Far too often the citizens of my country, the United States of America, take the freedoms we have, that are protected by law, for granted.  It may be a bit of a cliché, but I know that I am guilty of it as well.

Some time ago, January in fact, I promised the readership an interview with Doug Lombardi from Valve Software. That interview has never materialized and I'm going to tell you why I think that is.

I went into Eschalon Book I  (see the review ) knowing what other sites had said about it because I always take a look at the competition when I go to review a game. But I also don't let their judgement affect mine. So I was shocked to play the game and be sorely disappointed when it received high marks elsewhere. I know the game was developed from a small studio, perhaps even a one man operation, and I can appreciate that. But it also doesn't affect my judgement when it comes to a game being fun or not.

So Lone and I have been going through the list of EA games and trying to decide what franchise EA and Starbreeze might be bringing back. Here's what we thought. 

Rock Band is probably my favorite game, at least for the moment.  After all, it is the game I spent the most money on, spend the most time playing, and have spent a sizable amount of time modifying to increase the enjoyment of my playing experience.

Apparently, I am not alone.  A number of manufacturers have been producing accessories for the game, and new ones seem to pop up everyday.  One can now buy new Rock Band logo drum sticks, new guitar straps, and even appliqués to decorate your guitar.  But at what point does Rock Band accessory shopping go too far and become a ridiculous obsession.

Previously unbeknownst to me, Guinness has been working on a Gamer's Edition of their World Record book.  The prospect of such an annual publication excited me, particularly because I assumed this announcement would mean the end of their relationship with Twin Galaxies.  Guinness had previously relied on Twin Galaxies to provide data on videogame high scores for annual submission.

To clarify, Twin Galaxies is "the world authority on player rankings, gaming statistics and championship tournaments, with pinball statistics dating from the 1930s and video game statistics from the early 1970s."

The self-proclaimed electronic gaming industry's premiere statistician, it is supposed to be Twin Galaxies self-appointed "job" to process player rankings by validating high score attempts and submissions.