Is there a quick reference guide someone can provide, as to what exactly constitutes indie, AA, AAA and now AAAA? Is it money spent, depth of mechanics, size of the studio, a slip of the keyboard?

For single player, I would probably say StarCraft, closely followed by Diablo 2. I love the game, the art, the characters, the music, the armies (40k-adjacent), the vibe, the cinematics, all of it.

For multiplayer, Halo CE. We would have 16 people every Sunday, playing from noon to midnight, for years. If you've never been in the position of holding the enemies flag, while they have your team's flag as well, frantically scanning for any movement that could lose you the game, then you haven't lived. Then your team kills their flag carrier, returns the flag, and you make your move to the base, hoping the enemy team is waiting in your base. This time, they aren't. You capture the game winning flag, and the cheers and jeers erupt. Easily one of the best feelings life has to offer.

I could also say Galaga. Every time I walk buy a cabinet, it's hard not to play. The funny thing is, I used to own one, and almost never played it. 🤷‍♂️ But if it's out in the wild, I can't help myself.

Halo CE LANs every Sunday for years. 4 boxes, 4 tvs, 15 friends, a case of mountain dew and a pile of pizzas. Probably the most fun I've ever had with gaming.

That's like Hitler marrying AIDS.

I hope the CEOs bonuses didn't take a hit. Now that would be tragic.

Jesus Christ, you guys are cute.

I'm still waiting for some more concrete information... but it's not looking good. I don't understand how anyone could trust them after recent events. But in this day and age, dumb is abundant.

I keep seeing people saying third party manufacturers will pick up the slack, but what's the track record on that? Steam Machine (which I could've sworn was called Steam Box... maybe not), and 3DO. I'm not so sure that's a winning strategy either.

What about this? Sony and Nintendo go "sure, we'll put gamepass on our systems", and then at the last minute go "nahhhh". What could they do? Go back to selling unsuccessful consoles to the fanbase they just bamboozled? Then Steam becomes the only place to get CoD. And it finally dies the death it deserves.

Back when they were packing those multiplayer codes in games to combat piracy and resale, they said at least Sony and Microsoft were in talks to curb that at a system level. When I heard that, I thought Sony should just agree and then pull out at the last second. Then comes E3 2013, and Xbox ate a bowl of sh!t with their always online announcement, while Sony won the day with their conference. Probably not how it went down, but the outcome was the same as my idea.

@Mozelleple112: Haha, yeah that's something we will never agree on.

In fairness, I haven't played Infinite, but from what I've seen, it's just not for me. Hell, I've said it many times that I don't care for any Halo besides CE, so I don't care about anything they've added over the years. And you having not played CE on the og Xbox drives me bonkers :) Every edition of CE since the original has changed or goofed up something about the game, and that kills me. Especially since I just want a modern way to play the original game, so I can continue to play. And to hear that you want to change, again, something that you haven't actually played, drives me nuts.

I also have $210, and would pay that for an Xbox mini that only has the original Xbox version of CE on it. If they want to get crazy, I would allow them to include the Fusion Frenzy demo, since it was on the disc. Sell that with some new Dukes and S controllers, and I would be a happy camper.

But like I said, you would undoubtedly get your way before I get mine.

@Mozelleple112: You stay away from CE! I've been waiting almost 20 years for a real solution to play it on modern hardware. And after almost a decade, MCC still hasn't got it right. The amount of disrespect shown to the game that literally made Xbox is beyond disgusting.

Hell, I would be ecstatic if they just made it backwards compatible. What other possible reason is there for it to not be on bc, besides them forcing players to get MCC? It's utter BS!

They already did the CE anniversary, and f#cked that up beyond belief. I think they made the MP on the Reach engine. Like what the absolute fu*k?! That's like asking for your favorite meal for your birthday, and instead they bring out a boiled shoe. Gearbox borked the PC port as well. I swear to F#CK, they have screwed up the original version of Halo on absolutely everything they've done... and now you want another? With infinite as the framework?

I hate your idea with a passion. But the chances of me getting what I want, before you getting what you want is basically 0%.

I honestly don't know why this game gets so much praise. Mechanically, I don't remember it being anything special. Just a generic third person shooter in a sandy city. And the part everyone chubbs on was alright at best.

@mrbojangles25: As much as I don't like the digital only future/present, you're pretty much spot on. As far as preservation goes, it's the only viable option I can see. I just HATE the idea that we gave them the ability to shut our access off on a whim; all for the sake of convenience. But you're right.

Still, I would love for Sony to put out a small, stackable version of every PlayStation, that could play discs. Have them connect together with each other, and with whatever the current system of the day. Play through the individual units, with the old splash screens, or pump it through your the contemporary one. If somehow you could leverage the extra power of all the systems combined, or at least the modern one, that would be cool too. And you could have either Redbox kiosks, or something similar at the store that could burn you a disc of whatever you wanted. Then you could a secondary market of people that make cases and manuals and stuff. Totally wasteful, definitely not gonna happen, but I think it would be cool 😎