If you’re a casual gamer, just flat out skip this post. You don’t want any of this. Go buy Madden or something instead.

Okay, still with me?

Being 28 years old and born at the right time to experience the golden years in gaming, I can remember games from the NES system all the way through the late 80s up to now, from Super Nintendo to PS2. That is nearly 24-25 years worth of knowledge in my head. While the NES boasted the most difficult titles (save/continue states lacking, glitchy mechanics, and flat-out hard design) there have been a handful of titles over the years that have provided a challenge so great that they’ve nearly defeated my will to play games anymore.

As a kid, some of those games were Ninja Gaiden 1-3, Batman, Blaster Master, TMNT, Double Dragon, Zelda 1-2. I have since beaten all of those except TMNT, where a corrupt save state (emulator) trashed my progress at the very end. These were some of the hardest I can remember, although there are many more obscure ones like Kid Nikki, Hook, or McKids for example (hey, its a lot harder than you’d expect).

Since then, I haven’t really played a ‘difficult’ game since Baldurs Gate 2, where its more of a thinking mans RPG (and, probably my favorite game ever). I had heard of Ninja Gaiden (XBOX) legendary difficulty, and yes, what they say about it is true. However, I was able to beat that as well, albeit after many many deaths.

That’s the thing about video games. They were made to be conquered, they were made by humans much like ourselves. Some games, however, are only beatable by the elite. I by no means claim to be an elite gamer, since its such a vague description, but I know I am up in the ranks somewhere.

There are two games out in the wild for PS3 that will truely test your skills as a gamer, your decision making, endurance and willpower. These games are Demon’s Souls and its followup, Dark Souls (look, even CNET is writing articles asking if the game is ‘too hard?’- no, just hang up the controller and find another hobby).

Demon’s Souls defeated a lot of players. A lot of people probably never saw more than a quarter of the game. I was not one of those people. Unlike pretty much any other game out there, it does not give hints, it does not hold your hand, it does not care if you think it is unfair. It is relentless. You die, a lot, no matter how good you are. This made me love, but also hate, the game. But for $60 this is exactly what I want out of a video game- I don’t want it to give in to me and just hand over the ending credits. Make us work for it.

There was never much of a plan for a sequel to Demon’s Souls, but after positive reactions, high reviews and players still playing the original, From Software set out to make Dark Souls, taking the difficulty up 10 times what it was in Demon’s Souls.

“It’s a type of survival-RPG, made for sadists.” - Reviewer

It’s hard. Real hard. I would go so far as to say this is probably one of the hardest games I have ever played. No directions, no instructions. You are put in a world and told to go. Little hints are scribbled around the world from other players, usually telling you to ‘watch out ahead’. No matter how well equipped you are or how quick you are with defensive moves, you basically die in a couple of hits. Die, and the game gets harder. The more you die the tougher time you’ll have- and that is the only motivation to do what you can to stay alive.

I am about 1.5 hours into the game, getting a feel for it and exploring around. I died pretty much in the first 3 minutes of the game, and probably 20 times since.

This is exactly the challenge I have waited for from gaming this year. If you can beat this game, congratulate yourself- you’re a better gamer than a lot of folks out there.

If you do pick this up, do yourself a favor and do not look up hints, tips and walkthrough videos online. It will only ruin the experience. Earn your win.

Oh, and on the back of the box? It tells you straight up: “Prepare to die.”

Official website: http://www.preparetodie.com/en/

They haven’t done half of what we have, but the minute he declared himself the competition, suddenly we were equal.

• Don Draper

I love Mad Men. I think it is one of the best shows on TV in the last 20 years, possibly one of the best of all time. I’ve watched all 4 seasons 3 times through in the past 9 months, and if you’ve seen it, you know why. You can’t help but watch, no matter how many times you’ve seen an episode. It’s that well done.

Told a couple of friends I would make this post after a long discussion about TMNT, one of the hardest NES games from our childhoods. When most people post ‘the classics’ its generally the same handful of games. Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Contra, etc. But the NES really had some games that were under the radar and exceptional. Here are some games that deserve some recognition:

• Metal Storm
• Kid Niki
• Burai Fighter
• Power Blade
• Captain Skyhawk
• Rush’n Attack
• Solstice
• Adventures of Lolo
• Air Fortress
• Bad Dudes
• Batman
• Bomberman
• Blaster Master
• Bubble Bobble
• Commando
• Crystalis
• Dragon Warrior
• Gargoyles Quest II
• Guerilla War
• Ikari Warriors
• Jackal
• Iron Tank
• Karnov
• Little Samson
• P.O.W.
• Wizards and Warriors
• R.C. Pro Am
• StarTropics

Finally.

Since 2005, I have been spreading the word about this band like a prophet speaking about the end of days. If you were into any kind of metal at all, chances are I told you to check these guys out, and even if you weren’t, you heard about it anyway.

World Under Blood formed 6 years ago in Los Angeles, a brainchild of riff machine Deron Miller and Tim Yeung, extreme metal drummer of ‘Divine Heresy’. Deron Miller is the frontman behind CKY, a hero turned mentor turned friend. In CKY, Deron Miller concocts furiously melodic rock riffs with an unforgettable signature sound that has taken them from the small town of West Chester PA to just about everywhere you can imagine with a dozen or more world tours, not to mention opening for legendary bands Metallica and Guns n Roses.

After a tease of two demo tracks in 2006, it was a long time coming to their debut release ‘Tactical’ yesterday. I’ve waited patiently all this time and had my head blown completely off as soon as I hit the first track “A God Among the Waste” and was pummeled song after song all the way through until the closing track. While the guitars and drums maintain a furious, relentless assault it maintains a melodic quality you don’t hear too often in death metal. The vocals are clear and discernable while still being true to the genre and the lyrics are sharp and smart.

Luke Jaeger (Sleep Terror) was also brought aboard on lead guitars- a man himself well established in the field as a insanely talented individual who can play almost any genre thrown his way (I am a particular fan of his spanish guitar playing). Putting these two guitar players in a room, let alone an album, is like setting off a 10 nuclear bombs at once.

This album is the best of all the influences that each player grew up with. Bands like Gorguts, Death, Megadeth, Pestilence, Malevolent Creation, and Morbid Angel among others. While true metalheads will tell you they hear melodic death metal all the time (I don’t) - I love this album. I don’t tend to listen to this genre too particularly much, and all I know about it are the albums Deron had sent me a few years ago after the third CKY album was released. I’m easy to please. I love loud guitars, hooks, and brilliant riffing. It’s all here. There’s really no point in a long album review because you just have to hear it, especially if you’re a musical adrenaline junkie like I am.

If you like metal at all, you should check this band out. You’re bound to find one track you like, if not at least to marvel at the technical mastery of the instruments each player brings to the table.

Buy/Preview World Under Blood on iTunes

The best review I have read yet for Google+ sums it up beautifully in just a few sentences:

Here’s what I love about Google+ in general and the Google+ Diet in particular:

Instead of saying, “I’m going to write a blog post now,” or “I’m going to send an e-mail” or “I think I’ll tweet something” you simply say what you have to say, then decide who you’re going to say it to.

If you address it to “Public,” it’s a blog post.

If you address it to “Your Circles” it’s a tweet.

If you address it to your “My Customers” Circle it’s a business newsletter.

If you address it to a single person, it can be a letter to your mother.

I’d say this is pretty revolutionary.

Mike Elgan is correct.

Google+ can easily replace Twitter used like this. If you get all your friends in, or at least the important ones, you can drop Facebook as well. I picked up on this in the first few hours of checking it out, and others are slowly coming to that conclusion.

Google+ for Brands beta started accepting applications (deadline for submissions was yesterday) and will be interesting to see how Google+ separates brands from humans. I am particularly interested in how Brands will utilize Hangouts and deliver customer service through it, like a lot of companies have done with Twitter.

Will Google+ be the next social networking super giant? Maybe, maybe not- but this is the new model of social network functionality for sure. It’s already off to a great start with over 10 million users, a milestone that took Facebook and Twitter much, much longer to reach.

I absolutely love it.