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Fifteen years down the road, which will stand up better: a game that was released in 2004 that depicts life on the streets in that same year, or a game like the Legend of Zelda, which isn't set in our world?

Hell if I know. Both have equal chances - it's only up to how the games themselves have been made. The real difference between today's "street" games and Zelda is that Zelda isn't "pushed" for people who like to wear green tunics and thwack people to pieces with a sword and toss bombs at baddies. There's no marketing gimmick. The fine folks at Nintendo actually tried to make polished games.

Know what's funny? Both the today's "street" games and Zelda were marketed the same way. Yeah. Rap. Fact is stranger than fiction. Don't believe me? See the commercial. "It's the Legend of Zelda, and it's really rad..." Ugh. Now I'm mentally compelled to put that music to any new Zelda trailer.

What do you get after spending 96 straight hours battling in the realms of Norath?
A free trip to the afterlife, and a nomination for the darwin award.

My (current) personal favorite is Games Are Fun. I consider them to be the spirtual successors to the GIA. The _actual_ successor to the GIA, GameForms, has a decent amount of E3 stuff, but normally they're glacially slow on updates.

The Magic Box is also pretty good. They're sometimes a little slow to update, but they've got a fair bit of E3 stuff up now.

What other smaller and mostly independent game websites do people like to visit, both for E3 news and normal day to day happenings?

How does that improve things? So Sony can move in and start their own monopoly? So we can have Sony tell third parties what they can and cannot publish? Care to take a guess at which company has blocked and required editing of more games during the last five years?

...The GIA. Sadly, its successor, GameForms, is a shadow of its former self. So now I have all of no place to go for wacky japanese game ads... and that's sad.

And Gchan recently modelled a DOAX swimsuit.

I'm not sure if its video game fashion catching on, or just Cosplay in general is catching on, and Video Games have cool costumes. My ex-roommate was an avid cosplayer, and she drew from video games, Japanese and American movies, as well as actual anime for her costumes.

All that said, video game characters sport some very cool clothing, some of which you can buy official versions of, like Tidus' pants.

skye

• Max Payne
• Oddworld
• Project Gotham
• Rallisport Challenge
• Simpsons Road Rage

Check your facts.

Nintendo reports profits on recent quarter. The Gamecube is struggling, not Nintendo.

First, let me preface this by saying that I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

I started to worry a bit more about my health when I hit 30 a few short months ago. I've been blessed with a decent matabilism, but even a good burn rate can't help you when you sit on the ass 12 hours a day between home/work/stuff.

So here are my own tips that have kept me pretty good so far:

Eating Habits

Eat more meals a day, smaller amounts. Between 4 and 6 is good. Instead of taking that lunch break and loading up on tons of stuff that just leaves you sluggish, keep some food at your desk. And try to keep it to good stuff. A veggie platter is good with ranch dressing or something like that, maybe even a meat tray with mustards, I like sardines in mustard/tomato sauce with saltines off and on (which is why my coworkers are glad I have my own office).

My personal adage for food is that it's better to eat a bit of something that tastes good, rather than a lot of something that tastes bad. Fats and oils are not the pure enemy - as long as you do it in moderation. I think Jon what's-his-name from Good Eats had a good point back in a slashdot interview when me mentioned people don't eat fats, then they get hungry later. Good point. So veggies good, dressing with veggies good, meat good - don't just have junk food.

And I'm sorry - but loose the beer. I don't drink it myself, but that's because I think it tastes like shit. At least cut down, go lite beer - whatever. It's a lot of calories you don't need.

Exercise

Again, I have my own office, so about the chime of every hour I'll stop, do some pushups/situps, and go back. Not a lot, but just enough to get the heart pumping a bit. After work, I am again blessed to have a gym right on the campus I work at, so I can hit the treadmill for 30 minutes before I grab my stuff and go home.

If you can't do that, then do what I did at my last job - squeeze it in. Park at the farthest point you can so you have to walk into/out of work. If there's public transportation you can use, do that - if you have to drive all the way in, then park far. Believe it or not, but my last job I parked about a good block oway.

When you go to lunch, don't drive there, walk to it. You know that Jared guy? I don't think he got thin off of the Subways, it was the fact he walked back and forth from the Subway to work every day. Never, never, never use the elevator or escalators - always the stairs. Make less phone calls to co-workers if you can - get up, go walk to them.

Now, I know some people will say "But - I'm a telemarketer/I can't get up/some other excuse". Bullshit. There's always something you can do.

You don't have to change your whole lifestyle, but if your health is important and you want to be more when you're in your retirement than a rotting bag of bones, you have to make the time now. And it's not much - studies I've seen show 30 minutes a day is the rule, but it doesn't always have to be consecutive. A few minutes going up the stairs to a meeting, a little bit walking down the block to your car, maybe you buy an Eyetoy (I had a reader who loved hers - the boxing/kung fu games alone should get a good sweat) and play with that, or a Dance Dance Revolution pad for parties. And I will kill for a set of the official Sambe De Amigo maracas - not the cheap ass rip offs. Whatever.

I'm no Richard Simmons (I like women too much), and I'm no Arnold, but I've been able to stay fit enough for wild monkey sex with my wife. I could probably even cut out the treadmill if my family was down here with me just running after my son when he steals my Gameboy Advance SP.

Anyway, that's my take. These may not work for you, and I'm no expert, but hopefully these help.

Agreed.

However, the good licensed games frequently pass under the radar of games news sites. Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak is one of the only license-based games I've ever run out to buy on release day. (The kids' storybooks came first, then a TV series and movie, so it had full potential to suck.) It's a great non-violent GBA game with heavy puzzle elements, an RPG-style story and super happy fun everywhere. (There is stuff resembling violence, but it's nicely balanced out by the scat jokes.)

Since the game really ought to appeal to people who enjoyed Harvest Moon, Pokemon or Animal Crossing, I expected sites like Gameforms to at least preview it . They'll cover Pokemon to death, but not Hamtaro. I managed to hook a couple of friends on it but the majority of people simply can't get over the fact that it's a licensed game. They're just that used to ending up with crap every time they try a game based on a movie.

GIA may be gone, but the spirit still burns at Gameforms

You might be thinking of the award winning Rez' Trance Vibrator for the Playstation 2.

S Soldier support is the #1 priority.
N Never say, "it can't be done."
A Accept risk, and allow soldiers to make mistakes.
K Know your soldiers' problems.
E Exact high standards and lead by example.

E Earn your keep - use initiative.
A Acknowledge good deeds publicly; discipline privately.
T Training is not only everything - it is the only thing.
E Encourage employer and family interest and involvement.
R Respect all soldiers, regardless of their rank.

All of that info on simultaneous play and using the GBA's as controllers was released last October actually on GameForms.

I really dig Gameforms. They don't update very often and reviews are limited, but they offer a unique perspective and insightful reviews (they don't give games a number score, but rather examine the game and its strengths and weaknesses in depth). It can be a little fanboy-ish at times, but not as much as Ain't it Cool.

Square already has a Final Fantasy title in development for the GameCube... http://www.gameforms.com/games/gcn/ffcc/

Except Sony doesn't own Square. Square is still just a third party developer and distributes their games on their own (at least in North America through Square EA). They develop games for Sony's competitors too, such as for Bandai's Wonderswan (some old Final Fantasy games) and soon again for Nintendo (Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronoicle). They will sell games for whatever platform that will make them the most money.

The chances of anyone making money out of the wireless hotspots could be dented by the fact that many community groups and well-intentioned individuals are setting up networks anyone can use for free.

This is how just about everything works on the internet, aside from most broadband connections. Regardless of what corporations are offering, someone else is offering it for free. The record industry wants to sell you CDs, but hundreds of people are willing to just send you a copy online. Subscription news sites, especially gaming ones like IGN and GameSpot, want to sell you their news and content, but Gameforms, The Magic Box, and GameFAQS are all giving the same stuff away for free. And now wireless internet companies are trying to sell you wireless internet access when the same people that are using P2P services are willing to just give internet access away for free.

There simply isn't any way to compete with people that are giving away the same product as your company for free, at least not for a small startup industry that doesn't have the financial and political clout to legislate against the people giving it away for free or strongarm the supply side of the market.

Well, there were quite a few problems with the initial rollout. Here is an account of some troubles on the first day. Square's old friend/nemesis has had something to say about it too.
More recently, more problems have surfaced, and Square has upgraded the PlayOnline servers and released a patch (creating the need for players to recreate their characters).
With so many problems, I think I will stick to Ragnarok Online for now. If only I could get it to work in WINE...

Well, there were quite a few problems with the initial rollout. Here is an account of some troubles on the first day. Square's old friend/nemesis has had something to say about it too.
More recently, more problems have surfaced, and Square has upgraded the PlayOnline servers and released a patch (creating the need for players to recreate their characters).
With so many problems, I think I will stick to Ragnarok Online for now. If only I could get it to work in WINE...

Well, there were quite a few problems with the initial rollout. Here is an account of some troubles on the first day. Square's old friend/nemesis has had something to say about it too.
More recently, more problems have surfaced, and Square has upgraded the PlayOnline servers and released a patch (creating the need for players to recreate their characters).
With so many problems, I think I will stick to Ragnarok Online for now. If only I could get it to work in WINE...

here.

Well, with the recently released FFXI in Japan, I don't think Sony is neglecting the networked gaming market (unlike Nintendo, who is still taking a "wait and see" approach).

Secondly, with the recent PS3 rumors, it seems clear that Sony sees where Microsoft wants to go with their platform, and is eager to stop them before they see any major success. Sony has the stronger brand, at the moment, so I have my money on them in the long-run.

I know Nintendo has a strong "its all about the games!" attitude. I know its a strong platform, with great developers; I just hope they aren't caught flat-footed in the console online arena. They should definitely be planning something at the very least as a contingency.