Here's my list from The Dallas Morning News of my top 10 games of the year.

I have to admit that I've been really stunned by the mainstream success of the Wii, particularly Wii Sports.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo manages to corner the mainstream market, while most hard core gamers end up gravitating to the 360 or PS3. And, wouldn't you know, that's exactly the strategy Nintendo has said it's been pursuing all along.

It just seemed a lot more implausible before the Wii became the uber gift of Christmas 2006.

I've spent several Christmas holidays tracking down Japanese imports of the latest Gran Turismo games for the various PlayStation platforms. This year, I didn't have to hunt.

Sony got all nice and gave us PS3 owners something free to do this weekend: Grand Turismo HD. Well, at least a very playable demo of it.

It's just one track (Eiger Nordwand) that you can race forwards then unlock it backwards. There's 10 unloackable cars and 10 tuned versions of the same cars. PLUS, two racing modes: time trial and the unloackable drift mode. You'll unlock everything in about 30 minutes, but your rewards are worth it.

Even better, the demo has the first ever Ferrarri in a GT game (the 2006 599) and your times are uploaded to online ranking boards. Very nice.

The whole thing runs in glorious 60fps 1080p mode. GOOD LORD does it look great. I was expecting a slightly better looking GT4, but this game is astonishing. And for the first time, the replays don't look as good as the actual game. Developers Polyphony run the replays back in a film-y framerate that give them a cool realistic depth, but it still doen't compare to the actual gameplay.

Keep an eye out for the cool menu animations. The camera drifts into real-time the landscape around the race track and it's cool to see how much detail has gone into the backgrounds. Everything looks jawdropping.

I can't wait for the final version of the game. We will probably have to wait until next holiday season. I also have to keep reminding myself that this isn't GT5, it's just an updated version of GT4. The good news is that it looks totally next generation and way more than a transfer from one system to another.

FYI, as of 7:00 PM (CST) on December 23, the Sony Store servers weren't allowing connections. This was confirmed by several sources. Later that evening the servers were up, but downloading the GTHD demo was taking nearly 6 hours.

(Not my quote:) "In-game advertising is failing to influence games players, according to a survey conducted by behavioural research agency Bunnyfoot." Read Article Here.

(This is me:) Actually, I remember the first in-game ad I ever saw, Red Bull in the original WipeOut game on the PSX (PS1), made me track down and buy the drink. It was difficult to find then, so it was kind of cool.

Now, I can't even tell you what ads I have seen in recent games. I know they are there, just can't remember 'em. Maybe Bunnyfoot is right. Maybe Bunnyfoot needs to re-think their company name.

I guess I will never forget Bunnyfoot.

As predicted (hey, you don't have to be a genius to predict a lawsuit in this country), somone has filed a class action lawsuit against Nintendo over the wrist straps.

The funny thing is that the suit basically demands that Nintendo do what it's already done: stop selling the thin strap and replace it with a better one. And the press release about the suit even acknowledges that Nintendo has a replacement program in place.

So I'm not sure what this is really supposed to accomplish. But, hey, I'm not a fancy lawyer person.

From the news release:
"The class action lawsuit seeks to enjoin Nintendo from continuing its unfair or deceptive business practices as it relates to the Nintendo Wii.The lawsuit also seeks an injunction that requires Nintendo to correct the defect in the Wii remote and to provide a refund to the purchaser or to replace the defective Wii remote with a Wii remote that functions as it is warranted and intended."

Am I missing something here?

Gunstar Heros on the Virtual Console.

My favorite Sega Genesis game and one of the best games from legendary game designers, Treasure.

It's only 800 points and is pure shooting madness. Still one of the hardest games ever.

As I started playing I recalled that exact same feeling I had when I originally played it in 1993... there is no way this can get this difficult this fast! Oh, yes it can.

Nintendo has finally caved in to the inevitable.

You can order your free, sturdier replacement strap here.

It will be interesting to see if, now that Nintendo has basically admitted that the original strap was too flimsy, any lawsuits are drafted by people whose televisions and other expensive items broke when their straps snapped and their controllers flew across the room.

A very cool Advent Calendar game from Nintendo, PLAY HERE

Several great shooters are available for the 360. Here's my Top three!

Here's a look at the insane Mad Max-style Wii launch at one retailer in Germany.

As soon as the doors open, everyone has to gallop to the Wii section and claim their console. No line. No tickets. No pre-orders. Just scores of crazed Germans sprinting for victory.

This must have been what the blitzkrieg looked like.

I was suspicious about the numerous Wii wrist strap breakage reports.

I have been playing for weeks with no problems.

I was starting to call "foul" until a friend of mine, during a heated game of Wii Sports doubles tennis, launched his Wii-mote into his ceiling. The strap was broken but the Wii-mote still works. Everything else in the room survived.

I've started duct-taping mine to my hand.

Victor note: Got any pictures? And was he actually holding the Wiimote while he played, or letting the controller dangle from his wrist by the strap?

Sony released the 1.30 upgrade for the PlayStation 3.

It fixes a few 720p and 1080i resolution problems, but not all of them.
Check out Kotaku HERE

Also, Apple is hiring game designers. Is it for iPod based games? iPhone games? A new Apple gaming system? READ HERE

Check out the insane Wii owners manual from Japan.

Why can't ours be this crazy:

Read Here

Don't smoke around your Wii!

Guitar Hero is still one of my all time favorties and with the recent release of a sequel, I'm on a stairway to heaven! Check out my review.

For all I know, I'm the only person in the world who's ever had this problem, but this past weekend I was trying connect my 360 to the VGA port on my new Samsung LCD television.

Connecting over component worked fine, but every time I plugged in the VGA cable, I'd get a black screen and my TV would display a "Mode Not Supported" error message.

Occasionally, a jagged, garbled image would pop up on the screen of the Xbox dashboard, but mostly it was just nothing. I called Samsung, and the tech suggested I plug the component cables back in, reset the resolution to 480p, turn off the console and plug it back in with the VGA cable.

No dice.

While I was on hold waiting for the "level two" tech, I decided to fiddle around with the system some more.

With the VGA cable plugged in (but still no image), I turned on the console. Once it was booted up and I could hear the beeps and swooshes as I toggled through the menu options, I pushed the joystick to the right to get to the console settings tab. Once the swooshes stopped, I knew I was at the right-most tab.

Then I hit the X button, since I knew that the display settings button was the top option on the console settings page, then hit X again to change the display resolution.

I then scrolled all the way to the bottom of the list (again with no image on the screen, just going from memory and sound effects), highlighted what I hoped was the 1920x1080 resolution setting and hit X.

Presto! The screen turns on and everything is perfect!

It sounds like the problem is that the 360 couldn't detect that it was connected to a VGA input and automatically adjust its resolution. The resolution had to be set manually, even though you can't see anything on the screen until you adjust the resolution.

I know Microsoft just released an update for the 360 that's supposed to improve connectivity via the VGA port, but I've been without Internet access the last few weeks (another story), so I don't know if that update solves this issue.

So if anyone else out there runs into this problem, just make sure you memorize the buttons presses to change the display resolution so you can do it literally with your eyes closed.

Doug note: It's about as difficult to switch from Component inputs to HDMI on the PS3.

Victor note: Looks like I wasn't the only one (see comments). Glad to help, Georgios!

It gets better with age.

I've played several Wii titles now, but the one I keep coming back to is Wii Sports.

Tennis is a superb multiplayer game, but Golf and Bowling are surprisingly engrossing single-player experiences.

These games are, as the saying goes, easy to play but hard to master. So you can have plenty of fun just mastering your swing or learning how to twist your wrist just so to put some spin on your ball.

The only real problem for Nintendo right now is that Wii Sports is probably the best game available for the console, other than perhaps Zelda.

But since Wii Sports is already bundled with the console, I think a lot of casual gamers will buy the console and maybe an extra controller, and then never buy another game again.

What Nintendo needs to do is use Wii Sports as a franchise name, so casual gamers who see a new title on the shelf will know exactly what they're getting, even if they've never read a review or game blog. "Wii Sports Fishing," "Wii Sports Discus," "Wii Sports Javelin," "Wii Sports Curling (with realistic sweeping action!)."

Make it so, Nintendo!

I was out at Wal-Mart this weekend and - as all nerds are legally required to do in any store that carries anything remotely gadget-related - was strolling aimlessly through the electronics section when I noticed a sign that said the store would probably be getting Wii consoles in stock this Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Presumably, other local Wal-Marts will be getting their own supplies as well, this week.

So have at it!