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When Cloverfield attacks, will you be prepared?Call me slow on the uptake (but don't expect me to react... I'm slow on the uptake) but a chance comment on a Cloverfield sequel from this article by Traycee of G.E.N. ("As you all know, the movie won’t have different monsters and there won’t be a different storyline… it will be the same movie but from a different perspective …") got me googling and turned up the following:
Director Matt Reeves: “While we were on set making the film we talked about the possibilities and directions of how a sequel can go. The fun of this movie was that it might not have been the only movie being made that night, there might be another movie! In today’s day and age of people filming their lives on their iphones and handy cams, uploading it to youtube…That was kind of exciting thinking about that.”
I refer the honourable reader to an earlier blog entry, Cloverfield is Half-Life and make a dramatic exit with just two words:
Opposing Force, anyone?
..... crap, that's three words isn't it... so much for the dramatic exit. And I forgot to mention Blue Shift.
Doin' it for chaaaaarity, mate.This is a great idea of course. Tap that usually useless source of sofa sitting sportsters for cold hard cash. It gives me one more weapon in my arsenal against Mrs Lefty's ideas that I should maybe stop playing and go out into the sunshine occasionally.... "But it's all for a good cause, dear..."
Except... I live in Sweden. Europe. Across the pond.
The Live network has been outstanding in spanning the globe and bringing people from many nations together for friendship and conflict. Can't we use that somehow?
Get the games developers to create specific maps for charity events. Maps for H3, Gears, COD4, whatever. Make the maps cost something. Not alot, just something. Make the charity event exclusive to these new maps.... I'd buy that for a dollar.
]:8) Hollywood nerds turn video game night into networking opportunityAdd "Nerd poker" to your vocab immediatly.
It means using your network to network.
Can't wait for the rest of Hollywood to join up.
I'd like to take this opportunity to put out a standing invitation to Carmen Electra to join my Saturday Night Gears Fight. I know you play, Car, I saw you at the 360 launch party. MMO Exercise? Running Through World of Warcraft on a TreadmillAnother wonderful story about how things in the gaming world leak out into the real one.
In this one it's obviously more to do with one mans desire to put on elf ears and a green peruk than trying to see if you could actually cope with physically moving through a World of Warcraft landscape using your real life body.
Whatever happened to that demo on Tomorrows World of the "projection bubble"? It was a sphere you could stand in and "walk" inside. In the demo a level from Doom was projected onto the inside of the sphere in a 360 degree view. You put a foot forward, the sphere turned in it's frame and the projection of the level "moved" forward. You could walk around inside a Doom level... I'd buy that. Xbox 360's next big peripheral? Poor earning virtual gaming goldGold farming? I was always under the impression that money DIDN'T grow on trees...
I don't play Wow. In fact I'm the only one in our family that doesn't (not including Mrs.Lefty, she doesn't really play games... not that sort anyway... playing games with my head, that's the sort of game she likes to play...).
I always thought World of Warcraft was just a lot of repetitive time consuming escapism where old perverts could crossdress and chat up truck drivers disguised as elfin girls or big hairy bulls... but now I know there's real money in it I'll glady pay the kids subcriptions so they can disappear for days at a time into their bedrooms.... keeps 'em off the 360 too.
]:8) Move Over Mom And Dad – It’s My Turn To Play!Well, after reading this article from the Girls Entertainment Network about an IBIS World report I would suggest that men give up the local supermarket as a hotspot for meeting women and instead get into the gamers shops and look for "the percentage of female gamers (which) has increased from 33 to 38 percent in just five years as women flock to purchase not just Nintendo’s Wii Fit, but interactive group games such as Singstar, Rock Band, and Lips, as well as The Sims, The Movies, Nintendogs and NeoPets."
A little paraphrasing from me and a lot of patronising from the writers of the original report but I think you get the point.
Is anyone really suprised any more that "67 percent of household heads play computer or video games"....?
Actually , come to think of it I am. The head of my household is my better half, Mrs Lefty. I confess that I am trying to read this article at work while Alt-Tabbing between IE and an Excel sheet in an attempt to hide from my boss what I really do at work... so I'll have to wait until I get home later and digest it properly. In the meantime here is one of my favourite quotes: "Until those original gamers cease playing, either due to death or physical incapacity - losing interest appears unlikely – meaning new gamers entering the market will not be replacing those leaving, they’ll just be adding to the swelling numbers worldwide.”... well, speaking for myself they'll have to do better than death or physical incapacity to stop me from playing....
]:8) So You Want to be a Professional Gamer?How DO you get out of the starting blocks and up and running on the pro gaming circuit? Ang3L of the Girls Entertainment Network gives some useful tips in her article and there's lots of links at the bottom.
Better get a move on if you want to be in time for the 2012 Olympics in London. I'm betting they're going to have Frogger as an event and I'm going to go for gold! Jonathan Blow's Shifting IntentionBraid is a great innovative game. But since I've come to it a little late I'm not going to try and do a review of it but instead link to a review of its creator, Jonathon Blow.
He seems to be someone who is taking the fun of games seriously:
"We convince [players] to pay us money and waste their lives in front of our games."
which should be immediately followed up by: "All games teach. What will we be teaching all these people?"
Challenge vs. Frustrationhttp://www.game-ism.com/2008/08/19/challenge-vs-frustration/ Again, a thoughtful article from game-ism.com. I enjoy/enjoyed playing Assasins Creed and GTA IV but I LOVED playing Portal and Baird. Every now and again you need a game to come out of the mold and simply suprise you. It took me six hours of non-stop play to complete Portal (non-stop because I couldn't stop!) and I've only just scratched the surface of Braid, coming to it very late in the day... the only other game in my library that has stood the test of time is Gears which I have played every week since getting it over a year ago. All of those games involve challenge as oppsoed to frustation (in the case of Gears I'm talking about online play, of course, don't get me started on how frustrated I am at not being able to conquer Raam on Insane...). Major Sleaze Factor in Atari & Codemasters Anti-Piracy Campaignhttp://www.gamesindustry.biz/newsletter/weekly_20080821141143 Guess I can come out of hiding now. Gameindustry.biz have done their homework and are throwing a bit of dirt back at the games companies who are trying to make pirates an endangered species. Good intentions maybe, I'm all for rewarding people for good work, but very wrong tactics. Scaremongering and empty threats aren't going to stop the dedicated. Parents "fear" GTA more than pornGamesindustry.com, 14/08-08 All this article teaches me is that it seems to be ok to share a beer with my six year old on the sofa while watching the Playboy channel as long as we don't smoke some waccybaccy or play GTA IV together. I followed the link and checked out the poll on the "whattheyplay" website and I think it's a bit loaded really. To the question: "What would you be MOST concerned about your under-17 year old child having indulged in while sleeping over at a friend's house?" there are only four answers: drinking beer, smoking hash, checking out some porn or playing GTA IV. Er... HELLO! Who do you think looks at your website and answers these polls? I have no evidence whatsoever but I'd go so far as to say most of the people visiting this website are parents of children under 17 who are worried about WHAT THEY PLAY. Did you think you had an unbiased audience that would give a nuetral playing field for a serious research poll? Five XNA games (and developers) to watch forDestructoid.com, 08/08-08 Get those fingers working. Micro$oft is starting some kind of scheme paying MS Points to game developers using their XNA system. That means you and me, kiddo. There is a link in the article to reviews on some of the best games being released but I know of at least one person who questions whether independent games are really a good idea: Buy a Lancer and get Gears of War 2Destructiod.com, 07/08-08
MINE! Why a Wii could be good for your healthPaul McNamara, The Guardian, 07/08-08 Aparently the Wii is good for something. I'm going to buy me one just so I can save on medical bills and do my own surgery on the family at home. Stop the Military Recruitment of Childrenhttp://bayareadirectaction.wordpress.com/ There´s been a few different articles about how Ubisoft is being blamed for underage recruiting of soldiers through the game American Army. Hogwash, say I. Ubisoft are a game deeloper, they are in the business of making money from games, if they think they can make money from something they're going to make money from something. What did you expect? The onus isn't on the developer, it's on the end user or failing that the guardian of the end user. Might as well get around to banning plastic guns and toy soldiers, they surely promote war to an even younger generation. Christian writer lays into videogames for 'in-depth' reportDestructoid.com, 06/08-08 I'm linking to the Destructoid article here where I first heard about this "Christian writers report" but I advise you to go further and read the actual report for yourselves. I don't agree with Destructoids critiscism of it. I think it's a good piece of writing and it's always worth listening to other peoples points of view on subjects which are important to you. Plant destruction blamed on GTA IV: Game hysteria officially jumps the sharkDestructoid.com, 07/08-08 I am immeadiatly contacting the Thai authorities for advice on how to get the game banned in Sweden. Financial incentives beat the Wii FitNaomi Alderman, The Gaurdian, 05/08-08 I really like this story because it suggests a postive potential on how to use games to effect us in real life. The writer uses the example of a health insurance company reducing their costs for every visit a member makes at a gym. Brilliant idea, I think. Creative, contructive and beneficial. Unfortunately it would appear that the insurance company has now stopped this practice... but anyway.. There has been talk before about somehow cashing in on achievements with players receiving money back or discounted games... but surely we can think of something better, kids? Anyone...? I just report ideas, I don't come up with 'em. Thai Site Offers Local Perspective on GTA Cabbie Murdergamepolitics.com, 05/08-08
I don't want to say much more about this "GTA IV inspired Thai taxidriver killing". As more information comes out about the antagonist and even Thailand and it's government in general it seems more and more likely that someone somewhere was just having a slow news day and decided to highlight a connection between the incident and violence in videogames.
But hidden amongst all the angry comments from gamers on one website I came across a link to this upbeat and optimistic report that suggests that a videogame potraying the fight against cancer was actually helping sufferers through their treatment and recovery and of course increasing their awareness of the condition. The poster meant it as an antidote to all the bad press games seem to receive in general: "And then on the positive side of games...:"
Great, yes? Maybe... after a while I thunk another thought. With this report and it's subsequent highlighting are we (gamers) actually admiting and even approving of the way a videogame can effect a players behaviour in the real world? I have mixed feelings about this. Of course it's a very postive thing and I'm sure we should spread the news but then if we do we can never again claim that violent videogames do NOT effect the behaviour of people in the real world. If this game "Re-Mission" actually has the power to alter peoples behaviour in the real world (albeit in a postive way) then surely we are forced to admit that other games must also have the power to effect peoples behaviour in the real world? Otherwise we're hypocrites and our arguments defending gaming are made worthless.
My stand is in the idea that it's not the gun that kills people, it's people that kill people so I don't care how violent a game I choose to play really is, it's not going to make me go out and be violent... but that's because it's ME. Can I trust everyone else to be as responsbile? I guess that's where ratings, certifcations and even censorship comes in, yes? Grand Theft Auto sales halted after Thai taxi killingGrand Theft Auto sales halted after Thai taxi killing
Ian MacKinnon, The Guardian, 05/08-08 http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/05/games.thailand?gusrc=rss&feed=technology Thai Teen Robs, Kills Cabbie in Effort to Recreate Grand Theft Auto IV
gamepolitics.com, 04/08-08 http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/08/04/report-thai-teen-robs-kills-cabbie-effort-recreate-grand-theft-auto-iv I tried to avoid posting about this actually because I am immediately suspscious of any news report where a suspect claims "video games made me do it". I have a real crisis of conscience as to whether I should jump on the bandwagon and give with my two pennies worth or whether I should just leave well enough alone...
I particulaly dislike Ian MacKinnon of The Guardian's use of the phrase "re-enacting scenes from the blockbuster video game". There is no scene in GTA IV that requires you to kill a taxi driver in a bloody frenzy. In fact with around 90% of the game safely under Lefty's belt I question even the idea of the game being bloody... violent, yes. But bloody?
In the gamepolictics.com report the suspect is quoted by police as saying he wanted to see if commiting this crime was as easy in real life as it was in the video game... If that is seriously going to be his defence then I suggest a plea of insanity right from the start! It's a game, you idiot!!!....good grief, I'm just getting myself worked up. I'm going to go back to reading the comments. |
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