ah those are good memories.. this... doesn't look interesting..

I'm sure I would get the crap beat out of me for suggesting the following: that 'women' have had power in various ways separate than the power of men for a long, long , long time. Not to say there wasn't sexism, or power withheld from them, but nature/biology has a way of developing these really intricate and obtuse symbiotic relationships, that are not necessarily equal in the most obvious ways, but are also not necessarily unequal either. Men have used raw physical strength, and women have used other weapons of influence. I'm not a person of great physical strength so in a situation where I would be competing against a physically stronger person I would leverage my own traits to seek advantage in the situation. History may be very sexist in it's accounts, but the actual events were probably a symphony of complex relations and outcomes due to both genders and sexes and their intertwining agendas.
In general I was stating it's a identity resource issue at its root. Does my identity allow me to gain the things I want, or does it restrict me.... culturally?

A simple equation is take an invented classification or identity of people (race, creed, orientation) and then discriminate or deny them something or negatively identify them based on that identity. Those people will suddenly respond with a positive response and unity based on that 'weak' classification(gay pride, women's studies, black power).
There's no reason to be proud of being a man or woman or any race or any sexual preference, there's also no reason to be ashamed or feel inferior. But humans don't have time for true subtlety outside their own interests, and we are always working with reduced paradigms of 'others', only expanding them when something causes that. Without motivation (like a revolution/or a movement) people will classify (us/them) and favor those in the 'us' and prejudice against the 'them'. Lots of bad things happen due to that.
I haven't heard the name Queer Theory but am familiar with the idea of gender and sexual identity being different. I have known several 'straight, "gender masculine" females, and several bi or lesbian "gender feminine" females. Same with males. I like to think of myself as sort of gender neutral, and overly feminine or masculine traits tend to annoy me.

Problem I have with Games in general as I get older, is that if they have some eroticism in it, is it entertaining or do I feel insulted by it? I guess I give MGS the benefit of the tongue in cheek. Smart enough to enjoy itself and not take itself to seriously.

I would say that sexuality is a thing of social context (for me at least) and would say there are a great deal of perfectly happy females and males that are treated in 'sexually superficial' manner and use that to their benefit and gain. I know plenty of women that complain of porn, but would enjoy themselves being objectified in similar manner(and do), as this is a positive thing in their mind. Alternately where a woman who was constantly 'reduced' to only being such a thing would find it irritating.
What is it that expands their influence/power/genetic viability/options choices?

I also have a great deal of dislike of what I think of as traditional feminism.

Have fun with this experiment:
as a male walk up to a feminist (female or male) and tell them basically how great/beautiful/strong women are. Obviously this is incredibly sexist, but at it's core it's about positive versus negative label.

Men/women, in the context of sex, look at each other in the simplest ways possible, that emphasize their sexually appealing aspects, which are of course culturally influenced and so when we reduce things erotically we emphasize these traits. This is where the trouble gets going.

It's all about the context of identity, and feeling positive or negative about that. Are you reduced because of this identity or are you gaining because of it? No one wants to be reduced, or have a negative identity.

MGS4 is just and odd ducky though.
I just sort of enjoy the weirdness and try not to think too much of its juvenile behavior.

Typical dialogue:

character1: "Snake that is because of the ."
Snake "?"
character1: "That's right Snake, ."

I was looking forward to AITD, as the gameplay looked amazing... but I'm passing...

There is an interesting phenomenon I've noted though, that the fewer good games a system has the higher the profile these games seem to enjoy. Meaning a good game on a system that has a lot of good games will be sort of lost in the shuffle and have difficulty finding an identity and 'must have' status, but a good game on a system with few good games will actually standout and perhaps be viewed as better simply in the context of poorer games.
I do like my DS a lot, but I have to admit my psp gets more use and has more games that I enjoy on it by far.

The Zune is by far the least used of these devices, but it's a decent device. I just don't really find it does anything better and will probably give it away. I haven't used the new ones but haven't seen anything that excited me in regards to them either. I would definitely get the zune 80 over the the new ipod classics though(the classics are hideous).
What I really wish it had was the ability to use it, as-is, as a portable HD, like the Ipod 60gb(the main reason it's still getting used).

Even the new zunes just can't compete with the Touch/Iphone though. Unfortunately, the social sharing of songs, while a neat feature, just isn't that huge compared to the features the Touch and Iphone offer(please don't argue with this and make me list them).

The touch/iphone has the potential to be a much more all around media device than the Zune presently does. I agree that the PSP is not the first choice in music players, but it does an ok job, and if I had to take only one gadget, and did not need a phone I'd take the psp(i have a phatty so no skype).

I am looking forward to what XNA will do with the ZUNE, and I'm sure they will continue to improve it and add features.
Fusing games phone music and video isn't easy, because of the different ways we interact with each, and the expectations we have for those interfaces (right now). PSP is a much better multimedia device than the zunes are, but Bach's right it is primarily a game device, and the Zunes beat it as a music player that also plays videos.

Does anyone know how the Zunes (30 and the new ones) compare graphical powerwise to the touch/Iphones? I'm guessing the latter has more muscle.

To me there's a big difference in being a fan of something and being able master or 'own' something and expand upon it.

It worries me how much Konami and Akira were apparently pleased by the silent hill movie(not bad but not even in the same league as Jacob's Ladder or say Elephant man).
Somewhat like George Lucas being pleased with the last trilogy. This applies well to Lynch. I don't think he is a genius, so much is he really enjoys what he is doing (he of course knows quite a bit about the craft from years of experience.)
Still worried about this game.

statistics and interpreting numbers is tricky and easily skewed...
I doubt the psychological reasoning. In playing UT2k4 it more had to do with what color showed up better on the map. I wonder if they took such details into account.

the other half are into subtle movies that feature subtle psychologically subtle horror like I know what You Did Last Summer and Sister Act II: Back in the Habit.

I was merely speaking of the base game as that's what the 360 guys are getting, and as I stated if more people played UT3 I'd invest more time in trying to solve the mod install problem.
I'm hersheliedwards on the psn, if all of you PROMISE for reals to play I'll try again :)

Oddly, I actually like the sixaxis for the hoverboard.

Warfare just does not feel as fun as Onslaught, nor do the maps feel as fun. I haven't tried any of the mods or maps as I couldn't get that to work,and didn't have time to hassle with it.
The vehicles variety is great, though, and I like the big gelatin block deployable for use on choke points. Lack of new weapons is really disappointing though, and they have actually removed some or altered them in ways that aren't that exciting.

If more people were playing it I'd probably play it more, and even possibly grab the pc version for my laptop. But i'm thinking of actually reinstalling Ut2k4 as more people seem to be playing it still.

I've not been following this that closely but
can this be a software only sequel (hardware works from 1), so you don't have to rebuy new equipment, or only buy the pieces you want?
My apologies if these are stupid questions.

I owned GTA 1969 but didn't get around to playing it. I think a remake or a new GTA based on that setting might be more appealing to me.

I'm sure Sony would love to be a market leader in the handheld entertainment arena, and I'm sure they see Nintendo as competition in this area, and the IPOD as well.
Most industries support more than one company successfully and this is good for consumer due to competition. I have absolutely no desire for there to be a winner in any of the console wars. It's not going to benefit me and give me the best features and value for my money overall. Dominance always leads to less innovation and less consumer benefit.

I don't think Sony is sitting on their laurels regarding the PSP. I'm sure they realize the importance of Nintendo's position with the DS and are working hard to increase the appeal of the PSP. If they are smart they will, as Coladict stated, work on their own strengths and not make themselves more like the DS.

Nintendo this time didn't go into 'win' either with the DS or the Wii, both of those were far far more successful than Nintendo ever thought they would be. Both were planned to make money, however. Notice how most people will buy both a wii and a 'next gen' console. MS and Sony are fighting each other with the same type of content and the same market space essentially. Nintendo expanded the market with the Wii and the DS, and I think the PSP actually expanded the market as well.

To me the end result for a company is to make money. To make as much money as possible and to sustain your position or increase it. Being number one isn't necessarily going to make you money, it just puts you in a potentially better position, if all your other ducks are kicking well.

I agree that the PSP has less of an instant or novel appeal and has more involved and console like games.
I think if it went head to head with Nintendo targeting their games and style of play, it possibly would not have been able to distinguish itself in the market well enough against such an established brand. I think the fact the PSP is different in game types and offers more multimedia features makes it more appealing to me (and others). The UMD format was a bit iffy(and movie prices originally too high)I realize they needed something with a large enough storage space, that would hinder piracy, and also not be cost prohibitive to produce. A 1.5 gig cartridge like the ds would not have been feasible, nor would having games downloadable on MSPD be feasible due to the cost of even a 512 mb stick at the time.

There's a famous ad campaign from AVIS rentacar in the 70's.
"We're number 2 so we try harder."

I will say that from what I understand the attach rate for software on the psp is disappointing. I have bought a ton of very good games for the PSP, and I love the snot out of it.

I'm surprised at how well the PSP was designed. I had a launch psp that I replaced about a month ago ONLY because I stupidly cracked the screen.
And it was, despite people's fear very very scratch resistant.

PSP has some good instant play portable games, but I will say it's like having portable PS2 which I like. I think the market has shown that both are pretty darned great devices with great games.

I couldn't get the escapist vid to work all day.
I was waiting for Kotaku to post it to see if it was a problem with the escapists site... probably my crap bandwidth.