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...(and 1985), And they want their Interactive Titles "The Case of the Missing Yolks" and "Eat or Be Eaten" back.

http://www.firesigntheatre.com...

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/20...

There are audio CDs that have image data, but they're not Redbook. Redbook audio is just that: audio.

I guess you've never heard of Sub-Code Graphics.

It's in the format; but no one uses it (anymore).

Of course, these guys did, but then they're always ahead of their time...

And let me guess, you're one of those people who claims to be "colorblind," right?

I'm not sure if this article will mean anything to you, as you're obviously completely blind to the racism still prevalent in the U.S. today, but give it a shot.

Here you go.

Something doesn't have to be blatant or malicious to be racist; most racism today in the U.S. doesn't take the form of the KKK or segregated schools; it takes the form of "a thousand tiny cuts."

Have you noticed how in movies the protagonists are almost always white? If there are any people of color in they're almost always supporting characters who are stereotyped. There are some exceptions, such as Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, but these are few and far between.

Have you noticed how often white people will assume that an Asian-American speaks some other language, knows some martial art, or comes from someplace outside of the U.S.? Not only that, but how often white people will, in general, perpetuate and hold faith in stereotypes of people of color?

Stuff like this isn't just coincidence; the U.S. is only about 60% white. That's a majority, but it's not an overwhelming one.

Have you noticed how white people tend to blow off complaints of racism as "just whining" when they come from people of color?

And that's not even to mention stuff like (before you click the following link, just in case you don't wanna see this, know that it's a video of a cop shooting a guy who's face down on the ground) this. That'd be all over the news if the victim was white, but instead there was only a tiny bit of coverage, during which some newscasters were making excuses like, "Maybe he thought his gun was a taser!"

The U.S. has come far in improving itself on the issue of racism, but the battle is far from won.

Oh, and before anyone accuses me of so-called "reverse racism" or other bullshit like that, I'll let you know right now that I am white, and I'm fucking tired of people who look like me screwing America up for 40% of the population.

And keep in mind that if we can end or significantly reduce racism, it benefits everyone. It's frankly amazing that we don't have race riots or anything like that too often.

Have the company's growth fantasies involving the RMT purchase of virtual members been scrapped due to the financial crisis?

To finally see a graphical Nethack or slashEM on the DS one day, I might even buy the DS just to fiddle with it and play nethack. Would be a fun way to waste time.

Haven't tried any of them yet, but here you go.

The camera still sucks
Welcome to camera phones. No matter how many MP you jam on there, you're still relying upon a .5cm lens, which will never gather enough light for clear pictures. Get a camera.

The screen is still glass ($200 repair job)
I used to break my Palm Pilot's screens all the time. I've never broken my iPhone. Glass not only has a better tactile feel, it's a hell of a lot stronger and doesn't scratch.

Still no battery door (Which wouldn't bother me all that much if they didn't fall back to "bad battery life" as an excuse for several major failings)
Have you ever had to replace your battery?

Still no multitasking for third party apps
I waffle on this one, but I like their push-based solution. There isn't much that you really need to do in the background on a communicator, but there is a whole lot that apps can do to slow it down and make it feel like a sewer. See also: any windows installation after about two years of real use.

Still no copy/paste
God this drives me nuts.

Still no file manager
I've done without a file manager for years now on the Palm Pilot. An intelligent databasing backend should never need a file manager.

Still no bluetooth: keyboard driver, a2dp, file transfer, iSync
I'd kill for a keyboard driver.

Still raping users with ringtones
It sucks, but which phone manufacturer doesn't do this?

Still raping developers for 30% of revenue
You're kidding, right? Do you have any idea of how much of a cut digital distributers like Valve and Microsoft's Live Arcade service take? Let me give you a hint: a hell of a lot more.

Still forcing app signing on end users/developers
If the end user needs an app signed, they're in a position to jailbreak.

Cutting their prices in half
Oh wait, you didn't say this. How very odd.

The camera still sucks
Welcome to camera phones. No matter how many MP you jam on there, you're still relying upon a .5cm lens, which will never gather enough light for clear pictures. Get a camera.

The screen is still glass ($200 repair job)
I used to break my Palm Pilot's screens all the time. I've never broken my iPhone. Glass not only has a better tactile feel, it's a hell of a lot stronger and doesn't scratch.

Still no battery door (Which wouldn't bother me all that much if they didn't fall back to "bad battery life" as an excuse for several major failings)
Have you ever had to replace your battery?

Still no multitasking for third party apps
I waffle on this one, but I like their push-based solution. There isn't much that you really need to do in the background on a communicator, but there is a whole lot that apps can do to slow it down and make it feel like a sewer. See also: any windows installation after about two years of real use.

Still no copy/paste
God this drives me nuts.

Still no file manager
I've done without a file manager for years now on the Palm Pilot. An intelligent databasing backend should never need a file manager.

Still no bluetooth: keyboard driver, a2dp, file transfer, iSync
I'd kill for a keyboard driver.

Still raping users with ringtones
It sucks, but which phone manufacturer doesn't do this?

Still raping developers for 30% of revenue
You're kidding, right? Do you have any idea of how much of a cut digital distributers like Valve and Microsoft's Live Arcade service take? Let me give you a hint: a hell of a lot more.

Still forcing app signing on end users/developers
If the end user needs an app signed, they're in a position to jailbreak.

Cutting their prices in half
Oh wait, you didn't say this. How very odd.

Shared Objects (the Flash "cookies" are easily limited via Flash's settings panel (adn the default is 100KB), so your information is not very accurate. Although iPhone doesn't have a keyboard and ponting device, that's no reason to limit the possible creativity that game developers may come with to figure other fun games with other methods of control, ie. http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/02/interview_the_next_big_puzzle.php But I agree with the rest of your post.

Coral cache: http://www.developmag.com.nyud.net/interviews/123/Game-Changers (it works!)

Anyway, she looks a little like Drew Barrymore: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/kimswift.jpg

Hi,

I'd add 'Mario 64' to the list... it's 'reading light' so it was motivating for my 6-year old. He wanted to read the little 2-4 word "what to solve on this level" titles, and the flavor text before the boss battles. So it required minimal reading to play, but had enough reading from time to time to motivate him that, yes, reading is useful.

Others he likes (as a pre-reader) are Yoshi Island, Yoshi Touch-N-Go, Scooby Doo Unmasked, and Mario Kart.

But be careful with that last one, child predators may use Mario Kart to prey on your child, as per an ABC report... well, okay, read a slightly more sane take on it at
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/02/nintendo_ds_hurting_children.php for details.

LOL, check out the newsletter for Acclaim which features a sword-wielding Fabio ala Conan the Barbarian.

Dan East

I find it interesting, that while so many of the comments on this posting claim "the age of gaming magazines is dead", the GameSetWatch article on circulation numbers shows that Gamestop's Game Informer magazine has been steadily increasing in subscription numbers, gaining almost 900,000 subscriptions between 2003 and 2006 to a current standing of nearly 2 million subscriptions. What distinguishes this magazine? It's the only one that I'm aware of that covers all the consoles *and* PC games, and costs about 15 bucks a year. The cancelled Official Playstation Magazine was selling for $10 apiece on newstands. That's a lot of money to pay for a demo disc and a bunch of ads for PS games. I've subscribed to Game Informer and EGM for quite some time now; I find that I enjoy reading the magazines to get a nice overview of what is out there for all the consoles, while taking a break from sitting in front of the computer...

I covered this last column, on ToeJam & Earl, which contains many roguelike elements but is indeed in real time and has a multiplayer mode:

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/10/_play_toejam_e arl_the_roguelik_1.php#more

'Desert Bus' was a game we thought would really appeal to people who didn't like unrealistic games, and didn't like violence in their games. It was just like real, loving life.

The objective of the game is to drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in real time at a maximum speed of 45mph, a feat that would take the player 8 hours of continuous play to complete, as the game cannot be paused.

The bus contains no passengers, and there is no scenery or other cars on the road. The bus veers to the right slightly; as a result, it's impossible to tape down a button to go do something else and have the game end properly. If the bus veers off the road it will stall and be towed back to Tucson, also in real time. If the player makes it to Las Vegas, they will score exactly one point: the counter - which was five zeros - went to 1.

GameSetWatch co-editor Brandon Sheffield suggests that a potential dangerous chatroom lurer could post an ad on CraigsList asking children to email him or her to exchange Animal Crossing friends codes. Once the friends code exchange is made, the child can visit the stranger's town and chat, awkwardly, one slow and character-limited line at a time. By the time the child has picked all of the stranger's fruit, bought out the shop, trampled a few flowers and left, the stranger might, in theory, be able to say "what are you weari-"