Busy in LA

I've been rather busy during my trip to LA, but I did manage to get in an hour or two of shopping today. I bought some books for my wife, a DVD of the Curious George TV show for my daughter, Ella - plus some Dora the Explorer stuff that isn't available back home. Ella loves Dora and Boots , and I have to say I think it's a pretty cool show for kids.

I also bought a book called The Real Toy Story. It looks at some of the creators in the toy biz as well as the "dark side" of the industry - the cold blooded marketing used to sell product and the Chinese sweat shops used to make toys. Should be an interesting read. I'll let you know what I think after I read it. In the mean time, if you're interested in toys go read Toy Wars - I really enjoyed that one.

On another note, I picked up a Nintendo magazine at the newsstand and was surprised to see a bad review of Puzzle Quest. The reviewer gave it 4 out of 10 - one of the lowest scores in the mag. The reason he didn't like it was because "it's not much different from Bejeweled and it's just as boring." To say Bejeweled, one of the most succesful and addictive games of the last decade is boring is one thing, but to say Puzzle Quest isn't much different is absurd. I suspect he picked on the game because its from a relatively unknown developer and publisher - and I'm doubly sure he wrote his review before he read Penny Arcade's strips about the game.

At least gamers are voting with their dollars!