Remember when I talked about sequels? Yeah, of course. That was a great blog, I thought.

Of course their website isn't updated yet, but they do have a nice article about how Fallout fans were reacting to Fallout 3.

Some overlap there - it amused me. Remember: you heard it on GamersInfo.net first!

Lured over to Time magazine online by a story talking about mental health for Mets fans (I'm not a Mets fan, but I find the offer high-larry-ess) I saw another story entitled "A Surge in Cop Killings".

Another coincidence: While reading a gaming magazine this weekend, I read an interview with David Grossman, who has worked on games such as Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max. There was a line in there about how he has the same name as an anti-video game crusader known as Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.

I hadn't heard of him (or, if I had, I'd forgotten about him, probably thanks to Jack Thompson overload). Then I read that article.

=> Read more!

At least, I think I am. They just don't respect me as a person anymore. It's always sad when a relationship dies.

=> Read more!

Halo games make me dizzy, to the point where sometimes I actually want to throw up. I've only played Halo and Halo 2 multiplayer, since there was no way I was going to go through an entire campaign. Although now that Halo 3 is out, it's prettier, it's smoother, I was thinking of actually giving the campaign mode a try. I had played the beta and it was fun, so I figure this was my chance to jump on the Halo bandwagon.

But I also wanted to review Halo 3, and I felt that if I did, I should probably play Halo and Halo 2 first. This was Friday, I figured if I played all weekend, I might actually be able to get through at least one of them.

=> Read more!

My eagerness for next week has me thinking back to a couple of weeks ago.

Next week is, of course, the release of Halo 3 on September 25. A couple of weeks ago was when I set out to buy myself a copy of Medal of Honor: Airborne on its release date.

Only...it wasn't really a release date.

And that, to me, is a perfect symbol of where the video game industry is lagging behind more established entertainment industries such as movies on DVD.

=> Read more!

I think the introduction of the Wii was the most revolutionary change to the whole idea of console gaming that I've ever seen. In the past, gamers picked up consoles and bought the games and play went on as it has, from platform to platform, going back to someone's first Pong game.

The Wii is a different animal. Families are playing the Wii - not just the gamer subset. My parents are both 74. They are not traditional gamers. Sure, they've played cards and whatnot, but they're not computer gamers. They're not computer users at all. My dad does a little computer - but it's work, not recreation. These are not people that would have dreamed of spending their free time either on a computer or playing a game hooked up to a TV. My parents bought a Wii! (My mother told me about their shopping trip. She told my dad she wanted to buy the Wii. He told her she didn't have to buy it for him. She told him, "I'm not buying it for you. I'm buying it for me!")

When I first got my Wii, I had to bribe my mother to bowl with me by doing an exercise tape with her. Both of us considered this an onorous chore and were willing to make the sacrafice for the good of the other. My parents both discovered they love bowling on the Wii. They were league bowlers for many, many, many years (and have a shelf full of trohpies to show their dedication). Physically, going to the bowling alley hasn't been a good idea for my mom the last several years. She has back issues and doesn't need to aggravate them with bowling. With the Wii, she can bowl again. She's even been trying baseball and tennis.

I took the Wii when I went camping with family. I have a cousin (in his 60s) that has a motor skill disability with his left arm/hand. This has kept him from participating in a lot of activities he might have enjoyed. Along with keeping him from regular sports, he can't play games with controllers or keypads that require the use of his left hand. He was able to bowl with the Wii. He loved it! I wouldn't be surprised if Santa brought his family a Wii for Christmas this year.

How many console games have you seen where the entire family can have fun together? (yeah, hear those chirping crickets)

Yes, the Wii can certainly be a one person game where you play the traditional titles with a somewhat different interface, but the real genius is the ability to bring a family together in play.

Huzzah to the Wii! Viva la revolucion!

I'm not sure if it's the location, but I haven't touched the Wii since the last time I played Mario Party 8 when I had people over. Not only that, it seems that the ONLY time I end up playing with the Wii is when I have people over who want to play video games. It's sitting there more as a guest entertainment tool than for my own enjoyment.

I wonder if I ever liked the Wii. I wasn't the one who wanted to camp for it the first day it came out. I never spent hours on it. I played awhile during Thanksgiving last year and the next day I had to take pain killers to stop this shooting pain that was in my arm. I've been wanting to give Super Paper Mario and Zelda a shot, but I haven't really started either of them.

Maybe I haven't been able to try enough games on them. So far it's only been a lot of Wii Sports, Wii Play, Super Monkey Ball and Mario Party 8. Maybe I need to change it up a little, maybe I need Wii fit or something, but right now I'm not sure if I can think of any games I want to play on it. I can't wait for Super Smash Bros however, maybe I'll start playing then. But once again, it's not a game I'd likely play on my own.

I want to like the Wii, and maybe it does boil down to the location, since I'm usually upstairs and the Wii is downstairs, but I find myself more likely to play PS2 games these days than the 360 or the Wii.

There's something about being online that manages to keep people captivated to the point where the world can go on without them knowing it. Whether it's the never-ending slew of information or the ability to communicate with anyone and everyone, when you combine the internet and video games, that's a recipe for a new addiction.

Having spent a good portion, if not my entire high school life playing MUDs (text-based MMOs) I made a deal with myself to not play any online games anymore. It's too easy to get involved, sucked in to the point where you lose all concept of time. I was never able to play moderately, mostly because these games don't allow moderate playing unless you want really slow progress.

Other than sleeping, there aren't that many activities that can keep me fixated for more than 8 hours, yet online games can do it. For my own health and well being, I stay clear of online games, not because I don't enjoy them, but out of fear of enjoying them too much. It's really too easy to let your life slip away and realize that days have gone by and you don't have anything to show for it except maybe 20 levels.

There are too many people who have let jobs and relationships slip away because they can't control the amount of time that they play. It really is too bad. I always thought, when I was a teenager, that when I 'grew up' I wouldn't be caught dead playing these games. But there are people who are retired, or people with families who play online to relax. Personally online games stress me out more than anything. I'm sure there are many who are able to play casually, and have a great time doing so as one of their many hobbies.

Maybe it depends on the game, and it depends on the person. I hear that WoW is for the pick up and play type of players, but I also know too many people who have given up jobs and their real lives to play that game 24/7. I wonder how people do manage to balance a real life and an online one?

My cost for Medal of Honor: Airborne and Bioshock (both for 360) after my turn-ins?

Negative $2.23.

(Which went towards the remaining $100+ of my Halo 3 pre-order.)

Sweet!

It's one of those weird things about getting older. You make more money, but you have less money to spend on things like video games.

I find my money going away - meals, insurance, taxes, eyeball zapping surgery, airline tickets, hotel rooms, parties, parking, all kinds of little things that add up to lots of money.

And I look over and say, hey, I want that game, but do I sixty dollars want that game?

There's a way around it, too - one that, in my younger days, I'd never do.

Sell back my old video games.

But it can be so hard to do.

I have a thing about media. I never throw away books or CDs. I keep them for, well, forever. The only CD I've ever really sold was a Damn Yankees CD someone had planted in my car (and no, not the one with High Enough) in high school. I tried to sell Chris Connelly's Phenobarb Bambalam, which I bought by accident after mixing him up with Chris Cornell (and assuming that I'd like it after listening to too much Ministry) but now, after the record store laughed at me and about a decade later, I kind of like that album. A little bit.

It's on my iPod, but then again, every CD I own is on my iPod. Including such classics as Green Jelly's Cereal Killer soundtrack, the entire Smithsonian collection of classic jazz, the 1992 Florida State University marching band CD, and the soundtrack to Jurassic Park. Plus a lot of other music. But I digress.

So I hate getting rid of things. Even the worst books I own I still re-read occasionally (such as Virtual Death) just to make myself feel better about my attempts at writing. Sure, I haven't been published - yet - but at least I haven't inflicted some of the books that I've read in the past on the public.

Anyways, so I hate getting rid of some things. It took me forever to give up some video games, and ironically, it really helped when I started writing for GamersInfo to encourage me to get rid of games. I laughed at the cashier when he gave me $1 for my copy of Stolen.

But everytime I go through my collection of games, I find it hard to get rid of some games.

This time I'm getting ready to go get a copy of Bioshock (yes, yes, I've been lazy in getting it) and Medal of Honor: Airborne. I figure that I should clear out some of my 360 games I don't play. So I take a look.

Tenchu Z? That's an easy choice.
Forza Motorsport 2? I just can't get that much into simulationist racing games.
Just Cause? Done with it.
Call of Duty 2? We don't play it anymore.

Some other games I should probably get rid of, but I don't. I haven't played Prey since I beat it, nor The Outfit, but I don't get rid of those - they were fun enough I could imagine playing them again.

Then that leaves some of the other games.

Madden 2007 - Despite my love of pro football, I have a really hard time getting into the Madden games. They're just flat-out hard. Now when NFL Tour comes out in January, I'll be all over that...

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter was fun, but I just couldn't stick with it due to various reasons (which you'll see in my review). I don't mind giving this one up.

Project Gotham Racing 3 was one of the first games I bought for the 360 and just didn't play it a lot. Mostly 'cause it's more like Forza than Burnout, I guess.

Splinter Cell Double Agent is another game like the Madden games, where I want to get into them but just can't.

And that leaves Rainbow Six Vegas, which I bought used and might not be able to get a lot for, but I did like the game a good bit and should go back and play more of it. Then again, a coworker wants to buy it off of me...

But I've kept my other games. Sure, most of my original Xbox games have been sold or given away, with the exception of Halo and Halo 2. (And I do have my pre-order for the Legendary edition of Halo 3...only 3 weeks!) I'm keeping Crackdown, Call of Duty 3, and Dead Rising. And Gears of War is a no-brainer to keep (especially as I have a collector's edition of it).

But still, at the same time, there's that little voice in my head...

What if I want to play one of those games I'm selling again?

(Well, one of them other than Tenchu Z. I'm not worried about that.)

I'm sure I'll get over it.