shut my mouth and strike the demons

this year has so much incredible entertainment goodness coming out, it's rediculous.

needless to say, if Half-Life 2 and DOOM 3 are released this year (June?) it will be a glorious year just for that. in fact, HL2 would do it for me. besides that, there are a ton of other great FPS games coming out this year. UT 2004 is still rockin my world, and i haven't even bothered to play that online yet. it should keep me rockin' for a very long time. i played the demo for Far Cry, which was sweet, and since it's been called "the best single-player experience since Half-Life" i'm really eager to get my hands on it. as much as i was addicted to Counter-Strike for over three years, i've always been a bigger fan of a good single-player campaign. even so, Battlefield Vietnam looks sweet, and i would love to score a copy of that. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is looking like it could be one of those great games that comes out of nowhere, with sweet looking graphics and a cool sounding storyline. of course, then there's Halo 2, which will lead to many many late weekend box parties. plus two great looking Star Wars games: Republic Commando and Battlefront that will hopefully rock. then there's still more, such as Joint Operations, Soldner, Goldeneye 2 and probably even more.

this year also has a few promising RTS games. first off, Battle For Middle-Earth, which looks incredible. then there's Rome: Total War, a great looking game (which reminds me that i still need to pick up Medieval: Total War as well). The add-on for Rise of Nations, Thrones & Patriots just came out. for some reason i've never played RoN, which is pretty rediculous since i'm a huge fan of the Civ series and RTS games

and there's stilll dozens more. Starcraft: Ghost may finally come out this year, and what could be cooler than Splinter Cell in the Starcraft universe? Madden NFL 2005 will hopefully be even better than 2004. Midway Arcade Treasures 2 looks like it could be a cool bundle of old-skool gaming goodness. Full Spectrum Warrior looks very promising as some good tactical squad combat. Kotor 2 may not be coming out till 2005, but i think i'll have enough to hold me over till then.

then of course, there's the amazing DVD goodness of the Star Wars Trilogy in September!! who's gonna watch all three on the 21st with me? of course, Last Samurai just came out, Return of the King soon with Extended later on. and Velvet Revolver's "Contraband" this June. no wonder my bank account is looking so slim. looks like i need to start prioritizing my purchases.

it feels good to get all that out.