Call of Duty: Black Ops

Are the two M16s necessary? Are we really dual-wielding assault rifles now?

I never intended to get Black Ops. While I played, and enjoyed, both entries of Modern Warfare, I didn't developed much of an emotional attachment to the series. I mainly got into it to have something new to play with the Halo Nighters. But somehow, my mom managed to get her hands on a free copy of Black Ops (I assume she beat up some crippled kids) and sent it to me. My first reaction was to trade it in for Mass Effect 2, so that I could transition into it immediately after finishing the first game, making one seamless, 120-hour epic. However, Black Ops is supposed to be pretty short, and as long as it's in my house, I may as well get some enjoyment out of it. It will probably be good to have some sort of hiatus before indoctrination sets in.

Les Oiseaux en Colère

Furious Fowl

I am about to talk about Angry Birds.

As a member of teh l33t hardcorz, I should detest this "casual" game, and the cultural dilution it supposedly represents. But after playing it almost every day for the last month or so, I have to admit, this is brilliant game design wrapped in a fantastic business plan.

Mass Effect

I must stop the Reapers from destroying all intelligent life in the galaxy!

But first, I have to scan this random, barren rock world for mineral deposits.

And do some gambling in the casino.

...And play with this box of kittens.

Kraken by China Miéville

What do a mild-mannered museum curator, an underground mollusk cult, a statue-dwelling union leader, a supernatural police squad, and a mystical crime lord trapped inside a tattoo have in common? Why, they're just a few of the people scouring London for the formalin-preserved specimen of Architeuthis dux-- the giant squid-- which has mysteriously disappeared from the British History of Natural History. And which may or may not be causing the end of the world.