"Please leave your dignity at the front counter"

I’m not normally the type to buy accessory kits, but there are few things I “geek out” about as much as Mega Man. Originally, I was trying to win this kit (among other things) in a contest the nice folks at The Mega Man Network were throwing, but I didn’t end up placing. After a short, internal debate, I decided to go ahead and buy the kit.

The kit comes in both DSi and DS Lite variations and retails for $19.99. I picked up the DSi version since that’s what I’m using these days. The price seems a bit steep, but the package contains some legitimately useful things aside from unleashing your inner ten-year-old’s desire to trick out your DS.

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"This Is the City..."

In popular entertainment, one aspect many look for is immersion. Feeling sucked in by a good book or movie makes you really feel like you are part of the action. They can transport you to another time and place, and whole new world (cue the song from Aladdin).

One style of game that excels at this for many gamers are “Open World”, or “Sandbox” games. While they do have an over-arcing plot, most of them allow you to play at your leisure. Often there are a lot of mini-games and side-quests to keep you occupied. If they are well designed, many players spend hours just exploring.

Here are a few good open world games with brief overviews.

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"It brings kings to their knees!"

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love videogame soundtracks. Over the years, there have been many influential and just plain incredible soundtracks. I would like to take a moment to recount some of my favorites in no particular order.

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"NES Era Boxart, Will You Ever Learn?"

In Power Blade, Taito took elements from several popular franchises of the era and smooshed them all together to get a game that is, surprisingly, pretty good.

You play as Nova, the Chief Security Officer of Master Computer. Aliens have caused the Master Control Program to malfunction in an attempt to wipe out New Earth. It is up to you to track down the missing data tapes to restore the MCP to it’s full functionality, and save the world in the process.

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"Watch me outrun this van!"

Every gamer seems to be familiar with Mega Man, especially since the original series was finally rekindled with the release of Mega Man 9. Fewer, however, are familiar with his transition into the third dimension, and even out of those who did play one, or both, of the games contained in the Legends series (known as Rock Man Dash in Japan), only a portion of them responded to the game positively, while the rest weren’t able to accept such a complete and total change to the established Mega Man formula.

Needless to say, the fan-base for these 2 gems is unfortunately small in comparison to all the other games featuring the beloved “Blue Bomber”. But most of those who do appreciate it do so to a very high degree; begging for a third entry. So what is the deal with Mega Man Legends, and why should you care?

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We all have those moments in our gaming life that we look back on with pride. The impossible games we managed to win, the crazy last second come backs, and those head-shots from all the way across the map. These are the things we remember and talk about. These are the achievements that we point out on our Gamerscore. But there is a dark side. What about the skeletons in our gaming closets that haunt us? The games we just never beat. The games we never admit to our gamer friends we really enjoyed. Here, for the world to see, are my Top 11 Gaming Shames.

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