The Dog Days of Summer

I've never truly been a summer person. I have very fair Irish skin, so believe me when I tell you that the sun and I have never been the closest of friends. But a crazy thing happened to me about two years ago. I found myself outside playing softball two days a week, and then golf two days a week, and then going to a BBQ every other week, and before I knew it, I was really enjoying summer. I was having a blast playing softball for a couple hours and then gulping down draft beers for a couple hours after that. It was just the time of my life.

I was trying to remind myself of this fact yesterday afternoon during the third inning of a 28-15 drubbing, as I was burning from the inside out in a balmy 103 degree humid afternoon. As I was sitting there slowly getting skin cancer, all I could think about was going home and sitting in my air conditioned apartment, drinking a very cold alcoholic beverage, and continuing my adventure through Liberty City, in Grand Theft Auto 4. At this point I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the game when it occurred to me...

What am I going to play when I beat this game? Oh that's right...nothing.

That's right folks, we are in the dreaded Dog Days of Summer. In the video game world that means there is going to be absolutely nothing coming out for months. There will be nothing to play, and even less to talk about. You think I'm kidding? I just took a quick browse through GameStop.com and here is what is coming up on their hit list.June 23rd: Battlefield: Bad Company

"Battlefield: Bad Company drops gamers behind enemy lines with a squad of renegade soldiers who risk it all on a personal quest for gold and revenge!"

Nice, I sure haven't played this game ever before. I'm sure this isn't like any other standard war game. You might as well have called it, Clone of Duty 4. June 24th: Alone in the Dark

"Players control Edward Carnby, the main character from the original Alone in the Dark, on a thrilling journey through a dark and terrifying re-creation of New York’s Central Park where Carnby must discover the truth behind a dark conspiracy."

This game looks a little cool with the idea of each stage being it's own 30 minute TV show-like horror episode. But this is more of a rental than anything else. I mean when you tear through this game in like 6-10 hours, what are you going to do with it? Play it again? You know where all of the scares are. June 29th: Guitar Hero - Aerosmith

"Gamers will experience Aerosmith’s GRAMMY winning career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty, in a way that no other entertainment vehicle offers. "

I love Guitar Hero, and I'll get into more detail on that in another blog, and I was initially really excited about this title. However I took a look at it again and this is a little ridiculous. The graphics are the exact same as Guitar Hero 3. And for $60, you get 12 Aerosmith songs and 8 other songs. You get classic Aerosmith songs such as, "Mr Salty", "Moving Out", "Make It", and "Draw the Line." I'm from Boston and I don't even recognize these songs. I'm starting to think the Guitar Hero franchise is starting to be whored out just like Nintendo whores out Mario. July 29th: Soul Caliber 4

"Swords and Lightsabers will be drawn as NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. and LucasArts today announced that iconic Star Wars characters will appear in Soulcalibur® IV."

Speaking whored out, here comes Yoda and Darth Vader in a middle ages type fighting game. The original Soul Caliber was released over 10 years ago for the original Playstation and it was ground breaking. Now, this is a game that is released during the Dog Days of Summer and will be soon forgotten.

This doesn't even mention all of the other Summer Movie Video Games including Wall-E, Hellboy 2, and The Incredible Hulk which will all suck, as all movie video games do. And don't even get me started on the Nintendo Wii, which has literally NOTHING coming out for it. I mean if all you own is a Nintendo Wii, I would jump all over the opportunity to buy Rock Band or GH: Aerosmith. Seriously, what else is there? With the huge sales in video game consoles over the past 12 months, and everyone's interest at an all-time high, this could be the most disappointing season ever for video games.

And to be honest, I don't know why. The gamers now who are mostly playing these games are older than they have ever been, and they don't need the seasons to judge when they can and can't play games. I understand that people like myself tend to spend more time outside during the summer, but on days like yesterday when I'm on fire, I really would like the opportunity to spend a few hours indoors enjoying the new hot video game release.

So instead of looking forward this summer, I plan on looking backward, and I suggest you do the same. I'm going to take these next couple of months and I'm going to catch up on some of the big video games that I just didn't get time to play over the winter. I'm looking forward to a little Rock Band, Call of Duty 4, and maybe the Orange Box. So you can go ahead and spend your $60 on rarely heard Aerosmith tracks, I'm going to use that money for a drum kit and rock out to Rock Band. That is if my sunburn goes away first.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year Old Gamer