So it's been a while since my last look at DLC but the wait has given me time to expand on more...Here's the rundown on some latest DLC packs.

Saint's Row 2: Corporate Warfare DLC: 560 MS Points, $7 on PSN:

Once again Volition drops the DLC ball by offering a meager amount of content. At least this time they lowered the price of their scraps. In this pack, we're treated to a few new MP maps, a few new missions, some achievements, a few new oldies cars that are fun to look at, and some more customization options for the player character.

The three missions that come with this DLC are standard fare and do very little to expand the story any further from the main game. They almost feel like there's no point to them at all because pretty much nothing big is accomplished. I did mention the cars being cool because they have some old vehicles from around the 50's or maybe earlier, I'm not much of a car buff. However, playing co-op and seeing a guy doing drive-bys in an antique car dressed like Jesus is a sight to behold.

Overall if you're a fan and you have some money to toss away, would like some new cars, MP maps and achievements it still feels like a bit of a waste but it does supply some entertainment.

Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage DLC: 800 MS Points

The first set of DLC for Fallout 3 doesn't really capture the feel of Fallout 3 at all and in my opinion is the weakest of the DLC released for this game. In OA, you receive a message from the BoS Outcasts that they need help with something and upon arrival to their location; you find that they have happened on a weapons cache that can only be unlocked by people who pass a test in a virtual simulation.

The simulation as you must know by now has to do with the Chinese Assault on Anchorage, Alaska and involves the player character going on a mission to stop the Chinese occupation of Alaska. Unfortunately all Role Playing is tossed out the window in favor of squad based shooter missions. There's very little exploration of the frozen landscape, no dialogue choices and in fact, the only choices in this DLC are the squad member types and if you want to leave the simulation.

This DLC really feels like it doesn't belong and it was kind of painful to play through but the rewards are kind of worth it in the end. Some achievements are unlocked and there is winterized power armor and some new weapons to be had at the finish. I did have one strange thing happen at the very and I hope someone can explain this to me...

SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~

Are the Outcasts supposed to murder each other in the end? I was going through the vault, collecting ammo when all hell broke loose and everyone killed each other in a hail of minigun rounds and rocket fire. No one was left alive.

SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~

Fallout 3: The Pitt DLC: 800 MS Points

So far, and plotwise I must say, This DLC is the best in my book. The setting is incredible, the story is pretty good and the characters are pretty memorable. In this DLC the player character has to infiltrate a slaver colony in Pittsburg and eventuallyassist with the rebellion or side with the slavers. Either choice, the player character should walk away wondering if they made the right decision.

This DLC has a few new perks, some new weapons, armor,achievements and one of the better atmospheres of the game. In the slave pens there is a feeling of hopelessness, in the steel yard where the player is sent to scavenge ore while killer diseased maniacs and bandits roam, there's an ever lurking sense of danger and finally when the player character gets to uptown where the important slavers live, there's almost a feeling of disgust.

This DLC is pretty much a compact version of all the best parts of Fallout 3: foreboding environment, some good items, crazy creatures, some nice rewards and a tough decision in the end. The most interesting part is definitely the scavenging portion where the player character is put in a map and tasked tofind 10 ~ 100 pieces of ore. The more ore found, the better the rewards. I usually hate hunting for items but the map is small and the rewards are good so I didn't mind at all.

In the end, this DLC really makes up for Operation Anchorage and if it had more changes to the game like the next DLC has, it would be on the top of my list as THE DLC to get for Fallout 3.

Fallout 3: Broken Steel DLC: 800 MS Points:

The reason this has is the best DLC to get for Fallout 3 is that it ups the level cap, gives the game a much better ending, supplies new perks, tougher enemies and some new items all in one pack. I don't know about anyone else but while playing Fallout 3, I was done leveling up way before I was actually done with the game, and to me, once the leveling up aspect was gone, I had all the best equipment and pretty much killed everything there was to be killed, the game felt more like a standard FPS.

Now I'm level 30 and there are creatures that can and have kicked my ass and the game feels great again. Albino Radscorpions, Feral Ghoul Reavers and Super Mutant Overlords all make sure to bring any wanderer back down off of their high horse as these creatures are fast, durable and deadly. My first meeting with a reaver started with me mistaking the creature for a normal ghoul and attempting to shoot it in the face with my silenced pistol, the mistake was quickly rectified as I was killed by a Glowing One and two Reavers who just soaked up shells from my Terrible Shotgun.

As with the Fallout games before this, this DLC makes sure the player character is involved in wiping out the Enclave once and for all. The quest takes part at some familiar locations and ends up with a battle aboard a huge mobile command center where the character has another decision to make at the end. I found this decision much easier to make than the one found in the end of the game or in The Pitt expansion and that was it.

In the game there is a monster of a new gun called the Tesla Cannon and my favorite new armor in the game called the Hellfire Power Armor.

Fallout 3: Point Lookout DLC: 800MS Points.

Gone is the urban or rocky wasteland of the metro DC area and in its place is a swamp littered with cultists and deformed inbred mutants. I've always liked swamp settings in games and I was hoping for a more, deep south, Louisiana marshland feeling from the environment but Point Lookout does a decent enough job in atmosphere without it. Found in this DLC are a new map about 1/5 the size of Fallout 3's main map, new quests, armor, weapons, items, creatures and achievements.

I have to say that this is close to being my second favorite DLC for Fallout 3 slightly behind The Pitt but far above Operation Anchorage. There's a quest in this DLC that blew me away with the insanity behind it. Pretty much the main quest involves a rivalry between a couple of century old enemies with the player character getting stuck in the middle between these two maniacs. Along the way you'll run into a bunch of inbred, tribal warriors, ghouls and if you're lucky enough you'll come across some interesting side quests also.

The player character is free to go back and forth from point lookout to the DC metro area whenever they wish by use of a ferryboat which is a good thing if one wishes to stuck up items to repair armor or weapons that probably won't be found in this backwoods locale, or just to offload all the strange new loot that can be found.

The landscape is finely crafted and a lot of detail is put into certain places. I came across a giant tree with a parachute stuck in it and a skeleton nearby. Littered about the skeleton was a helmet, an assault rifle and an axe in the tree which, while this scene has no real importance, had me stop in my tracks an think about what may have happened to this poor guy. There are little scenes like that mixed all over the place lending some charm to the area.

There's really no new powerful armor but there is a new Double Barreled Shotgun which trumps that damage caused by almost all of the other shotguns except The Terrible Shotgun. I was a fan of shotguns in the previous Fallouts so in this game it was no different. All in all this quest takes about a handful of hours to see and do almost everything and thankfully, with a new character, this quest can be completed at any time which should be a nice distraction to anyone starting the game over again or beginning for the first time.

Ever since I got my internet back about 2 months ago, I've been on an almost weekly DLC download or playing spree. I've downloaded and played Fable 2's DLCs, the GTA IV DLC, The Saint's Row 2 DLC and all three Fallout 3 DLCs. The price range on these items range from 800-1600 Microsoft points and the quality does vary between some of them. I'll start off with the biggest waste of money:

Saint's Row 2: Ultor Exposed DLC: 800 MS points, $9.99 on PSN

For about the cost of $10.00, Ultor Exposed adds three main missions, some new clothing and character options, a handful of new vehicles that are automatically added to the garage, a new co-op mod, some achievements and 4 multiplayer maps. Is it all worth it?

No

I played through the missions and although they nicely link the Saint's Row universe to that of Red Faction's world a little tighter, having porn star Tera Patrick in a speaking role is going way beyond her talents. It would be like strapping shoulder pads on Rachel Ray and tossing her into a Monday night football game. Some laughs are to be had at the poor dialogue and crappy delivery (such as the fact that Ms. Patrick plays a microbiologist) but they're not laughing with the game funny, more along the lines of laughing at it. These three new missions should take all of 20 - 30 minutes to play through

The new vehicles are nothing like the previous vehicles in the game and are nice to mess around with. There's an old fashioned race car, a backwards tricycle type motorcar, a tank ripped straight from Red Faction equipped with a rocket launcher and a new attack chopper. Also there are new hair **** and a few new clothing items to further expand the great create a character mode. I'm finally able to make a piece of overweight white trash with the balding mullet I've always wanted to put on him.

Didn't touch the MP maps because let's face it, SR 2's MP was never anything to write home about however the new co-op mode would have been nice if it was included while the launch of the game. Now instead of just playing through the game co-op, they've included a Meta game in which both players compete for kills and destruction while going through regular missions. It's not to say you couldn't crap talk with a friend about who killed more before but now it would be official.

All in all, the DLC for SR 2 really isn't worth it. When you have games like Fable 2, GTA IV and Fallout 3 adding loads of extra content for more reasonable prices, this DLC didn't last long and also alienated me from friends that don't have$10.00 to throw away on weak content. Oh well.

Fable II: Knothole Island DLC: 800 Microsoft points.

The Fable II DLC's aren't around to win over new customers, they're to draw back fans of the game and entertain them with new quests, items, achievements and more of the beautiful world of Albion and this is what it does wonderfully.

Knothole Island includes three new quests, a new area and some new armor, weapons and potions and runs approximately 2 and ½ for 4 hours depends on what one wants to get out of this DLC. Everything the missions can be finished in roughly two hours while finding all of the Knothole Island books and getting all of the Trader's items might lengthen the time spent with this game a bit.

The quests meld wonderfully with the side quests that are already available and involve fixing the weather problems for this small island one mishap at a time. At first it is too cold, then too hot and dry and finally it's too rainy. After some dungeon crawling, the problem works itself out and it's up to the character to make one final choice of who gets to control the weather on the island.

Along the way there are wonderful new potions to acquire that magically change the appearance of the main character. My hero was Evil, powerful but unfortunately had packed on quite a few pounds throughout the course of his career. Amazingly though there was a potion to solve that in Knothole Isle that returned him back to his lean evilness.

There are also a few new unique weapons but unfortunately I had better ones, it's the clothing options that came through as there is a new set of knight armor and a funny 1960's greaser gang set of clothing which includes some glasses and a slicked back wig.

Even though this DLC pack costs more than the larger See the Future DLC pack for Fable II, the cost of this DLC is much easier to swallow than the junky SR 2 one. Lastly there is a free version that let's one get a taste of some of the items while also enabling the person to tag along with someone that has paid for the content. A nice touch I'd say.

Fable II: See the Future DLC: 560 Microsoft Points

For a lower amount than Knothole Island, you get a bit more content that involves two longer missions, a hunt for statues, a bunch of new achievements, a couple new creatures and some new weapons/costumes to play around with.

Once again the finely crafted world of Albion is expanded by a few new worlds that revolve around some cursed items. The first one, a town trapped in a snow globe, involves putting the color back into this cursed town by fighting off some foes that are only vulnerable to certain attacks. The next mission involves helping out a trapped night with the use of costumes fashioned after Balverine's, the Undead and the goblin type creatures. The third quest gives a cryptic view into what could be the next Fable or even the next DLC and the final item is another gladiator type arena in which wave after wave of foes are decimated for gold and items.

This DLC lasts roughly as long as Knothole Islands but the new arena offers much more replayability. There are also new potions that turn the friendly canine companion into a Dalmatian, a husky or a blood hound.

The best part of this game is the strange view to future that raises some questions. Maybe the answers will be revealed at this upcoming E3. I doubt we've seen the last of Fable's world.

I'll save the DLC for Fallout and the mother of all DLC for GTA IV for another entry. Until then, I hope these impressions either help people to enjoy more of their favorite game or save someone some cash.

SO the other day I buy Drakensang because I've heard nothing but good things about it from most gamers that give it a try and although it feels pretty generic, I'm really liking a lot of the things the game does right. I believe this is the first game where I acually try to craft items because, while not making the crafting process too easy, this game has made it simple enough in thought and execution that I actually don't mind doing it. So far I'm enjoying my party and I'm melding them all to specialize in certain things and I've really had no troubles so far.

But I've also just downloaded the next Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion: Mysteries of Westgate. People say it's 15 hours of play for about $10 so that's not a bad deal at all. Looking to see how that little expansion plays out.

And finally Broken Steel for Fallout 3 is fixed for PC and I'm currently downloading that and getting ready to start it up so I can continue that game with my old character and hopefully in the future I'll start an evil play through with The Pitt and Operation Anchorage expansions to change the pace of that playthrough.

Finally Demon's Souls came in the mail today and I'm looking forward to playing this. I bet it will take me a while to figure things out in tht game since the booklet is in another language and the only thing Ihave to guide me without spoiling anything is this little fold out guide that came with the game in english.

I think I have enough RPG's to last me well beyond Dragon's Age or Alpha Protocol's release.

Well I finally got the phone connections fixed in my house so the internet and my network is up running again. I've spent most of the morning updating games, downloading things such as the Champions Online beta client for my desktop, GTA IV Lost and the Damned, Fable II Knothole Island, the two Fallout 3 DLC's that were released.

Anybody up for any MP goodness in the upcoming days, just send me a message.

This also means that I will get back to writing reviews and more frequent bog entries. My laptop isn't the best thing to type on so I was avoiding everything but posting with that. I owe reviews for Metroid Prime 3, The Godfather 2, Eat Lead, Blitz The League 2 and Persona 3... There are probably some others I'm missing and I'll have to look those up.

Well that's it for now.

I've been house hunting with my girlfriend for the last few months and unfortunately we started on a high note. The first house we looked at was a 2 story colonial, 2,000 square feet, original woodwork, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and a heated five car garage. This house had a ton of charm and was simply beautiful with french doors, fire place, vaulted ceilingsand everything about it was kept perfect. The only flaws I could see was that the wiring was original and all of that had to be replaced but as fate would have it, the house was sold before we could start the buying process.

We kept up the hunt looking at anything from $30,000 fixerupper cape cods to $80,000 ranches. Housing is incredibly cheap around here and the same square footage here would fetch a quarter of a million dollars on the west coast. We looked at so many houses that they all started to get mixed up in my head and non of them blew me away like the first house. My girlfriend just wants us to move into a house so I thought she was just going to settle on anything as almost every house we went into she said she liked.

Yesterday we looked at some more ranches that would need a ton of work yet were still pricey for the size and condition. Rugs would need to be torn out, a ton of painting, fence repairs, cupboards, just a lot of hassle. Then we looked at a really overpriced house that was built just like my gf's parent's house so that was an instant no from me. The second from last house was another colonial that said it needed some love. When we walked in the ceiling was ripped to the rafters and wiring, there were holes in almost every wall, simply put the house was a hell hole that smelled of wet dogs and cigarette smoke. It seemed like an almost fitting end for our search but there was one more house.

We drove up to the house and the siding and roof was in good condition, there was some landscaping, a two car garage with a patio and a back entrance way to the second floor. the front entrance said "use side door" so we went in the side door and nothing special so far. There was a small landing that looked down to a dark basement to the left and some stairs to the kitchen dead ahead. We decided to start with the kitchen and that's when the magic started. The kitchen was spacious and had a good amount of counter and cupboard space. It also had a nice little touch like an window of sorts that was in the wall seperating the kitchen and dining room. the dining room had some nice touches such as a woodworked bench under the large picture window and the dining room extended into the large living room with a fireplace with some beautiful windows on each side.

To the other side of the dining room was an office space with a bathroom that also attached to the kitchen. In my current house I have a game room set up with neon bar signs, small bottles of liquor, my LCD HDTV, ps3, 360, dvd player and gaming PC all set up in there with a PC desk, and sectional couch...this office space would be perfect for that.

Back to the living room. Above the gas/wood fireplace there's already a spot for an HDTV mount set up and some beautiful french doors that lead to a small room that has stairs leading up to the second floor and a door that leads out to the enclosed porch. It's in the room that I first noticed soemthing strange. There was a set of rockband drums and a guitar. Who ever lived here before had kids but I found it strange that they'd leave important parts of a game behind.

Upstairs was even crazier than the first floor. Four bedrooms, another bathroom, another living room and even another kitchen. It seems that before this, the house may have been two seperate living spaces but was now turned into one complete house. It would explain the stairs up to an entrance on the second floor but the locks on the doors really didn't make sense. There was one key lock on one door but not on a door to the other room which just led back around.

The bathroom and ken wenitchen are fully furnished with everything, the rooms are all good sized and I only noticed one flaw about one of the rooms. The one wall was seriously warped from what looks like water damage coming from the roof around the chimney. a small fix involving some roof work, new flashing and some dry wall should fix the only large flaw in this house. Other than that, one of the rooms here looked like it had three closets but one of them actually lead to a stairwell leading to a third floor. This attick space was huge, almost fully walled with drawers and cupboards built into the side. It was a great top to a perfect house. Next stop, the basement.

The basement stairs were back at the side entrance and ran along the side of the house. turning a corner my mother jumped because there was a fridge with it's door open and on the door there was a huge clown head magnet with red eyes that reflected the light from the outside. My gf, my mother, my gf's father, the agent and i inspected the basement and found another closet, another bathroom of sorts, some more kid's toys but it was the pictures on the fridge that caught my attention. It showed a familiar white woman smiling and her little kids in various pictures. I then noticed an aquarium near by with a turtle in it...a dead turtle that was abandoned by the previous owners. I just got to thinking why all these kid's things would be left behind especially a kid's pet, and why did the woman's picture look so familiar?

We went outside, inspected the garage to see a newer looking car that had been left in the driveway along with a garage full of more kid's toys. I then remembered why that woman looked so familiar, she's a face I've seen in the local paper a few months back. she had left her abusive husband, took the kids but that's not the reason she ended up in the paper. Her husband's response to her action was he found where they wife had gone to, shot her in the head then went to a local hotel and killed himself during a police stand off.

I asked the agent if she had any information on the place about the previous owner and she said she just knows the owner died and someone else is selling the house. I then asked if she remembered the one murder in the paper and she recalled everything that i had already figured out.

We're still in the starting phases of buying the home but it is pretty creepy to know that in such a beautiful house, there was abuse that was going on that would end with the death of both parents and that where ever the kids were forced off to, they couldn't take with them a lot of the toy's and things they once had.

I'm almost done with my self imposed, rarely lived up to Gamespot embargo that I started right before Christmas last year and I think it's been a great success in what I've accomplished. Not only is that almost over but I'm starting to see the light at the end of my "Now Playing" list.

I've knocked down the number of games on my backlog to 5 and Im currently working on getting that number down even lower. This month I've played through Metroid Prime 3, The Witcher and Odin Sphere while starting Persona 3 and STALKER Clear Sky.

I'm still having a hard time writing reviews for these games while also trying to continue the series I started earlier this month which landed me another Soapbox entry.

I plan on reviewing Metroid Prime 3 and doing the "View of a Review part 2" with talk about sequels: what I think some of them do right and some of them do wrong. Themes such as revamps, and when sticking to a formula works out and when it doesn't.

My review of The Witcher and the VoaR Part 3 will arrive shortly after that and I think I'll discuss the satisfaction of a good antagonist or the disappointment of the lack of one. The Witcher tiptoes the line on this theme and seems to be the thing that stuck out the most to me when I finished the game. I wanted one strong antagonist but I was fooled by that.

Lastly will be Odin Sphere's Review and VoaR Part 4 where I'll talk about games that jeopardize gameplay to stick to a theme or pattern. I think Odin Sphere was an ok game that stuck to a pattern so much that it actually ruined my enjoyment of the game in parts.

I haven't thought of what do talk about with Persona 3, STALKER Clear Sky, Resistence: Fall of Man, LittleBigPlanet or Gothic yet but I'm sure I'll figure something out when the time comes along.

My master plan is that I'll have my backlog either totally finished by the end of Feb and then I'll start all over again this year. That or Gothic will stay on my list while I catch up on games I've missed. Either way I've been enjoying just plain gaming again,and I've even had time to go back and mess around getting achievements in older games that I hadn't tucked away yet.

It's amazing what one can accomplish when they play games and not just talk about them.

Last year I decided to practice my spreadsheet skills and make a nice list of games I wanted over the course of the year, the price they were and their release dates. It was a nice little file that kept me informed of when games were coming out and how much I'd be spending on gaming. This year is no different and here is a list of games that I'm looking forward to this year along with small reasons why.

Xbox 360:

GTA IV DLC: Anything that makes me spend more time with a great game is welcomed and these two episodic contents are no different.

Chance of purchase: 100%

Fallout 3 DLC: When comparing DLC, these three expansions are the ones I'm looking forward to the most. I'm thinking about just waiting until all three are released and giving the game another play through but I doubt I can hold on for that long.

Chance of purchase: 100%

The Godfather 2: Feb 24th: I didn't mind the first one too much and this sequel seems to have changed enough to keep me interested. I'm interested in seeing how the strategy parts play out and I'm hoping to see some new finishing moves in the game.

Chance of purchase: 80%

Damnation: Mar 2nd: All I know is this game looks like it has an interesting premise. Something like a western game mixed in with steam based weapons. I have all the hopes this game will be decent but I'm thinking this will be 2009's first Legendary-esque game. There's a good chance I'll just skip over this title.

Chance of purchase: 50%

Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazzard: Mar 3rd: This can either be gaming's version of Tropic Thunder or gaming's version of Disaster Movie. I'm hoping for the first choice and I think gaming is overdue for a parody of action games and action characters.

Chance of purchase: 75%

Resident Evil 5: Mar 13th : I don't really think this game needs a blurb at the end. While I'm skeptical about the whole co-op portion and having a character tag along in the game, I'm sure Capcom knows what they're doing with their baby.

Chance of purchase: 98%

Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena: Apr 7th: I'm so glad this game found a publisher and it seems to be shaping up to be a deal of Orange Box proportions. Not only is the excellent but highly slept on Escape from Butcher's Bay being remastered but there's also the Dark Athena portion that is supposed to be just as long.

Chance of purchase: 100%

Batman: Arkham Asylum: May 1st: If this turns out good, this will be the first Batman game I've bought or even played since the NES days. I'm a little worried about the stealth aspects but if I hear good things about this game, then I'll pick it up just because I'm curious about it.

Chance of purchase: 75%

Prototype: Jun 1st: I can't get my fix of sandbox games and any that tries to do something at least a bit different than the typical crime theme. I'm hoping this game turns out be good and the powers aren't too gimmicky or overpowering.

Chance of purchase: 85%

Aliens: Colonial Marines: Jun 1st: The dev team behind this game might have run into some trouble so that puts a damper on my perception of this game. This could turn out to be a quick ditch project to make some money before the team goes out of business, I'm just hoping that the powers that own the rights to the "Alien" license makes sure that doesn't happen.

Chance of purchase: 75%

Bionic Commando: Jun 2nd: It'll feel good to behind that robotic arm again except this time in full 3D. Capcom hasn't really bungled a game so far, well besides that Commando game, but once again I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt seeing as they've been a consistently impressive dev team this generation

Chance of purchase: 85%

Red Faction: Guerrilla: Jun 9th: I was able to play the beta multiplayer portion of this game and the part I experienced makes me think this game will fall somewhere in the 7.0 - 7.5 range when it comes out. I just hope that the MP brings down a good single player campaign instead of the whole game just being mediocre.

Chance of purchase: 75%

Ghostbusters: Jun 16th: There's just no way I'm passing up on this game even if it scores in the 6.0 range from websites.

Chance of purchase: 100%

Splatterhouse: Jun 16th: To be honest, this game looks horrible and I thought it would be a download game. It's actually a full game and I seriously have my doubts about it. Out of all the games on the list, this one is the most on the "not buying" side.

Chance of purchase: 40%

Two Worlds: The Temptation: Sep 1st: The first Two Worlds was a like it or hate it game and I can't blame anyone for hating it. The ones that stuck around probably did so because the game offered a world similar to Oblivion but better in almost everyway ON PAPER. I'm hoping that the dev team behind this irons out the technical flaws, decides to throw out the voice over squad and this game could easily be in the 8's.

Chance of purchase: 80%

Borderlands: Sep 1st: This game just looks like Mad Max and as such it instantly has my attention. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a solid game and I'm looking forward to reading more about it as the release date gets closer.

Chance of purchase: 85%

Playstation 3

Killzone 2: Feb 27th: The first one was supposed to be Sony's Halo killer and that failed horribly but it seems they have learned from their mistakes. This game is looking to be a powerhouse in graphics and even if the gameplay is ½ that impressive, you're still looking at a damn good game.

Chance of purchase: 90%

Infamous: May 1st: From the little I know about this game, it looks to be pretty similar to Prototype so this game has the same amount of interest. I hope both games turn out to be just as good as I think they will.

Chance of purchase: 85%

God of War 3: Dec 1st: Barring my purchasing of the first 2 titles, God of War 3 will be my first God of War game. I'm sure it will heal the scar that Ninja Gaiden 2 has given me for hack and slash games. Then I'll have to buy the originals.

Chance of Purchase: 90%

PC

The Sims 3: Feb 20th: I was a big fan of the original, I liked the sequel but got overwhelmed by the expansions and I'm sure that I'll enjoy this game just the same before they make 40 different expansions for this game. It's a definite buy or my girl friend will kill me.

Chance of purchase: 100%

Dragon Age Origins: Mar 23rd: RPG, BioWare, Spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate. This is another one of those no brainer purchases for me.

Chance of purchase: 100%

Alpha Protocol: Jun 15th: RPG, Obsidian, modern day spy thriller. I could say the same as above but I'm looking forward to this game just because of the mixing of RPG and spying.

Chance of purchase: 100%

After every game I play through I tend to look at what the game did right and what the game did wrong and then compare those things to other games I've played before and the gaming market in general. I think there can be lines drawn between almost every game and it's pretty easy to see why some games succeed while others end up littering bargain bins a few months down the road. This rant comes after playing Legendary and realizing that all games are not created equal which left me wondering, "Why are their prices?"

I say this only because I was shopping at a Wal-Mart when I came across Legendary in a bargain bin at a $30 price point. I knew ahead of the time the reviews that this game got were mostly average to poor but I picked the game up anyways. Before I even sat down to play the game I realized that a lot of people said this game is mediocre or even old fashioned because it doesn't break any new ground and that started me thinking of how my opinion might be swayed a little bit seeing as I'm paying half as much as they did.

I really think some developers are incapable of making great games and certain publishers are unable to fund great games and Legendary is an example of this. There was no way this game was going to be a hit and I find it even more damaging to the game's sales for it to come out at the busiest time of the year and priced the same as games that have a ton of hype surrounding them. They knew they had an inferior product so my question is why not sell it at a cheaper price to compete?

I imagine this being as if Burger King tried to compete with Red Robin's burgers at a price point level. It would be sheer lunacy if a Whopper meal ran someone $11 when the food is bargain level quality. So I don't understand why some game publishers or developers try to do the same.

There would be clearly some benefits of pricing a game less than blockbuster titles and I think reviews would be one of the first things to reflect this. Of course eventually if this price point is successful, there would be a huge flood of bargain titles competing against one another and reviews would once again level out but I think the first few average titles to come out sporting a below average price would rake in the benefits of being reviewed on a different scale. At $30, Legendary could have been in a league of its own instead of being compared to games like Half Life 2, and other better quality shooters. But no, instead they shot themselves, or more appropriate for this game, axed themselves in the foot by putting themselves in a race they would never win.

I'm also thinking of impulse buys. When I was at Wal-Mart that day, there was no way that $60 was going to be an impulse buy, but for the price of two new DVD's I could instead have roughly eight hours of entertainment instead of the average four hours of entertainment from DVD's. I actually put back a couple of DVD's and picked up Legendary. Now $30 might be a steep impulse by for some and it's not like I'd make buys like this too often but a recent release at that price that I was somewhat interested in was too good to pass up.

In the end, I did my review, posted it up here on Gamespot and then looked at the other reviews of the game. The average was 5.1 for critics and a bit lower from gamers that were probably thoroughly pissed over paying $60 for this game. My score ended up being a little higher than the critic average but not too high.

In theory, the smaller price point worked for me. Would you react similarly in this situation?

Legendary: I can't say they didn't warn me when I looked at the scores for this game and read some blurbs about how average it is. It is very mediocre but at a discounted cost, it's a good enough time. My review of it is right Nyeah.

Who knew being without the internet besides at work would be such a great thing when it comes to gaming? I mean when you think about it, it all points back to the good old days when this was just a calming past time to relieve some stress and feel accomplished and not a fanatical hobby where people argue about everything from game ratings to systems, sales, genres and generations.

I can't lie about the last part either, I'm definitely apart of the problem. Sometimes I feel like I'm one of the most horrid posters on this site when it comes to responses and I have the moderation history to back up that claim. It just seems like the same arguments pop up over and over again and the same things are said. It all seems pointless to me now that I've had some time to step back and look at things.

The more I try to get involved in the community the more that I notice things are broken on this site. The Membership Benefits are nonexistent. User Soapbox seems to be a lot like herpes, you get them the first time and it's easy to get them again and again. Unions seems pretty pointless because they've either grown too big for this site or can barely get off the ground. User Reviews are like mixing up a flea market and junkyard all into one where it's hard to distinguish the good from the bad at face value and the complaints go on and on.

It all boils down to the fact that I've felt disenfranchised with Gamespot for a while now and it's time to throw in the towel. I've finally cancelled my useless membership after 6 years. The secret Gamespot society I belong to seems unbalanced these days, I can't find a union that has my interests and starting one is a full time job itself and the best discussions of games are found by going to the gamefaqs board and talking about them there which is glitchy because of the Gamespot merger. The best thing left for me to do is to take a break and it seems to be working pretty good.

I start my games up without the internet and I just play. No one interrupting my games on PC with useless chat, no one bragging about points or achievements on the 360 and no constantly getting booted and reconnecting on PSN. I stop by Gamespot for a few posts, check out some blogs maybe post in some topics of games I like and try to avoid all the dramatic attention seeking posts and posters.

And that's how it was and how it should be. I forgot about how relaxing games used to be before it became all about the industry.

Starting today I'll be leaving the RoF, I'll be cutting down my friend's lists and try posting a lot less. It's been fun but it's time to move on.

I started to do the Community Spotlight thing in hopes that it would catch the interest of some new people and start discussions going between some of the older posters on here and some of the newer ones and I would then take some lesser known posters, feature them and give a better sense of poster recognition to Gamespot. It was an utter failure when it comes to that. What ended up happening is just chat between already established members like almost every topic in the GGD is.

I want to thank everyone that participated and everyone that responded. There was always encouraging words and a lot of posts in those topics and like I said, I actually enjoyed the interview part, posting and reading of them but the scheduling thing is just impossible for me. I did make arrangements to do a fourth one but they fell through because of the things going on and I apologize to Foxhound for that.

If anyone wants to take it up, they are more than welcome to. As for me, I just don't see a point in planning one more thing that will ultimately get delayed and pushed back.

My Views on Obsidian Entertainment

My experience with the developer known as Obsidian Entertainment started out on bad terms with their follow up to BioWare's smash hit Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. Now from what I understand, Obsidian was rushed by LucasArts to hurry up and make a sequel and get it out before the holiday season. It was one hell of a deadline but fortunately for them the engine the game would be running on was already done for them.

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords hit the shelves and although it had a great party influence mechanic never done this well and to this depth, the game overall was a mess full of loose ends, nonsensical cut scenes and numerous bugs. The forgiving can see this is a game almost on par with the original, on the other hand I saw it as a decent game that only surpasses the original with its party mechanic and fails to even meet the original in every other category.

Their next release was another sequel to a BioWare game called Neverwinter Nights and while this time Obsidian wasn't forced to push their game out to shelves prematurely, the game once again featured a great party mechanic and unique characters in an unoptimized and buggy package. There is no reason for a computer to be able to run The Elder Scrolls Oblivion on max and Neverwinter Nights 2 on low-medium settings just to get a stable framerate.

I didn't play through Neverwinter Nights 2 initially and immediately labeled Obsidian Entertainment as a bunch of hacks that need to follow in BioWare's footsteps and take the scraps from their table just to get by. This opinion of mine carried over to their announcement of Alpha Protocol, a third person shooter/ RPG that immediately brought to mind BioWare's recent Mass Effect game's combat mechanic. Yes, more riding of BioWare's coat tails.

However an expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 was released and I thought that since most expansions fix a lot of issues with the original game that Obsidian couldn't possibly drop the ball on this one. I reinstalled NWN 2, installed the expansion and patched the game all the way up to the latest release. I played though NWN 2's main quest and despite running into a major bug, I noticed that the framerate was greatly improved and the game ran rather smoothly. In the end I found a game that was superior to the original NWN in almost everyway with an ending that was surprising and action packed. Hmmm, there might be something to these Obsidian fellows.

I then played through Mask of the Betrayer after hearing a ton of mixed impressions about this game. It seems that they had formed a schism in the WRPG crowd. Some found the new gameplay element horrendous. An abomination to RPG's that rushes decision making and role playing because of its relentless degradation of the main character. I, and some others, found it to be the first true gameplay element that made urgency a reality in the freedom of WRPG's. It made decision making more profound and time management a necessity. I thought it was simply brilliant in a day where a game like Oblivion can have NPC's telling you to hurry up to go somewhere and no matter if you make it there in 5 minutes or 5 weeks, the same thing occurs and it also beats the hell out of a timer.

So things are on the up and up for Obsidian and I. I've forgiven them and they are easily in my top 3 RPG makers that are still in business. NWN 2 Storm of Zehir just goes to further cement this. When I read the box and previews I saw statements like "Random Encounters", "Full Party Creation with Unique Dialogue Choices" and "An Overworld Map With Trade Routes" I was kind of worried.

This is 2008 and random encounters don't have a place in the world of WRPG's. How are they going to let me create a whole party of characters and still offer me different dialogue options? Overworld Map? This isn't Final Fantasy 3 and I don't give a crap about trading. But the goodness of NWN 2 and MotB had given me some faith in Obsidian so I bought the game, installed it and here are my impressions.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Impressions

You create a new character and then are quickly told to create three more members of your party which leaves two remaining spaces for Obsidian created party characters. Sounds fair enough. You're then told to make sure you vary the party up. Well seeing as first you pick from gender, than about 10 different races of varying skills and abilities in which some of those races have 2 - 6 sub races, then you pick between 9 different alignments, about 15 starting character ****s, over 20 Gods and Goddesses these characters can worship and about 20 backgrounds that give additional bonuses/deductions to stats and abilities... Well the choices are damn near endless.

I started out with a male, half-Elven ranger accompanied by a female Halfling rogue, a male half orc fighter and a male whose proper race name slips my mind but think of the possibility if an elf and water elemental mated and formed a constantly moist looking bluish tinted elf with black eyes and tentacles for hair, oh and he's a Paladin. So I got someone with some woodland smarts, someone with trap smarts, an oafish brute that can intimidate and a goody two shoes.

In my head, the ranger is going to do most of the talking, the rogue is going to do the jokes/sarcasm, the orc is going to be the muscle and the paladin will keep people in check. So far it has all worked like that pretty well except I didn't expect the rogue to be so well into lore that she's often pretty intelligent during conversations.

So this is how party controlled dialogue works and still offers all the freedom of a single player dialogue system. When the party initiates conversation with someone, all of the party members in the immediate are have their portraits that pop up under the speaker's. If they have something original so say using one of many skills such as intimidate, diplomacy, bluff, lie, appraise, lore, survival... then a speech bubble pops up over their head and you can then see what they have to say and choose to pick it or not. The only negative side to this is while freedom of decision is ramped up to crazy levels, cinematics are tossed straight out the window. That's fine with me though.

The over world map is a nice looking 3D landscape that your party travels with their leader's avatar leading the way. On this map a bunch of skills that were fairly useless in the other games become much more affluent in this game. Survival, tracking, spot, and hide are just a few of the skills that make traveling the world a different experience from party member to party member. Spot finds friend, enemies and important places faster, hide makes you invisible to enemy encounters, tracking gives bonus before you enter a place and survival helps keep your party's camp at night safe from intruders.

The enemies on the world map do pop up randomly but it's usually up to you to decide if you want to fight them. Depending on your spot skill is how far away you'll detect most creatures which will give you little to plenty of time to avoid them. A rating also appears over the enemies to give you a heads up on how hard they may be. In the end this game may say it has random encounters but in all actuality it's more like hunting. A well balanced party will have no trouble being able to pick and choose their fights and when people in town offer money for certain animal parts, it's easy to go to the map and search for just those types of animals to do battle with. It's a great system and far from primitive random encounters.

Lastly a big theme about the game seems to be trading so you'll often come across goods that can be traded from city to city. You start out just dealing ore and selling this to other cities for Trade Bars, think of them as a company endorsed bar that is worth a certain amount of gold or other item. It's pretty much a separate denomination of money. In the wilderness you can find rare trees and trade in wood, there are missions to clear out mines of baddies that will unlock a new commodity for trade and so on. It's a fairly simple system that offers a different way to amass gold. Another unfortunate circumstance is that it seems most of these trade cities aren't places to explore, they simply offer a bar/inn to rest in and maybe find a side quest or cohort, a temple for healing supplies or just what items the city is willing to trade. It tosses urban exploration out the window but again puts wilderness exploration back in the forefront.

Other than this the crafting mechanics have been given an overhaul but I have yet to delve into that. With about 3 hours in I find the game much more unforgiving than NWN 2 or MotB, but the game offers a lot more freedom and choices. So far I'm loving the game and it amazes me how Obsidian has expanded on NWN two times already and it almost feels like three separate games. Speaking of three, that's the number of great and totally different RPG's have come out in the last three months. WRPG gamers are striking it rich.

Reviews:

Dead Space: A truly great entry in the survival horror genre. It does for games what Alien did for movies. If only more people would try out the game or buy it. It would be a shame for EA to finally stand behind a great game only to get slapped in the face by consumers who say they never do anything good. I gave the game a 9.0 and the review is Nyeah.

Gears of War 2: I expected a great game and got a great game. this is truly an action game from top to bottom with very little breathing room inbetween. Co-op once again makes everything better in this game. I gave it a 9.0 and the review is Nyeah

There's been a consistent rise of disgust when it comes to DLC that probably started with either EA's treatment of unlocking codes in The Godfather game or Bethesda's Horse Armor pack and has carried over to Microsoft's purchasing of additional quests for certain games and in the future, might extend to using DLC as a way to cripple the secondhand market.

My opinion? Well I don't think all of this is inherently bad although there are certain DLC's that I think are just down right ridiculous in content and cost. EA's treatment of The Godfather? Despicable. Horse Armor? Too little too soon and coming from a company that used to give out free 30 minutes quests for download, it's a little disappointing. GTA IV's addition on the other hand seems like it will be a great idea if it arrives sometime before GTA IV becomes irrelevant. Microsoft buying Tomb Raider: Underworld DLC? Good for them. Epic adding a card that encourages gamers to buy Gears of War brand new with the inclusion of downloadable levels is brilliant, their idea of offering the same thing for endings is abhorrent.

Price and content seems to be a major factor and varies from gamer to gamer. Sure Microsoft's insistence that developers put a price tag on their DLC is a bit underhanded but understandable not just from their pocketbook's point of view but from a less successful developer's point of view also. It seems to have set the stage for all console gaming stores but it makes sense to me. I know if I made a game and offered map packs for a small fee while Epic and their Gears of War powerhouse offered map packs for free because they have one hell of a blockbuster, there's a pretty good chance that my offering is going to be ignored and may even be used against me by gamers saying my cheap game is asking for more money while those rolling in the dough are tossing around handouts.

Time seems to be a major factor in this debate also; if a company releases DLC too soon, it's simply considered something that the company could have included in the main game but didn't so they could nickel and dime fans. Release it too late and there's very little point. The problem here is there's no chart saying what time frame is appropriate to all gamers. Now that I look at things, I like that some of Oblivion's DLC was out in a rather quick manner, it sure beats waiting for GTA IV's DLC and I think even if Mass Effect made another quest for download at this point in time, there's a good chance I may pass it up. These are my thoughts on timing and I'm sure there are a bunch of people that will disagree with me. It just goes to show that Developers aren't always going to release things at the best time.

Microsoft's policy of throwing money at companies for their DLC isn't a horrible idea but a short term solution. I'd rather they have used that $50 million they tossed at Rockstar to go into the development of a Shadowrun RPG but that's just wishful thinking on my part. Truth is that the exclusive game market is on its deathbed but seems to have given birth to paying for exclusive DLC. So far it seems like it's unknown if this tactic is working out for them or not but I simply can't fault them for doing it. As a person that owns every system, I know which system I'd get GTA IV, Tomb Raider: Underworld and Fallout 3 for so it looks like it works for them and also works for people that are fans of these games that own that system.

Then if developers insist on combating the used market with DLC I see a rather straightforward line between right and wrong. The right was is to reward new game buyers with additional content in the form of maps, skins, items and things of those nature, DON'T punish us by forcing us to use codes to unlock things that are important to games such as endings. This line is as crystal clear as that. There are certain things any developer could lump into reward or punishment categories and I hope they remember that when it comes down to decision making time. I'm also a PC gamer and I'm already being punished for what pirates do, I'd hate to also be punished on the console side for renters and used game buyers too.

When all is said and done, no matter what your views are on each of these DLC debates, the most effective thing a gamer can do to combat foul DLC practices is vote. Vote with your wallets or purses. See something you don't agree with, don't buy it and hope that other people feel the same way you do. If you see Dog Armor pop up in Fallout 3 or Long Jumping cheats for Mirror's Edge, well that's just the game companies meeting supply and demand. Better luck next time. I just hope there aren't people out there that are buying DLC they don't agree with just because it's part of a game they really like. If you want to change something, you're going to have to make a stance and show some willpower no matter how bad you want to see Gears of War 3's DLC ending.

Review

Fallout 3: I finished this game about a week ago and gave myself some time off to compose my thoughts.I voice my opinion on how great the game is and how much the ending and level cap sucks but in the end it's still the best game I played all year. 9.5 and the review can be found by clicking Nyeah.

I want to thank everyone for their interest in my 7 part story arch. I read all the comments but decided not to respond because I wanted honest reactions to what I was writing and not my explainations.

REVIEWS

Fable 2: Wow. Peter M. really delivered everything he said he would with this game. That should make it GOTY worthy just by that merit alone. Fable 2 fixed just about everything wrong with the original and just rocked me with its charm, wit and beauty. Take a bow Lionhead Studios, you really deserve it after this game. I gave the game a 9.0 and my review is Nyeah.

Saint's Row 2: Another outstanding sequel release just a week prior to Fable 2. I put as much time into Saint's Row as I usually spend on most RPG's and I'm still only 75% done with the game. While the GTA series went right, Saint's Row 2 went left and makes an almost equally impressive sandbox game. I gave this game a 9.0 to and that review can be found Nyeah.

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal: Bringing my laptop to work and not having any work to do is great when I have games like this. This game didn't feel much like an expansion just more of a great game. I gave it an 8.5 and my review for it is Nyeah.

Arx Fatalis: This is another gaming at work game and one that I've seen suggestion in numerous underrated games topics. It truly is an underrated game that came out in the same year as Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights. This game has more in common with Morrowind but does a lot of things different in tis own way. I gave the game an 8.5 and the review is Nyeah.

Gaming Decisions

backlog: I'm trying to finish Metroid Prime 3 before this coming Wednesday so I'll have one less game in my backlog before I add two more. Hopefully I'll finish this game early and maybe even be able to go through Resistance before then too. This will leave me with large games like Persona 3, Odin Sphere and The Witcher still on my list.

Preorders: I've paid for the Collector's Editions of Fallout 3 and Saint's Row 2. Recently I've turned into a whore when it comes with extra goodies and since I'm putting a gameroom/bar into the house I'm moving into, I think things like a Big Daddy action figure, a Septim Coin, a GTA IV lockbox and Spore's nice looking box would look great with a Saint's Row 2 moneyclip, a Fallout 3 lunch box and a Pipboy 3000 Alarm Clock.

Besides that I have a Dead Space preorder and a LittleBigPlanet preorder all paid for. I might get a Fable 2 one again but I might just pick the game up normally when it comes out.

Returns: There's only two games I've ever returned before, Silent Hill 4: The Room and Fatal Frame 2 Crimson Butterflies, and now I can add another to that list; Ninja Gaiden 2.

The more I talk about how disappointing this game is with others, the more I hate it. It's gotten to the point that I have no urge to play the rest of this game at all. Instead of just tossing it in a drawer, I'd rather trade it in for the $2.16 they'll probably give me at EBgames.

What happens when you get two of the most moderated regular posters on Gamespot together for Multiplayer goodness?

Nothing if Obsidian's Neverwinter Nights 2 has anything to do with it. After fiddling around with the multiplayer menus, GME finds out that his CD Key's are unauthorized. Since I had the same experience happen with a friend, I knew the way to fix it; you see the CD Keys in the manual for the Gold edition of NWN 2 are mixed up for the two different games. The main game's CD Key is listed under MotB's and vice versa. The only way he would have ever found this out is if he tried to play MP.

So all he has to do is edit an .ini file, maybe change it around in his profile for Obsidian's website if he put them there and we should be on our way into gaming glory. Or not. You see NWN 2's server set up is also painstakingly hard to navigate when all sorts of firewalls, routers and modems don't like it... So we gave up.

Instead we chatted on Xfire on how somethings are never easy with PC games, how Duke Nukem 3d should be our first real MP session seeing as it has our favorite species of animal in it, strippers, and also how bad Ninja Gaiden 2 sucks.

The NGII conversation ran the gamut of butt blugs, gay gyms, flaming hamsters hitchhiking up the hershey highway and sticking cd shards of discs broken with scrotum strikes into Itigaki's crater face.

GME has to be in the Community Spotlight soon.

Reviews

Spore: Nyeah is the first review which I gave a 9.0. It's been a long time since I've looked forward to playing a game such as this. I sometimes have to tear myself away from it for things like my backlog, work, eating and sleep and that really sucks. I read next to nothing about this game so I was surprised on how well it turned out and exceded my expectations in some ways. It does suffer from some AI and balancing issues later on that kind of hampers the experience for a bit, but it's nothing that can't be overcome.

Mercenaries 2: Here's the kind of game that's somewhat entertaining, then you play co-op with a friend and it's incredible but then two things ruin it; 1) the game is really short and 2) co-op outshines every other portion of the game. Overall the game is a disappointment with a terrific co-op. I gave it a 7.0 and the review is Nyeah.

Community Spotlight

Well the suggestions are in. Had people like that Oilers fellow and some other guy nominate themselves through PM's and then there was the suggestions I got through the one thread in the secret locations...I still haven't decided which one yet but I'll pick a someone in the next few days and then try to work something out. So taht's where that's at.

Other than that... keep in touch with yourselves.

Well I said I'd have this and the new Community Spotlight done by Wednesday but I had my Modem crap out on me. So now I have a new one, I'm waiting for the person I'm interviewing to get online... Hoping these wasn't a miscommunication but I think I may have spelled her screen name wrong. Anyways Here's my Big Gaming Update.

REVIEWS

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn: I finally got this giant of an RPG off my backlog after devoting hours of time at work into playing though it. I actually just wanted to speed run through the main story and call it a day but I got sucked in to all the sidequests during the second chapter and decided to spend some time with it. I know I still missed a lot but that's the beauty of the depth this game has. Anyways I gave this ****c a 9.5 and the review is Nyeah.

Too Human: With the 6.5 rating I gave it and the review over Nyeah, Pretty much anyone that paid attention to this game knows what is wrong with it. Don't get me wrong, despite its shortcomings it still has an addiction factor to it but this game could and should have been so much more. I'm looking forward to the sequel but I'll be a little wary about it until reviews come out.

Fable II Pub Games: This semi interesting little game landed a 6.0 from me. It's not much of what I would consider an actual game but it is a nice companion to what should be a great game. It also reinforces in my mind why I never gamble. I suck at the dice game and I find the card game not rewarding enough in the beginning, the slot game is just plain old boring. Anyways my full review of it is right Nyeah.

Bionic Commando Rearmed: To say it bluntly, if you want to know how to remake a 8-bit game, this is it. A terrific reimagining of a ****c. The review is Nyeah and this one scored a 9.0 from me.

Impressions

Red Faction Guerrilla (360): There was a free MP beta for this game not too far back and I filled out an application for it and played it for a night. It left me with that same unexcited feeling that Lost Planet did way back when. My feelings about Red Faction's MP has always been that it was a tacked on feature. In my mind I pictured levels where you're setting traps and dropping buildings down on foes or tunneling though levels to get behind the enemy lines, when in actuallity it was an open environment with very little destruction going on. There was only one playable environ, and the MP part in no way tells how the SP portion is going to play out but I can say I won't be buying this game to frag people.

Chances I'll be buying: Good but not because of the MP portion shown here.

Facebreaker: I was hoping to find a Punch Out type game but was instead treated to a Ready 2 Rumble arcade boxing game. Since I'm not really a fan of Ready 2 Rumble I really did have any fun with this game and I also have no interest in it. The game seems like an average over the top boxinb game with strange characters and a few B list stars thrown in the mix. Meh.

Chances I'll be buying: None

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Okay. I'm not even a Star Wars fan and this game has me wanting to run around as Darth Vader's pupil and electrify and crush everything in my way. I played through the demo as a cold, calculating force of nature destroying everything in my path and had a really good time doing it. I probably should have went back in and tested out the speed and agility but I don't like playing demos too much. This is a definite buy for me and the demo gives a nice hint of things to expect.

Chances I'll be buying: Definite

Books

I read through both Mass Effect Novels, Revelation and Ascension in four days while at work and pretty much enjoyed them. The author has a simple way with words, maybe a little too simple for my taste. It simply fails to capture a futuristic feel to it. Take out the mentioning of different planets, and races and these stories could easily be modern day tales.

Revelation is a prequel to the Mass Effect game and I think it's a must read for any fan of the series. You find out exactly went on between Saren and Captain Anderson and how Saren actually came across the Reaper vessel.

Ascension, I believe, gives a quick preview of how Biotics might be improved in the next Mass Effect game but the story mostly delves into the Cerberus Organization. This terrorist organization was talked about briefly in Mass Effect and even had a few side quests dealing with them but the size and scope of their research and influence is fully realized in this book.

These are my first experiences with gaming novels and I can say I'm surprised on how good they are. Easy to read and great tie ins to the games themselves. IF I can find novels on some other games I enjoyed, I'll be sure to pick them up.

Community Spotlight Update

I'm delaying the Community Spotlight thing until I get back from my vacation. Doing a new one every week is a schedule I would never live up to because...well I'm pretty damn lazy. The person I'm interviewing agreed and so there should be another Spotlight up around Saturday or Sunday of next week.

Bionic Commando

This game and I go way back. Back to the NES days where the first time I got up to the final boss after hours of play and the power went out, the second time I got up to the boss after hours of play my NES froze. So it wasn't until weeks later during the third time I dedicated enough time to this game where I actually beat it.

Now I don't really have much time to play it because I'm getting ready for my trip but the game brings back memories and adds enough things to make it very different than the original. Plain and simple this is the way a remake should be done. I look forward to coming back from vacation and kicking this game's ass, unless Too Human sidetracks me.

Fable II Pub Games

Wow....I totally suck at these games. I seem to have the worst luck ever. I play the card game and at most I win about 22 gold after betting 15. In the dice game it seems that I roll anything that I don't wager on and on the slots, just to test how crappy my luck it, I pulled out 500 gold at 10 gold a wager and didn't win once. That's 50 spins without matching a damn thing.

I says if you rack up enough debt in this game it will have an effect when Fable II actually comes out... Looks like some people will be trying to break my character's legs.

Californyuh-nyuh is nice to the homeless...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMsr0cLnQPI

Just off watching South Park Season 11 and the homeless episode and preparing for my trip to California myself. Haven't been out that way in about two years so I'm a bit over due. See you guys later...

I've recently gone through four games that were in my backlog and I'm hoping that I get more done so that this coming holiday season I'll be playing through all new games and not just old ones that I'm trying to beat. Here's my four latest reviews and I hope that you enjoy them.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Weapons of Destruction: I bought this game because of a recommendation from someone on this board and I had a great time with it. I would have played it even more after beating it to fully pimp out my weapons but I have a bunch of games on my plate that I have to get rid of. I gave the game an 8.5 and my review is right Nyeah.

City of Heroes/City of Villains: Combined Edition: I don't feel that this is a good review simply because it's an MMORPG and the main draw from these games are usually interaction with others and the grinding. CoH/Cov doesn't do too much different than the other MMORPG's I've played but since I'm still a 13 year old comic book fan at heart, and this is the closest one can get to playing an ever changing comic RPG, it wins by default. I rated it a 7.5 and this review is Nyeah.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer: Out of KOTOR 2, NWN 2 and this expansion, I think the first two titles are responsible for the last one's goodness. I might have talked bad about Obsidian in the past about their buggy games and BioWare riding coat tails but this expansion proves that they can change the game and improve on a foundation with a semi polished game. There are still bugs and a design decision I don't like but the Spirit Meter adds such a sense of urgency to this game that it was actually exciting to be racing against a clock. It is just an expansion though so I rated it an 8.0 and the review is Nyeah.

Alone in the Dark: DAMMIT! is the first word that comes to mind when playing this game. It's a title that tries so hard to be innovative and it's easy to see that the game would have been if the things on paper translated well into the digital medium. There's a bunch of things to like about this game but there's just a few more things not to like. Troubles are found in almost every element of the game but don't let that deter you from a cheap rental of something. The game's not broken it's just a bit shoddy. I gave the game a 6.5 and the review can be found by clicking Nyeah.