http://killscreendaily.com/articles/gears-war-grows-more-tragic-age/

It is the Big Boss character, but the trailers refer to him as "Punished Snake".

If I have no idea of what's the difference between Big Boss and Solid Snake, does it detract in any way my potential enjoyment of Phantom Pain?

Yes. From MGS4 on the game does not permit your ignorance about the story at all. You will be confused.

You have The Boss which was a legendary soldier in WW2, who is the mentor of Big Boss, who is the "father" of Solid Snake and Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake is a perfect clone of Big Boss.

It is the Big Boss character, but the trailers refer to him as "Punished Snake".

If I have no idea of what's the difference between Big Boss and Solid Snake, does it detract in any way my potential enjoyment of Phantom Pain?

I never even finished the first Borderlands. The shooting mechanics weren't all that fun and the story wasn't enough to keep me interested.

Borderlands 2 is one of the best shooters I've ever played, and it's only right behind Destiny as best co-op shared world whatever. It's not always online like Destiny, but it might as well have been; 90% of my time was spent playing with friends. It is an absolutely blast, and the writing is funny, the guns are awesome and super fun. The easter eggs are all great.

Overall, easily in my top 5 games.

I might also add that it's even better when played on the XBox One. It's even smoother than it was before. The Pre-sequal is meh though. It's not bad... But it's just more of the same with a slightly less quality of game play.

Borderlands 2 is one of the best shooters I've ever played, and it's only right behind Destiny as best co-op shared world whatever. It's not always online like Destiny, but it might as well have been; 90% of my time was spent playing with friends. It is an absolutely blast, and the writing is funny, the guns are awesome and super fun. The easter eggs are all great.

Overall, easily in my top 5 games.

Now, about Tales from the Borderlands. Hearing some great things. Wasn't a fan a Borderlands--its schtick didn't appeal to me, the gameplay seemed just okay, and I just didn't get that far into it. If I don't know the universe would Tales appeal to me? Is it as great as I hear? Answers should be as spoiler-free as is reasonable.

I really wish they had just redone the first Borderlands to make it feel like the second one. Because the second Borderlands is 10x better. I'm not exaggerating this. I replayed it recently, and I liked the first borderlands when it first came out. But after replaying it I forgot about how much better the second one is on every single aspect.

HALP!

Getting great reviews so far. I just watched the trailer, and it looks pretty great except ... why does Snake aim with his patched eye?

That's an in joke in the series. Started with snake eater.

I got a review copy of Gears last week, and I'm shocked by how well it actually holds up. It's still silly in all the same ways we thought it was silly 9 years ago, but mechanically I think it plays beautifully. Level design is great, and as a 3rd person shooter its still one of the best out there.

ONE of the best is the key word. Vanquish is actually the best. :-p

If by "actually the best" you mean "completely overrated" ;p

I got a review copy of Gears last week, and I'm shocked by how well it actually holds up. It's still silly in all the same ways we thought it was silly 9 years ago, but mechanically I think it plays beautifully. Level design is great, and as a 3rd person shooter its still one of the best out there.

ONE of the best is the key word. Vanquish is actually the best. :-p

Dang, we gave many of our games to a friend and sold the others when we upgrades consoles :( Now I'm sad.

I've been buying up my favorite titles when the digital versions go on sale (which they all do eventually). I also have bought a number of things I thought I might like but never bought (especially if they are really cheap).

I'm pretty thrilled by how they've implemented backwards compatibility. Now if only I didn't have Destiny to occupy all my game-playing time.