This is it. The end, the finale, the last goodbye, the farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight. After five years at UMass Boston (four of them spent writing this column) I am graduating. If you don’t see this column next semester, take that as a good sign. Looking back, this whole thing started because I was a fresh-faced editor at The Mass Media, and we were sent an advance copy of Tony Hawk Pro Skater. No one else at the time was a gamer, so I called dibs and that started this whole mess. Four years later and I’m still going.

I’ve spent quite some time thinking about what I was going to do for this last column, but I’ve been coming up with a blank. So I’m going to impart a few words of gaming wisdom that I’ve learned over the years; words that I’ve tried to impart on my readers in the columns of yore. Here we go:

1.) Better graphics mean nothing. You can polish crap all you want, but it’s still crap, only better looking, but still as stinky.

2.) You shouldn’t have to take a night course to learn how to play a game. Simple, intuitive controls are better than a set-up that requires an 80-page manual. Actually, you shouldn’t even really need to read the manual.

3.) Story is important. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not your friend.

4.) Sequels are fine. Franchises are fine. Turning a single entry in a franchise into a franchise itself is not. Enough Final Fantasy VII already.

5.) If a system costs more than $300 dollars, wait. That price has to go down eventually, and when it does those games will be cheap (and probably still as relevant).

6.) For every ten mistakes a game company makes, there is one success that makes up for all of them. Earthbound is coming to Wii’s virtual console? Nintendo gets a pass for this year.

There’s more than that, but I can’t tell you everything; some things you have to discover for yourselves, my fellow gamers. But I will tell you this: keep an eye on the Wii’s virtual console-good things are coming.

I never thought I’d get to do this for four years, and I never thought I’d get paid for this, either. I’m not one for long goodbyes, so I’ll make this quick: get a Wii, connect it to the Internet, and I’ll see you outside the pages of the Mass Media in that vast expanse of virtual universe. Questions? Comments? Want to know about the VGC’s future on the intertubes? Drop me a line at [email protected].