Take a break. There's absolutely no reason gaming should feel like a chore. Read, make something, get into a new show, or go hang out with people. Eventually you'll have the itch to play again, and it will feel a lot more fresh. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

The question isn't total erasure, it's market share. Both companies will survive, but it makes a huge difference whether Nintendo sells 50 million or 100 million units. The extreme success of the DS was not from steady hardcore gamers, it was from the huge increase in the casual market. Those are the customers that…

One of the big reasons I play on consoles instead of PCs is to avoid this kind of inconvenience. I have a disc, I put it in the console, it plays. Simple.

Well stated. I'm uncomfortable with the association between violence and sex, but Bulletstorm is reflecting a culture, not creating it.

Perhaps saying there is no skill was an exaggeration. There might be some skill for aiming, but there are too many variables to become significantly more consistent. It's the same way that you could say those ticket arcade games are skill based. One person might be better than another at the exact timing required to…

@Daemon_Gildas: Take a motorcycle safety course. I had never driven a motorcycle before I took the course and I was fine. The bikes they use are small enough to hold up if you have to before you get used to using it correctly.

I would never buy a kid that young a handheld console anyway. Gaming with small children should be a social activity, not a babysitter.

I can understand Reggie's argument about the problems with consumers expecting $1-2 to be a reasonable price for a game and how that can hurt the industry from developing deep, high-quality games...

@PajamaSam: I agree completely. I think Nintendo handhelds used to be considered a toy for kids and most other expensive gadgets were firmly in the adult (or at least teenager) category. Now as we grow up, the prices of handhelds are going up to be on par with the "adult" gadgets, and more and more small kids are…

@7thHanyou: DKC might involve trial and error, but you learn and improve in the process. Back when I was a youngin, it must have died on the first minecart level dozens of times, but the second minecart level only took me a couple of attempts because I got better at the game. Furthermore, I can go back to the game and…

I have no problem with a small, casual game being nominated for GOTY, but I don't think Angry Birds should be that game. There is no skill, just trial and error. I believe an excellent game should improve the player while they play it, either by improving a skill or by experiencing a compelling narrative as an active…

I really like the idea of this type of funding model. It reminds me of Kickstarter. I would definitely be all for supporting independent developers.

@Chojin: "forced" as in now you have an excuse?

Even though the game is open-source, I can't imagine that Wolfire wouldn't be legally protected for an outright copy of their product.

@kittenboo: This happened to me, I must have been killed by the 1-2 boss 10 times, and whenever I got impatient trying to get back to him, of course I died and lost all the souls. So frustrating! Then I played 2-1 and thought, holy crap, this is easy!

That is amazing!

@K3nnyBoy: That's funny that you mention Droid as a good phone, because I have a Droid as well and I think it's awful to use as a phone. I won't go into detail, but I just don't like talking on smartphones. They are awkward to hold up to the ear for extended period of time and the touchscreens are too sensitive. I…

@PoweredByHentai: I actually have a Droid with Google Voice on it. I just use it for voicemail though, not to make calls. But even if they allow google voice on the phone, you still run into the issues that I mention above. The iPhone is $600 if you buy it without contract, but that's knocked down to $200 with…

@kamikazetedibear: That's true. I'm sure to many people out there, the idea that videogames can be beneficial is surprising. I suppose to those who are not used to playing them, they see people all looking at a screen rather than at each other, and they don't realize the amount of interaction that take place when you…

I would imagine this has more to do with spending time playing together than with video games in particular. Maybe fathers just don't spend as much time playing with daughters as they do with sons because they don't feel like they have as much in common, but videogames provide a common interest.