Calm before the storm . . .

I had some free time last night (for the first time in about a week) and I was able to sit on my couch with my controller in hand and turn on my 360, knowing that I could play for a good couple of hours (instead of the 20 minute sessions I have been having lately).

So, what to play?

I am still waiting to play my Superbowl match-up against the Redskins in Madden. But I'm in a real Anti-EA mood lately and I don't even want to put the game in my 360.

I put in GRAW and gave it a go. I have a weird thing going on with GRAW right now. I'm obsessed with playing the co-op missions . . . by myself. Without dying. I have only passed one level like this. It is hard. And once I die, after playing stealthily for 20 minutes, I get frustrated and turn it off. Which is what happened last night.

I then played a little PGR3. I already beat it, getting all silver medals, and am now going back to all the previous races and attempting to get gold or platinum medals. This game is a lot of fun, but I have a problem with it. I do not like how you have to choose what medal you are going for before the race. Each medal has a certain goal you have to meet, so why not just have the event play itself out and then depending on your results, you might get a medal, like in Gran Turismo. By having to choose only one medal you are aiming for, if you over achieve in that particular race, it is for nothing, because you don't get rewarded for achieving the next medal's criteria. If you need to finish a lap within 1:10 for a silver and you finish the lap instead in :52 seconds, which lets say is good enough for a platinum, you are screwed. You are getting your silver medal and if you want the platinum you need to "say" you are going for the platinum and do the event again. This is a very cheap way of trying to add replay value to the game. I could have a bunch of gold and even platinum medals right now from my initial play through the game, but I don't because I decided to aim for silver for a lot of the races since I was new to the game. Annoying. It is especially annoying since you don't want to say you are aiming for platinum every time, since those are incredibly tough and with the game's constant load times, trying to finish one perfect lap can be extremely frustrating. I hope PGR4 changes this system.

After PGR3, I looked at my games and I didn't really feel like playing any of them. I've beaten them all, except for Oblivion. Man, I really have to get back into Oblivion. But . . . not feeling it right now.

I played some Doom, but I can only play it in short bursts, so, after 15 minutes I am done. I played a hand of Texas Hold 'Em. Done.

Man, I'm ready for a new game. I still have Loco Roco for the PSP, but I don't really play the PSP at home. Still have Syphon Filter for it as well.

Nope, I need a new game. And believe me, they are coming in November. What is the tally up to? Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Guitar Hero II. Those are just my definite "must-haves". Then there are many intriguing alternates. Knowing me, I might just cave in between now and November 7th (GHII) and pick up Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Pretty good review from IGN. Haven't seen any others yet.