Skin

Sony sure is on a roll when it comes to pissing their potential customers off.

Attacking importers like this is simply going to lead to more piracy, as more legitimate customers who enjoy import titles will now have to rely on pirating games that they would otherwise spend money on.

+10 points corporate arrogance
-20 points profit

...even if you're a rabid Sony fanboy, it's illogical to defend this move. Sony is creating their own bad press and essentially encouraging piracy.

Bioshock looks great, although I can't tell from the current footage if it will actually be deeper than SS2 (which set the bar pretty high). The goal isn't so much complicated AI as it is to create a fully-realized and atmospheric world, and it definitely appears to succeed in that respect.

BTW, I wish people would stop calling Gyakuten Saiban 4 "Phoenix Wright 4". Phoenix only became the main character in GS (aka Ace Attourney) for the 3rd game. Now he's getting his own offshoot game (Phoenix Wright 2), while Gyakuten Saiban is continuing on with a different lead character (again). Gyakuten Saiban =/= Pheonix Wright.

I don't think anyone would be concerned about "Arabic" games.

Now if you're talking about Muslim games, well, I would prefer them written off to the safe dustbin that Christian games usually occupy. Religion and video games seldom mix well.

I looks good, but I agree with some of the above comments that these shots have likely been touched up. Some of the early Oblivion shots had the same look. These days it's best to wait until seeing the game firsthand before gushing over the visuals.

Yes, SF2 should be there, but the other glaring omission is:

Dragon Quest

DQ is by far the most influential RPG ever made. Heck, it even has a national holiday based upon it in Japan. Final Fantasy and every other console RPG out there draw from DQ. Had this list been composed on the other side of the pacific, you can bet it would be in the top 3.

Gotta agree on Duke Nukem. Also Snake Eater (probably the most manly MGS), God of War, and Serious Sam are pretty manly. Not sure about GTA though, plenty of debauchery but not so much testosterone imo.

Yeah, this list was pretty poor. As many have said, the omission of Castlevania SotN is glaring, as is the lack of any of Capcom's many worthy titles, which were long considered the pinnacle of 2D animation.

Also, I wouldn't count out some of Konami's classic arcade games. The Simpsons and TMNT were hugely popular in part due to how authentically their animation mirrored the style of the shows to a degree past videogames had not reached.

I expect professional gaming will get a lot bigger than it is now as games become more lifelike and fun for non-gamers to watch.

While I wouldn't consider it "athletic" exercise, there is a lot of tedious mential exercise that these guys need to go through. Some might joke about it being easy, but personally, I sure as heck wouldn't want to have to play a FPS 8 hours a day. Not to mention that it's a pretty big financial risk - one that most people aren't willing to take.

Considering that there's plenty of money in professional card games like Poker and Blackjack - and these even get televised - I don't see why video games shouldn't rise to that level. I for one would much rather watch a hectic deathmatch than some guys playing cards, or fishing, etc...

I don't think any war analogies are really apt here. Business is seldom so cut and dry and victory and defeat. The market is big enough for mulitple companies to compete while maintaining a profit.

Diversification has been a big part of MS's business strategy since well before the Xbox. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't, but the fact that MS is always looking for new revenue streams shows that they are playing it smart. The risks taken with the Xbox certainly have not been dangerously high, given MS's size.

As for what it will mean for MS's future, who knows? I think Gates is right on the money as far as downloadable media eventually replacing physical media goes. If the Xbox gives MS control over a portion of that supply chain, chances are it will pay off big in the long run. Onthe other hand, maybe the 'box will fail, but another of MS's many divisions will strike gold. The future is unpredictable, but opportunity generally falls upon those who keep trying, and MS is playing plenty of cards.

Great news. I'll be heading over to Walmart and picking one up post haste. However, while I like the white, I do wish that we could get those sexy black ones over here, but oh well, Europe needs the love.