Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All: completed!

I played this a bit in Egypt, but finished off the last case over the weekend. The third case was a bit tricky in places, but the last case was just a bit pants. It went from being very linear and obvious to the infuriating problem of having a clear solution but having a stupid circuitous route to get there. I want to present the spy camera now, not after going to the police station to have it explained what it is.

Anyway, finished now, and I even waded through the very long endstory. How was I supposed to know that I should have given Edgeworth the whip? I gave him the figurine. It seemed more apt.

Halo 3: you lucky bugger

I won an online game! Really convincingly!

Halo 3 has a section in its matchmaking aimed specifically at beginners, to help you learn the maps and the rules and the changes to controls. I'm still adjusting to look-on-right, and particularly weapon collect being on a shoulder button, so I feel justified in playing there. For the first couple of games, I came second or third - and then came the rampage.

I got nine kills in a row. I threw a grenade around a corner as both opponents approached it (prompting the exclamation in the title). I killed with the battle rifle, needler (so much more powerful than in Halo 2), grenades, pistol and spiker. And my fists. I won the game 25-14-11 - yes, I got as many kills as my opponents put together. Monumental. It won't happen again.

One of the funniest bits was when I turned a corner to find a firefight between Mucky Bandit and Spitmonkey. Mucky Bandit had just dropped a bubble shield, so he was protected. He evidently wasn't watching his radar very well, since I could just walk up and ...

Straight after that, Spitmonkey jumped through the shield and I punched him - and he fell over the side of the level to his death.

I almost wanted to never play it again, to bask in glory. But that would be daft, so I played a few proper matchmaking games and was back to my rubbish self.

Halo 2: possible salvation

Rather than continuing from my last save, I looked at the chapter list - and the chapter following "Regret" is listed ... meaning I can carry on from that point (although I'll probably miss the cutscene). Well, theoretically I can - my disc won't load it. How frustrating!

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All: clowning around

While the game is mostly great, the some of the characters are starting to ... well, grate. Moe the Clown, for example, with his constant laughing at himself and failure to get to the point. Von Karma with her constant whipping - it's just too far-fetched.

I'm around halfway through the third case, and I think I can see where it's going - Max had a life-size bust, Moe saw the silhouette of his face, someone else could wear his cloak - but I'm enjoying getting there.

Halo 2: a wasted hour

Last night, I continued the single-player game. I fought my way to a lake, and across to a temple, where the prophet sat. After a number of attempts I finally managed to kill him, and saw the cutscene. And then my Xbox 360 told me that the disc was dirty or damaged, and put me back to the dashboard.

I was sure that I'd gone past a number of big checkpoints, but on restarting and electing to play from my last save, it put me back to the sniper valley. Over an hour down the drain.

Good job it's fun to play.