JonFitt

Aargh, they had the whiniest off-key voices I've heard in a long time. Ouch!
What's the betting their rich tone deaf parents thought they sounded awesome and paid for the video and studio time?

@Tob3z
40 Somethings for 11 yr old kids is about right nowadays, if you were 11 when your Mum was 30-something then she had you in her 20s which is becoming much rarer among the middle classes. Most women are in their 30s when they have kids. (Can't speak for the lower classes though 16 is probably average :) )
50-something is probably unrealistically old for an 11 yr old child though. Unless it's the 2nd or 3rd.

@m ike

GFW games will require the user to sign in with a Silver account FOR NOW, how long until there's "super extra functionality" aside from cross-platform play that can only be used with a Gold account? What if ranked play requires you to play cross platform ergo you need a Gold account? Etc.

Bad. Bad. Bad.
I'm totally against the creep of the monetised online "experience" that Xbox users have been force fed.

@Geo

Halo 2 PC is not a cross platform game (it should have been).

You will not be able to play against Xbox owners and own their ass *.

* Although they would have that auto-headshot system and the PC players wouldn't meaning that you'd have to actually aim while they swipe snipe you. Still, PC players would still probably own.

@m ike

The silver account doesn't offer anything special and is free as it should be. The extra gamerscore and achievements will attract some people from other similar services.
The problem is the gold account. By making it cost money it confirms that XBL gold will remain a pay for service. I have never believed that XBL was a service worth money. If MS had provided stacks of dedicated servers on every continent then it could be justified, but for a matchmaking "service" to sort out peer-to-peer games it was nothing but a money gouging scheme for people who had no other choice.
By adding a "premium" level to the PC Live (which btw provides nothing which should actually cost money: matchmaking is nothing much and could be done by a mod to any of the current PC games which have the concept of a global score like BF2/BF2142 etc., and why should it cost money to play with an Xbox? That's an artificial "service" created to justify the cost.) you justify continuing to charge Xbox users.
What should have happened is that Live on the PC was free, and it marked the end of charging for XBL.

Also, how long before PC games "require" gold accounts for online play because they "require" live anywhere. Halo 3 PC?

Yay, now I can pay to play games which have to be dumbed down so that console boys and girls can play too.
I have realised that my life was missing the squeal of the pre-pubescent Xbox user I remember from 3 years ago when playing Halo 2 on XBL.
Where do I sign up? Who needs 64 players in a Battlefield game, I want to play games with 7 or 15 other people who are given free headshots by their console aiming for them. Woohoo!

Not allowed to buy one yet as I live in the UK. Not that I would if I could of course. I object to being shafted.
Going to buy a Halo 3 machine when it comes out.

I should contact the FBI/MI6, I've heard some threatening smack talk from many a pre-pubescent American.

£425! Lolz
I know so many people who bought PS2s because at the time they were cheaper than Xboxs. They like their PS2s but people over here are price conscious. A lower price and better back catalogue will easily beat the PSX effect.

I won't be buying that and nor will most gamers. The only people who will are the same ones who would have had Laser Discs and NeoGeos back in the day as opposed to the regular kids who had SNESs and MegaDrives.
An expensive toy which will go down in history as an overpriced flop. Way to kill a franchise Sony.

I have the board game and love it. Everyone my wife and I have played it with liked it too. It's easy to pick up, and a lot of the fun to be had comes from negotiating with the player whose turn it is. They are forced to lay a tile and sometimes will be forced to benefit one or more other players, so deals can be struck :)
Sometimes you end up sharing a castle, so you will have two players working on making one castle bigger to benefit them both, or perhaps planning to cut the other person out ;)

It will be fun on XBL, and should tolerate drop outs, as long as two people remain you coudl keep playing.

Wow, a veritable "Who's That?" of games journalism.