjoyed that piece, and I'm proud to have it available once again for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy.