Hello everybody, and welcome to another Monday brought to you by your friends at the MNC. We here at the MNC would like to present to you the following public service announcement: Be wary of the hugs and kisses of creepy old men on television. You’ve been warned.

Metroid Prime 3 was effectively conquered this weekend. Took me about twenty-one hours, and I was able to get 100% of the items for the extended ending. Overall, the game was good with only a few tiny setbacks. Maybe it’s just me, but when did gaming become this easy? I know I’ve been playing games forever, but come on. I only died a few times in MP3 and most of the bosses were laughably easy. Perhaps if they didn’t tell you how to win when scanning the enemies, the game would have provided more challenge. You might be thinking, “Play on Hyper difficulty before you start complaining.” I do plan on playing through on Hyper difficulty, but I really wish that it was selectable from the get-go. I don’t like having to play through a game on a normal difficulty before acquiring the difficulty level I should have started with. Give us a hard mode out of the gate and I’ll be happy. Oh, you must get two green tokens to purchase the bobblehead for your ship ASAP.

Next up is that little game called Bioshock. Everyone in the crew is saying it’s pretty good, so I’m sure I’ll hate it. Just kidding – I’m contrary like that. I’m traditionally the "Nintendo whore" of the group, but the PC and Xbox 360 are starting to become good friends of mine as well. Also. Next Monday, I plan on having those videos of PAX put up on the site for download. See you then!

- Dover

Bioshock was recently put to rest at my household, and I cannot help but feel some disappointment at the game’s conclusion. Not the ending itself, brief though it was, but with the experience as a whole. Permit my explanation.

I am not generally an FPS fan. More than any other in this region of the world, this genre is glutted with an absurd number of mediocre "me-too" titles all focused around a viewpoint and a gun. Bioshock manages to stand as unique however; at least when not directly compared with its superior spiritual predecessor. For at least half of the game, I sat riveted to the tale of Rapture and its denizens. The hubris in play and ultimate collapse of society follows well the traditional arc of tragedy, and is unquestionably a trend that gaming needs to emulate if it wishes to establish itself seriously as an art.

However. Bioshock is still a game, and thus should provide some challenge. It does not, and that fact became altogether obvious the further I ventured into the deep. Death? Not a problem. All that death implied was a slight inconvenience at having to hoof it from a nearby Vita-Chamber back into the fray from which your character was just expunged! The ability to stockpile nine first-aid kits effectively meant that the player had a handy heal button, for use whenever the game approached any level of difficulty. To top it off, the wrench (our standard weapon) is practically the only weapon you need! Just pull it out and bang! Instant enemy trashpile. Sure, the Big Daddies and the final boss require a little extra umph, but that’s why you’re provided with an entire installation’s worth of extra weaponry.

I enjoyed Bioshock; don’t get me wrong. I just wonder how long reviewers play games before they assign it a score.

- Irving