The Right Spin

I was listening to the PC Gamer podcast and heard about an interesting site: Game Politics.com. The editor of the site, Dennis McCauley, was interviewed and seemed like a fair man, though those who did the interviewing did not. That is to say I felt they were too pro-video games.

After looking over the site it would appear PC Gamer decided to interview someone who pretty much shared their views. That's unfortunate. I believe gamers and the video game industry itself isn't doing nearly enough to call to the made game developers who cross the line. Instead they spend most of their time attacking elected officials and private citizens who react against such hot button issues as the "Hot Coffee" mod.

So, everyone is busy reacting and no one is actually trying to fix the problem in an intelligent way. There's a problem that needs to be addressed and the video game industry and its supporters are more interested in wrapping themselves in the 1st Amendment than actually trying to address the concerns of parents who, for whatever reason, are often woefully ignorant of the video game medium.

I did e-mail Mr. McCauley about my concerns and replied thusly:

Hey, Kevin...

Good points.

There was some condemnation of Rockstar/T2 for lying in the game community. Here at GP we gave it to them with both barrels...

Personally, I think there is a lot of private resentment and anger in the game community at R*/T2. However, since they are paid-up members of the ESA, the industry won't be taking them on anytime soon.

Warren Spector criticized them publicly late last year, but no one else is saying much for the record, which is a shame. Understandable, in a way, I guess. This is still a relatively small industry. No one wants to burn their bridges. Which is why the media exists, to get at the truth.

Best,

-Dennis

For those who don't know:

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the U.S. association exclusively dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish video and computer games for video game consoles, personal computers, and the Internet.

This is taken directly from the ESA's own web page. So, when Rockstar messes up the very group that is suppose to represent the industry in the public won't cendemn them because they help pay the bills. Kinda like most unions.

I'm glad Mr. McCauley agrees with me that the industry itself has work to do in presenting itself to the, what I'll call, "parenting" public. I only wish video game developers and their throngs of supporters would reconize the same.

So, I went to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra last night and saw one of the final performances of Dear Friends: Music From Final Fantasy and it was frickin' awesome! Seeing all that great music by Nobuo Uematsu played by a live orchestra was a thrill. And they capped the evening off with a dual encore of "One Winged Angel!" Sephiroth is badass. The final performance of the entire tour is tonight. I believe Lusipher is supposed to be going.

On further gaming music news: On August 28th, at the DTE Music Theatre (or known as Pine Knobb by non-heathens) there is another concert! It's called Video Games Live and promises to fully orchestrate music from a number of classic and modern games. Should be sweet!

LUNAR, an RPG first appearing on the undersupported Sega CD, was my first introduction into the worlderful world of video game RPGs. It's been my favorite "series" ever since. I say "series" because it pretty much only consists of two games (the made it to the U.S. anyway); LUNAR: The Silver Star and LUNAR: Eternal Blue. Both games were incredible. Then the PlayStation came out and both games were retooled and released for that platform as LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete and LUNAR: Eternal Blue Complete. Most of the retooling was done to the first LUNAR with the addition of many more anime cutscenes, characters and content. LUNAR 2, while getting upgrades of its own, stayed pretty close to the Sega CD version. Eventually LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete we retooled again and released on the GameBoy Advance as LUNAR: Legend. Two additional LUNAR games were released in Japan, only the first being a true sequel, and the second simply being a remake of that sequel.

It's been over a decade since a truly new LUNAR content has made its way to America's shores. Many were hoping it would be the much rumored LUNAR 3, something talked about since the Sega CD days. However, it's not. But that's not a bad thing! This game will take place 1000 years before the events of the first LUNAR and introduce a whole new cast of characters! Unfortunately, it's coming out for the Nintendo DS. I sat that because now I'm going to have to shell out $150 for that thing when the game is released in September of this year.

Anyway, head on over to LunarNET to learn more as they are the internet hub for all things LUNAR in addition to being the official site for this new chapter in the LUNAR saga; LUNAR: Dragon Song.

Ok, maybe that didn't happen by apparently Rockstar Games did lie. The issue that's got everyone upset, even Hillary Clinton, is this "Hot Coffee" mod for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. GameSpot has an article the pretty much sums up everything.

The mod, which is available on numerous Web sites, adds a bonus sex minigame as a reward for the numerous "girlfriend" missions in San Andreas.

Previously, when game hero Carl "CJ" Johnson successfully wined and dined one of several girlfriends a certain number of times, she would ask him into her house for "coffee." After entering, the game shows an external shot of the house with muffled sounds of a couple emitting moans in flagrante delicto. PC versions of San Andreas with the "Hot Coffee" mod installed show what goes on inside the house, treating players to a sexually graphic minigame of CJ fornicating with his girlfriend.

According to its creators, the Hot Coffee mod merely unlocks hidden, preexisting code inside San Andreas.

Anyone who knows anything about PC games knows that these games are often modded by eager gamers beyond what the publisher intended. Of course, the publisher cannot be held responsible for what these modders create with their property.

"So far we have learned that the 'Hot Coffee' modification is the work of a determined group of hackers who have gone to significant trouble to alter scenes in the official version of the game," the company said. "In violation of the software user agreement, hackers created the 'Hot Coffee' modification by disassembling and then combining, recompiling and altering the game's source code."

Rockstar's statement also claimed that the mod was the product of complex technical tampering.

That's entirely possible. Many companies try to make their games tamper proof for many reasons and making it difficult for modders to alter their product is one reason.

However, Rockstar Games' argument has been undermined by an increasing number of reports that claimed the sex minigame is in the PlayStation 2 version of San Andreas. Since the PS2 version comes on an unmoddable DVD, it cannot have any content added to it, although cheat codes--created either by the publisher or third parties--can unlock preexisting code on the disc.

Now we have a problem. If this minigame is appearing in the PS2 version of the game that means that Rockstar themselves created and imbedded it within their product.

After acquiring the "Uncensored Hot Coffee" codes from the respected tech-blog Kotaku, we entered them into an easily obtainable Action Replay Max cheat device...

After saving, our test editor had Carl visit the house of his nearest girlfriend, Denise... we completed a fourth date... after which she invited us into her house for "coffee."

The next screen proved that the PlayStation 2 edition of the game does indeed include a sexually graphic minigame, which plays almost exactly the same as the Hot Coffee mod.

God of War for the PS2 also has a sexually graphic minigame. It too has a Mature rating as GTA: SA had but I think that as the developers didn't try to hide it that must be considered. GameStop closes with:

Given that the minigame is about as raunchy as an episode of Sex and the City, cannot be accessed without entering a long string of cheat codes, and takes several hours of effort to access, charges that San Andreas is "pornographic" may seem extreme to some. However, its existence does appear to contradict Rockstar Games' carefully worded statement blaming hacker mischief for the existence of the Hot Coffee mod.

It's seems that Rockstar intended to place the minigame into their product at one time and changed their mind. I'm cool with that. And knowing what complications could arise by ripping out the code for the minigame I'm cool with the fact that they made it impossible to access it without the use of cheat codes. But that Rockstar lied shows that they feel guilty about something. I think it would have been far better for them to admit, "Yes, the minigame is there, we intended for players to be able to access it at one time but reconsidered. Removing the code would have been too difficult so instead we made it that the player couldn't access it outside of playing the game in a way we never designed it to be played."

I think had they said this the game wouldn't have been slapped with a new Adult label and yanked off the shelves of rental stores.

As Tycho at Penny Arcade notes:

It's unfortunate that in order to defend videogames, it usually means you're defending Rockstar specifically.

Recently I finished Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and it was a frickin' blast. Set in the U.S.S.R. in 1964 it's the height of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis is still fresh on everyone's mind and JFK has recently been assassinated. Khrushchev, having lost his most powerful ally in the West, is now on the verge of losing control of his country to the military. Fearful of a coup he is blind to the threat posed by a small special forces-style group within the Soviet military: GRU.

But this is of little interest to the United States just now. What we are interested in is a Soviet weapons scientist, Sokolov, wishing to return to the U.S. He defected a number of years hence but one of the conditions for Soviet withdrawal from Cuba was the return of this scientist. The Kennedy Administration complied. Now the mission is to get him back and the protagonist of the story, Snake, is the man to do so.

Upon near completion of his mission, Snake, encounters his old mentor, over a bridge high above a fast flowing river, deep within Soviet territory: The Boss. She's a legend known around the world in political and military circles. If her history became unclassified we'd know her as one of the key figures bringing victory to the Allies in World War 2. Together she and Snake developed a deadly and highly effective style of combat known as CQC. She, being a master of it, quickly disarms Snake and informs him that Sokolov is coming with her. And she, and her hand selected team of mercenaries known as The Cobras, are joining up with GRU. As a sign of her loyalty to GRU she presents its leader, Volgin, with a gift: a small nuclear rocket and launcher. Since Snake has seen Volgin he cannot be allowed to live. Volgin is about to take matters into his own hands when the Boss intercedes. Snake was her student and she'll deal with him. She subdues him with little effort and throws him over the side of the bridge. Badly injured Snake washes upon on shore. Meanwhile, Volgin, flanked by helicopters, uses his gift. He destroys the facility Snake rescued Sokolov from in a brilliant nuclear explosion. Snake is rescued and brought back to the U.S. as a criminal.

The Kremlin is up in arms and demands answers from the United States. President Johnson convinces Khrushchev to allow an American agent to enter the U.S.S.R. to apprehend the Boss and bring her to justice. Khrushchev agrees but a clock is ticking. His military advisors are demanding a retaliatory strike and he cannot hold them off forever. Now, Snake, to clear his name, must assassinate his old mentor to avert a nuclear exchange between the world's two superpowers.

Whew! That's a lot! And that's only the first 20 minutes or so of the game. Things get really twisted from here.

What's so great about this game is that it's set during the Cold War. The feeling of paranoia and imminent destruction is great to return to in a storytelling setting. While we know the outcome of the Cold War the tension is still there. Now, I'll warn you, the story does get really... out there. Either people seem to love it or hate it. I'm in the former crowd. That it gets so unbelievable is incredible. There are numerous, "What the f---!?" moments as the story twists and turns. You think you know what's going on? You don't. You don't get the full picture until after the credits end. What's more, if you know anything about the previous Metal Gear games it casts so much in a different light. People you thought were villains you sympathize with and organizations you once though you understood a revealed to be nothing you could have imagined. Great game. Great story. Awesome music.

My only complaint is the camera angle. It's one of the main reasons I couldn't play Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The camera angle is top-down, that is, you're looking directly down upon Snake from above and the camera is so close to him you're often forced to go into first-person view so you don't stumble into anything stupid. Never mind the fact that you cannot walk in first person, only view, aim and crouch. "So," you may be asking yourself, "If you hated the camera, and this kept you from MGS 2, why did you put up with it for MGS 3?" Two words: The Boss. From the moment I saw her on that bridge I was hooked. I loved everything about her and I wanted to know everything I could about her as well.

Luckily, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is going to correct this by offering the game in full third-person. It'll also add some other goodies that'll get me to check it out.

Anyway, if you own a PS2, and you can put up with an annoying camera, you need to look at this title. It's been out for awhile so you should be able to get it relatively cheap. I got it for $26 used.

So, I picked up Guild Wars for the PC and it's pretty cool thus far. You can go PVP or straight role-playing and I chose the latter. It's nice - it feels like a massively multiplayer single player game. I know who weird that sounds but that's the most accurate description I can come up with. It has the strengths of a single player campaign with MMO thrown in. I'm liking it so far. I'm a necromancer. For those of you who don't know necromancers have their fun at the expense of the living... and unliving. Essentially kill live things with the powers of death and then take the corpses of the formerly living and make them do our bidding. It's two-times the fun!

So sayeth this completely scientific quiz!

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

You are a four-sided die, a d4. Otherwise known as a tetrahedron, a "Caltrop", or (to a lesser degree) "Ol' Pointy". This crap bores you, so I'll get to the point. Others tend to see you as petty, conniving, manipulative, argumentative, defensive, greedy, and needlessly antagonistic. You see yourself as focused, effective, efficient, influencing, shrewd, tactical, and direct. Both points of view are in fact correct. You always know the best way to get things done, a fact that never wins sympathy with others. Whenever you manage to gain control of a situation, your solutions are swift and brutal. Unfortunately everyone else is convinced that granting you such power is, "a bad thing" and often conspire to keep it out of your hands. Such short-sighted fools!

Hattip to John.

Full Spectrum Warrior 2 has been announced! For those of you not in the know Full Spectrum Warrior is a game based upon software used by the U.S. Army to train soldiers for urban combat. In this game you yourself don't actually shoot anyone. You control two squads and direct them though various scenarios toward their objective. Fire control directed by the player by selecting fields of fire and types of fire. Your two squads act accordingly. So, there’s a bit of strategery (heh) involved here.

Anyway, the first was pretty solid, though caught some flack because some felt it was a tad on the dry side what with you not actually shooting anyone and maneuvering your two squads could get a bit repetitive. So, I'm looking forward to the sequel.

So, Midway published a game called NARC in which you play a cop addicted to narcotics which you take in-game as a power-up. And CNN's got something to say about it.

What do I as a blue state Christian conservative think about this? I find it funny as all hell. I'm actually surprised that someone didn't think of this sooner! Do I think it's a good idea? Oh hell no. It's a terribly stupid idea. And not because I'm all for cencoring or anything like that, no. It's just a stupid game design choice and, I'm pretty sure, put in there to make the game seem "edgy". Yeah, it's getting all the bad publicity that Grand Theft Auto 3 did, but that game didn't suck. NARC does.

Additionally, this game is intended for adult gamers - 17+. Says so right on the box. So, if you're gonna get uppity about this then you need to get uppity about ever rated "R" movie ever released. Just because it happens to be a video game doesn't mean it's being targeted at kids. How many kids do you know who can shell out $200 for a console and $50 for a game? I daresay not many. And even if you do I'm sure they have parents. Bottom line, parents should be monitoring this stuff. If you won't let Timmy rent an "R" rated flick from Blockbuster then you should probably make sure he doesn't have this game either. And not just because of the drug content or the "M" rating. The game really sucks. Don't support this tripe.

Now, excuse me as I go kill a hooker in an alley by draining her blood as my scantily clad crazy vampire cheerleader in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It's rated "M" and I'm over 17 so I get to play it, go me!

Probably my favorite game series of all time is MYST. I cannot get enough of the setting. That's right - setting. I suck at puzzle games, not that there are many out there to begin with. MYST's core gaming element is puzzles. And, as I said already, I suck at those. But boy do I love the story! That's why I'm saddened to know that the series is coming to and end. MYST 5: End of Ages will be the final MYST game. Happily, unlike MYST 1-4, this one will be completely 3D real-time, as opposed to prerendered. It will be using an updated version of Cyan's Plasma Engine, which was used to create URU: Ages Beyond MYST (and RealMYST... I think).

So, now I anxiously await the arrival of this final chapter at the end of the year. It is with both glee and sadness I will greet this final adventure. And age will have truly come to and end.

I've asked my friend, Lusipher, to start posting here. We disagree on many things without being disagreeable with one another and I consider him a good friend.

So, you people who think I'm an intolorant bigot can suck it!

I'll try to get him to post something soon. Ooh! Maybe we can be the blog version of Hannity & Colmes! Although, I find Sean Hannity annoying and, while I often disagree with Allen Colmes, I enjoy how he approaches and discusses issues.

Can't really say the same of, Lusipher...

Since my pathetic little blog is sorely lacking gaming content I offer you this post... from another blog. It's purely geek stuff and faily common sense if you know much about Star Wars. Although the author, I think, seems to feel this is a larger issue than it is. I mean, everyone knows what a Jedi is. And in-game, during the Empire Era and New Republic Era, even so-called non-sactioned "Jedis" could call themselves this simply because they know what this title entails. It's a title with weight and responsibility in many ways.

But, the author is technically correct. You're not a Jedi unless you're granted the title by the Jedi Counsel (or Yoda if the entire counsel happens to be dead). But, in some cases, I think that's like argueing calling anything Kleenex, instead of facial tissue, not made by that company is somehow incorrect. While technically correct once a particular term for something becomes so widespread in common usage it's being a bit uptight to demand people to conform to the porper way. Could it lead to confusion? Possibly... but saying "facial tissue" just feels wierd.

Anyway, it's a damned fine blog and I will be visiting it regularly.