The 10th Hour 09.19.08: Top 10 Most Important Franchises Today

Posted by Derek Robbins on 09.19.2008

How did the video game industry get to where it is today? Which games essentially make up what we perceive as video gaming today? This week in the 10th Hour 411's Derek Robbins breaks down which 10 franchises are the most important today.

Hello and welcome to the 10th hour! As always there are a couple of tangents that I would like to touch on prior to getting things started.

-I've been playing some Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and I gotta tell you…it's pretty fun. While you can't confuse me for someone who dislike WoW I do think WAR actually emphasizes…playability. It's the first time in an MMO where I've felt like I was totally in control. If it wasn't for the fact that WoW was amazingly popular I would think this game was a sure-fire hit. Even in its early stages it is a superior game to the World of Warcraft and I encourage you try it out. If you wish to play with me my server is Volkmar and my name is Feraligo. My class is Warrior Priest. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

-I've been on a bit of a DS gaming binge lately and could use some suggestions as to what to play. I'm really up for anything as long as it's good so feel free to select what you want.

-I know I've mentioned it in B3yond the Report but Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter for the Cubs is probably my favorite thing to happen in baseball since Maddux won his 300th game. It was just an awesome time and I'll be sure to watch the replay of it on WGN tomorrow night.

-Geovany Soto better fucking be the National League Rookie of the Year.

Reader feedback

I would like to post comments here but in reality there was nothing I can really use that was in my comments section last week that wasn't immediately addressed in the section. I got some well deserved harsh feedback, I responded…and that's that. I guess there is ONE I will respond to though.

RavenTazECW gets some time alone in the spotlight this week.

And as Eric Bischoff says: "Controversy creates cash." Too bad you still won't get paid!

No wonder this list was late a few days, you had to find 10 good rhythm games first! I'm not big on the genre. I have one of the newer DDR games plus a mat, but I guess it's designed for kids as when I go to a space, it regularly triggers two directions instead of one (often the down direction as well). My feet aren't THAT big! Guitar Hero hurts my hand trying to hit those buttons spread out at the same time, but the soundtracks are pretty decent. Never even bothered with Rock Band since my friends and I are a bit too old to have time jamming together in video games, hahaha.

Spore is pretty neat, but it is rather simple. The first four stages fly on by fast and then the space stage lasts forever. I finally beat the space stage tonight after a long period where I had a couple enemy civilizations constantly attack my planets, but once I got rid of both of them the space stage became rather interesting for me. I finally had the time to fiddle around with terraforming and build up a bunch of colonies and spice trading. I never really bothered with the Grox though. I had a mission to go near the center of the galaxy, but it's rather far off from my location and I didn't bother traveling there just to have them kick my ass.

Has there been a simulation game list yet? I imagine Sim City and Black & White would fare well, maybe the Roller Coaster Tycoon games as well.

Hahah, well…DDR mats have always given me a sort of problem. Almost every time I play there is always ONE note that I cannot hit no matter how hard my foot presses the button. It's not that my actions are out of sync – I am actually quite a rhythmic person – but the damn thing just won't register. I'd honestly rather have a scenario where two buttons register because at least I could clear a song on Heavy without missing a ton of notes in one particular direction.

Spore is alright, it's just a bit of a disappointment. It promised the world and delivered a hunk of dirt found in some guy's lawn. I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy Spore as much as your average person was able to simply because the "revolutionary" game I was promised was rather ordinary. Sure creature creation is fun and shockingly deep, but I want my GOD GAME. Blegh.

I have not done a simulation game list yet. I may attempt one in the future but I'm not sure I could come up with ten simulation games that I enjoy.



Top 10 Most Important Franchises Today

This is a list of the ten franchises I think are the most important to the gaming industry today. Do not get this confused with "BEST" franchises. I don't even like a couple of the franchises on this list. This is simply which ones are most important to the industry as it is today. There are really no rules for this list outside of the fact that the franchise has to have seen American release otherwise…not eligible. I can't really think of a franchise that would be affected by this but I figured I may as well get that disclaimer out there to the public. Also, like, important doesn't always mean "Good" important. It just means relevance.

10-) Madden - Madden is a franchise that you either love or you hate. There really isn't much in between. It's the sort of title that people schedule sick days for, it's the sort of game that can unite an office place…it's just really popular with people. Is it a title that I personally enjoy? Absolutely not. You'd sooner catch me in drag at the Republican National Convention than you would see me in line for the latest Madden title. Still though, it's really hard to deny its success.

Madden is basically just important because it sells so damn much. It doesn't change from a year to year basis outside of a roster update that's usually a bit out-of-date when the game launches anyhow. That said though, this is from the perspective of someone who plays a lot of video games. It's been my pastime of choice for years on end, the thing is though that people who play Madden probably only buy one or two video games a year. You know…they'll go out and buy a Halo or something because all their friends play it. Would a yearly roster update bother you if that's all you did? To be honest, it wouldn't upset me in the least because, well, that's all I play.

It's also arguably the most mainstream game out there. You see hype for the latest game on ESPN for goodness sakes. One day I was watching Cold Pizza (I guess it's First Take now?) and they dedicated a full segment of the show to mostly Madden conversation. I know Madden is pretty much the laughing stock of the "hardcore" industry but when was the last time you saw a video game command POSITIVE screen time on cable that's not G4 (or Spike TV I guess)? It's just something, I dunno, neat.

You can love Madden or you can be a bitter cynical jerk like myself and dislike it, but no matter your take on it you can't say the game hasn't left a mark on our industry. Is it good? Is it bad? I can't say. All that can be said is that there has indeed been a mark left, and it's a big one.

- This guy will never have to worry about any sort of cover jinx.

9-) Street Fighter - Street Fighter probably hit its peak in the early nineties with Street Fighter II. I remember going into arcades on an almost daily basis to give the game my hard-earned allowance money. It was absolutely worth the hype it received and helped revolutionize the fighting genre. Nobody could have guessed the second Street Fighter would be so good given the disastrous first outing but there we were.

That was seventeen years ago (gee I feel old now). What has Street Fighter done over the years to remain relevant? Well as we all know as the nineties progressed Street Fighter had about a billion different versions of the second game. Amazingly, the fans did not revolt against Capcom. Even though everyone wanted a third game in the series, you know, SF II was so good that it could kind of get away with that stuff.

Luckily, Capcom decided to stop milking the hell out of the second game and turned their focus to the third title, Street Fighter III. I should mention now that between Street Fighter II and III all three Alpha games were released. I don't care what anyone says, what facts are presented in front of me...I think Street Fighter III is the finest fighting game of all time. It does everything right, from having absolutely jaw-dropping visuals to having one of best additions to be included in a fighting game yet – the parry system. It was great.

That was NINE years ago though. Since that time the street fighters have kind of remained stagnant. They appear in a lot of cross-over games and are still generally regarded as the grandfathers of fighting but the thing is…they haven't been ANYWHERE lately. Luckily for us, Street Fighter IV is fast approaching and looks to re-ignite that spark that Street Fighter III set off nine years ago.

It may be a bit dumbed down from Street Fighter III but according to developers they did this to make it more like Street Fighter II. This obviously has a lot of cagey Street Fighter veterans ready to get back into the mix. Street Fighter II is a game that lasted for years…if Street Fighter IV can mimic that you really do have a winner.

The fact that Street Fighter can still generate hype almost twenty years after the release of its biggest hit shows just how important the franchise is. To the fighting genre and to the video game community as a whole, Street Fighter is a hit.



8-) Metal Gear Solid - Metal Gear Solid is a series renown for two things. Stealth action – tactical espionage action is in the title after all – and story. Combining these two things have made the Metal Gear franchise into a smash hit and one that people actually purchase consoles for. The original Metal Gear Solid really set the standard for what you could expect from the franchise. The game is pretty hideous today but the thing is a lot of people STILL consider the original to be the best playing. That really speaks something for it.

Metal Gear Solid 2 really got people talking at E3 2000. It featured one of the most memorable trailers in video game history that literally had people frothing for the title. The game promised an experience with Solid Snake with updated graphics. While only a couple of hours of that game actually delivered that promise, the fact is that MGS 2 sold consoles. People bought Zone of the Enders just to play the MGS 2 DEMO. That's something commendable. I won't say Metal Gear Solid 2 got me to purchase the Playstation 2, but I will say it was one of the games that I wanted the most for the young console.

Metal Gear Solid 3 came along at the twilight of the Playstation 2's lifespan. It delivered an experience that let you play as Big Boss – who Snake was cloned from so he looked just like Snake – the entire game and offered no "Raiden-like twist". It was a game that many people wanted the 2nd MGS to be…and it really showed that the Playstation 2 had a bit of power left in it. I still say that MGS 3 has graphics that would have been perfectly acceptable on the X-Box 360 at launch.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was one of the most anticipated games for the Playstation 3. It had been delayed a fair few times and by the time it came out the fans were frothing at the tooth for it. Say what you will about the Playstation 3 but in my opinion the system didn't have a system-selling "exclusive" yet. Don't get me wrong, there were some GREAT PS3 games but they didn't have a franchise people could recognize. Metal Gear Solid 4 changed that. I am not ashamed to admit it, Metal Gear Solid 4 was pretty much the reason I got a Playstation 3. I just wanted to see how it all would end and I was not disappointed. I imagine this game acted as a system seller to a lot of other people out there as well...it was just fabulous.

Metal Gear Solid has been one of Sony's most important franchises since the mid-nineties. While the series has had a place on Nintendo and Microsoft consoles, I wouldn't say they sold systems for them. They did just that for Sony and even though the future of the franchise is in question…I know if there was another one released people would buy whatever console it came out on for that title. It's a proven winner.



7-) Zelda - The Legend of Zelda has been around since 1987. It struck a chord with gamers everywhere as it was a unique dungeon crawling experience with puzzle elements. It was fun, and to be quite honest…if you succeeded you felt smart. Zelda is one of the only franchises out there that has arguably – discounting CDI of course – not had a bad installment. Everything Zelda does is quality and was the very first thing that Nintendo trotted out there with the Wii…to get their more "loyal" gamers to jump over to it with promise of immediate Zelda.

Zelda has always and will always be among the best selling franchises out there. Link is one of the most recognizable characters ever and most people will be able to recognize him, or in some cases his franchise, just by seeing the triforce. For instance, if you look at Cody Rhodes's boots you may see a triforce. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but now no matter what I'll associate Cody Rhodes with Zelda. I know that's fairly weird, but it's quite the iconic symbol.

I'm wracking my brain trying to think of what makes Zelda important and the answer is really simple. I'm trying to think of something abstract, but there really isn't anything abstract about it at all. Zelda is a great franchise, bordering on legendary, and even if you don't personally like it, it's hard not to at least acknowledge how taken the fans are with it. The angriest fanboys I have ever seen are Ocarina of Time fanboys…they really care deeply about the game. If a game can garner such loyalty it has to be doing something right doesn't it?

Zelda is good and if you had to name Nintendo's top-5 franchises, Zelda would probably be number one or two. There's a reason why Nintendo is still around today…and with franchises like Zelda out there it's really no wonder why.



6-) Pokemon - Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, tweleve years ago. The game came here in 1998, ten years ago. When the games came out here you never could have guessed what would have become of it. When I first played it as a young lad I could tell the game was good…but the hold on me was something obscene. For a couple of years I lived, breathed, and loved pokemon. It was gripping. In the year 2008 Pokemon is still relevant.

Every Toys R Us has a section dedicated to Pokemon. It's usually not an entire aisle but it has one. How many games can you say that about? I mean, as much as I would love to see an Earthbound section at a toy store I am man (boy?) enough to admit that such a thing will never happen. Pokemon is just a huge entity.

I mean, look at it. It has an anime that's over 400 episodes in length, it has a Nintendo DS game that people of all ages, usually all under 30, enjoy on a regular basis due to the numerous ways to play…it has a card game that is as popular as it ever was. Hell, you could make a case that Pokemon isn't so much a game franchise anymore as it is a pop-culture entity. I got the game in 1998 and even though my obsession with it faded…I still take interest in every game of it that has been released. As far as the core-franchise is concerned I associate Pokemon with quality.

It may be a HEATHEN SERIES THAT PREACHES THE EVILS OF EVOLUTION BY GOD…but it's MY heathen series and I hope it always remains popular because very rarely will a game come out that doesn't have Mario in the title that can appeal to people of a vast number of ages. Pokemon will be here for at least two more generations and probably for the next couple of portable system iterations. Doesn't it feel weird that Pikachu has joined Mario and Sonic as characters immediately recognizable by non-gamers?

- Sorry, I just loves me some Feraligatr.

5-) Final Fantasy - As loathe as I am to admit it, if you were to have a word association game and you said the three letters "RPG" my first response would probably be Final Fantasy with a palm going to my forehead shortly thereafter. Are there better RPGs out there? Absolutely. Megaten has been doing it better for years. The thing is though, Final Fantasy is by far the most mainstream of the JRPGs and is popular even among people who normally hate the genre.

You know how you can easily tell how Final Fantasy is a big deal? Look at the most recent E3. Oh yes, it was a disappointment in a myriad of ways. Microsoft could have chosen to end their conference with some token Gears footage or simply reveal their new Halo that everyone knows exists. What did they choose to do? They decided to show that FF XIII was no longer exclusive to Sony's monolith. It caused quite an uproar, I mean…nobody could believe it! Did you hear that kind of out-cry when Bioshock was announced as coming to PS3? No (though there should have been). Final Fantasy just has that effect on people.

Obviously Final Fantasy's popularity in America started with the seventh iteration of the series. I know that I and everybody else on the planet think that FF VII is an over-rated title but it really got more people interested in JRPGs than they may otherwise have. FF VI was a popular game, for a JRPG at the time at least, but it was nowhere near as accepted as VII. A lot of people think that FF VII is more of a problem than a savior but I am against that line of thinking. Without FF VII…I know a lot of people who love JRPGs today that never would have gotten into the genre if it wasn't for that game. I'm not saying it deserves the credit it gets but it does deserve some.

Final Fantasy today is more than just an RPG. The only title on the horizon isn't Final Fantasy XIII…there's a lot more to it. They have their SRPG spin-off in Final Fantasy Tactics, they have their gauntlet style game in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, they have their rogue-like game with Chocobo Dungeon, there's the RTS-like game in Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings, they have their fighting game with Dissidia…Final Fantasy just seems to cover everything. Does it do everything well? I suppose that's arguable? Does everything they do SELL well? You bet.

A lot of JRPGs out there owe thanks to Final Fantasy for popularizing the genre in the Americas. It may not be the BEST JRPG franchise but it is without a doubt the most popular.



4-) Grand Theft Auto - Prior to the year 2001 Grand Theft Auto was a crumby franchise to say the least. The people who got to play it had to deal with a fairly directionless game with fairly frustrating controls. The first two Grand Theft Autos and the expansion to the second one, 1969 London…were crap to say the least. The concept of the game going in 3D intrigued people but you could be forgiven for being a little bit skeptical.

Grand Theft Auto III came out at a time where it was almost destined to get over-shadowed by Capcom's Devil May Cry. It was originally made out to be a Resident Evil but was deemed too extreme even for THAT franchise. Sales there were going to happen for sure and Grand Theft Auto III would surely plummet…right?

Wrong. Grand Theft Auto 3 was fairly revolutionary at its time for an action game. You could go anywhere and do whatever you want whenever you wanted to. There was no pressure to play with the story, all you had to do was play the game. Even then, there were various ways to go about your business. You could shoot shit up, you could try to play it meager…the world was yours. Compound this with several radio stations and you had a semblance of a living, breathing world that you could control.

Although there are several people out there who are critical of the games, it's hard to deny how innovative and important these titles are. Grand Theft Auto is one of the most recognized franchises today and merely announcing DLC for the 360 version of the title helped the 360 version sell more than the Playstation 3 version. The name really carries some weight.

It would have been hard to predict this back in the year 2001. Grand Theft Auto was nothing but rubbish prior to that year…and now today it's a franchise that's one of the most critically acclaimed there is. With four console specific iterations and a couple of other portable titles Grand Theft Auto is without a doubt a success. If things stay the same as they are right now, Grand Theft Auto is a franchise we'll be playing during the next console cycle.

- I don't care that people decry this game calling it over-rated...Nico is still one of the best characters out there.

3-) Warcraft - The entire name here is pretty much a case of me being proper considering only one game in particular really warrants being on this list. As fabulous as the RTS games were one of the most popular games in the world is in the same franchise and is solely responsible for its place on this list. If you guessed Warcraft II you are…wrong! So close.

World of Warcraft has pretty much single-handedly dominated the MMO genre since its release. Oh yes, there are other MMOs out there and they have decent-sized followings but the thing is…they don't even compare to the size of WoW's following. To say that WoW is the most popular MMO right now would be like saying that the sun rises in the East. Common knowledge.

To be quite honest, compared to other MMOs out there WoW is fairly simple which is the root of its appeal. Yes, it takes a LOT of grinding and raiding and what not in order to get to a proper high level but compared to the others I've played…it just doesn't take as much skill. Allow me to compare it to Warhammer online for a second. I was in an RVR (PVP equivelant) scenario and I got into a skirmish with a Destro guy at my same level. In World of Warcraft, how long would a battle like that take? My assumption is between 10 seconds and a minute. Not very long. Do you know how long that WAR match took? Upwards of three minutes.

That sort of thing DOESN'T appeal to everyone though and WoW's simpler approach is essentially why it is so popular. It offers a big world, a lot of different things to do…and a simple battle system. Really, its success is no mystery and it's no wonder why it has such a stranglehold on the MMO genre. It generally saves you money on other games because while you're playing WoW instead of purchasing or renting other titles you're just playing WoW. So not only does it make sense economically, but it's simple.

WoW's success is no surprise and I look to it continuing to expand with the expansions. I may be critical of it but I imagine myself purchasing Wrath of the Lich King at some point in time. Even though I may dislike the inclusion of Death Knights…it still seems at least worthy of a try.



2-) Mario - As mentioned before Mario is one of the characters that non-video game players can immediately recognize. He's had an impact on the medium and to this day remains relevant with quality title after title. Oh sure, some of his "spin-off" titles are kind of lousy but whenever they release a core Mario title you know that you're getting something that will be remembered fondly by you for a long time.

Mario has some longevity. He has been around in ways since 1981 when Donkey Kong hit. 27 years later, Mario is still important to the video game industry. Isn't that something insane? TWENTY SEVEN years ago people were just getting acquainted to Mario and his crazy princess obsession. In that time Mario has delivered quality title after quality title and has made a distinct stamp on the video game industry. If you see a mushroom from Mario, you know where it's from. You don't have to be told: "This is the mushroom from Mario." You know. How many other games have symbols that iconic?

Today Mario is the face of the Nintendo Wii. Already the word "Mario" appears in five different wii titles. Those titles are Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, Mario Sluggers, Mario Strikers, and Mario Party. Now granted, only ONE of those are core Mario titles but the thing is that the wii is a very young console and already five Mario titles are available for your purchase. That's not even counting Virtual console stuff. Impressive.

As long as Nintendo exists, no matter what direction that they are facing Mario will exist in some form. The second Mario ceases to be is the second that gamers give up on Nintendo. There's a reason that Mario has been around since 1981 and the answer is simple. I've said that the first thing I think of when I hear "RPG" is Final Fantasy? Well the first thing I think of when I think of Mario is "Quality'.



1-) Halo - No matter how I personally feel about the franchise, and make no mistake about it…I loathe it…I can't deny how important Halo is to the industry today. It may be the single most over-rated game on the market but let's take a second and ponder on what the industry would be like if Halo wasn't here?

First of all, there would be no Microsoft. It is my firm belief that the X-Box would have crashed and burned if Halo hadn't been with it at launch. Halo: CE was a game that the critics raved on endlessly. I remember reading an EGM that covered Halo and reading how they raved on about the game I really wanted to try it myself. I am very loathe to admit this but Halo: CE actually coerced me into purchasing an X-Box. Sure, Dead or Alive 3 was there to sweeten the deal for me but that doesn't change the fact that I, Derek Robbins, bought an X-Box for Halo. If a man of my moral fiber fell to such temptations I'm sure many others did.

On top of this, when a new Halo game releases it has a pretty noticeable impact. Let's look back on the release of Halo 3. During that very month (or the next one. It was released in late September so it may have affected October more) the movie industry had the lowest earning month they've had in a long time. They blamed this not on the quality of movies released but on the release of Halo 3. Isn't that something? I've never heard of a game hurting sales from another industry but there you go.

On top of this, Halo has helped usher in a feeling that video games are "cool". Almost everyone I run into at college has a 360 or a PS3 or a Wii…or something. This is astounding to me because I distinctly remember in sixth or seventh grade being one of the only people in my class playing games. It just wasn't the "cool" thing to do. I'm not saying that Halo is responsible for making gaming cool but I am saying that it has introduced a lot of people who would not have otherwise games into the medium.

When I moved Highschools during my Junior year I quickly made friends with people who claimed to be gamers, but I found out shortly thereafter that most of those friends first came into video games thanks to Halo and didn't have much prior experience. They still game to this day…and I can thank Halo for that. As far as shooters are concerned, Halo is beyond generic. It doesn't really do anything new or different to shake things up. What it DOES do well is take advantage of the fact that it is mainstream as hell and draw even more people into its grasp.

It's hard to say whether or not Halo has "changed" the industry for good or for bad. There are a lot of new gamers these days but there are also a lot of games that are made to appease them. No offense to reviewers or anything out there but I loathed Gears of War. It just was very run of the mill. We seem to be getting an influx of un-inspired games. Not that we haven't received un-inspired games in the past but like it seems there are just more these days.

No matter how we look at it, Halo has added a lot of gamers and introduced them to console gaming. Whether we like it or not, Halo is the most important franchise out there. The question remains...is it changing the game industry for good or for bad? I personally don't like the changes it has mean but that doesn't mean there are people out there who disagree. There is someone out there I'm sure who LOVES what Halo has done to the industry. I figure whenever Halo 4 or whatever is released that once again some form of our economy will be affected.

- Is it a good kind of important or a bad kind? I guess that's your call.

Well that's it for this week. As always if you wish to send me some feedback simply comment down below or shoot me an e-mail at [e-mail] Whatever you choose, I appreciate it. I may get positive and negative feedback but I take everything I get into consideration and try to improve on a week-to-week basis. If I fail, I am sorry, but I try my hardest! So I sincerely thank you for everything you guys say, both positive and negative, because it helps me improve as a writer.

BEFORE I GO…check out some other stuff from around 411 mania's gaming section:

TODDO, everyone's favorite commenter, fills in for Jordan Williams this week on Working Title and discusses cliffhangers and why he dislikes cliffhangers that don't get resolved. Good job, Toddo! I should really steal the ogre's idea…one of you guys writing my list would be awesome! If I had to be honest, I would probably pick Ocelot 422 to do it since this week he revealed his act is entirely kayfabe. It goes from being annoying to being hilarious.

Vincent Chiucchi brings us The Hall of Shame and inducts Deal or No Deal for the Nintendo DS. I am not surprised in the least that this game is introduced, after all…everything with Deal or no Deal is absolute shit. The game show makes me angry every time I watch it and I just know the game would only remind me of how mad the show makes me.

Chris Evans writes the PC-Centric extravaganza and this week he talks EVEN MORE about soccer football manager. I wish I was into soccer because it actually sounds entertaining. Oh well…good job Chris!

John The Curryman brings us the Check Point. This week he discusses which songs in Guitar Hero he really wants to play. He also has a commenter who claims that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world behind English. You have heard of Mandarin Chinese haven't you?

Drew writes Coming Attractions. He says mean things about WAR and also calls Uncharted the best game on the PS3. What a druggie.

Rod Oracheski writes Achievement Unlocked. This week he discusses different "tiers" of gamers and what the average number of achievement points they'll get per each game is. I love this column because I think, even though he won't out-right say it, it disses casuals.

B3yond the Report is written by the buffet of manliness known as myself.

Vincent Chiucchi also writes the Select and Start News Report and this week, due to SecuROM, you can only read his article three times. So BE CAREFUL. Yeah, I just stole his joke. He also has a pretty un-funny Family Guy-esque Mario video linked. It's the typical: "THIS IS THE JOKE, I AM TELLING YOU THE JOKE, LAUGH" stuff I've come to expect from the show. Good job none the less, Vince. Big props for the Guilty Gear video right after. It's like you were TRYING to appease me.

Tommy Coloma writes the Negative Edge News Report and even though this is last week's version you should read it anyhow. I am still rather bitter about Street Fighter IV evading my damn state.

Joe Roche returns with the Full Circle News Report! Ah yeeeeah. Apparently I was wrong about 360 sales not improving because according to Joe after the price cut was activated sales for the 360 went up! So…err…whatever. Can't wait to see this week's column, Joe

While AJ and Mike Minotti don't have a new rendition of the Exploding Barrel Podcast THIS week…but you should visit their site anyhow because they have a lot of great podcasts for your perusal. My personal favorite is fairly common, but it's the Metal Gear Solid one. Check it out!

Well that's it for this week. I'm out.

Til' the crossroads

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