My MONTH in gaming...yikes

Well, things really got off the wagon in the middle portion of December until now.  Exams, the holiday break and dealing with early semester troubles didn't lend to me logging in what I've been playing, but I've played quite a few games over the last month until completion. Among VVVVVV, Machinarium, Read Dead Redemption, Alan Wake and Mass Effect 2 (which I just started this morning) VVVVVVV and Alan Wake really stand out. 
 
VVVVVV 
This is a platformer like no other.  Amazing music, great gameplay and originality to the core.  It's as though someone went into the future in the 80's, learned about modern game design, went back in time and made the game and then died only to have it released some twenty years later.  I can not say praise this game enough for just how much fun I had with it.  It's something that everyone should experience and fall in love with. 
 
ALAN WAKE!!!! 
This game definitely caught me by surprise.  I really did not know a lot about it going into it, despite the long development cycle and middling, hopeful hype surrounding it.  Having blown through the main game and two dlc add-ons in a little over a week I still want more of it.  The story is extremely compelling, albeit not completely original, however, the tone and atmosphere are as good if not better than most other games out on the market.  I plan on writing a review for it, so I won't go into anymore depth, but this is a new franchise that I'm extremely interested in seeing where it goes.  It doesn't need a sequel, but rather, 1 or 2 more episodes to close the "book" on this writer's tale.