josh

@Chris D

I didn't realize the most (if not all) games in Game Room were freeware. Widely pirated, yes. Freeware, no.

@blight 'they dont take those kinds of chances"

i dunno... the iPod was the first commercially successful mp3 player, at the time it was considered a very risky product (hard to imagine now, i know). the iMac was a pretty revolutionary product at the time as well. they were also the first computer company to ditch the floppy... i wouldn't say they never take chances.

That logic is pretty flawed. The reason actors in the movies get paid royalties is because they have the leverage to make it happen.

The movies USED to be like you mention, with the talent getting paid well for doing their jobs, and the movie studios making insane, crazy profits.

Then the actors and directors realized that movies do well because their names (and talent) are what sells the movie. No one pays to go see "that new Warner Brothers movie" or "that new Columbia Motion Pictures flick!". However, they do go see "that new Steven Spielberg movie" or "that new Will Smith movie".

So all the talent got together and said "we need to get a cut of those profits or we aren't making these movies for you guys anymore". And that is why actors, directors, screenwriters get royalties.

Now, this likely can't happen in the video game business because 1) you can make video games with out voice actors and 2) no one buys a game because of the voice acting. That being the case, they have no leverage to get royalties in their contracts.

I really don't understand all the internet hype about these glitches. I still have yet to see anyone do any of them, and I bought my MW2 copy from gamestop 2 days before the official launch. I don't play 8 hours a day or anything, but most days I get on and play for at least an hour or so... and the game has never been unplayable. Like I said, I never have seen anyone use a glitch or an exploit, or if i did... i didn't notice!

It was the first, or one of the first MMOs. Before Ultima Online and Everquest.

@Kodros

Interestingly, the US is a democratic republic, not a direct democracy. Thus, what chooses the President is not the total # of voters (that 54%), but instead the number of electoral votes you win. This is why Bush beat Gore even though no one disputed that Gore had more actual votes. Because that doesn't matter. The electoral votes matter.

Obama, by the way, had 365 electoral votes and McCain had 173, and that is quite a beating.

If they were special co-op challenge modes, I think that would be fun. Like Horde mode in Gears or Special Ops in MW2. I can't really see competitive multiplayer, though.

Both that story and this story on Joystiq both link to the same interview on VG247.com.

It's ironic that you call those people douches but in the same breath use the term 'wiggers', and condemn them for acting as such.

The term wigger implies that it's negative for a white person to "act black" (quotes used intentionally), and I generally think that people who use that term regularly are pretty douchey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breach_of_contract

"Limits on Remedies and Damages

Typically, the judicial remedy for breach of contract is monetary damages. See damages. Where the failure to perform cannot be adequately redressed by money damage, the court may enter an equity decree awarding an injunction or specific performance.

The aggrieved person has a duty to mitigate or reduce damages by reasonable means. Liquidated Damages may be limited to a specific amount. In the United States, punitive damages are generally not awarded for breach of contract but may be awarded for other causes of action in a lawsuit."

This is quite a bit different than the judicial remedies for selling drugs. Selling cocaine is a Felony, breach of contract isn't even a misdemeanor - it just means the person who had the contract with you can sue you. That is a whole different sort of law.

Face it, it was a bad analogy.

So anyway, like I said... stores that broke street date could expect to get financially spanked by Activision... however, I would guess that the Gamestops that did it might be able to get away with it, since Gamestop is such a big player.