I'm short on time this morning, so I need to make this brief.

The "Desktop Tower Defense" challenge didn't go so well yesterday. Multiplayer gaming on Casualcollective.com is still a bit buggy. But I'll be back on there hopefully tomorrow to see if it's improving. I can confirm that the people I did face-off with on the game over there did not beat me.

Last night I started "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows," which a friend told me is the best super-hero game ever made. If that's the case, then the best super-hero game ever made has poor voice-acting, clunky graphics, and a clumsily paced introduction. But... after about 30 minutes, the game begins teaching the player such a spectacular move set -- and begins layering on so many fun combat and collectible-driven challenges -- that none of the faults really matter.

Web-swinging into a crowd of enemies with foot extended for a thug-punting kick is a blast. I don't expect to tire soon of walking up walls or using a web to hop from enemy to enemy without ever touching the ground or performing so many more of the game's crazy moves.

This game is rough. But it's also extremely fun.

In what has been a summer of hype for an unusual crop of autumn games, my head's been turned by -- surprise -- a "Spider-Man" game.

I have considered the virtual adventures of Peter Parker to have been solid games in recent years, miss-able for a games reporter who prioritizes covering that which is potentially excellent. But an Activision press conference during E3 last month included an impressive trailer of a new Spider-Man game's aerial combat. And a demonstration by an Activision producer of that game last week proved to me the game is for real.

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