Pachter's comments about "2 buyers" is right on the money. I work for an electronics retailer and I can say from first hand experience that releasing your game in Q4 is guaranteed to make a publisher more money than at any other time of the year.

Let's say a publisher puts out a big release in March; they have just lost all the extra sales they would have had from parents and relatives buying games as gifts for their family members, and in most cases when it's someone in their 30's to 50's buying the game, they are purchasing a title that the receiver either couldn't afford on his own or purchase because of his age. Not to mention, by the time Christmas rolls around that game that came out in March is not the hot item anymore, and there are other titles people will be more interested in. On top of that, there are the residual sales that filter in throughout January from all the people who received gift cards to major retailers, which they will probably have already spent by March or April.

It may put a strain on people's wallets, but every game that comes out in Q4 sells more than it otherwise would have no matter how crowded the market.

Regardless of how much of a story is actually there, the way it is imparted to the player doesn't do it any favors. Dom is supposed to be the emotional center of the story, yet his voice actor Carlos Ferro is by far the worst in the game, a problem multiplied when combined with the often atrocious dialogue.

The record companies said the same things when iTunes became the second largest music retailer in the U.S. Then Steve Jobs told them nothing was changing and they could leave if they wanted. Almost nobody did because iTunes was the second largest music retailer in the U.S. at that point. Activision and MTV should realize they hold the power here and stick to their guns.

If these systems weren't so damned expensive, I don't think there would be this fanaticism with which brand was taking the sales lead from month to month, or week to week. Personally, I'm just looking for games that are fun/visually stimulating/mentally engaging/introducing new and fun game mechanics or even a bad game that has something cool in it I can't find somewhere else (though admittedly I would probably only rent that one). Who really cares that Xbox sold more than PlayStation, or that Wii beat them both, unless your real concern is that the system you hitched your star to will fail and crumble to dust, leaving you gameless and without the financial means to leap over to another brand?

I think I get what you're talking about: every product in the medium, even the crap stuff, helps to practice and refine the skills and talents necessary to the medium, and when you combine that with its many applications spreading it out to a wider audience that helps grow the accessibility and user interaction with the medium, this leads to its 'maturity'. Is that about right?

If so.....I guess I can't really argue with that. Admittedly the TV analogy helped me get there, but I see what you're saying (unless this isn't what you're saying at all. oh $&#@, am I coming off like an idiot right now?! I gotta go.)