Two days ago, I was planning to update my blog with an article about I've given up console gaming for the time being and focusing solely on the portable market. Games like Mario Kart DS, Burnout Legends, Metroid Prime Pinball, and Donkey Kong Country 3 are all I've needed the past few weeks to keep me busy and entertained. I'd tried Destroy All Humans! and Ico, and I even went back to try and complete Metroid Prime and Super Mario Sunshine. But for one reason or another, I couldn't keep myself interested in any of those console games. Don't get me wrong. They're all great titles. But I'm always on the move these days, and I didn't have the time to delve into such complex or involved games.

And then I found Psychonauts. I'd heard about it before, and I knew that it received praise from critics. I was skeptical though, because it wasn't a commercial success and retailers were still asking $50 for it. Then, on a whim (and a $20-off sale at EB Games), I decided to give it a go. After only a day of playing, I'm hooked. Both the character and level designs are imaginative, beautiful, andentertaining. The dialogue is always amusing, and the voice acting is done incredibly well. The game never takes itself too seriously, and as such the player is in for a surreal ride through the minds of its developers. There are the obligatory scavenger hunts, but they never feel forced or boring. And while Psychonauts doesn't reinvent the genre, it does offer a refreshing take on the traditional platforming design.

Psychonauts has rekindled my love for console gaming in a way no other recent title could. It isn't a perfect game, but it's one that I can finally get lost in for hours on end the way I used to with The Legend of Zelda or old-school Mario platformers.