I think my 360 got upset that I was playing my PS3 more lately. I turned it on this morning for the first time in a week to attempt to finish Sequence mode in Geometry Wars 2 and it froze once, then the infamous three flashing red lights appeared when I re-booted the console. Now that's all that I get.

Thankfully you can order a repair on XBox.com now, at least in the USA, and avoid dealing with MAX on the support line and the Russian Roulette of outsourced call center employees of varying accents and competencies. The disc drive on my original console, purchased November 2006, refused to read discs in July 2007. I was lucky enough to get a refurbished box back in time for BioShock last year. This time I don't think my timing is going to be so great. I'm going to miss the launch of Castle Crashers and Mercs 2. Bummer. Hopefully people won't be tired of them when I finally get back on Live.

This will give me an opportunity to play some of the PS2 games which I own, but never got around to playing again. Last year I went through Shadow of the Colossus, God of War and Sly Cooper 2 in the month it took to get a 360 back. This time I can play Okami, Kingdom Hearts 2, Jak 3 or GTA: San Andreas so I have plenty to keep me busy. I also should probably be studying for the CPA exam......

Pour one out for another dead console....RIP 360 #2: 8/7/07-8/24/08

It has been a long time since I downloaded a game from XBLA or PSN. The last game I bought from Live Arcade was Symphony of the Night in March 2007 and the last game I bought from PSN was the overrated Everyday Shooter when it was half price in December 2007. Since then there has been a dearth of interesting titles released. I've had my fill of Match-3 clones and shoddy retro ports so nothing has compelled me to open my wallet. That streak seems to be coming to an end very soon though as the drought seems just about over. In fact, there may be a flood on the horizon.

Pixeljunk Eden

I downloaded the demo from PSN for this last night after hearing good buzz about it from the usual gaming media sources. I was skeptical going in because it seemed similar to the hype that was lavished on Everyday Shooter last year. People raved about the artistic merit of the game and how impressed they were that it was coded by one person, but glossed over the fact that it wasn't that fun to play. While Pixeljunk Eden delivers visually and aurally, it also delivers in the gameplay department. On the surface there doesn't seem to be much to draw you in. You are a worm in a garden, you jump & swing from plant to plant breaking pollen pods to fill up seeds to grow more plants to get higher in the level to find the spectra to finish the level. The simplicity of purpose is a benefit though because you don't have to think much beyond measuring your next jump or judging if your swing can reach that next pod. This allows you to enjoy the sensual feast which the game serves up. The levels are visually stunning with rich colors surreal plant formations. When you break a chain of pollen pods in a row, you unleash a mini-fireworks display that cascades across the screen. The visuals are complimented by an infectious soundtrack that I can only describe as some fusion of jazz and techno that gives the game a very relaxing, groovy kind of vibe. Played on a large HD display in a darkened room, the game is gorgeous.

The controls are simple and responsive. You point the left stick in the direction you want to jump, you jump with the X button and stick to any surface you come in contact with as long as you don't hold any button & aren't spinning. When you want to swing from your location, you jump holding down X which tethers you to where you leaped from with a strand of silk. You control the swinging with the right stick and the length of the tether with the bumpers. Swinging is used to break pollen pods and to gain momentum towards making higher & longer jumps. You have a good deal of aftertouch control while you are in the air as well. It takes a few minutes to get the hang of it, but when you do it's a very natural control scheme. I definitely recommend that you download the demo. The demo has the first 2 gardens (out of 10) so you get a good chuck of game for free. I think I'll be buying this when it releases tomorrow.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

Like most people, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved was one of the first games I played when I bought my 360. I loved it, but I was TERRIBLE at it. I never scored more than 275k points and I have long since stopped trying to improve that. Whatever skill that it takes to zone out and break 1 million, I don't possess it. My interest in the series was rekindled when I played a little of Geometry Wars Galaxies for the DS. The addition of the collectible geons and the little upgradeable helper ship really took the game in a great new direction. Even if you had a bad session, you'd still earn points towards upgrading your ship so it didn't feel like a complete failure. The point multipliers were also easier to attain and the stylus controls were tight. This put the 360 sequel back on my radar. I downloaded the demo this morning and enjoyed what I played. I liked the time limit mode that they included. Much like Pac-Man Championship Edition, you just have to score as many points as you can in 3 minutes. You can die all you want and your multiplier doesn't reset. The game has the same frantic action as the original with things chasing you and exploding all over the grid. It can still be difficult to see smaller enemies through the bullets and explosions leading to some cheap deaths, but the penalty isn't as severe so it's less frustrating. I scored only 800k my first try, but improved to 1.1 million by my third. The other modes included sound fun as well, so I'm leaning towards making this part of a double dip this week.

Bionic Commando Rearmed

I LOVED the NES original. The story combined with the swing mechanic made that game stick out for a lot of people. Everything I've seen about the remake leads me to believe that Rearmed is going to the perfect blend of nostalgia and modern visual & gameplay upgrades. They seemed to have captured the campy spirit of the C1a$$ic while modernizing it for a whole new generation. Being able to do more with the arm beyond swinging and grabbing power-ups will be a big improvement. This will be a day 1 purchase for sure.

Castle Crashers

This looks like a fantastic game. An homage to side scrolling brawlers of the past with crazy cartoon graphics and a ton of things to unlock. Even though this is probably going to cost double the usual $10 of most Live Arcade games, it seems like the content will justify the price. I think we've all been looking forward to this one for quite some time.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

I was addicted to the DS version of Challenge of the Warlords for quite some time so I'm eagerly anticipating it's space themed sequel. It will be interesting to see what kind of changes the new setting will offer, what will replace the spells and training your mounts, how will the new hexagon pattern and zero gravity effect strategy and gameplay? Should be fun

WipeOut HD

I hoped that this was going to be the proverbial slump buster when it was promised to be released in May.....then June.....then it disappeared due to a "tricky technical issue". I loved the original PS1 game and the future racing theme. The vehicles handled well and the sense of speed was impressive. Everything I've seen on this HD upgrade has been impressive. The tracks, the tunes, the weapons, how smooth it runs, how polished it looks....it can't get here soon enough. I hope they work out the problems quickly.

I am probably leaving something out, but after not being interested in any downloadable game in months, having a list of 6 upcoming titles seems like an overload. Hopefully these all turn out to be worth the anticipation and money.

Psychonauts receives universal praise everywhere I look. After finally getting around to playing through the game myself, I don't see why it gets all the love.

Recently I've been burning through a stack of Playstation games, which for whatever reason, I bought, but never found time to play. After completing & enjoying Sly 2, Justice League Heroes & Uncharted, I eagerly dove into Psychonauts expecting another fun time. From reading professional & player reviews and listening to people on podcasts lament that Psychonauts is one of the best games that nobody played, I thought it was a can't miss. I love platformers and have played dozens of them during my gaming life, from the Super Mario games through the Jak, Ratchet & Sly series to even Scooby Doo Night of 1000 Frights. Unfortunately, Psychonauts would have to rank pretty low on that list.

Things I did not enjoy

• The Overabundance of Cut Scenes - There were sections of this game where gameplay was interrupted every few steps. They might have looked nice, but I didn't find them all that compelling which brings me to...
• The Story - This point may be my own fault for having high expectations, but I read this game was supposed to have a great plot and clever dialogue, what I played had neither. The only thing unique about the narrative of Psychonauts was the aspect of Rez invading people's minds to cure their demons, but to me that just led to a bunch of disjointed levels which didn't seem to fit together. That was also probably my fault because I got bored of the story pretty quick and wasn't caring why I was jumping from the mind of the Milkman to the Crazy Actress to the Painting Bull. Beyond that its the same derivative "unlikely hero learns powers and saves the day" thing.
• Power & Item Limitations - You learn a bunch of powers as you progress through the game, but you can only equip three of them at a time. If you come to a point you need invisibility to sneak passed an enemy, but you don't have it equipped, you have to hit select, bring up the powers menu and swap out the one you need. Its even more frustrating for the items because you can't hold an item and activate a switch or talk to a NPC. If you put it away to open the door, you have to hit select and pull up the item menu all over again. The lack of a quick select menu that gives you access to all your stuff is disappointing, especially since Ratchet had it 4 years before Psychonauts came out.
• Collecting to Advance - Yes, collecting is part of most platformers, but pretty early in Psychonauts you are forced to walk around the camp with a device that detects arrowheads buried in the ground. You have to collect over 1,000 of these things to buy two items from the store or else you can't advance to the next level. In order to dig these things up I had to mash on a button so hard, I was seriously risking an aneurysm. This was a boring waste of time which was interrupted by more cutscenes as I ran into characters walking around camp.
• Frustrating Sections - I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, but there is a difference between being challenging and being cheap. Getting blown up by exploding mice that constantly respawn on the asylum level. Having to make precise jumps with sloppy, floaty jump controls and when you miss, falling all the way to the bottom of a level only to start all over. Having to protect the kid in the meat circus, but not knowing where he is in the level because he jumped to a platform (in a cutscene) that can't be seen from the platform you are on. A rail slide section with gaps spaced in it that forces you to slow down so you miss the jump or go too fast that you overshoot the next jump combined with the previously mentioned sloppy jump controls.
• Having to Wait to Level Up - If you want to redeem the Psi-Cards, Cobwebs or Brains you pick up mid-level, you have to warp back to HQ then warp back, but instead of taking you back to the exact spot you warped out, you are taken back to the start of the level. That discourages you from actually reaping the rewards of the items you find.

Things I Did Enjoy

• As a fan of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas & Corpse Bride, I dug the visual sty1e of Psychonauts which seemed to be at least influenced by Burton's work and I think Psychonauts could have been a good animated movie.
• Two of the levels did live up to the hype of being unique and different. The level where Raz is a giant that is stomping around a city environment was a lot of fun to play. You don't normally see that kind of scale in a platformer where the character towers over it's enemies. The other level I enjoyed was the board game level which you play with the Napoleons. Figuring out how to get the pieces on the board and then moving them into the right spots was fun.
• I found the powers varied and useful. Double Fine did a good job of ensuring that you would encounter sections which would require you to use each power you acquire. Setting something on fire with Pyro, bouncing with Levitation (when a precise jump wasn't required), picking up an enemy and tossing it aside with Telekinesis all feels satisfying.
  
  

Unfortunately, on balance, Psychonauts turned out to be a big disappointment to me. It's not an unplayable game, but it is far from the pinnacle of the genre that people make it out to be. Hopefully the cool kids will still let me sit at their table.

I finally got around to playing through Uncharted: Drake's Fortune over the last week and I recommend that anyone who hasn't played it, correct that error as soon as you can.

Uncharted plays out like a satisfying summer action movie. The plot and characters are well written, even if neither break new ground. The visuals are stunning, some of the best I've seen in video games. The jungle environments are lush, the water effects impressive and the animations & facial expressions infuse life into the characters that draws you in and makes you care about how the narrative plays out.

As a game, its really fun to play. The Tomb Raider/Prince of Persia platform segments control well and give you a solid adventure feel as Nathan jumps from ledge to ledge, sometimes barely grabbing hold by his fingertips.

The combat and gunplay is the newly popular stop and pop variety where you take cover, wait for an enemy to expose himself and then peer over or around your cover to return fire. There is a good variety of weapons from pistols, machine guns, shotguns, grenades and sniper rifles. Enemies react based on where you shoot them, so if you shoot them in the leg, they will go down to a knee before recovering, if you shoot them in the arm, they may spin around for a second, and the always satifying headshot will knock an enemy backwards in the air before he lands in a heap. I have a minor issue with how many bullets enemies take, but that just encourages you to go for headshots for the one shot kill. There are some major firefights to tackle. You will find yourself pinned down by waves of enemies and the AI is smart. Enemies will flank you or force you to leave the cover you are clinging to by tossing a grenade at your feet if you turtle too much.

Uncharted also has enjoyable melee combat. If you get behind an enemy you can snap his neck or you can take them head-on, unleashing hand-to-hand combos that have some pretty savage and entertaining animations when completed. Taking an enemy out with one of these combos also yields the added benefit that the enemy drops double the ammo.

The puzzles are simple and they give you enough hints that you shouldn't be stuck for too long.

In fact the game isn't long at all. I finished it in about 8 and a half hours including finding all 61 treasures (using a guide), earning 520 of the game's "accomplishment" points. It is a lot of fun while it lasts though and if you have a PS3, or will be getting a PS3, make sure you pick this game up. I'll probably go back and play through it on the higher difficulty if they patch in trophies. I downloaded the 2.40 firmware patch and earned my first 12 trophies in Super Stardust HD, another game that all PS3 owners should check out. Now I have more stats to chase!

Now I have to decide what next to play among the following: Assassins Creed, Bully: Scholarship Edition, Dark Sector, Spider-Man 3, GTA: San Andreas, Jak 3, Kingdom Hearts 2, Psychonauts, Mercenaries, Okami or Sly Cooper 3. Woe is me.

Happy 4th of July! God Bless America! Enjoy the weekend!

After achieving 100% on the single player side of GTA IV, I began to explore the multiplayer. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of modes available, most of which are fun to play. As someone who has never been the biggest fan of competitive multiplayer, the modes I enjoy the most are the 3 co-op missions. Unfortunately you can't play with friends in ranked co-op, so in order for the money you earn in these missions to count towards your rank and to earn the achievement associated with beating Rockstar's mission times, you are forced to play with random strangers.

For the most part this hasn't been as much of a problem as one would expect, but there have been more than a few exceptions. Every handful of games, I run into someone who joins a game with the sole purpose of ruining it for the 3 of us who are trying to complete the mission.

In the Bomb Da Base II mission, you first have to attack a convoy until an armored car with explosives in it stops, drive the armored car to a helipad, then take a helicopter to a tanker parked on the river and plant two bombs on the ship to take it out. I have had people destroy the vehicles immediately after everyone spawns keeping us from getting to the convoy. I've had people wait until we get the armored car back to the helipad before blowing up the armored car which causes an automatic mission failure. Others wait until the copter arrives before pulling out a grenade and blowing it up either on the ground or in the air.

For Hangman's Noose, you have to find a vehicle to transport a guy from the airport to an extraction point while holding off the cops. The quickest way is to take a little baggage cart to the other side of the airport where the helicopters are, then fly one back to the others guarding the guy, pick them up and fly to the extraction point. All totalled it shouldnt take longer than 2 and a half minutes to complete. That is unless you get a griefer to join your game. Then they will either blow up the baggage cart so you cant head immediately to the copters, they could also get in a 2nd copter and as soon as you take off with the CPU on board they will clip the tail off with the rotors of his coptor forcing you to crash, or they will fly the copter towards the extraction and then bail out right before arriving, sending the copter into the water. The CPU can't swim so he drowns and everyone fails the mission.

Its just part of online gaming, but its annoying none the less. You still end up running into the same characters even if you leave them negative feedback and ask to avoid them in the future. It doesn't make much sense why the co-op missions can't be played with friends.

Even with the griefer issues and the other usual personality "quirks" of the Live community, I've still had a great time with the multiplayer. GTA IV has long outlasted when I expected to stop playing it.

64 years ago today my grandfather, along with thousands of his fellow Americans, British, Polish, French & Canadian allies, stormed the beaches of Normandy and began to reclaim the continent of Europe for freedom and liberty. Time diminishes neither the enormity of the accomplishment nor the debt we all owe to these brave young men, most mere teenagers themselves on June 6, 1944.

I have no problem with these events being used as fodder for video games, even if I prefer not to play them, but I ask you to remember the reality behind the level design. I think games and movies based on famous battles help to keep the history alive for new generations in a certain sense, but don't forget to be grateful to those that lived, or especially did not live, through these events. Without their sacrifice we wouldn't be able to enjoy the freedoms we take for granted today.

I'll link you to the speech made by President Reagan upon the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984. It is a moving tribute to those who threw themselves into harms way for love of country and freedom.

An excerpt:

"Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you."

Full text is here.

That dedication still exists in the men & women of our armed forces today. God bless them all.

Upon dropping off Jacob after a game of pool, and the auto-save finishing, the 100 pt "Key to the City" achievement notification popped up. A nearly month long obsession can finally subside. Since coming home from the midnight launch at the Best Buy on 5th Avenue and loading GTA IV up for the first time, the disc tray on my 360 hasn't opened once. With the variety of activities in Liberty City and the size of the game world to explore, I had no reason to play anything else.

While I do not think that GTA IV has the best of anything, whether that is story, controls, gameplay or visuals, Rockstar deserves praise for putting so much into this game and pulling it all together into one entertaining package. Games don't have to be artistic, they dont have to have important social commentary, they dont have to be comparative to movies or books, but they have to be fun to play. GTA IV is that in spades.

The last GTA I played was GTA III. I avoided playing Vice City or San Andreas because I have a problem. I get obsessed with completion percentage. After sinking 80+ hours into III to 100% it, I thought better of picking up VC or SA for fear of the time sink they would become. Anytime a game has a progress tracker, I feel compelled to finish it off. Achievements have made every game a potential problem now. While this completionist trait has served me well in my professional life, it has led to many late nights hunting orbs in Crackdown, stomping grubs in Half Life 2, or looking for canisters in Lego Star Wars. Things a normal person wouldnt care about since they lay outside the main story. Thankfully I have been able to satisfy myself with only an 80+% gamerscore completion percentage. My multiplayer playtime is primarily of the non-ranked with friends variety, so I am glad to let the ranked multi achievements go.

I finished the story in a little over 40 hours, so the last 34 hours have been used to finish races, finish car deliveries, finish random character missions, hunt down all the pigeons, find all the stunt ramps and take all Niko's "friends" out to all their required activities. Thanks to the all the helpful people who find the time to put out guides with maps & videos for all of these things, it wasn't nearly as hard as it could have been. Not that it didn't get tedious at times. I dont know how I would have found those 2 pigeons that need grenades to kill or known that you have to do all the different activities with Brucie, Packie & Jacob. I stopped answering their calls once I finished the story.

I enjoyed my time in Liberty City. While the cover system was a pain at times, the police presence sometimes too abundant, the missions honestly somewhat repetitive even if fun, the scripted chases causing wasted ammunition, and the night missions being so dark as to be difficult to navigate, the pros far outweigh the cons. Having been born & raised in NYC, I have a special appreciation for the level of detail put into Liberty City. Its not just the big famous landmarks, but the little touches. Take Colony Island, modeled after Roosevelt Island where I reside. The old hospital where the Snow Storm mission takes place really exists, it's the Renwick Ruin. The tram station, the steep meditation steps along the river where people sit and read or watch the boats sail by, the lighthouse, the look of the buildings on Main Street...all that on just one little island which most people don't know much about. My favorite moments have to be anytime you take off in a helicopter, as you rise up, the skyline never fails to impress.

While I may be done with single player for now, I still see myself causing chaos in free roam & other multi modes with you guys online. I'll just be able to allow myself to play something else now.

Mini-reviews on what I've played since my last entry in October:

Orange Box (360) - Best value in gaming. I never played through Half Life before and I'm glad to say it lived up to the hype. There were some slow spots, especially in Half Life 2, but overall its a great experience and I eagerly anticipate finding out where the narrative goes in Episode 3. Team Fortress 2 is the best multi-player shooter I've played and I still get sessions in a few times a month. Portal was a fun, smart, well written little game that was WAY over-hyped. Plush Companion Cubes are dumb, but not as dumb as people who want them. Did anyone really get attached to a box with a heart you used for 5 minutes in one level? Orange Box gets extra points for the creative achievements and for allowing players to track their progress towards them.

Dead Rising (360) - Fantastic game despite a weak story and annoying survivor AI. I finally got around to this one and I'm glad I did. Killing zombies in creative ways is always fun. I recommend unlocking the Mega Man gun as soon as possible as it is the best weapon in the game and you'll level your character up in the process making the game less frustrating to play through. This one also had creative achievements although the 7 day survivor requires you to play for 14 hours without a break since you can't save. I started at 9 AM and didn't get finish until 11 PM. I got a lot of reading done that day.

Mass Effect (360) - Greatest RPG I've played in a long time. I enjoyed this game tremendously. I loved how the same situation could play out completely differently depending on what type of character you chose to play or the conversation option you picked. The main story was well written and I enjoyed the side quests which I've heard so many complaints about. The best thing about it to me was the gameplay. Its going to be hard to return to turn based, old school Final Fantasy combat after throwing out powers and shotgunning aliens in real time. The ability to lower someone's shields, throw them up in the air and unleash an explosive round into them was so satisfying. Its that kind of fun that kept me coming back through the Veteran, Hardcore & Insanity difficulty levels. I eagerly await March 10th and the release of the first DLC batch.

NBA2k8 & NHL08 (360) - Near perfect sports simulations. Both get the feel of their respective sports spot on with tight controls and slick animations. Both have deep franchise modes that could keep you busy for months, but also deliver extras such as NBA's Blacktop & Dunk Contest modes and NHL's Create-A-Play mode. Add their online offerings and you couldn't ask for more. Too bad my NBA disc is scratched and won't let me play more than 2 minutes of any game....

Undertow (360) - Boring single player game that is almost impossible due to dumb "teammates", but can be fun with friends working together in campaign mode. The story may be incoherent, but the mix of twin stick shooter and control point gameplay has its moments and looks pretty good. And hey, it was free. Thankfully I was playing Mass Effect during most of the problems with Live so it really didn't effect me.

Doom (360) - Classic that actually lives up to the hype. Too many people get wrapped up in being retro, contending that games today aren't as good as they were in the past. For the most part they are just being overly nostalgic with a few exceptions. I think Doom qualifies as one of those exceptions. I never really gave FPS games a shot before Bioshock. The motion always bothered me and the games all seemed so generic. After BioShock & Half Life 2 proved that I could now handle playing from that perspective and that in the right hands FPS can be great fun, I figured I should go back to the roots of FPS and finally play Doom. I am happy to report that it still holds up all these years later. The level design and the variety of weapons & enemies all contribute to a very enjoyable experience. Ultra-Violent was just challenging enough without being overly frustrating. I'm glad to get this one under my belt.

The Simpsons Game (360) - Its a good game worth at least renting to play through if you've ever enjoyed The Simpsons and like platformers. The writing is clever, the spoofs are entertaining and the different powers given each character are fun to use. Like many third person 3D games, the camera can be a pain from time to time, but its not a game breaker by any means. The story itself will only run you 8-10 hours but to get the full 1,000 pts you'll have to do a good amount of item collecting and at least 2 runthroughs of every level to meet the time target.

Marvel:Ultimate Alliance (360) - Great action "RPG" with a lot of variety. One of the better uses of comic characters in video game history. A nice long story mode with supplemental Comic missions will have you playing for a while. The co-op is some of the best available as you can mix and match characters to create a really effective super group. I've been through the story mode on Normal and have been making my way through Hard with a group on Tuesday nights. Good mindless smashing fun.

Now I just have to find time to get through Assassins Creed, Lego Star Wars: TCS, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Spider-Man 3 & All Pro Football 2k8. Those will have to wait since I'm planning on picking up the Lost game this week. I'm a sucker for that show.

Hope everyone has been enjoying themselves.

I had been anticipating replacing the old 27" tube TV in my bedroom in the near future. I also was planning on picking up a PS3 sometime this fall. Backwards compatibility isn't a big issue for me so I wasn't going to rush to get one now when they keep revising the features and prices of their models. I figured I'd wait until near the holidays when the big sales happen, but when I sawthe deal that Best Buy is running this week, I couldn't resist.

- A 40" Sony Bravia 1080p LCD TV

- A 60GB PS3

- Heavenly Sword

- Casino Royale on Blu-Ray

All for $2,100 + tax.

Since I had Columbus Day off, I drove down to my local Best Buy, gave the TV the once over in person and pulled the trigger.

So this:

has turned into this:

It is pretty sweet. I'm still waiting for my HDMI cables to come from monoprice so I haven't seen either the TV or the PS3 at its best, but I'm already impressed. I was going to wait until the cables arrived to play any games, but I caved in and bought Super Stardust HD. That is a great game. I am having so much more fun with it than Geometry Wars. The ability to keep moving without running into any borders, having weapons that aremore effective vscertain types of rocks, thatyou can freely switch between and that have power ups that make a difference, having missions and objectives and more variety to the enemies all make this superior to Geometry Wars, and I loved Geometry Wars. SSHD just feels more fun. I'm looking forward to Everyday Shooter which releases today. Hopefully that game is as entertaining.

I also picked up Orange Box last night and it really does deliver on the "Best Value in Gaming" hype. I never played Half Life or its sequel and I'm interested to see what all the hype is about. I've never been a FPS kind of guy, but after playing BioShock its been proven to me that I can get into them under certain circumstances. I only played the first chapter last night, but it definitely gives off a similar vibe in terms of atmosphere and storytelling. The rest of the night I played Portal. I got through the first 15 levels before calling it a night and I love it. You'll breeze through the first few levels as it teaches you how the gameplay works, but later it will challenge your mind and your coordination. They could have built an entire game justout ofPortal, but its almost considered a pack in here. I haven't gotten a chance to play TF2, but it looks like a lot of fun and not as daunting for someone like me to get into who has never been into online multiplayer shooters.

Between Orange Box , NBA2K8 & NHL 08 my gaming plate is pretty full right now.

If you are interested in joining a NHL 08 league, there are 3 spots open left in a league I am trying to organize. It's an 8 team league, everyone plays each other once before the playoffs. Should be a fun time, nothing serious.

League Name: 360 Arcadians

Password: puck

I hope we can get it going by next week.