Archive for October 4th, 2006
Today in Joystiq: October 4, 2006
Joystiquery
Joystiq at Nintendo World Store: in video
Picture It: console zealots find common ground
Poll results: What genre do you enjoy most?
Joystiq review: South Park makes love, not Warcraft
News
Relive youth with GoldenEye Source trailer
Write a love letter to Sony, win a PS3
Middle-earth expands to the Middle Kingdom
Shiny Entertainment gets spit-shined, sold by Atari
Uwe Boll to make BloodRayne 2, anger more gamers
Faux News investigates WoW addiction
Wii “hardware is basically a GC,” says Miyamoto
Sam & Max will be $9/episode, $35/season
EA’s premium ripoff: football tutorial videos on XBLM
Duke Nukem on XBLA has “already been discussed”
Blizzard reveals Burning Crusade collector’s edition
Wii gets wired ethernet kit
U.S. internet gambling legislated
NWN2’s baddie nasties revealed
Culture
Half-Life 2 on Mac, without Windows
Billy McClure has got some trouble
Judging a video game by its cover
SmackTalk is $29.99 of pure evil
Small study adds fuel to Nintendo’s casual gamer fire
EA Sports perfecting mediocrity
ESRB needs exposure, change
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Joystiq review: South Park makes love, not Warcraft [update 2]
Filed under: Culture, RPGs, MMO
A majority of the episode takes place in World of Warcraft, and the in-game choreography is superb. The episode is more of an homage to WOW than a satire, though it has its moments of absurdities (especially when involving the Blizzard staff). It’s the hardcore World of Warcraft players that get the butt of most jokes. Portrayed as overweight, Rockstar-drinking, pimple-faced nerds with carpal tunnel syndrome, these “pros” are shown as possibly having even less than no life.
It’s the craziness you would expect from Parker and Stone, with due respect given to the source material. Relation to video games aside, it’s a great social satire that ranks with some of the better episodes.
“Scroll over him with your mouse cursor and … right click!“
[Update 1: Here's another take on the episode from sister site TV Squad. 2: Grab the entire episode over at You NEWB.]
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ESRB needs exposure, change
Filed under: Culture, Business
Next-Gen’s Aaron Ruby editorializes that the ESRB needs major change, saying that the rating system has too many confusing options that are best suited to movies instead of games. (Is there a clear difference between “mild violence,” “intense violence,” and “violence?” Is it measured in volume?) The site follows up with Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley’s response, saying that Next-Gen got part of it right — the game industry needs to be proactive and speak for itself.
Ruby and Smedley agree that the ESRB doesn’t do enough to educate parents and non-gamers about games. We’ve seen the Penny Arcade ESRB campaign in PC Gamer and other enthusiast magazines, but we want to find ESRB ads in mainstream publications and on prime-time TV. As Smedley notes, the game industry needs to speak for itself if it doesn’t want the Jack Thompsons to speak for it.
Read - Opinion: Is the ESRB Broken?
Read - COUNTERPOINT: ESRB Not the Problem
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NWN2’s baddie nasties revealed
Filed under: PC, Adventure, Online, RPGs
Obsidian’s Neverwinter Nights 2 is just around the corner, and this ugly lookin’ crew is waiting to meet you when the game ships later this month. The bald dude is a frenzied berserker who is basically impossible to kill during his “deathless frenzy” attack (fortunately, he gets tired). The blue chick in the middle is a sword-wielding mage and top servant to the Lich Queen, but she shows some serious age lines if she ventures too close to the Forgotten Realms.
Lastly, we have the manipulative diplomat Torio, a man-hating, angry as f@#%, agenda of rage, bitter…(you know the rest, Banky). Seriously, if you take away the flotation devices, we’ve got some serious androgyny going on here. Actually, neither of these villainesses represent the prototypical, evil hot babe we’ve grown accustomed to in the role playing genre, so you shouldn’t feel to guilty carving them up.
See also: Your new Neverwinter drinking buddies
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U.S. internet gambling legislated
Filed under: Culture, PC, Online, Business
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed through congress last week as a rider to a port security bill, like a tick clinging to a deer. The gambling legislation intends to make online poker and other money-winning internet games illegal in the United States. (Business Week mentions that some gaming companies are counting on loopholes, but most U.S. operations have a dire outlook.) President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law within the next few weeks.
Card Squad says, and we agree, that laws should be created on their own merits. The site covers Shelley Berkeley (D-Nevada) debating the act, expressing her disappointment that the bill was tacked on to critical security legislation.
While we usually leave the poker playing to Card Squad, these bills make us nervous for impending legislation in the videogame industry. Will the Video Game Decency Act pass or fail on its own merits, or will it ride on the back of a more important law?
Would U.S. lawmakers try to save Springfield from a comet if they had to allocate $30 million to “support the perverted arts?”
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Wii gets wired ethernet kit
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Wireless
CVG reports that one of the accessories you’ll be able to purchase for your Wii later this year will be a wired ethernet kit, presumably a device that automagically enables you to connect your console to the interwebs via an antiquated cable. Like the high-end model PS3, the Wii features Wi-Fi capabilities without the need for an additional adapter, though it seems decidedly odd for an online system to ship without a standard ethernet port.
Nintendo has long made a big deal about embracing all-inclusive standards (which exclude HDTVs) and getting everyone in on the game — making users pay extra in order to utilize a standard wired connection (which most wireless routers also support) seems contrary to that. It’s a strange sort of reversal of the option found in the Xbox 360, where the wireless adapter is purchased seperately and the ethernet port is already included. A further option can be found in Nintendo’s USB Wi-Fi dongle, as it’s been confirmed to work with the Wii as well.
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EA Sports perfecting mediocrity
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Sports, Business
A group of NBA Live ‘07 fanboys have had enough of the series’ annual increase in broken gameplay and have written a letter to EA expressing their displeasure. Although the focus of the letter is on NBA Live ‘07, with YouTube links showing the latest issues with the series, it touches on the general unhappiness with other declining EA franchises like Madden and FIFA. “At one time, EA was producing the best titles money could buy and one had little reason to look elsewhere. Now gamers have a sense that if you want the best, it’s not EA.”
And as an aside, more than a few eyebrows were raised when press copies and reviews of NBA Live ‘07 came trickling in a week after the game went on shelves, almost as if EA knew they produced a sub-par product. Hollywood employs this same tactic on bad movies so they can get as much money back before the word gets out how bad things really are.
Although the issues expressed by the fans of NBA Live ‘07 are positively valid, there is the alternative NBA 2K7 from 2K Games which was released the same day as NBA Live ‘07. This doesn’t help Madden fans who experienced similar issues with Madden ‘07, but have no recourse because of EA’s NFL exclusivity deal. In the case of Madden, EA also shows apparent ignorance toward reasonable proprosals by fans to fix the series.
It’s certainly cause for concern that EA Sports is taking the “we’ll patch it later” stance toward console games this early. This is the first generation capable of console patching and ideally should be used to fix subtle errors. Instead EA is following the PC model that console gamers have fled from: ship first, patch later. It’s probably time for sports gamers to show consumer activism and take their money to other franchises. That’ll get EA’s attention faster than any letter.
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Blizzard reveals Burning Crusade collector’s edition
Filed under: Mac, PC, Online, RPGs, MMO
Blizzard has announced the contents of the Burning Crusade collector’s edition. Including the game itself (on both CD and DVD), you also get:
- An exclusive in-game pet, the netherwhelp. According to Blizzard, it is the offspring of the nether drake flying mount. Blizzard promises an image “in the near future.”
- The Burning Crusade CD soundtrack
- “The Art of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade,” a hardcover coffee table book.
- A behind-the-scenes DVD featuring two hours of footage
- Two starter packs for the WOW Trading Card Game and “three exclusive tournament-legal” cards (Leeroy Jenkings, perhaps?)
- Map of Outland mouse pad
The original World of Warcraft collector’s edition included a hardcover art book, behind-the-scenes DVD and in-game pet. If you have both collector’s edition, can your avatar bring two pets along with them? Would they play with one another?
[Via WOW Insider; thanks, Supa]
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Duke Nukem on XBLA has “already been discussed”
Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, First Person Shooters
“Mr. Broussard, do you have a minute?”
“Make it quick, I’m in the middle of a WoW raid.”
“I’m sorry … quick?”
“You know, the opposite of slow?”
“Right! Well, Doom’s was released on Xbox Live Arcade just recently.”
“Oh, I know, I was playing it all day yesterday. Good stuff.”
“That’s the general consensus, yes. Which is probably why every gamer ever now wants a port of Duke Nukem 3D as well.”
“Hmm, I like that idea. Provided Microsoft wants it too, I’m sure we could make that happen … right after I level up some more.”
At least, that’s how we imagine such a discussion to go down within the finely decorated offices of 3D Realms. Following Doom’s successful outing on Xbox Live Arcade, fans have already begun a clamorfest (not an actual word) for an Xbox 360 port of that other FPS classic, Duke Nukem 3D. Commenting on the official 3D Realms forums, staff member Joe Siegler assured visitors that the idea had been favorably considered, but that getting a game onto Microsoft’s service wasn’t as easy as e-mailing them the original code.
“I talked about this yesterday with George, he’s all up for the idea, but we don’t have the time to do the port ourselves, plus there’s the issue of whetther [sic] Microsoft would really want it. Don’t just assume they would, there’s a big submissions procedure to go through. Plus their release schedule is booked solid for quite awhile now, even if we delivered it to them today, I would imagine it wouldnt’ [sic] come out for awhile anyway.”
Imagine that. Still, if Microsoft were to eventually give the game their stamp of approval and a developer like Nerve were tasked with porting the game, it would probably be well worth the wait.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
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Small study adds fuel to Nintendo’s casual gamer fire
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Business
A new study commissioned by casual game developer PopCap Games has found that 66% of the estimated 150 million consumers that play casual games are old (or young depending how old you are); over 50 to be exact. The study noted that the majority of older gamers prefer playing titles — often daily — for mental workout, stress relief, even pain distraction.
GameDaily reports: “With all the talk recently of broadening the audience for video games, publishers would be wise to keep in mind that people over the age of 50 like to be entertained and play games too. There’s such a strong focus on the 18-34 demographic that game companies could be missing out on a real opportunity to bring in older players.”
Gamers with more purchasing power as well. The study randomly polled 2,000+ online respondents including the dancing duo you see pictured.
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SmackTalk is $29.99 of pure evil
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360
Joystiq tipster GunForHire might have to live up to his handle after we tell you about Digital Innovation’s SmackTalk, a device that attaches itself to a Xbox 360 controller and plays five prerecorded clips of the player’s choosing at the touch of a button across Xbox Live. Obviously the name of the device gives you clear direction as to what it should be used for — let the prerecorded sexism, racism and homophobia flow like the Nile without straining those precious vocal cords.
British site BXB points out that they “remember the good old days when everyone was actually kind of polite on Xbox Live, even the Americans.” We don’t know what land of delusion these boys came from, but Xbox Live has always been a cesspool. Now players have the ability to record any five sounds of filth and play them back at the touch of a button. Random clips of pornography, babies crying, torture and anything else that could conceivably be more annoying than the prepubescent voices already rampant in the Xbox Live system.
GunForHire says, “Please Joystiq, rally your readers to email the Digital Innovations customer support team to try and get them to kill this thing before it gets released, for the sake of us all…”
Sorry Gun, it’s out there and if you’ve been hearing the same five phrases from a player on Xbox Live over and over again, then you’ve probably already experienced the joys of SmackTalk.
[Thanks GunForHire]
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Poll results: What genre do you enjoy most?
Filed under: Culture
The votes are in, and we didn’t even fudge with the electronic ballots. Though the non-scientific poll caught flack for bundling “platformers” with the action/adventure catch-all, it was for naught. The RPG genre wins with nearly one third of total reader votes. What does it all mean?
Thanks for voting, Joystiqers!
[Update: fixed typo]
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Judging a video game by its cover
Filed under: Culture, Retro, Business
1UP examines the history of box art design and the importance of localization to sell games. The piece notes poor translations of early pixelated NES covers and bland Sega Master System grid boxes during the Japanese to US adaptation process, including the turning point for video game cover art. From the article:
“One of the first truly excellent examples of American box-art design was The Legend of Zelda for the NES. The Famicom artwork pictured a cartoonish depiction of Link against the backdrop of a dark Hyrule, while the American box featured gold packaging and a shield divided into four squares… This highly professional design made Zelda seem far less childish than many other releases of the time, accurately reflecting the complicated nature of the game. This box design was so successful, in fact, that all subsequent Zelda releases in America have kept the same motif.”
[via Slashdot]
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EA’s premium ripoff: football tutorial videos on XBLM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Online, Sports, Business
While $2.00 is relatively cheap, a tutorial is a feature of the game that should be included when you buy it, especially at $60. On top of that, tutorials (video and otherwise) are available all over the internet for the low, low price of nil. GameFaqs has an enormous .txt strategy guide, 1UP has an in-depth guide of Madden NFL 06, and both IGN and Madden Planet have video tutorials that you can use for free. Not only that, but with these guides you can play Madden on your Xbox 360 while reading/viewing the free guides, making their application that much more pertinent.
We decided to try one of the videos out, purchasing a Passing strategy guide for Madden NFL 07. The 246.34 MB downloaded provided little that would help our game. The video depicts a series of in-game passes with the occasional overhead view; once or twice arrows and yellow circles were used to highlight a player but it did not complement the announcer. To understand the voice-over commentary, it is assumed that you have a good grasp on formation and position terminology. If “using the safety to cover the back” goes over your head, this video is not for you — then again, if you are well-versed in football slang, you will likely learn nothing new anyways.
The end of the video gives you four bullet points that sums up the entire tutorial:
- Use screens to slow down the blitz
- Key on MLB to make your man or zone reads
- Use your hot routes to attack defensive mismatches
- Use route combinations to impose your will on teh defense
Remind us again why we spent money on this? Even at only $2.00 per video (for a total of $16.00), these tutorials seem like a waste of cash.
[Thanks, Scott]
Read — NCAA 07 Videos (Major Nelson)
Read — Madden NFL 07 Videos (Major Nelson)
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