Nick's Blog | Stay l33t

PS3 in trouble?

Now, this is just speculation, but take a look at this poll conducted by Gamefaqs starting last night.

Both of them, I need 'em all 10.1% 1387
Just a PS3, no Wii for me 13.64% 1874
Just a Wii, no PS3 for me 53.21% 7310
Neither one, I'm happy with my 360 7.49% 1029
Neither one, I'll stick with my current systems 15.56% 2138

Compare the amount of people intent on buying a Wii those buying a PS3. Even including those planning to buy both, the Wii has a 30% lead. Now I don't want to jump the gun here, but considering Sony's dismal performance at E3, could this mean the Wii could help Nintendo retake it's first place spot?

Only time, and lots of arguing via the internet will tell.

Madden, MS gets... Madden?

In a heartwarming act of customer appreciation, the evil corporate suits over at Electronic Art$ (Look, I used a dollar sign instead of an S! I'm so risque.) decided to have a 'Maddenoliday', in which the adorably hick residents of the tiny town of Madden, Mississippi all recieved free XBOX 360's and a copy of EA's newest item in their eternal series, Madden Football '07. Let's hear it for the residents of Madden, who probably don't even have electricity.

In other news, I'm going somewhere peaceful and uninhabited to found the city of Metal Gear.

Dead, Rising

There's a severe lack of zombie games in this world. Not survival horror, I mean honest-to-god ZOMBIES. Portrayed the way Jesus made them, slow, lumbering and hungry for flesh and/or tofu. Dead Rising is a deep game about... hell, who cares about backstory. You get to use anything and everything around you as a weapon to fight off the undead hordes. Expect a review as soon as I can get my little hands on a copy.

Now go out and buy it.

Oklahoma Rep. Fred Morgan: 'Games are porn.'

Another headache-inducing law was passed through the state legislature in Oklahoma last month. Representative Fred Morgan [D], the bill's author sat down in a Q&A session with Gamespot to discuss it.

GameSpot: There's no exemption in the law for parents or guardians to give to their children a game that's been deemed inappropriately violent. I was wondering if that was the intent of the law?

Fred Morgan: I think the whole concept is just to move away from the language that's been stricken down by the courts on limiting First Amendment rights, and one of the ways behind this bill is to categorize these types of games as being similar to pornography in the sense that they are harmful to minors. So you can't really say that one group can give it to them and another group can't, so I think that is intentional. If it's illegal for an adult to give alcohol to a minor, you can't sell it to them, but you wouldn't want parents to be giving it to them, either.

GS: The amended law says any description of inappropriate violence, in any form, would be harmful to minors. The way I read that, it would mean that a game review or an editorial in a newspaper could fall under the law if it describes what's so objectionable about the game, and I'm wondering if that was part of the intent of the law.

FM: Say that again one more time. I don't see that at all, but let me make sure I understood the question.

GS: The law says that any description of inappropriate violence, and it specifies "in any form," would be harmful to minors.

FM: I have to take a look at that one. I don't know the answer to that without taking a look at it.

GS: But this wasn't intended to...

FM: I can't say that. I want to see what the actual language of the bill is and have a chance to look at it first before I give you a good response to that.

So, what Morgan is doing not only classifies M-Rated Video Games alongside ALCOHOL and PORNOGRAPHY, it also limits the ability to even distribute media about said games to minors. Later in the interview, Morgan had this to say.

"There are social issues that are bothering the American public. One of the things that came out in this debate is that we don't want Hollywood values being determined for Oklahoma."

Ah, I understand now. I'm glad Frank wants Oklahoma citizens to have good Christian values, and follow laws like 'Thou shalt not play Doom 3 on the holy day.'

Wii Are Not Amused

E3 has come and gone, and in the end, the main factor was, of course, the next-gen.

Well, technically next-next-gen, but I digress. The three consoles that made the show were the Nintendo Wii, the Playsation 3 and the tubby bucket of hardware known as the XBOX360. In terms of games, everyone had something to show, but in my opinion, the winner was Nintendo. For more in depth coverage on how the major companies did, check out Gamespot.com.

Metal Gear?!!

Word on the streets is, Kojima's confirmed a film adaptation of the legendary MGS series, accompanied by bells tolling and cheering masses. I'm not quite sure about this one yet, so stay tuned.

And I swear to god Uwe Boll, if you even try to get in on this one, I will kill you with my bare damned hands.

Red Steel Screenshots!

Alright, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this, but I'm going to anyway. Nintendo's newest system is the Revolution, and they've been keeping it under wraps heavier than Area 51. But I have two scans of in-game graphics from the next-gen's first game: The FPS Red Steel. These pictures are exclusive, unless you find the site I jacked them from, or the site that site jacked them from, or if you read Game Informer.




Awesome.

Later Guys, I'm Moving to Tamriel

Alright, I've had it with this stupid place. You can't steal silverware and weaponry and sell it at a local store, gates to hell that have to be closed to protect the very fabric of reality never open and get this, shooting superheated balls of fire at small woodland creatures? Banned.

I've had just about enough of Earth's crappy rules, so I'm packing up my stuff and moving to Cyrodiil, in Tamriel. Want to come visit me sometime? Pick up a copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I'll be the guy with the big-ass sword.

...Well, one of them at least.

Episode 3: Revenge of the... Combine?

In a recent talk with Gamespot, Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi unveiled an interesting tidbit- The expansion pack for the newest entry into the Half-Life series has been renamed 'Half-Life: Episode 1'. Lombardi confirmed that this meant regular content being released over Steam, Valve's online distribution service.

Good news if you ask me. There's not enough in the Source engine for a whole sequel, but extra downloadable parts should be great.

How to Fail At Reporting: By Suzanne Collins

I'm sorry that this has nothing to do with video games, but as a member of the press, I have to address stupidity this painful.

Take a look at this article. A man met a girl on the internet, took her on a date and then, after an argument, killed her.

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_038221424.html

See anything strange? Yeah, in case you didn't catch on, let me highlight it for you.

Police spokesman Bill Toohey said Gaumer met 27-year-old Josie Phyllis Brown on the Internet and took her on a date Dec. 28.

...

Police haven't released the name of the dead woman. They say she was a Baltimore City resident and not a student at UMBC.

What the hell, man.