Just a couple months ago, at the very beginning of April, I was unknowingly about to face one of the biggest challenges of my life. My wife had a miscarriage. I stayed off of GameSpot, as I sat by my wife's side for a month as we tried to recover from such a loss. Afterwards I became very depressed, sometimes burrowing myself in work to keep busy, and keep from thinking about my poor, unborn child. At the worst point after the miscarriage I was worried we'd be one of those couples that would get a divorce because we were just too sad everytime we looked at each other. But, somehow, our marriage only became stronger. Now I've recovered and my wife is once again pregnant. I am leaving GameSpot, because even though the miscarriage was completely unrelated, I feel like I'll have to be there for my wife and child no matter what, and I can't let video games eat up my time (not that it was ever an issue with my wife in the past, but I didn't want it to become one).

I have a larger thread in Robbie's Fortress of Evil, my main UCB, thanking all of the people who make GameSpot great to me. But for those who don't post there I'd like to give a shout-out to Xanthio, Shleco, CanadianEh, DireRaven, MayorJohnny, and a slew of others who made this such a great place. If you're on my friends list then I'd like to thank you. Even if you aren't, I'm sure you helped make this experience better for me.

Bye guys 'n gals. It's been fun.

After all your rants, ravings and clever words (Heh. Smorgasbord.) I succumbed and got Pac-Pix!

...Wait, why am I mad?

This game rules! Now I see why you were so nutso about it. It's a ton of fun. It isn't the most content-filled game by any means but the novelty of the gameplay is fantastic and it remains consistently fun, at least for as long as I've played it. It's one of the best Pac-Man games since Pac-Man, I'd wager, simply because it once again focuses on a neat, new concept and executes it well.

Now I just have to wait for Kirby and I'll be in DS heaven.

Well, my printer broke. I was actually kind of glad when it did, because it gave me a reason to ditch the ol' Canon Bubblejet to get a new one. So I headed up to FutureShop (more-or-less the Canadian equivalent to Best Buy) to get a new one. After a little bit of looking I decided I'd hold out because apparently some sale or price drop or something is happening soon, and I don't really need it working immediately. So I was about to walk out when the video game section caught my eye. Guess what happens next!!!

As a couple of you might know, my stance of handhelds has always been kind of negative. I'm positive when it comes to embracing them both; I love the fact that Nintendo no longer has a monopoly in the handheld sector to encourage competitive pricing, etc. However I can't say I'm always jumping up and down when it came to these two in particular: the DS and the PSP. I like the idea of the dual screen and touch screen, but the game selection was looking pretty mediocre. The PSP was the exact opposite. It didn't have as many gaming features as the DS (I'm not at all interested in the UMD idea, and I already have an MP3 player) and it seemed like a portable console. That's not necessarily a bad thing to some, but I prefer portable games to be more straight-up fun, like puzzlers, racers, or a few light action/adventure games as opposed to an intense RPG (though some I just can't resist). In other words, I simply want a different experience from a portable system. So for the $200.00 price tag on the DS, and the $300.00 price tag on the PSP, they didn't seem worth my while.

Then came E3.

I think that many people can agree that the DS at E3 RULED!!!!!! OMFGTTX!!!! ( ) It had so many amazing games to show, the online plan has gotten much fanfare and there's no denying the cuteness of those puppies. The PSP was also good, except it's suffering somewhat from the DS syndrome. The PSP did have a great launch. Twisted Metal, Lumines, Ridge Racer and Wipeout Pure are all pretty great games, but here comes the drought. I see very few games that interest me enough to warrant a $59.99 purchase. Anyways, back to my story...

So the gaming section caught my eye. You know I'm just browsing, maybe wondering if I should get a few games, or a controller or something. Then there's the little portable area. The PSP was made up entirely of sports and racing games (no Lumines, tisk tisk) and I saw the DS. It was like a glowing aura, calling my name. (We share initials. Coincidence, I think not.) So, I bought it! And I gotta say, I love it!!! I got Yoshi T&G, and it's amazing. I think GameSpot looked at it the wrong way. It's a game about getting high scores and competing with yourself (unless you're playing multiplayer) instead of an epic Mario-esque platforming adventure (not that Mario games are epic, but you know what I mean). So yeah, that game is fantastic! Then there's the Metroid demo which is fun, but I haven't spent much time with it yet. Everything, from the bright screen to the Menu set-up to the sound, is phenomenal and the touch-screen is much more responsive than I anticipated when playing games like Yoshi.

I might put up a review later. Speaking of which, I wrote two more reviews, one for Star Fox: Assault and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Have a read if you'd like.

Some really serious personal issues have come up recently, which I won't really want to discuss for a while. I won't be posting at all in the next little while, probably for at least a month, and after that I don't expect to be too active. Maybe just a few stops in the Fortress, and an occasional visit to the VU, but I won't be around here much at all. I do have a great time with a lot of you, so I want to come back, but I won't be able to for a while. I might post in my journal now and again though to keep you guys, my friends, posted on my situation.

Bye, you guys have been great!