I was expecting to have this gigantic list of games and peripherals ready to hand over to that portly, red-suited bastard, but between delays and friends telling me way more than I need to know about certain games (before I had even a chance to play them, I might add), I’ve been forced to distill my wish list down to two possible items. One is plausible, and the other is more “wish” than anything else.

See, the responsible side of me has been asking for a real grownup headset mic for far too long now. And since I actually schedule time to glare at my chincy 360 headset, and the one for my PC is so old I think it’s actually made of rock, I figure it’s about time. I require nothing fancy, just something adjustable that could serve on both console and PC gaming fronts. Oh, and if the Smithsonian has any interest in my old PC headset for display, shoot me an email. I call it “grandpa.”

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It’s time once again to give some thought to what I’d like to see under the Christmas tree, wrapped in brightly colored paper with my name on the tags. Notice the strategic lack of mention of the fat guy in the red suit with the white beard and the captive reindeer that drag his lazy butt everywhere in the world in one night. I don’t know the demographic breakdown of Adrenaline Vault’s readership, but I think I’m safe to say that it skews old enough that I’m not gonna traumatize any kiddies with the following: Santa ain’t real (sorry, Patrick). Unless, of course, his middle name is “Best Buy Gift Card,” which makes up the bulk of my traditional holiday haul.

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I always find, this time of year, that part of me looks forward to Christmas and part of me loathes the holiday season with a passion. I hate many things about Christmas; the mad shopping rush that drives every shred of sanity out of otherwise rational human beings; the incessant “classic” Christmas music that accompanies every commercial, plays in every store and buries itself deep inside your subconscious until you’re singing or humming the words and melody you’ve known by heart since you were 5; the sappy feel-good commercials promoting products that having nothing more to do with Christmas than trying to make money by dressing the products and actors up with red and green and white (who promotes toothpaste and spaghetti with Santa?); jingle bells—not the song, the bell sound used by every commercial, TV show or song meant to indicate Santa’s sleigh and herald Christmas. By the end of the first week after Thanksgiving, my ears and head are ringing with the sound of bells and repetitive Christmas music.

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Dear Grandfather Frost,

Would you kindly deliver me the following:

1) A pad device that is not an iPad. Personally, I would prefer something that is Linux-driven, but should there be a good Windows-based device, I would not be opposed to it. To be more specific, I envision it as having a replaceable battery, a couple of standard USB ports, and full control over its software and hardware configuration. It should also place no restrictions on who can develop applications for it, and in case of Windows it should support .NET 4.0 so that I can write my own software without having to depend on app stores and such. Additionally, I would expect it to support all the standard range or external USB hardware that a normal computer supports. That includes everything from mice to monitors.

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Dear Santa,

This year I’m not asking for world peace or a 36-hour day. I’ve actually set my sights a little higher this time, and while I know I’m asking for a lot, I think you’re the only one who can grant this particular Christmas wish. I would like an Xbox 360 that lasts more than 18 months.

I know, I know. Impossible, you say. There isn’t an Xbox 360 on the planet that can survive the abuses I put it through. Marathon sessions of Dragon Age, Halo, Fallout and Borderlands always seem to take their toll, and usually right after the warranty runs out. I really thought that I was being smart last year when I bought the extended Target warranty. But you see, you need to have your original receipt, and after 18 months of sitting in my wallet, you can’t read it, and Target refuses to honor the barely legible agreement. I even obtained a copy of the transaction from my bank, but without that code, I’m done for (and so is my Xbox).

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It’s that time of year again, when wishful lists are dutifully drafted before being checked and rechecked. That’s Santa’s job, you might argue, but I can’t leave anything to chance. Not in a household where, years ago, my wife quit frowning at the litany of digital bauble that dotted my list and began using common sense to appeal to my better nature. Did we really need a fifth 360 when a new dishwasher was demanding its way in? So, I stared down at my sweet little angels (my little boy Colin and daughter Aria) and realized quite quickly that these wee elves might be able to cobble the game carts I desire.

“Hey, I have no idea why Aria squeezed New Vegas in between The Littlest Pet Shop and Princess and the Frog discs, but look at that sweet little face. Do you really want to say no to that?”

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Every year, as we close the calendar and look ahead to the next, we dream about what enchantments wait in the new year. Hell, with game developers delaying their big holiday titles with greater frequency, we have no choice but to wait, our eyes and minds teased with images of the next new “hotness,” while knowing that our thumbs will soon ache once that title finally goes gold.

Last year I took a different tack, opting to highlight a game that I was dying to play, but fearful that it wouldn’t measure up. I chose Bioshock 2, the follow-up to my favorite game of 2007 (and in my list of All Time Faves for this Decade). I knew Ken Levine wasn’t at the helm, and everything I saw simply gave me a sense of déjà vu. Been there. Done that.

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Once a year, Jason Iatomasi, I, and a few friends grab every TV, Console, Monitor, Controller, and Cartridge we can carry and camp out in Jason’s living room and do nothing but play video games for 24 hours. Well, at least once a year. But when we do it in October, we do it for charity.

The charity event in question is Extra Life. It started in 2008 as an event to raise money for a children’s hospital (click here for the full story). In 2008 and 2009, the charity managed to raise $302,000 for Children’s Miracle Network hospital, no small change for two 24 hour events devoted entirely to gaming. This year, participants can choose from among many (local) beneficiaries when they sign up for the event.

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I’ve been experiencing a strange urge to return to WoW lately. I suspect I just want to see that world once again, before it is all destroyed by an upcoming expansion. Laugh all you want and call me a nerd, but I have an emotional investment in it. Certainly it’s a make-belief world, but emotion is emotion and whatever causes it is not necessarily concrete. Books, films, music, and so on are make-believe, too. I haven’t played for over a year, and I can’t say that I miss it, but the thought of all of it just being gone one day unsettles me.

What’s worse, is that I’m not sure just how “gone” it will be. From what we know right now, all of Blizzard’s game servers will be updated to the new version, just as it was with both of the previous expansions. This essentially means that the world I knew and loved will only possibly be preserved on some secret private server, run by some hacker and hunted relentlessly by Blizzard’s legal department.

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StarCraft 2 is an excellent game, from all perspectives. Unfortunately, however, there is an aspect of it that neither developers nor the players are able to control. I am, of course, talking about the multiplayer experience. As with all other games where you play with random people on the Internet, StarCraft 2 matches can elicit emotions that range from exhilaration even if you lose, to profound annoyance even if you win. In a world governed by meticulous micromanagement the one part of the game that you have absolutely no control over is other people’s demeanor.

When a match begins, only one thing is certain: one of the sides will lose. Both know it, and both are prepared to give their best to not let it happen. Often, however, one of the sides is not prepared to deal with the possibility of defeat. The reasons for that are best left for professional psychologists to discuss, but what matters is that an alarmingly large chunk of people seem to perceive their own loss as a grave insult, regardless of the reasons for it.

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I’m not a fan of blogging, I’ll admit, mostly because it feels awkward to me. But I suppose it’s long past time to try and get past that in this day and age. So why not start my first post here with an introduction?

I’m Lieren, though most of my friends know my as Leamonde, Halcyon, Lachrimae or Lavieta. Most of my friends I met online through either forums or MMOs, and those are my screen names. Though I was obsessed with books before gaming, I’ve found the two hobbies to be very compatible. When better to read a few pages than while waiting for a long loading screen or for something to charge/accrue?

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My colleague Michael Smith wrote an excellent review for the recent move of LOTRO to free-to-play. And he provided an excellent summary of new mechanics and technical features in the game. However, I can tell that he did not have time to play through the substantial end-game content that was provided with the most recent update. This is understandable. The level cap is currently at 65, and just leveling to 65 does not even remotely qualify someone for running endgame content, as class traits, virtues, and legendary traits are all a part of end-game preparation. The grinding for some of these deeds can be time consuming, so it would be asking too much to expect him to have magically leveled all the way up, ground the appropriate deeds, and run the end-game content several times over all in a matter of a few weeks. Instead, I figured I would chime in on how the new content impacts high end characters since I am at the level cap and familiar with the content. And since I am not writing an actual review, I can focus on more specific issues, rather than summarize the entire game experience with a few, well chosen words.

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Have you heard of OnLive? It’s a service that lets you play games remotely, including some of the most recent ones. Powerful servers are used to run the games, which you control over the Internet as you normally would, with either keyboard and mouse or, if you are of the console persuasion, with your controller. The video output is streamed right back to you, and is displayed either on your computer screen or on your TV. Naturally this setup requires a high-speed, low-latency connection to work.

A few years ago, something like this would not have been possible. But now, as broadband connections become more and more common, services such as OnLive can be viable, at least in theory. And so, after years of development, OnLive went live on June 17. If you live in the continental US and have a PC or a Mac that meet the service’s hardware requirements, you can sign up and begin racking up gaming hours at your leisure.

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Last week, the video game industry held its annual convention in Los Angeles. Every year, game publishers, developers and mainstream press come together to get a sneak peek at the new titles heading our way for the upcoming holiday season and beyond at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. And each year, the conference just grows larger and larger in terms of scope and exposure, if not necessarily attendance (it’s been closed to the general public for a few years). With games occupying equal entertainment real estate as some of Hollywood’s largest blockbusters, the rest of the real world stops for a spell in June to take notice of what’s coming down the pike. You can ditch the Gamepro and scope all the sites on the Today show.

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The last day of E3 finally came and went. The whole experience created many unforgettable memories, although some memories I wish I could forget. The two most enjoyable experiences came on the last day. My hands-on times with the Nintendo 3DS and The Old Republic where truly breathtaking.

Ever since the Nintendo press conference, the 3DS has been at the top of my list to see. Unfortunately, the lines to see it wrapped all the way around booth, but we eventually got smart and used our media badge power to make an appointment for the last day. We when arrived, we were immediately brought to the back VIP entrance. Picking up the device, I started giggling like a school girl as my eyes focused on the screen. They were not lying to us at the press conference! The 3D screen that does not require 3D glasses is really 3D and looks extraordinary. Is there anything better than that? I managed to get a sneak peek at the upcoming Resident Evil, and if you’re a fan of the series, be prepared to buy a 3DS.

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