Being an avid gamer, I don’t need cable TV to keep me majorly entertained. All I need is my delectable XBOX 360 and trusty PC to make me satisfied. Save for some TV programs like Lost and um, Lost, you can say I am perfectly happy living without the boob tube.

When I heard that Lost: Via Domus the game is coming to the PC and XBOX 360, I was ecstatic. Couldn’t decide between the PC or XBOX 360 version, but I was lucky that my friend, a regular Amazon.com shopper, pre-ordered the PC game and got me to try it out before he returned from his vacation.

Loading the game, one thought came into my mind: “Amazing. This is just like watching the series!” From the ever-familiar Lost logo hovering upon the black screen, the recognizable cast (Ha, Sawyer still has the knack of delivering all those great nicknames!) to the familiar narrator’s line “Previously on Lost…”, as well as the abrupt ending, Lost fans can attest that this game is definitely worth playing. You play the part of Elliot, a character (obviously) not found in the TV series. The intrigue got me on the edge of my seat, and I must say exploring the island and seeing so many familiar landmarks (fuselage debris, anyone?) is rather euphoric for a diehard fan. What’s NOT likable is the bad lip-synching and short, nearly non-existent replay value.

Oh look, Lost is starting on TV. Ta!

I grew up playing and loving SimCity games. Simulation games can really make the time go by faster than you can say, “Will Wright is god!” I can personally attest to that, since nothing gets me going more than being an almighty entity who’s in charge of building and managing your own city. Every aspect from your people’s wellbeing, employment and the complete (functional) infrastructure has to be attended to. If this isn’t gratifying, I don’t know what is!

Being an ardent fan of next-gen consoles, I was disappointed to find that there aren’t any notable city-building games to be found. Luckily, I’ve got my trusty PC at hand for when good SimCity-like games are released. That’s when I stumbled upon City Life 2008 Edition.

Not really bothering to buy last year’s World Edition add-on, I took the liberty of preordering my copy of the standalone City Life 2008 Edition. I quickly found out that this game deserves better reviews for the good things that come with it, save for some bad aspects (we’ll get to that later). Elements like building your city to cater to six different classes and a super-enhanced editor for you import satellite photos and build actual cities are cool. Graphics-wise, visuals appear more enhanced (think, reflective water!). My only gripe is that the scenarios are unlike those in SimCity games, where players are given actual historical situations to deal with.

I guess you can’t really have it all, eh. It’s back to the console for me, and to hoping for the much-anticipated release of Spore, THE god game to end all god games!

I must say I’m not much of a PC game player. Having recently jumped onto the XBOX 360 bandwagon and finding myself preoccupied with games like Rainbow Six Tom Clancy’s Vegas and Call of Duty 4, I’ve pretty much left my PC games to rot in the shelves (save for my collection of The Sims 2 and its expansions, which are perpetually displayed on my desk).

Then along came The Experiment. I was intrigued when a friend of mine showed off his latest Amazon.com purchase, and I thought, “Heck, why not, I can afford to take a break out of the usual FPS games and try this one.” And so, full of anticipation, I popped in the CD.

I quickly found out that while the game play IS rather different from the usual adventure games that I’m accustomed to, The Experiment (a.k.a Experience 112) is indeed your typical “I-woke-up-with-a-bad-case-of-amnesia-so-WTF-am-I-now?” game. You wake up in this high-tech boat with a slew of innovations at your disposal, and this scientist chick called Lea Nichols just happened to be in the same predicament as you are. No worries, just let her take the lead and after countless puzzles, problem-solving and password-digging, you eventually find out where and who you are, but at the expense of your own sanity, IMHO. I have no love for the erratic controls, bad in-game language translations and choppy SFX. Plus, no one likes being stuck with no direct control over your very own character.

Looks like it’s back to killing tangos in R6V for me.