Never trust any review from a magazine if it is only for 1 system. there is a 99% chance that said magazine is run by a bunch of fanboys.

In general, I think that reviews do reflect the games fairly, as even someone writing a review for an FPS, even if they don't like FPSs in general, can tell if the specific example is a good one or not. Don't get obsessed with metacritic or equivalent, as an EDGE 7 doesn't necessarily mean the same as a gamesmaster 7.

Music games themselves aren't a problem, but it is a bit of a shame if people are that disillusioned with pop music. Would you really rather listen to radio 1 than "play" killing in the name of on guitar hero?

Pop music really is a sin against nature in its current state. The record labels now have a computer program that works out the likelihood of a single being a hit, so hw can we expect any originality? The same hapened to hollywood. If that much money is put on the line, then homogeny reigns supreme.

A lot of pople are arguing along the "progress" route, but really, is there any reason we couldn't realistically have that level of research during peace time. It's a question of priorities, as any government will have more money availiable to it in peace time.

On an ethical point, is war always murder?

I would say yes if the participant has volunteered in full knowledge that they will be required to kill people. This may not be popular, but to me that makes the average war "hero" from iraq two steps away from Harold Shipman. I can not imagine any scenario where I would kill another person purely because they are wearing a different uniform than me. If the participant is conscripted, however, that is different as they are just trying to survive, and yes, it is should still be murder if you kill in self defence but enjoy it.

On the causation of war, I am pessimistic as to whether we will stop fighting. War is an inevitable consequence of patriotism, of the pride in creating a difference between groups depending on which side of an imaginary line they live. Cultural identity allows us to view others who don't share it as inferior, therefore the individual can absolve him or herself from his or her own moral scrutiny.