Well ladies and gentlemen, the day is finally upon me. Tomorrow morning I leave for Sweden to get married, and thereafter to Spain to celebrate. I will not be back until the 25th. Given that I will be in some of the most beautiful places in the world, I shall be unlikely to be updating my blog or looking at stuff online. I still might, but if I don't I wanted to wish everyone who reads here the very best of times while I am gone. Each of you has been a joy to respond to and your own blogs have all been entertaining and a pleasure to read. I shall miss all of this good video game talk while I am gone. On the other hand, it sure won't hurt me to get away from my normal routine for a while. We humans can become truly wretched beings when we get stuck in a rut. Change is good for us once in a while. Time away from video game related activities will only make me appreciate them all the more when I get back. The same goes for all of you as well. Not that I don't already appreciate you fine folks, but I'll appreciate all the more when I've had a chance to miss you all. Take care and happy game playing.

It is generally considered heresy to criticize anyone who is doing work for free. Therefore, I am walking a very fine line between a legitimate complaint and straight out blasphemy with the title topic of this post. But frankly, I've seen the boards for Team Gizka and, like most things online, eventually valid criticisms are stifled at some point or another. It is human nature. When people are volunteering their time for free, they don't particularly like smart a** bloggers or forum posters suggesting they should be volunteering it a bit more efficiently or quickly. Any suggestion that they may want to hurry up a little, because lord knows I think the Sith Lords Restoration Project has barely made any progress whatsoever in the last five or six months, is buried under an avalanche of "how dare you" responses that anyone would malign the sainted souls who are volunteering their time and effort for free. I suppose I'm a bit of a coward in that I don't have an account on the linked forum boards. I've never made a post there. I'm posting from my own little private corner of the internet where I can say just about anything I damn well please within the Gamespot TOS and get away with it. But all that said, the Sith Lords Restoration Project should have been completed months ago. I come to look at the progress meter a minimum of twice a week, and it has hardly budged since Thanksgiving. Yes, the people working on the project are doing so for free and that shields them to some extent from wise guys like me chipping in my two cents, but by the same token, if you're going to get everyone excited about an imminent release by fixing nearly all issues by Thanksgiving, and then hardly touch your project until July, you should expect some disillusionment from your loyal fanbase.

And now, we're nearing the end of the summer months. The fall lineup of games is the best in years. A six month long dry spell of game releases is about to end with a reaction quite similar to what happens when a piñata gets hit with an uzzi. The piñata explodes and candy flies everywhere. I'm not so certain that in another two months I will even care about a re-release of KOTORII since I will have so many new games to play that I have been tracking. I suppose I'll play it eventually, but the sweet spot for me buzzing in excitement for this has worn off as month after month has passed without the project being completed.

It just seems that the folks making the Sith Lords Restoration Project are abusing their "we are volunteering our time doing this, so any criticism of how long we take is the height of being an a-hole" card. Yes, people understand that volunteers have other, real world, responsibilities. People also are human, and they don't like being yelled at for having human impatience when any idiot that has any semblance of pattern recognition can see that the project doesn’t seem to be a priority any longer. Yes, the folks at Team Gizka have never put out a release date beyond “whenever it is done”. But people are smart. When for the first few months of the Sith Lords Restoration Project errors were being identified and fixed at a phenomenal rate, they notice when it seems that one error fix a month seems to be too much to ask. To be treated like gods requires a godly effort. If you eventually stop putting forth the effort that justifies the adulation and praise, then eventually the worshippers stop coming to the temple to sing the hosannas.

I've been toying around with my new digital camera, and I have decided that it is the greatest invention since the condom. Frankly, my life may never be the same again. With that in mind, I have decided to add a few pictures to my normal blogging that show some aspects of my everyday life for anyone who may (but more likely will not) be interested. First, a picture of my pride and joy. No, I am not talking about the ChiliDragon. I am of course talking about my Samsung 61" 1080P HDTV. Author's note: I was going to show the Samsung with the ChiliDragon standing beside of it to give you all a sense of scale, and describe the picture as "The Two Sexiest Things In My Life", but she showed all the enthusiasm of a rape victim with the idea, so I was forced to abandon that plan. As you can see, I have Oblivion for the Xbox360 running on the TV in the background, because whatever other faults Bethesda may have they sure make pretty games. I included the box in the picture to give a sense of scale since I couldn't include Chili. Next, I have a pictures of my upstairs TV. It is a 37" 1080P Westinghouse. This picture shows that I have a PS2, an Xbox, and a Gamecube hooked up. I have Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2 on the screen. Lovely game. Once again, I have included the box for scale purposes. Whatever else the faults the Japanese may have, they do colors really well. They are rich and vibrant. Now if only they'd eventually make a main character that has some personality and abandon the idea that every American in the universe loves big eyed, stupid looking, anime ****characters. Just for the PC fans out there, a quick picture or to of the ye olde PC, the granddaddy of my household entertainment electronics given how long it has been since I ponied up the necessary bread to update the old girl. And, of course, a couple of quick pictures of my cat Casey. First, of her being a mighty huntress...on top of my laptop. Then one of her at rest and grumpy at being disturbed. Yes, I have sunk to a new low with my blogging. I am actually putting up pictures of my cat. The digital camera is addictive. I shall now go drink heavily on my couch out of shame that I have actually inflicted pictures of my cat upon my audience. It has nothing at all to do with the fact that I simply enjoy drinking heavily.

...poker night! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it has been a couple of weeks since I did any personal blogging. What with Soap Boxing and real life video gaming (Overlord and The Darkness) along with preparing for my upcoming trip, personal blogging has fallen by the wayside. So, since my last update on poker results, I have been up $1655. This is a good thing. I'm stashing it away for new furniture. At least the portion of it that didn't go towards my new digital camera from Newegg. The camera itself hasn't arrived yet, but when it does be assured that I will be posting pictures galore here to supplement my blog like the rest of you all do. So wish me luck tonight as I once more go into battle in the hopes of increasing my fortunes.

The more I hear about this game, the more nervous I become. The Fallout games, particularly in my opinion Fallout 2, are some of the greatest rpg games of all time. The level of freedom they allowed remains to this very day completely unequaled. A partial list of some of the things you could do in the game included: 1. Becoming a porn star 2. Becoming a slave trader 3. Selling your companions into slavery 4. Performing targeted shots to the groin...with excellent results. 5. Becoming a drug addict 6. Buying and selling drugs 7. Prostitution - Both buying and selling 8. Genocide 9. Convincing a little kid to kill his father by giving him a pistol and telling him to go wave it in his father's face and pull the trigger 10. Planting live explosives on people and then walking away so they blow up and you don't get blamed 11. Becoming a made man for the mob 12. Having sex with the wife and daughter of a mob boss 13. Grave robbing 14. Child killing I could go on and on with this. The sheer amount of freedom that these games was incredible. It was mind-boggling. And, I fear, that Bethesda just isn't willing to go the distance on this. The following things are said to be on the chopping block: 1. No groin shots 2. No eye shots 3. No prostitutes (Seriously?! A post-apocalyptic setting with women not selling their bodies so they can survive another day?!) 4. No drugs (Tentative) 5. Possibly no kids, and if kids are included they are likely to be unkillable 6. No slavery Things that are, apparently, going to be added are ridiculously idiotic things like: 1. Portable nuclear missile launchers...what? 2. Portable nuclear missile shelters 3. Toilet drinking Now, I understand, from a business perspective, that Bethesda wants to maximize potential profit. I get this. That doesn't mean that I have to be happy about what I am hearing. Imagine if you will that the Fallout series is a stunningly beautiful virgin woman (odd analogy I know, but hang in there with me for a second). The Fallout series is pure. It has been, thus far, uncontaminated by the dumbing down of video games that we've seen in recent years. It includes actual, honest to god, mature content and realistic themes. This is why I view it as a stunningly lovely, and virgin/unviolated, woman. Now imagine that Bethesda is a damned dirty ape. Now imagine that the ape comes up and starts raping the poor Fallout, shouldn't something be done? You raise your voice and try to stop the ape since you know, physically, you are helpless against the ape. But the ape ignores you and you are helpless. You can't stop what's happening, but at the same time there is an awful fascination with watching the proceedings. It's like why people watch train wrecks or whatever. I know, I know...we're still a long, long way off. The game could be stupendous and I could be jumping at shadows rather than actual substance. But I will be heartbroken if this game ends up like Oblivion with guns instead of swords. Don't get me wrong. I loved Oblivion for what it was. It was an extremely wide, but incredibly shallow, lake. But it wasn't a true rpg. Your moral choices had zero impact on the game. Combat was extraordinarily simple and straightforward. Character development was non-existent. The storyline was weak and cliche. Oh, and your own character had all the personality of a grapefruit. I loved Oblivion because it was beautiful and captivating and simple and mesmerizing. It was not, however, a role playing game. To me, the words "Action Roleplaying Game" are a vulgar obscenity. It is either an action game or it is a roleplaying game. It is not both. And that is my rant for the evening. I am going to go pout on my couch and drink heavily now.

Hello all, Sorry for not being around at all the last few days. I'm up to my eyeballs in wedding preparations and playing Overlord. I'm going to try and spend some quality time putting together a decent blog post this week. In the meantime, I thought I'd give a quick hit to anyone who is interested in the PC and 360 game Overlord who hasn't gotten it yet. I've played through the game twice now (I get a bit obsessed when I find a new game that does something well...like Overlord with its minions) and I have some good and bad points to offer. A full review will be posted in the next couple of days. Good Points: 1. Your minions are hilarious, effective, and versatile. 2. The voice acting, particularly your minion master Gnarl, is excellent. 3. The game is visually stunning, one of the better offerings in recent memory 4. The game dialogue is funny as well 5. Some of the side quests that I have discovered to date are a lot of fun. (I gathered up 10 serving wenches to hang around my throne half-naked.) Bad Points: 1. No mini-map or compass in a game that makes it very hard to find your way around in some areas 2. The camera is bad.
3. The game doesn't live up to its premise of being either evil or really evil - It is either be "Good" or "Kinda evil". I've been stuck for hours trying to raise my corruption level above 80%. (Anyone have any ideas? I posted in the 360 forum with what I've done so far.) Here's the thing: In a game whose main selling point is to let you be very evil, it should be harder to be good than it is to be evil. It is WAY opposite of that. Very few opportunities to raise corruption and lots of ways to lower it. Ugh.
4. Very few moral choices in the game as long as it is. (Easily 30 hours...though several of those are being lost in Evernight Forest due to no mini-map, compass and a bad camera.)

Hello again friendly Gamespotians. A few days ago, I posted the first in my two part series of my Fearless Predictions. As promised, I’m now here to bring you the second set of my predictions for the next five months. Give me a moment to pull out my Magic Eight Ball and we’ll be ready to get underway. First, let me say a quick word of thanks to everyone who took the time to leave comments and feedback on part 1. I have tried to make sure that I replied to everyone who took a few moments out of their busy day to read and respond. Thanks again. And now, once again, I have one final order of business. Spineless Disclaimer: As the more astute reader may have noticed, the word I used before the word “predictions” above was “fearless”. It wasn’t “popular” or even “accurate”. The word was fearless. This means that if you disagree with these predictions, well, I’d love to hear your reasoning but do try and keep it civil. I have a job and a girlfriend already, which means I’ve already heard all the many, many ways that I can be called an idiot that mankind has invented over the years. Okay then; we’re now good to go! There will be a resurgence in PC gaming in the next 12 months. PC Gamers have had it rough lately. They’ve been treated in a lot of ways like second cla.ss citizens when it comes to the discussion of which gaming platform is the best to have. With the release of the PS3, Xbox360 and the Wii, PC gaming has flown largely under the radar. And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve had to put up with innumerable badly researched articles predicting the demise of PC gaming in various magazine publications. This is odd, because as numerous friends and regular blog readers of mine will no doubt be quick to point out, a high-end, up to date PC will almost always be more powerful than the latest console on the market, because you can constantly update a PC whereas consoles only get updated every few years or so. But the PC’s greatest strength has also been its Achilles Heel, with many gamers leaving the platform for ones that don’t need constant updating attention. Ironically, PC’s fortunes will improve largely because of Microsoft’s Xbox 360. As many news articles on Gamespot have noted, game development for the 360 and for the PC is remarkably similar, making porting between the two platforms quite easy. Part of the reason why the PC gaming fell on hard times in the recent past (in addition to cost) was because in a world where cash is king, the mass market usually gets games developed for it first. Due to the simplicity of use (put the game in and start playing) consoles have been the mass market for years. Now, however, with the ease with which games can be ported between the 360 and the PC, the latter will reap huge benefits as game after game is developed simultaneously for both systems. With this being the case, the PC version has a couple of quick and obvious advantages. First, A high-end completely updated PC will allow for better graphics, framerate, etc. than the 360 version. And second, certain PC games will be rich with user created mods allowing for additional value that consoles will not have access to. So put these two things together, more games plus some advantages to playing the same game on a PC versus a console, and you have a revitalized value proposition to push the PC back into the conversation for gamers who have cash to spend who are looking to optimize their experiences. The race for gaming supremacy between the three major consoles, Wii, 360 and PS3, will tighten considerably in the next 12 months. People who think that the current trends between these three consoles will continue unchanged over the next twelve months are deluding themselves. Both the Wii and the 360 have challenges on the horizon that will slow them down, whereas the PS3 has some long awaited good news coming that will speed it up a bit. I will now choose my words carefully and put on my special asbestos fiber, flame retardant, forum warrior action suit. The Wii’s biggest hurdle will be exactly what a Sega Exec mentioned recently. The system’s graphics, which look good enough right now, are going to start looking more and more dated as time passes. While it will still have value to offer that differentiates it from the other systems, sales for it will likely peak within the next couple of months and then start leveling off as some of the games specially prepared for the more cutting edge hardware start rolling out and gamers start comparing how the Wii games look in comparison. The gap graphics wise between this plucky little machine and its main competitors will only increase with time. Note that I am not saying that the Wii won’t remain a viable industry player, but I highly expect that its current sales lead over the other systems will decrease significantly or possibly vanish entirely. As I said, it has peaked early because now is the time when the difference in hardware capabilities looks the smallest that it will ever look. The 360 will similarly start to experience some hurdles. The biggest challenge on its immediate horizon is that it won’t be able to use the “PS3 has no games” argument for much longer. The first few AAA titles for the PS3 will finally start trickling out in the next few months as games like Heavenly Sword and Lair hit the shelves. On the other flank, it will also feel pressures from the PC as so many of its games will be available for simultaneous release from that end. Fortunately for 360 owners, the system seems well positioned to meet these challenges as its fall lineup of games is one of the best I’ve seen in years. But it certainly won’t have the easy ride it had in its first year, where it was the only choice for gamers who wanted to get a jump start on the Next Generation of gaming. From here forward, it will have to work much harder to keep momentum and fight off challengers that just didn’t exist for its first twelve months of product life. And lastly we get to the PS3. The PS3 will finally start hearing some good news. First and foremost of course is that its going to be finally getting some of its exclusives and top shelf games coming. Anyone who is interested in seeing a lineup of them can go browse through the System Wars forums. I’m sure that you’ll find a dozen threads listing (with screen shots) the upcoming major titles for this system. I’m not here to market any individual system, so I’ll simply state that the two main things that are going to get the ball rolling for the PS3 are the aforementioned games that are coming and my next prediction. Bluray will eventually win the format war. Please note the word “eventually”. I don’t expect the situation between Bluray and HD-DVD to be resolved overnight, but I do expect that when the dust finally settles, Bluray will emerge as the dominant player in the industry. Whether or not we’ll end up with a situation similar to Cable/DSL where HD-DVD remains a viable presence in the marketplace or vanishes entirely ala Beta-Max remains to be seen. Many people when arguing for HD-DVD’s eventual victory inevitably point to the last time we had a format war over this sort of media, wherein the technologically inferior VHS ended up ousting the Sony preferred format Beta-Max. While it is tempting to jump to this comparison, because it is the most natural one to point at, I believe that the circumstances are vastly different this time around. For starters, the marketplace is different. Back when VHS was stomping all over Beta-Max, the concept of people being able to actually buy movies and watch them in the privacy of their own home whenever they chose was a relatively new one. The market was brand new, and frankly, consumers were not as educated as they are now. We are decades past that point, and pretty much everyone has at the very least a third rate DVD player in their home now. Then of course there are the movie studios, the ultimate driving force in this little fracas. When last I looked (and I have not followed this that closely so my information may be dated) of all the major movie studios only one, Universal, is exclusive to HD-DVD. Two others support both formats, and the rest of them support Bluray exclusively. Consider for a moment that the studios have to invest in all new equipment to support Bluray and do not have do make such an investment for HD-DVD, and we get a pretty clear indication of which format the studios are pushing for. I have a theory as to why this is as well. How many people out there have ever bought the “special edition” of something before? I must reluctantly call anyone who doesn’t have their hand raised right now a liar. We’ve all bought a special edition of something at some time or another. When we have a movie or a game that we really, really love or expect to love, we want all the extra bells and whistles to go along with it. I still have my ridiculous little Guy Fauwkes mask that came with my special edition of “V for Vendetta” just like I have my little volleyball from the special edition of “Bully”. I have no idea what I am going to do with either one, and I’ve never used either, but I own both. And guess what? Movie studios, just like game companies, make more money when they sell the special edition of anything. And that is why I think most of the movie studios are pushing Blu-ray disks. They have a ton more space on those disks (something like 50 gigs for a double sided Bluray vs 30 for a double-sided HD-DVD) to put all the extra junk that makes the extra money. Both the PS3 and the Xbox360 will continue to lose exclusives to each other. This one is a bit of a no-brainer. It costs a lot of money to make games. It doesn’t take that much extra to create ports of them to other systems. Ports to other systems add millions of potential purchasers of a particular game. Millions of extra purchasers equal a lot more money in game developers’ pockets. More money in game developer pockets equates to happier corporate overlords. One of the major stories over the last year was when game after game started going non-exclusive. At first, it was mainly the PS3 losing its titles one by one to the 360. Then the 360 started losing some of its titles in the other direction. Now, it is big news when 3rd party developers actually keep any games exclusive. Anyone who has seen the movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley” can see the direction that the gaming industry is going. At one point in the movie a young Bill Gates is visiting this computer manufacturer and the hardware guy tries strong-arming Bill, who then coldly replies something to the effect of “your computer is nothing more than just a box with blinking lights without my software.” Power in the industry is swinging back to the game developers. In the last generation of gaming, Sony was the 800 lb gorilla. It was such a dominant industry force that it could afford to push around the game developers because they needed Sony more than Sony needed them. Until the Xbox’s extremely late arrival on the scene, Sony had no real competition. (Sorry Nintendo fans, but the Gamecube just wasn’t a big enough presence to frighten Sony in the last generation.) This time around, with multiple strong systems for gamers to choose from, the game developers are the ones in the driving seat. They know it, and Sony is paying for its cavalier treatment of the developers last time around. I have little doubt in my mind that at least a couple of the early exclusive losses were the game developers firing a shot across Sony’s proverbial bow. It was a message they were sending. “Things are going to be a bit different this time around.” The Wii is in a bit of a unique presence here. Many of the games for the PS3 and the 360, particular as time continues to pass, will not be portable to the Wii. The Wii’s success will hinge entirely upon its ability to capitalize and expand on its unique gameplay/control scheme. Kobe Bryant will be in the NBA Finals next year. Those of you who aren’t interested in basketball can skip the rest of this blog. I just thought I’d throw a curve ball at you folks and toss out a non-gaming prediction. And I thought this was an interesting one because in my lifetime I’ve rarely seen anyone be as simultaneously loved and hated as this man. The very fact that he generates so much controversy makes him interesting to write about. What makes him so fascinating is his astonishing combination of unequaled talent, drive and determination and his completely single-minded selfishness and desire to win. I could do an entire blog on what makes this very complex personality tick, and half of the basketball fans who replied to me would be ripping me and half would be loving me, depending on what approach to writing about this man I chose to take. This is, by far, the longest shot of my 10 predictions. This is the Hail Mary pass of predictions. Pick an analogy and it will likely fit. Kobe hasn’t been out of the first round of the playoffs since the Lakers organization traded Shaq for about forty cents on the dollar and then proceeded to trade half of those forty cents (Caron Butler) for a nickel when they swapped him for Kwame freaking Brown. Here’s the thing though, I never said that Kobe would be in the NBA Finals next year with the Lakers. Yes, the Lakers have said that they aren’t trading Kobe. That is naïve. It ignores the power that NBA superstars have to force trades when they want them. It also ignores Kobe’s singular stubbornness. Not since Michael Jordan has the NBA had a player with the combination of talent, ego, and willpower as Kobe Bryant brings to the table.
One way or another, Kobe will force a trade. And the Lakers will trade him to an Eastern Conference team because they don’t want him in the same conference. If Lebron James and the poo poo platter of supporting parts and bad coaching he has around him on the Cavs can make it to the NBA finals in the Eastern Conference, expect Kobe and the Bulls to make it there next year.
And that’s it for my ten fearless predictions. I hope that you all enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed making them. If you disagree with what you’ve read here, remember that I can’t really tell the future any better than anyone else. I can only observe, and make predictions based on how I interpret what I observe. As always, I welcome comments and/or criticisms.

Good evening faithful Gamespotians. I am the great and mighty prophet Nostrajimus. One of the great advantages of making predictions with a long-term (defined in the modern era as being beyond two weeks) timeline is that you get all the credit of making a firm stance on something that hasn’t happened yet without any of the downside of people coming back and reminding you of how wrong your predictions turned out to be. (For further reference, look up the terms “Dick Cheney”, “Iraq” and “last throes”.) So I figure I have nothing to lose by making my own list of ten incredibly fearless predictions of things that I believe will happen over the next twelve months. Before I do so, I have a quick side note that needs to be stated. Spineless Disclaimer: As the more astute reader may have noticed, the word I used before the word “predictions” above was “fearless”. It wasn’t “popular” or even “accurate”. The word was fearless. This means that if you disagree with these predictions, well, I’d love to hear your reasoning but do try and keep it civil. I have a job and a girlfriend already, which means I’ve already heard all the many, many ways that I can be called an idiot that mankind has invented over the years. Without further ado, onto the predictions! There will be increased scrutiny of how video games are rated and marketed, particularly in the U.S. This is the least fearless of my predictions by a long shot. While it may be tempting to believe that with the more liberal Democrats in control over Congress for at least the next year and a half we’ll see a relaxing of the scrutiny the industry receives over the contents of its products, this would be a faulty assumption. While it is true that in most areas, Republicans tend to be a bit more into legislating morality, Democrats are not far behind their counterparts when it comes to scoring easy political points at the demonized video game industry’s expense. Several of the more prominent Democrats out there, such as Hillary Clinton and Joe Liebermann (though some would argue the latter is no longer a Democrat) are among the biggest crusaders against mature content in video games. A simple search on gamespot reveals that hardly a day goes by without some new article about the scrutiny of the industry. With Republicans aching to get control of Congress back and Democrats practically orgasming at the thought of getting the White House back, both sides will be doing everything possible to grab up the “values voters” demographic. Sorry everyone. Japanese game developing will continue its decade long slow decline in the face of stiff competition from America and Europe. Let’s play a little game. What is the first name that comes to your mind when you think of a top-tier game developer? If you’re around thirty years old or older, then chances are you’re thinking of a Japanese company. If you’re in your mid-twenties or younger then you’re probably thinking of a company in the U.S. or Canada. I’m closer to thirty than I am to twenty. And I grew up with Square (now Square Enix), Capcom, Konami, etc. as the guys who made the best games. However, that has gradually changed over the last decade or so. The shift has been slow, but these days well over half of the best game design companies in the world are on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. I’m talking about Bioware, Bethesda, Bungie, Take-Two/Rockstar, Blizzard, Ubisoft and EA. (Okay, maybe I threw that last one out there just to see if you were paying attention.) The biggest reason for this is innovation. The Japanese names I mentioned haven’t trotted out anything new since I was a teenager. Don’t get me wrong, I love some of the games from Japan more than my beloved pet cat. I cut my video game teeth on Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior. But let’s face facts folks, Square Enix hasn’t trotted out an original idea in about a decade. It tweaks its existing stuff and character archetypes just enough to make it seem new, slaps on some new textures and a couple of CGI cutscenes, then repackages and ships it out. Final Fantasy XII may as well have listed George Lucas in the credits. In fact, if I was Mr. Lucas I would have sued for about twenty different copyright infringements. It amazes me that more people don’t make the connection between the rise of American based game design companies and the success of the mostly American based Xbox 360. Moving on. The next twelve months will kick off the Year of the RPG. At last! At long last! The last year and a half have been, shall we say, a little on the dry side when it comes to quality rpg titles for the new generation of video games. While shooter, sports and even racing fans have been gorging on the feast of quality titles that have been presented to them, rpg fans have been quietly sitting back and cursing them all into the deepest, darkest corner of hell we’ve been so jealous. No longer! The next 12 months have an absolute bonanza of highly anticipated titles coming up. Blue Dragon Eternal Sonata Final Fantasy XIII The Last Remnant Lost Odyssey Mass Effect Two Worlds The Witcher Fable 2 The list goes on and on. But the reason I’m as excited as the school nerd who just found out that the head cheerleader has agreed to go to the prom with him is that nearly all of these upcoming rpg games look really good. The names I mentioned are merely a handful, and it is already a murderer’s row lineup. I’m three weeks away from taking my Swedish girlfriend back to Sweden so she can be married near her family, and then going on a honeymoon on the Mediterranean coastline in Spain, and all I can think about is how much Mass Effect is going to rock. Mass Effect will be the Game of the Year from Gamespot. Mass Effect is going to be the best game released over the next twelve months period. Notice again that I did not say that it would be the most popular. I said it would be the best. Others may suggest other games. You’ll hear people mention Halo 3, Final Fantasy XIII or Assassin’s Creed or several other top contenders. Those people would be wrong. I am right. Why am I so certain? I have two reasons. First and foremost, last year Oblivion got robbed of the game of the year award in one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen outside of a rigged boxing ring. Don’t get me wrong. Gears of War was, and is, an excellent game. However it was not nearly as breathtakingly innovative, daring, and expansive as Oblivion was. Gears of War was great, but so were a dozen or so other shooter titles released around the same time. GeOW did not bring anything to the table that hadn’t been brought before. And second, because Bioware is pulling out all the stops here. Bioware is, hands down, the Ferrari of game developers. It is Michael Jordan on steroids. Name a badly rated Bioware game. Go ahead and try. I dare you. You can’t do it because there are none. Bioware is the gold standard for consistent greatness, and this is Bioware’s first foray into the new generation of video game consoles. Anyone who isn’t tracking this game should do so. Anyone who doesn’t get half a chubby at the trailers that Bioware has released needs a quick shot of Viagra because something is definitely wrong with their man-parts. The gaming industry will continue its slow journey of discovery with regards to women. If you want to laugh your hind parts off for ten full minutes then listen closely and do exactly as I say. First, find yourself a video game playing girlfriend, or at least a girl willing to pretend to be one in order for a good joke. Second, have them go into a video game store. Follow them in and lurk nearby as the girl approaches the counter. Then, have the girl tell the pale faced dude behind the counter that she would like to cancel her preorder of Mass Effect. Last, watch the reaction and listen to the ensuing conversation closely. This is what I did recently. The reaction was astonishingly funny. For the record, before I go any further, the reason my girlfriend and I were cancelling our preorder is that we have a friend who works for Microsoft that can get us the game for a lot cheaper than retail. So we switched our preorder to Bioshock. In any event, the reaction was about what you’d expect. It was dumbfounded amazement that A) A girl was in a video game store B) She actually knew what Mass Effect was and could talk about it intelligently and C) Wanted to actually cancel a preorder of what will likely be the Game of the Year. The gaming industry has come a long way in how it portrays women in gaming. Much of this growth can be directly attributed to the rise of Western game developers that have slightly different cultural ideas about women. But it is astonishing how female gamers are still treated like unicorns, beautiful creatures that are wonderful to dream about but don’t really exist. This point was driven home quite well by my girlfriend when she sat with me watching me play the demo of Overlord recently off of Xbox Live.

“Why can’t you play an Overlady instead?” And you know what? She’s right. I do predict that games like Heavenly Sword will continue to slowly break down the stereotype that in order to be tough and “macho” you need to have a specific set of breeding equipment only found in the male gender.

That’s it for today. Watch for part two of my predictions in a day or two when I'll make predictions about PC gaming, exclusives, the console war between the three major consoles, the format war between HD-DVD and Bluray and one final surprise topic.

I've gone ahead and posted a Devil May Cry review. It is such a followed series that after finally playing one of the games in the series, I felt the need to question some of the thoughts so many others have about the game. Frankly, I'm stunned. Indeed, nearly (except for the review and this blog post) speechless. Anyway, no comments necessary on this blog post. I'll put up a real one sometime fairly soon.

Won $460 this week. Not the best win ever, but hey, it is certainly better than losing.

Edit for Saturday Night:

Now that's more like it! I went and played poker again tonight (after spending all day with Chili so she didn't feel neglected) and came away with $1040 in additional profit, bringing my total for the weekend to $1500. I am quite pleased with the results and no longer feel quite so guilty about buying that Westy.