Sorry I haven't been posting anything lately, I've just been overwhelmed with work at school what with finals coming up. But starting next week I get 6-7 weeks of sweet, sweet vacation.

It hasn't all been work, as procrastination is a tool reserved for kings, and I come from a long line of lazy nobles (Ok, maybe not. I'm really the only lazy one). I've been gaming during my down-time, and I've got a lot of games left to play.

First up, I've been trying to finish Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, which I've been playing on my 360. I started it in January, and promptly fell out of play even though I loved it. It's been good, clean, spy-infused fun.

This brings me to the next game: Splinter Cell: Double Agent. It came out recently, and since I loved Chaos Theory so much, I figured I had little to lose. Well, I've played through a couple missions now. I'm going to clue you into something right now: I'm not a really good gamer. I suck hardcore at a lot of games. Anyway, so I picked up this game, and when I started playing, I immediately felt like I was trapped in an alien world; an environment that was not entirely unfamiliar, yet not familiar enough to call home. The controls are different, and there are some different features. The AI has been significantly beefed up, and I'm only playing it on Normal difficulty. I had some trouble figuring things out at first since I skipped the tutorials, which I admit would have been rather helpful. I eventually picked up the hang of things, got in some satisfying kills and knockouts, and promptly got killed. A lot. I don't know if it's just me, but Normal difficulty seemed hard. I've heard stories of people trading the game in at retailers not long after the release because they finished the game so fast. That means only one of two things: A) These people are inhuman super-gamers, replacing normal gamers with their doppleganger offspring in order to overthrow us, or B) I just suck that bad. Whatever the case, it's still a fun game, though I hope I start enjoying it more the further I get in.

Next, I picked up Neverwinter Nights 2, on accounts of my brother and father purchasing it. I hoped to make use of the much-discussed online collaborative play, and that I did. That was, of course, after quite a few hours of being unable to connect to the game server my brother was hosting, since I grabbed the game update and he had not. So, the next day we figured things out, got things up and running, and we were playing together. Well, more like lagging together. I've read on some forums that Xfire is what is causing the lag the people are experiencing in multiplayer mode, but we've yet to play without it (we've only played that once, so far). I've been enjoying the singleplayer, as I haven't played this kind of turn-based PC RPG since Baldur's Gate, and have missed it so. It's quite different, and the camera can be annoying at first, but I've still been having fun. The meat of the game is the campaign creation tools, so some day I may tinker with those, and maybe download some other player-created games.

Finally, we've got the game on everyone's mind that isn't Guitar Hero II (since it doesn't come out for the 360 until next year!), and that game is Gears of War. There's not much I can say about this game that hasn't been said on a thousand blogs and game sites already. It's fun, it's pretty, and Dom dies a lot. Rather, he doesn't die, he just gets exhausted from being such a freaking pansy. If anyone dies, then the game ends. Why's that? What if I want Dom to die? Maybe he slept with my girlfriend, or gave me a pack of gum laced with Locust pheromones. Whatever the case, sometimes I'd just like to get through the level on my own if one of my friends isn't around for co-op play, without the dead weight holding me down. Again, I haven't played much, since I have so many other games to play, but I definitely look forward to sitting down to some Co-Op soon.

Unfortunately, I won't have my current computer available when I go home for the break, so I'll have to wait until January to play NWN2 after next week. I will, however, have my Xbox 360, and I may be able to procure a Wii, so I don't think I'll be bored anytime soon.

Oh, and maybe I'll be able to post here once in a while. Maybe.

Obviously none of you are going to read this today, since it is Halloween and there's no way any of you are over the age of twelve (Then again, this is the internet, so it's kind of hard to tell sometimes) and must thusly be trick or treating. Still, it is my duty to maintain this blog, and so I shall.

Most of today's news in my favorite categories (gaming, movies, and tech) comes from the realm of video games.

• Viva Pinata has gone gold, which means soon you can finally purchase and play it in your own home (unless of course you're a real or pseudo-real gaming journalist, and have had the chance to review it ahead of time.) This game's looking like it's got a lot of potential.
  
• Nintendo released the finalized list of Wii launch-window titles, as well as the list of titles coming to the Virtual Console by year's end.
• Speaking of the Wii, GamesIndustry.biz reported that Nintendo will release a DVD-enabled version of the console. Just to make sure people are confused, after saying the Wii would have DVD functionality and then not, they mentioned that this version would only be coming out in Japan according to current plans. That doesn't mean it won't come out in Europe or the US, but no one's talking right now. We'll just have to make them talk. (I'd make a threatening gesture, but it just won't come across well in text)
• In regards to my last post, 8bit_generation pointed out that stories are circulating that Microsoft's latest update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard software might be screwing with gamers' systems. I installed the update myself with no problems so far, so we'll just have to see to what extent this is true.
  

I couldn't afford to buy candy at pre-Halloween prices, so if anyone reads this, please send me candy. CANDY GOOOOOOOD! RAAAARGH!

If anyone needs me, I'll be rampaging.

Articles:

Viva Piñata goes Gold (Gamespot)

Well, it seems that I won't be lazing-about today, as there is news! Well, by now, it's probably not news to a lot of you, but it's news, and I'm going to report on it, dammit! I'll have none of your sass, Internet, and I know how you love sass.

In any case, Xbox.com released information on the newest update to their Dashboard software for the Xbox 360. The list of additions and changes is fairly lengthy, but that's because a lot of them are meager improvements to existing features or tiny extras with little use to Americans. Gamers from beyond McDonaldland, however, are now lucky to have improved language features. Overall, though, the gist of the updates follows:

• 360 HD-DVD player add-on support
• 1080p support
• Support for streaming Windows Media Video file format from a Windows-based PC (via WMP 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect)
• Support for video files stored on data CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, Xbox memory cards, or other, unlisted devices.
• Automatic downloads of Live Arcade games
• Support for the XNA Game Development software.
• Miscellaneous improvements and extras that you can read about in the link at the bottom of the post, because I'm too lazy to list them myself!

And when is this update coming? Next week, you say? Next month? Next year? No, that's all wrong! This update is coming tomorrow, October 31, so you don't have to lose sleep worrying about when you'll be able to use the wireless Xbox 360 headset to send crude messages to your friends. The update will come some time in the morning. For more information on the changes, you can check out these two pages on the Xbox website. Hit the full list at the end of the post.

Before I end, there is one more powerfully important news item- something that will change the world forever!

Cooking Mama is coming to the Nintendo Wii. I know, you probably just wet yourself a little. I'm sorry, I should be more careful with the information I wave around. Seriously, though, this isn't very surprising, given the fact that everyone knew a cooking game was both possible and inevitable given the introductory video shown when we finally found out what the Wii was. Not to mention, Cooking Mama is apparently quite a hit on the DS. I don't know the sales figures, but the budget title has gotten some pretty positive reviews and I've heard about it almost everywhere. A friend of mine who barely plays video games finally picked up a DS and Cooking Mama, and he is enthralled with it. The DS is a powerful tool; it can bring grown men to their feet and crush entire empires! Feel the awesome fury of the Nintendo DS, or you shall face infinite nothingness!

I admit, that was a bit overboard.

Articles:
Xbox 360 Dashboard - November 2006 Update (Xbox.com)
Cooking Mama: Cook Off coming to Wii (Kotaku)