When I needed the extra HDMI for my laptop, I needed it ASAP so I went to the store. That’s where they get you, because it’s something you need so they slap the $50 price tag on it. But the main thing that got me about this is I finally found an HDMI cable that’s light, thin, and easily flexible. My others are like water hoses…they pop around and knock stuff over. They’re also basic without some crazy red or green plastic craziness decorated all over.

The site pretty much covers all aspects of home theater gaming and even PC cabling. Anytime you need to buy any type of cable…check Optimized first. I’m in a budget crunch so it makes perfect sense to me.

Here’s the list. You know how it goes:

Eat Lead
XMen Origins Wolverine
F.E.A.R. 2
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Shadow Complex
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The Beatles: Rock Band
Splosion Man
Halo 3: ODST
Brütal Legend
Assassin’s Creed II
Borderlands
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
Wolfenstein
Terminator Salvation
WANTED:Weapons of Fate
Wheelman
Bionic Commando
Modern Warfare 2
Uncharted 2
Fable 2
Geometry Wars Evolved 2
Aegis Wing
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3
Mercenaries 2
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Banjo Kazooie
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Assault Heroes
Halo Wars
[PROTOTYPE]
Marvel Ult. Alliance 2
Trials HD
Resident Evil 5
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Fracture
Secret Service
Street Fighter 4
Banjo Tooie
R-Type Dimensions
Mutant storm Empire
Tinker
Call of Duty Classic

Most of these games are the 360 versions. That’s really just how it is. Even with school, he’s still got the time. I hope next year for both his list and mine, there will be a good chunk of Wii, PS3, and even PC games.

Bold Indicates Completion – Any games played from previous years or completed in previous years are not included – Games in semi-playing order:

Dash of Destruction
Left 4 Dead
Mirror’s Edge
Sonic The Hedgehog
Rise of the Argonauts
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
MadWorld
Banjo Kazooie: N&B
Street Fighter 4
Prince of Persia
Sonic Unleashed
Halo Wars
Outrun
R-Type Dimensions
Wheelman
Dawn of War 2
Conflict Denied Ops
Retro Game Challenge
R-Type Command
Wolverine
Project Sylpheed
The Dishwasher
Mercenaries 2
Raiden Fighters Aces
Prototype
Indiana Jones: Staff of Kings
‘Splosion Man
Red Faction Guerilla
Ghostbusters
Bionic Commando
Ninja Blade
Battlefield 1943
Transformers 2
Call of Juarez: BiB
Shadow Complex
Call of Duty World at War
Killzone 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty 4
Marvel Ult. Alliance 2
Nerf N-Strike
Scribblenauts
Halo 3: ODST
Sega Superstar Tennis
Wii Sports Resort
Brutal Legend
Dead Space: Extraction
Uncharted 2
Borderlands
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Raven Squad
Assassin’s Creed II
Midnight Club L.A.
WET
Crysis Warhead
Tinker
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
Rouge Warrior
Resident Evil 5
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Battlefield: Bad Company
Call of Duty Classic
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Unfortunately the 360 dominates. I say unfortunately because I wish there was stronger competition. PC saw very little action I’m afraid, even though it was hot action (DoW:II and some LAN). The PS3 saw a little more than usual but with multiplatform games, the 360 has the edge. The Wii had some new strong titles and it made me visit the old which I had a lot of fun with. Another thing to think about here is personal life. During this time, my daughter was born. I was also laid-off from my job. I can still say I had plenty of time to game – mainly because this is my one and only hobby. I don’t have cable, I’m so white that I’m blinding, and I don’t like sports.

Tomorrow Sean’s list will go up. You think he has me beat in played or completed games? He’s a full-time student with a curfew. Let’s see how that worked out.

I got to watch Halo 3: ODST Firefight mode in action, as well as meet some of the major league gamers that I’m assuming get paid for all this. MLG is a whole other aspect of gaming that I’ve never really looked into but now enjoy quite a bit.

If the video is not working, which for some reason it’s not, here’s a direct link. Embed fail.

I shot the following videos today at QuakeCon. They go over some of the character customization options, and give a good look at the art style.

The following video goes over the ideas behind character customization in Brink:

And here is a look at the customization tool:

Part two following soon.

Afterwards, we were told to put away our cameras for the gameplay. But like mentioned in the previous post, it was awesome.

I was originally only ‘thinking about it’, but today I decided to pick up World In Conflict. I was in the Beta, and I played through the demo. Both were underwhelming. But everyone and their mother are praising it, and I know I’ll be the only one left out when this thing gets LAN play this weekend. I decided to get the Special Edition. It came with an awesome mouse pad; something I’ve been needing for a long time. And the surface of this pad really makes a difference with the movements of my mouse. It also came with a piece of the Berlin Wall, which in itself is just awesome. And last, it came in an awesome box with some cloth material, featuring the Soviet Hammer and Sickle on one side, and American Flag on the other. Really cool.

This retail version played no different than what I played before. The multi-player games don’t last too long, but require a lot of team work. The single-player missions, so far, are simple and boring. I won’t give up though; I’ll continue to play.

Gameplay: Sonic Rush plays just like the original Genesis games. To keep it fresh, there’s a lot of style to it. Gameplay-wise, it stays fast-paced most of the time. Rush makes use of the Dual screens by using both for control of Sonic. You will stay on the top screen until an event forces you to the bottom, at which point the game focuses on the bottom screen allowing you to see what’s going on above you. Each screen moves up and down according to Sonics movement, but there is a threshold that separates the screens, allowing movement between the two. You will see unreachable things on both screens that will make you want to play the level again out of curiosity. This Sonic game, much like the others, include special bonus stages that will let you aquire a chaos emerald. These bonus stages are similar to the ones used in Sonic 2. They are the half-pipes that contain rings. Get the correct amount of rings and you get an emerald. What’s cool about this is that you use the stylus to move Sonic around; obtaining rings and avoiding spikes. This was done very well; I’ll have to give them props for that. The Boss battles add something neat which start at the end of each two act stage. These battles are in full 3-D, where Dr. Eggman moves around all he wants on the screen, moving Sonic in 3-D on a 2-D plane. While a neat little addition, it sometimes takes too long because you have to wait for each attack, just trying to survive. Similar to 8-bit and 16-bit era bosses.

Graphics: The stages are somewhat bland, but you are moving at such a high rate of speed that you don’t even notice it. Sonic is a full 3D polygonal character, making his animations fluid and varied. They did a good job with this. The enemies, though, seem to be hand drawn, and limited on animation…IMO, not as good as the earlier games. If anything, you will be pleased. There’s nothing here to really complain too much about.

Sound: The techno beats fit Sonic well, but I’m more of a fan of the punk sounding tunes. The special effects are all reminiscent of the older games, which gives the game that old-school Sonic feeling. All the characters have voices too. That was pretty unexpected and it adds to the atmosphere.

Final Thought: Good game if you’re a Sonic fan, and a good game if you’re a fan of platformers. I’ve only played through three worlds, but so far I don’t regret paying full price. A little on the difficult side…but I love it like that. You own a DS, you understand the games on the handheld. This is a game to own on it.

Verdict: Buy