Fallout 3 - CRASH MANIA

Ah... Fallout 3... why must thou irk me so?

I've been waiting for this game for MONTHS and I heard so many things about it.  I ordered the PC version, as I don't have an Xbox.

I blissfully installed and set up a character, only to CRASH.  I restarted the game, worked my way through the Vault opening sequence... CRASH.  I finally exited the vault, into the devastated wasteland, fighting off bloatflies & angry dogs... CRASH.  I made it to Megaton and watched the sheriff get shot down in front of my eyes.... CRASH.

I'm giving up until a real patch is released.  I installed the 1.0.0.15 patch release... it wasn't even worth the effort.  If you are considering a purchase of this game as of November, 2008... wait a few months... or at least don't buy the PC version... yet.  

Yoshi

Yoshi, in many Mario games used as a vehicle, takes on more character in Paper Mario. He's kind of like a wiseacre, kid.

Princess Peach

Even though Princess Peach doesn't do much in the Mario games, basically serving as the damsel in distress for Mario to rescue, she's one of the kids favorite characters.

Sly Cooper - Bentley

Bentley, the brains of the Sly Cooper gang, although not the leader (?), uses a dart-filled crossbow and a variety of bombs to get his his mission locations. He's a computer hacker (of course) and so is the source of many "mini-games" in the Sly Cooper series. I haven't finished Sly 2 yet, but have read that at the end of that game, he has a tragic accident that puts him in a wheelchair before the game Sly 3 commences.

Sly Cooper - "The Murray"

The muscle in Sly Cooper's crew, "the Murray" is gruff and dim-witted, but kind hearted. He's probably the kids favorite character because of the way he talks and he "looks funny when he runs."

Sly Cooper

Another of the video games that the kids and I enjoy playing together. Sly Cooper: Band of Thieves.

Sly is a raccoon and and his thieving buddies are a hippo (Murray) and a turtle (Bentley). They are Robin Hood-esque figures, stealing from bad guys for profit and to save the world.

The game has a distinctive art style and is made up of numerous missions that follow a straight-forward story line: find the bad guy, scope out his operations, plan a heist and steal the goods without getting caught. Sly is the sneaker, Murray is the brawler and Bentley is the gadgeteer.

We haven't finished the game yet, but we're enjoying it enough that I will probably buy Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

Paper Mario

I've been playing a lot of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door with the kids lately. Every night, after dinner, it's "Can we go play Mario?"

Paper Mario a Gamecube game, but we have a Wii, which plays old Gamecube titles. Of course, I had to go and by a Gamecube controller and a Gamecube save card, but it's really been worth it. The kids really root on in the battles... they are still too small to play by themselves, so their participation is still mostly cheering or booing.

I imagine that some day, they'll have some good memories of cheering Dad (and Mario) on.