thoughthead

I apologize for not having an article this week, I’ve been spending my time on a number of other projects including a new website that I plan on launching within the next month or two.

In thoughthead.com news you can expect to see Ackerhack adding his two cents worth very soon, and I’ve also revamped the comment system on the site here.

Registration is now no longer required and I hope that this helps encourage people to leave more comments. Of course if you’ve already registered you can still login and not worry about typing in your name and email every time you comment. This new system is really more of an addition to the existing system than a replacement. Gravatars will still work whether you’re posting from a registered account or simply leaving a comment off-the-cuff.

          

So the format war still rages on, it seemed like the news concerning the two formats had died down for quite a while, though recent announcements by Blockbuster concerning their support have brought it back into the forefront again. Now is as good a time as any to re-evaluate where these two formats stand, read on to find out for yourself. (more…)

          

When the 360 launched it did so at a price higher than most people were used to paying for a console. By the time the PS3′s price was announced the 360′s price tag didn’t seem all that bad, though, the Wii reminded us that a new console can still have a reasonable price. There’s a lot of rumors flying around about when we’ll see price drops happening this generation. Here are my predictions… (more…)

          

You might notice some slight changes to the layout here at thoughthead, in addition to pairing down the sidebar to make room for some sponsored links, the search is now powered by Google and we’ve also added avatars. The avatars are managed by Gravatar, if you would like to setup an avatar to use here: simply sign up with Gravatar and your avatar will automatically be added to all of your posts here as well as retroactively with everything you’ve posted so far. This is of course assuming you used the same email to sign up here that you did with Gravatar.

Why have I added avatars? you might ask. Well I’ve invited a colleague to join the ranks here at thoughthead. He will be here sharing his insights into the game industry in much the same fashion that I have been. This doesn’t mean you’ll see any less from me, I plan on posting weekly just as I always have, but now you’ll get even more to read every week. Please welcome him when you see him appear here on the site.

Before you start scratching your head as to why I’m allowing someone else to post on “my” site, understand that this has ALWAYS been my intention. thoughthead.com was created with the intent of delivering creative and intelligent insights into the video game and home theater realm. This marks the first step towards that, don’t be surprised if you see even more people contributing to thoughthead in the future.

-TS

          

A discussion has started on the International Game Developers Association forums that poses the question about whether Achievements add to the gaming experience or detract from it. The Core Argument is that Achievements and gamerscore change the way people approach games; changing even artful plot driven games into a just another high-score grind-fest. (more…)