Um. I’m thinking that maybe these people need to find something else to do. I was thinking that Americans were a little strange, but now I see it’s worldwide.
Apparently, I used to get into this show quite a bit when I was youger. I don’t remember much of it though. Maybe the movie version will bring back the memories.
This pretty well sums up my feelings on the media.
I had a doctor’s appointment this morning and stumbled across this article. I find it interesting that people look down on things they find offensive and disturbing, but then have no problem sitting down to take it all in at 6 and 11 in the name of being informed. I’ve written local stations before due to their apparent lack of care for those affected by tragedy, opting instead to go for ratings.
If you’d like to share your thoughts on this, head over to my forums.
Interesting little look at how Zelda’s change isn’t the first change that gamers have complained about. Head over to The Spaceworld Suck for some insight.
Rogue Spear Trains U.S. Soldiers
The engine will enable the Department of Defense to train military personnel in how to conduct military operations in urban terrain. The engine will not be used for weapons training though. Instead the government wants to use the system to help hone decision-making skills at the small-unit level. It should be training military personnel within six months.
It says no weapons training, but I would imagine they are going to throw that in. With all the ‘concern’ over violent games and it’s effects on kids, I’m thinking that Ubi Soft doesn’t want it known that their game is being used by the government to train their killers…
This isn’t the first time something like this has been done. The Army (I think) actually had a crew MOD Doom so they could use it for similar training.
[UPDATE]Official Ubi Soft Press release[/UPDATE]
Ready to lose some sleep? Maybe get a little frustrated? Then check out 3D Pong. This things gets crazy fast, crazy quick. It’s goes from fun to almost painful in a matter of seconds. If you have the skill, post your score by clicking on Comments. (The comment pages haven’t been cleaned up yet, but I’m curious has to how you do.)
I knew there was another Die Hard game in the works, but I wasn’t expecting this. It looks a little rough right now, but who hasn’t dreamed of taking Hans and the crew out? If Piranha does this one right, they could make a whole lotta people happy.
How about some multi-floored DM action?
FGN is reporting that Midway is asking that a lawsuit filed against them be dropped, since a similar case has already been thrown out in the past.
Apparently, in April 2000 a judge threw out a case against game makers for libilty for a student killing three Heath High School students in Paducah, Ky., in 1997. judge ruled that “video games are not subject to product liability laws.”
It’s about time that people realize that playing games doesn’t kill people. People kill people. Maybe parent’s should invest a little more time into their kids instead of letting them play games that maybe they shouldn’t be playing.
And I thought maybe I was addicted…
Interesting read over at Film and Video Magazine.com/ explaining how Steven Spielberg used the Unreal Tournament engine to visualize the large city scenes for A.I.
It’s also mentioned that it’s believe that he plays the game since he had no problem getting used to the controls 
Planet GameCube has posted an interesting editorial covering the changes made to Zelda, apparently even before E3 by Shig himself.
Apparently Nintendo wants to keep the firm grasp they have on the preteen set and were worried about parents being turned off and children scared by the life like appearance of the E3 showing.
I personally think the new look is amazing, and while it does look like a cartoon, it looks like a very nice looking cartoon. I can see how some people would be turned off by the change, and I think that Nintendo might have shot themselves in the foot by showing the “rougher” version at E3, but if I know Nintendo, they will make sure that they gameplay makes everyone forget about the toony look.
I am hoping that they do go out on a limb with a few of their titles. While Zelda, Mario, and Pokemon appeal to kids, a lot of parents are turned off by the violence in games like Perfect Dark and Metroid. Hopefully Nintendo will realize this and give those titles enough of an edge to make a few of us older gamers happy.
Nintendo has delayed the US release of the GC by almost 2 weeks. According to IGN, Nintendo wanted to make sure that they had enough GCs to go around. At first it appeared that Nintendo was trying to sneak in front of Xbox launch by a few days, but now it appears that they will be about 10 days later.
Also, in related info, head over to IGN for a whole lotta GC info. They have video of both Mario Sunshine and the new Cell-shaded Zelda, pics of games and packaging, and hopes of more GC colors available for US launch. That last one is kinda wishfull thinking since the colors shown are for the Japanese launch, but if I can avoid a purple GC, I will…
[UPDATE] Just read over at PlanetGamecube that there will be 2 colors available at US launch: Black and Indigo. 350,000 of each will be available. Looks like my black PS2 and my black Xbox will have some dark company.[/UPDATE]
What Are The Theological Implications Of Quake?
An Italian priest has found a new way to help his brethren relate to children in their parishes; he’s teaching a weekly class that shows the clergy how to play video games.
“Condemning violent video games is simply not enough,” Father Antonio Mazzi tells the Italian newspaper “La Stampa.” “We have to understand what they’re about.” Mazzi says he teaches the priests in his Milan parish how to play games including Tekken 3 and Crazy Taxi. But they’re not allowed to try the popular Tomb Raider games##heroine Lara Croft is “way too sexy,” he says.
It’s nice to see that someone has figured it out. Kids like games. So if you want to know why they like games, try games for yourself…
CVG has posted the a shot of Sony Soho’s upcoming game, The Getaway. The pic doens’t appear to be an in game shot, but if it’s representative of what the gameplay and graphics are going to be, then I’m going to have another to add to my list.
“The Getaway is based around Mark Hammond, and the kidnap of his wife and child, by crime uber-lord Charlie Jolson. Restoring them to safety requires you to take control of both Hammond and officer of the law Frank Carter, then ploughing through stages of intense action.”
Talks are underway for a possible prequel to Gladiator. The Internet Movie Database is reporting that the producers are trying to get the ball rolling and have already talked to Russell Crowe about doing another. Nothing official as of yet, but the producers are checking their options.
I heard this song last week on the radio and it was one of the few that I actually listened to the lyrics of. It’s by a band called Five for Fighting and it’s a inside view of what Superman might feel. Check the lyrics out here.
It’s a whole lot deeper than it was the first time I heard it. Kinda gets you thinking tho…
I hit this a few weeks ago, but for some strange reason, I didn’t bookmark it. If you’ve seen the stick fights on the internet, then you know this guy already. If you haven’t, then check this out to see what you are missing.
This guy is making one heckuva name for himself on the net…
Picked up my GBA last weekend and it’s great. I picked up Tony Hawk 2 and a Pelican Lite Shield and they both work great. The screen is reflective as all get out (one of the major complaints with the system), but with the light, things work great. I ordered a Mad Catz Power Station from Buy.com, and it should be here anyday now.
I rented Zelda : Seasons and gave it a run on the GBA. It ran great and the stretched version worked pretty well, also. The GBA will run GB and GBC games, but since the screen is wider, you hit the shoulder buttons to jump from a streched version of the game (horizontally) and a verticle boxed version. Think of it as Widescreen expect the bars are on the side.
My wife tried out her fave, Tetris, and I think she’s hooked again.
Nice system and one I would recommend. Only one game for it right now, but I’ll be checking out some more in the future. I’ll have my eye out for a rental version of Dodgeball. I loved the NES version and actually have it laying around somewhere, but my NES is acting up. The local guy told me just to take it apart and look around. He said that fixing it would be more expensive than buying a refurb, so hopefully that will work.
GameSpot has posted some more info and screenies from the upcoming Driver follow-up, Stuntman. Considering the fun I had just messing around with the original Driver, I can only dream of what it’s going to be like with setting up your own stunts.
According to GameSpot, 2002 is the year of Gamecube Online gaming. Nintendo isn’t too big on online gaming, so is doens’t really come as a huge suprise, but hopefully this won’t go the way of the Bulky Drive.
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