Wow, it's been a while. The place here looks a little different. I imagine there have been new faces visiting. I like what Brent's done.

So, where have I been? Well, changed jobs, now in the middle of a long-distance relationship, and have basically been swept up in working with a lot of technology-just not with video games.

As for my gaming, Madden 10 pretty much owned my time. If my PS3 was on, you could safely bet I was beating somebody's a$$ with my Raiders. Now, if only my Madden success with that franchise would rub off on the real life counterpart....

Recently, though, my gaming tastes have ventured from the virtual gridiron, to Ancient Greece.

Now, a little backstory. Let me be the first to say that I am one of the worst judges of games; I play something for a few minutes, and if it doesn't keep my attention, I think it's trash. I have done that on two occasions:

1. Halo-Xbox

2. God of War-PS2

Yup, I played both-wasn't impressed. Of course, later on, those games end up selling millions, I try them again, and I wonder to my self, "What the heck is wrong with me? This is great!". I don't know-sometimes it takes me a while to get on the bandwagon.

With God of War, I had played the demo for the first, and just didn't get into it. As of April of this year, that changed.

I was playing Madden, and finally decided to retired. Yup, there was a ceremony, some tears, and a good time was had by all. (Okay, I'm lying. I went to a Gamestop, got a few bucks back, and ended up getting God of War III and Final Fantasy XIII. Thanks for the quick tax refund TurboTax!!).

As for God of War III, I was impressed. The gameplay was of course, great, but what was interesting was how immersed I was with the mythology. The guys who developed the story for the series really did a great job with their research. It's as though someone read Edith Hamilton's Mythology, and built the game the book. For me, game play alone won't sell me; if I'm just running around, Grand Theft Auto-style, it won't work. Give me a story, however, that makes me want to progress through the game so I can see how the story concludes-well, you've got me hooked, as evidenced by me playing God of War II until 3 a.m. this morning. I haven't been up that late since college.

If you haven't tried the demo, and you're a fan of action games, I highly recommend it. At the end of the demo, I actually felt disappointed that it was over. I can't say the last time a demo left me feeling like that. It's a feeling that basically says to you, "Go out and get this game. Now".

Of course, as I bought God of War III, I saw that the first two games, originally on PS2, were remastered for HD, and released on a blu-ray PS3 disc. (For skeptics who thought this was just a cheap attempt at a repackaging the games, I can tell you that you're wrong. I've compared God of War I on PS2 and the PS3 redigitized version, and there is definitely a difference. At $30, it's well worth it.)

While III is amazing, because it's apart of a great story, I recommend playing the first two-you'll just enjoy III that much more.

So, now, I'm in trying to finish up 2, so I can start the third and final game in the series.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out how to get into the Temple of the Fates.

I'm going to need caffeine.