I loaded up Oblivion on the PC, downloaded a dozen mods to 'fix' the game, and it was still barely tolerable. The game feels lifeless, soulless, and meaningless.

The landscape is good looking, I'll give it that. The people, the cities, the armor, the ruins, and the caves range from ugly to boring. Fallout 3 had lots of ugly but it also had some character.

Yet, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is on my 'to buy' list for 2011. Why? Morrowind.

I loved Morrowind. When I first got the game, it required too much RAM for my system to handle and I still managed to chug through the first part at about 2 FPS. I'd never played, or imagined, a game like that. The concept of open-world gameplay was completely new to me. I recall the first time it rained and I called my mother over to the computer to look at it. I'd never seen weather effects in a game before.

I played through the entire game and I enjoyed it. I played through parts of Fallout 3 and enjoyed them as well. This is all I ask. I believe Bethesda can do it again.

Speaking of Morrowind, the Morrowind 2011 Graphical Update has been released.



As soon as I saw it, I uninstalled Oblivion and downloaded it. I'll probably start with vanilla Morrowind as installing Tribunal means an assassin attacks you as soon as you sleep. I also need to find that 'less hostile creatures' mod. I'm don't want mudcrabs, rats, and raptors chasing me across Vvardenfell.
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For those of you who like casual, flash games, I have two:

Every Day The Same Dream - Very simple. Listen to the woman in the elevator. You only need to play it once but I played it three times. Also, a bit depressing.

Bloxorz - A puzzle game in 33 stages where you manipulate a rectangular cube and attempt to put it in a square hole. I am currently stuck on stage 11.

Happy holidays to whomever reads this blog. All two of you.

I've caught a bit of a cold and it's almost freezing in Las Vegas, which means I'm miserable, cold, and disinclined to game. However, it's hard not to be excited about the Christmas after Christmas when I opened my spreadsheet, list all the games I hope to buy this year, what date they're coming out, and how much this will cost me.

2011 looks to be a ridiculously awesome year for gaming. 15 games I want, 5 games I might be interested in, and who knows how many titles that I'm not aware of yet because they're not a sequel.

Want:

Q1 2011
Dead Space 2 (January)
Crysis 2 (March)
Dragon Age 2 (March)

Q2 2011
Portal 2 (April)
Witcher 2 (May)
Torchlight II (TBA)

Q3 2011
Batman: Arkham City (TBA)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (TBA)

Q4 2011
Elder Scrolls V (November)
Mass Effect 3 ("Holidays")
Dungeon Siege 3 (TBA)
Risen 2 (TBA)
Guild Wars 2 (TBA)
XCOM (TBA)
Diablo 3 (Maybe)

Interested in:

Rage (September)
I Am Alive (TBA)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (TBA)
Defense of the Ancients 2 <- Valve has made the popular Warcraft III mod into a game.
The Old Republic (Q2/Q3)