The only issue I have with reports that quote total numbers and use NPD data as their source is that they never say that NPD data only covers 60-70% of retail sales and doesn't include Walmart or any online sales.

Gottta love grandstanding CEOs. So rather than selling 600,000 units on Xbox 360 and 300,000 units on PS3, you'd rather just lose those 300K in sales? Believe me, if developing for Sony was unprofitable, they would already have stopped.

This is just more evidence of the Entitlement Generation who has determined that they don't want to pay for anything. Valve has been VERY generous in continuing to support their games with free updates and expansions and now people want to bitch because they are "forcing" you to pop another $50 to L4D2 a year later? Hey, if you think they are ripping you off, just continue to play L4D.

Here's some good advice for the complainers: Never get too comfortable with anything that's free.

I think you are mistaking "indivisual imapct" with "societal impact." No matter what the subject matter, there will always be individuals who find something offensive/distateful/etc. Think of it like Elvis - when he came on the scene, parents across the nation were offended by his hip swinging gyrations and kids were thinking "time to move on Mom and Dad." If you put that sort of display on TV today, it wouldn't even create a drop of outrage, though there would still no doubt be individuals who found it distateful.

I look at N'Gai's response the same way. Yes, he may have found the imagery offensive, but the vast majority of society is thinking "Really, it's time to move on from petty things you think are racist and really focus on true racism in soceity." To put it bluntly, it's crying wolf.

With the PS3 Slim/Mini looking like it's real, Sony could drop a massive bomb on E3 if they can somehow get it down to $199. Fortunately they have done enough to stick around, but they were seriously hurt by letting MS get a 1 year head start and not having a big differentiator by the time they launched. That being said, I don't think any objective observer can say the PS3 is not an awesome system and probbaly has the best and broadest first part lineup out there.

I'm not sure what their strategy is, but I think they are in this for the long tail and shouldn't even think about a new console for at least another 5-7 years.