Jessie

I'm sure it's been said before (ad nauseum!), but go with DLC that isn't just DLC. When I first pirated Half-Life 2, I was damn near ready to cry "Vendetta!" upon Valve; pirating a steam game is just too much of a pain in the ass.

Later, I bought a legitimate copy...and was amazed at how awesome Steam could be: my room (nay, entire house!) is cluttered beyond belief, and I've long since lost the original disc; even so, I'm comforted in knowing that I can download and play Half Life 2 wherever and whenever I want-- without much more hassle than waiting for the game to re-download. Add to this that Steam-- much more than a "mobile platform" of sorts --acts as its own little chat client, score tracker, and game shop, and I almost have to be reminded that it's a form of DRM.

Some different comments (Saria the Cat comes to mind) have made reference to DLC that comes free with the game, codes that unlock extra's that are actually -worth- unlocking; to put it simply, make DLC that fools people into thinking it's not DLC. If it's streamlined and painless enough for people to look at it as a completely different service, than it's a success.

It's worth noting that each of the nonsense words can be "decoded" by changing the letters to the one previous-- B becomes A, G becomes F, etcetera.

Efbui, Ifsp, Vqhsbef, Bobupns, Gmz;
Death, Hero, Upgrade, Anatomy, Fly

We've seen what happens with "Death" (the pictures show a five-fingered killin' stick?); my webcams all screwed up at the moment, but think anyone can try fiddling around with the others? Vitruvian Man might work for Anatomy, but I'm at a loss for all the other ones.

@temple;

"Never does he say he's popular "beyond" Lara Croft."
--Temple

"When we asked if Drake could ever be as big as Lara, Straley replied, "Why, do you think he's not already there, if not BEYOND that point already, in terms of popularity?""
--CVG

Yes. Actually. He does use the word 'beyond,' in terms of (at the very least implying!) his characters popularity. In fact-- he uses the word 'beyond' just a single sentence before the one you quoted.

Also, consider that every tomb raider game has found itself on a Sony console*, while the only Uncharted game is PS3 Exclusive. To use any audience -But- the playstation audience would be unfair and inaccurate.

C'mon, man, don't be silly! :D

*At least the ones I can think of;
Tomb Raider (Playstation), Tomb Raider 2 (Playstation), Tomb Raider 3 (Playstation), The Last Revelation (Playstation), Chronicles (Playstation), Angel of Darkness (PS2), Legend (PS2), Anniversary (PS2), Underworld (PS3).

In some sense, the internet is an escape-- but usually an escape from your life, and not who you are as a person.

Let's say (hypothetical situation here!) you're a gay who lives in a place where gays aren't exactly accepted. Instead of going online where you pretend not to be gay, you go online to pretend you're not constantly belittled and attacked for it.

Or, barring that (no, my glasses aren't entirely rose-tinted!), you go online to hang out with people who are /like you/; ie, you find a community.

Jus' sayin'.

...I swear, that thing looks like Kingdom Hearts almost. You know-- where you "morph" into something (supposedly) cooler, and execute all these crazy badass moves in midair against swarms of enemies and boss-monsters.

Kingdom Hearts pulled it off better.

I feel sorta bad for this...I managed a scene/battle for just about twenty hours on a mush-- and that thing has no graphics. I'm missing out on this whole "graphical" thing, aren't I? Likely not. Mu*'s are more social, invalidating any "wasting your life" commentary. It's totally more fulfilling and healthy than MMO's.

...oh well. After work, I'm gonna try and take down the pirate king. Vicious little twink that he is. I'll see you guys in a week, if my monster intake hasn't given me a heart attack, yet. Luckily, I got fired from my job, and my boyfriend left me, so I'll totally have free time!

Yep, definitely healthier and more fulfilling.