I am not too old yet, but I must say I had my share of dealing with frustration more than just a few times so far. I usually end up solving my problems without getting too nervous, only that last time I ended up hitting my couch, and injuring my leg. It would have been better to be able to hit the website that made me hit the poor couch, but that's not possible, obviously. Anyway, even when a game ran with problems(I don't have to remind you how does it feels to get corrupted save games, do I?), I never even thought about settings something ablaze, but...

...not everyone is dealing with frustration the way I do, so I had my share of laughing today when reading that "South Korean police have arrested a teenager for setting fire to a local warehouse over unhappiness at his poor performance at computer games." Oh, my, I guess he should get a job, earn some money, and then pay for some professional game training, but he won't be able to do that anytime soon, since he's in custody now.
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What we know is that the anonymous 15-year-old confessed to the police that he didn't plan the arson attack on the warehouse, and this was simply a short-term release of its anger caused by the fact that "his computer games did not go well" at an Internet cafe on the first floor of the building where the warehouse was also located.

According to Yonhap news agency, the Saturday evening fire lit the sky in Chuncheon, about 50 miles east of Seoul, causing damage estimated at 4 million won ($A4,300). So much for dealing with frustration... I guess those owners of the Internet cafe should think about opening a body building or boxing hall next door, to help gamers deal with their frustration!

A few days before moving from 2008 to 2009, we discussed about the game of the year 08, as seen on GameSpot. Now, we'll leave those aside and move to another well known gaming site that just made public the final results of its own "game of the year 08" rankings - GameSpy.

To be honest, I didn't manage to taste at least half of the games in the list below, but I've heard a lot about all of them, from various media sources and fellow gamers alike, and I must confess that the winner made me extremely happy - justice has been done!

I know a "worst of 08" would also be a very interesting games top to see, and maybe we'll do one of our own, but until then, let's see the overall games of the year, as they came out on GameSpy, shall we?
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Overall Game of the Year
Fallout 3 (PC/360/PS3)


Overall Top 10 Games of the Year

1. Fallout 3 (PC/360/PS3)
2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (PC)
3. Left 4 Dead (PC/360)
4. Gears of War 2 (360)
5. LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
6. Grand Theft Auto IV (PC/360/PS3)
7. Rock Band 2 (360/PS3)
8. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)
9. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
10. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (NDS)

Sweet! Now, as usual, here's my complaint - I don't think Left 4 Dead is one of the best games of the year 08, and Metal Gear Solid 4 would deserve a better place. That's for me, so... what about your opinion regarding this last game of the year 08 top?

If you are anxious to taste a bit of Killzone 2 gameplay, I suggest you to hold your breath just for a few minutes, because there's something awesome waiting for you just around the corner, and you don't want to miss it, believe me! Obviously, it's related to Killzone 2; even better, it's about Killzone themed costumes for the world of Home!

According to a recent report published by ArsTechnica, "Though many PlayStation 3 owners have been content to purchase new outfits in the virtual world of Home, Sony has revealed more ways of dispensing fashion. Those who pre-order the upcoming shooter Killzone 2 will receive a pair of exclusive Killzone themed costumes, which they can wear while traversing the world of Home."
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An Amazon.com exclusive deal, this will give you the ability to dress up as you wish, but there are only two choices - ISA soldier outfit, or Helghast Assault Trooper. These will become available to download once you pre-order the game and you are given codes, and this should happen within 10 days of the game's release, which is expected to be February 27.

If Santa missed your house this Christmas, or simply forgot to bring you one of those games you wanted so bad, don't be sad, because there's still time to face the crisis and decide what's worth the buck, and what not. Of course, Santa won't come back this year, but why not wait a little and see the game of the year 08 rankings to make a decision?

I know we missed reviewing some hot games in 2008, but we're going to make it up for that, I promise you! After all, 2008 was full of games worth playing, and so I know a lot of gamers missed some interesting titles. After all, it's extremely hard to be a full time gamer, don't you think? Anyway, here's the list of titles you can vote on GameSpot as "game of the year 08" on all platforms:
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- Braid
- Burnout Paradise
- Fallout 3
- Grand Theft Auto IV (the Xbox 360 version, of course!)
- Left 4 Dead
- NHL 09
- No More Heroes
- Resistance 2
- The World Ends With You
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(Winner of the Editor's Choice award already)

Now, my thoughts about some of the games - Fallout 3 fully deserves to become the game of the year, despite its drawbacks, but we'll talk more about this in our review, coming up one of these days; GTA 4, the PC version, is still plagued with a lot of problems, but voting for the Xbox version could be a wise choice; at least, I have no idea why Left 4 Dead is a candidate for the "game of the year 08" award... but it's not my purpose to discuss too much about my tastes now, so please be kind and tell us about your favorite game of the yaer 08, will you?

Can you smell some cookies? If your mother/grandmother/wife/girlfriend isn't cooking anything yummie for Christmas, then you don't have to worry - it's not everything lost. Not yet, and to make things right, you need a few friends, a bunch of beers and some pizza but, most important of all, you gotta have some computers around. Why?

Well, let me just say that one of the best things to do for Christmas - especially when the girls are away (or simply "aren't") - is to grab some old school game and play your minds off, but ONLY WITH FRIENDS. If you don't have any friends available, then not even online, then you should leave your computer for a while, maybe even leave the house!
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Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, yeah, "some old school game," that's what I was saying, and here you have my suggestions: Heroes III, Quake 2, Need for Speed: Porsche, or Diablo 2. What do you say?

At last, just be sure to have a merry Christmas, whatever you do, and remember that, beyond games and computers, there are always people who deserve a slice of your time. If your computer blows up, you'll always be able to replace it, but if you miss spending some quality time with your family and friends, at least during this time of the year, some of them may not be around next time...