The implementation of cross platform wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility.

However, cross platform integration would definitely be a TRC/TCR/lotcheck breaker. Failing them means no platform holder approval, which means your game isn't coming out until you fix the non-compliance, and your development budget is pissed down the drain if you don't fix it.

Rare even managed it with a DS 360 implementation for Viva Pinata - however I think despite their 'late in the day' talk, that the real reason is it was shot down fairly quickly (I'd guess probably by Nintendo rather than MSFT...)

http://kotaku.com/392055/rare-mated-viva-pinata-ds-and-360

It's a shame there's not a Score: +1 Optimistic...

We can't vote for the other team when the government won't call an election or referendum.

The opinion polls indicated (at least, last time I heard the stats) that the ruling party, Labour would be out in the next election, after some disastrous local elections (alas these local elections don't really have a great deal of influence on national politics) so they have nothing to win by calling for an election now - they'll just keep holding off as long as they can get away with it.

Promised referendums for EU membership and adoption of EU treaties regularly don't happen, simply because the government has it's own agenda, as you can see by the original topic.

Grassroots politics and small parties have no power in government to control, and even the typical sanity check of any new legislation having to go through the House of Lords has been neutered now that any law can be passed by the house of commons using the Parliament Act.

Another problem is that a lot of the UK populace really have no interest in politics - voter apathy is high, and polling booth turnout is low compared to a lot of places (iirc). This is pathetically the opposite of any major TV 'create a star/pop band/etc' phone vote, which receive millions of votes each week. They have no real understanding of the modern issues that are being raised in Parliament, and tend to vote based on how they were brought up (as far as I've witnessed) - so a person from working class background will vote Labour, and a middle-class background will vote Tory.

The general populace also doesn't understand the insidious nature of half the laws the government is passing, and whenever they're questioned by the vocal minority, the government uses the old 'think of the children' or 'be afraid of the terrorists' line and the law is passed anyway.

It really is making me totally sick of living in this country. The last time I posted my opinion on /. an ex-armed forces guy even agreed with me about leaving the country - and this was a person in the service of the UK who would have been expected to risk their life for their country!

At one of the schools my fiancee did supply work at, they had CCTV in the staff room. Not because they were worried about the staff's behavior - but because in the past few years several students had went into the staff room to assault the teachers.

The students didn't want to be there, and had very little intention of doing anything after leaving school except working the dole system for their own gain.

Does that reflect a diverse and meritocratic society?

No. In the day and age that the Magna Carta was created, did they have a diverse and Meritocratic society? No.

In modern day America, they still teach the constitution, despite the fact when it was freshly penned, black people were seen as nothing more than slaves. Does that make it any less relevant to teach? No.

Children should be educated about their freedoms. If that means teaching them modern law rather than the Magna Carta, so be it. Either way, they should be able to know enough to see what the rest of us do: the government is taking away their rights, slowly, steadily, and via the back door.

As I recall, the final vestiges of the original Magna Carta was also formally repealed in the 19th Century, as laws had obviously, evolved in time, to keep up with the evolution of the populace and the country's standing.

The original creators probably never envisaged that that document would last to such an extent and be enshrined in so many government's law, and judging the contents of a document that is (iirc) over 500 years old against the present day situation is bound to present such quandries.

My point remains though: regardless of the initial intent of the Magna Carta - the general populace of the UK is more interested in what's going on on TV than learning and understanding about their rights and freedoms.

I think this may come as a shock to US /. readers.

Unlike your schooling system, which (as I understand it) teaches the constitution, the amendments and so on - and engrains the whole spirit of 'the government should fear their people', the UK has none of this.

The Magna Carta is not taught as part of UK National Curriculum. (It may be taught in private schools, but as another poster observed - the upper class that can afford private schools are the ones enlightened enough to fight this... The ignorant masses can't afford those schools and so aren't.)

The youth of the UK have no education about the document that arguably started the concept of human rights and personal freedoms, the same document the government is wiping it's feet on on a practically daily basis.

I'm trying not to sound like some old bastard (I'm only 25) but their only interest is celebrity scandal and gossip. Their parents are much the same.

It's why I keep getting the feeling that I should leave the country and move elsewhere. What I want for me and my family (i.e. freedom, interest in the country and the community) is not what the general populace of the UK consider important (i.e. the next big brother/pop idol/dancing on ice winner).

I like the netbook remix, but I'm on a 701, so I guess it's better for those with smaller screen sizes?

Either way, I'd also recommend easy peasy - it's really an excellent distro, and far better than the default install.

I just hope they start rolling in some of the changes from intel's moblin work so the eee can boot quicker. That's my only annoyance with ubuntu so far...

Personally, I wouldn't agree with that. Edge provides solid reviews, and they actually use the full review spectrum (i.e. if a game's crap, it gets a 1 or 2, not a negative write up and a 6)

While Edge is sorely missing someone of the calibre of Mr Biffo in their columns section, and their gaming comic, Crashlander is trash, they're the only review that I (as a dev in the industry) actually want to read (although Eurogamer's reviews are starting to become equally as credible, although sometimes they're still a little too easily distracted)

Having read the review in question, I can also understand exactly why it is lower than the average. The game seems to be competant and pretty, but not anything 'great' in terms of gameplay or pushing the FPS genre forward. Which sounds like 7/10 to me.

How about:
Step 1. Go to so-called "poor country."
Step 2. Buy 10,000 units of drug X at 25% of its cost in the US/Canada/Europe.
Step 3. Give away 5,000 units of drug X to the people that need them, for free.
Step 4. Sell 5,000 units of drug X in US/Canada/Europe at 50% of its normal Drug X cost (i.e. at twice the price you paid)
Step 5. ???
Step 6. No profit, just karma!

Somewhere in some auditor's office, a creepy voice has just said "Liquidate Them"

I suspect like most attendees, I was watching more for novelty than for content. A film about a gas mask wearing murderous miner doesn't exactly scream quality and production values.

But when the initial 'early adopter' phase passes - the falling attendances (and reduction on RoI) should mean that they'll need to either up the quality and produce movies that are both as sound in writing and acting as they are in visual trickery, or adopt a new trick.

To be fair, most local cinemas to me are always packed on the 'cheap' night - Orange Wednesday (for those of you not in the UK - the mobile phone operator gives you 2 for 1 on a cinema ticket for a screening on Wednesday if you text them)

But despite all the failings of the communal cinema experience that you mention - for me, it's kind of worth it just to get better sound. I've got decent THX-certified 5.1 speakers - but I've not set them up correctly, because the layout of my living room's prohibiting putting the satellites where they're meant to be. Nevermind when I have to turn the sofa 90 degrees for the projector and the left channel is now behind me.

Sometimes that's worth £6-7 each. Nevermind my fiancee feeling like it's a 'treat' lol