So is there any point that is to made in here? Are you simply saying that the critique of run and gun shows one up to be a cliche complainer and a fashion follower and that CoD is a great game and that the gaming industry is doing right by us? Aren't you expecting the reader to have a fashion savvy that fleshes out your complaint with subtextual cool while making your own complaint about another subset of cool? Thread fail ... support your arguments please so I have something to agree or disagree with ... i think games are becoming way too commercial, following the cash ... and the successes of games like CoD and Halo mean a deluge of similar games easily cranked out and sheepishly consumed by the twitchy at the cost of more artistic and immersive game environments. You have to admit there's an awful lot of 2D scrollers and FPSs out there, hardly fulfilling the heady promise that gaming offered as it gained popularity over the 2000s. Like all consumed media you can't just eat it all up with a giant spoon ... there are complaints to made about "Friends" and Britney Spears, as cliche as it may seem to those who are non verbally assessing what's hip. I want games to cater to a varied audience and I will accept the run and gun, the 2D artschool pap, the kinetic family friendly appeasments that are trying to turn punk into new wave yet again, if my tastes, as one of the old dog consumers who made this game thing happen, are given consideration as well. Why can't I find anything of interest this summer? Why am I having CoD shoved down my throat ... just saying ...

Sorry but this sets off every bell I have at disposal in my cyncial old head. That there is no mention of what happened to the oil that sank out of sight to the bottom of the ocean, no mention of methane leaks, no clarification regarding long term results of the spill, that petroleum is still the principle energy source of the planetand that BPis now "scaling back"its very expensive clean up, leaves me stone faced.

http://draketoulouse.com/2010/08/04/government-says-75-of-the-oil-is-gone-pardon-my-skepticism/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38273995/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf

I had this problem with my copy of GTA SA. Here is the lowdown after months of trying to find out what was going on. First, many people think disc technology is horrible. It is assumed that discs are an awful way to store information because of the ease in which they can be damaged and their seeming irreparability. Up north I'm guessing they want you to throw your disc away and buy another. But here in Mexico repair and recycle is the order of the day. I recommend you go to a local video store that isn't likely to be throwing away their old movies, that needs to repair them to make their money off them, and get them to try to clean the surface of your disc. There are ways to do it. I have a friend here who can make discs good as new and regularly does with the movies in his store. I'm not sure what the fine abrasive he uses is, but he uses an electric buffer tore-polish the disc surface. Perhaps Brasso or some other extremely fine polishing agent would work. I have heard toothpaste works, but the kind I used damaged my disc even more.

Your second problem may be the dreaded dying drive dilemma that the original xbox is cursed by. Cleaning the disc may help resolve the problem for now if your box is still reading other games. But I had to clean the disc and clean the eye and the mirrors before I could get the poor old machine to work again. And it still worked only with some games. Everything had to be perfect, the disc spotless, the lens clean, the machine rested,before it would function. I have since replaced the drive and it seems to be cranking away, although some games that have worked recently on other people's machinesstill won't work on mine. This is built in obsolesence. Considering how quickly Microsoft pushed out the xbox in favour of the 360, it's possible that these machines were only intended to work for 2 years.

I found a site with more info on problems and repairs that was extremely helpful.

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/xbox_dvd_repair.htm

Good Luck.

1.) For sentimental reasons I will put GTA Vice City first ...

2.) For sentimental reasons I will put GTA III second ...

3.) and finally because I'm not yet sentimental about it GTA San Andreas ...

4.) Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow (another sentimental choice over it's follow ups)

5.) Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory

6.) Rainbow 6, Black Arrow

7.) Rainbow 6, 3

8.) Thief, Deadly Shadows or perhaps Hitman, Silent Assassin or perhaps Morrowind for sentimental reasons

9.) ESPN NHL Hockey, 2K4

10.) There is far too much cursing involved for me to place Ninja Gaiden Black any higher on my list ... it's a love / hate thing. And Black because of the Ninja Dog setting.