i'll devote a tribute week to you, VALVe, when i'm in heaven.

the orange box. three words, across the spine of the 360 case. the orange box. five games, one box. it's almost enough to make a grown man weep. for sixty bucks, you get five, quality games. the orange box... the new, digital bible... because after playing this disc... it becomes clear to me, that only god could have created such a glorious thing...



if you never played the first, "half-life," you're not missing much, but, if you've never played, "half-life 2," then you must have been living under a rock.

i shouldn't have to go into specifics on how good, "half-life 2," is... it just is.

i have yet to play episode one or two, the expansions for, "half-life 2," but have read reviews that were nothing short of spectacular.

i will replay through the game before i venture into the episodes.

"portal," is not a game that interested me when i read about it, and after spending twenty minutes playing it, it's apparent that for me personally, it's just as uninteresting as it was when i read it. a very odd sci-fi puzzle based game. the only cool thing i can say, is mike patton did voiceover work for it. and that's it. although i know a lot of cats who do dig the game...



the fucking motherload of online multiplayer games. i refuse to write a big, gushing review for this game, because i shouldn't have to. the game is phenomenal. all the things you read about it are true. it's that good.

to give a reference point, the only two gripes i have with the game.

1. capture the flag is only playable on one of the six maps, and after a while, the same map gets repetitive.

2. the rapid decline of health... it seems like one mere shot nearly drains you of fifty percent of your health, making you become a craftier player, but still, death can occur more often because of this flaw.

but other than that, the games fucking out there and insane.

overall, for sixty bucks, "the orange box," is easily one of the smarter decisions i've made in videogame purchasing. i think my next will be, "the simpsons game," and while i'm not a fan of the show, that lard lad demo is so genuinely fun, it makes me giggle every time i play through it.

and on a brighter note, the florida lotto tonight is up to $25 million... if i don't win, i plan on getting the hellman's mayonnaise blue ribbon logo tattooed on me, and will see if i can't parlay a spokesperson deal with them... "fat people love mayonnaise, and that mayonnaise is hellman's..."