Okay, I think the end of this year would be a good stopping point for this generation. Well, maybe not a complete stop but who's up for a fresh batch of new consoles this November? Why, you might ask? It's plain and simple, it will make gaming new and exciting again. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking this now, but nothing just seems to be going on right now.

Maybe it was just me, but the release of the Xbox 360 really had me interested in gaming. I didn't even own the damn console but I sure knew a whole lot about it. I was one of those kids who wouldn't stop trying to win one from that Mountain Dew promotion. Sure, I never won (of course, whoever wins those things?), but I was SO hoping I would.

And the PS3 announcement press conference? I was all over that! I don't even care too much about Sony, but I love hearing new hardware announcements from anyone (or maybe I'm just a sucker for press conferences?). Either way, hat press conference was EPIC, partially because of the giant enemy crabs, but hey, they tried. 

Don't even get me started on the Wii... everyone and their pet dinosaur wanted to know what the f*** was going on with the Wii. Speculation was for DINNER. Not even Saturo Iwata knew what was going on. When that news finally broke, the internet exploded and everyone was up in arms and was like "OMG I HAD A BON3R THE ENTIRE PRESS CONFERENCE!!!" or  "...dude, wtf, i haven't even drank anything today and i have whiskey dick... and that thing looks like a vibrator."

So that's basically it... that's all I've got right now. Yeah, it's a pity call from me to the gaming industry because I wish I were a bit more interested in gaming this generation, but unfortunately, I'm not. Long-live my N64 because that's all I've been playing...

Okay lets not waste anytime...........Jack is infected! Yes, after last episode's cliffhanger it didn't take too long for us to learn that the invincible Jack Bauer has indeed been infected with the deadly pathogen. But what does this actually mean for not only the rest of the season but the show in general? Would they really kill Jack even with Season 8 greenlit and Keifer on board? I highly doubt that (although it would be a hell of a surprise). My bet is on them finding an anti-virus in the Starkwood facility, probably in Jonas' possession. But of course, not before there is some serious damage to Jack. I think those scars might just be the beginning.

In other events, Tony got blindsided quite badly. Jonas and Seaton's little fake argument right in front of him really should've tipped him off, but in desperate moments you might believe anything and at least the little con did save Tony's life. I'm fairly sure some revenge will be dealt soon enough though. I'm thinking Seaton dies next episode. However till then, Tony really has put the entire assualt team in quite a situation, just when Larry Moss has started to make some good calls too. This one will be his biggest yet though.

As for the political side of things.................OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES MADAM PRESIDENT! Putting Olivia as acting Chief of Staff is up there with some Wayne Palmer decisions...............okay, I take that back. Maybe not that bad. Olivia being her daughter does affect things. Thankfully though Olivia did do one awesome thing this episode. Aaron Pierce is back baby and reinstated as head of security! Now i couldn't be happier with this development, the more Pierce the better. However!! More Pierce means more air time which means a far larger chance of getting killed and after 7 seasons, i dont think i can handle the death of the only character other then Jack to be in all seasons.

So as another fast paced episode of 24 comes to an end we are left with quite a few important questions. How will Jack overcome the sudden news? We know how badass Jack currently is, just imagine a Jack knowing that survival isn't an option. And what was with the look between Tony and the leader of the Starkwood team at the end? Some history there? Midnight is here and so starts the final third of this great season.

Final Fantasy VIII

(PS1, PC)

Squall - I dreamt I was a moron...

Final Fantasy VIII was the follow-up to the incredibly popular fan-favourite of the series, FFVII. It's hardly surprising that the game, that introduced quite a few changes to the combat system, was a big disappointment to many fans of VII. Some call it one of the most disappointing games of all time. Others, however, welcomed the changes with open arms and see FFVIII as one of the best of the franchise.

Gameplay - While I like the classic Final Fantasy combat elements better, it was nice to do things a little differently this time. The Junction system has its cons but I liked it overall. It's cool that you can have really awesome stats early in the game. Quite broken, but fun. The Draw concept is ok, although I prefer the classic MP system for magic.
Minor side note: Lion Heart is one of the coolest and most broken Limit Breaks of all time, beating even the legendary Omnislash in damage potential. 46/50
Music - The tracks are not particularly memorable, except for Liberi Fatali, Waltz for the Moon and the Sorceress Succession theme (Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec). Still very good overall. 13/15
Story - Never really got to me. One of the worst FF stories for me personally, although that's not saying much. I want my RPG stories to be epic, while FFVIII focuses more on Squall and Rinoa's romance. This could've worked, but it wasn't fleshed out particularly well and became more annoying than anything. The whole 'every main character grew up in the same orphanage but forgot about it' idea was just ridiculous. The Laguna flashbacks are among the best parts of the game. 11/15
Characters - FFVIII has one of the most annoying casts of any jRPG I've ever played. Zell and Selphie are incredible idiots, Quistis is bland, Irvine is a sniper who freezes when he actually needs to snipe the main villain of that moment and Rinoa gets irritating soon. Much is redeemed by Seifer though, very cool character. Same with his henchmen Rajin and Fujin. Squall has a lot of potential, but his character gets killed about halfway in the game by the forced love story with Rinoa.
Ultimecia isn't the most memorable villain around and gets introduced too late into the story. 6/10
Sidequests/Minigames - I absolutely loved Triple Triad. It's truly one of the best Final Fantasy minigames of all time. It's also really easy to get the ultimate weapons with it.
Add many optional GF's and areas and Omega Weapon and you get a perfect 10 for sidequests. 10/10

In conclusion: I might've sounded very negative about the characters and the story, but don't be fooled: FFVIII is a good jRPG, especially if you don't look at it as the sequel to FFVII. Story and characters might not have my appreciation, but others might very well be charmed by them. The combat, although broken, feels fresh and fun and the gameplay is very good overall.
Be wary: this review is a synopsis of my subjective thoughts of the game. I don't claim to have the superior opinion.

Overall - 8.6

As some of you may know TGZ Towers has expanded quite rapidly in the last couple of days, all thanks to the members driving the effort with the admins and myself. I'd firstly like to thank all content contributors, without you guys TGZ Towers would only have 4 gray boxes.

I'd also like to thank all members suggesting ideas for our game. TGZ Towers can become big, only if we want it to be.

I have many new cool features planned for Towers.

Features such as:
- Random Events
- Employees
- City Years with government tax rates
- Multiple Towers
-better functionality


and much, much more!

I will also be e-mailing all members that haven't been here in awhile to check out the game and towers. Remember guys, you drive towers!


In other news, today we had our first league game in football and we won 8-0 hurrah! Not that many of you care :]

Ciao!

Am I the only one who feels like StarCraft 2 has fallen off the face of this Earth? I always feel like Blizzard announces their games and then everyone quietly waits a few years and then all of a sudden, a game is released! It’s almost like a prolonged pregnancy…

Although I feel like StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty (the Terran portion of StarCraft 2) will definitely release this year as planned, I feel like Blizzard should give us some more information… though I guess it is their style to keep mostly everything a secret with their games.

I personally can’t wait for the game to release. No, I’m not waiting and thinking about it every day that goes by, but when it releases, I’ll be sure to pick it up. I can’t wait to get my ass handed to me by 98% of the other StarCraft players out there; it will be awesome.

In the mean time, I suppose we can all wait around and see how the beta goes. It hasn’t started yet, but there was a rumor going around that it was starting soon. Yes, that rumor was a hoax, but the game’s development team stated that everyone will know when the beta is live and kickin’.

My only question is… will the Mac version of the game release alongside the PC version?

*holds out flameshield*