PixlBit

1UP's end was more due to managerial incompetence on the part of Ziff-Davis/UGO/IGN than anything else. The big exodus of 2009 (the UGO buyout and the death of EGM) was the beginning of the end. It marked the exodus of most of the long-time staffers like Shoe, Crispin, and others. Sam Kennedy, Jeremy, and others tried to soldier onward but it wasn't the same.

And to be fair to 1UP, Jeremy did publicly address Mackey's behavior, and I feel it was a sincere effort. The original problem should never have happened, of course. At that time, though, I'm sure they already knew that they plug was being pulled.

Meh. I don't do Twitter anyway, but I've been wondering what happened to you lately.

I want Atelier Shallie. The Atelier series has made enough steady improvements over the years that it's become a perfectly reasonable go-to RPG series, especially with so many other RPG series on indefinite hiatus. Glad that Koei Tecmo and Gust are still plugging away. The next Atelier looks like it will be on PS4, going by what Gust has been saying in interviews.

When it comes to payments, I'm something of a Luddite. Not a fan of allowing the people I do business with to have their hands in my cookie jar, which is what digital payments often amount to. On the rare occasions I buy from Amazon I do so with prepaid cards.

LOL. I still pay cash for most of my purchases.

Meh. I don't really see the need for a smartwatch myself, can't imagine any use they might have that my iPhone doesn't cover.

But when you get right down to things, you don't really need clothes that don't come off the shelf at Walmart for a few bucks instead of several-thousand-dollar suits from Giorgio Armani or other European designers, you don't need $200 Nikes instead of $20 Walmart shoes in most cases, a cheap Korean or Indian car that has anything more than four wheels and an engine instead of a luxury car boasting "German engineering"... or some crappy little Chinese cell phone, for that matter. 

Fashion has always been about branding, both from the companies making a case that their name is worth a lot of money, as well as from consumers who want (or need; in some social/career circles you need to dress for success) that kind of branding to be taken seriously in their social circles.

Keep meaning to pick up Deus Ex: HR Augmented Edition.

I definitely want Codename: STEAM. Looks awesome and I love its style of play.

Activision also released a PS2 collection. I have the Activision and Atari anthologies on PS2, so most of my 2600 needs are taken care of.

I just wish whoever owns Atari would release an Atari 5200 collection.

The last two are incredibly obscure, and the US versions don't contain classics like Rolling Thunder or Wonder Momo (which is kind of understandable, I guess). As for Jr. Pac-Man, Namco treats Ms. Pac-Man like a red-headed stepchild as it is. :)