12 Days and counting

Haven’t posted in 5 months…wow! The last time I posted on this thing was before the Halo 3 beta test, that’s been forever ago. Since then, I graduated with honors from Fairmont State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architecture. God has been doing great things in my life, I’ve been able to leave the Shack and land a job that I kind of in my field; designing kitchens for Fairmont Kitchen Center (Mountaineer Cabinet Company). Erinn has one more year left before graduating and then who knows what we’ll be doing. Right now we're wading our way through 6 seasons of Smallville, man, what an amazing show! I can't even seem to pull myself away from it at night to get any gaming in. Right now I'm half way through season 4, so the halfway mark has been breached, and I will soon have the desire to do things in the evenings besides crash on the couch and watch the TV.

Gaming-wise, I’m still getting in the occasional game of Halo 2. The Halo 3 Beta was amazing, making the wait for September 25th seem like forever, at the time anyways. Bioshock was breathtaking, better described as an experience than a game. I've ran through the game once, it took me around 17 hours. I want to eventually go through it again, as you can chose an entirely different path in the game than the one I chose the first time I went through it. I still play Rainbow Six occasionally. I finally traded in Gears of War to help pay off my Halo 3 pre-order; I still don't see what people like about Gears' multiplayer, the fact that I can't go with my friends into a matchmade game is simply ridiculous in this day and age (yes I'm sure it cut down on cheaters, but it came at the sacrifice of playing in tandem with my friends).

Lastly, I'll leave you with some things I had to say about Halo 2 that I posted on the XBL Radio Forums during a discussion about the game (discussion link):

All valid arguments thrill. As we all have our opinions, I always enjoy reading yours. Some Halo fanboys are rabid, even to the point of turning on the studio that produced their beloved, as we saw with the ridiculousness that occurred during the Multiplayer Beta. I may consider myself a fanboy, as I enjoy the Halo universe in it's entirety, but I am not blind and can see where many a gamer just may say "I don't get it!" (I can relate because that's how I feel about Gears of War Multiplayer). For me though, Halo 2 has been the most valuable video game purchase that I've ever made. It's provided me with some of the best times that I've experienced while playing a video game, including making lifetime friends that I would've otherwise never met. As I was transitioning to college, I moved from PS2 to the Xbox, and Halo was the first FPS that I'd ever really delved into. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed with the series and bought halo 2 when it came out. That game has took up most of my gaming time for the last two and a half years, and it was only after the Halo 3 beta that my time within the halo 2 realm dwindled. For me, Halo 2 provided a matchmaking experience that is just now starting to be incorporated into Xbox 360 games. I enjoy that matchmaking experience so much, that it instantly improves any game that it's employed in (bravo COD 4 beta). I have been looking forward to halo 3 since it's announcement, no, it's not because of the hype, it's because I genuinely enjoy the experience. Yes, there are a lot of trend surfers out there getting ready to ride the halo 3 wave, but there are also many gamers out there that are looking to be cool by bashing it. Regardless of how anyone feels reading this, I hope you have your "Halo," your game that provides you with such an enjoyable experience that it will keep you busy for years to come.