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I recently traded my city condo, yellow cabs and laptop for a three story house, a Suburban with two car seats and limited to no cell phone reception in a smallish town in KS that is home to my sister, brother-in-law and nephews. My summer “vacation” was spent trying to keep up with (and frankly alive) two boys under the age of 4. Thankfully their parents didn’t totally disappear but I was basically on my own from breakfast through to bath and bedtime.

I’m fascinated with people watching and this past week, all that energy was put towards watching them and the events/people that surround them. I often pay particular attention to how they interact with tools and technologies that weren’t even a pipe dream when I was their age. Lucky for you, I’m going to share a few of my observations…

With the “most important event in gaming history” unfolding in a little over a week, the gaming nerd contingent at Denuo is a bit excited. We’ll be heading out to the Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 14th to take in all the latest fun from the world of gaming and, of course, bringing back our take on the big reveals and trends spinning out from the showfloor.

Before we pack our bags (ed. note: who are you kidding, they’ve been packed for a month now), this year’s show promises to hold some surprises for the gaming faithful and, with that, bring all sorts of new opportunities for those involved in the gaming space. For those of you following along from your laptop and RSS feeds, here’s what to look for when the expo opens its doors.

After a nice long Memorial Day weekend ushered in the summer, students across the country are taking that last set of finals in hopes of maintaining good grades or bumping up those so-so grades. With the spirit of report cards in the air, I thought it was a good time to give out a report card of sorts to the latest social media/mobile/application craze, location-based apps.

In lieu of grades, I’m taking a more general approach of commenting on: The Good, The Bad, and My Wish. Now bring on the judgment.

You know those people who have a natural sense of direction? Who seem to just know how to navigate new neighborhoods, where to turn right or left? Who can give a map a once-over without furrowing their brow? I am not one of those people.

In fact, about a month ago, I got lost on my 0.1 mile walk to work off the Clark/Lake stop. I somehow managed to head west on Lake Street and walked in squares around Clark, LaSalle, and West Wacker. I even annoyed not one, but two, busy-looking people on the street by asking which way West Wacker was. At this point, it was 8:54am and I was getting dangerously close to being late, so I hailed a cab to work (I’m serious.) Quite possibly the most embarrassing $5 I ever spent.

It got me thinking: I am one of those people who should get a smartphone. I’m constantly looking up train schedules, walking directions, restaurant menus, movie times, concerts and events information. When I’m out with friends, I always have to ask two questions: 1) “Where are we going?” and 2) “Who has a smartphone?”

Did you miss us? We sure missed you. Most of all, we missed bringing you the latest gaming industry news and trends in this excited-for-E3 issue of PLAYED. This month, we consider the celebrity of developers and how it may shape the industry in years to come. We also check out Apple’s latest step into the gaming space with their Game Center mobile network and proprietary approach to the mobile space, along with the industry’s “green” efforts towards an improved environment. Finally, with achievements and rewards an integral part of gaming, we look at how high scores and in-game bonuses are influencing real-life programs and activities.