Below is a video of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 running rather well on my Packard Bell Easynote BG45-U-300. The laptop has the Intel 965 chipset and is running Windows 7.0 build 7057.

I have just bought myself an XBOX 360 Elite. After spending the year messing around with an XBOX 1 with XBMC installed I couldn’t help be pulled in by the GTA4 hype! It took me about 3 weeks of arm twisting to get my wife comfortable with the idea that I was going to spend a shit load of money on a games console…. was it worth it? Yes. My first impressions of the console was that it was bloody heavy! I had to carry it around whilst shopping in town I wish I had just bought it on the way back to the car but I was fearful that GTA4 was going to sell out! When I got home I rather eagerly unpacked the XBOX inspecting all the sockets and pulling the warning stickers off. GTA4 was now only 5 mins away. I pressed the ON button and the XBOX came to life - whirring away. Then I put GTA4 in. Well f**k me! It sounded like a helicoper taking off I dont think I have ever played on a console where I have thought about putting ear protectors on. Then once I got the game running the dreaded overscan got me sigh… I didn’t buy the ELITE for HDMI socket etc. In fact I got kind of fed walking around the shops trying to find one of these fangled FALCON versions of the console. It looks better in black anyway LOL. I have now ordered a VGA cable and a switch box my ANTEC HTPC is now going to have to share the VGA / DVI socket on the back of my TV. Watch this space for reviews on the VGA and the SWITCH box.

GTA 4 is freakin awesome though. I haven’t got that far yet (i haven’t had much time to play it) but running down pedestrians and then inspecting the dent just doesn’t seem to get old with me! (maybe i should see someone about that) Im not gonna bother giving a full review as there are loads on the web all you need to know is that its good.

I can’t understand it. We are supposed to be raising the ‘Internet Generation’ - children who are completely at home with technology, PCs and the Internet. However, I’m still amazed at the dearth of kid’s software that I can find for my children for either the PC, the Xbox or the Pocket PC.

Since Matt introduced me to the wonder that is XBMC (Xbox Media Centre) I’ve really been enjoying playing with my £20 pre-owned original black Xbox. It has, however, been a trial to find child-friendly software that my 3 and 6 year-olds can truly play. We quite enjoy a bit of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, and they don’t mind Burnout 3 because the whole idea is crashing!! However, a lot of the software is still too difficult to control for them, or simply not interesting for them.

A friend we visitied recently has Buzz! Jungle or something like that, and I have to say that was brilliant - lots of fun for all of us, and the right level. It would be perfectly playable with a normal controller, and I can’t believe there isn’t anything for Xbox that’s similar - am I looking in the wrong place?

I find the same problems with an old Pocket PC that I let my 6 year-old have to play with. She loves sketching and making notes, but I’d like to give her something like the games you can get on the Nintendo DS - like Brain Training or something. The PPC would be so ideal for that kind of interaction. I’m trying a few freeware things I’ve download recently and will see how they look.

It’s not just games. Alice is due her SATs this May, and we’ve bought a couple of test books to look at to understand what they will be expecting of her. A lot of the material is basic maths and comprehension - again perfect material for computer software to deliver. A bit of creativity could even make this stuff fun. Is there a gap in the market, or am I just missing this stuff?

If anyone reading has any suggestions, please let me know. If they sound good, I’ll test them on Alice and give you some real user feedback!!

Dan