I think I have ADD

Either that or I have a routine of starting something and never ending it. Unfortunately for me, it seems like it is going to be much more of the latter.

So, I was all gung-ho for Wii Fit and the board and all it that was good and great with what I could do with it. And then I downloaded this.

Now, for those of you who know me, and you should if you are reading this since we don't really have any readers other than those who write on this blog, I'm a big fan of web comics. Mostly video game based but there are a few others out there that I enjoy greatly that have little to nothing to do with video games. Penny Arcade is by far a staple of any video-game-related-web-comic reader.

When Gabe and Tycho, the two main characters of Penny Arcade (and alter egos of the writers), announced a while ago they would be creating their very own video game and releasing it to the public their audience waited with drool coming from their mouths. I didn't really think much of it when it was first announced other than "Great, another video game I'll have to the list of games I need to play." Don't get me wrong, I was excited for this momentus occassion, just not as excited by the announcement so much as the actual release.

And then the game was released. Last week, in fact. The same time Wii Fit was released and when I had an incident in the family which turned into a family gathering. I really was excited about the release of the Penny Arcade game, but didn't find time last week to actually purchase and download it with the family visiting and other things going on. I was genuinely more excited about the Wii Fit release but the fact that I actually had to go to a store and pick up a piece of hardware was the girth of the excitement. Who doesn't like picking up a new toy from the store after pre-ordering and waiting what seems like FOR-EV-AR. So Wii Fit took precedence over the Penny Arcade game.

Tuesday night I found myself sitting in my room watching reruns of shows that I had seen about a million times. With the family gone and a day to go before the next game in the Pens/Wings series I found myself extremely bored. With my dad using the big screen downstairs where the Wii is currently located and my laziness in full swing I decided against moving the Wii back up to my room (and the hassle of hooking it up) and opted to turn on my xBox 360 for the first time in a long time (Well, that's a lie. My little cousing was playing Guitar Hero 3 last week but I don't count that since it wasn't quality gaming time for me). I went to the download screen to see what was available and was blasted with ads for the Penny Arcade game. After that subtle reminder my excitement for the game grew. I went straight to the download page, bought it, and watched the download bar with anticipation.

I dove right into the game creating a character that looks as close to myself as the minimal options the game gave me. In all actuality, the in game me looks a lot like myself. The narration and writing is what you would expect from the guys at PA including sarcasm, tons of humor, and a bit of sailor's mouth. The cell-shading style fits in perfectly with the art style they use in their comic and the areas look beautiful. The game play is a little odd at first and sometimes the camera isn't the best (I found myself walking up and down streets a couple times just to make sure I found everything I could inspect, but I'm one of those guys who likes to search every nook and cranny). The fighting system takes a little bit to get used (I'm still working on it, even after logging a couple hours Wednesday) and can get a little hectic sometimes when you're trying to setup your attacks and blocking enemy attacks at the same time.

As it seems, I've gotten sucked into another game. My plan right now is to finish this ASAP so I can get back to the backlog of games I have not completed (if even started, poor Assassin's Creed). Since this is only an xBox Live Arcade game it can't be THAT long so I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or so. At the same time I'm hoping to get into a routine with Wii Fit. Ideally I would do my daily test every morning before work and maybe one or two workouts or games but at this point in time I need to work on getting up early enough that I get to work on time. I might have to settle for a post dinner or pre-bed timeframe for now. We shall see what develops.

-Michael

Currently Playing: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1
Currently Anticipating: Cigar Social after work and Lost season finale tonight

Introducing the Video Game tag. I'm surprised we didn't already have this tag.