I've been going back to some old favorites: Lee Kyung Won video game covers and this ultimate mash up.

@Nawara_Ven: Tell me about it. Grinding and it's equivalent in action games is one of the things I wish we could get rid of forever. If I know how to do something, why should I waste hours doing a repetitive task or being stuck at some novice level?

I think difficulty structures lie in the available strategies throughout a game. Here's what this means: take your typical RPG where you start off weak, with little equipment and few skills. Ignoring mob AI and armor type for a moment, the strategies you can employ to defeat said mob start out limited; usually simple…

The Super Bowl is around the corner and I have the draft on my mind again. After hoping for a new collective bargaining agreement in the NFL before the draft, now I'm not sure if it wouldn't be better for teams if it happens after the draft. On the one hand, free agency before the draft helps determine the draft…

That's about the time various companies were pushing a lot of peripherals in Nintendo Power and GamePro. I think that's when I first saw a tactile vest. Wonder if those things will ever catch on.

For me this would be a blessing in disguise. I know tech is constantly changing so you cannot always have the latest stuff, but some of the boards Origin uses that claim to support SATA III are getting reports on lower than expected functionality. I would wait 2-3 months until there is a good consensus performer on…

This couldn't come at a better time. Last time I checked, people were having trouble interfacing the Move controller with bluetooth (they have been using the usb connection). Hopefully Sony gives some help on this and blob diameter algorithms (important for distance calculations). I know I've wanted to play around…

How about a slightly larger model for old PCs and monitors? I have plenty of old stuff that is just waiting to be hauled to scrap yard for a couple bucks that would be fast enough to be a dedicated MAME machine.

If it doesn't cost too much to develop for the NGP, meaning companies are willing to take more risks, I would love another Brave Fencer Musashi with the addition of that second analog stick. More in the style of the first one though.

@GnatB: The one lane each direction is a tougher beast since you could have to go up to 20mph over the limit to pass, but out here in the sticks you have visibility for miles to see oncoming traffic (if it's there is any at all). For the slow people, if everyone is going 10mph over downtown and you are going the speed…

A leather whip is one thing, but what about the chain whip?

@GnatB: I'm the same way. The faster I get off the line, the more people that can get through the light. Especially important on those short lights. There's a safety aspect here too: I'm creating more space between me and the car behind me!

I did not beat Gradius III on the SNES, I needed save states.

It would be a spurious correlation for me. While I may get more trophies/achievements in the games I enjoy it is never because I look at the trophy/achievement list and try to complete it. It is because the developer put things in that list that I do naturally in a game, like do sidequests or tackle harder modes. So…

@Nibel: Maybe they can strike the Yakuza 3 deal if they are worried about the costs of localization and low sales: just subtitle it, no English VAs. Who knows though, maybe they are concerned about the multiplayer aspect not working well in the West /shrug.

Aw, where is that Dragon Age Broodmother one? That one was the best by far!

If we're going by past models, the base color has to be gold. I have to say though, when Nintendo does come out with a Zelda themed 3DS, I hope they take the styling cues from this!

@bloocheese565: I don't really see how this finishes the NGP. It's optional. People can still use wifi, like with the 3DS, at no additional cost. 3G will just be for the rich folks that can afford to indulge themselves. There's also the alternative a few others have suggested: if you have a data plan on your phone and…

@dragonfliet: I'm thinking part of the bad luck came from the SSD being a first gen from Patriot. They are great at RAM, but they were new to SSDs. The replacement SSD they sent has been working for a year or so. I only caution the SSD config over the 10k raptors based on similar experiences among friends. I would…

A word of warning about using the SSD for the OS and RAID configured HDDs for storage. This is exactly what I did when I built my new PC, and initially it was glorious. It booted almost instantly and programs loaded very quickly. However, after about 2 months the SSD failed and I had to send out for a replacement. I…