explorer.exe does more than that. It is also the handler for the Windows equivalent of gnome-panel. That's why when (in 2k and XP, at least) your file manager in Windows freezes and you tell it to force quit that window, your entire startbar/desktop vanishes for a few seconds.

Gamecube's Z button is horrible, you have to keep your hands close together when using the controller. That last one is sort of a PC/Wii thing, but it's turning into a game breaker for me lately. A controller feels annoying to me nowadays if I can't just dangle my hands at my side or have them both resting on the arms of my chair.

But that aside ... yeah, the Z button. Breaks easily (on some controllers I've had, you have to press the fuck out of the button to get it to register, set on a weird hinge that feels awkward. N64's Z button was genius, but this implementation of it was a poor afterthought.

(other than that, it's a pretty great controller!)

"it's almost impossible without straps to keep yourself in place and a really high drive that will overcome all of the other problems."

One could say the same thing for the more fun styles of sex here on Earth.

You're pretty much in line about 360 not being quite overcome by PS3 in Europe and certainly not in America by a large stretch. We really don't have solid, verifiable numbers for the PAL (Europe plus a few other areas glomped together) region, but given that Sony and Microsoft claim to be beating each other overall in this area with only slightly different wording suggests that they're roughly level there. So you're totally on the ball with your hardware comments.

But be careful about using attach rate as a metric for success. During the early to middle years of a generation, it is normal for *less* successful consoles to have higher attach rates. In terms of software, from the various piddly NPD leaks that we get beyond the top ten and that summary blurb, it looks like the Wii is selling roughly twice the amount of software as the 360 in terms of units in the US. It is difficult to determine ratio of first to third party sales, but from previous years' financial reports, the general trend is that slightly under half of Wii games are third party in the first half of the year, and somewhat over half of Wii games are third party in the second half of the year.

My suspicion would be that Wii third party sales this particular second half are greater than those for the 360, especially since the 360's highest seller was a first party title. It'd still be somewhat close, but given the trend, this might have been the last Autumn where you could reasonably use the term "holding it's[sic] own" when speaking of the 360's 3rd party sales.

(now, 3rd party game quality is another story)

I'm guessing IHBT, but here's an explanation for those who don't quite get it:

He typed: at midnight `shutdown -r now`
He meant to type: at midnight "shutdown -r now"
The "at" command schedules the command in quotes to run at midnight. Putting backquotes around the command, as he actually typed, causes the command to be run immediately.

Unless he meant that there are only about thirteen hundred of them out there. It sure would explain why people ask me to fix their computers so darn often.