Next week one game is coming out that I want, and have pre-ordered. Sims 2: Nightlife. Scrolling through the releases that are coming up, though, the week after next we'll see the following:

• Dragonshard
• Fable: The Lost Chapters
• Indigo Prophecy
• Other titles that I'm sure will sell well, but don't interest me.

Now, as some of you know - I'm a PC gamer. That's it, that's all. So I don't even want to consider if I were buying for several platforms. So here's my question, to the game industry at large:

"Mr. Publisher,
Do you really expect me to spend $200 in two weeks on games? If so, when do you expect me to play these games?"

(Grrr. What will wind up happening is that these three games that I might have gotten will probably not be purchased by me. It would overstretch my gaming money budget, and also my time budget. By the time I get to buy a new game, something else will be out that I'm more interested in (Elder Scrolls, Oblivion, maybe?), or it'll be next year and I'll pick the game up in the bargain bin.

One would argue "Arki, why are you griping?", and I suppose the short answer would be because I don't have enough resources to enjoy all the games that I'd like to. That would require me being independantly wealthy, nay - filthy rich, even and probably that I foreswear any and all relationships.

And it also makes me sad for the game companies. Sure, they'll enjoy sales. But not as much as if they'd planned their release a bit better. Take Indigo Prophecy: an adventure game that is definitely an adult game in the level of darkness in the story and looks to be real good. But it's by a small company, and there's not a whole lot of buzz about it. And when are they releasing? The same week as Myst V: End of Ages? You got it. Somebody needs to be slapped on that one.

Anyway, enough of my griping. Here's hoping in the future they'll give me a month or two between hot releases.

PS: I would have linked you for Myst V, but the url contains http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/mystvendoF-A-Ges/index.html?q=myst, which is against TOS for me to post. Anybody want to take a guess at just how irate I am right this particular minute? And I swear, if I get modded for censor bypassing in this postscript, I'll be cancelling my GS complete account due to horsecrap.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I enjoy my job...for the most part. But I really wish I could take about 3 weeks off and not have my work pile up on me while I'm gone.

Then there's the house. There are so many things Cliff and I want to do on the house, but all of them will take money. I don't even have to tell some of y'all what a house will do to you. I love our house; don't get me wrong. There are just so many things that you want to do, new flooring, add on this here, change the carport into a patio, add a covered parking area, etc.

Anyway, it just kind of drives home the point that buying a house is always only the beginning.

And an angry one, at that. Thankfully, we don't live in south Louisiana, but we're still having some problems even in the north part of the state. Long distance phone calls are hit or miss, credit cards are as well, for the same reason, we've been told that if our power goes out up here, it'll be out for two weeks because all linemen have been sent to the coast area to try to restore power down there.

We're opened up our Civic Center for evacuees and people are donating time, food, clothes, etc. A lot of other cities are doing the same. I just feel badly for the people and wish we could do more.

Anyway, I'm very grateful that we didn't get any tornados up here, and my prayers are with New Orleans and other gulf coast cities. And I'd love to shoot the looters.