I'm a guy who likes his music within arm's reach. My friends make fun of me because I constantly have headphones around my neck. I swear, I have a headphone fetish or something. But awhile ago, my MP3 player died, so I resorted to using my PSP (of all things) as a replacement. But when Christmas rolled around, I knew I'd have to get a dedicated music device, and my "too cool for school" mentality drove me away from the hipster Apple garbage and towards the Zune.

I'm not sure why I changed my mind and doubled back toward the iPod Touch, though. Probably curiosity; anyone who watches Co-Op knows they've been talking about iPhone apps pretty regularly, and with more and more sites saying the iPhone/Pod Touch has become a legitimate game platform, I decided to dive right into the world of Peggle and Bejeweled.

What I got was, actually quite nice. There's a lot of demos for games, as well as free games (of varying quality), but the process of pressing a button and paying for a game is even crazier than going nuts during a sale on Steam. The charges add up.

Canabalt was a no brainer. I loved the flash game, and having it on the go is perfect for a short game on the bus or extended play at in a waiting room.

We Love Katamari caught me by surprise, if only because I didn't even know it was on their store in the first place. The tilt controls are a little weird, which can either make the game really fun or really frustrating. Still a cool game to show off.

Glyder 2 nails the tilt controls perfectly, though, with one-touch calibration at any time, and big maps to fly around in and explore. It's like the flying in Wii Sports Resort, only with more shit to find.

Jet Car...something or other is a Trackmania clone mixed with the funky Mirror's Edge DLC levels. Tilt controls are solid, though the levels are pretty frustrating. I like the online features it has, though I don't know anyone else who plays it.

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene actually got updated today, and I was really excited. The controls are a tad annoying when your finger obstructs your view or slides off the screen, but the rest of it is so perfect that I really don't care. It's constantly throwing new abilities and weapons to unlock.

Spider is a pretty cool platformer where you make webs to eat bugs. You do so in an abandoned mansion, which tells a story as you progress. You know, artsy, indie game stuff. Controls are simple and fun to play with.

Rolando 2 is basically Loco Roco with less charm. And I wasn't big on that game to begin with. Still, I like how the game throws out new ideas to mess with, like rotating the whole device, or moving platforms with your finger.

What I also learned: hardcore games shoehorned on with touch screen control pads are a bad idea. Really bad. There's so many games that say "well, we want to make a DS/PSP game, but don't have the D-Pad. Here's a make-believe one!" and end up being frustrating as hell. Zenonia kicked the frustration up a notch by forcing me to navigate stat, item, equip, and quest menus with said d-pad instead of just letting me touch the menu options like God intended.

But overall, I'd say my experience with the App Store's offerings has been pretty positive if the game is designed around the tech properly. It's kind of like most flash games; there's lots of crap for your little sister, but if you look hard enough, there's plenty of stuff worth playing.

Also, Space Invaders' Music Mode + Mega Man music = Awesome.