It's true that I have become something of a shutter bug. In fact I have probably invested way too much time in the photography/invention portion of Dark Cloud 2. Technically I've poured about five or six hours into the game and I've only just left the sewers. I can see a more focused player reaching the same place in maybe an hour. The sad part is that I have almost nothing to show for my time. My long hours of picture snapping have yielded very few actual inventions. I spend most of my time trying to combine pumpkins, trees and the sun in the hopes of inviting some kind of super pumpkin tree. That has yet to pan out.

While my own gaming equipment was in disarray this weekend, I would take any opportunity to contact Gabe and see how he was progressing in Apex and Dark Cloud 2. It sounds as though he more than took up the slack - Gabir, his company in Apex, apparently has so many individual employees they needed to expand the facility several times. It is, I am told, the racing game one plays in heaven.

We were in downtown Seattle today doing some business type shit for PA and we stopped by the EBX out there. We lucked out in that they had both of the games we wanted but were unable to attain over here on the east side. I picked up Apex and Dark Cloud 2 and Tycho just got Apex.

Here are the things you need to know.

An X-Men action RPG, from Raven? Hallelujah!

The atrophy of Gabe's ability in Fighters is something for which I am at least partly to blame. With few exceptions - Freeman and Iron Man, for example - I put up a mostly token resistance, so if he has come away from all these mock conflicts with the impression of indomitable personal prowess, no man could blame him. Other than checking out those new maps and 'mechs, he has committed himself entirely to being abused in online matches. The ability to hold "tournaments," with spectators and the like, would be quite welcome - I'm curious if the imminent Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will improve upon the current matching system.

Look at this, Color Hiptops in Europe. Son of a bitch. The main thing I want in a screen this small is legibility, and the Hiptop has that, but God Damn if I don't like colors.

My two favorite names that I have heard for PA breaking a server are:

MechAssault Content is available now.

Okay, so apparently we helped destroy the Gamer Tag Database. Fabulous. Before that, we (I suppose I should say you) reamed The Visual Thesaurus, the most staggering website of our time. Eventually, someone will have to invent a word for this phenomenon.

Dear Diary,

Jesus, when I ask you guys your opinions on PC’s I fucking get your opinions on PC’s. After reading well over a thousand e-mails on the subject I came away with some really good ideas about what should be in my next rig. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with your advice. I have decided to stick with a PC and I am going to have the same place that built my current machine build my new one. The guys over at Two Geeks Computers did a great job on this one so I see no reason to switch to someone new now. I have nailed down the specs and my new machine should arrive sometime next week. I’ll give you all a full report when it shows up.

Check out Gamespot's review of Dark Cloud 2 and tell me that don't sound mighty fine. I thought the first one had some good ideas that didn't always gel right, and it sounds as though my hopes were not misspent on the sequel.

I keep having trouble uploading strips, my apologies, but here you are.

I've got a cute little press release here from Microsoft that says the two new mechs and two new maps we were promised should be here on Thursday. Huzzah!

I have talked to quite a few people today about the Acer Tablet PC’s, including Acer Technical support. I will say first that I love the Tablet PC format, it has really changed the way I work. That having been said I think I probably picked the wrong model. This kind of shit just happens when you are a new technology whore like I am.