The biggest problem with Universal Health Care is who is going to pay for it. Simply over taxing the rich won't do it. Since most of the rich are CEOs of many Fortune 500 companies, they'll pass on the difference to the consumer that purchases their products. The only way you could honestly pay for it is by raising taxes on citizens of every spectrum. If the government is going to cover every one, then everyone must pay a little more via raising taxes.

Otherwise, Universal Healthcare will be just that, all talk and no substance.

It is possible that China could make a few mistakes. Already the press is reporting that China is having to deal with rising inflation, due to their overheated economy. To add to this, the price for basic food staples has risen, much to the anguish of the Chinese citizens. The rather harsh winter that China experienced also screwed over their winter harvest season, which will jack up prices even more for food.

More about China's attempts to combat inflation can be found here: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/05/china.politics.ap/index.html

Although China is doing well right now, they still have a long ways to go to mastering the capitalistic economic system. The United States and most of Western Europe are masters at this game, while the Chinese are still trying to fully grapple it. Case in point was a recent scandal involving ants. Apparently, a Chinese entrepreneur sucked a slew of Chinese peasants into investing into ant farms. The investors were told that the ants could be used as medicene for kidney ailments, as well as viagra-like supplements. So, over an eight year period, 1 million people invested, and the entrepreneur raked in about $1.2 billion dollars. Apparently, alot of the investors, many average working ****citizens, thought their money was protected by the government. This was not due to any laws (which are almost non-existant in this sort of thing), but because the entrepreneur had close ties to senior government officials. Many investors thought that due to this association with high ranking members of government, their investment would be protected by the government.

Instead, the scheme fell apart, and the entrepreneur filed bankruptcy. The investors are basically screwed since the government won't dish out 100% payouts of their initial investments. If anything, many might be lucky to get 20%.

More info on the infamous Ponzi schemes suckering average Chinese can be found here: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JA12Ad01.html

So over all, I don't think China will end up like the Soviet Union did. However, the Chinese still have a long ways to go before they can fully master a game that the US and most of Western Europe has played for decades.

[QUOTE="bigmit37"]

Ahhh ok, I was told that ads were for things like Mcdonalds and etc.

What exactly is wrong with the PS3 online portion though?

The bigger games have voice chat I am sure.

I am mainly a PC gamer..so new to console online play.

SolidTy

That being said, the guy that played F1, that is pretty strange. Still, the answer is yes, all the big games have chat for PS3, that isn't an issue. Hell, SOCOM which was a PS2 game that came out before M$ even created XBOX LIVE had Chat.

When you pay for Live ($50 a year or $8 a month) you are getting a streamlined experience. It should be noted, that some games, like COD4, have better servers on PS3, but since I have the game on both system's I haven't really noticed much. For the most part, Online and 360 go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly, but you do have to pay for it (You lose a Game a year, not a big deal to me, a big deal to some here though).

Hope that helps.

In regards to F1, yeah, when I loaded it up today there is an area called "CHAT" in the lobby. When I accessed it, a digital keyboard popped up on the screen. So I'm guessing, as of right now, this is the way to chat in the game. I still have yet to get a USB headset to test on the PS3, so who knows....maybe voice chat is activated if a USB headset is detected by the game.

In terms of ads, its for things like "Rock Band Coming in Six Days!", on XBox Live.

I do have to agree that if one pays for the service, they shouldn't have to deal with ads, similar to what Gamespot and IGN do for their subscribers.

As for PS3s online network...I just recently bought a PS3 and while it's nice, the online network is a bit lacking.

Voice chat is nearly non-existant for most of the games that PS3 has put out. I was playing Formula F1 Championship Edition for the first time online today, and didn't see anything for in game voice chat. Most they have is text based chat which you can do in the lobby.

However, playing the game online was free, which I will admit was nice. However, the lack of voice chat and some other features that I enjoy like chosing your own in-game music are some features I truly miss.

Saw this pop up today. Any truth to this report? Has anyone else picked up on it?

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071202005054&newsLang=en

SANTA MONICA, Calif. & PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) and Vivendi (Euronext Paris: VIV) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to combine Vivendi Games, Vivendi's interactive entertainment business -- which includes Blizzard Entertainment's®World of Warcraft®, the world's #1 multi-player online role-playing game franchise -- with Activision, creating the world's largest pure-play online and console game publisher. The new company, Activision Blizzard, is expected to have approximately $3.8 billion in pro forma combined calendar 2007 revenues and the highest operating margins of any major third-party video game publisher. On closing of the transaction, Activision will be renamed Activision Blizzard and will continue to operate as a public company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ATVI.

Activision, one of the world's leading independent publishers of interactive entertainment, is best known for its top-selling franchises, including Guitar Hero®, Call of Duty® and the Tony Hawk series, as well as Spider-ManTM, X-MenTM, Shrek®, James BondTM and TRANSFORMERSTM. Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, has projected calendar 2007 revenues of $1.1 billion, operating margins of over 40% and approximately $520 million of operating profit. Blizzard owns the #1 multi-player online role-playing game franchise, World of Warcraft, which currently has over 9.3 million subscribers worldwide. Blizzard's World of Warcraft,Warcraft®, StarCraft® and Diablo® games account for four of the top-five best-selling PC game titles of all time. Vivendi Games also owns popular franchises, including Crash BandicootTM and SpyroTM. Pro forma for calendar 2007, Activision Blizzard expects to generate approximately 70% of its revenues from owned franchises. As a result of the business combination, Activision Blizzard expects to have the most diversified and broadest portfolio of interactive entertainment assets in its industry, positioning the combined company to capitalize on the continued worldwide growth in interactive entertainment.

Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi stated: "This alliance is a major strategic step for Vivendi and is another illustration of our drive to extend our presence in the entertainment sector. By combining Vivendi's games business with Activision, we are creating a worldwide leader in a high-growth industry. We are excited about the opportunities for Activision Blizzard as a broader entertainment software platform. We believe this transaction will create significant value for Activision Blizzard and Vivendi stockholders. In Activision, we have found a partner with a highly complementary business and strong operating team. Bobby Kotick and Brian Kelly are industry pioneers, well known for creating shareholder value. The combined strength of the existing management teams at both companies will set the stage for further profitable growth of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to being an active and supportive majority stockholder in a company that is poised to lead the worldwide interactive entertainment industry in the years ahead."

René Penisson, Member of the Management Board of Vivendi and current Chairman of Vivendi Games, added: "We are very confident that by combining forces, Activision Blizzard will set the highest standards in quality, reputation and profitability, and will bring together the best creative teams in the industry. The combination of this unique product portfolio with highly professional employees gives us great confidence in the growth prospects for Activision Blizzard."

Said Robert Kotick, Activision's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: "This is an outstanding transaction for Activision and our stockholders, as well as a pivotal event in the continuing transformation of the interactive entertainment industry. By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard will be the only publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry and reach the broadest possible audiences. By joining forces with Vivendi Games, we will become the immediate leader in the highly profitable online games business and gain a large footprint in the rapidly growing Asian markets, including China and Korea, while maintaining our leading operating performance across North America and Europe. Activision stockholders will benefit from significantly increased earnings power and the recurring nature and predictability of subscription-based revenues, while also having the opportunity, if they choose, to receive $27.50 per share for a portion of their shares in the post-closing tender offer."

Kotick continued: "Vivendi Games provides Activision with unique strategic and financial benefits and will allow us to leverage our franchises into emerging online opportunities as Blizzard has done so successfully. Activision hasbeen very focused on margin expansion, and this transaction will meaningfully increase our overall operating margins as we expand our franchises online and in new geographies. Diversifying our revenue base among subscription-based online, console and PC formats, as well as wireless and casual emerging opportunities, gives us the broadest platform to capitalize on industry growth. With Blizzard's successful franchises, such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft and an exciting pipeline of yet-to-be announced titles, Vivendi Games' and Blizzard's management team will join with Activision's strong and experienced leaders to become an even more powerful force for innovation in online and offline interactive entertainment across a wide range of platforms. This transaction also provides a unique relationship with Universal Music Group - the world's largest music company - which will benefit Guitar Hero and further extend our sizable leadership position in music-based games."

Mike Morhaime, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blizzard, added: "Blizzard's industry-leading PC games business, with a track record of nine consecutive bestsellers and a global subscriber base of more than 9.3 million World of Warcraft players, is an exceptional fit for Activision's highly profitable console games business. From our interactions with the Activision team, it is clear we have much in common in terms of our approaches to game development and publishing. Above all, we are looking forward to continue creating great games for Blizzard gamers around the world, and we believe this new partnership will help us to do that even better than before."