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

Wow, it's been a while since I went this long without updating.


Can't say I'm really surprised, though... My oldest son is here for an abbreviated version of summer, so with two kids in the house, juggling a bunch of freelance work and trying to get some snuggling in with the wife at night, there's been precious little opportunity to do much else.

Ah, summer.

It's strange to think that back when I was a kid still living at home, days seemed to go on forever. There were more times than I could count when I could get up after sleeping in, read a book, watch some TV, play some games, play outside, and even after all that, I still had an hour or two to sit around and complain about being bored… I can only dream of having those kinds of days now.

Clearly, free time is wasted on the young!


Games-wise, the wife and I are still pushing through in Hunted: the Demon’s Forge (360). A friend of mine recently made the comment that he was enjoying it, but that he would never recommend it to anyone.

I'd have to say, I totally, totally agree with that.

The end of the game's gotta be be around here SOMEWHERE...

There are so many rough edges and irritations that if I wasn't playing it co-op, I'm not sure that I would have bothered to keep going as long as I have. Having a partner along for the ride enriches the entire experience and makes up for a lot of shortcomings that would certainly erode a single player’s good will and patience.

On the other hand, a partner (even a fantastic one like mine) can only make up for so much. Hunted is long as hell, and in all honesty, I would have been completely satisfied with half the amount of content that's here. This nasty, roughish little game has somehow found itself a comfortable niche on my good side, but I'm ready for it to be over while I still have a certain fondness for it.

Otherwise, my addiction to Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) has been renewed now that worldwide multiplayer is possible with the return of PSN.

Currently working on making this Black Fatalis armor. Thanks to the super-rad MH Wiki for the pic!

Having now found a group of people to quest with, it's a realistic goal to keep striving towards the last few bits of the game I haven't seen yet. I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 hours at this point, and amazingly, I'm still learning new tricks and still reaching for the last four or five bosses I haven't even encountered.

Game is d33p.


So, the five-ish paragraphs above that took you 25 seconds to read have basically summarized my entire week… there's been no further progress on the final edits of my book, my inbox is out of control, I haven't watched a single movie or TV show, and life feels like it’s moving a million miles a minute -- I mean, I just realized the other day that 2011 is half over already, and it kinda blew my mind.

Switching into a slightly lower gear would be a welcome thing right about now.