Tony

I'm actually more hoping it's not that these things are from the future or you've been pushed back in time, but rather the world in which the main character is interacting is fabricated in some sense. Hopefully not in the Matrix type of way, but in that it actually exists in a controlled manner.

We'll see.

Well, assuming kids of the age group that would play this would even have Live to use. I imagine these games would appeal more to the youngest set, which are still likely younger than the kids who might annoy people in something like Halo 3. Not all kids I've played with are bad, though.

Also, Shrek and Spongebob are incredibly popular, so I don't think it's a bad decision or something no one would play. Shrek in particular. Isn't 360 getting its own retail Avatar game?

Awesome. I can't wait for this one. The last was great and this has looked even better.

Technically demos are free to anyone, so I guess they could say not every one pays for the service... but at the same time, I don't know how difficult it is to write something helpful.

I also wish you could use the right stick to scroll through the text there sometimes... for some things it's just super long and waiting for it to start scrolling is annoying.

Turok on N64 (and even the sequel, despite its maze-like qualities at times) was a pretty solid game for its time and, really, there is a lot of promise in the series if someone pulls it off right. I don't mind them trying it again. If it sucks, it's not like I have to buy it.

I don't really mind the logo.

A lot of people? What kind of question is that? lol

Also, the demo works fine with a normal controller although it's not that fun.

I do not think it's strictly xenophobia. It makes no sense. "Big in Japan" bands? Microsoft making the MSX? Do Japanese people apparently not use Windows? I know it's there to a degree, but I do not think it's the Xbox 360's #1 problem. I think there's several other things that come before that.

1.) The Xbox did very poorly over there and MS's attempts to get major Japanese developers on board that make games Japanese people actually BUY were largely fruitless.

2.) Following #2, if a system sucks and has nothing no one wants, why would you spend even more money on its successor?

3.) A large portion of 360 games that come out are not translated into Japanese. Oblivion, for example, came out in English initially. It didn't come out in Japanese until many, many months later. This is like someone in the US buying a Japanese version of a title. People would enjoy that?

4.) Advertising there is just absolutely terrible. Developers there seem to be aware of it, consumers certainly are. If you've seen most of MS's attempts there you'd probably agree too. It's still a step up from putting Bill Gates's picture on stuff.

As for changing things up, yeah, some things have been. MS has made some significant strides in getting better Japanese support, particularly in the realm of RPGs. Not just the major stuff we're all aware of, but also more obscure stuff that never really gets mentioned here.

But when putting those 4 things I mentioned on top of that, it really doesn't matter much. I think it's as much MS's shortcomings and past problems biting them in the ass now as it is any "xenophobia".

There was an interview with Japanese developers for the 360 on Gamespot that's worth reading.

EXIT is pretty awesome. I hope people check it out.

My interest has kind of dropped since the demo. There's things about it that definitely feel off to me, to the point that it feels almost more like an emulation of the series than an actual official sequel. I just can't even stand the character designs, for one. Even the little jokes during loading screens don't seem as clever or biting.

I'm just Gameflying it.

Honestly, if someone is killing you over and over get better and learn to deal with the tactic. It doesn't matter if this is Halo 3, Q3A or anything else. It's not worth whining about it and I hardly see how it's a legitimate complaint.