When I was in high school my older brother was my source of gaming news – what was new, what was the latest tech, and what game he was just aching to buy. He had a tendency to lean toward the Quake Series, with a dash of Unreal and Half-Life when those debuted, which in retrospect only belied his interest in the biggest, baddest graphics output of the time. I remember hearing him talk about “ambient lighting” for the first time, along with “anti-aliasing” and “scripted scenes” and how Half-Life really milked their use. When Giants: Citizen Kabuto was released in 2000, when I was a sophomore in high school, I remember my brother telling me how progressive it was, with its world map setting, better AI, non-linear gameplay, and the new bump mapping it featured. For those not hip to the lingo, Bump mapping is a technique used to add more realism to images without adding a lot of geometry. In contrast, Texture mapping adds realism by mapping images to geometric surfaces. Bump mapping adds per-pixel surface relief shading, increasing the apparent complexity of the surface. This uses lighting properties and indicates which parts are dark and which are light on a texture, making it look more geometrically complex because of light refraction. What was particularly significant for my brother was the year 2000 marked the arrival of NVIDIA’s GeForce 2 GTS, and 3dfx’s Voodoo 5, two graphics cards which really brought bump mapping into the limelight.

Yeah, I know, get your geek on.

For those who live and breathe gaming, GameCenter by GameFly is a must-have for the iPhone. With access to over 5,000 titles for all current consoles and handhelds, GameCenter provides you with information on popular, new and upcoming games; cheat codes and those sometimes shamefully necessary walkthroughs; and thousands of game videos. A tab along the top of the screen allows you to filter information based on whichever gaming platform you seek: the X360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, and the PS2. It’s only too bad GameCenter doesn’t include any current games for the PC – especially after my personal anecdote – but there is news information on the PC under the News tab. With consoles really upping the ante on their graphics and playability, over the past few years the PC world has really been feeling the crunch in terms of popularity. I mean, the PC will always have an edge on graphics (so far), but people really like their controllers. Besides, setting up a LAN takes more effort than plugging in another controller for a quick four player match. But, back to GameCenter.

Navigating the app is simple enough. Filter information based on gaming platform, or just root through them all on one page. The Games tab in the bottom navigation bar shows you all the current game releases, along with the most popular and ones soon to be released. The News Tab relays information on the entire gaming industry, with all of the articles able to read in-app. I tapped on Dragon Age: Origins on the X360 because, hey, I like games about the fantastical (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, anyone?), and any story-crafting RPG about redemption and vengeance is gold in my books. Tapping on the game I am taken to a summary page with all the pertinent information – things like the platform, the publisher, the release date and genre, GameFly User Ratings (Dragon Age received an 8.4), a short game description, and the ever important game specs so you can figure out if cleaning out your hard drive is next on your list (0ops, we’re not talking PC here). I was surprised to see a section on Game Controls – apparently, GameCenter likes to fill you in on what buttons do what in what combinations. I guess it is helpful to have a cursory look-over prior to playing the game. If I was bowled over enough by reading through the user reviews (not to mention the professional critic review by IGN, available, it seems, for all the games on GameCenter) and the other details, I can opt to sign-up with GameCenter and rent games through the app. Neat-o.

Definitely an asset for anyone with a salivation problem for the latest in games, GameCenter keeps you up-to-date and informed on any console game you could possibly want – or possibly just the good ones.