Up late talking games & writing? You're...

Just a few random bits tonight...

Games: Still playing Saints Row on 360 and still loving it. It's funny, but this title really does beat GTA at its own game. I mean, it seems to me that the thing that people really like about open-world sandbox games is the ability to go anywhere and do lots of crazy stuff. Why would you ever strip that out? I plan on covering this game in the near future for GC, but at the moment I give it props for not taking itself seriously and going completely over-the-top in many ways, never losing sight of what makes for an enjoyable entry in this genre. It's not perfect by any means, but it's had no problem keeping my attention. You can get it for something like $18 used these days... that's a lot of game for a tiny investment. I haven't finished it quite yet, but it's still recommended.


One little ironic side-note: I had passed Saints Row up a million times and had written it off as a cash-in, but I was so pumped up and ready to play GTA IV that when I realized it wasn't anything near what it was cracked up to be, I started going into withdrawls. If GTA IV hadn't been so miserable, I never would have given SR a chance. Even more ironic? I'm actually considering getting a second 360 unit so the wife and I can play the entire Saints Row 2 co-op campaign fullscreen.


Take that, Rockstar!


Writing: The last few days haven't exactly played out the way I thought they would, and I'm not anywhere near my weekly quota for words-on-page. I'm usually quite proud of my discipline, but I have to admit that I've been slacking when I haven't been working. Guilty as charged. In fact, I probably shouldn't even be taking the time to write this when I have a sequel to make progress on and a short story to finish.


Ahem.

On the plus side, I went to my very-first-ever critique group, and although I had to leave early unexpectedly to get to a last-minute work assignment, it was a fun, positive experience. Shouts-out to Billie and Stephanie, and I'll catch up with you later.

No clue what this movie is... it just looked foreign to me.

Film: The wife and I are going to hit our very first Seattle International Film Festival movies this week. We're going to see five total, and I plan on doing quick rundowns after each viewing. If anyone in the Seattle area has any recommendations for which flicks to see, drop me a line.

So totally not us at the restaurant tonight.

Food: Can I just say that there are few things worse than paying for a bad meal? Check out Mouths Full this friday for more details, but the wife and I were in unfamiliar territory (the eastside) tonight, and we decided to skip the joints we have on our let's-eat-there list and just randomly pick something to review. Although sometimes this tactic pays off, tonight... not so much.