1st Dragon Age. Without a doubt the best RPG of this console generation.

2nd goes to Uncharted 2

3rd Batman: Arkham Asylum

The official return policy says Nope. Since its a new item you cannot return it under any circumstances.

That being said the store manager has a bit of leeway in this sort of thing and if you're a regular customer or just pretty nice about asking and explaining your situation, most of them will make an exception.

It happens sometimes. You just get burnt out on something when you spend too much time doing it. There's a few things I do when it gets that way - I go back and play some of the games that I really love like KOTOR or pull my NES out of the closet and play some Mario or something.

Or I mix it up like someone else suggested and try a genre I dont ordinarily play.

Or I just take a break for a bit and read a few good books :P

I think there are alot of forces at work when it comes to people's behavior and #1 by far is their environment. If you take a normal, grounded kid from a decent home who is instilled with values and ethics and common sense then the most violent video game in the world isnt going to make that person violent.

9 times out of 10 becoming a violent person is because of your upbringing. You were trained that acting out and violence were the ways to get the things you want. Whether what you want is attention or whatever - the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the bad parent. If you have values and ethical boundaries then no video game will make you cross them. However when those boundaries are never created or instilled then yes, a violent video game is adding to a pre-existing pattern.

Human brains are like computers you have input and output and what you put in is the same as what comes out if you dont have any filter.

I'm still disappointed over the cancellation of Full Throttle 2 - a sequel to one of the most genuinely hilarious games of all time.

Of course no sequel would be as good as the original without Tim Schafer.

Full Throttle

Hopefully Brutal Legend will be as awesome as the demo and will sell like hotcakes and he'll start producing games with regularity again.

Well like I said this isnt about one console being better than the other its about a recordable trend.

And as for metacritic ratings its just a composite which gives us a benchmark for comparison thats more or less unbiased and universal. And yes most of the games you'll ever play will be less than a 90% by metacritic - however the point of this was to show the statistics which plainly demonstrate the assertions I made - that as a gaming machine the PS3 is starting to look competitive. That it is starting to produce in quality (if not quantity) games that make the system a safe investment for the future and that as this trend continues it will start pushing the systems more towards parity. This is a good thing as it means more competition, more good games and more fun for gamers.

I think it depends on the person really! I intend to be playing whatever passes for video games when I'm elderly - the problem today is looking at old people now who dont know to operate or have been reluctant to use new technology like cell-phones, dvd or vcrs are reluctant because those things simply didnt exist when they were younger.

In the future elderly people will be people who grew up in the age of computers and cell phones and so there just isnt the gap that there is today.

I'm not sure if you're asking if I buy non-exclusives or if I would buy multiples of the same game for different consoles etc.

In any case I would answer yes.

Force Unleashed, COD4 & Batman: Arkham Asylum are games I either own for both platforms or intend to - Great Multi-platform games do exist. Sometimes there is enough to set one version apart (Joker Mode in AA, Different People on PSN for COD4) other times you might just be a huge fan of the game and pick it up because there's not enough good new releases to keep you playing.

Allow me to preface this post with the following: I do in fact own an Xbox 360 and its probably seen more hours of play than every system I have ever owned combined. In fact I would go so far as to say that I could be classified as an Xbox 360 fanboy. In fact I have owned a PS3 twice, the first time being so frustrated with the lack of decent exclusive titles that I traded the thing in. This is meant to temper the reality of what I am about to say.

The PS3 is getting it done in '09.

To look at this in a coldly analytical way look at the metacritic reviews of games for this year.

# of Reviewed games with a composite score of more than 90%

360 - 7

PS3 - 9

So just on the face of things the Sony Machine has put out a greater number of high-quality games this year. The telling statistic is this: Of those games in 2009, Xbox has zero exclusive titles with scores greater than 90%. PS3 has 4 so far. (Demon's Souls, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, MLB:09 the Show)

Of multiplatform games the PS3 games are slightly less well reviewed in some cases (and rightly so giving the coding foibles of the machine and the much less friendly online experience).

Could it be that for hardcore gamers the PS3 has turned a corner this year? While its sales numbers lag, good games drive console sales. If the system continues producing exclusive games that, frankly, rock - then it cant be long before some sort of relative parity is achieved. Both consoles have their upcoming novelty gag control systems involving motion control which may give Xbox the edge again given the interest in Project Natal - but the gaming outlook for 2010 is bright with PS3 exclusives like MAG, GoW3, The Agent, Heavy Rain, L.A. Noire, The Last Guardian, Twisted Metal, DC Universe Online and FFIV.

Here's hoping that the bar continues to be raised for both platforms - Better games = happy gamers.