Diablo II, Titan Quest, Phantasy Star Online/Zero, Borderlands, and now Torchlight...why are these games so addicting?
When you think about it, they are pretty repetitive. You just go around and kill baddies, pick up loot, kill more, pick up more loot, etc., for the next 70 hours or so and then you start over with another character and do the same thing all over again! Whether it's single player or multiplayer, they're addictive and fun even though we've done it all before.
I just got Torchlight yesterday and man, do I love it! It's a great Diablo-clone, I mean one of the best modern-day Diablo-like games I've played. Well, it is made by ex-Diablo and Fate vets, so it's obvious that these guys know how to make these kinds of games.
But that goes to show that even these types of games need talented game designers who know what they're doing. Have you played "bad" Diablo-clones? They stink and they're boring. And most of all, THEY ARE repetitive. 
I think even with a simple premise as games like these, there's a design to it that makes them fun to play. Repetition is probably its biggest enemy. So what makes the good ones addicting and fun while the badly designed ones are repetitive and boring?
Some of the bad ones are really unplayable. You can just tell that they're developed by amateurs or developers who really don't know what they're doing. They probably think, "it's just going around different areas, killing enemies and getting loot, what's so hard about that?" Wrong! Even these games have an art to them and I think they're harder to make because of the nature of the gameplay.
The guys who made Torchlight really know looting games inside and out. Titan Quest was also good. And of course, Borderlands is a great evolution of this tried and true, addicting, gameplay. And finally, when Diablo III comes out, I'm sure the divorce or break-up rate with significant others will increase threefold!
(Hope I don't get married before Diablo III comes out!!!) 
I know I criticised Nintendo and the Wii in the past and I still stick to everything I said about it. However, I still wanted one for some of the great games that are on the system.
And this past week, I finally picked one up and I have no regrets about it.
I heard this many times about the Wii from others who have it that, by itself, it's not really that great. But as a complimentary system, it's great to have. Like how we write "Wii60" or "PSWii," yeah, that sounds like the Wii's purpose for gamers.
Aside from the mountain of shovelware and casual games, the Wii is a cool system. Some of my personal favorites are now Wii games like A Boy and His Blob, Muramasa, and Zack & Wiki. With the exception of Zack & Wiki, I'm a sucker for 2D games and love the illustrations in A Boy and His Blob and Muramasa. They are really masterpieces not just in art but in game design...well, at least in art since gameplay may or may not be questionable. Anyway, games like these make the Wii worthwhile. And of course, the core first party Nintendo games sells me everytime. Can't wait to pick up Punch-Out and Metroid Prime Trilogy! Other notable games I'm enjoying are We Love Golf and of course, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
After being spoiled with HD glory with games like Batman AA, Call of Duty World at War, and Street Fighter IV, coming back to the simpler and wonderful games like the ones on the Wii is refreshing.
The Wii does have a lot of potential and that's another reason why I wanted one. With games like Metroid the Other M, Monster Hunter 3, and the next Zelda on the horizon, and most of all, with Dragon Quest X exclusive for the system, I'd say the Wii is worth having.
And finally, the VC: probably the best download service among all three consoles all because of Nintendo's lush and grand legacy.
Sure I sound like a hypocrite after I thrashed Nintendo and the Wii, but my criticism wasn't toward the Wii itself but to Nintendo's casual direction. But as a system, like I said, it's a the perfect compliment to my 360 (or PS3 if I had it), just like how the PSP is a great companion to my DSi.
Pure was a huge surprise. I didn't know this racing game published by Disney of all places would be so amazingly satisfying, breathtaking, and incredibly fun to play.
Seriously, because I had so much fun with this game, I just can't seem to get into other racers anymore. Even the new game Motorstorm Arctic Edge I just picked up for the PSP. Even though Motorstorm AE is the best racing game on the PSP by far (yes, better than Gran Turismo Portable), I just couldn't get that same exilirating excitement I got with Pure. The same thing happened with Sega Rally Revo for both the PSP and the 360. I used to love this game, especially the PSP one. But after I played Pure, I just couldn't get back into Sega Rally R again. It felt slow, repetitive, and most of all, boring.
It's shame that the game didn't sell well enough though. I beg to wonder why great games like this just don't sell. It also had some great ads on TV too. But I guess ATV racing is for a niche audience, no matter how fun the game is. Because of that, we probably will never see more Pure games like maybe a PSP version, a Wii version, download content, or Pure 2.
