I have a blog?

Oh, yeah... how 'bout that... I have a blog. :)

For my two "regular" readers, yes, I'm still alive, but have been so busy with real life and work that my time to play is very limited. I could spend that time here typing stuff up for the two of you to read, but instead have chosen to actually play WoW, and a couple of other things. Since WoW continues to be mostly Karazhan until we can gear up enough to hit Zul'Aman -- we *want* to go, but don't think we *can* go -- I'll offer up a slight change of pace.

The Orange Box: This is the greatest deal in games right now, particularly if -- like me -- you haven't played Half-Life 2 yet. My machine just wasn't up to the task until recently (see below), so I never played this game. I'm still working my way through the single-player game of HL2 and haven't even dipped into the expansions. Just the 3 Half-Life games are a bargain at $50, but the Orange Box also includes Team Fortress 2 *and* a game called Portal. Portal is a different kind of shooter, in that the only thing you can shoot are portals. It's hard to describe without posting screenshots and you can find those elsewhere. Suffice to say that for $50, this is gaming goodness in a box. With the "silly season" approaching, if you have a gamer friend who hasn't played these titles, you might have a very happy friend were you to pick up this box. :)

Mythos: This game is still in beta test -- invite only and no I don't have any. It's by the same people that made Hellgate: London. I haven't played that game -- and don't plan to -- but Mythos is in beta and will be free. The guys from H:L are several ex-Blizzard employees who were instrumental in bringing the Diablo series to life, including Bill Roper. Mythos is akin to Diablo, but is only played online. Not sure how the zones and such are instanced, but towns are populated with other players and you can group. You'll eventually be able to form guilds and such. It's addictively fun and simple and reminds a LOT of Diablo, which is a good thing.

Crysis: I haven't bought the game yet, but have played through the demo *at least* three times, trying out different tactics and generally ooo-ing and ahh-ing over the graphics and the environments. Me playing *any* demo more than once is a major time commitment, so to do it three times is an indication that it's pretty good. :) If you have a decent machine, it's worth checking out the demo at least. Big download, though. You've been warned.

Anyway... that's a quick update. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting WoW-wise to post in the next few days. Back to Karazhan for Curator and beyond this evening.