Posted 10/08/2008 at 09:03:46pm

Nice. Grabbed 3 from the list that fit exactly what I needed. Thanks guys

Posted 02/22/2008 at 07:52:34pm

Good points. But not everyone collects 300 movies or wants to wait 2 days for delivery. I agree with you about compression, but many people are satisfied with compressed HD. Those are the ones who will get catered to. Storage is also rapidly decreasing in cost, with laptops even preparing to introduce 500GB drives. It is already pennies per GB, and as demand increases, huge drives will be quite affordable and take a lot less space than shelves of jewel boxes. That alone appeals to many, although not me. I enjoy the simplicity of putting the disk in and pressing play.

Posted 02/21/2008 at 04:00:17pm

While I agree that Digidistro is years away, your last statement doesn't take into account the many areas of America where residents do not have a Wal-mart, Best Buy, or Cosco. I know people who must drive 45 minutes to be able to shop at a major retailer, just to find a more limited selection than what is maintained in larger metropolitan areas. Yet these people have reliable (subjective) high speed internet service. A ten meinute buffer wait makes more sense than 3 gallons of gas and a 2 hour expedition for a movie. And Pc's won't be the main recipient of streaming media in the future. Netflix is already planning PS3 and XBox 360 support. Media extenders will fill that role. Tiered service levels from ISP's will emerge, wether we want it or not. Just like everything else we buy, we will have to pay more to get more. That doesn't necessarily mean higher bandwidth will be cost prohibitive. If media moves towards this model, ISP's are not going to cut their own throats by saying, "you have used enough this month". They will have to arrive at a pricing structure that appeals to the consumer or they would go out of business. Compare broadband costs now to 3 years ago. Supply and demand.

Posted 01/29/2008 at 06:55:56pm

If Games for Windows Live ever gets it right, it will still mainly support games that, with the possible exception of Universe at War, cater to the console player. If the option screen on my PC game shows an Xbox360 controller and I don't even have one plugged in, I already do not want to play that game!

Posted 01/29/2008 at 06:44:57pm

Valve has now released Steamworks. Newell and CO. are providing developers a free SDK that will easily integrate not only features such as anti-piracy and server browsing, but also the social community backbone that the Steam Community rides on. Utilizing Steamworks, developers can implement friends lists, matchmaking, stat tracking, and even achievements into their games. Sorry Games for Windows Live, but I see no reason for a developer to come knocking on your door. Read Steam Announcement Here

Posted 01/28/2008 at 10:26:40pm

With the ongoing whirlwind of concern about editorial integrity, now is an excellent time to re-state policy. The separation of advertising and editorial is even more important in a publication that may potentially review product(s) from a company that also advertises with them. This is especially a problem in the video game and technology genres. It seems media covering other interests enjoys a greater diversity of advertising partners, providing less potential for conflicts of interest.