Archive for September 1st, 2006
Happy Castlevania metal rock out day
All right, we know it’s one of the last Fridays of the summer and we should be happy that it’s the end of the week and football is about to start and all that. But sometimes, despite all the happiness and joy that surrounds us, we just need to hear some moody, creepy, hard-rocking, gothic/metal/retro music mercilessly thrashed out on the guitar. Is that so wrong?
Of course it isn’t. With that in mind, continue reading for some YouTube video of a trio of awesome guitar players rocking out to the tunes of the Castlevania series.
Previously: Happy Zelda music day, Happy Zelda music day… again, Happy retro-techno music day
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Squash Things With The Frogger Bike
Not to be outdone by the Pikachu scooter, Konami is offering gamers a chance to win a green Frogger scooter. (Cannot for the life of me, find a decent pic of the bike.) It’s as easy as sending a photo of yourself wearing or doing “something Frogger.” This year is the character’s 25th Anniversary. That’s more than two decades of frog guts!
More Here [Official Site] via Siliconera
The Political Game: Anti-game candidate works the crowd
Filed under: Culture, Features
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:
Picture a crisp Saturday morning in early November, 2006. Elections are only three days away. A flatbed truck draped in red, white and blue bunting cruises slowly through the parking lot of a busy shopping mall. A four-piece brass band, its members seated on bales of hay, belts out John Philip Souza tunes from the back of the truck. Signs on both doors read “Mike Hatch for Governor.”
It’s a campaign stop. A middle-aged man dressed in a pinstripe suit works the crowd of shoppers near the mall entrance. He is the candidate.
“Hi, I’m Attorney General Mike Hatch and I’m running for Governor of Minnesota.”
“Hi, Mike, my name is Dave and I’m a gamer.”
“Oh, great, Don. You game wardens do a fantastic job. Fantastic. Hope you’ll vote for me next Tuesday.”
“No, Mr. Hatch, it’s Dave, and I’m not a game warden. I’m a gamer - as in video games.”
“Oh, well, fine. Fine and dandy, son. Say, ma’am, I’m Mike Hatch and I’m running…”
“But Mr. Hatch, can I ask you something?”
“Not now, Doug, I have to say hello to this nice lady over here.”
“It’s Dave, sir. And this will just take a moment. Why did you say that some video games are ‘low value speech’? Isn’t all speech equally protected under the First Amendment?”
“Well, I don’t recall saying that, Dick. Here, have a campaign button. If you’ll excuse me…”
“It’s Dave, sir. You definitely said that to Judge Rosenbaum’s court. You also called some types of games ‘worthless, disgusting speech. That kind of offended me.”
“Gotta go, Dale, lots of fine people to talk to this glorious morning.”
“It’s Dave sir. You can keep the button.”
“Hi, young lady, I’m Mike Hatch and I’m running for Governor. Those are some beautiful twins you’ve got in that stroller. Makes me think of the future, and I’d like to talk to you a little about my plans for the future of Minnesota…”
“Mr. Hatch, I’d like to talk about the tax money Minnesota squandered defending that ridiculous video game law. I heard it might cost as much as a half-million dollars. That impacts the future, too.”
“Well, these are difficult decisions. We have to balance a lot of issues.”
“It’s not difficult at all. None of these politically-motivated video game laws have ever been found constitutional. You know that as well as anyone, you’re the Attorney General.”
“Gotta go, miss. Those sure are some fine looking twins. Vote for me next Tuesday! … Well, hello, there, dear. Mike Hatch, I’m running for Governor. Can I tell you about my plans to distribute free oatmeal to you lovely senior citizens?”
“You young whippersnapper, Hatch. Tell me why our legislators don’t seem to worry about whether things like the video game bill are constitutional. That loose cannon State Senator Sandy Pappas even said so, right out in public. Tell me how you’re going to straighten people like her out.”
“Why … why, granny, don’t tell me you’re one of these video gamers too …”
“You’re darn tootin’ I am. Play Bejeweled every night on the PC and I’m keeping my mind sharp with Brain Age on this here Nintendo DS I keep in my pocketbook.”
“Oh, wonderful, wonderful, dear. Be sure to call my office for your free oatmeal … You, sir! In the coveralls. Always great to meet a working man! I’m Mike Hatch and I’m running for Governor.”
“Yeah, I know who you are, Hatch. You’re the guy that had a new one ripped for him by Judge Rosenbaum in that video game case.”
“Well, these are complex times, my friend. But ‘ripped a new one’ is a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“Hatch, the judge dissed you big time. He said, ‘The First Amendment … was certainly established to keep the government from becoming the arbiter of what constitutes ‘worthless’ or ‘disgusting’ speech. The Court declines the State’s invitation to enter into an evaluation of this kind.’ Man, he zinged you.”
“I, uh…”
“And now I hear that you’re appealing that decision? Man the judge couldn’t have been more clear. You wasted all those tax dollars on legal fees and now you’re going to waste some more taking it to the next level? Hatch, I work too hard for my money to piss it away like that.”
“Harrumph … Well, sir, then perhaps you should vote for my opponent, the incumbent Governor Pawlenty.”
“Yeah, man, I would, except Pawlenty was the one who signed the video game bill into law in the first place. Come Election Day, I’m going fishing.”
Dennis McCauley is Editor of GamePolitics.com and writes about games for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Opinions expressed in The Political Game are his own. Reach him at dennis@GamePolitics.com.
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Frustrating Flash puzzlers get awards
Filed under: PC, Retro, Puzzle
Casual games site extraordinaire Jay is Games recently finished up its month-long game design competition, picking one winner and two runners-up out of 21 submitted puzzlers. The games lean towards the inscrutable, but they’re all incredibly inventive and quick — perfect for a Friday coffee break full of rampant clicking and trial-and-error logic.
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Bully no more! Call it “Canis Canem Edit” in Europe
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2, Action, Adventure
Speaking to EuroGamer, Rockstar has announced that they have changed the name of their infamous schoolyard game from the controversy-attracting Bully to the tamer, more cultured Canis Canem Edit, or “Dog Eat Dog” in Latin. While not confirmed, we suspect one of the most prominent reasons is that it’s much harder to write a clever protest chant with a six-syllabled Latin phrase.
The name change will not affect the launch date; Canis Canem Edit is still planned for an October release for PlayStation 2. According to CVG, the title is only changed in Europe. Why they wouldn’t bring the title overseas, where the controversy is even more pronounced, is currently beyond. We’ll try to get a hold of Rockstar and find out.
Continue reading for a recap of the story so far:
In May 2005, Rockstar announced a title called Bully, “the brutally funny debut title from Rockstar Vancouver” where you play a troublesome schoolboy who, among other things, “stand up to bullies” (according to the press release).
But a game from the Grand Theft Auto makers called Bully must be the end of Western Civilization. Anti-game activist Jack Thompson has mentioned the game in nearly every press release about the game, decrying it as a “Columbine Simulator.” Despite a dearth of information, anti-bully group Peaceaholics protested.
Rockstar goes very quiet. Then suddenly last month, the company gave mainstream press access to Bully, and newspapers like USA Today and NY Times wrote about the game’s “relative tameness” and punishment system that keeps the protagonist from bullying others.
As you know, reality often has a liberal bias, so the mainstream coverage did little to satiate the Peaceaholics, who continue to protest (despite showing confusion to the game’s content), or Jack Thompson, who last month filed a lawsuit to get an early copy of the game (that never works, trust me).
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Former governor speaks in Second Life [update 1]
Former Virginia Governor and potential 2008 presidential candidate Mark Warner became the first politician to make a public appearance in an MMO yesterday, speaking to a small crowd of avatars in Second Life on issues ranging from the Iraq war to abortion. Warner, who is also founder of cell phone company Nextel, literally flew onto the stage at the start of the event, leading interviewer Hamlet Au to comment that he is “not a noob.”
The lightly-attended event was put on by Warner’s Forward Together PAC and Second Life promotional group Millions of Us as part of an effort to “go where the voters are,” according to Forward Together staffer Nancy Mandelbrot. Warner didn’t take audience questions during the event, but promised that he would be back for a virtual “town hall” meeting soon.
With more and more voters spending more and more time in virtual worlds, is Warner on the leading edge of a new form of campaigning? Or is this appearance a gimmick that won’t have any long-term effect on politics?
[Update: Changed to reflect the fact that Warner is a former Virginia Governor, not current.]
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Drink Up, Hop On Turtle Shells With Kirin Lemon
This commercial for my favorite summertime fizzy drink Kirin Lemon features actress Ritsuko Tanaka, Yoshi and is 100 percent Nintendo approved. It’s a few years old, but that jingle is catchy as hell.
More Here [Gay Gamer]
“The PS3 Is A Weapon”
In a recent PR-type interview on Sony’s Concept Site, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi says the console will do “true” physics, making HD content is “on the same level as movies” and video games have “unusual potential” as they are the fastest and simplest way to produce hi-def content. Yamauchi states he wants to “change society” with his games. His most quotable quote?
For us, the PLAYSTATION 3 is a weapon for revolution.
And a heavy, blunt instrument for bludgeoning at that!
More Here [Eurogamer]
