They will release Xbox tivo.

"and leave us gamers to what we've been doing for 20 years++!"

QFT! The mainstream and consoles have already killed some of the best game types that were available on PC. (Adventures, Space Sims, Turnbased strategy...). If everything is dumbed down to a series of minigames it will be a sad gaming world. Luckily great ambitious games are not dead (Spore, Assassin's, Bioshock, Mass Effect)

Again: 

And how did you become "hardcore"? That's right, you played some "casual" or "party" games first, then looked for other games. No one is born playing Halo.

You surely cannot be opposed to a larger gaming population?

"And how did you become "hardcore"?"

The first two games I played were XWing and Ultima Underworld. Two of the best games ever.

I have no problem with approachable games I also played a lot of Jump&Runs in the beginning (Commander Keen ftw).

In the end I think hardcore is a stupid adjective. I have a problem with games that suck. I wouldn't have a problem with crap games if their success hadn't destroyed some of the best franchises. If the lowest denominator will make you more money the games will suffer.

Anyone remember DeusX one of the best games ever and its sad sequel DeusX2 that was targeted at the console gamer?
Or compare XWing, Tie-Fighter, Wing Commander3, FreeSpace2 with games like Rogue Squadron, makes me cry a lonely indian tear.

There are still great games in some categories, some games are even better than anything before but many game types have really suffered on the hand of the mainstream.

Of course it's a stupid adjective. There is no distinction; just between good and poor quality games. Don't even think of making "mainstream", "console", oe "PC" seperate groups, or refer to games by these terms in your post. We should be aligned against poor games by not buying them, not discriminating against gamers who for some reason don't like PC FPS games.

My first game was Mario Kart 64. It was "casual": 16 bland tracks for $80; but it was fun and that's all that matters.

First game I ever played (on a console) was NHL '98 for PS1. HEHEHE t'was a great game.

i still don't believe that Ms will introduce a HD-DVD console...more likely that they decide to license the xbox brand to other selected manufacturers and those selected manufactures could decide to integrate x360's funcitionality in HD-DVD players/recorders.

Almost certain a price reduction in the first or second quarter of 2008...probably 70-80$ on each model.

 Really?  I can't believe people are still going on about this.  This isn't something new.  It's actually been going on for those 20 years and it hasn't destroyed "your" precious industry yet has it?  People have always bought crappy games and guess what... there are still good games to choose from.  Some people need to get a grip on things.  There were plenty of terrible and poor quality games for the ps2 and they sold well.  Did that somehow severely damage the industry?     

M$ is not maiking money on the 360. The RROD thing alone kills that. The only profit they have ever recorded for a console was when HAlo3 launched. As soon as that left, back down in the red. They have however already stated that a add-on BD player is not out of the question.

As for Paramount and Universal, they dont constitute a war when BD now has over 70% of the content. The longer they stay with HD-DVD, the longer they will lose money. I would suspect that the HD-DVD camp will announce there departure at CES.

Stop talking out of your ass, you have no proof of that unless Microsoft has already released their financial report for the last quarter of 2007.