Friday, May 30, 2008

Valve prez threatens to eat pirates whole!



This week Valve president Gabe Newell at a recent gaming summit in Seattle has this to say about PC game piracy, "when you list the things that we worry about in our business, piracy is not one of them."

Valve is a company that understands what loss is more than almost any other. Valve had the source code back in 2003, this act almost destroyed the company.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Local man finishes GTA 4! The public demands to know more!



We have 8 questions with local hero Stu Horvath on his most recent accomplishment finishing the story mode of Grand Theft Auto 4.

Japanese Dude-Girl: How long did it take?

Stu Horvath: Just shy of 40 hours.

JDG: Did you get 100%?

SH: My game ended at 68%. Since nothing else is coming out till September, getting 100% is definitely in the cards.

JDG: What times of the day did you play?

SH:Most of the GTA experience took place between the hours of 12am and 5am. It was finished at about 10pm on a Sunday evening though.

JDG: Was there support from your friends and family?

SH: I don't see my friends and family much anymore.

JDG: Do you feel as though you will be playing this again in story mode?

SH: Probably not. It was a good game, don't get me wrong. But too many of the story missions are a huge pain in the ass. And honestly, my end game was such a kick in the balls, I shudder to think what the other ending is like.

JDG: Having finished the game, do you feel as though you have any insight on the (as of now) exclusive to Xbox content that is going to be released in August?

SH: Single player mission packs, hopefully. More clothing shops. I don't see more explorable areas coming and we'll probably just get stuck with lame ass multiplayer crap that I'll play once and never again.

JDG: Are you the first person you know to finish the game?

SH: Yes, actually. Thank god its over, too. I have a life to get back to.

JDG: What's next on the horizon for you?

SH: Getting 100% over the next couple months. Maybe some traveling. If Disney'd sponsor me, I'd go to Disney World...

Nolan Bushnell: Oldman, avid floater, visionary!


Atari founder Noah Bushnell was recently quoted at a New York conference saying, "There is a stealth encryption chip called a TPM that is going on the motherboards of most of the computers that are coming out now."

"What that says is that in the games business we will be able to encrypt with an absolutely verifiable private key in the encryption world - which is uncrackable by people on the internet and by giving away passwords - which will allow for a huge market to develop in some of the areas where piracy has been a real problem."

What is opinion on this working with movies and music "if you can watch it and you can hear it, you can copy it." I guess if you can program it you can protect it.

What is TPM you ask? TPM, stands for Trusted Platform Module. What does that mean to you as a consumer, and a PC game player?Remote attestation, Binding, and Sealing, are the three basic principals that are involved in this anti piracy device. Seems kinda creepy if you ask me. I like to think of my computer as being able to do things I want it to do, when I want it to do it, with no limitations. If I wanted limitations I would probably only use a console.

Then again I am just a guy, and Nolan Bushnell likes restaurants.

Personally I think they should go back to the days of code wheels and special pages in the manual.

It's a trick get and ax




Marty McFly calling; in the fall of 2006 I went to the New World Stage theater to see Evil Dead the Musical. It was fun. I bought a t-shirt.

Who knew that the Canadians had such a clever sense of style. These bad ass posters are for the 2008 Toronto shows.

Evil Dead the Musical official


Soundtrack

The public wants to know when Bionic Commando Rearmed is going launch! JDG scrambles for an answer!


I was standing in my kitchen yesterday when I was asked by a man on the street, "Hey when does that new Bionic Commando Rearmed come out? Wasn't it supposed to be this month?" I had no answer. I knew that he was right, the game was supposed to be released in May, on XBox live and I suppose whatever PS3 uses, but whatever the case the public must be informed.

Official words from Capcom high command.
Note key words like problems, regret, and won't.

"This is MA-1. Sir, we know you've been waiting to get your hands on the finished Bionic Commando Rearmed, but it appears we've run into a few problems in the closing stages. I regret to inform you that we have received confirmation that the game won't be making its scheduled May release.

This is always the hardest part of any battle, sir. All we can tell you is that the game is done and is more awesome than pure liquid awesome sir! Our troops right now are in the trenches, battling with bugs and submission procedures. Fatigue is starting to set in but they won't give up until that game is on the shelves!

What's that, sir? There are no shelves, it's a downloadable title? You sure told me, sir. What a world we live in!"



There you have it. Much like Duke Nukem Forever, coming out, "when it's done."

In the mean time you can get the Bionic Commando Rearmed soundtrack from iTunes or any of your favorite avenues of downloading.

Bionic Commando Rearmed Official response

Pay location other than iTunes for the soundtrack

Friday, May 23, 2008

GET OVER HERE! thoughts on Mortal Kombat vs. DC


Mortal Kombat, the bloodiest game of the 90's, is coming out with its first crossover fighting game. Originally put out by Midway, Mortal Kombat became infamous for being one of bloodiest games of the 90's, they set the bar high for violence and aggression previously not seen before in arcades.


This fall Mortal Kombat will be releasing , Mortal Kombat vs DC, this will pit classic characters you know and love from both franchises beating the tar out of each other. Except no fatalities. You heard me right, a Mortal Kombat game with no fatalities.


This will be a Mortal Kombat with no fatalities. No one is going to pull Green Lanterns' heart out and show it to him. Superman and Scorpion will not be exchanging any fire from holes in their head. Batman won't be killing anyone, as usual. Just another check in the, "why'd they do that" column.


But first I think we need a little history lesson on the subject of comic book crossover games. About 12 years ago Capcom and Marvel Comics worked together to create a crossover franchise that would change 2D fighting games forever. X-men vs. Street Fighter might not have been the best in the series, but with out a beginning there would not been the, as of now, final product of Marvel vs. Street Fighter 2.


I am not a good Street Fighter player, I don't claim to be. But I do enjoy the series. I like the characters and look of the games. They have been pretty consistent since the first Street Fighter game was released in 1987. This kind is what players and fans like about the series, they always know what they are getting into, quaterturn from down to forward and pressing punch gets you the Ryu Fireball.


Sadly Mortal Kombat does not have this consistency. Over the years they have been chipping away at what made Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat. I am not one to complain about progress, but I do like certain consistency in my games. You know what, even if it was spectacular game play, what it really comes down to it both Mortal Kombat and DC are a few years too late on this idea.


DC is too big now to try and do anything fun with. Look at the Marvel vs Capcom games, all the Marvel characters look like they are Street Fighter universe already with that magna style look to them, there is no real story to be told, it is just wow, all these characters are fighting each other. Characters like Mega Man, and that little dog. Try not to forget Mega Man and a little dog fighting Magneto. The game had a sense of light heartedness, good solid game play as well as general bad assery.


MK vs. DC, well that is going to have story written by Jimmy Palmiotti, so you know, it will be serious and important. As a fan of comic books this game seems like something Marvel would do. Marvel actually made a fighting game a few years ago called Marvel Nemesis, which wasn't horrible, it certainly was not in the typical fighting game. But at least they did something different. Make a fighting game using your own franchises characters, or make a fighting game that people want to see. Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter.


Having not played the game at all, and only seeing a few screen shots and a trailer, I am not impressed with the idea. The game might be fun, but much like when The Misfits came back out in the mid 90's, they should have called it something else, because at that point they had moved rather far away from the mark. This is not a Mortal Kombat game, this should be called something different. Call it what is it DC comics vs. some ninja guys. Toasty!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Softer Side of Sears

So yesterday I was leaving Sears. I bought my dad some garden lights yesterday for his birthday. Anyway on the way out I had my receipt in my hand. I thought it was one of the places where they wanted to check my receipt before leaving. As I am walking out this guy is looking at me. I stopped and I said, "hi you want to see my receipt?" He said no. I responded with, "oh I thought you were giving me the eyes." I did say, eyes, then I looked around me and realized I was in the womens department, and then looked that this guy, a handsome young man, and had the sparkle in his eye.

He was giving me the eye, that special eye. It put a spring in my step.