Okay, so I'm a cheap gamer. I've only bought Halo 3 new on the console, and that was because the special edition was on sale at walmart for the low low price of $59. And I absolutely had to have that helmet. So when black friday rolled around, I didn't think there would be anything worth buying. Sadly for my wallet, there was.

To start things off, Amazon had the sale of the year that started at 12AM PST (2AM Local). There were meny decent games, including Fallout 3 for $30, and none really looked all that tasty. Until I kept scanning the SlickDeals post and wandered across the PC sale list. My eyes lit up and I saw Left 4 Dead at a mere $19. I knew it was going to be a long night. As my clock hit the 2AM mark, I added two to the cart (for a friend, plus free Super Saver Shipping) and went to bed.

Good thing SlickDeals is bookmarked, as again on Saturday I found another stunning deal posted- Buy 2 Used Games, Get 1 Free at Gamestop. In addition to that, there was a 16% off used games code and free shipping. In addition for that, I had a $40 GS gift card burning a hole in my pocket, and knew that was about to change. I have only heard stellar things about Mass Effect, so that was first on my list. Additionally, I picked up Frontlines: Fuel of War and Battlefield 2:Modern Combat for a grand total of $40.58 shipped.

Needless to say I shall be entertained on Xbox Live and Steam this holiday season. Hit me up on XBL: thetonyweapon or Steam: dogballer1, let me know you're from GS and we'll party up!

I'm watching this Gears 2 marathon and I am currently not overwhelmed like I was with the Halo 3 playthrough. It seems to me that it's more like COD5- basically COD4 with a few tweaks (COD5's case just re-skinned guns). GoW is not that bad from what I've seen, as there are some nice adds on the multiplayer side. Perhaps it's my disdain for third person shooters, though. Hopefully GoW 2 will cause a drop in the price of a used GoW so that I can properly enjoy the multiplayer asset. Perhaps it will grow on me, and it will allow me to see the differences that only people who have played a lot of the game will notice. That's what I hope, because it looks like an awesome game.

Oh. My. Geezus. I can already feel the money coming out of my stash. It's not necessarily the content of the video that makes me excited, it's just the idea that Bungie is back in action with a new game that gets me pumped. But the video is extremely good as well, and makes a compelling argument for tha game before anything other than this, the title, and the character's rank have been released.

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Simply awesome. If I were forced to describe the redesign in fifteen words or less, I'd only need those two. The reviews page looks more professional and refined, the video player is integrated much better, and the added content just makes me visit the page more. However, with more content typically comes more clutter, and fortunately GS looks much more clean than before. Thumbs up!

Today I wound up on the frontlines of Battlefield 2142. It had been a while, so after the endless amount of time waiting for the 1.5 update, I was pleasantly suprised at the new game. Sure, it had been a few months, but WOW. This is a whole new ballgame!

I saw the rather disappointing review by Chris Watters, 8.5. I figured i better say a few words. Firstly, calling it expensive? Chris, the majority of people buying TF2 are those who don't know the game very well, or new to gaming. They are the ones who have money to burn and heard there's this cool Steam thing that gives you games on demand. I'd say greater than 70% of people bought the game as part of The Orange Box (which was a full point better on the PC at 9.5 and an editor's choice), and probably about 90% who have visited GameSpot or similar sites. That game was 'value-priced' according to Jeff Gerstmann. Now, I don't have a problem, really with you calling it expensive, but when you detract points because of such a debatable reason, you're gonna get slammed. It really should be reviewed as part of the whole. That's not my biggest issue with the review, however, as there was another, more pressing issue.

That would be the majority of criticisms in the written review itself: multiplayer.

Still, many a team has fallen to defeat due to dissonant strategy, and as such Team Fortress 2's biggest strength is also its biggest liability. Your success is tied to your team's success and, in part, so is your enjoyment of the game. Just as being part of a fluid, coordinated team is truly excellent, so too is being part of a fractured, dysfunctional team truly frustrating. These are two extremes, to be sure, but such is the inconsistent nature of a game experience that depends so wholly on other players.

This is truly frustrating for a player to read. This game is multiplayer. As with all multiplayers, if you are in a game that teams suck, the experience will suck. Thus, the reverse is also true. However, if you take points away from a game like this, you must, then also take points away from EVERY multiplayer game.

Still, Team Fortress 2 is a purely multiplayer game and, as such, lives and dies by the team.

There are very few other criticisms.

This is my take. Team Fortress 2 is simply the best multiplayer game available to date. Better than Call of Duty 4, better than Gears of War, and better, yes, than Halo 3. The game hides the complexity of a strategy game behind the cartoony screen of a FPS. The depth of each character, which Watters discusses in depth in his review but talks only briefly about, is amazing, and the way they interact with each other makes the game truly special.

"The team is only as strong as its weakest link", the saying goes. After reading this review, Watters seems to think that TF2 is the weakest part of The Orange Box; almost to a point where it is dragging the collection as a whole down. It, however is far from it. This is the type of game that makes being a gamer so rewarding. Perhaps this is evidenced by the other two reviews: a 9.2 from 12 other paid critics, and a 9.1 from the most important demographic: gamers (1,727 at last count).

Just got through Assassin's Creed a bit, quite a game, but it is rather dissapointing that there is no multiplayer type game. Though after a little thought, nothing comes to mind what actually would be multiplayer. Hypocrite.

Recently found a new place for Forza 2 on the playlist. It really is superb, however it is generally not advisable to play after a session with Burnout Paradise. The way the cars handle is really an achievement in game design.

Off topic for Gamespot, but i do love how all my pages about the web are largely linked to automatically updating, especially the XML feed for this, but even better than that is the way Twitter works throughout the web.

Played through one game on with two enemy AI's set at easy. Woweeee, this is quite an intricate game. I've learned to at least fortify one planet just in case, because (as it is realistic), it takes the forces quite some time to recover. That being said, this game is so much different than C&C 3 and World in Conflict. It's quite different, in fact. It's a refreshingly different look on strategy, and I must admit it is quite fun. Gotta go play some more!

Just found this 360voice.com page and must say it i s ingenious. It uses the stats from my 360 and from mygamercard.net to actually blog! Mine's here.

That's just an example of what it can do.

Just after the COD4 purchase, Amazon has a sale on The Orange Box for PC, so I had to buy it. Only $24! And a friend let me loan Gears of War for the weekend, so thiis is gonna be one crazzy day.