This topic has been floating around the internet now for a little while from a few places. Gamers, should they willingly be part of a subculture in society? It's a weird question really, as no other aficionado...of anything really has to deal with the social implications that comes from their love of something. They have no social implications. Someone who is part of a fantasy league for every sport is just thought of as a sports fan, but no stigma, good or bad is attached to that. Someone who commonly attends concerts for a genre of music isn't a concert...er (Unless you're a Juggalo...then you have a stigma attached to you. A funny funny stigma). Gamers though, have to deal with this grouping, and a lot of it is self-imposed. Now I am a guy who plays a lot of games, that is abundantly clear to anyone who spends more than an hour with me. I can throw my arm out right now, and including my computer, I can smack no less than seven devices that are made in some way, for the playing of video games. But am I a gamer? Do I want to be called a gamer? Hit the break for my answer, which will probably be long-winded.

Okay, there is something I have been thinking about for a while lately. I know there are people out there in the WoW community who hop from guild to guild like I change socks, and that works out perfectly well for them, it suits their play-style. But I was never like that in World of Warcraft. As a matter of fact, my guild history is a pretty short list. However, that short list comes with a long tenure in each guild, usually reaching some form of officership, if not being the GM. As Cataclysm looms just over the horizon, and I feel different WoW goals tugging at my brain, I notice myself mulling over what my guilds have meant to me, and how the people in those guilds have helped shape the way I play this game. I guess ill put the break here, so click on the title link to read more, as always.

I don't think I really ever spoke at length about the past addons for Mass Effect 2. They were fun times all around. The Stolen Memories pack in which you got the ninja-esque character Kasumi was pretty short, but it gave you a very different type of mission setup that was extremely enjoyable. Also to boot, you got a permanent character who fights very differently than anyone else in the game. Cloaking and backstabbing is certainly a different way too approach cover shooters. At the very least she is leaps and bounds ahead of Zaeed, who is just a Garrus clone with an awesome voice.

Overlord was more of a typical mission in Shepard's life. Run, take cover, shoot shoot shoot, move onto the next room of chest-high walls. What made Overlord worth it though was the different tone the missions carried. It was supposed to feel somewhat creepy, with all the dead rooms and fucked up experiments going on. However the tone I got from this DLC was one that made my ears bleed. That damn rogue VI voice screaming, my god I hated that. I think it was supposed to be startling, which it was maybe once or twice, but really what it did was take me out of the eerie set-pieces and just make me annoyed. Oh yeah this DLC also heavily featured the Hammerhead Hovertank...whatever. Platforming is fun on the thing, but heavy duty combat is annoying as it seems a can of soda has more durability then this piece of military hardware. Now I am gonna start talking about the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC. Now note at the end of this review I have the tiniest hint of a spoiler. You were warned.

Did I really just skip the entire month of August? Yeah I did. Whatever, I didn't wanna write at all, but that shit has got to stop. It isn't like I was devoid of ideas, but ya know, the will was not there. I need to come up with a schedule or something to that degree. Self-imposed deadline and the like, maybe that will keep me on the writing straight and narrow. Anyway, enough blabbing about how I didn't update, and let's actually update. (Edit: Now it seems like I skipped half of September also, what the hell is wrong with me?) Anyway, this is a long one, so there is plenty to read after the break.

I finally got to try the multiplayer function in Dragonquest IX today when my friend Steve stopped by. This function is really what makes the game fun. We honestly did not do much besides murder Metal Slimes in mass numbers, but doing it with a buddy really made things fun. My only complaint is how this cannot be done over wi-fi...and how draining this mode is on the DS battery. Other than that, the things executed in the multiplayer are done exactly as they should be. Bravo Level 5, bravo.

I have, despite finding myself in Azeroth once again, been playing a fair amount of new video games. Last article I wrote about Transformers: War for Cybertron before my brain turned to jelly at work, allowing me to only make the most rudimentary of noises instead of words. I think I was only able to really to communicate in Morse Code, and that was only achieved by banging my head against the table. Odd thing is, I have no fucking clue how to "talk" in Morse Code normally. Now today though, while I am at work again, I feel like I am in a more comfortable position, and can get back to talking about the games taking up my time as of late. And I shall talk about these games after the cut, jump, thing.

So it's been a while; a long while since I posted on this damn thing. Really the reasoning for it...I have no excuse. I have not been particularly busy, nor have I not been playing video games. I have been playing a ton of new games actually. I am not normally good with keeping up on new releases, for money reasons, interest reasons, etc, but these past 3-5 weeks have found me very busy in gaming. I guess I should break it all the hell down and talk about the games I have been playing, all of which have been fun in their own, unique way. Then after all of that, I want to talk about booze. Actually wait, let's talk about booze first. Ya know...after the jump.