My history with Planetside is long; I've been playing since closed beta, and have yet to unsubscribe.

Finally, a sequal is announced!!!Finally, a sequal is announced!!! But what needs improving?

• tighter netcode with better prediction of moving characters
• no extra lands (read: caves) to spread out the population
• no BFRs, as they were poorly designed
• no empire should have a heavy assault weapon that excels at one range
• naval and/or space combat
• organization beyond platoons in the form of batallions
• better outfit abilities
• a revamped command structure. those who don't naturally lead should not get special abilities
• more chances for support roles
• transformable terrain and bases
• a tiered subscription system
• a limit on certification points (BR 20 was enough)
• more character and/or weapon customization after BR 20
• bases designed in a more militaristic method
• upgraded visuals (DX9 at a minimum)

Mike, Mike, Mike... or Mr. Judge if you prefer. Where the hell did you go wrong? Beavis & Butthead is a classic. Office Space went from cult classic to a must-own DVD. But why Extract?

To be fair, I chortled a few times throughout the movie, but gone was your trademark humor. Sure, there was the new Milton as an annoying neighbor, sure there were akward moments. But rarely did I find myself rooting for the hero. *sigh*

This one might be worth a rental.

Scary to run, scary to play.

Just getting this title to start was no small feet. I would load the game, see a black screen, then *crash*; back to the desktop I was. After several hours of Google-ing, writing EA tech support, and updating my drivers, I finally came across the solution: one of my hardware input devices was causing a conflict.

That's right, it was one small forum thread found by google, among hundreds of other threads found by google, with only ONE reply, that solved my problem Definitely feels like a rare case to me. Here I was thinking my problem was related to Windows 7 64 bit edition. Hooray... I guess.

Anyhow, this game creeps me out big time. I can only play it on "easy," in the middle of broad-daylight, and I'm still scared. The use of a third-person camera and slow turning radius inhibits your ability to see what's going on around you. While it's slightly frustrating, it's mostly just limiting in a creepy what-the-hell-is-behind-me kind of way. Kudos to the devs

Note: the game is now in Open Beta through Fileplanet

I've been tracking this game for a long time; it has such a great laundry-list of features to it: uses the Cryengine, has been brewing in Korea for some time, has PvPvE, flight mechanics, etc. So when the time came to beta test this sucker, I was all for it. Meh. That's right, meh. Although I haven't played very many levels yet, I'm tired of having to wait until level x before my character/the story/the quests/the whatever gets better.

As of this moment, Aion is simply another run-of-the-mill MMORPG with Korean aesthetics and a lot of polish. Consider me let-down.

I don't know why the hell I'm so anxious about trying new games. I always think I'll suck at multiplayer fps, so I avoid playing them at first. But then, by the time I feel like I can play them, everybody else has practiced and then they rock my face.

Such is how the Battlefield series is going for me. A week ago (before the move), I popped in Battlefield 2. I never really got into playing these games that much, mostly due to the facts that

• I suck
• well, really just I suck

Of course now the game is filled with dolphin-diving fools (people whohit the "prone" and "jump" keys together - they fly around bouncing off the ground like dolphins leaping from the water) who can insta-kill me.

Fine

So tonight I jumped into Battlefield 2142. I fee like this game was noobified for people like me. There are fewer ****s, and the vehicles just make sense to me. Regardless, I've only achieved about 14 points out of 40 before I gain my next rank. The game is fun, but I'm still getting wtfpwned.

Now that I'm a homeowner, I've had little time for gaming and muchos time for home-repair. Here is the list:

• Fill gouges and holes in drywall
• Fix tiles in kids' bathroom
• Paint Library & Dining Room
• Paint Kitchen
• Get bedroom cable fixed
• Extend and hide cable in Family Room
• Buy paint and paint Master Bedroom
• Buy paint and paint Master Bathroom
• But paint and paint Office
• Give lawn its virgin mow
• Find hive of yellowjackets and kill them
• Clean out the garage
• Replace flush valve in kids' bathroom
• Replace ballcock (huh huh) in kids' bathroom
• Change locking doorknob from Samantha's to Master Bedroom
• Hire somebody to install new garage doors
• Buy and install new garage door opener
• Replace rotting trim on exterior of the house
• Fix the jammed flu in the fireplace
• Hang Phebe's mirror
• Fix the shower in the Master Bathroom to get hot water
• Install check valve after the sump pump
• Clean and seal pipe fitting on air conditioner
• Attatch hanging outlet box to wood

Hopefully as time goes by, I'll see more of these getting crossed off.

I remember when a guy in my online gaming guild told us that he needed help beta-testing this foreign game called "Stalker." After a brief discription, we implored to get our hands on the software. While that oppotunity dissolved with the delay of the game, the chance to polish what turned out to be a beacon o' fun was apparantly worth it to the developers.

Setting the game in and around Chernobyl in the Ukraine pays off in spades: the land is foreign and mysterious, and yet familiar from history **** Due to the "zone" - an area affected by pockets of radiation and anamolies that can rip a dog in two - the ground and buildings are burnt-out, grey, dilapidated, and generally in ruins.

The fighting is where this game lags behind others. The guns are weak in the beginning, the enemy's flank and use cover exceptionally well, and most people wear body armor. My fps experience not-withstanding, I set the game on "novice" and still found the ending maps to be exceptionally difficult. The game could use more allies, as these were the parts that really shone for me. Trekking through Pripyat with five other stalkers was one of the highlights for me; until they stopped half-way to my goal and said, "good luck!!"

Probably the best thing about this title is the sheer number of mods out there to tighten the textures, improve lighting, etc. I personally choose the "Stalker Complete Mod 2009" for my playthrough, and immediately noticed a visual difference.

Along with Crysis, this game is a clear example of Eastern Europpean developers schooling the over-polished but bland titles of the west.

Score: 8.0

Warning: Epic Story of Frustration Ahead

Proceed at your own risk.

Rewind back to February, and you would see me growing annoyed with my wife's incessant hints to begin looking for a house. I am reluctant to find a permanant home due to all of the job stability issues we have had recently. "Fine!" I finally cave one night. I figured that she couldn't possibly find anything in this economy, and in the dead of winter.

Remind me to never doubt her abilities again.

Within just a few days, my hands were full of papers, each picked up from local - and some not so local - houses that were all for sale. There is no way we can afford any of them, so I just smile and nod as she tells me about them. Little did I know that she was only doing recon of the enemy's forces.

"My dad's friend is a realtor; maybe he could help us," she tells me some time later. What the hell; it couldn't hurt to have him tell her we can't afford anything either. Fast-forward to April, and we have not only learned that we CAN afford a house (albeit, a modest one), but that there are hundreds of domiciles for sale in our city alone. Most don't fit our criteria (the house stands on its own, its not infested, it has at least one working bathroom, the floor isn't dirt, etc.), but that doesn't stop my wife and our realtor. Noooooo. Maura's memory not-withstanding, I'm sure we looked at around seventy houses.

By this time, I had already used Lending Tree to find competing loan officers. We settle with National Home Lending, and a honest-sounding guy by the name of Jeff. We square away what we can possibly afford, and continue to press on.

A few false-starts later, we walk into a house just three miles away of our current abode. "It's perfect," my wife states, and I can'tdisagree. It's a beautiful split-level house (and I hate split-level houses) with little that needs repairing, new appliances (refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, vanity and sink),a separate bathroom for the girls, and an office for me, all at a ridiculously low price. We overbid. A week later wediscover we've out-bid the three other people vying for this house.The house wason the market for forty eight hours. This is in June, mind you.

Of course there's a catch: the house is a short-sale. And the owners have already moved, leaving their barely-coherent, semi-English speaking realtor with the power of attorney to sell the house. So not only do we have to obtain his signature, but we have to get the approval of the past-owner's bank as well. Days go by. Weeks go by. A month or so later, we get the verbal answer. Another month later, the official paperwork arrives. It's a standard letter with two initials and a signature. We had to wait months for THIS to be completed? Note: I blogged about the house here, and true to form, indeed jinxed us.

Currently, things are finally coming together. Shopping for a lender, submitting our infrmation to underwriting, meeting the underwriter's conditions (sending in tax documents, explaining large deposits, etc.), we finally should have our mortgage done by this Friday. With luck, we may be closing next Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Phew!

Brilliant move by Sony; waiting until the cost of manufacturing dropped dramatically and then reducing the price. Manyenthusiasts' opinions notwithstanding, it's good to see an imminent price drop. While my family's plan to buy a house puts a damper on the purchase of a new console, I will consider a pickup of the oft-rumored PSP Slim when thatcomes to fruition.

Bullets whiz by my ears, my squad screams something about not having a good shot, and the Abrahms tank rockets a shell down the street as I stare at my tactical map. "Maybe if I circle my squad around these barrels, keep the tank here as a base of fire and protection, and have my little bird scout ahead, I'll be able to clear out those gunners," I think.

This game marriages third-person shooter and tactical elements beautifully, all while refining what few complaints I had about its predecessor; I especially enjoyed the multiple-difficulty setting which was notably absent in the first iteration.

The campaign was short and sweet, picking up almost immediatley after the close of the first game's. There was enough variation between squad-based missions and solo missions, though I often missed the presence of additinoal firepower during the solor missions. Short and sweet, just how I prefer my single-player games. The developers could have tacked on another few hours to fill the game, but I'm glad they (seemingly) cut out the fluff and kept this game focused.

The weapons were tight and varied, my squad capable of taking down enemy soldiers on their own, and the support offered through helicopters, tanks, remote controlled drones, and friendly soldiers (non-Ghosts) gave more variety than the last game's.

Bottom line: if you enjoyed GRAW, you'll like GRAW 2 even more, while there aren't any major improvements to cause you to enjoy this one if you didn't like the first.

Score: 8.0