I am so happy to see that so many games that I am looking forward to playing have been delayed until 2010 - because frankly with the amount of activity presently in my life between family, work, personal obligations and, well, life- the real 4-D super sensory high definition version in which we kiss and hug real people and not avatars - well, getting to and through the games is a difficult balancing act.Let's talk about games!

Uncharted 2 for the PS3 is uncategorically one of the best games of the year. This is a guy (me) whose favourite movie of all time is Raiders of the Lost Ark. This is a game that realizes every fantasy that I've ever had about being a great explorer on a fantastic mission against impossible odds. The graphics are incredible, the voice acting and story pacing is bang on, the gameplay at the "normal" setting is a bit "easier" than my skill level, however it is perfect for the pacing of the game in that it keeps things moving along without the frustration of constantly failing. The story itself is in some ways derivative but so was Raiders of the Lost Ark - that's the nature of the story and overly complicating this type of game and story with inner and deeper meanings would be inconsistent with the intent of the game. The game and the story is linear, meaning there's not a lot of "what do I do next" moments of wandering around - the game pushes you in the right direction, gives you hints when you are stuck and keeps moving, and moving and moving. For those that who have yet to experience the joys of videogaming, it's a perfect introduction to the genre - pick it up and give it a shot. Well worth the time (about ten hours for a single player game through)that you invest in it.

As I completed Uncharted 2 - Borderlands - the massive first person RPG arrived for the Xbox 360. Borderlands has some serious setbacks - for one there is little story to be followed, the game is more a mishmash of tasks to be performed more than anything else, and for another, it is quite likely one of the most derivative game rip offs that I have ever seen. Nearly every idea and story detail has been "borrowed" from elsewhere, particularly Fallout 3 and pretty well any other FPS on the market. The lack of creativity on the story elements is pretty jarring and comes across as if the developers simply had a complete and utter brain fart when it came to thinking up a story or creative ideas, BUT - and this is a very big BUT - the game is so unbelievably addicttive that it is easy to ignore these flaws in order to move forward, complete the tasks, defeat the bandits, and look for bigger and better loot. This doesn't make sense to me, a gamer who looks for a great story in his games - but sometimes it is fun to just turn off, attack things to get stuff that is cool, and to be immersed in a world that you can control. I have put in about 30 hours into this game so far, and I'm likely not even half-way done. I am going to keep playing until I finish the main story line and as many of the optional missions as I can before moving on - however I don't doubt that I will keep coming back to this game in the future when I need to blow off some steam.

Finally, Dragon Age: Origins - the latest Bioware RPG along with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the first game in the Uncharted series for the PS3 just came in yesterday. I'm planning to keep those on deck until I'm done with Borderlands, but hopefully I'll get to Dragon Age before the end of the year.