The idea that swords are better than guns is an interesting one. It has no real basis in reality since sword wounds can easily kill or seriously maim, but it is a pretty accepted trope in our culture. As you propose, I imagine it has to do with the fact that they're antiquated and out of use, along with possibly the…

Great as always to see a positivist article about future technology, though I'm surprised so many of these are perceived as "overlooked." I'd think that tech like gene therapy and electronic currency would be pretty high on people's minds given how frequently they're seen in science fiction (even popular sci-fi at…

Chaos Theory definitely is one of the preeminent stealth games, for sure. I'm not sold all that much on the new gameplay style they've been using since Conviction though. More to the point, I think MGS4 really caught up to the Splinter Cell series in a lot of really important gameplay-related ways.

Obligatory nit-picky correction.

Eh, actually, I'd say a completely non-partisan system would be worse.

It's funny that Kirk and Jason say they feel like they have to fight the controls of the MGS games, because I love 'em and feel they are one of the best examples of stealth gameplay in the genre. And I say that as someone who has come pretty late to loving the series (I first played a Metal Gear title two years ago).

Fair enough. I, for one, welcome our multilateral overlords.

"Stay out of other countries business. We built this country because we wanted 'freedom' from Great Britain. Our foreign policies are so screwed up that our government has forgotten that. Let people be and if they start some crap with us, then we do something about it."

"Well that's kind of how it was at the end of the Nineteenth."

I'm with you, I actually rather liked that period (and in fact, it's about the time I became a fan). The criticisms raised against it (that there was too much love triangles, personal drama, etc.) are perfectly valid, but it was also the point in time when the series really began to "grow its beard" as it were.

I think you're definitely on to something, though as always I caution against the idea that China will be the new U.S.

I'm all for giving third parties a greater say in politics: I think it does make the country freer. Unfortunately, since the current electoral system requires an absolute majority of electoral votes for a candidate to become president, don't expect any change on that front soon.

There's a reason for that: technology helps people.

True enough. I think it's been a long time since we really had a moment like Apollo 11 to be proud of as a nation. The closest thing I can think of really is the end of the Cold War, which, again, ended at about that time (or rather, precisely at that time).

While I agree that we should improve our self-image and stop dwelling so much on the bad and focus more on what we can do better, it's worth noting that Americans have had a pessimistic viewpoint for quite a long while.

Not terribly surprising unfortunately. Realpolitik generally demands that sometimes, you have to make a deal with the devil. Releasing this information about the Soviets would have hurt the war effort and potentially torpedoed the alliance. Given how desperate the war was at the time both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.…

Only Dragon Age II as far as I know was rushed. I'm certain that impacted the overall product, but most of what people seem to complain about (story, changes in gameplay, etc.) aren't the kinds of problems that generally result from being rushed. True, there's been some noise about bugs and reused areas in DA2, but…

"Did you give yourself an artificial star? haha"

I'm disappointed in BioWare myself but I've never bought the "EA did it" argument, whatever the company's faults. For one thing, it just sounds all too convenient. Anything that BioWare did that you don't like? Don't worry, it's not their fault - it's EA's! Not to mention, of course, that some of the policies people…

Well, I knew he was kind of a dick to religious people, but I figured he might be more amiable in general. After all, plenty of people have hot button issues or personal blind spots. I've known lots of people who are perfectly nice in general but tend to get dickish when it comes to people of opposing political or…