E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is the biggest event of the year for gamers.  It’s where all of the big players – Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony – and the not-so-big indie players are allowed space on the same floor in Los Angeles to tease us with some of their upcoming products.  It is not open to the general public, but for the week, we are bombarded with the best new thing.

I’ve always taken this week with a grain of salt.  Some of what’s shown there may never come to fruition as it’s still early in the development phase.  There are a couple of things that I’m keeping my eye on, such as Nintendo’s new project (to replace the Wii U and possibly the 3DS?) and the newer versions of the PS4 and XBone coming out.  I haven’t heard much about games yet other than your standard – new Zelda, new Mario, blah blah blah.  Hopefully, something awesome will come along and pique my interest.

Today is Tetris’ 32nd birthday.  Oh, the hours and hours I’ve spent on you.  I’ve watched you grow and develop through the years, but the simpler you are, the better.  I love Tetris so much that Matt made me shelves made of Tetriminos !  I also have a Tetris board game, given to me as a gift.  I’ve also long though about getting a Tetris tattoo.

And happy 32nd birthday to my sister-in-law, Barb, as well!

Matt and I used to host Rock Band/Guitar Hero parties when we lived in Daytona.  Since we’ve moved to Houston, we haven’t had one.  Tonight that changes.  We’re expecting a good 10 people and it’s going to be a rockin’ time.  I have just about every Rock Band/Guitar Hero game ever made, but we’ll likely stick with Rock Band 3 as I have downloaded more songs than I like to admit. It will be a bit tight in here, but fun nonetheless.  ROCK ON!

Here I am sporting my Guitar Hero shirt and a wrist band that I won – no kidding! – in an online Guitar Hero tournament.  I was pretty good at one time and was ranked in the top 100 in the country.  I am so rusty now, though.

If you’re a parent and you’ve looked for games for your kids, I’m sure you’ve seen these ratings on the packaging:

Those are the official ratings and I would recommend going by them.  However, as I discuss games, I’m going to use my own ratings.  I’m only using two – kid-friendly and mature gamers only.  The games that I’m discussing I’ve actually played, and I have a decent idea of what I would let my kids play (if I had them).  If you want a bit more detail on a game and its rating, let me know.

Boss battles have been a fundamental part of video games for a very long time.  I’m working on finishing Sunset Overdrive for the XBone right now, and I had to take a break from the end boss battle.  It requires a lot of manual dexterity and isn’t very forgiving.  These battles can be so frustrating, but I’d rather have it this way than a simple, unsatisfying battle at the end of a great game.

I’m going on 1.5 hours trying to beat it.  Hopefully, tomorrow I can give a good and full review of this one and I’ll report that I have been victorious!  These battles sure have come a long way since this guy:

When I am gaming, I have one more intense game that I consider the “primary” game at the time.  Then, I play a few smaller games as filler because playing that primary game can be tiring.  Right now, the primary game I’m playing is Sunset Overdrive.  I’ll likely have a review of it before too long as I’m nearing the end.

My secondary games right now are Threes! on the XBone, Plague, Inc. on the XBone, Peggle 2 on the XBone and What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2 on the PSP.  It keeps me busy, but I’m really enjoying this group.

So it’s starting to look a bit more like I want.  I’ve got my favorite links set up, a few images here and there and a home page.  I’m still working on the background image and I think my first big page will be my top-25 games of all time.  That is a much harder task than it sounds!  It’s tough when comparing old games versus new games.  Do you consider things like the impacts those simpler games had on the industry?  (Yes.)  A lot of nostalgia plays into the decision as well – a “right place, right time” kind of thing.  And, of course, this is according to my preferences.  You’re not going to find a FPS on this list because I just don’t like to play them.  I don’t mind watching Matt play them, but I just suck at it.

I hope to have that up by tomorrow.