This one's a toughie..

A good friend posed the question, "What are your top 3 games? Two separate lists, single player & multi?"

This has turned out to be an incredibly hard question! I mean, when you have played like a billion games it's hard to narrow it down. Also I wanted to have list up list -- top 3 single old gen consoles, top 3 single handheld, top 3 multi pc.... I mean, you could list and list and list and, eventually, list everything you've ever played. I don't think this is quite the idea behind the question.

So I ended up with (in no particular order) --

Single
1. Mario Galaxy is the most fun, cleanest 3D entry in the Mario lineup. And I think the open games are more fun than the platformers for a long-term relationship. Yes, I still go back to Super Mario Bros and love running from left to right with a few well timed jumps, but I can spend hours and hours lost in the worlds of Galaxy.
2. Harvest Moon (series) Again, a game where I have lost many an hour. It is so surprisingly fun to tend a virtual farm. Raise virtual farm animals. Spend virtual days watering your huge fields. Finally - harvest time. Ahh, 3 bushels of apples. It was worth it.
3. Final Fantasy VII - Honestly FF7 is one of the first games I really got into when I started gaming again around my sophomore year in high school. And it is a big one! I mean, who doesn't have fond memories of FF7? If you just answered "I don't" then get yourself a copy and play right now. It will make you so addicted to RPG you will never let it go.

Multi
1. Super Smash Bros Melee/Brawl - Oh man, the game that made me buy a Gamecube. Melee - I played and played you on that fateful game filled trip to Colorado so long ago. And your little brother, Brawl? So much fun. Melee wins out on true multi-player prowess, but Brawl had to put its foot in because it offered so much single player fun. Yes I know that doesn't make it a contender in multi, but it is basically the same game, so it deserves to be here.
2. Halo 3 - The game that made me love the 360? The game that thousands of people are logged in to every single night? At this moment, 1:04 am on a Wednesday morning, there are 93,273 people logged in. There is a certain level of commitment you feel with this game. First you learn to play. Then you have to get all the skulls, and assorted achievements. Then you have to hone your skills so that you can pwn p00bz forevahhhhh online. This game is hugely the reason I had to buy my Xbox Live account. I love it.
3. Mario Party (series) - What happened in college? I became Queen of 30 second mini-games, thanks fully to Mario Party. It all started with Mario Party 4 which a boyfriend-at-the-time and I rented and only played for about 20 minutes before the fire alarm went off! Blasted dorm rooms. But it was love at first rapid-A-button-tap. I still don't own Mario Party 4, it has been my elusive lover, refusing to be pinned down...but I have voraciously purchased 5, 6, 7, and 8. This game is amazing. If you have friends over, it is perfect. You look especially ridiculous playing this on the Wii, which makes it extra fun.

What's your list?

Grand Theft Auto IV

Another delicious taste of pure anarchy from the Grand Theft Auto lineup. And what can I say? IV delivers. Although, in my opinion (which you obviously want because - hello - you're reading my blog), this game is freaking hard. Not necessarily the concepts. Maybe just the controls?

Story 9/10: Niky, Niky... If you can play this game and not fall for Niko Bellic, I just don't know. You must be made out of steel. I love the story-line and how it progresses with Niko. You are constantly finding out just tidbits abou this life before he came to America. And everything you find out emotionally ties you to him as a character/person. Actually, I cared so much for Niko that it made me angry that I didn't have more options to be a "good guy". I wished GTA & Fable would have a little game baby where I could cause mayhem but maybe also be good. Niko wanted to come to America for a fresh start, and here I am with my Xbox just making him shoot drug dealers all day long. I guess, in a way, he's doing good for society?

Graphics 9/10: The graphics on this one are solid. I mean, there is a LOT going on in this game and I think that it is all handled well and with great detail. I love the chance to change Niko's clothes (although I wish there were even more options). The detail and damage system for the cars/motorcycles/boats/helicopters etcetc is great. Also - non-graphic related - I think the cars last longer in this GTA than they have in previous versions. Longer lasting car = more mayhem = more fun! The cutscenes are fun to watch, and play out kind of like a movie. This whole game is like watching a Scorsese film, actually.

Sound 10/10: I'm sorry, but I have to do it. I have to give GTA the 10. Most of the time in this game you are in a car. And what does GTA offer in the car? Your choice of TONS of radio stations. It is so sweet. I prefer Liberty City Rock, although the talk radio station is good for a laugh. I also enjoy the voice-overs in this game. Although I have to play with closed-caption on because half the people are so heavily accented I can't understand them. Believeable, but CC is a requirement.

Gameplay 7.5/10: Okay this is where I ding you, GTA4. I love you and all, but seriously? Could driving a car be any more difficult? And then trying to shoot and drive?? It's like punishment. And there are a LOT of missions where you have to shoot someone and follow them in your car at the same time. I feel like I need a second player to do one or the other because I just can't seem to do it. I'm failing missions left and right on this thing. The race missions? Forget about it. I don't know HOW you get going fast and take a turn without totally losing it (if you know, please please comment I need to pass some of these races!!). The walking around and shooting is pretty concise though, and with practice I've gotten sort-of-fairly decent. I'm not exceptionally good at this style of game, so I don't expect to excel. I don't expect to struggle like crazy either.

Overall 9/10: This game is awesome. It is fun. The map is unbelieveably gigantic. The options are so vast it's close to limitless. One bummer? All I heard was the hype for this game - it's going to be so huge, they actually used NYC blueprints to create the game, etcetc. Well, I'm bummed that I can't go into more buildings. Unless it's part of the current mission you're playing you are pretty limited. There are maybe 5 or 6 shops/bars/restuarants you can go into on each island, and they are mostly repetitive from island to island. It's just kind of a bummer. If you go to all the work of making the game look like a real place, how about treating it more like a real place? Open up a few more buildings for us to explore.

Buy/Rent: As always, I am far from finishing this game at time of review, but it plays a lot like any other GTA I've played. And that means Buy. There is never a time when it isn't fun to throw this game in and tear some shiz up. You can tear around town in a sports car, or a semi-truck, or any other myriad of vehicles. Your choice! And with guns! Go now and buy buy buy!