The MmmMmm of PhysX

I just want to say that I've been glad to wait for Mirror's Edge on PC, especially after hearing the good-not-great reviews. And now I want to extend that even further with an emphatic "Hell yes!" Gamevideos put together a side-by-side comparison of the console version next to the PC. As if the actual game with mod possibilities wasn't reason enough, it looks even more stunning now.

Take a look: Mirror's Edge PhysX

As for game updates: I haven't played Fallout 3 in about 3 weeks. I've completed the four movies in Left 4 Dead and still getting used to the Boomer zombie in Versus. I'm playing a lot of drums on Hard in Rock Band 2. I picked up Peggle Nights on Steam. And my gnome Death Knight (Sodius) is 71.

-- "What is this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy."

Got a Light?

So I started smoking again, the smokeless kind with a subscription fee of $14.99 per month. Even though I'd been free from it for over a year, it's hard to resist seeing brand new packaging, a better "high," and not want to start playing again. And if you have roommates who do it with you, forget about it...

Of course I'm eluding to World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, or as I like to call it "Blizzard always needs more money, and yes I'll give it to them." I had no interest in this when it was announced, when I saw footage of the death knight starting area, or even when the awesome Lich King trailer came out. I didn't care about leveling the 70 Rogue I left behind anew and getting back into the swing of it with 11 or 12 million other subscribers. The new zones didn't intrigue me enough to really learn more about the game either.

It was when I saw my friend playing a death knight and killing elites two or three levels higher than himself solo. That sparked all the memories coming back to life of the gaming I loved. It's what I tried to rekindle with Warhammer, but didn't survive only because of the host of other gaming contenders (I still really like it and constantly remind my friend of what it does better than WoW).

And I love being a harbinger of death. Even moreso, I love being a tiny harbinger of death packaged in the body of a gnome. Tethering giant mobs 20 times my size and pulling them next to me is hysterical, and surviving a mob of mobs a couple levels higher than myself is a thrill I'm now privileged to experienced in an MMO setting.

Now where's my pack of smokes? The servers are almost back up.

--"You have many treasures, gypsy. Who did you rob for all this?"

Flashlights OFF!

If the zombie apocalypse happened like a good zombie flick, it would be Left 4 Dead. You'd have your highly mutated zeds with various powers: a rather average pouncing one, one that could suck a golf ball through a garden hose from 100 feet away, a fat pinata zombie filled with candied brains, a crazed witch with devil pincers, and the incredible hulkzor. Oh, and survivors...guess the movie might need a few of those.

The whole point is to escape a very imperiled situation; yay. Though people won't play this game for the story, it's meant for cooperative multiplayer. That's just straight campaign as survivors versus the AI or other players. And the artificial intelligence is no joke. This game is a proof of concept of their new "director AI." It changes the pace, where things come from, when boss zeds appear, if ammo/weapons should be placed up ahead, and even the music on top of it all. It's so good, people have loaded the game up in some other Source engine maps, such as Counterstrike's dust. Put simply: it works.

I haven't played enough or much of it to acquire a full scope of the game yet, but the versus multiplayer is a completely different experience; I do much prefer the company of zombies though. It'll take me awhile to learn how to play as the Boomer effectively, but I find it rather exhilarating to, well, grief the scrumptious, player-driven survivors. And griefing is definitely a reward in itself.

I can't wait to see what Valve has in store for the future downloadable content for the game, but I can already imagine some great custom server variations arising with zombie vs. zombie games or ulterior objective-based games with more than four survivors.

The legs of L4D have yet to be seen, but I bet they'll go great with Mod-sauce.

-- "Who died and made you f***ing king of the zombies?"

Expansive Awesomeness

Fallout 3 is fantastic.

It's sucked me in, and just keeps delivering the post-apocalyptic munchies I crave. The world may be smaller than Bethesda's Oblivion, but it feels so dense.

I've wandered around only a fraction of the Capital Wasteland so far, but I've seen places and delved into reaches friends who are further along have not been. It's so fun to see all of the reactions people have, the meandering ruins of downtown D.C., and the oodles of ultraviolent kills.

One place in particular was extremely fascinating because it's been like no other part thus far: Vault 106. If you haven't been there, it's tucked away about halfway between Megaton and Arefu. No spoilers, but it's the creepiest I've seen in this game thus far. Maybe playing through most of it past 2am didn't help with all the lights off...

It feels like a naturally evolving part of the Fallout franchise. It feels right, and I'm not even halfway through. Just biding my time until I blow up Megaton too...what a glorious site that will be.

--"Didn't I kill you already?"

Halloweekend

What a hectic time away from here. Along with moving out of my apartment and stopping to pick up my copy of Fallout 3, I had plans to visit friends at Purdue. So this post doesn't have to do with Fallout 3 only because I had no time for it. What I did have time for every time I go up there is more of Rock Band 2 and dressing up for Halloween for the first time in a very long time. So of course I chose a video game character: The Blue Scout from Team Fortress 2.

As for Rock Band 2, I've come to realize I like playing it with others only in person. Something about the online play doesn't entice me at all for that game. Probably because I have some people I can play with even if it's only once a month or so. Soon I'll get to test Guitar Hero: World Tour, but my friend's short impression and someone else's on one of my podcasts leaves me believing Rock Band is the better choice.

This seems like more a journal post, but I just need to get back in the habit again. I'm thinking of writing about the evil of trainer mods or how most of us grew up playing only one game for the majority of a year. Who knows?

--"Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

Prototype

No, this isn't a test post.

So I was thinking the other day about this game I've been excited about for about a year now. It was supposed to come out soon, but got pushed into 2009. It's Prototype. The delay seems kind of scary considering Activision dropped a couple of other games completely, most notably Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend (apparently Activision still has active sites).

The game looks to be a sandbox full of people and creatures to kill in order to absorb whatever the target knows, any powers they might have, and collect another piece of some unknown puzzle. The fast-paced running and awesome powers look great and a lot of fun to play around with. Basically, I can't wait to see how this game develops with this extra time.

But why a delay to a game already showing so much progress? I think it's only Activision taking what spotlight Prototype has away and onto all of the other titles they already have coming out this season.

Guess it gives me some more quality time with Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, and Mirror's Edge then.

Okay, and Warhammer Online too...

--"Are you classified as human?" "Negative, I am a meat popsicle."

Future of the MMO

One of the reasons for a post concerning MMOs and their future is certainly the recent reveal of the MMO we all knew was coming (I even met one of the writers working on it at PAX, though of course he couldn't confirm or deny): Star Wars: The Old Republic. Are you excited? Should you be? Hopefully it's not a child-focused, visual abortion the latest Clone Wars turned out to be (unlike its predecessor done by Genndy Tartakovsky). But I digress, this one is done by Bioware.

Anyway, what I wanna know is where the MMO is going? I think WAR has done a great job in doing what EQ did for UO and what WoW did for EQ. But these days, everyone and their mom is making an MMO. Where will everyone have any time to play these games? If we play them, where will people find time to play all of the other great games? The market for MMOs is quickly approaching (if not already) full saturation. For games meant to be played for months or years at a time, each one is expecting an amazing commitment.

I predict we'll shift in how MMOs are conceived. The first to change should be the monthly fee. $15 has been the standard since the original Everquest upped it from $9.99 during a transition to one of their first of 15 expansions. It should shift to either a lower monthly amount or, more likely, a different way of processing transactions such as ::gasp:: an hourly fee. I dunno exactly.

Another change will come in the expectations of time commitment. If we are supposed to play these games on top of a plethora of others, we can't be expected to waste our lives away for an exorbitant portion of our after-work hours on them. Thankfully, WAR feels more pick-up-and-play for as little amount of time as I want than any other I've played before.

Lastly, our concept of what an MMO provides us should change, for gamers and developers. These games are by far some of the most immersive universes we can participate in already, and yet most of this relies on game mechanics and playing with friends. Why can't their be more story we care about? As they evolve, I think we'll see something more to this effect.

To put a blanket on this still growing flower bed, just think about what still has yet to come out: APB from the creators of Crackdown, Star Trek, a possible Firefly endeavor, DC Universe, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and an as-yet unannounced MMO from the creators of Oblivion and Fallout 3. I'm sure there are many, many others out there as well.

If the MMO bug hasn't bitten yet, be very careful to keep applying that online-shooter bugspray and keep them away. I'm already a lost cause.

-- "I'm a leaf on the wind; watch how I soar."

Classic Video Game Themes

I just got done watching the Top 10 Video Game Themes (they keep it classic) of all time on gametrailers.com. This list is very good, rather comprehensive, and filled with great choices. There are a few that I loved, and a couple I thought had no place in the top 10 (or top 50, who knows).

That pirate lizard boss theme from Donkey Kong Country for N64? Maybe it's because I never played the game, but that music was rather underwhelming...even after the "darker" themes start to creep in.

And Duke Nukem 3D? It was a great game back in the day, but really? The songs seemed so forgettable. The only things I remember from that game are the cheesy one-liners and warthog police officers. The music they played for the segment was pretty good though. ::shrug::

As for ones that gave me goosebumps? You just see the games on that list you consider your favorite games of all time, and you see why the music is touted as the best ever. Nostalgia coupled with video game pinnacles such as Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, and the Legend of Zelda keep those games forever in the forefront of our minds.

The Mega Man 2 song they chose was awesome too, but I never got far enough to ever hear it before :-/

-- "Hello? Hello, Jesus? ... He hung up."

Forgotten Game of the Fall

Like so many games this Fall gaming season, a bunch of good ones will fall through the cracks. I completely forgot about one I was actually excited about.

Spiderman: Web of Shadows. It wasn't at PAX, so I never really put it in the long list of games I wanna see. Now the thought of another Spiderman game probably scares you like it does almost everyone who has seen the movies or played any previous ventures. After seeing one of the first videos of in-game footage, I'm convinced this game will be excellent.

But considering the season and the fact I'm back into an MMO, it'll still be excellent when it drops in price sometime next year. It comes out next week alongside Dead Space; it's another great game I won't be playing only because it would scare the bejeebus out of me. And the games I have lined up (see Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead) will already take plenty of my time.

Here's the latest trailer of Web of Shadows.

-- "Your children have touched me, and I'm pretty sure I've touched them too."

Diablo III: The Force Unleashed

Some of the first excitement in a long while has finally been released about Diablo 3. At Blizzcon 2008, they revealed the next class after the Witch Doctor (previously the Necromancer) and the Barbarian (previously the Barbarian). The Wizard debuted with a pretty cool trailer and got me super-psyched.

This Sorceress replacement doesn't look like a typical Diablo character because of the mysterious, magic orb in her hand; there's just something very different about it. Then you see the powers & spell mechanics arise, and it already feels really good to me.

Now if only they'd tell me it's coming out Spring 2009...

-- "I asked for a car; I got a computer. How's that for being born under a bad sign?"

Warhammer's Social Faux Pas

I don't want this blog to become a strictly Warhammer Online blog, but it'll be eating the majority of my gametime for the foreseeable future.

One thing I've noticed so far is the relative ease of amassing together and killing something in WAR. Whether it's a public quest people just haphazardly raid in, the open group system, or the open-world Realm vs. Realm objectives: people are lumped...er, grouped to enable everyone to collaborate easier. All well and good, right? For the most part, yes.

However, it's all rather impersonal. No one talks. People don't even shout in the zone asking, "where's mankirk's wife? lolz." When I'm off in a random area doing a quest, I can see someone there preparing to do the same quest(s), invite them, do the quest, and leave all without speaking. Speaks wonders for the simple, overarching system, but seems rather odd compared to all past MMOs I've participated.

But I did finally accept one of the multitude of guild invites. After all the time I've spent in my single life of solitude, it's a haven of ranting/venting. Even if I only get a response half the time, I'm just glad I can bounce some things off of others. It's easier to see the light blue chat (guild) than the regular white (zone-wide), so I probably get more views.

It's still just a random guild though, so I'd much rather prefer forming a band of friends over this any day.

-- "Nothing is over until we say it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"

Podcastomatic

It's really weird when you listen to a lot of podcasts and you get behind because of vacation days and whatnot. You have to choose which ones to listen to first, and they all take up different amounts of time: 15 minutes up to 3 hours. Figured I'd make a list of all my current casts.

• Achievement Junkie: A couple that talks about Xbox 360 games where one of them eventually got employed by Microsoft's community management team.
• Big Download's BigCast: PC gaming-centric portion of Joystiq. The host also records/writes for Xbox 360 Fanboy.
• Bungie Studios: The developers of Halo do a rather irregular podcast. It's extremely popular because of the fun they have on the show; reminds me of GFW Radio for game developers.
• CAGcast: CheapyD, the proprietor of cheapassgamer.com, and his good friend Wombat put their two cents and a lot more into every show. Don't take it too seriously, and you'll enjoy.
• Clark Howard Show: One of my few non-gaming related podcasts. All about consumer-friendly ways to be economical in all areas of your life. Haven't listened to him in awhile because of said vacation days. I'm almost caught up now though.
• Digipen Podclass: Featured monthly discussions from Digipen Institute for game development.
  
• Downloadable Content, Penny Arcade: Much like the Bungie Podcast but even less frequent, Tycho & Gabe put up a recording of them designing a comic. It usually revolves around getting something done quickly so they can go eat lunch.
• Gamasutra: Another infrequent podcast adding more insight into the game development industry. The latest one featured Shawn Elliot of 2K Boston and former 1up Editor.
• Game Theory: An interesting mix of developer-like discussion with enthusiast press. This one is brought to you by Edge Magazine.
• Gamercast Network's Video Game Show: A collection of topics split up rather well between a collection of regular gamers. Ham sandwich to them!
• Gamerscore Blogcast: Don't know if they'll ever put up some more podcasts, but this is the community management team for the Xbox 360. Got a picture of three of them at PAX!
• GFW Radio: My favorite and now recently defunct after losing two of the greatest co-hosts: Jeff Green and Shawn Elliot. Still a great show to listen to older episodes because of the unexpected humor. Also includes some PC game discussion, but most people don't listen in for that.
  
• Joystiq: Also one of my favorite podcasts featuring a great mix of three game journalists. Once again, it's the humor that makes these shows so great.
• Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group Podcast: Started as sort of a joke from the facebook group, but it's not bad. Features two regulars and some other random people from the group.
• Maximum PC: It has some game talk, but the main focus is getting the most out of PCs. Also features the greatest Rant of the Week from Gordon Mah Ung.
• Official Xbox Magazine: Guess who this features and what it's about?
• PC Gamer: Funny how these past three all have the same great podcast producer in Andy Bauman.
• Platform Biased: Recent addition to my list hosted by three engineers-in-test at Microsoft Games Studios.

Deep breath...

• Sarcastic Gamer and the Humpday Update: One of the best made podcasts thanks to the hosts working in "real" radio. Lately contains more self-advertisement than video game content, but still entertaining.
• This Week in Photography: Fun tips & info for any photographer, aspiring or professional.
• Uncle Gamer: Funny chat between two friends about games. Give it a listen and tell me you wouldn't wanna hang out with Parris sometime!
• The Untitled Clawson Blatt Project: If ever I listened to a podcast containing more nonsense, this is it. A couple of improv gents from Purdue wax philosophical about whether or not something is actually a dick move.
• Video Game Outsiders: Two guys, a girl, and a podcast. The chemistry between the three is what has inspired such a long running show.
• The Warpath: Two MMO vets take on Warhammer Online. They have experience podcasting, and it shows.
• Xbox 360 Fanboy and X3F TV: The Joystiq network has all three console-fanboy affiliates, and these guys do a pretty good job. The host also examines video mainly concerned with new Xbox Live Arcade titles.
• Xbox Live's Major Nelson Radio: Straight from the horse's mouth, Larry Hryb (pronounced hurb) gives us the latest Xbox news with his co-host E. Yes, just one letter.
• 1UP FM, 1UP Yours, and 1UP Retronauts: Three of the oodles of podcasts the 1UP network puts on. FM, affectionately known as the "kids table," has some of the newer guys. 1UP Yours is the O.G. of the video game podcasting world. And Retronauts looks into classic gaming.

Finally Finis

-- "For just one night, let's not be co-workers. Let's be co-people."

Fallout 3 Fan Faire Fun!

I saw this yesterday morning and was gonna write up something last night, but I somehow got distracted again...

Fallout 3 and the team at Bethesda continue to go above and beyond expectations. The hype around this game is insurmountable, and the game itself should prove to be worth it. Another one of their old-timey videos was posted and listed prepareforthefuture.com at the end. What a great little contraption; be sure to check every channel! Channel #1 is my personal fave...something about giving a young boy a semi-nuclear weapon to chase away bullies puts a smile on my face :-)

-- "The worst part about being you is pretending to be so bad in bed."

Rock Band Wish List

A couple of months back, I started making a list of all the under-represented bands or just plain awesome songs that should be in Rock Band or Guitar Hero (a full band game). Here's my top 10 in no particular order:

1. Incubus - Pardon Me: They've had a couple other tracks in some previous Guitar Hero games, but this is the classic Incubus anthem.
2. Breaking Benjamin - So Cold: One of those songs everyone's heard, but not everyone is familiar with the band. It would be a great song to play along and truly rock out with 3 other band mates.
3. Collective Soul - Shine: Just like most of these songs, it's the epitome of Collective Soul rock.
4. Evanescence - Bring Me to Life: Surprisingly enough, this song hasn't been whored out to any games. With how much exposure it got, everywhere, I'm surprised it hasn't been optioned yet.
5. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower: A song so good, the original songwriter, Bob Dylan himself, said Jimi's version was better. An unforgettable song for all times.
6. Led Zeppelin - Black Dog: Much to my friend Ryan's chagrin, I would flip out if this song made it into Rock Band. And I think Black Dog would lend itself to a better game experience than Stairway to Heaven, before you ask. It's all silly talk though as Led Zeppelin will never end up (yes, "sell out" Ryan) in a game.
7. My Chemical Romance - Ghost of You: Remember this Saving Private Ryan-esque video? Not just a great video, but a great song.
8. The Used - The Taste of Ink: The Used in their best form. A song with high saturation that helped put them out in the spotlight. My eyes still light up when the lyrics kick in every time.
9. Queen - Bicycle Race (NSFW): A song by another band that will probably never happen thanks to their "musical f***ing integrity." The other more notable songs by Queen are great, but I don't think they'd be that good in a Rock Band setting unless they added a keyboard peripheral and possibly a Freddie Mercury moustache.
10. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army: It might not be as fun for the drummer, but some songs are just like that. The White Stripes just need some representation; I demand it!

A couple of notable songs to go along with this:

• Sublime - Santeria: I wrote this one down back at the beginning of July, and now it's in Guitar Hero: World Tour along with a lot of other great songs by Tool and even some Hendrix.
• Coheed and Cambria - The Reaping/No World for Tomorrow: Like I could have a wish list without some Coheed. This set of songs is over six minutes of rock bliss. It kicks you in the gut the minute that first No World riff strums in.

I had some more stuff that may be more personal/obscure tastes, and I'm sure I don't have some obvious tracks. Comment below if there are any you think would be a great fit for these games. You can also check to see if music was already used in any of these games by checking at this database: MTV Rhythm Game Track Finder.

-- "Evil will always triumph over good because good is dumb."

>>>Edit<<<
Turns out the next day, I find out Singstar is accommodating Queen fans for the vocal (best) parts: Kotaku.

WAR is On

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, very affectionately known as WAR, is like every great MMO thus far: fun when you start, continually surprising, and full of kinks & quirks.

This past weekend I meant to write a post. And I kept meaning to Saturday and then Sunday. But every time I sat down to write, I plopped down and played. As of right now, Kiryn the Dark Elf Sorcerer of Ungrim is rank 15.

Like WoW before it, WAR takes the MMO formula and makes it more airtight than before. I heard a good quote from BigDownload.com and their podcast saying this game redefines PvP just like WoW did for PvE; it's very accessible. The seamless blend of all the different ways to "contribute to the war effort" is a refreshing twist too. Someone I grouped with put it simply, "I'm confused," when I asked what they were up to; there are many ways to spend your time.

The now well-defined quest system was continued from WoW. Add to this the happenstance Public Quests you can wander into, open-world Realm vs. Realm combat in progressively larger sections of zones, RvR scenarios, and the overall war progression that all of the above lend themselves to and the game can seem overwhelming.

I feel like I need an agenda for each night I play, but I decide to wing it just soaking in as much as I can.

-- "Ha ha HA! Mine is an evil laugh...now die!"

Thoughts from PAX (part Final)

Surprise! Ubisoft had an amazing demonstration I didn't think I'd care much about. They walked through the upcoming Prince of Persia and Far Cry 2.

I played PoP: Sands of Time...and loved it. Never got around to the other two, but I heard they aren't near as good anyway. This new one seems to get back to what made Sands of Time so great: puzzle-platforming-acrobatic-goodness! The style of the game is very rough edge, cel-shading and a great use of contrast. Can't say much more on it. But it wasn't the big surprise.

Far Cry 2 features an open-world of 50 sq. km. to roam, hunt, kill, and cause other such mischief. I wasn't a big fan of the first, though I only tried the demo (seemed overly difficult from the beginning). The spreading fire effects and various ways to combat each situation are very intriguing; they probably won't be intriguing enough for me to buy it though. However after gameplay, the demo went into the map editor? Why oh why would you demonstrate a map editor in front of 3,000 people? Because it's frakking awesome. The capabilities for forming/deforming the terrain are insane and rather easy to manipulate. Just like Little Big Planet makes me wanna get a PS3, Far Cry 2 makes me wanna play with a map editor.

Lastly from PAX (maybe more will be squeezed amongst other crap later) is Jumpgate: Evolution. It's a sequel? Hadn't heard of Jumpgate before. Well it's an action-MMO type game that looks a lot like Descent: Freespace. Only watched my friend play Freespace and didn't make any time to sit down with Jumpgate. Although, it looked like a competent 3D space flyer with real-time combat and maneuverability. Basically, I don't know why I'm excited for it, but I am.

Coming soon: Rock Band 2 & WAR.

-- "Old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of."

Thoughts from PAX (part 2)

The next game on my list: Mirror's Edge. I played it. Just so glad I got to play it before coming out because I was a bit iffy.

For those who don't know, it's a first-person game with free-running. Like a lot of others, I thought I'd like it more in 3rd-person and was rather dismissive. I played their demo level on a PS3 and felt comfortable instantaneously; it was rather odd as I'm not a big proponent of Playstation controllers. The up-action/down-action felt natural and wonderfully simple. And no, I didn't feel sick once from the first-person rolling. Surprisingly I think I'll get it for my PC. Much like Left 4 Dead, I'm interested in the mod community for this game (though I'll hook up my 360 controller for this parcours goodness).

Since I want to get through this PAX stuff, I'll go through some quick impressions of other games I saw & played:

• Afro Samurai (360) - Looks good & stylish like the show but was a lackluster action game with no punch.
• Demigod (PC) - Felt like a strategy game for people that dislike RTS's (like myself) but with no real longevity or variability. Would be worth another look though.
• Legendary (360) - Only passed by watching a couple other people play it, but it just looked very generic.
• Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe (360) - Played this a couple times though I've never been a fan of the MK series. It essentially makes me want to play a DC Universe fighting game...
• Resistance 2 (PS3) - Why am I playing PS3 games? Dunno, but this was an okay shooter though I only got to see an 8 player deathmatch (no single-player or 60 player multi).
• Shaun White Snowboarding (360) - More realistic and hence less fun than the SSX games.

Only a couple more games left, and they surprised me.

-- "But I'll tell you what. If you want to use my likeness for a Hamburglar-type character, I'll sign off on that. "Mr. Banana Grabber" or something."

Thoughts from PAX (part 1)

I played quite a few games at PAX and just saw some others without wanting to wait in line. Would be too long to put down into one post, so I'll separate em and see how many it takes to get through my list.

To start, I'd like to say that I didn't play Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, or Left 4 Dead. I doubt I'll be getting Fable or Gears right away; they just don't interest me enough in comparison to everything else coming out...specifically Fallout 3 & Left 4 Dead. Fallout 3 looked great, but I didn't want to spend a couple minutes playing a game that would take longer to get a good feel for. Plus, I'm already going to get it. And Left 4 Dead looked phenomenal, even on the 360. I say that like it wouldn't be a good purchase on the 360, but it will. It almost has me considering getting it on console and PC. It'll be a great birthday present ;)

As for games I did play, I'll start off with one of my favorites: Little Big Planet. I made a point to get in line for it early enough Sunday, and it was worth it. I played about 4 different types of games/levels. The simple controls speak nothing of the complexity of the game. Sackboy is a great icon with a malleable palette of possibilities. And it seems you can make just about any 2-D game you can think of and more.

It makes me want a PS3 for the first time.

-- "I'm afraid I just blue myself."

Finally

Finally I am writing again, and finally I'm blogging again for the first time since a class required me to five years ago when they were still known as "weblogs."

I felt the need to write for a couple of weeks now but motivation seems rather fickle. It started at PAX (the Penny Arcade Expo) in Seattle. Though compelled, my stalwart malaise kept me from writing. But I'm here now to put down my thoughts and hopefully get into a nice rhythm of writing.

The focus, you may learned from my title, will be games but will include entertainment in general and associated stories in general. Thanks for indulging.

-- "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn for Sega."