Dark Void was described to me as “Uncharted with jet packs.” Sold, that’s enough for me to name it the significant release of the week. There’s also Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on the PSP and PS2 for diehard fans of that series, and for the kids, well, uh, not a whole lot. I refuse to recommend Satisfashion on the basis of its wordplay alone.

This is why I love having a nice home theatre setup: It was movie night at Oldest Son’s school on Friday, and we were packing up the three boys and dreading the next couple of hours packed in a gym on the floor with a bunch of K-6 kids watching Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Especially with rowdy Middle Son joining us. Those of you with toddlers know what I’m talking about. Anyways, it dawned on me, “Why are we venturing out into the cold night to be packed in a gym like suckers when we can just rent it on Blu-Ray?” After some hemming and hawing, and with no good reason to say no from the children, everybody hopped in their jammies, I went out with Oldest Son to rent the movie (he had to come as part of the deal, fine by me), and we enjoyed it in delicious high def on the PS3 (to tie this to gaming, I guess), surround sound, etc., and were able to get the kids in bed right afterwards. WIN!

So, I gave in and picked up Bayonetta. Having not played a lot of Japanese-style games before (including any Devil May Cry games), I must admit to being a little bit confused as to what’s going on at times. But everything is just so over the top, I don’t really have time to dwell on how the story isn’t making a whole lot of sense. Here’s the typical thought pattern as I play…

“Witches. Walking. Running. Jumping. FIGHTING!!! Run away. FIGHTING!!!! Button mashing. Boobies! Explore. FIGHTING!!! Buy stuff. Plot? Is she really totally nude for those Climax Attacks? FIGHTING!!!! What just happened? FIGHTING!!!!…”

You get the point. This is a fun game, and every bit as inappropriate as advertised. Now it’s a fight between that and Uncharted 2 as to what gets my limited play time.

Something else that’s kind of funny, but maybe a statement on games today. After a big boss battle, I’m sitting there wondering why my health meter isn’t regenerating, forgetting that I’m not playing as the Batman, Prince of Persia, or Nathan Drake with their magical healing powers. And yes, I totally get the irony that the character that DOES have magical powers doesn’t regenerate health automatically.

Maybe I should just get better at the game.