As usual (and expected by now), much of my time the last few days has been spent playing FFXI. I haven't really made any progress where my main class is concerned however. The group of people I level with decided to postpone any leveling until all members have returned from said Christmas break. Since I'm not leveling my main class until then, I spend my time either leveling my sub-class with Magus, or fishing. Both tasks are fine, but I've had three solid days of the same so far, and about a week more of it to go. I'm going to need to find something else to do in game before I lose interest.

There was a small break from FFXI over the weekend however. The rest of the family and I went up to my grandparents house for the holidays, and further boredom ensued. It's not that I dislike my grandparents; there just isn't a lot to do there. In an attempt to keep myself busy, I brought my Gamecube, Playstation 2, and laptop (the Xbox got to stay home this time). I spent most of the weekend watching the DVD set of "Band of Brothers" I picked up for Christmas, while occasionally giving Noviel advice on FFX, which is what she spent most of her time on. While the trip wasn't totally bad, I was, needless to say, glad to be home on Sunday.

Of course with so many days off, and almost everybody getting sick of their own families, everybody came over yesterday to play some games as usual. Dangit brought his Xbox and we played some LAN Halo games, but otherwise it was a fairly normal event. Everybody has decided to come back over Wednesday for an "Anime Fest" as they called it. I can't say I care for most anime. I have found a few I enjoy, but for the most part I just steer clear. Chances are I will spend much of the day playing FFXI while they watch anime, joining them only briefly when they start watching something I enjoy.

Magus finally got on a few hours ago for the first time after countless troubles here and there, but at least he's on now. He spent a little while leveling and made it to lvl 4 before he stopped. He wasn't alone however. Christmas brought many newcomers to the server and it was beginning to get difficult to find suitable enemies for Magus to fight. Most of the new people were fairly uneducated in the game, but rather than watch them get in over their heads and die, I usually helped where I could. Unfortunately, when you save a persons life, it has the unfortunate side effect of them believing you can help them all the time. I don't mind helping somebody here or there, but I'm neither a help guide, nor an endless supply of money for the taking.

Other than FFXI, Christmas has arrived for those who haven't noticed. I ended up with a new PS2 controller, an assortment of candy, a Matrix Poster, and, my favorite, all ten episode of "Band of Brothers" on DVD. If you like war movies like "Saving Private Ryan" I highly suggest checking this mini-series out. I loved it from beginning to end.

Since we still weren't going to get licenses for a few days, and we were tired of Windurst having been there for so long, we headed over to San d'Oria. It's a nice change of scenery, and the hour-long walk is only 20-30 minutes now. That still a lot longer than I would like to walk around for, but it is much closer than before. Hopefully it shouldn't take us too long to get chocobos.

Hopefully in the next week Magus will be picking up his new computer, and will finally be able to get on with everybody else. He will have some catching up to do, but he is dead set on me helping him. I felt that was only fair since I made him level up my Thief to lvl 7, so I'll be helping him get at least that far.

As always I've been playing a lot of FFXI lately and enjoying every minutes of it. I'm slowing working my way up so I can obtain a sub-job, and eventually the advanced job of Dark Knight. I can't say it's going as fast as I would like. Being dependent on a party means that you either have to find one and risk them being either total asses, or having no idea what they're doing; or you can get on with friends but you have to find times when everybody can be online. So far I've chosen the latter because I got tired of dying as a result of other players that can't heal themselves, let alone me (being a Warrior, I can't heal whatsoever).

I picked up a book Friday night while I was out with everybody called "Halo: First Strike" by Eric Nylund. I've read his other book, "Halo: The Fall of Reach" as well as it's sequal by William Dietz, "Halo: The Flood". I enjoyed both previous books so I was fairly interested in a third. While the first and second book detail what happened before and during Halo, the third follows the events that took place just after. So far it's been fairly interesting, and since Halo 2 will be based 10 years after the first game (or so it has been speculated so far), this is just about the only way to find out just what happened afterwards.

My Zelda Bonus Disk came in today, finally, and I took a look at it. I started playing the original for a little while and stopped shortly after dungeon three and picking up the white sword. It all looks pretty good so far. My original cartridges all still work, but it is nice that I don't have to try and get it to work on my NES anymore. I don't think I will be replaying through "The Adventures of Link" any time soon, but it's nice that I can whenever I choose.

Outside of games, it's finals week at college, so studying is a plus. I've already taken my first one, and I've got two more tomorrow. Hopefully they shouldn't bee too hard.

Next came installing the actual game. I can't quite recall how long it took, I only know I was bored enough to leave the computer and watch TV before it ever asked for disk 2. Once all four were installed I started up the game and was informed I needed to make a Content ID. Ten minutes after than, I again tried to play the game, and was informed that there was an update and I needed to download it. Sighing, I reluctantly clicked "Update Now" and sat back as the download timer registered as 2 hours and 30 min to go. Needless to say I was less than happy, and my cousin found a most interesting comic to illustrate my point.

Once I finally did start the game, I was confused and amazed at the complexity of it all. This being my first MMORPG, and having nobody to help me start the learning curve was a bit steep, but once I figured everything out and actual got going the game was a blast. About and hour after playing Bill got on and helped me out a little, and then his wife Amy helped me level up outside. I was playing a little over 6 hours, not including the installation and download times, and I will probably meet or beat that today. If you are considering this game, I can easily say it is a lot of fun, but the more people you have on there, the better is gets. For those of you who do have the game, I'm a male Elvaan Warrior from Windurst on the Bahamut server name Lynk.

Beyond FFXI, Noviel seems to really be enjoying FFX, and she just passed through the Thunder Plains, which considering how often she plays games is light speed. I however need to study for a Java test tomorrow, write up a History essay, and study for a History test, and rewrite my English Lit paper which are all due Friday. If that isn't bad enough, most of the weekend will be spent preparing for finals week, which unfortunately, is next week.

It's definitely a nice improvement over my old card though. I tried a few games on it and you can noticeably tell the difference. Sandman is going to be a little peeved however since he usual had the computer with the Geforce 4 in it when we play LAN Unreal Tournament games. I doubt he will be happy he was downgraded to a Geforce 2, but he'll just have to get over it. Hopefully I shouldn't have any trouble running FFXI with this new card, and I can have it up and running as soon as I get it *crosses fingers.*

Aside from my computer, Noviel finished FFVII a few days ago, and is about 10 hours into FFX. She didn't seem to like the beginning of the game much, but once she got out and walking around she seemed to enjoy herself. Although listening to her constant complaining the Cloud would kick Tidus' ass over and over gets a little tiring. Overall I think she likes the game though.

One of the things I need to do before I get the game is upgrade my video card. I've got a Geforce 2 in it now, but my father has a Geforce 4 that should make the game look a lot better and he doesn't mind switching. Beyond that my computer should be good to go, but if I need more upgrades I will just have to make those when they become apparent.

This being Thanksgiving week I will be getting most of it off from the college. I don't have classes on Tuesday, I have one class on Wednesday but the rest of my teacher canceled class because they didn't think anybody would show up anyways, and the rest of the week is, of course, being taken off for Thanksgiving.

I myself will actually have two Thanksgiving dinners. One on Thursday with the family, and then another next Sunday when my grandparents and uncle drive down. I wasn't quite sure why they weren't going to come down on Thursday instead, but I wasn't going to complain, more pie for me .

Unfortunately with all the Mario Karting going on, there wasn't much time for Mario & Luigi. I played about an hour in the college library between classes but not much more than that. It's too bad too; I've really been enjoying it. Hopefully tomorrow I will find more time for it.

Magus' copy of Final Fantasy X-2 showed up today, and we took a brief break from Mario Kart to check it out. What I saw of the game didn't leave me impressed. Where as the intro to FFX left me quite happy and excited, the intro to FFX-2 left me annoyed and confused. It was like FFX meets Charlie's Angels. I can't say I was that interesting to begin with though. Quite frankly a sequel to FFX without Lulu or Auron just seems like a waste of time. Hopefully I will be proven wrong however, and the game will improve later on.

Outside games today was rather boring. I had the English Lit test, but that was all I had. Every other class I had was canceled today. I found it odd that every teacher I had chose today to be sick, but I wasn't complaining. However, since I had to take an English Lit test and then I actually had to go to English Lit class, I decided to just skip the class and go home. Tomorrow isn't looking like I will be so lucky. I have a three hour Java class to look forward to, followed up by a dentist appointment .

Mario & Luigi is also proving to be worth the purchase. I've got almost 3 hours on the game right now, and it has a very definite Super Mario RPG feel to it. Most of the text between characters is quite hilarious at times, especially when Luigi is involved.

The bonus disk that came with Mario Kart was fun enough to mention. Magus was delighted to find that there were bonus items for Fire Emblem if you hooked up a gamepak to the Gamecube via link cable. We hooked it up and he seemed fairly pleased with the items he got. He seems to be enjoying the game quite a bit actually, and can't seem to put it down for anything but co-op Mario Kart.

Overall it made for a fun day of playing games that I'm sure we'll repeat again tomorrow, hopefully with Shield and Dangit involved this time. Unfortunately before any of that, I have to get through the English Lit test I have tomorrow. Hopefully I can manage a better grade than the last test.

Shield seems to be enjoying his purchase of Golden Sun: The Lost Age quite thoroughly. Not to be outdone however, Magus decided to pick himself up a black GBA-SP of his own today while we were at Wal-Mart. He decided upon Fire Emblem as none of us have gotten the chance to play it, and we've heard some good things about it. Hopefully when he is done I'll get a chance to check it out.

As for me I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of Mario Kart: Double Dash, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Both should be in sometime tomorrow, and hopefully neither game will dissapoint…

Unfortunately there were a lot of shoppers today buying Christmas gifts and many top titles has sold out. Luckily for Shield there were still some copies of Golden Sun: The Lost Age. I had really enjoyed the game, and I told him he probably would too. He had played a little of the original, and seemed to like it enough so he grabbed it and we proceeded to grab something to eat in town before adjourning home to try it out.

All in all and eventful evening, and I am glad it's the weekend (who isn't). Unfortunately I have a history paper on Robert E. Lee due next week so my weekend is looking not as grand as I would have hoped. At least I had some fun tonight…

Noviel has reached the end of FFVII but it is proving most difficult to get her to finish the game. She has no desire for the game to be over, but in refusing to go any farther, she has kept herself from playing the game all the same as beating it. She'll come around sooner or later.

Since she hasn't been using my TV or PS2 I've gotten some much desired time with FFVIII, which I'm enjoying quite a bit. I'm pretty much at the end but I'm trying to get all the final weapons and such before I move on. It can be an aggravating task at times, but at least I'm enjoying myself for the most part.

At the moment however Shield is playing Kingdom Hearts, which appears to be trying on his patients. I always remember loving the game when I played it, but watching him play through it I can't remember a single thing I actually liked about the game outside fighting Squall, Cloud, and Sephiroth.

Aside from FFVIII, I am eagerly awaiting the release of Mario Kart: Double Dash in a little over a week. I'm a big fan of the series, and I hope MK:DD lives up to its predecessors. What I've seen of the game so far looks promising, but only time will tell…

This opinion however, doesn't seem to be shared by everybody. Many reviews throughout the world seem to think the movie doesn't do the series justice. I thought at first this might just be the movie critics, but walking out of the theater tonight I heard about a dozen people saying the same thing. I can see how many people don't like how the plot turned to bring the conclusion. There were different ways to go about it that may not have made people as angry, but I felt that the choice the Wachowski brothers made was just what the movie needed in the end.

Overall I don't think the bad reviews and criticism should dissuade anybody from checking it out. Everybody takes the Matrix movies a little differently, which is one of the reasons I love them so much. The only person who can decided whether the movie is bad or not, is you.

Not only was I lucky enough to find a new copy there, but for some reason, I also received a demo for SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALS. I assume they're shipping them with a lot of outgoing packages, but it's nice to get it just the same.

Once everybody had left, I took the day to write up the ever-dreaded English Lit paper I so frequently talk about. The first draft isn't due until Friday (11/07), but with Revolutions releasing Wednesday (11/05), I'm not taking any chances about having to work on it during the week.

On the topic of The Matrix, I am very excited about the release of the third and final film this week. Last May when Reloaded released, I was at the 10:00 pm showing the night before, something I hope to repeat this time around. That however depends on if the local theater is having a showing then or not. Either way, you can bet that I will be at the first showing the theater has. Hopefully, the movie won't disappoint, and I'm pretty sure it won't.

What time wasn't devoted to Zelda today, I spent working on the ever impending English Lit paper, and helping Noviel on FFVII. Her progress has been quite amazing considering this is her second RPG ever, and I believe that soon enough I will be able to move her on to other games she may not have been ready for before.

Everybody came over once again last night, in what is becoming a Friday night ritual. We decided to take a brake from Halo however, and instead watched a movie and grabbed a bite to eat at the only restaurant open at midnight.

Most of today was spent either watching tv, or reading Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" for an English Lit paper that's due in a week and a half. I chose this book from a very short list and while it's not exactly the best book I've ever read, it sure is better than the other choices I was given. Hopefully this paper will give me the opportunity to halt my constantly plummeting English Lit grade…

Besides that most of the day was spent either playing SMB3, or helping Noviel on FFVII. Well not so much helping her as just sitting and watching as she stumbles through the game and occasionally asks for my help, to which I reply "I don't remember." Although now that I think about it, I really should have studied for the English Lit test I have tomorrow...

Once again Nintendo has changed the look between Mario and Luigi. This means that while Mario looks and controls like he did in the original, Luigi is now taller, and jumps a little differently. This is something I didn't like in past remakes, and I don't like it here. Also changed are the sound and backgrounds. The new backgrounds are nice I guess, but they could have left them out all together, it doesn't really add anything to the game. The sound is a place where the game is hurting. Since I was playing on my tv I could compare it to the sounds and music of the original game, and it's not even a contest, the original's music and sound far exceed the remake.

From what I have played it was easy to choose the NES version while I'm sitting at home. However, since this is still one of, if not the greatest Mario game of all time, it is still damn fun, and a portable copy is something worth buying.

We did indeed finish, and with it came a slew of items, weapons, and money. While it's always nice to get new things, I began to realize how much I missed a computer that changed everything for you. It's quite time consuming to split up all the items six ways, and then have to update everything on your character page.

Now that we're done with the practice dungeon, Brad says we can play in the real dungeon. Quite frankly considering how many close calls we had in the practice dungeon, I don't know how well we will fair in the real one. It is however a fun game, so hopefully we won't get trashed too bad.

After watching The Matrix: Reloaded for the fourth time (three in theaters, one today), I would like to reiterate how much I enjoy this movie. The middle slows down a bit, but overall quite a wonderful movie. I don't think it's quite as good as the first, but definitely on par with it. The DVD comes with extras much like the first film. Some are cool to see, others are kind of boring.

Magus dropped by with hopes of seeing it, but after his car broke down, and he had to walked the rest of the way to my house, I had already finished watching it. Needless to say, he was less than pleased. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Tomorrow The Matrix: Reloaded comes out on DVD. I'm a big fan of the first two movies, and am eagerly anticipating the release of The Matrix: Revolutions on November 5th. I don't have any college classes tomorrow, so I will spend the day watching the movie, and all the extras the DVD has to offer. I'll have more on that when I get it.

Thursday afternoon while Magus, Shield, Dangit and I were in the college library, they all ganged up on me, and tried to convince me to go with them. They said they could really use another character, and it would be fun if and went, and a bunch of other excuses. I said I would go when the legalized the Jedi/Bounty Hunter class. Needless to say they were less than willing.

While they were not willing to let me be a lightsaber wielding bounty hunter in the dark ages, they did bring to my attention, that it would be quite possible to recreated my favorite video game character. This was enough for me to give in and agree to go with them. So off I went for my first time to play a tabletop RPG.

Bright and early (for a day off) Friday morning there we were at Brad's house making characters for ourselves and trying to understand how exactly the game is played. In all there were six of us in our party: Magus, Shield, Dangit, Noviel, Shield's younger brother, and me. This being the first time for all of us, it took quite a bit of time. Four hours later, all the characters were made, and we finally started the game at about 1 pm.

At first I was less than impressed. The game seemed fairly boring and uneventful, and every time we started fighting, I was the first one shot with a sleeping dart. However, this did not last. Once I started getting into the game, and our party final made it into the dungeon, the game totally came alive. It was great fun, and because all members of the party are actual people, we can plan out elaborate strategies when going into battle. I've got to give a lot of credit to Brad though. He knew none of us had ever played before, and there were multiple opportunities for him to hand our asses to us, but he went fairly lenient on us. By 10:45 pm we were still in the dungeon, and everybody decided to adjourn home with plans of returning later today (Saturday).

To sum it all up, I can easily say I had a lot of fun playing the game. If you ever get the chance to try it out, I suggest it. I doubt everybody would like the game, but I, and all my friend found it to be quite enjoyable. And don't forget, the key to having a fun game, is getting a good Dungeon Master.

Lucky for me, my college is doing the same, which means no school tomorrow. Nice to see those kids are good for something

(Edit: 10:49 pm)
After repeated attempts to find and/or install a tag board for those viewing to post opinions, I have decided that I don't care what you damn people think.

The pics I chose are fanart I found on the net, and if you would like to see them larger, or some of the other pics the guy made, you can check it out here.

If everybody was here, the choice would be simple: multi-player Halo (for future reference, everybody = Magus, Shield, Dangit, and Sandman). Single player gets old damn fast, but multi-player will keep you busy for hours. Might I also suggest making up some of your own games in multi-player instead of the pre-made stuff Bungie has on there. We've come up with some games that are much more fun that regular CTF or Slayer.

However, since I am limited to one player games, and I still feel like a FPS, I think it's time to play some Metroid Prime.