I love me some arcade shooters - or shmups as they are often called. They’re fast, easy to play yet challenging to get good at. Regardless of platform I always seek out the shmups. Through emulators I have dozens upon dozens. With some vacation time I decided to try and make my own.

Paper telephone was introduced to me by a friend during a party that had reached that critical point when everyone was gathered but had nothing much to do. Finding an activity that is fun for everyone is tough. Video games don’t work, trivia doesn’t always work, cards are a shot in the dark…but paper telephone seems to hit the sweet spot.

I saw Alien Breed Evolution on the XBLA release list and it looked like my kind of game. I never played the original version, so I got the demo and quickly found it is my type of game - shooting, aliens, spaceships…and not to mention a nice $10 price tag.

The lack of the arcade culture is something I’ve written about many times before. It’s something I long to see come back since I’m too young to have been there during its prime. The world on-line gaming scene makes it hard to be a local champ, so that leaves the only fun competition between you and your friends. But what if your friends play different games?

I’m a value gamer. Despite the fact that hype works on me in most cases, I’m very mindful (too mindful) about which video games I spend my money on. I’m always in a value debate with myself. What’s more important, the replay or one-time experience?

Outside of a house and couple cars, the new TV we bought over Thanksgiving is the single most expensive purchase we’ve ever made. Last year we wimped out. This year we were determined. Best part is, no one had to get up at the crack of dawn to get a good deal.

Back before everyone had a “blog,” they had “home pages,” and GeoCities was the place to have your own little soap box. My on-line life started with GeoCities, so it is kind of sad to learn that Yahoo is shutting down the service after more than a decade. GeoCities was awesome at the time, but it wasn’t without its problems. Nonetheless, I owe GeoCities a lot.

I’ve been writing on the web, most call it blogging, for probably over 10 years now. And if you ask one friend I came damn well close to inventing blogging…although I won’t quite claim that title (but wish I could!). I’ve always enjoyed writing about the things I enjoy, and if you’re truly passionate about something, it is your duty to share and impose your happiness onto others. And even if no one is reading (so you think), it’s good to get your thoughts down because you never know what …