Two market forces are colliding -- media, converging to a single digital platform; and casual gaming. Eventually, the two are going to hit.

"Lair" is a very cool concept for a game (you ride a dragon around, wreaking havoc and fighting other dragon riders), with gorgeous graphics, which was totally ruined by its utterly baffling control scheme, which made the game so frustrating to play that it totally tanked its reviews.

In-game advertising is projected to grow like wildfire, from $77 million in 2006 to nearly one billion by 2011. What I would like to know is, where is this 1,000% growth coming from?

For video games, there is a real-world concern that is often overlooked: the environment. In all these virtual worlds being created, where are the compact fluorescents and hybrid cars? Is global warming really only an analog concern, with digital denizens not to be bothered?