As I write this I'm fighting a war with my eyelids to stay open. Last night's Advance War battle raged on way past my bedtime. I had bested one of the three opposing forces on the map, but the two remaining CO's refused to give up any ground. After the 10th time I said, "one last turn" Ev finally forced me to retire from the battle for the evening and call it a night. Judging by my exhausted state, I probably should've listened to her the first time she told me to put the game down. That's the thing with Advance Wars, once you're in the thick of it - it's nearly impossible to put down. That's just where I'm finding myself again after a bit of a hiatus from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. I was initially let down by the departure Days of Ruin had taken from previous Advance Wars games. The change in art style and characters didn't bother me nearly as much as the striped down, 'back to basics' gameplay. What I've realized with the loss of overpowering CO attacks and additional skills is that Days of Ruin is raw Advance Wars at it's core. Days of Ruin leans much more towards a methodical game of chess now as opposed to a simple bout of rock, paper, scissors. The rock, paper, scissor mechanics are still there, but you'll need to pack more strategy than firepower now if you hope to walk off the battlefield victorious. I still stand by my original review of this game (short version: horrible story, drab characters, lack of features when compared to Dual Strike...) but it is still one of the best games I have played on my DS. Once you get into the rhythm, Advance Wars is pure, gaming crack. Just look at me, I'm strung out right now, and all I can think about is 'one more turn'.

This execution marked a shortlived turning point in advertising strategy for the World RPS Society. Instead of bludgeoning viewers with strong clear simple mesages as they had done in the past, a more subtle approach was explored.

While this execution went on to win many industry awards for it's thought-provocking approach and was appauled for not "insulting the intelligence of its viewer", for the most part, this execution went far over the heads of the intended audience