Yesterday, I got to attend the NY Games for Windows (G4W) showcase in NYC with John P. As usual, it was held in a place where you wonder if someone's playing a practical joke by getting you lost but once you step off the dodgy, "express" freight elevator, you enter a gaming paradise. The MS event team, again, showed how great they are at turning an empty space into a comfortable, appealing and fully functional playground.

This event was set up a little differently from other events I've attended. Instead of just throwing the press and players into a pool of games and letting them go at it with the developers, small groups were ushered into a sectioned off demo space to hear all the great stuff that Vista has to offer gamers.

I am definitely a console gamer at heart but it was cool to see all the new features in Vista that make true cross platform gaming a reality. Kevin Unangst gave us the inside info on how Vista tackles parental controls by using the ESRB rating system, how easy it is to play multiplayer games with gamers using PCs AND Xbox 360s, and the power of DirectX 10.

After the demo, the group was shown to the play area. Here, enthusiasts were greeted with games ranging from updated casual favorites to the new, hot titles. On display, we had Shadowrun (360 and PC multiplayer), Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Crysis, Rail Simulator, Supreme Commander, UNO (360 and PC), World in Conflict, Mah Jong, Bliss Island, Jewel Quest II, Geometry Wars (on PC) and other casual games titles. Also on display were systems and other goodies from Alienware, AMD, Dell, Intel and NVIDIA. Periperals came from Microsoft/Razer Habu and Reclusa.

An interesting tidbit I learned was that a peripheral will be coming out that allows you to use wireless Xbox controllers with your PC. Now that's cool. That may just be the thing I need to make me actually start gaming on one of those PC thingamajigs - Not to mention all of the cool cases on display (Yes, my girly, style type comment is out of the way). But really, why didn't they have cool cases like that when I built my never-used PC a couple of years ago?

As I wandered around the glowing blue room, I checked out people playing all of the games. Crysis looks absolutely stunning graphics-wise. I watched someone as they roamed around a lush jungle setting. They seemed to be doing so fairly easily. Again, not being a PC gamer, I wonder how hard any shooter would be for someone like me.

Shadowrun certainly improved graphically from when I last saw it at E3 and was was a popular station at this event. I am still itching to see just how well the whole cross-platform gaming does. I know many of you are still questioning how level the playing field will be. I am, too.

"Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures" was another graphically amazing game. The textures on the scenery was gorgeous - rivaling that of Oblivion. The game play also looked very similar so if I do manage to get myself a kick-butt system, I will probably find myself picking up this title.

Thrills Killa (Michael), John and I tried our hand at playing Geometry Wars on the PC...It was...interesting. The first piece of advice Thrills gave me was to just keep moving. Sorry, but my lack of PC gaming skills doesn't compute that and while I thought I was telling my left hand to move, it was actually getting me stuck on a wall. Why don't I have this problem with a controller?? I got a whopping 38,000 or so. Thrills got 100,000 +  FREAK! (Said with love). Also, check out his blog for a great write-up of some of the games.

Another game on the casual side, was a game called "Bliss Island". The premise it fairly simple but reaching the goal? Not so much. You are a fuzzy blue salamander/newt/dragon type creature who has some good lungs. Your goal is to destroy items that fall down the screen with a round object (could be a ball, a piece of fruit, etc.). How do you control the ball? With the breath of your creature. Each breath shoots the ball in the air in a direction you specify. Think pinball with legs. It was lots of fun and very challenging.

Oh, guess what we had to eat? Mini-hamburgers. What's with those at NYC events? I never see them anywhere unless there's an MS soiree going on! They also had what I've heard was a killer tomato soup/grilled cheese sandwich shot. My favorite was the home made marshmallow with chocolate in the middle. What? You don't care about the food? OH WELL!

The event was a huge success and it may have signed on another "other" system convert - me. Congratulations to everyone involved! And thanks to all of the community members who stopped by like. It's always great to see what you think.