My kids have been huge fans of the Star Wars Lego games since they came out. In addition to "the car game" (Trackmania) and the occasional session of Tomb Raider, they're staples of my kids' computer time. So, when Indiana Jones Lego was announced, I pre-ordered it, and installed it the day it arrived.

With a single (but very notable) exception, the game is great. The problem is with the controller selection.. if you're used to the Star Wars games, the secondary characters can be activated or deactivated as desired with the "F2" button. The problem in the Indy version is that if you use the keyboard at all, it assumes, very incorrectly, that you want to use the keyboard for character control, and deactivates your gamepad. VERY annoying. There seems to be no way to "lock" your controller selection from game to game, either. I have no idea why LucasArts and Traveller's Tales implemented it this way, and hope a future patch corrects it.

Anyway though, the graphics are fantastic and quite noticably better than the Star Wars versions: surface reflections are very well done. I also like the attention to detail in all the characters and their movements. The cut scenes are pretty comical and spot-on with what you'd expect in a Lego game. The "skills" of each character type are pretty good too (although Willie's "scream" is a tad over the top and annoying). The Bazooka wielder does have a tendancy to blow himself up.

One thing that I tend to hear or read about constantly is that PC Games are dead, or are being killed off slowly by platform games.

Hogwash.

I'm not disputing the fact that there are some very good games only on platforms, or that the PC Games market is hampered by piracy issues - both of these are true. However, there are also some games that function better on the PC, due to the fact that most gaming class PC's have more horsepower than your standard platforms, and more input options too.

I've started playing Mass Effect by Bioware, and am amazed at how great the game is.. but also that they've managed to squeeze every ounce of performance out of my system. It's a beautiful game that runs very smoothly at the highest graphics settings (1920x1200, full antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, etc), and takes full advantage of the WASD/mouse combination of the PC. I have an XBox 360 controller, and use it for some games, but I definitely prefer keyboard and mouse implementations in FPS's. Rather than simply port the game as-is, the developers took what was already a great game and made it better on the PC. I think this is a recipe for success that is hopefully emulated by other developers.

I had been planning for awhile to replace my old 21" CRT, so when bonus time rolled around, I took the plunge and bought the Dell 2408WFP, which has gotten some rave reviews. It's an S-PVA-based monitor with a ton of inputs including HDMI and DVI, pivot capability, and is bright as heck. It's also BIG - I found myself moving my head from side-to-side to see both sides of the screen. At 1920x1200 resolution, full-screen anything is just funny - it's almosy too big. Did I mention it was bright? :D

Anyway, I'm still getting used to it, and think that a missing killer feature on these big monitors is the ability to support 'multiple virtual monitor' settings.. I really like true multiple monitor functionality, and would like to be able to have two full-screens in one to maximize my applications. The closest I've been able to come so far is my nvidia's "Gridlines" feature. It works, but isn't perfect.

If I had to do it over, I may have chosen two 22" monitors. But full-screen games like Trackmania, Call of Duty, and Gears of War in 1920x1200 really are nice.