Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is a bit of a strange game to play.  In a lot of ways, it's easily one of the most brilliantly designed games I've ever played.  If game development theory is a topic in any college classes, this should be a prime example of how wonderful the idea of "do it yourself" gaming can be.  However, it doesn't come without a great many flaws, most of which appear to have been lifted straight out of its predecessors (problematic camera angles, some poor platforming elements when on foot), while introducing a few new ones (most notably, combat before you receive any auto-aim weapons).  It's not that Nuts and Bolts is a terrible game - as a matter of fact, if you enjoy games, you should pick this up without hesitation - but it definitely could have used more time to fix what's under the hood.  It's got a wonderful foundation, but the slapdash trailer house set on that foundation is shaky as hell.  
 
My frustration and admiration of the game have led me to decide to shelve it, for now.  There are still some minor achievements I want, and I've yet to beat Gruntilda (sitting on about seventy-ish Jiggies, maybe closer to eighty), so I'll be picking it up again.  But for now, it's time I move on to different games. 
 
I've been playing The Sims 3 lately, when it works.  I get some odd crashes that I attribute to my laptop's strain in playing this game.  It makes it frustrating, but if I carefully plan on saving every fifteen to twenty minutes, it's not so bad.  I'm planning on playing Enchanted Arms next on the 360, a game given as a gift to me a while back and one I've sadly yet to crack open.  Now's as good of a time as any, I suppose.  Besides that, I'll be playing a bit of everything on the laptop, including Sam and Max season 2, Max Payne 2, Star Wars: Empire at War, and as much Civ 4 as I can fit into the nooks and crannies.  Whew, that's a lot.  And on the 360 side, I've got some demos I want to try out, as well as more Puzzle Quest 2.  I'm really, really liking that game, though it's a shame they've dropped some of the awesome RPG elements.  Netted the OMGHAX achievement within about four battles, which is one I figured I'd never get.  Nice!   I'm also playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 when I can.  I loaned my Wii to my brother for next few months, so I'm having to play that on my parents' TV which limits the amount of time I get to play it.  It's a superb game, definitely worth all the praise it's received, and so far, it's my game of 2010.
 
So yeah, that's all for right now.  Hopefully should be able to pick up Monkey Island 2 somewhere down the line, but for now, it's back to writing and finding a job.  And since I watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure this morning for the first time in nearly ten years... 
 
Be excellent to each other!
 
EDIT: Apparently, no Sims 3 for me.  I don't know why (I suspect my video card), but I get a consistent crash when I switch from Buy to Live modes.  Sucks, but oh well - got tons of other shit to play.