Welcome to 2011! It’s been a while since I posted anything, which is due to laziness brought on by a pair of four day weekends back to back. I figured I’d use my first post of the year to get you up to date with what’s happened to Steve in the past couple of weeks.

First off: games. Next: games. Then, perhaps most importantly: GAMES.

I usually get a game or three over the holidays, whether it’s via gift, or a post holiday sale that just can’t be ignored. This year ranks up there as one of the most game heavy holiday breaks I’ve ever had. It started with the now annual Steam sale. Not only was I able to pick up games like The Witcher and Railworks 2 on the super cheap, but I was also gifted a few titles from friends who were in the giving mood. So a big THANKS to those pushers who helped feed my habit!

The biggest gamer gift I received was actually the one I already knew I was getting, and it wasn’t even meant for me. My dad had asked a few weeks back if we owned an Xbox 360. He and my mom had seen the commercials for Kinect and thought that my kids, or at least my daughter, would dig it. But I told him that we didn’t actually own the console. Surprised, my dad asked why we never got one. It was honestly a hard question to answer. He had assumed from a quick history check in his head, that I had pretty much owned every major system that was released since the NES. In all honesty, I just never got a 360 because I’m more of a PC gamer and most of the console titles that have ever interested me have been available on the PS3. I simply felt like I got more bang for my gamer buck.

But…if I were to get a free one…

Christmas day came, we went to my parent’s house and the last gift we were left to open was a big heavy box. “Oh, what could this be?” I thought to myself. I let my son have the honors of peeling back the wrapping as he was, at this point, in a berserker frenzy and the blood which he needed spilled to shunt his frothing mouth was made of paper. Plus, I figured I could count this as the first console he ever received as a gift. But as he pulled off some of the Santa Claus emblazoned hide, he said something that I will never forget. With just a quarter of the box exposed, he saw just enough of the art to make out the picture of a controller. He stopped, pushed the box forward, then looked up at me and said, “Here dad, this is you.”

It was the cutest damn thing he’s ever done.

I ensured him that it was a gift for all of the family, and I wanted him to go ahead and open it. He finished the job, yelled for everybody to look at the prize, and then asked me to open his Batman toys. Being the more hands on kid that he is, I should have expected it.