Earlier today I finished my Interpol: The Search for Dr. Chaos review. Interpol is an Xbox Live Arcade title that puts you in the gumshoes of a global detective. The goal of the game is to find and capture ringleaders of a dangerous crime ring. You collect information on their whereabouts by pointing and clicking on various still photographs.

Nothing gets more compelling than that.

The most satisfying thing about my review was writing the introduction. It starred my favorite cyborg, Robocop. He is my muse. I can’t channel, command, or pester him for ideas. But sometimes, when the words aren’t flowing, he appears above me. His phantom metal hands gently caress my fingers and brain. And magically, the words start flowing.

If only I could convince him that every d-mn article doesn’t have to pertain to him. This article isn’t all about Robo. The Destructoid staff played a ton of games this week. Hit the break to see.

Colette: Pixeljunk Monsters and Persona 4. The latter is getting difficult to a point of frustration. Games should be challenging ... but when they become frustrating, i find myself wondering why I'm playing them.

Justin: Due to being in the mood for some RTS action this week, I've mostly been playing Age of Wonders II and Age of Empires II on the PC. For some reason I felt like revisiting the older stuff.

Oh, and I also cracked open my copy of Space Invaders Extreme on the PSP. The first three levels were ridiculously easy, but the game definitely cranks things up a notch about halfway through level 4.

Conrad: I tried to start Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on my trip up to CES but it's still really hard and I still don't actually have any time to invest in getting better at it. Speaking of things that are hard to get the hang of at the beginning, I played the new Bionic Commando at the Capcom event Friday night. When you get on a roll with the swinging, it's really satisfying but there's a hell of a learning curve there.

And now that I've played Little Big Planet a bit, I can be informed when I say I absolutely do not have any desire to play this game ever. I can grasp that people want to make their own levels (I don't but good for them), but the gameplay just did not feel like the kind of platformer that I enjoy.

Dyson: The Ghost is in town and we only played some Zelda NES. Last night we went to an arcade night in San Rafael and almost got our asses kicked because we went into a bar wearing our capes. Marin county is not San Francisco!

Chad: For the first time in a very long time I am really disappointed in a videogame I am playing. And that game is Fable II. Usually when I buy a game I know enough about it to 99% of the time get something I love (also, I love everything), but I don't know ... Fable II really isn't that great. It's like the concept is amazing, but the implementation is beyond poor. Everything feels so unpolished and the load times are ridiculous.

Is it just me or do you guys feel the same way as well?

Nick: Mexican Techno, baby.

Dyson: What?! You don't like X-Play's game of the year?!

Jim: Mostly been rocking Left 4 Dead. I regret never being around when the community guys are playing, although that attempt at Expert with Detry, Gibbo and Dexter was a lot of fun (I blame all my friendly fire incidents on lag, by the way). Prince of Persia also arrived from Gamefly today (finally) and it's ... okay so far. The constant use of the A button for everything is supposed to make things easier and flow better but so far it seems to confuse The Prince more than anything. The duels are kind of boring as well. Overall though, it's looking like it'll be a good few days' distraction. I like the writing too. I get a "Brendan Fraser in The Mummy" vibe from The Prince.

On the PS3 front, it's mostly been more PSOne stuff. Suikoden, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot for the most part. My PS3 is the best PSOne I ever owned!

Dale: Rag Doll Kung Fu and Convention Foot Pain 2: The Hangover are my jams this week.

Brad Nicholson: I've been playing more Street Fighter Remix. I can't say I've made a ton of progress, but I did win one round of an 8-man tournament last night. I'm still having problems fighting Guile. Kids love to spam that obnoxiously large kickflip he does.

I just finished Interpol. It was ... something. You'll see my full review soon. I've also been playing Big Head Games's Retro and Secret Exit's SPiN for review. They're short, sweet iPhone titles. You'll see more about that soon.

Tonight, I'm going to boot up Fable II to prepare for the 'Knothole Island' DLC.

Jonathan Ross: I have been telling that to you forever.  You know I agree <3

Joseph: Still on vacation in Paris, so still playing the balls of my DS. Puzzle Quest, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and Final Fantasy III.

And since my little siblings are obsessed with it, lots and lots of Mario Kart Wii. Although I think some of the mechanics have degraded since Mario Kart 64, the Wii Wheel is incredibly fun and easy to use. Here's what my definitive version of Mario Kart would look like -- all the maps from each game, the mechanics of 64, and the Wheel. Perfect.

Jordan: After getting to Spiral Mountain in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, I had a sudden urge to buy the original B-K on Xbox Live Arcade. I was able to finish it last night with 100% completion (and was ranked 600 something), but as always, I died on one of the last few spaces on Grunty's board game .... twice in a row. Dammit.

Samit: Amazingly, I hadn't played Fallout 3 since the end of 2008, so I fired it up last night and spent a few hours in the Capital Wasteland. Seriously, you literally don't notice time flying by when you're playing that game. I also played lots of Rock Band 2 this week -- first, on Thursday night, with Dtoider shipero, and then on Friday night...by myself.

Yeah, I know, Rock Band is a party game and it's kinda pathetic to play alone, but it's not like the game isn't fun when you're going solo -- plus, since I was home alone on Friday night, I could play with impunity (i.e., without my parents yelling at me to stop banging on the drums). I even broke out my microphone and sang a few songs. It's not that I'm a bad singer -- I'm not -- I just don't like to sing when my family is around, for a number of reasons.

Hamza: I'm playing recovery after hanging out with Dtoid San Francisco yesterday.

Jonathan Holmes: Picked up P.N. 03, a Gamecube game that has been sitting on my shelf unplayed since 2004. I never got around putting more than five minutes into it before because its so damn hard, but after a few hours of skill building, I'm really digging it.

Also go back into Wii Fit as a way to burn of some winter fat. Thanks to that and shoveling all this New England snow,I'm sore as hell right now. Beyond that, it was a week of Tatsunoko Vs Capcom, Brawl, Animal Crossing Wii, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and a Mario Kart: Wii.

Speaking of Mario Kart, am I the only one who doesn't like Mario Kart 64? A lot fo people talk about it like it's god's gift to Mario Kart, but after buying the virtual console port, I found it to be total crap.

Joseph: What don't you like about it?

Jonathan Holmes: You name it. 

It looks bad, the tracks are boring, the controls feel worse, the items are worse, everything about the game just feels crappy.

I'm beginning to think that Mario Kart is like Zelda in that which post-N64 game in the series is your favorite is totally dependent on which of them you played first.

I also don't like Ocarina of Time at all, but I didn't actually own the game until I'd already beaten Majora's Mask and Wind Waker.

Hamza: I played the SNES one first and have played all since. I haven't given the Wii one enough time to really see if I like it. Double Dash SUCKED.

Joseph: Ok, granted, the tracks in 64 weren't as good, but the mechanics were better, I think. For example, the blue shell used to go along the ground, boning everyone in it's path -- now, it flies through the air, boning no one, except who happens to be first, even if he isn't first at the time. No longer can you strategically break when you realize that a blue shell is coming.

The drifting mechanic was also better. MK Wii has two modes -- Automatic, for new players, and Manual for players who know how to drift. Except that regular turning is impossible in Manual unless you drift, and not all curves require drifting. So if you're somewhere in between "new" and "2Fast 2Furious," you're boned. It sucks.

Ashley: MK Wii is my favorite after 64, but I will openly admit that my love for Mario Kart 64 is very much based on the nostalgia attached to it. That, and I liked the way that the Blue Shell worked. I didn't find Double Dash offensive like most people do, but I didn't really get anything out of the two-character mechanic. I did love the tracks in that game, though!

Yes, I did just have to pop in because Mario Kart was mentioned.

Ashley: Yeah, the Thundercloud fucking sucks. I always get it in 2nd/3rd place. I like the idea behind it, but it's too damn hard to pass off to someone else.

Joseph: That should read "strategically brake."

Also, the two-player mechanic didn't do anything for me, either. However, Double Dash is when the courses started getting good.

Jonathan Holmes: Well, I'll give Mario Kart 64 another try. It had a lot of hype to live up to, so maybe I just expected too much.

Same with Ocarina. By the time I got around to playing it, I'd been hearing that it was the greatest videogame ever for so long that I actually expected it to be more than just a 3D port of A Link to the Past.

Ashley: Well heck, it's okay if you don't like 64! Even as a rabid Mario Kart fan, it's totally understandable to see how someone who has only recently played it for the first time can think it to be inferior. That's why I personally don't care for Ocarina myself -- I played it after Majora and Wind Waker and it just bored me.

Jonathan Holmes: Holy Shit, Ashley! You are the only other person on the planet to ever say that.

I feel so much less alone now.

Ashley: I said it knowing that you would join me when it comes time to get beat down.