Strike911

Piracy is changing the way products are created and its a GOOD thing for the consumer. There are a few companies and artists though that HATE it because the way products are created have to continue to offer value to the consumer, either through something important, well-crafted, or quite literally releasing new content online. You can't just phone in your products anymore. A lot of sales from mediocre albums in the 1990s and earlier wouldn't happen in this day and age (not that crap isn't getting released and marketed to hell). You have to have something that keeps people's interest, something all-inclusive or really interesting. The internet has unlocked people's expectations. We have the world at our fingertips... mediocrity really shouldn't exist now that we can see the entire world at the push of a button. And fans fundamentally want to support things that they enjoy so they can continue to experience newer iterations in the future. There is -no- way your band buddies are being pirated out of money. You just can't make that claim, especially if they're not playing live. Like Overcoat said, there is a huge value in EXPOSURE, and that holds true for almost all artistic business endeavors. Hell, old bands became famous before the internet from bootlegs... piracy is similar to a certain degree. If you make something that fosters a community you'll be supported financially. Fans WANT to support the stuff they like even if they stumbled upon something through piracy. Pirates are also consumers. Generally speaking, I find that people making the argument that piracy hurts their sales are just looking for someone to blame for a failure on their own part to offer something the consumer actually wants to support.

Haha, they don't emphasizes that the 10 year console life includes the 4 years that the old-gen consoles remain on the market after the new machines launch. Haha. For the first time in 20 years I do not want a new console. In the past, new consoles promised new ways to experience games, better graphics, and new gameplay, but that just isn't going to happen in the leaps and bounds we saw from previous generations. Graphics will be better sure, but not like the transitions we experienced in the past. It'll be an upgrade at best, with some new shiny graphics (and more bleh motion controls) and that isn't all that enticing for me. I suppose they'll hook me somehow though... oh lack of self-control, you card.

This is really strange, I keeping hearing that people seriously love this film or hate it... yet RT has it reviewed crazy high. I'd like to see it, but honestly, I'm not as excited for it as I am Captain America.

I want to soooo bad! I hear all the great stories everyone says about going and it makes me very very jealous every time.

I've heard good things about this game, and the the few bad things I've heard about it are from people that were really serious players from other games. It certainly looks cool, kind of like Tribes and Unreal Tournament mixed together. Hell, the price is right!

Good luck!! Give 'em hell! Take no prisoners!

I hadn't listened to the show in a while, but I just wanted to chime in and say good stuff. Thoroughly enjoyable.

... so tired of all the trolls that come out of the woodwork during these things. Well, hopefully everything will be cleared up (and more secure) later this week. I've been going around to all my accounts changing passwords and security questions/answers. How very very annoying. And now I have to watch my credit card statements.... I'm lazy and this is a pain in the ass. Haha.

Haha, I love how these people that hate presets and turn their nose up to them act like TERRIBLE custom synths have never existed. Haha. It comes down to the final product. I don't give a rats ass about anyone's technical skill with all their synths they've lovingly created, because if your music sounds like ass, I won't listen to it ever again. A finely crafted, unique sound is great, but it being solely UNIQUE by no means makes your music better than someone else's. Presets are effective, they can be modded and even layered on top of other presets. The whole argument is just silly, and sadly I've heard it all over the internet, but its all just a whole bunch of insecure prick waving.

... isn't that how a gun pretty much works in real life? Haha. If anything First Person Shooters just need innovation, game developers are too locked on to gritty games at the moment, but I guess this is no different from the sidescrolling era when almost everything coming out inspired to be like Mario. And this law is ridiculous and riddled with issues that just make it silly from a legal standpoint. No concrete definitions of what violence is not to mention its just a bunch of whining about things these people don't fully understand or comprehend. There's a simple fix to this problem. Parents need to do their job and quit expecting other people to do it for them.

They said it above, but I'll say it again: Dead Space. I haven't played 2 yet but the first one is dirt cheeeeeap now. Dead space 1 nails the feeling of isolation and loneliness better than a lot of games I've played recently. And the story is pretty good to boot. EDIT: To be fair, the monster things are probably the least scary part since you can kill them with a number of weapons, but honestly, Dead Space's environments and ambiance is what makes the game interesting imo. That said, those bad guys turn scary as shit when you run out of ammo. haha.

I must know more. This is both awesome and hilarious at the same time and now the story has a cliffhanger.

Hahaha. I'll never be able to look at some of these the same way.

Here here! DKC2 has my vote. But my vote also goes to the Metal Gear Series and Mass Effect 2.

Totally picking this up. Thanks for the post!!!

I've always referred to it as a butt-stomp, but I have absolutely no idea why. I'm not even sure where the term originated and how it initially came into my vocabulary because I don't recall any games that overtly refer to the act as a "butt-stomp." Maybe I've just forgotten. What is its origin though?!

That honestly bothered me when I first saw that pic. I scoured the image about 4 times until I decided she wasn't there.

Battery life seems better than I was expecting. I'm used to my battery eating (nay devouring, nay destroying) cell phone. This will work. I want a 3DS pretty bad but I'm going to wait and see how the launch goes before I buy one. I really don't need it immediately. Pilot Wings is really tempting me though.

Wow, yeah, how long does this game go?

Is it really that surprising though? It's not going to get an adult rating by any means, and let's be honest, Nintendo's quality standards are super low as far as quality content goes (Superman 64, really?). Nintendo is not outside of allowing suggestive content on their machines either. Case in point: Zero-Suit Samus, not to mention all the suggestive things she does and what Snake blatantly says about the character in Smash Bros Brawl. And Conker's Bad Fur Day for the N64 was released by Rare when they were a 2nd Party, arguably when Nintendo's reputation as a child-friendly family company was even stronger. All of these examples were either made by Nintendo or published by them, too; it doesn't count any of the 3rd parties. Samus particularly in Brawl is blatant sexual fan service and that's Nintendo's own property. They knew what they were doing. We Dare is a special case because of its ridiculous trailer and premise, but it's suggestive nature is, in actuality, pretty silly more than anything else. Don't get me wrong, it certainly is unusual, but its not like suggestive or sexual titles haven't been released before on a Nintendo system. As far suggestive material goes, it's pretty tame. It'll get slapped with a "Suggestive Themes" for the rating and get rated M probably, but that's about it.... and get way more marketing and press than it deserves probably.