So as of last night I now own all 3 systems of this console generation. I purchased an Xbox 360 Premium via half.com... pretty much all because I finally got the chance to play Halo 3's single player game, and realized that I pretty much had to own it. And rather than simply let the game disc sit on the shelf, I figured I would also need the system so that I could play it from time to time. I shudder to think at the sheer amount of money I've spent on gaming since I purchased my N64 years ago.

The completely badass news though is that a guy I work with sold me his 360 Wireless Network Adapter for $50 since his system was attacked by RROD and he decided to move to a PS3. There was no way in hell I was about to pay full price for that stuff. Looking at Microsoft's dedicated peripherals, all I can say is WOW... expensive.

I hate saying this, but I've begun to regret buying my Wii.

Did all of you see the gametrailers interview with their PR (crazy) lady?

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36819.html

Telling me to play the games I've already completed... apparently that and Pikmin is all I need to tide me over until the next Zelda (whenever that comes out).

I know this sounds rather violent (video games make me crazy, so blame Jack Thompson), but this makes me kind of want to crack a bat over her head. I hate being told what to do, even more so when it's some jackass billion dollar company's PR person telling me what to do. Delete my games, don't worry about game storage, and get over it because it's like that in her house? Let me let her in on a little secret... I don't live in her gestapo of a home.

And rely on third parties? Not a good track record there Nintendo. Looking forward to third parties for the Wii is like having unprotected sex... the risk just isn't worth it.

Bah. Nintendo, I hate loving you, and my patience has run thin again (yes I remember my Gamecube days).

With the the emergence of problems playing GTA IV seen on both systems, the fanboys have crawled out of their respective holes in order to lay down CAPS LOCKED, ignorant, arrogant bashings of the competition.

Really now? Why, in the name of all that is sane, are people so wrapped up in continuing ridiculous arguments about the superiority of their respective consoles choice while there is a serious consumer issue at hand? With the rising cost of games (GTA IV being a $60 purchase), how are companies getting away with releasing seriously flawed software. I will always give developers the benefit of the doubt when a game has online issues (so long as they are remedied in relatively short order) because there is really no way to test for the full impact of consumers coming online in a game en-mass. Note how "I added relatively short order." Though Warhawk is one of my favorite games, it took me a long time to get over how long it took them to make the game playable in it's intended state (on-line).

And now GTA IV see's a huge release, great scores, and a plethora of technical issues. It is simply unsatisfactory for a developer to release a title at such a price when the game faces serious playability issues. Seeing as games are already too expensive, I've committed myself to not purchasing this game until: 1) they officially patch this game, 2) I can find a used copy at Gamestop. I refuse to pay full price (which quite frankly is overpriced). I understand that it'll probably be a while before either of those two things happen, and I'm perfectly ok with that. Meanwhile, reviewers need to show a little backbone, and a little consistancy. This game, in it's release form, is buggy to the extent that for a large fraction of the gaming population the game is simply unplayable. How a game can retain perfect scores given this knowledge is beyond logic, beyond fairness, and beyond integrity... simply a said state of affairs.

In the end, consumers these days need to begin to push back a little bit. Games are expensive, and when a game this expensive is released, and fails to be playable to a large portion of consumers, the backlash should be swift and severe.

Unfortunately, consumers as a whole are too self-absorbed to ever look at the bigger picture. They're either too busy playing the game, getting the game to work, or visiting forums to bash other consoles.

Which means it's highly unlikely that such issues will ever get any better.

Meanwhile, I wish that the fanboys would all go back in their holes and expire. They are hardly ever helpful and never ever right in their convictions. It's highly unlikely that when all is said and done that any console this generation will be considered a failure, and if the last generation taught us anything, it was that a console doesn't have to be a "winner overall" in order to keep a manufacturer successfully in the game... (see Gamecube, Wii).

see:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6190279.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews%3Btitle%3B0

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6190136.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;18