The title of this article isn’t an ad for the latest edition of Chris Hansen’s “To Catch a Predator”, instead it’s asking the question about when a game is correct for kids. For the past several years I’ve seen friends and relatives choosing games for their kids. Typically I give no opinion because I think it’s an individual’s choice. My one friend’s 9 year old was allowed to play Godfather 2 and everything in the Grand Theft Auto Series. I disagreed with their decisions but also recognize that a lot of people are going to disagree with mine.

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I was always into small independent stores. I didn’t like Starbucks, I liked South Street Coffee. I didn’t like Borders, I liked Marlow Books. Those of you not in Philly don’t recognize two of those stores because they never grew into chains and the chains eventually killed them. The independents had atmosphere and personality that Borders and Starbucks fake. Over the years I’ve grown to enjoy Borders and Starbucks because that’s all that’s left. But it’s not what I want. I want something more personal and less corporate. I want to support the small business that appreciates it.

Now I have a crisis because Game Zombie opened up 5 minutes from my house. What’s Game Zombie? A cool little store that sells everything game related. They have Dreamcasts and Atari’s in stock. They get new releases on Day 1 but have a huge selection of old games. They do free polishing of scratched disks. They have a game club where kids come in and play after school. They also have a Wednesday night movie showing where people go and watch zombie flicks on their large TV. All in all it’s what I’ve always wanted in a game store. They’re local, personable and seem to have an appreciation for the customer.

But there’s one thing they don’t have, one thing I love, pre-order bonuses. Forget the gold lancer, I’ve never cared about the gold lancers of the world. But I do love Juggernaut in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. I do love extra-outfits for Kratos and sackboy (it reminds me of playing with my Barbies growin…nevermind, TMI). I like the guns that you can only get during pre-order (Blackhole gun in Mass Effect 2 ROCKS). So much fun stuff just by putting down my $5 early. And it’s all so pretty and shiny.

And until now I’ve fallen into that trap. I go into Gamestop and I drop down my cash and a few weeks later I walk out with my added toy. But no longer. GameZombie has given me an independent option and I’m going to start taking it. As long as they continue to offer their great services I’m going to give up on all the corporate pre-order stuff and support my local game store.

PAX East is going to be the first major gaming convention on the East Coast and I am pumped for it. If you’re coming make sure to log into the forums and throw your name up on the GHR Meetup. Currently the following people are confirmed:  GHR_Maverick, Teetocks, GHR_Superman, Full Tilt 101, JDSBlackBox, VinceXombie, SirJMcWild, BulletHound. Between GHR and all the other communities, it should be a great turnout and lots of fun.

If you’re thinking about attending…HURRY!!! AND BUY YOUR TICKETS 60,000 attendees are expected and only 1000 tickets remain.

Note that the stuff below is a partial list of items that have been confirmed. Much more coming!

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Capcom is releasing a movie on Xbox Live in Japan. Unfortunately current stats have only 12 Xboxes sold in Japan so the audience will be limited. I’m hoping it has a US release sometime in the near future!

Dark Horse Comics is releasing a 4 part story set between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. The first book is free today only from the iTunes App store.

Vote now to determine what exclusive outfit will come with a pre-order of Red Dead Redemption from Gamestop. You can see all three in action in this video.

Vote here!
The Savvy Merchant gives you all ammo and guns at half price.
The Deadly Assassin recharges your “Dead Eye” targeting twice as fast.
And the Expert Hunter gives you double the price for any hides you collect.

No Mass Effect 2 spoilers in this:

Wrex, my Mass Effect 2 universe is a darker place without you in it. In ME1 I never did the Krogan armor quest and my Paragon level was never high enough to save you. I tried to save you over and over but you kept dying. I looked at old saves but I was sloppy and relied on auto-save too much.

So at every turn I remember having to kill you Wrex. I didn’t want to. I would have even let Saren cure the genophage because you really were that cool. The rest of my party were a bunch of stiffs (except the blue one that I got it on with). Wrex, you are my greatest gaming regret (#2 is not ‘breaking up the party’ in Arkham Asylum).

So you’re an achievement whore too…
Well here’s your last chance at an easy 100 achievement points. See the deal is that on February 2nd EA is shutting down the servers for NBA Live 2007. There is a 100 point achievement for being online when 1000 people are online. This is impossible these days because the servers are a ghost town. But on January 31st, Xbox360Achievements.org is scheduling times for when everyone can go online. They’ve tried (and failed) several times before but this time I heard it on GiantBomb so they have a good shot. I know I’ll be ‘renting’ from gamestop that week.
I thought about rephrasing this post and calling it “Achievement Farming” like I do with my 7 year old…but really, there is no other correct name for whoring.

Get it on your Gamefly que and wear your fishnet stockings because January 31st we’re going to the red light district of Xbox Live and turning one last trick in NBA Live 2007.
Times are as follows:
7PM: Central Europe (GMT +1)
6PM: UK (GMT)
1PM: US Eastern (GMT -5)
Noon: US Central (GMT -6)
11AM : US Mountain (GMT -7)
10AM : US Western (GMT -8)

Last night I excitedly picked up Army of Two. This may be surprising for most but this was one of my most anticipated titles. Strangely the original was a contender for my Game of the Year in 2008.

The old game was far from perfect. The controls feel clunky compared to Modern Warfare. The graphics are great but a little more cartoonish than expected. The whole demeanor of the characters (constant fist bumping, air guitaring, etc) was over the top. Even with all that being said, it is great fun. Hopping in a co-op match with a buddy and playing through it is immensely fun. Laughing out when they guys do a Bill & Ted impression after destroying a small army is fun. The game just oozed fun.

I started writing this up because of something Allen said to me. He mentioned that he loved the original game but hated this demo. To be honest, I didn’t play the demo. My pile of shame is huge and I don’t play demo’s if I know I’m buying the game. I love Ao2 so much this was a must-purchase. I’m not sure what Allen saw in the demo but if you liked the original, you’ll like the sequel. Ao2 : 40th Day is more of the same. The fist bumping has been replaced with brotherly hugs and games of rock-paper-scissors but the fun is still there. You plow through waves of bad guys. You scream when your friend runs miles away from you but needs to be saved. You laugh at each other. It’s just fun.

I wouldn’t recommend this unless you have someone you are planning on playing co-op. Co-op it’s a great game. The one caveat is that the learning curve on the controls is giving me headaches. It’s not that the controls are bad, I’ve just been playing too much Modern Warfare 2 and L4D2. Those are similar but this one isn’t.