Who cares -- the man is back in bidness with all his games! Give Sony some credit - no matter how many people you had to speak to, they did eventually unban you and allow you to continue using PSN (tho you originally violated thier ToS).

Point taken re: windowboxing of 720p content if displayed in 1080i/p wihout scaling - made sense when I thought about it.

I just wish results would look more consistent across platforms - NBA 2K11 fox 360 looks fantastic on my SDTV at 480i, but the PS3 version at same resolution looks UGLY - excessing amounts of jaggies and other artifacts.

I think it comes down to how the devs decide to use all the power afforded to them by the newest consoles. This is the only explanation I can think of for my example given above.

I am not seeing stretching from 720p to 1080p - on games that output in 720p, my PS3 slim (HDMI connection) to Samsung 32" LCD automatically flips to 720p and displays the game in that resolution.

The XBOX 360, on the other hand, has native video scaling features built in and will display everything in 1080p.

Hate to be 'that guy', but I have seen my USB stick contract a Word virus, which got attached to all my DOC files. I lost several files on that key.

Plugged it into my system, and my AV picked up the virus and wiped it out...but I lost my docs.

Data storages don't get viruses, operating systems do. :P Just plug it into a computer with an AV, and you're set... or anything not dos based.JigglyWiggly_

True, but to be honest it takes 2-4 minutes on a normal speed burner, and zero risk of infecting your compuer or other machines. I do this for safety reasons and consider that a broken PC will cost me more than 2-4 minutes later! :)

I typically just burn what I need to a blank CD/DVD and let them keep it after I finish fixing the PC. The disc will contain anti-virus (AVG), reactive anti-spyware (Ad-Aware free) and firewall (ZoneAlarm), and utilities (Adobe Reader, Media Players, WinZip, etc etc). DVD costs 20-30 cents each if you buy in spindles...sometimes less.

Usually I play the demo after downloading or in store, or rent the game first. Or, I'll check out online reviews from different sources, then check out the 'official' site for any video/info.

As a computer guy, I have a removable 2.5" USB drive enclosure for these types of situations. If your PS3 dies, simply remove the HDD, insert into enclosure, then connect it to a laptop or desktop computer and turn it on - use a disk imaging tool like Acronis Backup & Recovery to back it up, and use same to restore image to drive (drive is FAT32).

You can get these on the cheap from places like TigerDirect.

You could call the main switchboard and ask for PS3 technical support:

Sony Computer Entertainment America
M-SAT 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. PST
Sunday 7:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m
800-345-7669 (800-345-SONY)