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Awesome, I loved Catan but it really needed local play. It could have been implemented by making the cards hidden in local play unless you hold down a button, so you just walk up to your TV, put your hands around your hidden cards and press the button if you don't trust your friends in the room. Yeah it's not ideal but it's still less work to play than the board game would be! and cheaper!

But yes this game has local play, according to http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/c/carcassonnexboxlivearcade/default.htm

I hate Google desktop search, and I love Vista's search. Nice try Google. Why don't you try sneaking your desktop search in with a million other installers like you do with google toolbar?

I've never played the board game, is it suitable for local multiplayer? I loved Settlers of Catan for XBLA but it wasn't able to play local multiplayer since you have to hide your cards from other players. Same with Uno.

I have the retail game and it is my favorite XBL game right now. It's just really fun to play, especially with a group of friends.

I'm glad to see that gamecube controllers will be supported.

However, I think this goes to show that any hardcore game just isn't going to work with the Wii's motion (read: waggle) controls. I'm worried about Metroid Prime and Mario because they ARE trying to use the motion controls and I don't want to find myself waggling my way through them.

In the end, the motion controls just aren't sensitive enough for a complicated game. It's waggle or nothing.

No, this scenrio will not pan out as you have described it. Yes, I believe there will be a market for dumb-terminal devices that connect up to the cloud for services.

But, our bandwidth capabilities (especially wireless) are NOWHERE NEAR sufficient to stream a rich experience. HD Video, gaming, 3D modeling, and a whole slew of other applications that would far exceed the bandwidth capabilities of the near future.

So what about down the line when bandwidth increases? Well, I can guarantee you that what people do with their computers is going to change as more bandwidth and computing power becomes available. In other words, bandwidth capabilities will probably NEVER exceed computing and media capabilities (they are both growing, and bandwidth is growing much much slower). So the demand for ever more powerful computers should give Dell a continuous supply of hungry consumers (even if they ARE using services in the cloud).

Finally, while I agree that software services will begin to play a much more important role (as they have already begun to do), Microsoft is not going to stand still. They have already begun a huge Live Anywhere initiative to support software as a service from your PC, tablet, mobile phone etc. The real killer apps of the future are going to be software AND services, to take advantage of the best of both worlds.

In short, your analysis is very short cited and to be honest just plain wrong.

Yeah I'm still waiting for a WinMo6 phone that has a good touch interface AND a slide-out keyboard. This is moving in the right direction but the hardware is out-dated and the UI doesn't seem to be any better than just pressing a button to change screens.

I'll wait for the inevitible slew of cheap iPhone immitators of which I'm sure one or two will stand out as real gems (if not the most original gems).

Nice, I havn't played this game in a while but I enjoyed it when it came out. I was worried that they would overcharge for the content but it is basically 2 dollars for 2 new characters and 2 new maps (and 2 new achievements). I think that is more than fair so I will probably be getting this (especially since Pac-Man is not my thing).

You gave the touchscreen +1 for usefulness without actually trying it, it could easily turn out to be a pain in the ass, especially for typing (no tactile feedback).

Also, it's not really in the same category as other smartphones considering you can't' install 3rd party apps on the phone. It's a closed platform.

9 Points for cool, yeah I can agree with that. But it's not nearly as useful as a Windows Mobile 6 phone.