Pet Peeved Monday, June 18, 2007 : 2:00 AM EST By: Chris

I'm sure most everyone must notice this, but in sitcoms and movies whenever a person is shown playing a videogame they always play it in the stupidest fashion possible. I'm talking about contorted faces, rapid button mashing, and manic controller movements through the space immediately surrounding them. Videogames have been around for decades now; we know what they are and how they are operated. So then why does Hollywood have the notion that all games are shoot 'em ups that must always be played while in the grips of a seizure? It's like they think we won't pick up on the fact that they're playing a game unless the characters' every bodily movement indicates such. It's just something that has always annoyed me and that could be easily fixed.

I'll be picking up a 360 pretty soon and I'd like to request your advice. My only hands-on experience with the system is playing in-store demos of King Kong and Ping Pong. So I submit the question: what's the first game I should pick up? Elder Scrolls? Gears of War? Dead Rising? Something else? Many look appealing to me, but what is the ultimate 360 game that will initiate me into the crop of bodies from which Microsoft's game division harvests money? And what's the best Live Arcade game? Is it Uno, Catan, or Geometry Wars? If you could be so kind as to help me out and let me know it would be much appreciated.