GWN: What games are you looking forward to in the coming year?

N.D: I am looking forward to the new FIFA 09 Soccer releases for both the Xbox360 and PC platforms, NBA09 by Sony for the Playstation 3 platform, Starcraft2 for PC, and the new Rockband.

GWN: What are your thoughts on who’ll win the console war, and who do you support the most?

N.D: There are a few things that you have to look at when it comes to determining the winner of the console war. Between the Wii, Playstation3, and Xbox360; Nintendo had the biggest launch success with its attractive 250 dollar price point and unique interactive controller features.  Due to Sony high price, this has diverged consumers.  Sony and other game developers still haven’t unlocked the full potential of the Playstation3 in their game titles making it less worthwhile for consumers to buy.  With more units sold overall, a monstrous online and multiplayer community through Live, and the largest library of games, I will have to say that Microsoft’s Xbox360 is definitely the current winner of the console war.

Personally I have owned all three consoles and have to say that the Xbox360 is the one I play on a regular basis; I enjoy playing FIFA and Halo3 against players from all over the world. The best part is I can play against players in Europe and I usually don’t see too many poor connections. The controller is my favorite as well, in fact, I use the Xbox360 controller on my computer for PC gaming. 

GWN: What do you think about the current state of PC gaming, in respect to in-game advertising, download services like Steam, and cross-platform play?

N.D: I really have only seen a few PC games use the in-game advertising feature; the titles that come to mind are Counter-Strike 1.6 on the scoreboard and Starcraft in the game lobby. I think the game that has done the best this year with advertisements is Guitar Hero 3 – when I envision this game I think of Redbull cans on the stage, a Pontiac truck, Gibson guitar and an NBA Finals 2008 backdrop on the wall.

I have been more than pleased with the development of download services produced by EA, Steam and Blizzard, you even see this on the Xbox360 and Wii now as you are able to download full games right to your console. I think this is a great addition to the gaming industry as it gives us access to our games anywhere we go without worrying about media or serial keys. 

I haven’t seen a game that was cross-platform enabled; however, I have always wanted to play against players on Playstation 3 from an Xbox360 title, more specifically sports games. I think this would be a great feature and potentially easy to do as long as the games were the same. I’m sure companies like EA would have to get clearance from both Sony and Microsoft to do this and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. 

GWN: Alright, on to the more personal questions. Can you walk us through your daily routine in terms of gaming?

N.D: It really depends on the current game that I am playing, for instance, if I am preparing for a team game event such as Halo3 or Counter-Strike I have to make sure that I am on every night for at least 3 hours with my teams to go over in-game strategy while practicing against live opponents. Sometimes, right before our trips we pull all-nighters going over things and sleep during travel.

Lately I have been playing more individual games such as FIFA and it is a huge relief because I can practice on my own time and not have to worry about teammates showing up or doing their job. The only problem with FIFA is that the best competition is over in Europe so the time zone, especially now being on the west coast, can be conflicting. For the World Cyber Games event next week I expect to put in at least 20 hours before the event playing against people both online and with my friends. It is pivotal to take occasional breaks and step away from the computer during these times otherwise your practice does more harm than good because you aren’t focused.