You might also try a Japanese RPG, like Final Fantasy. Those tend to have richer stories and better character development than shooters and action games, and that might appeal to your girlfriend.

My girlfriend loved Final Fantasy VII, and I think the series is probably as popular among girls in Japan as it is with guys. Maybe try her out on Crisis Core, or if you have a 360, Eternal Sonata.

Interesting idea migvudne...midguvne...guy! I think you may be looking at this backward, though. Historically, console games haven't been ported to the PC. In fact, I bet more console games are ported to PC now than ever before (thanks EA!)

The problem is that many of the major PC names from the 90s (Bioware, Bethesda, Irrational, Tim Schafer) have switched to console development, because the market is so much bigger. There are still a few dedicated PC developers, but they're few and far between, and so are the good PC games.

Anyway, I'll talk to Jason Ocampo about this, he probably has more opinions on the matter than I do.

Okay, I have a lot of ideas now, including one really big one that's a little scary.

But enough about me. What you've said so far is that you want features that are:

Interactive - Contests and Quizzes. What kinds of contests would you like to see? How would you like to compete?

Girl Friendly - Hopefully, everything we do will be equally enjoyable for girls and boys. But what kinds of things would girls like to see featured?

Retrospectives - I'm on the fence with these. They're very common feature fodder. What should we look back at?

Opinion - You want to know what we think. We'll think about that.

Also, if we did something charitable, like raising funds and donating them, who would you want to help?(Other than yourself, smart guy)

Edit: Fixed my grammars

The Classic games revisited thing is always a good idea, but I think instead of looking back on what games have stood the test of time until now, it might be interesting to predict which games will stand the test of time into the future, like when our alien overlords return to earth. What will we be playing then?

I will definitely try to bring back some form of Burning Questions, but with a different spin. If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them. If you don't, don't worry, I have some good ideas on this topic.

Regarding a User Review spotlight - Yes, that is more the community department's, uh, department than it is mine. However, I'm interested in working with them to coordinate features with contests, with the winner/results being the featured content.

What contests would you like to see?

The problem with staff blogs is that we're all so busy with things we *have* to do, it's hard to set time aside to do things with no set deadlines.

As far as a Designer Diaries feature, it can be difficult to find people who say things that are downright interesting. There are a few, and I'll see what I can do on this front. But to be honest with you, gaming panels can be really boring. I wouldn't want to subject you to one unless I was certain it would be insightful and really entertaining.

Are you as smart as Greg Kasavin or Geoff Keighley?

appleater

No, but I am better looking.

I'll mention the first impressions idea to the review team, because that's more their department than mine. I thinkit soundsgood, but there's always more to these things than meets the eye.

I like the mods/modders idea. I will definitely pursue that.

The interactive idea is also a good one, and I've been tossing around a couplenotions on that front. However, that might be something better handled by the community team. Did you have anything in particular in mind?

I would also like to see a Mailbag Feature. We used to run Burning Questions, but Alex Navarro knows more about that than I do. I'll have to see what input he has.

Regarding NDA games and the hits they didn't turn into, a broader topic might be industry blunders and follies. Lord knows there are plenty every year.

Regarding the escapist, they're not a bad source of feature fodder, though they get a little boring. In fact, I just woke up from a feature they wrote about the importance of lighting in video games. Point taken, though, and appreciated. You want features that focus on interesting characters, companies, and technologies. I will do my best to deliver.

Keep em coming, I'm writing these down.

No one takes kindly to noobs in any forum, anywhere. You could make a first post in a knitting forum and get flamed by otherwise sweet, old ladies.

That isn't the point.

I want to write things you'll want to read. If you have thoughts, share them, and I'll do my best to turn them into a bunch of good features.