As many of you may know NDK is a bit off still, about 8 months roughly away, but that doesn't mean you can get lazy and complacent. Reservations for the DTC Marriott, the hotel where the convention is held, started yesterday. All the normal and atrium rooms for the hotel sold out in an hour. This is a record for the convention and a sign that they are quickly out growing the convention space of the hotel, but we already knew that. At the time of this writing the hotel still had outside balcony rooms available and it is possible a cancellation will open up some rooms in coming months. I personally would not hold my breath on that happening. The anime geeks will be watching for those like hawks.

If all else fails then you can also get a room at the Hyatt and Hilton hotels nearby. From experience the Hyatt (after correction) is a nice hotel with a decent restaurant and the walk over isn't as bad as you would think. It's also good to remember to pre-register for the convention just in case with the attendance cap in place because you don't want to be left out do you?

To see the posts for NDK record hotel reservations, please visit their website here.  If you'd like to pre-register for NDK, you can do so through this link here.  We look forward to seeing you all there again this year!

Conventions apparently are really expensive. First you have to pay someone to do the planning, then pay for a location, and then get and pay staff to manage it. The cost and time it takes to make a good convention can add up pretty quickly and even the money printing press that is Blizzard has a budget.  Taking this into account, Blizzard has done something that they are very good at with their games; they've delayed the next BlizzCon.  They've delayed it in order to devote more time to and resources to Diablo III, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard has decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.

Personally I cannot fault them for this. They have a lot of games on their plate and I have never really given thought to going to BlizzCon anyway. What this convention delay means for me is that I will get Diablo III sooner as they can use the resources from the convention to finish it and their other upcoming games.

I can already hear some people that are disappointed about the lack of Blizzard related tournaments due to this delay. Well there is good news for you. Blizzard is going to host a 2012 Battle.net World Championship in Asia later this year. Ok, so it's not too good for American gamers since it is not held within the country and it will be much more expensive to go compete in Asia then L.A., but at least it is something.

Welcome to Episode 97 of The Gameslave Podcast. This week we have a lot more games then we normally end up talking about, and then we end on a Zelda rant. Really need to learn how to stay on topic.

Notes can be found on the podcast page.

Do you ever have an issue with playing a game that you know is supposed to be good; a game that by all rights is a great game, but you just can't get yourself to interested in it?  I recently started playing Saints Row The Third on the PS3.  My friends have said it is a funny game. Reviews have said that it has great gameplay and is extremely entertaining to play. However, I have a hard time staying interested in it because of the type of game it is. Since this is the only reason I can think why I'm not enjoying this type of game for what it is, means that I'll have to talk about some of my game history.

How can I not like this?The gameplay in the Saints Row series is based (loosely) on the GTA series.  This is a series that has never once interested me.  I have not played GTA III, Vice City, or San Andreas, so you get where I am going with this right? Now at its core, Saints Row uses the same open world formula, envolving stealing a car and killing people.  The setting of the game is current to the time with what could be the average person present.  The game may not' take itself seriously, but it is close enough to the same core gameplay for me.  Now I am trying to find the motivation to keep playing Saints Row The Third, but a current era game without some fantastical element is not my normal draw.  I enjoy typically enjoy superhero games (inFamous), fantasy games (Skyrim), or high technology games (Mass Effect).

So you see my problem with Saints Row The Third?  It is a truly great critically acclaimed game, that just does not scratch my gaming itch.  I know that others people have games that give them similar issues.  ZeldaQueen is a an RPG fan that never got into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for example, but what games do you have issues with?  Sound off in the comments.

Another year has come and gone, and that means that a full years of games have been released, played, and measured.  We have recently had a round table discussion of the games that we have played over the year and used it compile the Second Annual Gameslave Awards.