That's me in the corner

Is it me, or are gaming worlds getting more and more refined in what you can do in them? One need only look at the most recent demos of Assassin's Creed and Metal Gear Solid 4 to see the amount of interaction and freedom you're allowed in these next generation games. I mean, look at the new GTA IV. Well, literally looking, one sees its visually pretty cool. But it seems every iteration of the GTA series lets you do more stuff in the world. The latest additions- new combat system that allows you to take cover like these squad based shooters, the ability to hail cabs to drive you places if you can't be bothered to drive yourself. And it even has its own internet! Looks like they kept the eating/exercising from the previous game as well. Geez, pretty soon the worlds in these games will be close to real life as you can get.

That's fine and all, as long as the world doesn't take precedence over the actual gameplay. I never understood the appeal of Second Life. Interacting in a close to real virtual environment is neat and all, but to what end? To live a second, virtual life? I want action, a story! So in these new games, having a character extremely fleshed out with the ability to do so much (even mundane things!) and a hugely interactive environment is cool and all, just as long as he (or she!) still gets to get into cool adventures. What's the point if you're just gonna sit around and shoot the bull the whole virtual day?

Speaking of games, since geek fun fell through on Sunday, but I was already at zarathrustra94 and turdburgler's, C let me try God of War. Now, I have God of War, I just never got around to playing it for some reason. Its definitely a fun game, and I like the amount of ultra violence you can do. Though reading the FAQs, I remembered one of the reasons I was hesitant to start the game. Since the number of enemies is mostly fixed, and even in places where they infinitely spawn, they stop giving red orbs for a while, its entirely possible to not power up everything by the end of the game! cliffV('What's up with that?!') Not being able to reach your maximum potential?! That's total BS! There are tricks though to get enough orbs, which I of course I shall be doing, because not having my character fully maxed out, that's crazy talk! But I'm going to have to bring my memory card over to copy the progress I made Sunday afternoon then finish the game at my leisure at home.

Now, some Harry Potter discussion. ( Under the Cut )

I'm all out of bubblegum

You know, I've never actually seen "They Live"? cliffv('what's up with that?!') I have seen Monster Squad though, which has only recently come out on DVD, I hear. Awesome. Ooh, poll time!

[Poll #1027827]

And why do people offer to take care of a parrot on the same day they have a big date with that hottie they've had their eye on or when they've invited their boss over for dinner in the hopes of getting some raise or promotion? Don't they know the parrot will say something inappropriate to offend the hottie or boss?

Oh, and it looks like all the entertainment news sites are reporting that Jessica Alba is single again, having dumped that dude she's been seeing for two years. Is it that big a deal? But since the cat is out of the bag, I guess I can fess up now. I actually met Jessica when I was in Europe, and we've been secretly seeing each other ever since. But I didn't want to share her with that Cash Warren loser, so I tell her, "Baby, its him or me!" Obviously, she made the right choice.

EDIT:Holy crap, Godspell is on AMC right now, and I had no frickin' idea that Jesus was played by Victor Garber! Of course, the last time I saw it was in high school, years before Alias. I mean, I know he's been in tons of stuff before Alias, but that's the show I first recognized him from.

EDIT2:I am smarter than 92.83% of the rest of the world.
Find out how smart you are.

Actually, those questions were way too easy.