Achievements are important to a lot of people. I don't know if it's so much about impressing people as much as it's about another layer of competition. In essence, it's not too much different from game-specific online leaderboards, or even speed records in running events.

Of course, if people could just claim they completed the 100-meter dash in whatever time they like, the records would become meaningless. If Microsoft failed to police the achievement system, the achievement points would become meaningless.

You could argue that the whole idea is stupid, meaningless and arbitrary, yes, but so are nearly all of the events in the Olympics. The point is the competition, which requires that everybody plays by the same rules.

I'm not saying everybody sees their Gamerscore that way (I don't, for example) but it's definitely a perspective that I can understand.

Yeah, the PR department would totally prefer to put out a press release detailing the nefarious activities of an autistic 11-year-old.

Trying to play this kind of game with a touchpad would be incredibly frustrating for me. Not simply because it's difficult, but because I would be so keenly aware that the touchpad would actually be the perfect input mechanism if only the software didn't convert the input data into mouse movement rather than providing the absolute finger positions.

They didn't port Arx to any of those platforms. It was a Windows-only game, and DirectX is the best option for a Windows-only game.

Now they can just say, "Ohhh, THAT'S why we've always been wrong."

Sometimes. If a chiropractor tells you they are going to cure your indigestion and improve your vision and align your chakras, then yeah. That person is either crazy or lying. If a chiropractor tells you that they might be able to relieve some spinal issues, that's a different story.

Well, if you're not in EST, the timing isn't even right, so I would imagine that it would have to be more than a little region-specific.

Still, I can't bring myself to care. It's nice to be at a party with people who do care, though, because it really boosts the energy level.

This isn't about the Wii. This is about the upcoming 3DS, which gets its name from its (fairly unique) stereoscopic abilities.

Having deaths, events, emotions and other things attributed to them is actually exactly what symbols are for. It's kind of the definition.

Everything you said is true (except for the last part about a simple in-game picture being a potential source of education and meaningful exposure--I don't learn all about the history of Christianity by seeing an image of a cross)

None of it changes the fact that the people in question are probably unaware of these facts, and almost certainly using the symbol in a hateful way.

It's not the only place, but it's almost certainly the best place. A completely stand-alone version of the game with no external software or DRM, exclusive pre-order bonuses, and the pre-order is really just a declaration of your intent to possibly purchase the game when it comes out and involves no commitment and no payment until the game is actually available.

Your claim is that any system built on artificial scarcity is inherently broken (although this only because you are following your own moral code, which nobody else seems to agree with).

There IS no alternative, logically, unless you consider something along the lines of selling merchandise. Your argument considers any system that sells an unlimited-supply item to be broken, all data is unlimited, so any system that sells data is broken. This includes video games, all written language, music, movies, and to an extent all visual art.

So, even though there is no alternative possible, you somehow cling to a sense of moral superiority while you claim, in essence, that a creator is not entitled to be rewarded for their work if it has no physical form. Certainly, you don't use those words, but that is the logical conclusion to your reasoning.

Does this mean that you would be okay with somebody spreading lies about you that prevent you from ever getting hired again? After all, they would only be depriving you of "potential profit," which, according to your argument, does not hurt you.

The myth is not just about setting wood on fire with the sun. As you say, nobody would consider that to be a potential myth. It's about setting a boat on fire while it's floating in the water, at long range, using technology equivalent to what could be found in ancient Greece. I would love to see you try to ignite damp wood at 50 yards with a hand-shaped 10-centimeter polished bronze reflector.

Of course, you might not be ABLE to switch carriers. If Time Warner were to put me behind NAT, I'd be pretty much screwed. I might be able to switch to some form of wireless connection, but that might not even be any better.

In a lot of cases, carriers can do whatever they feel like.