Check it out. This one's got a weird style to it - a 3D overworld (with sprites), and a return to the 2D LMBS from earlier Tales games. Very awesome.

As I play, Sly Cooper alternately impresses and depresses me. One moment, I'll jump into a level with a clever mechanic - like faux-sidescrolling or a truck race - and feel like this game has some really creative ideas behind it. The next moment, the camera will get stuck behind a signpost, or I'll be one-shotted by some enemy (remember: there are no health points), and the last checkpoint was forever ago, and I just want to throw down the controller in frustration.

I've only beaten two of the game's five bosses, and I frequently think of just tossing the disc back in its case forever. But at the same time, the game's flaws are of the kind that could be easily fixed in a sequel, if Sucker Punch were to deem it so. At any rate, I can't help but press on so I can feel like I got the most out of Sly.

Progress: 35%

The puzzles have become pretty fucking hard. I love it.

Progress: Slimy Sewer Level 3

I've owned this forever, and still haven't played it.

EDIT: screw it, don't care anymore. -- 11/27/2010

Progress: Gave Up

For "Not Playing" this game, I've actually been playing it quite a bit. Practically every time I go visit my friend who has it. This isn't always my doing, either; I am sometimes begged to pick up the controller and start headshotting the LCPD. Apparently my "style" of playing the game makes for an entertaining viewing experience. (As far as I know, he hasn't played the game himself in weeks.)

As such, I've been thinking more and more about what makes GTA4 better or worse than its forerunners, and there are some aspects that are as-yet difficult to identify. The fact that I haven't played any of GTA3 other than Vice City probably has something to do with that (though I plan on changing this in the near future).

One thing to note, along with all the other stuff I've already noted, is that the improved physics engine in GTA4 makes almost everything seem weightier and more significant. In general, people and cars move slower, which makes it both more realistic and more fun, in that it becomes easier to see where everything (yourself, pedestrians, police officers, debris) will stand in the coming seconds. GTA-style mayhem is only enhanced by this improved sense of anticipation and suspense.

Progress: Gave Up

Playing RSPD is a little like reading archived Penny Arcade comics in a row for a few hours. The writing and artistic style are the same, and it's damn funny. Some parts, e.g. the mysterious narrator, may seem a little over-the-top sometimes, but in general it's still high quality humor.

Some outlets have given the game flak for the actual gameplay being not-so-good, and what you should know is that it's not bad. Sure, you may be able to buy a game with more refined and intriguing RPG elements in a box on a store shelf, but considering it's not even the primary bullet point of RSPD, the real-time menu-based combat (think Final Fantasy 4-9) is actually fun.

I've only played the demo so far - need to clear out some time in my schedule before I can justify buying the whole game - but it's a definite sell for me, and at this point I'm pretty much sold on the rest of the series' episodes, too.

EDIT: it was on sale this weekend on Steam, so, I leapt. I haven't started playing yet, but this bumps it up in the queue...

Progress: Finished demo

Success: Wii Fit is simple and, for lack of a better term, videogame-y enough for me to become more conscious of my own weight. The anthropomorphic balance board that supervises your Wii Fit activity will offer real-world tips on what makes you real-world fat and a real-world sloth. Semi-regular weighings and balance checks are, I'm convinced, actually making me a somewhat healthier person.

Failure: Playing Wii Fit for more than a few minutes is boring as hell. I originally intended to "exercise" at least enough to unlock all the minigames, but there are just so many better uses of my time that at this point I've completely stopped caring.

I'll continue to weigh myself with it every so often, but I haven't touched an exercise mini-game in weeks and I doubt I will again anytime soon. And since you can do the Body Test using a channel that Wii Fit installs to your main menu, I don't even use the game disc anymore. At least it's convenient.

Progress: Gave Up -- I actually lost weight!

Now that my newly assembled quad-booting PC is working reasonably well, I decided it's time for me to catch up. Though I used to get together for Halo LAN multiplayer pretty often back in high school, I'd never touched the campaign mode until recently, and I have to admit that so far I'm pretty impressed.

The introductory cinematic left a bad taste in my mouth; the primary characterization isn't one of my favorite parts of the game. Master Chief, the player's robotic character, is made out to be some sort of mysterious superhero - which is stupid. He's a robot with a gun. Cortana, the narrative female voice who guides you through the game, highlighting objectives and so on, is sexed up in hologram form and is made to be probably the most 'human' character in the whole game. Meanwhile, Captain Keyes, the roughnecked military commander who's in charge of the whole affair, is made to act and sound like a standardized tough-love army dude.

Luckily, all this characterization disappears after the first level. Then you're just a guy shooting aliens with a female voice-over and some occasional AI backup. But that's not all: this game actually has a plot, and I'm starting to become mildly interested in it. The brainless shooter genre actually mates with trite sci-fi pretty well.

Back in 2001, Halo's gameplay mechanics - the two-weapon system, the emphasis on duck-and-cover combat, the fairly simple controls and vehicles - were pretty brilliant, and they're actually still quite relevant today. Unimpressive graphics (and restrictive vehicular control) aside, Halo has aged fairly well. One important thing the game nailed was accessibility. Learning how to play Halo is extremely simple, and the difficulty modes and checkpoints give the game both a great pick-up-and-play environment, and that "just one more level" nagging sensation in the back of your head.

Progress: The Silent Cartographer

Progress: !!!

Take your everyday platform-puzzler - trying to get a little guy through a maze of obstacles and enemies toward some goal(s) - and add wacky sound effects, shiny graphics, and super-cool items, and you're looking at Toki Tori.

The puzzles are pretty good so far (having completed the first of four(?) worlds, each of which I guess has 10 levels), and the nifty point-and-pathfind remote control scheme works surprisingly well, but by far the coolest part of Toki Tori is the item system. The first item in the game is a bridge, which you can build to cross small gaps. The second item is a teleporter, which you can use to instantly move two spaces in a given direction. The third item is an ice gun to freeze enemies. I can only assume the items will continue to become even more awesome at a ridiculous pace.

Progress: Finished Forest Falls world