Rockband 3.  Playing drums is just awesome.
Boderlands 2.
Torchlight 2

Here is my set, a little hard to take pictures since I moved it into my back bedroom which is my music room.  I did go overboard but it's just so much fun to play.  I have it setup so that I play through a drum amp so I can hear what I'm actually playing instead of the game drum sounds.  I also have software that let's you do flams and other tweaks so that you can play the songs as you normally would with real drums.  If you do play a lot then I would suggest upgrading to at least a Roland TD6.  I had a friend who played on the IONS with his son for a couple of years and then I sold him my set and he is in heaven now.  I upgraded to a little bit better set but the mesh heads really do make a difference.

tempting, but with them not really releasing replacement instruments anymore (and places asking crazy prices for what is still available) I'm holding off on any new DLC.  you'd think after nearly 2 years they'd do a new batch of instruments.

Still rocking the ION kit here - that's most of what I care about.   

Yep I bought a Roland set that was quite expensive but one of the best purchases that I've made.  Extremely fun with Rockband. 

I really like the big picture mode.  I have been using my Tv for PC games for many years as there is no way I'm going to sit in a computer chair looking at a monitor when I get home, feels too much like work.  I have xpadder that allows me to use it as a mouse, it works very well, but the big picture mode is pretty awesome.

The layout feels somewhat like xbox live, but without ads.  The game icons are huge and they look really cool.  The interface is fast and typing with a controller is probably the easiest I've used in any type of interface.  The browser is pretty good it's different of course than the layout I'm used to using xpadder but it works ok.  I've had some issues playing videos, they take quite a bit of time to load and if you are viewing your games and want more detail and then back out it takes you back to the start of your games list.  You can use the bumpers to cycle through the alphabet and get back quickly but that should be fixed soon.

You can take screenshots by using the guide and another button which is a cool feature.  There are some problems with this on games that use GFWL so it's best not to turn on the interface while playing those games.
 

I own the game, I just don't own a guitar.  Anyone have a recommendation for a 'starter' guitar? 

Squier Affinity Series Telecaster
Epiphone Les Paul Special II

These are pretty good beginner guitars that are less than $200.  If you have a guitar center close you should be able to go and try them out and see which one feels good to you. One good thing to try is on each string just go up the entire fret board fret by fret and see how easy it is to press down as you get to the higher frets.  Starting out you want a guitar that has a decent action, meaning that the strings aren't that high off the fret board.  When you start playing your fingers will get sore and if the guitar has a low action it will make things a little easier especially when you start playing barre chords.

I wish I had this game when I started learning guitar over 23 years ago.  I remember wanting to learn some van halen songs and I ordered a cassette and it came with blank tabulature paper.  I had to listen to the tape and then they would speak out the string and fret location of each note which I would have to write out on the tab paper.  It took me a couple of days to get it all right, especially with cassettes so if I didn't hear a note I would have to rewind and then try to catch up.

played the trial and it was pretty fun, but in the process I also noticed how many full XBLA titles I have that I haven't finished, so I'll be waiting for either a sale or when I finish up that backlog, whichever comes first.

C'mon it's just money, and you can always make more money...

Mark of the Ninja - Awesome XBLA game.
GW2 - Not much of an MMO player and didn't like the first two characters I created, but once I tried the Thief class it got better.
Rockband 3 - Still play pretty much every day.

They just added the bass expansion for the game so I'm really interested now.

Played about 45 minutes and the game is just awesome.  The stealth works really well and you can make the game as hard or easy as you want.  You get extra points for not killing any enemies and that can take some thinking on how to accomplish that goal.  I've only opened up a couple of gadgets and there a ton to chose from.  The enemies are interesting as well and have some cool tactics.

Don't hesisate go and buy it tonight and have a fun ninja weekend.

Am I the only one who thought Dark Souls was a little bit easier, or less punishing, that Demon Souls? I don't think easy mode is needed at all.

I feel the same way.  The open world made the game easier for me as there was more to explore at any given time.  The first four stages of Demon Souls were rough and you could only go through 2 when you started.

Got about 60 hours into Dark Souls on the PC and hope to get further and at least get to the new DLC.
Darksiders 2 -  I'm stuck in the arena and not sure if it is a bug or not.  The stupid bird keeps flying in circles.
GW2 - Played 3 or 4 times so far but it's not really grabbing me.  I'll keep at it though.
Prince of Persia 2008 or Forgotten Sands

Played for about an hour and I have mixed feelings.  The game is fun but the focus on high scores, is for me, taking away from the enjoyment of the music.  I'm constantly looking for what instrument track to switch to get the most points and maybe I don't have the right powerups but it's almost too much to focus on.  If I like playing a certain part of the song on guitar but I need to switch for more points it takes away from some of the enjoyment.  Sure I could just play what I like but the leaderboards are there to remind me.  Too bad it isn't more like amp/freq.

Getting on 360 since I have thousands of songs there.

Same here. 

I hope that this game does sell well which will keep the DLC coming for hopefully a long time to come.

Dark Souls on the PC, never finished on the 360.  With the graphic fix this game looks great and is probably the best version, I can't stop playing.
Darksiders 2 - Stuck in some arena and can't find my way out.

With the High texture pack the graphics on the PC are outstanding.  I don't like the way the main character runs though, it not as fluid as it should be.

I tried the game last night in 3D and it looks awesome.   There isn't an Nvidia profile for it yet but it has it's own convergence settings and I got it working with little ghosting. 

This is the PC version I'm playing and the complaints about the graphics are somewhat warranted but still overally picky. The graphics could be a bit sharper but are fine for me. The only graphical issue that is bugging me is the FOV seems too narrow and it takes my eyes awhile to adjust. I haven't had any other issues beyond that.

I heard they didn't give PC players many options to play with graphic wise.

The only problem I have with the graphics is in the inventory menu, your character looks to be in a very low resolution so when you put new gear on him and want to see how it looks it's not that great, but once you get in the game it looks fine.

Played about 3/4 the way through and it's just ok.  I got it for $38 when it came out and now since it's half price it maybe worth it to purchase.   

The combat is nothing special, but some of the backdrops you fight in are cool.  The enemy AI can be awful at times, I've had them run right past me in the open, and then other times they can hit you just as soon as you begin to pop out.  I played half of the game on the hardest mode and the enemies weren't smarter they just hit harder and your health was lower.  The cover system works pretty well but there will be times when you hit the button/key and don't go into cover or you pop out when not wanting to that can lead to some frustrating deaths.  The ammo is pretty limited so you will be switching guns regularly.  The story is above average for a shooter, but it hasn't gripped me.  There is a lot of cursing, that may not be a bother to some, but I could do without it.     
   

Just finished the Harley Quinn DLC and very disappointed. $10 for maybe 2 hours is really pushing it and the story content wasn't that fulfilling.   

 

Read about this indie game on a message board and it's pretty awesome.  It's in beta stage now and I've played about 30 minutes so far and I really like what I've played.

It reminds me a little bit of Spleunky but with a shooting/RPG aspect.  The 2d world is randomly generated and there is supposedly a 6-10 story in the game.  You start with a jump belt that lets you traverse the world by jumping 5 times in a row, if you fall too far you take damage based on the distance you fall.  You can find and buy different weapons and equipment which you will need as the world is full of traps and enemies so death is always somewhere.   There are a ton of weapons to equip where you will be comparing to see which is better, faster reload or greater distance so it does give a feeling of Borderlands in a 2d plane.  
 

Here is the link:

http://www.platformines.com/




  

Finish Max Payne 3
Lego Batman 2
Resonance
Diablo 3

Watch Sherlock Holmes the movie then finish up Sherlock Season 2 which is an awesome show.

Also, Magic (the Gathering) 2013 (: Duels of the Planewalkers) has come out. Free to try their demo, and $10 for what looks to be the whole shebang. Not sure yet on that part though. Enjoying it so far though.

Yeah, it said something about "playing higher difficulty levels" or some such about unlocking the full game.  I'm not sure what that means.

I wish this thing wasn't nearly a gig in size, though.

The free game has something like 3 decks and limited enemies so it will give you a taste of the interface to see if you like it or not.  I played about 6 games today and it was very fun and I didn't have much trouble with the interface.  I wish the cards in your hand were just a bit bigger, the text is readable, but pretty small, you can double tap and it will zoom that card in.

Bought the game yesterday and played about 45 minutes and died about 15 times.  My best "score" was finding 3 tapes, there are 11 total you must find.  The realistic gun handling is decent, there are no bullet counters, you have to take out the cartridge to see how many bullets you have left and to load the bullets you do find.  The gun has a safety, slider, and hammer that you must set correctly before you can shoot.  The help system does a good job of showing you need to do.

The other cool thing is that when you want to run you push the W button and the faster you press the faster you run so if you have to make a long jump you better start running because if you fall you will die.  It is a neat concept that worked very well. The enemies are just turrets and flying sentries, but there is a sense of terror as you have to remember how many bullets you fired and if you are close to running out where to flee to reload.

   

Awesome I bought Infamous 2 on Sunday because it was going off sale for Premium members and the next day they announced I could have gotten it free.  A little disappointed about that and I have about 8 of the games on the list already but still a good deal.

I have a 2500K, 8GM ram, and Nvidia 580 and able to run the game at 1920x1080 with everything maxed except MSAA which I've turned off completely and it's ran great.  When I tried turning on MSAA the cursor was very laggy, I've read others have had the same problems.  Everything is just sharp and smooth and one of the best looking games I've played.  The death cams are really great and the slow motion effect is awesome.  The sound design is great and the weapons have a nice kick to them.

I rented the 360 version last week and knew right away that I was going to wait on the PC version, the 360 version looked good but nowhere close to the PC(duh).  I tried playing with the 360 controller and moving around felt a little janky, I didn't notice this in the 360 version so that was a little strange. I play on my TV and usually like to use a controller but the game plays so much better with kb/mouse.  I do have a little trouble with the blind fire and aiming in that the cursor isn't always on the screen until I shoot so initially I'm unsure where I'm going to be aiming when coming out of cover. 

The game does have some things that need to be addressed though.  The checkpoint system is not that great, sometimes you can go long stretches and it won't take a checkpoint so you have to replay some long sections and I haven't found a way to stop the cutscenes on a replay so that's a pain to have to watch a long cut scene 3 or more times. The difficulty spikes in places where sometimes I feel like I don't even have a chance to survive.  Other than those gripes I'm really liking the game and having a fun time playing.  I haven't tried multi-player yet but hope to get in a match this weekend.

 

Got on for a bit and was getting some awesome drops and was just about to get more loot and then disconnect.

I've read posts where people are barely dying at all in Normal mode and I've died about 20 times, am I that bad?  Most of my deaths have came later in ACT 3 and Act IV, and some in ACT IV's were one hit kills.   

I'm really enjoying the game and I've played about 3 characters so far and enjoy each one.  DH makes the game feel more like a shooter at times.

sounds like you ignored vitality.

Yeah, vitality is always my deciding factor in swapping out gear.

Well I went back in after a break and finished the game on normal, I had about 45 minutes left and just died once so maybe I was just getting some tough spawns earlier.
I will have more vitality for the next play through, thanks.
 

I've read posts where people are barely dying at all in Normal mode and I've died about 20 times, am I that bad?  Most of my deaths have came later in ACT 3 and Act IV, and some in ACT IV's were one hit kills.   

I'm really enjoying the game and I've played about 3 characters so far and enjoy each one.  DH makes the game feel more like a shooter at times.

I am back on The Witcher 2,maybe this time i can get out of F&^%ing Flotsam

It took me 3 times to get out of Flotsam. 

So far really enjoying the beta.  The sound is pretty awesome in the game and I like some of the throwback sounds that remind me of the other games.

I have vsync turned on but still see some screen tearing, other than that it has ran great and I was able to get in on the first try. 

Playing as the barbarian and watching the enemies fly is pretty awesome.

Faerie Solitaire 2 I think is in the works.

Really enjoying the game.  The atmosphere is awesome and it somewhat reminds me of playing Diablo, I loved the original of just being in a dungeon.   
I can see the puzzles getting pretty difficult especially with the transport haze, there have been some tricky ones already.
Just came across my first spider and those things are fast. 
I wish they made the alchemy a little easier.  The person that is holding the alchemy thing has to have everything on him to create potions, if you try and switch to someone else's inventory for something the window closes.   


Tips:
 You can resurrect your team by touching the big blue stones, I think you can only revive them once per dungeon level.
 Remember to use your surroundings to take out enemies, but I don't think you get any experience points though.
 The game does a good job of each enemy having a distinct sound plus you can hear them through doors so you know what awaits you when you open it.
 Also when you hear a lot of enemies behind a door try and plan a backout route before hand otherwise it's easy to get caught up and then fall down or get stuck into a corner.

Played about 15 minutes during lunch and I liked what I saw.  Just jumped in and fought a couple of snails and solved a puzzle.

I thought that I may be able to map the controls to my 360 controller but you need some quick mouse movements for magic and attacking. 

The magic is interesting, you will have to remember spells to cast them and you can experiment to find new ones.

Lone Survivor(PC)  - Pretty cool survival game made in Flash with some interesting ideas.
Tiger Woods 13 - Rented to see if the praise it worth it.
Xenoblade Chronicles -  Enjoying it so far.

The game is pretty fun.  I started on the iPhone but the screen is small, then I tried on the iPad and it's much better.  Still can't draw, but now I can use a pen instead of my finger.

Anyway, it seems to run well. And I think maybe cause it's more of an open world game and less of a clautrophobic interior, I'm not getting the weird "3rd person motion sickness" so far, I've sometimes gotten with stuff like the first Batman and the Dead Space games.

I'm sticking with the XBox360 wireless controller (for Windows), and it's feeling pretty comfortable for a masher like this for me, as with Amalur.

I'll look it up, but does anyone know if there were any patches for the PC version? I don't think Origin auto-updates games as Steam does (or at least, I haven't gotten a chance to see if it does, just yet).

There is an option in Origin that you need to select in order for it to auto update games.  You can also right click on the games icon and then select check for updates.  There is a major patch that you do need as it can help running the game with Directx11, if you don't have that you will notice a lot of slowdown so you probably do have it.

Batman does play best with a controller, it's one of my top games of last year.

Got the new iPad I had the first generation and the screen is really nice, so I fired up Infinity Blade 2 and it runs fine and looks awesome. 

March Madness will take most of my time but hopefully will get some game time in.

ME3 about 2/3 through so I'm ready to get to the bad ending so I can rant with my friends. 
Rockband 3, I still play this about an hour a day.

Anyone else notice lag using a bluetooth headset?

Well, that's exciting.  Seems that it wasn't doing a system update because it wasn't getting a Wi-Fi signal.  After experimenting a bit, turns out that I only get around 10-20% signal strength anywhere in my house unless I stand right next to my router, where I get full signal strength.  Which is odd, considering all 3 of my my laptops and my iPhone get full bars anywhere in the house...hell even all the way out to my mailbox.  Not even sure where I'd start troubleshooting that one.

Downloading Super Stardust and Tactics Ogre right now...looking forward to digging into a few games.  Bummed I can't play any of my PSX and a bunch of my PSP titles though.  

Asked the kid at Target if they've been selling a lot of these, and his response was "We still have 3-4 out of our initial shipment of 20 units here."  Yikes.

You should be able to play your PSX games through remote play.

Anyone else with any more detailed reviews of Hot Shots?   Hetz -- sounds like Hot Shots is like the only game you didn't purchase.   LOL

HS plays a realistic game of golf but the characters and the courses are fictional. The swing mechanic is a 3 click method, no analog, which seems old school but it works and you can hit bad shots if you don't pay attention.
There are a ton of characters to play with and each character has different stats and shot trajectories, you gain loyalty to each character each time you play with them.  The loyalty allows you to use different shot techniques, the first technique allows you to hit the ball a little further or shorter at the 3rd click if you mess up on the back swing.  You can buy clothes, accessories, and golf equipment that can add to your stats.
There are packages hidden on the course that if you look around and find them they grant unlocks as well.      
 

The story mode has you playing in different tournaments and match play against A.I. opponents, there are 9 hole and 18 hole tournaments and you need to finish first to star the tournament.  You do gain points though if you fail to finish first and you use those points to unlock stuff that can help you win so even if you don't win you are advancing. In the match play it's skin type where you play on a hole by hole basis and if you win you unlock the character.  While you play your round you get points for playing good golf like driving in the fairway and you lose points for bad golf, hitting into a bunker, and if you tie on the leaderboards at the end of a round the person with the most points wins.  There are also some special rule tournaments where the hole will be smaller or other variants that change the game up.  Then of course there is online where you can play in daily tournaments against others and see how you stack up and hopefully they will patch the game so you can create a lobby and play against your friends.  

The game play itself is very rewarding and the courses do get quite difficult the more you progress, there are only 6 courses but they have different tee and pin placements plus the wind is variable which makes each round unique.  The courses also have a great risk/reward as you are able to hit over obsticales and reach the green quicker but if you mess up you can really ruin your round.  The AI is kind of rubberband in that if you play well they will play well and if you start to play bad then they get worse they will still shoot decently though and if you keep losing the game will allow you to turn on the easy mode. The online mode fixes this if this is something that bothers you, but you will need to play the single player so that you can unlock the courses and other items.

The visuals are really nice and the sound effects of the course sound good.  The caddy voice is very annoying though and they finally allow you to turn of the caddy and the music which is my most requested feature.  You do this while playing a round and hitting the start button then goto options.  


The Vita version does have some other upgrades, before you swing you can change the camera using the front touch screen and while the ball is in the air you can change the camera with the dpad.  It does have back touch which allows you to see distance and height information but it really isn't that useful.  The biggest addition is online play which should keep you playing for a long time,  I'm sure they will do some DLC courses soon.


I've played quite a bit of Tiger Woods and it's not as fun as this game.  The mechanics are just about perfect and it's always challenging, it's very hard to shoot -20.  The game also keeps a ton of stats which I like.  Your long drive for each hole is recorded along with closest to the pin on par 3's.  Each course has stats associated as well and when playing in a tournament, offline/online, you can see the average number of shots your opponets took on that hole.  They also record video of some of your best shots and there is an unlock so you can record videos of any shot as well.  It's a full featured game that you will get your money worth out of it and that's why I bought it digitally so I could play anytime that I wanted.  I bought the PS3 version but it's really one of the best portable games that I've played.

Played through a couple of levels of Escape plan and it's very cool.  All touch so far and the puzzles have used a lot of the Vitas features.  The graphics are crisp and well done.  The ways you can die are humorous and you want to fail at least once to see what happens. 

Read Ign review of Hot Shots and it's pathetic, complaining about waisting time if you mess up on the last hole, that's golf my friend.  He really didn't talk much about any other features.  I'm having a blast and if you like other HS games it's a must own, especially with daily tournaments.