Absolute Power

If anyone has been living under a rock the past few days, read this. For the rest of us, Illinois Gov. Rob Blagojevich is now back to work after posting a "signature bond" for 4,800 dollars. Corruption, Corruption, Corruption is all over the news. There seems to be something about these corruption cases that has caught my eye in recent hours. After reading a GamePolitics article, a weird idea popped into my head.

Why are Governors who support violent game laws getting busted for corruption? Mr. Spitzer was busted a few months back for paying prostitutes with government funds. Now, Mr. Blagojevitch is in the process of getting nailed for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder. Both men who either supported or were propents of laws banning violent video games. (Both happen to be Democrats.)

There seems to be something about this mentality, a "Holier than thou" if you will, that doesn't compute. They want to save us from ourselves, yet they are living on the edge. Absolute power corrupts absolutely as they say. What makes these douchebags think they are above the law.

I hope this serves a reminder why the people hold the power in this country. If anyone tries to trample your liberties, Democrat or Republican, tell them to get lost.

Remember kids, Do as I say, not as I do!

Just Aweful...

Alright parents. Get your shit together. Put on your common sense caps and read this story. Two children, 6 and 7 years of age, stoned and hung a kitten by the cord of a video game controller after playing a session of GTA.

What is wrong with this picture. Psychotic children? Maybe. Violent Game? I'll give you that one. Under the recommended age for such game? Definitely. Parents? No where to be seen. Again and again we see children playing violent games who shouldn't be playing them. If the government wants to regulate something, how about bad parenting.

Such a heinous act perpetrated by children under the age of ten. Throwing rocks at a small animal and then hanging it by a controller is just sickening, even for an adult to do. GTA you can kill cops and hookers, but animals? These are some fucked up times we are living in folks.

According to the reports, it doesn't say that the game inspired them to do this, but you have to have some sick fucking ideas already implanted into their brains. One of the mother is an undocumented illegal and the other is on a work visa so it makes it hard to prosecute, and according to state law, children under 8 cannot be tried for crimes.

I don't know what to say. This fucking makes me sick...

Brad Wardell - Stardock man of...AWESOME

After stumbling around the web links on Jeff Green's blog, I found a link to Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. This dude is now my official hero. A Game Dev with common sense. I'm adding him to my cool links!

Sessler Says It!

Adam Sessler has a great rant on his Soap Box.

The DRM Conundrum

Well, it seems big GabeN over at Valve has made some waves in recent days talking about his stance on DRM. Gabe always offers some great talking points! Mr. Newell stands with most gamers' saying that DRM is "dumb." He says that the focus should be to add value to a product, not take it away.

All this comes to light as the hotly anticipated GTA 4 launches on the PC. GTA 4, as reported before, uses the controversial SecuROM copy protection software. However, Rockstar has allowed users to have unlimited machine activations so gamers don't have to worry how many times they can uninstall their game.

To me, this all seems kind of rediculous. DRM is something that should be on the forefront of the PC Gaming Aliance's agenda. Something along the lines of what Stardock's Gamer's Bill of Rights looked like. Since the dawn of the platform, PC Gamers have enjoyed backwards compatability (when Windows will allow it) and could play games 10 or more years old. DRM schemes on SPORE and Mass Effect only stymie the consumers ability to use their product.

Why wouldn't a company allow for unlimited installs? If you have online activation it really doesnt matter. I mean, how successful was EA's attempt to control their digital rights? Well, SPORE was on a torrent days before its official North American release. It's not the average consumer EA needs to worry about. Just pulling numbers out of my ass, I'd say that 99.99% of consumers are not taking their copy of "insert game here", cracking the DRM and puting it up on a torrent for people to download. Whoever these people are, get their hands on it before hand. Using draconian DRM only isolates the gaming public, and shows that EA is on a trend to kill the PC as a platform.

I've never had any problems with DRM before. It's never killed my computer disabled a game. I think it's within a developers rights to try to protect their investments, but not when you infringe on a consumers right to use a product/service thats been paid for. There has to be some middle ground both developers and consumers can agree on. I think we will see this relationship grow with independant devs such as Valve, Id Software, Stardock because they only answer to themselves. Bigger firms such as Microsoft and EA have shareholders and bottomlines to worry about. If the consumer is unhappy with a PC game, so be it. You can't return open box PC games to most retail stores. Either way "insert large corporate developer here" gets your money and doesn't have to give it back. I feel that independant devs are more intouch with their player base and usually keep them in mind when creating games, and for the most part are sympathetic to the gripes and complaints of their community.

As for now, Rockstar's use of SecuROM is just fine with me. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Gentlemen, leave my mother out of this!

Ah yes, nothing is more soothing than the dulcet tones of a pre-pubecent male screaming racial epithets at your mother. There is just something about it that makes me think of home. It's almost like Frank Sinatra or Elvis singing Christmas songs when you are sitting by the fireside.

The folks at 1up have a nice little feature on the Top 10 Things Learned from Xbox Live headsets. Screaming and yelling at idiots has become common place when playing games over the net. It's a quick read but a good one. Definately goes well with the companion Top Gamer Tantrums.

In other news, we got our Christmas tree up. Along with the tree goes about 40 boxes of decorations and other garbage ornaments. I'm hoping the wife will see how much crap she has and throw some of the hand-me-downs out. My garage is breathing a sigh of relief now that the boxes have been moved out, but now you can't use the living room. Thank goodness for the "Bat Cave."

Whole Lotta Lovin' (of Game News)

Thanksgiving is over, we've had our fill of turkey and stuffing, so now its time to unload your wallet at your local Best Buy and come home with all these great gifts to save our economy. Well, for me not so much. I'm working. Anyways, there are a lot of things to cover today. Specifically GTA IV and the PC Gaming Alliance.

Well, a good six months after GTA IV for the console'rs was released, the PC folks are hotly anticipating their chance with Niko and Co. Well, maybe after the news drops, PC gamers might think twice. Rockstar games has decided to include SecuROM on their game. This is the same software that pissed off gamers with the launch of Mass Effect and moreso, Spore. With the bad also comes the good. Developers can choose what modules of the SecuROM they want to use with their game, and for GTA IV it looks like its going to be a one time internet activation and a required CD/DVD to play. All in all, its not too intrusive or obnoxious. It still is SecuROM, but at least its not taken to the rediculous extent that EA used in their games. Along with SecuROM, make sure you have room to install Games for Windows Live.

In other news, the PC Gaming Alliance President, Randy Stude was interviewed by PaperRockShotgun. He has some pretty good news as far as the PC platform is concerned. Definately a good read if you are a PC gamer. This tidbit somewhat quells that trembling in my stomach. At least I know that the PCGA is actually doing something rather than just looking for ways to sell hardware. Mr. Stude also said to expect a industry wide "minimum spec" to be released by GDC '09. In related news, Linux binaries have been found with the Left 4 Dead demo. Giving hope that PC Gaming doesn't just mean Windows gaming. I guess WoW on Mac counts too. Again, Valve is the savior of PC Gaming...I swear.

Also, news from Planet Battlefield about our favorite bastard shooter, BF2. Some news on the Battlefield 2 1.50 patch has surfaced. (It seems I was just bitching about that.) Anyways it looks like DICE is trying to implement some security features to prevent douche bags from stat padding and server exploitation. I'm gonna miss Gulf of Oman with Cartillery. HAH! More info as they get near release. Maybe Wired magizine should add the BF2 1.50 patch to their list of vaporware. While they are at it, BF: Heroes too?

WHOOMP! THERE IT IS!

I don't like to say 'I told you so,' but in this case: "I told you so!" Battlefield Heroes is delayed untill sometime in 2009. HA! This after going off on them for saying that the game was already out. BIG MISTAKE. Remember the perrills of Duke Nukem 4? We'll its almost 10 years later and still no game. Not sure who they are targeting with DN4? I'm hopeing they can pack it with fun gameplay instead of cashing in on the fanboys who buy the compolsory copy. DICE still owes for a BF2 patch by the way. They had a release a while back and still no sign of it.

Tonight is the eve of Left 4 Dead release. I think I am going to test it out at 12:01 AM. Hellz yeah! I got L4D to tide me over untill DICE can get thier game together. Thanks Valve!

Is There A Difference Between Democrats and Republicans

Today, I just felt the itch to write. This is something that has been nagging at me for a long time now. In the United States, we pretty much have a 2 party political system. You are either right or left, and never anywhere in the middle, so it seems. We always hear people screaming "the democrats are this" or "the republicans are that." The constant yelling never seems to end, fueled by the 24hour news networks and talking heads who have to dream up garbage to fill air time. I have recently come to the conclusion that we are under a 1 party political system with vocal nutjobs at the extremes of the spectrum. Nothing sparks my ire like the talk of violent video games, we will use this to demonstrate my point.

The Democrat party seems to be the party of "bleeding hearts" and socialists. I countless debates democrats talk of socialized medicine, safety nets for the poor, and other high dollar social programs on the back of American tax payers. That's all fine and dandy on paper, but we all know how the eastern block ended up. Anyways, from my experience the Dems want to protect you from yourself. They want heavy gun control so that guns can't harm anyone. They want to provide you with health care so that no one goes sick. If we look at the government track record, government pretty much sucks at doing every thing but nation defense and keeping a national currency. The Democrats want to enact a Nanny State that keeps everyone safe from harm.

Republicans on the other hand are stand for "Pro-business", "Pro-life", and "Traditional Values." Or so they think they do. The Republican party prides itself on "traditional values' something that is touted in every election, and spewed by pundits on Fox News. Now, I have nothing wrong with their stance, but when you start trying to legislate morality, you really hit the breaks. Trying to pass a law saying that "gay people cannot get married" or "creation must be taught in schools" is pretty much ridiculous. First off, marriage should not be a government function at all. It should be between you and whatever church or God you believe in. If you want to teach "creation" in school find me some hard evidence to back it up. Schools should be a place of fact and truth, not a place where religious ideas are forced on children. If you teach Christian creationism, shouldn't you have to teach Hindu, and Islamic, and Native American creationism as well? God, forbid that your child's eyes are opened to a wider world view.

Anyways what I'm getting at here is that both parties want to nanny you one way or the other. Whether its telling you who to give your money to or who you can pray to, both parties want the same thing; control over you! For the video game industry, this is a big issue. Both political parties see violent games as a harbinger of death for youngsters. States around the country are trying to ban the sale of violent games to minors. From the outside, "knee-jerk" reaction it sounds pretty good. No more school shootings, no more bullying because kids aren't subjected to the extreme interactive violence video games provide.

Scientifically, there are varying reports saying that violent games affect/do not affect kids. However, I will not argue that a 10 year old probably shouldn't be playing Mature rated games (17years +). As with movies, mature rated games have profanity, violence, and some times adult situations. However, this should fall on the parents to make sure their children aren't playing these games, NOT THE GOVERNMENT. The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has voluntarily enacted the standards board that rates all movies released in the US. The government has no involvement with this, nor does it enforce any of its regulations. Then why does the government feel the need to enact laws against video games?

Parents and prospective parents, you need to sit down and think about this for a second. You want more government in your lives because you are too much of a lazy ass to watch what your kids play on a Saturday afternoon? People cite the school shootings as an example of what video game violence does to your kids. In the case of Columbine, the shooters were making Pipe bombs in one of the boy's bedroom. Holyshit, if I was making pipe bombs in 9th grade, my parents would have known. You're going to blame that on video games? I call BULLSHIT on you sir. I call out all you shit-for-brains parents who are so wrapped up in your own social lives you can't spend a few minutes with your children. Here is a FUCK YOU for blaming your mistakes and failings on something else.

Creating a nanny state ultimately removes personal responsibility from our society. Evidence?: trillions of ridiculous "I spilled coffee on my lap, sue McDonalds" lawsuits. I guess that's alright if you want to go around living with your head in the sand for your entire life. For the rest of us, keep your personal bullshit out of politics, I won't bother you if you don't fucking bother me.

P.S Ban all the guns you want! Criminals don't get guns legally anyway. That's why they are criminals. You're only limiting the means of protection for the average citizen. But thats another story.

ESRB Descriptors

So for this holiday season, parents and other video game buyers can now go to esrb.org and search a database of rated games. Along with the very easy to understand rating system, parents and guardians now have another tool at hand, content descriptors. The ESRB has unfolded their new scheme aimed at stopping democrats from stuffing red tape down the industry's throat. These new descriptors summarize types of profanity, violence, and situations that you may want to keep from your precious offspring.

The idea is all well and good, however you can't stop a freight train when the conductor isn't watching the tracks. What I mean is no matter how many tid-bits you put out to parents and guardians, it will never work unless they start looking at the ratings. There is a disconnect between how some parents see video games as a medium, and how the game industry sees itself. Most parents, from my seat, see a kids hobby and nothing more. Gone are the days that video games are like Megaman or Super Mario Bros; harmless side scrolling ports of crude arcade games. The game industry now covers as much, or more ground than the movie business. Gamers range from 9-35, maybe 40 years old. The market is a diverse place, and lets face it, as a 30 year old gamer, you don't always play your "Leapster" or Wii sports.

Parents need to understand that video games aren't just for Little Jimmy on Christmas Eve. If Jimmy asks for "BloodGuy 3" maybe you should look at it before throwing it into your shopping cart. If you shop at Wal-Mart or most of the big box stores, you have to buy your games from behind glass. That makes it a bit tough to read the back of the box. So I guess the descriptors are a good idea. However, this takes pre-planning, something a lot of parents lack these days.

Either way, its a step forward. It feels more like a C.Y.A move to me. If the game industry, publishers, and developers actively took arms against retailers who sold M rated games to minors, maybe we wouldn't have to worry about the Senate or Congress fucking us over.

I've noticed a trend lately that doesn't seem to help this either. Places like 7-11 and other quick-stop stores sell games. Some how I doubt that the caliber of employee that is hired at such an establishment is willing to take the time nor is paid enough to want to check an ID for a "stupid video game." Thus allowing little Jimmy to go get a Icee and a copy of GTA 4 with out mommy and daddy. Although, when I was still under my parents control, I never had 60 bucks to go blow on a damn video game.

If the ESA and ESRB want to keep government regulation out of their industry, they are going to have to start taking proactive measures with retail outlets at the forefront of the battle. Work with retailers to educate employees and shoppers that games are just like movies. Some are for kids and some are not. If the MPAA can enforce the same sort of rules without government intervention, the video game industry can do the same.

Fun With the AI Director

Well, clever little gremlins seem to have found a way to somewhat cheat the AI Director. On the No Mercy Demo, we decided to fool around this evening. We found a way down from the roof of the first scene totally bypassing the building. However, the AI director does not seem to like that very much sending a horde of nasties flying at you from every direction. Your teammates on the roof can do little to defend you so they must rush through the building at their own peril. It always seems that in these times, when the group gets split up that really bad things happen. We've been pinned down, with all for bosses flying at us. We have yet to see a tank on the first act, but things can get nuts. I think the game is playing us so to speak.

Left 4 Dead

Alright. I'm convinced. This game rocks. I think I've played the demo more than 40 times. I'm still not bored of the game. I think I'm calling it Game of the Year. I guess it might be a bit too early to start saying that, but the AI director is pretty sweet. Every game is different, even though you are playing the same level. I wasn't planning on pre-ordering, but holy crap, its pretty amazing.

I wrote Gabe Newell an email the other day. I was just so impressed by the 5 minute video. Well tha game is the same way. I told him that Valve games are not made, they are crafted.

PROs:
-4 player co-op mode for story mode.
-AI Director: Every game is custom tailored to your performance.
-The game immerses you from the start. Dripping with atmosphere.
-Team work is a must. Lone wolfing will get you a hunter on your back or a smoker around your neck.

CONS:
-Demo's interface is too much like the console. I'd much rather have total steam integration for chatting and game finding.
-AI team will take pills and health before letting players get powerups.
-No Melee weapon! (hehe)
-Users cant effectively draw the attention of a tank from a teammate.


I feel really sorry for the zombie panic source mod, because this blows it out of the water. With a 4 player co-op game, the action is focused and you can't neglect your team.

BOOYA! Sorry to be such a fan boy, but I think this game is going to give PC game a good shot in the arm. I think anyone playing FallOut 3 is going to drop what they are doing and head to L4D. However, on the console side, I think the story is a bit different. The console version of L4D is going to have to be toned down so much because the lack of freedom to move and aim. The controler severely limits reaction times. Fighting the rush of zombitos coming at you from behind is going to be difficult when you turn about as fast as a roast duck on a spit. Also, i think that the console market is flooded with shooters constantly. If you got a gaming PC and activly purchased games, you'd save money by sticking with the PC than the 360. 44 dollars vs a 60 dollar price tag. Not to mention, im getting exclusive access to the demo before the douches in 360-land can even touch celophane.

Well, I shouldn't be celebrating untill I'm out of the city, cause I just crossed the street.

"Groovy"

Zombies: Check; Oh and Rainbows Too

Wow! That pretty much sums up my expirience with it. Today Valve posted the 5 minute intro video to Left 4 Dead. If you thought the "TF2 Meet the:" videos were good, this will blow you out of the water. I don't know who is doing the videos for Valve, but they sure as hell know what they are doing. Its a five minute clip, but the action is just nonstop, and to tell you the truth, builds a lot of tension in that short time. I'm really looking forward to the AI director. Random spawns of baddies in a 4-player co-op environment sounds awesome.

A few of us just picked up Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. We saw it on Steam for a meager 20 bucks. Not a bad price for a console port. It uses the Unreal 3 engine. Runs well on my machine even though its a few generations old. The game is less tactical than other R6 games. You don't have to do the mission planning and way points. In the single player mode its already laid out for you. I think its neat to have online Co-op for the single player story mode. You can jump in and jump out of games online. We've been doing quite a bit of terrorist hunting lately. Pings good, even playing with pals 3/4 of the way across the country. R6V2 uses a similar cover system to that of Gears of War. It makes for interesting fire fights, taking cover, making sure you're out of the line of sight. The AI is questionable at times, but for the most part delivers a solid performance. They try to flank you, ambush you and curse you out. "That's pretty good assholes!" For 20 bucks I can't find any qualms. It's crashed to desktop a few times, and there are some minor sound glitches with a machine gun sound sticking. Other than that, check it out!

New Horizions

Well, today I'm heading to a job interview. I'm excited and nervous. Should be fun to break the old routine. Wish me luck.

Grabbag and Potpouri

Well a couple of topics to cover today. I already got my rant out of the way. Time for some gaming news. We are now post-TGS. All kinds of Wii music announcements and Nintendo shit was made public last week. Nothing too spectacular to talk about there unless you like all the import RPGs.

It looks like "Good Old Games" has gone live with a public beta. You can get access to all the cool games of the late 1990's such as MDK and Citizen Kabuto and newer games like Colin McCre Rally 2005. It looks like its a game tap type setup, except no monthly fee, looks like you pay per game. $5-10 is a reasonable price for an older PC game when a NES game is going for $5 dollars on Wii's Virtual Console.

Rumors abound that Legendary Pictures is looking to purchase Epic Games. Epic's Mark Reign is trying to quell the rumors saying that the speculation is all false. This comes on the heals of the public announcement that Legendary and Epic are teaming up for the Gears of War movie. Reports say CliffyB is looking for a "Clive Owen" type to play the lead roll. Interesting.

MMO news out of LucasArts this week. It seems EA and LucasArts are departing on a MMO adventure of the StarWars kind. The Old Republic looking to be the next step from Bioware's Knight of the Old Republic standard RPG released a few years back. Could be good, could be bad, the recent rash of StarWars licenced games have sucked. (I'll make an exception for Lego StarWars.) The MMO space has a lot to chew on with WoW's 10 million users and growing.

Lord of the Rings Online's new expansion "The Mines of Moria" is due out November 18.

Valve's zombie-survival coop game "Left 4 Dead lands Nov. 18 as well. L4D is looking to be the multiplayer game of the year if it can make it on time.

Finally! Little Big Planet? Anyone play this yet? Looks kinda neat.

Can You Tell Me How this can be true.

Ok, so I'm reading an article on Bigdownload and it just so happens to be an interview with one of the designers of Battlefield Heroes. It seems to be your standard interview. What gets me here is that once again, folks at EA are telling us that the game is "out" and "released." James Salt along with several other key EA execs feel that when a game is in beta stage and people in the public are playing it consitutes a release of a game.

Hold the presses!!!! Wait, what? OK, DICE project lead James Salt says that "So, basically, Heroes is already out and we are adding new players every day." So by randomly selecting players to play your video game is the same as a finished product ready for everyone to play? He says they are taking a similar approace to Gmail, where they add users little at a time for stress testing. Does that mean the game "out" and "being played."

Some how I think not.

I will not fault DICE and EA for trying to actually do some testing on their product. By no means do I want them to rush, and even when the game is released since it is free to play we may still see some bugs, but we gladly accept that risk. Just don't tell me it's out when the game still can't be freely downloaded. Stop telling half-truths!!!

TGS on the Roll

Well, this week is the start of TGS, for the uninitiated Tokyo Game Show. It's held in Japan! Anyways, this week usually signifies alot of weird ass games and shit will be on display on your favorite gaming website. Most items will probably never reach these shores, but you can rest assured that you will get to see a huge stream of endless garbage and pictures of half-naked Japanese babes.

Is Retro Really Better?

My last entry was touting the wonders of days long passed. There is something to say for a nostalgic look into the past. However, one should not remain there and dwell upon what has happened. However, this seems to be a more and more popular trend among movie studios and video game developers.

I can understand that it is a very expensive undertaking to make new games. Ideas, designs, engines, marketing, etc. In a shaky economy with a fickle market, not every game is a sure bet.

This in mind, not taking risks can also be a bad proposition. Sticking to the safe bet can also lead your fan base to rise against you for desecrating something sacred. What brings me here today is the new Punch-Out trailer that was released. You can check it out here. Not only is Nintendo re-selling you your gaming past, but they are repackaging old ideas in new boxes. Along with this revelation, we also hear that they plan to release Pikmin and Metroid on the Wii. From what it sounds, they will be Wii ports of the original games. ( Wii consoles let you play Game Cube games) On the Xbox 360 we have an example of this. Bionic Comando: Rearmed. A 2D game made with 3D graphics in a 2D perspective. Sigh. I guess the same could be said for my baby TF2, but somehow I don't think it fits well into this paradigm. Not to unfairly pick on nintendo, but the 300 Mario Games. Paper Mario series, Pokemon, only to name a few.

I think what is happening is that developers, probably more so publishers want to have every game hit it bigtime. So, inorder to have success, they have to bank on ideas that were successful before. I think if this trend continues, devs are going to have to start giving us something else to chew on. Spice up the same-old same-old with new gameplay elements, I don't just mean adding RPG elements to shooters. I think the EA Sports franchises suffer from this quite a bit. But then again, how do you make the yearly purchase of Madden worthwhile? I sure as heck don't want to spend another 60 dollars to see Bret Farve on the Jets instead of the Packers. Then again, I'm not a crazy fantasy football jock either. (Go Niners)

Use your brains, think of some creative ways to incorporate neat little minigames or quirks into the old gameplay. Paper Mario on the gamecube had retarded turnbased action, where in Super Paper Mario they added a 3D sidescrolling (if you can call it that) platforming element. Better yet, do what Valve does and really critically look at what game you want to make, and move to a cycle of constant improvement. This is where strong business leaders can make a difference. Implement kaisen or the like philosphy into your teams, let them try and try again. If it worked for Honda and Toyota, I'm pretty sure it can work for game developers.

We like our old games, but we also like new and interesting ideas. I think as the majority of gamers grow older, they are looking for more visceral games. Gone are the days of the mindless shoot-em-up. Shooters today have stories, characters, and (to me) some emotional attachment (HL2). You can only use gimmicks so many times before the vail of pretty graphics is lifted. I think story telling will be the next big leap for video games in the next 3-5 years. If devs and publishers spent more time thinking about what they want to make and how to innovate rather than just pushing out garbage as fast as possible; people would buy your new ideas, and quite possibly, like them.

Battlefield WTF

This post was originally from my 1up.com blog. Thought it would fit well here.

As a long time player of the Battlefield franchise from DICE, I've always wondered what has been going on behind closed doors.What kind of wacky people work there, and do they have drunk beta testers?

Before I dig in, let me tell a short story. Back in the day (1999), the LAN Party Crew and I would always partake in prolonged sessions of Codename: Eagle. For those of you who don't know, it was the grandfather of Battlefield 1942. It had all the cool features that BF does, planes (zeppelins), tanks, buggies, and crappy physics. It was always pretty awesome to jump in a zeppelin and ram it into your pal who was trying to ride his motorcycle through "No Man's Land," or try to load a tank into the back of it. After many, many hours of playing you discover that there are obvious flaws in the game. After a while, we all migrated to Counter-Strike, and Codename:Eagle slowly faded into distant memory.

Fast forward to 2002. We came back for a big helping of Battlefield 1942 when it appeared on the scene. Devoting hours to online play, driving the carriers, submarines, and tanks was pretty much all we did for a year or so. Desert Combat Mod took over our play list once that was released. BF1942 shared that same wacky game play style it inherited from Codename:Eagle. The game never took itself too seriously. Mixing the right amount of "arcadey-ness" with history/quasi-realism. So, we were able to over look its shortcomings. Some of the same physics glitches CE suffered from. If you parked your car, even on the slightest of hills, the car would slide down sideways like it was on rolling casters or ball bearings. Or the fact that If you tried to stand on a moving boat, you'd eventually shuffle off without even hitting W, A, S, or D. Apparently, relativity doesn't apply to this video game.

Some time in 2003 maybe early 2004, the news of Battlefield 2 hit the streets. Offering a new mix of modern combat weapons, squad warfare and RTS-like battlefield commanders. We were excited to say the least. A chance for nerdlets to exercise their M1-Abrams driving skills and fly choppers in the quasi-real middle east environment. BF2 was released into open arms, wholly accepting the game play changes. Again, we played hours of this shit. Running over pesky snipers with the FAV was our favorite thing to do. However, if you tried to shoot down a chopper while parked on a hill, Good luck! Your car would eventually slide down the hill out of cover until it reached flat ground. How obnoxious.

Now, for most games this would have been a happy "end-of-story." The game is released to a loving community. Waste hours flying, bombing, driving, and hiking around these maps. However it wasn't. Here comes my questions for DICE. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

I will admit, while DICE was still a separate entity, they were dedicated to patching the game, trying to make it better. Subsequent patches to the game tweaked game balance. As Shawn Elliot pointed out in his posting DICE had some trouble to say the least. This could be overlooked because of the fact that patches were out on a monthly basis. That is, until they were acquired by EA. Then BF2 became the red-headed stepchild, and was dropped like a rock. They took BF2, slapped some candy on it, and called it BF2142. In my opinion, this game was a mod sold at full price with their expansion-happy overlords pushing crap on gamers daily. Like any other BF fan, I bought into the propaganda and picked it up anyways.

I think DICE released one BF2 patch after 2142 came out, and pretty much let it die just about a year and a half after release. With 1942, the game's longevity came from its modding community. People played 1942 even past the launch of BF2. BF2 was left to rot in the online pit of hackers and cheaters, while 2142 suffered from "beta patches" and horrible testing problems.

Now, what the hell was DICE thinking? Why would you abandon one of the most popular online shooters in the world, almost over night. Why would you release patches for a game that break online play, that cause gamers to have to reinstall the entire game. What drugs do you have that we don't? I can't answer those questions. I can only speculate that EA's corporate culture contributed to the pollution. Pressing the devs to push out games to meet a quota of "cha-chang" and bilk gamers out of their hard earned money. But I really want to know is why, after almost 10 years, is there still the damn glitch from Codename:Eagle in BF2. Why can i park my car on a hill and it slides sideways? In my circle of friends, we always joke that DICE never actually made a new game engine. They just kept piecemealing shit over the top of C:E and slapped a new name on it. The physics always feel kind of clunky compared to other games. I can't back that up, but I would really like to know what is under the hood of BF2/2142.

I don't own an Xbox360, but I would guess that if you park a car on a hill in Bad Company, that it rolls sideways. I'm praying to a deity that DICE is actually making improvements to BF:Heroes while in beta phase. Hopefully, this isn't just some marketing strategy to show advertisers that they have a willing base of sheep players to subject to their new business model. Time will tell and lets hope history doesn't repeat in the Battlefield universe.

A Tale of Time

The other day I was reading a Kotaku article on the cinematic Full Motion Video (FMV) sequences from PC games in the 1990s. It really brought back a tidal wave of memories from the first games I played on the PC. Dark Forces, X-wing /Tie Fighter, MegaRace, The 7th Guest. Everyone loved prerenedered CGI with FMV.

This was golden age of gaming. When the PC had more power that could be possibly imagined on a console. My Packard Bell 486DX with 8MB of ram was eventurally upgraded to 32 megs of ram. Old games like this I wish I hadn't thrown them away. I haven't played them in eons, but games seemed to rely on story a bit more when graphics looked like shit. Everything had a back story. Even crapy-ass MegaRace. MegaRace for the uninitiated was a racing game that was set in the future. You're host Lance Boyle explained how you were part of a Virutal TV show in this mix of Mad Max and The Running Man. The concept was simple. You race trying to knock the other cars off the track or shoot them with your machine guns. Eventually you'd get to the pack leader to beat the level. The game probably would never fly these days, but to a 10 year old, it was "da shit."

Another game I miss surfaced around the 1995-1996 Era. I remember playing this on an IBM Aptiva with a Ati 3D Rage card. Mechwarrior 2! Yeah, that was our first taste of online multiplayer. At that time we didn't really get into LAN Parties yet, but we sure as hell played alot of direct connect modem games. Doom and Quake were other great games we played durring this time. However, I think Mech Warrior sticks out in my mind. The graphics were total shit. Pretty much bland polygons with a few sprites scattered here and there. However, the FMV movies were killer for the time. The game set in the Battletech universe (table top game) pitted the Jade Falcon clan against Clan Wolf. Many of our summers were spent blowing each other out of our mechs. Good times.

I'm guessing that alot of the FMV videos we saw durring the mid-1990's were a result of the graphics. Because the developers couldn't really tell a dramatic story with the game engine, they had to use cutscenes with FMV to fill in the gaps left by the game play. I'm not really sure if this post has a point, but I just like thinking back to a fonder time.

This Hang-Up Of Mine

For some reason I'm on an Anti-EA kick this week. I don't know if it's because of the whole 3 installs of spore or the fact that I'm still kind of pissed off about Battlefield 2. Lately, the chip on my shoulder has grown immensely. It seems to be less of a chip and more of a block. Scanning the game news this morning, I caught up on the past couple of days. Specifically the EA-Take 2 merger deal. I had commented on this situation a while ago on Nor-Cal Gamer. I always have a few reservations when small guys are gobbled up by a heart-less overlord.

Take 2, a company that has put out a plethora of great games, including sports games to take on the gargantuan EA Sports lineup. My problem of this acquisition roots from something far deeper than just evil corporations and all that mumbo-jumbo. My problem is with EA corporate culture. Obviously, everyone wants to make money, and yes, you are beholden to your stock holders who have a vested interest in your company. However, as a producer of games, you should also be considerate of the gamers who buy your products.

Being a businessman, I know that the bottom line is important. If I was to piss off my customers would talk, and I would end up with a bad reputation, ergo I would probably lose clients or end up not getting any new ones. I don't think this model applies to EA. Because there are enough people who buy EA products that don't read game news, read EGM mag, or any other gaming website, they can get away with pissing on a good chunk of their clients without going in the red. This disconnect between corporate power and consumer only give EA more power to impose their will upon you.

Look at Spore for example. Out of the box, you have 3 installs of the game. So you install once when you get it. Say, you upgrade your rig, format and install Spore for the second time. Then, let us assume that you're one of the most unlucky bastards around and your hard drive fails. You buy a new HD and install Spore for the 3rd time. Now, you're no pirate, but you're forced to buy another copy of the game because the DRM says so. 3 installations in the life time of the product. I remember when WinXP came out, people were throwing fits over the activation, this seems a bit excessive to me. I understand the concern to curb piracy, but It doesn't, and did not in this case. Spore was on torrents days before it was released to any retail outlets. The only people the DRM hurts is the people who actually buy the game. From the press releases and commentary floating around the web, it doesn't look like EA actually gives a shit.

EA is huge company. They make millions off of a Monopoly in the football sim market (Madden), the quality of their annual release of EA Sports titles gradually slides lower and lower. In business school we learn that competition is what drives innovation. The goal of continually improving or upgrading your product to stay ahead of the next guy. I think EA has gotten so big they have become complasent. They hold so much power, that if someone does try to innovate and move past the lumbering beast, they can just reach down and gobble them up. In a market of billions of dollars, the last thing you want is a slow moving business. The public is fickel, and there are only so many bullshit games you can throw at us before we revolt. If you want more people to buy your games, focus on your market. Don't just throw out a half-baked shooter and slap the "Battlefield" name on it. Let your developers work their magic, keep your business tactics out of the development process, and release a decent game. Maybe that would curb piracy. A new, innovative game that caputres the audience like never before, not just the same-old rehashed bullshit we've seen 10000 times.

UPDATE: Via MTV Multiplayer EA says they will be loosening the DRM on Spore. These are the numbers they are quoting:

Mass Effect
• Total activations: 183313
• Users activating on only 1 machine: 77%
• Users activating on more than 1 machine: 23%
• User trying to activate on more than 3 machines: 0.9%

Spore Creature Creator
• Total activations: 453048
• Users activating on only 1 machine: 77%
• Users activating on more than 1 machine: 23%
• Users trying to activate on more than 3 machines: 1%

Spore (main game)
• Total activations: 437138
• Users activating on only 1 machine: 86%
• Users activating on more than 1 machine: 14%
• User trying to activate on more than 3 machines: 0.4%

Ok, yeah thats all fine and dandy, but what about over the life of the product. Mass Effect has been out for the PC since May 27, 2008. The creature creator has been out a month. So pretty much EA is figuring that after 1 year you are proably not going to play your game any more. Hmmm....thanks EA.

Battlefield Heroes Redux

Well folks, I seriously think that the ice is starting to thaw in my brain. That strong dislike for DICE for the BF2-shafting and 2142 debockle. This unrest permeated all that DICE and EA could brainstorm. So my first impressions of BF Heroes was that of a lackluster reception. That was before. Now, after seeing this gem on the official site, I see in a different light. Lets roll down to the basics here.

Battlefield Heroes is a free-to-play 3rd person action game from Swedish developer, Digital Illusions CE. This is the latest iteration of the Battlefield Series. Using a cartoon-like art style, similar to TF2, BFH looks to break ground with its free-to-play browser based game play. The game is slated to run on older machines, thus widening the market for gamers. As seen from the video above, character customization is going to be a big part of the game. Character customization and persistent character data are many of the MMO features DICE has incorporated into their shooters to make gaming addicting.

I think what DICE is trying to do here is bring a little levity to the gaming scene. If you have played an online Battlefield game in the last 4 years, you probably know that by the end of the map that the game has degraded into a redneck beer drinking 4x4 rally with jets and tanks. I think DICE wants to capture the best part of the "stunts" and goofing off element to make the game's cartoony graphics to really bring out the action.

What I liked about TF2 is the fact that the characters have life. Each class has a unique personality, and that quirkiness is used to bring a levity to the game while playing. No matter how awesome or shiteous you are playing, a character will always say something that catches you off guard and make you laugh. Online matches turn into cursing 12-year old homophobic racist shout-offs, it would be nice to see a change with a little less seriousness in games.

All in all, I'm most definately wanting to play this game. I mean after all, its free.

Long Time No Posts

I have been extremely busy with my day job. Other than trying to play Mario Kart Wii like a professional mushroom kingdom driver, I try to keep tabs on the goings on of the gaming industry. Here are a few briefs if you have been under a rock for several days (weeks).

-EA/Take-Two Deal : Deadline has come and gone, EA's hostile takeover bid was unsuccessful. GTA's 500million first week was probably proof to the investors that they did the right thing.

-Big names pull out of the ESA. Early last week several of the big names opted not to renew their support for the Entertainment Software Association The list includes Activision, Lucas Arts, and EA. E3 is scheduled to go on as planned.

-Doom 4 has been announced. Id Software on both Console and PC development to combat piracy.

-GTA 4 sells $500 million in the first week of sales beating out Halo 3's $300 million launch. However to note that GTA was a 360/PS3 exclusive. PC fans normally wait 7-9 months for a port. Maybe X-mas time?

-EA gets burned on Pay to Play upgrades in Battlefield: Bad Company. Unlocks now available through play, and if you buy the Limited Edition Collectors pack. BF: Heroes promises free core content, only charging for EXP boots for players with little time to dedicate.

Call of Duty 4 Impressions

Call of Duty 4, a game I said I didn't think I'd much care for. However, there are times when you must admit that you were wrong and embrace defeat. I mean literally grab it and hug the damn thing. Although since I purchased my defeat on Steam, I can do little more than smile. ENOUGH with the small talk, you wanna hear juicy details.

I must say that Infinity Ward has our classed themselves. This is a top notch shooter on the PC platform. Previously I had played Call of Duty on the Xbox, Call of Duty 2 on the PC, skiped 3 because it looked like a shitty launch title for the Wii. Previous incarnations were WW2 themed, however, with a title like "Modern Combat" I don't think there will be any mistaking this time.

Game play is robust. Unlike alot of shooters, there is so much chaos and gun fire that you must move cautiously. Using cover, return fire, crouch and prone techniques you can work your way to the next position. The gameplay is based on frenetic battles, lots of guns, lots of confusions, but many of the maps push you in a direction and use keen scripted ques to help immerse you.

I found "Hardcore" mode to be most challenging. This mode removes all HUD elements, radar, and crosshair. Now it is imparitive that you aim down the gun to be most accurate.

Single player is very cinemattic. I provides that "stress" in games that makes you almost panic. As I said earlier, it uses the scripted events to help immerse the player into the action.

Multiplayer is NUTS. It is what BF2 should have been without the vehicles. Lots of cover, lots of debris, lots of stuff going on. Ive seen servers as large as 50, but that is too big for the maps. 30 players seems to be the sweet spot. Persistant online ranking allows for RPG style addictiveness to infuse the game. As you capture points, kill enemies, you earn Exp points towards the next rank and weapon unlocks.

I got the game via Steam, and I paid a premium price for it. However, the game is always up to date, I can get it wherever I go, but no server browser via Steam. You can get COD4 in retail outlets as low as $39.95.

I would definitely recommend this game if you got some cash to spend or looking for a new shooter.

NEWS FLASH: Electronic Arts vs. Take Two Interactive

Just breaking news via GamePolitics.com, EA announced today that it would be making a bid to buy all of Take-Two public holdings in an attempt at a hostile takeover. Subsequently, Take-Two responded shortly thereafter to let EA know that they weren't going down with out a fight. Siting that EA's opportunity was not about creative freedoms, but about EA's bottom line. This is all on the heels of the hotly anticipated release of GTA4. The latest installment of Take-Two's largest franchise, and one of the biggest in gaming history. Not to mension EA's CEO admitting to screwing up smaller companies in the past. Origin, responsible for the Wing Commander Series and Janes Flight Simulators; also BullFrog created by Peter Molyneux(left after EA tookover), and Westwood Studios responsible for the Command and Conquer Series, all had been taken under the "EA Wing" so to speak. One must ask, where are they now? Still working at EA? Speculation leads us to belive that probably not all of them. I'm sure they are all working somewhere. This was more of a case of give me your Brandings and Trademarks and we will give you a few million dollars to retire on. Are there lessons learned from the past at all? EA is on a collission course with the Galaxy and Take-Two won't have it. A modern day David v. Goliath case.

The Definitive LAN Party Guide Part 1

Hello residents of the interwebz! Today is the beginning of a 3 part series about LAN Parties. With the DSL generation in full swing, many people today forget their fond memories of a LP past. If you want to get your party on, here are a few tips from LAN Party Pros. I'll tell you where and how to throw the best shin-dig around. Topics range from Games to Girls, Pizza to Players, and many many more topics. Sit back and get ready to take notes.

TOPIC 1 - Getting Started

• Set Date and Time
• Date of Party and Begining/End time important
• Where da party at?
• Tables and Chairs
• What should we bring?
  

First thing to do is to decided to have a LAN Party. If you live with roommates and/or parents, please discuss with them before having a party on the premesis. Next would be to decide when to have the party? Should you do it on a weekday, weekend, holiday? For me, having it on a Friday/Saturday or a Saturday/Sunday usually works the best. Everyone is off work, its a weekend so noone has obligations to fill. However, holidays work good if you want to come up with a fancy name for your LP. We like to use "LANsgibbing." Thats trademarked BTW so don't think about using it. So now that you have decided what day your party will be on, now its time to choose a time. Choosing a time is not as important as the date, but it still can give you a tactical advantage by choosing a good start time. Now, I don't know your friends, but if they are anything like mine, they don't like to wake up early or show up on time. So here are a few tips when setting your start time. Tip1: Schedule doors open around noon. If you take your friends into account (mine for this instance) 12noon gives us plenty of time to set up in the morning/evening before, late enough not to have to feed anyone, and early enough to get the slowpokes playing by 3pm.

Where Da Party At? How do you let your fellow gamers know you are having a LAN Party? Lets discuss some ways to get the word out about your party. We can start by the most obvious methods: E-mail, IM, and Hand Out Fliers. Fliers are good when you need to get the word out to massive amounts of people. This is good if you are having a very large LP at a school or a public gathering, not so much for your living room LAN. For most of us, E-mail and IM are going to be the easiest and safest alternatives. You should email your cohorts approximately a month before hand. This will give them time to talk to their boss/employer to take time off, clear their schedules of other crappier things to do etc. I suggest Email first with a list of things to bring, general rules, and an RSVP date. If your friends are like mine, noone will RSVP to the email, but everyone will RSVP one way or another. The RSVP makes it easier to do a head count for pizza or for our next step, securing tables and chairs.

Once you have the people taken care of, now its time to secure the seating arrangements. For me, its easy since I have all the equipemnt. I have long tables purchased from Staples and HomeDepot for approximately 30-75 dollars. Square tables allow you to maximize players in a given space. In the early days of LAN Parties, everyone had a CRT so monitors were a concern for table owners. Now, most people use LCD flatpanel displays so that is no longer an issue, and helps to allow more gamers per table. Chairs can be purchased at Staples/HomeDepot for approximately 9-15 dollars. If you can, try to secure enough seating/tables for a 10% overflow population (I.E uninvited guests, boyfriends/girlfriends of attendee). The more the marrier.

Ok, so you have your seating arrangements situated, now its time to focus on the food. What to eat, what to drink, who brings the beer, who brings the chips and salsa. Alright, all I can say here is Pizza. You can order alot of it at one time, it can be delivered, and its not that expensive. We have tried BBQ LANs, we have tried just about everything under the sun, but Pizza always turns out to be the easiest option. If you don't want to be out the money for pizza, put a cover charge on everyone who attends. Usually between 7-10 dollar will cover the pizza option plus any expenses that you incurr while planning the party. Just a tip, there is always someone who doesn't pay, make sure you have some extra dough on hand to cover for a douchebag. Party-goers should be encouraged to bring snacks and soda to share with other gamers. This way there should be something for all tastes.

More on PC Gaming Alliance

(This was originally attached to the previous post.)

No sign of Valve. WTF, you would think that Valve would be all up in that. Just thought I'd bring it up. However, is Microsoft really committed to 3 consoles? The PC, 360, and Xbox; probably not in that order. It's all speculation at the moment anyways. Do these giants have a plan to steer the PC away from the iceberg? Better Standardization? Optimization? Collusion? What if the graphics cards waited for major improvements to be released? Maybe developers could agree on a computer specification that they would use for the next 2-3 years. Some way to slow the growth and allow for a longer hardware life cycle. However, corporate greed in many organizations wouldn't allow this to happen. No one wants to change paradigms and lose money. My thoughs: Just make graphics cards huge, pack them with 2 gigs of ram, and call it good. We all know that has been the limiting factor for video cards. I think it will be tough for hardware manufacturers to embrace a change like this. However, a change in business models never hurt anyone.

Here is my Take on the standardization of the PC.

BRAND: GlinkmanPower 1300ex Motherboard
Power Requirement:2w + 10w(cpu)+ 30w(gpu) = 42w consumption max
FORM FACTOR: ATX-MDH-220v (Asus)
PCIE-16: 2
PCI:3
Onboard LAN Ethernet/WiFi (nVidia)
Onboard EAX 12 Sound (Creative)
Onboard FireWire 1394
Intel or AMD compatible (x86-64)^3 Architecture
Supports 32 GB RAM (MS releases XPSP3)
Supports Up to 12 SATA2 Devices

My Suggestions for the PC Platform

• Big on Memory
• Low on Power
• Quad core or More
• Allow GPU to have more GigaBytes than MegaHertz
• Extend the Life Cycle.
• Refocus on Optimization current generation to allow hardware manufacturers to innovate, not re-clock products.
• Integration of Wireless and bluetooth technologies into motherboards.

Eat your words Clifford, PC Gaming Aliance Formed

Over at the ever polular Game Developers Conference, a not-so secret alliance was being announced to the public. My previous post with the toutings of Cliff Bleszinski, head hauncho at Epic Games, and how he said that Epic was not primailry focusing on PC games. Well, I think THIS might say otherwise. Here is a snippet.

"One of our main major objectives is to provide one voice on PC gaming market. There's no one source that says 'hey this is where the PC market is going'. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are always calling their market share - we're going to call our market through this group."

-Randy Stude
PCGA President

The artlice goes into some detail on what the PCGA is going focus on in the comming months and years. I think this goes to show you that there is alot of hardware manufacturers who do not want the PC gaming industry to die. But lets hope that this isnt just failed bargins like "Games for Windows." This somehow seems to address everything that CliffB was complaining about. Interesting turn of events.

Media Attention: Scape-goat Journalism Discovered

Well, I've been looking for something to write about, and I finally found it. With the recent NIU shootings, the violence-in-games debate has started to roar. Finally, MSNBC puts Faux News and Jack Thompson in their respective places.

"On Friday, police were still struggling to figure out why a seemingly polite, well-respected graduate student named Steven Kazmierczak had shot and killed five students at Northern Illinois University and then turned the gun on himself. But Thompson had it all figured out. Faster than you can say wild speculation and reckless sensationalism, he leapt in front of Fox News cameras and suggested that video games were to blame.

Click Here to read the entire article. I think its about time someone starts asking questions and pointing out sensationalistic journalism.

CliffyB Defies his Master, PC Gaming "Secondary"

This seems like giant slap to my face. In a day when gamers should stick together, CliffB, the Unreal dude, says via MTVMultiplayer

"I think people would rather make a game that sells 4.5 million copies than a million and “Gears” is at 4.5 million right now on the 360. I think the PC is just in disarray… what’s driving the PC right now is ‘Sims’-type games and ‘WoW‘ and a lot of stuff that’s in a web-based interface. You just click on it and play it. That’s the direction PC is evolving into So for me, the PC is kind of the secondary part of what we’re doing. It’s important for us, but right now making AAA games on consoles is where we’re at."

There you have it. Cliff Bleszinski doggin' his home court, giving PC gamers the cold shoulder! What gives Cliffy? You're game not selling well? Get a hot spark in your eye? From an economic standpoint, I can see where he is coming from. As one of the few independant developers in the US, they must sell units to put food on their plates. However, "sims type games" aren't the reason PC gamers still use the platform. Its diversity of Genres that exists. The inharent multifunctional nature of the system makes it great. I have yet to see a decent RTS on the Xbox. What about MMO? I think what Cliffy is seeing is the fact that gamers (on the PC anyways) expect much more from an app than some console kiddie. The PC has plenty of shooters. Shooters with guns, bigger guns, cars, trucks, bigger trucks, tanks, rockets, chainsaws, etc, gamers are looking for something that pushes the boundaries, not just last years game packaged with new graphics and fancy Special Edition DVD bullshit. It is what divides the true "hardcore" gamers from the "I got this for Christmas" gamers.

CliffyB, I hereby challenge you to start bringing your innovation to the table. Keeping such a corporate mindset will disorient you and stifle the creative process. Personally, I think Unreal Tourney has been the same game since the 2002 iteration. What else have you changed besides the look and maybe a few game tweaks? What "new" or "bold" content have you added; and by bold, I don't mean "HOLY SHIT HEADSHOT" with the crazy announcer voice.

I think developers are starting to wallow in the financial advantages of the console war. A stable platform for witch all the games can use the same engine till the end of time. Collect royalties from other developers when they use your product. Well, untill Microsoft recoups their R&D costs and makes another Xbox and then all your games are...well...useless.

We will talk then CliffyB.

WASD

The Casualties of War: UPDATED

Well, the newest TF2 update has been released. New maps, some bug fixes, but no new weapons or game play mode. Hmm...what happened. I guess the fun stuff wasnt quite ready for show time. Either way, it will automatically be downloaded when you restart steam if you haven't already.

[UPDATE NEWS]
I've registered a notable difference in play since the update. I have not scientificly proven this, but I can see it with my eyes. Or maybe its just the warm glow of a hulking CRT. Anyone else?
[UPDATE 939pm PST]
A server update casusing chrashes has been released.

A Frightening Trend in Modern Journalism

Thinking back to my highschool days as the Editor in Chief of the school news paper, we learned the principles of journalism. We learned of yellow journalism being credited for the Spanish-American war. We learned that journalists should dig for the truth and not interject his/her own opionions into a story, or simply journalists should not editorialize a story. That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.

Ok, with that said lets look at todays blunder. A local news affiliate out of Omaha Nebraska is reporting that a recent "study" says video games, even non-violent kiddie games increase emotional arousal and agression. This "study" did brain scans of kids who played a non-violent game and comparted it to scans of other kinds who played violent ones. Now, I'm not going to say that this is or is not true, however, what about kids who play competitive sports? Football or basketball, do thoes increase agression and emotional arrousal? A hundred bucks bet they do too.

My qualms aren't really with the data, but how these journalists interpret and depecti the data for the sheep watching the TV news. Just like Fox news, this local afflilate grabs some "expert" to rant on about how video games destroy our children. Later on in the article, Joe Blow Mr. Payne says after his kids are done playing a game all they have on their mind is Kill Kill Kill. However, the artlicel goes on to state that Mr. and Mrs Payne have not seen any signs of increased agression or violence. Some how that just doesn't sound right. Maybe Mr. Payne hates his wife for cheating on him, and some how projects that on to his kids. I'm not sure.

It's a sad sad time when junk science is so easily gobbled up by "journalists" and slammed into the piehole of middle America. I think its about time people start usuing their brain. It's amazing what human intellegence is wasted on.

Battlefield Noobfest? Another Battlefield Game in the Works

Yessiree you heard right. A new game from developer D.I.C.E is just around the corner. And I know how excited you are about new games in the Battlefield franchise. Lets count the wonder: Codename: Eagle, Battlefield 1942, Road to Rome, Secret Weapons of WWII, Battlefield: Vietnam, Battlefield 2, BF2: Special Forces, Euro Force, Armored Fury, BF2142, Norther Strike, Battlefield: Bad Company, and now Battlefield Heroes. Yes, the fine tradition of the Battlefield Series, EA and DICE have devised a quick and painless way to rid you of your spare cash laying on hand. It will be a free to download and play, supposedly running on older systems. Reports from PHL and other gaming sites report that it may be close to that of BF1942 hardware requirments. It will be a cartoon style shooter, with fully customizable players. "What's the catch" you say? I know you know that there are no free lunches. The new painless way to rid you of your cash would be micro-transactions. Like that of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Live, you don't have to pay for the game, but if you want new shirts or faces or whatever crap they allow for consumption, you are going to have to shell out some micro-transaction credit cards.

So lets recap really quick: The game requires less processing power, it's free to play and download, quicker access to play, you can customize every aspect of your soldier. As if the Battlefield Series wasn't already riddled with douches and 10 year olds who scream for chocolate milk. I think what's going on here is an attempt by EA/DICE to bank on the new Myspace Generation of kids, who require instant gratification, can't be away from their top 8, need total customization and some sort of ranking system to show their EMO buddies how much they don't suck at something.

It seems like poor Team Fortress 2 rip off. I think what gets me the most is DICE's inability to actually support a product once it has launched. So, like the rest of the franchise, we will see a spike in game play, and then slowly sputter out once DICE has moved on to create Battlefield Heroes 2: The Money You Hid Under Your Mattress.

Just as a side note: Check out gamespy.com, somewhere on the right hand of the page, if you scroll down far enough you can see how many folks are playing what games. Battlefield had close to 14,000 players where as BF2142 (the superior game by DICE standards) had a whopping 300 players. This was on the weekend around 9pm PST. Certainly the BF2 player base should have been absorbed into other games by now.

Worst Gaming Temper Tantrums

I think this is why I will never play the Xbox 360. Anywho, Here is a collection of the top 5 gamer tantrums available on youtube. I saw this on Gamerhelp.com and couldn't help but pass it on. ROFL is all i can say. Make sure to watch "chocolate milk kid."

Bravo Brett Thomas

Here is a nice article I found written by Brett Thomas over at bit-tech.net. His article confronts the ever present rumors that PC Gaming is dying. Here is a snipet. Hit the link to read the entire article.

But it's not PCs that will have died, and it's not consoles that will have won. Consoles are just the tool most convenient for the purpose - locked down systems that can prevent outside innovation without significant initial investment. It's gaming that will have died, and a single corporate monolith that won. The same rehashed game sold eight different ways - that will be consumer "choice."

Read the Entire Article

TF2 Getting New Game Modes and Unlockable Weapons

Team Fortress 2 has been, to many, a suprise hit (maybe not). However, Valve's commitment to consistant improvement should be the talk of the community (talking to you Digital Illusions C.E.). The announcement made in late January via the PC Gamer blog, sheds some light as to what will be included with the new update due some time around the end of February. Starting with the Medic, Valve will gradually release unlockable "load-outs" after the player has completed a signifigant amount of new achievements. According to the blog, these unlocks will signifigantly change the way that the class is played. Read the blog for more details. Lets just say that these improvements will allow for a variety new techniques to be used in game.

Along with the unlocks, a new game type and 2 new maps will be included. The new game mode that will be similar to a VIP escort map in the original Counter-Strike. In a series of map fragments (ex. dustbowl and hydro), a team must escort a train car to the opposing teams base.

I don't know about you, but I'm foaming at the mouth over this. The possibilites are endless, adding more playability to an already awesome game.

My Latest Creation

After being bit by the creativity bug, and a need to get back in the director's chair. I made a short video from TF2 shots. It's not the greatest, expect better to come when I can get the full cooperation from the entire LPC. Maybe I'll have a good one by the next LP.

A Digression of Sorts

For a while now I have been quite dissatisfied with the current state of my political affiliation. In my eyes, the Republican party had been served a steaming plate of "epic fail." They are disconnected, self-absorbed, and focused on the wrong issues. Taxing and Spending isn't just for Democrats any more. Republicans are just as guilty as anyone of wasting tax payer money.

Now, after a late-night watching the Daily Show with P.J. Rourke's, I became self-aware. I was hiding my true self in the cookie cutter mold projected by years of the political machine running rampant. I agreed with no pundits on either side of the table. It was an asinine exercise in electile dysfunction. After really thinking about my beliefes, I realized I was a Libertarian. I am pro-citizian, pro-constitution, the best governement governs least type of guy.

If you are confused about what political affiliation you are, or tired of your current one, check out this site.

I doubt any news orgs will cover this, but Glinkman is formally endorsing Ron Paul for President.

Portal: A Day in the life of a Turret

Vindication of Sorts

Well it looks as if gamers everywhere have fought back. See my previous post. After being severely smitten by the unresearched musings of Fox News' Live Desk and Cooper Lawrence, gamers everywhere took to Amazon.com and smeared Lawrence's new book by posting scathing reviews of the book, thus making the book rating plummet to 1.5 stars. Some reviewers even stated that they disliked the book even though they did not read it. Much the same statement as Lawrence made on the "Faux News" program reguarding Mass Effect.

Now, I'm not condoning the actions of gamers, but I do feel vindication in a "karmatic" sort of way. Unsubstanciated claims, especailly when false, hurt everyone. I guess Ms. Lawrence is feeling the effects first hand.

Fox News; You're on Notice...

I'm a conservative and an avid video gamer, and to me this is abhorrent. If you have ever taken a journalism class, you would be familiar with "yellow journalism." It basically boils down to selling news. Just like the tabloids, Fox News uses sensationalistic headlines and stories to get ratings. It just goes to show you what kind of journalistic integrity Fox News has. Anyone who has Jack Thompson as an "expert" on the VT shootings shows no credibility what so ever. It just makes me sick to think that other conservatives eat this crap like candy.

What I want to know is why are parents buying kids a Mature rated game? Is it OK for your child to watch SAW 3 or Boogie Nights at 12 years old? For most kids; probably not. Obviously there are some cases where children are well adjusted enough and mature enough to understand causality (cause and effect). However to blame video games as the sole corrupter of youth is ridiculous. Movies are more violent now than ever before, but video games are killing our children.

Furthermore, uninvolved parents should be flogged, publicly. Buying a mature rated game for junior is ridiculous. Do some research; look into what your kids do. Be A Parent, not a friend. What happened to personal responsibility? This isn't just a "right wing G.W. Bush thing." Both the left and right sides of the istle are just as guilty of perpetuating this stereotype. These blatant lies only become fodder for politicians trying to promote their nanny state.

I think people in America, especially the Baby Boomer Generation ,are failing to adapt to the new technology. To paraphrase Adam Sessler, this is today's modern day comic book, and it will corrupt the youth. Today's games aren't like Pong or Pac-Man. The medium has grown up with the audience, and older folks are failing to see that.

It just makes me so mad I want to burst.