PDA gaming can become inconvenient.

In an attempt to wean myself off of the Bejeweled 2 puzzle game on my iPAQ 4150, I decided to switch to Age of Empires, merely for research purposes, of course.

Insidiously, my proclivity towards Pocket PC game addiction reared its ugly head once again. It all began when I started playing Age of Empires during commercials while taking in Global News.

As it turns out, Bejeweled 2 had fewer negative repercussions on the domestic front as my wife Jessie has taken to dropping the occasional snide remark about my Pocket PC gaming.

This occurred most recently while conducting a Macedonian assault involving armoured elephants and long sword infantry.

I suspect that the novelty of pausing and rewinding live TV with our Rogers-supplied PVR has become annoyingly stale for her.

It's considered somewhat sacrilegious when Dr. House has been paused midway through delivering a sarcastic quip to a terminally ill patient.

At work, I failed to notice that my desktop PC had frozen during compilation of a quarterly report until half an hour had elapsed, forcing me to produce some deft pretexts when my manager stopped by on a so-called spontaneous visit to my cubicle.

PDA puzzle games usually involve short, quick plays, making for an all-season type of Pocket PC game convenience.

Mounting a real-time Pocket PC strategic assault means having to pay a bit more attention to the big picture, lest you get cut down by an enemy AI civilization rampage on the hardest difficulty level.

My iPAQ has provided more than enough blissful distractions during daily commutes to earn my own, personal award for The Ultimate Gaming Platform that also reminds me of mundane errands, meetings and contact phone numbers.

It's too bad RTS Pocket PC gaming and work don't mix well.

My diet will consist largely of Jawbreaker and Bejeweled staples for the time being. Away from work it'll be a different story.

Well, back to preparing my final AoE assault.

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Damian Julien is a Pocket PC gaming authority and long time general gaming hobbyist and reviewer.

He is an IT specialist by trade and has posted numerous articles on Pocket PC emulators, gaming and trends in the industry.

http://www.pdagameguide.com/