In any place we go to today, we would see little tykes holding a small contraption that makes them glued and readily attentive to it. Most likely, these are games, since they are the easily identifiable attention getters for kids and the young at heart with the vast innovations that technology has to offer today.

This is not the first time that such innovations have been offered to the world. In the early 80’s, games then known as Game and Watch hit the streets and had everyone crazy about these arcade games.

Today, it has been more advanced, with the influx of the PSP and GameBoy Advance portable game consoles making it easier for people to take their games anywhere.

Another difference is that today, anyone can choose the game with the use of only one contraption since game cartridges make it flexible for them to choose the game that they are hooked on the most.

[tags]gameboy, game and watch, psp[/tags]

Tags: game-and-watch, Gameboy, PSP

Long queues at the bank, traffic on a bus, airport delays – there’s only one thing to do to keep your boredom at bay, and that’s to find a good game for your cellphone. Cheaper than a text message, and a lot more discreet to those around you, a good cellphone game is indispensable in our multitasking lives. And speaking of the word “multitasking” is the a pc game turned mobile version, Diner Dash, where multitasking is not just fun but deliciously addicting.

Colourful, simple graphics on a rather bare background make this game ideal for tiny cellphone screens, and with next-to-nil sounds, you don’t need to worry about bothering the man sleeping next to you on the train.

Diner Dash is all about you as “Flo”, a young woman who opens a diner. Keeping the customers happy is the name of the game, and you quickly learn the ropes of running a restaurant– from seating a variety of clientele (who range from patient, low-tipping seniors to big-tipping business women in a mad rush - all color coded), to taking orders, serving, clearing the tables and a whole lot more. There are two modes to choose from, the career mode where the goal is to earn enough money to buy a new restaurant, and the “shift” mode where its all about making money through continuous shifts.

The game is easy to learn and as you advance, things get more difficult, making Diner Dash enjoyably challenging with some fun bonuses to boot. Its scored high marks on the gaming community, and is considered one of those games whose scaled-down version for mobiles is actually better than the pc version.

[tags]dash,dinner dash,mobiles,shift mode,flo[/tags]

Tags: dash, dinner-dash, flo, mobiles, shift-mode

Gaming is not all about characters jumping around on screen, shooting down enemies in a first person shooter or commanding vast armies to annihilate the forces of an enemy faction. In fact, if you go to certain areas within the United States or in other parts of the world, the word “gaming” acquires an entirely new meaning. For example, places like Nevada, Monte Carlo or even the Caribbean have an entirely different view with regards to the word “gaming” as in these areas, it is synonymous to, what else, gambling. And the traditional game publishers are also starting to take notice of the market that the can tap.Speaking in front of investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XV Conference, Robert Kotich, CEO of Activision, said in response to questions if gambling will play a big role in the future networked games, said that “there is great opportunity for wagering eventually… There’s probably lots of opportunities to figure out how to develop prize play [and] cash play as a future growth opportunity. You’re going to need a big installed base, and a very different regulatory climate. And that’s going to take some time.”

Kotich also said that with the integrated networking capabilities of the next gen consoles, gaming in order to win dollars is an inevitable evolution of the gaming community.

Personally, although I understand where the game companies are coming from (they are after all a business), I foresee that this development might lead to conservatives further vilifying gaming and gaming consoles as a really bad influence on the young. Hopefully, this scenario will not happen.

At Kotaku we dont claim to be the experts or game-snobs. We just love to play games. Period.