I am most noted as a player of almost exclusively racing games,I have played and or owned almost all of them,except for the terrible ones. I am an encyclopedia of Forza and NFS games and of course played many others. But now with my game renting membership I have looked into some of the new games out there beyond the racing realm. I am currently obsessed with playing Tomb Raider and Farcry 3. While the new Tomb Raider is very exciting and very different it is still pretty linear overall with most people getting pretty much the same experience. But with Farcry the time you spend is truly your own. As a person who has never gotten into the shooting games and never really enjoyed them, I did however enjoy playing every version of GTA so far and love how you can really play it how you want to play it. Farcry is great because for a while you can play the stealth role,picking off tarkets from as far away as you can get,but then the next hour you can go in with the assault rifles and uzi's blazing or just blow guys 10 feet back with a 50 cal. It is the most excited I have been about gaming since I was a kid and got an Atari2600 and Pitfall. Being a very young at heart 38 year old with no wife and kids to worry about I can invest a lot of hours in gaming and it is great to see how far they are coming. In farcry they really have adressed every detail to make it very very friendly to people who are new at things or cater to those that live to run and gun and do it at the top of thier game. I love that you can never get stuck on a wierd spot or ledge and have to reset,they made it so if you can get to it you can get out of it,so many games before you would find these silly spots your character would basically get "hung up" in and it drove you crazy having to reset. We also get frequent saves,autosaves and the ability to save anytime which is so much better than the torture of old games with constantly repeating a whole level if you made one wrong step near the end. Gaming is not only getting more user friendly but now with these new games and the quality of the voice acting and graphics and concept we are finally getting games that are more enjoyable than movies and nearing the quality of watching a movie. As a gamer that has been there from the Intellivision coming out as a kid and having almost every gaming system ever made it has been a heck of a ride. People my age need to be excited being able to have been there from the start and be part of this progression. I feel so lucky to have really been a part of the video game generation from the baby steps to what is yet to come. Like I said today,until I go blind,lose the ability to use my hands,or die...I wont stop gaming.

As my birthday rolls up it reminds me of one dismal and unwelcome yearly arrival...winter. Here in Ohio winter can start as early as mid to late october as the chilly nights also become cold days. This means one thing above all else, make sure you have achieved a good collection of games to play on those undesirable days and plenty of movies to watch when the thumbs need a rest. I had made it a goal this summer to buy a movie a week and a game every 2 to 3 weeks. So, that is the best advice above all ese, because if you are like me and hate the snow and cold, a massive collection of games and movies is the best remedy. To all those that share my misfortune of life in a colder climate I wish you the best. The other sad part of this seasonal change is the fun car gets garaged until spring once that first salting of the roads happens and out comes the pos for the duration...ugh. No fun driving, just point a to b driving once that weather hits....so sad...

I come from a group of unfortunate gamers that are limited by the funds at thier disposal. I have only ever had one system and one game ever bought for me. I was 16 and my parents got me a sega genesis and mortal combat the christmas before they divorced and a couple months after I was diagnosed with Chrons Disease. It was the most memorable moment of any christmas and I could not believe they got it for me. I played that game non stop and mastered it and always went to play when I needed that escape. We were never very well off and I knew it was a sacrifice for them to get it for me so I cherished it like it was gold. I would occassionally have a few bucks to rent a game here and there but for the most part this was all I had. Then, as the video game industry went to overdrive and it was all about the newest thing the previous systems became affordable as trade in units that you could buy for a third of what they were brand new. This was to become the way I play games and the way many of us have to go about our game play. We see the new stuff come out, the lines of people waiting to spend 500 dollars for the new thing. The 70 dollar games, We are the gamers that swoop in and pick up those games that were the coolest thing 5 years ago but we pay 5 to 10 bucks for the game. I get no less satisfaction from the games. They are fun, they amuse me and they give me that escape without being completely broke. Yet, I am looked down upon. How can I not have a ps3 or 360? How can I say I am a true gamer? Why does it matter? I want the new stuff, I want to be part of the group playing the games right when they come out on a 1080 widescreen 60" tv but I cant. I have a 32" 480 tv and have a ps2, xbox, and gamecube. But, I have those systems and a total of 33 games and wireless controllers all for about what many spent on the xbox360 and about 5 games. Sure, it may still be 2 years before I get to get a 360, but I will enjoy it just the same, and I am still a true gamer, I just dont have the means to be right there as a day one gamer.