Been a huge Ryan Davis fan for the past 10 years. I'm going to miss him a lot. Rest in Piece my friend.

Just a quick update of what's been going on since the last time I wrote. What's been going on you ask? Games, I say! (also work) I've been playing alot of quality titles this summer so heres a short summary of what I've been playing on what console:

Xbox360- Forza Motorsport 2 has made me the most addicted I have ever been to a racing game. Ever. I skipped the first entry into the series because I decided that I was going to try to just stick with the PGR series, but once I read the review and watched a bunch of gameplay videos, I knew I had to give it a chance. I've put a good amount of hours into this game - currently around level 34. I didn't think I was ever going to slow down on the game until The Darkness came out.

I picked up The Darkness the day it came out and I can honestly say it is easily my favourite game to come out this year thus far. I beat the singeplayer 3 times the first week I had it, and I'm still not bored of it yet. It's a little on the short side, but I like it that way because it warrants multiple playthroughs. The multiplayer really has a lot of potentional but the only thing really holding it back in my opinion is lag issues. A definate must play, even if it's just a rental.

I was going to buy Rockstars Table Tennis when it came out but decided to wait until the price dropped a bit - and drop it did. When I picked up The Darkness, my local EB had new copies of Table Tennis going for $20 CDN (They say it's been discontinued). This is the game I am currently playing on my Xbox 360, and I really enjoy it. The mechanics are simple, yet strangely addictive. The characters are probably one of my favourite aspects of the game. My girlfriend will probably go crazy if she has to hear me same the name "Liu Ping" one more time and I don't know what it is about Jesper, but something about him makes me want to cause him serious bodily harm.

Wii- My Wii has kind of been collecting dust lately (yes, I'm talking about the console). I haven't played Super Paper Mario at all since the first week I bought it. Besides a couple Wii Sports sessions with the GF, I haven't touched the system at all.

Nintendo DS- After crushing Pokemon Diamond, I continued back on the trail of getting through Custom Robo. I got even closer to the climax before I picked upPuzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Now, I'm not usually one for these types of puzzle games but I have fallen into some kind of addiction for this game. I'm going to blame it on the RPG elements because I don't really have any other excuses. My girlfriend on the other hand, really enjoys the "match 3" type puzzle games, so quite naturually she has been putting in tons of hours into this title also. I'm at about level 40, so I think I'm getting pretty close to finishing up the main quest, then I can finally get back to Custom Robo.

PS2- lol

Work has kept me very, very busy for the last few months but that hasn't stopped me from getting as much gaming done as possible.  I'm just going to give an update on what games I've been playing/completed for each system.

Xbox 360- A lot of games have gone through my 360 since I last wrote, but there is still a few that I really need to finish up.   I must say, Crackdown was well worth the money paid for it.  I've been playing alot of the Halo 3 beta and I have never been more excited for a Halo game since.....ever.  On top of that, Crackdown is just a really, really fun game that I enjoyed from start to finish. 

Some superb games that I've completed since I last wrote include:  Call of Duty 3, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Gears of War, Lost Planet and Alien Hominid.  The games I still need to beat are:  Dead Rising, Viva Pinata and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. 

Wii- I played alot of Wii Sports around the time I got my Wii.  I also flew through Zelda: Twilight Princess and Warioware: Smooth Moves.  I loved Twilight Princess so much that I grabbed A Link to the Past off of the Virtual console.  Having never played through LLTP in it's entirety, I was in for a real treat as it is probably as good or better than Ocarina of Time.  I have a few days left in Rayman Raving Rabbids and I recently put a few hours into Super Paper Mario.  Super Paper Mario is a great game, and one that I look forward to playing more of when things get less crazy.

Nintendo DS- About a month before Pokemon came out I was playing Custom Robo.  I wanted a game that would hold me over until Pokemon released that could also be played on the train for 40 minute sessions.  Custom Robo was a good choice.  It's a fun and lengthy adventure that kept me busy on those boring commutes to and from work.  There are countless battles in Custom Robo however they are a little on the easy side.  I was very close to the end of this game before Pokemon put it on a brief hiatus. 

I picked up Pokemon Diamond when it came out and I've been playing the hell out of it since.  I haven't played a Pokemon game since Blue/Red so I thought it was about time to see what I've missed.  The game came to me naturally as it really isn't too different from the original games and I'm starting my way down victory road after playing for a little over 30 hours.   Despite not bringing anything new to the table, Pokemon D/P is a superb game that I look forward to completing.  When it's done I plan to finish up Custom Robo.

I also thought it was worth mentioning that I beat Elite Beat Agents on the hardest difficulty.  This is easily my favourite DS title right now and I really look forward to the sequel.  I also ran through Yoshis Island DS, which was a fun platformer that made the train rides fly by.

PS2- Not much is up on the PS2 front.  I have been playing God of War 2 on and off since it came out.  It's more GoW - which is a good thing, and I'm not going to retire my PS2 system until I get through this one.  I've also been playing alot of Guitar Hero 1 and 2.  I really wish I waited for Guitar Hero 2 on the X360 because the game definately doesn't warrant being purchased on two consoles.  I also bought a copy of Rez off eBay, but that was really one of those game I bought just so I could say I own it.

Finally found a Wii after some extremely bad luck following the launch of the system (waited in line all night to be the first person not to get one).  Wii is everything I expected and is an amazing secondary console to the 360.  I didn't need to pick up any games since I already had Twilight Princess, Rayman Raving Rabbids and Warioware since they came out, but I would enjoy a nunchuck for my second controller but those things are damn near impossible to find.

Since my last entry I've picked up a ton of Xbox 360 and DS games.  Some worth mentioning are Gears of War, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Call of Duty 3, Viva Pinata,  Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Lost Planet, Elite Beat Agents, Yoshis Island DS and Okami.  It's great to see so many quality titles being released on the 360, I just wish I had more time to play them all. 

Since my last entry I've picked up Meteos, Kirby Canvas Curse, Mario Kart DS and Advance Wars: Dual Strike.  I have completed New Super Mario Bros. and Kirby Canvas Curse as well as played a whole lot of Meteos.  I still have a couple of 150 cc cups to finish on Mario Kart and earlier this week I started the Advance Wars campaign.  I can not stress how satisfied I am with the handheld and all of the games I have played for it.  The train ride to and from downtown used to be an annoyance but now I find myself wishing the trip was a little longer so I could finish up that Advance Wars mission or squeeze in another race.  In the next few weeks I'm going to buy Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrows.

When I'm at home and I'm not playing DS, all of my spare time (not much) goes towards leveling my new WoW character.  I have rolled a Night Elf Rogue on Altar of Storms.  Matrox is currently level 32 and I got up to a corporal rank after one day of strictly BG'ing it up.   If I could go back I probably would have rolled a Human Mage as my new main, but I am very happy with the Rogue and I simply don't have the time to start all over again right now.

The last few weeks I've just been throwing money at gaming ware of both soft and hard variations.  Since my last entry I picked up Half-Life 2: Episode 1, New Super Mario Bros. and a Nintendo DS Lite.  On top of that I also spent a nice chunk on a new, super-pimp gaming PC setup complete with a new mouse/keyboard, 19 inch LCD Monitor, wireless router, as well as a sweet set of cold cathodes and LED fans.  My basic specs are a gig of OCZ RAM, Athlon 3700+ CPU and a Radeon x800 GTO2, so I should be fine for another couple of weeks before I have to start with the upgrades. 

The time has come for me to start saving for the HD plunge.  Besides Rockstar's Table Tennis, Mario Kart DS and Advance Wars DS, I don't plan on buying anything I don't really need between now and Q4.  Just in time for the launch of Gears of War I'm going to be picking up a 32 inch Samsung LCD HDTV to I can enjoy the game in all it's true glory.

On the gameplay front, I got all of the Oblivion achievments like I said I would.  I also completed Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and probably one or two others I can't quite remember at this time.  I'm currently playing Prince of Persia:  The Two Thrones, New Super Mario Bros., and starting tonight - World of Warcraft.  I took a break from WoW for a few months but I pretty much bought my new computer so I would be able to run the game better than my outdated rig that I started the game on.

As far as the DS Lite goes, I am very, very impressed thus far.  Even though I only have one game, the DS Lite has definitely given me the best handheld experience possible.  I love playing the Mario mini-games when I want to get in a couple minutes of quick gaming, and the singe player mode all kinds of nostalgic fun.  Money well spent.

Every weekend I seem to be getting closer and closer to clearing out my wish list.  Since I've been receiving a pay check I've spent hundreds of dollars on video games and now I have less than $200 worth of games left to complete my collection (until more games that I want get released). 

A day or two after my last entry I fully splurged, picking up Guitar Hero and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition.  I've yet to play DMC3 but Guitar Hero is everything I thought it would be - and more.  As addicting as it is I've decided to take a short break before finishing up that hard mode to try and reduce the list of games I own but haven't completed yet. 

Last weekend I made some more great purchases, knocking Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Shadow of the Colossus and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey off of my wishlist.  I plan on picking up Ninja Gaiden Black and Dead or Alive 4 sometime soon so that I can start to save money for a DS Lite and Wii.

Yesterday I played God of War pretty much all day and I should be finishing off Ares within the next couple of days.  God of War is such a great game I could have just bought it alone and been satisfied with the PS2 purchase.  After God of War is complete I plan to finish up Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter before diving into the numerous games I have yet to play.

There just aren’t enough hours in the day.  Before I got a job I was logging up to ten hours a day on World of Warcraft and now it seems I'm hard-pressed to find a couple hours to spend on games during a weeknight.  I guess that is the trade-off though, and I would much rather have a large selection of titles that take a few weeks to beat than play through a game in a single sitting and not have the cash to buy another one.

I've been slashing away at Olivion since it was released and yesterday reached the 50 hour mark.  I bought it for the 360 and fully intend to unlock all of the gamerpoints, which I keep getting closer to accomplishing.  After I finish the Ultimate heist in the Thieves Guild, I have the Mages Guild quests as well as the last third of the main quest to secure the full 1000 points. 

Since I recently secured employment, I have decided it was time to pick up the last few games on my Xbox wishlist.  Last weekend I picked up Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, leaving just Ninja Gaiden Black and a new edition of Dreamfall: The Longest Journey as the final two games I will be adding to my Xbox collection. 

I picked up a PS2 yesterday along with a memory card and God of War.  It is my first time ever owning a Sony console and aside from what I find to be horrible analog stick placement, I am enjoying playing on the system so far.  Next time I get paid I plan on picking up Shadow of the Colossus and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.  Somewhere down the line I also plan on shelling out the cash for the game that made me want to get a PS2 - Guitar Hero.

After beating all of my 360 games a couple of times I decided to pick up WoW to hold me over until the next batch of games I decide to buy.  WoW is easily the most addictive gaming experience I have ever been a part of and I put in over 100 hours in a little over a month to get beyond level 40.  The sad thing is the game isn't very graphic intensive yet my computer still has a ton of trouble running it. So, I have decided that this weekend I'm going to buy new parts and put together a new rig from scratch. 

Besides just playing WoW I also plan to pick up F.E.A.R. because I've wanted to play it but would never think of installing it on my outdated PC.  After I get settled in with the computer I plan to pick up Dead or Alive 4, Fight Night Round 3, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and of course Oblivion.  Also I am also looking forward to picking up Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones if it ever becomes playable on the 360. For anyone that wants to know, my character is a Tauren Druid on Dark Iron.

Picked it up at first thing Tuesday morning with Call of Duty 2, Kameo and an extra wireless controller.  Kameo is for Christmas, as well and Perfect Dark Zero and my girlfriend got me Project Gotham Racing 3.  I've played through Call of Duty twice already, on the regular and veteran difficulty levels.  COD2 owns hard and the achievement stuff is pretty cool because I probably would have just stopped playing on the veteran difficulty level if there wasn't some kind of reward.  I also purchased a couple of Xbox Live arcade games, one of which being Geometry wars.  So far my high score is 346,275 but I hope to get a better one some time this week.