Early E3 predictions

Every year those of us who follow the games industry closely begin to speculate on what will be announced at E3. Some announcements are a sure thing for this year such as Nintendo finally nailing down a date for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. One would be hasty to rule out a chance of Nintendo announcing new hardware.

Speaking of new hardware, Nintendo's 3DS is sure to have a long line of game announcements from a slew of third-party publishers. We're likely to hear from Sony and their new "Next Generation Portable" handheld. I wouldn't be surprised if we heard about third-party games for it too. Hopefully they'll give the poor thing a name.

I'm really hoping we'll see more Kinect games at E3. I knew when I bought the device that it might not get much support. I pretty much relegated it to a cash-grab; A 32X for the modern era. I've had my fill of Kinect Adventures and Dance Central. I want to play hard core Kinect games. With Child of Eden being delayed to summer, I essentially own a one-hundred fifty dollar webcam.

Well that's all I've got for now. Just wanted to write it down. I'll have a real E3 prediction feature later this year.

Wow, it's been a while.

Hello world! I have returned to this long forgotten dominion! After thorough deliberation I have come to the realization that if I write ANYTHING, even if it sucks, it is still however infinitesimally better than nothing. Therefore, in an attempt to better myself, and perhaps at some point the world of video games enthusiast press, I present to you:

SALMAGUNDI GAMER - THE RETURN!

So I bought Metroid Prime Trilogy last week. Usually this time of year, core gamers (those of us who aren't millionaires) must begin to distill their tastes and decide which games will be passed on and which we'll shell out our hard-earned dough for.

Batman: Arkham Asylum came out at the same time. I've heard great things about it, and I'd love to play it, but I feel it's a game I could buy next summer when the market isn't so flooded with great games. I chose MPT for lots of reasons, but the reason I had to buy it now is that its a collector's edition of a first-party Nintendo game. It's such a great deal and the games themselves range from masterpiece to pretty freakin' great.

I don't regret my purchase. I'm a few hours into Metroid Prime now. It does look gorgeous on my 50" plasma, especially when the camera zooms out to show a new area. Some of the textures look a little blurry, but this game still looks great for coming out in 2002. The controls are exactly what you'd expect if you've played Corruption. So far this game is exactly what I expected. My own reaction to this game however is far different than expected.

When I played this game in 2002, I was 18 years old, a college student without a care in the world. The Metroid series has always had a lonely, oppressive tone. Of course this didn't bother me 7 years ago when I was still a wild young buck with the world as my oyster. But now, playing this game alone in my living room, having experienced a gamut of human emotionsand learned much about the world, I see this game in a whole new light.

The feelings of weakness and futility. Not knowing what stands behind the next door or where to go next. Now that I'm an adult I've felt this way in real life. And experiencing it in a game feels so foreign and uncomfortable. I've only been able to play in short spurts, otherwise I just bring myself down. Strange how a game can illicit such a strong response.

First post

Hello world! My name is Patrick and this is my new gaming blog. The name "Salmagundi Gamer" is in reference to my own varied gaming taste. I've been a gamer since I was old enough to type "LOAD 'RUN', 8, 1". I'm passionate about gaming, and I play all styles and genres of games. The only thing I like more than playing games is talking about them...which is part of the reason I'm starting this blog.

Here you'll find my personal thoughts on games I play or read about. I'll give you first impressions, reviews, or even just musings on goings-on in the gaming world. So please visit again soon and I'm sure you'll find something to like.