Tech Biz: EA takes it slow and steady
I have to admit, I’d love to see EA get a bloody nose this year. EA is the Evil Empire of Gaming.
Category: Gaming
Blockbuster vows to go after Netflix
CNN.com – Blockbuster vows to go after Netflix
This should be a good thing. Competition can only help the consumer.
I used to despise Netflix with every fiber of my being due to their aggressive and intrusive online ads. Then I stopped using IE and started blocking pop-ups and gradually my hatred faded enough to give the service a try.
And now I’m a huge fan. One thing that Netflix offers that Blockbuster doesn’t, at least in their brick & mortar stores, is a huge selection of non-mainstream DVDs: anime, foreign films, tv series on DVD (though I suppose the latter is fairly mainstream these days).
Blockbuster has its work cut out for them, but another intriguing factor is the idea of renting games and DVD’s from the same source. If I could get the same quality of service that I get from Netflix and Gamefly via one account with Blockbuster, I might be convinced to switch.
Retro Lament
Blog von Brummbar has an excellent post about games from past platforms: Retro Lament
Sony says next PlayStation to be on display at E3
Sony says next PlayStation to be on display at E3
So next year at E3 we’ll see new machines from all 3 console makers, or so it would seem. That’ll be some show!
When Life Is a Roll of the Dice
The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > When Life Is a Roll of the Dice
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I had to chuckle at this piece, which is about a woman’s ‘addiction’ to online backgammon. It all reads so good naturedly, and she makes it sound so nice.
Now if instead the times ran a piece on someone who playing Everquest compulsively, it’d be all about how harmful the game is, and how geeky and dysfunctional the players are.
*sigh*
Well, I’ll look at it from a glass-half-full perspective. It is nice to read a generally positive article on online gaming in the mainstream press.
Champions: Return to Arms
Gamespy has a preview of the new CoN sequel: PlayStation 2: Champions: Return to Arms
One of the biggest and buggiest problems to interfere with CoN was the online play. This was in part to the poorly designed lobby and game creation interface that SOE chose to deploy with the final product. Having learned a lesson the hard way, RtA promises to fix all those annoying issues and potential gameplay exploits by taking the step of storing all data on its own servers.
Sounds good to me. Champions of Norrath was a great game hampered by a terrible lobby and game creation UI. Hopefully getting into an online game will be much easier this time around.
Getting the swing with ‘Spider-Man 2’
Getting the swing with ‘Spider-Man 2’
I’ve only scratched the surface of Spiderman 2 (I’m sorta holding off until I’ve seen the movie) but what I’ve seen has been really fun so far.
Playing mind games with ‘Psi-Ops’
CNN.com – Playing mind games with ‘Psi-Ops’ – Jul 2, 2004
I’d passed over this one. After reading this review I might stick it in my Gamefly queue.
CodeRuler
This looks like a fun little game. Its kind of a strategy game, but you play it by writing java code to control your units.
Ben’s Game
I first saw coverage of this on G4TechTV’s Pulse. Ben, a young boy with leukemia was approached by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and asked what his one wish would be. He decided he wanted to make a videogame.
So they set out to look for a game developer that would help him. All the really big shops turned him down. Fuck you, Electronic Arts, you heartless bastards. (I believe Microsoft and Activision were two other major gamedev shops that turned the project down.)
Enter the good folks at LucasArts! (/cheer LucasArts!) and specifically Eric Johnston, the game developer who met with Ben once a week to work on his game (except for one Tuesday when Ben couldn’t make it because he was grounded. 🙂 ).
Well, here’s the CNN article but its dry going compared to the Pulse piece.
CNN.com – Former cancer patient debuts cancer-fighting video game
And you can find the game itself available for download here:
Ben’s Game
Stories like this one, and the Children’s Charity Fund that the folks at Penny Arcade put together last year at Christmas…they don’t get as much media coverage as all the ‘violence in videogames is creating a generation of monsters’ garbage. But these are the stories that tell a truer tale of the gamer lifestyle, if you ask me.
Think of how many gaming fan-sites are put up every year. Gamers work hard to help their fellow gamers enjoy the hobby. And that’s the foundation of hobby’s community. It just builds up from there. Sure they squabble on message boards and don’t always behave as well as they should, but at the end of the day, if you go to a gaming board and ask for help, you’ll get it. Gamers are naturally a supportive bunch.
BTW, in case you don’t click through the article, this story has a happy ending. Ben is in remission and doing well. 🙂