MonetaryDread

My votes are for:

• Raptor: Call of the Shadows
• Solar Winds
• Ultima Underworld
• Menzoberranzan
• Unreal (Not DOS based, but I recently played through the game because... well Nostalgia is a bitch, and I think this shooter holds up better than any otherfrom that era - yes, that includes OG Half Life. )

I love the look of the thing. I think the rounded edges of a PS3 or 360 make the design seem childish... like its a video game console, not a media centre. With this new look it makes the Xbox look like a more sophisticated piece of hardware that I would not be ashamed to have on display under my TV. Plus, the wife likes the look of the device and not having to worry about that side of the purchase is important to me.

Well either I used my ps3 more than you (I say "used" because the system died on me), or the PS3 controllers do not automatically shut off charging when it reaches 100% and my habit of leaving the controller plugged in every evening killed the batteries too quick. Either way, I have spent $100 on controllers so far, and the rechargeable AA's that I put in my controller cost me $20 (I have never used one of Microsofts official rechargeable battery packs).

Either way, you mention that replacing a battery is a minor convenience that is not in the interest of the consumer, but I think the opposite is true. Having to throw away a perfectly good controller because a battery pack is visually ugly is anti-consumer.

Edit: PS. Eneloop are what I use as well.

Why would that be a bad thing? I still have my launch 360 pad, and yet I have had to throw away two PS3 controllers. I do not want to have to throw away a controller because the non-replaceable battery died.

Plus, I am sure that Microsoft is going to sell a rechargeable battery pack for the Xbox one. Sales of peripherals were a major source of income for Microsoft in the last generation.

@epicsteve:

@creamypies:

The only internet option where I live is dial-up. There are mountains and trees that block any connection to satellite (at least satellite tv, I have not tried internet), and my dial-up connection is super slow because I have to dial-out to an ISP almost 100 km away.

Will the next xbox support dial-up in the first place? I doubt it...

• People who interpret every word as the literal truth
• People who do not understand jokes, then complain about how a certain stand-up comedian / actor is either insensitive, misogynistic, racist, or homophobic.
• White Knights who go out of their way to interfere in your life because you said something that offended them, even though the comment has nothing to do with them in the first place. For example, my classmates and I were in a coffee shop and studying for our psychology exam. At some point one of my friends brings up a point of information from the text that said something along the lines of, "If an assailants skin colour differs from the victims, that is the primary feature that is noticed," or something along those lines. Anyways, we were just reading from a textbook and some white knight comes over and starts lambasting us for being a bunch of bigots and racists, and that we should feel ashamed for spreading hateful lies, etc. They all suck. Another great example is a couple of years ago my ex-girlfriend and I were having an argument at a restaurant once. It wasn't anything that was too bad, we certainly were not making a scene. After about two minutes some dude comes up and starts saying that I should back off and respect my girlfriend. How fucking lame is that dude? What would convince some guy to come in and try to interrupt something that was, at its worst, a minor disagreement and try to shame me in public. That is what is so annoying about it. Its always some idiot dude who ignores the realities of human existence for some lofty ideal that he feels makes him superior to everyone else. Then they see some grand injustice in the world (or anything that does not fit into the weird idea they decided should be an axiom of modern culture) and try to force everyone in their world to follow a vision for the next-cultural-evolution that should have happened twenty years ago.
• Grammar Nazi's who, for some reason, think that the written word is so important that it needs defending from the masses.

I listened to every GFW again not too long ago, the show holds up.

Unfortunately the gaming podcast world has been gimped since the 1up radio days. The only gaming podcasts that I can tolerate:

• The Bombcast
• Toucharcade
• 8-4
• Pointless (Kevin Pereira's podcast, it covers gaming for about 20% of the podcast, the rest of the time is filled with Kevin Pereira humour)
• Gamers With Jobs
• Weekend Confirmed
• Rebel FM
• Idle Thumbs
• Player One Podcast
• That Video Game Podcast

Of all these podcasts the closest to the bombcast would probably be Toucharcade (hosted by former Giantbomb duder Brad Nicholson), Gamers With Jobs, sometimes Rebel FM, sometimes Weekend Confirmed, TVGP, and Pointless.

Even though you said you have no interest in podcasts that do not focus on gaming you should try out:

• The Joe Rogan Experience
• Hardcore History

• Fallout 4 on next gen / PC
• Disgaea 4 IOS
• Suikoden / Suikoden 2 HD Remasters

Having just listened to all their albums for the first time, I have to say that, I enjoy Random Access Memories the best. Though I would choose Tron if Daft Punk reworked the OST into an actual album.

My favourite tracks on RAM are:

• Giorgio by Moroder
• Lose Yourself to Dance
• Beyond
• Motherboard

If I had to pick one song of the bunch it would be Beyond, but Motherboard could be my favourite song a week from now.

I think that Vinyl sounds great the first time you listen to it, its too bad that the quality declines with use. I would rather listen to an mp3 (all my songs are FLAC) than a Vinyl that pops and crackles when you try to listen to it. I do not have any of those romantic ideals of how those imperfections add character to the songs, and never found any pleasure in sitting down to listen to an album with the liner notes either. I guess I was just born in an era when Vinyl was the old shitty media because cassettes allowed you to make mixtapes; so I figure I am too young for vinyl nostalgia and too old to think of vinyl as a way for someone to define their individuality.