The "free" content is merely there to act as bait to get you hooked into spending money.

Random question of the day: what have you learned from playing video games?

I wasn't even going to say localization is the issue with price - it's GW's constant price hikes. Nightmarish.

I'm still slightly unconvinced that "they're a business, and businesses need to make money" is a legitimate excuse for One Day DLC. Mostly because there are plenty of businesses that actually give me free things, and manage to be massively successful. In fact, many of these businesses are drastically out-selling their…

Anything with a half-decent UI is worth it. I haven't played in over six years at this point, but - about ten years (oh, hell, I'm getting old) ago - there was a decent list builder with an absolutely shit-tastic UI. It didn't actually give any basic information tied to the codices (like whether a squad could have…

Valve's release of Alien Swarm alone is a fine illustration of how to build trust. Free content, good content. (TF2's F2P model's a pretty good example, too.) Pretty amazing business model, and more than enough to get me to turn to Steam whenever I want a computer game. (Unless they don't have it - then it's GOG.)

Certainly true. It does rub be a little wrong, though. I know that Nintendo can get some extra profit out of cutting GameCube support, but it seems like a cheap way to cut corners.

Oh, yeah. I'd heard that they were going to back up the previous system (being the Wii), but not the GameCube. Although, as odd as it is, new Wiis don't even have GC backwards compatibility. I'm not sure exactly when the hardware switched, but they cut the GC compatibility for the Wii... which is lame.

Blegh - the heathens. I'll find you once I get home, and we'll sort this thing out for sure.

This is also a massive question for me. If Nintendo would answer this question, I'd be a happy, happy man. (And, in a few hours, a new Wii owner.)

GC should be on the Virtual Console, as long as Nintendo hasn't backed out of their previous statements. Who knows, though - it's not like pre-launch promises are particularly valid.

Just so you know, the Wii launched at $250 in the US. I can't think Nintendo'll break $350, even with a fancy new doo-dad. (3DS also launched at $250.) I also can't think I'll buy it if it's over $300.

Nah, but the rumor mill seems to indicate that GC games might be downloadable. (I need to get Wind Waker, damn it!)

Any guesses or notions on the price?

I'm a little surprised there wasn't a Family Guy/AC version. (Although, I do appreciate the Homer assassin.) I couldn't help think about this every time they spoke Italian in AC2.

Haha - I totally hear you on the combat = fun thing. It's hard to get around the fact that most games I play after a drink or three happen to be shooters. Probably says something about genre's money-making abilities...

On gaming storytelling: I've said it before, and I'll likely preach it a million times again and again: games harp on the same boring conflicts over and over again. If you look at Homer and look at gaming, you're going to be hard-pressed to find significant progress between the couple thousands of years. On the other…

That's the oddity, I think. Some of the most successful, beloved businesses that I frequent are so beloved and frequented because they've done well to offer me good deals and have provided excellent customer service. In the case of my favorite movie theater, it's both of those - plus, they actually give a damn about…

If Molydeux is Molyneux's evil doppelganger, doesn't that mean he always delivers?

If the consoles had half the balls or understanding about how to rile up their own consumers in a positive way (instead of being antagonistic asses), game jams would be a relatively regular fixture in the MS marketplace or PSN. Think of it like a mad science fair of gaming, presented with all the gusto of a gaming…