tom

It would seem like the videogame industry wants to implement a method of payment that is not seen in any other comprable industry. Do I have to pay toyota when i sell my prius, or when i buy a new one? no. Do I have to do so when I buy an ipod off ebay? No. While some may see this loss of revenue as a punishment for game developers, it actually is of benefit to customers. You see, the fact that these IP's stop paying off to publishers after initial purchase means that the revenue stream generated by any one ip will eventually dry up. This places pressure on publishers to create new IP (and thus generate new, terminal revenue streams). Hence the customer benefits because publishers are pressured to pump out new games at a fairly consistent rate.

The altenative would allow publishers to rest on their successes and give them less of an incentive to put out new games.

they should respond to the inquiry with a series of text messages. the senator can opt out of receiving future messages(sent by hot telco executives who are looking to flirt with powerful legislators)* by calling up some backwater in hong-kong and waiting on hold for 2 or 3 hours, only to be disconnected and left to take it up with the baffling customer service maze at verizon.

is there a reason that all the new games that come out that are based in chicago are about a city that is left in ruins or is disintigrating or whatever. First Resistance 2 now this.
Why aren't the new york based games about a city in ruins or whatever!!
I like chicago.

I thought it was ok. The controls are a bit too clunky though for the type of arcade action that the game seems to be aiming for. There are, for example, a number of times where I would have to jump onto a ledge but, because of the way the ledge/coping jutted out from the edge of the rooftop/wall, i would wind up hitting my head or missing the ledge. The lock on system is also a bit lacking. While it's cool to be able to target a gang banger's knees, it'd be nice to be able to cycle targets a la the lock on system in gta-san andreas, and about every other game with the z-lock system. There were a bunch of times when i'd go to lock onto a person and lock onto a nearby car or nothing at all. In short, I expected tighter controls.

Ok, so let's add this up:

iPod - 5.5 ounces(156g)
Celly (Blackberry 7130e) - 4.7 ounces(133g)
HP Ipaq - 6.6 ounces (187.1g)

So that's already about a pound's worth(454 g) of standard techno-geek equipment. If you’re reading this then I’d assume you probably fit the techno-geek profile.

Now let’s add the stuff that’s in the consumer electronic pipeline:
Ultra Portable Windows Origami thing - Let’s give it the benifit of the doubt and say 8 ounces(227g)
iLiad - Let’s also be nice and say 8 ounces(227g)

So now that’s:
2 whole pounds(907g) of stuff
5+ easily breakable LCD screens
5 batteries - some of which last only a few hour’s use (iLiad, iPaq)
4+ Flash memory cards - in a variety of incompatible formats
5+ proprietary input methods: Digital Ink, Origami tablet input, Windows Mobile input(s), T9 word (or whatever RIM calls it on Blackberry), etc.

Best of all, each device has extra tacked on features that overlap the main features of some of the other devices, albeit in a poor, rudamentary way.

The result of all this is that I’m either going to need to sew cargo pockets to all my suit pants and get some suspenders to make sure they don’t fall down. Either that or hire a guy to follow me around with a wheelbarrow of on-the-go techno crap.