Actually that title is slightly irrelevant to what this post is going to be about, frankly. But I couldn't come up with a good title myself so I used the one my girlfriend came up with. Giving that I gave her the credit for it, and that I didn't reveal who she was to the whole internet in doing so, I'm sure it would be fine.

Anyway, I've been following On Live since I first tried out the free trials that they had to offer to the public. Originally when it was announced, I heard it was going to be a paid service. Naturally, as one who doesn't like paying monthly for anything,let alone for a video game I just bought, it was a bit of a turnoff. Still, the demand was far from unreasonable when you consider the package; cheap subscription with access to purchase any game no matter the graphical requirements and instantly playing it on just about any supported computer, with the only requirement being that you have to own internet.

I was sold when they announced that the paid subscription was no longer in effect, and usage of On Live was suddenly free.

Ecstatic, I downloaded it immediately, getting my hands on a few of the trials they had to offer. You can read any other article you want on the details about it, but to summarize, this is what I noticed:

Multiplayer is restricted to On Live servers

On the bad side, the playerbase may not be as big as you might hope.

On the plus side, at least this means that hacking is impossible due to the games files not being accessible from your own computer, and as such you can't play against a hacker.

Visuals are lack luster

To any owner of a notebook with no graphics card, this software is a godsend, but to someone who's rig can simultaneously run Crysis 1 and 2 and Battlefield 3 in the background while browsing youtube videos for walkthroughs, you might as well take your businsess elsewhere.

This is, of course, due to streaming images in the form of an interactive video, so considering the technology, it is far from a huge flaw.

No modding

This is probably the only official flaw with On Live. As you have games like UT3, which are famous for their modding capability, you realize that you're really only getting half the package or the purchase of such games. "Luckily," most games aren't modable nowadays anyway, and as such On Live has provided a nice way to let you game while saving space on your PC. But the notion of an unmodable PC game (especially when the game itself ismodabl) is a rather depressing one.

Now that I've got it out of the way, the real article begins.

On Live has been expanding like mad, offering to work on its own personal web browser that can play flash programs and such on machines without the plugin installed, and more significantly, they have actually succeeded in developing an official app.

Yes, an app. Android, IOS, the works.

I downloaded the American version (as it's not available in Canada, which is, actually part of America, so I don't know what gives) and tried it out on my Android phone.

It was a sight to behold.

It dished out the same resolution as it did on the PC, meaning lackluster grahpics, but in the palm of your hand on a screen that's about the size of your PC mouse, the image is something to behold. Each game available on On Live can be played with the aid of a controller connected to your iPhone or Android via Bluetooth or a cord, but On Live provides a growing list of various touch control schemes for the mobile phone editions, which, while they aren't perfect (the "analog sticks" are a tad small) are very, very nice to play with. I played Darksiders and Split/Second, though with the stick controls I was crashing often in the latter, but it was incredible seeing Darksiders in action on my little phone. I can't wait to see what other games will have touch interface (preferably Homefront or Splinter Cell, which I actually purchased).

Speaking of Splinter cell, if anybody feels like playing a Co-Op round of Splinter Cell Conviction with me on On Live, send me a message on Gamespot. Even if you don't own the game, you can still play a resetable 30 minute trial.

In short, I'm hooked. This formerly controversial piece of software had promised to do the impossible, delivered, and offered a treat with the whole package. It started off with great speed, and I hope it keeps up its pace for a long time to come.

It's been two years since the release of the hit space-western FPS-RPG and the community is still as strong and attached to the game as it was the day it came out. What does this mean? It means that if Gearbox wants to see even more bread on their table, a sequel is the answer to their problems with... bread... lacking.

And wouldn't you know it, as quickly as we asked for it, they answered even quicker with a confirmed Borderlands 2 project heading our way this 2012.

Perhaps the fact that it's coming out soon after the apocalypse is a sort of mock by Gearbox to say that they will never actually release a sequel, but nevertheless, they are clearly making progress, with a teaser trailer on the way and several ideas dished out to the public aloready, among dual wielding and explodable weapons. The random gun generator will be back, obviously, and as zany as ever, as made evidetn by the beer bottle for a spe on one of the guns in the hands of the dwarf in the teaser trailer.

So far it's looking to be more of the same, but it's probably a good thing, conisidering the contentupdate is going to be massive and a lot more than just a simple "retail quality DLC" such as Left 4 Dead 2.

It's too soon to say, though, and there are a few issues Borderlands has to get over first if it intends to have a superior sequel.

One of those things is Badassery.

It seems they made a bit of a slip utilizing a short steroid abusing man to replace the role of the fist-fighting giant of the original, Brick, but that's not my concern: His dual wielding certainly wouldn't make me want to come say that to his face. What Borderlands needs is to set the same mood as it did in it's trailers, both in the original and in the sequel, which had a spectacular selection in music for the scene, whereas the game itself had a soundtrack that, while it wasn't bad at all, just never really set the mood for the intensity of the gunfights you frequently find yourself in.

However, if Borderlands 2 delivers the promise of the new online splitscreen and the other promised features, Gearbox''s sequel should be nothing short of a smash hit. Fingers crossed, yet again.

I was incredibly hyped to finally buy my PS3, especially when my parents are out of the house so my brother and I could plug it into the big screen HD TV with surround sound in the living room. The experience was mind blowing, especially when playing Killzone 3 (despite it's terrible splitscreen format) with Move support. The games play great, the graphics aren't rivalled, and demos all around finally let me decide if a game is worth getting (as the PC versions never have demos).

But shiny effects, great sound, and awesome games aren't the three contributors that made me finally see my Wii as inferior. Not in the least.

The contributors were foreign games, publishers, and developers.

Any hardcore fan of the Wii has to know about the countless games that had come out around the world in other countries (particularly Japan) and never in North America, while NA gets releases such as Just Dance and minigame compilations. For a system that has been dubbed "Revolution" as a project name, there doesn't seem to be anything revolutionary about it.

Anyway, games like Bleach: Versus Crusade and most recently, Last Story have been announced and while I waited in vain, they have never reached the shores of this continent, unless I went to mod my Wii to play imported games. Annd I do not fancy learning Japanese in order to play video games. I may be a gamer, but even I have a life.

Nintendo has to step up their gamem, releasing some of their Japanese games, or finally begin production on the Wii 2. They're sales may still be great, but that doesn't change the fact that they're selling us crap here in North America, and wihle I'm still excited about Conduit 2, I'm not willing to play a console the developers themselves don't even care about anymore.

I'm actually hesitant about this game. I never really like Call of Duty. The whole concept on purely shooting the opposing forces without any level of intuity ('til motion controls, even that was still pretty dull) and weak story really turned out to be a turn-off, both for Wii and PS3/Xbox.

What's more is that the dveloperrs of Call of Duty never really gave much of a damn to the Wii versions of the game. They seemed to believe "slap on motion conrols" and the game is sold.

Which is why it surprised me that Black Ops is not getting any PS3 MOVE controls for it's Playstation release.

This lead me to think; is Call of Duty really going to take the game seriously for all consoles? Or did it really craft the Wii versions inferior to the graphic consoles to start a subliminal campaign to buy a PS3?

My scale tips to the latter, but not as much as before. Black Ops sounds promising, from what I hear of the rumors, that the company is going to be developing th game at the same moment in time for the Wii as the other consoles. So this might in fact mean that they are actually going to consider the gameplay, or maybe even the graphics, to be somewhat comparable to the HD versions of the game.

Crossing fingers.

As Wii was the most trustworthy, fun, and financially friendly (the only system I can afford and well worth the price, if not more) game system, it never strayed as being my favorite console of all time.

However, I can't help but feel that maybe a console that so hardly focused on party games never really pushed the edge on creating an experience in which people can really play together, particularly on the more hardcore titles such as the Conduit (offline) or Metroid Prime Corruption.

As much as I like Versus mode for the games that I DO own (mostly fighting games) there is a certain satisfatction to co-operative play, primarily due to the fact that I don't build up a never-ending losing streak (In case you didn't know, I'm a really, really sore loser).

While Goldeneye and Sonic Colors were next on my list (I loved Goldeneye as a kid), my eyes just darted off into the opposing direction as I started to drool at the cover page of the upcoming High Voltage title; the Conduit 2.

I mean seriously, look how badass the cover is! All those flashing lights. Scientific studies show that shiny lights attract all carbon based life forms. It's what attracts Twilight fan girls to Edward Cullen, and it's what attracts me towards games like Resident Evil 5, with it's amazing explosion effect, as well as it attracts most gamers to the PS3. Consider gold; an otherwise useless element, but very, very shiny, and therefore expensive.

I'm not gonna lie, however. It's generic, but I still like the way they designed it this time around, despite the fun retro art cover of the previous game.

Undoubtedly, the graphics engine in Conduit 2 is going to be more buffed (it goes without saying; Conduit is praised for its X-Box 360 rivaling graphics) but that's not the reason I'm psyched.

For the first time in possibly all of Wii history, Conduit offers true co-op, online, and surprisingly enough OFFLINE. As if the connection in Conduit 1 between consoles wasn't enough! Not that I'm complaining.

And after playing titles like Killing Floor and Call of Duty, the whole "gun at the side thing" started to produce nausea. I mean, sure, it was an original concept, before the ironsight came in, but thanks to my friends who repeatedly exposed me to ironsight, I developed an allergic reaction to FPS that don't bear the "look through the gun authentically" mechanic. Conduit 2 offers that as well, even though Wii games don't particularly need it.

Conduit 2 is really looking good, and not just at the cover, either. I hope to get it soon.

Well, that's it. I've had it. I've totally had it.

My computer has failed me for the last time.

No longer am I going to waste a pretty penny on repairing harrd-drive and rebooting everything on my laptop after all that hard-earned video game progress. No more Microsoft trademark Rainbow Substance of Deat.h

As much as I love my Wii, there are times when I wantto play games only availble for other consoles, namely everything but the Wii.

As such, I'm getting a PS3.

I've gotta give it credit; it's a much better deal than having to buy a xconstantly-malfunctioning X-Box 360 with monthly online fees to play with friends, although I very much dislike the Install system, which requires taking up data in order just to play a game, unlike the Wii.

Still, after playing intense titles such as Army of Two (1 and 2) and Naruto Ninja Storm, I feel this a pretty good choice.

Still, keeping my, Wii with me. Hasn't failed me yet. Hopefully never will.