The first African-American President, news on one of the most highly-rated anticpated RPGs of last year, and uncertainty in a universe far, far away,

On the 20th January, 2009, at around 12:07 in the United States, Barack Obama - a man originally viewed as an outsider - took centre stage as George Bush handed over his presidency.

"Yes we Can" was the slogan that empitomised Obama throughout his election campaign, and it was this belief that ultimately caused him to succeed. From the young boy who witnessed the breaking up of two families, to the Harvard-based student, to the President we see today. Barack Obama really was a unique candidate.

As I watched from my northern home in the Britain, as a 17-year-old, I realised something about this man. He wasn't just a President, he wasn't just someone who made "false promises", he was a man who believed and knew that he had the ability to bring change to America.

For the first time, I genuinely became excited and absorbed in Obama and his ideals. For all of my life I have had no interest in non-domestic politics, and little in our own, but that changed throughout the latter half of 2008 and in this opening period of 2009. There's so much I admire about the States: the involvement, the passion and the genuine care for who they are voting for. As a citizen of the United Kingdom, that is what we lack and what we need. Whereas in the US you will see everyone, young and old, participating and enjoying themselves, Britain and the UK lack the support of the younger generation. This is incredibly important, as a waining support means a waning government. That is something we do not want.

In gaming news, it was discovered recently that Mass Effect - the bioware Role-Playing game that was one of the biggest hits of 2008 - is set to be followed up with two sequels and more importantly those that could make the journey over the Playstation 3. There will still be Xbox 360 support, but EA's grip has meant that this series is now taking more a commerical route.

What does this spell for Mass Effect? Ultimately, little. Bioware are still going to be pulling the strings in their trilogy, though for the X360 this meant they have lost an exclusive game to a rival that is mounting them up. Final Fantasy is, indeed, making its way to the Xbox also but games like Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Patriots are those that may not even be rivalled by the infamous Gears of War series.

Other news? It isn't exactly the biggest, but there has been more regarding the status of Star Wars Battlefront III.

It appears that on YouTube a video was leaked of actual, in-game footage of the game itself. This raises questions of the games state of development on two levels: is/was the game in such a far state of development that there are plans for it to be ressurected, or is the game's development dead that footage was leaked because there was no more news to give? In the wake of Mass Effect going non-exclusive, this is something that Microsoft could really benefit from.

Hey there folks.

When the hell was my last blog post? It seems so long since I did my last one...

Anyway, I've been playing a lot of Fable II recently and I have to say that this game is one that is really worth considering. From around 30 hours of personal gameplay, I've really enjoyed the variety and depth that this sequel has offered when compared to the original. Yeah it is a bit repetive at points, and the storyline isn't exactly Oblvion-esque, but it's still great fun. Letting my uncontrollable urge to shoot a villager take over me provided lots of laughs, though the game punished me later by fining me. Though even after that, I continued to do many-a-thing that weren't exactly respectable.

It also seems, that, for once, EA have actually released a game that has genuine quality (and fits in with its release period, too). Of course, I'm talking about Dead Space. Initally this game, at least to me, seemed to be destined to just to float into the abyss and stay there forevermore. It wasn't shown at E3 (to my recollection) and there have been minimal previews before that. However, this seems to be the dark horse of this year as reviews worldwide seems to have credited it for what it is: an exiciting, engrossing horror game that has originality and flair. For the words Electronic and Arts and to be linked to this game is pretty incredibly, and might actually be an indication that EA is good at doing something! I may get this... as soon as I have enough money.

Indeed, Barack Obama and John McCain are going to face off next week for the White House but they probably have no idea on how Bethesda has portrayed their potential base in Fallout 3.

Unless you're unfortunate enough to be limited to the bug-filled PS3 version, this game is one worth picking up very soon. Even though it may not have the depth of Oblivion, it certainly has a better tempo to it and provides more of an impact. The combat is a little clunky, yes, but this game is another that provides complete originality and continue to advance an exisiting series in new and interesting ways. As seems to be the case with most game nowdays, FO3 also plays on the idea of making choices and feeling the consequences. So much so, that even shooting your gun could have a negative impact upon your world. The game isn't simply that straightforward, as players know that their decisions are shaping what Washington is going to look like in the future.

I also played Rare's Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts demo yesterday on Xbox Live, and this is one game that is HUGE! The demo lasted me well over an hour, probably approaching two, and the game made the one world that you could visit seem incredibly charming and incredibly exciting. I really don't understand why people aren't talking about this; it's brilliant. Whether your played the original Banjo game on the N64, like me, or not this game is really something for any RPG/Adventure/Platform lovers out there.

And I so wish Christmas would arrive soon... I simply cannot wait.

Well I've finally found some free time to do this, so I thought I'd grasp the opportunity and get something solid down.

As those in the Temple have undobtedly realised,I seriously have not been posting all that much. Why? Well, of my new-found lifestyle. Even though there isn't a 50-foot pile of homework to do, I'm finding myself being caught up with other things outside of college - related or not.

For exampl, I've met four friends at college. Two of which are really nice people. On the Friday just gone, five of us went to a local circus. This was very, very enjoyable and I've never experienced anything like that with friends before. Similarly, we're all (hopefully) going to a restaurant next Monday for my birthday which means another day is going to be taken up completely.

These kind of things, plus homework, mean it's hard to actually juggle everything successfully. I will still be posting in the Temple, but bare in mind that I won't be that active for the majority of the time.

I'm still pushing through Puzzle Quest, which is probably one of the best arcade games I've played. I'm not sure how long this actually is, but I'm guessing it's pretty long? I certainly hope so.

I've been particuarly intriuged by the Fifa '09 demo. I'm a pretty big fan of football/soccer, and I felt it really simple to use and it was fun to test different team formations and playing styles. I've been finding it hard to score, though that seems to be sorting itself out gradually.

I also downloaded the new Dragonforce album, which is very good. Guitars going at insane speeds is an incredible thing.

Hopefully everyone out there is okay. I wouldn't like to think otherwise.