Well I picked up Age of Empires III yesterday, and I must say I am very impressed. I think this is the best version of the game yet. Everything seems smoother and more refined, the graphics are improved, and it's very fun. If you only have $50 to spend right now and need to choose which game I think you should look into this one before Civilization IV. The new card system in the game at first seemed a little "cheap" to me - but as I've played through the majority of the first campaign already I must say I love it now.

The balance of things may shift again, however, as I've also received Call of Duty 2 which I plan on installing shortly. I've always been a huge fan of this series as WWII FPS's really satisfy me. You need to get some Band of Brothers (DVD collection is available for fairly cheap at places like Amazon) playing on the TV while you play it for some extra realism.

I have finally found a forum software that I can use both at AR and Demu. Unfortunately I don't have the technical skills to install it (and backup the old one incase someting goes wrong in the upgrade process) so I'm currently looking for someone to help me out. Maybe I can Grades or Lone Lee into it... if you see them around give them a nudge and tell them to help me out