....here's one completely unrelated to MGS4.

Oh yes, I so did.

So here's the deal. I've actually never had spaghetti and meatballs before. Yep. I live in New York, one of the most culturally diverse places in the entire world, and I've had foods from several ethnicities. But the one thing that's always eluded me - spaghetti and meatballs. It's not like I didn't want to try it.... it's just that I never got around to it. That all changed a few days ago.

I ordered the dish for the first time ever, sitting in an Italian restaurant by my house. I was pretty excited. Why, you ask? Well, this has to be one of the most praised dishes of all time. Seriously. People keep talking about the stuff, how it's their favorite dish, how they have a family recipe that's been perfected through the generations, etc. So I bought into the hype.

Then my food came. The smell was nice, but the actual taste? A resounding meh. I mean it certainly wasn't bad by any means, but I guess I just expected more considering how lauded it is. Or maybe the guy didn't cook it right.

"No, don't do it Mold!", some say.

"Good God, what are you thinking man?", others say.

"Think about the children!", still others say.

Nay, nay I say! Reject the notion that playing two games at the same time is a horrible idea, and detracts from the enjoyment of both. I say that this is one of the more refreshing approached I've taken to gaming, even if it is very simple. So, unless you haven't already guessed by now, I have copies of both GTA IV and Okami in my possession right now. I can safely say that these are two of the best games of this gen and the one before it, respectively. Here's more on each of them individually.

Grand Theft Auto IV - I'll be honest here. GTA III may just be my all-time favorite game. No matter how much of a sheep I am, the GTA series is the closest of a "system seller" as I can possibly have. Now, when R* revealed that players will return to Liberty City yet again in number IV, some people were upset. I was one of the few people that were glad, ecstatic even. It's just an amazing environment, with so much to see and do. Heck, I wouldn't even minded if they just had a graphically updated version of number III's LC. But of course, R* did me a solid and added two new islands and completely revamped the others. The audio/visual presentation is as good as ever, the combat is improved, the online multiplayer is good fun, and the story is miles beyond that of any GTA. I'm only at 36% in, with about $51,000 to my name, but I can still say that this is gaining ground on the top spot of my "favorite games" list. Now, I could probably spend hours taking about the little details that matter, but I'd rather spare you. This is the kind of game that you probably already know if you'll like it or not.

Okami - Man, how could I have possibly missed this the first time through? This game is epic, in every sense of the word. It's funny, it shares many of the positives with GTA IV (great story, memorable characters, fun combat) even though they are worlds apart in concept and execution. I have the Wii version, and even though it's not significantly different from the PS2 version, the motion controls are pretty neat; there's something incredibly fun in using the Wii remote as a virtual paintbrush. The visuals are.... well, words can't do it justice. Seriously. Screenshots don't do the game any justice. The actual game on a television screen is downright insane. It's an artistic tour-de-force. The game world is huge as well, and with so much to explore and find out, the hours just keep racking up. Some people say that this game is a lot like the Legend of Zelda. Well my response to that is: "is that really even a bad thing?".

So, as you probably already know, these two games can't possibly be any different from each other. Most people advise against playing two games simultaneously, but 'tis a great success. I have both games in my 360 and Wii disc drives, respectively, and I'm playing both titles at the same time (well obviously not exactly at the same time since I have one television set, but you get the point) and loving both. Mix and match two completely different games sometimes - it can lead to some absurdly hilarious results.