Derek

Rent has been skyrocketing as more and more people lose their homes. I think it would be better to have the FHA turn these into 20-25 year lease-to-own properties. Require that any family can ONLY lease one property and that must be their sole residence (we don't want to turn it into more landlord owned or flipped homes) and the new owners cannot take out loans against the property. Make sure the new owners have the ability to make the payments that will include the property taxes. In no time flat we have more homeowners.

So...the people who paid crazy amounts of money assuring that I was priced out of the market as real estate prices more than trippled in my home town now want my tax dollars to pay for them to have that house's price reduced because the house isn't worth what they drove the prices up to...methinks NOT! Just like my 401K has dropped significantly in value...my car isn't worth what it once was...Values and investments carry RISKS. "You rolls the dice ya takes ya chances". The banks certainly share some of the blame, but buyers who bought the biggest, priciest home they could afford, many of whom epected the prices to just keep rising at that rate and never looked at what they could afford if things weren't so rosy (and when has it EVER been a perfect case scenario for the lenth of time a home loan goes for?) I just cannot feel sympathy for. This is just as much the buyers faults as the bankers.

@HokieKC

This in no way says Square was wrong, and unless a press release that is unlikely to come says "this guy was at fault" we will never know what went on behind the scenes as the shitstorm was brewing on forums everywhere. It could just as easily be that Square would rather take the games back and not deal with Gamestop (The memo makes no mention of the game being re-stocked at a later time) than possibly have the terms of their contact with OnLive jeopardized...or maybe Gamestop would rather destroy the copies they have than deal with all the bad press they've gotten ...since recalled PC games are destroyed at stores during their next inventory...especially if their legal department is worried in ANY way that they might be wrong if someone brings it to court. Heck the few copies they probably orderred are bound to have cost less than any legal fees might, and Gamestop hasn't had the best record in court these days...as my checks from random class action settlements can attest :p No, I didn't take 'em to court myself, but still got a bit from at least 4 cases...

@Demon G Sides

My hand is still up

To be honest all this press has definately piqued my interest in OnLive...and I WOULD use the retail copy as well as a free copy since I have a gaming PC at home and one at work so, much like with Steam, the ability to have my games in 2 places, even if I AM running 2 different saves...and sometimes that's pretty fun...is well worth it. I may have checked it out if my copy had come with a code, but I didn't know their was a code to be missing until I went online today.

If Gamestop HADN'T done anything wrong you wouldn't see them pulling the game from their shelves entirely

in looking at this email I can't help but wonder what Josh Ivanoff's (since the e-mail is from joshivanoff@gamestop.com ) position is in the company. This could be a DM sending an email to just his district, in which case I'd say it's a bad move, he should get in hot water, but at least the incident would be isolated....or if he's higher in the company...in which case I could see the company being in a LOT more hot water than if it's a smaller matter

@Barry McCockiner

It's an advertising deal struck between Square and OnLive, Square has no more obligation to inform Gamestop than DC tells me when an ad for Mile High Comics in in every copy of Superman I and every other comic store sells this month...Gamestop may not LIKE it, but that does not give them the right to remove it without the customers prior knowledge or consent.

I an a former Gamestop store manager...I now own a comic book store (Comic Ink in Dublin, CA). If I went and removed the many ads in the comics I carry that are for other stores or the online stores my customers would riot, and rightfully so. This isn't about selling an open game as new (though MY staff was NEVER allowed to check out new games...used ONLY as it SHOULD BE!) but OnLive no doubt PAID Square to have their ad in the game and it's removal by their competitor Gamestop is a serious breach and could affect the contract between Square and OnLive. Gamestop SHOULD be sued over this, The OnLive offer is part of the package and removing it absolutely means Gamestop customers did not get everything they paid for.

@BlazeKing

Serioualy, I own a comic shop that is a stones throw from the game store so there is no shortage of video game conversation in here :) I had a couple guys in here a few days ago railing about the need for them to add Linux to their PS3's....I asked if they KNEW WHAT LINUX WAS or what programs they needed Linux to run for them...

They had NO IDEA...NONE!

Sorry for those FEW who may have wanted to legit add Linux so they could tinker around with it as a PC, but so many people railing that they are "on your side" are just screaming for wanting to be pirates and steal games.

"But we weren't going to buy the game anyway so they aren't out any real money" is NOT a legit excuse.

Glad all these guys needed the hacks because they "just wanted to have Linux"...and just wanted an R4 because of how the DS is an AWESOME MP3 player...

@maveric101

Nomally I'd agree with you, but the sad fact is that a good 95% of the people who are angry about thsi are the same ones who insist they NEED an R4 chip because the DS is such a top quality MP3 player. For most people that want to much with the firmware they are concerned ONLY with piracy and the minority that doesn't have bad intentions for wanting to mod are just too small a number to protect if it mwans allowing the rampant pirateers. Sorry, but "this is why we can't have nice things"...the poeple who wish to comit douchebaggery ruin it for the rest.