by Mike Smith

June 29 12:48 P.M.

Ever felt fleeced by the video games industry? Just like in any other business, games publishers and console makers are in it to make money, and sometimes, they cross the line that splits a reasonable profit margin from a consumer-unfriendly rip-off. Everyone's got their favorite stories. These are mine.

Short Games: $15 an hour?

Ever played a $60 video game and completed it in four hours?While plenty of games -- like, say, Mario Kart Wii, LittleBigPlanet, or Halo 3 -- have multiplayer modes and unlockable content, thus giving them near-limitless replay value, some titles just don't add up. Take recent movie tie-in effort Terminator: Salvation on the Xbox 360. It'll cost you $59.99 in stores, but review site IGN knocked it with a 6.3/10, citing, in part, its woeful length. "The future isn't set. That means you still have time to cancel your preorder of Terminator Salvation...a four-hour game with zero replay value. 'Nuff said."

MotionPlus: The Wii delivers, three years late

Remember how those early Wii games were supposed to have amazing, lifelike controls? As it turned out, most titles made do with waggling motions that maybe, if you were lucky, bore a vague resemblance to whatever your on-screen representation was supposed to be doing. Confusion and frustration ensued.

Enter the Motionplus, Nintendo's way of making the Wii Remote sensitive enough for real, one-to-one controls. And it's awesome, turning the just-released Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis into groundbreakingly compelling and realistic experiences. We're sold, but at 20-25 bucks a pop, are you? You'll need to budget for at least two for the authentic Wii social multiplayer experience, meaning an extra $50 just to get the Wii doing what it was supposed to be doing all along.

PSP Go: Smaller, cheaper to make, and...more expensive?

Price of a current-gen PSP? $169.99. Price of the redesigned, smaller, and reportedly cheaper to make PSP Go, hitting streets this fall? $249.99. Something doesn't quite add up here, and as far as we can tell, the only reason Sony's charging more for the slimmer version is because they think shoppers will pay it. No dout that makes good business sense, but it's hardly a consumer-friendly policy. And while we love the design and ergonomics of the petite portable, that $80 surcharge is hard to swallow.

Buy high, sell low: The trade-in trade-off

Ever been shocked at the low price you receive on a game trade-in, then see the same game selling used at a huge mark-up on your way out? Stores like Gamestop know most consumers don't want the hassle of selling their used games on eBay or Craigslist, and so will happily low-ball you on the buy back price. Often, the cost of avoiding the hassle of a private sale could be as much as $20 or $30. Gamestop and its ilk rely heavily on the huge margins they receive from these transactions, and that's cash that could be going into your pocket.

Price-fixing: Nintendo fined big by EU

Ever wondered how console makers can get away with effectively dictating the prices of new consoles and games to retailers? If so, you're in good company. One such method was exposed in 2002, following a European Commission investigation which culminated in Nintendo being slapped with a huge fine of over 100 million pounds. The EC determined that Nintendo had entered into export-forbidding agreements with seven distributors which enabled it to maintain price differences of up to 67% between different European countries. It's a case that's dragging on and on -- just last year, a Nintendo lawyer reportedly called the amount "unfair, illegal, even shocking."

I wrote another game review, check it out and tell me what you think.

So last week Saturday I said "eff it!", went to craigslist and found a PS3 for 250$. I traded my old one to a friend (You know him as Killswitch). So the person selling the PS3 happen to work (or own) a pawn shop and that was where the PS3 was. So I checked it out and they let me play around on it before buying it. They put in Rock Band and the little disc icon came up, I clicked it and the game loaded no problem. Played around in the menus, played around on the XMB and made sure it really was a 40gb HDD. So I bought it, took it to a friends and then this girl I am seeing picked me up from his house, I put it in her truck and we went out for the night. Going to the bar, going to another friends after that and just got nice and drunk. The next day she brought me home and I hooked up my PS3 and for about two hours did all the updates and whatever else I had to do. I put in Socom: Confrontation and the disc icons came up no problem. I clicked on the game icon when I wanted to click on the install icon and the game said I had to quit out and do just that, click the install icon. I quit the game and went to click the install icon, nothing happen. I take the game out and put it back in, nothing happen. I try a few things, nothing, no icons, just a little turning thing up by the clock. I call Sony and they troubleshot it with me and nothing, same thing (I also tried one other game and a DVD with the same results). SO I had to send it in (The box came today) and because I bought it from someone else, I am paying 150$ to get it fixed. So in all I am paying 400$ on a used PS3 that I can not play for about... up to a month. When for that price I could have just bought a new PS3 and I could be playing it now. Yeah... I suck. lol

In better news with me... VEGAS BABY! I am heading to Vegas for a week at the end of July, I so can not wait! I am effing excited! My boss that has been there about eight times said I am going to have so much fun and has told me a ton of things I have to checkout while I am there. If you have been there and have some tips and places to see, please, let me know!

Terminator Salvation opened today, and went and saw it first thing after work this afternoon and I have to say it is effing bad ass! I loved it, it is not stop action and the special effects are amazing. There is a few lines in the film that are beyond cheesy, but not enough to take you out of the film. The story is great and the acting, Christian Bale proves once again there is no role he can not master. You must go see this film, I hope it takes down Star Trek!

Well that is my resent life wrap-up, hope all is good with everyone here and will see you later.