Didn't expect to play these games.

No matter what I say I'm getting, there's always surprises and impulse buys that add more to my collection.

For example, Clark and I quite liked the demo of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, which is out this week. I'm a little worried about track variety, since the tracks are based on only four or five gameworlds and they could, you know, be based on ten gameworlds. Also, the PS3 version does not get any exclusive characters, while both Wii and 360 do. #signsofthesonypocalypse.

Still, a trophy-enabled high-def version of Mario Kart would be no bad thing. The big monkey in the wrench is that sometime, someday, ModNation Racers will come out, and I'm not sure I need two trophy-enabled high-def versions of Mario Kart.

Then there's Darksiders. Which is simplistically stupid, dreamed up by the same sort of infants who made God of War. It's the kind of thing that Strong Bad would make fun of... all heavy metal, faux-deep thinking and sharp spiky character designs. I'm safely outside the demographic on this.

But here's why I bought it: because if you buy Darksiders before March, you get Red Faction: Guerrilla for free. +$5 S&H. And by all accounts that one is an overlooked gem from last fall, with people that I didn't even know played that kind of game coming out with big props for it.

This weekend, Target had Darksiders on sale for $50. So that's now two 7 or 8-rated games for $55. Not bad at all.

I'm rough on Darksiders for the embarrassing high school dropout imagery it brings to the table, but the game itself seems solid. That, at least, is the legacy of God of War. The setting and characters may be trite and uncreative, but we can expect good gameplay. It's worth $25, sure. There are plenty of times when all you need is a brutish, mindless brawler, and Darksiders has enough Legend of Zelda adventure elements that it will keep me invested in it.