Oh, now I like your second suggestion. As far as sexism goes, do keep in mind that Japanese society by and large still considers women to be second-class. I'd chalk the majority of Other M's penning to be a factor of culture clash; my guess is that if a Western writer had written it, we'd be having a much different…

"Just because Samus is a woman, that is no excuse to go crying."

This is simply a case of trying to add a different price point. Mass market consumers often look at price before anything else; a $129 price point makes this a VERY attractive proposition for parents who couldn't justify spending $169 on two or more children.

Okay, now that's a reasonable point of argument and not an angle I'd considered. On that same point, I'm starting to understand the whole mother-and-child symbiosis of Samus and the Metroids; I'm actually curious as to why she never really reacted significantly to the tragedy of losing the critter, another point for…

I always saw Samus' (non)personality in prior Metroid games as being simply lack of evolution in a medium that was just emerging. From Metroid all the way up to Prime, story and character in action games was typically ignored..Prime made a reasonable attempt to tell a story, but by then, Samus' already cardboard…

The core industry is well on the way to destroying itself; the upcoming console releases will accelerate this process, as loftier sales goals are set and fail to be reached.

Question is, what IS she to her fans? Is she just another Westernized gun-toting Vasquez, or does she have vulnerabilities? People will like a character more for trying to overcome something rather than just simply succeeding.

Even back then, it only lasted a season. It relied a lot on Flintstones-styled sight gags, but didn't have near the story quotient of that series.

Too late; Pac-Man had a TV show as far back as 1982.

Ego, mostly.

If that's why they're doing it, they're sorely mistaken.

First of all, to understand what women want is to understand that you will never truly know. The secret is to never assume anything, be fearless, focused, and respectful. At the end of the day, the worst she can do is say no.

Of course it does. It was pointed out that these alpha screens looked better than the finished product, when imo they look dull, generic, and uninspired. Blizzard made the right choice in visual design for D3 so far as I'm concerned.

Hmm...so basically, it would've looked bland and indistinct with nothing to separate it from its contemporaries? I can look at a Diablo 3 screenshot and tell you immediately that it's Diablo 3...these? I couldn't tell you what game they belonged to, and that's never a good thing for your art direction.

Bought mine day and date with Wipeout 2048. That was all that mattered; anything else since has been further justification for the system's existence.

Oh yes, that'll most certainly change the perception that MS constantly looks down its nose at its own customer base...

I'm okay with this. That is all.

Games reviews should be written by people who want to play them, not by people who just view them under the context of a deadline.

Never heard of him.

Well now...somebody woke up with a creative spark the size of the Citadel, no? Nicely conceived, realized, and executed.