We have been talking a lot lately how the gaming industry is rapidly changing into a mainstream entertainment industry. The years of 2007 and 2008 are turning points for this industry as PC gaming is declining into old age and death and the consoles are rising to complete domination. The 360 and PS3, and to some extent the Wii (I have very mixed feelings about the Wii as a gaming console), are not only fantastic gaming consoles but they are media platforms on steroids too. They are important players in home entertainment and living room evolution.

Let’s just look at the sales as I think it’s really interesting. There were some pretty fantastic games in 2006-2007 like, Gears of War, Uncharted, Bioshock, the fabulous Orange Box, etc. However, the hype around the release of Halo 3 last September was really something else. In the 24 hours after its release, Halo 3 earned 170 million dollars. That never happened for an entertainment product, movie or music record. Halo 3 would go on earning 300 million dollars in the first week.

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A few months ago I got to pick up a copy of Command and Conquer 3. This game had been at the top of the hype meter for almost 2 years prior to being released in March 2007.

The first thing I noticed was the distinct green theme of the box and this makes sense if you have played the previous games in the series.

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Portal is just another reason to believe that the kind folks over at Valve have not lost their touch in creating new and unique video games.

Enter Aperture, a company trying to get government funding. The player is a test subject, used to try out a new device, a portal gun. This is Aperture’s way to get funding away from the infamous Black Mesa of Half-Life fame, as they are bitter rivals for government contracts.

As a test subject of the ’safe and healthy’ work environment of Aperture, there is a series of tests and puzzles to solve using the portal gun. A few are safe, and have no danger whatsoever, but these do not last long. Soon, there are very life threatening challenges, up until realization that the promise of cake at the end of the course (a constant inspiration, or at least it is supposed to be) is a lie as well.

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When you see all the new DirectX10 titles coming out for PC it becomes very easy to overlook the newer DirectX9 titles. Battlefield 2142 is one of these titles, and it most definitely shows itself as proof that DX9 is not dead yet!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am fully aware that Battlefield 2142 came out almost a year ago now, so it’s not anything new. However, it is new to me! Now, without further ado I will now begin…

I got my hands on a copy of the game Saturday, and I figured it would be a nice change for me since I have never actually played the official Battlefield.

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Soon after I signed Gear Diary up for Google’s AdSense, I noticed a new advertisement for something called Art Dealer. I had already weeded out the totally irrelevant ads for Kangol hats, heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, a zen garden, and lingerie (don’t ask!), and I was tempted to weed out this ad, too. But instead I made note of the site’s name, and I visited to see what it was all about. After spending a little bit of time at Minds Refined, I was intrigued.

Art Dealer is a game where you play “an art lover who is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: To attend a series of private sales where you have the chance to buy masterpieces by 20 of the world’s greatest artists including Monet, Matisse, Rembrandt, & van Gogh. There are only two problems: You have no money and the private sales you’re attending would just as soon sell you a masterfake as a masterpiece! Luckily, you have help from a rich friend with inside information. Coupled with your developing eye for art, you try to corner the art market. Along the way you get to learn about some of the world’s most acclaimed painters while looking at some of their most exquisite works of art.”

Okay, so at first glance it didn’t seem like Art Dealer would be too different from simulated aquarium, plant shop, and tower games I’ve played and enjoyed - only this time I would be buying art. Well, that’s true…but there’s much more to it.

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