Wow! 2008 is already more than half over, and I still haven’t even put a dent into my “to do” list. Oh well, there’s always 2009. It took me by surprise when I was asked what the best games so far this year were because I’m still waiting for some of my favs to release. In the mean time, yes, I’ve been playing games, but so far, 2008 isn’t matching up to the year we had in 2007.

That’s not to say there haven’t been good games or that there haven’t been games that I loved on release day, but the measure of a great game is one that’s still in the disk drive months (or in the case of the Civilization series, years) after release day. Notable titles have crossed my path these last seven months. Kingdom under Fire: Circle of Doom, Assassin’s Creed, Seven Kingdoms: Conquest, Lost Odyssey and Stronghold Crusader Extreme stuck in my head, but are they still being played? Not really. Lost Odyssey had a captivating storyline, but once it was done, it was done and shelved next to Oblivion and the early Kingdom under Fire titles.

The only game that still gets taken out of its box is Kingdom under Fire: Circle of Doom, and not by me. Its longevity is due to the fact that it has long term appeal to teens that enjoy getting together with a group online and tackling the same foes repeatedly on the extreme setting. They produce weapons for one another, work their way around the patches that were added to limit their abilities and have formed quite the little cult following. Do I think they’ll still be playing it this time next year? No, but for now, it appears to be the best 2008 has to offer.

It was an ordinary day. I kissed my hubbie good-bye, shipped my youngest off to school, started my eldest on her Algebra and Biology lessons, and then began my commute to work. I stopped off for coffee in the kitchen, and then dashed into the office (5 feet away) to check on my mail and get my work in order for the day. My assignment for the day: spend 8 hours with my Xbox and put together a review for the site. I put in the new disk, and was greeted with GRIIIND…WHIIIIR…followed by what I’ve been told is the “red ring of death.”

I’m not completely technologically deficient, so I of course checked the guilty disk (no scratches or grooves) and tried another disk, but with sadly the same results. My barely one-year-old console was ill, so I logged in to the MS doctors (tech support) and began the (is it just me) ridiculous process of troubleshooting. The end result. Make that call and talk to Max.

Max is Microsoft’s friendly tech support computer, and while he doesn’t seem at all patronizing, I’d been through this drill before when my system was brand new, and knew where this would end up. I was going to have to ship it back to the manufacturer and have it worked on AGAIN!!!

Now, this is my first 360. I bought it a year ago, and replaced the optical reader (don’t try to make them look pretty and vertical - keep them horizontal) within the first few weeks. I was under the impression that all warranties had been extended at the time, but soon learned that this was not the case. In the meantime, I also have two regualar Xboxes, and have never had a problem with either one in the five years they’ve been used, abused and moved around the world.

When my call was transferred from the oh so cheerful Max to somewhere where English and my accent make communication difficult, things got ugly. After ten minutes of reading off my 12 digit serial number that the tech support gentleman was convinced I was reading incorrectly becasue he kept receiving only 10 digits, he asked me if I tried another disk. (Well, duh, why else would I be talking to you?) “How many disk?” (Does is matter? Two should be sufficient, but let’s just say six) “No problem…” He then went into all of the detailed shipping instructions that I’d been through before, gave me my ticket number and then he dropped the bomb.

Since this is my “second repair” it would only cost me $99.99 for the repairs and shipping, and they’d throw in another year of warranty and 30 days of Xbox Live. Apparently my one year warranty that had been extended to two had run out two weeks prior. (Did I mention that I’d only bought it a year ago? Okay, a year and two weeks, but that’s still not two years.) There was no record of the second year warranty, so it was either pay the hundred bucks to repair my year-old almost 500 dollar system or live without. Options…I didn’t see any, but given the fact that the cost of repairs almost exactly equalled the balance of my checking account and that I refuse to give the credit card companies a dime…I said thank you and that I’d have to discuss it with my husband.

Hubby came home and hit the ceiling (he’s good like that) and issued expletives that I can not repeat here, except something about Bill Gates and Sasquatch toes. He is, however, a genius, and the 360 is fixed and in perfect working order. The cost? Just under 5 dollars, and about an hour of labor.

The Hitachi DVD drive that’s manufactured exclusively for Xbox 360 has a slight flaw. The spindle that holds in the disk is held on with glue, but this glue when subject to heat can melt over time. The top of the drive acts like a magnet — and whoosh. The spindle comes loose and gets stuck to the top of the drive. If this happens to you, you can actually see it if you peer inside.

The instructions that follow will void your warranty, but if you’re like me and facing the alternative… Anyway, I hope that these links help someone else down the road that finds themself in similar circumstances.

The first link shows you how to properly open up the console. It does mention the purchase of a special tool, but with the proper screwdriver bits, you can avoid the 65 dollar tool purchase (we found the one we needed in my husband’s Gerber tool kit).

The second link is an actual Youtube video that explains both the problem and the solution. All you need is a small tube of super glue and some patience.

Hopefully, you’ll never need these instructions.

First, before the egg nog goes to my head, I’d like to congratulate our chief editor, David Laprad, on his upcoming wedding this month. And ask the question, who gets married over Christmas? He may think that he’s going to save on the gift giving, but as the only woman on staff, I must warn him and any of you that might consider it, you can’t count something as both a Christmas and an anniversary gift. She’ll smile, and “say” it’s okay, but she’ll never admit it to her mother.

And that brings me to the question of the season. What are you going to buy that special someone for Christmas? Diamonds are out of the question; she’ll think of all those poor children working in the mines and what Leo would think if she actually got to meet him. A new car? Let’s get real. With the current price of gas, she’d probably want an electric scooter instead. What that special someone REALLY wants is a new video game. Okay, maybe not the best gift for EVERYONE, but if she doesn’t want a video game, then what do you really have in common anyway? Keep the game for yourself. It’ll never complain about how much time you spend with your computer or why you only have energy drinks and beer in the fridge.

The following is my top ten list of must have games this Christmas.

1. Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. I know it doesn’t come out until January 8th, but gift certificates are good, too.

2. Assassin’s Creed. This game ROCKS!!! Look for my review in the next week or so.

3. Crusader Kings: Deus Vult. I love taking over the world.

4. Empires in Arms. I love running the world.

5. Kane and Lynch. Really not my kind of game, but Jason made me want to play it with his review.

6. Guitar Hero III. A must have for EVERYONE.

7. Dance Dance Revolution. Work off those extra holiday calories!

8. Ultimate Duck Hunting. Remember how much you loved blowing away those cute little guys when you were a kid? It’s back and it’s brand new.

9. The Golden Compass. Let the adventure continue. The kids want it, they just don’t know it exists yet.

and finally…

10. Madden NFL ‘08. So what if your team’s not going to the big game? You can take them there on your own.

Have an awesome holiday season!!!

Unless you live in a cave (in which case you probably don’t have Internet and can’t read this anyway), you’ve heard by now that the WGA is on strike and your favorite television shows might run out of material by Christmas.  Now, I’m all for turning off the tube and talking to your family, but let’s be practical here.  The prime time television schedule is set up the way it is for a reason.

Eight p.m. usually indicates that dinner is done, the messes of the day have been handled, and all work and homework are complete for the night (or as done as they’re going to get).  You settle into your lazy girl recliner or scoop up that fuzzy blanket and settle in for three hours of escape (I know the increase in reality programming has made that more difficult every year, but work with me).

You click the remote and go, “Huh? Reruns!” Sadly folks, this might very soon be true.  It could be months before you find out if Bones and Booth are ever going to get down and dirty, if Sara will really walk away from looking for trace evidence on mutilated corpses, and if Chuck will get promoted to assistant manager of the Buy More.

DVDs are good, but Blockbuster takes at least a day or two to deliver the next three episodes and sometimes they arrive out of order.  If you’re like me, your DVR still has a month’s worth of prime time waiting to be watched, but then what?   History channel documentaries?  There’s only so much you can learn about the Winchester mansion.  Fortunately, there’s still a way to stay connected to your favorite show or television characters: play the games.

Many popular shows have taken advantage of the booming gaming industry (one of the reasons for the strike in the first place) and launched their own show-based games:

• American Idol for the PC and PS2
• Sponge Bob
• CSI
• 24: The Game for the PS2
• The Sopranos: Road to Respect for the PS2
• Lost, out in February for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
• Heroes (in development)

The list goes on, but these might help to get you started and tide you over until your favorite shows return to prime time.

I thought I’d start off this puppy by telling you a bit about myself and how I ended up here.  As you probably read in my bio (hopefully, you skipped right over my pic), I’m a grad student in Information Technology Management.  Basically, that long identifier just means I’m a tech geek that hopes to land a real job when I grow up.  Last spring, while studying for exams, I came across a link. (You know, the ones they put in the back of textbooks that say things like, “Would you like to know more?”)  I followed the link due to my obsessive nature to know everything I can about a topic so as to avoid any essay surprises on exam day, and found my way to AVault.  They just happened to be looking for new reviewers that day.

Games are nothing new for me, as I’ve been playing them since I can remember.  I was never any good at the old pizza shop games like (gasp) Space Invaders or Pac-Man, but another accident one Christmas got me hooked for life.  There was a stupid little electronic game called Dungeons & Dragons.  It was nothing more than a random puzzle with sound effects, but I wanted it, and my doting aunt lovingly obliged.  She did not, however, understand I was asking for an electronic game, so the sales clerk gave her something quite different.  That Christmas, I received a box.  Inside said box were three books, a set of strange looking dice and a green crayon (it was years before I figured out what the darn crayon was for).  I smiled, said thank you and went to bed that night very disappointed.  Months later, I was bored one day and started reading through the books.  The years that followed were filled with adventures I’d never imagined.

There have been many articles written over the years that fantasy gaming can kill, and that violent videogames can harm young minds.  Thankfully, my parents didn’t even know what those things were.  All they knew was that once a week, they were responsible for hosting game night for my friends and me, and that we played in the basement, rarely made noise and stayed out of trouble.

The games have moved out of the basement and into the living room, and now I’m that parent. The difference is that we play together as a family — everything from Medal of Honor to Dungeons & Dragons and Oblivion to Grabbed by the Ghoulies.  If it’s made for four-player gameplay, we’re there.  If not, we take turns. The house rule is that if you die, you pass the controller.

We might not be a typical family.  I work at home as a writer and go to school, one of my children is home schooled, the other attends private school, and my husband works at a nearby university. We’ve traveled and moved all over the world, but one thing hasn’t changed since before my husband and I were married.  Saturday night is game night, and we all play together.  Gaming provides a release, and fantasy gaming a creative outlet for young minds.  Watch them, yes, but let them play.

For you old school gamers, Saturday, November 3rd is Worldwide D&D Game Day.  Check out your local gaming supplier for fun and activities in which the whole family can join.