Block Ops is the elephant in the room here.

I want to talk a bit about how giving up games has affected my life.

@HungerSTGF: It is dethroning the king of shooters, implying the successor is to be a shooter, etc.

@Erik The Red: Sure, accountability is nice, but when the internet is full of people looking to take advantage of the information revealed in being held accountable, forcing others to give out their personal information to interact isn't exactly the safest choice.

@MrSnuffles: The difference for the projects I think you're mentioning (Mirror's Edge comes to mind most recently) is that they're a bit more free in terms of direct genre competition, unchained from the same high-pressure cycle that sports games happen to be stuck in.

In retrospect, this is fairly amazing. I'd be intrigued to play this, or even just hold it, knowing that it's probably the only copy that's ever going to be available to the public in any form. Funny, how exclusivity can make something potentially mediocre into an artifact.

I still haven't gotten Clear Sky or Call of Pripyat, but that will be solved this coming vacation.

@Shotofen: Thank you for providing Crecente's review's necessary counterpoint, and keeping me away from this jingoistic pile of action shlock.

I see the heartstrings being tugged, Totilo, but what about gameplay?

Short and to the point. Well played, Mr. Levine, and if my forays into video game writing prove fruitful, I'll be sure to harken back to this example for inspiration.

@Mizzle fo Shizzle: I disagree. The ability to game away on my laptop has let me be an active part of my rooming situation (suite of 4) at college at any time, and my game genre of choice (strategy) plays to this, letting me stop, think, save and exit if I do need to work.

@PierreTrudeau: This is true, but think back to the Rogue Squadron series, to Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, and Jedi Knight II, or to Battlefront (just because it was awesome). Them was some good, universe-respectful games.

@jpri26: Play IL-2 Sturmovik. You will be satisfied.

@freeasabird: Such a raping of canon, but yes, the game was a gem and very much loved in my household as well.

Yes.

@famoustrip: takes everything literally: If you take the list in context of Lovell's other articles, I think he makes it pretty clear that the 'independent' games market he imagines is being pushed ahead by Apple, the iPad being brought under that umbrella.

@Michael Dukakis: I'd rather go for the Farmville Prius.

@Adam_lloyd: Right, but a man can dream.

I stand by my belief that if I ever buy another Pokemon game it will be the GTA-influenced gritty open-world bioengineering epic it deserves to be. Though this is nice, it's not nearly close enough.

@Mr. S.: Only the best pre-owned and unrepaired horse armor in town.