I'm spread thinner than lo-carb Parkay.

I can't decide when I've had the most fun gaming...

Now, when I have at least 20 Xbox games at my disposal, most of them Live-enabled, going to war with my friends against the e-thugs of the world, teaching glitchballers the finer points of high level all-sim gameplay on ESPN football, or Dragon Punching noobs to death on Third Strike...

or...

Ten years ago, when all I had was an SNES (I had an NES somewhere, but it was busted at that point), Super Metroid, SF2 Turbo, and John Madden Football '93. I played those nonstop, and took great glee in kicking the crap out of my little brother while doing so.

Every once in awhile, I would scrounge up whatever lawnmowing/report card allowance I had and go pick up a new game. I took a lot of grief for some of my choices ("Mutant League Hockey?! What kind of crap game is that?!), but I was in bliss nonetheless.

Everything else during that era was strictly rental material, since it was rather difficult convincing my parents to drop $60-$70 on something they probably wouldn't use.

Or I could go further back to the NES era, back when my console actually worked (after I ran a cleaner through it a couple of times. I remember my babysitter's kids getting every freaking NES game they wanted, and all I could do was watch in awe as they repeatedly got their asses handed to them by the likes of Ganon and Mike Tyson.

Maybe those memories are the impetus for my crazed spending on games. Either that, or the constant threat of a painful hazing at the hands of conski...

...Ah, who the hell am I kidding?

I (along with everybody else) just need to cut back on buying everything that gets hyped up on the forums.

I guess I'm getting the bad habit of going to Gamestop right after picking up my monthly bonus check and going crazy. I bought SVC Chaos (probably the worst fighter this side of Backyard Wrestling) for the sake of having something to hold me over until the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection is released for Xbox.

It's getting so bad, I considered dropping $100+ on an arcade stick before doing the smart thing and only spending $40 on a Pelican. I'm still considering spending $150 on a force feedback wheel for Forza. If EB Games is planning on selling it through stores (I know for a fact that Gamestop isn't), I'll just pay for it in increments up until it comes out, so it doesn't look like I'm blowing all my money on drugs and hookers.

The hobby of gaming is slowly pricing out the kids out there who are too young to make their own money and get the games they want. Of course, listening to those bastards on Live makes me think that making gaming accessible for adults only is a good thing.

KrushGroove82.

Please adjust your friends' lists accordingly...

Don't use the Chargers, unless you insist on running the ball the whole game.

A little sloppy for me ( I couldn't throw the ball for sh*t), but I managed to rack up 220 yards of rushing with both George and Jones getting involved, and I squeaked out a 26-7 win.

Eddie George runs for 193 yards and 2 scores over the Donkeys.

I'm a force.

After two attempts at creating a GS league flopped, I decided to join a league comprised of espnvideogames.com forumites. It's supposed to be an all sim league, so hopefully I don't inadvertently pull some cheese and get myself kicked out.

So far I'm off to a good start, leading the Cowboys to a 42-34 victory over the league commish's Vikes at the Metrodome. I would have used the Chiefs in this league, but I have to go with my hot hand. Hopefully Eddie George doesn't tear an ACL or anything, because Julius Jones looks seriously underrated...

It's good.

It sickens me to see "elite" Halo players whine and moan about Bungie catering to noobs on the basis that a certain weapon of choice was toned down in the name of balance. Either they aren't as good as they thought they were, or they're just bitter that they don't have the game all to themselves on XBC.

The adjustments made in Halo 2's multiplayer benefit the community as a whole. It's refreshing to see random matchmaking, as it forces players and teams to constantly change strategies and adapt to each situation, instead of just sticking to playing on two or three maps and exploiting flaws in the balancing of weapons. I wouldn't mind picking off opponents with an overpowered pistol, but being unable to do so isn't reason for me to take back the game. I'd love to see that scene at the local Gamestop.

Geek: "Take this crap back! I can't kill people in one shot with my 1337 pistol skillz anymore! It's not fair! I lost a slayer match to someone with an energy sword and a shotgun. Obviously this copy is defective..."

Clerk: "Um, you know you could probably get a little more for that game on eBay, right?"

Guys (and gal) such as myself who aren't unemployed powergamers can achieve glory in this game with a little communication, a little bit of precision, and a little bit of common sense.

The truly great Halo players will learn to change their tactics and still rack up kills. If that's too much to ask for you, try not to short-circuit your house wiring up your Halo LAN/circle-jerk party...

With my manager taking yet another week-long vacation, I figured it would be a good time to burn a personal day so I could enjoy a night out when there are actual crowds of people to mingle with. Instead of dealing with drunks who can't figure out that 1:30 is the cutoff for beer sales, I could actually become one of them, and find joy in drinking myself into a stupor on a crisp, cool evening.

I call my friends up, and tell them I can go out and party. Turns out, most of them are broke, and one is stuck working tommorrow money. I was only able to get one of my over 21 friends to come out and enjoy scenic Westport with me.

I figured tonight would be a good chance to check out the newest bar, Johnny Dare's (named after KC's favorite morning radio show host).

Everything seemed normal enough for a Friday night. A crowd of people at the bar, cool ass bartenders, waitresses in schoolgirl outfits selling jello shots, and Motley Crew blaring from the sound system.

After grabbing a round of beers, I decided to take a tour of the place. The kitchen was closed (for some reason, the kitchen management couldn't afford to keep the food churning out past 10), but I did notice some stairs out the corner of my eye. I figured it was just the bathroom area, but my friend convinced me to go upstairs anyway.

Turns out, the upstairs area had a mobile home design to it, complete with lawnchairs, a mini love seat from the 80s, and a 13" TV showing A Nightmare from Elm Street. The bathrooms had port-a-potty doors, with the women's bathroom featuring shag carpeting all around. There was a gift shop, but I (or anyone else for that matter) couldn't bring myself to pick up any souveneirs.

I could have stayed home and lounged around on the couch watching TV, but I guess I subconsciously felt that going half-hour out of my way to a trailer-trash-themed nightclub to watch TV upstairs with people I didn't know was a better way to spend my evening. Of course, I usually don't get girls in schoolgirl outfits serving me jello shots at home, so it wasn't a total loss...