@EolirinX: The films were quite a bit bleaker than the manga, but the manga had time to delve into even darker subjects with more aplomb.

@halfthought: Why would you need to emulate ubisoft's server? Why not just hack the exe to accept unencrypted files from a server, define the server as the virtual loopback, and just feed it whatever data the players might have captured during a playthrough with the regular servers?

@Linden Ryuujin: I can confirm at least 2 sales to me personally over the past year have been lost to DRM. Ironically, I always look to see if the Steam version still has the DRM system installed. I'll put up with one set of restrictions and technological limitations. But if I keep installing games from different…

@JustAnotherFan: Or maybe the world passed him by stylistically. AI quite frankly wasn't that different than ET. But these days the youthful innocence of AI just seemed really, really out of place (the six endings didn't help). The Crystal Skull was a merging of Indiana Jones, Hook, and Close Encounters. It just…

@Souloni: I'm guessing the economics hit reality for Capcom when SFII HD's development costs started to rise and rise. Considering DLC expansion sales seem to be about %10 of the original title, another round of main sales for IV would make sense.

I hate to ask, but two years in what exactly has the Actiblizzard merger accomplished? Blizzard didn't need the money. Activision didn't need the money. There is no cross-pollination between Blizzard IP and Activision IP.

Yay on Vivendi for granting a fan license. That's actually extremely cool of them, and the first time I've heard of a company doing that.

@FP_slomo788: That's not what I meant. I just wanted to spread the word that there are accessible games out there. And if one happened to be blind and really angry at this ruling, perhaps one might be interested in going to someone who does cater to those needs.

For the record, there are people making video games for the blind. All In Play here in Boston makes card and text-based games that sighted and blind people can play together. They also made a Quake II mod for blind people, that they might let you play if you send them a really nice e-mail.

I'm going to say that consoles have about the ideal DRM at the moment. Why? The duplication and copy protection are basically invisible to the end user, except for the people who are willing to go through the 20-solder-points-and-prayer process of hacking it. And unlike PC DRM, where pirates are getting the…

@chrollo0427: The publisher's cut covers financing the creation and development of the title. If you were doing digital distribution, you'd need to develop and maintain the underlying technology (not hard, but time-consuming). You'd need to update listings, promote the digital distribution website or location, etc.…

@ubikblack: You can always throw more people at a localization. The question always comes down to Money. Yakuza 2 sold a certain number in the US, and had a certain profit margin. Therefore, the localization budget for Yakuza 3 gets fixed at some total, of which the development team is chosen, scant resources are…

@omicron: Returns also covers customer service issues, which would still be present in all-digital. Also, Streaming costs per GB can be between 50-10c dependent upon volume. Hence, a 8GB dual layer disk equivalent would have a distribution cost approximately between 1 to 4 dollars, assuming a single uninterrupted…

@Fernando Jorge: Lots of stylistic, technical, and other changes happen in the localization process. Saying that any changes at all are sacrilegious ignores the nature of modern localizations.

Seeing has how this required a 3-page explanation about how a hostess club isn't a prostitution bar, this might be the right call. Has anyone played the japanese version of the game and can confirm that this isn't just a cover for cutting it because it's dull, or has too much text / VO to translate?

@Alternate: Actually, apple already implemented parental controls into the iTunes app store.

@Auouywonz: The app store already has parental controls.

@omgwtflolbbl: Not to jump into someone else's argument, but Steam basically launched along side Half Life 2. The steam experience was pretty terrible then... more restrictive, less stable, quite annoying. I could see if that was your only experience, swearing off the system and never wanting to return to it.

Ah. So instead of the game killing your plants and beating your kittens at its whim, it just beats your kittens. Thanks, Ubisoft!

Added realism.