Back when I was apprehensive about just getting basic cable I remember thinking to myself that it was just gonna be an experiment, and if it didn't work out I could just pull the plug and go back to reading and writing all the time.

Now that I'm married things have taken a sharp turn deeper into TV land though. Now that we've bought ourselves a 50" SXRD and hooked ourselves up with digital cable including an HD-PVR we are knee deep in quality television in our house all the time.

Not that that's a really bad thing, but I remember thinking that I was getting used to the idea of not watching TV and doing some physical activities while I was on my honeymoon, and I had been looking forward to the opportunity to keep that flow going when I got home... oh well.

Nowadays there's times during the week when I barely even have time to catch up on all the shows I wanna watch. I have to stay up late after I get home from work and then wake up early the next day just to pack in Dexter, Heroes, Studio 60, Robot Chicken... and the list goes on. I've already started paring back on what shows I can really commit to (or the network does it for me, like with Smith) maybe it might be time to install that TV in the bathroom to really take advantage of every waking minute... :wink:

It's really not all that I thought it would be. I mean, I generally wind up downloading missed episodes from the internet anyway - and since they don't have commercials it's all the better. I think the best thing about having cable is having cable internet (and even there the wiring in our place is lousy so our connection is tenuous at best). I can't say the fault entirely lies with TV - my schedule is fairly counter to be able to follow anything that's going on show-wise. In the morning I can only watch the news, and when I'm at home for dinner, all my fiance wants to watch is Entertainment Tonight and Reba. By the time I finally get home from work in the evening, I'm lucky if I can get a chance to watch The Daily Show. I've heard that the PS3 will have some kind of TiVo device built in, and in that case I'll be able to really follow all the TV I want. After getting my hands on my first season of TV on DVD (can't remember which one that was - maybe Spawn) I think I've developed a real taste for being able to watch shows whenever I feel like it, and without any commercials to boot.

After a summer without cable - a summer of fun in the sun - we're finally going to be pumping cable into this place. This will be the first time in about 10 years that I've actually done this deliberately. I've otherwise tried to intentionally limit my access to the idiot box because I know I lack the self control to do it myself. These days, I've found a better way to sink my teeth into some great TV though. I've gone the "low tech" route to TiVo (if that makes sense). Torrents have been providing me with all the TV I've been craving/missing, and as such I've been very well versed in some fabulous television. Farscape, Firefly and 24 are just a few examples of the shows I've been able to keep current on despite the lack of cable. The problem with that though, is that I'm a little off the pace and it takes a long time to get my hands on a show. Don't get me wrong though - as I've tried to explain, I need to keep TV slightly at bay or it will consume my entire existence. Pop Culture in general fascinates me, but television (good television) holds a lot of answers to the questions people have been asking about who we are and where we're going - at least I think so. I'll get into that later - about the TV being a tool for Socialization and what that might do to you.

So can I really fault a game for not being long enough? I mean if I game is truly great it can never be long enough, right?

Case in point: I really love Republic Commando. I mean, it's a great game. The action is excellent, the graphics and sound are great, even the little itty bitty comments the troops share are cool. But I'm 2/3rds the way through and I can see the end coming - I'm not ready to stop playing yet!

I'm sure there will be downloadable content of some kind. But I get the feeling that it will be for multiplayer and not for single player action... maybe if they offered a cooperative play version that could help extend my enjoyment of the game. In fact, wasn't that what they promised in the first place? I could have sworn that was in the cards and that was one of the reasons I was so exciited to get this thing.

So the game is too short. It's true, it is. It's still a great game. The only way I could see me docking it on points for shortness would be if the game was short compared to other games - or if as well as being short it was lame. So, I guess I can say that I gave the game high marks for a good reason. And thanks to the prospect of downloadable content, I can still have hope for the future.

So like, what's the deal with the lack of hard core RPGs for Xbox? Do the other companies rush to snap up any good ones that happen to make it near the market?

If I understand correctly, Fable was supposed the be the big-time RPG for Xbox... but it seemed to be that it lacked certain kinds of depth. Good depth in character as far as what I've heard, but what about other characters in your party? What about turn based combat?

KOTOR was some seriously good news as far as the role playing genre goes, but why does it have to be an isolated incident? Aren't there other realms of fantasy where a game like this can work?

Come on. What's up with that?

Is there a cultural thing going on here? Is the fact that Sony is a Japanese company, and for the most part , the best RPGs I've played have been Japanese in origin? Since Xbox is a Microsoft property, and Microsoft is about as American as you can get, maybe they're lacking in a publisher/platform connection there.

I don't think I can come up with a more frustrating gamer-on-a-budget problem than Game Nationalism. The idea that you'll only find certain games on certain platforms. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's an essential component of the capitalistic games race, but come on - just because I want the processing power and graphics of my Xbox (not to mention the on board hard drive) does that really mean that I should be deprived of such classics as "Final Fantasy" and "Parasite Eve"?

Now I guess I should know better than to get in bed with Microsoft. I can only assume that the reason some of the huge hit games (like FF) haven't crossed over is because Microsoft probably refused to "play ball" with a publisher in the pursuit of greater profits.

But just think for a second... it's really is only a matter of time until someone finds the code-breaker to make games be able to cross platforms on the open market... or matter I'm way off there and that could never happen... (If big brother is watching, I'm perfectly aware of piracy laws - I'm just saying is all).

But what's the deal with not releasing any of the old titles that are definitely not selling in big numbers anymore/Like the old FF games for instance. I'm vaguely aware of the Platinum Hits system, and how once games reach a certain sales level they are released in new packaging at a cheaper price to ensure continued sales. Well, is it possible that someday there could be the next level? That once something has gone as far as sales on one platform as they possibly can, that they'll finally cross to a new platform? Wishful thinking I'm sure. By that time, why would anyone want to buy them anyway?

Well, if that last bit is the logic, shouldn't they instead strike when the iron is hot?

Or is it perhaps the platforms themselves that are gripping the games so tightly so they won't slip out? I guess that makes more sense... and would be the way of things in the gaming world, just like in the film world. I guess I just had more faith that the publishers would have more money and more of an ability to control the dissemination of their product.

So you think that one game is pretty violent with a lot of energy, but I don't think you really get perspective until you line it up against something else...

My buddy and I are all about playing Ghost Recon, which is a GREAT cooperative shooter - way too much fun to creep around and surgically take apart enemy forces. After a while, the confidence goes up, the patience goes down and you approach the game like a regular FPS, ignoring the sneaky Tom Clancy element. It turns into more of a hunt... or so you think....

Then you switch it up and go a few rounds on Halo. Oh baby, it was my first time doing some cooperative play and man was that ever sweet. It's crazy how much quicker you can mow everyone down with another guy watching your back/front. So we go a full level on that and wreck some house and have a great time doing it... then it's time to switch back and go a few more rounds on Ghost.

That's when it all comes into perspective. As much of a shooter as you thought it was, Ghost Recon doesn't come anywhere near approaching the carnage level of Halo. Not that anyone really expects that it should, but until you try it out and match them up side by side, you don't really know what's what.

Certain spices for certain meals, and certain levels of carnage for certain cravings.

I think I learned that I'm one of the sad few out there who has an inversely proportional relationship to difficulty levels. I suppose video games should be challenging, but I think I found that in the end, the easier it is, the more fun I have playing it... At least as far as Halo is concernes. It makes sense to me though... how can a game be fun if you can't get anywhere in it? I tried my hand at Halo for a while and could really see what the big deal was with it... Not that I'm a big FPS player or anything. Once the difficulty was down and I was able to make some headway though, things started to turn around. I still can't say I'm a huge fan of the FPS genre, but the addiction factor is definitely still there.

Fortunately, I don't think this trend is quite across the board. Playing something two dimensional like Rise of SinTzu was pretty lame with the difficulty down... just the same stuff again and again with mo real sense of accomplishment... well, as much accomplishment that you can feel while sitting on your couch for 8 hours in a row.