See, I told you guys I would still bring you the love, but unfortunately, my latest review will not be coming here.  As I told you guys in December, I got a new writing gig at GamingTarget.com and they are running my review of Intelligent Systems' solid turn-based strategy title, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.  Seeing as this community is a big lover of the TBS genre, I just had to point out this gem of a Gamecube game.  If a single person reads this and gives FE a second chance then my job was done.  The long and short of the review is that even though the developers took almost no risks with gameplay, and it has mediocre graphics, the title fills the strategy needs of many and has a compelling storyline to go along with deep gameplay.  But just click the link anyways please!

Aside from that review I also had an my first editorial article published a few weeks back covering the then new Vivendi-Universal/Activision merger.  I go into great deal about both company's pasts, how they got to where they are, and try to predict a bit of the future.  More recently I wrote up an editorial surrounding the 2007 Console War, complete with graphs for supporting evidence!  To top that off, just last week I had two articles published that I wrote based on my coverage of the Game Developers Conference.  The first of which is a hands-on preview of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a game that I have been waiting for some time for, and am now even more excited about.  The second is an article covering a GDC panel presented by The Lego Group.  In the panel they spent a large amount of time explaining why a LEGO MMO was just the next step for them.  I will also be bringing this little blog a piece about my experience at GDC '08, which was my first GDC and my first convention "from the inside."  Assuming you believe video game journalists are part of the industry (I like to believe so).

Since beginning to focus more on my writing career it has really kicked into gear with the past few months bringing me all sorts of work.  In December I was brought on board for the February launch of Getbuffed.com, the site that actually paid my way to the GDC.  The MMORPG site, which is currently focused on WoW but plans on adding upcoming games, is being updated daily with news posts covering the World of Warcraft community along with news posts and editorials.  Along with that comes their database and the BLASC tool, which I happen to love.  Not only does it keep track of your characters, including gear, spec and bank items, but it also makes sure that your add-ons are up-to-date, and if they aren't it updates them.  God what a time saver that is.  The site is still small but is growing at a decent rate - hit wise - so any WoW player, or players of soon to be released MMOs should check it out.

Getbuffed.com isn't my only new gig though.  Just last week I answered a call for writers that was posted on the Penny-Arcade forums.  After applying I was quickly notified that I had been selected to work for AnotherCastle.com (fitting site to work for based on my pen-name), a site that covers Video Games, Tabletop Games and Comics, as their Wii contributor.  The site was created by a Joystiq contributor, who basically has too much merchandise and not enough time to cover it all, not to mention, store it all.  My first article for them should be going up shortly.

Although not everything is a paid spot, it is nice to see my work catching the eyes of other writers and getting offered these opportunities.  Sadly though, there will come a time in the near future when I have to get paid or drop some of the volunteer positions since I am getting incredibly busy with all of them and can't live off respect.

Since I haven't been here in awhile I might as well update you all on what I am currently playing:
PC:
XIII
Half-Life 2
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (multiplayer fun)
World of Warcraft

DS:
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Wii:
Super Mario Strikers Charged

Xbox360 (Microsoft is currently "repairing" it, damn RRoD):
Mass Effect

Coming Soon:
Wii:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl

PS:  Be sure to keep hitting the TotalGaming.net Game News forum rather than checking the news from the main page.  It seems that when Stardock changed their forum system not EVERYTHING was 100% working.  Sadly, one of these broken items affects me directly, as the main page no longer updates when I post new news.  So no I didn't abandon TG.net in fact I am still dropping at least one PC-related story a day for Totalgaming.  Also, seeing as I have finished three games that I haven't reviewed yet, and none of the sites I work for want them, I will probably be posting them here in the coming weeks.  And personally, I love JoeUser 2.0.