When the Xbox 360 first came out, I was still Editor-in-Chief over at BonusStage.com.  Unfortunately, we were such an indie site that we couldn't get any love or free Xbox 360 consoles from Microsoft at the time, which meant we had to buy one if we wanted to review next-gen games.  I wasn't made of money, so I never got one.  Once Lansharx got Xbox 360 consoles, that's when I started playing the thing.

Therefore, I just recently...as of this week...started my first playthrough of Condemned: Criminal Origins.  While the graphics are considerably outdated by the standards of "next-gen" games nowadays, the atmosphere of the game is absolutely unparalleled!!!  The level of darkness really bugs me...which is exactly what it SHOULD do.  There is a good sense of dread through the whole game so far.  More than anything, though, it's a great change of pace for me.  Between playing Terminator Salvation (which is crap but the 1,000 points keep calling my name), X-Men Origins Wolverine (which ain't great, but the combat is fucking sweet), Bionic Commando (which was awesome from start to finish and I'll pick back up eventually for the rest of the achievement points), Need for Speed Most Wanted (which I'm revisiting so I can remember what a GOOD Need for Speed game is like)...well, it's nice to go through a game at a walking pace without guns most of the time.  The puzzles in the game...you know, the parts where you collect evidence...aren't really that tough, which saddens me a bit, but there is a visceral feeling that gets your heart pumping with that melee combat!!!

Revisiting Riddick so far has been extremely exciting and frustrating.  I didn't make it too far into the game yet, as I basically got my ass handed to me on Hard difficulty.  I didn't remember the game being that fucking tough, but I'm glad it is.  Unfortunately, you can tell that the graphics are nothing more than retextured Xbox graphics, as there is a TON of wirework coming through the textures and shading, as well as a lot of pop-in...and even a couple of glitches.  I grabbed a guy to snap his neck, and the guy wasn't even in my arms.  He was just standing there still, then fell to the ground.  After he hit the ground, I made the motions of snapping his neck.  Yeah...definitely glitchy.  Nonetheless, it was refreshing as Hell to get back into that world, as I've been a massive Riddick fan since I first saw Pitch Black back in college...err...tech school.  Hopefully, I'll get to sink my teeth into that a bit more sometime this week.

Ah, the discounted games bin, how I loathe thee! Walking by one of these without poking around inside takes an enormous amount of restraint, and apparently I have none.

Well looks like you got some good gaming to look forward to. Good luck to your dad finding a new job if he does end up getting laid off. My step-dad got laid off in late February and came in 2nd in a lot of job hunts lately. He will find out early next week whether or not his recent endeavor will turn out positive (which looks really likely). Anyways, good luck with everything.

Discount bins are definitely the bane of my existence.  They are single-handedly responsible for so many of my mindless purchases.  lol  I can definitely agree with you about the first 15 minutes of Condemned.  I don't think I'll be forgetting that first level anytime soon.  The sound design is definitely another standout point of that game.  The only other game I can think of with sound design that incredible is Dead Space.

I have a copy of condemned sitting on my shelf right now waiting to be played...I need to get back into that sucker. Good luck with the move and everything man, hopefully it all goes smoothly.

Also I know exactly what scene you're talking about from Child's Play. I'm actually looking forward to Don Mancini's re-make, that franchise needs a good reboot, and who better to do so then the mastermind behind the original?

I miss Condemned, I sold it to buy Oblivion a while back and reading this makes me want to get it again. I don't believe my Best Buy has discount bins set up and I don't really like to get used games from Gamestop because I've had some bad experiences with those.
Did you get anything from the movie bin or was there anything interesting in there?

Condemned is one of the most underrated franchises out there.  The second one plays much better and has a much better combat system, but the first one is a bit more disturbing and creepy.  They're both excellent.