I've got a 3rd generation iPod Nano that I'll be taking with me on a flight (heading out to Vegas on vacation!). I just bought the good ol' stand-by, Tetris, and Square-Enix's Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes. I'll let you know what I think in about a week.

Just a theory I posted on the thread.

I can understand it for the PS3 - Capcom will have to run and manage their own servers. Versus play will keep going and put more demand on said servers longer than coop will. If everybody bought their copy new, that'd be one thing as they could roll the cost into the game purchase. But I'd bet the $5 is pretty much due to used game sales - especially the $55 used copies being sold right next to the $60 new copies.

As for the 360? Well, used game theory still applies, but more for price-parity and "fairness in pricing" lest one version be unduly favored over the other.

Edit: Interesting - I don't think Gamespot covered the ~$26 price hike for the Wii in Great Britain.

The movie I joked was more important for David Hayter to work on than to do Metal Gear Solid 4.

The movie adapted from one of the best graphics novels ever made.

And I have to say that three hours was not enough! There was a lot of smaller stuff left out from the comic, like the whole police investigating Rorshach and hassling the Owl about it, more time spent with the prison shrink, so on and so forth. But you know what? Its fine. The only thing I felt was missing was showing what the New Frontiersman was about, with Rorshach going to pick it up while carrying around his sign and such.

But honestly, that's not a big deal. It might even be awaiting me on the Collector's Extended Director's Cut Full Unrated Gift Box Edition with bonus action figures and Watchmen Saturday Morning Cartoon extra disc. As is I really, really enjoyed it. Not something I can really recommend to everyone; if you want clearer good and bad guys, this might not be something you will enjoy. Don't take the kids - the violence is graphics, there is nudity (male and female), and there is sex. Do I really have to say that? After seeing little kids in the theater with their parents watching The Dark Knight? Yeah, I think it needs to be put out there.

NOT. FOR. KIDS.

Very good, very well done. I really, really enjoyed it.

And before you ask: I liked Rorshach (even if he was a psycho), but the Owl was definitely my favorite.

For those of you who use Live.

This is one key difference between "free" and "paid."

If you take a "free" product and make it paid, you look like a bad guy.

If you take a paid product and make it cheaper, you look like a good guy.

Of course, I'd like to see Microsoft take the next step, which would be...

If you take a paid product and make it free, you look like a great guy.

Anyhow, 12 months of Live for $40 instead of $50.

But it probably won't be the start of a format war.

I had forgotten that China was working on its own HD format. Will there be a format war? I don't think so. Couple reasons why...

1. Its regional, not global as far as I can tell.

2. Warner has a history of trying to compete with piracy by offering legitimate goods as cheap as possible over there.

3. By using a different format, those of us in other regions can't buy the cheaper Chinese versions for use in Blu-Ray players.

Shrewd.

Pretty much above. I loved Wrestlemania 2000 on the N64. I really enjoyed Def Jam: Fight for New York (2nd one?) on the Xbox.

I am looking for:

1. Good to great character maker.

2. Interesting single-player mode.

3. Less to no cheese-cake in terms of game-modes (wasn't there a strip-and-spank mode in an old WWE game?) or or as a general focus (ie, no Rumble Roses).

4. Variety of game modes.

5. Can probably be had for $20 or less.

Suggestions?

WHOOOOOHOOOOOO!

Finally, they've put up more details on the next update. I'm stoked :D

Technically they're not the first MMORPG to offer player created content - that would've been Ryzom Saga (with its Ryzom Ring). Nor are they the first MMO to offer it, either. Second Life wouldn't be anything without its community making and creating things.

First major MMO? Okay, I can give them that.

Anyhow, they've got a page linking to all the official information, plus a video from Rooster Teeth. And check the Dev Journal for more information...

Nintendo has a new controller. The C l a s s i c Pro. It might look a little familiar to Playstation owners.

Those raised on the Playstation might immediate react at what at first glance is a chunky Dual Shock ripoff. Those who have deeper roots might be a little amused at the younger gamers.

At last, control pads have come full circle.

The Playstation pad was a direct decendant from the NES Max's ergonomic shape and the SNES layout. It added two more shoulder buttons, that aside it was pretty much a SNES pad.

With the N64, Nintendo began deviating from the SNES design, adding in an analog stick, and a modified button layout. Sony later introduced the original PS1 analog pad.

With the PS2 Sony made analog and rumble standard. The Gamecube's pad was an... odd... sight to behold. The button layout was quite different, the stick layouts were interesting, and man was it small.

With the PS3, Sony took one step forward (tilt) and one step back (lack of rumble) for Sixaxis. Thankfully, their lawsuit with Immersion settled, so now the Dual Shock 3, aka "the pad the PS3 should've had from the get-go" is now available. Nintendo's Wiimote is quite far removed from anything brought out previously, unless you used it as a glorified NES pad. They also released a ****c controller that looked like a SNES pad with analogs and an addition set of shoulder buttons.

And now this. The Wii ****c Pro and the Dual Shock share a common ancestor. While the Playstation pads never strayed far from the source, their Nintendo counterparts have changed quite a bit over the years. And now? Except for tilt support (will it rumble?), the two pads are now, obviously, related.

/history lesson

Hopefully there'll be more games that utilize the ****c/****c Pro. I'd like to get my hands on this to try it out, that's for sure. Its interesting to look back at how Nintendo basically established the basis of the modern pad, went away from it, and has now finally come back. Sony carried the SNES/NES Max lineage on, while Sega's analog pad for the Saturn helped inspire the pad for the Dreamcast, Xbox, arguably the Gamecube and of course, the 360. And of course, the new Street Fighter pads are going back to the Sega 6-button design on top of that.

Very cool :)

Story here.

My IRA retirement account has Microsoft stock. My 401(k) might too.

And, quite frankly, I'm okay with this.

Why did it drop like that? Because Microsoft is refusing to cut more. Cutting more means layoffs. $2 billion worth of layoffs would be a LOT of people losing their jobs, and cutting too deep would hurt Microsoft in the long-run.

I've heard it said a few times that there are a lot of investors who don't care if a company has a real long term plan or not, just so long as a company is profitable this quarter. And that stocks jump on layoff announcements since the company will (in theory) be more profitable in the near future. I personally don't like that. I wonder how many bad decisions were made just to appease stockholders, or out of fear of stockholders.

So, here's to the long-term health of Microsoft. Here's hoping Bill Ozzie and company have a plan for the long-term. Here's hoping the stockholders let them.

WOW.

I really need to pay more attention to what's coming out on my preferred platform!