Chindie

If you've got any XBLA purchases, they are not going to be on the new console - there is NO back compatibility, including for downloads.

No, they've broken the taboo, they're going to fight the preowned market no matter what. They might be truthful in saying the plans aren't set in stone yet, but they're not backing away from it - if they were it's very easy to say 'We are not doing that'. They're simply deciding how much they want to make the consumer spread 'em before they dive in for entry. I was listening to the (always delightful) Joypod podcast this week and was struck by just how annoyed the XBLA back catalogue not being able to be carried forward makes me. The disc based games is one thing, but the XBLA stuff? I refuse to believe, just like Joypod pointed out, that theres no way for the XBLA port of Sonic the Hedgehog to not run on the new console.

No. Or perhaps yes given the amount of daft stuff in there. I'm surprised Woolwich isn't in there yet - I've already seen stuff that the videos arouse suspicions of being shopped. I'm surprised we're not speculating the murderers were plants, or that the whole thing was a black flag operation to inspire an invasion of Greenwich, to secure a long term supply of Mean Time.

...all jump immediately to mind

Stansted is England's designated airport for airline security risks. Flights with any security issues are diverted there, or Glasgow, and thus the staff there are trained for this sorry of thing unlike other airports. Only slightly behind there!

Fine Peter.

I take it you didn't read the article before posting this, then. Shame. It's actually quite thoughtful.You take wrong, I read it. The article is thoughtful (though not earth shattering by any means) until it reaches its conclusion that terrorism now means Islamic terrorism alone. He had drawn that conclusion because that is the point he wished to make fun the start, which is incorrect. This is all the more obvious when he actually stumbles on what terrorism really is about in the article and passes over it (that is that the term means any act of violence intent to bring about political goals via fear-state and non state). What conclusions he does reach briefly in that regard are the welcome but not revolatory to anyone who has a passing interest in the subject (as are his connects regarding the antagonistic role of the West in this whole charade, though again nothing groundbreaking). His hard not to reach conclusion is only hard not to reach if you're inclined to reach it regardless. If he had any merit in his argument, that the discourse on terrorism is now intrinsically a discourse on Islamic terror, the next non 'Islamic' attack would have everyone shuffling their feet and trying not to user the word. Which wouldn't be the case, as Norway showed sadly all too recently.

I don't think there's been a recent notable change in the usage of the term terrorism. Any change in its usage happened years ago - its basis is born of the reign of terror in France, but subsequently its usage regarding state terror changed (wrongly) and became mosty used regarding non state actors. Its usage as a propaganda term is not its original use either - but that even happened decades ago. The word describes a methodology, a tactic. The idea it's somehow sinisterly been acquisitioned to be solely associated with Islam is tantamount to swivel eyed lunacy. We've largely only encountered 'Islamic' terror in recent years, unsurprisingly we thusly use the term terrorism with an Islamic tincture target more than we do any other association. Look at Norway in recent years - that was a terror attack, is described as such, and sure as **** wasn't Islamic in nature. When Islamic terror goes away perhaps we'll talk of the sinister move to define the term as only relating to Scandiwegian terrorism. Or organic free range terrorism.

I sat down at work today at 8.25 and then didn't stand up again, or even particularly move, until 2.15. I spent that entire time doing a claims analysis on Excel. When I finally did stand up to get lunch I felt really weird and had the sensation of shadowy numbers running past my eyes and couldn't stop thinking about calculations and formulae while I east lunch. I don't think nearly 6 solid hours sat with Excel is good for you.

Has there been peddling of left wing agendas? I've seen what EDL and BNP are putting out, but I've not seen the left wing equivalent that you seem to have. Who other than the state can, or does, get the media not to broadcast things in the co-ordinated way which would be necessary with this? As with the original denial of "the oxygen of publicity", and many examples since. Do you think that if people like this couldn't get their message broadcast, they wouldn't do it? I've seen more than a little of it around the various forums I use. I don't think would require legislation to encourage the media to not shove front and centre a murderer spouting his justification. It would not work perfectly but I think its doable. You'll obviously disagree and quote various press scandals, phone hacking etc. I don't think that marks out the possibility. I don't think it will make that much difference to the numbers of occurrences like this but making it more difficult to publicise ones message cannot but harm any intention to use media to communicate a message writ in violence and blood. But as we'll disagree, let's leave it here shall we?

I'd have said some people are trying to understand the cause of it. Yes some, specifically the EDL and the BNP, are using it to fuel hatred. The video linked earlier gives the cause of the murder as being the deaths which are taking place in whatever country he is referring to, makes a connection with our government (presumably meaning that the commit, support or sanction the deaths he means), and includes the phrase "you people will never be safe". Responding to this by having the state conceal either the threat or the reasoning behind it would not be a sensible course of action, and isn't a way of resolving the issue - as the coiner of the phrase "the oxygen of publicity" came to learn, before changing her approach. You appear to have missed at least some of my point. It's not just the stirring up of hatred by idiots in the EDL or BNP I find distasteful, it includes the peddling of left wing agendas on the back of this mans murder. That is also utilising a heinous crime to further a goal, whether I might agree with that goal or not, and it's rather sickening. I watched the video and understood it - you don't need to recount it for me. You are jumping to a conclusion I did not make in inferring I request the state conceal the matter. My point is rather more that the media do not, and should not, broadcast anything about this beyond that the event took place and is being investigated. It only serves to give the murderer exactly what he wanted (a similar line of thought is given for high school shootings in the US).

Make your mind up dude Ha, excellent. Of course whatever Dinklage lacks in height he makes up for in stature

Yes and no. Racism is not a core principle in Christianity, but there are enough racist statements and passages in the Bible for it to be used as 'justification' for scum like the KKK. Jihad, on the other hand, is a core principle in Islam. To quote Sam Harris 'fundamentalism is only a problem if the fundamentals of your religion are violent. A truly peaceful religion would result in the fundamentalists being less violent than the moderates'. Fundamentalist Christians are whack jobs, but for the most part they are not violent. Orthodox Jews are utterly mental, but again for the most part they are not violent. Fundamentalist Islam, however, consistently leads to appalling acts of violence. But let's not let this discussion get too off track, I don't think for a moment that this attack has anything to do with terrorism. 'Terrorism', is a loose and misunderstood term. It tends to be used in which violence is used in the public sphere for maximum impact and publicity. 'Acts of terror', tend to be those in which innocent people are killed. But really, a terrorist is really only someone who is fighting for a different cause to you. To those Somali nutjobs, our government are the terrorists. I believe your perception of Islam is incorrect, I don't think it is a violent religion. Not quite. It's true that it's a difficult and loosely used term - never satisfactorily defined - but the the one liner there is wrong. A terrorist can fight for your cause. There is no difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist. Terrorism is a methodology. It's the use of fear, intentional or not, to bring about a political aim. Where it involves violence the victim is used as a conduit to communicate a message. Acts of terror are committed daily - it's a fairly effective methodology. In our name and against us. Anywho as for this whole event... It's sad that in the immediate aftermath people are using the heinous murder of a man to strengthen their political aims. We don't need to care what this man wanted to bring to the attention of the world by murdering someone. He's simply a murderer. Using the act, to rally against whatever he wanted to make a point about, is quite distasteful in my view. A man has been brutally murdered. Don't take that as an opportunity to start wheeling out your left wing or right wing bandwagon. Let justice take it's course with this murderer, deny him the oxygen of publicity for anything he wanted to broadcast, and let his actions quietly be left to pass from memory.

The president of US retailer Gamestop (think Gamestation but evil) has come out and said it definitely supports pre owned by the details haven't been worked out yet. Money seems to be on a system whereby you can trade in, the retailer then notifies microsoft along with a kick back on the fee when sold that the licence for the disc is available again and their servers are updated to remove the original owners access and allow the game to be used again.

Harrison is the VP, so take what he says as being right Considering that MS PR seems to have spent a lot of today running around backtracking on what Harrison said (saying he was commenting on a number of potential scenarios), I don't think you can even rely on his word.

I probably won't buy either console. Microsoft did nothing to convince me to buy their console (in effect they did the exact opposite) and Sony have failed in that regard also. None of the inevitable usual suspect exclusives tempt me. Think I'll carry on the road of the glorious pc gaming master race I re-embarked on last year.

How the pre owned thing will work seems to depend on which Microsoft employee you listen to. They all seem to be saying slightly different things. Bit of a shambles.

Possibly. I always said I wouldn't buy a watch until I could afford a top end piece. But I do find myself looking at few (particularly Mondaines) and am slowly convincing myself to treat myself before the season kicks off at work... I'll feel the betrayal of my lefty principles with every noticeable gram on my wrist, though.

This is why we can't have nice things.

No, the original install works still - basically you can pass around a single purchased disc and use it create multiple installs, for a fee each time it seems. I don't buy preowned games much anymore, but I won't support a console that is designed to prevent it entirely. I think it'll bite them ultimately.

If the preowned thing is confirmed, thats a deal breaker for a great many people I think.

That's not workable unless the fee is substantial. Otherwise it means I buy a game for £40, install it, sell it to you for £20, you install it, pay the fee, sell it to your mate for £20 etc Or it means me and 4 mates can go in and buy one copy, then pay the small fee each and install from the one disc That was my thought. I do think Wired might have gotten their wires crossed. Will need some elaboration - apparently there are a few hardware specific bits going on shortly so we might get some hard facts rather than PR bluster.

Wired are saying that they've had it confirmed that games are tied to an account - you install the game no matter what (which if that is the case 500gb HDD is possibly too small) and then don't need the disc. If the disc is then used with a second account it requests a install fee to work, after which the second account also has full access. I'd be interested to see if thats the case, and how it works if so.

Shit because you don't like it or? It's not my thing, but i know plenty of people who use it and enjoy it alot more than i do. I personally don't like it but I also believe it's just fundamentally a shite idea. Especially as it just doesn't work very well. I don't expect an improved/better version to much improve it's actual use. It does an extremely small number of things even vaguely competently, and of those does even fewer genuinely well, just because of it's very conceptual basis as a camera, in effect.

Don Mattric apparently just revealed its NOT always online.