If you're worried about "bills to pay" to the point that you can't properly support your video game hobby, then you have more important things to concern your self with than whining about console exclusivity I.e. if you chose to only get a 360 instead of PS3, it's your own fault and you stick with the consequences if you can't afford both consoles. Sony has no reason to release the Last of Us on the 360 or WiiU.

GameSpot pretty much doesn't give out 10's anymore. Hell, they don't even give 9.5's anymore. Their last 9.5 was in October of 2011 for Dark Souls (Which IMHO is nowhere near a 9.5 compared to some other games that got 9.0s or 8.5s since then). They also only gave out about 5 or 6 9.0's in 2012 and have only given out 3 9.0s so far this year (I think Ni no Kuni, BioShock 3: Infinite and some Arcade game that eludes me).

It's safe to say that 9.0 is GameSpot's new "Top Score", which I'm ok with. One thing I give credit to GameSpot against 95% of reviews is that they actually make complete use of their review scale. For instance, a 7.5 or a 7.0 game is perfectly good and solid by their expectations. At IGN, Game Informer or GameTrailers for instance, everything below 8.5 is a **** sux".

Let's look at it from the inverse. The inverse of a 10 is a 1. How many games have scored a 1 in the last 15 years? You could probably count them on one hand. Another example, the inverse of a 9.0 is a 2.0. Have many games have scored a 2.0 in the last 10 years? I'm certain a HELLUVA lot less than have received 9.0s since Fall of 2011.

GameSpot does occasionally underscore games (which unfortunately constantly drags down the Metacritic scores), but by and large they are consistent and they make a wide use of their review scale. Remember that 7.0-9.0 games are solid and deserve your attention.

Cool Story Bro

Yes the previous 2 Bioshocks totally took place in a flying utopia city, oh wait...

The X + Square is a special technique so I don't think it's in the demo, but yeah, it is Rising's "dodge" mechanic. For the IF-Prototype battle, you pretty much need to get used to parrying to win (Square + Direction, and Rising's "Block" mechanic). I find Rising's blocking and dodging a lot more satisfying than other hack & slash's where you just hold down the block button.