Maybe I'm just cranky from having to redesign the review page to make it compatible with both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, but I'm starting to get my hate on for G4's Kevin Periera.  I actually used to like the guy, but he's become increasingly self-absorbed as he continues to spread through the network like a smarmy virus.  The last straw was when he replaced Patrick Norton on TechTV's flagship series The Screen Savers.  The show, along with everyone on it, has been dumbed down considerably since Kevin's arrival.  The helpful computer advice once regularly dispensed on The Screen Savers has almost completely dried up, replaced with stale gaming news and vapid guest hosts who look like they stepped out of a Gap commercial.  On the rare occasions that The Screen Savers DOES answer incoming calls, G4's contempt for its viewers is made even more obvious by Kevin's flippant, even insulting responses.  Hey, Kev, you do know that you're supposed to be helping people out here, right?  If not, you might want to start doing that, instead of, you know, acting like a world class asshole.

But yeah, as I was saying earlier, I'm retooling the site to make it Firefox compliant.  Some design elements that show up as I'd intended them to in Internet Explorer just don't when you view them in Mozilla Firefox, so I've got to change the Blitz to make it play well with all the browsers out there.  This is going to take a while, and there are bound to be some mistakes made along the way.  If you happen to find any broken links or other design flaws, just let me know and I'll get them ironed out right away.  Just one more thing before I go... I'd like to extend my thanks to Random Terrain from the Atari Age forum for his advice on a universal site design.

I'm back from Atlanta!  I've learned a lot from the trip... like how much I love the seaweed salad they serve at sushi restaurants.  Slimy, yet satisfying!  I've also learned that you should never, ever drink Beverly when you're visiting the World of Coca-Cola, and that you've got to keep a tight grip on your Game Boy Advance at the airport if you expect to bring it back home with you.  That was an especially painful lesson, but at least it gives me an excuse to replace it with a Nintendo DS!

Now that I'm back, I'll be doing freelance work for a top-secret project, but I should have plenty of time to update the site as well.  Today, we've got a review of Resident Evil 4, the game that takes the survival horror series in a welcome new direction.  In a couple of days, John Roche will chip in reviews of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and the Cartoon Network television series Tom Goes to the Mayor.  After that, I'll update Fighter's Misery, introducing the world to Reikai Doushi.  This cornball beat 'em up combines Chinese mythology with claymation for an experience that's even more ridiculous than most of the fighting games featured on this page.  Now that's an accomplishment!  If only the game were as fun as it is stupid...

I've been out of the game for a while, haven't I?  Sorry about that... a lot of stuff has happened in the past week that's kept me from updating the site.  I can't tell you much about it, but rest assured that this is very cool stuff indeed.

However, I CAN discuss a side project that's been eating up a lot of my spare time.  I've resumed work on the NES book, finishing a large chunk of the reviews that will appear in the finished product.  I've also been talking to other writers who've expressed an interest in contributing to the guide, and have come up with a tentative title for the book.  How does "Awesome NES: The Unauthorized Guide to the World's Greatest Game Console" sound?

I've also managed to finish the second chapter of my Space Invaders retrospective, titled Assault of the Invaders.  It's a little dry compared to the feature's first volume, but the reviews are longer and more informative, so it all evens out in the end.  If any of you gaming historians out there feel that I've left anything out, just drop me a line and I'll be sure to revise the page accordingly.

I may have been a little hasty in my judgment of the Pelican Real Arcade Stick.  After a week of use, I've started to find dents in its armor, and pretty big ones at that.  The stick stopped working with my Playstation 2, leading me to believe that it had shorted out, and that I was out forty dollars. 

After some research and a little experimentation, I discovered that the situation was a whole lot worse than I'd thought.  It wasn't the controller that was damaged, oh no... the truth is that the controller had damaged my game system!  I talked to the folks at the Shoryuken message board, and they revealed to me that the Pelican Real Arcade Stick is powered by the components that normally keep the motors in the Dual Shock controller spinning.  Unfortunately, the stick also has a nasty habit of burning out these parts.  This means that I'm not only left without the vibration feature in my favorite games, but can't play my favorite PS2 fighting games the way they were meant to be played!  Oh, the pain of it all!

There is hope, however.  There's a generous warranty included with the Pelican Real Arcade Stick, covering both the controller and any systems it might damage while using it.  I've kept all the paperwork needed to take advantage of this warranty, but to be honest I don't like the thought of being left without the console I play the most... and I REALLY don't like having to pay big bucks to mail in both the PS2 and this ginormous arcade stick.

On the plus side, the stick still works great with my GameCube and Dreamcast.  This suggests that only the Playstation 2 has been damaged, and that I could just take it to a repair shop for a quick fix.  However, after this unfortunate incident, I'd think twice about using the Pelican Real Arcade Stick with my PS2... and that, sadly, is the main reason I bought it.  Looks like my never-ending quest to find the ultimate joystick has resumed once again...

Well, that's not good.  I had planned to write more articles and reviews for The Gameroom Blitz this year, but now that I'm unemployed and have no convenient way to update the site, that's probably not going to happen.  Hopefully I'll find a new job soon... if I'm really lucky, I'll even be able to afford Internet access at home, and I won't have to rely on the kindness of strangers (and public libraries) for all my Web surfing needs.

Now that I have plenty of time on my hands, I probably should return to college.  I'm just thiiiiis close to earning an associates' degree, which would look better on a resume than the computer repair certificate I currently own.  Besides, college was kind of fun... the intellectual challenge provided by my classes kept me sharp and focused.