I'd rather spend the extra money on Vista/Windows than have an OS that could potentially crash my hard-drive. And given the fact that laptops are all that some of us use, it's not worth the extra effort (assuming the article is right, of course).
I'd say it's more of hard drive manufacturer issue. I have 3 notebooks all running Ubuntu, and the one with a Hitachi HD had this problem, but the other two with Fujitsu HD's didn't. Luckily it took about 5 seconds to fix it. If the manufacturer set a realistic cycle this wouldn't be an issue. Ubuntu is just telling the hard drive to do it's thing, and unfortunately the hardware is set to commit suicide it seems.
Automobiles are legal. There are shootings over automobiles, there are armed and belligerent car thieves, and if you're vehicle were falsely reported stolen, you might well have your home invaded under false pretenses.
I had this happen, and ended up face first on the ground with a knee in my back because of it (it wasn't actually my car reported stolen, but they had put down the wrong license plate or something along those lines.) Yet, when my car was REALLY stolen, the cops kept insisting I had to have given my keys to someone, or maybe that I "forgot" I let someone borrow it. Oh, and they never found my car, but a friend driving home from work who cuts through a rough part of town did later the next day. It was on the side of the road, and looked like the passenger side of the car had been used as a battering ram. They didn't even take my stereo, just went on a joy ride and left it.
In this case, though, I think the SWAT team acted properly, and had great restraint if anything, as no one was hurt. This could have been so much worse.
After all, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is *still* a fun game - I've played through it several times, eventually I will refresh my memory and play it again.
I just purchased Castlevania: SOTN on Xbox Live because of how much I enjoyed it the first time through 10 years ago. I still have an original copy somewhere, but the PS2 lives in basement (DDR has become a fixture in our gym. I beat on the heavy bag or lift while my better half spins or plays DDR. Great addition to any gym to switch things up a bit,) and I want to play in the living room. Still a great game. I just completed the main castle and started on the inverted this morning.
I switched from KDE to Gnome for the exact opposite reason. I liked the fact that KDE was so configurable, but I don't have the time to futz around with it that much anymore. I change a few minor things in Gnome right away on the other hand and I like it. A few years ago I wouldn't have touched Gnome over KDE, though.
I have to agree. I have almost all but given up on playing PC games (still love Nethack, Diablo 2 and UT2k4.) I've spent a ton less on my consoles, and I enjoy the social aspect of just having some friends over for Halo or Mario Party (plus the better half could care less about PC games, but she loves the new Mario Party.) And not having to worry about having a small Windows partition on my machine anymore for those games that are a PITA under Wine is great, too. Being off the gaming upgrade cycle on my PC is nice, I built this machine a bit over 3 years ago now, and it's still more than fast enough for what I do.
And like you said, split screen is fine if the TV is big enough. I have a 54" downstairs that is great, even with 4 player games, and even on a 32" split screen games aren't bad with 2 players.
Business grade dsl and cable connections let you run whatever you want over them; but they aren't guaranteed with that kind of up time, and their price reflects that.
I recently switched to a T1 from Time Warner's Business Road Runner. The T1 actaully costs me less (only by about $15, but still,) with all the uptime benefits (we switched because the cable service seemed to be down at least 2-3 times a month.) This was going from Time Warner's fastest business service to a full T1, btw. Oh, the business service was at over $300 a month for the same speed as my $45 a month home service (10/1) and my home service is much more reliable. Biggest difference was the static IPs (5 of them) with the business account, and supposedly business accounts take priority over home service when it comes to speed (but you never actually saw this, as my home service never slows down during high usage times.)
Myself and my fiance are both big fans of the Method products. They tend to not be too much more expensive and they really do a great job. I know Target and Wegmans (for those in the NE) both carry them.
I'd venture to say they don't ask for Windows. They ask for "a computer" and they *assume* that means Windows.
They actually do ask for Windows by name. Many times people will ask for a "Windows XP" or a "Windows Vista" and not for a computer. I've also had people ask to buy a "Dell" when they meant just a computer. I still hear IBM Compatible once in a long while, too. Lately people have been asking if we can still sell them Windows XP because they don't want Windows Vista, but they're still asking specifically for Windows.
We do offer Linux, but most people just get confused when they find that out, even after we explain it to them. And the first thing they normally ask is if they make MS Office for it. When we tell them about Open Office, they either aren't interested (they want Word, and that's that) or they've had a very bad experience with an older version of it or they say someone else has. They don't understand compatibility or any of the other things. To them, the only word processor on the market is MS Word, the only spreadsheet is MS Excel, etc.
They don't have much choice though. The local box builders have already switched to Ubuntu as their OS of choice. Dell has to match them or be swamped.
I'm a local box builder, and I wish I could switch to Ubuntu as my OS of choice for new machines, but then I wouldn't do any business. I hate to say it, but people come in, and ask for Windows right off the bat. A lot of people don't even know about Linux. The other day we had a get together, and someone jumped in when I said I don't have Windows boxes in the house and asked if I run DOS, because it's the only other OS. She knew what an OS was, but had no idea what Linux was.
I can go either way, actually
Stress in industrialized nations causes weight gain because of the availability of high-calorie snacks that people eat to relieve the stress.
Stress in more natural environments causes weight loss because it shuts down your digestive track and reduces your ability to acquire food.
I lose weight when I'm really stressed, as I tend to not eat much junk food (strict vegetarian, not a candy freak, cook most of my meals from scratch, etc.) I do know other people that head right to the store for junk food when that stress hits, though. I've actually been in a high stress situation the last few months, and have had to make a serious effort to eat enough every day, and have just upped my work out regime to help relieve a bit of that extra anxiety. Just bought a nice heavy bag to beat up in addition to the rest of my regular routine.
Exactly, cheap laptops tend to have a high failure rate and repair is expensive. Desktops otoh can generally be repaired cheaply and easilly by the local neighbourhood geek. I bet right now many people are buying thier first laptop and so haven't been burnt by this before.
I do tend to see certain trends in what laptops break down (not counting ones that are abused.) Cheap or expensive, I see a ton of Dell's with bad motherboards. Toshiba's seem to have a tendency to have the power port break right off the motherboard (but depending on the model, a lot of them are really easy to fix) and also their fans tend to get plugged up easy and make the system overheat (canned air fixes that, though.) HP/Compaqs tend to be pretty decent, but I do see dead motherboards in them once in a while. I barely ever see an Acer or Lenova/IBM with bad hardware unless they were abused first (sort of funny that the cheapest Acer's tend to outlive the most expensive Dell's.)
No matter what, it makes sense that cheaper laptops aren't going to survive as long, but after owning a PC shop for almost 4 years now, the amount of Dell's I see that are just out of warranty that aren't worth the repair is sort of scary.
Price-wise, there are $500-800 laptops. They fit pretty well into the home-consumer and corporate price brackets. Granted, they suck relative to $800 desktops, but we're reaching the point at which GHz of CPU and GB of HDD don't sell machines as easily. While there are certainly ways to make use of larger HDDs and faster CPUs, most consumers don't make use of them yet. Features like in-home wireless will make laptops more attractive than slightly-faster desktops.
I own a PC shop and we sell quite a few computers. Our most popular systems for the last year have been $600ish laptops. There are two we try to always have in that price range, one have a 14.1" screen and the other being a 15.4". Neither system is super powerful, but they are great for what the average user is running (Office apps, web surfing, email.)
But on the other hand I have had quite a few people in the last 6 months or so decide to buy a desktop when their laptop broke, because the repair on a 2 year old laptop just wasn't worth it price wise (lot of Dell's with completely fried motherboards, for example.) The $600ish laptop is still the best selling, but desktops are still a big item for home users. I can't see desktops being only for the hardcore anytime soon just due to the fact that $600-$800 gets you a pretty powerful desktop with a nice big LCD monitor.
When I had FiOS at my last place they insisted on having a WIndows PC to do part of the configuration (the actual account activation.) I ended up finally digging up an old VM I had used some time ago to test out a couple things, and we did it that way. The installer was amazed by the VM, he said he had never seen anything like it before. He was actually considerate and attempted to do the activation quickly over the phone, but his phone support insisted we do it over the web.
I probably fall more into the hardcore category than I do the casual category, and I still love the Wii. I like the fact that it's fun and interactive. I thought the new Paper Mario was great, even if it was a bit easy. The best part of the Wii is that everyone can play, though, so I can actually enjoy games with a group of friends and family now, instead of by myself or just online. The Wii is just plain fun.
But that's the way it's always been! 5 years is the standard video game generation, and Microsoft's and Sony's recent attempts to shorten that should only invite contempt. I'll also throw out there that calling XBox 2 the "360" as a way to try to capture the PS3's name and try to convince gamers that it really is part of the same generation is nothing but marketing bullshit, in the same way that Macromedia never release a version 6 of Freehand to try to leap Illustrator's version number.>
Even though it's always been like that, more often than not the parents purchasing the systems weren't playing them (not always the case, I used to have to fight with my mom to get the TV to play any of our game systems, even back to the Atari 2600.) They feel ripped off because they don't see any advantage to the new system for themselves, but they see the hefty price tag.
And of course it's all marketing, everyone wants to be number one in the game. But don't forget that a lot of people fall for that marketing bullshit. I had a client telling me they only want to use Internet Explorer 7 because it's 5 higher than Firefox, and this was just the other day. I was flabbergasted at the logic, but at the same time I understood where he was coming from. He doesn't have a proper understanding of the software, and thinks that the web browser is the Internet (and that email is something completely different, which is always fun to explain why it isn't working when their Internet goes down.) Marketing names like the 360 are meant for people like that. I had to bite my tongue with the client and not tell them to get Opera because it's 2 higher than IE, instead I explained that the version numbers don't necessarily mean it's a better browser because it's higher. I felt like I was in Spinal Tap (but it goes to 11!)
I have to disagree. If the PS2 proved anything, it's that very few gamers will support more than one console in their home. The hardcore types had a Gamecube (only $99!) as well, but that didn't stop the GCN from being the worst performing console that Nintendo ever released. (~22 million units worldwide) Microsoft didn't fare much better, just barely edging out the Wii's sales. (~24 million units worldwide)
I have to agree that most gamers will only have one console. The truly hardcore will get everything (I have one friend who has every current system except for the PS3, and he's waiting to get one till a few more games he wants come out.) He even buys the handheld systems. But he's the exception to the rule from what I see with my friends. Most of them have one game system, or even none at all. The PS2 is the most common one I see, with the Xbox360 being the next most common. They consider me a hardcore gamer because I have a 360, Wii, and a PS2 (in the gym for DDR, heh.)
Just the other day I overheard a mother bitching up a storm about the 360 because she insisted it was a plot to just make them buy more stuff (well, duh.) The fact that the original Xbox has been out for awhile now didn't matter to her. And I don't think that is an uncommon opinion in her age group and up (she was probably in her mid-40s.)
The younger but growing up gamer generation seems to understand that new systems will probably be out every 5 years or so, and don't seem to mind that part too much. We're one of the few couples without children now, and I can barely find time to play a game anymore. So I can understand why one game system is more than enough for most people, especially when children are in the picture. As a quick disclaimer, the group of friends I'm thinking about are all around 30, be it a bit younger or older, myself and better half included.
Where I live in Central New York those things would get you a hand shake. Travel about an hour one direction or 30 minutes the other, and it'd get you shot. Have to love this country:/
They are catering to the demographic with the money to buy the console- from what I've seen, far more adults buy game systems for their children than buy the system to play themselves.
I'm 28, and I own a PS2, Wii and a 360. I have no children. It's just myself and the fiancee. We have a lot more expendable income on average than our friends with children, and we buy a lot more games because of it. Out of all the people I know buying games, most are buying for themselves and not children (including our friends with little ones.) Most of the kids old enough to play games just have some form of GameBoy, while the consoles are for the adults.
On a side note, the new Paper Mario for the Wii is great. It's not quite as hard as I'd like platform wise, but it's still been grabbing most of my game attention lately. A lot of the humor in the game children wouldn't get, and for a Mario game the story is pretty grim and complex.
Not many people used it because they were ignored immediately by almost everyone. It seemed mostly younger kids would pick the robot voice, and it would make them sound even more headache inducing. I don't believe the 360 has the option, but I almost never end up in a game with younger kids playing.
I have to say I agree completely. I run Ubuntu on my main systems because it's easy and I've spent my time in the trenches. I do have one Slackware machine I use as a little server running on an old Celeron 667, but the systems I really spend time on, my home machine, work machine, and laptop are all Ubuntu.
It's not really a SUV, but my better half has a Toyota Matrix (same thing as a Pontiac Vibe, really.) It's AWD, and it gets up and moving on snow and ice amazingly. And it keeps on moving if you're not careful! The extra confidence that the AWD gives isn't always a good thing. I have an old Honda Accord (1995) which is very good in the snow and ice (we're talking Central New York weather) but at the same time it stops in about half the distance of the Matrix. Before the Matrix she was driving a Suzuki Grand Vitara, which was awful in the bad weather, even with it's 4x4. Sure it was great offroad, but she bought it because the sales guy told her it would be a lot safer in the winter. She learned quickly that it wasn't, that it was more difficult to actually drive because it felt very unstable due to the high center of gravity.
I'll be stick to my small and mid size imports for now. My car is roomy, gets 22-24 mpg in the city and 28-30 mpg on the highway, and is payed for (I will give the Matrix one thing. It gets 28mpg-ish in the city and almost 40mpg on the highway.)
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I'd rather spend the extra money on Vista/Windows than have an OS that could potentially crash my hard-drive. And given the fact that laptops are all that some of us use, it's not worth the extra effort (assuming the article is right, of course).
I'd say it's more of hard drive manufacturer issue. I have 3 notebooks all running Ubuntu, and the one with a Hitachi HD had this problem, but the other two with Fujitsu HD's didn't. Luckily it took about 5 seconds to fix it. If the manufacturer set a realistic cycle this wouldn't be an issue. Ubuntu is just telling the hard drive to do it's thing, and unfortunately the hardware is set to commit suicide it seems.
Automobiles are legal. There are shootings over automobiles, there are armed and belligerent car thieves, and if you're vehicle were falsely reported stolen, you might well have your home invaded under false pretenses.
I had this happen, and ended up face first on the ground with a knee in my back because of it (it wasn't actually my car reported stolen, but they had put down the wrong license plate or something along those lines.) Yet, when my car was REALLY stolen, the cops kept insisting I had to have given my keys to someone, or maybe that I "forgot" I let someone borrow it. Oh, and they never found my car, but a friend driving home from work who cuts through a rough part of town did later the next day. It was on the side of the road, and looked like the passenger side of the car had been used as a battering ram. They didn't even take my stereo, just went on a joy ride and left it.
In this case, though, I think the SWAT team acted properly, and had great restraint if anything, as no one was hurt. This could have been so much worse.
After all, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is *still* a fun game - I've played through it several times, eventually I will refresh my memory and play it again.
I just purchased Castlevania: SOTN on Xbox Live because of how much I enjoyed it the first time through 10 years ago. I still have an original copy somewhere, but the PS2 lives in basement (DDR has become a fixture in our gym. I beat on the heavy bag or lift while my better half spins or plays DDR. Great addition to any gym to switch things up a bit,) and I want to play in the living room. Still a great game. I just completed the main castle and started on the inverted this morning.
I switched from KDE to Gnome for the exact opposite reason. I liked the fact that KDE was so configurable, but I don't have the time to futz around with it that much anymore. I change a few minor things in Gnome right away on the other hand and I like it. A few years ago I wouldn't have touched Gnome over KDE, though.
I have to agree. I have almost all but given up on playing PC games (still love Nethack, Diablo 2 and UT2k4.) I've spent a ton less on my consoles, and I enjoy the social aspect of just having some friends over for Halo or Mario Party (plus the better half could care less about PC games, but she loves the new Mario Party.) And not having to worry about having a small Windows partition on my machine anymore for those games that are a PITA under Wine is great, too. Being off the gaming upgrade cycle on my PC is nice, I built this machine a bit over 3 years ago now, and it's still more than fast enough for what I do.
And like you said, split screen is fine if the TV is big enough. I have a 54" downstairs that is great, even with 4 player games, and even on a 32" split screen games aren't bad with 2 players.
Business grade dsl and cable connections let you run whatever you want over them; but they aren't guaranteed with that kind of up time, and their price reflects that.
I recently switched to a T1 from Time Warner's Business Road Runner. The T1 actaully costs me less (only by about $15, but still,) with all the uptime benefits (we switched because the cable service seemed to be down at least 2-3 times a month.) This was going from Time Warner's fastest business service to a full T1, btw. Oh, the business service was at over $300 a month for the same speed as my $45 a month home service (10/1) and my home service is much more reliable. Biggest difference was the static IPs (5 of them) with the business account, and supposedly business accounts take priority over home service when it comes to speed (but you never actually saw this, as my home service never slows down during high usage times.)
Close, from Syracuse. Ton of them around here.
Myself and my fiance are both big fans of the Method products. They tend to not be too much more expensive and they really do a great job. I know Target and Wegmans (for those in the NE) both carry them.
That's so ridiculous that I think you're full of shit.
I take it you don't work with the home retail sector in regards to computers, eh?
I'd venture to say they don't ask for Windows. They ask for "a computer" and they *assume* that means Windows.
They actually do ask for Windows by name. Many times people will ask for a "Windows XP" or a "Windows Vista" and not for a computer. I've also had people ask to buy a "Dell" when they meant just a computer. I still hear IBM Compatible once in a long while, too. Lately people have been asking if we can still sell them Windows XP because they don't want Windows Vista, but they're still asking specifically for Windows.
We do offer Linux, but most people just get confused when they find that out, even after we explain it to them. And the first thing they normally ask is if they make MS Office for it. When we tell them about Open Office, they either aren't interested (they want Word, and that's that) or they've had a very bad experience with an older version of it or they say someone else has. They don't understand compatibility or any of the other things. To them, the only word processor on the market is MS Word, the only spreadsheet is MS Excel, etc.
They don't have much choice though. The local box builders have already switched to Ubuntu as their OS of choice. Dell has to match them or be swamped.
I'm a local box builder, and I wish I could switch to Ubuntu as my OS of choice for new machines, but then I wouldn't do any business. I hate to say it, but people come in, and ask for Windows right off the bat. A lot of people don't even know about Linux. The other day we had a get together, and someone jumped in when I said I don't have Windows boxes in the house and asked if I run DOS, because it's the only other OS. She knew what an OS was, but had no idea what Linux was.
I can go either way, actually Stress in industrialized nations causes weight gain because of the availability of high-calorie snacks that people eat to relieve the stress. Stress in more natural environments causes weight loss because it shuts down your digestive track and reduces your ability to acquire food.
I lose weight when I'm really stressed, as I tend to not eat much junk food (strict vegetarian, not a candy freak, cook most of my meals from scratch, etc.) I do know other people that head right to the store for junk food when that stress hits, though. I've actually been in a high stress situation the last few months, and have had to make a serious effort to eat enough every day, and have just upped my work out regime to help relieve a bit of that extra anxiety. Just bought a nice heavy bag to beat up in addition to the rest of my regular routine.
Exactly, cheap laptops tend to have a high failure rate and repair is expensive. Desktops otoh can generally be repaired cheaply and easilly by the local neighbourhood geek. I bet right now many people are buying thier first laptop and so haven't been burnt by this before.
I do tend to see certain trends in what laptops break down (not counting ones that are abused.) Cheap or expensive, I see a ton of Dell's with bad motherboards. Toshiba's seem to have a tendency to have the power port break right off the motherboard (but depending on the model, a lot of them are really easy to fix) and also their fans tend to get plugged up easy and make the system overheat (canned air fixes that, though.) HP/Compaqs tend to be pretty decent, but I do see dead motherboards in them once in a while. I barely ever see an Acer or Lenova/IBM with bad hardware unless they were abused first (sort of funny that the cheapest Acer's tend to outlive the most expensive Dell's.)
No matter what, it makes sense that cheaper laptops aren't going to survive as long, but after owning a PC shop for almost 4 years now, the amount of Dell's I see that are just out of warranty that aren't worth the repair is sort of scary.
Price-wise, there are $500-800 laptops. They fit pretty well into the home-consumer and corporate price brackets. Granted, they suck relative to $800 desktops, but we're reaching the point at which GHz of CPU and GB of HDD don't sell machines as easily. While there are certainly ways to make use of larger HDDs and faster CPUs, most consumers don't make use of them yet. Features like in-home wireless will make laptops more attractive than slightly-faster desktops.
I own a PC shop and we sell quite a few computers. Our most popular systems for the last year have been $600ish laptops. There are two we try to always have in that price range, one have a 14.1" screen and the other being a 15.4". Neither system is super powerful, but they are great for what the average user is running (Office apps, web surfing, email.)
But on the other hand I have had quite a few people in the last 6 months or so decide to buy a desktop when their laptop broke, because the repair on a 2 year old laptop just wasn't worth it price wise (lot of Dell's with completely fried motherboards, for example.) The $600ish laptop is still the best selling, but desktops are still a big item for home users. I can't see desktops being only for the hardcore anytime soon just due to the fact that $600-$800 gets you a pretty powerful desktop with a nice big LCD monitor.
When I had FiOS at my last place they insisted on having a WIndows PC to do part of the configuration (the actual account activation.) I ended up finally digging up an old VM I had used some time ago to test out a couple things, and we did it that way. The installer was amazed by the VM, he said he had never seen anything like it before. He was actually considerate and attempted to do the activation quickly over the phone, but his phone support insisted we do it over the web.
I probably fall more into the hardcore category than I do the casual category, and I still love the Wii. I like the fact that it's fun and interactive. I thought the new Paper Mario was great, even if it was a bit easy. The best part of the Wii is that everyone can play, though, so I can actually enjoy games with a group of friends and family now, instead of by myself or just online. The Wii is just plain fun.
But that's the way it's always been! 5 years is the standard video game generation, and Microsoft's and Sony's recent attempts to shorten that should only invite contempt. I'll also throw out there that calling XBox 2 the "360" as a way to try to capture the PS3's name and try to convince gamers that it really is part of the same generation is nothing but marketing bullshit, in the same way that Macromedia never release a version 6 of Freehand to try to leap Illustrator's version number.>
Even though it's always been like that, more often than not the parents purchasing the systems weren't playing them (not always the case, I used to have to fight with my mom to get the TV to play any of our game systems, even back to the Atari 2600.) They feel ripped off because they don't see any advantage to the new system for themselves, but they see the hefty price tag.
And of course it's all marketing, everyone wants to be number one in the game. But don't forget that a lot of people fall for that marketing bullshit. I had a client telling me they only want to use Internet Explorer 7 because it's 5 higher than Firefox, and this was just the other day. I was flabbergasted at the logic, but at the same time I understood where he was coming from. He doesn't have a proper understanding of the software, and thinks that the web browser is the Internet (and that email is something completely different, which is always fun to explain why it isn't working when their Internet goes down.) Marketing names like the 360 are meant for people like that. I had to bite my tongue with the client and not tell them to get Opera because it's 2 higher than IE, instead I explained that the version numbers don't necessarily mean it's a better browser because it's higher. I felt like I was in Spinal Tap (but it goes to 11!)
I have to disagree. If the PS2 proved anything, it's that very few gamers will support more than one console in their home. The hardcore types had a Gamecube (only $99!) as well, but that didn't stop the GCN from being the worst performing console that Nintendo ever released. (~22 million units worldwide) Microsoft didn't fare much better, just barely edging out the Wii's sales. (~24 million units worldwide)
I have to agree that most gamers will only have one console. The truly hardcore will get everything (I have one friend who has every current system except for the PS3, and he's waiting to get one till a few more games he wants come out.) He even buys the handheld systems. But he's the exception to the rule from what I see with my friends. Most of them have one game system, or even none at all. The PS2 is the most common one I see, with the Xbox360 being the next most common. They consider me a hardcore gamer because I have a 360, Wii, and a PS2 (in the gym for DDR, heh.)
Just the other day I overheard a mother bitching up a storm about the 360 because she insisted it was a plot to just make them buy more stuff (well, duh.) The fact that the original Xbox has been out for awhile now didn't matter to her. And I don't think that is an uncommon opinion in her age group and up (she was probably in her mid-40s.)
The younger but growing up gamer generation seems to understand that new systems will probably be out every 5 years or so, and don't seem to mind that part too much. We're one of the few couples without children now, and I can barely find time to play a game anymore. So I can understand why one game system is more than enough for most people, especially when children are in the picture. As a quick disclaimer, the group of friends I'm thinking about are all around 30, be it a bit younger or older, myself and better half included.
Where I live in Central New York those things would get you a hand shake. Travel about an hour one direction or 30 minutes the other, and it'd get you shot. Have to love this country :/
The scene that got to me the most out of any game was in Phantasy Star II when Nei dies :( The scene in Mario is right up there, though.
They are catering to the demographic with the money to buy the console- from what I've seen, far more adults buy game systems for their children than buy the system to play themselves.
I'm 28, and I own a PS2, Wii and a 360. I have no children. It's just myself and the fiancee. We have a lot more expendable income on average than our friends with children, and we buy a lot more games because of it. Out of all the people I know buying games, most are buying for themselves and not children (including our friends with little ones.) Most of the kids old enough to play games just have some form of GameBoy, while the consoles are for the adults.
On a side note, the new Paper Mario for the Wii is great. It's not quite as hard as I'd like platform wise, but it's still been grabbing most of my game attention lately. A lot of the humor in the game children wouldn't get, and for a Mario game the story is pretty grim and complex.
Not many people used it because they were ignored immediately by almost everyone. It seemed mostly younger kids would pick the robot voice, and it would make them sound even more headache inducing. I don't believe the 360 has the option, but I almost never end up in a game with younger kids playing.
I have to say I agree completely. I run Ubuntu on my main systems because it's easy and I've spent my time in the trenches. I do have one Slackware machine I use as a little server running on an old Celeron 667, but the systems I really spend time on, my home machine, work machine, and laptop are all Ubuntu.
It's not really a SUV, but my better half has a Toyota Matrix (same thing as a Pontiac Vibe, really.) It's AWD, and it gets up and moving on snow and ice amazingly. And it keeps on moving if you're not careful! The extra confidence that the AWD gives isn't always a good thing. I have an old Honda Accord (1995) which is very good in the snow and ice (we're talking Central New York weather) but at the same time it stops in about half the distance of the Matrix. Before the Matrix she was driving a Suzuki Grand Vitara, which was awful in the bad weather, even with it's 4x4. Sure it was great offroad, but she bought it because the sales guy told her it would be a lot safer in the winter. She learned quickly that it wasn't, that it was more difficult to actually drive because it felt very unstable due to the high center of gravity.
I'll be stick to my small and mid size imports for now. My car is roomy, gets 22-24 mpg in the city and 28-30 mpg on the highway, and is payed for (I will give the Matrix one thing. It gets 28mpg-ish in the city and almost 40mpg on the highway.)
Halo was a great example of a game that does it properly. The uninstaller takes all of a few seconds to remove the entire game directory.