Week Beginning 1st September

Monday, 1 September 2008

The week in words.

Square Enix (Final Fantasy XII) have made a non-hostile (means they wouldn't be a controlling shareholder) $200 mill (£101 mill) offer for Temco (Ninja Gaiden), who have been in financial difficulties for a while. The bid would act as something of a leash of life, to allow the developer to continue making games. The reasons for this are clear because Temco's selling point isn't difficult as was proved with the immense success of Ninja Gaiden II, but they have been struck by various law suits and staff problems that have left them without much investment. More details.

Ratner, director of Rush Hour and X-Men 3, has announced his wish to direct a Guitar Hero movie. It would, he stated, be one of those 'dream come true' storylines. I hate those storylines so much. More details.

Another business related story. Nintendo have upped their profit projections by 26%, up to a net profit of $1.5 billion for the 6 months ending September 30th, and up to $3.8 billion for the full year, next March. Whilst this could be explained away by the fantastic profits made on products such as the Wii Fit, and also by the affordability of the products next to the Xbox 360 and the PS3. However, what is a big contributing factor is that, for a heavy export company like Nintendo, the weak Yen means great things, and a bigger profit on every unit exported. More details.

The new S.T.A.L.K.E.R game, due for a worldwide release of September 5th, is to be put back a bit due to production problems in North America. This delay will only affect North American purchases of the game, and the European release is still scheduled for September 5th. The American release has not got an exact date, but estimates put it at 15th September. More details.

That's about it for this week. So until next week, I believe there's a Too Human review in the works, and DW will get round to posting some more interesting little gaming ditties. But it's my birthday on Friday, so I doubt I'll get round to posting until next Tuesday (going out Monday night), but I will get to it, have no fear.

Labels: News, Week Beginning

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Week Beginning 25th August

Monday, 25 August 2008

Bank Holidays, I hate them. Luckily this is one blog post that doesn't revolve around the day within which boredom rules. Let's take a look at the past week.

After being floored technology-wise by Rock Band, Activision Blizzard have announced a new feature in the upcoming GH: World Tour, allowing players to create their own music tracks and sharing them online. It's certainly innovative, but they've only just started working on what appears to me (as both a musician and a gamer) an incredibly difficult feature to a game which is coming out this autumn. Quite ambitious. More details.

Game publishers Atari, Codemasters, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump and Techland are to send out letters to 25,000 homes over the UK demanding a £300 settlement, or threats of court action, to those involved in the illegal downloading and sharing of games. This seems to be in reaction to (or in conjunction with, at least) the release of Topware's Dream Pinball 3D, which, in the first fortnight, sold 800 copies... and downloaded illegally 12,000 times. Yeah... that ain't good business. More details.

Possibly prompted by news that Age of Conan gamers were returning to WoW, Funcom have stated that a big expansion pack will be released in 09. So far, the only information that's been released about this expansion is some concept art. This was released at the Leipzig convention, which ended on the 24th. More details.

Harmonix announced a while ago that DLC (downloaded songs) for Rock Band will be available for use with Rock Band 2. The process of this has now been outlined: an update for Rock Band will be released when Rock Band 2 is, allowing an 'Export' option to be accessed on the Rock Band menu, allowing all the songs to be exported to a compatible form with Rock Band 2. However, this process will cost a fixed fee: forcing gamers to pay to play these songs that they've already paid for. The fee will be a flat fee for any amount of songs, but still... Rock Band 2 still has no date for European release, despite a US release of September. More details.

Logitech have been contracted to make a force-feedback steering wheel for the Wii: improving on the system used in games such as Mario Kart, whereby a gamers holds the remote level and turns it to turn the vehicle. The steering wheel will retail for $99 when it's released in America this November, and is wireless. Technically a third party accessory, Logitech are designing the wheel to be optimised with the use of the new NFS game: Undercover, also due for a November release. More details.

That's it for this week. But I'll be back on the 31st to do September's issue of The Month, and then next Monday for your own personal weekly roundup of gaming news.

Labels: News, Week Beginning

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Week Beginning 11th August

Monday, 11 August 2008

Here's my weekly round up of news around the gaming world. It seems slightly insignificant this week seeing as it has nothing about Georgia (click if you have no clue what I'm talking about), but here it is all the same.

EA have confirmed that the next Godfather game (Godfather II) will be making its way onto 360, PS3 and PC in February. I'm a huge fan of the movies, cinematic greatness in my opinion, but the first Godfather was nothing to get riled up about, so I doubt this one will be either. You get to play as the Don of New York, managing family affairs. However, if you're a 'wiseguy' rather than a 'goodfella' you'll avoid this movie to game blasphemy like the mafia. More details.

Cryptic are taking Star Trek Online online. Details of the game, which has been in the pipeline for a while were announced at the annual Trek convention. I've gotta say, this is one MMO that does interest me if it's done well. If it isn't, it can go in the bin with WoW and the other game that this developer worked on (City of Heroes/Villians). The game will be set 30 years after the most recent installment in the Star Trek timeline (ST: Nemesis). More details can be found in Gamespot's interview with Cryptic's executive producer.

The date for the new 60 gig HDD version of the Xbox 360 has been set at this Friday (Aug 15th). This will replace the current standard 20 gig model with a 60 gig HDD. The price for the model remains at £199, (with the elite still at 259, and the arcade at 159). More details.

Finally a set release date has been put down to Fable II. I remember, around this time last year, it was set for March.. then May... then September... then November for some reason. But now we have a set date. October 21st. Fable is going to be released in both Standard and Limited editions. The LE will have 5 'fate cards', and a bonus material disc (worth the extra tenner?). In more Fable news, an arcade 'pub' game is being released a month before Fable, presumably in order to raise the profile of the game. Some stores will be offering this XBLA game free when you preorder Fable II. So if that suddenly makes you want to buy it, look out for that. More details.

Lastly, we're currently smack bang in the middle of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival (10th to the 12th August). You may not have heard of this, but it's part of the Edinburgh Festival (a huge month long culture and arts festival that lasts the entirity of August, and incidentally, where I'm headed on Saturday). As their site reads: 'Edinburgh Interactive Festival is the only event that brings together the games industry’s key decision makers from games publishing, hardware and development alongside Government, TV, film, press and other entertainment industries as well as students seeking to work within the creative industries.' So we can be sure that some major decisions will be made there on new game franchises and the like. More details.

That's about it for this week. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to do my Week Beginning segment next week (as I said, I'll be in Edinburgh), but I should have internet, so I'll give it a shot. If not, I'll definitely be back to do the next Week Beginning after that, and then September's issue of the Month on the 31st. Happy gaming people.

Labels: News, Week Beginning

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Week Beginning 4th August

Monday, 4 August 2008

Still no sign of DW, and I've got no reason to believe he'll be back anytime soon. Anyway, I'm only one person so I'll try and cover as much news as possible in the time he's away.

PS3 owners will enjoy a demo for the new Final Fantasy game, FFXIII, in March. The developers of the game, Square Enix, have stated that, although the game will eventually be ported to 360, the game is being developed squarely with the ideas of PS3 in mind. Square Enix also promised PS3 users that there would be no decrease in quality, despite the port to 360. Good for Playstation, bad for Xbox. However, because the game is going to have a simul release, the release of the Playstation version will be held back until the port is complete and the 360 version is polished off. Everybody wins! More details.

The Prince of Persia movie (Prince of Persia: Sands of Time), previously set for release in 2009, has been pushed back a year by Disney. The reason given for this was to allow more time for special effects to be placed on a film that will certainly need them. The delay puts it in the middle of May 2010, a week after the (in this writer's opinion) tired franchise of Shrek gets spread just one slice more thinly in Shrek Goes Fourth. More details.


The new Doom game has been 'officially' announced now... So what the hell was that announcement made before? More details.

Newly merged 'Activision Blizzard' have announced an 09 release of the next Call of Duty. No wait... The next next Call of Duty.... Call of Duty 6! Being built, I'm sure you'll all be happy to hear, from Infinity Ward. The studio that worked on CoD 2 and CoD 4, but not the abysmal CoD 3, or the upcoming World at War. Activision Blizzard also noted that only one new Guitar Hero title would be being released before the end of the year, namely, GH: World Tour. In other Acitivison Blizzard news, that Lich King thing all WoW fans seem to be worshipping and praying to is set for last quarter of this year. More details.

Rockstar North rocked the Develop 08 awards on July 31st in Brighton. Rockstar won awards for the Visual Arts, Audio Accomplishment, Best In-House Developer and 'Grand Prix' (the overall award for best dev). Rockstar won all of these awards with GTAIV, but GTA itself won 5 awards, also clinching the Technical Innovation award, under Natural Motion/Image Metrics. More details.

That's my roundup for this week. See you on the 11th. And hopefully sometime after then I should have a Soul Calibur review up. It's been out for a while I know, but it's usually DW who buys the games.

Labels: News, Week Beginning

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Rock Band 2: Tracklist and new features!

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

In addition to RB2 being able to play all of the Original Rock Band songs/DLC, this is the playlist for the newest installment of the series.

AC/DC: "Let There Be Rock"
AFI: "Girl's Gone Grey"
Alanis Morissette: "You Oughta Know"
Alice in Chains: "Man in the Box"
Allman Brothers: "Ramblin' Man"
Avenged Sevenfold: "Almost Easy"
Bad Company: "Shooting Star"
Beastie Boys: "So Whatcha Want"
Beck: "E-Pro"
Bikini Kill: "Rebel Girl"
Billy Idol: "White Wedding Pt. I"
Blondie: "One Way or Another"
Bob Dylan: "Tangled Up in Blue"
Bon Jovi: "Livin' on a Prayer"
Cheap Trick: "Hello There"
Devo: "Uncontrollable Urge"
Dinosaur Jr.: "Feel the Pain"
Disturbed: "Down with the Sickness"
Dream Theater: "Panic Attack"
Duran Duran: "Hungry Like the Wolf"
Elvis Costello: "Pump It Up"
Fleetwood Mac: "Go Your Own Way"
Foo Fighters: "Everlong"
Guns N' Roses: "Shackler's Revenge"
Interpol: "PDA"
Jane's Addiction: "Mountain Song"
Jethro Tull: "Aqualung"
Jimmy Eat World: "The Middle"
Joan Jett: "Bad Reputation"
Journey: "Anyway You Want It"
Judas Priest: "Painkiller"
Kansas: "Carry On Wayward Son"
L7: "Pretend We're Dead"
Lacuna Coil: "Our Truth"
Linkin Park: "One Step Closer"
Lit: "My Own Worst Enemy"
Lush: "De-Luxe"
Mastodon: "Colony of Birchmen"
Megadeth: "Peace Sells"
Metallica: "Battery"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones: "Where'd You Go"
Modest Mouse: "Float On"
Motorhead: "Ace of Spades"
Nirvana: "Drain You"
Norman Greenbaum: "Spirit in the Sky"
Panic at the Disco: "Nine in the Afternoon"
Paramore: "That's What You Get"
Pearl Jam: "Alive"
Presidents of the USA: "Lump"
Rage Against the Machine:"Testify"
Ratt: "Round & Round"
Red Hot Chili Peppers : "Give It Away"
Rise Against: "Give It All"
Rush: "The Trees"
Silversun Pickups: "Lazy Eye"
Smashing Pumpkins: "Today"
Social Distortion: "I Was Wrong"
Sonic Youth: "Teen Age Riot"
Soundgarden: "Spoonman"
Squeeze: "Cool for Cats"
Steely Dan: "Bodhitsattva"
Steve Miller Band: "Rock'n Me"
Survivor: "Eye of the Tiger"
System of a Down: "Chop Suey"
Talking Heads: "Psycho Killer"
Tenacious D: "Master Exploder"
Testament: "Souls of Black"
The Donnas: "New Kid in School"
The Go-Go's: "We Got the Beat"
The Grateful Dead: "Alabama Getaway"
The Guess Who: "American Woman"
The Muffs: "Kids in America"
The Offspring: "Come Out & Play (Keep 'em Separated)"
The Replacements: "Alex Chilton"
The Who: "Pinball Wizard"

Rock Band 2 bonus disc tracklist:

Abnormality: "Visions"
Anarchy Club: "Get Clean"
Bang Camaro: "Night Lies"
Breaking Wheel: "Shoulder to the Plow"
The Libyans: "Neighborhood"
The Main Drag: "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter"
Speck: "Conventional Lover"
The Sterns: "Supreme Girl"
That Handsome Devil: "Rob the Prez-O-Dent"

And, as a little extra bonus, This will be some added bonuses for big fans of the game. Including this little baby:


That is not only the Rock Band 2 Special Edition Drumset, that also doubles as an actual Electronic Drumset. The Special Edition Guitar is a hollowed out Fender Strat. And now, for some info that was pulled from a Gameinformer Article.

-Ability to "tune" your instruments
-Redesigned quickplay mode
-Brand new track choice screen
-Ability to create setlists
-Ability to auto-create setlists
-No-Fail mode
-Solo modes for every instrument
-World Tour Online
-Battle of the Bands mode
--Band vs Band
--Start out going against bands like yourself
--During each challenge, theres a meter that shows how close you are to passing the next band
--1 mode is: bands compete for the highest multiplier for the longest time
--Countdown to the deadline next to the instructions
-Drum Trainer
-More user-friendly lag calibrator
-Jukebox mode
--Listen to music, but don't have to play
-Old hardware still works
-New drum pads are velocity sensitive
-Less "squishy" strummer
-Ion drum kit
-Able to purchase custom real-world merch for characters
-In-game photo creator lets you set facial expressions and poses for your characters, add visual effects and then upload to RockBand.com
-You can order t-shirts and posters, bumper stickers and all sorts of stuff with your band logo.
-Guitar buttons don't click so loudly

This grates alittle with me, As Rock Band 1 has only just been released in the UK. Either way, A Drumkit that doubles up as a real electronic drumkit? Awesome.

Still trawling through the mountain of E3 information, I PROMISE there will be at least a digest by the end of the week, There's just so much I want to say.

Labels: News, Rock Band 2

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Student gets arrested and expelled for.. A counterstrike map.

Thursday, 10 July 2008

Proving that it isn't all fun and games with jack Thompson's imminent trial, this brings further proof that people are demonising gaming.

Enter "Random Chinese student" enrolled at Clements high school in Texas. Random Chinese student, or RCS for short, decides he wants to make a counterstrike map based on his school. Now, I've wanted to do this myself a few times with locations I've been in, but luckily I lack the "skillz" for building a map, and frankly, I lack the interest for such a project. Perhaps this is lucky or I might of been arrested by now, Which is precisely what happened to RCS when his school found out the map existed.

Here's where it gets interesting. RCS has been expelled from his high school, and will not be allowed to graduate with the rest of his classmates even though no charges have been filed against him.
there goes "innocent until proven guilty" I guess. Yet another case of gamers being vilified by the common media, although I'm willing to accept some of the blame may fall on the Virginia tech massacre and the culprit.

While searching for screenshots of the map, I found other messages similar to mine on the maps flickr:
"I'll just boot this up while listening to Marilyn Manson and watching the Matrix. Then I too can be a bona fide killer. Proper parenting goes a long way. Videogames, music, and TV don't kill people. People kill people."

One user being the voice of reason there.

I see nothing wrong with wanting a map of your school. The kid spends a lot of time with his friends there. Why not incorporate one of his favorite games with a familiar surrounding and share that with his friends?

another user hitting the nail on the head.

It appears only the administrators of the school think arresting someone for making a counterstrike map is a good idea, and its yet another example of video games being demonised by a generation that misunderstands them.

Labels: Counter-Strike, News, Real World

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

'I Know Jack'

Jack Thompson looks set to get what some gamers would, undoubtedly, call justice. As DW covers in his earlier article, Jack Thompson has been tried for 27 counts of professional misconduct. Today the Judge Tunis released her ruling for the 7 counts that Jack Thompson was found guilty of. After the Florida Bar Association suggested a term of 10 years ban for Mr. Thompson's legal practice, Judge Tunis went on to say this was 'too lenient' and further extended this to a lifetime ban, and a 43,000 dollar bill for court costs. Ha fucking ha.

After giving shit for games such as GTA as being too violent, gamers have a right to be annoyed with such a person who is a threat to virtual freedoms. Personally, I wouldn't have minded. He was an activist against something he didn't believe in: I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is that he abused his powers and his position to do this. To quote Judge Tunis: 'Further, he has repeatedly indicated, verbally and in writing, that his conduct is justified to promote and champion his personally engendered moral values and causes.' In short, he broke the law in order to create the law. I think the French did something similar in 1789.

However, there is hope. Jack Thompson has a defense which may lead him to be 'emancipated'... Because conveniently, according to him, Judge Tunis' loyalty oath (and therefore her right to be a Judge) is forged. That's his defense. Now... this to me seems equivalent to saying 'Yeah sure, I committed all of those crimes, but SHE...' Surely, if that's his defense, he's admitted his guilt?

This guy's supposed to be 'religious'.

But more importantly, Jack Thompson is, in his opinion, 'right'. That's the only thing that can drive a person to risk everything to change laws. To misrepresent. To mispractice. But the law says he's not 'right', because he's broken the law, and so is punished. Luckily for gamers. Gamers who love GTA, and DON'T drive around in a 60s sedan drive-bying hoodies. This makes the world believe that Jack Thompson's opinions about games are wrong too. This guy is a martyr to our own freedoms. Of course, not everyone is suddenly going to change their mind, but I have to give Jack a pat on the back for making the position of the gamer more credible. And restoring everyone's faith in lawyers...

Though, essentially, he still deserves everything that comes his way, simply, because he's such a hypocrite. If I were him, I wouldn't be so worried about the loss of my entire life, but, instead, the loss of my dignity. Don't, ever, undermine your own argument by undermining the system you're appealing to. How can anyone take him seriously? How can he take himself seriously? That's my opinion anyway.

But what it comes down to is this (as a gamespot user put it):

'owned'

Labels: Jack Thompson, News, Original

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

There'll be even more rating around...

Tuesday, 8 July 2008

What they're proposing now is the removal of the PEGI system for games given over a 12 rating. Instead, the games will just be given a BBFC rating, if they're over a 12. I don't understand the point in this. From a parent's point of view, the PEGI rating is generall harsher than the BBFC rating: for instance, last year, 30 games were downgraded from 18 under PEGI rules to 15 under BBFC rules. That's not helping the situation of defending the young, if anything, it'll just aggravate the situation.

But what's far worse, is that this will pile BBFC's workload far higher than it is now. They already have to deal with all the films coming into the UK, and now all of the games too? That can only mean one thing for us UK gamers. More waiting than at the Savoy Grill. I dunno what idiot (actually I do, Dr. Tanya Byron) came up with this plan. But I don't like it. It's not good from anyone's point of view. Not the parents that want to protect their children, nor the gamers that just want to play games.

Needless to say, this has been met by huge disapproval by the industry, Sony, Nintendo, Ubi Soft have all made their voices heard over this. And rightly so, it's dangerous to their business too. Why plug more bureaucracy into a system which is already dying from that? Children can only be shielded from adult games by teaching the parents who allow 10 year olds to play GTA and the such. Sigh.

Labels: News, Rant

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Stop The Press!

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Seems I missed the biggest story of the year.

Blizzard are making another world. I mean, you woulda thought with Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, and the WoW expansion pack Wraith of the lich king, they would have their hands full.

Not so. During the blizzard invitational in paris a few days ago, Rob Pardo said: "There is still one unknown project,We have another development team."

combined with the blizzard add's people had spotted on the website asking for developers for a next gen MMO, This could mean another Blizzard MMO, Either way, with blizzards attention to detail, theres no worries that a new blizzard "world" would be a good thing. i'll keep you posted!

Labels: Blizzard, News

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Diablo III announced

Sunday, 29 June 2008

((I just saw DWs post on Diablo 3 when I had finished writing this. But I don't care! It took me time and effort, so I'm going to post it anyway!))

With everyone else on the site playing various games, I decided I'd look into new ones coming out. And to my surprise, what did I find? (the vid's 20 minutes long, so make sure you've got time).

The new Blizzard-developed Diablo game looks set to be a riot. Just like the previous Diablos. On an interface level, the game has been simplified in many ways. For instance, the selecting will be done almost entirely by mouse, meaning less hunting on the keyboard. Another example of this is the new idea that, rather than being given 10,000 variants for your character, your choice will be limited to a class, and a gender. I don't think this sounds like such a bad idea.

However, beneath it all, Diablo seems set to be one of the most complex RPGs to date. The game is going to use various 'random' generators to make the gameplay different on every playthrough. This randomness streches to loot, scripted events and monsters. Meaning, on your first play through, you may encounter a series of monsters in a wooded clearing. In the same wooded clearing, but on a different play through, you may well encounter a caravan needing escorting.

Diablo III will also develop on the previous pitiful conversation system. The system used to consist of a series of complicated responses such as... 'Hey!' and 'No'. However, Diablo III, Blizzard have said, will have a much more immersive conversation system, where what you say will have some effect on what happens.

This announcement just came yesterday, so the liklihood is more details will be announced soon. Keep reading.

Labels: Diablo3, News

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

100th post!

Saturday, 28 June 2008

For our 100th post here at DW's, A couple of Big stories.

Firstly, The one everyone has been waiting for for absolute years, Blizzard reset the Diablo2 ladder. That was exciting enough and prompted many people to start playing, turns out that it was just a clever ruse.

A ruse you say, for what?

Oh, just a little game called diablo 3.

For a just announced game, the teaser site is suprisingly detailed, There are two character classes [Barbarian and Witch doctor], and a ton of screenshots, trailers and videos about the game, its pretty clear blizzard have been working on this for a while, but anyone could of told you that, as speculation was rife as to a diablo 3 last year.

Frankly, as a big diablo 2 fanboy a couple of years back, i'll have another game to obsess about before its release.

--

Secondly, 3scapism, our sister site has shut it doors. Big deal you might say, but what does it mean to you?

Well, all of the quality output that you would previously miss on the 3scapism is now posted here, think of it like a big machine, churning out twice the output of quality content, and well, your getting suitably close. this is the biggest thing thats happened to DW yet, and it certainly is exciting to announce on our 100th post!

Labels: 3scapism, Announcement, Diablo3, Merger, milestone, New Author, News

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Spore Creature Creator

Friday, 20 June 2008

If you've not heard of spore yet, then you've probably been living under a rock for a few years. What you might not have heard however, is that they have released a trial of the Creature Creator which you can get here. As this is the free version, you're a little limited to the amount you can use to create your "creature" of sorts, but even with the limited tools I had to work with, I churned out some impressive creations.


I've been told its great to put your kids on, but I wouldn't trust anything under the age of 16 on my laptop, so I'll have to just nod slowly at that possibility and tell you that, you OWE yourself to give it a go, it practically comprises a game in itself. It's a clever move from EA, in that I want to buy the game now, because the creatures in themselves are so entertaining, and dare I say it, endearing.

And a competition of sorts: Name these two creatures, and the funniest, most fitting names will get your names up in lights. Competition runs till the 26th of june, Email all suggestions to Darkwingstalker@googlemail.com

Labels: News, PC, Spore

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

It's Battlefront, but not as we know it..

Friday, 13 June 2008

Being a big fan of the Star Wars: Battlefront titles, [but who wasnt?] I was really excited when I found out they were making a new project, but nothing could of prepared me for this.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

Yes, that's right. According to Pandemic Studios

"For fans, Lord of the Rings: Conquest gives you the most action packed experience set in the [LOTR] universe. You have a fully realised fantasy battlefront with the ability to engage in melee combat, ranged combat, ride creatures, control siege equipment, play as giants and make your own choices on the battlefield."

Looking at the hallmark of the battlefront games, it's hard not to get excited at the prospect of running around a battlefield cutting people to shreds. To add to the package, it's been announced you can control all the races. I figured, yadda yadda, elves, dwarfs, orcs. What I didnt expect, was Hobbits, and what I REALLY didn't expect, was a balrog. Yep, balrogs are playable.

Conquest is due to feature two campaigns, one good, one evil, and will feature 4 player co-op both on and offline, and a nice 16 player online mode.

I have a few reservations about how well melee combat will work online but eh, it's got a fucking balrog in it. Who cares?

Labels: Lord Of The Rings: Conquest, News

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Console Modding

Thursday, 12 June 2008

Today, in gaming news, it was ruled that the owner of site MrModChips, should not be incarcerated for the selling of those technological marvels they call 'chips'. The site also sells pre-modded consoles. Basically, for those of you that don't know, 'modding' a console involves installing a small chip into your console in order to circumvent security measures, in order to perform certain activies (which are perfectly legal) such as to create back ups, or play imported games. However, the issue of modding comes from the fact that a modded console can be used to play games that are purchased, for instance, downloaded and burned onto a dvd. Of course, it's just a few bad eggs that do this. A couple of years ago in Australia, a similar case occured, and the defendant was found not guilty because the chips could quite easily be used for legal activties, and not copyright infringement.

But this raises an interesting point--and one that can be seen further in Peer2Peer downloading. The action itself is not illegal, but can lead to illegal actions, most notably copyright infringement. Because of this, it's incredibly difficult to enforce copyright laws where the actual means of infringing them is legal. People who mod consoles in order to play illegally copied games cannot be, because of the nature of the chip, and the way it works, easily differentiated from those who use the chip for backups. So how can copyright infringement be avoided? The big companies certainly want it to be.

One way, it strikes me, would be to get rid of the need for backups and imported games (or at least region coded games). If this happened, then mod chips could be completely illegalised, as the only activity they could be used in would be illegal activity. There are a couple of difficulties with this though. Of course, the removal of a distinction between PAL, NTSC and NTSC-J is one solution to the imports idea. They're not needed in today's world, but, of course, this would cost money, and if there's one thing that big companies hate more than losing money, is actually having to use it. However, discs will always be fragile, until they're redesigned, and so backups will be made. Of course, a more robust solution might be possible, but guess what that needs? Any ideas? It needs R&D. R&D requires researchers. And they require... yup, you guessed it: money. Again, big companies would much rather just convict everyone that moves, instead of spend money on the problem.

Now, there are those of you out there who are saying that 'copyright laws are just another impeachment on our freedom', and that we should just be able to copy games and play them as we please (and that's why we have Linux). But I'm very much a capitalist, I think that if you justify not paying for something because copyright laws are against your religion or whatever the hell you're saying, then you should listen to that four letter word of what is coming out of your mouth. Copyright is necessary to protect the profit motive of modern society, people put hours into designing top notch games because they get paid for it. If you don't pay for your games then those designers don't get paid, and then you extend it, to a point where no one gets paid. Sure, some of it goes to big fat cats, but essentially, no matter how much money the company makes, they're still going to take the same cut, so essentially, it's just the little guy that's losing out. I'm not having a go, I'm just saying, if you're going to do it, don't try and justify it to yourself, just accept what you're doing is wrong, and then, if you still must, get on with it.

Anyyyyway, for the moment, we have to accept that console modding is a good thing essentially, and that it can be used for very useful purposes. Like P2P, which can be used to share files that one person has created, with other people, modding is not a morally wrong activity, but it can lead to illegal actions. I may be a capitalist, but I'm also a moralist, I think that we have a choice to choose our own decisions, so whilst copyright infringement is wrong, I don't think that people can be discriminated against if they use something which leads to copyright infringement in some cases. That is why today's ruling for MrModChips was a good day for gaming, and a good day for civil liberty.

Labels: News, Original

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Activision Blizzard

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

You may have heard about the merging of the two big super-developers, Activision and Vivendi Games (Parent company of Blizzard). Today, it was announced that the two would hold a shareholders vote on July 8th to decide on whether the merger should go ahead. The outcome looks likely to be a 'yes'. So what will this mean for 'great' games like WoW (Blizzard) and Guitar Hero (Activision)?

Not a lot really. The venture of Activision Blizzard will have the company valued at $18.9 billion (that's a lot of dollar kids). The controlling interest will be that of Vivendi SA, but, supposedly in the ideas of fairness, the CEO will be Activison's current CEO, Bobby Kotick. However, the running of the two companies will be virtually the same as it remains now, simply with bigger political and financial power.

Activision is the company responsible for bringing you games like guitar hero and CoD, whilst Vivendi is a French owned company that is the parent of Sierra games and Blizzard and brought WoW into the world, along with Starcraft.

Anyway, that was some business news for you, and here's something I found very entertaining. Read on WoW lovers.

Labels: News

Author: random dave | Comments: | Leave Your Response?