I heard a bit of distubing news on "The Hot Spot" yesterday. It was pretty much unanimous that fighting games are pretty much old news. I dont want to beat a dead horse by saying "video games are not as inventive as they used to be." Instead, I will be more specific. When I first played powerstone I thought to myself that this is going to be the direction fighting games will go in the future. I'm not talking about the cartoony graphics, but the way you could interact with just about anything. Imagine a fighting game with a ninja, a samurai, a comando, a spartan, a barbarian, ext. done with todays graphics in fully interactive arenas ala powerstone. Used with weapon procurement on site. Each would have to play to their strenths.

For me, my opinion is just the opposite of "The Hot Spot". I enjoy halo 3. As I've enjoyed halo 2. And bioshock, gears of war, call of duty, the list goes on. I guess this will be the decade of the FPS. My problem is, with so many FPS out there, you would think there would be more innovation. The fact is, there has been very little. Halo 1 had the "lets make a FPS, and put vehicles seemlessly in there". Gears nailed the duck and cover. In my opinion, thats it for large inovations. Am I doomed to play gears of halo 6 for the rest of my ps3 and 360's life? If so, than they will collect a lot of dust.

On to innovation. I do not mean innovation should have some cute but edgy mascott who discovers their new powers that give a game play twist. On the contrary, I am to old and jaded to buy that garbage. Instead, give me choices. Even if it means developing a more versatile game engine. Now I know this takes time, but people, its worth it. I think that is why GTA is so big. Sure there is the mindless violence, but to me, that was not its selling point. It was that there was just so much to do. Even the missions themselves were varied. Why don't more developers make games with that kind of varied game play? I would have loved to have master cheif do a bombing run in a pelican to clear the way for my troops. Or set bombs at key instillations as a key objective instead of just kill them all. Or have him steal covenant parts to upgrade or make new weapons to bring to bear against the enemy.

Maybe as we move on, even the diehard halo fans will want more. No longer satisfied with doing the same thing for the past 7 years, a public outcry will finally be heard, and gaming can move on. Until then, I'll have to settle for pretty graphics, and some better story ala bioshock.

Not being able to find a 360 on day 1 of the launch, I searched everywhere. Finally I found one at a department store. I played many joyfull hours almost every day. Then, tragedy struck. About 3 months after my first time popping in a 360 game, the red ring of death reared its ugly head. I was devastated. 3 weeks went by before I recieved my repaired 360. This time, I was not going to take any chances. I made sure it had plenty of space (1 1/2 foot by 2 3/4 foot well ventilated shelf space). I also limited my play time to 1 hour a day. 11 months later, there are those red rings again. And just outside of the then 1 year warrenty. I then traded in the defunct 360 and bought a brand new system with a warrenty from the store this time. 7 months later, as luck would have it, more red rindgs of death. This will probabally be my final xbox 360. If this one goes bad, I will trade in all my 360 titles, and get the inferior ps3 versions ( madden, ghost recon, ext.) But what about games great games like gears of war, halo 3, and the up comming naruto: rise of ninja? I have naruto pre ordered! I think Microsofts efforts to fix this situation have been abysmal. I have been a fan since the xbox 1. This is no way to treat your loyal fans. This problem was a known issue. These machines should have been pulled from stores, fixed, then sent back. It's not fair that I have spent over $800 to keep playing my 360. My ps3? Only 2 good games , (ninja gaiden, heavenly sword) some crap (RFOM, spiderman 3, and genji) but its still running. I am stuck with your console for the superior games, but you have forever lost a supporter and fan. For shame MS, for shame.

I hear a lot about the rising price of video games. I've been a gamer since the nes days. Spending $69.99 for street fighter 2 turbo, like a lot of other people, when it came out seemed steep. And it was. (that was a game that added a few animations and 4 new characters to street fighter 2) 15 years ago, $69.99 was around $100+. Game development back the took a lot less time and resources. (no motion cap, no polygonal rendering,etc.) It used to take months, not years to develop a video game. Actually, supply and demand has cut the price of video games if you follow the economic trends concerning inflation. But I finished....insert game....in 9 hours! Put that in perspective. Chances are, you will play it again. Tickets for 2 to the movie theater, about $20.(2-3 hours) A movie dvd $20(2-3 hours) 1 ticket to amusement park, and going alone would really stink $60(maybe 12 hours) Dinner for 2 at a nice steak house ($50 if your girl doesn't order adult beverages) The last concert I went to was $45 a ticket! I wish everything that I paid $60 for would entertain me for at least 9 hours, let alone be able to go back and enjoy it tomorrow, if so I pleased. That would be great.