Castle Crashers

Castle Crashers is a sidescrolling beat-em-up which reminds me of Streets of Rage or Double Dragon. In addition, the game has some roleplaying elements. You can level up your characters in four basic categories that improve hit points, long range attacks, melee attacks, and magic. You can also find different weapons with different stats hidden in the levels. There are animal orbs that will give you different powers as well. These range from a cute little owl that helps you find healing items to a bat that gnaws on enemies. While that sums up the basic game, there is also a button mashing mini-game called "All You Can Quaff" and you can fight people in an arena either locally or online.

The game itself is really wonderful to watch and play. The graphics are gorgeous and the character animations are smooth and never look strange or out of place. The game also has a sense of humor that propels you through the campaign. I was always wondering what the next enemy or boss would be, and the imagination of the creatures and levels doesn't disappoint.

While the basic game is really addictive, I do have some minor problems with it. A major issue is making sure my character is lined up properly with the enemies. Sometimes I find myself swinging and hitting nothing when it looks like I should be connecting with an enemy. This can get even more confusing in the larger boss battles when so many things are happening all at once. The other minor complaint I have is the difficulty level. It is hard to try and play in the single player campaign. It almost seems made to play with friends, and while that's not a bad thing, it can make going back through for weapons and secrets a bit more tedious by yourself. It's a very retro game and with that comes a retro difficulty level, so be warned.

The one aspect of the game that I haven't tried is playing with or against people online. All of my multiplayer has been done locally, so I can't say whether the online works well or not.

When I think about this game, I get a bit giddy. Sure it has it's minor problems, but for the most part it's a stellar addition to the XBox Live line-up. With a ton of secrets to unlock, weapons and characters to collect, and evil teddy bears to kill, I can predict that I will be playing this game for a long time.

John Edwards

The confirmation of John Edwards' relationship with Rielle Hunter came to me last Friday morning. I had opened up CNN.com and saw the headline. I had been aware of the National Enquirer's reporting on the story since late July from reading various blogs. I remember feeling then that it didn't fit that Edwards was running from reporters at 2 a.m. and hiding in a motel bathroom. His behavior that evening just added legitimacy to the story and it made it hard to believe him. Why was he there in the first place?

As I look at the timeline now, my disappointment quickly turned to anger. I supported Edwards strongly in 2004, gave money and time then, and was in his corner in early 2008 through Iowa and the early primary states. Knowing this now - that he had this relationship in 2006 and likely into 2007 - I don't know why Edwards ran once again. This stuff would have come out if his bid had been successful.

I don't think he is the father of the child involved, but it doesn't matter if he is or isn't. I do feel played. For me, his political career is over. His ego and narcissism to believe that this would not go unrevealed is disheartening. It makes it that much harder for Democrats to push on moral values issues this election.