Whether or not the government has the right to mandate this, just wait until health insurance companies start charging higher premiums for families that opt out of vaccinations because those kids are at a higher risk for various illnesses and diseases.
Just make sure you book a flight that doesn't connect in the US if you're traveling from Europe to Canada. That's what I always do. Depending on the airline going from say Edmonton to Germany will have a connection in either Calgary or Toronto. I'd rather not have to deal with the hassle of DHS or TSA rules in the US if I can help it.
I don't think smart phones or tablets are killing consoles or desktops, portable gaming maybe. The majority of smart phone gamers are more casual gamers that would most likely have never bought a console or a desktop for the more time consuming hardcore titles anyways. Smart phone and tablet gamers didn't steal a piece of that pie, they just made the whole pie a lot bigger.
In my experience having games shipped to Canada from the US, it isn't so much the increased cost of shipping that causes US stores to refuse to ship to Canada. It's because US editions don't generally come with the French language instructions in them and due to our two official languages English and French instructions must both be included.
Most new releases in Canada go through warehouses in Eastern Canada where the French instruction manuals are shrink wrapped to the back of the game cases for consoles games.
Sure that kid most likely isn't a terrorist buuuuuuut the TSA and airport security personnel in other countries aren't only looking for terrorists. They're also looking for people smuggling drugs, wildlife and other prohibited or illegal items. It just so happens that the people doing these things also sometimes try and smuggle things through security by getting kids and other people to carry the items for them (knowingly or unknowingly).
The older I get the more I realize I could just drive to the store after work the next day to pick up my pre-orders instead of waiting in line and freezing my butt off for the midnight releases. Not like I'm going to be playing my game when I have to go home and get up for work the next morning.
Keep in mind that WoW is as much a service as it is a game. You subscribe to their service so that you can play on their servers with other subscribers.
It's not much different than a brick and mortar restaurant with a sign saying 'no shirt, no shoes, no service.' In this case Blizzard is saying 'use hacks, use bots, no service.'
When I bought Bad Company 2 it came with a VIP code. A one time only VIP code. What ran through my mind is what if I have to format my PS3, or a firmware update requires "servicing" (see former), etc. What happens then?
On PS3 your downloads are tied to your Playstation Network account. I think you can redownload it at will as long as you use the same login credentials.
The VIP code for Bad Company 2 is tied to your EA account I believe (but all in all pretty much the same difference). The same goes for games like Splinter Cell Conviction exclusive content (tied to your UPlay account), Dragon Age Origins (tied to your Bioware / EA account). Once the code has been tied to your account you can redownload as many times as you want to the console your profile is currently set up on.
This is the same on both the PS3 and 360 (assuming that it works similar to the PC).
Or move to Alberta Canada where the Alberta Health Care premiums are currently paid for by the Provincial Government and have been for about the last year and a bit.
Slashdot Mirror
Whether or not the government has the right to mandate this, just wait until health insurance companies start charging higher premiums for families that opt out of vaccinations because those kids are at a higher risk for various illnesses and diseases.
Just make sure you book a flight that doesn't connect in the US if you're traveling from Europe to Canada. That's what I always do. Depending on the airline going from say Edmonton to Germany will have a connection in either Calgary or Toronto. I'd rather not have to deal with the hassle of DHS or TSA rules in the US if I can help it.
I don't think smart phones or tablets are killing consoles or desktops, portable gaming maybe. The majority of smart phone gamers are more casual gamers that would most likely have never bought a console or a desktop for the more time consuming hardcore titles anyways. Smart phone and tablet gamers didn't steal a piece of that pie, they just made the whole pie a lot bigger.
In my experience having games shipped to Canada from the US, it isn't so much the increased cost of shipping that causes US stores to refuse to ship to Canada. It's because US editions don't generally come with the French language instructions in them and due to our two official languages English and French instructions must both be included. Most new releases in Canada go through warehouses in Eastern Canada where the French instruction manuals are shrink wrapped to the back of the game cases for consoles games.
Here in Canada we take two things seriously, our hockey and our beer.
Sure that kid most likely isn't a terrorist buuuuuuut the TSA and airport security personnel in other countries aren't only looking for terrorists. They're also looking for people smuggling drugs, wildlife and other prohibited or illegal items. It just so happens that the people doing these things also sometimes try and smuggle things through security by getting kids and other people to carry the items for them (knowingly or unknowingly).
The older I get the more I realize I could just drive to the store after work the next day to pick up my pre-orders instead of waiting in line and freezing my butt off for the midnight releases. Not like I'm going to be playing my game when I have to go home and get up for work the next morning.
The combat in FF12 I didn't mind too much, the inability to invert the X axis directions was what threw me off the game.
Keep in mind that WoW is as much a service as it is a game. You subscribe to their service so that you can play on their servers with other subscribers. It's not much different than a brick and mortar restaurant with a sign saying 'no shirt, no shoes, no service.' In this case Blizzard is saying 'use hacks, use bots, no service.'
When I bought Bad Company 2 it came with a VIP code. A one time only VIP code. What ran through my mind is what if I have to format my PS3, or a firmware update requires "servicing" (see former), etc. What happens then?
On PS3 your downloads are tied to your Playstation Network account. I think you can redownload it at will as long as you use the same login credentials.
The VIP code for Bad Company 2 is tied to your EA account I believe (but all in all pretty much the same difference). The same goes for games like Splinter Cell Conviction exclusive content (tied to your UPlay account), Dragon Age Origins (tied to your Bioware / EA account). Once the code has been tied to your account you can redownload as many times as you want to the console your profile is currently set up on. This is the same on both the PS3 and 360 (assuming that it works similar to the PC).
Or move to Alberta Canada where the Alberta Health Care premiums are currently paid for by the Provincial Government and have been for about the last year and a bit.