In other words, MS has demonstrated that they're perfectly able and willing to screw over the customer in order to "encourage" them to move to the platform where MS wants them to be.

Sounds like a lot of other tech companies as well.

Never had a desire to try it, legal or not.

Having Han, Leia, and Luke as supporting characters, sure.  I can get behind that.  But the primary leads?  Nah.  Not if they want this to be an ongoing Bond-esque franchise. 

Maybe make them the focal point of Ep 7, introduce the new leads, and slowly push them to the background in future movies.  Or kill them off heroically.

Nah.  Didn't go to my 10th, as I had a work trip, and didn't really care.  

With social media I really get all the updates I need.  My 20th didn't happen because no one really cared.

I may go to the Class of 93's 20th reunion... they're not limiting it to a particular class, and most of my close friends were a grade ahead or a grade behind me.

Apparently Lucas is giving the majority of the $4B away...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-deal-george-lucas-will-384947

Vista/Win7 Start menu replacements are going to be popping up like mushrooms... here's another one:

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

AC3, NFS:MW, and Okami HD.  Someday.

Alt text: "Facebook, Apple, and Google all got away with their monopolist power grabs because they don't have any 'S's in their names for critics to snarkily replace with '$'s."

Been running it for a couple of months at home.  It's a'ight.

So I guess I am looking for great graphics, good single or two player games, good easy to use, durable controllers.  Also hopefully a system that they are not going to
drastically change in the near future and make everything previously bought incompatible.

The 360 and PS3 aren't going to change much, if at all, between now and the launch of the next generation consoles.  But that's something to consider - chances are both Sony and MS will release new consoles late next year.

Nice - I dig it.   

The amount of damage it caused to that car it hit is impressive

Yeah, you're not locked into Metro by any means.   In Metro, your first position menu option is a big button for the Desktop.

A tool like the aforementioned Start8 lets you bypass Metro almost completely.  I've also used Launchy as a replacement for the Win 7 Start Search feature (or you can just hit Win+Q)

I'm sure there will be a bajillion tools that will let you largely ignore Metro in short order.  If anything it just seems like an app sitting on top of Windows proper (or a hyper-functional screensaver)

I'll have access to the final build on August 15 thanks to a Technet subscription, so I'll probably install it once my new SSD arrives next week.  But I bought Windows ME on day one as well.

did you?  any opinions?

I did - it's fine.  I played around with the interface formerly known as Metro for a while, then installed Stardock's Start8 to bypass it completely.  It's still there, you just never need to use it if you don't want to. 

I don't find Metro offensive or anything, it just wasn't adding any value.  I disabled UAC for a while, but when I re-enabled it, some metro apps will no longer launch.  It seems to be a not-uncommon problem - http://bit.ly/RRfeB4

I've run into a couple of compatibility snags, which are to be expected prior to the "official" release.  Other than that, it's just a slightly more polished version of Windows 7 with an additional, optional UI tacked on.  I don't think a Win7 downgrade is necessary, unless you just *really* hate the idea of the Metro interface.

[free "media" center]

Nice blu-ray, free online, free "media" center, avg at best multiplayer, reputation for being more reliable (hardware) - PS3

FWIW, the 360 has DLNA support, as well as being a Windows Media Center extender.

Killzone Trilogy eventually.

....aaaaand it's dead.  At least for the time being.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/76309/brathwaite-and-hall-scrap-old-school-rpg-kickstarter

Looks like they've added smattering of Mac ports to their offerings.   Some are native ports, some use SCUMMVM and Boxer for compatibility.

[Borderlands 1]

I've been bouncing between several games lately... I'm midway through Borderlands 1, but it's starting to get a bit old.  I've had Resident Evil 4 HD on the PS3 for a year, but haven't played it until now... I can definitely see myself getting sucked back into it for yet another playthrough.  Same with Doom 2 + GZDoom + hi-res textures.

You can also go really old-school with the Grimoire "Kickstarter".  Of course, it was actually new-school when it started development

Wow - he's still flogging that deceased equine?

So Nike drops Armstrong, but keeps Tiger Woods?  Oy.

Impressions?  Has anyone ponied up for this?

Between Hall and Braithwaite, it's got the stink of The Romero on it.

Edit:  Romero is involved, at least tangentially.  Interesting that they're not pushing that angle harder.  Or perhaps it's best that they don't.

Choplifter HD and The Bard's Tale are 75% off for the next week - http://store.steampowered.com/search/?publisher=inXile%20Entertainment

Borderlands 1 and Black Mesa, probably.

Done.  Can't say I love the name, but the game is what matters. 

Love the WC3/4 feel of the announcement video.

[Wool:Omnibus]

Finished a self published book on amazon called Wool:Omnibus edition.  It combines 5 different short stories (all the same narrative) and it was an excellent read. It's a very original post apocalyptic setting that I don't believe anyone has done before. While the author tended to be a little verbose, especially in the last 30 pages or so, it was a very well done effective story.  Overall it's extremely highly rated on Amazon. Check it out.

This is on sale today for $1.99

Woo!  Got my 20 birthday SpaceBuxx!

Whoa </Keanu>

And the US gets NFL Blitz

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/10/01/big-savings-buy-100-on-psn-in-october-get-20-psn-credit/

Includes PS+ subscriptions, and any Day 1 Digital purchases from last month.

Bummer.  Oh well, one less game to buy at full price.

A gaming channel?  On YouTube?  Do tell us more!

Brings back memories... Curse of the Mummy was a pack-in with my first CD-ROM drive.

They are adding some sort of tournament feature that will group people with similar skill levels, so we'll see how that addresses Laner's concern.

Shack has some info on their training wheel modes:

The first mode that players will probably want to try is "Bootcamp," which lets newcomers play a typical 6v6 COD match. However, there's a twist--three opponents on each team are actually bots. By offering AI opponents online, "we can dial up and dial down the difficulty," making a player's first steps into the online world of Call of Duty less intimidating. Even better: "bots don't yell at you if you're new to the game and they won't call you names."

You'll be able to enjoy a taste of Black Ops' extensive progression system through Bootcamp as well. You'll earn full regular progression XP in Bootcamp--but only until level 10. Afterwards, Treyarch kicks you out because you should be "good enough" to face the general Call of Duty community.

If you aren't entirely ready to take your training braces off, you may want to join "Objective." This second mode allows you to play all the objective-based modes offered in Black Ops 2, minus capture-the-flag. As with Bootcamp, you'll be playing with three bots on each team. Unlike Bootcamp, however, you'll be able to earn XP even after level 10--however, all XP gained will be halved.

Finally, if you just want to have fun against the AI, there's "Bot Stomp" mode. This pits a team of six humans against six AI. "It's pretty fun to kick the bot's asses," Vonderhaar explained. "As a new player, having some success is important." As expected, players won't earn any XP in this mode--so don't expect to grind your way through this mode.

I'm tentatively back in.  I suppose I should turn in my "hardcore" gamer card, but with two young kids I no longer have the kind of time or patience necessary to jump straight into the deep end with those who have far more free time.

Great... the day after I pre-order it for $24.99.  Hopefully their low price guarantee will kick in.

Cause that worked out so well in ME3...

I was under the impression me3 mp was actually fairly succesful? i saw a lot of people on various fora playing it at least.

It was - I think the issue is the fact that you *had* to play multiplayer to get the "best" singleplayer ending.

Not a fan.  They distract from reading the threads.  At least provide a way to disable it.

We adopted a newborn boy last month, my sister is getting married in November, and I remain employed and healthy.  All things considered, I can't complain!

Agreed - Point Lookout was my favorite DLC.