Hello fellow gamespotters and friends. I know its been a while and I'm sure you're all wondering where I am, but I'm still alive, just not as active as I used to be. I have been up to a lot of gaming lately, but its been drastically cut since I've cut back on buying things due to the economy and a much smaller wage now from my employer. But here's some things I have been up to.

I've FINALLY gotten back to my Wii! I havn't played that thing in so long its not even funny. I started playing Mario Galaxy again after seeing that there is a Super Mario Galaxy 2 on its way (It looks amazing by the way). I forgot how fun it was and how much of a joy it was to play. The game is still gorgeous to me too, I can't get enough of its graphical look. I also rebought Zelda: Twilight Princess because after seeing it on Xplay as Adam and Morgan's number 4 game of all time, I felt some crazy urge to play it again. Except since my wii got fried a few months ago by lightening, I had to get a new one and I have to start all over again, same with mario galaxy. I'm stuck trying to get the f***** fish for the cat that ran away from that one shop owner and I've waited several minutes to get a bite and no luck. Sucks, but I'll get through it. I'm still deciding wether or not to get the Conduit, but its not a high priority of mine, so its unlikely.

E3 was great. I watched two of the press conferences on TV, and Microsoft literally went in guns blazing. I mean it had Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2, APB finally showed in depth, its motion sensing camera, etc. Nintendo improved too, with giving us Mario Galaxy 2, The Conduit impressions, New Super Mario Bros Wii with four player coop, a new Zelda hit for 2010, DSi info, and some new hardware components. Sony showed us God of War III, which is what could have made it the top conference easily, but I still prefered microsoft. Oh not to mention The Beatles Rock Band.

Foreign trip. I went to China a few weeks ago for business for two weeks. It was fantastic! We also did a lot of sight seeing and went to the Great Wall and The Forbidden City in Beijing and also the Summer Palace.Each of those were so beautiful.We had to make stops in Xian and Shanghai too. Shanghai should have been assumed since its the business capital of the world! Xian was a bit run down and an all out slum in some places, but wasn't bad. Shanghai was amazing with its lit up buildings and extremely high buildings. We even when to the top of this one building shaped like a can opener that was 100 floors high! It was incredible I couldn't see any small buildings on the ground and only the tops of sky scrapers and hotels. I urge all of you to go there at some point, either Beijing or Shanghai, its so worth it.

Well thats all gamespotters. Hopefully I can post something soon. I havn't been too public since Jeff Gertsmanns firing, and I think its built up over the years. I haven't unfortunately maden too many stops on Giantbomb.com though, and I really need too. So who knows if this will be my last blog or not. I'll make a farewell address to you all if I decide to retire from gamespot. For now stay on the lookout. Later spotters

Alright gamespotters, I'm sure those loyal to my game of the year blogs have been waiting for this! This year has been one of the greatest in gaming history, narrowly losing to 2007. I can't stress enough how hard this choice is. I'm taking my time on this one, and hopefully I won't dissapoint. Remember, these aren't all games released in '08, but a good majority are.

10. Medieval II: Total War: This is definately a fantastic follow up to the great Rome Total War games. Sega and Creative Assembly have crafted an enormou, massive, complex, and exciting RTS game. The new setting is spot on and fits the time period perfectly. Castles and large cities fill the beautiful campaign map with life. The battles are still as fun and challenging as they were in Rome Total War. Castle assaults are daunting and costly, and city assaults are as epic and explosive as they've always been. New technologies such as cannon and gun powder are fantastic editions. What I also enjoy is the historical events the game takes from actual history. The Mongol invasion of Europe is as scary and fearful to you as it was to the many nations in that period. You worry that they'll defeat you, so you scramble to defend your cities and castles. The Black Death anyone? Its here too, and its as annoying and costly to your faction as it was back in the day. The few downsides are that it has a steep learning curve even for experienced players of the Total War series. It took a good while for me to get everything down. But its still great, and its why its number 10!

9. Company of Heroes: This game is seriously one of the best RTS's out on the market. Units move from cover to cover, heal eachother, scramble to help repair base structures, and hide out in buildings to avoid tanks. The missions are intense and fun. The graphics are stunningly realistic and detailed. The game is a lot like the Dawn of War series: You're not encouraged to just whole up in your rbase. You're encouraged to get out on the map and take over control points, which contribue to your fuel and ammunition supplies, as well as manpower. The destructible environments are also amazingly relastic and fun to blow up as you go through the many locations of Europe. I recommend this to any RTS fan out there, but be prepared to spend a lot on a graphics card and processor! Maybe even more RAM.....that's why its number 9!

8. Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway: The creators at Ubisoft and Gearbox have once again satisfied fans of the gorwing Brothers in Arms series. They delayed it for two years, and ITS FINALLY HERE!!!!! The wait was worth it, because this game makes WWII still feel like a new concept in games. The strategy elements make it much more thought oriented. One bad move can kill off many in your teams, so watch what you do! The enemy AI is as tough and brutal as its always been in the past series. The new cover system is badly needed so you can avoid them better. The graphics are stunningly realistic, and the sound effects make you feel as if you're in a real heated battle. The slower pace and the way your allies and enemies react give the game a cinematic feel as well. I recommend any shooter fan to at least try this out, it'll be worth it. That's why this game is on the number 8 spot!

7. Uncharted Drake's Fortune: This is a great adventure game that, while it takes from the Tomb Raider series a lot, is still great fun. The puzzles are challenging and fun, combat is fun, while somewhat easy, the graphics are drop dead gorgeous, and the story is action packed and interesting. You will seriously have some great fun playing this game, no matter what genre you are interested in. That's why its number 7!

6. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: This game is definately a AAA game. The conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid franchise is a fun filled, action-packed thrill ride, full of great plot twists and an engaging story. The graphics are amazing, while not as great as Konami made them out to be, but still are fantastic. The gameplay is a lot of fun as well, with great stealth mechanics and when you get caught, its a hell of a tough time getting away! The cut scenes are good, but WAAAAAAY too long! The controls are tight and intuitive, and respond acturately. The problems in the game are, of course, the F***ING LONG cutscenes and players who just start with this one will be totally lost with the story. Its still a fantastic game though, but it didn't live up to my expectations as well as I wanted. It still gets a high spot on the list, at number 6.

5. Super Smash Bros Brawl: The newest and longly awaited sequel to the superb Super Smash Bros Melee has finally arrived, and yes, it lives up to the hype! The game is chokc full of your favorite Nintendo characters, as well as many new ones. The game is fit for everyone, making it easy to pick up and play with anyone. The gameplay is chaotic and fun, with items of terrible power coming down on you and your fiends. The new story mode is a lot of fun and can help you unlock all the characters without playing endless sessions with friends to unlock them. The graphics are stunning, especially on Wii standards. The sound is fantastic as well, with great music and tunes from Nintendo's greatest games. This is truley one of the greatest multiplayer games of the year. That's why it gets a spot on number 5!

4. Call of Duty: World At War: Yeah some of you may remember my blog ranting about how Call of Duty 5 would be going back to World War II. Yeah I was disappointed, but not about the information that came out after! After I heard it was in the Pacific I was ready to look more into it. Once I found out it had the same multiplayer greatness as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, I was even more pumped. I played the beta and was at first a bit turned off because I thought it'd be like going through COD4 again. I finally at some point played it at a friends and thought it was the real deal. It has the same great single player gameplay along with the great visuals of its predecessor. The new take on guerilla gameplay made it even better than I thought. The multiplayer is still as addictive as ever. That's why Call of Duty World At War gets a spot on the short list at number 4!

3. Fallout 3: I had been waiting two years for this game, ever since the gameinformer cover story. The Oblivion engine, while present in the game, seems to work much better in Fallout 3 than even in Oblivion itself. The new VATS combat system is as fun and satisfying as before. The visuals look gorgeous and smoothe, and nuclear bomb explosions (megaton anyone?) look absoluely stunning. THe story is great as well, and the quest structure is fantastic. The side missions are great as well. The one downside is, when you finish the main game, you're done. You can't go back and do other side missions, so you gotta do them as you go through the main story. But still, Fallout 3 is one of the greatest games out on the market, and is at the top at numbe 3.

2. Gears of War 2: THE GEARS ARE BACK!!!!!!!!! THIS TIME IN A MORE EXPLOSIVE, MORE AWSOME EXPERIENCE THAN TWO YEARS AGO!!!!!!! Seriously, this game is superb! This game has several good improvements over the last game: newly destructible environments and cover, better and more fun to use weapons, more story, while leaving you asking questions, and a vastly improved online mode. The campaign is just as fun as the last game, and you will never leave your Xbox 360 until its done. The multiplayer is even more fun, with king of the hill and a better assasination mode called Guardian, where you must guard your guy while trying to down the other leader and pull him back to your base. The game is now up to 10 players, which is a nice inclusion as well. This game is totally one of the best of the year, and should be checked out by everyone. Thats why its the runner up for my game of the year.

1. Grand Theft Auto IV: Let's just get this over with, Grand Theft Auto IV is the greatest game of the year! There's so much to do in such a big environment, such a great story to play through, and millions of side missions that are tons of fun! The game engine is gorgeous, while having a few pop-ins and weird looking places. The gunplay is great, with a great cover system followed by a great targeting system, though it does have a few quirks. The city is massive as well, with so much to do and explore. The story is the best in the series, about a man named Niko trying to escape his past, but is faced with several challenges with his cousin Roman's gambling problems and involvements with the Russian Mafia. Its a thrill ride through the whole thing. Multiplayer is included and has a variety of modes. Cops and Crooks is the best though, because its so much fun to be a cop and chase after people in police cars and to be a criminal to try and outflank and take down the cops. Unfortunately when I tried paying it I never had big games for some modes. But still, the single player alone is what makes this game so great, with its fantastic story, expansive world, and its many things you can do. That's why Grand Theft Auto IV wins Gamefreakwill's GAME OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

Honorable Mentions: Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band. These were great fun and full of variety, but couldn't match the greatness of these ten games above. I still recommend them for any music fans though.

I hope you guys like the list. Post your thoughts and give me your opinions!

Seriously I don't see what's so bad about her! The Media keeps trying to make her look bad and bash her, Democratas are angry because she's not a Democrat like most women politicians, Hillary Clinton's mad that her chance of being the first female vice president or president have been possibly destroyed, etc.

So many people in the media and the Democratic party hate her for some reason. Why? Is it because she's not a ***** and a nice person? Is it because she's pro-life and not a pro-abortion activist? Is it because she has a handicapped baby that she didn't abort? Is it because she's very smart and tough? WHAT!?!?!?!

I'm sick of all this hate on her, especially when people claim she's inexperienced. SHE WAS A MAJOR FOR 12 YEARS AND A GOVERNOR FOR TWO FOR CHRIST SAKE! Not to mention she's gotten more done in two years than any governor has in eight! And what qualifies Barack Obama to be president when he's been a US Senator for only three years? I hate how people say that because he was a community organizer and state senator for seven years and a US senator for three qualifies him when state senators are nothing compared to federal ones and community organizers don't do anything special hardly, or at least he didn't!

The reason must be because she's given John McCain a much bigger chance of winning in November despite eight years of Republicans and George W Bush. Well you know what people you had your chance in picking Hillary Clinton as Obama's VP and you instead chose the biggest idiot in the Senate Joe Biden, the biggest gaffe machine as well! Well since you didn't John McCain saw an opportunity and chose a strong candidate, and a reformer, just like himself.

Well all I can say is that the media can go **** itself and Democrats can just shut up! They should be jumping for joy too that the Wallstreet crisis occured because it's gotten that nasty, inexperienced and angry bunch Democrats call their saviors a better chance of winning in a month! I pray America wakes up before then, and that John McCain can win these next two debates....

Ok does anyone here think this political ad is absolutely POINTLESS?!?!?! Seriously, when do candidates running for president criticise eachother on how many houses they have? Ok so John McCain may have a lot of homes, but does that make him unfit for president? At the same time Obama criticises McCain on this, Obama himself owns a million dollar mansion that a convicted felon helped him buy. Unbelievable. Here check out the video I got the link below....

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/21/1280881.aspx

As BobC says it, Is it election day yet? I'm waiting to here Democrats **** their pants over how their so called "savior" (according to Naci I'm-an-idiot-Pelosi) lost an election that he has a good chance of winning.

This whole Obama thing against the rich is really ticking me off because he must hate my father because my father is somewhat wealthy...oh well he doens't have my vote anyway.

Later 'Spotters

Hey all gamespotters, I got a real problem; World of Warcraft. I've been fighting this insane craving for the game lately, and its tearing me apart! I was addicted to that game like hell, and I don't want to be taken by it again!!! Its taking a hold of my mind and I can't get it out!

I've been thinking of ways to get the game off of my mind. I've thought of golf (something Alice Cooper did to get of alcohol, and I need to improve my game a bit), buy Diablo II (addictive game and since I just heard bout Diablo III why not?), and getting more invovled in learning better ways of playing guitar, bass, and all the other instruments I play. I can't decide though, and while I'm delayed on deciding the Wowcrack is sinking into me and I'm craving to play the game more!

I've been doing a lot better since I stopped playing. I've been with my buddies more, been with my girl more, had a better work performance, etc. I can't lose my girl right now, I don't want my buddies to lose my trust or grow apart from me, and I definately need to keep my job. WOW could take hold of me again like it did and I'd lose all that, and I'd not only be an addict again, but depressed and lonely too!

My comrades, this is a bad fight for me, and I may end up losing. I need your guys' help on getting me away from this addiction relapse so I can keep all the great treasures I currently have (listed above obviously). Give me some advice PLEASE!!!! I gotta get to bed, but I need responses soon!

Yeah seriously, is it election day yet? I'm so sick of hearing all this bull**** about the election on TV and the radio its not even funny. Sure there's sports, which of course never really bores me unless its baseball, and TV shows like Bones, Saturday Night Live, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 24 (in 2009 at least), the list goes on, but hey not everything from those shows are new either. The news has been part of what I watch since I became able to vote, but this election has seriously been covered waaaaay too much and way more than any other election, as far as I remember at least.

Its also all over the newspapers! New York times always trying to make John McCain look bad, Fox News having almost every story on the election, MSNBC talking about how McCain struggles and Obama slips up from time to time, Blogs talking about the good and bads of the two nominees, whatever! Its driving me crazy!!!!!

I will admit though that all this coverage has given me a better idea of both dudes trying to win in November. Its also made me much more afraid of whoever's going to win as well, because this nation's got so many problems on its hands right now: War in Iraq, the economy falling, immigration, education, you name it. I don't know who to trust on what, though I do feel set on voting John McCain, but hey, every Hoosier pretty much does. :) What's worse about this though is my parents often talking about it and my grandparents. Its become part of daily life for them to talk about it, and since I talk and see them a lot one way to another the conversations end up hitting the election. Even with two of my buddies our conversations escalate into that. So pretty much, life lately has been the election 08 because of all this coverage on TV and the radio.

Another thing that drives me nuts though on the election is how everyone keeps saying President Bush will affect John McCain big. Every topic on the election goes to Bush and McCain. What also kills me is how Obama always says "John McCain will just continue the failed policies of this past administration!" First off, why all this talk on failed policies? For six years of Bush's presidency people approved of them, and now because of stupid Dems they think they're failed. They worked for a while at least and they still somewhat do! McCain ain't the same as Bush either Obama! God why did I vote for him on may 6??? I also want to ask, why the hate on the president? First off, they reelected him. Now all this hate is towards him, all because Iraq dragged for longer than a year. C'mon people, WAR MAY LAST A LONG TIME!!! Also, he cut your taxes and you don't pay fed income tax anymore, you should be happy. And another thing, for what he ordered for Iraq and Afghanistan, he did it to protect you all, yet you spit on his leadership for it. Be happy that we havn't been attacked for the last seven years!

Ok now that that's out of the way, I'm getting a drink or something. Bottom line though, when will this coverage cease!?!?!? Let's hope election day comes sooner than we hope, this coverage is killing me!

Well, if you've been around the site today, you may notice this certain article that tells us that Mr. Jack Tompson is facing a 10 year disbarment. That's right guys, ten years. Ten years of peace between us gamers and Jack Tompson. Its about time this happened, or else I was going to get up, find this man, and teach him a lesson. Here's the link to the article: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6192091.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews;title;3

For years we've been persecuted by this man, and he's attacked our favorite hobby's industry for supposed "causing real world violence". What a bunch of BULLSH*T!!!!!! Seriously, he attacks the game industry for incidents of violence that may be tied to violent games, but its the parents fault for buying the game for their kids who obviously can't take the content in a game! And he's sued Take Two a couple times for an incident of a kid killing several police officers because he played GTA: Vice City. Another time he sues TT is before Bully is released, saying its going to make kids cause violence in schools and other places. NEWSFLASH TOMPSON!!!! The game was about stopping bullying, watch the trailer when the protagonist says "I want you to stop bullying others!" That show that you just beat up kids randomly as a bully? Doens't to me, doesn't to others, and shouldn't to you too!

I feel bad for this guy's family, listening to his radical ideas about videogames and how he despises them. If he has any sons who like games, I bet he doesn't let them play games because he hates them so much. Poor boys can't have some fun in their life. I can't even believe folks support this dipsh*t. He's a moron and has zero credibility and no idea what he's talking about. Just in it for the attention boy or are you actually being serious? If you are, well then you make me and millions in the gaming legion laugh!

Well finally this guy's been brought down. He's the Osama Bin Laden of all corrupt lawyers. He's countlessly attacked us and now we've prevailed. Its time to celebrate gamers. Let's enjoy these next ten years without him. Let's hope he never comes back, and if he does he faces even worse of a punishment than he has now. I'm happy he's gone.....are you?

I never thought I'd see a day for a long time where primary votes in Indiana would count. As some of you know, I preside in Indiana, a smaller, less exciting state (save for the Indy 500) that also is smaller when coming to politics. Ever since the primaries and presidential candidatae campaignings began, I thought Indiana would just be on the side lines cheering for whoever to get the Republican/Democratic nomination. Well, I guess we got some playing time, because tonight was the first time in a long time Indiana voters could vote!

This morning I went to vote for the Democrats. I'm actually a Republican but since Republican votes don't matter anymore because John McCain (WOOOOOO!!!!!) won the Republican nomination, or is waiting to, I voted for who I thought was best. I chose Barack Obama, because I thought if its a Democrat either way (because folks are sick of Republicans because of an 8 yr rule) Obama was the one to choose. Turns out that Hillary Clinton will win this place though, but I'll bet Rush Limbaugh listeners helped a lot here because of his "Keep her in so we can win: Operation Chaos" comment on one of his broadcasts made people think Clinton would get McCain to win. Well, I'll say he definately nailed down the "chaos" part, but I don't know if Clinton will be the easier candidate because she won most of the big states, which would make it hard for McCain. I feel bad my vote couldn't help the guy, but I know he'll win.

My parents and sisters voted too, for Obama as well. We don't want another Clinton in the White House again, and I think Obama would do a better job. Still, I never thought I'd vote for the Dems ever in my life, especially with their bad views on Iraq, and in my opinion, the economy. One, I don't want us out of Iraq. I believe McCain when he says we can win there, and I know we can, its just a matter of time and patience. It seems the Dems don't care about the Iraqi people like some of us do. Economy wise, working with my dad for the past while in the econ business, I believe lowering taxes instead of highering them is best for the economy to increase spending from the people and what not. (Take note my economics are not my major from college, so I may sound a bit off because they aren't my strong point)

All I can say is, its been one hell of a day here in this small and not so exciting state. Never thought I'd see a single candidate set foot in this state, but it happened, and I'm surprised. My friend Nathan actually went to see Obama present a speech last night, he said it was interesting, but he's a Republican too so he's still set for McCain. After all this though, Dems, just get a nominee already! I want this election **** to be over.

McCain/Romney 08! WOOOOO!!!!!!

Recently I bought Medieval 2 Total War on the PC, and let me tell you, its awsomely EPIC!!!! Seriously, nothing's been as engaging as this game since Rome Total War came out in 2004. If you love strategy games, check this one out, its a lot of fun. The factions are nicely balanced and the campaign is immersive and fun. If you're new to strategy games though.....get into them then buy this, its too much to take in for newcomers.

I started out playing as the British, and things got messy not long after I attacked the Rebels in the British Isles. As soon as two Rebel towns were secure, I moved on Scotland, and brutally defeated them in a matter of time, after confronting a large Scottish army and then taking its two cities. I then began to plan to invade Ireland, where a Rebel stronghold was. First attack on it failed, with bad losses, but I attacked it again not too long after and took it, again suffering heavily though. I established alliances with France, Spain, Denmark, and Portugal, and made trade rights with other nations.

Soon after I turned against the French, attacking their armies and siezing their towns. It was a great time; their armies fell beneath my men's swords and spears, and the towns were sacked and burned in agony. Soon though the French responded, and things got hectic then. Taking cities got tougher, and more armies persisted into my territory. Most of the time the French lost on land, but they prevailed several other times. The Spanish thankfully stepped in both at land and at sea, taking a French city and defeating fleets at sea, since at sea things went poorly for me. I finally seized the rest of the French cities and France itself, but it was not over.

Soon The Holy Roman Emprie and Milan attacked. Milan, of all places, a small city state too, took over two of my cities. The Holy Roman Empire siezed another city, making a huge threat at my borders. Milan had more armies than I thought as well. Finally I responded on the offensive! I attacked two Milanese armies, defeating both with minimal losses surprisingly, and have moved toward their cities, only to be stopped by the Pope to cease hostilities with them. I'm moving towards a Holy Roman Imperial city to complete a mission as well, and then plan to sieze its cities, as they are ill defended and I now have cannons at my side. Hopefully things turn out good.

Despite all this, I'm having a blast playing Medieval II: Total War. Its very engaging and fun, and things happen that you never believe could. I plan to spend more time with the game, as its so addictive. As you can see a lot happens and theres a lot to take in, but don't worry, it's all fun to learn and experience, despite losing things you want.

Later Gamespotters!

....yeah you can say that was taken from Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting song. ANYWAY!! Sunday Super Smash Bros Brawl is coming out! I'm super pumped, and I'm getting three buddies over for some brawling action...unfortunately I have to go to work on Sunday from 3:00-8:00. I HATE YOU DAD!!! GRRRRR!!!!

Look for a review of the game after I have some time of playing it. I'm thinking of going to the midnight launch, but I'm not too sure. All I can say is this: bring out the beers, hook up your wiis, and get ready to brawl, because Sunday is on the horizon....