I anticipate being home around the same time as usual. I'm not ditching you. I'm not going out on Friday and leaving you alone to find something to do. We have plans together every Friday.

If you want friends to come over on a weeknight to play Halo, that can be arranged.

There are other reasons why I married her.

Friday as date night is a wonderful tradition.

Last week my wife and I went to a certain game retailer. I had stopped to return some wedding presents we didn't need, and on my way to meet her at Wal-Mart. . .I don't want to talk about it. . . I noticed a buy two, get one free sale. I was suckered. Halo 2 is getting old without online play. I also thought this would be the best chance for me to get Blitz 2000 for the N64, for my borhters in law. They are all up in arms that they can't play.

Unfortunately, not only did I not find Blitz, but I also did not find any good games that I really wanted. Plus, my wife wanted to do the Wal-mart thing, and the makeout thing, so one out of two isn't bad. I just couldn't believe that in the end we purchased three used DVDs from a VIDEO GAME store, in leiu of any games!!!

This is a sad, sad day.

Nowadays many games are quite graphic. Everyone is trying to push the envelope. Whether it is to outdo one another or to keep our attention by using shocking images or gameplay conventions I don't know, but both seem to be viable reasons. I wonder why the developers of these "worst ever" games would do that. Do they wake up one morning and decide to own the title of Creator of the Most Brutal Game? And then there are the individuals who rate them. . .

Ratings amuse me sometimes. Some media receive stricter ratings (as in M, R, NC-17, etc) without seeming terribly bad. Others have a much higher level of violence, language, or whatever else determines a need to protect those who should be protected.

I am actually impressed that New Zealand would nationally ban a game considered indecent. They stick by their principles. If we really believed media was supposed to be unsuitable for certain audiences then affixing a rating is hardly enough to protect the innocent or dissuade the consumers.

How many other countries would be that bold in defending principles of decency? I doubt you'd see that in the Americas, nor would anyone stand for that in any European nation.

I may be the minotiry here. . .wait, I KNOW I am the minority here. . .

Nevertheless, I had no problem with Halo 2's ending. I did have a problem with the choppy rendering of the cutscenes, and I was rather disappointed by the general weakness of the weapons, but the ending was classic cliffhanger ending.

My personal speculation is sometime in the future we'll get another level delivered via X-Box Live. That would be truly great.

I got my first taste of Halo 2 Multiplayer Saturday night.

I'm still deciding.My wife was with us as I, and a few buddies, jumped onto X-Box Live to tussle with one of the guys from The Official New Zealand team and his cousin. Yeah, it was the five of us versus the two of them. Everyone knows that isn't a good idea.

We lost, and by we lost I mean we were butchered 25-0. Poor introduction to multiplayer. Perhaps next time I will be wiser. Or, perhaps I will be able to find time to explore the multiplayer maps, since that was one of my first opportunities.

Okay, time to do the work thing. . .

I think what I am going to have to do is go home early from work. . .again.

Y'see Halo 2 arrived, and I enjoy spending time with my wife. Unfortunately, my instinct tells me they are mutually exclusive. However, the first night I had Halo 2 my wife let me play while she fell asleep next to me. That was cool. The best of both worlds. She tried following the story, but having never played Halo, she didn't quite understand.

Despite my inclination to play, I must say I am disappointed by H2. Though I have yet to do a system link multiplayer game, I think the end result has been disappointing. There have been multiple visual upgrades. . .the menu system, armor customization, and a minor improvement on gameplay. Unfortunately the cutscenes and single-player storyline have been uninspiring thus far. I am also not really sure how I feel about the new weapons or the whole dual-wielding aspect.

I think I will need to play with others in order to cast a final vote. Thus far it is an 8-ish outing.

It happened: Amazon.com shipped Halo 2 so it would arrive at my house on November 9!

Way to go Amazon.com!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen of Gamespot:

If you did not have a quality site, hard-hitting reviews, plenty of personality, and luscious streaming video available for all to see I would not be here.

Who do I think I am to suggest (in my previous post) that you do nothing but play Grand Theft Auto? Misinformed. The high-quality productions you produce are an honor to multimedia appreciators everywhere.

My personal beliefs that Grand Theft Auto is a marvelous execution of abhorrent ideals has led me to be a bit cynical. If the majority of visitors of your fine website crave GTA info, I suppose it is their right to receive. If you, as the press of all things gaming, it is your right (and revenue) to cater to such demands.

The day GTA came out I felt as though you believed nothing else warranted the attention of the niche audience that does not subscribe to the GTA formula for entertainment. Perhaps the recreational gamers who come to your site, searching for a diamond in the rough of games, are not the ones who are the hard-core devotees to the Gamespot cause. Perhaps those of us who have seen enough of thug-like violence in the streets of America would like to find fun in fantasy, or at home with a loving companion sharing a thought-provoking book, or time raising children to be upstanding citizens of a nation which has taught itself to judge what is truth by how attractive it appears, without contemplating the consequences of action or modeled behavior.

Regardless of my motivations, or the depths of my disappointment at coming to a site I traffic throughout my busy workday, I should not have made personal attacks of laziness against the editors, employees, and devoted interns of Gamespot. I should heed more of the advice I freely pass on to others and "take time to mature knowledge into wisdom."

With that, I leave you my appreciation and apologies.

Sincerely,

Me.

It's true. Grand Theft Auto came out today.

With that magnificent release also came a release of nothing new; at least not at Gamespot. The dedication fo the Gamespot editors to this one title is almost overwhelming. Not unlike a Gamespy pile-on, the Gamespot editors are all talking about GTA as if it is "the" release.

In GTA's defense, it seems that Greg Kasavin is right: it does many things and does them well. You drive, you shoot, you talk, you listen to people talk, and the main point of the game. . . perform larcenous acts and violence with a wanton disregard for authority, lives, and morality. And this game gives you points for this.

What

in

the

world?!?

This is madness. . .

Everyone gets worked up over this and then decides not to update the site because they are too busy performing a crime spree the likes of which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid could never achieve.

Wanda and the Colossus DOES look interesting. Giant. . .things that you can actually run around on without automatically taking damage. I've been waiting for that for a while!

Plus, it is by the people of Ico fame!

. . .I never played Ico.

A puzzle game where you run around escorting a princess who is of no help did not sound entirely interesting to me.

I wasn't what you would call an early adopter of the next-generation consoles. I waited for the PS2 to drop in price before I got it. I waited for the Gamecube to go down . . twice. And my X-Box. . .I bought after the latest decrease AND a 10%-off coupon. That ruled.

I got into Consoles again after my PC became officially obsolete. I ran the numbers and buying three platforms, plus the games I wanted would be less expensive than buying PC games I would rarely play and paying the constant upgrades to my computer. Either way I was out of touch with my PC gaming friends.

. . .just so you know.