PixlBit

I really don't like playing games online in general, even less so with random people. I miss  the old days where you'd hit the couch and play with a group of friends all in one room.

Funny enough, as gaming has become more and more socially acceptable, it's become more and more solitary. At a point it was much more social (like in person social) than it is now. We all are really the lone gamers sitting in a darkened room, avoiding the sun and playing games all by ourselves.

As far as monitoring these online communities, I don't think it can be done. Nintendo tried to employ means of limiting the interactions, but the result was a really sanitary experience. Once you let people on the Internet talk and communicate freely, you have to expect the worst. Combine this with the lack of acceptance of any degree of failure and you have a really toxic environment.  

I don't think I personally care too much about the name changing, but I think Nintendo stands to benefit from rebranding. The Wii name doesn't carry much clout with their intended audience and the casual audience has basically left.

I'm not sure what they could call it, but hopefully they understand how to brand it properly to appeal to the core gamer. GameCube wasn't a bad name, but its poor branding and console design (shape, color) really hurt it.

Glad to see Nintendo is finally getting some boilerplate features into the Wii U (and 3DS for that matter). I can only hope that the Nintendo Network is well integrated into the Wii U UI. Right now everything is so disconnected on Nintendo's systems, I'd like to see something a bit closer to Xbox Live in terms of online functionality built right into the dashboard. I could do without the ads though.

The NFC announcement sounds like RFID, though who knows. Hope no one has an RFID credit card - the Wii U tablet is going to eat your monies.

This was a no-brainer, but I am a bit surprised to see it coming to 3DS. I figured the Wii U version would be the first to come.

So freaking excited for this game. Grasshopper seems to be getting better and better since the release of Killer 7. While still adequately weird, the games are much more palatable than some of Suda51's really old stuff, like Flower, Sun, and Rain (and even Killer 7, for that matter).

I hear you. It's crap, I totally agree. I can't stand all this little piecemeal DLC anyway. I liked DLC better when it was called an Expansion.

Don't lie, you were going to buy them anyway.

Yeah, I remember them opening right before I left. They didn't seem to be all that great - mostly like a Gamestop knock-off with even worse priced games.

Ah, awesome, thanks for the link. I actually have seen the one in Scotia before on my way out to Sacandaga, so it's cool to know that it's actually more of a local chain. I swear those weren't there 4 years ago, but it's possible I just missed them. Very cool to hear though, I'll be making a point of checking out at least one of them the next time I'm out there - I'll definitely let you know.

Wait, how did I miss a game store on Pearl St? How long has that been around? In any event, I know where I'm going on my next trip to Albany...

I will say that Gamestop has its pros and cons. I don't like a bunch of their practices, but sometimes it's the cheapest and easiest way to get certain games. Other times it's the only way. I'd love to see them declared a monopoly so we can open up some competition in the used game market, but I know that isn't going to happen any time soon.