Now Playing (Wistful Nostalgia & A Bit of Puzzling Detection)...

Tinkering away on the reviews mentioned earlier, site redesign stuff AND getting ready for next week's big chunk of repair work on some water damage here, so updates will be slightly laid back this week.

Ignition's Nintendo DS/DSi RPG Nostalgia showed up yesterday and pretty much stole the rest of the day and a good chunk of the night away from my updateing and such. The full review is embargoed 'til the 27th, so you'll have to check back then to see the final verdict. I can tell you now, I'm VERY pleased with the game so far.

Additionally, Playlogic's surprisingly fun Sudoku Ball Detective and a ton of other stuff arrived for the beginnings of my Holiday Gift Guide feature, so expect to be hit on the head with a bunch of gifty suggestions starting in November.

Where's my game-playing helper monkey/secretary/coffee maker supreme?

Now Playing (Buried!)

Of course, a few of the games I've previously heavily previewed have finally showed up a bit later than usual (and all at the same time). Such is the nature of things from time to time in this job. Anyway, they've arrived and are currently being played to death for upcoming reviews:

Valhalla Knights Eldar Saga
The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Dead Space Extraction
Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising
Animal Paradise: Wild
Groovin' Blocks

Now Playing (The Update)...

Yeah, yeah, by popular demand, an updated list of what's in my playstack (some of which will actually get reviewed this week - whee!):

Little King's Story (Wii)
FUEL (Playstation 3)
Prototype (Xbox 360)
The Conduit (Wii)
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (Nintendo DS)
Klonoa (Wii)
The Munchables (Wii)
Damnation (Playstation 3)
Muzzle Flash (Xbox import - I was planning a FAQ for some folks who asked about this rarity on GameFaqs a while back, but the game is impossible to complete thanks to some mind-blowing balance issues)
Drakan: The Ancient's Gates (PlayStation 2)
Diablo II (PC - waitin' for that 1.13 update...)
Arx Fatalis (PC)
Arx Fatalis (Xbox - I've an alpha build I'm comparing to the PC version for an upcoming feature - the stuff they left out of the retail version is interesting indeed...)

Currently Playing:

Oops! I forgot to add this to the first post, but it's a good way to get a second one in quick, right?

MadWorld (Wii)
Killzone 2 (PlayStation 3)
Afro Samurai (Playstation 3)
Fallout 3 (Playstation 3)*
Valkyria Chronicles (Playstation 3)
Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden (PlayStation 2)
Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad (Xbox 360)
Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)
Mazes of Fate (Nintendo DS)
MOON (Nintendo DS)
Silverfall (PSP)
Lost Legends (PC)
Sacred Gold (PC)
Arx Fatalis (PC)
The Chosen: Well of Souls (PC)
Rifts: Promise of Power (N-Gage)

and a few more games...

*Yes, I know the 360 version has all that lovely DLC, but thanks to my current lack of broadband service, I flipped a coin and picked the PS3 version... which means I have to wait for that Game of the Year Edition (whenever that comes out, *sigh*).