That's interesting, and surprising that Sony would be willing to (smartly) give up the control they currently have over the PS3 operating environment. They've burned themselves in the past by being too focused on proprietary formats, so their willingness to partner may be a positive sign for their future performance.…

The banhammer is sadly unappealable

Cables in some form are going to be around for a while - unless you plan on streaming from WiMax. Not to mention, not everyone can afford high speed internet in addition to content plans from services from Netflix. It's not the technology that bothers me, it's the control the network operators have over the content…

...yes? I am still using it clearly. I don't understand the question.

I certainly hope so - only tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Apple have enough market power and consumer pull to coerce network operators, particularly media conglomerates like Comcast or Verizon, to relinquish their control in the form of a dedicated DVR box. Cable Cards should have been a national standard…

This is an interesting piece - really makes me think about bundled content (think TV, Internet, and Telephone from the same provider for one "low" ;) price). Media companies most certainly compete for our attention and recognize that some of their IP's are more valuable than others. That said, often the most…

I do sometimes think about the scary possibility of long-term consequences of "dark side" roleplaying in video games, particularly as they become more and more immersive. I've only done a second, "evil" play-through on a couple of games, and only because I enjoyed them so much I felt I had to milk them by exploring…

That'll show 'em - reduce the unemployed population by one by fleeing the country. If you don't get a call from Obama personally tonight we'll all be shocked.

You're welcome.

You're taking me too literally - I'm not saying that Arkham City is about a (dark) knight in shining (rubber) armor coming to the aid of damsels in distress. I'm saying that ultimately, part of the edification that comes along with playing as Batman is the differentiation of the player from the "bad guys." The…

Perhaps the game was actually banned by a conglomerate of powerful companies as part of their endless vying for control of the world through covert operations.

You're right, Gotham is a horrible environment for women and girls alike (watch your semantics, kid). That's part of the point of the game, in fact the whole mythos of Batman. Bruce Wayne lives in a world where the powerful (generally men, unfortunately) take advantage of those who lack the resources to protect…

Not sure what's more fearsome, Batman's infamous "Scarecrow" or your crudely disguised scarecrow arguments here. Obviously, because I don't think that this Batman incarnation is particularly sexist, I also assume that attractive women deserve to be raped. Because clearly I'm that "type." Surely you're against…

Haha, it's a great example of my point - the more games play into the negative stereotypes mentioned here, the less we take them seriously.

I think memorability is an important part of musical quality. The score sets an emotional atmosphere that fits in with whatever else is happening in-game. If it's doing its job right, it evokes an emotional reaction that helps you commit it to memory, and any segment from the game would seem incomplete without it.

Getting pretty philosophical on us, Mark. No clue what that last sentence is getting at, but it's a stellar set-up for a "your Mom" joke.

Arkham City is just an awful, awful case in point here. Absolutely terrible. Far worse than the actual point the article makes, which itself is wanting for credibility.

I appreciate the long post - if I was only concerned with the quality of the OST's, I'd just listen to the OST's on YouTube. I'll definitely dig a little deeper into the series. I confess I'm not entirely enthralled by the promise of a "focus on character interactions" in the Japanese animation tradition ;)

To be clear - I'm not sure the score of this game merited consideration under "Best Game Music of 2011." It was almost wholly unmemorable. But I agree, the USE of the music was pretty innovative, and also pretty effective.

Have their been any decent installments recently?