Fixed some text formatting issues and the video. I agree with you that you should check reviews first unless you really really want the game. Coming from a fighting-game perspective it is tough to predict what millions of people will find within a game though, even with betas and testers. Of course, I've read stories about errors that testers find that don't get fixed before launch as well.

Thanks so much Chris, When I pasted from my site it got super funky in the crossover. You are totally right, I had a friend tell me that I am lettting companies take advantage of me when I don't return or trade my games in right away when they have issues. He used a terrible analogy about buying a car off the lot and immediately needing a oil change. I said I don't expect to buy a malfunctioning product but with videogames the potential to fix things come at no cost to me as the consumer. All I am "spending" is time waiting. 

I think folks have the right to complain but also have to expect things to not be on point all the time. It seems like folks don't understand that sometimes things just break. 

While I don't necessarily disagree with your thoughts here, this does shine a bright light on just why online gaming has broken video games in several ways. The idea of tempering my enthusiasm for the release date of a product simply because it might be broken on day one is absurd. Not to sound like the out-of-touch old man, but remember when you'd buy a game (even as late as PS2), get it home, pop it in, and play through the entire thing without a single online hiccup or bug?

And yes, I know this applies to nearly any piece of hardware you pick up today as well, but that's part of a much larger conversation.

Thanks for your reply Jason, I totally feel you on the old man-ness. I think there are unfounded expectations on both sides. Maybe I've tempered mine enough that at this point if things work as advertised I'm extremely happy. They don't get extra points for it but a well deserved pat on the back instead. 

I will say this, the issues with online gaming have totally pushed me more into focusing on games with strong single player campaigns. The issues with those are worthy of a Jaffe-esque cussing rant for another time. 

Thanks again for replying and THANKS BITMOB for posting on the front page! My momma would be proud. 

I've come to the same conclusion, but for different reasons. It's not so much the patching that's an issue for me as DLC. I feel like I'm getting ripped off by buying an imcomplete game. To some extent, this is one of the reasons I admire Nintendo. If you make a game for the Wii, then it's got to be content complete and bug free because you get no more chances. But lately I've been thininking I might as well buy my Xbox games way the hell after their initial release when I can get the complete version with a $20 markdown in price.

The games you mentioned all had one thing in common no private or public betas. There are 2 games atm that wil be final product like you use to get before online gaming and those will be Starhawk and Counter-Strike: GO. Both of these titles  have had private betas since late October- early November and both still have a few months to go before release with public betas in full swing.

          I have been apart of both  betas since the beginning and have watched  these games grow from  an awesome game to potential games of this generation. I beleive they will be great because there betas were real betas that listened to the community and experimented with different ideas that didnt always work but atleast they tried and it and found out what works and what doesn't improving on it in some way or another.

Yes BF3 had a beta 2 weeks before release which is more of a demo then beta and now their finally getting things in place. All companies should look up to Sony's Santa Monica Studios and Valves Hidden Path developers for how to go about releasing MP titles.

I hope Jaffe realizes  he cant be against betas anymore if he wants to stay in the console market and it would be nice maybe if Sony SM maybe gave Jaffe an internship on how to go about developing  MP titles. Then he could have another shot at TM . Ever since i played the first TM back on PS  when I was 12 I always thought about playing ppl all around the world. I never played Black online so I was really dissapointed waiting 17 years for the game that made me dream about  onliine multiplayer gaming. I never got into one online game either in the demo or the 2 weeks I owned  the full game returning with a full refund of in store credit.

I'm looking forward on seeing how the PC and PS3 community will work with C-S . Valve said their not dumbing  down the game. I'm curious if a PS3 player will be able to play on a moded PC server because according to Valve you will not be able to tell if your playing beside a PC or PS3 player. They better bring PS3 gamers into beta soon because that will be the real test with the servers alot more then Portal had to endure