I've always kinda wanted to do a running blog, and I figured something like a question a day might be somewhat easy, yet it would also encourage lots of feedback/responses from you guys.

My question for you guys is:

Why do so many people rip on sports games being little less than roster updates, saying how they'll pick up a 2 year old edition when it hits 5 bucks?

While I agree that is somewhat true, I would think most sports fans would be irritated playing with rosters that aren't at least within a year of being updated.

Is it just me, or are people (including myself) becoming more and more critical and review-oriented?

What I mean by this is, do you find yourself unable to go see a movie without checking the average ratings on IMDB? How bout buying a game before checking IGN or Metacritic?

It seems like more and more, we can't rely on our own opinions. We have to find the highest rated items, and otherwise we're just setting ourselves up to be letdown. Just wondered if anybody else had thought about this recently, or notices it now.

OK so I've decided to get rid of the PS3 phat I have, in hopes of scoring a well-priced Slim off of Amazon's Warehouse Deals, as many CAGs have done before. So I'm figuring out the pricing of my console to my friend. It's the 80GB model, that is not backwards compatible (Only 2USB ports in the front). Looking at recent eBay auctions, these seem to go from $180-230, so I decided the console itself should be price out to $200 (with controller and USB connector cable).

Then I have the game Socom Confrontation (Plus the Official Sony Bluetooth Headset it came with). This goes for $40 new, so I priced it at $25.

Totalling this all up, I told him it'd be $225 for an 80GB PS3, Controller plus connector cable, Socom Confrontation with Official Headset, and an HDMI cable I'm givin him.

Fair or foul CAG?

Hey guys,

When it comes to being a smart consumer, you need to know what you're buying. Obviously, it's not real smart to buy everything in sight in hopes of finding something you enjoy. This is why we have review sites. I know as far as movie/games/music go, MetaCritic is a great site to get a wide variety of reviews from major publications. But where do you go for reviews on other products?

If you need to know what TV is best for you, where would you look? What sites tell you what terminology means what? I have no idea what "Mhz" and contrast ratios truly equate to, and the same is very true when it comes computer components.

This was just an example, but even sites for reviewing household/body care products would be great. If you want a great whitening toothpaste, where would you look? Things like this are what I'm curious about. I know the CAG community is one that certainly values quality (even though we may be cheap ) so I hope...

Hello CAG, I haven't posted in a while and felt like I should sum up what I did this month. I made a few good pickups, and made some good progress in my games.

Gaming Pickups:
As far as pickups, I got a PS3 got a great bundle off of eBay, an 80 GB console (Backwards compatible) with 8 Games and a bluetooth headset for $264 shipped. I actually don't want 7 of the games but they're all pretty popular titles (MW2, MGS2, MAG, etc.) that I'm gonna sell back on eBay to make back about $100. Overall, I think it'd be tough to beat this deal on a PS3 so I'm pleased

In terms of actual games pickups, I got lots for my 360. I grabbed Splinter Cell Conviction Collector's Edition, Lost Planet Collector's Edition, Condemned 1/2, and an RPG bundle of Fable 2/Lost Odyssey/Two Worlds. Two Worlds is garbage but I snagged that bundle for $21 so I thought it was a pretty good deal for the other 2 alone. I'm already reselling Splinter Cell because my friend and...

This all at one store, mind you:

Red Bull (DS) 4 x .27
Final Fantasy IV (DS) 2 x 2.97
Rock Revolution (DS) 1.97
Bakugan Battle Brawlers (PS3) 2 x 4.97
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (PS3) 4.97
Lego Rock Band (PS3) 4.97
Muramasa (Wii) 2 x 4.97
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (PS3) .47
Stuntman Ignition (360) .47
Viva Pinata (360) 1.97
Spyborgs (Wii) 1.97
Medieval Games (1.97)
Total 48.39

DiRT 2 (360) 9.97
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (PS3) 2 x .97
Total 12.62

Well, I've managed to buy a few games that I've been waiting to get

Last week from Glyde.com I got Alan Wake (360) for $35.81. The game came spotless and even came with the code for future DLC I haven't started the game yet because I wanted to watch the "Bright Falls" mini series on YouTube first, and lemme say, it was creepy as hell. Very pleased with the Glyde service, and actually have sold 8 games and counting. I find it much more convenient than eBay, though the wait times on shipping can be a killer. I encourage everyone to at least give it a shot though.

My next pick-up hasn't gotten here yet, but it was a steal. My girlfriend and I played the demo for Split/Second (360) and she really liked it (she's a Burnout fan. Yes, she is awesome ) So I was glad to get in on the GameStop.com glitch where select games were 50% off new. The cart came to 29.99, but I emailed them that I had a $10 off code and was told that I would be credited. After...

Well I obviously won't be delving into MY first time here, though this is my first blog on CAG I'm quite glad I've found this site, as it's taught me how much it can pay off to wait for games to drop in price and find good deals. This has made me hold back to the point that I stopped wanting a few games completely, which is a nice way to save cash.

Moving forward, let's go over my game interests. During the recent GameStop Buy 2 Get 1 Free, I had trouble finding anything that I really wanted to buy. I have lots of GS credit but I'm holding onto it for the time being. I love the Mass Effect series, I enjoy competitive games online (both shooters and sports), and I'm finding Final Fantasy 13 to be pretty enjoyable. I'm very interested in Alan Wake, and can't wait for that to come down in price. I guess to sum up my interests, my favorite 3 genres would be:

1. Competitive shooters/sports
2. RPGs
3. Survival Horror

So being that this is...