Dan Choi

"I am trading in every game I own. None shall be spared. I am moving on. With all the extra store credit, I should be able to start a NEW collection of great games (which I will trade in again and again)."

There is certainly something very liberating about not feeling beholden to one's things, cringer8. If you're not regularly revisiting a game, it's perfect fodder for trade-in credit, correct? Well... I've heard too many stories of people who've regretted traded in their old game collections to completely accept your proposal. It seems great at first -- new DS Lite... hey, that's not a bad thing -- but then you begin to investigate how much it would take to buy a used copy of whatever rare games you unloaded when you became "practical." Trade-in value for hard-to-find games is usually such a fraction of what you'd have to pay to buy that same software back that I'd strongly advise that you carefully consider all the ramifications of this transaction before selling your most treasured games/memories. Even nostalgia can have some value.

"Dan Choi seems to like the fighting games; I'm surprised that Guilty Gear XX #Reload isn't on his list."

You're right about that, JM -- I do like me fighting games, especially high-res 2D ones like GGXX#Reload (whose beautiful graphics should really provoke Capcom to redraw their old sprites in higher resolutions as well). GG's actually sitting on my shelf right now; I simply forgot to mention it in my post during the Capcom flood. =)

It's true that earning Gamer Points for 360 games is a lot of fun, jon; I just miss the backwards compatibility for some of the better last-gen titles out there. I actually purchased a number of cross-platform titles for the PS2 instead of the Xbox because there was a better chance of them working on the PS3 rather than the 360. (Examples: Psychonauts, Burnout 3, LEGO Star Wars, Beyond Good & Evil, etc., etc.) As you might have guessed, the lack of BC support for SF Anniversary Collection saddened me the most, which is why I'm waiting for Hyper Fighting so eagerly -- while vainly trying to keep low expectations for it. At least there'll be those Points to earn...

"Everyone: The camera can be purchased seperately. Just like you can buy a headset in a LIVE bundle or seperately. Don't worry. Just because the blog doesn't mention a camera that can be purchased seperately doesn't mean it won't happen. I heard the VISION will cost $20-$30 alone."

Hopefully, that will be the case, Canadian Geese. Our source at Microsoft reported seeing only one SKU for the camera, though that's of course subject to change (whether by "Holiday 2006" or some other time frame). I'd love to buy UNO right now, but this bundle info is really holding me back.

"i'll def be picking up the camera. i'll need to reup my live subscription anyway and getting a year for $40 is enough..."

Sorry, CJ, it only comes with a month of Live Gold service.

Dan, according to Major Nelson's Blog/podcast, you'll only see the personalized pics for people on your Friends List, so hopefully the folks you know will show some discretion. (For anyone else, a second non-camera-based pic that you've chosen will be shown.)

Reddrive, I'll try to make a separate post on pricing shortly.

Ah, you guys appear to be correct... the Game Boy Color had the Color logo prominently placed where the hard-to-read Pocket logo resides in the picture above. Nice catch, Smith 'n' deft.

"damn, I guesss I should start playing Second Life, and fast"

At least there are free accounts and/or trials for the service (for people to, uh, get screenshots):

"Your first Basic account is absolutely FREE, and includes unlimited access to Second Life—all its tools, events and communities. For additional Basic and Premium accounts, you'll automatically get a 7-day free trial."

http://secondlife.com/whatis/faq.php#07

Hope that helps! =)

It's showtime!

And who can forget Advance Wars: Dual Strike... at least that subtitle represents a significant addition to the AW series' gameplay.

Yeah, Tower Records stores are somewhat out of the way for me, but I would definitely go if I could.