Gamers Vs GamerGirls, Intelligence Vs Ignorance

An Essay by Charles Moffat - October 2014

Disclaimer: I want to note here that I did not hire an essay writing service, a proofreader or editor or anything like that while writing this essay. Truth be told I enjoy writing essays, editorials, and sometimes even just old fashioned angry rants. I am going to try and keep this essay in line with a true essay in its form and nature, but if I accidentally delve into editorial or even rant then I apologize for my liberal use of the word "essay".

The purpose of this essay is to push my idea that GamerGirls should be recognized solely as Gamers and that we should not be adding the Girls part to the end. (After all, are we calling male gamers 'GamerBoys'? Nope. We most certainly are not.) This denial of equal status for both male and female Gamers is contradictory is the establishment which is the gaming industry and gaming culture, in which all gamers are created equal, obey the rules of fair play and stand on equal footing.

That being said let us first define Gamers - a person plays games, whether they be board games, video games, roleplaying games or even card games. If there is a game involved, the person doing it is a gamer. This is not to be confused with a Sport - a physical activity that is often a contest of skill, endurance, strength and even strategy. eg. Wrestling is a sport that combines all 4 of those things.

A gamer therefore does not have a gender necessarily. And indeed if you've ever played MMORPGs online then you know many people (of both sexes) are gender bending and playing characters of their opposite sex on a regular basis (sometimes more often than they play their own gender). Thus unless you hear the voice of the gamer on the other side you would never know that "Konan the Krazy Axemurderer" is actually a female gamer from Oregon, or that "Miss Tique" is actually an overweight man in his 40s from Texas.

In the world of anonymous online gaming does it really matter what sex the person playing online is? No. It doesn't. And even if you think it does, if you never meet the person in real life what difference would it make? Nothing. Nada.

Next let us take the example of Magic the Gathering, a collectable card game. If the girl sitting across from you kicks your cherry red behind with her cards, are you going to whine and complain that she was cheating, that it was beginners lucks, that she must have had help from a man constructing her deck of cards, that you were distracted by her breasts and you failed to pay attention to the fact she was whupping your donkey? Logically those are all just excuses - sexist excuses. If you were any sort of gentleman with brains and humility, you would give credit where credit is due. She played an awesome game. She really knows her cards. She constructed a deck of cards that blew your socks off and whupped your donkey so hard its ears hurt. (And no, that was not a sexual pun. I am just trying to avoid using the A-word.)

Next let us pretend you are playing a classic board game like RISK - a game that is one part chance (because it is based on the randomness of dice), one part strategy, and one part interpersonal social skills. Honestly, I think women might actually have an advantage when playing this game because their social skills are often more highly developed than men's are. Also men might like to claim they have stronger strategy skills - but that is male ego talking, and therefore I would argue it that it has no basis in reality.

Next, to illustrate the roleplaying games example I am going to show you two films available on YouTube. The first is "The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising", in which one of the main characters is a female gamer who is introduced to RPGs - and shows she needs to be taken seriously for her ability to both design a character and also her ability to roleplay her character.



And next, the sequel "The Gamers 3: Hands of Fate" which focuses on a card game competition / gaming convention.


Ahem.

As demonstrated, female gamers are equally as agile with both roleplaying games and card games. To say anything less is both ignorant and ignoble.

Which brings me to my final point - at the core of this discussion is the issue of Gamergate Controversy - which started in August 2014 and involves a small number of male gamers (who apparently are all virgins with no life) who have been harassing, threatening female gamers for no other reason than the fact they are female and are a growing presence in the gaming industry.

The stakes? Well some female gamers (and even male gamers like myself) sometimes like to point out some of the sexism that exists in the gaming industry. This is essentially an uphill battle and the ladies are slowly winning. What they are asking for is equal treatment - and non-sexist treatment.

Which honestly doesn't sound that bad.

But to the virgins with no life (GamerBoys, whatever you want to call them), they think that is the end of sexuality in the gaming industry - that they will somehow become unable to stare at Lara Croft's assets, to oggle the goods on Heavy Metal Magazines, that women will suddenly control everything in the gaming industry - which is utterly false and shows a great level of ignorance.

Equal treatment does not mean "global dominance of the gaming industry". This is simply a knee jerk reaction by men who are afraid of change, and the result of years of men feeling repressed, unloved, and unsexy by the shortage of female gamers.

Let us talk about that for a bit. Male gamers want to mate with female gamers, but there is a shortage of female gamers. Why is there a shortage? Because male gamers tend to dominate the gaming industry and make women feel unwelcome, thus perpetuating the shortage. Hence why the male gamers who are whining and complaining are all* virgins.

* And by all, I mean they are either all virgins, mostly virgins, or maybe had sex like "1 time" - which amounts to basically the same idea. A bunch of losers who cannot get laid. (Although it is possibly some of them resort to call girls, in which case I still argue that they are essentially virgins because no woman under normal circumstances would choose to have sex with creepy losers.)

I will give you an example. Back in university I knew a creepy guy who was always complaining about how we was never going to find a nice woman who was into the same things he was (and it was pretty obvious this guy was a virgin), and then when you actually saw him around women he behaved like a bossy jerk. He did apparently manage to meet women online and meet up for blind dates, but the dates never lasted longer than an hour and I am guessing he creep-ed the bejeezus out of them. So small wonder he was so lonely when he behaved like a creepy jerk.

When I first heard about Gamergate and the harassment that women were receiving because they were speaking out for the welfare of fellow female gamers, well, honestly, I wanted to bust some heads. I wanted to go to a gaming convention, overhear a GamerBoy complaining about female gamers and bragging about how he harassed one of them - and then I wanted to walk up to the bigot and punch his virgin face and shove his head up his virgin behind.

I say that with the same conviction that I have when I say I would love to punch Neo-Nazis in the face, or punch religious bigots in the face, etc. Basically, I would love to be given the opportunity to punch when of these jerks in the face. I would never regret it either. People who deserve to get punched in the face, deserve to be punched in the face.

Female gamers standing up for the rights of other female gamers don't deserve to be harassed or threatened for their good deeds. They are fighting for the freedom of others.

Can you imagine if Gamergate boys were also targeting Africans, Asians or other ethnic groups? They would be outed immediately for what they are: Racists, and they would be reviled and booed as such. So why should a bunch of sexist pig virgins who are harassing women be treated any differently? They should be treated as the jerks they are and nobody but themselves will cry when die virgins.

The GamerBoy virgins won't be going away any time soon however. I expect the Gamergate Controversy to last years - and probably will continue up until the point when female gamers make up roughly 40 to 50% of all gamers. By that point all of the silly fears GamerBoys were afraid of will be proved false, women will equally welcome and such fears will eventually be ancient history.

I don't expect this to be the last essay written on this topic (heck I fully expect Women's Studies courses to have so many essays written on this topic that people might even quote this essay in the future), but I do expect GamerBoys to be revealed for the losers and jerks that they are.

:)

The Beaver / RPG

Connecting to server…

Looking for someone you can chat with. Hang on.

You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

A word of advice: “asl” is boring. Please find something more interesting to talk about!

Stranger: Hello!

You: You see a beaver in the distance lumbering towards you, a menacing glare on its face. You are armed with duct tape, a balloon, a spare set of shoes, and nailclippers. What do you do?

Stranger: Hmm..

Stranger: Give me a moment, Sir or Ma’am.

Stranger: This is a pondersom question!

You: The beaver is getting closer with each passing second, but luckily it appears to have a broken foot

You: This slows it down somewhat

Stranger: First! I remove the shoeleaces from the shoes.

Stranger: Then I proceed to throw the lace-less shoes at the beaver, one by one, to distract it

Stranger: Next, I use the laces and duct tape to attach the balloon to my head.

You: The beavier is angrier and more determined to attack

You: It is drawing near

Stranger: As it is a good sized balloon with helium, the loss of weight of the extra shoes lifts me off of the ground.

You: The beaver jump at your rising figure, snapping at your toes, but luckily you are high enough to avoid its rabid attack

You: Now you are rising above the treeline, still with nailclippers and ducttape

You: You will continue to rise unless you figure out a way to get back to land

You: the wind picks up and blows you eastward, towards what looks like a wooden hut

Stranger: I use the nail clippers to snip the balloon string. I fall on the roof.

You: You land on the roof, which then cracks and sends you falling into the shack below. You are not badly injured.

Stranger: PHEW.

You: The shack appears to be abandoned. You are in a small dusty room.

You: There is a door to your left, and a peice of paper next to your feet

Stranger: I pick up the paper to read it.

You: It appears to be a faded map, with one corner missing. It may lead to treasure.

You: It is too dark to make out much more.

Stranger: I moved to where the hole in the ceiling is, to let in some light on the map.

You: You see a crude drawing of a house, presumably the shack you are in. A dotted line rises north, across what may be a river, and then turns sharply east where a thick black X is revealed.

You: The door is still to your left, and you are armed with duct tape, nai clippers, and a ragged balloon is still strapped to your head. You also have the map.

You: You hear some thumps at the door

You: Then a scraping sound

You: After a few minutes you realise that it is the beaver, trying to eat through the door.

Stranger: I look around to see if there are any other doors that lead outside.

You: There is a boarded up window to your right, and a pile of scraps directly below it.

You: The scrap pile is covered in dust, so it is difficult to discern what exactly is in the pile.

Stranger: I kick aside the scraps to reveal what is underneath.

You: You get a splinter in your ankle.

You: Underneath, you see a crowbar, a lighter, and some rusty bent nails

Stranger: pick up the crowbar and the lighter, and pry open the boarded up window,

Stranger: *.

You: Piece by piece, you pry the boards away. Sunlight trickles through a cracked window.

You: The gnawing noises at the door are getting louder and more insistent

You: The window is now free of boards.

Stranger: I jump out the window and take off running.

You: You jump at the window, and realise the glass was still there. Ouch. Because it was cracked, it shatters and you are left bleeding.

You: You make it through the window and limp hurridly away from the shack. The sun is beginning to set

You: You still are grasping the map in one hand, and the crowbar in the other.

Stranger: I check to make sure the nail clippers are still in my pocket, and the duck tape and string in my hair

You: All items are acocunted for.

You: accounted*

Stranger: Lovely.

Stranger: Lighter?

You: In your pocket with the nail clippers

Stranger: Also lovely.

You: You look around and find yourself in a clearing. You hear water rushing in the distance.

You: Behind you, you hear faint angry squealing noises. The beaver must have finally eaten its way through the door, only to find you had escaped

You: It is angrier than ever and determined to hunt you down

You: It is a rare known fact that beavers, particularly rabid ones, have a very keen sense of smell.

You: After some sniffing around, the beaver finds your scent and starts hobbling angrily in your direction

You: You are starting to gather dust.

You: The beaver is now very close, and it smells your blood. It hungers.

Stranger: (sorry, vanished)

Stranger: I turn around and hold the crowbar like a baseball bat, ready to defend myself.

You: The beaver leaps at you, squealing as though it were possessed

Stranger: I swing the crowbar, aiming for its head

You: Roll to determine outcome of crowbar swing? Y/N

Stranger: Y

You: (1=worst, 12=best)

You: 9.

You: You swing at the beaver’s head and connect. Not hard enough to kill it, but the creature is momentarily stunned

Stranger: I flee.

You: You run towards the sound of rushing water, remembering that there may be some special treasure if you follow the map

You: You eventually reach a river, which is rushing pretty rapidly. It is narrow but deep.

You: The beaver has regained control and is limping towards you, making a strange screeching noise

Stranger: I do not dive in, for beavers are slow on land but fast in the water. I run down the bank, looking for a way to cross the river.

You: You run eastwards along the bank, and soon come across a delapitated wonden bridge. It looks like it could fall apart at any minute.

You: wooden*

You: However, for now it still stands.

Stranger: I attempt to inflate the balloon again

You: The balloon has a small hole in it.

You: All the helium has escaped

You: The beaver is once again gaining on you

You: It is excited by the prospect of killing you. It would be able to feed its family a feast like never before!

You: Typically this beaver eats smaller creatures. It is a carnivore beaver. However, driven by hunger and sickness, it is determined to land a great meal.

Stranger: I make a daring leap across the bridge, praying that light feet will prevent it from breaking.

You: You land halfway across the bridge on a semi-sturdy plank of wood. There are large gaps where the wood has rotted away. Contiunuing with your momentum, a second leap takes you to the end of the bridge

You: You foot falls through, but the rest of your body tumbles forward onto land

You: Your ankle is twisted and cut, but still usable.

Stranger: I hobble up, using the crowbar, and continue running.

You: You consult the map and realise you must be close to the treasure.

You: You run eastward a bit farther when you stumble over a shovel

You: You trip and fall.

You: Behind you, the beaver contemplates the bridge in a rare act of brains over brawn

You: The shovel is laying over what appears to be a fresh mound of dirt,

You: .

Stranger: Oh dear…

Stranger: Sir or Miss Stranger?

Stranger: You have led me on a thrilling quest, but I am afraid that I must remove myself from this website. I have homework I must complete, and bed to attend to.

Stranger: I thank you greatly for the adventure you provided. It was most entertaining!

Stranger: And thus…

Stranger: I find myself unable to get up, even to use the shovel

You: very well. The ending was that you found an arsenal of weapons such as a flamethrower, shotguns, etc with which to kill the beaver. Success!

Stranger: : D

You: Thanks for playing along :)

Stranger: !

Stranger: Of course!

Stranger: Do you find many who are willing to play?

You: Not too many hehe

You: Good luck with your homework :D Take care and don’t dream of beavers. Ciao!

You have disconnected.

Never there when you need him...

Celebrities Who Play Dungeons & Dragons

ENTERTAINMENT

Mike Meyers says he used to play D&D on Inside the Actor’s Studio.

Vin Diesel, a longtime D&D player, wrote an introduction to the book "Thirty Years of Adventure: Celebrating Dungeons and Dragons".

Judy Dench was introduced to the game by Vin Diesel and continues to play.

Matthew Lillard has played D&D for charity.

Basketball player Tim Duncan is a long-time D&D player.

Robin Williams has played D&D for charity, but also plays at home with friends.

Kevin Smith is a long time D&D player and Dungeon Master.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were introduced to the game by Kevin Smith.

Daryl Hannah

Jesse McCarthy

Lauren Graham

Actor/Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) credits D&D for much of his storytelling prowess.

Joss Whedon played D&D in college.

Stephen Colbert was a big D&D player as a kid and still plays now.

Ewan McGreggor plays D&D.

Will Wheaton played D&D when not on the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Sarah Silverman Show’s Brian Posehn has played weekly for years.

Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo sings about his “Dungeon Master’s Guide” in his 1994 song “In the Garage.”

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance told Rolling Stone that he shopped for Dungeons & Dragons supplies rather than partying while on tour.

The lead singer of Marcy Playground, John Wozniak, has played D&D since he was a kid even though his parents forbid him.

Audiosurf

As I begin to consider my next PC purchase to replace the four-year-old P4 fossil currently sitting on my desk, I'm starting to think about all of the PC games I've been missing out on recently.

Recently, just out of curiousity, I was looking at apps made specifically for the click-wheel classic iPod.  I was first of all struck by the face that they range from Trivial Pursuit to Pac-Man (not a huge surprise there) to Sonic the Hedgehog. I've never owned a click-wheel iPod, but I intend to borrow one just to see how these games work.

One game I was really impressed to find though was Phase. It's a simple rhythm game by Harmonix that uses your iPod's music library to generate levels.

Since I don't own a classic iPod (the one and only device Phase is available on), I immediately searched for any similar games on other platforms. I immediately came up with Audiosurf.

My current PC would likely suffer a stroke if I tried to run it, but I can't wait to play it later on when I finally get a new one. Here's a sample:


As I begin to consider my next PC purchase to replace the four-year-old P4 fossil currently sitting on my desk, I'm starting to think about all of the PC games I've been missing out on recently.

This morning, just out of curiousity, I was looking at apps made specifically for the click-wheel classic iPod. I was first of all struck by the face that they range from Trivial Pursuit to Pac-Man (not a huge surprise there) to Sonic the Hedgehog. I've never owned a click-wheel iPod, but I intend to borrow one just to see how these games work.

One game I was really impressed to find though was Phase. It's a simple rhythm game by Harmonix that uses your iPod's music library to generate levels.

Since I don't own a classic iPod (the one and only device Phase is available on), I immediately searched for any similar games on other platforms. I immediately came up with Audiosurf.

My current PC would likely suffer a stroke if I tried to run it, but I can't wait to play it later on when I finally get a new one. Here's a sample:

Apps Meg is Using

Since I fixed the wireless in my apartment, my interest in iPod Touch apps as skyrocketed. Not just for games, but also neat little utilities. Since my fascination with multi-purpose consumer electronics knows no bounds, I've been trying to think of everything and anything I could use my ipod touch for. Here's what I've come up with so far.

1. Metro - That's right, it's the newspaper, now in app form. It can be updated daily, and has offline viewing, so I sometimes boot up just before I leave the house and then browse the latest news stories when I'm on the bus. I could say "this saves a tree", but really my bus is packed in the morning, and I can't always get a seat, so it's easier than fumbling with a newspaper. And for the record, my bus stop doesn't even HAVE a Metro box- it only has 24. Jerks.

2. GoodReader - This app is great as a pdf viewer or even as a ebook reader. It handles large files with ease and I use it to store my TTC map and other odds and ends. The free version has all of the same options, but with a limited number of files.

3. MobileRSS - What can I say? It imports from Google Reader and has offline viewing. That's all I really need/want. Now that I think about it, I could probably add the Metro to this thing and save myself an app...

4. Starbucks - Yes, I'm a coffee snob. And Toronto has a LOT of Starbucks stores, but for some reason I have trouble finding them when I want one.

5. CBC - I am a CBC junkie. The shows, the news, the music...dare I say it, Sheyla Rogers. The Radio 3 podcast was my first experience with podcasts when I found it back in '05. It's a lovely, organized little app.

6. TuneIn Radio - A massive list of live feeds of real radio stations across the globe.
7. FreeBooks - An app that accesses a database of thousands of free books/books in the public domain.

Apps I want:

• A reliable, official TTC app- It would be incredibly useful to many people. There are a few TTC apps already, but none of them seem to be created by the TTC and judging by the reviews, have quickly become outdated.

• An official driver's handbook app/quiz- Again, there have been some independently created ones that have been criticized in the reviews for having incorrect answers. At the very least, the official book should be offered in .pdf or ebook format- are they going to get paranoid about people pirating a driver's handbook?

Singles of Elemental Evil

ENTERTAINMENT

Hello!

Could please pass along the following message to any of your single friends in Toronto who play D&D? Thank you!

I am looking for D&D players who are single (neither married or currently dating anyone) looking to join a 2nd Edition game of "The Temple of Elemental Evil" which will be held in a downtown Toronto location. If you are interested in joining this unique singles event for D&D players please email me at lilithgallery@gmail.com to express your interest.

Obviously we will have more males than females, but I will trying to balance the sexes as best we can. If you are single and looking for Mr or Ms Perfectly Geeky, this is likely to be something you would enjoy. If all else fails your character(s) bite the dust in what is one of the all time most deadly dungeon crawls available (as the DM I will be sticking to the module as thoroughly as possible).

We will being using 2nd Edition rules (just the core books) and the 1st edition Temple of Elemental Evil module. The differences between 1st & 2nd edition are negligible. PLEASE do not read the module in advance, you will only force the DM to up the ante and make it more deadly than it already is.

Players will need to create TWO characters (one as a backup) because this module is especially deadly and as the DM I will not be pulling any punches. If you die, you die, roll another backup character.

Games will be held on Saturday afternoons in a location downtown, likely from 12 noon to 6 PM with a half hour break in the middle.

Players are expected to refrain from non-game chat during game time. If you want to flirt do so before or after the game or during the half hour break. Players are encouraged to flirt IN CHARACTER, although frankly encouragement is not really needed.

Players will be in the 20 - 35 age group and the game itself will last multiple sessions (its a big module). For more information please email lilithgallery@gmail.com.

AWWWW! NERDS IN LOVE... HOW CUTE!

4th Edition D&D: Not for me...

By Charles Moffat - 2008.

Based on a Google search there is a surprising number of hits for the words 4th edition D&D and boycott. Almost 28,000. Quite a few of the complaints are on blogs or forums.

For those not familiar with Dungeons & Dragons the game was first published in 1974 and has gone through a number of changes over the past 34 years with new editions, including some radical changes like 3rd edition.

The problem however is the new 4th edition game has pissed off many of the game's fans. 28,000 posts talking about boycotting 4th edition D&D suggests there is hundreds of thousands more roleplayers out there who are likewise pissed off by the new game and will avoid playing it.

Granted, there are those who say the new game is an improvement... but I will point out these players tend to also play Magic the Gathering, miniatures games or computer games... the new 4th edition game complicates the game to the point that players print or make "Power Cards" that they use during the game... and the new complicated rules for movement makes miniatures mandatory.

This however reduces the game to a card game/miniatures game and roleplaying, actual roleplaying TIME is reduced. The rules governing movement, powers, etc. end up wasting a lot of game time.

Time is a very relevant thing when playing RPGs. Games are only so many hours long and typically only one session every week or two. Time is therefore very precious and the more time wasted discussing rules, powers, etc. is less time doing actual character roleplaying. And it is the roleplaying that people enjoy the most.

Here's an example of what 4th edition does:

A player moves his Paladin miniature so that its beside an orc on the table. The player lifts up a card and says "I move 1 square and I Divine Challenge this orc" and points at the orc miniature on the table. He then lifts up a 2nd card and says "and then I use Holy Strike on him." The player then rolls his d20 to see if he hits or not.

The use of the power cards thus reduces roleplaying... the same player in 3rd edition could have simply moved the miniature and said "Hello foul orc! I am going to smite you so hard you are going to wish you were never born!", thus indicating to the DM that he is both challenging the orc to fight him, and intending to use a smite attack. A 4th edition player could have done the same thing in theory, but because of the power card system players tend to forget they have the option to roleplay out their powers instead of just reading off the cards.

You could try running a 4th edition game without the power cards, but it would be a lot of stuff to remember in your head and you'd be flipping through the rulebook constantly to check the different powers and the precise wording of each.

I personally have boycotted 4th edition D&D. I tried the game out for several months but eventually got bored of the lack of character development in the face of a party more interested in powers, bickering over movement rules, etc. My review of the game was 0 stars out of 5. I viewed it as a complete waste of time.

I currently am DMing a 3.0 game and I'm also an avid member of a 1st edition game and a 2nd edition Dark Sun game. I also play Dungeons & Dragons Online, which most closely resembles 3.5 D&D.

I will note that a game's roleplaying success largely depends on the players and their willingness to roleplay out situations. 4th Edition seems to discourage this however with too much emphasis on the various powers/rules. The previous editions allow players to customize their characters more statistically, but also gives them a lot more room to roleplay out their situations.

In the aforementioned 1st edition game I am currently playing a cleric and I roleplay out every undead turn check ("Begone foul undead! Back to the graves with thee!"), every spell I cast ("Goddess, heal my friend in this time of need!") and even my pathetic attempts to hit the enemy ("I swing wildly at the kobold with my hammer {rolls dice} and hit the tree standing next to him!")

There's also the regular roleplaying where you're just talking to the NPCs, trying to solve a mystery, puzzle or whatever or threatening the barkeep that if he doesn't keep pouring the ale you're going to burn down his tavern...

Some of the players in my game had never experienced this style of gaming, but once you get into it you realize its much more satisfying to cut off the bad guy's head while shouting "Thats for killing my sister and burning my town down you bastard!"

Sure the neighbours may wonder whats going on with all the noise, but that is the way roleplaying games are meant to be. Loud and fun.

Its certainly not supposed to be a bunch of geeks playing power cards and bickering. Thats not even D&D any more. Its something else and the makers of 4th edition should be ashamed of themselves.

You too can function in the real world, by playing a video game

In the past we've seen video games that can help you get in shape, video games that can improve your hand-eye coordination, and even video games that can help you 'activate your prefrontal cortex'.

 

Well, now you can even improve your social outlook by playing a video game.

 

The McGill University researchers that created the video game company 'MindHabits' (winners of the Greatest Canadian Video Game Competition) have new findings that show their new suite of 'social intelligence' games can actually reduce stress- this was measured by noting the presence of the stress-related hormone cortisol was reduced by 17% after testing one of their games.

 

Their idea is that stress in social situations is often a matter of perception- some people will inherantly focus on possible negative cues or impressions, rather than positive ones. The game they tested simply trains its players to look for smiling faces amoung frowning ones.

 

The results have appeared in the October issue of the American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.  You can learn more about their games at www.mindhabits.com.

 

The release:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2007/23/c7336.html

Lots of Nerd News

Man, today has been filled with tons of geek news so I'll go over bits and pieces.

Video Game Goodness
It's E3 and there is a ton of game news...well maybe not news actually a lot of grandstanding about why "My system is better then the others guy's". Nintendo bragging about their sales figures...and why the hell not? A lot of people were starting to think Nintendo was going to head the way of Sega before the DS and WII appeared. So a lot of stuff was said and very polite smack was talked and there are much better reporters covering it then me, they've even got their own channel. So for all the news and video check out G4 on your tv or head over to their website, http://www.g4tv.com/

In the meantime, here's what caught my eye.

Nintendo
Zelda is coming to the DS and man it looks cool. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass appears to be very touch screen oriented which worries me a little (Starfox, I'm glaring in anger in your direction) but the demo looked really good and it's selling craploads in Japan.

The WII blaster...a connection to make the wimote and nunchuck into a lightgun...and a resident evil game to go with it...if they weren't so hard to find I'd buy a Wii just for that...except for the fact I want Halo 3 much worse.

Xbox 360
Saw a bunch of things we already knew about but at least saw in game demos. Left 4 Dead being a little bit of a surprise. Fast "28 Days Later" style zombies, team play...drool. Assassin's Creed looks like it's coming along nicely. There was also a demo of Rock Band, the guitar hero style game but with guitar and drums and bass. And yet another Halo 3 trailer...which shows The Arbiter standing beside The Master Chief on Earth looking at the sky.

Sony
Trumpeted their non-price cut price cut (the current PS3's will be dropped by $100 which would be a step in the right direction except it's because they're bringing out another version with more memory at the higher price) and the line up of games on the way...not many of which are exclusive. That may even include the new Metal Gear. But they've also got Lair which I admit, looks awesome, piloting dragons, wiping out armies. But the games are kind of moot if no one can afford the system.

The others
Plenty of multi platform games coming but the one that caught my eye was Stranglehold, the video game sequel to one of my favorite movies, Hard Boiled...ah John Woo before Hollywood ruined him.

Comics
A bunch of little items and then one big one.

- According to comic gossip columnist, Rich Johnston (yes we do have them, he's latest column is here ) The Punisher is having a baby.

- Jim Starlin is writing a miniseries for DC called Death of the New Gods.

- I saw the following at newsarama but felt it should be posted here as well.

From Jim Lee

To my fellow professionals, artists and comic book fans--In comics, we're always telling stories about people in life-threatening situations. That's thrilling in a comic book, but in real life it's the scariest ordeal you can imagine. Right now Gordon Lee, a retailer in Rome, GA, is facing the fight of his life. This August he will finally stand trial against two counts of distributing harmful to minors materials. He faces penalties of up to a year in prison and fines of up to $1,000 on each count if convicted. Gordon has been fighting to prove his innocence for almost three years. Fighting through being overcharged with two felonies and five misdemeanors, most of which were later thrown out. Fighting though the prosecution throwing out and refiling their case because the day before the trial they discovered that their facts were wrong. And now fighting against two remaining charges that are completely meritless. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has taken up the fight for Gordon, and now we need to help them finish that that fight.Right now, I'm asking you to join me in supporting the CBLDF's work on this case. To date they've spent nearly $80,000 defending Gordon, and they expect the trial to cost another $20,000 on top of that. To ensure that they have the cash on hand for Gordon's August trial, and to shore up their reserves for what could be a very litigious Presidential election year, they need our donations now.Please join me in supporting the Fund by making a donation of cash, original art, high-grade comics, or even some of your time (like I did in 2003 when I did a signing at Defender of Liberty recipient Chuck Rozanski's Mile High Comics as part of a CBLDF benefit auction). It's up to those of us who rely on comics for our living to stand behind the Fund in protecting our own. The Fund needs all of our support to win this case, where a conviction won't just harm Gordon, but its precedent could affect all of our livelihoods.To donate art or collectibles for the Comic-Con auction, please send an email to cbldf1@gmail.com to let them know what you are contributing. If you have it available, include a jpg of your donation so they can list it in their auction preview online. You can see my donation--a penciled promo piece of Batman for the upcoming DCU MMO--above.To donate money, go to Donations-CBLDF. To make sure that the Fund can include your donation in their Comic-Con auction preview, please be sure to get in touch with them with a jpg no later than Sunday, July 15. You can send the physical piece to their office until July 20th, or deliver it to them onsite at Comic-Con.Please join me in helping the CBLDF raise the resources it needs to win this important case. If you have questions or to let the Fund know what you're sending, email Charles Brownstein or Greg Thompson at cbldf1@gmail.com or call them at the CBLDF office -- 212.679.7151. And please send your contributions to CBLDF, 271 Madison Ave, Suite 1400, New York, NY 10016 and tell them that I sent you!Thanks for joining me in support,

Jim Lee

And finally a little personal retrospective. Until the early 90's I had bought comics but never hardcore collected...until the first issue of Rob Liefled's X-Force hit newsstands. Just look at that art...alright today it looks over used and plain but back then it really stood out.

Liefeld's been an interesting character when it comes to comics. Left Marvel to help form Image, thus helping to start a revolution in comics. Then goes back and takes over a couple of marvel books along with fellow creator Jim Lee and then get's kicked off of that and then get's kicked out (or leaves depending on who's version of the story you're ready) Image and forms or joins hands with numerous companies all the while only releasing a comic seemingly every few years.

This is not to mention the feuds he's started or snide remarks he's made about others (including his former Image brothers) or remarks made about him.

So lo and behold I was nearly knocked on my ass when I saw that Rob had teamed up with his former cohorts at Image to reprint old Youngblood material and print new Youngblood material.

You can read the story here and get a good view of the whole Liefeld story here.

Now the real question is, how long till the first new Youngblood comes out after it's supposed to and how long between issues? I say 3 months late for issue 1 and a year for issue 2.

Games Workshop: The company that must not be named

I'd like to preface this piece by saying that I have no relationship or affiliation whatsoever with the Games Workshop brand (thank god) and the following is a commentary of their very crude attempt to crush fan movements based around their products.

(Via EikeHein, at Slashdot)

After widespread disappointment that the German film Damnatus, a fan film based on UK gaming franchise Warhammer, would not be released, it seems that Games Workshop (the company behind Warhammer) is amending its Intellectual Property Policy. A lot.

Check it out.

Aside from fan films, you also cannot create a 'Warhammer club', have an avatar that includes any of their IP without a disclaimer, create a webpage that uses their trademark, or even create fliers for your Warhammer event that uses their trademark. They've even gone so far as to highlight that they do not approve of people making use of their IP for their own private use.

See, if I were a more coarse person, I would say that my walls are currently plastered with GW paraphernalia that have been defaced with dirty phrases and crass insinuations about the private lives of orcs and tyranids. Why? Because they're my walls, that's why. And if I want to draw a mural of an Eldar soldier wearing a frilly hat and riding a unicorn, then I consider it my own prerogative to do so, even if no other person were to ever lay eyes on it.

But of course, I wouldn't do any of that because I don't play Warhammer. And I'm merely expressing my opinion here. And I am of the opinion that yes, 'fan works' that are heavily inspired by someone else's copyrighted material should give due credit to the original creator for the use of characters, worlds, mechanics, etc.

BUT I also think that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and there are many brilliant minds that can do great justice to a brand, if given even the slightest opportunity. Also don't forget, without Tolkien, we probably wouldn't have Dungeons & Dragons. Without Anne Rice, Vampire the Masquerade would probably have very different story material. And without Warhammer, we likely wouldn't have this very spiffy looking film:



So let the kids play.

Ron Gilbert signs on to Penny Arcade project

(Via Gama Sutra)

Hothead Games has just announced that for their upcoming episodic adventure game title based on the popular webcomic, they will be collaborating with adventure game veteran, Ron Gilbert.

Ron Gilbert, as some of you may or may not know, was part of the brains behind Maniac Mansion, and the SCUMM interface (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) back in the 80s, which was used in a number of LucasArts titles. He also worked on the Monkey Island series, and Zak McKraken, and later founded Humongous Entertainment.

[In other words, back during my Maniac Mansion obsession (did that ever end?) he was my GOD. Coincidentally, my Jesus was Tim Schafer. ;) ]

The first title in the series will be called Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness and will be released for the Windows/Mac/Linux platforms initially, and then later on the next-gen consoles. It will be using the Garage Games Torque Engine.

Much like the TellTale Games episodic structure, the Penny Arcade Adventures will be available for digital download.

Guess what I found, kidlings!

The stuff you find while messing around on YouTube...

As many of you may or may not be aware, the popular anime series Slayers had a few video games that used (mostly) original animated cut scenes. I remember seeing the opening to the first Slayers Royal game ages ago and thinking 'what the frig is this?'



However, some gracious person on YouTube has taken it upon themselves to upload the cut sequences from both Slayers Royal 2, and Slayers Wonderful. Here's the playlist. The clips are raw and unsubtitled, but if you're familiar with Slayers at all, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The medium takes another hit

Grand Text Auto has eloquently summed up my feelings about Slamdance film and Guerrilla Game festival yanking Super Columbine Massacre RPG from its line up in an Open Letter to the Organizers.

The whole situation has created a bit of an uproar, and I don't blame them one bit- what kind of a future do video games have as a serious medium if the most contraversial of them are silenced?

Apartment of the future

Momus and his blog readers put together an amusing tongue-in-cheek look at a new year in Technology with his article "Touring the Home of the Future" over at Wired.

But how about touring the apartment of the now? I've been mulling this over for a while, and considering this age of 'convenient entertainment' that we live in, we can have most of that entertainment- for free (or cheap) and completely contained on a hard drive.

Of course, as a person that cherishes analog media, I would never get rid of my cassette tapes or battered paperbacks (or unique hard-covers). But that has a lot to do with how I was raised, and my own personal experiences.

If I were more bent on saving space (and really, I should be) then I would opt to have all of my media paperless, plastic-less, and all contained on a single storage medium.

Currently, with Flash memory at its finest, you can fit about 10 gigabytes into something smaller than the size of a deck of cards. Movies and videos are watchable even at a smallish resolution (YouTube has proven that). You can store a whole album's worth of songs in about 50 megabytes, and the average Microsoft Reader version of a novel takes up about half a megabyte (nevermind how mind-boggling small plain-text would be).

So let's speculate that I don't go too crazy, and I just get a couple of 500 Gigabyte external hard drives to store things on. I just recently signed up to iTunes, so I can eliminate all physical versions of future cd purchases. If I lived in the US, I could make use of a service like Movielink to buy or rent movies online, and just download them (legally). If I have more obscure tastes, there is always Google Video, YouTube, and public domain content, which totally free. There are many, many podcasts out there to listen to as well, which are usually free.

For books, there are often eBook versions of popular titles available, and many, MANY classics are legally available for free on the internet from sites like freebooks5000.com. I could spend a couple of lifetimes reading all of the best works of literature, without even filling out a library card.

There are also subscriptions to streaming content of popular video and audio through sites like SaltWaterChimp or Streamwired.com. For about $5 to $10 a month, I can watch as many hours as I can plow through of my favourite TV shows, all on Winamp, without taking up a single bit of hard drive space.

I've got my pda and cellphone for on-the-go computing, and note-taking, and who needs paper when I've got windows notepad? I can ditch that pesky landline phone too, and just have myself a headset, and a Vonage subscription.

So my apartment 'of the future' could feasibly just (aside from appliances), contain one or two large hard drives (which would take up significantly less space than my bookcases), my desk, my PC, a really kickass monitor and some nice speakers, and perhaps a large screen tv. There are many online and cd-rom versions of classic board games, and if I scan all pertinent correspondance, I can get rid of that pesky pile of old mail in the corner.

Reading Day 3 & 4

Today I go back to Toronto....what's up with that? Well, I have IGDA tonight, of course.

As for the games I bought: the other day I popped into an EB Games store near Walmart with my dad, and picked up a copy of the 8-bit Nintendo Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Now, I can't remember if it's an interactive adventure or not, but it should still be damn cool.

The other one that I got was a copy of- get this- the Wayne's World GAME! The screenshots seem to smack of mid-nineties adventure game like that of Interplay or LucasArts. It's on floppy disk and it's for a 486... but that never stopped me before. I'll probably play it on my ancient laptop.

So, pending that I actually get some homework done (whodathunkit?) I will allow myself to play them this weekend. Phil's off on a camping trip, so I will be ever so lonely. :(

Also, I forgot to mention that Phil fixed my MP3 the other day by reseting it for me.

Retro Gaming Girl

I bought some old games recently...I had a post about them, but blogger ate it. ;(

I don't feel like rewriting it right now, so I'll be back later.

Video cards and such

Well, luck is with me! I was in staples the other day grabbing a binder and some transparency sheets for my mass of marketing handouts, when I happened by the discount table....

I found an NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX, 64mb video card for thirty dollars. It's probably about two years old, but even older cards usually sell for about a hundred bucks (the 128 version was also at the same table for about ninety, and there were two Radeon cards there with the same specs, for almost twice the price) since the new ones are upwards of two to three hundred.

I took my chances and bought it (I don't really have much perspective in terms of video cards) but it turns out that it's a good card, and Phil installed it for me, and now Halo works wonderfully, and Armed and Dangerous will actually run (though it doesn't have controller options- damnit!). Phil also gave me some spare RAM that he had, so now I have about 380mb of RAM, and I won't have my in-built video card leeching off of it anymore. W007!

The downside is, I can't run games at the highest resolution and such because my monitor goes all screwy and the picture messes up. Another indication I need a new monitor.

*sigh* Owning a computer is like owning a car.

Adventures in Hardware

Windows XP...it looks like I'll have to buy it (the home edition), but it still pisses me off that after you use the serial code once, the disc is essentially useless except for support. I can never install it on another machine, if I ever buy another one.

The other thing is, I want to buy a game console. For the most part, I haven't been able to justify buying one, but now that I'm looking at Interactive Storytelling as a feasible endeavor, I'm seriously considering it. Since I'm going to buy Windows XP, I should probably nix buying the Xbox, since it's too expensive. I'm thinking Gamecube...ya, I know, but aside from games that are made especially for specific consoles, a lot of the major games are for all three (or four, if you're counting Dreamcast, and going back a few years). Besides which, my computer is fast enough now that I can get the PC version of some of my favs, and the Gamecube is the cheapest one. In any case, I'll do my research first, and then we'll see.

This could all be just cloud-talk, after all.

Chris Crawford quote of the day:

"The cardboard people in games do for drama what inflatable dolls do for sex."

Lovin' the book. The book is great.