I'm actually pretty happy with the Virtual Console selection. So far they've had everything I want to play. I will agree that everything else about the Wii is a disappointment though.

It's funny when you go to a discount warehouse like Costo or Sam's Club, and see their video game selection. Everything sold in those stores is selected based on price, so whoever is in charge of buying video games must just pick the cheapest 50 or so games on the market to stock their shelves. Every single PC game is either based on My Little Pony or a point and click mystery type game. All of the console games are bargin bin mini-game compliations. I'm sure they sell plenty of that stuff to grandparents who don't know any better too.

Classic games are great for gamers on a budget too. If you can get past the outdated graphics there are tons of gems from the 90's for sale on Steam or GOG for just a few bucks. Right now GOG is having a sale on Interplay games, so I picked up Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Fallout: Tactics for $9.

People aren't going to stop using fossil fuels until it's no longer financially viable to extract it from the Earth. At the rate we're going, that shouldn't take too long. Probably some time in the next century, coal and oil based power is going to become so expensive due to the rarity of the resource that we're going to shift to some combination of nuclear and renewable resources.

The OPs point is that since those devices are optional, developers didn't make games for them since that would reduce the potential market of their game to only owners of that optional accessory. The potential market for 'every game' is everyone who owns the console.

Now that all three consoles have motion control, there should be enough of a market for the developers to invest significant money into making a quality motion control game. It seems like a very large portion of Wii owners never bought a single game after Wii Sports which came with the console. That's why so many of the 3rd party games are just packages of low budget mini-games with no depth.

From what I saw, the Kinect Fable game is not just a standard Fable game with motion control tacked on, but a game specifically made for motion control. It looks kind of like an HD fantasy version of the old rail shooter arcade games like Time Crysis or Area 51. You're riding along on a horse or something that's controlled by the game, and using arm motions to 'create' spells (like rubbing your hands together to make a fireball, the longer you rub them together the bigger the fireball you make) then flinging them at enemies on the screen. If done right, it looks like it could be a lot of fun.

Microsoft doesn't decide when E3 should be held. All of the major electronic entertainment companies are making their biggest announcements of the year right now.

Actually, you do need Xbox Live Gold to get Netflix over the Xbox.

When did you quit? With all of the TV shows that have been added recently I feel like the streaming service has tons of content.

It would be nice if we could go to school just for the sake of learning something, without expecting a reward at the end. However, we have to live within the reality of life in a society which expects you to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars for formal education. The problem is that you can't stay in school forever. Yes, those 4 or 5 years are wonderful and fulfilling. However, when you're in your 30s and can't find income as a paleoanthropologist and are forced to work as a manager at the GAP to make ends meet, will the memory of those few years still be worth it? If you say yes, then more power to you. I'm not disagreeing with you about what a univerity *should* be, only that for the majority of students that lifesyle just isn't possible. At some point keeping a roof over your head and food on the table is more important than idealism.

I think he understands you fine. The point is, if you want to play this genre of games (MMOs) then you have no choice but to rely on online servers. Without centralized servers, there is no game. It's like saying 'don't play any sports which require a team, because you might not have access to a team one day'. I think everyone who plays these games understands that one day the game will cease to exist. Also, lose the whole 'I don't play games because I have a real life' routine. It's possible to have a real life and a hobby at the same time.

Soon we'll be receiving inane email forwards on our consoles