The computer as a gaming platform has the ability to grow unbelievably. I wish Microsoft would make the 720 a program where developers can't pass certain technical specs. If you want that stamp of mainstream approval (the 720 stamp), you'd have to abide by the specs of the system.

They would then have to address one other problem, multiplayer gaming on one console. Which is really the only thing keeping me from becoming strictly a computer gamer. I've got the USB ports, technical specs, broadband, good sound output, etc. on my computer that would make it comparable to a 360 yet it's all solo gaming or one person per computer.

It's a farfetched idea, I guess, but how simple would it be to go to the store and buy a 720 game or better yet buy them online on a new downloadable service Microsoft could make. Similar to XBLA.

To me that makes too much sense. If I could get rid of all of this clutter with TVs, game consoles, DVD/CD cases, and maybe even books I would. Compile it all onto my computer. That's an ideal world for me. But it'd be an ideal world for entertainment as well: One device that gives you access to everything electronic besides light bulbs. (monitors do provide a light source.)

BTW I pre-ordered Mirror's Edge last week after playing the demo. Since then I've played through the demo probably 5 more times, watched it another 5 times, and tried setting high scores on the time trials for hours. The concept is really good for everyone.

I also bought EXIT for XBLA and it seems wicked cool though I haven't gotten far enough into it yet to really say.

Wishlist:

BUY:

-Beautiful Katamari

-Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix

I don't really care to look into Gears of War 2 anymore. But I will play it at friends' houses.

I hadn't played it previously just seen videos. the textures are a little amateurish but the lighting effects and art style even that out. The game has great quirkiness to it too. "I don't blame you." Says a turret-bot in a polite computer generated voice after you destroy it, even though it was just shooting a machine gun at you.

The game really messes with your sense of reality in some ways though. After I finish playing it I think about portals in my room and stuff flying around through them, just because I'm so dizzy. The optical illusions in this game justify buying it but there's a great, simple game with solid personality to it.

Christmas wishlist:

BUY:

-Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix

-Beautiful Katamari

RENT:

-Mirror's Edge

-Far Cry 2

NEXT YEAR:

-Street Fighter 4

Currently playing:

-Schizoid

-Portal

-Halo 3

-Smash Brawl

-Halo 3 (gotta go back through the campaign)

-F-Zero GX

-Killer 7

-Mega Man 9

-Mario Galaxy

-Madden 09

-World of Goo

I have an Xbox 360 and a MacBookPro and a 19" LCD HDTV (I live in a dorm room). I'm totally for downsizing or cutting down on all the gadgets. My next phone will be an iPhone for example (or whatever the best all in one phone is at that point) because I'm putting sprinkles that are from the garbage in my pocket with all of these extra things. An iPod, a phone, even books... I would love to have all my notes from class on one device that also carries my music, videos, phone and contacts, has internet capability, and plays games. I'll be out of school before schools adopt that idea but it'd save space.

So that's my whole life compacting and simplifying I do literally nothing else. WHY NOT MAKE AN XBOX LAPTOP THAT RUNS VISTA AND FUNCTIONS AS A REGULAR COMPUTER PLUS CAN FUNCTION LIKE A 360? That'd simplify Microsoft's business all into one machine that'd play through a TV when put in a docking station or it'd play the same in laptop mode. I guess there could be the more kid friendly version that's the machine the way it is now that parents could buy for them for Christmas wateves. But there, that's 2 models and Microsoft's entire business. They should mandate all the Dell and HP and whatever other companies that make systems be capable of playing 360 games.

I understand tons of regulations would have to be set in place but this is just my ideal world I guess. I have one portable device and one home/travel system that carry everything. Add on that everything should be digitally downloaded and it'd be a perfect world for me where games are cheap because of the material and shipping cost being erased and I wouldn't have to keep extra crap around my house that can get lost.

I look around me in my dorm and I wish all my books, games, dvds, and everything else was condensed into this computer I'm typing from.

Here's the quick list of what and why:

-Garageband Mobile

Who wouldn't love to be able to just take their iPod Touch or iPhone into a recording session with a mic? Or just as convenient, do some recording in a hotel room?

-iPod Touch needs mic software from Apple (the hardware is supposedly already there)

-Cable that connects iPods and iPhones to TVs should output WHATEVER is on the iPod/iPhone screen and NOT just select videos.

-Some kind of Play, Rewind, Fast Forward button/buttons (if it was one button pressing once would skip to the next track or holding would fast forward within that track, pressing twice would have the same efect but in reverse, and three times would pause it.)

And just to recap on previous issues and make this a complete list of problems:

-The App Store needs to be more organized.

with one exception all of this can be fixed through a firmware/OS/Software update through the App Store or otherwise. My opinion still stands that the iPhones and iPod Touches are the most amazing mini computers out at the moment. (intuitive and powerful)

IGN had some suggestions in an article the other day as to how to clean up the App Store. I have some too.

First of all updated games as IGN stated, should not be brought back up to the top of the "new games" category. I don't think there should be a spot for recently patched/updated games either. A developer shouldn't be able to update their games infinite times to get it back to the top of the new games list. Although that may help with longevity of a game it also hurts the market for other games.

You could get updates out to the people by doing the things they already do. The feature already in place where Apple pushes out the update to the buyers to tell them there's a download ready is one method. The other, which is already in place too, is how iTunes tells you when an Aoo has updates available.

Second of all, visual appeal of the App Store. Not just visual appeal but information and how it's posted.

Apple would be smart to make fewer icons visible on at least the specialized sections if not the main page of the App Store too (but arguably that's where you want lots of Apps getting publicity rather than a select few, making it more a corporate matter than an independent one because the guys with the money would be the only ones to have space up there.

On the "what's new" section up top they should have three lines of apps rather than two-showcasing 12 apps rather than 8- to maximize on the space they use. And I don't really see the need for the "what's hot" section. The "what we're playing" section is a good one, if they can find a way to elaborate while taking up no extra space that'd definitely be cool.

The top middle section should widen each of the three icons a little bit. One should show a trailer of the newest or 'hottest 10 apps of the week' and the other two should be open for advertising.

I don't believe I've seen trailers for any App on it's App Space, just screenshots. That needs to change fast.

The charts along the side should still have the best seller list for paid and free Aoos but it should also have Top Rated Apps (with 10 reviews or more).

Not only iTunes but my iPod Touch. As a musician I've learned to highly value my ear. So yesterday I was searching for an Ear Training program and they had pretty much the perfect app for my iPod Touch.

Another impressive thing is TV Shows, they seem to have pretty much every show on there right now and if it's not on there yet it's in the best interest of the people who were involved with the shows to get them up there. The one show I'd like to find but can't is Home Movies.

It isn't completely perfect though. Movies are still hard to find, there aren't nearly enough. Special features should be included with TV shows and movies. And the site is beginning to need an overhaul for each of its major sections. Music can stay relatively the same but I'd like to see TV Shows, Movies, and, especially, Apps organized differently. They aren't too hard to sift through but harder than it could be.

Again. I'm just really surprised by what a great place iTunes has become. I hope I never have to buy a movie or TV series or even software again. Just download it straight through iTunes. So long as the business practices stay fair I can't see why you'd ever use anything else.

As a side note anyone know how to convert movies and TV box sets from DVD to computer? You probably lose the special features, right?

Wishlist:

BUYING:

-Portal: Still Alive

-Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (depends on the price)

OR Street Fighter IV

RENTING:

-Mirror's Edge

STILL DECIDING:

-Far Cry 2

-Gears of War 2

-Spore

Those two are pretty directly related too. I got an iPod Touch one week ago today and got Real Soccer 2009 and Dizzy Bee from the App Store. Dizzy Bee is a really fun little game for anyone to spend some time with on the other hand Real Soccer could be a serious game.

It's an iPod Touch game, yet it has well over 150 teams I believe, many are licensed with licensed players. You can manually place your players around the field to create your own strategies, the controls allow you to do most anything you normally would in most soccer games. There's only an on screen directional pad and 2 buttons (3 including when you touch the field.). The thing is you drag your finger once you've pressed an onscreen button to change a pass (B button) to a lob pass (B button + drag finger up screen) or a leading lob pass (B Button + drag finger left) or a leading ground pass (Hold B Button longer) or a one-timer pass (Push B Button twice). All done with one button. so simple yet deep.

Other moves include fake shots, lob shots, crossover/spinning deke/and one other (all done by tapping the open field), sprinting is done by double tapping a direction, slide tackling, stealing, rushing the goalie, etc. There's tons of moves. None are multiple button combos, just a resultof pushing a button and dragging your finger somewhere on occasion.

There are 6 trophies to earn by playing season mode. Which alone is a lot of replay value, But then there's 6 more to get playing through playoffs, and Wi-Fi multiplayer is coming soon.

So I've been totally blown away to see it's as capable a gaming station as my DS and PSP ever were. The App Store needs better organization but it's a great way to get games and demos and any kind of App in general out to the public. They can keep the page the same, they don't need more side bars, maybe a better search engine to find the kind of app you're looking for easier.

So selling my DS also left me with $120 and thinking about buying Spore with some of that money. I love the concept, who doesn't? The simple gameplay doesn't bother me either because it's the creation tools I want to use most. But at the same time I don't want to spend more money. So I'm not quite sure.

My wishlist:

-Portal:Still Alive

-Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix

(maybe)

-Gears of War 2

-Far Cry 2

-Spore

The first one is video game development the structure is going to have to change. Spore is a very recent example. Games are becoming more involved and sophisticated on the developer's end (not nearly as much on the player's end). I know they already break things down when making games into development sections. Lighting, textures, artists, sound, modeling, etc.. But Somewhere maybe in level structure or somewhere else groups have to be added. Because it's amazing that reviewers can complain that there's not enough to Spore in the gameplay after a four year development cycle.

The second one is iTunes not having special features included when you buy the movies. How much more appealing would that be? I'd never buy another disc again. Throw the movie on my iPod and plg it in wherever I am. Way easier. But Apple needs both more movies and special features added. so for iTunes 8 or 7.8 the major inclusion has to be interactivity with the box art part (that says "Drag Album Artwork Here")

My wishlist for the rest of the year:

-Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix

-Portal:Still Alive

-Far Cry 2/Gears of War 2 (either/or)

One more thing to add to the previous blog. I'm really thinking about selling my Wii.

All I play is Smash, Wii Sports, and Super Mario Galaxy. Any reason you think I shouldn't?

-Too Human tore itself apart according to Gamespot's review. 5.5 is pretty ugly and after reading many reviews and snippets (I love snippets) I understand where it went wrong and why it's not the game for me.

So I had $30 down and traded it towards Boom Blox for my nephew's Birthday next month. I waggle down to college in just over a week though so it's gonna blow his face apart to see this early gift (hopefully it will).

-Also I got Madden 09 Collector's Edition. It's a really great game and I'm playing tons of it before I write a review. There's little quirks in the gameplay. Most of them can totally be overridden if you modify your play style slightly. (like timing your button presses) It's deep, it has been fun and I can't wait to dig more into it. NFL Head Coach 09 is also a great game. It's worth $30 or $40 but not the full $50 they're gonna charge for it next month. Packing it nice and tidy next to Madden each year should at a slightly discounted price is the way to go. EA should keep that up as I am willing to trade in Madden Collectors Edition for the newest one every year if they do this. The boxing for it is tight too.

-Finally I played a little Castle Crashers. I played the demo on newgrounds, Castle Crashing Tom Fulo's Beard. Tom Fulp is one of the Behemoth's few developers. It was a special game. The opening line from the big Tom Fulp head and beard was, "Welcome to die." ('die' sounded like it was recorded separately from 'welcome to') and the gameplay was extremely smooth and fluid. This only represents opinion but it was exactly what I'd call fun gameplay.

My wish list is now:

-Castle Crashers

-Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix

Possibly wish list:

-Banjoe Kazooie Nuts and Bolts (if I do the pre0order)

-Gears of War 2

-Far Cry 2 (the map editor sold it)

Rent first:

-Mirror's Edge

-Silent Hill: Home Coming