I was a huge fan of both the original Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six on Xbox because they offered a thinking man's shooter to a quickly tiring genre.

Concerning GR2 and R6:Lockdown's dumb down, action oriented offering. This is what happens to gameplay when developers stop listening to the fans and start listening to focus groups.

My frisky new Nintendog had just arrived, and I was busily getting the adorable dark grey Siberian Husky up to speed on some basic tricks - "Sit! Siiiiit...good doggy! Who likes a tummy rub, huh? Who likes to have their tummy rubbed?" - when my girlfriend came busting out of the bedroom with as much excitement as a recently sleeping person can muster.

She peered fuzzily around the living room, eyes narrowed with sleep and confusion. "There's no puppy?" She asked scowling.

"Well," I replied, her disappointment making me feel guilty, "there's a virtual puppy."

"I thought you had a real puppy here."

"Sorry...would you like to see my virtual puppy?"

"NO." she growled, and moped back to bed.

I know where she's coming from; a simulated pet is no substitute for a real, warm, adorable bundle of dependancy and lovable instincts, but the artificial industry has been trying for years, moving up the pseudo-evolutionary ladder from Tamagotchis and Neopets and Aibos and a myriad other virtual companions until now, with the release of Nintendogs, a pinnacle has been reached. Nintendo's digital dogs are the peak of fake-pet technology.

The experience begins at the surface with photorealistic cuteness married to some of the most uncannily lifelike annimation I have ever seen, but the real secret to Nintendog's success is how overwelmingly tactile it is. With the stylus, you're petting and patting and paw-shaking, rubbing bellies and tossing frisbees, tugging leashes and poop scooping...and as your puppy - one of 18 ultra cute breeds, responds in it's adorable way to your stroking stylus, the barrier of the screen seems to melt away. Instincts deep in the mammalian brain kick in and attachment forms with scary speed. Now add in voice interactions...

The voice - recognition aspect is fundamental to the Nintendogs experience, and it's the reason why this'll make a lousy commuter time-killer or kiddie car-trip diversion. Imagine the torture of a seven hour drive with a steady stream of "Sit! Sit! C'mere! Sit! Shake a paw! C'mere! C'mere!" coming from the back seat. Would you be comfortable sitting in a crowded LRT and making goo-goo puppy talk into your hands? Crazily, you just might, as the bonding effect of your little bundle of joy growing to recognize and respond to your voice kicks in. It's eerie...and kind of spooky.

Nintendogs is a devilish triumph of virtual-life creation, but if there is one flaw with it, it's that it reflects the universal flaw of these kinds of pet sims, namely that there's not a lot of game here. You can take walks and enter agility and frisbee catching competitions and such, and you can make puppy playdates with other dogs via the DS's wireless connection, but beyond the freaky joys of training and bonding with your pup, there's not much else to do.

This week's rumor control mentioned that Nintendo might be considering a cat simulation. While the thought of a virtual cat training their owners to get their food for them, and letting them out to roam the streets might interest cat lovers who are tired of having their furniture scratched up, I have more interest in Nintendo making a fighting chicken simulator.

I have been playing electronic football games since Atari Football. It didn't have a license of the NFL or the Players Association, but what it had was the basic game of football. Considering the level of graphics, it would have been a waste of money for Atari. As graphics improved, companies added the the license much like Intellivision did. Considering the level of graphics this generation of consoles are able to show as well as next generations will achieve, it's even more understandable that developers would want the license to make their game as real to football as possible. In the end of the day though, it's the game play that counts or it should be. I don't blame EA for getting a monopoly, it's good business sense and last I looked, stock was up. Good for me.

Going back to Atari football, being Canadian, I imagined CFL players running the plays. Maybe I am biased but I have always found the CFL a better product overshadowed by the slower paced NFL. Now I, being somewhat naive in my younger days, have wondered why developers such as Sega or EA never made a CFL game. Of course the answer is that the NFL is a known product in the U.S. and the CFL, while popular in Canada, wouldn't get the sales numbers NFL games get. It didn't bother me too much as what was most important at the end of the day was the game play.

Or it should be but I again would be naive to think that having a license doesn't matter. In this day and age, having the license makes the game more real and certainly adds to the illusion of me being in the game. I can't help but think that maybe this could be an opportunity for the CFL to finally get it's shot as a videogame. Take the great ESPN look that 2K5 had and give it a CFL name. Would a CFL game sell if it had the great VC gameplay to back it up? In a perfect world where gamplay was first, a license shouldn't matter, but I can't help but think that if Sega fails in trying to get the NFL license, that they could look to the Great White North.