The way Nate Wells sees it, “Bioshock” is the only next-gen shooter out there.

At a time when everyone is trying to define what a new generation of games should play like, the technical arts director for Irrational Games has a pretty good argument and it’s staring me in the face.

This isn’t the prettiest shooter on the Xbox 360. That distinction belongs to “Gears of War” and it’s not the most realistic that honor would go to “Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter” or “Rainbow Six Vegas.”

But in terms of narrative, presentation, level design and ideas, “Bioshock” outdistances the competition. No other title blends the cinematic and gameplay in such a compelling package.

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Honestly, I was expecting pink and a lot of it.

I stood in a publicist’s office Thursday in San Francisco waiting to check out a preview of the latest “Hannah Montana” game. I was roped into the event because A) I have an open mind when it comes to video games and B) I had time (It was my day off.). As I stood in the downtown office, all I could think of were screenshots full of daisies, sugary pop music and galloping ponies. I was approaching this as any red-blooded man would — with a sense of palpable dread. Is this what 90 percent of girlfriend’s go through when they see their significant other’s fire up “Gears of War”?

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