Ben’s Week In Review: July 26

My boy Rickey Henderson got into the Hall of Fame on his first try – as he damn well should've – and I gotta say, I don't mind warm weather as much as I used to.

C'mon Ubisoft, just SAY it

You know, I don't mind if a developer or publisher does something that gamers don't appreciate, but the company does it in the interest of money. This is a business, after all. But you gotta own up to it. Ubisoft said the decision to keep Splinter Cell: Conviction exclusive to the Xbox 360 was "just business," but I think we all know what that means. It's just so freakin' transparent; Microsoft gave you a wad of cash, said, "hey, keep this between us," and bam, you've got yourself a third-party exclusive. Of course it makes absolutely zero sense to avoid putting this on the PlayStation 3; all you're doing is erasing the possibility of another 24 million consumers having access to your product. But why couldn't Ubisoft just man up and admit it? Seriously. I won't hold it against you; business is business…just knuckle up and take your lumps from the PS3 owners. Personally, it bugs me that Sony loyalists won't get a shot at this one because I've always loved the SC franchise, and I will most certainly play it when it launches for the 360. It just irritates me that publishers aren't being more forthcoming in regards to this sort of thing. What, you think we can't interpret your thinly veiled explanation? Geez.

And by the way, the comments below better not downgrade into arbitrary Splinter Cell bashing just because most of you prefer MGS. Yeah, I do too, but that doesn't mean SC is worthless; I play both franchises for very different reasons. So please, none of this " Conviction is gonna be crap anyway," because that too is thinly veiled…

So…what's with the week between October 13 and October 20?

Has anyone noticed this? First, we've got Uncharted 2: Among Thieves scheduled to drop on October 13 in North America, and then, we learn that Borderlands will launch on October 20 , and Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins has that same release date. Am I missing something else? I'll bet I am. All I know is that between these three titles, I have a feeling that all of 'em might be worthy of my money, and I'm starting to worry that the influx of holiday must-have games is gonna start early this year… I usually spend the first few months of every new year trying to play catch-up; you have to remember that not only are there tons of games I want in the fourth quarter of every year, but I also have to review a ton of games, too. …talk about no time. Oh…just noticed that Alpha Protocol is set to launch on October 6; now I have to choose between two RPGs! Great. I think I might go for Dragon Age: Origins , though, as I have a little more faith in Bioware and I've always been partial to the sword 'n staff settings for RPGs, rather than the futuristic settings. It just makes more sense to me.

Man, I am glad games like Heavy Rain , White Knight Chronicles , God of War III and Gran Turismo 5 won't make it this year. I'll be behind enough as it is. 🙁

Personal gaming update

And of course, in the meantime, I don't have much of anything to play. Why can't one of those games come out now ?! My birthday is next weekend, though, so that should bring in RE5 and maybe another game. I'm also playing through FFX – as you know from last week's update – and I just love it. I had forgotten how much that game kicks ass; you have to remember that the last time I played it was when it first came out (at the very end of 2001 and into 2002). But I do have to say that Shatter is a fantastic downloadable title, and that'll hold my attention for a while. I'm glad I got a chance to review that one. They sent me the voucher code for it last night and I had forgotten all about it; after playing it this morning, though, I was like, "this is bad-ass !"

Not much else is happening. I can't play tennis nearly as much as I would like to this summer so I'm keeping in shape with the rowing machine (which now goes on all year), and of course, the free weights haven't stopped in seven years so I'm not about to quit now. The girl in question…well, we're just taking things slow and that's that. As most of you learned already, she's a good deal younger than me (I refuse to tell you how much younger), so we're both treading lightly for now. All I'll say is that's she's painfully cute and certain things she does…just adorable. Oh, and she passed the test Arnold and I devised: if she doesn't like cheesecake and she doesn't like "Swingers," she fails . Well…she passed with flying colors. LOL 😉