The 10th Hour 09.05.08: Top 10 Least Favorite Critically Acclaimed Games

Posted by Derek Robbins on 09.05.2008

There are a lot of good games and a lot of bad games but only a select few are critically acclaimed. That doesn't always mean they're good though. This week 411's Derek Robbins breaks down 10 games that critics really enjoyed but he didn't.

Hello and welcome to the 10th hour! As always, there are a couple of tangents I would like to go off on before I get into the meat of the column.

-I was discussing with Drew about the year so far in gaming, and I have to say…compared to last year it's been a huge improvement. Already there are three or four titles that are in contention for GOTY and it's not even the holiday season yet. I wouldn't go so far to say it's been one of the best years EVER but it feels like 1998 in comparison to last year.

-The Cubs have lost five straight games at home – SERIOUSLY – and naturally the fanbase is freaking the fuck out. You just need to calm down and remember that every team in baseball history has gone through a slump. Look at the past couple world series champions and you will see that they had losing streaks in September as well. We'll be fine. Of course, I assume a lot of the people freaking out are bandwagoners, so maybe you should just jump off that bandwagon now eh?

-Looking at the calendar I can't help but realize that it is September…you do realize what September means, don't you? It's MEGAMAN 9 TIME. Oh God, I can't wait. The days are racking up slowly but soon enough I'll be playing through that glorious pixilated mess.

Well this is where I would normally place your feedback and reply to it…problem is I didn't write the 10th hour last week! Mark Salmela took over for me and did a wonderful job in doing so. Let's see…so far we've had four different 10th hour writers. Drew, Mark Salmela, Mike Minotti, and myself…who will be next in line? I dunno, I think I'll choose between Rod Oracheski and Theo Fraser if they want to. Whatever the case, no feedback this week because I can't speak for Mark. Sorry!



Top-10 Critically Acclaimed Games I don't like

This week I've decided to run down some games that the critics really enjoy…that I just don't think are that great. That's not to say that they aren't GOOD games. A couple of the games that appear on this list I will admit are well-made and there must be something wrong, perhaps mentally, with myself for not liking them.

Also, this shouldn't be confused with my over-rated games list because I actually LIKED those games. On this list, it's only stuff I don't like so with that out of the way, let's get started…

Oh, and one word. Madden games and sport titles are ineligible because, quite frankly, this list would just be sports titles if I went by that standard.

Also of note, order is a bit loose on this one. The number 1 and 2 are definitely my two least favorite though.

10-) The Splinter Cell Franchise - I'm not sure what it is about Splinter Cell that repels me so much. After all, most of you know that the Metal Gear Solid franchise is probably one of my favorite franchises ever…so why can't I share that love for Splinter Cell? Well, one problem with the game is that the story never drew me in. Tom Clancy titles rarely have narrative that draws me in…but when you're going toe-to-toe with Solid Snake you best have a gun worth firing, and maybe I am missing something…I just didn't like it. I think the fact that I didn't enjoy the story really hurt my enjoyment of the game as a whole.

A lot of the mechanics felt really awkward to me…and often times when struggling ahead I would ask myself: "Why am I doing this again?" The motivation would not be there and I would just inevitably quit. Now, listen, I understand that Pandora Tomorrow apparently included a very interesting tale but the fact is that the original left such a bad taste in my mouth that I never felt the urge to play further…no matter what rave reviews were saying. I also had a problem with the fact everything was dark. Don't mis-understand me…I get that it makes things more realistic. It's far from realism to have an old man in a muscle suit sneaking around the middle east fighting robots but like…at least it felt fun. I never had an ounce of fun with the splinter cell franchise.

I admit that my bias towards Metal Gear Solid may be the reason this game appears on this list. Who knows, in a world where there is no such thing as Solid Snake…perhaps Sam Fischer is competing for my heart. The fact is, this world DOES have Solid Snake…so Splinter Cell will probably never resonate with me.



9-) Devil May Cry 4 - I am a pretty big fan of the Devil May Cry franchise. Devil May Cry 1 and Devil May Cry 3 are among my favorite action games ever, especially the third since it was just action-game perfection. Insane difficulty, fun gameplay…the third DMC title had everything a fan of action games could possibly want. It's only natural given the quality of the third title that I would be eagerly awaiting the release of the fourth title. After all, even if it was like DMC 2 in quality it would at least be a PLAYABLE game. Now, it wasn't quite Devil May Cry 2 bad…but it just wasn't good.

The first sign that the game isn't any good is in the "new" character Nero. If you're going to go out and reveal a new character to your long-time fans why not just create a NEW character? From Nero's personality to the way he fights, you would be forgiven in thinking that he is, in fact, Dante. I guess the character designers got confused as well since the design for Nero is almost the exact same as Dante! It's kind of ludicrous when I think about…but let's be fair, why do characters matter? From a DMC stand-point characters don't really matter…they've always been fairly ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, the story in the game is still ridiculous. It doesn't feel like the original DMC where they full-out realize the story is stupid…they actually go out of their way to make the story feel serious when it isn't good enough to warrant such a direction. It's one thing to have a ridiculous story and revel in it like God Hand does…you can get away with that because then your game becomes almost satirical…but DMC? It doesn't do that and it comes off poorly in the process.

Devil May Cry has never been a franchise that's been strong on story…it's all about the gameplay. Well, what do they do with the gameplay here? Everything feels rather generic. Throughout each characters levels I got this massive feeling of "been here-done that"…now I understand that it's a sequel and feelings of such should be NATURAL but if you had told me this game was Devil May Cry 1 with updated graphics and lower, easier difficulty I would have been like: "Okay, yeah, I can see that." Very lazy, very Capcom-like…

Speaking of lazy, I sure do love how they loop the same bosses over and over again throughout the game and how you play through each level twice but as a different character. I guess they said: "Okay, shit, the game is like four hours long with just Nero…how can we make it longer?" So they added Dante and had him play through the same levels for a few hours. It just…rubs me the wrong way. Devil May Cry 4 could have been so much more and in the end it was a waste of my time…and probably your time as well.

- Slut it up a little, Lady.

8-) Oblivion I do not like WRPGs. There, I've said it. I find the entire genre to be a massive waste of time and offer you a ton of promise with no delivery. I can count the number of WRPGs I have enjoyed with one hand. Even then, I'd probably only need a couple of fingers. I had heard a ton of hype surrounding the latest Elder Scrolls game so I decided to give it a shot…hoping that maybe, MAYBE I could up the magical "Good WRPG Count"

I was wrong, I did not enjoy myself at all. First of all, the entire experience is plodding at best. It's so slow developing and while it offers you a ton of options for character development…I find it horribly lame that no matter which path you take you always wind up with the same ending. This is not so much a complaint about Oblivion but a complaint about WRPGs in general. They offer you a plethora of options…a plethora of things you can do with your characters but no matter what happens the ending will ALWAYS be the same.

This could all be forgiven if the game was at least fun to play, but the first person combat system is clunky at best. It's interesting to tool around with for a while since you don't play many first-person-sword-like games but…it gets tiring easily and even when you go out of first person mode the combat never felt anything more than a mash-the-button-to-swing-the-weapon game.

I wish I could go more into depth as to why I dislike Oblivion…it seems obvious to me after all. All WRPGs fall into this trap. The problem is, I KNOW it's a good game and one that I should like. I should be there along with my fellow gaming brethren and shouting from the rooftops about how compelling this experience is…but I just don't see it, I'm sorry. What's so great about a world where NPCs have like three or so lines of dialogue? What's so great about a place where you can do anything but…your final destination is the same? I guess it makes you feel like you're playing in an actual world since everything is so big and epic in scope, but if I felt like tooling around in an actual world I would tool around in mine.

- Many bad things came from Oblivion.

7-) Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - I have sort of a love-hate relationship with Final Fantasy VII. On one hand it's probably the one Final Fantasy I've beat more than any other. Why do I keep going back to it? I'm not sure…but it's a fun experience. That said, I've said many times that FF VII is one of the most over-rated games of all time and isn't even in the top-5 best Final Fantasy titles. I still care about the narrative, but I feel it gets more credit than it deserves…so I approached FF VII: Crisis Core with a mixed bag of enthusiasm and worry. I wanted to learn more about Zack Fair, who is essentially the Cloud you know from FF VII, and this was the only place in town I could do so.

Well first, let me get this out of the way. If you play FF VII: CC just for the story, you'll probably like it. Unlike Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which absolutely raped the story of Final Fantasy VII and taped the entire process to show millions of screaming fanboys, Crisis Core has a GOOD story. I found Zack to be quite the likable guy and I would argue that the ending to the game was not just tear worthy, but also the best ending to a PSP game…ever. It's not bad. The problem is, it is billed as an action-RPG so I'm NOT just playing this game for the story…how does the rest of the game hold up?

To say FF VII CC's combat system is a bit of a mess is an under-statement. They introduce a roulette system into the game that alternates between limit-style attacks, leveling up, and summoning. This is a TERRIBLE idea since you have no control over what happens. You can fight enemies for an hour and not level up but you can also find other people who level up two battles in a row. It's insane. Imagine if you were in a college course and instead of acknowledging the effort you put forth to do your assignments they just spin a wheel and if certain numbers show up you get an A. It also takes away any strategy from the limit system. Instead of having one and storing it for a specific moment you just use it whenever the roulette says so. It's bothersome and un-necessary. If they had simply put a more traditional leveling system up and allowed limit breaks to be used manually maybe the game wouldn't have appeared on this list.

Still though, there are more things to rag on about the battle system. If I had to compare it to something I would say it takes the worst parts out of Kingdom Hearts and the worst parts out of Final Fantasy XII and throws them together in a cess-pool of suck. To say it takes no skill to mash your way through battles is a bit of an under-statement. Oh sure, like, Hard mode is a little harder but it's still a bit of a joke.

In my mind, the story is something you don't want to miss out on…so if you can find videos of the story on the internet do yourself a favor and watch them. They're pretty good and worth your time. The game, on the other hand…isn't worth it. It falls just short of being tolerable and that's just such a shame since FF VII deserves better.



6-) Mortal Kombat Franchise Fighting games are a pleasure of mine. If you were to call me a glutton, Fighting games would be the feast I most prefer to dine on. In all honesty, if I had to rank my top-3 favorite genres they would be 1-) Fighting 2-) JRPG 3-) SRPG. For a fighting game to rank on this list they'd have to not only be bad, but exceptionally bad and I do believe Mortal Kombat fits the bill as far as this is concerned.

You may be thinking: "Well, you just mean the recent MKs right?" No sir, I do not. While recent MKs are deplorable as well, I really can't see why people still like the original Mortal Kombat games. I've gone back to try and play them several times but every time I do I find myself quitting shortly after. It's nowhere close to being as sophisticated as its main competition, Street Fighter…it just is baffling to me.

My main assumption is that the only reason we even remember the game at all today is because it is ultra violent. In that sense, it was a bit of a pioneer…All of those ultra violent super mature games we see today owe a bit of gratitude to Mortal Kombat for being the violence pioneer. After all, MK was the first place we could see tons of gore, blood, and vicious killing on videogames. Again though, just because it was revolutionary doesn't mean it was good and I think a lot of people confuse those things.

I mean, seriously…the combat system in the game is sluggish. It feels like they pit two turtles in men costumes and had them fight each other. For goodness sakes, Duke Nukem Forever's development process thinks Mortal Kombat is a slow-ass fighter. Everyone seems to over-look the idea that it's slow and plodding simply because there is a load of blood and that just infuriates me.

I do feel like I need to give props to the graphics though. The characters had fairly realistic models and, for the time, I'd say it was darn pretty. That's one of the reason this title was the godfather of controversy. It'd be one thing for super cartoony characters to be removing each others spines but for somewhat realistic humans to be doing it is a whole ‘nother story.

MK is a trend-setting franchise that has a place in history but don't confuse it for a good franchise. Please. Well to be fair, the game DID have good music.

- He's no Ryu.

5-) Metroid Prime - I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this one. So before I get started writing about it, I'd like to preface this by saying that while I played it I could tell the game was good. It's not only good, it's great. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with its mechanics and it does some amazingly cool things worthy of praise. For instance, the bit of illumination on Samus's visor where you can see her face. That sort of thing adds a sense of personality to Samus and that's cool. If I was a normal person I KNOW I'd love Metroid Prime.

That said, it's on the list…so there's a reason for my disliking it. First of all, while I can tolerate the backtracking mechanics in Super Metroid, I can't tolerate them here. I'm guessing because in three dimensions you have more ways to experiment with things and due to this…it turns me off. There are parts of Metroid Prime 1 where I would have to force my way through it because…well…you had to backtrack. That chozo stuff was infuriating.

While I do have fun with the shooting mechanics and think they are pretty well executed…I'd have had more fun with another 2D Metroid. That's why I found myself preferring Metroid Fusion which was released around the same time. It has all the elements of classic Metroid but without the things that, when translated into 3D, are super annoying and tedious. I do admire what Retro Studios did with this game since, at the time, turning Metroid into a First Person Action game was a sin. People were rioting the streets when they thought Samus and James Bond had something in common…but most people enjoyed the game so that dilemma quickly faded.

It just wasn't for me. Metroid Prime 2 wasn't either. I tried to love the two games, I REALLY did…but I found a lot of the games mechanics, which many would consider strong points, to be simply troublesome. Metroid Prime 3 came out and totally shifted my thinking on the series. First of all, while there is some back tracking involved it gets nowhere close to what you will find in the other games and to compliment this revolution they also throw in some of the best controls a console game has ever received. That deserves recognition.

Metroid Prime is a great game that you should play. I can almost guarantee you'll sucker some enjoyment out of it. I would never, EVER argue that it's a bad game. It has good gameplay mechanics that appeal to most people…the problem is I am not "most people" and the game just doesn't appeal to me. I am sorry.



4-) God of War 2 - This game actually appeared on my top-20 games of last year list I do believe and to be honest even then I wasn't the biggest fan of the game. I ended up putting it on the list because, well…I figured EVERYONE ELSE likes it so it must be good. To be fair, it does have some really neat things that I could see a lot of people liking but when I sit and ponder on it for a while I really…don't see what the big freaking deal is.

The original God of War had an interesting story that wasn't…like…stupid. I mean it's not going to win any awards for superb writing in the video game industry but it was serviceable. The story in God of War 2 goes beyond simply being serviceable and heads into Devil May Cry territory of "ridiculous". Is there a figure in Greek Mythology that you quite enjoy? Do you find yourself an Odysseus guy? Do you like Hermes? WELL GUESS WHAT. Odds are you will be running into them at some point. I guess they wanted to appease all the greek nerds out there but…it just screams to me: "WE WANT YOU TO LIKE THIS"

Like Matt Hardy, the PS2 simply won't die. God of War II is such a fantastic game and is a worthy sequel to the original. It has an interesting story and a lot of fun action.

That right there is the single lamest thing I have ever written for the 10th hour. The story isn't interesting at all! I guess I must have been high on 300 fumes (I do mention it in the section) because there is no way any sane person could think the narrative is "interesting". Well, err, in my defense I didn't say good at least.

Again though, this isn't the sort of game you'd play for the story. Not even I am naïve enough to assume this. The problem with the gameplay here is that, to be quite honest…it takes about no skill. A lot of the time I found myself jamming on the square-button. I realize that you can jam your way through SEVERAL games out there, but for a game that prides itself on gameplay this is just inexcusable in my opinion. Perhaps God Hand and its "If you mash through me you will die" methodology has spoiled me. I just don't think a high-profile action game like this should be a masher though.

This game is sort of…it's just a guy game I guess. You've got breasts, you've got violence, you've got cursing. It just panders to males. I must have fallen into the same trap when I purchased this game…and I wish I wouldn't have because despite all the hype GoW 2 is not only NOT a worthy successor to the original but it's also NOT worth your money.

Pre-2008 10th hour is terrible. I apologize to anyone who had to read that garbage.



3-) Tales of Symphonia - You may remember that way up there in the fighting game section I claim that my second favorite genre out of all the known ones out there is Japanese Role Playing Games. I guess I just love whatever stories they churn out so much that I am blinded by all other facets of the game. Or perhaps they can be all-around good games such as Persona 3 or Final Fantasy XII, I just don't know…but when a JRPG has a mind-numbingly bland story the rest of its imperfections just leap out at me.

First, let's touch on the story a bit. Let's just say that Seth McFarlane thinks that Tales of Symphonia has a cliché over-done story. When people say "generic anime storyline" in reference to games I truly believe they have this in mind. Nothing, and I mean nothing, about this game's plot stands out as memorable. It's just one big generic mess and when it comes to JRPGs I expect a bit more than that. What distinguishes Lloyd from someone like Adell from Disgaea 2 or any lame shonen hero? Nothing. Just bland.

Now let's go onto what many consider to be the game's saving grace, the combat. Let me preface this to the people who will say: "BUT YOU CAN'T MASH DURING CERTAIN BOSS BATTLES"…no shit. In any masher, even the aforementioned God of War, you have to think during boss battles every once in a while. Anyhow, as you can probably tell by my comments I'm going to say that the game is a masher. Yep, through pretty much the whole of the game – even during some boss battles – I found that the A-button was my best friend. Yeah, moving around the 2D field was nice but even that wasn't totally necessary at times. As long as my thumb was operable I could make my way through the game.

The Tales of Series is rather popular in both Japan and America and for the life of me I can't understand why. I've tried to enjoy these titles time in and time out and every time I bother with it I come out with a bad taste in my mouth. I hope Tales of Vesparia has been pleasant to all of you who bought it and is exactly what you thought it was…I just know I will never touch the title because, well…it's not for me I guess. A JRPG not for a fan of JRPGs. Harumph!



2-) Animal Crossing - The year is 2002. I am looking through my usual game magazines, looking to see if anything is out that will catch my eyes. In EGM they praised this game to the ends of the earth and it even received some praise in the Official Playstation Magazine, so I could be forgiven in thinking that this title would appeal to me. After all, if a magazine praises something a competitor has it's got to be good, right?

Well, uhm, it's not. Animal Crossing is a game that promises full interactivity with the villagers within your town and I find that its promises fall flat. When you write letters to the towns people, no matter how vile the contents of said letter may be they thank you for it and tell you how nice the letter was. I sent a member of my town, Izzy, one of the most profane mails I have ever sent to anyone in my life and when my brother Drew was talking to Izzy they showed him the letter and then Izzy proceeded to talk about how NICE OF A LETTER IT WAS. I am a fan of interactivity, but this doesn't seem very interactive to you does it?

On top of this, the game offers you roughly 15 minutes a day of gameplay. You fish for a while, dig around for fossils, maybe write a couple of mails to your hombres, pull some weeds, and arrange your house for a bit. Once it's done, you're done for the day and are forced to find other things to do. Oh sure, I understand that you're supposed to play this game for a very long time and making you play for elongated periods of time for a year's length or longer could have been harrowing…but if even an HOUR of gameplay a day could have been implemented perhaps my opinion would be fonder?

This is the sort of game I feel doesn't lend itself well to consoles. I feel like I am wasting my time when I play the Gamecube version. I feel like, wow, 15 minutes of my life have passed and I'll never get them back. Even when I explore towns of friends I find myself tiring of it quickly. On a portable system, however…it feels like less of a waste of time. While I'm waiting to catch my bus to SIU I can play Animal Crossing, when a Cubs game is on I can play Animal Crossing…it seems much more efficient and is probably why I greatly prefer Wild World over the original. That said though, I still don't think WW is all that great.

Perhaps the new wii game with all of its supposed online features will change my mind and have me embrace the series but I truly doubt it. Animal Crossing in the end feels like a dumbed down, uglier version of the Sims. It may claim to offer increased interactivity but it doesn't really. It has things that make you think you're interacting with the critters but it's all a big ruse. Part of the big reasons E3 was a big disappointment to me is because Nintendo's big announcement was Animal Crossing: Wii. I hate Animal Crossing.

- They made a movie outta' this?

1-) Halo: Combat Evolved - When Halo first came out, every magazine in the history of the world was orgasming about just how damn good this game was. To be fair, when you assembled enough people together and played 16-player LAN matches it was pretty fun but I defy you to find a shooter that ISN'T fun with 16-guys in the same room. When you take Halo into consideration, LAN parties shouldn't be a factor. They're always fun, regardless of the game…so does this hurt Halo at all?

Yes. To call the Single Player campaign in Halo 1 a joke is almost a compliment. It is a plodding nightmare and it deserves derision from all sources. You know what I really enjoy? I enjoy wondering around lost in a level for several minutes because I can't tell where I am going due to all the backgrounds being the same. I don't care if you're playing the game on co-op or what have you, the library is one of the worst levels in video game history. There are other areas in Halo where backgrounds loop like it's going out of style, but that level just brings it all to its head.

As if that wasn't enough, there's not one thing about Halo's experience that is fresh or unique. I guess the vehicles are kind of neat…but you find that a lot of the more serious players turn them off and when you do that what distinguishes Halo from something like Goldeneye or Perfect Dark? Nothing really, I guess the graphics are bigger and playing on the duke is more frustrating…but other than that, what's really new about Halo? Nothing.

A lot of people think Halo 1 is the best instance of the franchise, but I think it's just because there's a number 1 in front of it. As we all know, every sequel ever is worse than the original no matter what. Halo 2 and 3 may practically be the same game but at least they fix their problems with the campaign mode. You no longer loop through the same backgrounds…and it's actually kind of fun. On top of this, if you can't get a LAN together – which I stress, is fun NO MATTER WHAT SHOOTER YOU ARE PLAYING – those two games offer online play for fun multiplayer no matter the situation.

Halo: Combat Evolved is due a lot of credit because it brought a lot of people over to Microsoft's bandwagon and helped keep the new entrant into the console wars afloat. That doesn't make it a good game. I don't care what anyone says, I think Halo: CE was a bad, over-rated title that gets significantly more credit than it deserves.

And as mentioned it kept Microsoft in the console game. The 360 is good and all but wouldn't we rather have Sega there? (Yes, yes, I know the PS2 was what ultimately killed the Dreamcast but still…I am allowed to be bitter)



Well, that's it for this week. As always you can feel free to comment below or shoot me an e-mail at [e-mail] Now that my computer is back up and normal I can actually e-mail you back so don't be shy about it…I'm curious as to what you have to say. What critically acclaimed games do you not like? Feel like an outcast with me!

Before I sign off though, let's see what's going on around 411 mania's game section shall we?

Jordan "The Ogre" Williams further examines the Megaman franchise in this week's working titles. He talks about the current state of Megaman…which is pretty much grounded in portable consoles. As he says, most of them are awful but there are a couple good games. Also, I totally agree…Monkey Island is fantastic

Owain "The Letter" J. Brimfield writes The Wonder Years and it's coming to a close. As part of a blow-out end of column super sell Owain brings us the first part of a top-20 best 16-bit era games. So far, so good…Earthbound is a LITTLE low on the list but I am just glad you included it.

This week on the PC-centric Extravaganza Chris Evans breaks down the Gamer's Bill of Rights and also has some Fallout 3 news for us. We don't have much PC-coverage on this site so show Chris some love

Dr...wait...MARK SALMELA wrote coming attractions this week. He mentions how Infinite Undiscovery was getting a THUMBS WAY DOWN from him and looks like he was right after all. Good call Mark. Don't let those crazy scalliwags perturb you, you did a good job filling in for me Drew.

Tommy Coloma moderates Fact or Fiction and this week the buffet of manliness known as myself takes on Rod "Gold" Oracheski in a match of wits. Questions include Square Enix taking over Tecmo and whether Mike Tyson's Punch Out was the finest boxing game ever.

John Curry, the Curry man, writes the Checkpoint. It's hot, it's spicy, and it tastes great. This week he demands less game movies. I dunno, some of them are so bad they're good. See: Mario Brothers The Movie.

I know this is a link to last week's 10th hour, but Mark wrote it and wanted to make sure to thank him again for doing it last week. It's over a subject I fawn over every week…and I could not have compiled a list that is much better. Great job Mark.

My opponent in Fact or Fiction, ROD ORACHESKI, writes Achievement Unlocked and this week he talks about one sport that consistently receives quality titles. Hockey! In a showdown of NHL 09 and NHL 2K9 he deems NHL 2K9 to have the better achievement list.

Tommy Coloma also writes the Negative Edge news report and he breaks the STORY OF THE YEAR…DISGAEA WILL HAVE A SIDE-SCROLLING PLATFORMER! This news makes me jump out of my chair in excitement. I love Disgaea, I love platforming, what could go wrong!?

Theo Fraser writes the Nintendophiles and apparently Street Fighter IV for the wii would not be a "kiddie" version of the game as some crazy people had feared. Good. Now just confirm the game already.

Vincent Chiucchi writes Select and Start News report. There doesn't appear to be a news report up for this week but make sure to check out last week's to show him some love. He does a good job.

Joe Roche updates on the same day as I do so this column is a bit old too, but make sure to check Roche's latest Full Circle when it updates later tonight.

I write B3yond the Report and you should read it because I am awesome.

Well that's it for this week. I'm out.

'til the Crossroads