Very soon it'll be the 10-year anniversary of the Dreamcast.

Aaah, the Dreamcast. I had three - gave one away then the other two died on me.* For those of you who wonder about all those 360 owners who replace their RRoD'd machines and why? Let me just say, "I understand."

What I liked, loved, about the Dreamcast is I think it took some of the best of the previous generation, put an interesting spin on things, and was forward thinking.

Memory Cards (Neo Geo)? Check. 4-player capability from the get-go (N64)? Check. Easy for developers to work with (PS1)? Check. Expandability built into the controllers (N64)? Check. The web browser was very neat. VMU's (even if they were ultimately evolutionary dead ends) were cool. Built-in 56k modem and online play (that Sony mocked instead of emulating)? Hoorah! PC and DC cross-platform play for Quake III and I think Phantasy Star Online? Wonderful.

It was also the underdog, produced by a humbled Sega, and really wanted to be a gamer's system. I wanted it to do well. I cheered for it. It had my beloved 2d fighters, excellent 3d fighters (SC, VF and DOA2), plus plenty of games that really need to see the light of day again (Powerstone!!!).

Even looking back, I see a lot to like about the system. Now, companies have taken what they tried and put their own spin on things, and if nothing else, that's the important thing. When folks complain about Live and its paltry fee I remember SegaNet and its $15/month :P

In short - it was this generation in nascient form. We've got it better now in many ways, but overall back then it was sooo much cooler.

So, my hat off in fond rememberance of one of my favorite systems ever, even after all these years. It ranks up there with my beloved Neo Geo, and you guys know that's high praise coming from me. Its life was cut short, and gave me a distaste for any system getting taken before its time.

Indeed, it was the Dreamcast that changed me from a mere fanboy to a true gamer.

Thank you :)

*There was a run of Dreamcasts that were made in China. Notorious for having heat issues. Notice that Peter Moore was at Sega during that time. Notice the 360, a system he helped launch, also has heat issues. Ol' Petey is JUST TOO HAWT. Hopefully he'll stay at software centric EA... if he went to Sony or Nintendo then you'd have PS3's and Wii's combusting in people's homes.

update: You need to read this - Peter Moore looking back on the Dreamcast! I wish it was 10x longer!

update 2: Gamasutra has an awesome, in-depth look back with a lot of the major players from back then. MUST READ.

Oh - one of the tech forums I go to sometimes had an odd comment/observation.

"I totally consider the Dreamcast to be XBOX 0.5. If you think about what the DC offered from a hardware perspective it totally makes sense. XBL comes straight from that initial push to be online"

After that, I remembered too that the Dreamcast used a specialized version of Windows (WindowsCE) and Direct X, just like the Xbox and the 360.

If you can't afford it, you don't buy it.

Looks like a lot of people can afford the new $300 price for the PS3.

While PS3 sales dropped like hell in Japan before the Slim launched, they more than made up for it now, setting a Japanese sales record for the system.

On top of that, in the UK its had a ~1000% sales increase.

We're getting closer to mainstream pricing, and while this spike will eventually go down to something more normal, its good to see so much enthusiasm for the system.

Speaking of mainstream pricing, even the 360 has been seeing improved sales since the Elite's price dropped to Pro levels. Not nearly as dramatic, obviously, but still its doing well. I personally think that Microsoft will really be saturating the $300+ price point for the 360 - next move is to get the Elite moved closer to the $200 price point, with the Arcade down to $100. This won't happen anytime soon - I'd expect them to inch down there in $20-25 increments. But that's honestly where they need to start heading. Either that or they should start improving the perceived value of their bundles by $50-100. Including extra controllers, games or that stupid wifi dongle would do well, I think.

Finally - this is more like the price war I've been wanting.

Scene It is now coming to all systems - PS3, 360 and Wii.

And boy, some folks think this is a waste of time.

I was a little amused at how often this sentiment came up - "real" gamers don't fool with this stuff. I'm wondering how many of these "real" gamers were still in diapers when us old-school gamers were laying down the punishment during the 8- and 16-bit days. Or 32-bit days, even.

Its a bit funny.

For me, its awesome. No, I don't get to play like I used to - most people my age don't. In fact, most of them don't get to play nearly as much as I can! Significant other, career, family, etcetera. Gamers grow up, certainly, but that doesn't make us any less "real." Something like this is ideal for us as we can get easily have fun with the other people in our lives.

And even beyond my generation, there are plenty of gamers out there with friends who play casually or not at all - this is a perfect game for them. While I'm sure not so many of them have thought of this, but I'm sure they'd have an easier time playing this with those friends than sitting around and playing (insert current hot game). And, certainly, girlfriends would likely have a lot more fun with this.

But still, I'm amused at the nerd-rage and snobbery this has caused.

So, please, everyone - by all means go and pick this up. I've got one of the earlier Scene Its for the 360 and can vouch - its fun with friends. Enjoy!

edit: And I had to reply to the quote up above...

"The "real" gamer would probably have an easier time getting their girlfriend to play this than the latest Call of Duty?"

From Gamesindustry.biz.

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The reshuffling of console offerings and price points by Sony and Microsoft in recent weeks has had a number of consequences - some more surprising than others. UK commentary has tended to focus on the unexpected price rise for the 360 Arcade model, which has actually raised the base level cost of entry to the current gen console market - but another move which has raised eyebrows is the decision to bundle very basic AV cables with both the slim PS3 and the new Xbox 360 Elite model.

What this means is that, several years into the console generation which was meant to herald the glorious arrival of high definition, not a single console system is presently being sold with an HDMI cable in the box. Microsoft, at least, bundles a cable which can output component, which does enable some HD resolutions - the PS3 slim simply doesn't come with any HD-capable cables at all.

Vocal consumers have voiced disbelief at the move, and many in the industry haven't been far behind. After all, years of visiting friends' houses to discover previous generations of console hardware plugged into perfectly decent TVs with dreadful composite cables or, worse, RF adaptors, have taught us that most consumers will use whatever cable comes in the box and never bother buying a new one. Aren't Sony and Microsoft selling themselves - and this entire generation of hardware and software - short?

Perhaps not. From the perspectives of these companies, they want to include the cable which will be of most utility to the largest group of consumers possible, and it's clear that whatever research they have done suggests that the majority of consumers don't need - or rather, can't use - an HDMI cable. Neither firm wants to put an assortment of cables in the box "just in case" - each additional cable erodes millions from the firm's profitability, after all.

So something - and I'm going to assume that it's detailed research, rather than a cost-saving hunch - leads Sony and Microsoft to believe that the lion's share of their consumers aren't going to be plugging their consoles into HD-ready, HDMI-equipped TVs. But this is late 2009 - hasn't the world gone HD yet, as we were all led to believe it would?

Supporting evidence that all is not well with the HD transition comes from Epic Games' Mark Rein, who told Eurogamer earlier this summer that "over half the users who played Gears of War 2 so far do not have HDTVs".

Gears of War is a core gamer franchise, beloved of early adopters and the soi disant hardcore. If less than half of those users are playing on HDTVs, what must the percentages be like for games like FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer - let alone Singstar and Buzz, or popular movie tie-in titles?

Listening to the vocal minority of upstream gamers who post on internet forums and make their voices heard, one would think that HD had reached a high degree of market penetration and that SD television remained only as a rapidly disappearing relic of the past. The reality, however, is that the landscape for HD television is still extremely fractured.

We've known for years that HD televisions were routinely being sold to users who didn't know that they needed additional hardware and cables to actually see HD programmes and content. It's extremely common, even today, to walk into a home and see an expensive HDTV hooked up to a DVD player (non-upscaling) and a standard definition cable or satellite box. The owners are often convinced that they're watching in HD, simply by virtue of owning a HDTV.

What's becoming increasingly clear is that the inverse is also true. HD content players - such as games consoles - are being sold to households that don't have a HDTV suitable for them, and are therefore being left to run in SD. In cases where a consumer owns both a HDTV and a HD console, there's a strong possibility that they've used the wrong cable or the wrong settings, and are getting an SD picture anyway. It's interesting to wonder to what extent this problem also afflicts Blu-Ray players, and may even fuel the lukewarm consumer response to BRD technology.

Faced with this reality, a few conclusions are inescapable. Firstly, Nintendo - as so often in recent years - is the company left laughing all the way to the bank. Sony and Microsoft bet heavily on HDTV adoption to drive their console sales, and many commentators confidently predicted that Nintendo would suffer for its decision to stick with SD technology in the Wii.

Now it seems that the expensive HD hardware in the Xbox 360 and PS3 is sitting idle in a majority of those consoles, a fact which also makes the oft-repeated suggestion that Nintendo is preparing a "Wii HD" revision as a matter of urgency seem a little silly, to say the least.

Secondly, the industry needs to rethink its approach to the HD transition. It was widely expected that the transition would be pretty much done by this stage, but the reality is that legacy devices and cables are holding it back - and the recession hasn't done any favours to the uptake of new televisions either.

Things will get worse before they get better. Sony and Microsoft are both comfortably through the early adopter phases now, and as a result, the percentage of HD-enabled customers is likely to fall sharply as they sell more and more consoles. The first 20 million consumers to buy each console were probably fairly tech-savvy and quite likely to be ready for HD. The next 20 million, however, will be far more likely to be plugging the Xbox 360 into an SD set, or using an inappropriate cable - or, perhaps most notably, plugging the console into a smaller TV in a bedroom.

For developers, this simply means that ensuring that games play well in SD resolutions is going to become increasingly important. For platform holders, it's an even bigger challenge - if the Xbox 360 and PS3 are outputting in SD, their perceived advantage over the Wii is eroded even further. They will have to compete on interface and experience (as they are attempting with their motion control solutions) rather than on visual fidelity.

The bottom line is this - the HD transition cannot be spoken of in the past tense. It's still happening now, much more slowly than many commentators seem to believe - we're probably less than halfway through, and the second half will be much tougher and slower than the first. It makes talk of a transition to 3D seem even more premature - let's try and get the last transition finished before we worry about the next one.

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Thoughts?

From Gamasutra.

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An independent provider of electronic device warranties has examined data from its own customers to determine the Wii to be the most reliable current console system on the market, and the Xbox 360 the least.

San Francisco-based SquareTrade, which bills itself as "the largest independent warranty provider in the world," compared failure rates of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii in the first two years of ownership, with a total sample size of 16,000 console units owned by SquareTrade customers.

Within that group, system failures were reported by 2.7 percent of Wii owners, 10.0 percent of PlayStation 3 owners, and 23.7 percent of Xbox 360 owners.

The Xbox 360's infamous "red ring of death"-related problems "continued to be a major issue" for the system through 2008, according to SquareTrade, but have significantly decreased in frequency this year.

Still, somewhat shockingly, even when "red ring of death" problems are removed from the calculation, Xbox 360 is still the least reliable system, narrowly edging out PlayStation 3 with an 11.7 percent failure rate.

Overall, Microsoft and Sony consoles were mainly plagued by disc read and video output problems, whereas the Nintendo console's most troubling area was power-related.

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Interesting, yes? Compare those numbers to the ones provided by the Game Informer readers survey?

PlayStation 3 - 10% versus 10.6%
Wii - 2.7% versus 6.8 %
Xbox 360 - 23.7% versus 54.2 %

I'm a little surprised by the PS3 numbers, to be honest. My original theory was that the Game Informer survey was skewed because its targeting a demographic that can be problem prone, and while I will still mostly stick to that, I have to admit I'm a little surprised. So, yeah, I'm eating a little crow there, and expect to have a few "I told you so" messages in my inbox ;)

The Wii is about where I expected it (and, honestly, where I expected the PS3 to be).

The 360 is significantly lower than the reader's survey, which is perfectly inline with with my theory. Its nice to see that its gone down since the ~33% days, too. Now, if you take out the RRoD issues like they did, the 360 is still too high, in my opinion, but its not nearly as sickening as before. Hopefully that'll get better. I do wish they broke down the 360 by motherboard revision, though. Overall, better than previously reported but still far too high. I hope Microsoft remembers this black-eye when they're designing the 720.

So, the Game Informer readers seem quite able to kill consoles at twice the normal rate except for the PS3 - why is that? Well, and this is going to be grossly stereotyping here, I don't think most of them could afford a PS3! Had as many of them owned PS3s as, say, 360's, the difference between the survey numbers and SquareTrade numbers would've been greater.

Thoughts?

edit: And while I won't say these numbers are gospel or anything, I will say that I trust them a LOT more than I trust the Game Informer ones. I'm still boggled by the PS3 numbers, though. Of course, my view of the hardware is based off of anecdotal information, so I guess I shouldn't be so sure of it.

update: Story now at edge-online.com, also.

update#2: Now here at Gamespot. I really like how they chart the versions of 360 in this story, which is great. I'd like to see a similar chart done a year from now for the PS3 - maybe that 10% will go down, also. Of course, I'd much rather see a breakdown of failures by demographic.

First off, Jack in the Box has a fun promo that might expand your game collection and your waistline. I bought a large combo and won a 1/2 off any used game coupon at Gamestop. So, instead of paying $34 for Gears 2, I bought it for $17. Nice.

Anyhow - I bought it pretty much for the single-player mode (playing on casual right now) and Horde. Hopefully I'll be able to get some co-op in with some friends. I have ZERO interest in versus mode. I've got fighting games for those!

So far so good. I never did finish the original Gears (got it on my PC), but I did like it. I really wish EA, Activision, Midway or someone other than Microsoft picked this game up, though... this could be one of the biggest franchises out there if only it was multiplatform.

Oh, its one of the biggest already, you say? Yeah, it is big. But being 360 only is limiting how big it could be, IMO. As much as it sold, had it been on the PS3? Gears 2 would've sold double what its sold already, with that many more people playing, with that much more buzz (real and imaginary).

Also - speaking of buzz - downloaded the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo tonight. Will get to it later on...

Another quick list.

1. Integrate the Zune Pass into Live (Gold and Silver). I wouldn't necessarily mind a Zune, but if I could get the Zune Pass service and use it with my 360, PC and a Zune? That's not a bad sell at all. Especially since they now have it that every month you get to keep 10 songs. For $15/month the idea of unlimited music at home and on the go PLUS getting music (MP3's, no less)? I can dig it. Add in streaming radio stations and you're set.

2. Communities/Groups like Steam has (Gold). This should be pretty obvious, actually. I don't know about the rest of you, but I can take one look at my friends list and instantly wonder "where do I know this person from?" I'm having to keep track of user names from multiple websites, plus real life, nevermind the people I add from just playing. Let me organize them, please!

3. Sub-accounts/Family accounts (Gold and Silver). Gametap has a fantastic subscription service (or at least did when I was on it). Set up an account, pay your $9/month, get all their games and content, etc. But the nice thing was you could have up to 5? 6? sub-accounts for your household, complete with parental and account controls. To apply this to Live - little Johnny can only play E-rated games, no voice-chat (send or receive), can't add friends without Dad's permission, can't play after 9 p.m. and can spend an "allowance" of up to 160 Live Points per month but can't buy full games or download demos. Teenager Ben can play up to T-rated games, has voice chat, can add friends, and can add Live points to his own account. Dad has full access, obviously, and could check online to see who's online, send them messages, etc ("Is your homework done yet?").

4. Coin-ops (Gold and Silver). Have a selection of quick downloading games that can be played as you want, when you want, online, for cheap. Price per play could range from $0.10 (8 pts) to $0.25 (20 pts) per play, and there's always the possibility for free play with ads ("Play Outrun for free this weekend! Brought to you by Jack in the Box!"), "day passes" (pay 400 points and play all day), etcetera. There are a lot of good, old-school games that would lend themselves to this. Its step up from a demo (not all demos enable online play, correct), previews the game for online play (helping promote Gold), and lets people just play as they like. Some folks may end up buying the game based off of this.

5. Better IM integration. I'd like to see Microsoft open up Live so you can see your friends using Yahoo!, AOL IM, etc.

6. Screenshots. This might be more of a system upgrade, but I'd love to be able to take screenshots of games then upload them to Facebook, Flickr, to a jump-drive, whatever. I actually would doubly love to see video capture, but that's a lot more work, and based on my experience using FRAPS can utterly kill performance if you're trying to do it real-time.

Just a few ideas. Tear'em to shreds.

I should mention, however, I put these up as I thought they'd be feasible improvements that wouldn't require any massive changes on Microsoft's part (like adding online play to Silver). Going more for "realistic" options.

Well, I figure I've got enough "me" games right now, so its time to work on my multiplayer library. And when I say multiplayer? I mean "on-couch," not "online." Without further ado...

Rock Band 2 - I think this'll be a great party game, and Rock Band Network is the killer feature for me.

Trivial Pursuit - Ditto, and it might be less frustrating for some of the significant others who don't game (plus no pieces to lose like the normal board game)

Lips - I think that could be fun. I'm pretty interested in the music importing feature. I'm hoping future versions will crib notes from other karaoke games, though (like SingStar).

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Because I might get a night with the guys. I'm enjoying MUA1 right now off and on, so if MUA2 is the same level of quality I'll be content

2 more control pads - I've got one wired and one wireless. I'm thinking getting one more of each should be fine, or just getting two basic/generic wired pads. I can't see myself spending $50 per controller when I know I'm not going to use them often.

Aaand... I guess I should start prepping for Tekken 6, also. Maybe not. I'm not sure yet. Will have to wait for the reviews first, I guess... see how the netcode is.

edit: Amazon sells their 360 wireless controllers for $28. Let's assume, for one moment, that's close to wholesale, if not actually at the wholesale price. That means the 360's pad is a VERY profitable accesory for retailers. Gamestop sells theirs for $50 - that's $22 profit right there. WOW. I knew that accessories were supposed to be profit makers for retailers (compared to the systems themselves), but that's... wow. I'm moderately stunned thinking about it.

Note - I'm not mad or upset by this (believe it or not). I'm not going to go around crying "OMGGREEEEEEED" or anything. Yeah, I wouldn't mind paying less (especially since those things are more expensive here on island), but at the same time when I buy that stuff, I'm helping my local economy out. Yes, its the local game chain or mega-store, but they have employees here, after all. Tough part about living on an island - you can't just pick up and leave or commute to another state when jobs get slim!

1. Elite to $299. Good.

2. Phasing out the Pro instead of the Arcade. Not quite so happy with this one. It makes sense since they don't need to keep two different harddrives around, but its still not what I wanted.

3. Removing the HDMI cable from the Elite bundle. I supported Sony on this at the PS3's launch because they were already losing a ton of money per unit sold. Microsoft isn't, so I'm a little less thrilled with this. Sure their retail partners are quite happy, though. I find the given reason to be interesting - I'd love to see their numbers on who's using their 360's via Component, Composite, VGA (me! me!) or HDMI.

4. No change on the Wifi adapter. Blah. Must be selling well enough they don't want/need to. I really would like to see that bundled with the Elite and/or dropped in price. I don't have one, nor do I want one, but that's besides the point.

5. I'm a little dissapointed by the Arcade price increase in the UK. The stated reason (currency exchange) is the same as Nintendo. Given the PS3 Slim is still costing Sony money, I wonder if they're going to follow suit later on or not? I'd be happily surprised if they didn't.

Side notes:

1. Microsoft and other publishers/developers really needs to retroactively create Acheivement-based Avatar awards for games. Sales have been good, yes, but I think it would be a great way to get everyone excited not just about the Avatar store but some of their older games out there.

2. Glad the Games on Demand store is working out reasonably. I'd like to see more retail-sized games released that might not survive retail, are out of print, etc., come out for it.

3. When will we see a completely designed 360? Not just "under the hood" like previous revisions? System redesigns like the Slim are bit more interest generating than internal ones - nobody except modders paid attention to the countless internal revisions of the PS2. Everyone noticed the Slim. Same with the PS3, PSP, DS, GBA, etc. I'd like to see a new 360 model of some sort by the holidays next year. I realize the harddrive might pose a problem in the form factor, but that's not my problem ;)

Minor update: I'm not the only one who thinks the removal of the HDMI cable from the Elite bundle was done to make retailers happy. And they mention the PSPGo's price to support the idea.

I had bought my 360 Arcade system back in January of this year. For the most part all of my major requirements for getting a current gen system (and the 360) had been met - $200 dollars for the system, the 360 was on a new hardware revision including a smaller/cooler GPU, and there were a good selection of games at the Platinum Hits status. I had intended to wait for the Pro to hit $200 or less, but a very generous person gave me a 360 harddrive (20g) and some games to boot. Very, very kind, and that did it for me.

First off, I have to say that for many of the PC games I play there gulf between console and PC gaming isn't as big as it was. I'm not talking about which is better or whatever so much as PC gaming seems less problematic than in the "old days," and I can generally expect a simple experience (install and play). System requirements are becoming increasingly reliable, I'm not having to find and grab patches like before (if anything they handle it for me), and with the Windows 7 RC I don't have to go driver hunting either. The PC gaming industry has begun to really adopt these featuers, making the experience a bit more console like, and I'm quite pleased. So expect no PC snobbery from me :)

The NGE update is quite nice, and I have been using the install to drive option semi-regularly. Of course, this is making me want to get a 60g or even a 120g drive, but oh well. Live is easy to use, sort of a console-ized Zune interface, and it works well. I'm still learning the ins-and-outs of it, but that's not a biggie. Like virtually everyone else on the planet the Microsoft Points system annoys me, so taking advantage of the deal Amazon has for XBLA games is huge thing for me. Real prices and only as much as I want to spend? Sign me up! I still have to get points, and they're an impulse shopper's worst nightmare (nothing like figuring out how much you spent the next day - eek!) - the system works well, is quick and is painless (unless you're doing conversions in your head).

Due to my playing of MMOs and such on the PC I actually only played the 360 on an infrequent basis. I'm taking a break from those, so now I've begun console gaming again and am enjoying it. Thus far I'm quite pleased with Live Gold - paid for three months, then when that was done just bought a 13-month card. Nice, easy, and except for KOFXII the online play has been great. I was particularly impressed with Live and Capcom's netcode for SFIV when I played a guy I know in Helsinki, Finland (I'm in Maui, Hawai'i).

I've not had to change the batteries in my wireless controller yet. However, I know I will in time, so I need to look into getting a battery charger and some good rechargable AA's. That makes more sense to me since there are tons of things in the house that use AA's anyhow. The control pad is confortable and I like it a lot except for the d-pad. I'm used to better; the Dreamcast's pad, the Saturn, the Neo Geo CD/Pocket, etc. For the record I don't like the Playstation pads and their d-pads. Now, this is a personal preference issue normally, but I think its safe to say the 360's pad isn't nearly as good as it should be. There is a small mod I can do that most people swear makes the 360's pad tons better, but haven't gotten around to it.

I do like that my 360 joystick (HORI EX2) and wired pad work with Windows quite well. Great for Gametap and other such games. I actually considered getting SFIV for the PC but decided against it.

My library is small but it pleases me. I'm finding great value in both the retail games and the XBLA Marketplace. I love how active SNK is in there, and hope that they and Capcom re-release Card Fighter's Clash (Neo Geo Pocket version) for it, among other titles. There's a lot of stuff out there that really appeals to my old-school roots.

Looking at things, however, I will say this - I'm enjoying the system. I'm planning to get Rock Band 2 in the next month or so. Right now I could recommend a Jasper based system, easily, to a gamer. For casual to non-gamers, though? I think it still costs too much. While I have an Arcade, I really do think we've gotten to the point that a casual/non-gamer will learn about the stuff on Live Marketplace and want to get in on it (particularly extra content). While I (now) have an appreciation to the upgradable nature of the 360 so you can start off bare-bones (Arcade) and add as you need/want to, I really want to see the price of the Arcade unit go down at least another $50 or so. While I feel its a much better value than the Wii and know that the harddrive isn't required for many things, not having it does cause you to miss out on a lot.

Also, based on my purchase decisions and usage, I have to say I'm glad I didn't buy a PS3. Its an excellent system with a superb library, but its not a good value for me. I just want to play games - the BR movie playback is therefore useless to me. Likewise, I don't like wifi that much - ethernet offers better performance and does better in this old house to boot. The big exclusives the PS3 has, while excellent games, don't interest me. I have the same level of interest in Metal Gear as I do Halo... not much at all. The games I really want are multiplatform! I would've spent a lot more money to get something that offered me relatively little additional benefit. Maybe I'll feel different after my first RRoD ;)

This is NOT to say I don't want a PS3. However, when I got my 360 they were still starting at $400. And I'm not saying the PS3 is a bad system at all - I think anyone who buys one will be quite pleased with their purchase and with good reason. It just wasn't a good buy for me.

All in all, I'm pleased. I've been playing the 360 for a while now and liking it. I've gotten some good multi-player in online, as well as on-couch with non-gamer friends. I'm enjoying it a lot as a social machine, hence my upcoming RB2 purchase. There's nothing I'm doing on it that couldn't be done on a PS3, mind you, I just started doing it sooner and cheaper. I do need to pick up some more controllers - I'm really wanting to try 4-player Marvel Ultimate Alliance (and there's a sequel coming soon) plus some Castle Crashers (that's on PSN finally, right? What took so long?). I don't think I'll pick up another stick, though. The one is enough.

I'm pleased. Very pleased. Here's to Sony and their continued improvement of the PS3 - don't give Microsoft a moment's rest! I'm loving this competition and wouldn't trust either company to dominate (I've already complained on Sony's complacency last generation enough, and believe Microsoft would do the same if given the chance). The 360 is not the perfect system by any stretch of the imagination, but its a good one. Hopefully they'll learn the right lessons from this generation and the Xbox 720 will have the best features of this go round, with Live being on 3.0. Likewise, I hope Sony does the same, with PSN being 2.0 (grrr) and continuing their different direction...

update: Features I'm not sure I care about on a practical level...

Region-optional. You know, if I could read Japanese that'd be one thing, but I can't. I think the whole region-free issue isn't a big deal for those of us in the US, but for other places like Europe and Australia? Big one. They get things later and usually have to pay more as I recall. Notice that when given a choice publishers want regions, though. I'm glad Sony forced the issue, but I think that's less a pro-player move so much as they didn't want you modding your system to play imported games (which then makes you a candidate to start pirating games since its modded anyhow). It looks good, a small minority of players do benefit, but Sony is the biggest beneficiary of all. Microsoft should really do the same next generation. Of course, I'd like to point out the Neo Geo not only was regionless but its games would detect which language your Neo Geo was set for and use that - a Japanese game in a US system would play in English. A US game in a Japanese system would be in Japanese. And both games would be in Spanish if it was in a South American system. Oh, and we had memory cards before the PS1 ;)

Backwards Compatability. This is one of those "depends on your library" and "can you replay games" thing. I had originally wanted to get some of the older Xbox fighters, but they're too hard to find and I've given up. As such, well, I don't care about it anymore! There are some GREAT Xbox games and if you've never played them then by all means go to Gamestop and pick them up for cheap. But overall its no longer a feature for me. Ditto on the PS3 - I ended up liquidating my old library of PS2 games (primarily fighters), so while academically I support BC, practically speaking its not a major concern for me anymore. My relative inability to replay games figures in, also. I love KOTOR, but only played through once. I have no interest in repeating it, thank you.