SteveThaiBinh

That's nice.

More likely he'll just invade it himself (in order to find those Penguins of Mass Destruction ).

I wonder if the US games industry is like the movie industry in attracting foreign skilled workers to go there. How many people working in US game developers and publishers are non-US citizens? When comparing the US and European gaming industries, it's important to remember that there are many games that succeed in Europe, or parts of Europe, that are barely noticed in the US or not even released there. That doesn't mean that they're poor quality, though some are, just that the developers didn't think they'd sell in the US, or lacked a publisher willing to promote the games. The Longest Journey barely sold in the US, I believe - it's getting its sequel on the back of European sales mostly, and it's a great game. No-one can challenge the US - it's probably the world leader, though Japan may have that title, I'm not sure. But there are plenty of games developers elsewhere, and they don't always care about cracking the US market if they sell well and make a profit in their own countries.

We've been well over our 2Gb limit with Wanadoo and they've never commented or charged us; though having said that, the service is so crappy and the interruptions so frequent they may just be too embarrassed. When we upgraded from 512k to 1Mb last year there was no noticeable change in download speeds.

I think Kavar was probably the best teacher, although it can depend on the nature of the student. Some students really do prosper with a teacher like Vrook pushing them and finding fault with everything they do, though it's a minority. Kreia was manipulating you to push her own agenda for her own satisfaction, not your benefit, so she doesn't count as a teacher at all.

I agree with all the points you've made. I don't know how you would make such a system work. On the other hand, consumers need information about the product that they're buying. Even today, if I had bought Kotor 2 and found that it took me four hours to complete, I would have felt more than disappointed - I would have felt conned, and demanded my money back. Whether or not I would have had any legal right to do so (probably not), it's an unhappy situation both for me and for the publisher, as I will discourage my friends from buying the game. If the convention that a game has 30-40 hours of gameplay is breaking down (if it ever really existed), is it sufficient to rely on magazine reviews to inform the consumer that they're getting so much less for the same price?

I think the people of New Orleans who were told they could go home and then told to evacuate again are probably quite annoyed by now. Was it the mayor who made both decisions, or someone at state or federal level?

Spellmar should restrict his/her/its concern to posts which are unclear or incomprehensible due to poor grammar or spelling. Such posts are rare. Otherwise, Spellmar should relax and take a holiday. He/She/It probably deserves one.

Sentinel for the skill points, Marauder for the lightsaber prowess (I think? It's a long time since I played now). I played Guardian once or twice, but Force Jump doesn't make up for all you lose.

Europa 1400: The Guild is a good open-ended game like Pirates!, more of a strategy than combat emphasis, though. I once bought a game called Eric the Unready and finished it in about five hours - this was back in the days of Ultima when games were supposed to be much longer. I was so angry I called the company and they agreed to replace it with another title for free . Would that happen nowadays? Movie DVDs have to have the length of the movie recorded on the back of the box. While the length of games is more subjective, I think I've seen some that put a '40+ hours of gameplay' on the box with other features. Perhaps it should become compulsory. Maybe ESRB or ELSPA could do it?

It allows you to play different versions of The Nameless One, which to me is enough to make it a genuine role-playing experience, more than most RPGs. It's a great game, no question. Is that the dual box set with Soulbringer? Not sure if that's a good game, as I couldn't get past the garish interface.

Now I feel all evil and stuff. I'm off to tie a young woman to a railway track.

I notice Michael Moore made number two. Alas, I don't think Mr. Bush is a miserable failure. He's too unaware of his failure to be miserable.

I perceive that you have better taste in avatars than I thought. Very pretty. Does having a new avatar make you feel any different? @Eldar: What in the world? Oh, OK, I went back and saw the picture. You know, for anyone who hasn't visited this thread and seen the original it's just going to look like a little red blob.

One might think Mr. Brown's job was to be head of FEMA and manage emergencies. However, like all members of any administration, his primary duty is to protect the president. He's resigned/been sacked because it helps the president to survive, by making it appear that someone is taking responsibility. Heads have rolled. Crisis? What crisis?

Can we say "Straight to video"?

England actually won! For the first time in eighteen years, I think. Pieterson's century was awesome.

Doesn't have to be a new movie, according to the first post. I watched Fargo on DVD last night - I really love that movie. A movie has to be really dire for me not to enjoy it on DVD, but really good to motivate me to go to the cinema. I see not much calling me in the near future. To anyone who's seen The Constant Gardener: is it particularly worth seeing in a cinema, do you think?

I think she probably just needs a hug. She looks sad and helpless; it's all very Ringu, of course. Where have I seen the acronym F.E.A.R. before? I'm thinking 80s cartoon series or possibly puppets, but can't get a clear memory.

Save the game, no, if you think it needs saving. It's a good game with flaws - this patch addresses one of the flaws, the Restoration Project will address a few others, and the game will be better for it. Will it be as good as it would have been had either LucasArts given Obsidian a decent time to develop it or Obsidian been better able to judge how much they could put into the game in the time allowed (delete according to your personal loyalities)? No. But I will give it a replay when the movie/music patch comes out, and probably enjoy it quite a bit.

Didn't he join the army or something?

Interesting. So a deafening silence has been replaced by a vague statement of intent. It's actually a genuine advance.

Is the little girl killing? She looks oblivious to the whole affair. Maybe she gets a gun later? I wonder what the ESRB rating for a game featuring a little girl with a gun would be.

Or it gives a voice to the people at a time when they feel helpless and voiceless. It expresses their feelings and frustrations on their behalf. The guy is a politician - perhaps he knows his constituents well. I don't know the ethnic makeup of New Orleans, though the perception I've always had was that it was very mixed. There were very few non-black faces in that stadium that I could see, enough to make me take notice of it, though if something like 80% of the population as a whole is black, for example, then it's not that significant. The BBC news showed mainly white residents of a home for the elderly being evacuated, but aside from that, wherever in New Orleans they've reported from, it's been refugees with black faces and police with white faces, with only very few exceptions. I don't want to make a race issue where there isn't one, and I don't want to use a tragedy to paper over the cracks if those cracks are real. It's not easy to get the balance right.

Apparently so.