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Hello Denuo friends and Happy 2012!

This month’s issue will get your new year off on the right foot with a look at gaming’s influence on health platforms and their subsequent influence on your waistline. We’ll also get a glimpse at what’s to come in 2012 with a few gaming trends and prognostications.

Xbox Live’s ‘Metro’ dashboard update debuted last month to great fanfare, but not all of the platform’s 44MM users were thrilled with the change.  Speaking of thrilling, though The Last of Us currently isn’t more than a trailer, press release, and screen grabs, the amount of buzz around this new title has gamers on edge. What can marketers learn about bringing new IP to market from Naughty Dog’s latest?  Lastly, while Humble Indie Bundle 4 may be over, we’re already looking forward to their next release; not only to play awesome indie games, but also to do our part for charities. Download PLAYED now!

Last year was my first trip to CES and frankly, I was disappointed. Everything had to do with 3D. 3D TV’s, 3D video games, 3D without glasses, 3D energy conservation appliances. I found this development disappointing and surprising for three reasons.

1. Our brains and eyes aren’t built for 3D.
2. It’s not a new technology.
3. Three is a good amount of reasons to have.

This year was a different story. I was amazed at the amount of practical technology that was being presented. Sure, there were still massive 3D displays (LG) but it felt more like a showroom floor where the theme is “we’ll make life better” as opposed to “isn’t this neat?”

"Cut the Rope" as arcade game. File under "Neat!"

Of course there was some opportunity to fall into each category. For example, TCL developed Dual Screen Television Technology. From one TV screen people can watch two different shows by wearing different glasses. Anyone who is married or shares a studio apartment (ew, seriously, find your own place) knows how useful this is. Now my wife can watch “Bridget Jones’s Diary” while I watch “Bridget Jones’s Diary 2: The Edge of Reason” from the same TV! (high five)

It was with a heavy heart that I joined team iPhone this summer. As a self-appointed Apple h8r, I spent the previous 3 years of my mobile phone life with Android devices. As with any relationship, there were good and bad times but at the end I realized that we needed to test the waters with others. I was not the least bit enthusiastic about this decision but it felt necessary at the time. Now that I’ve had a few months to adjust, I can say it was the right decision if not for one main factor…Instagram.

Twitter and pro sports have had a tumultuous love affair.  On one hand, leagues have benefitted from players and fans connecting directly.  On the other hand, Larry Johnson.

At one point in 2009, it looked like Twitter and professional sports would never get along.  Teams and media properties were heavily regulating content of tweets or banning it altogether.

Thankfully, we’re to a point now where enough people in decision-making positions understand how Twitter works.  Teams are able to give players social media training.  They have gone from blanket banning to friendly warning if a player gets a little liberal with their tweets.  The change has been great for fans as we can get news and insider views like no other generation of sports fan before us.

Tonight will hopefully be the next step in the evolution of how we view sports.

As my first three months here at Denuo come to a close, I can’t help but compare my new environment to my old. I began here as an administrative assistant in January, leaving behind a career as a massage therapist. I went from working at a small but busy spa one mile from my apartment to working in a giant building in downtown Chicago. My five hour work days that began at 3PM have become 8.5 hour work days that start at 6AM. A casual stroll to work has become a full-speed walk to trains where I sit for 50 minutes trying to avoid eye contact with everyone around me. And really, let’s not even talk about the elevators.