The problem with new games is that the ones you've been waiting for tend to come out before you've finished the previous batch. What's worse, they usually go on sale the next week, making you wonder if you should go ahead and buy the game now or possibly wait 6-12 months for it to be permanently marked down (usually when the next update/sequel is released). I faced such a dilemma with the latest Zoo Tycoon 2 update, African Adventure. My only complaint with the series thus far is that there is a serious lack of scenarios for the player to do. The original game had less than 20 and the first expansion pack (Endangered Species) added less than a dozen to that. So I created this "challenge zoo" that I've been using to unlock all of the other bonuses/awards/etc. that are embedded in the game. These usually involve things like having a certain number of visitors or a certain number of animals from specific regions, etc. There are also photographic challenges where you have to take pictures of animals doing certain behaviors, which is a fun way to see how much work went into making the animals behave as naturally as possible (yesterday I took a picture of a mountain gorilla chuckling). Completing these challenges often earns you certificates, but sometimes you get something nice to put in your zoo, like a statue or a new kiosk for your guests.

So when the price dropped, I knew I was going to have to get ZT2: African Adventure. And it's a good thing I waited until the price dropped. While the new expansion has 20 new animals from Africa (including my favorite, the pygmy hippo), it is very light on other content. It only offers a handful of new objects for the zoo, challenge awards and exactly three new scenarios! For this, Microsoft expects consumers to hand over $29.99 - a price one would expect to pay for a complete game, not an expansion.

Gamecreature Arcade Update: This weekend we took the control panel off and removed the buttons and hardware in preparation for adding the new controls. The wood is in great shape. This week we'll be layering on the wood putty to fill up the old holes. THe next step will be to sand everything down to prepare it for the new control panel artwork. I hope this works!