It's not a Snowstorm, it's a Gamestorm!

As you probably heard, a rather big snowstorm - blizzard even! - is going to hit a large portion of the Tri-State area and New England. Details:

Blizzard Warning
NJZ006-104-106-108-NYZ071>075-176-178-081200-
/O.CON.KOKX.BZ.W.0001.130208T1100Z-130209T1800Z/
HUDSON-EASTERN BERGEN-EASTERN ESSEX-EASTERN UNION-
SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-
RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)-KINGS (BROOKLYN)-NORTHERN QUEENS-
SOUTHERN QUEENS-
1054 PM EST THU FEB 7 2013

...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM FRIDAY TO 1 PM
EST SATURDAY...

* LOCATIONS...NEW YORK CITY...SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER COUNTY...AND
COASTAL PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY.

* HAZARD TYPES...HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS.

* ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 10 TO 14 INCHES...WITH
LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS WITHIN DEVELOPING SNOW BANDS.

* WINDS...NORTH 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH.

* TEMPERATURES...FALLING INTO THE 20S BY FRIDAY EVENING.

* VISIBILITIES...ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.

* TIMING...THE STRONGEST WINDS AND HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR
FRIDAY EVENING INTO SATURDAY MORNING.

* IMPACTS...HEAVY SNOW AND WINDS WILL MAKE FOR DANGEROUS DRIVING
CONDITIONS WITH VISIBILITIES NEAR ZERO IN WHITE-OUT
CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION...SOME TREE LIMBS WILL BE DOWNED...
CAUSING SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

Now, I am one of those oddballs who actually enjoys storms. Yeah, they are dangerous, and very inconvenient, but I confess to finding a bit of excitement in them. I particularly like blizzards. Why? Because...

They make for great gaming weather!

A blizzard, or just your generic snowstorm, is a great opportunity to kick back and spend some quality time with the game machine of your choice. I mean, what else are you going to do? For once you have a great excuse for doing nothing but zapping bad guys in the pixelated genre of your choosing (well, you could watch TV, but who are you? A cyberslick gamer...or a geezer? If you're going to watch TV, you might as well start decorating with doilies as well).

With that in mind, I have a full day of gaming planned. :) Lately, largely due to the paucity of fresh titles out there, I've been returning to some oldies. I finally finished the original Borderlands and have moved on to The Witcher: The Enhanced Director's Cut (juries still out on this one - there is a lot I like and a lot I find disappointing). I also recently re-installed Dawn of War 2, a game that I did not review too favorably when I critiqued it years ago (I am hoping it fares better with age).

I am also going to stick with some new favorites. For example, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is still a hot game for me (read my review here). Black Ops 2 is still going strong, albeit, I wish they would finally release the new map pack on the PC as the original maps are getting really, really stale by now. Battlefield 3 is still holding on, although I am sick of finding myself on servers that are stacked against one team. Lastly, there is Crusader Kings 2...how I love thee. I think I might even get in a game or two of some live Chess (I know I haven't written much about Chess yet, but it is still one of my all time gaming passions).

Yes, just thinking about the coming blizzard is giving me "a thrill up my leg" (as a hack political pundit once remarked). I just hope we don't loose electricity because then I am screwed!

What games do you have planned to get you through the blizzard?

If you're not sure, here are some sales you might want to consider to give you something to play with:

Steam: Borderlands 2 is 50% off (sooo tempted!)
Steam: Counter-strike: Global Offensive is 50% off
Gamer's Gate: Deus Ex series is 75% off
GameFly: Arma 2 & OA for $9.99 each
Origin: Sims 3 and assorted packs/expansions for $10

My World War 3: The Patrol of the USS Jack

[It was inevitable. Whenever I write about the glorious decade that was the 1980s, my mind inevitably turns to the culmination of the Cold War that occurred in the final years of that golden age (one I consider to be the last gasp of traditional America). Fortunately for the world, that culmination was non-violent even if it could have easily been otherwise . Of course, as an avid Cold War wargamer, it is the now speculative violent end that continues to intrigue me. Eh, what can I do? After all, it was the Cold-War-Turned-Hot wargames of the 1980s that formed me into the gamer I am today. With that in mind, here is an AAR of a patrol by the submarine USS Jack in the opening days of World War 3, circa 1984. It is based on a session with Killfish Games' Cold Waters , their modern re-imagining of the Microprose sub sim classic, Red Storm Rising .]

Gamer's Review: Hellsing Ultimate

Is it too early to start queuing up some entertainment for Halloween? Just a bit. Regardless, I find myself doing just that. Part of the reason is that summer for my region never really arrived. Instead of the requisite heat and humidity, we were treated to largely cool, dry days. Really, it has felt like little more than an extended late spring or early autumn. As a result I have found myself yearning to get autumn underway as there isn't any point of continuing this useless summer. This is why I have been looking forward to Halloween: it is THE holiday of autumn! But in addition to that, two games have recently awakened in me a love for the horror of "urban fantasy": Shadowrun Returns , and The Secret World . As I detailed here , those two games have hit a home run with me, and made me reconsider the whole horror genre - a genre I never particularly cared for seeing the low budget "torture porn" tripe coming out of Hollywood these days. And t

Chapter 2: The Soviet Right Hook

Chapter 2: The Soviet Right Hook As we detailed in the previous chapter ( "Red July" ), STAVKA had conceived of the assault on the Fulda Gap not as their central effort but as a grand diversion to draw NATO forces away from other sectors of the West German front. As expected, NATO, long expecting Fulda to be central to a Warsaw Pact onslaught, took the bait and committed the bulk of its ground forces to holding off the fierce Soviet offensive. STAVKA waited three full days to ensure that NATO forces were fully engaged before committing their strategic reserve to opening a new front to the north of Fulda. Known as "Operation Gold Pluto," this daring Soviet plan would put NATO in a perilous position. Final unit dispositions of Operation Gold Pluto with operational overlay (courtesy 8th Guards Army Archives , Volgograd, 1985) Historical Redux If this sounds a bit familiar, it should: Operation Gold Pluto was based on the plan used by Germany during

Burke's Joystick

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