This weekend in video games

I haven't been playing Pokemon lately (but when I was I logged in a LOT of hours on that game) but Saturday I went to Toys R Us to get my Manaphy. He's a rare pokemon that you could only get at Toys R Us on Aug. 29th between 12-3. Me and about 6 kids downloading our rare pokemon and getting our little gift bags with stickers and a $5 off coupon for a DS game. I used the coupon to get Jam Sessions. It's not really a game but a guitar simulator. It's fun so far but there isn't the sense of accomplishment like with a traditional video game.

Then, I went to my families house in Bremen and got to play Halo 3. It is a good game but a little overwhelming. There are so many new weapons and modes that I felt a little lost. Graphically it was nice but not the most impressive thing I've seen on an Xbox 360. During the campaign cut scenes, Master Chief looked great but the human models looked like PS2 graphics.

Online multiplayer was pretty awesome (again, a little overwhelming)and the thing that impressed me most was a little world map in the lower left-hand corner of the Matchmaking screen. I think it represents where the most online activity is happening around the world. Not sure if it was in real time but it was cool.
I played using my brother-in-laws online ID and I was able to access these awesome stats.

Before I played Halo 3, I was entertaining the thought of saving up money and buying an Xbox 360 just to play Halo 3. After playing it, I can no longer justify spending over $500 just to play Halo. It's a good game, but for now I will just have to be satisfied playing it every couple of weeks when I go to visit my family.

Weight Blotchers

Today I joined Weight Watchers. I've been wanting to lose weight for years but never stopped playing video games long enough to do anything about it. Weight Watchers seemed interesting because it is more a way of tracking what you eat day to day.

The first meeting was interesting. I was cynical at hearing these ladies talk about their "fat pants" and stressing over weighing themselves but I did get excited and happy when other ladies talked about reaching certain goals. When one woman announced the had finally lost 16lbs everyone applauded and I really felt happy for her.