I don't know when it happened or what caused it, but there's a boatload of negativity in the world of video games. Many game reviews have a negative tone, even if the game's pretty good; message boards are typically breeding grounds for negativity, insanity and hatred; even console manufacturers seem to spend as much time dissing the competition as they do promoting their own product. I'm certainly not without fault, either. I've had to limit the amount of time I spent on message boards because I found they were making me think negative about pretty much everything--even myself! To combat all this negativity I'm going to do something totally crazy. I'm only going to say good things about video games in this editorial. Let's see what happens...

God of War 2 is awesome
I have no good reason for playing this game for 33 minutes on March 12th and then not touching it again until last week. The game is absolutely gorgeous looking and the sense of scale that it conveys is mind-blowing. The gameplay is just as solid as ever and the story has me hooked too.

People can make some sweet rides in Forza 2
I am not one of those people, but I admire anyone who has the talent, time, and focus required to make these beautiful cars. I'm a tightwad with my virtual cash so I haven't been able to pull the trigger to purchase one, but I get a kick out of browsing, or watching over Justin's shoulder as he peruses the auctions during lunch.

Uno is hella fun
Alex, Brad, former GameSpot dude Dave Toister, and I played Uno over Xbox Live for a couple of hours last night and it was a blast. Alex and Brad had cameras hooked up so I got to watch them...sit in their chairs and stare at the TV, which was cool. We mostly played with the 35th anniversary deck, but played a few rounds with the Kameo and PGR decks too. I won a pretty good number of games. Brad did not, and is now threatening to never play with me again, which is pretty amusing. He can't quit me.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band are really good
What does this have to do with games? The first time I ever heard a Robert Randolph tune was "Thrill Of It" in NBA Live 07. I finally got around to picking up the album Colorblind and I'm really digging it. Eric Clapton and Dave Matthews guest on a couple of songs, but even without them the album holds up on the strength of some catchy hooks and impressive guitar playing.

Puzzle Quest has me hooked
Being that I've had this game from GameFly for about two months perhaps it's time to just bite the bullet and purchase it. I'm amazed at how this game keeps me coming back for more. I'm somewhere around level 34, but I don't think I'm that far into the story because I get distracted with side quests, forging new items, and training my mounts. Who knew that a simple puzzle component was all that it would take to finally get me hooked on an RPG?

I'm excited for my mom's visit next week
Now this certainly can't have anything to do with games, right? Actually it has a lot to do with games. My mom and dad were the ones who bought an Atari 2600 back in the day and got me started on the crazy path that eventually led me to a career writing about video games. She was super-into Missile Command back then so she's quite excited to get her hands on the Missile Command cabinet we've got in the office. I figure I'll just bring her into the office, get her a stool, and let her play all day while I work. We're also going to see The Police, so that should be fun as well. More fun than Missile Command? We'll have to wait and see.

It turns out this "being positive" thing is pretty easy--I didn't even say anything bad about NBA Live 07! It feels pretty good, too. Maybe we should all try to lighten up a little.