We've been playing Forza 3 for Xbox 360 non-stop since it arrived.  A full review will follow, but suffice it to say that this is a must have title, reason alone to buy an Xbox 360.  It earns all the superlatives:  innovative, entertaining, sparkling eye-candy, easy to pick-up and play, full of limitless customization for the hard core player. In a genre as oft-visited as racing, garnering these accolades requires real horsepower.

Over the past few years, heck, over the past few days, it seems as if we've been inundated with karaoke and music games.  Are we all suffering burnout and over-saturation from the genre at this point.  When I suggested we play Lips Number One Hits, my friend looked at me and said, " How could it possibly be different from all the other music games we've tested?"

I'll be appearing on the Today Show on August 27 to talk about Back-to-School hi-tech for kids from preschool to high-school. Follow the link for some of the products I'll be demoing.

On December 8, 2008 I showed off some great family friendly hi-tech gadgets and games for the holidays on the Today Show. To view the segment click here.

(Microsoft $69.99) Lips is Microsoft's attempt to go head-to-head with Sony's karaoke SingStar franchise.

If you've ever played any game on the strongly masculine styled Xbox 360 you're going to give Lips a double-take. The look and feel here screams "casual"; it almost feels like you're playing on a Nintendo game. You'll probably know right away whether this game is for you by looking at the artists: Duffy, Coldplay, Johnny Cash, and John Denver. For sure, this isn't your teen-son's Rock Band.

(Microsoft $59.99) Microsoft's 2008 version of Scene It? for Xbox 360 is one of the best quiz games I've played - it overcomes many of the problems that plague the genre. Too often, quiz game producers get lazy: The format (simple true/false or multiple choice questions) are often produced using cookie cutter models - all that changes between one program and the next is the "skin", the usually licensed characters.

Energizer has several recharging systems for the major next-gen gaming systems and they recently sent the Xbox 360 recharging station for me to take a look at. They stylish $29.99 stand can charge two Microsoft controllers simultaniously in about 2 and a half hours. It can reduce clutter and simplify the chore of keeping your gaming platform in an "always ready to play" state.

Kudos goes to Microsoft and its developer Bizare Creations for PGR4, a must have racing title and reason enough to buy an Xbox 360 (if Halo 3 wasn’t enough).

We’ve seen games transformed into movies (almost always a disaster). Can a DVD based board game go in the other direction and become a video game?

Comedy and creativity meet in this music game for the Wii that has players dance, sing karaoke, and even produce their own music videos using 38 songs mostly from the 70's 80's and 90's. The characters and locations have a cartoony space-age theme, and the characters' back stories (which are revealed in story mode) are funny.