VideogameVagabond.com

It’s buggy, it’s crowded, it has bland graphics, few options and some of the worst physics and collision detection I’ve encountered in any PS3 game. And yet, despite all that, the Bowling Alley on the public beta of PlayStation 3’s Home service has been more addictive than anything I’ve playing in years.

How addictive? Maybe not addictive enough to commemorate on rubber stamps, but certainly the Bowling Alley on Home has become a default destination for me every time I’ve fired up my PS3 for any reason.

Mostly, I think, it’s because of the incredible social aspect; every player is a real, live human being just like you, and the social aspect of getting to know your fellow players overcomes all the deficiencies of the Bowling Alley application.

Sure, there is plenty of room for improvements to be made; Home is rife with largely uncontrolled profanity, hate speech and other nasty talk. It is also wholly unequipped to deal with the near-constant sexual harassment that takes place in Home, especially to its female inhabitants. Frequently, bowling alleys will be filled with as many people getting up on your avatar’s personal space, dancing suggestively and ignoring requests to piss off. There is virtually no intervention by moderators, and no penalty system for acting, frankly, like an ass.

Yet despite all that… the Bowling Alley on Home has seen way more of me than anything else of late… even the excellent Prince of Persia title, which is a lovely game in and of itself.

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I picked up Disgaea 3. As a tactics-style RPG, it’s more my cup of tea than my wife’s, but she has said she thinks the game is cute and maybe even funny and she likes watching me play it.

Of course, it’s less satisfying for her than a game we both enjoy, which is why tonight we picked up Prince of Persia. Still, Disgaea is a series I’ve enjoyed since its inception and while it may not push the PS3 at all technologically, it’s still a darn fun series.

It may not have the cardboard displays and full support at retail that Prince of Persia did, but Disgaea 3 is more likely to chart near the top of my personal faves list.

My wife and I just picked up Prince of Persia, the all-new PS3 version that was released initially last November, and all I can say is, Wow. The graphics are distinctive and detailed, and the action is beautiful to behold. While running along walls takes a bit of getting used to, the game has taken the innovation experimented with in Assassin’s Creed and launched it to a new level.

I was never a big fan of the Prince of Persia series prior to this, but it was the excellence of Assassin’s Creed that made me want to check it out; also, my wife simply loves action-oriented games, so she was interested as well. I think we’ll both end up pleased off this purchase. It’s a lot more satisfying than buying our dog and cat pet beds, anyway.

While it may seem a bit odd, the prinnies that are so worthless in the Disgaea series suddenly are the stars of their own PSP RPG. The portable Sony platform is where all the cool PS2 games are heading, these days, and Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? is no exception! They’re penguin-like creatures with Beautifeel shoes.

Of course, the danger is that it’ll get too cutesy and come off like so many of SquareEnix’s Chocobo games…but on the bright side, it can’t be any worse, can it? Color me intrigued when this comes out on February 17.

Yet another game I’m looking forward to is Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, due to arrive at the end of March. I played the original Sacred on PC a few years ago and, despite its Diablo-esque origins, it’s a solid RPG franchise.

Of course, for the transition to console, I’ll be hoping for a more solid and cinematic storyline, rather than the text-heavy affair that characterizes the PC version.

Even so, it’s not like anyone’s going to need to climb any cell towers to convince me this one’s worth looking at. Boo-yah!

The next Game I’m Looking Forward To is Resident Evil 5. Though it will be available for both 360 and PS3, I’ll want the PS3 version for sure, though either would be acceptable.

I didn’t like the Resident Evil series all that much originally, but ever since RE4, I’ve been convinced that the game is finally more than cheap shocks and gross-out scenes. While I’ll always still prefer the Silent Hill brand of survival horror, RE5 is definitely worth checking out, especially of your in-home set-up includes home theater seating. The sound work is apparently very impressive!

Scheduled for release on the Xbox 360 on February 24, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is one of the top games I’m looking forward to in the near future. Tossing in everything I can think of, including the Kohler sinks, I would do a lot to acquire this game.

See, I’ve been playing Star Ocean games since the second one debuted in the US on the PSone. I’ve followed the series closely ever since and certainly do not intend to miss out this time, either. With a great battle system, tons of other skills to develop and acquire, and an epic storyline, the Star Ocean series hasn’t disappointment me yet.

It’ll be high on my list to acquire.