Good Haul this Year

Hey everyone,

I hope the holidays are going well. I was gone for a while for christmas, sorry for the lapse in posting.

I've got a couple of new games to try out now, thanks to christmas (and my family and friends). I got F-Zero GX, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, all for GameCube. I've already played F-Zero a few times, it looks like a pretty good rendition of the series for the GC. I was a big fan of the 64 version, especially the Death Mode. As for the new version, multi-player was a blast the few times I played, but I've been told that it gets old too fast. We'll see if it has similar replay value to my beloved Mario Kart :) I have heard, though, that the single-player campaign is far more in-depth and challenging than in most racing games. I'm looking forward to the challenge, as well as hours of competition against my friends at college.

As far as the Mortal Kombat game, I know it isn't supposed to be the best in the series. I got a chance to interview a semi-professional gamer who specializes in 2D fighting games, and he said that none of the newer Mortal Kombat's have been anywhere near as good as the classics. But still, I have never owned a Mortal Kombat game before, so I think it's worth it just to get introduced to the series. I asked for the Metal Gear Solid game for similar reasons. MGS is such a famous series, but I haven't had the chance to play one of their games before, so I'll be getting a taste this way. Who knows, maybe it will inspire me to get a PS3?

I also got a new computer game this year, Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth. Fans of the series will recognize that this is the older version, but I wanted to start from the beginning. I am a big fan of RTS games (as evident by earlier Red Alert 2 post) and the idea of a LotR RTS makes me drool. I think you'll be hearing plenty about this one in the future.

I've got a the new toys, let's see if I have the time to use 'em. Working on internship applications and writing a book series takes a lot of time out of your schedule.

Oh, and feel free to let me know what you got for christmas/holidays. I'm interested to know what people are buying these days, with so many new systems and so many good games, both for the new generation and the old. It'd be nice to know what people have been getting, and what is and isn't good.

~ Lady ~

Updates

Hey guys,

I just figured out a way to create multiple pages through Blogspot. It may not be the easiest site for a multi-page site, but it'll work for now. Perhaps I'll upgrade to a more complex site by later on in the break... but for now I'll focus on some content. Feel free to look around and check out the new "sections," if you notice anything wrong or have any suggestions, shoot.

I am also editing the "about me" section so it isn't one long bulk of text. I'm removing some of the information to create other text boxes below the main "about me" section, that should break up the blockiness and make things more readable.

Posts may be slow for the next few days, as I'll be at my grandparents' for Christmas, but I'll drop in now and again.

~ Lady ~

Red Alert 2

I just finished re-playing the Allied mission campaign on this game, it never gets old. It's like a fine wine that only gets better as the years pass.

What is it about this game that makes it so fun, so addicting, so good to replay again and again? Let's think...

• Well it has an awesome soundtrack for one, a great combination of machine sounds and rock music to get you pumped up no matter what the level.
  
• The satisfaction of building a massive strike force (shock and awe baby!) never gets old. Who can get bored while watching their 50 3-star veteran soldiers unload with their heavy machine guns, or while sending in four squadrons of planes to wipe out all of the enemy's production power in one fell swoop?
  
• The strategy, of course, is a big part of it. Position your Mirage Tanks to take out incoming infantry waves, Chronosphere a couple of veteran Prism Tanks behind enemy lines to wreak havoc, or fly some engineers in a Blackhack Chopper to take control of the enemies Nuclear Reactor on the hill.

• Finally, it has very different levels with different types of units and strategies needed to beat each level. And most importantly the levels are HARD! The SEALs level really tests your finger-speed, reactions and strategy. The two island and water levels require a deep understanding of the units and their strengths and weaknesses. And don't even get me started on the final mission, where you must take out the Kremlin and the black Soviet forces. They took out my construction yard and all of my power plants, but I STILL managed to take them down. And with a dramatic flair, I might add.

Truly a satisfying game, again and again.

Sorry there haven't been any updates on the site structure today, with Christmas shopping and hanging out with my family I wasn't on as much. Granted, Red Alert also took some time. But I had wanted to play it since I finished my finals, and I'm on break, so it was a good time to replay the good old missions.

Stay tuned later this week for some more good posts and some site updates.

~ Lady ~

GameLady Launch!

Welcome to my brand-new blog, GameLady.com!

This site is dedicated to the fastest-growing form of entertainment in America, video and computer gaming. The main part of the site will be a blog, where I'll post my thoughts, experiences and updates on the gaming industry and community. I plan, however, to make this site much more than just a blog.

Over the next few weeks I will be working to add other components to the site, including:

• A section for Game Reviews. I will be posting a catelog of reviews for the titles that I currently own; I will also be adding new reviews as I get my hands on new material. I plan to include screenshots for each game reviewed, as well as links to the game's official site.
  

• A News section where I can report on the latest important (or cool) developments in the gaming industry and community. Depending on how much time I have to re-write my own synopses of events, I may include side-bars from other sites with news reels.
  

• An Articles section where I will upload all of the Gaming Journalism stories I have done. As a journalism major who is primarily interested in gaming journalism, I have already started to build a portfolio of gaming stories. These will be more polished than some other material on the site, and will also make full use of outside sources.
  

• A Screenshots and Pictures section for visuals from my own gaming experiences and others. I am hoping to set up a system which with our guests can submit articles, comments or screenshots to me for consideration to be included on the site.
  

• A forum or comment section so that our readers and guests may become involved on the site.
  

• Links to other sites, including commentary sites like mine and actual official sites.
  

This is my first personal blog, so there will be a lot of changes and updates during the first few weeks. Stay tuned to check out what features, graphics and posts are added. All questions and suggestions are welcome, so if you get the itch send me an e-mail. Thanks for visiting the site!

~ Lady ~