This has the potential to be awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhZdrCrv-FA

So, half of my birthday presents have arrived from Amazon.com. So far, i've received "Dragon Age" (PC) and "F.E.A.R. 2" (PC). I also received a $1 cord for my mp3 player that I ordered, but that was paid for out of my own funds, so I can't really count that as a present.

The trimester at my work is almost over; thank Jeebus. For the future, I can look forward to classes with a normal population of students. Instead of 40+, I'll have 25 or less. Yay!

I just got my download copy of Windows 7 from digital river, and I don't know if I'll ever buy from them again. They didn't let me get a DVD dopy unless I paid an additional $14, and the download version was an .exe file instead of an .iso. Luckily, I found a way to turn the file into an .iso so that I could burn a DVD copy of Windows 7. Then, I scrwed up the installation twice. The second time, Windows said that my product key was invalid, yet it worked the first and third times. And yes, I made sure I typed it correctly. Weird.

Now, I have several games that I am playing. I was playikng "Borderlands" (PC), supplemented by "Icewind Dale 2" (PC) and "Condemned 2" (Xbox 360). But now, with the arrival of "Dragon Age" (PC) and "F.E.A.R. 2," (PC) I am tempted to spread the love around.

Today, my bluetooth headset for my phone arrived. Finally, hands-free communication again!

I've already received "Mad World" for the Wii from my older brother, and money for "Borderlands" on PC from my wife. So far, so good.

Update: I've also received "Dragon Age" (PC), "F.E.A.R. 2" (PC), "Dawn of War II" (PC), "Resident Evil 4," (Wii), and "Ghostbusters" (Xbox 360).

Still hate my job. Fortunately, I only have about three weeks until finals. But that's not the only thing I have to look forward to; we teachers have decided to do the counselor's job for her and pick what classes we'll teach and what hours we'll teach them. Then we're going to have the kids pick their classes based on what they need. I know, it makes sense, right? At least tomorrow is a professional development day.

I just dropped $200 on my family's cars. We had to repair a small oil leak, get the oil changed with high-mileage oil, replace a bulb, replace a radiator cap, and lots of other little things that added up very quickly.

I'm still playing Icewind Dale II and Borderlands. Icewind Dale II was too damn difficult, so I lowered the difficulty in the game options. Unfortunately, I'm still getting stuck from time to time. I don't know if I'll ever complete Chapter 1 in this game. On the other hand, Borderlands is alot of fun. I'm becoming a big fan of fps games that have rpg elements. I remember when S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl was going to have tons of RPG elements. I still think it would have been a better game had it included those features.

My wife is writing a novel for national novel writing month... or something. All I know is that I keep getting to help name her story's characters.

Halloween was awesome. Although Phebe went trick-or-treating with her biological dad, I got to take Samantha out. I am impressed; she did about ten houses before getting too tired and cold. All I know is that I got two full-sized Snickers bars out of the deal.

"Drag Me to Hell" was a decent movie. I'm glad I rented it, and didn't pay the exorbitant price of going to the theater. Overall, the movie was more disgusting than it was scary. Lots of body juices and old people-creepy factor.

With my birthday coming up, I've been on the sniff for games to drool over. Borderlands has me interested. So, armed with money from my wife (her early gift), and two coupons, I headed to Best Buy to pick the game up on its release date. It's at the second (thank you, stupid clerk at the first) store that I learned that the PC version's release was pushed back to the 26th.

*sigh*

I still can't wait. This game has loot-whore written all over it.

More Borderlands News & Previews

Baldur's Gate and its sequel are my favorite video games of all time. So it was natural to assume that I'd love Icewind Dale (the original), due to its matching gameplay. Unfortunately, a weak story and dunger crawler nature made Icewind a let-down after the majesty of Baldur's Gate.

Fast-forward several years, and I'm willing to plop down $50 for its sequel, Icewind Dale II. Games based on this engine are long-gone, and I'm itching for a bit of nostalgic gameplay.

I've started this game probably four times now, and each time I can't get past one specific point where I'm rescuing a village from a band of orks.

So when my gaming ADD kicked back in, I asked the good people of 1up and Gamespot which game I should try next. A random number generator later, and I had chosen Icewind Dale II.

Here's hoping for a better experience this time.

After completing Dead Space, I return to the conundrum that is choosing my next game to concentrate on. With a backlog of over thirty games, this gets difficult. So I address my backlog and e-friends to help me make my decision.

Bully: Scholarship Edition - I don't want to start this
Red Steel - I've already started this one; maybe
Super Mario Galaxy - don't feel like it

Arx Fatalis - too old and long to start now
Command & Conquer: Generals - maybe
Deus Ex: Invisible War- maybe, but I'd have to re-download it from D2D
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey - don't want to play until I finish the original
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - too long to start when I'm going to reinstall Win7 upon release
Fallout 2 - not enjoying it as much as the original
Fallout 3 - don't want to play it until I finish Fallout 2
Icewind Dale II - maybe
Indigo Prophecy - already begun, maybe
The Longest Journey - too weird to continue right now
Mirror's Edge - I'm almost done with this, but maybe still a little bored with it
Neverwinter Nights - do I even have my saved games?
Planescape Torment - too long to begin now
Prince of Persia - not in the mood
Sacred - already begun on my laptop, not too compelling yet
Sam & Max Season 1 - maybe
Spellforce 2 - already begun, and haven't decided if I like it or not
Syberia - I've tried playing this numerous times and have never completed it
Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil - too long to start now

Black - meh
Ninja Gaiden Black - so difficult
Psychonauts - I'd have to redownload it from XBL

Alone in the Dark - I'd rather finish Condemned 2 first
Assasin's Creed - too long
Condemned 2 - I just started this. It's pretty good so far
Dead Rising - maybe
Halo Wars - I'm almost done with this game, but it's temporarily lost its appeal
Lego Indiana Jones - I play with Maura
Lost Planet - almost done with this game too, but it's temporarily lost its appeal
Ninja Gaiden II - don't want to play until I beat the first one
Prince of Persia XBLA - meh
Tomb Raider: Anniversary - meh

So, I guess it's down to the underlined games

• Red Steel
• Command & Conquer: Generals
• Deus Ex: Invisible War
• Icewind Dale II
• Indigo Prophecy
• Neverwinter Nights
• Sam & Max Season 1
• Spellforce 2
• Condemned 2
• Dead Rising

Any of these particular games I should begin/continue playing?

Closing my eyes, I'm terrified. I hear the sounds of distant voices whispering, the clang of metal coming together, and a squeal as gears grind together. I open my eyes and view a vast, crawling space, which I must cross to get to my next objective.

The planet-cracking ship Ishimura is the greatest thing about Dead Space. Sure, the shooting mechanic is different, the third-person helps provide for more moments of fright, and the storyline is compellng, butmuch like the "Event Horizon" in the movie of the same name, its a ghost-town of a giant spaceship that draws the player in.

Dead Space takes a tired formula, that of the survival horror, and slaps a new coat of paint on it (it's in space, you must target the enemy's limbs, etc.) to make it fun. The game could have taken another run through the editing room, as three of the chapters were a little longer than neccessary. But overall, this game is worth at least the cost of renting.

I am about 80% of the way through Dead Space (PC), and my enjoyment level has dropped a little. Like I complain about with many games, the game is too long. It could have easily ended around Chapter 9, but the developers thought it would be wise to squeeze in an additional three chapters.

In hindsight, I think most of chapter four, all of chapter 6, and most of chapter 11 could have been scrapped and left on the editing room floor.

Also, the game has gotten a little formulaic: go retrieve item one, go retrieve item two, go to objective and implement, move on. Why couldn't there be a few shorter chapters (see above)?

Our shower sucks. It rarely gets hot, it leaks, it's not properly installed, etc. So last night, I got brave and decided to work on that "heat" thing. Note: I had already tried unsuccessfully to fix the leaking issue.WARNING:Dumbassery ahead.

After downloading schematics for our shower handle, I think I know enough to fix the problem. I unscrew the cartridge WITHOUT TURNING OFF THE HOUSE'S WATER and get drenched in a deluge of water.

A crying wife and a lot of sopping towels later, things are somewhat cleaned up. Now I have a shower that doesn't work, AND a leaking toilet (oh, I forgot to mention that one, didn't I?). Great. My father-in-law thinks the cartridge is broken, so hopefully all I need to do is pick a new one up today and get it installed. Hopefully.