From the days of Royal Rumble on the MegaDrive ( what is a sega genesis anyway), to the days of No mercy and Legends Of Wrestlemania, Wrestling games have been the contant theme to collect dust on my shelf from old to new consoles. From Wcw vs Nwo Revenge, i have always kept up my own "season mode", by writing down on paper matches that i preformed from tv shows too ppvs for a whole year. On the 64 came wwf wrestlemania 2000, i had my own version of the wwf sprouting from 199-2003, every single match was played and every PPV was recorded. SO it was a joyful day when i noticed something called a GM mode in the wwe's 05 release ( smackdown vs raw 06). The mode gave me a yearlong template to simulate my own wwe. I have to admit that i was a bit annoyed about only having a roster of 20 wrestlers to churn out ,matches each week, but it was still a blast and the o7 release made it more interesting by making it more competetive against the opposing brand, even if that other brand did resort to have gimmick matches every 2nd match to get high ratings. wwe smackdown vs raw 08 lifted the game, by making the off days where there wasnt a show, even more important. Builinf popularity was easier and more realistic, by not only training your future star with mic skills but also exposing him to the public via autograph sessions. But alas, my hope that the mode would flourish even more was shot down over the skies of melbourne, as 09 failed to even include the mode. I understand that the mode was'nt as popular for the magority of the fanbase, but common i dont want to resort to writing on paper again. Please THQ , Please Yukes, include the mode that time forgot in this years edition. Xeroker out.

Crackdown was released in 2007 for the Xbox 360, and Xbox 360 alone. As i finally, made a tardy entrance into the world of the 7th generation console wars. I felt that i had rushed my decision to buy a 360 since there was nothing standing out with the games to purchase. PGR3 looked great, but a racer is a racer. And games like GTA4 and Ninja Gaiden II might of been taking the world by storm, but i just dont get the senseless violence and vulgar content that the offer. Shooters like Halo3, Call of Duty 4 and Gears of War were just not my glass of milk... (...well not yet at least) So what was there to blow my mind? very little. but one of my first games surely did blow it to pieces. Crackdown was the quentessential 7th gen game. Diving head first into a world of beautiful visuals, long draw distances and physics that were insalenly over the top and fun to exploit. Crackdown provided so many hours of good old fun that was tough to beat. the game quickly became my favourite gaming expiernce of my life, topping former placeholders Max Payne, GTA III, No Mercy and WWF Royal Rumble. Any questions wether the 360 was worth the time and 400 bucks was quickly answered as Crackdown was insanely beautiful and fun to waste time and kick some serious butt. Rocket Launching off rooftops, of hopping from one high rise to the next was great, taking out gang members in some comically aggressive ways. there was nothing like throwing a downed member into a sea of his co horts or shot putting him off a bride into the water below. The game also introduced me to the joys of achievements, and those particular achievements were the best and funnest ones to "achieve" even to this day. But where did it all go wrong, one day my game save was reported corrupted, all that skill building and time wasted. Apparently there is some bug out there, or was a bug that would corrupt crackdown game saves. The thing is, that i couldnt start a new save on my beloved gamertag, because they game would freeze as it couldnt comprehend each time it loaded a new game that i somehow had all these achievements but had done nothing in the game yet. This caused me to have to make a dedicated gamertag for crackdown, but alas the time hasn't yet come where i can put down the latest release games, and start from scratch. Im sure the time will come, and when it does it will be a blast. With Crackdown 2 annoucned soon, it might come sooner or later that i will replay the original. And i certainly do hope that there is no buggs floating around that will attack the sequals game saves.

I had heard alot of crap said about the new terminator game, but i can tell you i had a blast with the nifty by the numbers shooter from GRIN. After playing Bionic Commando, i felt like i should never rent another sub part release again, but whilst Salvation does'nt break down the barriers of instant 10/10 allstar shooter that the COD series seems to do on a year to year basis ( Thats if you consider 2007-2008 a year to year basis), It gets the job done as a shooter that can waste a few hours, but as long as it only costs a few dollars. The only dissapointing thing about terminator salvation, is that some genius at Grin Or whoever the publisher is, thought that this 5 hour tops game should be worth full retail price. Listen to me, why should i pay 99.99 Aussie dollars, for a game i can finish and milk gamerscore in just 5 hours for 5.95 at my lock western melbourne suburbian Blockbuster. The game gets it done, it makes flanking a necessity and not just an option, but who is the genius who thought some bonehead will decide to put down 55 USD or 99 AUD for a 5 hour by the numbers thrill ride. Their should be a market for the gaming rental industry, where game developers create games specially suited for a weekend rental, because they are doing it already with titles like Terminator Salvation, Mirrors Edge, SW Force unleashed, and Wheelman, but they are still hoping for a revenue income of full retail per head. Reviewing sites, magazines and late night community tv produced gaming shows are going to give a game a score based on a "paying full RRP" mentality, and thats why the games are getting a whopping 5/10. THink about it.