...I've been finishing up some older games.

I've never played one minute of any of the Halo games so all the recent hype has been lost on me. It's not that I'm anti-Halo, I never owned an Xbox and FPS games never really appealed to me. My friends list is a monument to the game's success though. Ever since its release, I've had more friends online than usual and all of them are playing Halo 3. Its definitely a phenomena. I think its too late for me to get into, so I've been spending my gaming time tying up some loose ends in older games.

Since the last time I wrote shortly after the release of BioShock, I made my way through Rapture, finished the story with the "good" ending, then went back andunlocked every achievement, but to finish the game on Hard. I figure 960 pts is good enough for now until I feel like picking this game up again and I definitely will. BioShock was a great experience. It kept me up later thanit should have every night I played it. The atmosphere, the gameplay freedom and imaginitive storytelling drew me in and has proven to me that I shouldn't write off all FPS games. It also convinced me to pick up Orange Box when it releases next week. Besides being the best gaming value of the year, it contains all of Half Life 2 which everyone who reviewed BioShock said it compared very favorably to. Plus 99 achievements will keep me pretty busy.

I also finished perfecting all the events in Burnout Revenge. Without question this is my favorite racing game of all time. The combination of speed and carnage appeals to me so much more than the serious sim gameplay of Forza. By the end, I had close to 70 hours logged into my player profile and I still throw it in for weekly multiplayer sessions on Wednesday nights with friends. If you have the game and want to join us, please let me know. Getting 770 pts out of Burnout is one of the most satisfying things I've done with my 360. It definitely wasn't easy, but it was a whole lot of fun.

Another point of satisfaction happened late last night. After months of being stuck on 299 hidden orbs in Crackdown, I finally decided to take drastic measures. I deleted my save file and started from scratch. I brought up the hidden orb guide in MS Paint and crossed them off as I found them. After a few hours, I had grabbed all 300, the achievement unlocked and I finallyharvested the full 1,250 points. Losing all the weapons and cars I had confiscated & having to build up my agent again was a pain, but it was better than wandering around an empty city looking for one orb when I should have been playing other games. Its a great game though. I'm unhappy to hear they aren't working on a sequel. Crackdown is one of the more imaginitive titles I've played.

NHL08 has also been taking up a good deal of my gaming time. It could be the best sports game I've played. They get everything about the sport of hockey right. The presentation is top notch and the gameplay is superb. The skill stick is a great innovation. It gives you the kind of freedom and creativity that a simple button press never could. Regardless of what games I get in the coming months, I know I'll play a game or two of hockey every night.

I'm glad I was able to finish off some of my older games because with NBA 2K8 this week, Orange Box next week, Mass Effect and other games next month, there is only going to be so much time to go around.

The rain stopped in the late afternoon and the Mets and Padres decided to get their game in, so I made my way out to a blustery Shea Stadium with my copy of BioShock tucked under my arm. The way the game turned out, I'm glad that I did. The Mets jumped out to an early 4-1 lead thanks to Carlos Beltran, last week's NL Player of the Week, who started the new week on the same torrid pace: 3 for 3, 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 RBIs. Unfortunately the Mets bullpen continued to live up to its recent shaky reputation, coughing that lead up by the 7th inning, putting the home team down a run. Beltran's 8th inning singlebrought home Jose Reyes and we headed to the 9th inning tied at five.

That's when the game really got interesting.I can say that I was in attendance when two of the greatest closers in baseball history took turns crapping the bed. Billy Wagner (353 career saves) gave up a leadoff single to Milton Bradley, got Adrian Gonzalez swinging before walking Mike Cameron and hitting Khalil Greene to load the bases.Even though Wagner has nailed down just about every save opportunity this season, it always seems to be an adventure when he's on the mound. This time the damage was limited to one run on Kouzmanoff's sac fly, but after sitting through a steady mist in 50 degree temperatures for three hours, the die hards in attendance were not pleased to be three outs away from losing a game the Mets should have easily won.

Thankfully Trevor Hoffman (513career saves) was just as effective. Lastings Milledge led off with a solid single to left. Third string catcher Mike DiFelice laid down a perfect sacrifice to get Milledge to second setting up pinch hitter Marlon Anderson to drive him in with a liner up the middle. The game was tied and the crowd was alive again. Jose Reyes followed with a base hit to center field of his own which moved Anderson up to second and put him into scoring position. Recent acquisition Luis Castillo stepped up and became a hero, turning a Hoffman fastball into a bounding grounder up the middle that found its way into center field. Anderson rounded third and beat Mike Cameron's throw to the plate to send the remaining Shea faithful into a frenzy.

As the Mets poured out of the dugout to mob Castillo and I was high fiving anyone in my general vicinity, I realized I had made the right decision not to blow off the game to play BioShock. No video game can give you the rush that a come from behind victory in your team's final at bat can. I would have been so disappointed if I had missed out on one of the best moments of the Mets season so far.

I arrived home around 11 PM,tore the plastic off the game case and promised myself I would only play for an hour before going to bed. Four hours later, at3 AM, Iwas still going at it and not caring how much of a zombie I'd be during the budget meetings I had scheduled today.The game is fantastic. The level designers are some twisted mofos and there were more than a few legitimate scares. I've only played the first two "levels", but the bar for disturbing imagery in games has been raised at least five times. I can't wait to get home again tonight and take on my first Big Daddy. I've got Mets tickets again for tonight's game, but last night taught me I didn't have to choose between the two. Sleep on the other hand, that's another story.......

It's a wet, chilly, rainy, gloomy day here in NYC. It feels more like an October day than an August day, but it's the perfect weather to put you in the mood to play BioShock for the first time. I look forward to getting home tonight and making my initial descent into Rapture. Like many of you, I have avoided EVERYTHING BioShock related for the last week. I didn't want any part of the story spoiled for me by some internet jackhole.This game seems to be much like the movie The Sixth Sense. You'll enjoy it the best the first time before you know the twists and turns of the story. Thankfully I can safely put the disc in my 360 tonight without really knowing where this journey will ultimately end.

I do have a dilemma. I have tickets for the Mets/Padres game tonight. It's going to be a great pitching match-up. John Maine vs Chris Young. With the Mets holding a comfortable lead in the NL East and the Padres leading the NL Wild Card, itsa potential playoff preview. I've been to 18 games this season, but I hate to waste tickets, especially to a good game. Torn between my love of baseball and playing one of my most anticipated games.....what to do. Mother Nature may just solve the problem for me if this rain keeps up. Otherwise I'm going to be one tired accountant tomorrow.

I've been quite addicted to Burnout Revenge since my 360 returned. I have worked my way through the first seven ranks, perfecting them all. I have a few dozen events left to perfect in the last three ranks and I'll finally be able to put this one aside. Before I do that though, I want to take the game online and play some multiplayer. I have only played this once online and it was very early on before I really knew how to properly get the Burn Out. I am attempting to organize a game tonight at 10 PM eastern to run a few races, maybe earn a few achievements and most importantly have fun crashing into people. If you want to join in, leave a comment or send me a message over Live. I hope you can make it.

Even though I grew up a Mets fan, Phil Rizzuto is one of the people responsible for my deep love of the game of baseball. When you listened to him broadcast a Yankee game, his enthusiasm for baseball was infectious. There was no such thing as a boring game when Scooter was behind the microphone. If there was a lull in the action, Phil would tell a story about his playing days or the canolis his wife bought, he'd use his broadcast partners as straight men for his jokes, send out birthday, anniversary and get well wishes to fans, and overall just entertain anyone listening for the three or four hours we tuned him in every night. When he used to call his longtime boothmate Bill White a "Huckleberry", it was the funniest thing my little ten year old self ever heard. It was like watching the game with a funny uncle doing play by play. Sure, he would get player names or the result of a play wrong from time to time, but it was part of his charm. He may have only been five and a half feet tall, but he was a giant to millions of New York baseball fans.

It is said a lot, but there will never be another one like him. Broadcasters these days take themselves and the game itself way too seriously. More often than not, when announcers attempt to be funny or kid around with each other, it seems forced and contrived. Phil realized baseball was a game and it should be fun to play, fun to watch, fun to talk about and he was excited to be at the ballpark every night. He always came across as a genuine person that would be no different face to face as he was on the air and that's where the great affection for him from the public came from.

Being in attendance with my Yankee fan sister when he threw out the first pitch by reenacting the Jeter flip play was a treat. It encapsulated everything I loved about the guy. It was clever, it was funny and he did it to make us smile.

I was sad to hear the news of his death, but his was a life well lived. We were lucky to have him.

See you on the other side, Scooter.

It's been one week since my 360 arrived back home and I've been catching up on the stuff I missed while it was out of action.

I hit up the Live Marketplace and downloaded some of the demos which recently came out.

First I tried Fatal Inertia. I have fond memories of playing futuristic racing games like WipeOut and F-Zero in the past. I enjoy the super speeds and crazy track designs which are allowed when a game isn't restricted by being grounded in reality. I had hope that Fatal Inertia would be a similar game with slick, HD graphics. If the demo is an indication of the final game, my hopes were completely misplaced. The one track they included is super short and it feels like you are making a left turn around one big boulder the entire time.Since there were no real straightaways, it was difficult to actually figure out if the weapons were useful because it was a pain to aim. It just seemed like a poor effort and I gave up on it after 5 or 6 races. I guess I'll have to wait until Wipeout HD comes out on the Playstation Network to get my anti-gravity racing on.

The next demo I played was All Pro Football 2k8. I haven't bought a football game since Madden 2005, but I heard some good hype about 2K8. I thought the the ability to customize your team and choose from a roster of legends was a unique feature. Unfortunately the demo doesn't allow you to play around with either at all, nor does it include any commentary. The only voice work included are the "Field Pass" snippets that put you in the huddle, but they aren't really done that well from what I heard. They either are lifeless or out of place (I don't think Johnny Unitas was big on trash talking).Once the game is in motion, the animations are pretty slick, probably the most realistic I've seen in a football game. The playbooks seem deep, but since the demo is only one, five minute quarter, I selected the "Coach's Suggestion" every play. In the three games I played, I didn't score, nor was I scored upon. I'll probably give it a few moreplay throughs, but nothing about it grabbed me enough to think its worth $60 right now.

Demo three was Stranglehold. I had no expectations of this game going in. All I read indicated it was a Max Payne clone with a few of the signature John Woo elements thrown in. After playing it I have to admit there are some really cool things about the gameplay which has me interested in how the final game turns out. Diving all over the place and pulling off stylish kills is a lot of fun. The destructibility of the environment is off the charts. EVERYTHING breaks or blows up. I really liked the interactivity with some of the ojects like bannisters you can run up or carts you can jump on and ride while you shoot. There are also visual cues which if hit, trigger animations like platform collapses or gas explosions which take out a whole group of enemies in one shot. Unlocking the precision aiming is a lot of fun. You can guide your bullet to the target and the enemy will die based on where you hit him. Today's Penny Arcade comic isn't too far from the truth. I don't know if I'm going to buy Stranglehold at release, but this may be something I pick up down the road when there is a lull in the games that I MUST have.

Speaking of which, the last demo I played was for BioShockwhich surprised everyone last night. I've been looking forward to this game for a long time even though I don't normally play first person shooters. Some games screw with my eyes so I usually avoid the genre, but this game is going to be so good, I'll gladly take dramamine or play with a bucket next to my sofa if I have to. I only played for 10 minutes before work today, but the demo confirmed all the thoughts I had about the game. It is visually stunning, a true showpiece for the 360. The water effects alone will blow you away. The atmosphere set by the shadows, the music, the shrieks of your enemies and the ambient sounds of Rapture was creepy enough playing this morning with the sunrise streaming through my window. I can't wait to see what it's like tonight in a dark room. This game is going to be a deep experience which will reward the player that explores the environment fully and fleshes out the story. All signs point to this being one of the best games that will ever be released for the system. I'm definitely looking forward to picking this up next Tuesday.

In the meantime I have returned to Burnout Revenge. I have perfected about 110 events with another 60 or so left to go. This is easily my favorite racing game of all time. Its fast, fun and there is plenty of variety to keep you coming back. I've clocked in close to 25 hours on it already and I'm no where near bored of it. If anyone wants to throw down on some multiplayer, let me know. That is one aspect of the game I haven't explored yet.

Its good to be back on Live.

Tuesday afternoon a welcome sight arrived in my inbox:

"Good news, your Xbox console has been shipped! You can expect to receive it in 3-5 business days."

So it looks like it'll be about four weeks from making my initial call to Customer Support until I'll have a repaired 360 back in my hands. A week for them to mail me the box, a week for them to get the console after I dropped it off, a week for them to fix it and a week for it to be shipped back to me.

They say all their shipping is done via UPS 3 Day Select, but I think they need to rename that service. According to the tracking information on the UPS website, it took an entire day for UPS to pick it up and it only travelled from McAllen, TX to San Antonio, TX to Dallas, TX on day two. Expected delivery is now Monday, August 6th.

It would have been nice to get it back in time for this weekend, but I really can't complain since it will be back before any of the big games I'm anticipating are released. Of course that assumes I'm not getting a refurb unit that has something else wrong with it which will break the first time I put BioShock in to play. I've read too many horror stories of multiple console failures to really feel like my troubles are behind me.

My exhile from HD gaming is nearly over though. Soon I'll be back on Live and hopefully playing with you guys again.

The tremendous downpour which swept through the New York City area earlier today kept me inside and gave me the opportunity to play through the last few hours of God of War. While frustrating in a few places, GoW was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had on the PS2.

Visually the game ranksnear the top of what the Playstation 2 has produced. The animations, the environments, the character models & visual effectsare all well done and draw you into the world of Kratos. The combat is tremendous. As you level your weapons and abilities up, you unlock more and more attacks and combos which puts quite a devastating arsenal at your disposal. While you can easily pound on the attack buttons and make your way through the game, true enjoyment is reached from exploring the available moves and deploying them against the enemies they are most effective against. When you get proficient, it becomes a sort of bloody ballet with decapitations and dismemberment instead of pirouettes and glissades. Make no mistake, this is one of the most mature titles to be released. You dispatch your enemies in increasingly brutal ways, always with liberal amounts of spurting blood. The puzzles are challenging, but notuntenable.The solutions aren't always obvious, but none of them required me to consult a guide.

The real highlight of the game is the story.Kratos is a cl@ssic anti-hero, much like Kain from the original Legacy of Kain, driven by anger and bitterness at what he was forced to become, he will do and risk anything to attain vengence against the one he holds responsible. His character is well written and perfectly voice acted by TC Carson. I won't ruin the story for the few that still haven't played it, but as the narrative unfolds through the top notch cutscenes, the tragedy of Kratos's life tells a meaningful moral tale of the dangers of ambition, vanity and a lust for power. The old cliche, "be careful what you ask for, because you may just get it", fits quite well.

I'm glad I can finally say I've played one of the best PS2 games of all time. It certainly lived up to all the hype. I look forward to continuing the story of Kratos in God of War II when I get around to picking it up. Since I have not yet received an update on my 360 since it was received by the repair center last Tuesday, I will continue to show my PS2 some love since I still have a pile of games I never got to play previously. I'm leaning towards playing Mercenaries next since the sequel is due out later this fall, but I also have Jak 3, Psychonauts, Sly Cooper 2 and Okami. We'll see what grabs me when next I have time to play.

I will leave you with two trailers for upcoming movies due out this winter which look like they will destroy my beloved hometown. I guess its a good thing that people feel ok about fictionally blowing up Manhattan again. I know these have been out for a while, but I just saw them this weekend. They both have me interested. Enjoy.

I Am Legend

1-18-08 (Monstrous)

It's been two weeks since the disc drive in my Xbox 360 began to refuse to read any disc put into it. While I am not happy that I will be without it for another few weeks, I have made the best of it and returned to playing some of the Playstation 2 games I never got around to playing previously. Shortly before I pulled the trigger on the 360, Toys R Us had a pre-holiday, buy 2 get 1 free sale where I stocked up on some games that had gotten great reviews and were selling at the Greatest Hits price. Unfortunately, I bought a 360 a few weeks later and hadn't turned on the PS2 since. Playing on the big HDTV inmy living room always won out over playing on the smaller standard definition TV in my bedroom. Now that the 360 isn't an option for a while, I've come to appreciate the PS2 as a very capable back-up.

The first game I played through was Shadow of the Colossus. I had heard great things about the art direction and I found the idea of a game consisting of nothing but boss battles intriguing.You play as a young warrior who brings the body, of what I assume is your girlfriend, to an ancient temple where legend has it you can bring the dead back to life.You encounter a disembodied voice which offers to help you if you defeat the 16 Colossi that are found in various parts of the world. When you agree to the terms, you begin your quest with nothing but a horse, a sword and a bow. The game is broken down into two parts, tracking down the Colossi and then defeating them. There are no enemies to fight between you and the Colossi, only some environmental obstacles. Its a real departure from the standard formula of fighting weaker enemies throughout a level to get to a boss. Lifting your sword above your head in sunlight will create a beam of light to guide you in the direction of the next Colossi, but following this path directly will not always get you where you need to go. Once you find the Colossus, you need to determine where its weak points are and then how to attack those weak points. Sometimes the direct approach works, sometimes you need to use the enviroment to get it to expose its weak points. Figuring this out can be a challenge, but is very rewarding once you do. Climbing these beasts, fighting to hang on as they thrash around, trying to time it so you can recharge your grip meter when they are momentarily still, finding the weak point and finally plunging your sword into their vital spot is quite the unique experience.

***ENDING SPOILER***

The ending was probably the most depressing climax to a game I've ever played. It also leaves much of the interpretation to the player. I know this was a prequel to Ico and I haven't played that game so maybe that game explains more of it. It wasn't a bad ending by any means, just different from the happy ending you usually get.

***SPOILER OVER***

The next game I played was Lego Star Wars, the one based on the prequel trilogy. I have loved everything about Star Wars since I was a little kid. Whoever thought of combining Star Wars and Lego in a video game is brilliant. While not challenging in any way, this game is just a ton of fun. Everything about it is done well. From the voiceless cutscenes that reenact the movie, to the use of the force to manipulate the environment, the environments reimagined as being built with lego blocks, to the huge variety of characters that you unlock as you play...it's just a well put together package. I had a great time blowing up everything I could to collect well over two million bolts by the time I was done. I earned all the pieces to the blockade runner which opened up the extra Darth Vader level and everything. Lego Star Wars was just a great,entertaining experience from start to finish. Sure it wasn't the least bit hard, but it didn't feel 100% like a kiddy game either. There is nothing wrong with playing something that doesn't make you want to throw your controller every now and then.

Since finishing Lego Star Wars over the weekend, I have movedto the extreme opposite end of the gaming spectrum and started God of War. I only played the first level through the Hydra fight last night and I'm already impressed. Kratos' basic attacks make you feel so powerful, I can't imagine what it will be like when they are leveled up. Shredding my way through the enemies on the ship was so much fun, throwing them up in the air, jumping up, catching them in mid-air and then slamming them back down with the chains or grabbing them and literally tearing them in two or spinning around in a crowd and building up a 15 hit combo before finishing them off with a power slam. So brutal and so entertaining. I know the button tapping, quick timeevents have been overdone since this came out, but they fit the game well and the animations they trigger are a blast. If I'm this jacked up for a game after the first level, I can't wait to see what the rest of the game will hold.

Thankfully my PS2 has been keeping me busy while I wait for the 360 to return. Hopefully it will be back in time for BioShock next month, but until it gets here I'll continue giving the PS2 a workout. Next time something bad happens, it might just be giving you an opportunity to appreciate the good stuff that you haven't thought about in a while.