So I've been having a lot of thoughts about gaming in general, and a lot of them (though fairly basic) are way over the heads of my Madden playing comrades. But, hey, this is what Gamespot is for! So this post may get rather large.

Dead Space 3

So the rumor mill reguarding this game as been working over drive. According to a few sites (Kotaku, Shacknews) the game is going to take place on an ice planet and will be co-op centric. I cannot tell you how many red flags popped up when I heard this. So far, Dead Space 3 is screaming Resident Evil 5 to me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Resi 5. But at the same time compared to previous game, it is a serious step down. The reason That I make the connection between RE5 and DS3 is because both games involve co-op and a major change in setting. Instead of the aweseome futuristic society of the Sprawl or the scary as **** corrodors of the Ishimarua, we've got essentally Hoth. Yippie (Sarcasm). What we all learned from RE5 is that co-op makes horror pretty much impossible because you know there is always another gun wielding badass who has got your back. From a gameplay stance, co-op is a benefit. From a atmosphere/story standpoint, however, it is a serious detrement. What drew me so quickly to Dead Space 1 was that it actually scared the **** out of me, and putting co-op into that equation really does not compute for me. Sidenote: Apparently, in DS3 Isaac is suffereing from a split personality disorder, and has verbal jousts with what is described as "Shadow Isaac". I cannot tell you how disappointed this makes me. One of my favorite things about Dead Space 2 (HUGE GIANT MASSIVE GAME RUINING SPOILER ALERT! SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH) was Clarke coming to terms with his guilt regarding what happened to Nicole in DS1, and him overcoming the halucinations brought on by the Marker. By having Shadow Isaac, this satisfaction of Clarke regaining his sanity is destroyed. No me gusta.

Mount and Blade: Warband and the Valve key fiasco.

Mount and Blade is a series I had heard of once before it went on sale on Steam about a week and a half ago. The Warband version is the highest rated on Metacritc, so I picked to download that one. The issue that cropped up soon stemed from the fact that Paradox Interactive didn't supply Steam with enough CD keys to give out to all of those who picked up the game. Because of this, I couldn't play the game until the day after I purchased it. Not that big a deal, but I still have a few thoughts. The first of which is that I failed to understand the relationship between Steam and DRM. One of the reasons that my purchasing habbits regarding PC games has gone all digital was that I was sick of typing in and saving all of those annoying CD keys. I had thought that with Steam, CD keys wouldn't be an issue. Boy, was I wrong! The fact that I have to wait for authorization from a third party in order to play the games I play is disheartining, but I suppose it is the nature of the beast. My other thought is that Paradox Interactive and Valve need to have a long chat. Combine this idiocy with the completly botched launch of Sword of the Stars II, Paradox really is not handeling its digital side well. There is a reason Paradox has never been able to release a mainstream product. They exist in a grey area between Indie and AAA, and this grey area is a grave yard of failed publishers, and Paradox seems to be doing everything it can to make us a gamers annoyed. So for Paradox, I'd say grab a shovel, we've got a six foor hole to dig.

AppleStation360U

The idea of Apple getting into Video game is laughable. The model that Apple has with regards to tablets and phones would not translate to gaming. Considering how fast Apple nukes all of its products into uselessness as a routine money making ploy, I don't know how the average gamer would react to that, though I expect it wouldn't be to warmly. Tom McShea in the final episode of Hotspot made a really good point about an Apple console, and that is if Apple does it right then they are more than welcome to take a shot at it, but it would have to be based around games and experiences that Apple can provide on its console, and only on its console. I just hate the idea of Valve being dragged alone on this sort of thing. It's too weird to have the consumer friendly company (Valve) teamed up with the supposed evil monolitihc corporation (Apple) on the same project. Terrifying thought: What if Apple and Valve were teaming up for a console, and in order to sell the console Valve made Half Life 3 a Applethingy exclusive. I would literally have to buy it at that point. God I'm shallow and selfish.

Thanks for getting this far fellow Gamespoters.

The Hombre.