After over a year of half-ass video game playing, including time periods where I would play nothing but Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I'm finally rediscovering my video game spark. Since I am currently unemployed, graduated from high school and not yet in college, and almost completely lacking in a life of any sort, over the last few weeks I've had a sudden craving for video games. Although I should get a job soon and that will greatly cut into my free time, at the moment I am trying to cram in as much video game-playing as is possible. My brother moved back into the house and fortunately brought many of his games with him. I was able to re-acquire a Call of Duty 4 CD key from him and have been vigorously playing that for the last few days. I've discovered that I'm not that bad at it. I basically picked up right where I left off in terms of skill, and it's a blast.

Also among his collection of games, I have found such games as Fallout 3, Mass Effect, F.E.A.R., Prey, and even Diablo II, which I never played. Disks for all of these games are missing, so hopefully he has them lying around somewhere - I have 1 of 2 discs for 4 of those 5 games, lol. Thanks to my brother for being so horribly organized! The only complete game there is Diablo II. As soon as I get the time, I will install Diablo II and play a classic that I've missed out on all these years. I'm also hoping that I can get back my copy of Civilization III from my friend, who borrowed it once many months ago. Man that is such a great game - I know I could still get many many many more tens or even hundreds of hours of enjoyment out of that game. That is a game that is so infinitely addictive and replayable that I wouldn't be surprised to see myself coming back to it 10 years down the road (or more!).

Right now my severe lack of money is a pretty big problem. There are so many great recent games that I'm interested in, but I have NO MONEY to buy them with, and I'm afraid that by the time I do get the money, the time for many of them will have passed me by. Once again I'm starting to feel that pinch of being overwhelmed with games. But there are other things that I have to spend money on too. Expensive things that are top priority, such as helping pay rent, getting a new monitor to replace this old piece of crap, my cell phone bill, and driving lessons. Assuming my brother and I can find all of his disks for Mass Effect and Fallout 3, my first gaming priority will undoubtedly be Left 4 Dead. I also plan to upload Steam and download Half-Life 2: Episode Two - can't leave me hanging with that cliffhanger on Episode 1! In fact, maybe I'll just try to get most of these games on Steam.

Looking forward to some of these future games also has me very excited. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is supposedly coming at the end of this year and man I can't wait. I don't see any reason to get World at War if the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4 is coming so soon. I also can't WAIT for BioShock 2. Just thinking about a sequel to such an epic game has me very excited. Hopefully Red Faction 3 will be good too.

And STARCRAFT II! Every day my anticipation for this game builds and builds. I simply cannot WAIT for the epic storyline, intense gameplay, and countless hours of mindless enjoyment that it's bound to provide. From watching videos and reading about the abilities of the races, it seems that the core gameplay remains pretty well intact and has actually been improved. Each race looks thoroughly more powerful and balanced, and the game looks just as great and fluid as the first game. But I'm most excited for the storyline. Damn I CAN'T WAIT!!

Hopefully my renewed gaming spark is here to stay. I've been craving them so bad lately it should at least last me for a while, and with so many great games I'm missing out on...oh baby.

With my renewed sense of determination, you can also expect more game ratings and reviews soon. I was discouraged by GameSpot's new rating system for a while, but I've gotten over it and now plan to exploit it to its full advantages. Not that it has any - it still sucks.

Damn it, I was 90% done with this entry and then I pressed the stupid way-too-easy-to-press back button on this mouse and lost everything. >.< Let's see how well I can redo this entry.

I've just had no motivation to play games lately. The only game I've been playing with any frequency is Guitar Hero II. I never found my copy (or my copy of GTA:SA), but my friend loaned me his copy of GHII since he now had GHIII and had mastered everything on II almost perfectly. He's a freaking Guitar Hero God. For about 2 months I got myself re-invested in Civilization III as well, which I found to be as addicting as ever, but I just kind of stopped playing again at random, although I'm pretty sure I could still get many hours more enjoyment out of that game.

One of the major factors that has killed my motivation is the switch to my new hard drive. My old hard drive crapped out on me (it wouldn't even detect my CD drives anymore!), so I quickly got a new hard drive and am still struggling through the transfer of information over to the new one. One of my problems is that I have lost pretty much all of my CD keys, mainly the ones to World in Conflict, Call of Duty 4, and The Orange Box, three of the games I want to play the most. So I haven't been able to yet reinstall these games. Also, I seem to have misplaced my Microsoft Office disks; I think a "friend" may have them, but he's a huge flake. It's really no use spending money on another copy of Microsoft Office (which is probably the most overpriced software on the market) when I might be able to retrieve the old copies. Not to mention we're desperately short on money at the moment.

On another note, I also lost my wallet with $50 and my ID in it.

What? What do you mean I lose everything?

I don't know what you're talking about. >_>

For those more knowledgeable than I, is there a way to find the CD key to the installed games somewhere in the files or properties of the old game? I still have the old hard drive on my computer.

One thing I was able to accomplish before the switch to my new hard drive (since The Orange Box doesn't require a CD to play) was my playing and finishing of Portal. Although I think it got a bit repetitive towards the end and the final fight with GLADOS was somewhat disappointing, in all other respects it was a fantastic game, probably the most clever and interesting game I have ever played. It was also really fun, and the script was fantastic. I am eagerly anticipating how this will fit into the future of the Half-Life franchise. If and when I get Portal reinstalled, I will seek out user-made Portal maps online and will play the challenges already built into the game. Then I will play Half-Life 2: Episode Two and get around to Team Fortress 2. I'll probably replay Half-Life 2 at some point and see if there's something about it I missed on the first playthrough (I know this may sound like blasphemy, but Half-Life 2 was fairly average in my eyes). The story and universe they're creating around Half-Life, however, has kept me interested.

I did buy Sins of a Solar Empire recently (maybe 3 weeks ago). But after playing through the tutorials and starting a game, and despite finding it interesting (although with a fairly steep learning curve), I stopped playing that as well. What is wrong with me?

One thing I could possibly do to respark my interest in video gaming is to go to the nearest store with a bargain bin and search through it to find old classic PS2 games. I've never been a big console gamer, but I've warmed up to them recently. I'm still playing Guitar Hero II, and I have Final Fantasy X. Even though I got about 20 hours in and it's been quite a ride, I suddenly stopped playing that as well. I just have no explanation for my sudden stoppage in gaming, and maybe playing through old PS2 classics rather than worrying about the greatest and new games will respark my interest. I remember it was getting back into Starcraft that revitalized it last time. Speaking of that, I need to buy a new copy of Starcraft and play all the way through it before Starcraft II comes out...

...did I mention I also lost that?

I seem to have just become more interested in reading about new games and studying them and eagerly anticipating them than I am in actually playing them recently. I still avidly read every issue of PC Gamer.

Speaking of eagerly anticipating, I now have 29 games on my wishlist.

Let's start with games that are already out that I've so far missed out on. I still hope to eventually get my hands on Prey and F.E.A.R., especially before the sequels come out. I would love to get my hands on Supreme Commander (I had the demo installed on my old hard drive and it was intriguing). Out of these, F.E.A.R. is the only one that I really want to play. Another one that I really want is Company of Heroes, which I believe, from what I've heard, may be the best RTS game since Age of Empires II (although I never played Rise of Nations...which I may have to dig up sometime as well). I hope to get a new computer (with Vista!) by the end of the year, and when that happens, I want to get Crysis (forget about it on my current rig, although it may run okay on very minimal settings), and Halo 2 (stupid Vista-only business move), which I will just play for the campaign. One place I will start out on for the PS2 (besides Final Fantasy X), is God of War, which I have played and is pretty sweet. Also, once I finish Final Fantasy X, I'll get Final Fantasy XII and slowly play through that. I also hope to get my hands on another cheap copy of GTA: San Andreas. Finally, there's two relatively unheralded (but still fairly well-known games) that I hope to get my hands on; STALKER and The Witcher. Although RPGs typically disappoint me, I am intrigued by the free form, action-oriented world of STALKER and the moral ambiguity of The Witcher. The only other RPGs I've really consistently enjoyed (besides Final Fantasy X) are the Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate series. Finally, I think the next game I'm going to buy will be either Mass Effect or Gears of War for the PC. Although I've played Gears of War extensively, I've never played through the campaign. It would be totally worth it. As for Mass Effect...well, let's just say huge sci-fi RPG = instant win.

As for games that are still to come out, the ones I'm anticipating the most are Starcraft II and Spore, with Far Cry 2 not far behind. Spore looks like the most innovative, accessible, and amazing game to come out in years, while Starcraft II couldn't possibly disappoint. Far Cry 2 looks like Crysis on steroids. 'nuff said. Tom Clancy's EndWar also has me intrigued.

Another thing I could do to revitalize my interest is download more game demos. That usually does the trick for me.

Finally, I keep forgetting that I actually had a Nintendo DS that I bought off a friend for $40 (probably about a year ago). I don't have a single game for that and I really don't know much about the DS. Does anyone who happens to read this have any suggestions on DS essentials?

Well, that wraps up this long and mostly unnecessary post (that's what happens when you go 4 months between updates).

Well, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was well worth the wait. It is truly an amazing game. Despite the linearity and shortness of the campaign, it's not a stretch to say that it was the best campaign I have ever played. It was less repetitive than BioShock and perhaps even more fun, intense, and atmospheric. Call of Duty 4's campaign, compared to most modern fictional war campaigns, was refreshing and believable, and it provides perhaps the most cinematic and intense gaming experience I have ever encountered. It's very similar to Call of Duty 2, just with better graphics, a refreshing storyline and setting, and with more variety in the settings, objectives, and weapons. It's pretty much Call of Duty 2 on steroids.

Although it's one of the best multiplayer games I've played recently, I don't like it as much as its single-player. The maps are ridiculously small and on free-for-all often aren't suitable for more than about 15 people, if even that. I'm glad they're not as big as Battlefield 2's maps, but I still wish that they were bigger. They often just turn into directionless fragfests and spawnkilling battlegrounds. However, all things considered, it's still very fun and very intense, and I'm still addicted to it.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I haven't played World in Conflict recently. I still plan to go back and finish the campaign, but I'm afraid I will have forgotten all of the controls. Although multiplayer sounds very fun, it also sounds very difficult. Although I really enjoy the game, it still has a very steep learning curve. However, I have found another game to occupy some of my time. I was going through the bargain bin at my local Gamestop and found Final Fantasy X. I and others always thought that it was a travesty that such a huge video game freak as me had never played a Final Fantasy game. So I bought it and I've been playing it off-and-on since. It's a pretty awesome game; I like it much better than most RPGs.

The only new game I've bought since my last blog is World in Conflict. I desperately want to play The Orange Box (after finishing Half-Life 2: Episode One), since Portal and Team Fortress 2 look so awesome. That will be the next game I get. I also had a severe problem; I lost both my Guitar Hero II and San Andreas disks. So much for getting awesome at Guitar Hero. I also never even got a chance to play San Andreas. I know they're around here somewhere, but with so many awesome games to get and play around now, I honestly won't really miss them too much.

What I plan to get next (after The Orange Box) is a new monitor. Mine sucks. I already got nice new $100 Bose speakers. They kick ass. I still plan to get Crysis and Gears of War for the PC as well. Crysis will probably come after a monitor and The Orange Box. But there are still so many other games that I want. Command & Conquer: The First Decade (which is actually 6 games mind you), Company of Heroes, God of War, Guitar Hero III, Stalker, Sins of a Solar Empire, Supreme Commander, and The Witcher are simply the ones at the top of my list. In addition, Frontlines: Fuel of War looks very promising, and I've recently become very excited about The Agency and Far Cry 2. Not to mention Mass Effect for the PC, Spore, and Starcraft II. I currently have 25 games on my wishlist, and I really do want all of them (although I could survive without a few of those). I need a job, badly. Been unemployed since December, and now with a cell phone bill to pay and so many games to buy, in addition to a monitor, I need one desperately.

Finally, I plan to go back and rewrite my reviews. My writing skills have improved and I want to utilize the new scoring system. I will also write some new reviews soon. Stay tuned!

Time and again I have been disappointed by supposedly awesome new games. I am often disappointed by games that are almost universally-acclaimed. Examples include Age of Mythology (2002), Jedi Outcast (2002), Half-Life 2 (2004), World of Warcraft (2004), Civilization IV (2005), Battlefield 2 (2005), and Oblivion (2006). Over the past few years, my gaming interest has waned somewhat due to a continuing slew of disappointing, overrated titles. Over the summer, I resorted to playing StarCraft, a 9 year old game. I have gotten exponentially better at it since the summer began. I am also playing through the campaigns again in anticipation of StarCraft II. However, just the fact that I am getting most of my gaming thrills off of a game that is 9 years old is just as much of a testament to how bored I am with today's gaming world as it is a testament of how great of a game it is. Guitar Hero II was the only other game I played consistently over the summer, but it can only go so far. I also played a decent amount of Civilization III, but I tried to limit it since it sucks up so much time.

Enter 2007. Lots of bright hopes for games. I have yet to play Company of Heroes, one of the few new games that looks like it truly rules, and the Supreme Commander demo also gives hope. The one title that looks the most promising, however, is BioShock. So I preorder it. And it was certainly worth the wait. This game, in short, rules! The atmosphere and the design are fantastic. It creates a rich, rewarding world, with a fascinating storyline backed up by believable characters, fresh dialogue, and excellent voice acting. The variety of options and weapons at your disposal, as well as the control scheme and the frantic combat, take some getting used to, but once you get past the moderate learning curve, the experience is richly rewarding. I have yet to play through it all the way, but I still yearn to finish it so I can play it again. It has no multiplayer, but with such a rich and excellent single player, it won't be missed, and frankly the system of the game doesn't lend itself very well to multiplayer anyways. In short, BioShock was well worth the wait, and hopefully is an indicator of things to come (even if I will soon need a new rig to play them, since BioShock is near the minimum requirements and is a bit jumpy for me).

These games that are coming up include World in Conflict, Crysis, Spore, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. All 4 of them look to be fascinating games that will, along with BioShock, hopefully help to renew my interest in gaming (Call of Duty 2 did give me hope). As long as I get a new...well, everything. My monitor is screwed up somewhat (although I've lived with it for a while and can live with it longer), one of my speakers is mostly blown out, my rig is near the minimum requirements for these intensive new games, and my modest 60 gig hard drive has been balancing on full for weeks now, but as long as I can get new speakers and another gig or so of RAM, I think I'll be okay until I can afford an entirely new computer (hopefully a laptop). I'll have to do some serious prioritizing to manage my hard drive space, but that's just out of my price (and time) range at the moment.

For these reasons, I may resort to my PS2 some more. I finally got a memory card, and I subsequently bought Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I've been giving Guitar Hero II extensive playing time, and am close to expert difficulty now, but I have yet to play San Andreas, maybe since it will require such extensive time to devote to, time that I currently don't have (especially since school just started). I still also plan to play through Red Faction... This will be about my 4th try-through, but this time I will not have any distractions (such as my brother's friends taking the memory cards :P). Once I have time I also plan to get God of War and Call of Duty 3, since Call of Duty 2 was one of the very few games that I wasn't disappointed with.

Priorities over the next 6 or so months (in no specific order):
-Finish BioShock
-Finish BioShock...again
-Finish the Halo campaign (finally)
-Finish the StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War campaigns all the way through entirely without cheats
-Finish Half-Life 2: Episode One
-Buy World in Conflict
-Buy Crysis
-Play some more Battlefield 2/Battlefield 2142
-Give Age of Empires III a serious shot
-Play more Civilization III
-See if Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword makes Civilization IV worth playing
-Finish Half-Life 2: Episode One
-Try out a free trial of Tabula Rasa (assuming they have one) once it comes out to see if it's worth playing, since it seems like one of the first MMORPG's that may be worth playing
-Continue drooling over and worshipping StarCraft II
-Buy Call of Duty 3 for the PS2
-Get even better at Guitar Hero II
-Play through Red Faction...all the way through it
-Begin playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
-Buy new speakers
-Upgrade my RAM
-Seriously prioritize hard drive space
-Begin saving up for an entirely new computer

Jesus, I have a lot of gaming needs to attend to. With a part-time job and school, I probably won't get around to all of these. But hey, it's worth a shot, ain't it?

What is perhaps one of the 1 biggest and most important events of historical significance this century has occurred. StarCraft 2 has officially been announced! When I first heard the announcement, I hyperventilated, nearly choked on my tears of joy, and almost fainted. Oh yes, it's that big. This is the day us StarCraft fanatics have been waiting for for years...and years...and years...and...well, you get the idea.

I don't have a whole lot of impressions so far, obviously, but overall I am ecstatic that they have decided to stick fairly close to the original formula. Dragoons won't be in it, but frankly, they aren't a necessary unit to maintain the spirit of the original, although I'll be sad to see them go. In a lot of ways, the gameplay almost looks like it hasn't changed enough; however, this may serve as a relief. If they try to do too much, it could screw with the spirit and atmosphere of StarCraft. We'll just have to see.

The graphics, although they look a bit weird and unconventional in screenshots, look fabulous in action. The action and the battles looks fantastic, and even more epic and awesome than the original. The spirt of StarCraft truly lives! And don't even get me started on those nukes....oh, baby.

The new units that have been revealed look awesome. However, I'm hoping that new abilities and units for the Terran and Zerg will be just as awesome to balance out the overwhelming power that has been given to the Protoss with their new abilities. It certainly adds several elements and layers of strategy to the game.

There are some things, aside from the keeping of some key units, that are absolutely essential to maintain the spirit of the original. For example; the cinematics. The pre-mission briefings. The epic campaign. Accessible and streamlined mutiplayer, which shouldn't be a concern with battle.net. The level design, which looks to remain generally intact, just greatly expanded upon. 3d won't ruin the game in any way; it should be a nice transition, actually. What I've seen so far of the gameplay and of the new features, it appears that the spirit of the original will remain intact and, in fact, should continue to thrive. It looks to bring more of the same awesome, intense, strategic-yet-streamlined gameplay of the original. However, the spirit will also have to be maintained in the presentation and depth of the storyline. Knowing Blizzard, and how they've kept the game well to its roots, only upgraded in a more modern way, this shouldn't be a concern. I'm also happy to know that they're sticking just with the original 3 races, and are not adding hero units a la Warcraft III.

The only thing I have seen so far that truly concerns me is Blizzard's announcement that "StarCraft 2 matches shouldn't take any longer than 20 minutes." While I love the intense gameplay featured in StarCraft, some of my most memorable games lasted an hour or more, and I personally enjoyed the matches that took a considerable amont of time to complete. This is probably a generalization. Hopefully. Depending on game conditions and skill level, it's certainly possible to play out some of the epic matches of the original.

Either way, if this game doesn't kick tons of ass, there will be a riot.

The trailer sums it up best: "Hell, it's about time."

On another note:

Since school will be ending this week, and because it's simply been so long since I've played much of anything in the way of games, I should finally start playing more...a bunch. I went out and bought Guitar Hero II, but I don't have a memory card, so it's kinda pointless to play it much, and I also bought Half-Life 2: Episode One. Haven't played it much yet, though. I plan to finish it soon. Hopefully I won't be disappointed TOO much.

I now have Battlefield 2142. Yay! It's not much different than Battlefield 2, but it does have some improvements. It pisses me off that you can't have grenades from the start, but hey, I'll adjust. I can't say for sure yet whether the game is better than Battlefield 2...it's similar, with just enough differences to make it a distinct game. I will now work to become the best player the Battlefield franchise has ever seen! Okay, maybe not, but I'll probably play it more than I ever played Battlefield 2.

I also might as well give my plans for future gaming. Eventually I will sit down on my PS2 and finish Red Faction, and then I may focus even more on Civilization IV and my recently obtained Warlords expansion. From there, I may decide to give Age of Empires III another shot (I never really gave it a chance and now it's just collecting dust on my shelf). And then, possibly, if I feel the need to play some more games, I'll go buy Company of Heroes, but with a busy schedule and all, that probably won't happen.

What will happen, however, is the eventual buying of an Xbox 360, after which I plan to buy Call of Duty 3 (if I can't get an Xbox 360, I'll just get it for the PS2), Gears of War, and later Mass Effect and Halo 3, as well as possibly Bioshock (I'll get it either for PC or Xbox 360). I'll study up on Xbox 360 games to explore my options.

For the PC next year I also plan to get Crysis, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Supreme Commander, Spore, and possibly even Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. It's also rumored that Battlefield: Bad Company is gonna come out for the PC. A battlefield game with destructibe environments?!! Yes please!!

But wow, 2007 is loaded. Take a look at this list of highly-anticipated titles expected just in the next year:

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Assassin's Creed
Banjo-Kazooie 3
Battlefield: Bad Company
Bioshock
Burnout 5
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Crysis
Devil May Cry 4
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
Fable 2
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
God of War 2
Grand Theft Auto IV
Guitar Hero 3
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Half-Life 2: Episode Three
Halo 3
Halo Wars
Heavenly Sword
Hellgate: London
Huxley
Mass Effect
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Spore
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Supreme Commander
Tekken 6
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
The Witcher
Unreal Tournament 2007
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
World in Conflict
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

That is quite the game lineup. Wow...how will ANYBODY keep up with it all?

So, yeah, I just tried the Prey demo, and all I have to say is damn that game is awesome.

Agh, I can't believe I have to wait 10 more days for this game! That demo was just so awesome. The whole atmosphere of the demo was awesome. There's so many unique things in this game; the gravity, the ghost thingy possessing the, uh....I won't give that scene away (it was so awesome!), the spirit powers, the portals...

All I can say is that this game looks to be the most innovative FPS in a long time (possibly since Half-Life); not necessarily the best, but the most innovative. I'd say just from the demo that the game is worthy of about a 9.2 or 9.3, which is still an awesome score (9.5 is my threshold for greatness).

Another thing that impressed me about the game (aside from the unique aspect presented by the spirit walking, portals, and the whole gravity aspect) is the puzzles. While the short 10-minute demo really didn't feature a lot of puzzles, a couple of them that were there were quite unique. It utilizes the new and innovative aspects into its puzzle-solving. There was one puzzle in particular that I was impressed with. It never really felt like you were becoming overwhelmed or completely stumped by it, but it still forced you to think objectively to solve it, uncovering it in steps instead of solving it all in one sweep. And that's only one of the puzzles. I haven't seen puzzle-solving in an FPS like that for years.

Overall this demo gets quite a favorable impression of this game. It has the potential to be a great game.

For the second year in a row, Spore has won my personal best award for E3. Spore just looks so innovative, imaginative, massive, and fun, I just can't wait for it! The sheer immensity of this game boggles my mind. Many of the features that this game will have are new and innovative, and the game looks so easy to pick up and play that it's, well, insane, considering its seeming complexity.

The most disappointing thing from E3 was a lack of really, well, anything from Blizzard. They announced that Warcraft movie (dear God...) and they released more info on The Burning Crusade, but I'm sure all of us people who were waiting for some sort of announcement, update, ANYTHING on Ghost was disappointed. They didn't mention anything about Ghost. This has me believing that they are still unsure of what exactly they want to do with it, so I'm still holding out hope that it will be released. I was expecting some sort of big Starcraft-related announcement. "StarCraft: Ghost pushed back to next-gen consoles"; "StarCraft: Ghost to be released on current-gen after all!"; "StarCraft: Ghost cancelled"; or, the one I was dreaming about (just wishful thinking); "StarCraft: Ghost cancelled; StarCraft 2 in the making!" But nope, there was hardly anything. Not even a whisper. Not even a hint. Not even an acknowledgement.

Another game curiously lacking from E3 was S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Again. Is STALKER going the route of Duke Nukem Forever to become the ultimate vaporware? I was also surprised at the lack of anything about Half-Life 2: Episode One, but it's being released in about a week anyway, so I don't have to wait long.

Other games that truly impressed me this E3 were Supreme Commander, BioShock, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Battlefield 2142, and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Metal Gear Solid 4, Halo 3, Fable 2, and Spore had the best trailers (out of the ones that I saw, at least). Also, Call of Duty 3 was officially announced. That makes me happy.

Well, that's all for me on my late E3 impressions.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6149638.html

Please tell me that this isn't true. I've always had nothing but respect for Blizzard over the years, but this is just too far. It's already bad enough that they did two Warcraft games in a row...but a Warcraft movie? I hope you're fibbing us, New York Times, because this would suck. Just keep milking the franchise for all it's worth, cause it's working real well...that's right...milk it.

Well, I guess we'll find out in the next few days.

Please tell me it ain't true!

And why is it a World of Warcraft movie as opposed to a Warcraft movie?

Either way, if they announce some big Starcraft-related announcement, which I'm still sure they will, it would counteract this ridiculous and sobering announcement and my respect for Blizzard would return.

At least, if they do it right.

As in, just tell us that Ghost is cancelled and announce Starcraft 2.

Probably wishful thinking, but I can dream, can't I?

EDIT: It is true! It's on Blizzard's website. Damn you Blizzard! PS: Wow, I never thought I'd here myself utter those words... PS: I never thought I'd use the wrong type of "hear."

...and man is that game intense. I've never been so impressed with the sheer scale and immersiveness of a game before. There's so much stuff going on that I know I'm not the only one contributing to what's going on in the game. You actually work as a squad, and the AI is very intelligent. Not to mention that I actually had to stop and regain my composure from time to time so that I could keep playing. It has non-stop action but still forces you to think, take cover, and work as a squad to win.

This game is definitely going on my list of classics....

Now on to multiplayer!