360 Makes Me Do a 180 on PC Gaming

The family and I visited my brother and his wife over the weekend. We went to the Renaissance Festival in Scarborough, just south of Dallas. While the grounds aren't as vast as those in Conroe, the festival was full of authentically clad merrymakers who were less than shy about approaching you and striking up a conversation. I've got some pictures that I'll share later this week.

My brother has a 360, so I finally got a chance to play Grand Theft Auto IV. I played the opening storyline but I'm not so sure the game is necessarily for me. While playing, I got flashes of Oblivion. I know, the Elder Scrolls is a fantasy rpg. But like Oblivion, GTA IV has a main story line or you can ignore that and make your own way through Liberty City. The deal breaker for me is that you spend a lot of time driving around the city. I'm not a big fan of racing games and since a lot of missions involve you car-chasing down a target, I doubt the game would hold my interest for long. The graphics, voice acting, and story seem top-notch. I can see why it's an A-list title for console players.

It won't be GTA IV that gets me to buy a console, but Rockband. I couldn't believe how fun that game is. With my brother on guitar, Wifezilla on drums, and me on vocals, we jammed out to Creep, Dead or Alive, Black Hole Sun, and Tom Sawyer. I was impressed with Wifezilla's skillzZzZz. It's not surprisingly that she took to the game since she did train as a concert violinist and is an outstanding orchestra teacher. On the way home, she observed what a great party game Rockband would be; it does seem to be a more immersive, complex version of karaoke, and it was almost as much fun getting booed off the stage as it was nailing the perfect riff. I, uh, could use some practice on the drums.

Wifezilla didn't like Rockband enough to run out and buy a console, but I noticed she tanked David Bowie's Heroes and obviously needs some serious practice at that song. I'll wait to see if the siren call hits her.