Do I want to pay extra for the Big Frickin’ Gun?

I’m ashamed to admit it, but this year I’ve been sucked in by casual games on my iPhone and iPad. Those angry birds have a lot to answer for. The latest game that’s been keeping me up at night is Tower Madness - an excellent tower defence game with impressive graphics, a fantastic interface and great game play.

I really like Tower Madness, which basically involves protecting your sheep from marauding aliens, but I seem to have reached a point where it’s impossible to complete some levels without purchasing extra weapons. A Google search reveals I’m not the only one who has reached this conclusion. And when I say “purchasing” weapons, I mean handing over real money via an in-app purchase. We’re only talking about $1.19 for a flame thrower, but I’m still uncomfortable with the concept.

The internet is awash with dodgy online games designed to suck you in and then milk you dry via in-app purchases (yes Facebook, I’m looking at you). I wouldn’t put Tower Madness in the same category, as the developers haven’t designed it as a dead-end which forces you to cough up more money to keep playing. The design of the game seems quite reasonable, and the developers are certainly entitled to make a buck. Yet purchasing extra weapons with real money is a major psychological hurdle for a casual gamer like me to overcome. Purchasing weapons seems like cheating, but if it’s really impossible to complete levels without them then perhaps it’s the game that’s cheating.

I’m so impressed with Tower Madness that I probably will cough up some extra dough for a Big Frickin’ Gun - but don’t think I’m a soft touch. My phone isn’t a slot machine. It’ll take something pretty special for me to keep handing over cash to a game.

As if the Freeview campaign wasn’t insulting enough, Free TV Australia is now trying to tell us the country’s pathetic HD broadcast efforts are doubleplusgood.

Orwell would be proud of the Freeview campaign, which is really designed to thwart TV growth and trick Australians into forgoing ad-skipping. Instead the free-to-air broadcasters continue to drive viewers into the hands of Foxtel and BitTorrent.

In yesterday’s Green Guide, Free TV Australia head Julie Flynn had the audacity to describe HD as a "great success in this country" - despite the networks reneging on their early promises of glorious high-def broadcasting. Her remarks came as Network Ten played out the next chapter of the great Aussie high-def swindle by deciding not to broadcast the AFL next year, leaving high-def footy fans at the mercy of Seven or in the clutches of Foxtel.

Between pay TV and the internet, an entertainment revolution is upon us. It’s pretty clear who’ll be first against the wall.

Are computers in the lounge room a dying breed?

I’m starting to think that the Media Centre PC is dead. In the last few years we’ve seen an explosion in Consumer Electronics devices which bridge the gap between PC and AV. These days I doubt most people would tolerate a computer in the lounge room if other gadgets could do the job, not unless they’re the kind of person who likes to tinker with technology.

I’ve still got a Windows 7 Media Centre PC in my entertainment cabinet, but it’s my job to tinker with this kind of stuff. To be honest, these days it’s more of a media server than a player. Most of what it does could be done from my office, across my gigabit home network.

I only switch my TV over to the Media Centre PC when I want to watch stuff I’ve download, which I could easily watch on other devices. I also use it to play the kids’ DVD, ripped using AnyDVD HD, as Windows Media Centre makes an excellent DVD jukebox. Only a handful of other devices, such as the WD TV Live, let you treat a ripped DVD as a physical disc and access the menus. The Media Centre PC is also handy for watching Catch Up TV, although other devices are starting to take over that role.

Another option is a McTiVia, which lets you control a Mac or PC remotely and stream video to your television. I’m still playing with the McTiVia, but I suspect such products could be the final nail in the coffin for the lounge room PC.

Don't buy a new internet-enabled Blu-ray player on the assumption you'll get all the streaming video features found in Smart TVs.

The major TV makers are all pushing their new Smart TV platforms at the moment, but most of us can’t afford to throw away a perfectly good TV just to access online video features. Upgrading your Blu-ray player makes more sense, but make sure you read the fine print.

Panasonic, Samung and LG all seem to offer a subset of their Smart TV features on their Blu-ray players, generally at the expense of Catch Up TV services. It would be easy for shoppers to miss this, especially when the store assistants often know less about the products than you do.

Right now it seems Sony is the only Smart TV vendor not treating Blu-ray customers like second-class citizens - you get exactly the same streaming features as you get on the Sony televisions (although you miss out on Skype). This is great because Sony offers iView, Plus7 and SBS along with Qriocity for Music. There’s also a video service on the way - it’s already listed as Qriocity Video on Demand on the Sony website, but the PR people still tell me it’s “coming soon”.

Sony might be dragging its feet in terms of Smart TV apps, but if you’re after Catch Up TV on a Blu-ray player then it’s the one to watch.

I seamlessly jump between platforms when working, but things become more complicated at playtime.

I've recently dipped my toe into gaming again, caving into peer pressure from the Tech Talk Radio crew and taking the plunge into Portal (with an eye on Portal 2). The big question is, which platform to buy it on?

I opted for Windows/Mac via Steam for Portal, but the performance varies greatly between the various computers around my house. I’m wondering if the PlayStation 3 might be a better option for Portal 2. I really like the sound of Valve's offer of a free copy of Portal 2 for Windows or Mac if I buy Portal 2 on the PlayStation 3 via Steam. I deliberately take a cross-platform approach to computing so I’m not locked into any one computer or operating system. Valve’s cross-platform approach to gaming would seem to logical extension of this philosophy.

Unfortunately the small print says that Valve’s Steam Cloud service can’t sync my saved game data between consoles and computers, only between consoles or between computers. Surely I can’t be the only person who is disappointed by this. All I want to do is easily hot desk between devices and pick up where I left off, just like I do when working.

Valve’s cross-platform approach to gaming is certainly intriguing, but a little more cross-platform integration would go a long way.