Mr. GOH!

I hate the Xbone as much as the next hater, but even I realize that this ad is meant to air over the opening weekend of the NFL season, which is hugely popular. Of course the NFL co-branding takes center stage.

It's Robocop as made by people who never really understood Robocop. Which is kinda sad, because Verhoeven is not exactly the most subtle of directors.

"Second party" isn't a new term, it's the use of a logical intermediate ordinal that, if FDS had his way, would be missing from the set of terms vis a vis descriptions of game development agreements.

In the mood for some jump scares and creepy atmosphere.

FMW: Are Japanese action games as much of a niche in Japan as they are here? I mean, yeah, I kinda figure any Wii U game will be a flop, or at least post disappointing sales figures from Nintendo's perspective.

I've never been a Halo (or Gears of War) fan, either, and I agree with your overall argument. I was just surprised by the claim that all Xbone exclusives would be making their way to PC eventually.

Got these wireless headphones for the new apartment so as not to annoy my girlfriend and neighbors with late-night gaming sessions. Thanks for the image and bandwidth, Engadget.

The Wonderful 101 flopped in Japan, apparently. http://kotaku.com/sales-of-the-wonderful-101-in-japan-are-not-very-wonder-1255660729 Interesting to see how it will do in North America.

MS is is going to release the new Halo for PC eventually?

Language constantly changes and evolved, FDS. Your desire to contain and control it implies deep and troubling character flaws that I suggest you examine before they consume you.

Get the Xbone earlier unless you really want both. If you wanna play Destiny with your PXOD friends, though, I imagine a PS4 is your best bet. The Xbox system sellers for me were Mass Effect and GTAIV before PC ports were announced for both. The PS3 system seller was its $200 price tag. I think your life would be better, more filled with joy and light, if you just let Halo go, Ethan. Your dedication to that tired franchise weighs down your soul in ways you will only perceive once you release yourself from that fandom's pernicious grip. It would also save you $500, which is nothing to sneeze at.

My advice is to never alter your body such that you add to the "distinguishing marks" section of you FBI/CIA/NSA/local police/ Interpol dossier.

I recall reading somewhere that the NES and Famicom design differences (at least of the color scheme) actually game down to cheaper sources for different types and colors of plastics in the West versus Asia.

DA3? I don't think so, or at least they're not marketing it as one. They've been saying it's more like DA:O than DA2. But who knows? Bioware has been known to lie. Ethan: If you play DA3 on PC, and if the divergence between the console and PC versions is like that of DA:O, expect more deliberate and strategic battles with a lot of squad management. Bioware "tweaked" the combat on consoles in DA:O and made it more KOTOR-like, while the PC version had far more tactical options and felt like you were playing the whole squad during battles rather than driving four individual team mates. You *could* play it KOTOR-like, but you would have to either get real good with the scripting of companion behavior or turn down the difficulty to easy. DA3 PAX demo: part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IML4hhg8Yz0 part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6rV1Y6Vcxg part 3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbGN7OBngCQ

I like what Bioware's saying about DA3, but I refuse to get hyped because tDA2 was so terrible. I mean, the whole copy-and-pasted dungeon issue took everyone by surprise. I recall Bioware saying that players would get out of Kirkwall to explore, implying that exploration mattered. Instead, you get something like seven medium-sized locations reused over and over and over. I can't help but wonder where EA/Bioware are cutting corners on DA3 and what central feature to RPGs will be turned to utter shit. Edit: Ethan, combat for DA2 on PC was quite different than combat on DA:O PC. More deliberately paced, positioning mattered a bit more, very few fucking stupid regenerating waves of trash mobs, and none of the stupid ARPG button mashing. The idea was to have tactical squad based combat a la Baldur's Gate (without the stupid fucking AD&D rules) rather than ME-style combat where your squadmates are essentially just extra special attacks and powers. Why in god's name did you get DA:O for 360? Why do that to yourself?

It is nowhere near as complicated or obtuse as Dwarf Fortress, which is a game that is only playable by the truly intelligent, patient, and creative.

Got this because it was on sale. Never paid money for an alpha before.

I think Reggie flat-out said that the 2DS is for six or seven year old kids. I think the issue is that, although no one has shown that the 3DS actually harms smaller children, no one has proven that it won't harm smaller kids. The 7+ thing is ass-covering in case some kid plays the 3DS and subsequently has vision issues and the parents think it would be fun to sue Nintendo. On the other hand, Nintendo does not seem to care that Pokemon irreparably harms kids by habituating them to shitty and repetivite video games. /trolololololo

$130 is a decent night out with my girlfriend, definitely within impulse territory for me. But this is what I think of the 2DS and Nintendo products in general:

Nintendo's offerings are going to be less and less for 'us'. Better get used to it. In 1999 I was a badass 18 year-old who had left Nintendo behind because of its focus on kiddie games. Pokemon was definitely not for me.

I think FMW is right to focus on Nintendo's kid-friendly strategy. I foresee even more emphasis on children's games from Nintendo as the new generation gets into full swing.

The Wind Waker remake is a $20 game Nintendo is selling for $50. The Wii U price drop is necessary. I expect Nintendo will focus on selling it to kids rather than adults, as that's its strongest audience.

Clamshell design costs extra, Ethan. Hinges ain't free.

Introducing the 2DS: http://kotaku.com/introducing-the-nintendo-2ds-no-thats-not-a-typo-1214807721 Hilarious. I thought the 3DS was doing well; why the need for this awful budget version?