One of the great unsung games is a little gem called Silent Storm. It's a turn-based tactical strategy game in the vein of Jagged Alliance. If you're reading this, odds are you probably already know that. So let's jump ahead tot he tips, shall we?

-Saving is your best friend, even more so than a big gun. I recommend saving after every two to three turns, though when things get hectic, I'd save every round, especially when your characters are at full strength.

-Watch your skill increases carefully. Map each character out and take notes on where you want each to go. It might seem like a good idea at first to have your characters generalize, but be absolutely sure that it will allow you to grab a better skill later on. There's no real "wrong" way of going about these things, but there are smarter ways. If you're a sniper, specialize in sniping skills. If you have a demolitionist, have him specialize in that. Pretty simple, no? It's always a good idea to have your characters specialize in one particular weapon as well, in order to boost their effectiveness.

-Don't take a character's death lightly. There are a lot of tough missions in this game. If you lose a character,I almost always recommend playing the level from the beginning.

-Don't always carry a big gun. WhileI love the ability to tear apart the environment, this can also lead to certain game-over situations and some odd random disasters. Too much collateral damage will lead to a game over, and this is incredibly easy to do when you have three characters in the robotic armor or wielding rocket launchers. I would use those weapons only in the event of a last resort, or if it is tactically sound (taking out a watchtower with a rocket launcher is a trip). On the other hand, have fun with it too. The devesation you can cause is a highlight of the game, so I'd say go wild with it. Just remember to save often.

-I recommend using snipers almost exclusively during the initial missions. They will be able to hit enemies at ranges further than your other soldiers, and will be useful as the early game can be punishing. However, most characters can be developed as you see fit, so use whatever makes you comfortable. I'd always keep at least one sniper, medic, and a lockpicker.

- When starting out, don't be afraid to experiment with different types. Every single one is powerful in its own right. However, that being said, if you'd like your first character to last you through the game, I'd recommend specializing in only a couple of skill sets throughout the game. It's generally a good idea to max out one tree first. And remember, if you don't like the way your character is going, don't worry too much - there are mystics throughout the game that can alter your skill choices for a pretty hefty fee.

-Do pay attention to how you spend your attribute points. These cannot be adjusted, so a plan at the beginning of the game is a wise choice. Specialize in your attribute points just as you would with your skills - generally, warriors are going to want to focus on strength, while mages concentrate on intelligence and so forth.

-If you plan on playing multi-player, I'd highly recommend playing through the initial difficulty setting once. It will be a huge boon to helping with quests and finding rare or special creatures. You'll also get a better handle on what items are useful and which ones you can trade. You can bring a character from the single-player game to the multiplayer, so keep that in mind as well.

-Keep an eye out for equipment that boosts your individual's skills. It's not a bad idea to create a variety of characters at the start, so that if you pick up an item that can boost another ****s abilities, you can simply transfer that item over to another character using the in-game transfer tool, which is a part of the caravan, I believe.

-The bosses in this game can be insanely difficult without a decently built character. Unfortunately, there's no easy way around this, unless you like to use a program that can alter your character's stats. I do not recommend this if you plan on playing multiplayer for obvious reasons. Sometimes, the difficulty will force you to level-grind and item farm (getting new and better equipment by constantly revisiting bosses and shops).

-There is no one ultimate weapon or set of equpiment, as this can vary wildly depending on your build. Keep an eye out and talk to others on multiplayer to see what kinds of items and weapons you should be keeping an eye out for.

-Don't be a pain over the 'net. If you need help, politely ask. Don't beg for items, hunts, or that sort of thing. It just makes you sound childish and willl sometimes wind up with you booted from a game.

Oh yeah... that's right, it's me, good ol' Titus. I just got high-speed wireless hooked up at the house, and I should be back on Gamespot with some regularity. I'm thinking about starting up a semi-regular Idiot's Guide blog for video games. Basically, I'm thinking it will help new players to video games get a feel for things they should look out for. Whaddya think?

10.  Outlets for independent developers -

Now more than ever, independent game creators have the opportunity to have their creations available to the public.  By using things like XBL, these developers can reach audiences that they potentially could not before.  Great games such as Alien Hominid are doing well, and it's thanks to these services.

9.  Serial games-

While they've been done in the past, we are seeing this develop some serious potential.  The Sam & Max games are great, and though games like the Half-Life 2 episodes have stumbled, gamers have a lot to look forward to.  The serial game allows users to get a taste of a game without having to commit to a questionably large price tag while publishers can put out a game at a relatively cheap cost through alternative media forms.

8.  Grand Theft Auto IV -

I genuinely like Rockstar's approach to releasing information on this game.  They're not tooting their own horn.  They're not divulging more than a whiff, and it's making the buzz all that more enjoyable.  Ongoing debates as to the main character, details of the gameplay, and analysis on the trailer have all proven that a game doesn't need a ton of released screenshots to stir up a frenzy.

7.  Fallout 3

I'm hooked.  I love the art shots they've released of the landscape.  I like the complete secrecy (but I really want a release date!).  Until June, I'm salivating over this one.  I don't think Bethesda is going to butcher the license.  I think certain fans decide way before a game is released to doom it rather than wait until any real information is released.  I'm not that type.  It's Fallout, baby!

6.  The Console Wars

I'm a fan of the big three.  I don't have a preference one way or the other.  I will probably buy a Wii at some point in the near future and will buy a Playstation 3 when I see a game that I truly want.  I own a 360 and have been immensely satisfied.  I think this generation of consoles has taught the three that it's about innovation and the games, but I can't wait to see where the next few years take us.

5.  PC Gaming

If you've been reading my blog, then you know I've purchased a laptop recently.  There have been some amazing releases for the PC in the last few years, and the future looks good for the PC.  Games like Crysis, Fallout 3, and Bioshock all look excellent, and Vista can only improve from here.  What will DX10 bring to the table?  Will we see games like Duke Nukem and Jagged Alliance make their long-rumored appearance?

4.  Halo 3

I'm admittedly not the biggest Halo fan out there.  I enjoyed 1 & 2, but not to the extent of the rabid fanatics.  That being said, I'm pumped for Halo 3.  It has a solid release date, the beta woes appear to be over, and Bungie seems to have another solid hit on their hands.

3.  Everything that's old is new again -

To say that I love retro gaming is like saying that Elvis sorta liked peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  Man, I love me some retro gaming!  With the big three supporting a staggering amount of older games, I'm in old geek heaven.

2.  Final Fantasy XIII -

This could be the game to make me finally splurge on a PS3.  From what I've seen I've been blown away by the graphics, the setting, and the atmosphere.  With each new Final Fantasy game, I'm always excited, but especially so when it's coming out on a new system.  Let's hope Square Enix comes up with something as entertaining and innovative as they have in the past.

1.  Original games

We have seen the release of some great original games within the last year or two, including Gears of War, Resistance, Wii Sports, Supreme Commander, and Stalker.  There are many more good-looking original games on the way, including Blue Dragon, Last Remnant, Bioshock, and many others.  It's a time when developers are feeling their oats, and gamers are reaping the benefits.  What games released today will be the next great series?  Will we see Blue Dragon XIV?  Only time will tell.

Yesterday, I downloaded and used a defiler for Titan Quest.  I'm not normally a big cheater.  I'll use cheats now and again to have some extra fun with a game (come on, infinite ammo and explosives are just way too much fun), but for the most part, I won't delve too far in a game using cheat codes.

This time, though, I used the defiler to blatantly cheat my way past a boss.  I didn't feel too guilty, since I'd beaten the boss previously with another character.  I simply didn't feel like going through that half-hour debacle again, so I ramped up my character's strength from a puny weakling to that of a guy able to flick enemies across the screen with a glance.  I've gotta admit, I had a blast with it for a few minutes after killing the boss.  Then I took the character back down to a more appropriate level, and continued on my way.

Cheating in games isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I think the word is tossed around a little too much.  You used to hear gamers shout expletives and accusations of cheating when an opponent would find a way to exploit an attack or a technique.  That's not cheating, folks.  That's called a good strategy.  Most games simulate some sort of battle, right?  Exposing and exploiting a weakness in an enemy isn't cheating - it just means that the opponent needs to figure out how to shore up and defend themselves.

The act of cheating doesn't have to be a bad thing, either.  Let's look at the wirbelwind cfg cheat for Silent Storm.  It allows a variety of cheats to be accessed during the game, including invincibility, weapon spawns, and AI fixes.  I don't use the invincibility code, but I love using the weapon spawn codes.  I like getting ahold of twenty grenades and blowing the environment to pieces.  I love turning God Mode on in the original two Doom games and running through the game using nothing but the chainsaw.  That sort of stuff is a blast.

So do you use cheats?  How often?  Why or why not?  What's your own definition of what is cheating?

First, I've gotta give you all an apology if I don't notice that you've commented.  I don't check my old blogs very often, and I'm always pleasantly surprised to see comments - it might just take me a while to comment back or to send you a message.

Now, on to some fun stuff...

The new laptop is absolutely incredible.  As Dj Lae (hope I spelled that right) said in a comment, the first thing you notice is how big it is.  For a guy my size (and I'm a monster of a dude), it's defintely not a problem.  All the in-store laptops I had looked at had relatively small screens and felt like I would break the thing if I gripped it too hard.  Not with my new little behemoth.  This baby is a big 'un.  The second thing I really noticed was the screen clarity.  There have been some amazing advances in screen technology since the last time I bought a computer, and the screen is simply remarkable.  The visuals are crisp, there's no sign of the old odd plasma warped look to it, and all the programs that I have run on it have looked like a million bucks.

Which leads to me to Vista.... I've gotta admit, I was dreading Vista like the plague.  I'd heard little but bad things - games not running, programs being choppy, games not even loading, and simple built-in little nightmares..... yeah, I was a little nervous.  But from the moment I hit the power button, I've been impressed.  Not overwhelmed, mind you, but impressed.  The games have all run fine - even some older ones which I had some doubts about.  There was no real slowdown, save for a few due to graphical strain.  I was a little irritated with the Account Control Protection (I think that's the name), but there is an option to turn that off, so at least Microsoft is somewhat acknowledging that not everyone needs their hand held on the computer.  The interface is nice enough.  They've went with a relatively basic upgrade to a system that already worked well, and that's fine by me.  There have been a few problems with some of the visual aids that Microsoft provides for its users (the magnifier and speech description), and if anyone else uses these and would like to know what the problems were, I'll be happy to fill in the details - but they were all solvable.

It does leave me to wonder where Microsoft will go with their next upgrade.  Vista is definitely much more visual oriented, which I like, and it's a trend I wouldn't mind seeing.  I thought at first that the upgrades generally were pretty superficial and couldn't figure out why they really bothered, but the details begin to emerge the more you use the interface and it really does become apparent that it's not just a little bit of flash.  But where oh where will they go from here?

Oh, and Titan Quest has become my latest addiction.  I plan on sitting down with Galactic Civ II over the weekend to really give it more than a cursory hour or two, and I imagine I'll be just as hooked on that.  But for right now.... Titan Quest and Immortal Throne have me hooked.

I just got my new laptop in the mail today.  It is a Dell Inspiron with all the upgrades I could get on it.  I'm not sure of the video card's capabilities, but apparently, there will be PCI-E cards that should be compatible.  I'm crossing my fingers.  In any case, it's sitting in its box all wrapped up right next to me at work.  I can't wait to get home and let her rip.

And what good would a new laptop be without some new(ish) shiny games to go with it?  I purchased Titan Quest, its expansion, Command and Conquer, Galactic Civ II Gold, and Heroes of Might and Magic.  I'm really looking forward to all of them.  I've also got a copy of Silent Storm Gold sitting on my shelf just begging to be played, since my old computer could barely run it.

It costs a small fortune, there's no doubt about that.  But for right now, I think it's a solid investment.  I'm worried about Vista running games properly, but honestly, it's not that big of a concern.  What I need it for primarily is writing, as I'm working on a novel, and am always itching to write short stories.  It will also be fantastic for work, since I travel a lot as a politician and election administrator.  Having that resource available on road trips will be a great sigh of relief.

I'm really looking forward to delving into Windows Vista, too.  I want to see the new features for myself.  I'm an old-school DOS user, and I tend to get a little geeked out when new operating systems come out.

Like many across the nation, for the last few days, I've been glued to the horrifying news of the Virginia Tech shootings.  I didn't know anyone there.  I didn't have any friends or family that were directly effected.  And yet, that's a lie in itself.  We might not have had relatives or friends there, but everyone I have spoken to has been moved by this tragedy.  My heart goes out to those who have lost a friend, a family member, or an acquaintance.  Hell, my heart just goes out to our nation, period.

These are not easy days.  We face our generation's Vietnam, we have school slayings, and we have something worse - apathy.

By apathy, I don't just mean that we stand by and do nothing.  It's something more than that.  It's the quickly forgetting sympathetic ear.  It's self obsession.  It's ignorance.  It is thinking that any help, no matter how big or small, is futile.  It is the belief that the individual cannot change the world.  It is the greatest evil that we face today.

The painted faces on the news gave their five minutes of sympathy.  Now, the finger-pointing syndrome has swept through them in a fervor.  And it's not just them -it is us as a nation.  We extend a quick helping hand, a hug, a few mumbled words, and we move on as quickly as we can to blame.  We've become a nation of inbred suspicion and hatred.  It's never our fault - it's always someone else's.  We have to find the culprit in every detail of life.  Instead of trying to warm each other's hearts, we look for the guilt in all those around us.

We see a war in Iraq, and we talk about our support or our dislike of the war.  Those that oppose the war give their little speeches to their friends, complain to whoever will listen, but will they actually stand up and shout their belief to the world?  Will they try to organize marches, peaceful protests, or go against the flow?  Not that I've seen.  The fire of the youth in the Vietnam era has lost its way, and has now been turned into bitter apathy.

We stand by, and we watch these things.  So today, I give you this advice.  Stop watching.  Participate.  If someone is grieving, give them your heart for as long as it takes to help them heal.  If you want to make a stand, quit complaining and stand up.  Shout your views to the world.  Let yourself go.  And most of all, don't be afraid to love the people around you.  Otherwise, the individuals in Virginia will have died for nothing.

Remember, don't try to eat the alabaster eggs.

Dear Xbox 360- 

Goodbye, old friend.  You provided lots of wasted time.  But it's time to say goodbye.  Your maker has called you in to a better place.  A place where you'll be whole again.  A place where I don't fear for the safety of my discs.  You'll be missed.  Oh, you'll be replaced, don't worry about that.  But there will be that two week period where I will be devastated.

OK, maybe not devasted.  Actually, hardly inconvenienced even, since I have a backlog of original non-BC games that I need to play while my 360 is getting fixed or replaced by those lovable techies from Microsoft.  Thankfully, I'm still under warranty, so that's something.  But this is the second 360 that's gone kaput on me, and I'm a little frustrated.  That frustration was alleviated a little bit by the halfway-decent customer support people I've talked to.  If Microsoft is outsourcing (and that actually is an if - I don't know that they do or don't), then kudos to them for finding decent people around the globe to help a brother out.

Good customer support in any industry is hard to find these days, and it shouldn't have to be.  Why do we settle for half-asleep, angry support techs who couldn't give two shakes whether or not our Bunn coffee-makers are spewing out mocha lava?  Why do we roll our eyes, rather than demand a superior or a boss?  When did we start to accept malcontents as the norm?

If you don't like having to sit through six minutes of an automated menu over the phone, don't gripe to your loved ones or your coworkers.  Complain to the people that can make a change - the business in charge of that system.  They are giving up friendliness and humanity in exchange for convenience and to save a buck or two.  And they're going to keep on doing probably even when we complain.

One common complaint about outsourcing these individuals is the so-called unintelligible accents.  This isn't the 1800's, people.  The world is a much smaller place metaphorically, and cross-cultural and lingual mixes are going to happen.  Period.  If someone has an accent, don't be rude, but certainly ask them to enunciate or pronounce something in a different fashion if it will help.  But having this redneck "in America we speak American" attitude doesn't solve anything.

And finally, praise the good customer support people you do find.  Everybody appreciates a little good will, and telling people that they are doing a great job is a simple way of reaching out.