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I read that Nickelodeon plans to put a lot of money into to developing more online games. I think it’s good idea. Kids want to play and if Nick is going to provide some clean games that might provide a little learning at the same time then it will be something that parents could steer their kids toward instead of something like Grand Theft Auto. I have a 3 year old and I was just on the Nickelodeon site the other day helping him play some Backyardigan game. It was simple and he was able to play most of it without my help.

It does worry me, however, how much time kids spend playing video games these days. I think it can be something fun for kids but it needs to be monitored and limited way more than it is. I seeing these stories on the news about overweight Americans. It’s almost comical when they act like they are trying to figure out the cause of alarming trend. Most kids don’t do anything these days. The kids that are athletes play video games to but they are going to be fit because they get that exercise. The kids that aren’t athletes usually fill that void with video games or eating. I can’t believe how many young kids are overweight these days. It’s crazy.

    I read about the Playstation 3 reporting that they are cutting the cost of the 60 GB unit down $100 to $499. In my opinion, it is not enough of a cut if they really want people to start buying massive amounts of these systems. The price is still to high. The graphics are a bit better than the PS2 but I’m not too sure it’s worth forking out $500 for.  There aren’t enough games out yet either.  I’m not sure why Sony chose the strategy of selling less consoles at a higher price. Look at how well the wii has done. Certainly the graphics and game play isn’t as good as PS3 or Xbox 360. I personal don’t like using the wand for the Wii. I think it’s pretty lame. But it’s a reasonable price.

Bottom line, the prices for the PS3 and Xbox 360 are just still too high. The prices have doubled from the last systems but I don’t think the quality has.

Good news in the gaming world.  Microsoft has announced their plans to release the new Xbox 360 Elite by as early as August 24. Not sure on how soon a descent amount of games will be released for the console but the list of games coming is off to a good start:

Halo 3, Madden 08, GTA iv, Gotham Racing 4, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Stranglehold, Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey. NBA Live 08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, Medal of Honor Airborne, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Air Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, NHL 08, Assassin’s Creed, Spiderman Friend or Foe, The Simpsons Game, Splinter Cell Conviction, NASCAR 08, Eternal Sonata, Tony’s Hawk Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Valve’s Orange Box, Bee Movie Game, Rock Band, and Naruto: Rise of a Ninja.

Microsoft has really been bragging about Halo 3, Madden 08, and Grand Theft Auto IV. They even brought out Reggie Bush to demonstrate Madden 08.

This all sounds pretty exciting but let’s just hope they did a better job than with the original 360. The 360 is nice but not all that impressive.