I figured I might as well update my journal and get that ugly rant about RotF Devastator out of the way. I must confess that Transformers as a franchise is losing its luster. I'm not a rabid collector like some people, and I don't "play" with my toys, I mess with them a bit then they end up getting lost in the junk in my room. =/ The short lifespan of TF Animated and the "bleh" factor of the RotF movie (I haven't seen it, but a friend of mine said it got bad ratings), combined with the rising cost of figures (a Scout-type figure used to be like seven bucks, now it's like ten) among other things means I might end up growing out of the franchise altogether. But that's life, things change. I've been with the TF fandom since Generation 2 (that's like the early 90s, people), and I've had fun with it.

My real interest now is, of course, video games. I haven't talked about them much lately, have I? I enjoy them, but I'm not a hardcore-type gamer. I enjoy games as a hobby, and I frown at myself (or anyone else) who takes them too seriously (professional gamers aside). Like in RPGs, you find those obsessive-compulsive types who MUST (I repeat, MUST have max stats for their characters or maxed out counts of items and gold or whatever. It's stupid. I was tempted to replay Persona 4 after I beat it, but I didn't want to go through the effort maxing out all those social links, grinding and completing the compendium to 100%. It wasn't worth it. Likewise, I won't faun over Event-Only Pokemon (as cute as they are) or try to play on a high difficulty level to prove how skilled or devoted I am, I just play games (notably RPGs, as you can tell) because I want to explore their world, figure out the strategies, and embed myself in the story. In other words, I want to have FUN. If I'm slogging through a crappy story, putting up with long grind times and hard enemies (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy III), then I'm not having fun. On the flip side, if the RPG's too easy, it can wind up being just as much of a chore as playing it on the hardest possible settings, self-imposed or otherwise, and thus ruin the experience. Final Fantasy and Pokemon all are guilty of this.

I'm on a total RPG spree, though, and I plan on doing the following games:
-Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survior-- It's tactics-based awesomeness in a can, and that can is a Nintendo DS. I'm only past the first few missions, but the system is already simple yet deep. Definitely worth playing. (Also, Yuzu is totally kawaiiroppoi [cute and sexy]!)

-The Aveyond Series-- I played all of these games in demo format (with the exception of Ahriman's Prophacy), and while they don't really bring anything "new" to the table, they're fun to play and the content is enough to keep you playing for a while.

-Pokemon-- As easy as the series is (unless you're playing against other humans), I still keep coming back to it. Right now I'm (sort of) working on a Solo run with Mudkip as my main.

-Bioshock-- Yes, it has been out for a while, but I want to beat it. It's like Half-Life 2 with RPG elements.

-Marvel Ultimate Alliance-- I just got this, and I intend to play it eventually. Maybe.

I have an XBOX 360, and while I don't have much in terms of good multiplayer (aside from Banjo-Tooie or Aegis Wing), you can still add me. My gamertag is (big surprise) Lem Gambino.

And that's about it for now, see you around.