I've recently come across a few things that are good, and bear recommending. Enjoy this list of things I say are neat, and then write it down and hand it to your richest friend/family member as a list of holiday demands (note you'll need to write it out by hand, of course).
God of War. I played God of War 2 a while ago, and loved it. After my xbox died I finally picked up my copy of God of War 1 (Ted and I swapped 1 for 2 after we'd each played one of them). What an amazing game - even better than the sequel, I think. I was let down by the end of the game, where they stray far from the fun puzzles and massive battles forumla for a series of frustrating platform sequences and a final boss that's just one guy. Even with the flawed finale, this game was the most fun I've had behind a controller in quite a while. If you don't own a Playstation, go out and buy one. You can get God of War 1 and 2, Guitar Hero 2, Katamari, and Shadow of the Colossus and lock yourself in a basement for several weeks with no trouble.
GPS. Maria had her office holiday party over the weekend, and her bosses handed out some pretty serious gifts. Maria landed a GPS unit, which I played with a bit on the way to work this morning, and my mind has more or less been blown. I told it to direct me to work, which it did fine for a while until it asked me to turn up a one-way the wrong way. I didn't make that turn, of course, and within a couple of seconds it had realized I missed the turn, calculated a new route, and barked out new instructions. I realized I'd told it I was a pedestrian earlier, and by switching it to car mode it obeyed traffic laws, called out commands earlier, and generally became even more impressive. Even if you don't need one, this is a fun toy.
Salt. We've been hit by a couple of ice storms this past week, and I'm pretty sure the only reason I haven't broken my neck on our stairs is salt. Wonderful fantastic salt. Thanks, salt.
My Old Phone. I recently switched back from my Treo to the Samsung a900 I'd given up. The call quality and reception are so much better, and the Samsung works so much better as a phone, it's wonderful. I will miss the ability to play solitare any time I want and the full keyboard, but the decision had to be made. The Samsung even does a better job loading websites, thanks to it's ability to connect to Sprint's fast data network. So if you also recently switched to a new phone you don't like as much, fuck it, switch back.
Xbox. As mentioned, mine's dead and I miss it. If you have one, give it a hug.
Mario Galaxy. So far this is pretty fun. It's a very direct sequel to Mario 64 (which was great), with very similar controls and a minimal amount of annoying Wii crap (you do shake the remote to spin, but otherwise it's just an ocassional bit of pointing). I've only played through a few levels, but thus far it seems to have a lot of potential.
Zack and Wiki. The other Wii game I've turned to for videointeraction. This is a strange little gem, where each level is a puzzle that you solve by clicking on objects, using the pointer like a mouse. You don't directly control your guy, but just tell him what to interact with (or click on a spot and he'll walk there). It almost feels like a flash game or something, with simple rules and simple gameplay, but it's definitely a fun diversion. It's nice how each level is completely stand-alone so you can play for twenty minutes and complete a puzzle (at least the early ones). Not a bad game if you like to think things out.
