Superbowl weekend is finally here!  After my 360 got the RROD about a week ago, I haven't been gaming much.  I don't have a ton of games for either my PSP or PS3, so I'm hoping to get a 360 again soon.  Here's what I'll be playing this weekend:
 

• FFX  (PS2):  I've been playing this on my backwards compatible PS3 recently.  I'm about 10 hours in, just after the Highroad.  My interest in this game fluctuates every time I play it.  I've beat it twice before and in anticipation for FFXIII, I figured I'd play through it one last time.  I'm not sure if I'll stick with it though.
• FFVII  (PSN/PSP):  Still after that elusive gold chocobo.
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo  (PS3):  This demo blew me away when I downloaded it yesterday.  I had the original Bad Company for 360 and liked that, but I'm loving the changes they've made!  I'll definitely be playing some more of this during the weekend.  (Side note:  If you're going to be playing the BF:BC2 demo this weekend as well, I have a favor to ask:  When I'm disarming the bomb, PLEASE shoot the guys fire at us instead of watching me defuse it or trying to defuse it yourself.  We can't both defuse it at the same time, but thanks for trying.)
  

I'll be fairly busy with real-life things this weekend (Sat: spending the day with the gf and family in Boston.  Sun: helping my grandparents move) but I think I'll still get around to some of the following:

Soon after prestiging in Modern Warfare 2, I realized I had already played about as much Modern Warfare 2 as I had Call of Duty 4 (my previous favorite online shooter).  In COD4, I prestiged once and reached level 37 (if I remember correctly), but the max level attainable in COD4 was 55, so the progression was quicker.  Here are my thoughts on MW2 after 68 hours of play-time:
 

• More fun with more friends:   I'm having more fun with Modern Warfare 2 than I did with COD4, and I think it's mainly due to more of my friends owning the game.  I'm getting a chance to play this more with them than I ever got to play COD4 with my friends.
• Damn akimbo 1887s:  People running around with akimbo 1887s on small, enclosed maps really drive me crazy.  Countless times I've turned a corner or entered through a doorway only to be blown away by someone with them.  On open maps, it's pretty easy to take them down from a distance, but even then, sometimes they're too accurate.
• Customizable killstreak rewards:  Probably my favorite addition to Modern Warfare 2 are the addition of more killstreaks and the ability to customize them.  I wish I could assign a different set of killstreaks to the different custom classes, but it's not a big deal. 
  
• Stopping power:  No, I'm not talking about the perk here.  I'm talking about when someone is making a run at me with a knife and they have the Commando perk on.  I feel like hip-firing bullets into them as they're lunging at me should cancel their knife attack and stop them dead in their tracks.
• COD4 had better maps:  I loved most of the maps from COD4, including Crash, Vacant, Pipeline, Downpour, Crossfire, Ambush, and even the downloadable ones including Creek , Broadcast and Chinatown (a remake of Carentan from COD2).  Modern Warfare 2 has it's share of good maps, but not as many as COD4.  In Modern Warfare 2, I really enjoy Afgan, Sub Base, Highrise, Favela, Invasion, and Wasteland (a remake of Brecourt from COD1).

As the football season comes to a close, Saturday and Sunday will be mostly spent watching 12 of the last 21 hours of football this season, or 24 if you include the Pro Bowl, which I'll probably watch as well.

• Modern Warfare 2  (360):  I've finally prestiged!!  I've been attempting to get some gun Titles (AUG HBAR, MG4) by unlocking all the attachments for the guns I've used before I prestiged and lost that progress.  As a result, my K/D ratio significantly dropped to 1.31.  I'm at Prestige 1, level 2 after 64 hours of playtime (I played 16 hours in the past week?  Oops!).  I also got a chance to wrap up Veteran and collect all the intel with a little help from a walkthrough (I played through on recruit twice and found 34/45 before using the guide), so I'm 100% done single-player (except for the Pit Boss Achievement) and up to 780 Gamerscore.  I'll be playing much more multiplayer this weekend and who knows, maybe I'll actually get around to playing some more Spec Ops.
  
• Torchlight  (PC):  I played 12 hours of Torchlight this week while watching the 3rd season of 30 Rock, bringing me up to a total of 36 hours.  I finished all 35 levels of the first dungeon and now I'm off to the Shadow Vault with my level 41 alchemist.  I've also realized that I'm enjoying Torchlight more than I ever enjoyed Diablo II.  My character can shoot Iron Man Repulsor-esque energy beams and my dog can summon zombies and skeletons.  I just wish there was co-op.
  
• Battlefield 1943  (PSN/PS3):  Same as last week, just playing some matches here and there, looking to pick up the last two trophies before Bad Company 2 comes out in March.
• Dirt 2  (360):  I'll probably try to squeeze in some multiplayer this weekend.  I prefer the races that are instanced (but include ghost cars) so there's no collision, but you can still see how you're doing in real-time.
• Final Fantasy VII  (PSN/PSP):  I really need to jump back into this.  I haven't played much since before Christmas.

I won't be getting around to too much gaming this weekend as I'm pretty busy, but I'll probably get a few hours with the following titles:
 

• Modern Warfare 2  (360):  Maintaining a K/D ratio of 1.35 still, I've worked my way up to level 62 and just hit 2 days of playtime.  I'll get around to wrapping up Spec-Ops someday, just not this weekend.
  
• Torchlight  (PC):  I just reached 24 hours of playtime and hit level 33 today while watching the last 10 episodes of the seventh and final season of The Shield.  Amazing show if you haven't seen it, by the way.  Torchlight is a great game to play while watching movies or TV shows on Netflix.  Next on the Netflix/Torchlight combo:  Season 3 of 30 Rock.
  
• Battlefield 1943  (PSN/PS3):  I'm still working toward that 30-game trophy.

I feel like I've played enough games this year to make a pretty decent top 10 list.  At the bottom of this post, I added a couple of games that I simply didn't play this year, but feel like they may have been in my top 10 if I had.
 
Keep in mind that these are only my opinions.

	1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves I played through this game in two sittings and it took me 11 hours.  I almost played through it in one sitting and after beating it, I immediately started playing through it again.  This is, hands down, the best single-player experience on the PS3.
	2. Assassin's Creed II Stabbing fools, running across rooftop, and blending in with the crowd was a great concept in Assassin's Creed two years ago.  The sequel improves upon the first with a great story (in and out of the animus), varied missions, and the villa economy is fun to build up.  Also, great setting!  What's next?
	3. Modern Warfare 2 This is the best multi-player experience this year.  Stop complaining about how short the single-player experience is, it's not that short and that's not why you bought it anyway.  The changes that they made to the multi-player are great and will have me playing well into 2010.
	4. Batman: Arkham Asylum Batman is a detective.  Batman can whoop ass.  Batman is stealthy.  Batman can instill fear.  Arkham Asylum manages to incorporate the four things that define Batman into a well polished game with great voice acting, an amazing environment and a lot of sweet gadgets.
	5. Borderlands This is the most fun I've had with a co-op game this year.  The single-player isn't quite as fun as co-op, but that didn't stop me from soloing from level 29 to 50 by myself.  The second playthrough is just as fun as the first and I'm hoping they raise the level cap with some DLC to get me to jump back in.
	6. inFAMOUS Sure, the story gets pretty crazy at the end, but the constant moral choices, fun-to-use superpowers, fluid movement and creative enemies had me playing through this game twice this summer.  Once I get it back from my friend, I'll probably give it another go.
	7. Street Fighter IV What's up with all the fighting games this year?  I didn't really care for BlazBlue or KOF12, but I couldn't get enough of Street Fighter IV and I'm not awful at it online either!  It makes me wish I had more friends that were into fighting games.  Oh well, I'm patiently waiting for Super Street Fighter IV anyway.
	8. Forza Motorsport 3 While the actual racing in Dirt 2 is a little more exhilarating, the storefront, the customization, and the amount of depth in Forza 3's six seasons and the way it changes depending on what cars you have makes it an overall better package and secures it a place on this list.
	9. Dragon Age: Origins The fact that Dragon Age is the only story-based game on this list that I haven't beat isn't a bad thing.  I've played through all 6 of the origin stories, and only enjoyed 3 of them, but I've been enjoying the rest of the game.  I'm 33 hours in with a Dalish Elf Rogue and I'm planning on getting back to it soon.
	10. Shadow Complex My favorite XBLA game of all-time certainly deserves a spot on this list.  Being the only game I've played through 3 times this year, I suppose I should mention it has some replay value.  Forget about the throwaway story and characters, play it for it's solid controls and addictive gameplay.

• Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War II
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

• Modern Warfare 2  (360):  This game will be on this Weekend Gaming! blog for a while, if you haven't figured that out yet.  Up to level 58 with 42 hours of play, still at a 1.35 K/D ratio, I'm not even close to getting sick of this multi-player.
• Dirt 2  (360):  Up to level 41 in single-player, I'm 67% through the game.  I'll probably finish this up in the next week and jump into some more multiplayer when I get a chance.  I might go for 100% achievements on this game, but I'm not sure.  It would be my fourth 360 game to do that behind Call of Duty 2, Madden '06 and Fight Night Round 3.
  
• Battlefield 1943  (PSN/PS3):  I'm two trophies away from getting 100% trophies for my first time on a PS3 game.  I just need to play in 100 matches (total, to get the 30 and 100 matches trophies) to wrap it up.
• Torchlight  (PC):  I'm hoping this game will last me well into the new year.  I'm now at level 28 (out of a level 100 cap) and I'm 15 1/2 hours in.
  
• Motorstorm: Pacific Rift  (PS3):  I rented this game in December of 2008 and made a note that I needed to pick it up.  A year later and $40 cheaper, I found this at Best Buy and picked it up with a giftcard from Christmas.  I'm looking to finish Dirt 2 first, so I'm not playing two offroad racing games at once, but I'm constantly jumping back and forth between games, so no promises!

Best Podcast Game: Forza Motorsport 3 (360)

Best TV Show Game:  Torchlight (PC)

Most Fun Start To Finish:   50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (360)

Most Improved Sequel:   Assassin's Creed II (360)

2009's 2008 Game Of The Year:   Fable II (360)

Disappointment of the Year:   Halo 3: ODST (360)