Video game’s soul
Unquenchable endeavor
Realized pixels

Yes, I’m starting with a haiku. One of the greatest books ever written started with haikus, and while I don’t presume to think that this will be the greatest blog ever, it grounds me in my wherewithal to write to the general public.

But yes, I’m proud of my two word middle sentence.

I picked up Saint's Row the other day. I should start out by saying that I’m a fairly competent Grand Theft Auto (pick a version) player. Check that...I’m actually quite good. Now, you might ask what makes a good GTA player, and I’ll say one that can make the game play out like a movie. A movie in which our hero drives at break neck speeds and doesn't hit anything; kills with one shot; jumps out of flaming cars and uses them as weapons...and when I play GTA with my 'Rage Against The Machine' soundtrack in the background, it is INDEED like watching Jerry Bruckheimer orgasm’ing all over film.

So, you can imagine my excitement to try out a next-gen GTA wannabe. It would be a little too simple to say that Saint’s Row is a wannabe…it has a lot of improvements that I certainly see Rockstar making in the next installment of the GTA series. It’s also inaccurate to say that Saint’s Row is the next-gen GTA (as I’ve just done) because it’s focus seems more integrated with the “gang life” vs. GTA dealing with a living, breathing environment for you to reek havoc. All in all, I believe there is a place for both GTA and Saint’s Row on my shelf…neigh, the game boxes are actually touching at this moment as I just completed a run through of San Andreas on the 360, and the box was just sequestered under Saint’s Row. But this post is not a review, my point is that I like this kind of game, and I’m excited that I don’t have to play SA for the fourth time.

As a “post of introduction”, I do like other games. Action/Adventure such as the Zelda series, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War are among my favorites. I do like a good RPG…of the D&D rules variety, such as Neverwinter Nights, but I have had occasion to play the “action” RPG as well as some of the “deviant” ones such as Oblivion, which I loved. As for sports games, the only ones I enjoy are of the driving and golf variety. Not that either of them are a sport of course (but that’s another post), but PGR, Burnout and Tiger Woods are always good time killers. Last but not least, I do like the occasional FPS. That basically leaves out Real Time Strategy and “real” sports games. I also have a hard time with card based action games…what’s with that? Cards as weapons? Give me a break. I know I need to try it out as I’m a fan of any sort of game theory/strategy…but I can’t get into a game where I throw out cards to destroy my card wielding adversary.

In any event, It’s a pleasure to post here, and I’m hoping I can stay on top of it and post more than that Vastish Slurry character who seems to come out with something rather thought provoking each FRIGGIN QUARTER.

-Socratic Processor