Isn't spring supposed to be happening soon? I'm tired of feeling chilled to the bone as I endeavor to bring the Community Spotlight to all of you on time with naught but a giant bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper as company....

Chris Cosmo Ross starts us off as he strips the Halo series of wasteful filler and boils the spectacle and strife of the games into one imagery-laden poem. Tobias Dodgen is next and wonders if a video game will ever achieve the seemingly endless success that Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon has.

Brian Shirk takes a look at Final Fantasy 2, and how this much-maligned game had a great deal of influence over the rest of the series. Finally, Andrew Hiscock conducts an interesting interview with that surly video game squirrel, Conker.

Game Poetry: Halo
By Chris Cosmo Ross
Poetry doesn't necessarily lend itself to video games, despite the often convoluted poetics of Solid Snake as he discusses love. Cosmo combines this sometimes challenging literary style with the Halo series.

Dark Side of the Game
By Tobias Dodgen
Tobias is all for publishers re-releasing older games on a variety of modern platforms. While the launch of Final Fantasy 1 and 2 on the iPhone does annoy me, developers are completely within their right to bring these classics to newer generations. But when will we see a game that does so well, is so popular and memorable, that it stays in circulation and continues to rack up record sales? Tobias wants to know if we'll ever have a gaming equivalent of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

The Twelve Worlds of Final Fantasy: Aspirations of Freedom
By Brian Shirk
I've met very few people who have completed/enjoyed playing Final Fantasy 2, and I'd quickly discourage new players looking to slog through the entire main Final Fantasy series.... Brian is much more compassionate than I am and compiled this thorough analysis of the game, from music to characters. He paints a wonderful picture of a rarely loved game that had a dramatic impact on the rest of the series.

Lost in Conker: An Interview with Video Games' (Somewhat) Original Bad Boy
By Andrew Hiscock
Andrew sits down with Conker, the surly protagonist of Conker's Bad Fur Day in this unusual interview. He's quite the verbose diva with no regard for ashtrays.