Juggling some games

Been hitting DCUO at a pretty decent clip.  I'm trying not to rush through it, since the level cap is 30, and I don't want to burn myself out on it.  I'm up to 16 or 17 now.  Still enjoying it.  I've been mostly going solo, but feel that it's coming time to start grouping more.  I still haven't played any of the pvp stuff.  I'd like to, but I'm kind of intimidated by it, and don't particularly enjoy competitive multiplayer.

I haven't played Castlevania in a few days.  It's not that I don't want to, it's just that the chapter I'm going into seems on the longish side and I've been playing Venetica (more on that later).  Will return to this shortly.

Venetica - was in the mood for a little WRPG leading up to Dragon Age II, and bought this on a whim.  It's kind of a lower budget version of DA:O, Mass Effect, Oblivion and Fable but more accessible and enjoyable than Risen.  The MSRP is $40, which may be right priced.  I've put in about 8 hours so far, and taken for what it is, it's not bad.  Admittedly, it does lack some polish, and it is evident that this developer has very little experience on the 360.  The combat was very wonky at first.  In fact, it is downright shallow.  Basically, you have an A button attack.  You can map a skill to the B button, and the D-Pad can also be mapped to skills/items.  The game was obviously made for the PC, with a 360 port as an afterthought.  It would be nice to be able to have more skills available at your disposal (like Dragon Age, etc...).  In fact, shallow is a good descriptor of the game as a whole.  Back to combat, I had some trouble with it, but have now finally (mostly) gotten the hang of it.  It starts slow, and you are weak, but after a while, you pick up the proper tactics, know how to fight certain enemies, and can basically get on with the game without combat holding you up too much.  So far, it's been a pleasant surprise.  Not a world-beater by any stretch of the imagination.  It's not particularly innovative, it's not particularly polished, the presentation is remedial, but it's working for me.  Go figure.  So, if you're looking for a little RPG action, and don't require AAA development, this may be decent diversion while waiting for the next big thing to drop.

Speaking of the next big thing - Dead Space 2 comes out today.  It should be waiting for me when I get home.  Honestly, I don't know when I'll be able to get to it, as I do want to continue on with Castlevania and Venetica some more.  Take that with Two Worlds 2 (which I'm cautiously optimistic of) and Lord of Arcana for the PSP, it's a fairly packed release week.  It seems like things ease up a bit for the next several weeks, so maybe I will get to Dead Space 2, before it suffers the same fate as Bioshock 2, still in it's shrinkwrap, waiting for an opportunity to be played.  I believe Bulletstorm and Dragon Age 2 are my two outstanding preorders at the moment, so hopefully, I can calm down a bit and get through some of these games.

In other news, I've finally pulled the trigger on my Stormtrooper armor.  Should have it shipped to be by mid-late February.  It's a daunting task, as I'm not particularly patient, nor handy with intricate trimming work, but I intend on having a great set of armor - perhaps I can get it expert infantry ready over time.  My main concern is getting it up to 501st and FISD standards over the next couple of months.  I really want to have it ready for Comic Con in July. 

Con-wise, it may be a fairly tame year.  I had been thinking of going to Mega-Con in Orlando, but that's around the time of Pax-East, which I'd like to go to.  As luck would have it, it may not be a good time due to my lady's kids school and their visitation schedule with their father - so those 2 cons are out.  My lady's 40th birthday coincides with Comic Con, and she's always wanted to go, so that will be my present to her.  Then, there's Dragon*Con.  May hit up some of the smaller cons (ConNooga, the little one in Birmingham) if time permits, but those aren't necessary.

Picked up book 1 of Kick-Ass 2 the other day.  I usually avoid buying single issues of books, and prefer the collections that come out after everything has been released.  Anyway, I figured what the hell, and bought book 1.  It was a decent set up.  Now I have to wait for book 2.