The Rage; It's Filling Me Up

OK, we got some interesting things to discuss today. The Rage Quitters. Do you know what that is? Apparently it is someone who gets mad when they get their ass whopped at an online video game (specifically Left4Dead) and leaves in the middle of a game. While playing earlier last week, we encountered this to a frightening degree. People dropping left and right just after getting slaughtered 5 feet out of the apartment door.

I think it's time for you kiddies to learn to take a whoopin'n. Maybe its because when I was a kid I got a belt to the ass when I was bad. Maybe its because I'm playing against the instant gratification generation. If they can't win, they storm off and pout.

I think I'm ready to see the Xbox Kiddies grow up. Maybe not. That could possible be bad.

Example:
Employer to interviewee: "Mr. Smith, I see you have quite the impressive resume, but I really don't think that you would be a good fit for our firm."

Interviewee: "WHAT?!? YOU FUCKING JERKS! MY SKILLS ARE 1337! NOONE CAN DO THE JOB LIKE ME. I FUCKED YOUR MOM LAST NIGHT JERKASS. KISS MY NUTS DOUCHE. I FUCKIN' PWNED YOU AND YOUR RETARDED COMPANY!!!!"

I'm not sure what it is, but when there is a power vaccuume on a team, I will try to fill it. If you can give a team direction, it usually helps alot. Most of the time you have 4 wondering idiots trying to shoot their way through a pile of zombies. At the first sign of trouble, some one will sneak away and run to the safe house. If i was one of the last 4 people on planet Earth, I don't think I would be running away from my pals, even if it meant certain doom.

What would Jesus do?

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."

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.

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.

Battlefield: Remembered

Wow, has it really been over three years since Battlefield 2 was first released? Shit, I still vividly remember playing the demo. It's been a long standing fact that the Battlefield franchise is doomed. After the first installment of BF1942, things just started to go down-hill. I can talk until my heart explodes, or I'm blue in the face, but that still won't change the fact that our favorite game was abandoned in the middle , no, the PEAK of it's life cycle for another game exactly the same based in a future that is totally "stupid" for a lack of a better word.
Every time I think about this subject, It makes me mad. How a very popular game could have the rug pulled out from underneath. But when it boils down, one can only see the true reason why such an atrocity could occur. Money. We as consumers should know this by now. A company's main objective is to turn a buck, make money, collect mullah and please stock holders. Small developers can enjoy working on their own schedule, producing quality products, never having to sacrifice their vision.

As of March 2006, EA (Electronic Arts, of Redwood City, CA) acquired Digital Illusions CE (DICE) the makers of the Battlefield franchise. EA is known around the industry to strong-arm developers into their corner (I.E NBA Live series' exclusivity contract with the NBA, now more recently gobbling up Bioware and Pandemic Studios). Superficially, this isn't a bad idea for the independent guys. "Hey, lets get bought out by EA, they have resources, top notch development studios, and best of all we don't have to worry about money." However, I think Benjamin Franklin put it best: "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither." Let us think about this. Independent developers create their OWN games. They live by their own rules, and are free to make whatever game they wish to make. Sacrificing their freedom by choosing to hide under the security blanket called EA only weakens what sovereignty they had. I know that sounds a little redundant, but here is the fall out after March 2006. DICE releases the "rumored" final patch to BF2 because EA is forcing them to produce another game to make a quick buck. So, now we have a game that is barely 2 years old, still riddled with bugs, that is now abandoned for another game, basically exactly the same with 1 or 2 minor changes to the game play mechanics.

Because EA so hastily released BF2142, the same bugs plaguing BF2 show up. Not to mention poor quality control with patches. Releasing half-baked patches, only to make gamers uninstall the entire game to re-patch with their new Beta patch. They are too lazy to hire professional beta testers that they must release Official Beta patches to the public to test, then come out with a Official Official patch. What a load of crap.

Now, with 2142 maturing at an unusually slow pace, most of the Battlefield community has moved on to other games. This quick-shifting business model totally destroyed the Mod community. It took almost 3 years for the first full figured mod to even be released. The mod scene for BF2 looked so bright, then 2142 came out and took away the player base, and by the time the next crap-tastic installment, Bad Company, is released gamers will be so jaded that only the console nubs will buy that garbage.

Maybe DICE and EA should stick the the console development cycle. Release a half baked game and you never have to worry about patching it. Plus, they can rip gamers off even more with the $60 dollar price tag attached to the next-gen games.

It's down to us. We are the ultimate decision makers. We have to tell these big publishers that we will not stand for this shit. Use your dollars, don't buy DICE or EA products. Support independent devs. like Valve or Blizzard. Don't fall for the sequalitis. Let them know that half-baked games are not ok, and that pulling support for games in mid-life doesn't do anything but hurt the end users.

Exercise a little more caution when mommy takes you to Wal-Mart to buy your M-rated games. Bah-Humbug!

Is the weight of the world on my shoulders?

Here is the situation in football terms: 2 minutes left on the play clock in overtime. It's down the final drive. Your team has the ball, and the score is tied. Your team lines up to snap the football, the center's sweaty hands reach for the ball. The quarterback anxiously eyes the field for the defensive formation. The QB yells hike, the play starts, and the players run forward. They keep running and then at midfield, turn a hard right and b-line it to the locker room to hide.

In layman's terms thats what happens on a regular basis in many online matches of TF2. Noobies, wankers, and douche bags. I'm not talking about the usual pussy-ass snipers, but the real idiots who hide out in the base only to wait for their chance to join the rest of the gibblets.

This is a shout-out to all of you PIECE OF SHIT-ASSWIPING-DOUCHBAGGING-SMACKTALKING-DILL WEEDS who need to start acting like men. The next one I see turtling up in your base, I'm going to smack yo' momma in the face...

So there. I said it. It's what we have all been thinking. If you don't like it, go to hell.

Sony should stick to TVs and DVD players

Well first it was Gabe Newell dissing the PS3. Then Will Wright, creator of the SimCity franchise came down against it. Now an ex-developer for Harmonix is speaking out against the console. Jason Booth points out some pretty good stuff about the PS3. I think the PS3's problem is more along the lines of complexity. Let's face it, the Xbox and the 360 are basically PCs. They use ATI/AMD/Intel shit, running x86 architecture. Something developers have been using for the past decade. That makes PC - 360 ports easier and more cost effective. As far as the PS3 exclusives continuing to suck? I don't think so. I think we will see that the PS3 will get better support as time progresses. The Catch 22 is that by the time developers are good at coding for the PS3, the 360/PC/Wii will have outsold, surpassed and doubled their game library, while the PS3ers are still playing Metal Gear Solid that came out 2 years prior.

All I can say is that if I was to play a console FPS and was to get chop, I would be pissed. There is no way to turn your graphics down or squeeze more frames out of your rig. So I whole-heartedly agree that developers should do anything in their power to make sure that the games run at a perfect frame rate all the time, not just at the loading screen.

Even with all this said, the Orange Box will still be coming out for the PS3, maybe not till the end of 2007 (2 months after PC/360 release), but it will be out.