Holiday spoils

By: Michael Carusi | January 8th, 2010

Since I’m original as writers come (which is why I make top ten lists, of course), when I saw Jamie make a post like this I had to steal it.

Forza Motorsport 3 and Halo 3 ODST – I got both of these cheap ($30 apiece) from the Black Friday deals on Amazon.  Who needs to stand in front of Best Buy at five in the morning when these deals become available at 11 AM?

Forza 3 was fantastic and I credit it with revitalizing my interest in racing games.  In hindsight it’s raced my standards for how I review racing games, since I reviewed Need for Speed: Shift but not this.  The vast amount of content and immersive atmospheres keep me coming back for more.

I enjoyed Halo 3 ODST, but it felt like there was something lacking.  It’s hard to shake the feeling that this was just a way to kill time until Halo Reach.  The campaign mode was fun, but it was over way too fast.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – As part of a secret Santa within an organization at my school, I got a Best Buy card, which I put towards this.  It’s the most fun I’ve had on the Wii since Dead Space: Extraction, and the helicopter power-up is a lot of fun to use.  They also brought back the Koopa Kids!  Kudos, Nintendo.  I was still a little disappointed you couldn’t take Yoshi between stages ala Super Mario World, and some of the Wii Remote waggling was annoying.

Dragon Age: Origins and Batman: Arkham Asylum – These were actual gifts I got, and shouldn’t require too much explanation since they both tied for my Game of the Year.

Mass Effect 2 Preorder – I used another monetary gift to preorder the collectors’ edition of Mass Effect 2 on Amazon.  $70 for all the extra stuff is a fantastic deal, and this is the first time I’ve actually gone out of my way to buy a Collectors’ edition.