Oh, how I would love to play Metal Gear Solid on my Xbox 360. Unfortunately I won't be buying a PS3 anytime soon. Or a Wii, DSi, PSP, or iPhone.

Do I even dare hope the next Metal Gear Solid is coming to Xbox 360?

No, the potential let-down would be too much. Welcome to the Wii, Metal Gear Solid. Fare thee well.

The cynic in me can't help thinking that the people who complain about games being easy are less concerned with themselves being challenged than they are with other people being stonewalled. They don't want just anyone to be able to beat a game. If a game is hard enough that most people can't beat it, then you get to feel good about yourself if you are one of the few who are able to beat it.

We long-time gaming hobbyists play games all the time. We know that we can handle a steep learning curve. As long as a game is well-balanced and won't force me to suffer cheap deaths through little or no fault of my own, I'll be perfectly capable of beating it. But a non-gamer or an ex-gamer who hasn't played video games since Goldeneye is going to play Halo 3 on Legendary for five minutes and quickly decide to watch a DVD instead.

That might mean I get to feel cool because I can beat games that my non-gamer friends can't, but it also means my non-gamer friends won't be joining me for a Call of Duty party any time soon.

Seriously, I can't tell you how many people who tell me the reason they don't play games is because they suck at them. That doesn't make me happy. That makes me disappointed.