The biggest game ever - or, the not-nearly-perfect perfect experience.

So Grand Theft Auto IV has officially arrived on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with all of the appropriate accoutrements. Namely, breathless news reports mentioning sex with hookers, cop killing, and the general decline and fall of western civilization. There are also the obligatory stories citing midnight madness in far-flung places like England and Australia, where evidently a couple of poor saps got beaten up for their copies of the game. Not that this ever happens in any other scenario. Ever.

What all of these fail to really discuss is the content of a game that's a cultural touchstone, giving players extraordinary freedom in an ugly, hateful environment where everyone is out to screw everyone else and grift is a way of life and death. 

In the midst of the enthusiast media falling all over itself awarding perfect 10s across the board and unprecedented sales that may even stave off EA's hostile takeover of Take-Two, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that most of us are just getting started in the mean streets of Liberty City.

Few people are bigger GTA fanboys than yours truly, having played and thoroughly enjoyed each and every title in the series since the groundbreaking GTA III. While I am enjoying so much of what the latest, next-generation version has to offer, I have been unpleasantly surprised by a few things that really should never have happened.

First of all, let's be clear - it is IMPOSSIBLE to read text messages, phone records, or anything else on your cell phone. Now, I haven't gotten very far, and I know that your cell gets upgraded as you move forward, but still. This is ridiculous. I've got a 40-inch hi-def TV, and I have to get about 3 feet away and squint just to read the incredibly small text. It's not just me and my old-man eyes, either. I've spoken with half a dozen other people who have the same complaint. How could this have been the final game design for such a crucial driver of missions and relationships?

Secondly, the map at the lower left of the screen is also incredibly small. Not only is it somewhat out of scale with what's going on on-screen (meaning you miss turns and key intersections all the time until you learn to compensate…which usually is a result of a failed mission or two), but terribly important icon markers for Pay-n-Sprays, safe houses, and other spots are indistinguishable from each other.

I have no problem saying I love GTA IV, and it is a spectacular visual feast. Driving and walking around the city is an exercise in wonder. I just can't believe that these huge problems made their way to the final game (and I can't possibly imagine how someone with an SDTV could even think about playing without losing their minds). 

The best baseball man in the biz takes a giant risk in 2008.

I loved MLB 2K7, from its gorgeous visuals to the near-simulation-perfect gameplay (after a couple of slider adjustments) and solid pitching controls. Naturally, I expected a few tweaks here and there to 2K's followup this spring…perhaps a modified (and easier) hitting mechanic, some more nuance in the franchise mode, and even more online options.

Boy, were my expectations way off.

(more…)

Someone help Rich G from the anxieties of life.

Why do I do it to myself? Why, when I've got a barely-played copy of BioShock and a hardly-touched Orange Box sitting there just mocking me, do I still go out and buy Burnout Paradise, Assassin's Creed, and Mass Effect? 

Why did I even buy BioShock and The Orange Box when I didn't even get through an hour of Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4?

Why did I remotely consider picking up Ratchet and Clank Future, play it (and love it) for 3 levels, only to then go get Uncharted?

Why did I even bother with Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 or Ratchet in the first place when I still have unopened, shrink-wrapped copies of The Godfather on 360, Yakuza and Bully on PS2?

Every night I come home and think, tonight is the night I start to plow through these games. Then I become paralyzed by the myriad choices in front of me when I do finally sit down after work, putting the 7-month-old to bed, exercise (on a good night), dinner, then working some more to make sure I keep my job.

I have a disease, friends. And I need to cure it. And it starts tonight.

I will not play any more games until I at least finish Portal.

There, I said it.

Did someone say GTA IV is actually coming out soon?

A brave new confusing world.

I never was prepared to be a Dad. I thought I was, of course. But really, when you're a thirtysomething gamer who's pretty set in his ways, the addition of an often-cranky, often-awake-at-inopportune-times little bundle of squirms and squeaks can really throw you for a loop.

There's no doubt that being a Dad is the greatest thing ever. Except, of course, for my gaming and blogging habits, which are much fewer and farther between than ever.

However, I would like to state for the record that I indeed am alive and well and playing games every once in awhile. Sure, it's down to a few hours a week most of the time, but it's not so bad. The biggest change has not even been related to the little guy's arrival a few months ago, but rather to my change in career. These days, I don't ride the train anymore, so there's hardly any handheld gaming going on. It's almost all treadmill time on the 360 (which is only three days a week for the most part) or stealing a few late-night hours here and there. You definitely get an appreciation for the term "free time", because there's much less of it than there ever was.

So, what have I been playing lately? A smattering of things, really. I've gotten to the later stages of Valve's Portal, which is brilliant but has me stumped now that I am on level 13. This one's killing me, and I don't think I am smart enough to figure it out. Naturally, getting stumped there led me over to the main title of the Orange Box, Half-Life 2. I am more than a little embarrassed to admit I've never played it (or its predecessor), but I've started down the path and I'll see where it takes me.

This past week I really dove headfirst into Sega Rally Revo, for which you'll see a review on this site in the coming days. Once or twice a week in the past month I've also dropped into a few Halo 3 online matches with some longtime friends, which have been fun enough but hardly mindblowing. Maybe it's because I'm older, have so little time, or am just looking for more out of my games, but I am not feeling the love for Bungie's latest. I can't even pretend to be interested in the single player; after an hour or so plodding through the first level, the baffling storyline and oh-so-familiar gameplay leaves me bored beyond belief. 

Believe it or not, I am still playing a lot of The Bigs, an utterly addictive over-the-top baseballer that's been out for many months now. It's the perfect treadmill game. I also recently won the Super Bowl in Madden 08, a distinctly anticlimactic affair that didn't even get me an Achievement. Disgraceful!

Up next are a couple of GN review titles - Folklore and Warhawk. My PS3 hasn't been this happy since……..ever.

The purpose for this rambling, self-serving, incoherent blog post? None, other than to remind all the GotNexters that I am still here, still kicking, and still looking to get a good night's sleep one of these days.

When life is hard you have to change.

Between the daily demands that having a regular job, wife, eight-week-old son, second job reviewing games, and third job previewing games can force on a person, it can be pretty damn hard to actually, you know, play a freakin' game for fun. However, I've been hearing a ridiculous amount of love for Bioshock lately - you know, review scores of 10 almost across the board - so I decided that I am going to sit down and play it.

Naturally, to make that happen, I had to quit my job.

Believe it or not, I purposely gave myself a complete week off between when I leave my old job and start my new one, just so that for the first time in many months I can sit down and play a game just for the hell of it. Not for review, not for preview, just to lose myself in an experience and not worry about conveying my thoughts to the world in a coherent sense (not that I've been excelling at that lately either… ).

So, if you see me online any time between September 10th and September 16th playing Bioshock, you'll know that I am sitting there with a big smile on my face, ignoring my worldly responsibilities for a few precious days.

I sure hope this game is worth it…