I am addicted. I cannot stop playing. Video games are my heroin(e).

Everyone has their story, right? That’s what I assume. However, the difference between objective reality and relative reality are great enough that I could not sincerely have written this article any number of years before now. I am old enough to see my life not only from my own eyes, as I have always done, but from everyone else’s percieved perspective, and with a critical outlook.

Maybe you like to lead different lives. Maybe you’re just bored all the time. As for me, I started gaming for a variety of related reasons, that joined together to evolve from a plethora of interconnecting pieces into an enigma with a pressure so unrelenting that it seemed to force me into finding a new option…a new outlet of expression…a new hope.

Generally, I cannot literally remember not playing games. I always have been. However it began as a simple hobby. Rainy days, competitive outings between bitter friends, and even just personal challenge. As life became more emphatic on the definition of complexity, my hobby turned into a full-fledged obsession. But what kind of child would I have been if I had noticed that way back then? A strange one, to say the least.

To this day I remember the beginning of what would later lead to the writing of this article. The beginning of this story. On the recieving end of a nescient comment, my father’s words would ring in my head for the rest of my life, looping like a broken record. “You’re addicted to video games.”

Now here’s where what I said in the introduction comes into play. Had I written this article anytime before this, its perspective would be skewed. It would be on the same end of the argument that my childish mind had played part of on that fateful day. “Games are not addictive.” I reasoned. Playing judge in my head was a scale weighing the likes of drugs, alcohol, sex, and other forms of deviance on one side, against the ever-innocent technological marvel known as video games.  It could do no wrong. After all, they saved me. Pokemon, Mario, and Final Fantasy made me into who I am. If it weren’t for Zelda, I wouldn’t be as meticulous. If it weren’t for Pokemon, I wouldn’t be as good at math. If it weren’t for Final Fantasy…I wouldn’t be alive. They gave me reason to live. They gave me a life to live.

Now I stand in judgment of video games, not vindictively, but with a brain full of realism. Full of respect for the wisdom of someone with much more life experience than myself. I stand before you, fellow gamers, with a hard pill to swallow:

Video games are addictive.

Put aside that they do not contain nicotine.

Put aside that they do not contain THC.

Put aside that they hardly get you high.

Video games are addictive, and are a gateway within themselves that lead to an endless slope of delving deeper and deeper into this addiction.Let me explain.

Take, for example, the Marijuana model. A person gets high. They realize all sorts of things (varying from experience, of course). Like, “Hey, the government and school lied like crazy. This is not as bad as they say.”. Like “Hey, this is fun, wtf are they talking about?”. Like “How the hell does this lead to cocaine use? I’m not retarded.”. The person begins to smoke regularly. Slowly, and many smokers are aware of this, the high becomes less potent. Many chase that first high. Moving on to better kinds, moving on to bigger doses, moving on to different drugs in some cases…to no avail…it is never the same as that first high.

Gaming. You play your first game. What was it? Was it Super Mario Bros.? Maybe it was Pokemon Red/Blue Version. At the end of the game you are overwhelmed by a sense of accomplishment. Its years later. You play a game, on a whole new level of “epic”. You finish it. You want to scream from the top of your lungs to every friend you know: “This was the best game ever!”

Now here we are. Facing the same dilemma as many addicts, us gamers are losing interest. It takes more and more to mollify our desires. You even play the old games, the tear jerkers, and once you’re past the first five minutes of nostalgia, it loses appeal. How was this ever fun?

The Retro Syndrome. You are losing interest in games and you don’t understand why. You spend more time talking and reading about games than playing them.

Your interest in one game genre lead you on an interesting odyssey along a string of games, but you soon realize, that gaming will never be the same.

Well, I am here, with what may not even be news to you. It may not be shocking, or a revelation of any sort. But it is an epiphany to me. You can make games fun again. You can have that sense of exhiliration. You want it?

It takes work.

Any regular marijuana smoker would be delighted to know, that if they were just responsible enough to show some self-constraint, everything would be solved. The smoker begins to smoke once a month, instead of daily, and results are obtained. A very similar high to the first is achieved. Keep yourself healthy and reward yourself with a drink now and then, and it will be enjoyable again. Not the migraine-inducing sloth party it has become.

Don’t play games all the time. Go outside, see the world. Be with friends. Talk. Take interest in the real world. Don’t spend every waking hour following your most anticipated release, because if you just waited, it would be that much better anyways, I’m tellin’ ya.

The exponential falling formality of this article reaches a standstill.  I have a serious message. And some serious dues.

Games will keep you busy, but at the end of the day, your problems will still be there.

Games saved my life once. They have given me reason to anticipate the next day. They have given me reason to want to be here for the coming of the next years. But…they have only kept me on the edge of insanity. I have never jumped, thanks to games, but they can never give me what I need to take the steps back and walk away.

Ironically, it is my passion, and I do not think that I could be saved at this point. I’ll follow your games for you. My name is Kyzer, and I am addicted to the video game. She is my heroine, and she is my heroin.

Now excuse me while I apologize to my father.

Wii Emulator, "Dolphin" running Wii game, upscaled to 720p.

handheld: the Nintendo DS. A far cry from the traditional Game Boy brand, fans were staring, mouth agape at the wonderment of this bold move. Nintendo reassured them: This is NOT the next Game Boy.

So here we are, years later, and to be honest, I don’t think we can hold them to that. Because the DS picked up steam consistently, through the redesign and relaunch of the DS Lite. And now the DSi. Nintendo has no more reason to continue the Game Boys of old. (Well, here’s to wishing anyways.)
As the Wii launched in November 2006, Nintendo let from their grasp an important piece of information concerning the inner workings of their R&D process. The DS was a test all along. As was the DS Lite. They were testing grounds to see how people would react to a new way of gaming. (Thusly, everyone expected the “Revolution” to have touch screen controls.)

Now we are in the midst of corporate testing once again, it would seem. These tests to reactions in terms of upgrades and the constant barrage of new accessories are giving heed to Nintendo’s master plan:

How would the consumer (you) react if, a la Sega, they simply released an extension to their console? That bridged the gap between theirs and the competition’s power? Well, apparently, you don’t mind much.

More as I learn.

I've been standing here waiting, Mr. Pokemon, sooo patiently for just a letter...

Normally, I would post everything myself, but Serebii works hard for his info and exclusives, so check his site out. (WARNING: THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS)

I am happy to announce that I can exclusively reveal a variety of aspects of Heart Gold & Soul Silver before our coverage begins. Please note, it is possible that the information changes by launch but it is not likely. It’s also probable that we don’t have complete details on the activations of the main details within this update, so it’s best to be cautious. (This corresponds to the legends, starters & misc info) I hope you enjoy this and be sure to come back for our HGSS coverage.

Final Fantasy XIII is looking to be the best game this gen, for me. (Everything Brawl wasn’t)

Shiva Summon Gameplay-:

Odin Summon Gameplay-:

Orchestral Performance-:

Something to note: Although this build contains the upgraded battle system, there are times when they still only have 3 ATB slots. This means that we can look forward to a dynamic ATB slot system that grows over time.

2DHD Sonic Fan Project

Courtesy of Gamespot, “Project Needlemouse” is a supposed teaser for a new 2DHD Sonic Game, slated to roll out in 2010. In contrast to Sega’s recent [We Make Sonic Games for Little Kids, Not You] statement, this seems to be specifically for old-school Sega fans.

The new game, code-named Project Needlemouse, will debut sometime next year on as-yet unidentified consoles. So far, the only glimpse of the game has come via a mysterious teaser trailer, which only shows the outline of the new look of the hero at the end.

“Speed returns in an all new 2D adventure built from the ground up” declares the teaser trailer, before showing a blue blur zipping across the screen scooping up golden rings. Accompanying it is a litany of sound effects and visual cues from the first Sonic the Hedgehog, who launched worldwide in the summer of 1991 on the Sega Genesis system.

See the teaser at Gamespot.

FFXIV
-Necklaces, belts, and rings, unlike XI, will be reflected graphically when equipped
-It seems as though westerners translated my comments as “everything would be seamless” but in actuality not everything from towns and the worlds will be seamless
-Seamless movement in an area equivalent to the size of a region in XI will be possible.
-You will be able to draw weapons in towns.
-Battles with enemies will take into account front/back/left/right positioning. Haven’t thought about elevation effects
-Characters will not age, however, you will be able to change your hairstyle
-Deterioration of weapons may be reflected graphically as well
-Translated in the west as fully voiced, but not all NPCs will have voice
-Etherlite (sp?) is not just a warp device, but can also be a place for people to gather
-Character movement utilizes motion capture. Was not used at all in XI
-Character’s visual expressions will also change during the game
-Basic play will be in windowed mode, rather than full screen mode for PC version
-Miquottes only have ears above (positioning?). Some Miquotte will have glasses like Humans (forget what they’re actually called) but please don’t ask why they can wear glasses (probably due to ear stem positioning vs. ear position)

Tanaka: Even with this, graphics are at around 50%. Please look forward to the graphical aspect

Hit the link directly to see it in HDizzle.

UPDATE: Sazh’s son has been revealed. Check the scan.

Mini-Chocofro. (Refrained from using "Lil'")

Pokemon Battle Revolution

As with all rumors, take this with a grain of salt and some margherita.

Rumors point to the release of a new Pokemon release for console, slated for, obviously, sometime after the release of the upcoming Pokemon HeartGold and Soulsilver remakes of Gold/Silver.

There are no details to help speculation further. We do not know if this would be another Pokemon Stadium iteration, or finally a full-blown 3-D Pokemon for consoles.

Signs do point, however, to this being different to past Wii titles. Sorry to say that I cannot speculate as to whether this means it will contain functionality on level with an entirely different platform (rumored: WiiHD) or if it will simply contain features that no other Wii game before it has had.

Personally, I wish it were a Pokemon MMO.

But its nice to wish for things, isn’t it?

Magichange from Disgaea 3 has been added to the Disgaea 2 re-release for PSP. (Plus new features like "Magichange 2")

download on the PSN, with an initial sale to add incentive for purchase.

“I also want to let you know that NIS America will release our past PSP titles, such as Prinny, Disgaea, Blade Dancer, and more, on PSN in the coming weeks. They will be available between $4.99 and $12.99 during the sales week (October 1st to 7th.) They are all 50% off, so don’t miss this chance to get them if you haven’t gotten these titles yet!

Lastly, NIS America has finally joined Twitter! We are updating news, preview/review articles, and more on our Twitter, so don’t forget to follow us if you have your Twitter account!”

(Source)

Lightning and Odin.

Thanks to the Final Fantasy XIII premiere party, we finally have some new information to chew on concerning the game.

- Sazh’s summon’s “Gestalt” Form is a race car of some sort.

- There is a new build demo, which will presumably be used for TGS. It contains an updated version of the battle system and a taste of summons.

- There is a new trailer. (Hit the link (picture) and look to their liveblog of the event for a description.)

- There IS a new bundle in the works, that will include FFXIII and the Slimline PS3.

- Coinciding with the release of FFXIII, there will be a promotional drink released. (Elixir) Akin to that of the Final Fantasy XII Potion.

-Japanese pre-order imports have begun. (see: Play-Asia Final Fantasy XIII (Jp) Pre-Order)

-The release date of 12.17.09 has been confirmed for Japan. Release in Spring 2010 in NA and EU still on track.

-The main theme song (composed by famed Hamauzu <3) will have vocals done by Sayuri Sugawara. It will be called “Kimi ga iru Kara” (translated to “Because You Are Here”) (UPDATE: Can now be viewed here.)

- “Serah”, a previously revealed yet still unseen character (presumed), is revealed to be Lightning’s sister, and Snow’s significant other.

-Sazh’s son, another previously revealed, yet unseen character, will play a major role in “saving Cocoon”.