The Week of No Gaming Made Me Feel Accomplished

I finished my week of no gaming at midnight on New Years Eve.

I did not play a game until 10am that morning and that game ended up being Castle Crashers. I later played the demo of World of Goo on the Mac and I think that I will end up buying that game though I do not fully grasp it yet. I think the art and style of the game is what has me sold.

As I was playing I was thinking that playing after not playing for a while did not feel climactic. I think I expected to feel something more than, "Oh, okay, I am playing again." It is possible that I am not as addicted as I thought but I am just probably not reacting to this feeling - the same way it is for me when it comes to everything else in life.

I find that I want to play too many games at the same time still. I want to play Fallout, Left 4 Dead, some Horde in GOW2, Prince of Persia (don't even own it), Mirror's Edge (also do not have it).

I also want to make my GOTY post but I do feel like I am qualified, though in the end I think I am just going to make it based on what I have played. I also want to go through the games that I have played this year/played to completion but that is more for myself than anyone else (though I am sure you are gripping your seat at the prospect of knowing). I do find that I like to see the lists of games played by others, just the same as always hoping that your favorite game made the GOTY post of your favorite blog. It is nice to know that people that you relate to relate to you on an even closer level.

So I am playing again and even though I have no desire to play anything right now (I really still have to finish that book) I'll see you on LIVE.

Day 6: Complete; Day 7: In Progress

Before I say anything about anything else I would like to say that the recent Left 4 Dead news has made me happy. I was fairly doubtful that the news could be this good. According to Kotaku, versus mode is coming to the remaining two campaigns and new campaigns are coming also. The best part of the news is that this DLC is coming out on the same day for both the PC and the XBOX. I am rolling all over the floor salivating because of this and I'll say right here that even though everyone is saying that this content should be free... I will pay at least ten bucks for it. My predictions are two more campaigns and versus on all of the campaigns. Fun, Fun, Fun. F is for friends who do stuff tog-

Okay! Enough of that and more about this.

Yesterday passed uneventful though instead of reading (which I mostly prefer to do on the train) I watched far too much of The Office: Season 3. I feel like I have cheated myself a little bit because I do not know if I am going to have adequate time enough to finish the book. I love the book, don't get me wrong, it is just as though the author is still writing it as I continue to read. I hope that the ending is as good as the rest of the book because I would rather it didn't just end. This is the book that does not end yes it goes on and on my frie-

Okay enough with breaking off into song.

Tonight will be the hardest part of all: New Year's Eve. Rock Band, Scene It!, Left 4 Dead, and others are all up for the playing and I will not be part of it until the ball drops. What a shame.

I will survive... and you will enjoy the festivities.

Matt's Top Ten Of 2008

In all honesty, I thought this was pretty hard to do. I went on to Wikipedia and looked at the list of all games released in 2008 and realized how much I had actually played. I really played a lot of games this year. Furthermore, I was really disappointed by a lot of games this year. Army Of Two should have been much more fun than it was, for example, and don't get me started on Alone In The Dark. After I had gone through the giant list of games into the list of games I thought would stand a chance, I was left with a pretty disappointing list. Honestly, and this might sound odd, but I don't think some of the games on my list deserve to be on my list. The reason for this is that I feel that, while I enjoyed these games, that the games that make a Top Ten list should be much more epic in scale than some of the games I picked. However, when it comes down to it, these really are just the most fun I've had in video games through out the year. So without further ado, I bring you my Top Ten of 2008.

10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots

Let me start by saying: I did not beat this game. I have no way to. I don't own a PS3. But I did play it for a short time, and I have watched it being played. A guy I worked with bought it, and we went to his house down the street from where we worked and played for an hour on our lunch break. Now, while I do not know the end of the game, I do know two things about this game. The first is that it is beyond epic. BEYOND epic. The second thing I know is that the scale of this game is so extraordinarily huge that the fact it is not popping up on more top ten lists makes me sad. So I decided it would be my number 10 as a reminder that yes, this game happened, and it's hour and a half long ending owned you. It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but it is a game that is important to remember as it completely aims to blur the line between gameplay experience and cinematic experience. Some might hate that, but I think it's important.

9. Fable II
8. Penny Arcade Adventures Episodes 1 and 2
7. Too Human
6. Mirror's Edge
5. Castle Crashers
4. Dead Space

All of these games are arguable as to whether or not they deserve list status. Two of these games (technically three) are just XBOX Live Arcade games. But I think they all stand the test. I am not a huge fan of Fable II but it was fun. And all of the other games are repeat play through games for me. Dead Space was amazingly fun, as well as Mirror's Edge and Too Human, and I think a lot of people looked over these games. Too Human had it's share of flaws, sure, but that game was amazingly fun and worth multiple play throughs. Plus, both it and Mirror's Edge are just the first of their trilogies, so the bugs in both those games can be worked out for sequels. I have faith.

3. Braid

This game is phenomenal. If you didn't play it, I feel bad for you. It's a bit of a high concept thing, but my God was it a brain challenger. I like puzzle games for the most part, and this one had me feeling bad about how I couldn't do some of the puzzles. I had my girlfriend, who is good with puzzles, sit down and make an attempt at it, and she just faltered. That made me feel all that much better about having completed it. When you beat Braid, you join a special club of braggers. You get to sit there and watch other people play it and say, "Oh, it's not that hard. Look, the answer is right there." Braid is 100% phenomenal.

2. Left 4 Dead

The game known as Left 4 Dead is the game you will probably catch me playing the most in the new year. Talk about being open for multiple play throughs! That's all this game is! You keep playing it with newer and newer people, and each time the gameplay is different. I don't know what else you could want from a game. Not to mention the fact that if you put the game on it's hardest setting you're going to have the most insanely fun zombie experience ever.

1. Fallout 3

If you didn't see this coming, you're an idiot.

And that's just about it. I'd also like to nominated Imagine: Party Babyz for creepiest game of the year. Seriously. Party babys?

Day 5: Thinking About What I Will Be Playing

The best thing that happened today was when I read, "Your Party Stands Before the Cave of Tits." Please pardon my language on this one though I would like to believe that anyone who is reading this is above any age that matters.

Lately - or for the past few days - I have been thinking about what my first game to play is going to be. The obvious go to game would probably be Fallout 3 but I have been considering Castle Crashers since the title update has gone live. Everyone I know who has this game needs to get on board with this because I want to play with four players throughout the whole game... in one shot. I am sure some Gears of War will occupy my time along with some Left 4 Dead with some friends. So I have a fairly good idea it is just a matter of what lands in the disk tray, so to speak, first.

As an afterthought I have also been thinking of playing World of Goo on my Mac.

And another thing that I have also been thinking about is the possibility of using a Zune as extra storage for my Xbox. It would not only give me extra Xbox storage, it would give me an excuse to finally have a Zune.

Day 4: Not Yet Hard, Still Too Busy

Yesterday passed uneventful but the night before that I was asked if a wanted to play Scene It! Box Office Smash.

Naturally I declined but it did not help that the person asking was Matt, the other writer for the blog (ask him where his entries are). He didn't push the issue but I knew it would come up when he came over. We ended the night in a game a Scrabble (the real board version folks) in which I got my hind quarters handed to me before I gave up. In my defense I was tired but what kind of excuse is that?

I have still been following the news daily but nothing is going on so I have been bored with that. The only interesting thing that has been going on is this, this, this and maybe this. For the last one scroll to the bottom to see the picture I am talking about.

I have still been reading my book and I am progressing quite nicely though I still have a good bit to go. I have to buckle down if I am to finish.

I feel like I have less to write when I am not playing but that should not be true.