Best Buy (and others, to be fair) charge a premium for services like this that the completely tech incompetent might make use of.
This PS3 firmware thing is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to big box companies that offer "services" like these (if you can even call it that). They milk it for pretty much any electronic device they can.
Kind of like how they offer to remove bloatware for a fee should you buy a new PC => it's easy to do you...
I've bought more stuff from them than I ever intended - including a ton of impulse buys, thanks to their fire sales.
With the holidays coming up, bank on seeing some sweet deals in the next couple months.
I game on every platform, but I can't justify paying for a lot of the stuff on XBL when I can get the same thing cheaper or free off Steam. Hell, a lot of the BASE (non-sale) prices are cheaper on Steam than XBL.
Hardware is usually the culprit in YLOD.
Generally it's the solder connections that go bad (see Dark Overlord's comment). No GPU/CPU = general hardware failure = YLOD light comes on = pissed off gamer.
Firmware does tell hardware how to operate & interface, but it's a bit more inconclusive when it comes to how often this causes system failures. But if you've been around N4G long enough you've probably seen the "Ohmygawdzthefirmw...
If it's not just a certain game that's freezing up and it's having trouble reading discs, my hunch would be on your Blu Ray diode going bad. I had similar trouble with mine a couple years back.
It's fairly easy to fix yourself - assuming you are somewhat tech savvy and your console is out of warranty. There are walkthrough vids on Youtube => I'd watch one of those before trying this, just to make sure you feel comfortable doing this.
From a quality standpoint there is no friggin' comparison.
If the question is "what game sucks?", the answer is clearly Quantum.
If you're looking for a great game (read: everything QT wanted to be but failed miserably), then obviously Gears.
Good for him. I don't. And I won't buy another LP sequel - regardless of platform.
LP2 did nothing with all the potential it had. After all the shameless hype (which was nothing but smoke & mirrors), the way the game turned out was inexcusable, IMHO.
... up pops something that cements it further.
The official website has been dead for a while no, I believe.
Who woulda' thought Duke Nukem Forever would be destined to hit the market before Wardevil?
Going a step further, I wish more games were "overdone" like this.
In fact, it's even advisable IMHO.
Less wear and tear on the disc drive, discs themselves, and less heat production = probably better life of the console (perhaps more a concern for older models, but still not a bad idea). Not to mention it's just quieter.
I install all my 360 games to the HDD for these reasons.
Devs under Activision's banner must shudder every time he opens his mouth => nothing good ever comes out of it.
To this point it seems like his bravado hasn't hurt sales, but probably just because most gamers don't visit social gaming sites like this one (and so have no clue what a total jackass they're giving their money to).
The only innovation Kotick has brought to the industry is new ways to wring extra dough out of gamers. When it com...
A couple years ago or so I never would have thought I'd be on EA's side about much of anything.
With regards to Kotick, I am.
This guy has taken to burning bridges across the entire industry. His own devs, other publishers, fans - you name it, he's gone out of his way to p!ss them off.
Smug little prick. I hope this blows up in his face.
He's betting the sheeple masses will be just stupid enough to pay whatever price he names. And they just might...
Not a good precedent to set from a gamer standpoint.
Reported.
I'd invite others to do the same.
Reported
I probably wouldn't mind him as much if he shut his trap and kept his motives behind closed doors.
Most executive types don't go out of their way to publicly insult their customers and flaunt nickel & diming them. Kinda' bad for PR.
That's why to me Activision is generally synonymous with "buy used".
I had no problems with checkpoints at all with Halo Reach - in fact, I didn't even notice most of them. On the harder difficulties it took me multiple attempts to get through some spots, but it never sabotaged the game.
Personally, I have no objection to checkpoints in general.
Hell, one of the benefits of modern gaming is being able to save wherever you're at whenever you want to (for most games).
And as multiple posters have alread...
...other than that a lot of Capcom's own recent games (including this guy's) have done nothing but water down their cornerstone franchises.
I shudder when I hear Capcom say things like, "We want to get RE6 to the market as soon as possible" => seems to reek of a quick cash-in when they should be taking a deliberate approach.
So which is worse: Being 5 years behind? Or regressing with every game you release?
Says the guy trailblazing the way to oblivion.
He needs to quit talking so much and just focus on making better games.
Just a few words of wisdom: patience pays off - especially when you start playing the game.
Stick with it and you'll find a classic and addictive game.
Wish = granted
Score
"Host advantage" is something I never want to see again. Ever. They damn well better not change their minds on this.