Ben

@2
So, a Q4 2007 engine has already beaten a 2008 (unlikely) or 2009 (more likely) engine that you've never even seen a SS of?

I wish I had your conviction. Oh wait, no I don't.

There is a substantial difference here that people don't know how to market. We aren't fans of games, we ARE gamers. It's the equivalent of marketing pro athletes to amateur athletes, or pop bands to actual singers. We don't care about the image, because we come for the games, not the people who play them. We see right through the hype because in a way we're all "insiders".

As such, I wonder if there is even a market for "pro gamers". Gaming is about me and my experiences, not about enjoying games viscerally through celebs. If there is some kind of market, it needs to be someone we can respect and relate to, it needs to be "one of us".

Oh, for crying out loud, cut these people some slack. They aren't trying to make a "hardcore" game, and they certainly aren't trying to get the gamer demographic to play it. I think its fantastic that people who share a common interest are using the internet and the concept of MM to connect and share experiences.
I don't see why any of you feel necessary to shit on them because you personally don't care about their hobby.

In my Harvard course on Greek tragedies, my prof used Roy from Blade Runner as another example of the obsession with legacy of people like Achilles. He got giddy over the "these memories will be lost in time, like tears in rain" quote.

While I don't think I'd like Lego Halo, I'd sure as hell buy some Halo Legos!

Gates has always been more of a visionary than a businessman. I'm sure he (and MS) would like nothing more than to do away with DRM. It does no good for MS, or Apple for that matter. But reality is reality and building DRM into the Zune and paying universal was the only way to get access to the music. Apple and MS may be heavyweights, but iTunes/Zune marketplace aren't a big enough part of the music industry to enable them to push the RIAA around.

From the article: "The point is that business is not a sporting event."

I think this is the most important point that is lost on most fanboys. I think the Wii is going to be one of Nintendo's finest products - in every way except market share. Good article.

Didn't BestBuy get into hot water for forcing bundles on 360 buyers? I think bundles are fine as long as you have the choice not to buy the bundle...

I'm actually impressed with the PR spin. Sony is asking the developers to provide the servers and networking backbone, and passing it off as "flexibility". Why would any developer want to do extra work and provide costly servers if they didn't have to?

Also, from the article:

"In addition, players will be able to connect directly to one another through the network, again avoiding a central server, a setup likely to give significantly better performance."

Um...what?

list of top selling games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best_selling_computer_and_video_games