This is my first blog post since August '08. Why the lapse? Many boring and complicated reasons are to blame, but the tl;dr version is that I forgot about it. My last post, a Braid review, got 8 comments, most of which were whining that there'd already been so much praise for Braid that it was pointless to have another all-positive review. So, I'll only review a game now if I think I've got something to add. Anyway, this is going to be a weekly series unless I don't have time to write something. I'll write and post whatever my mind can spit out after midnight, since I'm up anyway. I'll start with a look at some releases and what I think of them. If it sucks, I can blame it on the fact that these go up around 1 am.

So. 2010. In gaming. This is one of the most saturated video game release seasons in many recent years. Let's take a look at the games that matter, because you don't really care about the bargain bin crap like Vancouver 2010. This is filtered with my judgment, so I'll probably have omitted something you consider to be a major release.

1/5
Bayonetta PS3, X360
1/12
Army of Two: The 40th Day PS3, X360, PSP
1/26
Mass Effect 2 Win, X360
MAG PS3
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Wii
2/2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Win
2/9
Dante's Inferno PS3, PSP, X360
BioShock 2 Win, X360, PS3
2/23
Heavy Rain PS3
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction Win, X360
3/2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Win, X360, PS3
3/9
Final Fantasy XIII PS3, X360
3/23
Just Cause 2 Win, X360, PS3

Let's go down the list, shall we?

Bayonetta
I liked the demo, I liked Devil May Cry. I'll probably play this in the very near future. Verdict:
Army of Two...2
Never played the original, but I'll give this a try. Verdict:
Mass Effect 2
Played the original, hated it. Yes, I did. I think I played the levels in the wrong order. I thought the combat was seriously flawed and the difficulty curve had strange spikes. It looked pretty good, and the voice acting was top-notch, and I usually love what BioWare does (KOTOR! Jade Empire!) but it just didn't agree with me. Verdict:
MAG
I've played SOCOM before, and I never really got into it. I'm not really a huge fan of "simulation" games (I loathed Gran Turismo and the sequels) and it wasn't really my style. Zipper Interactive has talent, but they don't make the sort of shooter I like to play. I don't even have my PlayStation anymore, so I couldn't play it if I wanted to. But I don't. Verdict:
No More Heroes 2
Seriously, what can I say? I've played every one of Suda's games, and even if I didn't love them, I admired their uniqueness. Even that horrible looking one in the hotel. I didn't really like Killer7, but I loved the originality in its ideas. The original was great, so I'll get it. Verdict:
STALKER 2
I never played the original. I heard great things about it, though. It sounded very similar in tone to a lot of other shooters I've played (and loved) like F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. 2, but I'm not certain that I'll play this one. Verdict:
Dante's Inferno
Weird and awful ad campaign aside, I'm not playing this one. The demo plays exactly like God of War. Believe me, it does. If I wanted to play that, I'd play that. What's worse, they're using the book to justify sticking in silly, over-the-top depictions of hell. Whether or not the gameplay is solid (it's not really) depends on how good God of War was, since any knockoff has to start at the original. Verdict:
Bioshock 2
A thousand times yes. Verdict:
Splinter Cell
Another game I hated that others loved was Splinter Cell. It was good to a point, but then the difficulty became impossible and I lost interest. I own Pandora Tomorrow, and I'll take a look at that soon. I might check it out if a good demo comes out, though. Verdict:
Battlefield 2
For the millionth time: never played the original, will check out the sequel since I always intended to play this but never found the time. Verdict:
Final Fantasy XIII
I know there are people frothing at the mouth for this. I played XII for about 10 hours before it started to get on my nerves. I'll try this as well, if not only to solidify my disdain for JRPGs. I always start with an open mind. I hope it's good. Verdict:
Just Cause 2
I actually did play the original...at the VGXpo a few years ago (which I'm still beating myself up about for skipping this year since Nintendo showed up). I liked it, but it wasn't terribly engaging. Scores were mixed to mediocre. I'll skip.Verdict: