Slowly, but surely

I've made a lot of updates during the last month, and just to confirm speculations: YES, I consider myself active again. I'm once again in a situation of having way too much time on my hands, just like in the humble beginnings of the blog; everything's just fine in the camp, I've just suddenly rediscovered the spare time I missed for so many months, and which I need to maintain the blog. As well as, and perhaps more importantly, the flame; while playing some recent games, there are thoughts, feelings and insight swirling around that would go to waste if I didn't type them down. So once again, yes, I'm tired of taking time off. The pace will never be the same again, that much is certain, but another thing that's certain is that before this year ends, this blog will otherwise look like I never left. Lots of reviews, lots of freeform news, lots of nostalgia. Let me indulge you with all that I've been thinking for the past couple of days.

I'm hearing a lot of complaints about this blog's practical qualities. People say it looks great, I think so too, but the thing is that the bigger it gets, the more difficult it is to navigate, and the search widget doesn't work - that much I noticed long ago, I was hoping for a fix but it doesn't seem like anyone's doing anything about it. Just so it's out in the absolute clear, I'm not responsible for its functionality - it's powered by Google, not me. I've been seriously thinking of archiving my old reviews and coming up with an external way to improve site navigation for any future reviews, but we'll have to see if this becomes more than a mere thought - I still have no idea what Blogger's final limits are. Just wanted to state that your complaints have been noted. On to games...

He's back - kinda - and I can honestly say I'm
much more excited by Trophies for MGS4 than
I am by Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance.

As you PS3 owners "might've" heard by now, one of the greatest video game classics exclusive to the platform (and for many such as I, the reason to get a PlayStation 3 in the first place), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is finally seeing a re-release, which comes complete with 34 PSN Trophies. Old versions of the game will be updated to V1.01, which patches in Trophy support. When this happens, you can expect a lot of Metal Gear-themed rant on the blog. I don't think it'll be quite as big as the Mass Effect-themed rant was when Mass Effect 3 came out - after all, I've already reviewed Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge on the NES, and the original Solid series from Metal Gear Solid to Guns of the Patriots... but there's still a lot up my sleeve, from reviews to fan-made articles, for which the Metal Gear series is the perfect subject in its awesome diversity.

Right now, I'm having an "RPG Time!", which means reviews will turn in slow, but in turn, you're getting long, quality (?) reviews. There are a lot of RPG's I've wanted to play and review for the longest time (and in some cases, I know you've wanted me to), but I've always been concerned about maintaining a certain pace here on the blog, and additionally, it has seemed I have never had the time to play them anyway. Well, a good RPG MAKES time, as you role-players surely know. So, I'm taking advantage of my recent RPG rush, and delivering a fair deal of RPG reviews in the next few months.

For two years, you've harrassed me about it.
The thing is you've got to be careful what you
wish for, it might come true...

Back to the complaints. I've been hearing critique of reviewing too much "new" games nowadays. It's bugged me too, but there's a valid reason for that; although I'd love to go all retro for a spell, new games are what I play, and when I play them, all these thoughts fill my head and I have to write them down. This is a part of the reason I love to do marathons, to get a good _excuse_, if you will, to dig up some old games. Remember, I'll run out of new games eventually, and what's also eventual is a retro spike. I haven't forgotten about classic gaming, not by a long shot. Besides, I've been thinking of re-purchasing an NES in the very near future - as well as all my old NES games since I know where they are and who has them - I believe that's the key to restore balance and the blog's original idea. In addition to retro and classic gaming in general, there is a certain franchise that has seemed to be to be on every other person's mind when it comes to what I should dive into, ever since I started this. Further comments on the left.

Speaking of retro and original ideas, VGMania is turning two in less than a month. I've been thinking of a few special retro reviews to be published around that time, but the only thing I can promise to publish right now is a Year 2 summary, complete with a few choice - not to mention NEW - frequently asked questions. It's hard to believe I've been doing this for so long... on to the last subject.

"When you're doing Castlevania or Monster Mash, it seems like you're in a whole different mindset - it's awesome." This comes from a friend, and I have to agree with him. I AM in a whole different mindset when I'm writing horror-related stuff; that's why I have made Monster Mash such a big deal and established it as a recurring marathon of its own. There hasn't been a Monster Mash this year, but there will be; it's probably needless to promote a very important milestone of the Monster Mash which is up for release in October, and which I pre-ordered a couple of months ago. Since the release is scheduled for October, I think it's safe to assume that the next Monster Mash will take place around Halloween. I'm aiming for the biggest one yet, and the most diverse one when it comes to different generations of gaming. I guess I'm jumping too far ahead, but I'd like to make less of these kinds of updates towards the end of the year, and write more reviews instead, so I might as well get this all out in the open now.

VGMania is slowly, but surely, returning to form, and I hope you'll enjoy what I've got in store for the remainder of 2012.