Imagine if Motorstorm was f2p (looking at your avatar)... the community would be huge, persistently active and would ensure that the developers stay focused on their product, rather than ditching it once the 3 months of dlc are done.
You don't get the context of this... clearly. She may be a fool from "a potato farm" but she's in government and her opinion can have a huge effect. So, sure, if everyone keeps submitting stuff about potato farmers moaning about games, I apologise for being repetitive.
...but I reckon this is the first time most people have seen an Irish TD moaning about games in such a negative tone.
Yeah, given the issues this country has right now attacking an industry that helps job creation and promotes high-tech industrial growth, this is a big mis-step. Especially given the fact that (as I linked in the article) they used gaming as a way to garner votes.
You are right in what you say but I think that self-image is only present when it's the gamer him/herself thinking about the genre. Outsiders don't look at it that way. This is why I brought up the culture around Metal music - it's looked at from the outside with distain because the people inside are sweaty, drunk meat headed morons. Gaming has a similar 'bad rep' when looked on from the outside...
Your figures don't translate well in Europe, though. I cited in the piece that Gamestop are closing stores in the UK and while other places are doing games, it's on a much smaller scale and doesn't really serve the greater good of gaming. It'll be interesting to see financial forecasts for 2011 when digital is taken into consideration. Steam is so huge I would say it's played a huge part in "PC Games" sections in stores being pushed down to one single shelf/rack....
Reading it back it does sound like that alright... half way through writing it I realised how much I dislike going into bricks-and-mortar stores. Sorry :P
If that was a dig at me then fair play - you're the first one to call me a journalist, rather then an opinionated blogger twat.
Though it is kind of the same thing...
I would gladly take 720P over 1080i/p if the consolation prize was texture mapping and lighting effects on this scale.
People are getting a little emotional about resolutions and number crunching instead of looking at the game and being in awe. No one analyses a movie because it wasn't shot at 4K. If it's a great experience, then so be it. If bumping it to 1080 means losing some of the on-screen action or flare, then don't use 1080. It's a good trade-off!
I was more referring to the process of what's happened since the reviews have come out - rather than the consoles. Though for this submission I've removed that reference (but not in the original post) :)