(The Holiday Season)

It's finally here. After the long drought that has taken place between E3 and now, the busy time for gamers like myself has finally arrived. November in particular is going to be a busy one for me.

To start off, a week from today, I will be heading to Philadelphia. For the second year, I will be covering the PhillyClassic gaming show for GiN. But this year, the event is much larger than the previous efforts. It has even changed its name. No longer being called PhillyClassic, the event is now called America's Videogame Expo, or simply put, VGXpo, and is now spreading across three cities. Back in August it was held in Dallas, Texas, and Washington, DC, and next week the last leg will take place in Philadelphia.

I know a lot of people are out there asking me "why didn't I go to the Washington DC event?" Simple. VGXpo originated in the Philadelphia area, and I knew that would be the best of the three locations. In addition, some of the key sponsors that I wanted to see (i.e. AtariAge, Videogame.net, et al) were not present for the DC show.

Sure it will be great to relive all the classic arcade games set on Free Play. Maybe I should bring my 25th Anniversary Pac Man cabinet to demo as well. It will also be great to relive all the classic consoles, and those rare "holy grail" systems (would be the second time I've seen the Entex AdventureVision; the first time being at E3). Even taking part in LAN and PSP Ad Hoc parties will be quite the experience.

But the thing I am looking forward to the most is seeing the game parody movie "Project Snake: Low Budget Espionage," a live action spoof of the PS1 classic Metal Gear Solid. I've seen some production shots, and from what I can tell, it looks interesting. I'm sure that X-Strike Studios would do a much better job in a game-based movie than Hollywood has done in recent years. Maybe Uwe Boll might be in attendance and have some sense knocked into him.

In any event, the fun begins a week from Saturday, and full show details can be found at www.vgxpo.com. I will be covering the event, including live pictures, to post with my following commentary.

Of course, that's not the only big event that I have to deal with this month. There's also a little matter involving something called the Xbox 360. Now that my system is paid in full, all that holds me from having my own 360 is whether or not I can slip into the first shipment.

As of right now, I am slated for the second shipment, but hopefully I can get in touch with a few of my connections and end up with a brand new 360 Premium Pack at the night of the launch. Unless I receive any new reviewable titles when the system comes out, I will be starting my 360 collection with Madden 06, Quake 4, and if it doesn't get delayed (like every Rare title does,) Perfect Dark Zero.

However, as I recently obtained a final version of Quake 4 on the PC, so I might end up switching my pre-order for it with that of another 360 title, most likely Project Gotham Racing 3. In any event, this is a big month for gamers, especially those who were lucky enough to pre-order an Xbox 360.

If not, there's always eBay, but only if you're willing to shell out at least a grand.

CURRENTLY PLAYING: Quake 4 (PC), Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (PlayStation 2)

WAITING FOR: Xbox 360, SIRIUS S50, VGXpo