There is a lot of things going on in the world right now, but the most predicable, in my opinion, was that Nintendo's Wii broke through and took its spot as best sold system in the world. This week it peaked sales over the Playstation 2, which despite the release of next-gens, was still the highest selling system in the world. I honestly think that this is due to 4Q games coming soon. Mario Galaxy as well as other Nintendo properties are going to push this system over the top, but what of third party games? I could be wrong, but Nintendo's greatest downfall has been their competition with third-party developers. Which would you rather play: Super Smash Brothers Brawl or Boogie? This is what I am talking about. The only problem I can see happening with the Wii is their controls. Developers, please hear me, you don't have to kill yourself with the Wii-mote, just make a game we can play.

Who really knows what's going on with Sony? With the release of the PSP Slim we see new colors coming out. The Japanese only Ceramic White model is being pushed to the states as well as a silver model. I think the Nintendo DS has like five different colors? Come on, it's a portable game console! I go to coffee shops and see these 18-25 year olds sitting in their drinking a latte and surfing the net on their PSP (still waiting to see the Opera powered DS Browser) and wonder if they feel like this impresses people. I'm all for people expressing themselves, but I'm about as impressed with this as I am with a crack head bragging about their 1987 Dodge Caravan they just bought for fifty bucks. Who cares what you have, who cares where you use it. It's just like comments on games or reviews on this site when users make snide remarks about owning all the next-gens. Sony and Nintendo have only encouraged this kind of behavior. Am I wrong? No, I'm not. I don't believe there has ever been a study on whether the color of a handheld system has ever been the major decision maker when dropping $130-$200 for one.

In other news, Sony has been made mention of online superiority. Attack of the Show host stated that Microsoft's Xbox Live costs $50 which basically allows you to host games, while Sony's Playstation Network is free and has dedicated servers. He stated that Sony's approach, likened to PC online gaming, is the best for server stability. The makers of Guild Wars, NCsoft, plans to release MMOs to the PS3 due to the superb way Sony is handling their networks stating that PSN can ensure "the best Internet connectivity and greatest freedom of Web access and interaction available to the user." Do I care that NCsoft is doing it? Not really. But this goes to show that XBLive has gotten too comfortable with its status. We've yet to see whether MMOs will dominate PSN, but the choice of online gaming is starting to shift and I'll look forward to seeing how it all plays out.

This morning I took a shower and sat on the couch to catch up on some some questions on Yahoo! Answers while watching the TiVo'd 'Hot Fuzz' I rented off Pay-Per-View last night sometime around 2am. It was about then as I sat on the couch wrapped in a towel that someone began beating on the door. I thought about just not answering it and ignoring whoever was interrupting my movie. I decided to get some clothes on instead. I walked to the door and it was the UPS man holding an unmarked white box. It was my Xbox 360. The prodical son returned from it's travels. I signed for it and quickly closed the door. I opened the box like a kid at christmas and checked out the goods. There was a free card for a month of XBLive, some other paperwork and I felt all giddy inside (yeah, thats right, 'giddy'). I took it out of the box, looked at the clean lines and perfect molding of the Xbox 360 as if I was seeing it for the first time.

Then I put the new Xbox 360 and the XBLive card in my console travel case.

Fact is, in the absence of my 360, I've had more time to spend with my Playstation 3. I'm not sure if it's the envolvement with new games I've picked up for the PS3, or just a lack of trust in the durability of the 360, but my drive to play Microsoft's crowning achievment has faded. The system is remarkable, but now seems to fall short in the power of the PS3. Yeah I wanna get back on Oblivion. Yeah,I want to run out and buy Bioshock this very minute, but for some reason I DON'T want to play them on the 360. I didn't think it's return from the warehouses would bring such a feeling of meloncholy. I know this all seems rediculous, but seriously, it's going to take some time to regain trust. How long? I don't know... but I am sure Halo 3 will bring us back together...

My Wii is busted (like I've said before) and needed to call Nintendo for yet another repair. I called the hotline today and went through a few minutes of button mashing (press "1" if you have nothing b etter to do than be on hold) and finally made it to a real live person. After going through the "have you done this, have you done that" we got down to the nitty gritty of ordering a new AC adaptor (they say that is normally the problem when a Wii system wont turn on). While sitting on the phone giving out my address and personal history for the last fifteen years he asked if there was anything else he could do for me. Well... YA! I asked him if he could get me the low-down on what Nintendo plans to do about online gameplay. I know it's a lame question since I play on PSN as well as XBLive (from time to time), but I've spent more money on Nintendo products in the last ten years than I have on my cable bill. He put me on hold. I sat there wondering if I should just hang up and not worry about it, I could just look online, right? After three long minutes he got back on and gave the list of games that are out already and a couple that are to come (MoH, some fishing game, new DBZ game, couple others). I finally dropped the ball and asked when the hell are we getting an online Mario Party? Seriously! He beat around the bush and said he heard something about there being a rumor about it but nothing definate. I'm not trying to start hype here, just saying what happened. But let think about it for a second or two, what fanboy, and I'm not saying I'm a fanboy (not saying I'm not either) wouldn't want this to happen? After Gears, after Halo3, after Warhawk, and after the smoke clears from any other game I spend fragging (and getting fragged by) countless noobs and koreans, I feel a void of all the senseless violence. I play Mario Party 8 with my wife and enjoy other party games of the same nature and would love to share the joy with noobs and koreans. But really, I don't think we need voice chat on this one guys. Talking smack just wouldn't seem right...

This morning I turned on my Wii to play Mario Kart Double Dash with my two year old son (yeah, he plays). I pressed the power button and guess what, nothing happened! I wasfrustrated, it was a gift for my wife which I paid nearly $300 for. Now I know that the Wii is the cheapest of the next-gens and I should thank Nintendo for finally putting out a product with, while limited, backwards compatibility. I play it from time to time with my wife and son and seemed solid enough, but this isn't the first time I've had problems with it. Six months ago it quit reading discs. We sent it in and received a new one, free of charge, from Nintendo. This took nearly six weeks.

I also had the joys of experiencing the Red Ring from Microsoft about a month ago. I was on hold for over an hour when I finally reached tech support (who was actually very helpful). They sent me a box, postage paid, to send my Xbox 360 back. I have been without it for a month now and wont be getting it back before I leave for business (I travel for weeks at a time). While this is the first problem I have had with my Xbox 360 (thank god), this was a $550 investment. I've spent over $300 on games and probably another $200 on accessories. I pay my $50 a year for XBoxLive, and $24 a year for OXM, and this is the thanks I get.

I have been gaming for 20yrs. and have never had these kinds of problems with my gaming systems. They do so much now and have more power than I think developers know what to do with. The fact of the matter is "new" doesn't mean "good" anymore. They're sacrificing durability for bells and whistles that the gaming community isn't ready for. Graphics are nice, but gameplay is something so much more important. Who cares if the system on my entertainment center can achieve 65fps if it's going to just overheat and shutdown. Personally, I miss my first Xbox, I miss the GameCube, and I miss my Playstation 2. They might not have been Next-Gen, but they were reliable and always ready when I was. The only system I have left is the Playstation3, and lord only knows when that beast of all beasts is going to fail.

The fact is, individually, we're spending thousands of dollars in this industry and they're easier to integrate into our everyday lives. I used my Xbox 360 to chat over MSN to keep in touch with family, I use my Playstation 3 to watch and listen to videos, music, and pictures that I have loaded on either of my computers. I read news and check the weather when I'm short on time with the Wii. Would I miss them so much when they're being shipped here and there for warranty repairs if they did nothing more than just play games? I doubt it. While gaming is an important part of my life (reduce stress, exercise my brain), it's becoming more of a hassle than a hobby.

Three cheers for new technology, because we're the ones getting pwnd.:-|