I share your concerns, however, much of this sort of thing is going on already. Some of our internet usage is recorded and sold for targeted advertising, Google's made billions from it after all. Think about Amazon's targeted advertising too. Not to mention the fact that all our shopping history, when using plastic, is already being recorded and sold for the same, and other, reasons. Then the inevitable contact-less credit/debit cards will take this to another level once stores can detect when you enter, when you leave, what areas of the store you go to, to give even more targeted advertising. Soon enough it will go real time when in-store posters will be (partially) replaced by screens that show adverts for products based on the shopping preferences of the nearest consumer. Imagine Amazon but in a high street store essentially. Without wanting to sound like a foil hatter, these things are already in development.

Now I realise that actually being able to see into people's homes is yet another level of intrusion, but, as the above discusses, Microsoft are not the only people who want to use invasions of privacy to try to make money. So if we're going to have a problem with them, then we ought to have a problem with all the companies who are already doing/planning similar things.

Good point, I'm one of the ones who couldn't finish it. Tried several times but got bored before I even got to adult Link. I may get the 3DS version next year for one final try in earnest. For me the number one Zelda is A Link to the Past by far.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but I've always found the notionally more "serious" Zelda editions (e.g. OoT and Twilight Princess) far less appealing than the more "cartoony" versions (e.g. Wind Waker).

I know that your comment about those controls being used today is factually incorrect, and I'm sure cannot be proved either way

That's a contradiction. If it can't be proved either way then it isn't factually anything, it's your opinion.

It makes some sense in football games though, seeing as teams who are only a goal behind tend to be more attacking towards the end of the game than the other team. That's very averagely speaking of course. I have no statistics to back this up so it could well be complete nonsense, but intuitively it seems to make sense that, in games where there is only one goal separating the teams in the last few minutes, there are a disproportionate number of late goals, and furthermore, that these late goals would be disproportionately scored by the teams who are behind.

In Prologue you could reassign the buttons to make L2/R2 brake and accelerate so I'd be very surprised if that wasn't possible in GT5 proper.