We're here because millions of years ago some highly excited molecules created bonds with other molecules they wouldn't normally bond with in order to reduce their pent up energy.
Carmack already stated that the storyline for Doom 3 will be relatively simple. It would be tough to have many plot twists the way the story is set up.
Microsoft looks out for college students. My Computer Science buddies all have $100 copies of MS Visual C++ .NET Student Edition. Though I'm pretty sure only a couple of them actually paid for it.
You're right, consoles are able to large draw distances. I should have been more specific when I said that most use distance fog. Most console games that have high levels of detail use distance fog. Its a hardware limitation, and one of the reasons that I prefer computer games over console games.
I'm on a paid internship at MIT Lincoln Laboratory working in Systems Support at the moment. Soon I'll be back in classes to resume my position as a full-time leech on my parents.
I hope you weren't trying to impress me with those screenshots, cause, ewww.
Killzone looks alot better than all the examples you gave. It makes up for that detail by using a lot of distance fog. Like many other console games of comparable detail. Simple.
Game sound puts a much bigger strain on your system than Winamp or I.E.. If you don't believe me, download 3DMark03 and run the Game Sound test. Without sound you may run around 90-100fps, with you'll only run about 70-80fps.
Onboard sound is processed within the CPU itself, using the AC97...
It's a very common problem with the AC97 chip. A lot of people over at the www.extremeoc.com website have had this problem. The distortion is part of it.