I think you're missing the boat here. Guerrilla ultimately is going for an experience that puts you into the shoes of a pissant grunt taking part in an interplanetary struggle. I think that this is where the story and dialogue hit a home run. Kotaku's review probably describes this in a way that is better than what I could, but as a lowlife grunt, Guerrilla makes it clear that your priorities are to get out alive, keeping as many of your comrades alive as possible. I think that a more intricate plot or some kind of emphatic didactic from a squadmate would make the experience seem ingenious. As it stands, it makes you feel like just another "one of the guys" on the ground trying to look out for his squad members, and the story and dialogue are uniquely fitting. And from that I talk out of experience having been in a hot zone myself.

Other than the possible inclusion of force feedback, this can only be seen as a consumer exploit as the classic and this "classic pro" are otherwise identical.

On the flip side... MS has refused to breakdown 360 vs Windows Live accounts, which is kind of a big deal considering the fact that PC gamers don't pay a dime for those accounts (because they are smart, let's face it... having to pay to play multiplayer in a non-MMO environment really is a lot of nonsense).

True, and I agree with you to a point... but "guaranteed success" on the PC isn't what it once was, especially considering the niche market that FSim applies to. And with the way the market is right now, I can see them cutting departments that aren't going to be gold-mines in the foreseeable future. Now do I agree with it? Hell no. They were successful studios capable of delivering quality polished products on time with few issues or complaints. Once the markets stabilize, MS is going to hopefully bludgeon themselves to death for killing off these fantastic devs, particularly with Ensemble breaking off into two new dev studios who will likely make games for rival systems.

Smart moves in the short term, but provided MS doesn't go under during this financial mess, then completely boneheaded moves in the long term.

Amen to that. Am I allowed to hate Congress if I'm still in the naval reserves? Oh well, let the hating commence...

*HATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*