Terri was going to surprise me with Dead Space 2 today…

But she fell ill yesterday, and felt even worse today.  So I left work early to take care of her, and got home before she could go out and buy it.

Of course she didn’t just tell me this…

We had to run out to pick up some groceries and she wanted to swing past GameStop to pick up Just Dance. Well, that’s what she said at least…  What she actually wanted to pick up at GameStop was Dead Space 2.

So we got to GameStop, and I was shocked at how tiny their PC section is now.  It’s just a couple 2′ shelves.  Couldn’t have been more than about 20 PC games or so.  The whole rest of the store is console stuff.  And I guess I’m not surprised…  I honestly wouldn’t bother going to a physical store for my games when I can just download them instead.

They did have a copy of DS2.  A single copy.  But we didn’t get it.  Once I found out that was what we were looking for, I told Terri that I’d just rather buy it on Steam.

Terri was a little surprised.  Wondered why I would prefer to buy it on Steam rather than buying a disc…

Honestly, the only advantage to buying a disc these days is avoiding the download.  You don’t get a nice box, you don’t get a nice manual, you’ve got physical media to keep track of.  The only benefit is that you just install from the disc, rather than waiting for several gigs to download.

So, we went home and I bought DS2 on Steam.  It’s downloading right now.  Moving rather quickly, too.  Shouldn’t be more than an hour or two before I can play.

Looks like Dead Space 2 is off to a good start…

And some commentary from Penny Arcade on the game…

If it is possible to be happier with the opening sequence of Dead Space 2, I’m not entirely sure how that would happen. Having returned from a jaunt to Dante’s Inferno, EA’s skunkworks imprint Visceral Games isn’t fucking around in any way, shape, or form. Many reviews laud the audio specifically, and they should – I’m experiencing it in what must approach the optimal fashion, hearing every sound in absolute terms, seated in the unrelenting dark afraid for my life.

Loot this time around has a physical location, somewhere inside the torso, and unless the opponent is thoroughly pulped by your initial volley there’s a certain amount of stomping involved to get crucial supplies. It’s indecorous. But beggars can’t be choosers, and beggars who are scrambling around on a doomed civilian craftworld even less so.

Looks like Dead Space 2 is out today…

Looks terrific.

Now I just have to wait for it to go on sale ridiculously cheap.

Interesting advertising campaign for Dead Space 2…

Slashdot | Dead Space 2 Announced

Electronic Arts announced on Monday that their popular survival-horror game Dead Space is officially getting a sequel. According to the press release, it’s being developed for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. There’s speculation that Dead Space 2 may include some form of multiplayer, after an EA job opening was spotted on LinkedIn that mentioned multiplayer level design for the franchise.

Very cool.

I’m not sure that I care much about the multiplayer…  Could be fun, I suppose…  But I’m more interested in a solid singleplayer experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed the original Dead Space and can’t wait to see what they do with a sequel.

Looks like there’s a new Dead Space game out – Dead Space: Extraction.

Too bad it’s only available for the Wii.  We’ve got a Wii, but it’s mostly for Christopher.  I’m not a big console gamer.  I’d much rather play on my PC.  Still…  This looks pretty good.  I might have to pick up a copy anyway.

I loved the original Dead Space.

So, yesterday was Thanksgiving.  Terri got the day off on account of her slaving over a hot stove every other day of the year, so I did the cooking.  Everything turned out surprisingly well.  Not that I really thought I’d ruin everything…  I can cook fairly well usually…  But a big ol’ Thanksgiving dinner is a little imposing.

I, of course, ate far too much.  Piles of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, pumpkin pie…  It’s amazing that I didn’t rupture something yesterday.

I also spent a good chunk of the day yesterday playing WoW.  My Warlock is now 76, and my Death Knight is 62.  I’m more-or-less done with Dragonblight…  There are still a few group quests for me to do there, but I’ve had enough.  Some of those quests were pretty frustrating and I’m glad to be out of the zone.  I’m currently grinding in Howling Fjord – technically a step backwards, as the zone is lower level, but it’s a lot of fun.

I haven’t played Left 4 Dead again since that first session.  It was certainly fun, but I’ve been tied up in WoW almost nonstop.  That’s the problem with the holiday season in general – excess.  Too much stuff going on, too much to do, not enough time for any of it.  I’ve still got to play through Red Alert 3, and I wanted to try Fallout 3, and I never did finish Dead Space…

The best part though, is that it is only Friday night.  I’ve had two full days off from work, and I’ve got two more to go.  Very nice.