So I was bitter about losing a night of Gears of War 3 just to play the 3DS which my progress did not save. And on top of that I was playing 4 player co-op the night before and they pounded through Act 2 and 3 without me and part of act 4 before I got online last night.

But I like to find a little happiness in my sadness. And realized this just means I need to play through the game again after I finish it. I guess I can handle that.

Did I mention the game is sweet. Hard, but sweet. Any game where a good portion of the enemy explodes when you kill them gets a 10 rating from me!

I am not sure what is more frustrating when "losing" the time you spent playing since your last save. Having a game freeze, having a poor save system, or causing the loss yourself. The first two I thought were pretty bad, both having sent me into cursing matches with many inantimate objects. But I found a new nemisis. The new power button on my spiffy new flame red 3DS. I just "lost" an hour or more on Zelda OOT 3D when I decided I should save but hit power instead of start. Why move the power button from the side slider to a front button? I think it is because Nofriendo hates me. I was sleepy and was used to my DS Lite. A little "Are you sure" message would have been swell. Disappointed in myself, and compounded by the fact I only feel partly responsible. And the fact I only meant to try my game out and then play Gears of War 3. So I lost the time I should have been plaing that too. I wish you could curse on gamespot. On a side note, the 3D makes my eyes hurt. Not sold on my $200 in purchases yet. But Gears 3 is sweet, I recommend it highly.

and like that, 2nd xbox fails. First one lasted a few years, 2nd one lasted 3 years. Not bad compared to complainers online, but not good compared to other electronics. How come I can own a PS2 for years, a nintendo for 20 years, DS for years, even computers for longer? Why does Microsoft stuff always fail?

but I have a cabinet full of games, guitars, drums, keyboard, controllers, etc, etc. Plus I am addicted to achievements. If only I hadn't bought a 250 GB HD that is not compatible. I basically have to give my $100 wireless adapter and $120 HD to someone else so I can spend $300-400 on a new box with those same features.

Ahh, microsoft, bend me over, put both hands on my hips...

and grab my wallet. again.

I STILL have games from 1-3 years ago i have not played. I just COD Black Ops. I just got Fable 3. I have about 200 hours of rocking to do just to get half the achievement points in all the band games.

And I still just ordered two more games because Amazon was having a sale and I had a pre-order credit. If I was a chick I would have a closet full of shoes I don't wear...

Most of the lack of gaming stems from coaching, the other reason being my baby is now a 1 year old. It's fun but half to keep a quick eye on him that he doesn't turn the xbox or the TV off for me.

But with the volleyball season over soon, and some holidays coming up, I see thousands of achievement points in my future. Just ran through Star Wars FU in 2 days, that was an ordeal. Going to finish campain on CODBO and then finally play some multiplayer. Then on to the other 10-15 games hopefully...

just moved the xbox and big screen to a different room, which in turn made me pile up my 360 games and carry them across the house, which in turn made me realize that I have too many games. I already knew this, and feel bad everytime I almost insert Burnout Revenge which I bought a year or two ago used and still haven't played on the 360. That is just the tip of the iceberg, the rest of the problem being the 10-15 unfinished, unplayed, and borrowed games that sit begging for me to stop downloading games of Xbox Live and start playing the $60 games just sitting there.

oh well, I could have worse problems. I can't wait for Reach. And I was hungering for Starcraft but upon hearing it is 3 seperate games I may have to wait for a multi-pack and the next time my computer fails I will buy a new fancy laptop and buy the game at the same time since I don't play PC too much anymore. That and the DS just sit all lonely thanks to the wonderfulness that is my 9 month old. He is awesome, but all he can really do is hold an extra controller and try and put it in his mouth, so not much time left over for gaming.

and if I didn't spend so much time just shaking a stick at them maybe I would have more achievement points.

But seriously, have more rock games than I have time for since it is much harder to hold a guitar and our new baby than it is to hold a controller and the baby. Baby Leif loves playing xbox with me, but yahtzee and uno and other quick games are about all I can find time for since I have to play in short bursts. Most of my games right now are started and finished hours apart with a nice long pause in between when i am called away to change a diaper or get a bottle ready. Good times. But between all the msoft points I have spent and new games I have bought, I should have months of playing and holding the baby ahead of me.

not sure why, but all of a sudden my gamespot blog (which you are reading) is showing old banner images at the top that I erased a long time ago. I have now erased multiple images and destroyed the look of this thing (not that there was much to see) trying to get those old images off.

Does anyone see Cartman from southpark and some other missing images up above? Does it just take awhile for gamespot to reset when it is acting up? I don't know how they could possibly be pulling the html to create that banner when I erased it awhile ago. Scary to think that everything you do is saved somewhere and not really deleted. Also scary that I can't fix this on my own and my plan is to wait and log in later to see if it is fixed on its own...

So far, free Guitar Hero Van Halen rocks. Need to take guitar hero 5 back to the store because it keeps freezing in career mode, but the guitar is great, and the free extra game is awesome too. First two songs, Panama and Runnin with the Devil. Awesome stuff, and great guest acts so far including Blink 182, Billy Idol, the newer song Stacy's Mom, and more to come.

had an offer from a co-worker's son to buy used games, and finally got off my backside and sold 13 games at a reasonable price in between trade-in and ebay since I continue to not find the time to sell used games (or go back and finish them). It was time though since not only do I have GTA chinatown wars, but I got the gift of a couple mario games at birthday time this summer as well as buying the next layton game on the DS, and I have plenty to do when traveling for away tournaments (I still coach which kills my time at the gaming console).

But the real plus side is that I put a dent in the time I think I need to finish some games and made some time and money available to get a disc of arcade games, GH5, send away for GH Van Halen, borrowed GH Smash Hits, plus just picked up Halo 3 ODST. Between those, some more achievements on Halo 3 I forgot to get, and the songs yet to play on the bevy of other rock games, I am going to be busy busy.

plus i finally figured out how to get my DS online (had to switch my home network security settings and then update the computer, laptop and the xbox) so I got some extra puzzles for Layton and some cool stuff for GTA Chinatown wars.

p.s., if you like puzzles at all, Professor Layton 1 and 2 are great games. But don't forget to bookmark a hint guide on your computer. You might need it.

Just a quick recomendation, if you have a DS, and like GTA at all, you need to get GTA Chinatown wars. Very fun, lot's of stuff to do, good driving controls, able to lock in and fight, etc. There is also the extra of good drug dealer side missions to make money that reminds me of an old freeware game I think a lot of us played where you would buy drugs at a low price and try to sell them at a high price without getting busted. I have no idea of the name (it was probably druglord or drug wars or something) but GTA captures that. The PDA you use to navigate menus and the gps to find your way around works great and so far the missions are fun, and not too easy, not too hard. I would have given the game a 10 if it wasn't so easy to get busted. I had $5k worth ofecstacy and hit a telephone pole, cop drags me out of the car and BOOM, back to no money, no drugs. I considered seeing how far I could throw the DS, but was able to calm myself, go to my safehouse, get some coke, and make some money to start working myself back from zero.