Sony Playstation 3 has officially bowed out of the current generation of consoles, going the way of the Nintendo Wii. The Wii seemed to have this generation well in hand despite it's obvious lack of HD and AAA third party titles. Yet it was replaced with the newest Nintendo entry, the Wii U, killing the original Wii's market domination. Console sales and number of units sold have now shifted fully into Microsoft's favor. The Xbox 360 is officially the winner of it's generation of consoles. It will be interesting to see how the next generation pans out, given the specs for both the Sony Playstation 4 and the yet unnamed "Xbox 720" are nearly identical. Both resemble a PC under the hood of comparable power and both more powerful than the Wii U, which is more comparable to the PS3 and X360. And don't forget the gimmicky controller. Some attribute the Xbox 360's success to the full year it was on the market before Sony entered the fray. Will the PS4 enjoy similar success due being released first? Probably not, rumor has the next Xbox being released in the spring of 2014. While that would mean missing the 2013 holiday shopping season, it isn't an entire year. It will also allow Microsoft a glimpse at what Sony has done right and, more importantly, what it's done wrong. I look forward to this next generation of consoles but am also sad to see the current generation end. As an owner of both the PS3 and X360, I feel these two consoles could continue to provide gamers with excellent quality games. Alas, it's all about profit and holding onto the current generation would be less profitable for the gaming industry as a whole. The bottom line is that the Microsoft Xbox 360 is the clear cut winner of this generation of consoles. Love it or hate it, the Xbox 360 is King.

So the time has come for me to get rid of the piece of crap I've been using as a cell phone and enter into the current generation of smartphones. After much deliberation, I settled on the Hotorollar Droid 3. They store I purchased the phone from didn't have the phone ihn stock, so it's being shipped to my house.

This is where my dilema began.

I am so fickle when trying my hardest to determine what exactly one phone has over the other. And believe me I have heard a lot of different opinions of why I should get the Droid over the iPhone and vice versa.Once my Droid arrives, I have two weeks to decide if it is indeed the phone that I want to keep. If not, I can exchange it for a different phone for no extra charge! Other than any price differences in the phones themselves of course.

I don't need and lists of function of what either phone can do. Droid is very much more customizable and the iPhone would easily integrate my iPod and iTunes together, not to mention the fact it can sit in a specially made cradle on the top of my alarm clock to wake me up using songs from my phone totally at random. Both phones can use Netflix and play Angry Birds, too! Only physical differences I've discovered is that the Droid has that awesome Qwerty keyboard and a very slightly larger screen from Netflix and other possible games.

So what do I do?! The Droid 3 is on it's way but the more I compare the two, the more uses I'm finding for the iPhone 4. Is there any info I've overlooked? And I'm not talking about their basic specifications.I need knowledge and that Droid 3 could arrive as soon as tomorrow! Any intelligent and insightful information you can provide would be appreciated.

Rock on.

It's been a long time since I had the joyof playing through Deus Ex: Invisible War. While it may have started out a little slow, the game could finish with one of several fantastic endings. If you, dear reader, have never experienced Invisible War then you have missed one of the rpg's to have been released on the original Xbox (Also on PC). The gap between that game and Deus Ex: Revolution has been long and agonizing! Must... Play... Deus... Ex...

I have a habbit of buying copnsoles brand new instead of used for warrenty purposes. It came in handy during this console generation. RROD, need I say more? Yet the Xbox 360 remains my favorite of the systems currently available, I do use my PS3 enough to feel the need to upgrade the HDD. It was a backwards compatible system that had an 80GB HDD. With DLC ranging from game content to movies to music to being a photo gallery for the pics I've taken with my camera, it's easy to see why I chose to put in a 320GB HDD. While I didn't have anything to physically back up all my data, I did discover that as a PSN Plus member, I was able to upload most info into cyberspace! Once the new HDD was installed I was able to download the info I had saved online. This was in addition to being able to redownload all games and extras I had purchased without having to pay a single cent to do it again. If anyone has questions as to how to upgrade your PS3 HDD, let me know. It's so easy, anyone could do it.

I'll start out by saying that having the ratings system extended to cover Down Loadable Content(DLC from here out), has been a wonderful idea. I just don't understand why it took so long! In any case, here are a few more thoughts on this very matter. Do keep in mind that these are merely my own personal opinions and beliefs. If any accounts or descriptions bare any resemblance to times, places and events, it is purely coincidence. My words came first! 8)

Adding ratings to DLC is pure genius, over due and a step in the right direction. Even TV shows have ratings, not just movies on the silver screen. Why should DLC be exempt from the ratings system that games already submit to? The answer is pure and simple. The new DL content could have M rated material and been made for a game with a rating of E10+. Children must be protected at all costs. Let's face it, the ratings system is fair and it's informative. The only thing that will keep this rating system from being successful are ignorant parents and/or guardians that allow their children to have access to content of an adversarial nature. Both the PS3 and the X360S have parental controls. I suggest to parents that they pick up the instruction manual for a change and actually READ IT! Once you have it set to prevent your child from accessing inappropriate content, tell your beloved and still very innocent baby.

The ESRB warning and the meanings are on the package. The letter rating itself is located on the front where it must be visible by law. The back of the box as a list of in game features some may find objectionable. If it's locked behind a glass case then ask someone to get it out for you, Trust me, it's worth looking over. When I was selling video games as a job, it always irritated me that the list of stuff the customer really needs to see is on the back of the box and can't be seen without the help of someone who works there. And is it just me or do all retail places suddenly have a shortage of personnel that act like they want to help? Never mind. That's another rant for another day.

Making the sale was also an adventure, too. I, personally, always asked my customers questions about their knowledge of the rating system and what would be appropriate for the age group said customer was looking for. If they were buying for someone else's child or their own. That always seemed to make a big difference as well. If they were buying for someone else's child, they were a lot more selective and chose the game with care. So why aren't parents that cautious and protective of their own offspring? Some things should never be taken for granted. A large portion of parents didn't care what the content was and purchased the games for their kids anyway. And this was after I calmly gave a simple explanation of the ratings. Other customers thanked me whole heartedly for educating them on how the rating systems work.They immediately decided they would NOT be buying their 9 years old kid Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Once out of their mother's earshot, I was amazed at how many children are so disrespectful to adults as that one kid could curse like a sailor! And it was directed at me.

Lastly, I know that not every person who works or has worked with video games takes the time to pass on the information of how the ESRB works. But also open your eyes and be observant the next time you go to buy video games. All the glass cases at major retailers and even the wire shelves and at other specialty video game stores have strip signage as well as posters on their walls and miniature easels on their counters breaking down the rating systems.

It is no longer an excuse for parents or gamers alike to say they were unaware of any rating systems for games or DLC. We, as the human race, must start taking responsibility for ourselves, our actions and man up to take responsibility of our own offspring. Ladies are no exception.

That's right, I'm seriously considering trading in Demon's Souls. This game has turned out to be so difficult that I don't even enjoy playing it! The game got a great review from GameSpot ( a 9.0 to be exact ) and RPG's are right up my alley in taste in games. But it didn't take me long to start dying. But instead of returning to a save point or a check point, I have to fight through some kind of underworld just to get back to my corpse! A very interesting element of the game, I do admit, but I keep dying and the journey back to that rotten hunk of flesh that is my body gets tougher and tougher! What's worse is that the strategy guides on ebay are selling for roughly $130! Any suggestions before I take it to the local Gamestop and use it as a downpayment for Dragon Age 2?

Short and to the point without revealing spoilers about how the game ended, but Reach closed with a seriously anti-climactic ending. I keep hearing that it is to be the final game in the Halo franchise and hope that isn't true. It would be a major disappointment not just to me, but to every Halo fan alive! I absolutely loved the game itself. Halo 3 is the end of the story and had a pretty good ending. Nothing on par with Halo 2, however, but it was still good. But people don't remember what's supposed to be the end volume. They remember the last one that came out; one most fresh in their minds!

On a side note: Does anyone else have problems playing Halo 2 on their Xbox 360 Slim systems? I've had imprints of previous stages overlapping the current stage! While I thought it might have been something wrong with my TV, it doesn't show up in anything else. And after rebooting the game and returning to my last check point, the image shows up AGAIN! Craziness. Or I'm loosing my mind. One is just as likely as the other.

One of my most beloved franchises on the Xbox 360 will be going multi-platform. Mass Effect 2! I was under the impression that it was a joint venture between Bioware and Microsoft Studios. Or was that simply the first game? ME1, so far, has not been confirmed for release on the PS3 while the second installment of the game has. While I understand that there is more money in multi-platform releases for these companies and despite the fact I have a Playstation 3 as well as an Xbox 360, I'm somewhat disappointed by this turn of events. If anyone has more information about this, please let me know! I'm very interested in hearing/reading more on this.

I finally finished with my first run through a game using my new X360S. That's "Microsoft 360 Slim" for those not used to the retail lingo. While the size difference is obvious, some of the other features are a little less well known. The black glossy exterior is trimmed in chrome with very large vents to help keep it much cooler than the previous incarnations of the system. Even the power brick has been greatly reduced in size, drawing 100-127W. So power consumption has been reduced as well. The chrome power ring is no longer an actual button, now only requiring the gentle brush of a finger tip for it to turn the system on. The eject button is completely gone, replaced by an eject icon just above the tray door which requires that same gentle touch as the power ring. Using either one of these features is confirmed with a "bling" sound effect that reminded me of the coin collection sound effect from all the Mario games from Nintendo. I checked the system settings to see if the sound effect could be changed to something else but to no avail. It seems that's the only sound option available. The two USB ports on the front are again concealed by a trap door. The only actual button on the system at all is next to that inward folding door to the USB ports and is what allows the controllers to be linked to that specific system. Pretty handy if you have more than one system in the area.

The system is indeed as whisper quiet as Microsoft claims! If it hadn't been for the ring of light glowing on the front of it, I'd have sworn that it wasn't even turned on. And speaking of that ring of light, the new S model has no way of producing Red Rings of Death(RROD). It can't produce them because Microsoft apparently wanted to distance themselves from red rings and I can't say I blame them. There is no red light at all! The system error messages have been changed to something else. I can't say for sure what it is since my system has run perfectly fine. The system does have one fail safe. If the system is overheating, it automatically shuts off. I've heard rumors of people complaining that the shut offs are happening even when the system isn't overheating, but the game store employees I've interviewed say it is a matter of keeping the system in a well ventilated and dust free area. That's even in the owners manual! Playing games for fifteen hours straight probably isn't doing the system any favors. That's not healthy for the player, either.

Changes on the inside consist of new chip sets for which I have no specs, a completely redesigned hard drive and built in wi-fi. I placed my X360S in a cabinet to keep it out of sight when not in use. When in use, I leave the doors open to help keep it well ventilated. The wireless N series router that it securely connects to is on the other side of the house and shows no signs of lag when playing online or trying to connect to the Xbox Live Marketplace and similar features. No more ugly adapters to tack on! And that's at no extra cost to us, making it even better. The newly redesigned 250 GB HDD is much smaller in size and is no longer attached to the top. Assuming it is standing up-right, the HDD is cleverly hidden behind a trap door on the very bottom of the console. Don't worry, it won't fall out every time you pick it up. I tested it for that as well. The only thing that might happen by accident is turning the system on or off by brushing against the chrome power ring or eject the game the same way with that eject icon.

The back of the system has most of the hook ups that we're used to seeing. It has the plug for the AV/component video cables that come with the system, an HDMI port for high definition televisions, 3 USB ports to give a total of 5 if you count the 2 in the front, one S/PDIF(digital audio) port, an Ethernet port and an auxiliary port for hooking up the Kinect. I used an HDMI cable to make use of my TV's 1080p capabilities. The controller and headset were both completely black. No more grey color on them anywhere. I'm a little OCD when it comes to having all my accessories match, so I was happy to learn that MS is also releasing a solid black wireless earpiece, messenger pad and quick charge kit. Looks like I'll be trading in my white colored accessories in the near future as well.

That's the run down and I hope it helps to inform anyone sitting on the fence about buying one. I am happy with my investment. Just be sure it's placed in a well ventilated area that's dust free. I mentioned it again because it is that important. Taking care of your system is the easiest and best way to prolong the life span of any video game console. The new Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim is no exception.

So the GameStop I purchased my overpriced Elite was willing to take back my system and gave me a full refund as long as everything was intact and relatively passing as brand new so that I could swap it for the new slim designed Xbox 360. I also picked up a copy of War for Cybertron. While I will not go into full detail yet on my thoughts concerning T:WfC, I will say I disagree with GameSpots rather low scoring on this highly entertaining game. Haven't beat it yet though, so my opinion may change lol! In a seperate update I'll give my full thoughts on this new version of the Xbox 360. I will admit that so far I'm impressed! It has a lot of the needed changes, though I think it would have been awesome to have switched to blue tooth for the controllers and accessories. Oh well, can't have everything, right? Until these two seperate update promises are fulfilled, I hope you have a good day and keep on gaming!