No more WoW, lots of other stuff

I have been even worse at updating this part of my site than I have been at updating the main page, despite the many games I play. My new aim is to update this page often with short posts, throwing in longer pieces when I have time. In short, I want it to be a lot more blog-like: “today I played this, beat this level, and think this quick thought about the whole thing.” It really will be a log of all my gaming, instead of a random place for me talk about gaming when I find the time.

The main reason that I want to start posting more in the glog is because of a momentous event that occurred today: I canceled my World of Warcraft account. I’ve been playing WoW pretty seriously for the last year, and decided that I really need to stop. I love the game, don’t get me wrong, and I wish I had been better with my glog over the past year so that I could have shared some good WoW stories with you. Recently, however, my love for the game has taken a bit of a hit. After a certain point, WoW can get really, really repetitive. I came close to realizing this once my main character hit 70 (the post-expansion level cap; the expansion came out in mid-January) and truly realized it when I was working on leveling up a second character. The game just doesn’t change much. You pretty much hit the same 2-3 buttons over and over again to kill shit, then you loot said shit, then you keep going. While most games can be reduced to this same basic formula, other games end. WoW never ever ends, and loses its luster after a year. I’m amazed that there are people who still play who started when the game first came out. They must have longer attention spans than I have.

I picked up a DS Lite the other day. I figured that since I am spending less money on WoW, that money should go towards something game-related. The second iteration of the DS platform is totally worth the investment. It’s far more comfortable to hold than the original DS, and since it’s a handheld gaming machine, this is a pretty important quality. I’m less impressed with the brighter screen. This isn’t to say that I don’t like the screens (they’re great), I just don’t see a huge difference between the Lite and the original DS in this area. Regardless, the compact form factor and lighter weight make it a must for anyone playing more than a couple of hours of DS gaming a week.

With my new DS in hand, I started playing New Super Mario Bros. It’s a simple platformer, with throwbacks to all the older games in the series. It’s as fun as the first and third, with better graphics akin to those in Super Mario World, and has plenty to do to keep the player busy even after one completes the main adventure. I’m currently working my way through the game after winning to collect coins. I’ve cleared Worlds 1-6 completely, and am working on 7. I only recently opened World 7 (it’s not immediately available; it has a secret entrance) so it’ll be a while still before I rape it for all its coins. Then there’s only World 8 coins keeping me from that illustrious second star next to my game on the title screen.