Yeah, it's been a while since my last blog...  I've been pretty busy with a lot of different things, and I haven't been at my apartment as much during the last couple of weekends!  I am back now though, with no more huge trips are on the horizon, so I'll fill you in on what I've been up to since my last installment of blog.

As some of you might know, I caved in a week before the Wii / PS3 launch, and picked up an Xbox 360.  Before you all take up arms, do not despair; I will be grabbing a Wii (puns!) sometime in the future, probably next year. 

With that said, the 360 has been a lot of fun so far, and Gears of War is utterly amazing!  For anyone who hasn't played this game yet, go do it.  Head over to a friend's house, rent it, do whatever you have to do - the game is that great.  The single player game is admittedly short, but coupled with the multiplayer, makes for a game that won't get old for a long, long time.  I am really having fun with it, and I am positively blown away by the graphics, sound, and gameplay...  a triple whammy of fun that doesn't come along very often in this industry.

Aside from that, I've been playing around with Perfect Dark Zero, Burnout Revenge (came with the system), and a handful of Xbox Live Arcade games.  Hopefully Small Arms (another XBL Arcade game) turns out well this wednesday - it looks like a combination of Smash Bros. and Soldat.  I also got the system to stream all my MP3's and video files from my computer, another really great feature of the box.  It'll be interesting to see what kind of new stuff comes out in the coming months now that the 360 isn't the only player on the field.

Needless to say, I am liking the 360, and I think Wii60 will be the way to go for this generation of consoles.  But I digress, I could go on and on...  I haven't had too much time for games this last weekend, because I just got back from Los Angeles!  My girlfriend had another business trip, and I got to tag along again.  We didn't really get to do an awful lot, since most of our time was spent working at her event an traveling, but we got to look at lots of stuff including the Getty Museum, a very amazing place.  I would have liked to see more of the collection of art, but the time I spent there was fun and interesting - they have a lot of great artwork, and a nice collection of Iconic art from the 500-1000 era on display right now.  If anyone is in the area and has some time to kill, I highly recommend visiting.

I've also begun work on a set of three paintings for a friend...  I believe I mentioned this before, but now I have officially started working on them.  I've got all the supplies, and now just need o bear down and get the things done.  I am really liking how they are turning out though - perhaps when I am finished I'll post some pictures here!

Of course, I have not forgotten about Aces High.  I have gotten some more work done with the game, adding some special effects here and there, refining some of the way things work, etc.  I'm not sure if the game will be finished before the end of the year, but I will be continuing work on it when I have time in between my other projects and I hope to get it out as soon as possible!

Anyway, another long period in between my blogs, and another long blog.  I'll stop it here though...  as I am at work while I am writing this, and we have to put a lot of extra work in this week so we can take off an extra day for Thanksgiving.  You have your homework though - try Gears of War!  You'll enjoy it!

And if you already have it, let me know, maybe we can play online sometime!  Thanks for reading!

speaking of nabbing a 360...

can you be 1 of the lucky 1000?

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/archives/1000-xbox-360-core-systems-100-at-amazon-on-thanksgiving.php

I'm so psyched for Aces High, it's looking to be one kick-wicked title!

I wouldn't mind picking myself up a Wii, seeing as they're so cheap. Maybe I'll wait and make sure they're not uberly defective, and then get meself one when I leave the home once and for all here. Mind, Final Fantasy 3 is out for the DS, so I can hold myself off playing that once I get it.

Hey what's your gamertag Fred? Maybe we could play online sometime?



Make sure you check out Geo Wars and Outpost Kaloki on XBLA, they're pretty good.