Flick, I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly. If you read my earlier post Diary of an Unemployed, Out-of-the-Loop Game Journalist then you know I've been away from the scene from some time.

I was chatting with Amadeo Plaza, who was the co-founder of this site, and he was the one who told me about it. I was so enraged that I called him and started screaming.

"What the hell is wrong with BioWare!? Are they retarded!"

We agreed that they must have changed it because they felt the infinite ammo system was "too easy" in the first game, but there are two keys to it. One, it fit in perfectly with the universe they created in the first game and the explanation for it was logical. Second, the guns in the first game still overheated, which forced you to conserve your ammunition just as effectively as the clips without the added frustration of searching for more ammo.

I haven't played the game extensively enough to comment on whether there is too much "clip hunting," but having to even think about potentially worrying about it takes you completely out of the universe BioWare created. In the first game, you were completely immersed in the experience. It was different. It was the future. It was unique.

By throwing clips back into the mix, it makes Mass Effect 2 feel more "everyday." More standard. Hell, it makes it feel more like a videogame when the first game felt more like an out of body, Avatar-esque exploration of an unknown world.

Thanks TurboLung:

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I have found it almost a necessity for getting the 360's 60 GB Hard Drive if you get the Arcade unit, so that runs the price up $100.

I've had a system since launch that didn't RROD for three years before finally going haywire. It's had some problems of late reading discs though, so what I've been doing is installing games I play frequently and the extra HD space comes in handy.

Good thing is there is the upcoming price drop of the Elite, which will definitely help end this entire argument.

My point in the article was to call out Forbes for publishing such a weak article in a mainstream publication. Some people may not approve of me writing "even though I keep owning him" but as I've explained in other comments it was brash stylistic choice. This is a blog so I have no disillusions of having to write in a particularly professional way on every single post.

If you read the rest of the post, you would see that my post is that for years we've heard about how bloggers are not real journalists, yet this "real journalist" cited no numbers aside from potentially misleading price points.

I heard about that article late last night, and though I don't entirely agree, at least Brennon Slattery of PC World tries to make an argument with actual statistics. Though he could've at least provided a link or two when writing:

"Also, based on several game reviews I have read, the PS3 often suffers graphical glitches in its games that Microsoft's Xbox 360 simply does not."

He obviously has an argument when it comes to the profit failure of the PS3. It reminds me of my article "The Fall of Sony: From #1 to (Barely) #2" which you can read here: http://www.gamer20.com/features/347

You have an argument, but the table is just showing all the extra costs it would take for the 360 to match the PS3 with both maxed out.

Very, very good point. Obviously, the pricing argument really only works if people are interested in the extras.

It is interesting though that with 3rd party publishers making most games for both consoles and very few exclusives separating the two, there are now two main consumers:

Consumer 1) All about the price - most likely, the Xbox 360 wins.
Consumer 2) More interested in add ons, all about the extras (video downloads, Netflix, online stores, etc) - and in that area it's kind of a toss up. Personally I'd go for the 360, but technically, how many of those consumers are left undecided at this point?

I wouldn't say it's too late, I kind of go into why here: http://www.gamer20.com/features/347

There are still a lot of people who haven't made the leap to this generation as evidenced by PS2 software sales. Traditionally, a very large percentage of lifetime sales for a console come after 2 or 3 year as prices come down, so there's still a lot of sales left out there for all 3 competitors.

I definitely think things are different with this table. Now, I have a reputation for actually being Anti-Sony (check out this article which apparently people saw as an "attack" on Sony: http://www.gamer20.com/features/347

But this chart is a bit different. Past charts showed how close the PS3's price the 360 was after you add up the cost of the add-ons. This chart shows how much LESS the PS3 costs after the cost of the add-ons, which is a bit compelling and could be used in an ad campaign against Microsoft, much like Microsoft's own ad campaign against Apple.

The article is mostly sarcastic as I've actually had pleasant e-mail exchanges with this guy before (as I mentioned in the post.) But seriously, if you're a writer for Forbes and you post an article saying that what Sony has done with the PS3 Slim is "Too Little, Too Late," you gotta add some more meat to your argument.

My delivery in this one was for stylistic reasons and to call out Forbes for their terribly unprofessional article. I choose my voice depending on the kind of article I'm writing. I'm much more casual in blog posts, generally. I've actually freelanced for GameSpot in the past.

If you want a sense of my more professional tone, I'd suggest these two article that I think you'd probably enjoy.

Sony, Not Nintendo, Should Be Very Afraid of the iPhone (note that this was written right after the iPhone 3G was announced and games were shown):
http://www.gamer20.com/features/331

And also, check out this feature about a new game developer:

Birth of a Game Studio: A Look at Prophecy Games:
http://www.gamer20.com/features/375