Category: Gaming

Fable

Posted on by Nimgimli

Gamespy has a new preview of Fable up. I’ve already pre-ordered the game; I’m that stoked about it.

EBGames.com has it listed as a mid-September release. I’m hoping it doesn’t slip since we’re going to be getting Halo 2 a bit later in the fall.

The Book of Go

Posted on by Nimgimli

I finished reading The Book of Go last night, which isn’t to say I’m doing with it, as there are a lot of Go problems that I’d like to go back and work through again in a while.

The book comes in a unique format: spiral bound and including 9×9 and 13×13 Go boards and the pieces to play. And it provides a nice overview of the game, but really it often left me either scratching my head or thirsting for more. I still am a bit confused by scoring and how to deal with ‘dead pieces.’ The suggestion is to keep playing if there’s a dispute over whether a piece is dead, but it seems to me that you can force the other player to give up terrain that way. I would’ve like to have that explained in more depth (and that’s just one example…there were a few concepts that I thought were dealt with a bit too briefly).

Of a more personal nature is a problem with how the game is taught. The author begins by teaching “First Capture Go” which is a kind of sub-set of the full game. This is great if you have someone to play with, but in my case I was playing against a computer program or via various internet sites, none of which supported this variation of the game. I’m sure this is a great way to teach, *if* the reader has a friend who is also trying to learn the game.

It would’ve been ideal to include a CD-ROM with a version of “First Capture Go” for readers to practice against. The cd could’ve also included some of the excellent open source Go products on the net.

Still, as an introduction to Go, the book succeeds; by the time you’re finished with it you’ll probably have either decided that Go isn’t the game for you, or you’ll be ready for a more in-depth book.

The Color of Mayhem, in a Wave of ‘Urban’ Games

Posted on by Nimgimli

The Color of Mayhem, in a Wave of ‘Urban’ Games (this’ll be behind a registration in a day or so).

I should start by noting that I am white.

But Esther Iverem, editor and film critic for www.seeingblack.com, a Washington-based Web site offering black opinion on cultural and political matters, said she worried about the effects of games like earlier versions of Grand Theft Auto on black youngsters, including her 11-year-old son. “These games don’t teach them anything about respect, tolerance and responsibility,” Ms. Iverem said, but are instead “validating a much-too-accepted stereotype, an accepted caricature.”

I certainly agree with Ms Iverem, but I don’t see it having anything to do with race. The protagonist of these games, who is an evil, brutal scumbag, is white, after all.

The article faults some games for having black enemies, others for having black protagonists, and still others for having black athletes.

So I wonder in what capacity they’d like to see people of color in these games? It seems to me game developers are in a no-win situation. If they make all characters white, then they’re being prejudiced. If they put black characters in the games, then they’re promoting stereotypes because the characters are doing violent things or playing sports.

But all the games they mention are either violent or sports games. The NBA Street game they mention features superstar basketball players, many of whom happen to be black. As to the violent games…THEY’RE VIOLENT GAMES. If you want to fault them for that, sure, I’m with you. But to say they promote stereotypes that black people are violent is ludicrous. Everyone in these games is violent, regardless of color!

I’m just not getting the arguments here. .. can anyone explain it?

Probation officers fired after ‘XBox killings’

Posted on by Nimgimli

Probation officers fired after ‘XBox killings’

So the ring-leader beat up a friend of his a few days before the killings, his probation officer knew about it, could have had him back in jail but didn’t bother to file the paperwork on time, it seems… yet they still call them “XBox Killings.”

Why not “Probation Officer Killings?”

At least the next story, telling that the judge has these psychos in jail with no bond, left the game system out of the title Judge denies slaying suspects bond but the link to the article on other CNN pages says Bond denied in ‘XBox killings’.

Funniest line I read all day: The father of one of the vile creatures that murdered these sleeping people says of his spawn “He was a good kid, he just got with the wrong crowd.”

No, I’m sorry pal. No one that joined in on this kind of pyschotic, evil behavior could be in any way construed as “a good kid” and I have to wonder what kind of man raises such a son…