Lets talk console exclusives, remember back in the day playing your ps2, or your original xbox, and having games that the other consoles didn’t? always arguing which had the better games? what happened to that? for instance, xbox now has playstation exclusives such as silent hill, resident evil, and now metal gear solid and counting. whats next? soon all the consoles will be playing all the same game, having nothing unique about them at all besides an internet browser, or netflix, and eventual we will only be paying for the name of the system, whats the point of having multiple systems available at the market if they all do the same thing, for different prices. all play the same things, only difference is the paint job, and a few small features, its like Sony and Microsoft should just cut there ties and form one gigantic company within its own, and now you see systems copying off others, for instance, the wii, wireless controls and they were motion sensitive, so what happened? xbox has the connect and cut the cords to there controllers , and the ps3 has the move, and doing the same thing. the systems now adays are becoming carbon copies of there competition, and i really hope that within the next new systems, they come out with something so unique, that they don’t need to copy the competitors to boost more sales, and become completely content with there system, claiming its best at what it does, and doesn’t need to steel from the competition. that’s what a true company should do, anyone agree?

Originally posted. November 16, 2011

I decided to revisit my ideas and predicitions that I made from my last blog. One change that lead me to this decision was that I picked up a PS3 for my birthday and wanted to give a quick rundown of what I think about it so far. I like to think of myself as having an unbiased opinion about gaming. So I’ll do my best to simply state the things that effect me and my experiences with the system and what I think is relevant to others who may be in the market to but a console and what I would suggest. In my 3rd Gaming Blog I said that although Sony’s system simply wasn’t the best out there it would become the system to own because it’s Sony. They have huge name recognition. There fan base is so horribly biased and stuck in there ways and name brand that they will force there system into the forefront whether its deserved or not. I think I said the Xbox360 would enjoy a much healthier second place once that happened then it’s predeccessor did. And the poor Wii would eventually fall from its wave of success IF the good games didn’t get going on this lil’ box. For the most part Im right. These last couple months saw the Playstation 3 finally outsell the Xbox360. Microsoft is stating this is partly due to supply issues on there part. They can’t ship them fast enough. I dunno about that. Another reason for the PS3’s bigger sales is also the death of the HD-DVD format. Sony’s Blu-Ray is now the only HD format with no competition…. Which is leading to higher BD (blu ray disc) prices! I’ll get to that later. So. On that side I’m right. The PS3 is selling better. But it is deserved yet? From what I’ve read and experienced first hand is… Not really.. While theoretically it is superior spec wise. (more RAM, fast CPU’s, more storage on disc, etc etc) its obviously incredibly difficult to program on. Still, every game that is released on both the ps3 and the 360 comes out lacking in something when compared to the 360 version. Graphics not as sharp or frame rate not as clean. There is always something. I personally [--Read Full Post--]]]>

I decided to revisit my ideas and predicitions that I made from my last blog. One change that lead me to this decision was that I picked up a PS3 for my birthday and wanted to give a quick rundown of what I think about it so far. I like to think of myself as having an unbiased opinion about gaming. So I’ll do my best to simply state the things that effect me and my experiences with the system and what I think is relevant to others who may be in the market to but a console and what I would suggest. In my 3rd Gaming Blog I said that although Sony’s system simply wasn’t the best out there it would become the system to own because it’s Sony. They have huge name recognition.

There fan base is so horribly biased and stuck in there ways and name brand that they will force there system into the forefront whether its deserved or not. I think I said the Xbox360 would enjoy a much healthier second place once that happened then it’s predeccessor did. And the poor Wii would eventually fall from its wave of success IF the good games didn’t get going on this lil’ box. For the most part Im right. These last couple months saw the Playstation 3 finally outsell the Xbox360. Microsoft is stating this is partly due to supply issues on there part. They can’t ship them fast enough. I dunno about that. Another reason for the PS3’s bigger sales is also the death of the HD-DVD format. Sony’s Blu-Ray is now the only HD format with no competition…. Which is leading to higher BD (blu ray disc) prices! I’ll get to that later. So. On that side I’m right. The PS3 is selling better. But it is deserved yet? From what I’ve read and experienced first hand is… Not really.. While theoretically it is superior spec wise. (more RAM, fast CPU’s, more storage on disc, etc etc) its obviously incredibly difficult to program on. Still, every game that is released on both the ps3 and the 360 comes out lacking in something when compared to the 360 version. Graphics not as sharp or frame rate not as clean. There is always something. I personally haven’t tested this with games as I don’t own a game for both systems.. That would be silly. But my personal experiences with the system has given me mixed feelings. On one hand it’s very connected to your home network. Sharing media from your pc is easier and a more polished experience. It will even share media with your PSP wirelessly breathing new life into that system. What doesn’t feel very connected is it to the “Playststion Store” Xbox Live is always there and seems fully intergrates to the xbox experience. While the PS3 equivalent is there.. But just kinda “there”… somewhere. While 360 demos and games can be downloaded and played. The PS3 games must be installed too which can take another 15 minutes on top of the download. PS3 also doesn’t have movie or TV show downloads. It has Many options when it comes to A/V setup making it perfectly viable as a complete DVD player replacement! It plays BD and can upscale standard DVDs to 1080p resolution when used with a HDMI cable. I was so impressed with its media abilities I unhooked and put away my aging upscaling DVD player and am now using the PS3 for all DVD needs. EXCEPT HD-DVD’s. I’m going to let it be known that I was against Blu-ray and backed HDDVD format. Now that I have a Blu-Ray player I still prefer HDDVD. Why? Simple. It was consumer friendly from the very beginning. Web-Enabled features are fantastic, menus are clean and innovative. And the picture was brilliant. All hddvd players could play all hddvd movies. No confusing versions you had to look out for. Etc. Now, maybe I just havent tried the right Blu-ray movie. But I think hddvd looked just a little bit sharper. Also. BD has no web features, Yet. Not until version. 2.0 in which all players released earlier last year that are NOT 2.0 can not be upgraded (only a small select few can do this. PS3 being one of them.). So when movies start specifically require v2.0. Your shit out of luck. Sony paid many studios hundreds of millions of dollars to release only ..ay and snuff HDDVD. Kinda sickening. When both formats where released, the standard price of either format was about 30 bucks.. some where 24.99. My opinion that it still a little too spendy for me. but with the fall of HD-DVD, Blu-Ray discs and players have actually gone up. want a litle proof?. HEREand HERE. I become increasingly confounded that people would blindly follow the name of something rather than look at something that is cheaper, performances better, is friendlier to you as a consumer, and looks just as good or (from my eye) better… *shrug* too late now right?.. How about the games?? Well. Some look fantastic at 1080i resolution. Most can’t even run at that! Sony fought screaming about 1080p resolution and how superior it is and how there system would do it ALL at 60fps!. But there system can’t do it most the time! Not a big deal if it would just upscale to it right? Just like the Xbox360?? It won’t. If your someone with an HDTV that only displays 1080i and not 720p. Your fucked. This is the single most irritated thing about this system and the biggest reason I’m still thinking about taking it back! If your tv won’t do 720p. The PS3 will downscale any game that requires that resolution down to 480p. Yep, standard definition. That’d simply ludicrious. The 360.. A less powerful system does upscaling on EVERY game with no problems. Why not this?? Baffling. As of right now, I do believe the Ps3 has potential.. if Sony would get there HEAD out of there ass and actually CATER to the people that make them a huge corporate icon, they could have a fantastic system.. right now, this thing is basically here to force you to upgrade all your shit.. Sony could Easily.. and I mean EASILY issue a firmware update that upconverts ALL there games to at LEAST 1080i.. at Least.. it would look better and be more compatible. but they haven’t yet. Whatever.. So far.. looks like My PS3 is teetering on being returned.. unless something big comes out. I don’t think there is any reason to update my prediction. PS3 will eventually become the “IT” machine.. 360 will be right next to it. and unless the Wii can get together some God damned good 3rd party software it won’t make it. Sure, 4 metric “Fuck-tons” of Wii’s have been sold (approximately.) but hardware sales don’t mean shit unless the software backs it up. Also, I read a rumour that the shortage of Wii’s NOW is due to the weak American Dollar, Nintendo is shipping more to Europe then here because the Euro is worth more.. hmmm, interesting. and I wouldn’t doubt it. Ok, ttfn. BTW.. if you ARE getting a ps3.. even with my words of wisedom. don’t get the 40gb. it WILL NOT play Ps2 games. try and find a used 60gb (Fully backward compatible with Ps2) or an 80gb (partially /almost fully.) OR… wait for the new 60gb coming out in a couple months. it’ll be worth it, at least you’ll have something to play on your 500 dollar DVD player =/

Originally posted. April 9, 2008

Originally posted. March 28, 2008

As many may know, Wolfenstein was just released for the consoles and PC on Tuesday.  While I loved me some Wolfenstein 3D and Return to Castle Wolfenstein in 2001… I already have issues with this newest game that has come out.  Why?. well, the minor stuff like.. BJ (hehe.. that’s my name too.) now has a voice.  I would have preferred him to be silent.  But owe well, that’s fine.  Also, it feels too much like Call of Duty for me.  sure, I like Call of Duty as much as the next man… but, that’s call of Duty… this is suppose to be wolfenstein!.  this issue was a little more annoying.  But the biggest problem is the mouse control.  For some reason.  the mouse doesn’t feel good at all.  Am I the only one?.  horizontal feels WAY faster than the vertical.  I really don’t think I can play like this.  is it because I have dual monitors?.  because every other game doesn’t have that issue at all. 

Actually, no.. I don’t think it’s the dual monitor.  Because in Multiplayer the controls are better… but the graphics take a noise dive.  Textures and bump mapping is less detailed, and Character animation is pretty sub-par… What the hell happened Raven?!

Anyways… If I can get through even half the damn game with this crap I’ll drop a review.  Just a heads up though, it’s not looking good already.

Originally posted. August 19, 2009

I promised myself I... I wouldn't cry! *sniffle*

Well, all you 3 people that read my “G.E” blogs.. Sept. 28th is kindof a sad day. on the last Friday of this month, Sega will be completely pulling the plug on there final System ever… the Dreamcast, I can hear a couple fanboys go “Goodzorz!” or whatever the hell you say while manipulating yourselves to your Playstation2′s or whatever.  While the failure rate of the ol’ Graybox is pretty non-existent.. they won’t last forever

Why did the Dreamcast fail anyways? Sega offically discontinued production of Dreamcast on January 21st 2001.  not even 2 years after it’s release on August 9th, 1999 (9.9.99) It wasn’t a catastrophic fall from grace like the Atari, Or like other consoles that had too much hype and not enough substance such as the 3DO or the Jaguar.  it was a combination of many many things.  For one, Sega had a very tarnished reputation at this point. The Sega CD had very mild success, which in the gaming industry is bad, your new system HAS to be better than the previous, it just HAS to be.  Than the release of the ill-fated 32x… Almost upon release of the 32x, Sega had pulled support for this Genesis Add-on.  It wasn’t cheap (160 bucks on release.) many of the games had bugs, glitches, and game ending errors because they where rushed to meet the holiday season. in about 6 months the console was so unwanted that it had dropped in price to under 50 bucks, came with free games and a voucher for a free game and it still remained unsold. in just under a year, Sega pulled the plug on it.  This, was the biggest punch to the Sega brand name and left a dark aura around them for years. Sega dropped the 32x so quickly to put all there support behind the Sega Saturn. Sega’s 2nd attempt at CD-based gaming.  the Saturn was a BEAST, had [--Read Full Post--]]]>

I promised myself I... I wouldn't cry! *sniffle*

Well, all you 3 people that read my “G.E” blogs.. Sept. 28th is kindof a sad day. on the last Friday of this month, Sega will be completely pulling the plug on there final System ever… the Dreamcast, I can hear a couple fanboys go “Goodzorz!” or whatever the hell you say while manipulating yourselves to your Playstation2′s or whatever.  While the failure rate of the ol’ Graybox is pretty non-existent.. they won’t last forever

Why did the Dreamcast fail anyways? Sega offically discontinued production of Dreamcast on January 21st 2001.  not even 2 years after it’s release on August 9th, 1999 (9.9.99) It wasn’t a catastrophic fall from grace like the Atari, Or like other consoles that had too much hype and not enough substance such as the 3DO or the Jaguar.  it was a combination of many many things.  For one, Sega had a very tarnished reputation at this point. The Sega CD had very mild success, which in the gaming industry is bad, your new system HAS to be better than the previous, it just HAS to be.  Than the release of the ill-fated 32x… Almost upon release of the 32x, Sega had pulled support for this Genesis Add-on.  It wasn’t cheap (160 bucks on release.) many of the games had bugs, glitches, and game ending errors because they where rushed to meet the holiday season. in about 6 months the console was so unwanted that it had dropped in price to under 50 bucks, came with free games and a voucher for a free game and it still remained unsold. in just under a year, Sega pulled the plug on it.  This, was the biggest punch to the Sega brand name and left a dark aura around them for years. Sega dropped the 32x so quickly to put all there support behind the Sega Saturn. Sega’s 2nd attempt at CD-based gaming.  the Saturn was a BEAST, had 2 32-bit CPU’s and could easily outpace the Playstation in terms of performance.  But it never quit did.  Saturn was historically hard to program for, and many games that where released on both the Playstation and the Saturn took an extra 3 months on average to hit the Saturn.  And many that where released didn’t quite hold up against there Playstation counterparts. This alone wouldn’t have been a big problem, but Nintendo released the 1st true 64-bit system with the Nintendo 64. Which quickly became the number 2..leaving the Saturn at a distant 3rd place in sales.  the overall design of the Saturn hurt the system too, when component prices dropped as they always do, the design of the Saturn did not allow Sega to drop the price of the system, it tried compensating by adding games to the system bundle.  which in the end didn’t work out.

Then it all came down to the Dreamcast, Sega had high hopes for this system and threw over $100 million dollars at the advertising campaign, at that time, an unfounded amount of money for a game consoles ad funds.  they seemingly had it all. Hi-tech system, easier to program for, huge ad campaign. and when it was released, it sold HUGE amounts and did very well the rest of the year, but sales stalled, for one thing, EA was not supporting the Deamcast at ALL. This was a huge blow to the Dreamcast as EA was a big player back then for there sports games (now-a-days they are basically the ever present overlord of gaming as they release more games yearly than any other company.) Also, The dark aura that Sega left with gamers with the 32x and Saturn had not lifted, many hardcore gamers who had picked up the 32x or Saturn early on felt the Dreamcast would get the boot too soon to warrant the purchase. also the “GD-ROM” used on the System, while holding nearly double that of a normal CD, proved very easy to crack, and Games for the system where very quickly available for download.. but the Biggest nail in it’s coffin.. was the building ad campaign of the Playstation 2 in early 2000.  Many people simply waited for the Playstation 2′s release and didn’t look twice at the dream…what was it?..cast?

I believe the Dreamcast wasn’t given a fair shot at ALL.  to this day, you won’t find a better selection of 2D fighting games.  It has ALL the major fighters, and many underground favorites.  Anybody who has owned a Dreamcast will instantly tell you it’s probably there favorite, and the only ones that say “it s ucked!” have never owned one.  Peter Moore (former vice president of Sega of America, former head of Xbox 360s division and now President of EA Sports.) One of the rare CEO’s and bigwigs who tells it like it is and is looked up to by the gaming community has stated he loved working on the Dreamcast, and still loves the little Box.  And really, how can you bad mouth someone who is THIS dedicated to gaming! (yeah, there real..) The fact is, if given a proper head start and if the gaming community allowed themselves to get over Segas past, it could have flurished for years and many great games could have been seen on this thing.  But the gaming community can be very fickle and bull headed. When nintendo tried catering to all demographics back in the N64 and Gamecube days, the Hardcore gaming community still called them “For kidz”, which wasn’t true, The N64 still has one of the most offensive games to date, Conkers Bad Fur Day (re-released for the Xbox in 2005..and, ironic, censored!), and the Gamecubes “Eternal Darkenss” was a huge mindfuck.. they tried releasing games for the Hardcore and had it thrown back in there face. It’s funny, now that Nintendo has full on said “We’re for casual gamers now”… the Hardcore community calls foil and says Nintendo gave up on them.. ironic.  Nintendo is back on top of the market without us.  our own faults if you ask me.

So, There you have it, thankfully, the Dreamcast can be had for very cheap on Ebay.  I’m actually thinking about picking up another JUST as a backup for when mine eventually fails.  If anybody is at all interested in this fantastic little box that never got a fair shot, I highly recommend hitting ebay for one of these systems… a quick glances shows one for sale for only 30 bucks!. includes 8 games.

Originally posted. September 25, 2007

I may go a little crazy into the wild here.  But stay with me.

Imagine for a second how far gaming has come in the last 30 years.  from crude, simple lines on a screen that bounced a “ball” (Not even a ball, as it wasn’t possible to render anything more than a square.) back and forth until someone missed.  resulting in an ear deafening tone to signify that you scored a point.  A machine that stood 7 feet tall and weighed 800 pounds and was only capable of displaying black and white.

Now boot up your PS3 or Xbox360, or even a computer game.  A system that can be carried with one hand with relative ease.  What do you see?  Graphics that almost rival real life in terms of lighting, wrinkles in the skin.  blades of grass that sway and move independently from the blade next to it as the wind blows.  Sound that has the ability to play sounds from 8 speakers.  To manifest footsteps and the subtlety of fabric moving against fabric as you’re being approached and then breathing so life like that you physically turn around to see if it’s really your speakers or if someone slipped into the room while you where playing.

Now, imagine what games will be like in 30 years

In 1947.  The first video game was played.  created by Esle Ray Mann and Thomas Goldsmith Jr.  The game itself had no name.  although the machine was called the “Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device”.  It was a simple Cathode ray tube.  Players controlled a dot on screen with analogue knobs.  The only other graphics where clear sheets of plastic with little targets drawn on them, and these where placed over the screen.  Think about this.  This was the first “Video Game”.  the only thing on screen was a bright green dot that you could move around the screen with a single rotating knob.  Just over 10 years later, 1958  “Tennis for 2” was created.  although other devices where created in within this decade, they where not huge leaps like Tennis for 2 was.  This game used analog knobs again, but displayed some of the 1st signs of “physics” in games as the ball bounced off the “Table” (line drawn by the oscilloscope.) and volleyed over a “net” (line straight up and down drawn [--Read Full Post--]]]>

I may go a little crazy into the wild here.  But stay with me.

Imagine for a second how far gaming has come in the last 30 years.  from crude, simple lines on a screen that bounced a “ball” (Not even a ball, as it wasn’t possible to render anything more than a square.) back and forth until someone missed.  resulting in an ear deafening tone to signify that you scored a point.  A machine that stood 7 feet tall and weighed 800 pounds and was only capable of displaying black and white.

Now boot up your PS3 or Xbox360, or even a computer game.  A system that can be carried with one hand with relative ease.  What do you see?  Graphics that almost rival real life in terms of lighting, wrinkles in the skin.  blades of grass that sway and move independently from the blade next to it as the wind blows.  Sound that has the ability to play sounds from 8 speakers.  To manifest footsteps and the subtlety of fabric moving against fabric as you’re being approached and then breathing so life like that you physically turn around to see if it’s really your speakers or if someone slipped into the room while you where playing.

Now, imagine what games will be like in 30 years

Video Gameology 101

In 1947.  The first video game was played.  created by Esle Ray Mann and Thomas Goldsmith Jr.  The game itself had no name.  although the machine was called the “Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device”.  It was a simple Cathode ray tube.  Players controlled a dot on screen with analogue knobs.  The only other graphics where clear sheets of plastic with little targets drawn on them, and these where placed over the screen.  Think about this.  This was the first “Video Game”.  the only thing on screen was a bright green dot that you could move around the screen with a single rotating knob.  Just over 10 years later, 1958  “Tennis for 2” was created.  although other devices where created in within this decade, they where not huge leaps like Tennis for 2 was.  This game used analog knobs again, but displayed some of the 1st signs of “physics” in games as the ball bounced off the “Table” (line drawn by the oscilloscope.) and volleyed over a “net” (line straight up and down drawn by the oscilloscope.)

That was a 10 year gap between a simple dot, to a dot, and 2 lines.  Almost 10 years ahead to 1966. and we have the 1st video game system that can hook up and be played to a standard television, although only a prototype and never sold to the general public.  “Corndog” was another huge leap in video games.  Within 2 years it would be able to play a multitude of games, a lightgun was created for it as well.  In only 20 years from the first glimpses of a simple gaming we see a system that could be used by anybody and support several different games. 

To think that video games won’t make another huge leap in the next 30 years would be a mistake.  3D gaming perhaps? no, it’s been here for decades.  Full motion gaming like that of Natal?  That is only a year away, and even then.  Was crudely available a decade ago as well.  Graphics in games can only get so far before it’s trivial.  I think we are already there.  Are you really going to notice how detailed Solid Snake is anymore?  Can we be awed by shiny surfaces and bright blooming lighting effects coming over the virtual horizon?

This is where I would usually go into my thought process that the video game market is in the market for another crash.  Things can only go so far on there current path.  But, I’m going to switch my thinking a little bit and try something else, I’m going to think past the “crash” and into the future for what I believe is in store 30 years from now.

….The Future!!

One of the 1st computer systems was the size of a small house, weighed multiple tons, cost over a million dollars and performed the calculations that a 99 cent keychain assembled by a Taiwanese toddler assembled in under 1 minute today.

Imagine what will be done in 2039? 

Nanotechnology isn’t a new idea, but it is for gaming.  in 50 years, could we see the death of “video” games, and see an introduction of “Nano” gaming?  injecting our bodies with a solution that will directly change the sensory we have over this world and create a new world controlled only by or brains?.  the feeling of actually walking through a new world, with different grass.  non-existent creatures roaming the land.  being able to touch the trees in this world, and the injected solution manipulating the receptors in your brain to make your body actually “feel” what your touching?  Would this even technically be considered gaming anymore or would it be outright called a drug?  with something that has the potential to become very addicting.  Do we want or need something that interactive in our lives?

Gaming is a multi-billion dollar business that now earns more than Hollywood year to year.  This business thrives on the latest and greatest devices and they spend hundreds of millions in development.  They aren’t something that are going away.  But with the level of interactivity that they already allow, the world has been having even more of a negative impact from them.  Gaming “Addiction” leading to Divorce Parents playing MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online.) based games so intently that they allow there children to starve to death. 

Staying on the idea of Nano-gaming.  what kind of dangers would the world be in for if we already have parents who forget there kids for a game as simple as World of Warcraft?.  This idea could become a global pandemic.  Governments around the world banning it for it’s legal addictive properties, and people uprising to protect not only there freedoms, but to possibly feed there already ravenous addiction to the, now condemned, drug. 

A virus in this type of environment would kill.  But on a psychological plain.  Would viruses get to that point?  creating a virus that destroys a computers system files is, almost harmless on all levels.  Sure, it could wipe your credit record, could lose family photos, all your music files and so on.  But you can always rebuild.  nothing is ever FOREVER.  Death is a completely different barrier to get through.  Can virus creators so easily create something that can kill people and release it without warning?.  It’s possible, and probably.  More than likely, viruses would stay in the realm of Trojan Horses.  you inject or ingest your..”game” I guess, and a trojan would allow the hacker to “follow” you on your daily activities.  This “game” would just seem like a dud to you, but you stay in your body and allow another users to be you for however long they can keep the solution in your body.

The idea of living as someone/something else is a huge draw for some people.  Life can be boring, and Video games are an avenue to use when you want to escape it all.  There are those that simply take it too far and forget about there real life, and the damage they can do when they drift to close to the line that divides real from fiction.  This new form of “gaming” would cause that line to disappear.  As long as the user was connect 24/7.  why would they ever need to leave?  physically tied to the machine along side millions of others doing the same thing.  It’s easy to lose yourself, not only because everything is better in this new world, but because so many others are doing it too.  Group mentality is a dangerous thing.  Even today the internet is a place for everyone of every mental disability to find a safe haven.  Find a group of like minded people who all have the same problem.  Why get help?

From here it’s so easy to go into a Matrix like scenario where the machines all control us at birth and use us as batteries as we live out some life of oblivious servitude.  I’ll try not to tread on that.  instead I’ll go another route.

Control

Let’s say we dodge the “illegal drug” scenario and “NG” (Nano gaming) is allowed by most governments.  What would keep people from leading a self destructive life?  Personally.  I would like to imagine the lack of “soul”.  Sure, you can program Jesus, Hitler, make me a turtle cruising at 189,000 miles per second through time and space wearing clown shoes and eating galaxies.  But, I can’t imagine it ever feeling completely real.  The closest this form of entertainment could ever get would be mimicking my memories of looking into a real persons eyes and seeing there soul, what makes them tick.  But this would just be a fake.  And I would hope that deep down I would know, and remember what that is truly like.. and miss it.  Even though I could do everything possible.  The real essence of life would somehow be missing from it all, the details wouldn’t add up.  In that, tiniest of moments.  I see everyone missing that and down the line and slowly just stop using it.  Not in a big riot or biblical type  flood or bloody massacre.  Just… subsiding. 

This is of course an extremely optimistic “movie” ending.  In reality, something that can change your perception so much would easily become one of the most addictive substances on earth.  and depending on if the government can control it.  would make it illegal or not.  If they can control it’s distribution would mean we could become there slaves forever.

Who says while we are in this fantasy land full of our dreams our bodies are comatose on a bed?.  nobody.  While NG is distracting your mind with big breasts and furry manimals (I know that has got to be some ones fantasy!) Our bodies are doing something else?.  working?  filing papers? taking the kids to soccer practice? who knows.  The part of our brains that control what we perceive as reality could be split from what is real.  while we are in lah lah land.  Our lower brain function could be unaffected and be set in auto pilot.  This, in the wrong hands could be extremely deadly as well.  We could be used as soldiers, completely unaware we are able to be gunned down for our country because we think we are sailing on a pirate ship full of zombie pirates.  Or, again, a virus.  We could be under the control of a hacker. 

I brought up how a psychological barrier exists that would keep many hackers from using a virus to actually kill anyone.  But, does this same barrier exist if the hacker puts you into autopilot to kill someone.  a 3rd person murder?  What kind of moral conflictions are there for a scenario like that?

moral code….

While in NG.. would there be one?.  would you feel bad for having sex with a stranger if you are married in Real life?.  does that constitute as cheating?  Could you kill someone as long as it was a “game” character.  feeling there warm blood splatter across your face and hearing there cries for help.  It’s only a game, Right? Would you be able to make that type of disconnection?  If so, what would keep you from realizing that it’s no longer a game?

If my hope for people being able to see the difference, seeing the details, the soul.  the essence of life.  If all that doesn’t pan out and the line for reality blurs.  At what point would we even know when real life started, and the NG life began?  If you could disconnect yourself while in NG to bring yourself to murder and you are unable to differentiate NG from real life.  What is going to keep you from killing a loved one because you think it’s in the game?

My mind is spinning and I have so many more thoughts on this… but… my hands hurt.  Catch you on the Flip-Side.

Originally posted. September 22, 2009

Evolution Studios, the creators of MotorStorm and, well, aside from that and WRC, not much else.  But that’s OK, because they are good at it, there isn’t much need to go into other things right now, right?

MotorStorm RC, although still a racing game, is a large departure from anything they have done previously.  While their other racing games have always been from traditional camera angles; Hood, in-car, rear, etc.  This game is seen entirely from a isometric angle.  Harking in games of old like Super Off-Road, and closer to the fantastic Rock and Roll Racing for the SNES.

So, with the change in play style, camera, and the shrinking of the MotorStorm franchise into a 5-inch screen (or, whatever size your TV is if you are playing on the PS3.) Does Evolution Studios pull it off?

Presentation: The menu system used by the game was, at first glimpse, confusing and not my favorite part of the game.  After some additional use and time to get use to it, it became second nature to whiz through them, quicker selecting a different car or another course to start.  Everything in set up in a single row of selections, making a selection will zoom into the next screen, revealing another single row of things to select.  Like I mentioned, at first it was easy to get lost in all the windows that have a very similar look and feel.  But once you got use to the details of each new screen, it was easy to quickly back out of a game and zoom into a new track.  They are fast moving and have no load times which was nice.  I wish that speed and quickness was worked into the actual loading of the game.

While not a slow loading game by any means, when you first turn it on, it does take it’s sweet ass time to get to the actual menu screen.  I get that companies want to display their mark on what they have created.  And I’m absolutely fine with that for console gaming.  When you sit down for a console game, you are getting ready to [--Read Full Post--]]]>

Evolution Studios, the creators of MotorStorm and, well, aside from that and WRC, not much else.  But that’s OK, because they are good at it, there isn’t much need to go into other things right now, right?

MotorStorm RC, although still a racing game, is a large departure from anything they have done previously.  While their other racing games have always been from traditional camera angles; Hood, in-car, rear, etc.  This game is seen entirely from a isometric angle.  Harking in games of old like Super Off-Road, and closer to the fantastic Rock and Roll Racing for the SNES.

So, with the change in play style, camera, and the shrinking of the MotorStorm franchise into a 5-inch screen (or, whatever size your TV is if you are playing on the PS3.) Does Evolution Studios pull it off?

Presentation:
The menu system used by the game was, at first glimpse, confusing and not my favorite part of the game.  After some additional use and time to get use to it, it became second nature to whiz through them, quicker selecting a different car or another course to start.  Everything in set up in a single row of selections, making a selection will zoom into the next screen, revealing another single row of things to select.  Like I mentioned, at first it was easy to get lost in all the windows that have a very similar look and feel.  But once you got use to the details of each new screen, it was easy to quickly back out of a game and zoom into a new track.  They are fast moving and have no load times which was nice.  I wish that speed and quickness was worked into the actual loading of the game.

While not a slow loading game by any means, when you first turn it on, it does take it’s sweet ass time to get to the actual menu screen.  I get that companies want to display their mark on what they have created.  And I’m absolutely fine with that for console gaming.  When you sit down for a console game, you are getting ready to be there a while, it’s kind of common sense that this isn’t going to be a quick game.  But for mobile gaming, they really need to get out of the mindset that having 3 logo screens, a load screen, the title screen and THEN the menu system is a good thing.  Please, just show the title screen with your logos taking up a hefty chunk of that screen real estate and next go to the menu system.  This is a MOBILE GAME, we as the gamer, are starting this up to have a quick lap in-between tasks.  We don’t want to take up 6minutes just to GET to the game.  Ya following me, Camera Guy?

Graphics:
With the games isometric and distant view, I can safely say that it wouldn’t work on 3DS or the original PSP, on the PS3 screen it does look a lot better though.  I’m playing it on the Vita though, which is just a high enough resolution that it’s not a strain on the eyes to play.  Although, after some time, it does start to get to you.  Detail wise, it’s not a bad looking game.  The tracks are all nicely textured, when you can make out the specifics on the tiny, tiny cars, they look alright too.  That’s really the ugliest part of the game.  Even though the PS Vita has a nice, large screen, the games use of small vehicles makes to point out details and at some spots, decipher the direction the car is going.  They try to remedy this with a large yellow arrow over the roof of the car to denote it’s direction.  This happens when the camera is at an angle that hides the car behind objects.  That’s right, the dynamic camera angle moves in such a way that sometimes, a discomforting amount of times actually, the car is hidden by objects or ramps on the course.  You can use the “aerial” camera angle to fix this, moving the camera at a taller height and lower angle.  This is my preferred angle, even though it makes the cars even smaller. 

Audio:
It’s broken.  There, I said it.  I’m going to be completely blunt here.  The audio is just broken.    Several problems persist in the games sound; for starters, the music is Dubstep.  I won’t hide the fact that I absolutely dislike Dubstep, but I won’t open that can of worms.  Traditionally, racing games shouldn’t have music playing while you are driving, it takes away from the important audio cues such as competitor vehicles closing and other things.  For an isometric racer that doesn’t exist so music is OK.  I personally just don’t think Dubstep works here. 

“OK, so, you hate Dubstep, so what?  Just turn off the music, you baby!” Yeah, I get it, and I did that, that only revealed the messed up audio hiding underneath the loud, obnoxious music.  The game sounds as if it was recorded using multiple audio channels, but the game is forcing everything through 2.  On a few maps the game simply won’t play more then 2 sounds at any given time.  What this means is that the game is trying to play all the sounds that should play; Your engine, the competitors engines, the skidding of your tires and theirs, but it only has 2 channels to play all that through.  Imagine this.  You’re listening to music, a single guitar starts playing.  Then a single bass pedal from the drums. Typically, this would build with a tom, a bass guitar, symbols, etc. until the whole band is playing, right?  Now imagine after the guitar and bass pedal start playing.  The guitarist has to stop in order for you to hear to Tom.. then the Bass pedal has to stop so you can hear the Bass Guitar… sounds shitty right?  That is exactly what the game does.  You hear your engine and one other.  Then for no reason you stop hearing your engine to hear a skid from someone else’s car, which then stops unexpectedly to abruptly hear your cars engine again!.   Yes, it’s bad experience all around, I’m hoping it’s fixed with a patch.

Gameplay:
Even with the busted ass audio, the terrible Dubstep and the sometimes eye straining graphics, the game is still fun to play.  The game does bring back memories of Ivan “Ironfist” Stewarts Super Off-Road Games from the early 90’s.  The Game offers 2 different control schemes with the ability to change the button layout of both.  One is pressing left and right to turn left and right (how about that shit!?), and the other is to point the stick in the direction you want the car to travel, kind of like controlling the Warthog in Halo.  With the camera angle, though, that control scheme just doesn’t feel right to me.  Also, by default, the throttle and brake are attached to the right stick.  For much of the game I played like that, but later bound them to X and O, just feels better to me, although using the other stick isn’t a bad experience.

There isn’t a huge amount of content in the game, you’ll play a handful of tracks over and over again, and there doesn’t seem to be any difference in performance from one car to the next.  Obviously, the different types of vehicles;superminis, buggy,big rig, and such all have different feels to them, but within their own category the only difference is the look. The game demands precision!  rubbing against the wall is a huge detriment to your speed and on several occasions it will flip your car, nose first into the wall, stopping you in place.  I get that is likely what an RC car will do, but it’s a giant annoyance.  And when you are first starting off, that nuisance   is likely going to make you want to stop playing. The games cutesy demeanor is likely to confuse some players when they actually get their hands on it.  Achieving a Gold medal in the later tracks is pretty difficult.  But it is worth sticking with if you like racing games.

Final Thoughts:
The game is a nice little departure from the studios previous work and it does show that they can do other things, although still a racing game, it’s of a different style which is far removed from their previous work, showing diversity in their abilities.  The fact that the game is free on the PS Vita is definitely a plus.  I would honestly say that if it was going for $10 I would be hard pressed to buy it.  There are a few things that just don’t sit well with me about the game.  The broken audio for one is a let down.  and obviously, the Dubstep.  Just because it’s popular now, doesn’t mean in 2years everyone isn’t going to be looking back and going “…Yeah, except for the Dubstep, jesus!”  Especially since, I personally feel, it doesn’t fit with the actual game.  Aside from those though, and a few minor flaws, the overall gameplay still works well enough to make this a good game to have, especially if you miss those old top-down view style racing games.

Final Score: 7

We start our story how all good stories should start; with deception, greed, lies and the underlining sense that the person on the other end of a phone call has no clue what they are in for. Before I started college, I worked as Technical Support for the Xbox3601. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I was the guy you would call if you had issues with online connectivity, billing, hardware malfunction, etc. I would fix it as best I could over the phone. There was something else that I got on the phones sometimes, “Phishers”2. A Phisher, as defined by FreeDictionary.com, is someone who requests confidential information over the Internet under false pretenses in order to fraudulently obtain credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal data. These people who call in trying to get me to slip up and tell them the smallest amount of information they could use to later call back and get access to the account with. This is a story of one of those incidences my friends and I have labeled “The TRON story”.

In case some people don’t know, TRON3 is a cult classic from 1982 featuring some of the first instances of computer-generated imagery, also known as “CGI”4. The movie, about a computer programmer/hacker accidently gets himself stuck in a computer world called “The Grid” and he’s forced to play gladiator like games in order to continue living, was critically panned and a box office failure, but like other stinky cheeses, aged well and picked up a strong cult following that allowed it a sequel called Tron: Legacy set for release in late 2010, which is where this story officially begins.

My phone beeps, indicating I am about to receive a call from some I’ve likely never talked to before, and will never talk to again. The automated voice announces the category of the customer’s problem before I actually start talking with them. *BEEP* “Xbox Live—Billing” *BEEP* the cold, synthetic woman’s voice announces. I begin my greeting: “Thank you for calling Xbox Customer Support, my name is ReverEND, what can I do for you today.” The voice on the other end of the line replies nervously: “Yeah, I need some help getting into my account; I think a [--Read Full Post--]]]>

We start our story how all good stories should start; with deception, greed, lies and the underlining sense that the person on the other end of a phone call has no clue what they are in for. Before I started college, I worked as Technical Support for the Xbox360¹. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I was the guy you would call if you had issues with online connectivity, billing, hardware malfunction, etc. I would fix it as best I could over the phone. There was something else that I got on the phones sometimes, “Phishers”². A Phisher, as defined by FreeDictionary.com, is someone who requests confidential information over the Internet under false pretenses in order to fraudulently obtain credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal data. These people who call in trying to get me to slip up and tell them the smallest amount of information they could use to later call back and get access to the account with. This is a story of one of those incidences my friends and I have labeled “The TRON story”.

In case some people don’t know, TRON³ is a cult classic from 1982 featuring some of the first instances of computer-generated imagery, also known as “CGI”⁴. The movie, about a computer programmer/hacker accidently gets himself stuck in a computer world called “The Grid” and he’s forced to play gladiator like games in order to continue living, was critically panned and a box office failure, but like other stinky cheeses, aged well and picked up a strong cult following that allowed it a sequel called Tron: Legacy set for release in late 2010, which is where this story officially begins.

My phone beeps, indicating I am about to receive a call from some I’ve likely never talked to before, and will never talk to again. The automated voice announces the category of the customer’s problem before I actually start talking with them. *BEEP* “Xbox Live—Billing” *BEEP* the cold, synthetic woman’s voice announces. I begin my greeting: “Thank you for calling Xbox Customer Support, my name is ReverEND, what can I do for you today.” The voice on the other end of the line replies nervously: “Yeah, I need some help getting into my account; I think a friend changed the password, can you help?” I can tell he’s in his teens, possibly younger, because his voice doesn’t sound fully developed and he has no sense of ownership of the situation at hand. “Of course I can” I replied with confidence. “Can I get your Gamertag⁵ from you and I’ll be happy to assist!” His response will echo in my mind for eternity. “Yeah, it’s TRON.” The instant that word left his side of the phone and entered my headset I knew there was something going on here, but to be professional I continue. “OK, can I get the name on the account?” His response to that question affirmed my conclusion that something was awry. “Oh, I think my friend changed everything when he took my account and my phone’s battery is about to die, if you can just give me a Reference Number⁶ so I don’t have to go through all this when I call back that would be great because I have to go!” I physically dropped my head in embarrassment at what this kid was trying to attempt. A week before the release of Tron: Legacy and he’s trying to steal TRON from me, from ME! I made this personal. “Absolutely,” I happily respond, “do you mind if I place you on hold for a moment while I look over the information and generate your reference number?” He begrudgingly agreed, reminding me about his phone. I press hold, almost unable to contain my laughter as I waved for my cube mates to come listen what I am about to drop on them. “Guys, this guy is trying to phish the TRON account.” All stare at me in wonder at his level of incompetence. “You’re kidding right? How do you know he doesn’t ACTUALLY own it?” I open the account on the screen to find it’s connected to one of the developers of the first Xbox⁷ console from 2001. The account actually pre-dates that systems release, impossible for anyone but its creators. At that point, we all agree that this is obviously not that person. We also agree that we can’t simply give him the typical rehearsed line about “Being unable to assist further” and disconnecting the call. For his actions, he must pay. At this point, the “customer” is on hold for about 8minutes. Over the hold time we are graded on, but this is the first of many he will be placed in. “Thank you so much for holding and I apologize for the time that took, before we continue, can I get that account one more time, I seem to have lost it.” I ask sheepishly. “Yeah, it’s TRON… Tee, Are, Owe, En, and please hurry, I think the friend that took my account is coming through the door so if I can just get that reference number that would be great.” He replies, noting once again that he wants a Reference Number. “Ooooh, Tee are OWE En.. I put in Tee are ZERO en. That’s probably why I wasn’t getting the account again. You’re very lucky getting that Gamertag, I would have assumed it was taken long ago!” I state, in full knowing as to when it was first used. His response drives home the fact that he is not the owner of the account. “Oh, yeah I got lucky… I just started the account a couple years ago and it wasn’t taken.” I think to myself: “a couple plus a few more, before the original Xbox was even released to the public?” I let him know that I need to reboot the system because I am still not able to get into the account and ask if I can place him on hold one more time. Again, he states his phone is about to die, his friend is coming through the door and to hurry so he can have that reference number. I place him on hold and chuckle. “Ok guys, what do I do with this guy, seriously.” A cube mate, Ben, decides it’s his turn to talk to him. Something we are never supposed to do, but with the circumstances how they are, I let him get on the line. “Thank you so much for holding, so, got the system all back online and ready for that account again, what was the name.” Ben spills out with confidences and purpose. “Uh huh, ok… and can I get your name?” He asks with a slight amount of a patronizing tone. “Ooh that’s right, your friend changed it. Well, that is against the T.O.U.⁸ so here is what needs to happen. He need to lock this account, we are going to do a full investigation into how he was able to obtain it and we will be contacting the original owner, presumably you…right?.. Right! Contacting you with our findings. This will require a Supervisor though, let me get him on the line. Please hold” Ben places him on hold and hands back the headset. Holding back tears of laughter, I wait for him to disconnect. Any normal person trying to steal something would hear Supervisor, investigation, account lock and assume they’ve been had, right? 6 minutes rolls passed, then 8, then 10. He isn’t going to hang up. I get back on the line with him to finally let him go. “Thank you for holding I—“ he interrupts with “This is really bad customer service, I’m just trying to get my account back and have been on hold a lot.. I don’t want you guys to lock it ok, I’ll just talk to my friend, I mean, you don’t have to go through all that ok?.. just, give me a reference number that is attached to that account and I’ll call again later.” There it was again, wanting that number, I knew what he was going to do with it and I wasn’t going to allow that. “Ok sir, have a pen ready?” I quickly close the account and open a window that contains no account. I enter notes at the bottom of the reference to let the next customer agent he talks to what his true intentions are. I write “This person is not the original owner of this account, he asked repeatedly for a reference number to the TRON account of which he would not even attempt to verify ownership of, the only bit of information he gave me was completely wrong and set in stone. He is phishing.” I thank the customer for waiting and give him this reference number. He again asks “Now, this number is connected to the TRON account, right?” “Of course it is, sir.” I respond with a heavy hint of sarcasm. He disconnects finally, thanking me for the number. I log off of my phone and go home, 15 minutes past my shift, but well worth the overtime.

References:

1.) Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is the second generation “Xbox” gaming device. More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360
2.) More information about phishing can be found here: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/phishing
3.) Information about the movie TRON http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/
4.) More details on Computer generated imagery. http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/computer-generated_imagery.htm
5.) Gamertag is the name you are given or choose yourself when creating an Xbox Live account. It’s a way to distinguish yourself from the others online. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FtmjLxkq98&feature=player_profilepage
6.) A Reference number was our internal way of tracking calls and a way for customers to quickly get back to their account information if they needed to call us back. This system was used for several services: Zune, Xbox Live, OneCare, etc. Xbox Live was VERY thorough with security, but if someone had received a reference number from Xbox Live Technical Support and then called Zune, they would not ask for verification to give you information about the account! Sorry, I could not find any reputable sites that displayed this information, only shady hacking based websites.
7.) Microsoft released the first xbox in November of 2001. The xbox360 is its successor, released in November of 2005
8.) The Terms of Use is a list of conditions you agree with before you are allowed to use the Xbox Live online service. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/legal/livetou.