I’m wondering when was the last time I was this excited this far in advance about an upcoming piece of entertainment. I’m sure a list would be a more effective and/or popular post (since everyone loves those), and maybe I’ll make one in the future, but right now I’m just going to ramble on about things that made me both hard in the pants and soft in the brain. With regards to soft in the brain, I present the example of how I wasn’t even hearing Joseph Gordon-Levitt correctly in the Inception trailer, despite watching it a half-dozen times.

Does something like Call of Duty 4 count? I don’t remember how much I was looking forward to that game before the beta hit and blew everything out of the fucking water. Yeah, after playing that beta, I was certainly looking forward to the full game, but I feel like the beta was equivalent to watching the first 30 minutes of Inception, or arguably even more. It was the FULL multiplayer experience, just limited to three maps — three maps which turned out to be some of the best in the final game. I played the beta for almost 50 hours; I think I got my money’s worth right there. I guess what I’m trying to say is that two months before that beta, I wasn’t watching clips of COD4 over and over again.

While attempting to think of other hyped-up things in the past couple of years, I can only think of The Dark Knight, which is probably indicative of my terrible memory or my incapability to think of anything not related to Christopher Nolan. But I don’t think I was ever as hyped up as I am right now, despite the amount of posts I made related to the film leading up to its release. There was no trailer that was as awesome as this Inception trailer — the latter of which I haven’t even seen in full 1080p glory on my HDTV yet. I will make another post just for that when it hits the internet. And really, the fact that The Dark Knight was so great despite being set in a comic-book world is only more reason to be flipping out at the prospect of an original Christopher Nolan film. It’s impossible for me NOT to be more excited about Inception than TDK.

So what else has there been? I don’t get too excited about music albums until singles or live performances of the album start trickling out, and even then, I don’t obsess over them for hours. I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a book; I think this is a result of never reading Harry Potter or A Song of Ice and Fire or any current fiction authors, period. And television? Yeah, I certainly get excited about the season premieres and season finales and everything in between for shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, but they are such small doses at a time that it’s impossible to get into a frenzy. It’s only after an episode blows my mind that I go apeshit.

That brings it down to movies and games, basically. Advertising companies really do their job with regards to movies — maybe a little too well. I hope I’m not burnt out on Inception by the time the movie actually comes out. With games, it was always my constant checking of gaming websites and GAF that would fuel my anticipation. Nowadays, I barely read any gaming sites and I rarely venture over to the gaming side of GAF, and as a result, I haven’t been hyped up for a game in a few years. Starcraft II would be a very good candidate, but as I recently explained, that beta pisses me off so much sometimes that I rather imagine a world where it doesn’t exist.

So that narrows it down to movies then. That’s the only entertainment I’ll be going crazy about beforehand from now on. And possibly only Christopher Nolan movies.

The game has the best feel and gunplay I’ve ever experienced, I think on either PC or console. I still can’t believe how much I enjoy playing the game with a controller. The last time I was this addicted to a game was Counter-Strike: Source upon its release. The Call of Duty series has been revered for its transcendent gunplay since its inception, but bringing the game into a modern setting has created a monster. The 360 version has been the best-selling game for the four months since its release. Its streak will no doubt be stopped by the 360 version of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 this month, but I don’t see it dropping off the top spot on XBL activity anytime soon. I’ve heard anecdotes of people in R6:V2 games saying that they’re just gonna go back to COD4. Halo 3 will most likely eventually take the crown back, at least in that lull before Gears of War 2 hits.

With four new maps coming out this week, COD4 is going to be on top for a while. Shamefully, this map pack will make me break my DLC rule. $10 for four maps, and I’m going to shell out because Infinity Ward owns me. But since I’m not going to be playing any other FPSs, I might as well get the full COD4 experience.

Burnout Paradise

The definition of a love/hate relationship. I love the amazing crash physics. After approximately 1287 crashes, I hate still having to see every single one in slow-motion (previous Burnouts had the option to turn Takedown cams off). I love doing challenges online with online buddies. I hate that I’ll probably never get the 250 challenge achievement, since I’ll never do challenges with 6, 7 or 8 people. I love the ease of online racing, the leaderboards, and the stats given before each race. I hate losing races due to missing a crucial turn. I love the variety in the vehicles and how they actually react differently in collisions. I hate having to do specific Burning Lap events with specific vehicles. I still love Road Rage events. I hate the new Showtime (Crash) mode, but not nearly as much as I hate Stunt Mode.

Omega Five

Exactly the type of game that XBLA should have in droves. An original shmup that has tight controls and impressive graphics. And XBLA adds the incentive to drive for a high score with leaderboards. I can’t wait for Ikaruga to be released. I still can’t believe I just sold the GC version on Amazon Marketplace for $45. Can’t wait to rebuy a superior version for $10!

Halo 3

Yeah, I’ve been a huge critic of this series since the original, but co-op apparently is still fun. Ripped through the game on normal. Just as my predetermined hatred of the campaign was starting to recede, we reached a level that took place inside a giant anus. I don’t know who thought it’d be a good idea to have such a disgusting level in a video game. And there were anuses inside the anus. And it vibrated its walls as it spoke a few times. Bungie should be ashamed of themselves.

The Dishwasher

One of the XBL Community Games, which means it was developed with XNA Game Studio and released with XNA Creators Club. Let’s just say it’s a way for independent developers to get their cool games on XBLA. There’s still time to play a bunch of these games for free. I haven’t gotten a chance to play any others, but this one is pretty fun. You can tell it’s an amateurish work-in-progress, but it’s Devil May Cry/Ninja Gaiden in 2D, which should sound cool to anyone.

Call of Duty 4

Never completely out of the gaming rotation. Took a while to beat the single-player campaign, as Veteran was a bitch. I’m determined to eventually get 1000/1000, so I’ll need to beat the extra level on Veteran, even if it’s the most frustrating thing I’ve ever played. As for MP: even after weeks of vacation, I still rock the shit — most notably on Wet Work. I reached Prestige mode, and kept on mercilessly killing dudes with the vanilla M16. Call of Duty 4 might as well be renamed Boost Joel’s Self-Esteem.

Also, I just came across this gem (sorry, had to shrink to fit):

Facebook Scrabulous

This counts! I’ll take on all comers! I’m not especially good, but I can hold my own at times.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 Guitar Hero III
4 Gears of War
5 Rock Band
6 Madden NFL 08
7 Assassin’s Creed
8 Mass Effect
9 FIFA 08
10 Forza Motorsport 2

THE KING IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE KING.

Infinity Ward took Bungie and its massive franchise head-on, and won. Yes, Halo 3 has outsold it, and will hold on to that lead forever — but Call of Duty 4 instantaneously blows away anyone that plays it. I’ve heard some people rip on the single-player campaign, but even these people admit that the online multiplayer is absolutely incredible. I meant to write up a blog post a while ago — and I started to — but never finished it. There’s no point now. Everyone knows the awesomeness of COD4. The perks system adds a whole new level of strategy to FPS multiplayer, and the leveling up system has to be the most addictive of any FPS as a result. And the graphics (at 60 fps no less!) are freaking great, with the phenomenal sound only completing the experience.

Conversely, Halo 3 is stuck in its 2001 mode. Well, it’s more like Halo 2 HD on steroids, because I actually loved the original Halo. On the other hand, there wasn’t any competition on consoles last generation. Now, between Rainbow Six Vegas, COD4, Gears of War, and Bioshock on the same console, Halo 3 seems downright archaic. The multiplayer is filled with options and features, but they don’t make up for the slow-as-shit, boring gameplay. I do enjoy Rocket Race, though. And the single-player = YAWN.

CALL OF DUTY 4

Now, I’m going to go back on my word and verdict by saying that I’ve decided against buying Rock Band for the foreseeable future after playing it at Best Buy. The guitar parts on expert weren’t challenging at all for a Guitar Hero veteran like myself, and the drums were a joke. This was because there was no bass pedal included in the kiosk. I know that with the bass pedal it’s going to be 5x harder, but I couldn’t help feeling bored by the game. As a result, my hype meter has fallen dramatically. With GH3, I have my rhythm game fix for a few months. The online aspect of GH3 just adds so much replayability to the game, even if the majority of Live players are absolutely insane and pick “Through the Fire and the Flames” way too much. I might just split the cost for Rock Band with Justin if he’s up for it around Christmas time. Either that, or just buy the drum-only SKU when it’s released early next year. There’s not enough room in my humble abode for so many faux instruments.

I’ve been helplessly addicted to a couple of XBLA games. I got a quadrillion points in Every Extend Extra Extreme unlimited mode and haven’t played much since then. Timed mode and online are the only modes worth playing in that game. Even then, there’s not really much to it. Setting off the explosion before your shield runs out and on beat is the entire game. “Revenge” mode is even more broken. It takes a special development team to come out with two worthless games in one. I just became entranced the first time I played it, which led to the 1,000,000,000,000,000 points.

The other XBLA game that I’ve been playing incessantly is Puzzle Quest. It’s a puzzle-RPG hybrid that is incredibly addictive. It has the basic mechanics of Bejeweled – you have a rectangular playing field, and you match up gems in rows of 3 or more – only now you have spells and leveling up to deal with. The only catch is that after playing the game for a while (probably 20-25 hours), I still don’t think I’m close to completing it. While it’s a fun game, such a simple system can’t sustain such a long quest. But I’m going to end up finishing it and maxing out my character’s level at 50 just for the achievements. Damn it.

I also just finished playing some Halo 3. I did fairly well, too. Too bad that once I buy Call of Duty 4 in three days nothing else matters. Circuit City is offering a free copy of Call of Duty 3 with the purchase of COD4. I can’t wait to sell that piece of shit. In addition, Circuit City is also selling Virtua Fighter 5 for only $39.99. I really was gonna ask for that for Christmas, but I can’t pass that up. Burger King is also offering a coupon for a $10 Gift Card with a purchase of a game $39.99, so I’m going to take advantage of that too. Here’s the coupon. You have install some bullshit coupon printer, but whatever. For the record, these deals are seemingly only for the 360 versions of each game. Sorry PS3 owners.

Man, I love my 360. Between all these games, I’m gonna be set for a while. I might just sell my copy of Rainbow Six: Vegas. Poor guy never even got a chance to shine.

The Orange Box

Fortunately, my laptop runs Team Fortress 2 just as well as Counter-Strike: Source and Day of Defeat: Source, even though the minimum requirements are supposedly higher. This translates to 30-40 fps at the lowest possible settings, but it’s all I need. But I might end up buying it on 360 as well as the electronic copy I already purchased on Steam. You can often find affordable Xbox 360 copies at local pawnshops like ezpawn.com. Just in case you don’t know, the Orange Box isn’t just Team Fortress 2, it’s Half-Life 2 complete with both Episode 1 and 2, and Portal, a sort of first-person puzzle game involving teleports. So for any 360 owners out there that haven’t touched PC gaming in 3 years, the Orange Box is the best value in gaming this year. I’d pay $45 for Team Fortress 2 alone. It is THAT awesome. Surprisingly, it’s not as fast as I thought it would be, so I can see the 360 version being just as fun as the PC version. It’ll definitely look better for most people, including myself.

Bioshock

The game I bought before I even had a 360 to play it on. A very atmospheric, story-driven game with incredible graphics, but not quite the revolutionary experience it was hyped up to be. I haven’t touched it in two weeks due to other addictions, but I have vowed to complete it this weekend. It deserves at least that. Once the next game hits, no other disc will enter my 360 disc tray for at least a month.

Halo 3

The game Microsoft hopes they can ride to a phenomenal holiday season of sales. There’s really no way for it to live up to the hype at this point, but I have no doubt that it’s multiplayer will be nothing short of incredible. Bungie has had years to perfect this game and I think they’re still sore at how they were forced to rush out Halo 2. They want this game to be the end-all be-all. I didn’t have a 360 when the beta was out, but the consensus seemed to be, “it’s awesome.” One thing’s for sure — it will be a statwhore’s dream. Just look at this! Insane.

Rainbow Six: Vegas

The other game I’ve bought for my 360. Outside of a couple of epic nights, I’ve barely touched it. It is without a doubt the best realistic tactical shooter I’ve ever played, but I’ve been addicted to the following game…and it’s not even a final game.

Call of Duty 4

With an incredible multiplayer demo disguised as a beta, Infinity Ward has won themselves a shitton of sales. Running at a silky-smooth 60 fps while sporting eye-popping MGS 4-like graphics, COD4 is going to be fighting with Halo for supremacy in my 360 playtime once it hits in November. The choice to leave the WWII-era and enter modern times was the right one. It’s no slouch compared to Halo 3 when it comes to stat-tracking, and the leveling-up and challenges will no doubt keep me occupied for months. And getting kill streaks has never been so much fun. I completely own Crash in Free-for-All. It is MINE.

Gears of War

Ok, so it’s not technically a FPS, it’s a TPS, or third-person shooter. In every other way, it’s the same type of game. Epic just wanted to make a more cinematic experience. For all the hype it received, I wasn’t too impressed when I played it. The graphics were definitely amazing, but the gameplay was just clunky and awkward as hell. And apparently the online aspect of the game isn’t something to write home about. Nevertheless, I will borrow this game from Chris likely some time over the Christmas break. I’ll just beat the single-player to get some achievement points. Gotta get that gamerscore up!

Of course, mixed in with all these shooters will be Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. I think my GPA might suffer this semester…