I try really hard to avoid fanboyism, or whatever you want to call it. So hard, that apparently I can write the most biased opinion piece ever.

However, there are a few places where it's become unavoidable for me. One of those is Max Payne. I adore the Max Payne games. I've played both of them almost as many times as I have fingers and toes. I love the gameplay, of course, but especially the story and characters.

When Game Informer's article came out this week, I just about started weeping. But not for the reasons I'd thought I would.

What the heck happened, Max?

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In so many ways, E3 this year was a return to form. The glitz, noise, and hype all came back, and so did the games.
There were a few surprises this year-—Project Natal and Metal Gear come to mind-—but that theme of a strong comeback filtered even into the games. There were a lot of titles this year that had been previously announced (and then stagnated) or even franchises that had fallen out with fans that gave the feeling that they were finding their legs again.

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A bit late in posting, but check it out.

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So many words in my head right now. Weird, boring, awkward, and long, to name a few. Having just liveblogged my way through Ubisoft's media briefing, I just need to talk about it. It was amazing. All 20 minutes of it. But what was with the other 100 minutes?

I was excited when I heard Joel McHale would be hosting. He's a funny comedian. I just didn't think he'd end up being one of the top 5 things at the show, even with his overuse of Ryan Seacrest jokes. The shortlist is really, really short: Assassin's Creed II, Red Steel 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Pele of course.

It seems, though, that Ubisoft forgot that E3 was supposed to be exciting again. The show was filled with suits and boasts about sales, and lots of games for the mainstream audience.

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TAKEHIKO INOUE YOU MADE ME CRY AGAIN. Keep up the good work.

When I started reading Real, I had some reservations. The main character, Kiyoharu Togawa, reminded me of Slam Dunk’s Rukawa – the cool-as-ice basketball ace—more than he did that book’s main character, the off-the-rails Hanamichi. I wasn’t sure how a book based around someone so detached could work.

That concern has waned with each volume. The shot at the end of volume 3—Kiyoharu the track star, under the blue sky—was a strikingly saddening image. Volume 4 continues to focus on his history, but now we’re seeing the boy grow up as he deals with the pain of his new condition.

Kiyoharu—seen here in his younger years—meets two people that change his life: Tora Yatsuta and Hitoshi Yamauchi. Hitoshi we’d already met; he’s the bedridden friend Kiyoharu visted in the last volume, and he bonds with the still shell-shocked teen over a plate of okonomiyaki. Learning about Hitoshi’s condition gives Kiyoharu a bit of perspective. Hitoshi’s condition isn’t curable with a simple amputation. As healthy as he may look now, he’s not likely to make it to 25 years old. Instead of staying miserable in bed, however, Hitoshi’s decided to live as fully as he can.

Check out the full review.

Musashi’s battle against the Yoshioka warriors in the last volume of Vagabond was one of the most epic, artful battles I’ve seen in a manga. His current battle isn’t quite as epic, but it’s just as important. Crippled and imprisoned, Musashi’s struggling inside himself once more. Is it time to put down the sword, or is there more left to do?

Officially imprisoned for, you know, killing seventy men, Musashi contemplates this question in a prison cell under a castle. His confinement there is mostly for his own protection. His reputation now precedes him more than ever, and every warrior knows that if they can best the man who killed seventy men, then they’ll be the man who killed the man who killed seventy men. Aside from potential challengers, the lords of the land are out in throngs to recruit that same man as an instructor, warrior, or even just to stand around if he’d be willing.

Check out the full review.

This week, the name of the game is Love. No, I'm serious. The game is actually called Love.

Love, right now, is mostly possibility; a sign of things to come or a flash of hope that fades out, we'll see in time. For now though, the potential is incredibly exciting.

Love is a one-man project being created by one-man team Eskil Steenberg. Called by Steenberg himself a "not-so-massively multiplayer," Love is a persistent world, Player-vs-Enemy, first-person game. You and 199 other denizens of the world of Love search for tokens that allow you to create and defend a settlement of your design, made by deforming the terrain live within the game. While you work to create your own space with your fellow settlers, you must also fight the AI of the world -- opposing settlements -- with their own defenses and resources.

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Reading Roger Ebert's review of 17 Again recently, I looked at the three-star rating at the top and thought, "Man, Ebert's really jumped the shark, huh?" Then I thought about again: I've been reading his reviews for years, and it's pretty rare that I disagree with the guy. He wouldn't have any positive words for a movie that didn't have any positive words. It made me think: Why do I read reviews? Why does anyone read reviews.

A friend of my compared a review to a letter from a friend abroad: If he had a good time there, he'll try to make you want to come check it out for yourself. If he got dysentery from the tapwater, he'll want you to know that too. In short, the writer is relaying his or her personal experience.

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I’ve added a new page along the left-hand side. “My Collected Works” will be a running list of all the writing I do away from this site, mostly through Anime AMN and Kombo.com. Of course you can always just use the search function further down the sidebar, but as long as I can keep the collected works page updated it ought to be a quicker way to keep track of what I’m spending my time with.

Game on! We're finally on the court! Well, at least Akagi and Rukawa are. Meanwhile, looking as frustrated as ever, Hanamichi watches from the sidelines.

Slam Dunk is rarely a slow manga or anime, but this volume throws us into the action right from the beginning, so you can immediately feel the tension on the court. Akagi and Uozomi meet again as centers, while Rukawa and Sendoh are just getting acquainted as they stare each other down for the first time. The other players on both teams are pretty much second-stringers, with the exception of Kogure.

Check out the full review.

There was a recent thread on our forums for members to discuss some of their most memorable gaming experiences. I started to think, as I wrote my post, that those experiences are one of the things I'm always seeking when I play a game.

This kind of experience, of course, isn't exclusive to games. It could be the opening line of a book, or the first notes of a song. For me, and I suspect anyone reading, games are where I find this. As I continue to play new games, I'm finding I'm more of a tourist and explorer than I am a completionist or athlete. I want to find a new experience, or a well made experience more than overcoming a challenge or completing a collection.

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