To write something of this magnitude takes a tremendous amount of time and doing it as quickly as possible to meet the demands of the gaming community (ie:  those of you who have been waiting on a walkthrough to help you get through the game) requires that all of that time be packed into a very short span of days. 

That said, I owe a HUGE chunk of gratitude to my wife, Jen.  Her show of patience while I hyper-focused on getting this done was nothing short of phenomenal, in addition to the fact that she bent over backwards to make sure I got my PS3 on it's launch date to make this even possible.  (No, neither of us camped outside a retail store for 3 days!)  My full absorption in a project like this can be irritating at best.  Her and three of her friends could have had a nude dance party right here in the living room and I probably would have missed it because of my tunnel vision.

Thanks to my family, who have encouraged me for YEARS to think about writing as a profession.  It's been a slow start, but things have started moving and the future looks bright.  Without that encouragement I would never have started my own business and volunteered to be broke for so long.  I'm still broke, but nothing is better than being my own boss and working from home.

Thanks also to Tom Broomfield of Vermont.  Tom is a friend I have acquired fairly recently on the IGN Message Boards (Saint's Row still rocks!)  Tom's daily encouragement is what keeps me doing this kind of thing and a shining example of the awesome people that make up the gaming community.  His push to get finished so we could play Gears of War online helped too.  Some poor slobs didn't get a PS3 last month.

Big huge thank you to Steve at IGN FAQ's!  I am honored that you thought enough of my work to ask me to do this guide for you.  Maybe someday I'll dig my way out of the Michigan snow and make it out to sunny California to shake your hand in person.

Most all the gratitude, however, goes to you . . .the gamers that use this guide.  If it weren't for you, there would be no need to write it and as with any game guide, someone has to be there to watch the back of the author.  I'm sure it won't be long before the e mails start to come in and new ideas, methods and suggestions get added to this guide as a result of your input.  Peace, my friends, and good gaming!