Just nabbed the 3DS XL with Mario Kart for $159 at BestBuy.com.  I had to select in-store pickup.  To me, this is a ridiculously good deal.  It was a good deal for $159 but to get a free game, even if it is preinstalled, is pretty nice.  Problem is, I have to sit on it until after Christmas on the slim chance my wife bought me one for Christmas. 

Trade in is $20, plus there is currently a 50% bonus promotion.  I wonder if she forgot that?  (I got the extra $2 because I a rewards pro member or whatever they call it.)

Regular 3DS is $129 at Target, which is pretty stellar IMO.  I think that Mario deal with the XL is about as good as its going to get, although I thought KMart or somebody was throwing in a gift card with that?  Maybe not.

NEVER NEVER NEVER ship via USPS unless you just don't give a shit about what you are shipping. Their track record these days is atrocious

Nonsense.  I've always used USPS and never had an issue.

Just traded mine in at Gamestop for $32, so that may be an option for you.

I grabbed Dishonored for $25, Civ V:G&K for 7.49, Starcraft II for 19.99 and Mists of Pandaria for 14.99.  I almost caved on Fallen Enchantress and also a 3DS, but I am going to wait a little longer on those.

I pretty much always order from either CoolStuffInc or TimeWellSpent.  CoolStuff has been getting more of my business since we started playing Pathfinder and also you only need $100 to get free shipping.

Thing is, FunAgain has the worst prices on the Internet.  I'm shocked anyone buys from them at all.

Wrong forum, ATB. Religious trolling belongs in the "Political / Religious Nonsense" forum. I'd rather you not insult everyone (and yourself) with that crap here, but I can only speak for myself.

I've seen posts in this thread that mock Christians or Christianity...not sure what the problem is with mocking atheists.

I guess mine isn't too bad, sort of average.

It's A for sure.

No, I live in Houston where Mike used to live.  I don't think I need another drum unless it's a great deal.  I guess I could use more microphones, but I don't remember which games support harmonies.  And, of course, a guitar or bass or both.

Rock Band 3 and Beatles Rock Band support harmonies.

This is a cool idea and I like your writing.  The only problem is that at your current pace this project is going to take 13+ years!

It looks pretty good to me, but the reviews on Metacritic were pretty harsh.  I'll probably grab it some day for $3 or something like that.

[with]

Interestingly, traffic to the front of the site has increased.   

Sounds like you need to point them towards the forum more then.

Well, for years we tried pointing you guys to the front of the site to no avail...

That's because I come here to read the Forum and have zero interest in getting any news from GT.  I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way.

That's too bad. You see, this is a gaming news and reviews site with a forum, not the other way around. We love providing a place for everybody to hang out and talk, but our efforts are considerably more focused on the rest of the site. You should check it out sometime.

Well, you're wrong.  It's a forum to me and always will be.  I'm glad that your efforts are considerably more focused on the rest of the site and I hope that works out fine for you.

That is an album every person should own, period. One of the very very few albums that will never leave my playlist.

Why would I own the album if I don't like the music? 

Interestingly, traffic to the front of the site has increased.   

Sounds like you need to point them towards the forum more then.

Well, for years we tried pointing you guys to the front of the site to no avail...

That's because I come here to read the Forum and have zero interest in getting any news from GT.  I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way.

It's crazy how much some of you spend!  My wife spends $35 a month for unlimited everything through Virgin Mobile.  I spend under $10 a month for phone, which I mostly text on.  There is no way on God's green earth I would be any of these verizon plans.

I install every game so no prob here. 

Even with the game installed to the HD, the difference between the two versions is noticeable if I understood the reviewer correctly (in the comments section below the review).

I love achievements so much(and don't care about trophies) that I will still get the 360 version and endure the stuttering.  That's probably kind of sad, but there it is.

I'm out. I've requested a cancellation of the pre-order and uninstalled the beta. I think a few here are glossing over the stress test aspect of this open beta (which is exactly what it's called on the Diablo 3 website - not a "stress test"). It's an open beta as declared by Blizz - and it simply doesn't work.

I don't think 11 different error codes and 45 minutes of actual gameplay (over 7 hours of trying to get in) bodes well for the actual release. Frankly, it's an unmitigated disaster and I've not seen any open beta - MMO or other - perform so poorly in this decade. There's no reward or bonus for pre-ordering and I play this single-player, so there's absolutely no reason not to keep my money and wait this out. If/when they fix the problems,great, I'll reconsider. They may have them fixed by May 15th - I hope they do for the benefit of those who are sticking with it. But at this stage, I'd have to say that this is the biggest FAIL open beta in recent memory. All Blizz convinced me of was that they can't handle the one thing I was most concerned about - the online always component of the game - and failed to impress me with any evolution or revolution of the genre. I had more fun replaying Titan Quest this afternoon than I did playing D3.

As such, the only way I'll end up playing on release is if I can't get the pre-order canceled for some reason.

Sounds like a good decision for you.  I thought the open beta was fine and am greatful for the opportunity to spend a few hours playing this weekend.  It was cool to check things out and the game is pretty much everything I hoped it would be.  Still looking forward to May 15th!

Well, I would love to try this out, but I still can't log in.  Getting error code 37 that the servers are too busy.

Just need to go in at off peak times, but hopefully this isn't indicative of release date. Not sure why they culdn't have implemented queues, they have enough experience of this type of thing

Figured as much, which is why I tried at 6 AM eastern this morning, but apparently that is peak time for somewhere.

I wonder if that is indicative of another problem?  I signed in several times last evening between 8 and 11 PM EST with no problems.  Or maybe I was just lucky!

Last year Josh Beckett gave up his 5th HR on June 28th, this year it took him 5 innings.  I hope we see more of this from the Tigers!  Two HRs from both Cabrera and Fielder with Avila throwing in another and the Tigers smack Boston 10 - zip.  They are going to damage some ERA's this season. 

Too bad Fister got hurt though.  Hopefully its nothing that lingers and his 15 day DL stint will heal things up. 

Other than that, so far so good!

I just bought a new Ford Focus and I really like it.  Mileage has been good, 34-35 mpg for a mix of city/highway driving.  I think it looks great and while it is a small car, it is roomy enough for me(6'0") and the kids. 

I'd like a scroll if anyone is willing to send it to me.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to re-sub, although I'll know for sure after I play for 7 days.  Just let me know and I'll send you my b-net email address.  Thanks!

Finished:

1.  Lord of Emperors -  Kay
2.  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
3.  The Hunger Games
4.  Catching Fire
5.  Mockingjay
6.  The Throne of Fire - Riodan
7.  The Skin Map - Lawhead
8.  The Bone House - Lawhead
9.  X Stands For Unknown - Asimov
10.  Rendezvous With Rama - Clarke
11.  The Tragedy of the Moon - Lawhead
12.  Patrick - Lawhead
13.  Constantinople - Asimov
14.  The Dark Ages - Asimov
15.  The Serpent's Shadow - Riodan
16.  The Shaping of England - Asimov
17.  The Knights of Dark Renown - Gemmell
18.  The Sun Shines Bright - Asimov

I wouldn't mind giving it a shot if anyone wants to send me a code.  Thanks!

And one wonders why I've pulled the plug on my 360 account and deleted my CC from it for good - I don't trust their security at all anymore.

I guess I wonder.  Deleting the CC makes sense, but deleting the account seems like overkill.  If you weren't going to use LIVE anymore because you simply don't play 360 multiplayer, then that reason makes sense.  To delete because you don't trust their security when you have nothing really at risk(you could keep your points balance low) seems like paranoia to me.

Better Off Ted comes to mind, although it made into at least part way into a second season.  Regardless, I'm including it anyway.

If it costs $400+ to repair I think I'd live with it.  And then eventually sell it for parts and but a new one.

More to the point: Selling used software isn't a right.

I agree with you there.  And if the ability to buy/sell used games is taken away at some point, then I'm not going to like it, but of course I'm still going to play video games.  I just will buy less since I won't have the tradein/sales of my old games to use towards new purchases.

I've never understood the appeal with selling or buying used games so I won't miss the functionality myself.

You may not do it, but surely you comprehend the appeal of saving money?

[Master of Magic]

Master of Magic is the big one for me now that we're getting X-Com.

Wow, he continues to milk that thing!  Catan was a lot of fun when I was first discovering European games, in fact it was the first game I bought for more than 2 players.  Now we play it about once every 2 years for nostalgia and spend the rest of our time playing much better stuff.

A friend called and told me that one of the gaming sites has a picture of a Best Buy display with a February 1 launch date.  

I found this link http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115109-Best-Buy-Leaks-Potential-Diablo-III-Release-Date

btw, anyone know if this will run on an Intel Core i5 laptop without dedicated graphics?  FWIW, the Windows Experience Index screen lists my gaming graphics at 4.8

Wow, great news! I was thinking it'd be summer at least.

If you were eligibile for USAA, why wouldn't you have gone to them well before this?  I love it when insurance companies call me asking to give a competitive quote and I tell them I have USAA...they say thanks and end the call.  You could have been saving money for years.

Hey, way to rub it in!!  Seriously, what does that accomplish?

Sorry to hear about this.  People DO survive cancer, so there is certainly hope!

[Finished:]

Finished:
Skyrim

Playing:

Mass Effect 3
Fallout: New Vegas(going for all achievements)

Holey moley, what a giant douche.

I know I can't grow a beard, I know I weigh less than a normal person, I know I can't bench press my body weight... I know I'm a failure.

None of those things make you a failure.

I'm sure that it is tough being single and that must be difficult, but there are ways to connect with other people.  Church?  Clubs?  Volunteer organizations?  What about trying to reconnect with your family? 

As difficult as it may be to accept, God cares about you and can help you overcome your fears and feelings.  I urge you to give a good church a try.  Why not?

I was going to go with DC2 just because of my love for Rock Band, but after looking at the songs, my wife and I chose JD3.  I'd still rather have DC2, but we felt like the songs were a little cleaner(at least the ones we had heard of) on Just Dance and that was a concern with our younger daughters. We'll see if we made the right decision in a couple of days.