Hashbrowns

And those two separate lasers are both in the Blu-ray drive, therefore Blu-ray drives can read DVDs. I can't think of a single Blu-ray drive that's been built that excludes DVD playback. To think that Microsoft will be commissioning a custom Blu-ray drive that EXCLUDES such a ubiquitous, common and basic feature seems absurd on the face of it.

Blu-ray drives can read DVDs.

How is it different?

If the next console isn't backwards compatible, then it isn't backwards compatible. There's no difference between digitally distributed games and games on a disc as far as compatibility goes. If the hardware isn't in there to run a X360 game, then the next Xbox won't run it. Arcade games are running on the same CPU and GPU in the X360 just as much as disc-based games.

Now, would some of the Arcade titles be easier to make an emulator for? Maybe, but that's a whole different problem. Castle Crashers and Shadow Complex aren't exactly similar, engine-wise. Is MS likely to create an emulator to cover such a wide range of games? Who knows?

That would be fantastic. The subscriber category has become frustrating in that the weekly installments of things like Thursday Night Throwdown pile up, pushing rarer and, frankly, better content like Random PC Games off the accessible list. Maybe breaking those weekly "events" off into their own category might alleviate the issue?

@big_jon: That's probably the best review of Halo 4 I've read, and that's including all professional reviewers I frequent. You went into actual detail, describing gameplay elements and fundamental design issues. All your criticisms are completely fair and, more importantly, well articulated and reasoned.

This might be the first useful review I've read on Giant Bomb, period.

@Darkstorn said:

@deadrody said:

@chrissedoff said:

@NinjaTard: There's a lot wrong with Barack Obama's presidency, but using executive orders to enact sensible restrictions on the second amendment

Let that part sink in for a bit. Then change it to "sensible restrictions on the first amendment" and see how you feel about that.

The US constitution is sacrosanct. If you want to change it, there is a process for that. Get on with it. Otherwise, there ARE no "sensible restrictions" to my god given rights. And if you dispute that "god given" part, maybe you ought to go re-read the Declaration of Independence.

Rights are given by governments, not 'God.' Otherwise we wouldn't need a historical government document to come to that conclusion. Also, there was debate among the founders on whether or not the Constitution was static or if it would change and grow with time. Strict constructionism vs. loose constructionism wasn't invented by Constitutional scholars by any means.

If there isn't an authority beyond civil government, there are no rights. Rights come from God, and governments are insituted to protect and preserve those rights. Without that, we are left with either mob rule or authoritarian dictatorships. Not all the founders were completely sound, theologically speaking, but they were able to agree on the premise of "the Law of Nature and Nature's God" as the standard from which they based all their complaints against the Crown. In one of the singular moments in human history, the architects of a new government acknowledged that they themselves (government) were the greatest threat to liberty, and codified limits to their own power in both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

The secular-humanist view, either from statists (Marxism, National-socialism) or anarchists (Ayn Rand adherants) both put all their stock in the nature of man, either collectively or individually. If one thinks that an invisible Creator-God is a foolish idea, how can you put faith in the historically obvious evil nature of man?

It's probably been mentioned, but seeing a zentraedi battlepod from Robotech in that Half-life demo was really weird.

Screened, I suppose.

It does seem like they put a few too many things behind unlock requirements. It's a bit much that there are zero cosmetic options available by default. Particularly emblems. And I'll just reiterate that the helmet selection is poorly designed. I mean the default Recruit helmet is one of the only decent designs. Where's my CQB helmet?

@Trav said:

I don't know, if there's a flood gametype, I have a feeling they're going to utilize those assets in campaign too. I really didn't want flood in campaign, but hopefully they've made the interactions with them more entertaining.

During one of the Halo Comic-Con panels Frank O'Connor straight-up said "you will not be fighting any Flood in Halo 4". They'll very likely be mentioned in Halo 4, and I'm sure they'll make appearances in Halo 5 and 6 in some capacity, but rest easy knowing there aren't any "The Library" or "Cortana" levels lying in wait in Halo 4.