First of all, let me start off by saying you guys are awesome.  In less than 24 hours you have cut through the morass of games and I now see some real good choices.  Best of all, I love it when someone mentions a game I have never heard of, or something a little bit older, and goes, "Yeah, I have played through this game 6 times, including last week, and it is still awesome."   
 
So, CounterStrike... I have never played in my life. Do I want to get into it this late in the game? Also, I tend to dislike "round based" games such as Gears or S&D on CoD.  What is the learning curve? 
 
Half-Life 2 is a great experience.  All expansions too? 
 
Also, Sam and Max.  I have been thinking about getting involved there for a long time.  My best adventure game point of reference is Machinarium, which I am not a huge fan of.  I think the humor, art, and story are superb, but the puzzles piss me off.  They seem to be mostly trial and error, and it takes that damn robot so long to shuffle around that I just get frustrated and quit. 
 
Finally, a few "ahem" casual games might be nice, generally I get my Peggle fix from free flash versions rather than pay full price, but as @MasterofPenguins_Zell points out, two games for $10 makes it worth it. 
 
Also, I played the VVVVVV demo, and while it was really cool, I probably won't take the next step unless it comes down in price, or includes the soundtrack.  I love what Terry Cavanaugh is doing with games, but that exceeds my budget right now. 
 
Finally, since I know you guys have your own lives to live rather than wasting time answering my questions, this is probably last one of these! But thank you all so much!

Despite the epic Steam sale going on, I have yet to make any purchases.  At all. 
 
I am opening this up to the GB community, hoping for some recommendations to help me cut through the mass of games on sale. 
 
Guidelines/Info 

1.  I play on Mac, so it has be Mac supported. 
2.  Its a MacBookPro, 2.2Ghz, Intel Core 2 Duo type.  Has a GeForce 8600M GT.  I take pretty good care of it, but it isn't brand new.  Runs Half-Life 2 just fine, but struggles quite heavily with TF2...
3. Check my current library on GB's achievements page
4. I will also be posting both specific questions as well as accepting general recommendations.
5. Don't just link me to GB, Gamespot, MetaCritic, etc reviews, I can read those myself, thanks.
6. I don't want to just hear "This game roxxorz my soxxorz!"
7. If you have Steam, and are incredibly useful in your recommendations, I will gift you a game, limit of $15 USD.

Half-Life 2 and Call of Duty Wii 
 
First of all, the Call of Duty update. First of all, I got a five kill streak with my Gold Desert Eagle. We were playing TDM on Bloc, and you know how Sniper happy everyone gets on that map. I had decided to do a run through the building, and when I got to the end, guys kept running up the stairs. I had already emptied my assault rifle on the run over, so I pulled out the Deagle, and somehow ran through 5 kills, until I ran out of ammo on that too. I have discovered the trick to proper sidearm use is simply to aim down the site, for some reason it makes them almost perfectly accurate, even with the Deagle's high recoil.  
 
As for Half-Life 2, I can't stop playing this game. It really took a long time to get going, but ever since getting to the City 17 parts, and now the Citadel, I have trouble telling myself to quit when it is 2 in the morning and I have to be up early. I will say, however, that this game does continue to make every effort to be un-enjoyable. First of all, the ant-lion part is simply annoying. Although the game does do the Portal-esque jump correction, it still is first person platforming. I think the worst is when you try to stand on the wood pallets, and for some reason even after you make the jump, you sort of slide off. But, then you get the control the ant-lions, and once again, the game is awesome. Using those guys is way too much fun. Then, you climb the mountains, go underground, etc, and the environments are awesome again. However, you then start working with the squad... They seem hell bent on dying, which is annoying. And the fact that they only listen to your stay put order for 30 seconds before declaring "Follow Freeman!" My other big gripe is that they don't explain some stuff that needs explaining, like that killing the snipers can only be done with grenades, and sometimes I have no idea where to run while some big, un-killable enemy, pounds away with its turret gun. But of course, you then find the ammo supply crate, and taking out that big stalker is one of the more satisfying game experiences you can have. 
 
Full gaming blog here

Over the next couple of weeks (months?) I will be attempting to restore an old NES system to working order.  Although I generally do text posts, I am thinking of making this one all videos.

First, though, a little backstory:

I got my first NES from a family friend, way back in the day.  It was pretty new at the time, probably about 1991.  We had Tetris, the Mario/Duck Hunt game with lightgun, and the Legend of Zelda.  My family all loved it, and when the first one quit on us, we went out and bought a new one, the Challenge Set with Mario 3 pack in.  Eventually, this would die on us as well, but by that time the Sega Genesis was looming in both my brother's and my own eyes.

The NES got stuck in the attic, and unfortunately, my brother and I sold off our entire NES and Genesis collections to Gamestop for about $30, although the total value was much higher than that.  It is one of the few decisions I really regret in my life.

Well, one a recent trip home, I noticed the NES sitting by the front door, my mother said she was going to throw it away.  I intervened, having no idea if it even worked at this point, but for some reason, I just knew not to make the same mistake again.

Now, over the next few weeks, and possibly months, I will be working to restore this NES to its former glory.  Come watch, and if you have had any similar experiences, please drop me a line somehow so we can discuss further.  

I have been playing this game pretty regularly, after picking it up on sale, lured by the claims of strong multiplayer.  I have played through the first half of the campaign (it is divided into two factions) and found it to be passable, but nothing to write home about.  The AI is pretty boring, although the variety of weapons and character classes mean you can approach it however you want.

The multiplayer is a lot better, but still hampered by some major problems.  The first is the lack of support.  It is almost impossible to find, I kid you not, more than 12 people online at any one time.  If that server is in Europe, your ping will probably be too high to play, and you are out of luck.

The co-op, which was another selling point for me, is equally disappointing.  The only mode is to play through the ENTIRE CAMPAIGN in one sitting, ALWAYS STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING.  Why? This makes no sense, since the first two or three levels hardly have enemies.  It really is no fun rolling through a level with your friends without anyone to kill.  The only level I really want co-op for is the last one, but I don't want to have to spend a few hours clearing the game to play it.

Other issues include terrible design and balance choices.  For example, the speedy characters have so little health that they take one or two hits from ANY weapon.  The heavy characters can take damage all day, but struggle to roll up even the tiniest hill.  Also, the special abilities are not balanced at all.  They range from instant one hit kill to completely worthless.

Having said all that, the game does have some major redeeming qualities.  The persistent unlocking/level up system is nicely done.  It is shared across multiplayer and single player, so really you should spend some time unlocking in single player before jumping online, or you can just jump online at any time and play around.  Also, some of the unlocks appear for using specific abilities, some for using a specific character, some just for playing the game.   This system works well, the only problem is that you do need to spend time unlocking things before having a chance at playing online.  This is a small problem, as you can unlock most of what you need in about an hour.

My only hope is that I can continue playing this online, since I am enjoying the multiplayer.  I forgot to mention that the 4 player co-op survival is really fun, at least the two games I have played.  Maybe I can convince my brother to download the 360 version, as I am almost positive it supports cross platform multiplayer.

If you play this game, let me know your Steam ID or whatever other name you are registered under, I want to play with you. 

Ah, Torchlight.  This game has been generating quite a buzz in the gaming community recently, or at least I feel I have been hearing a lot about it.  I picked it up on sale recently, as I do most of my Steam purchases.

First of all, a confession:  I never played, even once, Diablo or Diablo II. So I have little nostalgia for either game, or even really this genre.  The closest I have come to a real dungeon crawler loot fest is Dark Cloud for the PS2.  I enjoyed that game, but never really got into the deep grinding that was required just to clear the game, let along max characters and weapons.

But Torchlight was highly recommended, and it advertised a netbook mode settings, so I knew my computer would run it.  Needless to say, I have been devoting some serious time to this game as of late.

I have started off playing as a Vanquisher, which is basically a ranger.  There are only three classes, Melee, Caster, and Ranger, as it is.  There is some paper-thin story, that somehow I believe is unique to each class, but it really is no matter.  Fortunately, while the story is thin, it isn't annoying, awkward or childish.  It is just simple.  Personally, I think that is fine, the story is there but it never bothers you.

The gameplay is very similar to Diablo, you click enemies to attack them, but Torchlight allows for the holding down of the attack button to spare mice.  So far the gameplay is pretty good, I find the killing satisfying, the character movement fluid, and the spells and special abilities easy enough to access.  My only gripes here would be minor difficulties getting the running correct over elevation changes, and the way nothing is explained to you.  These game has almost no tutorial, which is fine, but is also lacking in in-game manuals.  To review the manual, you must exit out of the game, and then open the pdf file.

So far the loot gathering is fun as well, but again I don't always understand what I am looking for in the items.  They may be standard, have magical enchantments (like crit rate +2%), have slots for ember (which in turn gives stat boosts or added effects, like life drain), or they may be part of a set, (the more matching pieces, the bigger the bonuses) or they may be unique (haven't grabbed any yet).  My problem is that I do not yet fully understand the ember crafting system, whereby attaching gems is permanent, but later you can either destroy the item and get the gem, or destroy the gem and get the item.  So I am unsure if I should attach gems, and when I find a better item just destroy my current one to retain the rare ember, or if I should only use the lowest level gems, so that I could hopefully save better gems for end game items.

If you like this, check out more on my outside blog, SuicidalSnowman Gaming

 I picked up this in the Steam Indie Games Pack that was available deeply discounted on the Mac steam release.  All the games are the play anywhere type, where you can purchase them once, and then play on PC or Mac.  I am pretty sure the entire pack was $20, although the total value was listed at $60.  It had World of Goo, however, which I have been dying to play for a long time, and Machinarium, which I had seen a quick look of on GiantBomb, and Vinny was pretty adamant that it was a good game, so I figured why not, I'll take the other three as freebies.

AYIM is so far, the most disappointing of all the games.  Although the art style is, quite simply, amazing, the rest of the game is so far lackluster.  The mechanics are cool, but there is a ton of trial and error, and the level design is uninspired.  There is a lot of guessing where to turn next (pun intended), although I will concede the checkpoints are very cool, and do provide some direction.

My real problem, at least early on, is that there are times when it makes more sense to reset the level because you hit a checkpoint, only to find out you need to go back four checkpoints earlier to grab a rock or bat you need for the next challenge.  In a game where moving through the level is the challenge, backtracking is an exercise in frustration.

I'll probably continue playing, however, as I only put in about a half hour, and the art is really something, plus there are steam achievements, but this is my early feedback.    
 
Also, if you want to read more of my posts, check out my regular gaming blog.