In April of 2009, I was very enthusiastic about posting to a blog on Gamespot. For two years after that I apparently didn't care. Now, in the wake of playing one of the most convoluted and ridiculous games I've come across in a while, I have returned.

I just finished playing a game called The 3rd Birthday. You can read my review, if you like. In fact, you probably should. The game has the kind of title that can keep consumers from buying it. The marketing for the game was fairly nonexistent, so only the most staunch Parasite Eve fans even know about it. In fact, I wouldn't have heard of it had it not randomly popped up on my GameFly recommendations page. If you have a PSP, it's a game you should play. First, it's got an entertaining combat system. Second, you really need to understand why I hate Japanese story writers. These two things combine to make The 3rd Birthday fairly satisfying and yet utterly disappointing all at once. It truly is the ultimate paradox as far as game quality is concerned.

So what does that have to do with a blog? I like to write. I like to write about things that make me angry. I also like to write about things that amuse and entertain me. I write about what I like and I write about things I hate. I write about things that make me happy and things that piss me off. Writing about video games is perfect for all these reasons.

Don't make the mistake of assuming I think anyone cares about my opinion. I may be writing on a blog, but I'm not a blogger. Bloggers are the people who mistakenly think their opinions matter. I am just a video game fan who wants to communicate with other video game fans, and who will hopefully drag some of my non-gamer friends into our realm.

So, this is my pledge: while I am able to write and post on Gamespot, I will be providing regular updates about the games I am playing. When I finish a game, regardless of which game it is, I will post a review. Updates should be fairly frequent, barring deployments and training.

Oh, that's right. I've been gone a while so this hasn't been discussed. I'm joining the Army. That means I don't have time to waste on bad games or rude people. While that excludes most games and many gamers- especially the Call of Duty people- there is still a large contingent with which I can entertain myself. But my patience will be shorter than usual when it comes to wastes of time.

All that said, I need this outlet. I have no hopes of becoming an employee of Gamespot or a regular guest writer or whatever it is this community does with its best and brightest. There are far more ambitious, if less talented, gamers on the site. Let them have the glory. For my part, I just want to enjoy my time.

4:00 AM CST

I'm awake. Haven't slept at all, in fact. In eager anticipation of the new survival pack for Left 4 Dead, I'm running on the hopes and dreams of so many childhood Christmases, looking for that one amazing present hidden under the proverbial tree. And yet, nothing.

4:10 AM CST

Still nothing. The release date is today, I know, and the time was ten minutes ago. What's a few minutes in the scheme of hours of fantastic game play?

4:15 AM CST

The content is finally available. Fifteen minutes is totally forgivable, considering the effort Valve went through to make the content free. I start the download and go to fetch a drink.

4:30 AM CST

I'm in front of the XBox again, content is downloaded and the game is running.

And there's no update. Surely you jest.

There is little more frustrating than staying up all damn night to download and play the much anticipated content released for a favorite game, only to find that it doesn't work. If there was one thing that really needed to be fixed, it would be the installation issues with the new survival pack. It took me no less than an hour and fifteen minutes to get the patch running so I could actually play. By the time I actually jumped into survival mode, the sun was nearing the horizon and my wife was waking up. Not only would I have to face the deadliest, most tenacious horde of infected ever, I would have to contend with sleep deprivation and an unhappy spouse.

But it was worth it.

While I have had less than an hour of actual play time on the new versus maps, and my best time for survival mode is seven minutes and three seconds, I can easily attest that there will be hours and hours of giddy replay on the new content. Sadly, I can't offer much of a review yet save to say that the lack of experience on Dead Air and Death Toll Versus has evened the playing field and made it much more exciting. Unfortunately, my play time was hindered by the need for sleep, to which I finally succumbed after struggling through an uneven match on Dead Air.

5:20 PM CST

Once more into the breach. Check back later for a full review.