It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a JRPG on consoles.  While I love the great games to be found on the DS and the PSP, my real wish for the genre is to see it return to form on the console.  With the exception of the lone game like Disgaea 3 here and there, the traditional turn-based RPG is a rarity in today's market.  There's something ironic in the fact that as the Japanese push more and more towards Westernized themes and ideas in their games that they lose what made their games spectacular in the first place.  I've been playing Japanese roleplaying games extensively since Final Fantasy VII, Wild Arms, and Suikoden became my bread and butter on the PS1.  By no means does that make me an expert, but as a fan of the genre who has gone back to play games such as Final Fantasy III and IV, Chrono Trigger, and a myriad of older SNES and NES RPG's, I think I can safely say I know what makes a JRPG fun to me. 
 
So here's what I want to see in future RPG's, be it a classic design or something innovative.  Note that when I refer to RPG's at this point, I am referring to JRPG's and not Western RPG's, which are going to make for a completely different blog post somewhere down the line.  Don't take it to mean that I prefer one over the other.  Please, as always, feel free to share your own thoughts or call me bad names. 
 
I know the classic turn-based combat model is going the way of the dinosaur, and it sort of makes me a little sad.  We've seen gameplay innovations both good and bad over the last seven to eight years of JRPG's, including a focus both on trying to improve traditional turn-based RPG's (Final Fantasy XIII) as well as action-RPG's (Tales of Vesperia/Symphonia, Rogue Galaxy, etc.)  There are a few holdouts and classic throwbacks, such as Dragon Quest VIII and IX, Disgaea, and Persona 4.
 
In terms of how much I enjoy RPG's, the classic turn-based RPG is a staple.  I think the high point of this particular sub-genre would almost have to be Final Fantasy X.  What makes it so particularly good is that it managed to meld the best of the classic Final Fantasy elements with a new look and feel.  It made it easy to introduce new players, while still retaining enough of the old to keep long-time Final Fantasy gamers happy.  The combat system and exploration were particularly noteworthy.  Final Fantasy X's combat was manageable, mostly due to the fact that the player was never overwhelmed by the speed of the opponent blitzing them as they made a crucial decision.  It definitely felt a lot faster than prior entries, but it still managed to keep a sense of chess-like maneuverability and methodical pacing, if the player so chose.  And perhaps most importantly, the combat felt rewarding, especially in regards to its highly customizable (yet accessible) leveling grid, where players could choose from several types of upgrades for characters. 
 
Later, Final Fantasy XIII would try to further this game's combat by melding it with elements from Final Fantasy XII (I'll discuss that game in a minute), and try to make it both breakneck and far more difficult.  Unfortunately, it would ultimately fall short in that regard, mostly because it didn't properly implement the action-centered Westernization so many Japanese developers are trying for.  By making the game's combat and exploration go at a breakneck speed for the first twenty or so hours, the game lost its way as a Final Fantasy game and became a poor man's imiatation of both prior entries to the series and as a Westernized action RPG. 
  
Other turn-based games have lost some flavor as well by trying to appeal to a mass market.  Suikoden Terkreis is a fine example of an essentially good game made slightly worse by comparing it to its brethren.  It dumbed down the castle building aspect, the magic system, ditched its mini-game elements, and became just another turn-based RPG.  It kept the bulk of the series' best elements, however, like the 108 recruitable characters, the simple-yet-addictive combat system, and a sprawling world.  It's just too bad the Japanese publisher felt the need to dumb down the game to such a degree. 
 
Now, in terms of action RPG's, we've seen some great strides forward.  Games like Tales of Vesperia and Star Ocean have become standard bearers for JRPG combat and exploration.  There is just an absurd amount of stuff to do, find, win, craft, and beat the crap out of, and I love every second of that.  True, I'm not the biggest fan of their stories or characters, but at the end of the day, the backbone of the action RPG as defined by those two games in particular is fantastic.  And with games like Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud, and Final Fantasy XII, we saw some real innovations in blending genres and introducing new ideas.  It's a shame we don't see more games like those, or even sequels in very similar veins.  If Japanese developers can create an action-RPG with those elements as well as the story and lovable characters of a franchise like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, they will have gold mines in IP's.  
 
What's disappointing to me is that it feels like Japanese developers are almost half-assing it throughout this generation and ballyhooing the West for the downfall of the once mighty JRPG.  Games like Blue Dragon, The Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery, and the godawful-yet-great Enchanted Arms all scream "phoning it in," but we haven't seen the kind of development efforts put into RPG's from the last generation.  And that's really what's going to make or break the next five years of the genre - if we see developers like Atlus and Square put forth real effort into reintroducing the JRPG to Western audiences on their terms with the elements that made their games classics to begin with, then we'll see a turnaround like we've seen with the adventure genre.  But if developers and publishers continue to produce half-baked shovelware and push it to the West hoping we'll gobble it up, well... their sales figures will speak for themselves.

I missed one crucial game in my top games of 2010 list - yes, those of you who told me I was posting the list a mite early were right.  I did wind up playing one more game - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood for those of you click-happy jackanapes who didn't read the title of the blog - that deserves to be on that list as an honorable mention along with the other games I noted.
 
AC: Brotherhood (and its eventual Volition counterpart AC: Brother in the Hood) is a great game thanks to a well-crafted "kitchen sink" mentality of sorts that helped other open-world games of this generation like Saint's Row 2 or Red Dead Redemption.  The core gameplay is raised from being bland and unappealing (more on that in a sec) to greatness by din of that idea that the game needed just one more little thing for the player to do.  It encourages exploration, adds hours to the game, and in general, the side tasks are pretty fun to boot.  Ripping through the main quest only wouldn't have impressed me much.  It's serviceable, mind you, but it's very apparent that this is a filler title in terms of stories and characters.  It's sort of awesome that the story is as good as it is, considering the multiplayer was such a focus for the developer, but you're not going to get major revelations or anything that will render the next game unfathomable if you miss out on it. 
 
It's a game that could still use a lot of work.  The controls, while generally great, sometimes aren't as intuitive as I'd like.  Sometimes, Ezio kicks off walls without any real reason, or he makes backwards jumps when you need him angled a bit.  The combat system also needs to be examined from head to to, especially in terms of guns, crossbows, and darts.  There's just no excuse not to have a free-aim look without both a Y and X axis.  Hand to hand combat feels okay, but a better explanation of how to handle groups would go a long ways. 
 
There are other little issues, too, like font size and its colors against the background.  Again, that's primarily a problem with my eyesight and shouldn't be a problem for most anyone else.  However, there are other things that will almost certainly affect others, like the baffling lack of names when selecting your weapons.  Seriously, they couldn't have put "Small Weapon," "Hidden Blades," "Smoke Bombs," or any other small indicator other than a vague picture?  Certain mission structures are baffling or flat-out irritating, too.  I get that this is basically a stealth game, but taking away the player's option to rip through guards and watchmen on certain missions made me want to turn the game off at various points.  I've said it before in regards to games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Perfect Dark Zero - enforced stealth missions will bring down otherwise great games. 
 
Those things aside, Brotherhood is seriously meaty, and a whole hell of a lot of fun.  So yes, it definitely deserved to be on my Best of... blog, and next year, I'll know better than to post my list before I've finished up for the year.

...which, by the way, is a superb film.  Go watch it if you haven't seen it.  
 
Gang, I can't quanitfy this year's games.  I have written and edited this blog three or four times now, and each time, the list swelled, numbers changed, and I could never quite make up my mind as to a numbered order of things.  I know what my absolute favorite game of the year was (Fallout: New Vegas), but the year was full of top-notch releases and a shocking number of awesome little gems.  
 
I feel like I should also mention the amazing list of games I haven't played yet and want to.  Games like Starcraft 2, Black Ops, and Hot Pursuit aren't listed below, but that doesn't mean they're not incredible games.  It just means that I haven't yet had a chance to play them.  I may do a future blog at some point of games from 2010 and prior that I still want to play, but that task is daunting, especially after writing this beast. 
 
I've been a gamer since roughly 1987, when I was a young'un and my parents brought home a Tandy 1000 with Quest for Glory (then Hero's Ques), Police Quest, and a forgettable flight simulator.  Since then, I've played many, many games on all sorts of platforms.  I'm not without my biases, and I'm not an expert on the specifics of all the games released within particular years.  But in all the years I've gamed, there have always been at least a handful of fantastic games released that year.  After looking back at the games I've played and the games I want to play released solely from this year alone, I've gotta say that this has to be my favorite year of gaming.  All of the games listed below have been more than worthy of their purchases, and the sheer number of games I've yet to play should say a lot about what this year held for gamers in general.  We had an awesome Assassin's Creed, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Super Mario, Metroid, Fallout, Fable, Gran Turismo, and Civilization.  We saw new IP's like Enslaved, Bayonetta, and Darksiders.  We saw a retro return of unparalleled quality games in Goldeneye, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders.   Red Dead Redemption took a stalled series and turned it into something entirely awesome. This year, readers, has the sturdiest backbone of games that I can remember. 
 
Perhaps the biggest gauge of a year's games is in its disappointments.  To me, two games this year hold that honor, and sadly, both of them share the same title.  Final Fantasy XIII and XIV weren't disasters by any stretch of the imagination, but strange development decisions and a number of bad creative ideas turned what could have been the banner year of Square Enix into something middling and disappointing to a long-term fan of their games.  And yet, if those were the worst this year had to offer (at least, that I've played and was anticipating), it's been a pretty damn good year.
 
Here, then, are my favorite games of 2010, in no particular order after the first. 
 
--Falout: New Vegas-- 
 
I've waxed poetic about the grand scope of New Vegas before, but I want to reiterate how much fun this game is.  Obsidian has taken everything that made Fallout 3 great (the first person adventuring, the VATS combat system, loads of interesting characters and locales, and tons of guns and weapons) and expanded upon it.  The overall buggy nature of the game is a severe negative, but with comprehensive fixes on the way and DLC just around the corner, I suspect these woes to be a thing of the past.  And truth be told, I never experienced anything that really broke the fun nature of the game.  Was I annoyed that I couldn't find my companions from time to time?  Sure.  Did the game try to load every outdoor NPC each time I stepped foot outside HELIOS?  Yup.  Did any of that stop me from killing countless members of Caesar's Legion, exploring every nook and cranny for specialized guns, or keep me from exploring the post-apocalyptic wastes of the Mojave?  Hell no, it didn't.  If you didn't like this game because of the bugs, I respect that, as I do if you're waiting to play it until the patch is released.  But don't hold off on playing this game forever.  New Vegas is without question the finest Bethesda-styled RPG to date, and is almost certainly guaranteed a spot on my future "Favorite Games" lists. 
 
-- Super Mario Galaxy 2-- 
 
The House of Mario did not disappoint this year.  The level design shows a level of craftsmanship unrivalled by any other platformer to date, and the typical high quality gameplay I've come to expect from the primary Mario games is definitely intact.  The addition of Yoshi was a clever move and opened up some great new ways to play.  The bosses, while sticking to a general 3D platformer "hit me X times in Y soft spot) tend to be challenging and creative in their design.  The difficulty of the game might drive some away, but honestly, I think the challenge is just about right. 
 
--Civilization V-- 
 
Of all the games on this list, Civ V will probably be the one I sink the most time into years from now.  It's the best in a venerable series of games because it's both accessible and insanely deep.  While my computer can only run it well with a small number of players, I still find myself clicking through just one more turn, time and time again.  What's that, you say?  There's new DLC available?  Ahhhhh, shit... there goes another month of my free time. 
 
--Enslaved: Odyseey to the West-- 
 
I saw the Quick Look of this and wasn't impressed.  The level they demonstrated felt generic, and the gameplay didn't look like anything too spectacular.  Thank God I got Black Friday Fever then and picked this one up when it came on sale at Amazon.  I'm gaga over this game.  The gameplay is fairly vanilla action-adventuring, but it's been polished and feels right in the same way that the gameplay of inFamous felt just so.  The story and characters are engaging, the environments are a delight, and the game feels tough without feeling stupidly so.  It's also got one of the best first levels I've seen in a game to date. 
 
--Joe Danger-- 
 
This was, unfortunately, the only game I downloaded on my PS3 this year not related to the PS1.  It's an awesome little game, with a ton of replayability and charm.  It's breezy, and you can rush through it fairly quickly, but like Civ V, I kept finding myself investing much more time into the game than I originally wanted to.  Achieving just one more star on any particular level becomes an obsession quickly, and the perky atmosphere and perfect controls certainly help in that regard.  It's not a complex game, but damned if it isn't a riot. 
 
--Fable 3-- 
 
I've ripped on Fable 3 a little bit on Giant Bomb, and that's unfair of me.  Fable 3 is actually a hell of a fun game, but it's definitely not on the level of Fable 2.  That being said, there's a lot to like here.  Of particular note is the sometimes surprisingly funny dialogue, the shockingly good vocal talents of the actors and actresses, and the same basic solid gameplay from its predecessors.  Lionhead took a lot of small gambles on trying to make this game more accessible, and unfortunately, while those risks didn't pay off, I have to applaud them for trying.  I genuinely hope there is a Fable 4, but that they take a long, hard look at their target audience and determine whether or not they really want to divide the appeal between accessibility and actual fun. 
 
--Halo: Reach-- 
 
This is the most fun I've had with a first-person shooter's campaign since Timesplitters.  I even liked the firefight stuff, which I thought brought a level of intensity to moments of the campaign as well as offered up something new to me personally (I didn't get a chance to play ODST).  While I don't have the capabilities to play a decent multiplayer match, I'm looking forward to it.  I love what Bungie did with unlocks in this game.  Bungie, thank you for the decade of great Halo games, and I hope that whatever projects you work on in the future bring me as much joy as these games have.
 
--Sam and Max: Season 3-- 
 
I loved the uprade to the Sam and Max episodes.  The addition of psychic powers for Max as well as the general update of the locations and characters of the game breathed some much-needed fresh air into the series while maintaining established characters and the same insane humor.  I wasn't (and still am not) a fan of the new control scheme, but overall, these episodes shouldn't be missed by anyone with an interest in funny games or the adventure genre. 
 
--Darksiders-- 
 
There are three games on this list that took me by total surprise, and this is the second of the two after Enslaved.  Darksiders is a superb action-oriented Zelda-esque game with a ridiculously awesome premise.  I liked the visual style, with its almost cartoonish looking characters and the devastation of the world. 
 
--Risk: Factions-- 
 
I love Risk, and I love what Risk Factions has done with the classic gameplay.  Oh, you don't, you say?  Well, then, just turn on the option to go back to classic Risk gameplay.  The goofy animations are awesome, the characters (while groan-worthy) are pretty hilarious, and the game's unforgiving nature definitely reminds me of those six-to-eight hour marathons of Risk back in college.  Ahhhh, good times. 
 
--Gran Turismo 5-- 
 
I like Gran Turismo's car selection.  There's really nothing like it out there in terms of variety.  I admit, I greatly prefer the gameplay and accessibility of Forza 3, but Gran Turismo is an incredible game if you're a car lover like me.  And really, that's who this game is geared towards, which is both pretty cool and its biggest problem.  That being said, Gran Turismo 5 is one of my favorite releases this year. 
 
--Dragon Quest IX-- 
 
Wow.  I wasn't sure if I'd like Dragon Quest IX, but I'm delighted to say that it's my favorite traditional turn-based RPG since the days of the PS2.  For any fan of that particular genre, DQIX is a fucking delight from head to toe.  Classes are customizable, there are tons of quests, and a great many traditional places to explore and discover.  It does get a little grind-focused towards the end, but that's sort of a hallmark of the series. 
  
--Bayonetta-- 
 
Rounding out that triumvirate of pleasantly surprising games is the batshit crazy Bayonetta.  Again, I wasn't impressed with what I saw until I played the game for myself, at which point my jaw sorta hit the floor and I was hooked.  It's Japanese on a level I don't think any other game this year has topped, and there wasn't practically a moment in the game when some part of my brain was screaming, "What the hell?"  The gameplay and controls are very polished, there's a lot of variety in the combat moves you can eventually unlock, and Bayonetta herself is just one hell of a kick. 
 
--Mass Effect 2--  
 
Mass Effect 2 really cleaned up a lot about what I didn't like in Mass Effect while introducing some classic characters and moments.  While the game lost some of its RPG elements, it made the combat much more fun and efficient.  And thank God we don't have those stupid Mako exploration bits anymore.  Good Lord, I hated those. 

--Red Dead Redemption-- 
 
Holy shit, did I like Red Dead Redemption.  This game is now my standard bearer for open-world games, beating out my old favorite Saint's Row 2 pretty handily.  Rockstar addressed everything that pissed me off about Grand Theft Auto IV and made their games fun again.  While I don't much care for the post-game stuff, I think the story up until that point was incredible and very well-told.  The graphics were stunning, the gameplay as solid as a rock, and there were a ton of side quests, activities, and even the introduction of peripheral quests, which added a surprising amount to the game.

Shit, it's been a while since I wrote an honest blog.  Thanks to a change in my personal situation, I was able to procure a few games during Amazon's Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.  And while I haven't had a chance to get really in-depth with all of them, I've played enough of a few to give you some brief thoughts.  I know, you're slathering at the bit to read my thoughts on cheap ass games that came out quite a while ago, but hey, that's what I do, babycakes.  
 
Oh, and uh... no editing tools available on this one, kiddos.  No idea why the editing bar isn't showing up, but it isn't.  Not like my writing on here was ever all that tidy anways (damn you, lists and buttons). 
 
ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST 
 
I didn't much care for what I saw in the Quick Look of this game, which thankfully didn't keep me from picking it up.  The level demonstrated in the Quick Look doesn't quite do the game justice, as it's definitely the most generic bit of the game I've encountered.  The rest of the early missions are fun, have some memorable sequences (I cannot stress how much I really liked the opening level), and lay out the groundwork for the rest of the game admirably well.  It never tries to really break the mold, but what it does, it does really well.  And what is that, you ask?  Well, the platforming is actually entertaining and easy to do (think inFamous's excellent controls, but on more of a guided path).  The combat is fairly simple but promises more complexity as the game goes on.  The alternately beautiful and haunting atmosphere gives the game a sense of style, and the environmental graphics are great.  The two leads have an interesting dynamic and some solid dialogue, though the character models themselves could use a little bit of work.   Alone, either character would seem sort of like your basic game archetypes of warrior and damsel in distress, but the two mesh together both in terms of the story and gameplay in effective ways. And while I'm still just scratching the surface, the story seems relatively intelligent and drives the game forward at a nice pace.   The idea of a wrecked American city feels quite a bit like The Time Machine's future portions, but that's actually a positive thing, as you really get the idea that in the hands of a clever writer, this could be a fantastic homage to that novel as well as the work it's actually based on.
 
Like I say, none of that isn't anything we've seen before,   But give it a chance if you can.  I hope you'll find it as pleasantly entertaining as I am. 
 
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM 
 
I know I'm way behind the times here, so I'll just quickly summarize.  Arkham Asylum is superb.  I really like the combat, and the fact that stealth is mostly optional really makes me enjoy it all the more.  I'll freely admit I'm playing it on Easy, but I full intend on playing this one through multiple times.  As a long-time comic fan, it's a joy to see something so cleverly written and fun to play.  Joker's insanity and violence are almost shocking to me here, and that image of the guard in the visitor center with the monitor where his head should be is pretty damn striking.  Looking forward to spending more time with this one when I can. 
 
SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2011 
 
Everything that was said in the Giant Bomb review of this was absolutely correct.  It's a lazy half-assed "update" of a tired game franchise that owners of last year's game should avoid like the plague.  Very little from last year has changed, and even at the discount price I bought it for ($20), I don't think it's worth the money.  Now, if you haven't owned a Smackdown vs. Raw game since before 2010, you might be interested in the file-share content, which is easily the best part of the game.  But seeing as how that was available last year and (I believe) the servers are still up for that one, you'd be much better off buying the prior game at a discounted price.  As a long-time fan of this series, it's time I say enough is enough, and I won't be buying another one until they make some sweeping changes to the series.  The animations need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up, as there are tons of clipping issues, weird hiccups in move animations, and a frustrating lack of new movesets and entrance positions.  This shit has been recycled for years, and it's time I stop supporting that kind of bullshit with my dollar bills. 
 
AND THAT'S ALL, FOLKS 
 
I guess that'll do it for this one, folks.  I used to do a question of the week type deal, so I'll throw a random ass question out there for you.  Since you've been a gamer, which year do you think has been best for gaming?  Keep in mind, I really only want personal opinions here, so don't list something that's before your time.  I really believe this year has been my favorite year in terms of gaming, and I intend on writing an end-of-the-year blog on that topic soon, so I thought I'd get your opinions. 
 
Anyways, take care, folks.  Enjoy your holidays, stay warm, and keep on gaming.

Like with all popular games, movies, TV shows, and all things nerd-tacular, Fallout: New Vegas has become the latest game for Giant Bombers and the Internet in general to rip on, even if they haven't played it or haven't given it a fair shake.  The Giant Bomb crew ripped on it a bit in the Bombcast, the review pointed out in great detail the many technical flaws of the game, and the Giant Bomb forumverse exploded with, "Man, this game suckzors, totally epidicedimal fail broseph."  It's the sort of thing that pisses me off about the Internet in general, and there's a term for it - it's called dick-riding.  If you've ripped on this game or any other game just because the Giant Bomb crew ripped on it?  You're dick-riding.  Sucking up to the rip-on-the-popular-game-of-the-month club without having actually watched the Quick Look or any other real preview of the game, or (God forbid) trying it yourself?  Dick riding.   But if you've seriously done your homework or played this game and determined that you don't like it, congratulations.  You're not dick-riding.  We just have wildly different opinions.
 
The reviews of New Vegas are right on one thing - this game is buggy as all get-out.  I just finished my first playthrough.  New Vegas crashed on me three times.  I had a few instances when I had to load up my quicksave because of weird technical glitches.  The factions, while adding a breath of fresh air to the karma system in general, create some frustrating moments of confusion. 
 
But if you're willing to actually play the game, Fallout: New Vegas is a fucking masterpiece. 
 
On a technical level, the fact that this game exists at all in a playable form is mind-boggling.  Without any hyperbole, the game world is huge.  I'm going to be discovering new quests, weapons, snow globes, and other goodies a year from now,  There are an insane number of NPC's to interact with.  This is without a doubt the single best example of how far current technology can go to creating worlds, not just games.  At no point did I feel like the game had been shipped broken, as so many people on these forums and others have claimed.  The game is far from broken.  Bug-ridden, yes.  Hiccuping, yes.  But broken, no.   
 
That isn't to say that the game is perfect.  There are a lot of areas that can be worked on besides the technical errors.  Options to sort quests and narrow down multiple area quests should be a priority.  Allies should return to the Lucky 38 after a set amount of time if told to "wait" somewhere (I have no freakin' clue where the hell I left my robot).  If radio DJ's continue to be used, they need quantity as well as quality in the music and the speeches given, perhaps with new bits being available via patches or downloads, even if that means celebrities can't do the voices.  New body and weapon models look good, but some variety in body sizes would go a long way.  Clear definitions of which quests will affect each faction should be laid out, especially in regards to the main quest, which can be super confusing.
 
Now for the good.  Massive world aside, the writing in New Vegas is top-notch.  The characters felt more human, the choices I could make as a player were often morally muddled and therefore fun to play out, and the followers are all excellent.  The same rock-solid gameplay of Fallout 3 is here, and smartly keeps most of the systems already established while expanding upon the universe.  There are a lot of throwbacks to the classic Fallout games.  There are no clear-cut good guys, as everyone in the game has an agenda.  There are benefits to all the skill branches, with speech rolls not just affected by your speech skill anymore.  There's an amazing richness to the new areas, while still maintaining a large amount of the charm from the original games.  And overall, the game is just flat-out fun as all hell.  I found myself genuinely wanting to explore the wastes and the hundred-plus areas within. 
 
If, for any reason, you're not playing this game because you've heard about how flawed it is, your fears are for nothing.  Yes, New Vegas is riddled with bugs, but that shouldn't stop anyone from giving this game a go.  And if you're not playing it just because it's popular to rip on it, well... have fun with that.

The following story was my submission for a Fallout New Vegas writing competition.  It took first place, and my brother's took second.  I have no idea how many actual entries there were, but when I find out what kind of Fallout shwag I've won, I'll post it in the comments section below.  In any case, this was the first piece of fan-fiction I've ever written, and it's more flash-fiction than an actual short story, so keep that in mind.  Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.  
 

            The pain shot through his hip faster than old man Jasper had anticipated.   He fell into the chair unceremoniously and with about as much grace as a flying oven.   The bar was nearly empty, so at least he was spared some of the embarrassment.   Then again, the bar rarely had anyone in it at all these days.   It was the same with the rest of the dying Edsel Springs.   The town had never been a popular tourist spot anyways, but once the springs disappeared, so had her residents.   As irradiated as the water had been, at least there had been something.   Now the town’s rusty purifier only occasionally spit out a thin gurgle of putrid smelling liquid.

            Normie, the rail-thin bartender and owner of his self-named bar, hawked up a ball of spit and nodded in his direction.   Jasper gave him a thin-lipped smile.   “Any chance for some clean water today?”

            Normie snorted.   “Nope.   Same as yesterday.   Same as tomorrow, probably.”

            “Whiskey, then.”   Jasper sighed.   He only had one bottle of water sacked away in his hovel, the tin shack he laughably called home.   That wasn’t going to last him through the week, no matter how much he conserved.   And as for trading, the only thing he owned was the flimsy little .32 strapped to his hip.   He was loathe to part with that, but if it came down to it, steel wouldn’t keep him alive any longer than water.   “You know anyone in town willing to trade?”

            The bartender thought about it for a long moment.   “Emma might.   She’d probably be your best bet.”

            At the mention of the wispy Emma, Jasper perked up.   The woman might have turned a trick or two, but she was always kind to Jasper, and had once gave him a freebie on a birthday.   She didn’t even seem to mind the pus-leaking radiation sores that dotted his body, either, like some of the old hags he’d knocked around with.   “Any idea where she’s-“

            Their conversation was cut short as something boomed in the distance.   Normie muttered, “Gunfire.   Fantastic.”

            But old Jasper, once a soldier, knew better.   “No.   Something bigger.   An explosion.”   Another one, deafening and much, was much closer.   A woman screams cut short quickly.   Something roared indistinguishably.   “Normie, get down behind the bar.   The rest of you too.”   He vaguely motioned towards the other two or three customers scattered in the bar.   They did as he asked.   Only a handful of residents of Edsel Springs had any real background in fighting, and these folks definitely didn’t.   “Normie, you still have that shotgun behind the bar?”

            Normie stared at him uncomprehendingly, and then snapped back to reality.   “Yeah, you want it?”   He reached under the bar and pulled out a surprisingly well-maintained long-barreled shotgun and a handful of shells.   Six.   Jasper swore under his breath.   Not enough for any real trouble, but it’d have to do.   His own gun only had a few measly bullets, and he wouldn’t trust it to fire any more than the shriveled thing in his pants.

            He loaded a shell into the chamber, blew out a long breath, and limped to the door.   He eased it open slightly.   The screams had come from the south, where he could barely make out plumes of smoke and dust.   Something out there was grunting laughter.   Something definitely not human.   He pushed open the door, and his worst fears were confirmed.

            In the middle of the street stood a goliath of a monster, a super mutant.   It held a long, crude hammer in one hand, and in the other, looking pitifully small, was something that could only be a rock or a grenade, and guessing from the bangs, Jasper knew a rock wasn’t his kind of luck.   It brought the grenade up to its mouth and grasped the key with its teeth.   Jasper had no time to think.   Old instincts burned dully to life, and he swept the door open, rushed outside to the street and away from the bar as best he could, and brought the shotgun up to his shoulder.

            The gun’s recoil made him stumble backwards, and the shot went comically high.   The super mutant turned towards him.   Jasper fumbled with another shell as fast as his arthritic hands would allow.   The mutant hefted his hammer high into the air, bellowing a wordless war cry.   Jasper’s second shot didn’t miss.

            It was the mutant’s turn to stumble backwards, but his recovery was much swifter than that of the old mercenary.   The torn flesh in the creature’s side seemed only to anger him, and the grotesque approximation of a man rushed at him with its red-tinged teeth bared.   Jasper dropped the shotgun.   No time to reload.   He drew the small pistol from its holster and fired blindly into the monster.   At least two shots hit point blank, and still nothing slowed the thing.   It hit him with lumbering speed and knocked Jasper done.   He felt something crunch in his chest.   Blinding, consuming pain speared through his chest.   Broken ribs, at least.

            The mutant lifted him up by his scrawny neck with one meaty, leathery hand.   It snorted and huffed.   Jasper kicked at the thing feebly and beat at its hand wildly.   The monster leaned in close as it tried to articulate the vague words it loved most.   “You… die… now,” the super mutant growled.

            Jasper had no witty comeback.   He had no air left in his lungs to speak,, no one to help him.   He had no savior angel that day in Edsel Springs.   All Jasper had was the pin of the grenade he’d managed to snag from the monster as it had lifted him up.   With the very last of his energy and his life, Jasper waved the key in front of the monster’s face.   Mute horror dawned on the creature’s face.

            And then the world erupted one last time.

Rumor mills are churning at full force over on CAG this last week over the specifics of the seemingly inevitable B2G1 free sale from Toys R Us and other places.  This was a fantastic sale last year, and it should be again this year.  So hit me up.  What would you pick up?  Any oddball titles you missed out the first time?  Or are there some big name releases that you've been holding back on and would pick up in just such a sale?  Inquiring minds want to know.  
 
I'm thinking I'd like to pick up Dragon Quest IX, Halo Reach, Singularity, Darksiders, and Bayonetta in some capacity this time around.  Now, to maximize the savings you get from a sale, you generally want to pick up three games of a similar value, so of those, Halo Reach is obviously the odd man out, cost wise.  So maybe I'd pick up something like Dead Rising 2 and Metroid: Other M to go with it.  But I'd definitely be more tempted to pick up a few $20-$40 games first.  So my picks would be (based off prices at the moment): 
 
Singularity 
Darksiders 
Dragon Quest IX 
  
Resonance of Fate 
Uncharted 2 
God of War III

Readers, let me tell you something slightly personal.  For over two years, I had some of the worst luck a guy can have without losing his immediate family.  I can't go into details here, but this week, I found out the first bit of wonderful news in a long, long time.  I have something to hope for again, something real this time, and it's lifted my spirits like you wouldn't believe.  I've been kept afloat this last couple of years by the awesomeness of my family and friends.  In some ways, Giant Bomb's community has been a part of that, keeping me entertained while I searched for jobs and just being flat-out the best community on the 'net.  I may not know you all by name or in person, but thanks, guys - you are all some of the most kick-ass people out there, and you've helped keep a knockaround guy on his feet. 
 
So let's move on to some briefs and shorts, shall we?  We shall. 

 
-Starting next week, I'll be having my 360 repaired at a friend's Play N Trade.  They do quality work, and since my Xbox is past its warranty, I figure, why not have them do it rather than send it to some nameless bozos?  I've regaled you all with wild (or not so much) tales of my disk drive, which requires me to hammer on it like some wannabe Thor before it'll read disks.  Well, no more.  While there, I'll also be picking up a used PS2, which will be tested in-store right in front of me.  Rock.  Now I can finally get around to Persona 4, the last Wild Arms game, and a few other assorted titles I didn't finish or start. 
 
-Civilization 5 is amazing.  If you haven't seen my hundred updates over the last week or so, it's easily one of the most addictive games I've ever played.  I think it requires some balancing issues, but honestly, I'm not sure if it's my strategy at fault or if it really is the game.  I'm speaking generally in regards to getting a technological victory, which feels like it requires way more turns in the end game than it should, due to some questionable technologies you have to research such as dynamite when you've already researched gunpowder.  Yes, I know the two are day and night apart, but it still feels strange having to research dynamite to unlock so many other technologies.  Again, maybe I'm approaching it wrong, but I'm kinda good at Civ games in general, and this does feel like a slight misstep.  That being said, it's a very minor quirk in an otherwise superb game, and I really am nitpicking at details that are more than likely my own damn fault. 
 
--Been playing a ton of demos lately.  Loved the demos for Bayonetta and Darksiders.  Didn't much care for Vanquish's demo, but that's more or less due to my color blindness and visual limitations.  Shoot-em-ups just aren't in the cards for me anymore, unless it's something like Halo or Resistance, where the enemies are very clearly defined.  I tried Sonic Adventures for about as much time as it took for me to realize it's not a good game at all.  Camera mechanics and iffy controls broke that game for me.  Kind of striking visuals, though, even for a game of its age.  I also played demos for Shank, Risk Factions, and a few other XBLA/PSN games that I intend on picking up when they come on sale. 
 
-Watched and enjoyed the first two seasons of Chuck, though its one-off format for nearly every episode grates on me a little.  Things definitely picked up in the latter half of the second season, and I'm excited to watch the third season soon-ish.  Netflix has been spitting random movies from my list at me here lately, mostly due to the large number of short and long waiting lists on my titles.  Nothing really great to mention, except that I've still got an inexplicable fondness for Rules of Engagement.  Screw you, it's funny and sweet.  That's good enough for me. 
 
-Diana Francis's newest novel is all sorts of great.  It's the latest in her Crosspointe series, which is my favorite of the three very different worlds she's created (Path of... series, Bitter Night, and Crosspointe series).  The plot is the strongest yet, though her main female characters are starting to feel very much alike.  If she can knock a character out of the park with her next novel, she'll have become one of the best modern-day fantasy writers out there. 
 
That's it for now.  I might edit this later with a playlist and some updates from other writers you should be reading here on Giant Bomb, but I'm exhausted and there's a heap of cheeseburger pie calling my name.  Thanks again, folks - you are all true duders!

...I was flipping through the Netflix streaming movies on my 360 tonight, looking for something sort of dumb and entertaining.  I found a movie called Supernova.  It looked eerily familiar, and for some reason, it stuck out like a sore thumb.  I read the synopsis and thought, "Oh, OK, I probably have deja vu confused with Event Horizon."  No big deal.  So I started it up. 
 
Flash back ten years or so ago to a bad night's drinking in my freshman or sophomore year of college.  Let me set the mood for you.  I drank like a fish (do fish even drink?) back then, mostly because my college town never bothered carding and because I looked about 25 when I was eighteen anyways.  Being able to grow a beard at 12 does have its advantages, kids - learn to groom a beard the right way, and no one will ever look at you twice at the local Hustler's.  Anyways, on this particular night, I must have been fucked up beyond all recognition, because I didn't remember setting foot into any sort of theater to watch Supernova until right fuckin' now.  You get that?  Ten years of an event totally blacked out from my memory.  But now I distinctly remember going into the "B" side of the theater, hitting it up because it was a cheap month-old release, and slinging a bottle of whatever the fuck I was drinking under my enormous leather jacket.   Good times, I guess.  I'd later go on in future years to pass out during a matinee of Shrek 2 (though I'm pretty sure that was the movie's fault and not the booze), but at least I remember that shit.  Well, sort of.  I remember waking up and being poked with a mop by a theater guy (waiter?  Janitor?  What the hell do you call those guys in the monkey suits?) checking to see if I was alive or not. 
 
What really has me thinking is... how many other times did I do this?  How much shit have I forgot simply because of booze, my shitty memory, or just time? 
 
Oh, and the movie?  Yeah, it's an arthouse wannabe version of Event Horizon.  It's not terrible, but not great.  Cast is surprisingly good, though.  David Spader really should have been a bigger name in movies.

Hey folks,  
 
I know this is a bit of a stupid question, especially for a guy who's been PC gaming for over 20 years, but I was wondering if anyone could walk me through the basics of taking PC screenshots and saving them to my computer for possible uploading to Giant Bomb?  I've got a huge back catalogue of PC games, and I feel like I could contribute quite a bit, but I just don't get the basics.  If anyone has any tips, I'd greatly appreciate it.