Last year I became the holder of two world video game records, Urban Champion and Robocop, both NES titles. My title on Robocop has since been beat twice, but my title of Urban Champion remained. But that record was for Urban Champion on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Not to dis the Wii, but that just ain’t the same.

One great thing about Xbox Live is allowing people to make their own games. Assuming you have the money, time, and skills, you can make and release a game that people can download and play on their console. They might even pay for it. But lets face it, most Indie games fall somewhere between “meh” and “so-so.”

Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Room at CES this year and for retro fans like myself it was some good news. But as details came about it quickly became less interesting for several reasons. Plus, I think there are a lot of things they could have done to make the experience better.

Inbox Zero is a great concept. Simply put, do something with your e-mail no matter what. Act on it, delete it, file it, defer it…eitherway, don’t just leave it in your inbox sitting there rotting. As simple as that is, I haven’t really bothered trying to reach inbox zero, but I think that might change soon.

I love me some arcade shooters - or shmups as they are often called. They’re fast, easy to play yet challenging to get good at. Regardless of platform I always seek out the shmups. Through emulators I have dozens upon dozens. With some vacation time I decided to try and make my own.

Paper telephone was introduced to me by a friend during a party that had reached that critical point when everyone was gathered but had nothing much to do. Finding an activity that is fun for everyone is tough. Video games don’t work, trivia doesn’t always work, cards are a shot in the dark…but paper telephone seems to hit the sweet spot.

I saw Alien Breed Evolution on the XBLA release list and it looked like my kind of game. I never played the original version, so I got the demo and quickly found it is my type of game - shooting, aliens, spaceships…and not to mention a nice $10 price tag.

The lack of the arcade culture is something I’ve written about many times before. It’s something I long to see come back since I’m too young to have been there during its prime. The world on-line gaming scene makes it hard to be a local champ, so that leaves the only fun competition between you and your friends. But what if your friends play different games?