I am. Really. I know it’s hard to believe, but bear with me.

I’m a pretty self-important consumer.

Let’s look at gaming. I own a PS3. I want to purchase an Xbox 360 soon, I wouldn’t mind owning a Wii, but I like PC gaming best. I can play PC games anywhere I have a computer. I can use nearly any input I want–Xbox controller, PS3 controller, keyboard and mouse, classic gamepad, joystick, etc.

For a while it was enough for me to say that if a game wasn’t coming out for PC, I wouldn’t buy it. In truth, there are enough good games out on PC to keep me occupied for years. Eventually games like Uncharted 2 came along to make me finally buy a console (the PS3 being a Blu-Ray player I could stream files to from my PC helped make that decision, too).

I still have a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I was considering not buying Red Dead Redemption because it came out for 360 and PS3 but not PC. I probably will buy it soon, but why isn’t it out for PC? I’m sure it will be in a few months, just like GTA4 was, but it’s still a letdown.

A couple of interesting things have been announced recently. Two separate announcements, both pretty cool. Steam is coming out for the Mac, and Crysis 2 is coming out in Q4 2010.

These things in and of themselves aren’t big deals, and in fact have been known or at least suspected for some time. The news riding along is what holds the greatness.

So I just downloaded and played the Just Cause 2 demo on PC via Steam. I’ve got some thoughts. You can read them if you’d like.

So not only did I just get a Nokia N900 that, to be fair, I have been saving up to buy for a while. Play time with this phone probably won’t be over for a few more weeks.

Not only am I really busy with work, meaning the grindstone now has the shape of my nose worn into it.

Not only that, I just bought Mass Effect 2. I know, I know. I don’t know why.

Does anybody remember my post on Batman Arkham Asylum? About it’s DRM? About it’s requirement to have a ‘Games for Windows Live’ account in order to save games? Well I still haven’t played it. I’m instead playing Bioshock until I stop being mad at Eidos/Rocksteady for making me install bloatware and register with Microsoft before allowing me to save my progress in the game.

Part of the reason I’ve been playing Bioshock is so I can be finish it in time to play the sequel, Bioshock 2 when it comes out in February.

Then I saw this.

The tech specs for Bioshock 2 are out…To save the game or play online, you need to be logged into Games for Window Live. This still applies on Steam – so SecuRom and Games For Windows Live are needed in addition to the Steam client. Hmm.

Just wanted to throw out a quick clarification to my last angry post about Batman: Arkham Asylum (which I purchased on Steam) requiring a Games for Windows Live account in order to save my progress in the game.

There is ‘Games for Windows,’ a certification and branding that requires the following (from Wikipedia):

When I start writing twitter post after twitter post, and am about to write a few more, I realize perhaps the subject in question is better suited to my blog. Between Steam’s post-Thanksgiving sale and their Christmas Sale (going on until January 3rd), I have bought a ton of games, and only spent about $105.

I suppose, there being a new TF2 update, I should post a little about it. I would be playing it right now but my computer can’t connect to VALVe’s inventory servers, which means no weapon switching and possibly no weapons drops at all.

I got on a little last night, I was able to see my inventory and the crafting page, though I wasn’t so brave as to try crafting while the inventory servers were overloaded. I played 1-2 hours and got 20+ items, including the Eyelander (sword), Targe (shield), and the Direct Hit (launcher with faster rockets). I’m really glad they dropped all three, as these were the three items I was most anxious to test.

Steam is a cool community/online gaming middleman/distribution platform for the PC. It allows you to download games to as many PCs as you want, but you have to be logged in to play them. It completely erases the need for installation discs. As someone with a couple boxes of computer discs, it’s a great boon.

Two things Steam should do though, to make their service that much better:

1) Backup game saves and sync them between all of a user’s computers.

2) Remove the damn age-verification screens in their app if I’m logged in.

The other day, Attack of the Show’s segment “The Loop” asked the question, “Is PC gaming dead?” It’s a very troubling question for me, I am a PC gamer. There are a lot of different issues involved, but I’m going to try and tackle a lot of them in this article. (SPOILER!!!–PC Games RULE!!!)