So I finally picked up an Xbox 360 (for my birthday) and nabbed 5 games to jumpstart my collection. (PGR3, GRAW, Dead Rising, NFS:Most Wanted, and Fight Night Round 3). Combined with my gamefly membership, I've been having a field day. A few notes from my first two weeks with my 360:

1. Although we all talk about wanting new game experiences, graphics is still king.
2. Although graphics is still king, you can't put lipstick on a pig.
3. Smacking a zombie upside its head with a bowling ball is extremely therapeutic.
4. Classical music is surprisingly conducive to powersliding through London at 100 MPH.
5. The aggressiveness of your videogame boxing style is inversely proportionate to how similar to you your videogame boxer looks.
6. If you've practically beaten a game on the original Xbox, starting from scratch with the 360 version is about as fun as it sounds.
7. If I had one of those eye monocles, I'd use it to play videogames discretely all day.

I've finished off Jade Empire recently. Like KOTOR, it had a nice twist, and overall was a very enjoyable game. Though I agree that the fighting is too easy at the normal setting. I played through on the open palm path the first time through. I might go back and do it closed fist (although, there is one decision near the end game that will obviously allow you to flip sides if you choose, so I might just do it that way).

Also on my recently finished list is Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. One thing you can count on from splinter cell are missions that make you say "That was so cool." Like using the unconscious body of a guard to disable a laser grid. Or bypassing a garrison by finding crawlspace under the floor. I can't wait for Double Agent. I'm picking up a 360 (now that it's finally in stock) in a few weeks so it will be a nice game to pick up with  it (along with Oblivion, PGR3, and Fight Night Round 3).

I played age of empires back when it first came out and wasn't a fan of it's micromanagement. In warcraft/starcraft you build a farm and that's all you have to think about for food...Age of empires you have to send out hunting and fishing parties to keep food coming in. I decided to pick it up for my laptop (between flights and all), and did nothing but reinforce my original bad opinion of the game. I also picked up Age of Mythology thinking "This has got to be fun...I LOVE mythology". WRONG. Maybe I'm too quick to judgement but I prefer my RTS with a little less hands on action.

I also picked up Heroes of Might and Magic 4. I was a fan of the Warlords series and figured this would be a good game to pick up and get my turn-based strategy fix. I watched a co-worker play it a few times on trips up to Green Bay and it piqued my interest. I was not disappointed by this game. There are a ton of options for building armies and exploring the land (and of course ultimately vanquishing your foe).

I finally got GTA San Andreas in the mail (it took a full week AFTER they said it was shipped to arrive). It's pretty sweet so far...definitely captures the feel of the 90's gangsta flick. And I think I'll keep it (seeing that it only costs 40 to do so).

Anyway, I just got done finishing up the final requirements spec for my client. If you've never written requirements for an enterprise application, know that it is not a simple task. What this essentially means is that development can start once I get the client's approval on the budget. We've already come to an agreement there so it's essentially a formality.

I hope everyone's father's day was wonderful (whether celebrating for yourself or someone else). I'm about ready to pass out so I'll talk to all later