Just yesterday I got the opportunity to try out Assassin's Creed II alongside one of the developers from Ubisoft Montreal.

For the few of you who caught my previously deleted entry, I actually thought I was going to visit Ubisoft's new Toronto studio but it turns out some wires were crossed in the translation so it turned out that I actually ended up going to a pretty trendy lounge/bar that just happened to have a ton of HD televisions and developers within along with an open bar – an environment I can definitely get used to.

("stop talking!", but really he was a cool guy lol)

I wanted to have more play time but the funny thing is that I made the mistake of starting my interview with the question "could you start off by telling us what's new with Assassin's Creed II?" So he basically went over everything while I pretended like I didn't want to just grab the controller from his hands and start playing, this lasted a good 15 minutes...ugh, I definitely have to work on my interview skills.

Well let me start off by saying that one of the striking things about this game comes from how brutal it is, despite all the ways you were able to take out foes in the first, this edition just seems to take it to another level. Placing the game in debug mode, the developer showed me several ways to take out opponents. Taking a guy's own sword and sticking it through his chest, using dual wrist blades and sticking it in the temples of two guards who just happen to be standing side by side, using opponents as shields and then killing them afterwards, I mean the list goes on. I'm convinced at this point that they must have a team dedicated solely to figuring out just how to kill people in the most badass ways possible

Visually the game looks amazing as you can tell by the vids and screenshots, not a huge step above but when you consider how great Assassin's Creed looked in the first, I was left satisfied. It also seems like they did away with most of the repetitive missions and made them somewhat optional based on what I was told. You're able to hire people this time around to handle certain tasks for you, along with creating distractions which seems like a great addition.

One of the possible flaws however is the notoriety aspect. It works much like the first game where for a certain point in time you had the attention of guards everywhere, but this time around they make it a chore to get rid of it. You're tasked with removing wanted posters, bribing etc, I can see it becoming repetitive after a while especially for a gamer who isn't keen on stealth. So far I'm really looking forward to it, especially since our main character has an actual personality this time around where you actually know what he's fighting for, makes all the killings seem slightly more justified. Felt good, looked good, played good, I'll just have to see what the finally product brings.

On an unrelated note, I finally got Batman Dark Aslyum and picked up GTA: Episodes from liberty city. Combined with Forza 3 and that Left 4 Dead 2 demo..

...I'm in gaming heaven right now.

I wanted to give my take on the whole airport scene controversy – a certain level in Modern Warfare 2. Now I'll start off by saying that I support it, and I'm not going to give you some lame reason like "It's just a game", it's statements like that which simply demean this medium and the messages it could offer. I also wont' downplay just how serious a scene like that is, its terrorism displayed in one of the most realistic ways imagined and it's interactive to boot. To put it simply, I've been waiting for a developer to make a bold move like this for a while - a game that tackles a highly controversial topic in a way that only a videogame can. It's clear that the minds behind Infinity Ward wanted to create a scene that would portray terrorism in a way that we don't often see to an almost emotional degree. As viewers or individuals we are largely used to the aftermath of most tragedies – almost completely desensitized by them.

We hear about people getting killed but rarely ever witness it as it happens. It's one of the reasons why 911 was such a powerful event; many of us were given the unfortunate opportunity of witnessing the horrors as they happened. I've read arguments from all sides, many saying that this scene could have been handled differently. I'll simply support my argument by stating how I felt when I first watched it. Disturbing summed it up pretty nicely, and the fact that you had little control over the outcome, the subtle use of music in the background along with the screams and realistic scenes/movements of people crawling for help as these guys casually mowed down civilians with bullets helped illustrate this. I have my doubts that I would have felt the same way if this were simply a scene from a movie. This is a perspective we rarely get to witness and it's why I found it so disturbing.

Now the question brought forth is, whether or not it was necessary to give the player the choice to participate. I think it would have lessened the impact if it were a passive role (flashback) and it would have removed the unique ways in which videogames can separate themselves from a film that would try to portray the same experience. Gamers for this scene or neutral to it have compared it to the likes of GTA, but this is a ridiculous comparison to begin with because the two have completely different tones. One is going for realism and another is going for humor - different mindsets all together.

The main negative that'll come from this one scene is all the attention this game will attract from the people ignorant of the rising maturity of videogames and the parents who'll choose to blame a game before their own parenting. The fact is that difficult scenes like this (with an actual purpose) must and should be present in gaming, it's the only way this industry can truly mature. Quite frankly I'm an adult gamer and I won't have my videogames dumbed down for the kid that isn't old enough to play this title or take in the subject matter.

For a great opposing argument check out Brad Rice's post on Destructoid. I'd love to hear your opinions about this if you've seen the scene, whether you're for it or against it.

I think I'm hooked people; I've been playing Forza 3 for the entire day after finally upgrading to a gold account. I never knew how addicting online transactions could be and to be honest I've been spending more time in the storefront then I have actually racing, the only time I stepped away from the store was to earn more money so I could buy the next vinyl design. It feels good to be reintroduced to a genre that I previously backed away from - now I just need something similiar to come out of the fighting genre. Right now I can confidently say that Forza 3 is the de facto racer right now, nothing can touch it at the moment when it comes to the online features and the accessibility.

Here are a couple of screenshots of a punisher themed car that I'm particularly proad of, I'm going to try my best to get through the entire career mode on this girl.

Aint she sexy?

Last but not least, I just want to mention that it's my birthday today. 26....eww I'm starting to feel pretty old, no offense to my oldtimer friends on this site

You guys ever have a moment when you hear a theme song or a phrase and it just brings back a flood of memories? I just had one of those nostalgic moments when out of the blue I said "it's letter time" when opening the mail and the phrase sounded so familiar but I couldn't for the life of me remember why till I typed it in google and low and behold, Video and Arcade Top 10 was the second result. Damn that was the sh@t back in the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6zwtbBb-Ak

For those who aren't Canadian, this was a game show which aired on YTV that allowed young gamers to face each other by gaining a certain score or time record. I used to watch this religiously and at one point I remember mailing them some pathetic sounding letter just so I could hear him read it. The main host Nicholas Picholas had this thing where he'd shout "It's letter time, it's letter time!" just before reading a fan's letter and he said it so often that it's still engraved in my head. It really got me thinking about all those retro video game themed shows that used to air here in Canada, during a time when gaming wasn't nearly as popular.

Another one that came to mind was The Electric Playground (before G4techtv touched it); at the time this show provided me with everything visual (before the internet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ_HNsBX9S0

It had a cast that consisted of Zoe flower, Victor Lucas, Tommy Tallarico and Kelly Benson - a wide range of personalities that fit the show well. Oh and it had one of the most epic introductions for a video game related show ever. These shows were the next best thing to owning these games for me, a glimpse into the present and future of gaming. It's a shame that with gaming becoming more popular, a lot of shows that emerged from these relics of the past are being dumbed down imo to appeal to a larger crowd as a way with competing with the beast we know as the Internet. Do you guys have any favs of your own?

So I just came back from the exclusive preview event and I'll just say that it was a great experience. I won't go over what was said, the developer present pretty much restated many of the things most of us gamers already knew but the event gave me an idea about many outlets of the Canadian press that cover videogames and how relatable we all are just as gamers. After asking the lead producer a few questions I proceeded to play the game on a setup I could only dream about and I'm definitely not used to a wheel much less one with force feedback. Had a few lengthy discussions about the state of games with a few individuals there and the general reception was that it was about time a simulation actually taught us how to play a game instead of pushing us away.

(This setup was surprisingly difficult to play with, but you get a greater sense of speed, I had an amazing time with it)

(This whole setup most likely costs as much as a car, two or three 360's, three HD screens plus the wheel and chair, but it looks oh so sexy)

Now I'm really limited in terms of the photos I could actually display; in fact I could only show you the crappy one or two selections that I have . Sorry if this sounded bland, I'm pretty exhausted mentally and physically bah, but I had an AMAZING time!

(Gotta love the perks of going to an event like this. My first free game, wee!!)

Good Night..