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That battery journal is a terrible one. They've got a much better one where they run one thing until the system gives out. From what I remember, it breaks down like this:

High intensity game: 3.5 hours
Low intensity game: 5 hours
Gaming with Wi-Fi on: 2.75 hours
Listening to MP3: 10.5 hours

MP3s will last longer than games. A good rundown of the different times: http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572563p1.html

--
Want a free iPod?
Or try a free Nintendo DS, GC, PS2, Xbox. (you only need 4 referrals)
Wired article as proof

Kidding aside, each realm has many servers, all geographically dispersed. And you're right, even certain zones in themselves are serviced by multiple machines. Your observation about distinct IP addresses doesn't necessarily mean distinct machines, however. Interview, Blizzards' Shane Dabiri.

So, you can bet that they have dynamic load balancing in place within a realm.

As an aside, Wish is now defunct. Story. Its point of distinction was one contiguous world that all subscribers would share. This is a true MMO in my opinion. We surmise that their subscriber base in beta did not survive sustainability projections, so in the end it was a casualty of simple finances.

The rest of the market that instances the VW into multiple 'shards' are inpure in my opinion. So when I see advertising that prides itself on "1.5 Million Subscribers!" I just think, "so what!". Splitting users into 90 distinct realms lessens the weight of these claims. If you have 100,000 user concurrency that means you're really only playing with 1,000 players, and we've seen what thats like.

IMO, WOW as a game system and a server system doesn't scale in any impressive way.

Kafka

The PS3 is Confirmed to be backwards compatible. So the PS2 Library is going to roll over to the PS3. Maybe with some enhancements like better AA to make games look even better on the new engine.

However the opposite is true with Xbox2. And the the game would more then likely be part of the release lineup for Xbox2, which would be limited to early adopters.

It would seem to me, that Nintendo should be fighting for it as well. Their new system is also backwards compatible.
The only reason I can see The GC not being viable, is the fact that the PS2 is in more homes then a GC.

It always takes a while to figure out how best to use a system that incorporates a genuinely new approach rather than a rehash of old ideas. Still, original DS games are beginning to come out. "Yoshi Touch & Go," which received a review score of 8.8 out of 10 from IGN, is described in the review as "truly a design that's unlike anything you've played before."

Aside from the "wow" factor, how much does Raytracing really add?

This is one of their raytraced scenes, and this is a shot from the half-year-old Half-Life 2. Notice how while the shadows and lighting in HL2 are burned-in, they're still pretty convincing. This is a shot from a raytraced Quake 3. Notice how it's single-pass raytracing with no reflections and sharp edges... For the full benefit of raytracing you need multipass.

This is an early, leaked shot from Quake 4, a traditionally poly model engine. Traditional racing Games always have great lighting. This is a scene from GTA based on the Q3A raytracing engine, and this is a vaguely similar scene from the game.

With normal mapping coming into it's own and polygon edges mostly a thing of the past, what benefit does raytracing give us? Shadows? It costs us less than one character to draw a drop shadow. Dynamic lighting? There are tricks to doing pseudo dynamic lighting in many circumstances. Generally, though, you don't want too many moving lights in your scene anyway, as the effect is quite nauseating.

The only major benefit that I see with real time raytracing is that it would free up the artists and coders to drop some of the tricks they've been putting in place for the usual lighting stuff.

But for lighting effects, we've got a lot already going, and more coming in soon. I personally can't wait for relative light levels to make their way into more game engines. And normal mapping to become really normal. For many years I had wanted realtime raytracing, but now it seems so unnecessary.

It just seems like raytracing will always be so much more expensive, that the flat-polys-with-tricks models will always look better for the same hardware.

Of course, knowing this industry in 5 years we'll probably have chip boards that have one processor spit out a traditionally drawn 3d polygon scene and another which renders and layers upon that a 2d greyscale light map at a slightly lower resolution using a reduced parallel geometry set or some such. Instead of making things easier, they usually tend to make things harder. Oh well.

Can anyone here with more experience than I explain what raytracing gives you that you couldn't fake more cheaply?

Aside from the "wow" factor, how much does Raytracing really add?

This is one of their raytraced scenes, and this is a shot from the half-year-old Half-Life 2. Notice how while the shadows and lighting in HL2 are burned-in, they're still pretty convincing. This is a shot from a raytraced Quake 3. Notice how it's single-pass raytracing with no reflections and sharp edges... For the full benefit of raytracing you need multipass.

This is an early, leaked shot from Quake 4, a traditionally poly model engine. Traditional racing Games always have great lighting. This is a scene from GTA based on the Q3A raytracing engine, and this is a vaguely similar scene from the game.

With normal mapping coming into it's own and polygon edges mostly a thing of the past, what benefit does raytracing give us? Shadows? It costs us less than one character to draw a drop shadow. Dynamic lighting? There are tricks to doing pseudo dynamic lighting in many circumstances. Generally, though, you don't want too many moving lights in your scene anyway, as the effect is quite nauseating.

The only major benefit that I see with real time raytracing is that it would free up the artists and coders to drop some of the tricks they've been putting in place for the usual lighting stuff.

But for lighting effects, we've got a lot already going, and more coming in soon. I personally can't wait for relative light levels to make their way into more game engines. And normal mapping to become really normal. For many years I had wanted realtime raytracing, but now it seems so unnecessary.

It just seems like raytracing will always be so much more expensive, that the flat-polys-with-tricks models will always look better for the same hardware.

Of course, knowing this industry in 5 years we'll probably have chip boards that have one processor spit out a traditionally drawn 3d polygon scene and another which renders and layers upon that a 2d greyscale light map at a slightly lower resolution using a reduced parallel geometry set or some such. Instead of making things easier, they usually tend to make things harder. Oh well.

Can anyone here with more experience than I explain what raytracing gives you that you couldn't fake more cheaply?

Enlightenment

On another note, here's a direct link to the hi-rez Zelda trailer in Quicktime format. (30 megs)

Here you are: Transcript

I think you're mistaken. Have you heard of Warp Pipe?

Discomfort for large handed players

Again, mistaken. Third-party companies have released some pretty bulky controllers.

No possible DVD support.

Wrong again. Panasonic's Q plays DVDs just fine.

I don't know about you, but I can enjoy a game if it just meets the criteria of being fun and challenging. I bought a PS2 at launch, and then moved to GameCube primarily because of the fact that most PS2 games were braindead blood and guts fests. Little do you realize that all of the games loaded with T&A and graphic violence are for the teenage demographic, because they are nothing but immature tittilation of basic senses. Now, tell me that there is NOTHING for the "older" demographic in this list of the top GC games. I don't mean to be a jerk, but understand that at one point I wasn't very discerning in my game choices either and I just hope that people can "see the light."

You seem to be forgetting this, along with the games that use it. It's also got a dialup modem, which i don't think any of the other consoles have.

NHL stands for the National Hockey League.

Madden 2005 is a NFL branded football game.

Microsoft hasn't released a game recreating either sport with the '05 moniker and will not.

You should spend more time reading ESPN.com and IGN.com instead of /.

Some http://filmforce.ign.com/startrek/articles/529/529 522p1.htmlrumors that were going around last year indicated that a next movie wouldn't be about the TNG cast at all, but rather show an all new cast between Enterprise and TOS during the Romulan Wars.

He's been interviewed online before, of course. This might be a useful link for questions already answered: http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/502/502897p1.htm l

Tekken has been Itagaki's favorite punching bag for years. Try this 2001 IGN interview on for size. Search IGN for Itagaki's name, and you'll find plenty more where that came from.

Even worst, IGN has a advertisement splash page! websites are becoming like VHS movies, where you have to 'fastforward' before seeing the actual content.

"we can't play Street Fighter 2 or Tekken online because the latency is too much"

I refer you to

Dead or Alive Ultimate, playable over Xbox Live.

Street Fighter 2 for Matching Service. This used modems dialled into Capcom servers.

There are others. I should also point out that allowing levelling up in a beat-em-up is a bad idea, their gameplay mechanics are intended to be balanced and the winner is the skilled (sometimes lucky) player.

"we can't play Street Fighter 2 or Tekken online because the latency is too much"

I refer you to

Dead or Alive Ultimate, playable over Xbox Live.

Street Fighter 2 for Matching Service. This used modems dialled into Capcom servers.

There are others. I should also point out that allowing levelling up in a beat-em-up is a bad idea, their gameplay mechanics are intended to be balanced and the winner is the skilled (sometimes lucky) player.

So, wait a minute. With this news, what happens to Mistwalker's announced DS title? The press release is about as clear as to what's going on (beyond the creation of some titles for Xbox) as mud.

From this review:

Unfortunately, it seems Troika's transition from their prior isometric perspective games to first-person this time may not have been completely smooth. Since release, several bugs have emerged including a showstopper that has quite a few players to experience a crash to desktop in one of the later missions. An interim patch has been released by the fan community, but it's unfortunate a flaw of this magnitude managed to sneak past quality assurance, and that the players themselves had to fix it. Aside from that, characters occasionally glide across the floor instead of walking, and some actions are out of sync with the audio. There are also various graphical glitches like flickering textures and NPCs that disappear in front of you as you move down the street or exhibit other bizarre behaviors such as walking above the ground.

While the review says that the graphics were nice I couldn't disagree more. I wasn't blown away by them and I certainly don't care much for graphics anyway.

Give me great gameplay and a stable playing environment. I haven't ever had a PS2 game crash my PS2 and I certainly haven't had Quake crash my computer. I wouldn't expect any game to do that... Patched or not.

http://filmforce.ign.com/starwars/articles/588/588 920p1.html?fromint=1

Sith Opening Cannes
Final Star Wars film set for festival debut. February 18, 2005 - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith will open the 58th Cannes Film Festival. According to This Is London, a deal was recently struck after months of negotiations between Star Wars creator George Lucas and festival coordinators.

Festival De Cannes takes place May 11th-22nd in the south of France.

The UK-based website is also reporting that Ewan McGregor may be in attendance. McGregor is preparing to star in Michael Grandage's new London stage version of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre.

If you're not on the Cannes guest list then you'll have to wait until May 19th (in most countries) to see Revenge of the Sith.

The final chapter of the Star Wars prequels takes place three years after the events of Attack of the Clones. The Clone Wars are nearly at an end as the Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan (McGregor) to bring General Grevious, the deadly leader of the Separatist droid army, to justice. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine has grown in power. His sweeping political changes transform the war-weary Republic into the mighty Galactic Empire. To his closest ally, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), he reveals the true nature of power and the promised secrets of the Force in an attempt to lure him to the dark side.

The one here - it looks like an army of Fred Dursts.

Sign me up for the Cops team...

Send them to the History Channel instead! They used Rome: Total War for their battle reenactments.
http://pc.ign.com/articles/532/532411p1.html/

Is it really stopped?

Now, what IGN does is called "farming". They get 30 or 40 players to all stand around in the cave...

Let's not confuse IGE with IGN. IGN has no involvement in this.

Now, what IGN does is called "farming". They get 30 or 40 players to all stand around in the cave...

Let's not confuse IGE with IGN. IGN has no involvement in this.

You can be sure that at Gamers.com there are no bought reviews. In fact, in certain situations we've even received hate email by developers and publishers for not praising their game. We report what we consider to be fair and just, despite all the buzz.

The upside to that is if you don't get angry when a game is poorly-received, it means that you weren't passionate enough about making it. :) Of course, yelling at your reviewers may not work out so well in your favor, either. I'm always reluctant to contact reviewers asking them for more insight, but I do try to send a note of thanks.

From the outside, it seems that Rockstar did a good job in this respect -- the second-in-series, Grand Theft Auto II received low marks in various reviews, but they seem to have taken them as feedback, and produced a winner with GTA III.

Between reading a review and following up on other gamers opinions, one should have a rough idea if the game is worth purchasing.

I might twist that slightly -- given the number of games available these days, I'd say that professional and player reviews most often give me an idea as to whether it's even worthwhile to try the demo.
____________________________________________
Inago Rage - A demo worth downloading(!)

This sounds kind of like those interactive love sim games that are really popular over in japan, and in certain crowds like the really geeky otaku type people...

We'll probably see more things like this here locally (romance type games), as an actual game, but the idea is kind of fun.

Funny you should say both of those. Here's a review of UbiSoft's recent crack at a "bishoujo"-style game for the DS.

I predict you'll be waiting at least a year to save as little as $50.

Great, sounds like a good plan, because one year is soon enough for me. Hell, three years would be enough for me (to take even more than $50 off of $250, of course). Because, like with the PS and PS2, the PSP has no compelling titles prepared for launch or the months following launch and is currently severely overpriced. I may be a geek with an interest in new tech, and I may have enough money to be able to afford most of these things most of the time, but I'm not so stupid as to buy whatever shiny object other people are telling me I should have at the popular going rate.

It's not like $50 is some magic amount that I'm waiting to save. The price could be 50% less ($125) and I'd still have very strong qualms about buying a launch model. It's that I don't have to have Ridge Racers or any other of the currently released/announced titles in my hands right now (or even ever - I'm waiting for good software) and don't want to subsidize Sony's costs on a known-buggy first-rev launch model (I'm bringing this up for the third time now!). I will let the beta testers (a.k.a. early adopters with more money than sense) do that for me, so that if I ever do buy a PSP, it will be cheaper and not quite the same piece of poorly-designed shit as the launch model. Spider-Man 2 as an enticement to pay _more_ for a _buggy_ launch PSP? No thanks.

Spider-Man 2, along with every PSP launch title, will cost peanuts in time. It happened with PS2 launch titles (look at this - almost none of them are greatest hits titles yet they are all still in abundance at retail, sealed and unopened, most having been available for less than $10 each at North American retailers for the past 3 years already), and it will happen with PSP, if we make assumptions that it survives (a safe enough bet, considering American buying habits). Nobody is saving any kind of money by getting Spider-Man 2 in the first million (remember time-sensitivity?). Very soon, sooner than you realize, the combined cost of a _more-reliable_ PSP and Spider-Man 2 (if you still choose to buy it at that time) will be less than $250. How anyone with knowledge of Sony's pricing history can doubt this is incredible.

Getting back to something else you mentioned, it's one thing to break down the parts and look around to see how much you can get them for elsewhere. I do that myself when it comes to modularized devices like computers and home theater equipment. But it just doesn't make sense for proprietary devices. It's not as if I could assemble a device from random parts that is compatible with PSP stuff. Therefore, I can only consider the PSP on its own merits as a whole, not as a list of parts. And by its merits, I do not find value in the current model at its current price. Big screen? Great, but it's tied to a poorly-designed controller button layout, an underdesigned disc transport ejection mechanism, an unprotected and easily-smudged/scratched faceplate, and an _expensive_ default battery with severely unsatisfactory functional life/performance.

So would I ever consider a PSP purchase? Okay, why not. Of course that's assuming that _both_ the price comes down by a reasonable amount _and_ the faulty hardware is completely fixed, but that time is obviously not now. No launch PSP for me, at any realistic price. (But hey, if someone bought one for me, it's not like I'd throw it away. I'd accept it gratefully and graciously, still uncomfortable in the fact that such a generous person paid so much for something that has a good chance of failing on us.)

Gah, they need to hire the team responsible for Conker's Bad Fur Day away from Rare to work on this. If they couldn't create a Family Guy game worthy of the franchise, no one could.

It's a Castlevania game for the DS, but it apparently doesn't have a real name yet. I predict it will be a seller.

Might I ask what out of this list do you feel were better launch titles? Like many others, I had a PS2 on launch day and in my house SSX was the game of choice.

Ah, as they say, arguing on the Internet is like competing in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded.

The twist and shoot stuff is made up by Nintendo fanboys, and their accomplices like slashdot.

I guess you missed the videos floating around a few weeks ago that showed how easy it was to make the disc eject by twisting the unit.

in fact far less dead pixels than the DS

Every report says the PSP has more dead pixel problems, and Sony's replacement policy is much harsher than Nintendo's. See, Nintendo will replace your DS if it has one dead pixel, while Sony requires 4 dead pixels in 1 square centimeter.

Battery life is not 2 hours

You're right; its lowest time is 2.75 hours. What a difference.

When the truth's out?

Yes, I looked at the pictures. I worked in a commercial projection booth, and am trying to provide insight. Did you look at this picture from the same article?

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/media/reviews/image/packag e.jpg

I will repeat: Open Matte is ONLY used to crop the top and bottom of 1.33:1 UNADULTERATED 35mm. This movie was obviously filmed with an anamorphic lens (since the full image above is 1.85:1), then pan-and-scanned for the full screen version. The widescreen version should contain more picture than the full screen version. At the theatre this movie would NOT have been matted, but rather a scope lens would have been used.

MGM ripped people off for those movies that were filmed with an anamorphic lens, because they did not get a theatre experience, but rather a cropped pan-and-scan.

I will grant you, the text of the article I pointed to is incorrect, which may mislead you. He says "it was quickly apparent that side two was an open matte version of the widescreen". He should have said "it was quickly apparent that side two was an open matte version of the FULLSCREEN". And that full screen is without a doubt a pan-and-scan, because the movie was filmed and displayed with anamorphic lenses.

Here's the pic from the very link you sent of the widescreen version:

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/media/reviews/image/prince ssbridejogws.jpg

Here it is from the full screen version:

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/media/reviews/image/prince ssbridejogps.jpg

Here is the description from the very site you posted:

"The packaging leads you to believe that you are getting a 'widescreen' edition (non-anamorphic) on one side that gives you more than the other side:

But after investigating both sides, it was quickly apparent that side two was an open matte version of the widescreen. And in case there is any doubt, here is the frame used in the packaging:

I believe Miracle Max's wife said it best: "LIAAAAAR!!!! LIAR!!!"

So, you will get more picture if you choose the 'Standard' side (as the packaging defines it). But I must say the video is much better-looking on the widescreen side. The colors are richer and more defined, whereas the 'standard' version is much more muted."

Here's the pic from the very link you sent of the widescreen version:

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/media/reviews/image/prince ssbridejogws.jpg

Here it is from the full screen version:

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/media/reviews/image/prince ssbridejogps.jpg

Here is the description from the very site you posted:

"The packaging leads you to believe that you are getting a 'widescreen' edition (non-anamorphic) on one side that gives you more than the other side:

But after investigating both sides, it was quickly apparent that side two was an open matte version of the widescreen. And in case there is any doubt, here is the frame used in the packaging:

I believe Miracle Max's wife said it best: "LIAAAAAR!!!! LIAR!!!"

So, you will get more picture if you choose the 'Standard' side (as the packaging defines it). But I must say the video is much better-looking on the widescreen side. The colors are richer and more defined, whereas the 'standard' version is much more muted."

Buy my stickers, put one on your forehead

What, you mean one of these?

since when has Sony or Nintendo cared that much about baseball?

Never. I'm sure.

since when has Sony or Nintendo cared that much about baseball?

Never. I'm sure.

Ridge racers DS is a rushed port of an n64 game(I own RR:DS btw, it has it's moments), RR PSP is the best looking PSP game so far, hardly a fair comparison. Try comparing Need For Speed Underground PSP vs. DS, much better comparison, although the PSP still wins in looks, the DS version stands up MUCH better. Here's some pics for comparison (DS pic is a scan, both pics are not guarenteed final release pics):
PSP - http://media.psp.ign.com/media/664/664929/img_2533 918.html
DS - http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4 6413#46413

Some of you might be aware that the PC/Mac/Linux Game Neverwinter Nights includes a toolset with a C-like scripting language that allows users to code the behavior of characters in a game---not just for combat, but generic interactions as well.

BioWare, the developers of the game, are known for the imaginative story lines in their Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur's Gate series. However, by their own admission, they never have as much time as they want to work on creature AI. In Neverwinter Nights, this shortage of time resulted in a number of unfortunate situations during game play. For example, friendly characters would waste powerful spells on pitifully weak enemies; or they would continually attempt to cast spells in close hand-to-hand combat, not realizing that this gives the close-by enemy countless opportunities to tear them into pieces, and that pulling out that dagger in their backpack might be a better idea. Especially sad were near-death enemies who would try to heal themselves with woefully inadequate healing spells (in RPG talk, down 80 hit points and casting cure minor wounds).

Luckily, the toolset allowed a number of us to code improvements to NPC behavior. I was one of them, starting the Henchman Inventory and Battle AI project, now lead by Tony K. The focus of our project was immediate improvement of game play. An even more impressive community is the Memetic AI group. These folks are putting together a full package of complex behaviors for an entire world, from peasant farmers to fearsome dragons. Impressive stuff.

Analog Devices did provide the accelerometers for Twist and Tumble, but are you sure about Wario Ware Twisted? It's being widely reported as using gyroscopic technology of some kind, and I've yet to see reports to the contrary. I can't find any hard confirmation that the "gyration" company Nintendo is reported to be working with provided the hardware for Twisted, but they [Gyration] claim they have gyroscopic sensors which are generally more accurate than accelerometers.

This has no bearing on the shit-filled-ness of the article, of course; anyone making up rumors about the Revolution would basically have to put in something about tilt sensing, that's what people are expecting from Revolution rumors at this point...

Judging by Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, I'm pretty sure Mario Baseball would be a lot more fun than real baseball.

Well I guess you'll find out for sure soon enough.

THe second was exelent, I still play it. THere sooo manyy weapons and the ai is smarter than most games (i still find them quit dumb though). http://cube.ign.com/articles/474/474036p1.html . I will buy this game as soon as It come out.

I understand the point he is trying to make here but can you imagine someone trying to do an in depth review on the way Polarium for the Nintendo DS accurately expresses the struggle and oppression that the black squares had to face in this puzzle game? A review normally consists of two things: how it looks and how much fun it is. For the most part I just want to know how much fun a game is. If the majority of reviews say a game is a blast to play I'll try it out. Graphics aren't as much of a concern for me. (Vib Ribbon, Katamari Damacy)

Said Mr Sim, "Actually, to me it's a big let-down: we're expecting a good fight but they're coming out with something that's five generations older... So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, -- it's worse than the cheapest Chinese player. Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. I think it's a non-starter to begin with."

I am not here to discuss your comment about the Chinese, nor am I here to bash you personally or your company. I am not even here to talk technical specs, because frankly the lack of a male USB port on your Micro Slim is currently the least of your worries right now.

You are undoubtedly a smart guy, being where you are now. You have sold over 2 million MP3 players last Christmas season, no mean feat at all (vs 4M iPod). There is no doubt that your company Creative is a successful one.

But let me ask you this: You have declared War, but Do you want to WIN this war? Absolutely demolish all that is iPod and steal all the glory? Well then read on because as it stands, this is a War you will live or die for. If you want to live, please consider my Two Cents:

1) Tip #1: Think like the underdog. If you want to be a market maker, you need to grow up and act like one. We all learned about "Perfect Competition" in school, how it meant that there was no excess profit and that the only way to get out of that bind was to differentiate yourself. Right now, iPod is winning because it is differentiable from you (brand name, iTunes integration). How are you winning? What is your battle cry?

For the last two years, Creative has acted just like the "Chinese" me-toos (as you so put down in your latest comment) while Apple has been the market maker through and through. Here are some examples:

When the first generation Apple iPod was released, you still were selling the MP3 jukebox ($480) that could not fast-forward or rewind (true), that looked like a spaceship (definitely), and still took 20 seconds to transfer a song (USB1.0). Quickly, your team raced to build a better looking version, after the success of the big iPod.

The success of the iPod touch interface was also "borrowed" on your Zen-Touch line. And finally, after the Apple iPod Mini was announced, you surprisingly announced the new line of Zen Micro's in 10 colors.

See, I like supporting the "underdog." I like supporting the brightest and most inventive minds. I support Tivoli Audio, Sirius satellite radio, I support many of OS X's small developers' applications, I support the Treo 600, Brian Transeau's music and a million gazillion other small companies out there with insanely great ideas. These are premium but differentiable products that people are willing to spend extra money on.

Make something special, Be somebody special. We want that for your kids right? So incorporate that into your technological children, the Muvo's and the Zen's. Because Nobody honestly lusts to buy a me-too product.

2) Tip #2: Make us shit in o

Unless EA begins to make high-quality games that move to the top of the pack, they will implode the next time a major recession hits. And judging by their volume-over-creativity track record, this is unlikely.

Actually, you don't even need the economy to cooperate. (For one thing, video games weather bad economies fairly well because while they are expensive, they are the best bang for the buck, bar none, in interactive entertainment, especially if you raid the bargain bin. My score today, a new Baldur's Gate, Dark Alliance labelled $9.99, sold at the counter for $7.41. Cha-ching!)

Once the reputation for mediocrity sets in... Slashdot is on the cutting edge of this here, the public hasn't seen it, but they will... they'll go into a death spiral. With such a staff, they'll have immense expenses. That means they can lose big, and fast. Their response will be to do all the wrong things, lay people off and somehow push the remaining developers even harder, pushing down the quality, and pushing them further into the spiral.

The "correct" answer is to fire half the company or more, and take the coffers to take the time to completely restructure the company until it works again. But that takes work and obvious risk, and so they will take the unobvious certainty of the death spiral.

Unless they get a really charismatic leader, this is how it will go.

In fact, I will go out on a limb and say we're witnessing a second video game collapse. EA will eat half+ the industry and then die. This time, it won't be so permanent because it won't be for supply/demand reasons, but there's a major shakeup coming. It will probably be a good or even great thing for us consumers.