I was going to review Knights of the Old Republic 2 for this week, but frankly its so damn deep that I am not anywhere near the best parts yet. So how about a preview?

Another WW2 shooter…dead horse and beating implement not included.

The ‘Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood’ demo was released today and I gotta say it looks like Ubisoft is getting things right once again. If you didn’t bother with the first BIA installment- shame on you mister - well, you’ll just have to take my word that the second one looks ever better.

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I hate to turn the rumor mill too much, but I saw this article at Gamespy regarding news of a new Sam and Max game and couldn’t resist. Given the discussions we’ve been having recently it seemed topical.

One of the graduation presents I recently recieved was a brand spankin’ new Dell 2005FPW 25″ flat-panel monitor. Before you think I’ve got a TV plugged into my computer, I should mention that the 2005FPW is a wide-aspect screen (e.g. 16 : 10 :: width : height, as opposed to the 4 : 3 of the typical CRT monitor) so the 25″ is a little misleading. That being said, this monitor is busy kicking ass, reaching for names, then pulling back and saying, “No, I’m too busy kicking ass to take names.” This monitor is bright, it’s got good contrast, deep color, and no evidence of frame tearing.* Input is accepted from serial, DVI, S-Video, or composite input sources, which makes it capable of serving as a TV as well as a monitor. With its built in picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture functions, you can watch TV and play games SIMULTANEOUSLY! Although the list price is on the steep side ($560 as of publish), this monitor has appeared on Dell’s pimp-list in recent months, allowing reductions in price down into the $350 range. A little savvy interweb searching should turn up lots of coupons for price reduction.

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Click for funny

So your friend stepped on your PSP, you lent your GBA to your niece, and your ex-girlfriend ran off with your DS. How are you going to play games on the go??

Don’t fret, you can still game with your iPod, at least long enough until you can trade your ex’s stereo for a new DS. There are four games that come with the regular iPod: Brick, Parachute, Solitaire, and Music Quiz. If those games don’t float your boat, there are some other games you can install too.

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Behold! My mighty hand will open that stubborn pickle jar.

This post is short as I’m at the tail of a 90-hour work week. Tonight (Sunday) I got to take a break and play a game. Since I felt pretty beat up, I figured a little Black & White could make me feel like the king of all creation. After spending 30 minutes getting it to work on Windows XP I felt my divine power fading fast. Once it was running, I took a moment to digest just how far we’ve come in video gaming since 2001 when Black & White was considered the pinnacle of graphical quality in gaming. And even though we have come a long way, the game is still quite lovely. The opening training session is still annoying as ever with the good and bad consciences telling you how to use the mouse and get around. Fortunately, once you get past that, it’s all “Behold My Glory” time.

More to come on my godly exploits. The release of Black & White 2 is scheduled for October 4 so maybe I’ll finally wrap this game up before then. Stop laughing, it could happen.

Ladies and gentlemen. Friends and countrymen. Freespace 2 has eaten the bomb.

I spent last night in sci-fi decompression mode. Work has been hell as of late and we finally shipped software yesterday. In a mood of celebration and rejuvenation, I spent the evening watching Trek and Galactica, and finishing the space sim that I started two weeks ago.

While the ending was a bit lacking and incomplete (more on this later), I come away from Freespace 2 a happy camper. Freespace’s sequel was smart enough to stay faithful to the tried and true - a great space-sim experience. After some tweaking, the controls were smooth and unfrustrating. The graphical update to Freespace to allow playing at a 1024×768 resolution looked beautiful on my monitor. I enjoyed the updated content and the audio in the game was better than most. And the prospect of continuing to play the game using community-generated content is pretty exciting.

On a scale of ten, this game gets eight and a half stars. In terms of a gaming experience, it hit all the buttons. As a storytelling experience, it missed a few things.
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Just playing some Kirby and waiting for the last votes to come in…

I don’t know how I missed this game when I had Nintendo back in the day. It’s very Mario-esque, but still a definite departure. The best part is the ability to eat your enemies and absorb their powers. There are about 26 different powers you can obtain and variety is the key to fun in this game as it is a bit on the easy side so far (though some of the bosses are worthy opponents if you don’t currently have any powers). There are lots of cute little details and surprises to keep things fun. I like.

Now where…..did I leave……….my skin?

Do you know what the very best thing is about adventure games? Immortality.

Graphic adventures typically center around a story and a myriad of puzzles. The best graphic adventures center around a well-written story and a myriad of puzzles that not only have logical solutions in and of themselves, but the puzzles are worked into the context of the story instead of just being tacked on. Whether you’re playing a text adventure like Zork, trying to discover the secret of Monkey Island, off on the Longest of Journeys, or causing bloodshed in a diner restroom (Indigo Prophecy, my fingers are crossed), the game remains the same thought-provoking experience throughout the ages.
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http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000577059060/

The new Nintendo Controller…