As I write this, mere days removed from Christmas, I look ahead to the bounty of games that Santa packed in that sack while looking back upon the year that was. And this year provided especially fertile ground for my personal picking, as it was the year in which I augmented my Wii60 household with one more shiny bauble; the PS3 finally descended to a price point that I could manage without listing yet another kidney on eBay. With Sony’s new slim sweetness nestled in my home entertainment center, the Holy Trinity was complete, allowing me to genuflect before the God of War for granting me the opportunity to finally guide Drake towards his fortune while scoping out a Littlebigplanet of my own.

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In case you missed Part 1.

3. Tales of Monkey Island (Wii – Summer) The Secret of Monkey Island remake (Xbox 360 – July)

While these two titles are completely independent, they were announced within a day of each other and are both primed to hit this summer. My cousin Jason said it best. “We’ve had a decade plus of nothing Monkey Island and then suddenly Guybrush Threepwood is back with a vengeance“. Like him, I think my brain is going to explode.

The Monkey Island games hold a spot on that lofty perch that I reserve for my most beloved game play experiences. Mario, Zelda and Metroid sit up there too, but not many more. This is elite company for sure and it’s a testament to the talent employed by LucasArts in the early-to-mid 90s that these titles linger long in memory. I understand why the art form died, (once 3D gaming came along, there wasn’t much call for 2D point-and-click adventures) but it’s a shame that the caliber of storytelling and puzzle construction also seemed to go softly into the night.

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A few weeks back, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) showered gamers with a deluge of news and announcements highlighting the newest games in store for us this season and beyond. In addition, we saw a potential game-changing move with Microsoft’s unveiling of their self-aware Project Natal. We’re one step closer to Judgment Day with that one.

Anyway, I covered the Microsoft and Nintendo conferences in three separate Blog posts, which is becoming an annual tradition now that I’ve done two of them. Those pieces were focused on my reactions to the news coming from the console manufacturers, not necessarily about the games themselves (although it would be impossible to overlook that piece). This week, I intend to give you my Top 5 most anticipated games of 2009.

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(In case you missed part 1 and part 2)

2. Cool Fun in the Summer Time

Last summer, Microsoft launched a very successful promotion “The Summer of Arcade” where they released a spotlighted new arcade title each week for a month. During that time, the system saw some of its best titles including Bionic Commando Rearmed and Castle Crashers.

This summer, they repeat the promotion with some brand new titles that look like absolute must-haves. Of the titles coming our way, two jump out as instant purchases.

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(In case you missed part 1)

4. Every Move You Make

This has nothing to do with Sam Fisher but everything to do with spying.

Now that Microsoft has made cyber stalking from the comfort of your couch as simple as can be, it’s high time that they start working on making Internet piracy completely undetectable. Where’s the love for those deviants?

Last year, Microsoft furthered their goal of turning the Xbox 360 into the center of your home entertainment by adding Netflix streaming into the stable of options available through the system. This year, they’ve gone and added more features with a defined focus on blowing out the social networking aspect of the system.

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At the tail end of this week, I turn the page on 36 and look ahead to see what 37 has in store for me. At that point, it’s official. I’m in my late-30’s. And yet, it’s somewhat encouraging that this peek into the wild woods of Geriatric Park comes at the end of my favorite week of the year.

The 2009 E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) launched in LA yesterday with the big Xbox 360 conference, and the megaton charges that Microsoft lobbed were heard loud and clear (and streaming) a full coast away making my day and more importantly, tightening my grasp on my youth.

No matter how old I get nor how many new responsibilities I draft into the fold, I always look forward to the next great video game experience. I used to call it my vice, as if there were some reason that I should hide my passion, but I’ve stopped that. I work hard “damn hard” and I lead a very fulfilling life. But at the end of the day, when the world quiets and my children are nestled all snug in their beds, I like to steal a slice of time and journey to the world of make-believe. I may never keep the tax man at bay, but I can save the princess this day.

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While the site was down I decided to reflect on 2008 and finally cobble together a list of my favorite console game experiences. Without further adieu, I present My Top 5 Favorite Games of 2008.

5.   Portal: Still Alive   (360/PC)
This is a slightly controversial pick as I actually played Portal (a 2007 release) in January. At the time, it was packaged on The Orange Box – a compilation of Half Life 2 related games. Later in the year, the game developers decided to revisit the game and append some new challenge maps to the original game and release it as Portal: Still Alive, making it available for digital distribution over the PC and the Xbox Live Arcade service.
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The other day, I posted Part One of my post E3 series – The Top 10 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play in 2008.

As I mentioned then, originally I had planned to run this as a three-part series, aimed at providing my list of the Top 5 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play per system in 2008 but in pouring through the announced release dates, I realized that there were not enough system exclusives to compile that list. And in the Wii’s case, there’s barely anything on their announced schedule that warrants my playtime.

So, I decided to focus on the Top 10 games releasing this year that have piqued my interest. I’ve broken it up into two posts and listed them in descending order (10 to 1) with the number one title representing the one title that I’ve got to play above all others. Today, you’ll all learn just what that title is. I’m sure the anticipation is killing you.

Without further adieu, I present The Top 10 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play in 2008 Part 2.

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Two weeks ago, I posted a three-part series that documented my reaction to the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo E3 2008 Press Conferences.

Originally, I had planned to run an additional three-part series this week, aimed at providing my list of the Top 5 Games I’ve Just Gotta’ Play per system in 2008 but in pouring through the announced release dates, I realized that there are not enough system exclusives to compile that list. And in the Wii’s case, there’s barely anything on their announced schedule that warrants my play time at all. Here’s hoping for some late-inning surprises.
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It’s time to take a look back over the last six months and shine a light on the games that really hit my sweet spot — those that kept me awake, late at night, for “just one more.”

On the 360, it was the dynamic duo of blistering, blitzkrieg action assaults doled out by Capcom’s Devil May Cry 4 and Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden II. Of the twin titles, DMC4 is the more accomplished, blasting its way into this new generation with style to spare. Nero and Dante’s arrival on the 360 was gratifying in more ways than one, as they injected some high-intensity third-person action platforming on a system that was swiftly following its forbearer down the well worn FPS alley, and it introduced a big Japanese hit series on a system that has struggled to make ends meet Down East.

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Wrapping up my three part series recounting my reactions to the E3 2008 Press Conference offered up by the Big Three (Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony), I present the final installment.

For those who have followed along, I posted my thoughts on Microsoft’s shindig first, then came my reaction to Nintendo, leaving Sony. While all three companies devoted time to elements outside of their core consoles (in particular, Nintendo covered their DS handheld and Sony the PSP), I’ve catered my comments towards the consoles. (Uh oh! Here comes my 10th grade English teacher – a.k.a. the alliteration police).

Without further adieu, I present the top five things I learned from Sony’s E3 press conference:

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Recently, I posted my reactions to Microsoft’s opening salvo in the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo. As promised, I’ve returned with my reactions on the other company’s press conferences.

Basically, I’m working these things in order. MS went first, so they got top billing. Nintendo followed with their conference on Tuesday morning and Sony closed out the keynote addresses later that afternoon.

Without further adieu, here are the top five things I learned from Nintendo’s E3 press conference:

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Here are The Top 5 Things I Learned from Microsoft’s E3 2008 Press Conference:

5. Those who play together…: Online multiplayer used to be a developer’s number one bullet point. If you shipped a title without it, the professional game critics immediately dropped a couple points from your score, even if the game design didn’t necessarily warrant the feature. Nowadays, online multiplayer is old hat and developers have become hip to the fact that folks tend to gravitate to one or two online games and ignore the rest (meaning titles like Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 reap heavy rotation long after their single-player campaigns have exhausted). That’s not to say developers won’t try and lure gamers over to their unique brand of fragfests, but for the most part, gamers know which series they’ll pledge their allegiance to.

Me — I’ve sort of had my fill on the pure multiplayer melee madness. I’ll dip my toes in the waters, but I’m just not hardcore enough to know whether the kids think I’m kewl or a n00b they can pwn. That said, I do like gaming alongside my buddies — with the ability to chat away on MS proprietary voice channels. Which is why I am thrilled at Microsoft’s new marching orders to offer up the online co-op campaign experience in a number of their titles.

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I love the last four words spoken in Iron Man.

Before I go further, I’ll stop and allow anyone who hasn’t seen the film (and has a desire to do so) to jump off the bus. The last thing I want to do with this Blog is turn it into a spoiler site. 

Now that they’re gone, I’ll pick right back up where I left off – specifically, at the very moment Iron Man leaves off. 

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Anyone following Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s development cycle knows that the property landed before a number of top Hollywood scribes before Spielberg’s go-to guy, David Koepp (Spider-Man), took a hack.

Following the film’s release, the Internet community commenced their big fat geek meddling by laying the blame for all the goofy detours the film took at King George Lucas’ feet. Notably, they took issue with Mutt’s Tarzan act as well as Indy’s A-Bomb adventure in a Frigidaire. (Forget the fact that he survived the blast – how the hell did he open the door from the inside?)

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