I've been following this story for a while now, but when it finally popped up on MSNBC on Friday I was a little surprised. I knew this was a big issue in the gaming community, but I didn't think it would get attention from non-gamers.
In a nutshell: Super Columbine Massacre Role Playing Game! (SCMRPG!) has been pulled from Slamdance by festival president Peter Baxter. Subsequently, several finalists, including FlOw and Braid, have withdrawn from the competition in protest, and sponsor USC has withdrawn its support for the festival as well.
I could link to 1Up, Kotaku, Joystiq, and GamaSutra---all of which are covering this story---ad nauseum, but I'm sure we've all seen those articles already. Here, instead, is a selection of news articles from primarily non-gaming news sources, including the MSNBC item, to sample the coverage this is getting outside of the gaming demographic.
Game On, the Newsweek/MSNBC article.
Columbine Game's Ouster Brings Response, from the Rocky Mountain News. Caveat lector: This appears to have been written by Crescente from Kotaku.
Slamdance Sponsor Pulls out over Game, from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Super Columbine Massacre Removed from Indie Game Finalists List, from the Guardian Unlimited---might be a gaming blog, but looks like it's affiliated with a mainstream news source. Cheerio, toodle pip---coverage from the other side of the pond, guv'ner.
Slamdance Is Slammed over Game, from the Desert Morning News.
Festival Pulls "Columbine" Video Game, from the Denver Post.
Unsurprisingly, the Denver Post seems to be the most antagonistic, opening the article with a citation of Peter Baxter's "sense of moral obligation," reminding readers that SCMRPG! made PC World's list of the worst games of all time, and trimming SCMRPG! creator Danny Ledonne's comments on the controversy down to the most inane snippet. By and large, though, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the articles (including the Denver Post) were professionally neutral on this touchy subject.
As I was compiling these links (on Friday), a non-gaming colleague of mine came by and, seeing the headlines emblazoned on my computer screen, commented that she'd been following the story as well and offered her own insights on the controversy.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Disgaeappointment
Nobody could have been more excited than my husband and me when Disgaea II: Cursed Memories was announced for August of 2006. We preordered it, cleared our gaming calendar to make room for it, and dove right into it when it arrived. We haven't been playing it nonstop due to work, holidays, more work, and other games, but we've been playing at least a few times a week for the past several months, and we've finally beaten it. At least, inasmuch as a game of this type can be beaten. That is to say, we defeated the primary end boss and saw one ending to the game. It was a major let-down.
I realized straight off when we started playing that the plot wasn't going to be as engaging as that of the original. I soon came to realize that the characters weren't as deep as in the previous game, either. And the ending---at least the basic that we saw---was completely devoid of emotional impact and didn't bring any kind of closure to the game. We then sat through about ten minutes of credits, only to be treated to a little more "ending," which actually created more loose ends than it tied off.
There's still alot to love about this game. The main thing, I should stress, is the gameplay. One doesn't play a Disgaea game for the story, after all. All of the gameplay elements that we loved from Disgaea were present. The turn based, grid based battle, the two-dimensional character sprites, and the endless, unique Item World dungeons. The same basic leveling-up system for characters, skills, and items is still in place. And back for an encore is the colorful stable of completely customizable character classes making up our unique batallion of sprites including my personal faves Berrymelon, Emeril BAM!!!, Paris Hilton, and Optimus Badass.
I haven't really been able to decide how I feel about the changes to the gameplay. For example, the amount of leveling required to unlock the later iterations of the character classes has increased geometrically in this game. Where in DG1 you could level your Male Brawler to level 100 in order to unlock all of his later forms including his final form, the Eternal Fist, in DG2 you must level your Fighter to level 10 to unlock the Warrior; then you must reincarnate as a Warrior or start a new Warrior and level him to level 20 to unlock the Destroyer; and so on. This could be either a pro or a con, depending on how much time you want to devote to making the most powerful characters. The Majin class isn't even available on the first playthrough, which may be for the best since, once again, the Majin makes all other character types worthless.
Then again, to say that one has beaten Disgaea II is akin to saying that one has beaten Tetris. There's always more to do. And now that we have the pitiful plotline out of the way, maybe we'll eventually get around to playing through the hundreds of hours of additional/hidden content.
I realized straight off when we started playing that the plot wasn't going to be as engaging as that of the original. I soon came to realize that the characters weren't as deep as in the previous game, either. And the ending---at least the basic that we saw---was completely devoid of emotional impact and didn't bring any kind of closure to the game. We then sat through about ten minutes of credits, only to be treated to a little more "ending," which actually created more loose ends than it tied off.
There's still alot to love about this game. The main thing, I should stress, is the gameplay. One doesn't play a Disgaea game for the story, after all. All of the gameplay elements that we loved from Disgaea were present. The turn based, grid based battle, the two-dimensional character sprites, and the endless, unique Item World dungeons. The same basic leveling-up system for characters, skills, and items is still in place. And back for an encore is the colorful stable of completely customizable character classes making up our unique batallion of sprites including my personal faves Berrymelon, Emeril BAM!!!, Paris Hilton, and Optimus Badass.
I haven't really been able to decide how I feel about the changes to the gameplay. For example, the amount of leveling required to unlock the later iterations of the character classes has increased geometrically in this game. Where in DG1 you could level your Male Brawler to level 100 in order to unlock all of his later forms including his final form, the Eternal Fist, in DG2 you must level your Fighter to level 10 to unlock the Warrior; then you must reincarnate as a Warrior or start a new Warrior and level him to level 20 to unlock the Destroyer; and so on. This could be either a pro or a con, depending on how much time you want to devote to making the most powerful characters. The Majin class isn't even available on the first playthrough, which may be for the best since, once again, the Majin makes all other character types worthless.
Then again, to say that one has beaten Disgaea II is akin to saying that one has beaten Tetris. There's always more to do. And now that we have the pitiful plotline out of the way, maybe we'll eventually get around to playing through the hundreds of hours of additional/hidden content.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Gamespotting
Not to be confused with trainspotting, or wainscotting.
Killa, knowing that I have been on the prowl for some rare older titles, gave me a call on his cell from the local EBStop late last week to get my shopping list. It turned out they didn't have any of the titles in question (surprise), so I asked him to check and see if they had a PlayStation in stock.
"I don't think they carry PS1 games anymore," said Killa.
"No. . . . see if they have a PlayStation Three."
I listened as he shouted his request over the rambunctious EBStop crowd to the gentleman manager, and then heard, too, his reply:
"No," said he. "Oh wait---I mean yeah"
"Sixty gig?" queried Killa.
"Yeah," said the manager. "We have one back here. Do you want it?"
My initial plan was to hold out and buy the system to coincide with the release of some sort of desirable software for the system. Ridge Racer notwithstanding, there aren't any titles of interest arriving until February or March. However, when I heard about this one readily available PS3, I was seized by that familiar panic sensation---What if everyone else is waiting until February to buy their PS3, too? What if the rarity of the console over the Christmas holiday was only a prelude to the coming PS3 drought? What if Sony has to divert units slated for America in order to launch in Europe? What if this is my only chance?!
I quickly got a hold of myself and told Killa to take a pass on this particular PS3. After all, I reasoned, if Killa can walk into a store at random and find a PS3 on his first try, how rare can they be?
I told my hubby about it later and he chastised me for not leaping at the knock of opportunity. If I had only been more decisive, we, too, could have spent the evening plugging and replugging our various cables and connectors and then kicking back and relaxing with some untranslated Tekken 5, dubiously downloaded with virtual Hong Kong dollars. If only.
Instead we went to Target to pick up some puppy chow and browse the games. We browsed and browsed, until we browsed right smack into a PS3. This time it was a 20GB so it wasn't really a temptation, but again I was pleasantly surprised to find a PS3 without even trying. I haven't witnessed the stacks of unwanted, unloved PS3s piled high to BestBuy's ceiling, as others have, but it seems the hype over the scarcity has outlived the actual scarcity of the object in question.
However, Wiis and DS Lites remain out of stock at both locations.
Killa, knowing that I have been on the prowl for some rare older titles, gave me a call on his cell from the local EBStop late last week to get my shopping list. It turned out they didn't have any of the titles in question (surprise), so I asked him to check and see if they had a PlayStation in stock.
"I don't think they carry PS1 games anymore," said Killa.
"No. . . . see if they have a PlayStation Three."
I listened as he shouted his request over the rambunctious EBStop crowd to the gentleman manager, and then heard, too, his reply:
"No," said he. "Oh wait---I mean yeah"
"Sixty gig?" queried Killa.
"Yeah," said the manager. "We have one back here. Do you want it?"
My initial plan was to hold out and buy the system to coincide with the release of some sort of desirable software for the system. Ridge Racer notwithstanding, there aren't any titles of interest arriving until February or March. However, when I heard about this one readily available PS3, I was seized by that familiar panic sensation---What if everyone else is waiting until February to buy their PS3, too? What if the rarity of the console over the Christmas holiday was only a prelude to the coming PS3 drought? What if Sony has to divert units slated for America in order to launch in Europe? What if this is my only chance?!
I quickly got a hold of myself and told Killa to take a pass on this particular PS3. After all, I reasoned, if Killa can walk into a store at random and find a PS3 on his first try, how rare can they be?
I told my hubby about it later and he chastised me for not leaping at the knock of opportunity. If I had only been more decisive, we, too, could have spent the evening plugging and replugging our various cables and connectors and then kicking back and relaxing with some untranslated Tekken 5, dubiously downloaded with virtual Hong Kong dollars. If only.
Instead we went to Target to pick up some puppy chow and browse the games. We browsed and browsed, until we browsed right smack into a PS3. This time it was a 20GB so it wasn't really a temptation, but again I was pleasantly surprised to find a PS3 without even trying. I haven't witnessed the stacks of unwanted, unloved PS3s piled high to BestBuy's ceiling, as others have, but it seems the hype over the scarcity has outlived the actual scarcity of the object in question.
However, Wiis and DS Lites remain out of stock at both locations.
The Art of Time Management
 | Don't we all wish we could be like Flash Man now and then? Admittedly, it does suck to be violently rent by every jackass armed with a Metal Blade, but the ability to stop time is still an attractive proposition. This "Time Stopper," if you will, is a common device in the genre of |
As I'm sure you observed in my Resolutions post, I have quite a bit on my gaming plate at the moment. As I prophesied, I have abandoned the Prince on the Island of Time, eternally locked in a conflict with the Empress of Time, in a noble effort to prevent the Sands of Time from ever being created. One particular area of the Island of Time, the Puzzle Chamber, colorfully referred to as "t3h br0k3n Chamb3r 0f Pu22l3m3nt !!1", eventually frustrated me to a point where I had to say to myself, "Killa, you handsome devil, you have a perfectly playable alternative nestled right there in your stylish Puma bag. Why waste anymore time on this cheap port when you could be playing Portable Ops?" So's I says to myself I says, "Hells yeah." A quick swap later and I have been nigh constantly engrossed in sneaking my way around the San Hieroynmo peninsula.
Although I will tell you I am severely tempted to proclaim MPO the best game of 2006 at this very instance, I will wait until I have completed at least one playthrough before I post a review. Regardless, as Steve Miller so eloquently put it, "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future." I am often times attempting to wrest myself from my girlfriend's loving embrace to squeeze in a few hours of FFXII with Catarina or to kick back with the J Team for a chaotic session of Ultimate Alliance. If only there was more time for such things. But alas, I am an adult now, and the art of time management is not nearly as simple as it was back in the 8-bit era.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Game Boy Murders Child
Smells Like Fox News at Eleven
In a stunning example of overly sensational (i.e., poor) journalism, The Sun, a UK-based newspaper, reported yesterday on the death of a seven-year-old British child who was vacationing in Phuket, Thailand, when he plugged his Christmas Game Boy into a wall socket while allegedly still wet from being in the pool. The full story can be found here.
The sensational part isn't the article itself. The article is fair about pointing out that the hotel's electrical system is more likely to blame than the Game Boy; that the authorities are calling this a tragic accident and attaching no blame; and that the child was both (allegedly) wet from playing in the pool and (assuredly) unsupervised at the time of his death.
The problem is the headline: Connor, 7, killed by Gameboy.
When a child dies of an electric shock (or any other common household hazard, like ingesting toxic cleaning chemicals or drowning in a swimming pool) it's a tragedy. It's not front page news. But if a Gameboy killed that child, that's a juicy story. Jack Thompson is probably salivating all over this as I write.
The Sun article is clearly biased against Nintendo. They fail to mention that this child's death could just as easily been caused by a Sony PSP. Or a deadly, deadly piece of Oneida silverware. But the media is so intent on sensationalizing the "dangers" of video games that this story must have seemed heaven sent. Usually newsmongers only get to report on video games inciting children to kill one another. When the video game actually killed the child, it's a whole brave new world of opportunity for agitating widespread panic in the nongaming public. Mothers, don't let your children grow up to be gamers.
Meanwhile, gamers everywhere should try to ignore the media circus and focus on the tragic fact that a promising young gamer has been taken from among us long before his time.
In a stunning example of overly sensational (i.e., poor) journalism, The Sun, a UK-based newspaper, reported yesterday on the death of a seven-year-old British child who was vacationing in Phuket, Thailand, when he plugged his Christmas Game Boy into a wall socket while allegedly still wet from being in the pool. The full story can be found here.
The sensational part isn't the article itself. The article is fair about pointing out that the hotel's electrical system is more likely to blame than the Game Boy; that the authorities are calling this a tragic accident and attaching no blame; and that the child was both (allegedly) wet from playing in the pool and (assuredly) unsupervised at the time of his death.
The problem is the headline: Connor, 7, killed by Gameboy.
When a child dies of an electric shock (or any other common household hazard, like ingesting toxic cleaning chemicals or drowning in a swimming pool) it's a tragedy. It's not front page news. But if a Gameboy killed that child, that's a juicy story. Jack Thompson is probably salivating all over this as I write.
The Sun article is clearly biased against Nintendo. They fail to mention that this child's death could just as easily been caused by a Sony PSP. Or a deadly, deadly piece of Oneida silverware. But the media is so intent on sensationalizing the "dangers" of video games that this story must have seemed heaven sent. Usually newsmongers only get to report on video games inciting children to kill one another. When the video game actually killed the child, it's a whole brave new world of opportunity for agitating widespread panic in the nongaming public. Mothers, don't let your children grow up to be gamers.
Meanwhile, gamers everywhere should try to ignore the media circus and focus on the tragic fact that a promising young gamer has been taken from among us long before his time.
Hard Wired
My husband and I had been awaiting this day eagerly for quite some time. After weeks of joyous anticipation, the blessed event finally arrived. Our MadCatz Wii component cable was successfully delivered to our doorstep.
I've been trying to get this cable since even before I got the Wii---since 11:56 P.M. on November 18th, to be exact. As I waited patiently at the front of the EB Games line with my Wii, my Twilight Princess, and my extra Wiimote and nunchuck for the clock to tick over to the 19th so that I could finally take the long-awaited items home with me, the clerk asked me if I'd like to add anything to my purchase. In addition to a copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I asked for the component cables, but I was informed they wouldn't arrive until December. No problem. I decided to pick them up at Best Buy the following day after work. Best Buy turned out to be sold out, as were the Nintendo World store and all the other online outlets for such items. For several weeks, I searched high and low for an extra Wiimote for Killa and the component cables. Eventually Killa got his controller, but the cables remained elusive. I finally got a tip that the MadCatz online store had stocked the cable, and I was finally able to order the coveted connector.
Unfortunately, the joyful event immediately unfolded into a complete reworking of our entire entertainment setup. When we purchased our television, we did so with conviction after determining that the set had not one but two HDMI inputs, in a primitive time when most televisions had only one. We were looking ahead toward that beautiful day in which we would have both an HD cable box and a PS3, each in need of, each indeed deserving, its own HDMI input.
Surely, this was the television of the future.
In fact, it is so futuristic that it has no need of primitive component inputs. Surely, one component input would be enough in this great future---in this, the best of all possible worlds. And it was, when the only component connection was from the DVD player to the television. But now the Wii, too, was demanding its turn to bask in the warm glow of the component connection.
In the end, we relegated our DVD player to composite with a whispered promise to upgrade to S-Video in the near future. Unfortunately, our surround sound is also driven through the DVD player, and the MadCatz cable doesn't have enough slack to connect the two audio connectors more than 2 to 3 inches away from the three video connectors. This was eventually circumvented by some arcane process---one involving a completely separate cable that Hubby produced from the ether of our storage closet---that I don't fully understand. All in a day's work for an engineering whiz like my husband.
I've been trying to get this cable since even before I got the Wii---since 11:56 P.M. on November 18th, to be exact. As I waited patiently at the front of the EB Games line with my Wii, my Twilight Princess, and my extra Wiimote and nunchuck for the clock to tick over to the 19th so that I could finally take the long-awaited items home with me, the clerk asked me if I'd like to add anything to my purchase. In addition to a copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I asked for the component cables, but I was informed they wouldn't arrive until December. No problem. I decided to pick them up at Best Buy the following day after work. Best Buy turned out to be sold out, as were the Nintendo World store and all the other online outlets for such items. For several weeks, I searched high and low for an extra Wiimote for Killa and the component cables. Eventually Killa got his controller, but the cables remained elusive. I finally got a tip that the MadCatz online store had stocked the cable, and I was finally able to order the coveted connector.
Unfortunately, the joyful event immediately unfolded into a complete reworking of our entire entertainment setup. When we purchased our television, we did so with conviction after determining that the set had not one but two HDMI inputs, in a primitive time when most televisions had only one. We were looking ahead toward that beautiful day in which we would have both an HD cable box and a PS3, each in need of, each indeed deserving, its own HDMI input.
Surely, this was the television of the future.
In fact, it is so futuristic that it has no need of primitive component inputs. Surely, one component input would be enough in this great future---in this, the best of all possible worlds. And it was, when the only component connection was from the DVD player to the television. But now the Wii, too, was demanding its turn to bask in the warm glow of the component connection.
In the end, we relegated our DVD player to composite with a whispered promise to upgrade to S-Video in the near future. Unfortunately, our surround sound is also driven through the DVD player, and the MadCatz cable doesn't have enough slack to connect the two audio connectors more than 2 to 3 inches away from the three video connectors. This was eventually circumvented by some arcane process---one involving a completely separate cable that Hubby produced from the ether of our storage closet---that I don't fully understand. All in a day's work for an engineering whiz like my husband.
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