06/18/2009-

Welcome, one and all, all and one, to the latest nonsensical update from your favorite sleazebag, Sparky.  Have not been able to do much gaming this past week, but let's jump in, shall we?  We shall.

• Really been concentrating mostly on Forza 2 this week.  I've got almost all the career races finished, and should have those knocked out in the next few days.  I don't know how many damn races I'll have to finish in order to purchase every available car, but that's the next step.  The auction house is still going strong, though I'm seeing a lot of repetition in the car designs and a few old ones that have been passed around since the launch of the game.  I'm sure the looming Forza 3 will cut down on people's car customization work, so now's the time to pick up some cheap cars on the auction house.  Forza 2 had a pretty decent stable of cars, though I'd love to see more muscle and earlier show cars.  I know, 50's Lincolns and Caddies aren't exactly race cars, but I'd still love to see the inclusion of more show cars for custom paint jobs and auction house bidding.  Or a Lead Sled.... mmm.  I enjoy Forza 2 because it allows me a chance to get my hands on some cars without doing any real damage.  In real life, I'm legally blind and can no longer drive, so this is a huge bonus, especially since Forza allows me to hire drivers to do the longer and more complex races.
• Tex Murphy is now on GOG.com.  I've only played one of them briefly, but I'm excited.  Any old adventure game released over there is going to get my hard earned cash, and the Murphy adventures were classics in their day.  They've aged, like most games in the genre, but for a die-hard adventure gamer who grew up on Sierra and LucasArts, these are a real treat.  Check 'em out if you're into retro gaming.
• Debating between purchasing The Sims 3 or Red Alert 3.  I know I want a new PC game.  I'm leaning towards Sims 3, but I have some doubts.  My laptop was a beast two years ago, running games like the Witcher without breaking a sweat.  However, when I installed the Sims 2, it would run incredibly slow when I booted up the game.  The slow speed would only last a few minutes, but the load times on my laptop were freaking ridiculous.  I need to do some research and find out if the Sims 3 will have the same trouble on my laptop, or if anyone is experiencing that same sort of slow boot time.  Anyone out there playing it?  Having any trouble running it?

Well, that's it for now, folks.  Stay tuned.  Next week, I should have Tiger Woods 10 for the 360 in my mitts.  Here's this week's question... what games are you really looking forward to in the next three months?