Why The $&#@ Do You Read This Blog?

I have been away for the better part of the past 6 weeks. I won't get into a lot of details, but I've had some health concerns (I am going to be fine) and I live in Minneapolis, where people's minds have been on the tragic bridge collapse of last week. Best wishes to anyone affected by this shocking incident.

First, a recap of what has happened in the world of gaming since I last posted a meaningful story.

GTA4 was delayed, the PS3 price was dropped (sorta), and now the Xbox 360 price has been dropped (see the picture above). It looks like MGS4 will be coming to the XBox360 5 to 6 months after the PS3 release. See here. And COD4 and Fallout 3 look like games to own. The former very soon, and the latter sometime next year. Recap done.

Now that I am back, I (more accurately, my wife) made an interesting discovery. It seems I've had more visits to this blog during the 6 weeks I've been M.I.A. than in the 6 weeks previous to that time.

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OK, now that you're done laughing, I have to ask the question? Why? Why are you here? Why did you come here? Do you plan to come back? Did your search for Viagra somehow send you here? Do you like the blog? Is it informative, opinionated or interesting to you? Does it suck? I really must know!

You see, I have no desire to rule the world or even to be famous but what I would like to do is carve out my own little niche in this internet thing and be able to at least support my love of games and continue to be able to share my opinions with you fine people. In order to do that, I have to get some kind of handle on what draws visitors here, what makes them stay, and what makes them use the limited advertising we employ.

What do you think of our ads? Should we have more? Should we have less? We can't have none unless you're going to start sending us cash, so let me know what kind of ads you do like or dislike if you wish. Would you be inclined to buy from merchants we advertised, and if so, why?

One thing I do try to do is only advertise companies I actually use or that I have used in the past with good results. So, while you might see ads for companies like GameFly, TigerDirect and Netflix (love 'em), you won't normally see ads for Gamestop or Blockbuster (loathe 'em).

One last thing, do you enjoy Blogger? Should I use a different hosting service? If so, why? I like Blogger, and it's free. It's not perfect, but what is?

I'm not going to go much more into this now. I want to hear from you, the readers.

AMA wants Video Game addiction officially classified

Do you think you are addicted to video games? If not, do you know someone who takes gaming to an extreme and perhaps harmful end that you would consider an addiction? I'm not talking about someone who plays 3 or 4 hours a day. We all know at least one person who plays World of Warcraft for 8 or more hours a day...are they suffering from an illness? A medical group says yes.

A group of the AMA (American Medical Association) wants to have Video Game Addiction officially recognized as an illness so that patients can use their insurance to seek treatment.

The nation's leading doctors' group could vote on whether to add video-game addiction to a widely used mental-illness manual at a national meeting this weekend in Chicago, a move that would raise awareness about the issue and make it easier for patients to file insurance claims for treatment.

The debate among AMA members is expected to be heated. For starters, there's not even agreement that playing hours and hours of the latest game for Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii or a multiplayer online role-playing game such as "World of Warcraft" is a true addiction, similar to dependence on alcohol or drugs.

According to Dr. Jon Grant, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota Medical School who specializes in studying and treating addictive behaviors in adults, there's a lot to consider before heavy video-game use is called an addiction. Players, including younger ones, may turn to games out of boredom, depression, loneliness and more. "Is it a problem, or is it the symptom of a problem?" Grant said. "I don't know if we actually know that yet."

Some websites give video gamers and their loved ones a forum in which to share their stories of playing addiction, such as Gamer Widow (http://www.gamerwidow.com/) and On-Line Gamers Anonymous (http://www.olganon.com/). But many players and those in the industry are skeptical.

St. Louis Park, Minnesota resident Justin Riss, 31, said he has played video games since the 1980s and found the AMA's move "absolutely hysterical."I have no physical or emotional side effects due to the use of playing games. I still play," he said. "Furthermore, I consider my hand-eye coordination better than most other individuals, and I attribute that to my days of sitting on the couch playing games like 'Tecmo Bowl' and 'Double Dribble.' "

Eric Hanson, 29, a Web developer at the University of Minnesota said: "While video-game addiction could be real, it is time that psychiatric science simply limit diagnosis to 'addictive predisposition' rather than trying to classify every conceivable behavior as having an addiction."

Andy McNamara, editor-in-chief of Minneapolis-based Game Informer magazine, said the AMA's actions are another sign of how video games are misunderstood.

"The simple fact that society calls too much gaming an 'addiction' and too much eating a 'disorder,' gives you an idea how the video-game industry is treated by the people who simply don't understand it," he said.

Some players do see potential pitfalls in playing too much of games such as the immensely popular "World of Warcraft."I play this game actively and can attest to its addictive properties," said Sean Carter, 31, a Denver technology manager who commented through the Star Tribune's website. "The social interaction and forced cooperation with other live players combined with the open-ended story line can easily draw you in. It's a great example of the digital world replacing real life."

The AMA could vote on the proposal by Monday, but even if approved, it will not appear in the mental-illness manual until the publication's next edition in 2012. So don't call in sick to play games just yet.

Read the full story from Randy A. Salas of the Star Tribune here.

Video Games help heal wounded soldiers

Mike Musgrove of the Washington Post has written an excellent piece about wounded soldiers recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and how they are using Video games to aid in the healing process.

These soldiers are laying their lives on the line to protect freedom, but they are serious about their games too.

Chuck Ziegenfuss, a major in the Army, was wounded in Iraq in 2005 and spent six months as an inpatient at the hospital. For soldiers who have just been hit with life-changing injuries, playing games helps reconnect with entertainment they enjoyed before they arrived at the military hospital, he said. When Ziegenfuss was in Iraq, he'd see guys come back in from a 20-hour mission and immediately pick up game controllers. Playing games again here "gives them back a sense that they're normal," he said.
Ziegenfuss, who has also been a peer counselor to wounded soldiers, said some soldiers with new prosthetic limbs have even retaught themselves how to drive with steering-wheel game controllers.

Army Spec. Juan Alcibar (pictured above) has parked his crutches to the side and tried to lure a friend into playing along with him before he rips into Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" on the guitar game. "Wanna try? Come on, you know you wanna be a rock star!"

This monthly gathering, designed to encourage some of the recovering soldiers at Walter Reed to socialize, is put on by a soldiers' aid group called Cause. Alcibar, who was hit by a sniper's bullet that shattered a femur in Baghdad in March, is a big fan of the event.

"When you're just sitting in your room thinking about what happened, it drives you crazy," he says. "This is something to get your mind off your sorrows. . . . I wish they had it every week."

The rest of the story talks about some other people and groups that donate games and consoles to the hosital. It is a touching example of how games can truly enrich lives and ease suffering.

Next time you think about trading in some game you never play anymore for a less than fair trade-in value at a games store, instead consider donating it. You'll be helping someone else and making yourself feel good at the same time. A win win by any standard.

Read the full story here.

Big Daddy figurine with Bioshock LE

Those of you planning to pick up the limited edition of Bioshock can look forward to receiving this Big Daddy figurine with the game. The image above is not the final figurine, they are still finalizing the color scheme.
Seeing that giant drill arm takes me back to seeing the video below. You'll need everything in your arsenal, including the kitchen sink to take one of these badboys down.




Bioshock is scheduled for an August 21st release.

Analyst says PS3 needs $200 price cut to recover

Via Joystiq:

An analyst at Bank of America believes for Sony to make up the ground they've lost this console generation they don't just need the expected $100 price cut, but a $200 price cut. The analyst who made these remarks to GameDaily.biz, Michael Savner, believes this is unlikely, but believes it is the way to recovery.

Read the full story here.

Halo 3 Beta Impressions

I have ventured back into the sunlight after a week of playing the Halo 3 Beta and I'm ready to report my initial impressions of the game. First of all, everything I say today should be taken with a large grain of salt since the game is in fact a Beta and not a completed product. This holds especially true for graphics since a large part of polishing happens during the very last phase of development on most games.

Graphics are a big part of the Halo franchise, and while Halo 2 didn't make any huge leaps beyond Halo 1, it did look more polished and had some nicer textures. Judging from the Halo 3 Beta, I would say the same generally holds true this time around too. Some things in the Beta seem much improved, mainly explosions. Now, when you throw a grenade, whether it explodes in the snow or in the dirt or sand, the particle effects are very nice and quite cinematic. Dirt flies realistically and smoke looks very believable. After you play a while little things start to catch your eye too, like the footprints left in the snow by yourself and your enemies or the textures used on some of the buildings (the gold honeycomb pattern especially).

I like the new High Ground map a lot. It is not overly large but has many different paths for approaching your enemy from either end of the map. It can be a good map for sniping, but is best for medium or close-range combat.

Valhalla, as has been reported is a remake of a map from Halo 2 and Snowbound is a large circular snowy level with two small hangars in the middle for gathering nades and such. Underground tunnels connect much of the map as well.

Gameplay wise, it took a little while to get used to the new dual wielding and equipment controls, but once you adapt to them they are very nice additions to the franchise. Especially the equipment key (X button). I haven't found anything more satisfying so far than letting a warthog loaded full with enemies drive straight towards me, then hitting "X" to deploy a trip mine and then leaping as they pass below me. While in mid-air, I spin around and watch as they explode into so many charred bits a couple seconds later. This is truly a visceral experience. Otherwise, as far as movement and "feel", the gameplay feels very much like Halo 2, which is a very good thing. Another great moment was when I followed an enemy in one of the flying craft, I ran up behind him, deployed an energy drain grenade which grounded his bird. Then, while he was surely screaming something along the lines of "why the hell won't this thing move!?", I ran up to him and bashed him in the face with a melee attack while he was still seated in the cockpit. Priceless!

The new FILM feature makes scenes like the above even more thrilling when you get to watch them over again in the "theater". You can upload "films" to share with your friends too. With the Beta, you can upload up to six "films" for sharing, but I haven't reached a limit on how many you can save for your own private viewing. I probably have 15 or so saved right now. There may not be a limit as they are saved to your harddrive. A nice thing about the "films" is that they are not mpeg files, they are just stored data of your round so they are MUCH smaller files than they would be if they were simple recordings of video. The "films" are played back using the games engine, so they are an exact replay of everything that occurred in the round. While the Beta limits you to one perspective, the view from your character, apparently the full version is going to allow you to view replays from any character or any other point on the battlefield and from any angle. You'll also be able to rewind, pause and fast forward, all things that are unavailable in the Beta.

Lag is a non-issue unless you choose to play with people from far corners of the earth. Even then, I experienced only occasional lag while playing with some friends in the UK. In those games my character's movements were unaffected but I saw some of my teammates skip across the level or get hung up in long launches from the man cannon as if suspended from a giant invisible yo-yo. It was pretty funny actually.

The matchmaking is as fantastic as ever. Finding the kind of game you want to play and the players you want to play against is as easy and customizable as ever. Halo has always been the standard by which all other online matchmaking systems are measured, and that remains unchanged.

Overall, my time with the Halo 3 Beta has been very fun. The only moments of frustration for me are during Sniper/Shotgun only rounds. I SUCK at sniping but I'm great at getting sniped; sometimes I think my head must be five feet in diameter.

All in all, I'd say if the beta is any indication, Halo 3 looks like a winner. Halo 3 is scheduled for release on September 25th.

Halo 3 Beta fixed and extended

Assuming your brain hasn't undergone a complete meltdown from the todays Halo 3 Beta anti-launch, I have good news. The problem for players using the Crackdown disc to enter the beta has been fixed and installed on the servers.

One caveat, it may take up to four hours for your system to receive the update which will come via a Crackdown game update when you start up the game. Full details here. The good news is Microsoft has extended the Beta by four days to compensate us for all the hassles, to June 10th, which includes an extra weekend of play.

So, although it's been a high stress day for many gamers who took off of work/school in anticipation of this mornings scheduled Beta launch, I'm sure it was much more stressful for the men and women working hard to fix the problem and thankfully the light at the end of the tunnel is visible and Halo gaming goodness is right around the corner.

See you online!

Halo 3 Beta absent, internet is exploding!

After months of waiting and constant jokes about having bought the Halo 3 "demo", er uh Crackdown, 8:00 AM EST, the announced time of arrival, came and went and still our "download the Halo 3 Beta" boxes remained grayed out. Now, as of 10:40 EST, the Beta remains unavailable.

Bungie's Frankie is already on the case, saying "We have alerted the appropriate Live authorities and they are taking care of the problem as we speak. More news as it comes in. With any luck this will be a short delay. People enetering the Beta through other methods - Friends and Family, Rule of Three and so on, are unaffected." So, only the people that actually paid to play the Beta are affected...not good.

Do all the people who bought Crackdown just to play the Beta care about the fact that all the other three groups of Beta players are unaffected?? Apparently not, and they are pissed! A scan of the Bungie forums reveals more anger than David Banner right before he turns green. At least one kid is happy though, saying, "7:03 and no download but my parents just decided to let me skip school :):):):):) so its all good." Glad to know the parents have their priorities in the right place. How could little Johnnie possibly go to school after being scarred by the trauma of the absent Beta?

A couple of other comments were "YES I AM SAD AND NO I STILL HAVE NO BETA :"( *BEATS HEAD ON CONSOLE*" and "I just died a little inside...still grey."

The absence of the Beta is annoying to be sure, but making it even more annoying is the fact that Crackdown has like 17 unskippable pre-load screens that make it VERY annoying to even check for the Beta.

Unhappiness abounds.

More when it becomes available.

Halo 3 invading the planet September 25th

If you were lucky enough to be a winner in the Rule of 3 contest or if you bought an early copy of Crackdown, Halo 3 will be hitting your hardrive tomorrow in the form of the Beta. Now the Official Game also has an official release date...September 25th, 2007.

At $130 for the legend edition, I'd bet this game is gonna rock some wallets as well as ruin some relationships and grade point averages.

See you online!

Do you want to make video games?

It's every gamer's dream.

Scott Brodie of Livonia, Michigan scored an internship with Microsoft Games last summer, just before his senior year at Michigan State University. He worked on the side-scrolling space shooter "Aegis Wing" with two other interns. Not only did Microsoft decide to go ahead with the game -- which launches Wednesday as the first-ever totally free game on Microsoft's online Xbox Live Arcade -- but they decided to go ahead with Brodie, too.

Brodie gives some good advice on how to break into the games industry. Teach yourself how to do what you love.

"It definitely hasn't worked out the way I expected," he says. "I was just happy to be involved with the game and be able to contribute. This is a good fit for me, and I've put in work to get there. Take the time, make a game. It's OK if you fail -- you just need to try. It's harder than it looks."

The lesson is...if you have a passion for making games, then don't wait for someone to hire you to do it...do it yourself. You never know what may come from it. At the very least you'll learn some things and gain some skills that will make your resume more attractive to possible future employers.

Read the full story from the Detroit Free Press. It's a good read for anyone who's dreamt of becoming a game developer.

Aegis Wing will be available tomorrow for free download from the Xbox Live Arcade.