The Finish Line too far

( For Avngd2456 and John)

For me games always came in hands full. Normally at one time I have about five games on the go at once, but for me, one game I always wanted to 100% but never found the time to was probably Oblivion. I love that game to death and while others may not feel the same way... "If you didn't like Oblivion, you're probably not going to to like this next one, cause it's Oblivion." (Locke Downe, PS3 Collection video) ... it's still probably my favorite game on the platform aside from Fallout 3 and Final Fantasy. I also want to finish Uncharted as well so I can get started on the second one.

As for John's question, no I do not own Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks yet but I do want it more than anything and Assassin's Creed II was amazing, I'm really glad I picked it up. Modern Warfare was also a very very enjoyable experience and are two of the few games I actually managed to complete this year.

- Locke Downe.

New Year, New Look

In starting off the new year it's about time things change. So all around me I'm making changes. In my personal life I'm trying to start saving money, eating healthier (that won't be hard cause I work too much to eat), start playing all the games I own and make more videos for Youtube. You see my goal is to be moved out by August or September. With all these changes I decided to change the look of the blog around, at least for now, but just because it looks different does not mean the content will change. Keep on posting questions and comments and I'll try to get to them as soon as possible. Until next time, everyone have a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

- Locke Downe

Christmas

My Christmas holiday was all over the place, with so many ups and downs and almost everything you could imagine. Right now as I'm writing this, I'm submitting my second part of the christmas video up which you should all check out as soon as possible because it's probably going to be a limited time thing (People will probably tell me to take it down.) However, there's nothing stopping me from telling you about my Christmas here.

Christmas for me this year was substantially better than last year. Last year, my girlfriend had broken up with me, I got a small assortment of gifts consisting of shaving cream and a few other nic-nacs and family just didn't feel like family, but this year all that's changed. This year I was very fortunate actually, even at the moments where I just wanted to rip my hair out.

My parents got me a whole arsenal of drawing supplies (Something that was on my to-do-list a while back that I never checked off) and a very nice modern sketching table to draw on. So now, drawing should be no problem. The only hassle of it all was that I had to re-arrange my room while caused a little bit of tension around the house. However, everything worked out and now everything's fine.


Steph and Becky (My two favorite girls in the world) got me the most wonderful gifts any gamer could ask for. Becky got me Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on the Wii and it was utterly amazing. I love that game so much and I was thrilled she got it for me! (Thank you Becky), and my wonderful girlfriend Steph got me two very amazing things. The first was Lunar 2: Complete for the PS1. When I saw this I couldn't believe it. This was something I didn't even think existed in Moncton, but Gamezilla had, and she got me it. I swear it was like over $119.99. It was amazing!!! The second thing she got me was Cloud and Fenrir from Advent Children. A 16:9 figurine. A figurine I wanted for over 3 years.


For Steph this year I ended up getting her, her very own Peavy Raptor Electric Guitar. I polished it up and fixed the strings myself. It's an absolutely beautiful guitar (you can see it below) and she was utterly thrilled to get it!

In the space I have left to write there's a couple people I want to thank this Christmas. First off, my buddies Joshua Alexander and Ryan Wilson. Thanks to you guys (and a little from Dimitri) I was able to get Infamous (PS3) for only $3.00. So thank you guys. I wanted to thank my mother for the wonderful card, my Grandmother for her amazing Christmas card and assortment of chocolate. Steph and Becky for everything you guys got me, you really didn't need to get me any of that. I was honest when I said that seeing you two was the only thing I wanted for Christmas. I also wanted to thank all my friends for the time we all spend together and having shared all those wonderful memories over the years. My fans for reading these blogs and watching my videos (and commenting). It really means a lot to me, but most of all I wanted to thank both my Dad and Pam for everything they did this Christmas and for putting up with everything they've been through. It all really means a lot to me and I'm glad to be a part of this family. So to everyone. Thank you and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Please Enjoy The Christmas Highlights Below:






Thank you all for reading, please feel free to comment and let me know how all your Christmases were. Have a Merry Christmas.

A Quick Response Before Xmas

Well unfortunately it's Christmas time which means I'm short on time but hey, I'll answer your questions anyway as quickly as I can here. After Christmas though I might revisit them and answer them more thoroughly but hey, I didn't expect more than one question a day. Actually, I didn't expect any... Who started this trend? Oh well, I don't mind

Answer to Steven's Question:
Well I get asked this question a lot. Maybe not as specific as yours where you asked about a collector's edition of a GAME, but for the whole "what's the best collector's item" question, just read my last post. As for a game I believe the best one I have is Growlanser Genrations for the PS2. The collector's edition includes a watch, a ring necklace, the game, soundtrack, deck of cards and a whole bunch of other stuff. I love it! Here's a pic:



Answer to Amber's Question:
So writing's been a part of my life since I was in about grade 6. I loved the though of being able to create my own world, my own characters. Something I could take credit for and really show the world how I feel about certain things. What always inspired me to write most, was other people. Their reaction or comments. Kinda like writing these blogs and making Youtube videos, I love seeing what people have to say, but for me, it's mainly just music, a vision and a twist, and by twist I mean like M. Night Shamalon's (however you spell it) kinda twist. I love reading a good story and I love being able to create. That's what inspires me.

So sorry I ran out of time, but I need to go. There's still things I need to finish up before Xmas, but make sure to check out my Christmas Special on Youtube (Coming Soon). Merry Christmas and have a good (day/night/evening). :)

-Locke Downe

The Best of the Best

QUESTION:
Sam: the best thing youve ever added into your collection?

Lately a lot of people keep on asking me these questions that feel almost impossible to answer, and I love it. I love answering these hard (yet open) questions, so keep them coming. My collection is a rather large one. Filled with not only games but all sorts of stuff. When I was young I used to collect pokemon cards and Pogs. Later on (more recently), Guitars and Blu-ray movies. I still collect almost anything still to this date provided that it peeks my interest.

When I was asked this question I decided to take a look around my room and really decided full out what is the best thing I've ever added to my collection. So instead of choosing just one thing, I figured I'd do a top five just to build suspense!

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TOP 5 BEST THINGS IN MY COLLECTION

#5: Knights of the Round PLAY ARTS FIGURINE (FF7)

Of coarse everyone knew the mass majority of things on this list would be figures, but I chose this one imparticular because to me it's unique. Not only it is well articulated, but there's THIRTEEN knights on it! THIRTEEN!!! That's just amazing to me. More so, the reason I chose this one to be number five was because when I bought it at Gamezilla, it was the only one there and since has been the only one I've ever seen. Making it quite rare, but not only that The Knights of Round are from one of my favorite games of all time, and that just goes without saying.
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#4: Resident Evil 4: Chainsaw Controller for Gamecube


Resident Evil itself is an amazing game, but the controller makes it way on my list because of it's unique-ness to the gaming industry. How many games do you know of have a controller based off an item in the game? That's right. Plus the bloodsplatter on every single chainsaw is suppose to be unique. That is just awesome. I absolutely love Resident Evil 4 and I love my chainsaw controller. Who wouldn't? If you can still find one of these, pick it up! Oh yea, I should also mention there's another version available for the PS2.

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#3 All of my Video Games

How could this NOT be on the list. Really? Sure it's more than one item, but it's the items I built most of my collection around! I have some games that are really rare too, like Final Fantasy VII, Guilty Gear (PS1) and Digimon World. I absolutely love my games. Every single one of them and I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. Out of my entire collection, games definitely took the most of my money too, but that's okay, because I love each and every one of them.


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#2 Fierce Deity Figurine


I love this thing so much. I always loved Zelda growing up. Link was my hero. He technically still is, but as I grew older, the definition of cool kinda changed with it. Now Link is still cool. He always will be, but Fierce Deity defined cool. Huge ass sword, White hair, Armor, magical abilities, Bad Ass Attitude and everything! He was just awesome. Even the dialogue leading up to getting the mask that transforms you into him was epic! Fierce Deity is just friggin awesome and when I saw this figurine, I just had to have it. My Ex-Girlfriend Ashley Gallant paid almost a 100.00 $ canadian, plus my other friends all put 80.00 on it so I could get it. It was expensive, rare and I love it! Thank you all.
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#1 Lilith (Gibson Les Paul 2009 Traditional)

I know for Number one I'm suppose to give this big long speech about how amazing it is, and well it's true. It is amazing. However, unfortunately right now I don't have time to write a novel about it. I got Lily for graduating. I paid close to $3,000.00 for her and I don't regret a cent. I always wanted a vintage guitar. Even more so ever since watching BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. Lily was something I felt I deserved for putting up with everything that's happened over the last 19 years. Lily was my trophy and I love her very much. I hope that one day I'll be able to give Lily to my child upon graduation, and hopefully it'll mean as much to them as it did to me.




- Locke Downe.

Please make sure to leave comments and tell me what's the best thing in your collection! Thanks Sam for the question.

Favorite Console of All Time

(for Ahmed)

Video games have been my life. Like I said, it's what I do. To choose today, one console to classify as my favorite would be a very hard choice, but I would have to say it's my 60 Gig PS3. Here's why. I loved the PS1 and the PS2. Every single game, every single memory. Out of my collections my PS2 collection is my biggest and my PS1 is my favorite. I love being able to play all of them with just one console. I love being able to watch Blu-ray movies in high def. I love downloading old favorites that I can't find in stores anymore! I love playing online with my friends FOR FREE! I love having controllers with no wires that I don't have to buy batteries for! I love every single thing about my PS3. From the way it plays music to the way I surf the internet, How I view my photos and all the games that are both exclusive and multi-platform. The Playstation 3 allows me to do everything I want, everything I need and re-live all sorts of classic memories... Now only if it could get Zelda.

- Locke Downe

(Sorry I know this blog was short but I wasn't really sure what else to say, not to mention I'm not feeling too good. So sorry, expect a longer one next time, and thanks for the question. )

Fondest Memory

(For Jess)

Now that's a hard one. When it comes to gaming you would almost have to go back and span my whole life to figure out exactly what moment was the most fond. All my life I've been gaming, since I was at least four. I remember growing up (5 - 8) me and my old best friend Shawn (Gauvin) would play games like Goldeneye and Rush and pretend we were two undercover agents going to save the girls of our dreams. Back then I remember I played games cause of the pure imagination of them. I never used to buy a game for the story or characters or anything. I used to buy it for the amount of time I would get out of playing it! I must have clocked at least 200+ hours into Ocarina of Time pretending to be Link. That was a long time ago though and now at days I don't really play games as much.




A little while back I was talking to Steph (my girlfriend) about how gaming has changed for me since then. I told her that some of my fondest memories were going to Blockbuster and renting a game then playing all weekend every weekend, even long after they were beat. I would just play it and play it using my imagination. I realized that when you use your imagination games have unlimited re-playability and that was what made them so worth playing.



For me I have a million memories for gaming. Playing online with my friends. I remember this one time in Resistance: Fall of Man I was playing with Jeremy, Saku, Mindfreak and Alex and everything was quiet. No one said a single word, then all of sudden Jeremy screams: "Would you guys SHUT THE F**K UP!?"... Everyone was puzzled and then Saku was like "What?" and Jeremy was like "Not you, my mom. Her and my sister are being ret@rded!" Then you could hear Jeremy's Mom in the background it went a little like this:

Jeremy's Mom: "What are you doing down there!?"

Jeremy: "Playing online!"

- Awkward silence for about 10 seconds

Jeremy's Mom: "...Do you think you're cool!?"

We all just bursted out laughing. It was such a good time, but every time with us was always a good time and I guess that's why it's so hard to choose. I mean like I said before, I remember playing Majora's Mask growing up and my dad was outside building me a snow fort to surprise me. I remember that and I really cherish it. I also remember clocking in at least 100+ hours into Oblivion and Fallout 3. Those games could always make me smile, there was NOT a SINGLE MISSION I DIDN'T LIKE!!! I love those games so much. I also remember going through Metal Gear Solid 2:Substance's VR Missions 100.00%. It took me and Jeremy four full sleep overs and over 40+ hours of gameplay to beat that! I remember finally beating Ruby weapon in Final Fantasy VII. Jeremy thought I was God for doing it. lol. I remember so much and it would be almost impossible to just choose one thing.

One thing I can tell you though is honestly, I don't like what gaming's become. I remember going out and buying Gamepro or something like that and reading about games and all that and back then there was no "expectations" or anything like that. Games were games and no matter how bad they sucked we saw it through. I don't know, maybe that's just me but it seems like now at days everyone's trying to be "revolutionary" and if you ask me, you don't have to be. Look New Super Mario Bros Wii went back to basics and everyone loves it. So if you ask me gaming's gotta slow down and allow gamers to enjoy the ride, cause up to now my ride's been one hell of a trip. I would hate for anyone else to just zoom on by. So take the time to enjoy your games like I have and hopefully you'll all be able to appreciate your games as much as I do. Thanks Jess for the question and I hope that this was a good enough response. Until next time.

- Locke Downe

Gamer Spotlight (# 1)

I've been on Youtube for almost one full year now and I have to say a lot's changed. Ben Kline (Uberpwner930) has left, PeteDorr's down to about one video a month and Tatsplat disappeared off the face of the earth! However one thing that has not changed is the production and quality of Cory Ellis' videos from his amazing channel: The Playstation Place.

Known to many as Sarynthra, almost all of his videos are always informative, straight-to-the-point and entertaining to watch. I'll admit, there's more than a hundred videos out there that I'd click, start watching and get bored half-way through, but with Sarynthra that's not the case. I find myself always interested in hearing what he has to say all the way to the end, and even though I know every video will give a nod to Infamous (just kidding!) I'm still more than pleased to hear it. Maybe this is because I find he's a lot like me in more ways than one or maybe it's the fact that I love his hair, I don't know. Either way, Sarynthra does what Youtube was meant to do and that's entertain and out of the gaming community he's one of the best.

In the beginning of my Youtube career, the gaming community was quite grand. Consisting of at least 10 major game channels, 50 newer more un-heard of gaming channels and hundreds upon thousands of subscribers. A lot's changed since I first started and while I feel like I've remained the same (mostly) I'm really sad to say that I find others haven't. With at least one exception: Sarynthra. Ever since his first video he's maintained that same spark that kept me interested since the start and that's something I salute him for. He never changed his ways cause someone told him it's cooler to be like this or that. He's a guy that knows what he likes and manages to keep it unique.

Sarynthra's channel is called: "THE PLAYSTATION PLACE" - and like the title describes it focuses heavily around Sony's beast: The Playstation. He has a handful of game collection videos and more than a handful of videos based around a variety of different things to keep almost anyone entertained.


His all time favorite game on the Playstation 3 is Infamous (The first game he platinum-ed). A game developed by Sucker-Punch exclusively for the Playstation 3. While I've never met Sarynthra in person I can only assume he's the kind of guy that enjoys Sandbox games like: Grand Theft Auto or Assassin's Creed II. He mentioned in one of his later videos that he found Grand Theft Auto IV to be one of his favorite titles and while I find it AMAZING that he could complete GTA: Vice City almost 4 times incredible, I still think he should find some time to try and play a lot of the games he's collected.

Over-all as a person Sarynthra's a great guy and a worthy sub on youtube. I hope to get to know him more in the near future whether it be on Youtube, MSN, PSN or Facebook. So Sarynthra keep on gaming, and until next time. He's Sarynthra and that's the Playstation Place!

THE PLAYSTATION PLACE: CLICK HERE

- Locke Downe

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LockeTalks

Based on your guys' opinions I decided to go along with the idea of creating a second channel. So the channel is up, however I've yet to post an actual Vlog. I have many ideas for many things I want to talk about and exactly how I want to say it. I can assure you it will be a little different than my normal videos which is the reason for creating it on a second channel, however I insure the same amount of quality and respect towards others. That will always remain the same. So thank you all for your opinions and I hope you guys all subscribe. Videos will be up in a couple weeks and I hope to see you all commenting. A link is below.

Link: LockeTalks

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I was wondering your opinion...

Hey guys. I was wondering your opinion on something. I was thinking about starting up another Youtube channel, probably called LockeTalks or something like that where I would pretty much just talk one on one about things happening in both the gaming world and the real world. I would try to make it entertaining while voicing my opinions at the same time. The reason I thought about doing this was cause my blog is actually enjoyed by many of my viewers so I figured this would be another way of sharing my opinions and stuff with you guys, but I'm only going to do it if you guys would watch it, otherwise it would be pointless. Also, this way it allows my original channel to be more for Reviews, Collections and other awesome stuff without so much chit chat. So let me know what you think, and here's the guy that kinda inspired me to do it. Flufee. So let me know in the comments okay.

Flufee


Fluffee Talks: http://www.youtube.com/user/FLuffeeTalks

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii) Review

Silent Hill has scared millions over the years with over six installments and tons of gore that it's trip to the Wii console has been nothing but sketchy. However, since playing this masterpiece from Konami I know now, Silent Hill feels right at home on the Wii.

Now for some reason something I've noticed over the years is that survival horror games seem to always play better on Nintendo consoles. I mean just look. Resident Evil on Gamecube, Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube, Resident Evil 4 on the Wii and so on. There's just something about Nintendo that makes these games enjoyable and easy to play, even if it's on the Wii. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a re-directed look at the first Silent Hill game designed customarily for the Wii. It's pretty much one of those games that says "Hey! Let's take the story of the first one (kinda) and completely change it." It's almost as if they re-thought the original Silent Hill, and I wouldn't have it any other way.


Controls and Gameplay - Controls are smooth, for the most part. When walking around town and exploring the city Harry's movements feel natural and well mapped to the Wii controls. The flashlight feels real although quite delicate. The puzzles are great for the Wii's style of exploration and manipulation and I love the feeling of having to shake off enemies.... if only it worked. That's my biggest pet-peeve about this game. When you're caught in one of the "Nightmare" sequences and you get caught up with 2 or more enemies it's almost impossible to shake them off, and it's nothing of difficulty. It's the controls. They're non-responsive. For some reason I can shake off the guys in front and in back but left and right just doesn't want to work. Out of the controls though, Shaking off enemies is my only complaint. The phone is also decently easy to navigate but I would have loved the ability to run with it out so you could use your handy GPS without switching back and forth.

Story and Innovation - The story follows Harry Mason, the original main character from Silent Hill on the Playstation 1. The story is pretty much a re-creation of what the original Silent Hill could have been. The story starts off with you talking to a therapist about things that happened in your life, and when I say your life, I literally mean you. This has nothing to do with Harry, nor do we even know if it is in fact Harry there. The therapist will ask you to either answer some questions or do some small riddles and figure out somethings. Based on what you choose will alter the game. Aside from that aspect the story is simple. After a car crash Harry (A writer) has lost his daughter Sheryl (or something like that) and now he's venturing through Silent Hill. Characters like Cybil Bennit return from the original and make an outstanding performance. Now during the game at some points you'll enter a phase known as "the Nightmare" during this point the world gets covered in Ice and you're forced to run to safety as creatures chase you down. There's NO COMBAT in this game at all, all you can do is run, and personally I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the sense of fear that builds up as you flea from your enemies. It's engrossing and pulls you directly into the action.

Graphics - As far as graphics go, the Wii is only capable of so much, and aside from the occasional pop-ins the game does a PHENOMINAL job at it. The graphics are smooth, atmospheric and really really well detailed. Lighting is done amazingly and the snow and ice effects are crazy! I love the graphics especially for a Wii title.

Sound - The sound track is done by the same mastermind who composed all the music for previous Silent Hills and is done fantastically. I love how every time Harry gets a phone call, you have to put the Wii mote up to your ear to listen to the call. The screeching of enemies is also bone chilling and extremely well done. Every sound you hear completely sets the mood and does it well too.

So overall if you own a Wii and are looking for a game worth purchasing this holiday season I wouldn't wait any longer to pick up Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on the Nintendo Wii. This is truly one nightmare you won't forget!

Controls and Gameplay - 8.5 (Konami! fix shaking them off!!!)
Story and Innovation - 9.8 (I love the therapy sessions, well done!)
Graphics - 9.2 (Very good Lighting, feels realistic!)
Sound - 9.9 (Almost perfect!!! Keep it up!)

OVERALL - 9.6

"This game is a must have for Wii Owners!" - Locke Downe

Why I'm opposed to the 360

(for Rory, once more)

Let me first start off by saying by no standard AT ALL, do I hate the 360. I think it's online play is great, it's look is clean and slick and over-all it has a lot of great support from third party developers, but for me that's where the praise ends.

I think most of my opposition comes from Fanboys saying it's better than the PS3 when (to me) the facts clearly show that it's not. I mean I'm going to make a list of PS3 pros and cons and 360 pros and cons and maybe that will help you understand why I'm more opposed to 360.

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Playstation 3 Pros
- (60, 20 and early 80 Gig) Plays all PS2 and PS1 Games
- (60, 20 and early 80 Gig) Card readers for every type of Memory Card
- USB ports easily accessible on the front
- Wireless Controllers with Motion Sensors that charge from the system
- Blu Ray Player
- Great Operating System (XMB)
- Built-in Wireless Internet Connection
- Free Online Gaming (which is just as good as Xbox Live I have both!)
- Amazing Game Library (as of 2009)
- Playstation Home
- PSP Connectivity
- Normally ends up getting 360 exclusives about a year later BUT with added content.
- Playstation Network
- Playstation Network Trophies (Somehow makes you feel more accomplished than Gamerpoints)
- Exclusive Titles like: Uncharted, Infamous, Demon Souls, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and many more.
- The Motion Controller demoed at E3
- 8 Cell core Processor (Only uses 7, the eighth is just incase! )

Playstation 3 Cons
- Later Models did not support backwards compatibility
- No card readers on later models
- Intial install can take up too much space on the HDD
- Original controllers did not have Dualshock support
- Not many updates for the OS

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Xbox 360 Pros
- Great Operating System
- Fantastic Game Library (Since the beginning)/ Good 3rd party support
- Good exclusives like: Halo, Left 4 Dead, Gears, etc. (None of which interest me)
- Decent amount of updates
- Plays the majority of Xbox titles
- Project Natal

Xbox 360 Cons
- Red ring of death
- If you touch the system while it's on (or not) your disk will get scratched HORRIBLY!
- You have to pay money to play online (Almost as much as the price of a FULL GAME on the PS3 which you can play online for free!)
- No Blu Ray player
- Controllers demand batteries or else you have to go out and buy battery packs (Microsoft demands your money!)
- No built in wireless internet (Once again Mr.Gates gets your money!)
- Flimsy disk tray normally leading to fault #2
- Games are only on DVD sometimes resulting in games that span 4 disks or just can't keep up.
- Horrible customer service (1-800-4MY-XBOX)
- 35% failure rate out of the box
- Some people paid for the HD DVD port which totally bombed!
- Single Core Processor

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So yeah, for me that's why I prefer the PS3. The hardware itself is just so precious and valuable that it's amazing Sony can sell it for the price they do. Did you know that with every console Sony puts out, THEY LOSE MONEY! That's right. They let us have it for LESS than what we SHOULD be paying for the technology, but not with Microsoft. They make you pay twice the amount for recycled technology like DVD's and single core processors. If Microsoft wasn't such a penny pincher to the customers and throwing money to all the 3rd party consumers I wouldn't have a problem with them, I just don't like how they do that to people. They take money left and right and still people love them. It's mainly the fanboys that drag down 360 for me though. I own a 360 as you've seen in my videos and I play it every once in a while. It's not a bad system, but it's by far definitely not my favorite. If you ask me, If there's a 60 gig PS3 out there, GRAB IT! That instant and eventually upgrade the HDD or something, cause it will be the best console you ever owned.

From Gaming to Collecting

(for PB - considering I'm not sure who that is, I'm just going to call you PedoBear)


Well, PedoBear (if that is your real name - which it isn't - watch it's going to be somebody I know very closely and I'm going to feel like an idiot) I started collecting almost 4 years ago. Pretty much around the time I started working. Y'see I was always the type of person who wanted everything to do with gaming, just before I started working I had to rely on birthdays and Christmas for games and stuff so I never really had a chance to collect, but it was more than just that that got me into collecting.


You see one day, about four years ago, my best friend Jeremy Landry (Shadow_Knight) called me and asked if I recalled a game from our PS1 days. He said "Do you remember that fighting game that had Cloud in it?" and we couldn't remember what it was called. Well eventually we found out it was Ehrgeiz. One of my personal favorite fighting games. Anyways. At that point, we searched all of Moncton for it and couldn't find it anywhere. Years of searching pawn shops, parlors and garage sales, but still nothing. Then Jeremy said to me "Y'know if we would have kept all the games we had growing up, this would have never happened." and it kinda clicked for me at that moment. I wanted to try and retrieve all my childhood gems and more. Games that even others would consider to be childhood gems. There's certain games that even to this day I would kill for: Megaman Legends 1 and 2 (PS1), Earthbound (SNES) and more than a few others.

One person I wanted to really thank though is Anthony (Wufei/Wolf). A friend of mine from Ohio. It was him after years of searching for Ehrgeiz who got up and sent me it free of charge from Ohio, and he was just some guy I met on 1up.com. Wolf has since helped me out with a numerous amount of things and I consider him to be almost like a brother to me.

So yeah, I kind of started collecting 4 years ago, but I've loved games all my life. However there's certain people I'd like to thank for helping me build my collection:

A VERY Special Thanks to:
- Shawn Dorey
- Ashley Gallant
- Joshua Alexander
- Anthony (Wufei/Wolf)

And a more than Special Thanks to:
- Jeremy Landry
- Stephanie Saunders
- Amanda Coneen
- Dad
- Grandmother
- Pam
- Family and Everyone who helped me get where I am.
- and PedoBear

So there you have it. Thanks a lot for the question PedoBear, and please let me know who you really are in the comments cause I feel like a dumb-a*s. Thanks.

Thumbs Up of the Week: Mechanical Pencils

(Thumbs up #3)

Ahh, the almighty clicky pencil. Where would we be without you? Now I know that this isn't anything of any importance but tonight I was sitting here thinking: "Hmm, it's been a while since I did a thumbs up blog." I really wanted to comment on something that's just totally awesome but maybe not overly noticed... and then it clicked. That's right from the sound of Josh clicking away on his mechanical pencil came an idea that shot at me like led coming straight out of a plastic hole.

So now I betcha a lot of you are going "But Locke!? Why are mechanical pencils so important or awesome? What makes them better than normal pencils?" Well let me ask you this: Does your normal pencil get sharp from the click of a white eraser? Does the tip leave your fingers feeling clean without the feeling of splinters digging into your fingers? Does it smell like Plastic? No! Exactly! And that's why the mechanical pencil gets my thumbs up of the week! - Not to mention it comes in a variety of shapes, and led sizes and all that fancy stuff, but yeah. Mostly, for the other stuff.

Note: Also for those of you party poopers out there, if you can't tell, this was just a joke blog. So don't take it too seriously.- but mechanical pencils are f**kin amazing!

Christmas Experiences

(For Amanda Coneen)

I'm sure around this time of year almost everyone is excited to see what they got under the tree. For me, Christmas isn't really like that anymore. I don't expect to see a Dunlop crybaby pedal or a brand new Ipod touch. All I expect is to have fun with family and friends and even though that does sound corny it's true. Looking back I do have a lot of great Christmas memories that I would love to share with you (both for gifts and friends), but before I do one thing I want you all to remember is to never take your friends or your family for granted cause without them, you'd have no one to share anything with.

Anyways, looking back as far as I can remember when it comes to Christmas I can see my fourth Christmas ever. The only thing I can remember unwrapping from under the tree was a small 16:9 Dodge Viper model car. I remember my dad told me he'd get me a viper for Christmas and technically he did. -.-.

After that the next big Christmas I can recall is the year Zelda: Majora's Mask came out. That year I have so many memories with the days after Christmas it's ridiculous. You see on Christmas morning when I woke up. My grandmother had this huge chest in the living room. One I didn't even notice till I was done opening up all my other gifts. When I finally got a chance to open it inside was The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (My Personal Favorite), The Loz:MM player's guide, the N64 Expansion pack and Driver 2. Earlier, my dad had also purchased me Prozzak's newest CD: Saturday People and I was addicted to it only moments after. So for the next few days all I can remember was playing Majora's Mask, listening to Prozzak and talking to my best friend Jeremy on the phone. Meanwhile my dad was outside building me a fort so that when I was done playing I could go outside and pretend to be Link in a all sorts of adventures.


I absolutely used to love Christmas. It was my favorite time of year. More recent Christmas's have really sucked though. Last year a girl I believed I was in love with broke my heart and left me for dead, and every year since we moved out I always seem to get less and less, but then again- That's not what it's about. I can remember, I believe it was almost two or three years ago now, but it was one of the best Christmas' I ever had. I met someone, someone who I consider to be a very good friend even though we don't hang out that much anymore. At first I had a huge crush on her, but now and for a good while now, I realize that a friendship with her has always been worth much more than anything else that could have ever happened. Amanda Coneen was working at a store in the same mall as me and even though my buddy Jeremy had known her for a while, we had just recently met. During the christmas parade we both had to work, but instead of just sitting around and doing nothing at break, we both went down to Tim Hortons (A coffee shop) and had a quick bite to eat. I remember, Ashley (my-ex) and her aunt was there too and I had a great time talking about all sorts of random things. That year, I don't even remember what I got for Christmas from anyone. I just remember sitting in that Tims having a great time eating my BLT, and while it was nothing overly special, or at least nothing you couldn't simply do with any of your closest friends it meant a lot to me and still does even now. I guess that's what Christmas is about is having fun with friends and family and a lot of collector's like myself tend to forget that. Sure, having the next new greatest game is good too, but all I really want is more times like that.


So there you have it, that pretty much covers most of my Christmas memories. I'm sure there's hundreds of family meals and yada yada that I left out, but those were the ones that meant most to me. Oh yea, and there was this one new years party up at my Aunts where I met my step-cousin Jessie. Her and I had tons of fun fooling around with the dogs and cats there. It was great, and I was like 12, but anyway. I wish you all a merry Christmas and feel free to tell me about your memories in the comments below.

New Gaming Stores

(Please excuse any grammar mistakes)

Wow, if this isn't a last minute idea for a blog I don't know what is. I mean I literally came up with the topic as I wrote this sentence, but anyways. Today my friend and associate Joshua Alexander came with me on what we called a "Main Street Adventure." Having lived in the greater Moncton area our whole lives we never really bothered to take a stroll down main street to see what it offers to the gaming community, so today we decided to venture!

Now we've been on main street before plenty of times, but only mainly to go from point A to point B or to stop by Spin it and see what's going on, but today we went all over the place and came across a couple interesting discoveries! ...and we took some photos! - just for you Sarynthra, cause I know you want them. lol j/k

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Point of Interest #1
SPIN IT

Now I've been to Spin it a hundred + times so there's no surprise they have awesome stuff, however now they have a new location. On main st. there used to a be a huge car dealership but almost a year ago they moved out. During Halloween a costume emporium moved in, but now they're long gone, so now Patt and his store Spin It occupy the place. So now some of you are probably asking "What the hell is Spin it?", well Spin it is kinda like a specialty store that deals with used, new and traded goods in the area of music, games, movies and anything collectible related. Kinda like an advanced pawn shop. They have an amazing selection of music, movies and almost anything that could interest anyone. Here's some screen shots of the new place.

Me at Spin it


Josh at Spin it


New Spin it!!!
Old Spin it!!!


Patt's gonna have the whole place all together by January he's hoping and when he does we'll be the first people in there guaranteed.

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Point of interest #2
Comic Hunter

Comic Hunter was actually a place that blew us away. Slightly. When I went in I expected a low budget store with little comic books and that was it, but their selection of game figurines, comic books and board games was awesome. Next week when I get some cash, I'm going there. (unfortunately I couldn't get any shots of the inside, but I got the sign. So enjoy that! lol)



Aside from that our journey lead us to a couple more familiar places. We had a great dinner at McDonalds (Yeah, surprised us too) where we talked about voice actors and movies and stuff and it was a really REALLY great time. Cold as hell though. The first snow fall took place this past Saturday and now it's just freezing out. Check out these pics.




So anyways, for now I'm going to go warm up and play some Fear 2. I just bought it and I want to get into it a little more. So until next time guys remember: Don't ever forget who you are and have a great time while you're at it. Peace

- Locke Downe

My History with the Wii (and update)

(For James)

Now one question I never thought to be asked was: my history with the Wii. Nintendo's Wii is probably one of the top, if not the top, selling console(s) of all time. It's designed for casual gamers with easy to use interactive gameplay and low price point. However, once the novelty runs off you find yourself wishing Nintendo would simply just make a proper next gen system so we could see the next Zelda game and get on with it.

Now saying that, don't think I'm bashing the Wii. I have no problems with the Wii at all. From all sorts of POV's it's a great system and idea. A lot of people who were never into games are getting into gaming now and that's good, and on top of that Nintendo's pulling in some serious cash to hopefully invest in the next Zelda ( I LOVE ZELDA! ). However, it's library of hard-core games is at an all time low, which prevents me from spending much time with it.

My history with the Wii began on my eighteenth birthday I believe (Could be seventeenth). I purchased the Wii along with the bundled Wii sports and loved it! I played for hours on end. I didn't bother picking up ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS because I already owned it for Gamecube. My list of games over the years for it was short. I had No more Heroes, Raving Rabbids 2, Animal Crossing, Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros and a couple downloaded games. I enjoyed them all as much as the Wii's controls could let me enjoy them and for the amount of time I had them, I'd say I got my money's worth. I bought the Wii for 315.00$ after taxes and sold it last christmas for 600.00$ + . I made a profit by far and bought a new computer which allowed me to make Youtube videos! YAY!


After about half a year with no Wii, a friend of mine offered me 300.00$ PLUS a Nintendo Wii with all the accessories and stuff for my old Laptop. So I took it and that's how I got the Wii I have now. Till this day, I only have Wii Sports so if anyone was willing to send me games (Yeah, right) I'd be more than welcome to take them, but unfortunately with the PS3 and 360 sitting on my shelve. It's kinda hard to invest in a console like the Wii. I do NOT hate the Wii by any standards, but I don't find much to interest me on it anymore, even with the New Super Mario Bros. and all that coming out. Nope. Nothing. Nothing except the next Zelda... which I hope will be on their next console... or by some random act of nature, the PS3. lol.... OMFG!!!

Zelda on the PS3!!! WTF!!! lol j/k


That would be too cool!!! lol - Anyways. That's pretty much it when it comes to me and the Nintedo Wii. On another note, I managed to pick up both Demon Souls (PS3) and Fear 2 (PS3) Thanks to the Employee Appreciation Week at EB games. Also things at work and with my friends have been going really good. I feel like a lot's improving and that's definitely a good thing.

Me and Demon Souls (PS3)


...but anyways. I wanna thank everyone for reading the blog and subscribing to my Youtube. I'm going to try and post here even more than I do now. Keep giving me suggestions on what you want me to talk about. Good Evening!

First Games and Game Experiences

At about 8:00pm this evening, I realized something. I write these blogs for no one other than you guys, and that's the way I like it. So, if you guys got something you want me to write about, I think I'll write about it. So, this one's for Rory.

Well, my first gaming system was of coarse no other than the Nintendo Entertainment System (As shown above). I believe it was given to me by my older cousin Chris for Christmas one year, but I could be mistaken. I was really young after-all. Like 3 or 4. At the time I had three games: Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventures of Link and Excitebike. God, I loved those games. I could have played them for hours, and you know what else? Back then, I don't remember there being such thing as a "Good" or "Bad" game. I remember, I didn't care what the game was like! It was a game goddamn it! and that was all that mattered. I could get tons of hours out of any game, and that was fine with me.

Back then, I used to play games mainly with old best friend Shawn Gauvin. Unfortunately the two of us don't talk anymore, but that's because he was like 4 years older than me and graduated and moved on. Now at days, I tend to play games with Joshua Alexander, Corey Arsenault, Jordan Gains, Ryan Gains, my childhood friend Jeremy Landry and my girlfriend Stephanie. A lot's changed since then, but at least the games of today still continue to impress me.


Some of my best memories growing up was waiting for Friday to roll around so that maybe, just maybe, my dad would let me rent a game from BlockbusterTM. I remember renting Mystical Ninja like 35 times. Man, I loved that game. Nothing ever beats the feeling of looking back on those days and remembering all the good rented memories... Ahh, Final Fantasy X, Sonic Adventure, Zelda: Majora's Mask. All the good stuff. I loved it. Matter of fact I loved it so much, I think that as a way of saving some money, I might start doing that again. Instead of buying games, I might start renting again. I think that would be awesome.

Another thing that just always gives me an awesome feeling is the day you bring home a new console y'know. The three I remember most were the Gamecube, The Playstation 3 and the Nintendo 64. I can still remember bringing those home and setting them up, but maybe I'll save that for a christmas stories blog or something.


Either way, growing up I believe I spent the most of my time in my early years with the NES. Playing Excitebike, Mario and Zelda, but later in the future around the N64 era, I swear I must have put at least 200+ hours in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. I loved those games so much, so very VERY VERY much, that I wouldn't trade my memories with them for anything.

So there you have it. My first games and some personal experiences. Leave your comments below and have a great night.

- Locke Downe