Dirk Dorkelson

I threw a perfect game using standard settings in MLB 2K7, for what it's worth. It was against the Pirates.

Huh? The NBA doesn't have an exclusive licensing agreement. There's an EA Sports NBA game as well. What are you whining about, exactly?

Seriously, Gimboa? I'd assume paying a company to remove already released DLC from a rival's digital marketplace might violate some kind of antitrust law. Also, what would be the point? Pay millions of dollars to remove DLC for a months-old game that's only moderately popular? How would that possibly benefit Microsoft enough to justify the expense?

My guess is that Activision is prepping some Platinum Hits-style rerelease of the game that includes all the DLC, and that they removed the DLC of the marketplace so that used sales of the original version of the game don't undercut sales of the reissued version. Call it a hunch.

Ravnos does a nice job summing up the differences between Gears of War and Killzone. Gears was over the top and ridiculous while KZ2 seemed to play is straight up. When I play the Gears games, I feel as if the roided out characters are being portrayed with a knowing wink from Cliffy B. and company. (That ridiculous "rap" during the credits of the first game reinforces this.) My friends and I still constantly blurt out a Marcus Fenix-style "niice" when we play other games.

In KZ2, though, the characters were presented without that wink from the developers, leading to a feeling that the game took itself waaay too seriously. The couple attempts at humor I remember just fell absolutely flat, as if they were jokes written to appeal to the ridiculous, unlikable characters themselves rather than the folks playing them.

That bolt gun was cool, though. Easily my favorite weapon of the year.

One thing about Killzone 2 that I thought was hilarious was that Helghan is supposedly this harsh, inhospitable planet. It's so nasty that even the dudes who are from there wear gas masks all the time. But Sev and Rico and their buddies run around for the entire game without so much as a bandana over their mouths. If the Helghast don't kill them, surely the orange lung would, amirite?

I don't begrudge anyone for liking the game, though. It obviously has its appeal. Just not my cup of tea.

I haven't played MW2 for that reason. I'm more of a Left 4 Dead 2/Borderlands kind of guy.

Count me among the underwhelmed. Killzone 2's cookie-cutter level design, stupid, meathead characters and forgettable, often nonsensical script wrecked it for me. It was pretty, and it sounded great, but everything else about it was weak. Multiplayer was deep, at least, but didn't exactly reinvent the wheel. It was easily the most disappointing game I played this year.

Wow. I play a TON of games, and I've got Brutal Legend and inFamous 1-2 this year so far. (Full disclosure, I have Uncharted 2 and Borderlands sitting at home, but won't start on 'em until tonight.) What games do you like, T-Mac?

It took me 17 hours to finish Brutal Legend on the hardest difficulty setting, with plenty of time set aside to explore the cool, interesting world the folks at Double Fine created. When I read that people finish the game in six hours, I wonder how these people have any fun with anything. What do you do, just plow straight through the main story, following the markers from one mission to the next? It doesn't sound like my idea of fun.

The writing is phenomenal and the voice-acting top-notch. Honestly, those are the two things I value the most in games. As long as the gameplay isn't broken (which it's not), that'll elevate a game significantly on my GOTY list. I'm so tired of playing games that feel like they're written for kids.

Also, the update usually is eventually added to all new retail discs, or at least those manufactured by Microsoft. So, even if you play offline, you could still get the update from a disc-based game.

Aren't there a lot of folks who use Datel's products for illegitimate achievement whoring and online multiplayer shenanigans?

The motive here may not simply be, "We want you to buy ours instead." Although that's certainly part of it.