Gamer Culture, Politics, Xbox 360
File this under cool ideas that nobody thought of until now: Microsoft has partnered with Rock the Vote to allow gamers to register to vote through Xbox LIVE. That’s right, registering to vote is now as easy as downloading a gamer pic from the Xbox Marketplace.
Business, Headlines, Nintendo DS, Technology
Homebrew on the Nintendo DS (and on everything, for that matter) is all about having it your way. You can play homemade games, listen to music, watch video, and view pictures. Sounds great and it’s pretty simple but, unfortunately, those who use these products often walk a fine line between adding to their experience and the dark underworld of piracy. In order to use homebrewed software you need a storage device, and one of the most popular storage devices is the R4.
Business, Guitar Hero, Music, Rock Band
In Warner Music Group’s (WMG) Quarter 3 earnings call, Edgar Bronfman, chief of WMG, made it clear that he thinks games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are great opportunities and are going to be a major player in the music industry. Wow, that sounds great! Does that mean WMG will support them even more? Not quite. WMG wants mo’ money and says they won’t license those games anymore if they don’t get paid.
Ubisoft’s award-winning new franchise, Assassin’s Creed, was leaked onto the internet 6 weeks prior to its PC version’s April release date. With the PC version’s leak, less than stellar review scores, and comparatively low sales, a pissed Ubisoft is now looking for (green) blood.
Movies, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Ohh, Wall-E. A sad movie if there ever was one, but at least it was very good. Coincidentally, Wall-E the game is also sad—but for totally different reasons. It’s another bad game based on a good movie. Who’d of thunk it?
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was unable to finish it. As soon as I was forced to destroy trash in space as Eve, I quit. Before that section, I had to fly through a timed gauntlet of rings (yes, one of those). The only thing is: there was no way to tell where the next ring was going to be, and I had to guess. That’s right, guess. There are some things about this game that just make you go, “Huh?”
The latest person to jump on the “video games made me do it” bandwagon was Phalawat Chinno who decided to attempt to rob a taxi cab because it was so easy to do it in GTA IV. When the taxi driver fought back, the man stabbed him 10 times. So what does the Thai government do in response to this tragic slaying? Why ban the game, of course.
Facebook meets Shelfari…for gamers. Vigster.com, the self-proclaimed “Planet for Gamers,” is what you get when you mix social networking with video games. Although just in beta, Vigster promises to be the “IMDB of video games,” and looks to be on the right track.
An MMOFPS? Many scoff at such a feat. A cross-platform MMOFPS? Many more join in. A cross-platform MMOFPS with the name of Huxley? Everyone dies of laughter. Korean-based Webzen is developing the Massive Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter, Huxley (what a mouthful!) with battles up to 120 people participating in a persistent online world. Webzen plans to couple the hectic and fast-paced FPS with more traditional MMORPG elements, like leveling and questing.
