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Bethesda: "We Aren’t Dumbing Down Our Franchises"

Apparently there are small but vocal groups of gamers who have accused Bethesda of having dumbed down their franchises for console gamers. Emil Pagliarulo, lead on Fallout 3, disagrees, calling the whole thing “funny”. Talking to Next-gen editors during a podcast, Pagliarulo said: “I look at Fallout when I play it every day, and I sometimes think that there’s a lot of old-school hardcore PC stuff in there too, and part of me thinks, ‘God, is this too inaccessible for console players?’”

He does note that the game contains a lot of dialog, a sophisticated targeting system and other elements that could be a major turnoff for console gamers, but he also think that it’s just the opposite.”I don’t feel like we’re dumbing down the franchise,” said Pagliarulo.

“…I think we’re starting to find that there is a market for [hardcore ‘PC RPGs’ on consoles]. People like myself and some people that work here actually grew up as hardcore PC guys, and now we’re older, we have kids, we don’t have that much time, so we’ve transitioned. We’re console players now.”

While his name may not be popular with gamers, Pagliarulo played an integral role in the development of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, writing the Dark Brotherhood storyline. It should be noted that the game was a major blockbuster, selling millions of units worldwide.

Hospitals to Get Xbox 360 Kiosks

Microsoft has recently gotten word that those hospitalized have been forced to halt their gaming, and are looking to change that very soon. Recently announcing that they will be giving hundreds of Xbox 360 kiosks to hospitals across the nation, Microsoft has stepped into the untapped market of hospitalized gamers.

In all seriousness though, Microsoft is providing these kiosks in hopes to provide young patients with a fun, and modern, activity to participate in while in the hospital for whatever reason. Whether Microsoft actually cares about these cancer fighting youngins or they just want to seem like the good guys in the business, it doesn’t matter as ill children are truly benefiting from this step in the right direction.

Great job, Microsoft!

Harmonix Dudes Enter Time 100

Joystiq reports that “those Harmonix guys” Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy have made it to this year’s Time 100, the list of the hundred most influential people. Both Rigopulos and Egozy are creators of Rock Band, the ultra popular band simulator that has taken the nation by storm. In fact, the write up at Time notes that Rock Band is “one of the ways kids will find music in the future” and “may just turn out to be up there with the rise of FM radio, CDs or MTV.”

While the above statements just might be a bit farfetched, both the Harmonix dudes deserve the Time nomination, which otherwise includes titans like presidents, presidential hopefuls and other such ‘important’ people. Quite surprisingly, this list was topped by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer of Mario and Zelda, among other franchises.

Immigrant Council Worried Over Portrayal of Eastern Europeans

It seems that Jack Thompson’s not the only one worried about the impact of Grand Theft Auto IV. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants is worried about the effects the game will have on the public’s perception of Eastern Europeans. The protagonist of the tale, Niko Bellic, is a recent immigrant attempting to flee his past which includes involvement in the Bosnian war. Of course he becomes embroiled in violence and crime (hey it’s a GTA game, what’d you expect?) and this is what’s caused the commotion. The Council has complained that this game is based on ‘false stereotypes’. It seems to me that there isn’t much in the way of stereotypes regarding Eastern Europeans being violent gangster types. Just because you don’t like how a character is portrayed, doesn’t mean it’s racially motivated.

The only stereotype this plays on is less of a stereotype and more of an archetype: the ex-military man who ends up forced to use his combat training to survive in a situation where he’d much rather never touch a gun again. From some of the reviews I’ve read it seems to have a rather positive spin on the character, portraying him as a man scarred by war who regrets having to do yet more violence.

Thompson At It Again

You had to know it was coming. Grand Theft Auto IV has been out a mere handful of hours and Jack Thompson is already up in arms about it. Someone put together a little clip called “Ladies of Liberty City” that shows a player rampaging through the hapless prostitutes of the Grand Theft Auto universe. Once again ol’ Jackie Boy has found something to complain about, calling the game the “gravest assault upon children in this country since polio”. He continues in his metaphor, saying that the ‘vaccine’ must be administered by the United States Government in the form of criminal prosecution against the ‘perpetrators’. He of course demanded that legal action be taken against Rockstar Games.

UPS Employees Fired for GTA 4 Theft

Shacknews reports that three UPS employees have been fired for stealing Grand Theft Auto IV, which is due out in a couple of hours. They stole copies of the game from shipment boxes destined for retail stores. These employees were fired in the same 24-hour period of their theft, with the tipster noting that such theft is not typical.

“When we have a [big name release], we communicate it to operations and security teams,” said the source. “We have security in place at the facilities, and we make sure they understand to keep an eye out for things to exit the building.

“We had tips from people inside, and some of them were discovered at intermediate hubs… it’s easy to spot: flaps torn, some boxes are re-taped.”

The site notes that the thieves stole single copies for personal use rather than lifting entire boxes for selling at jacked up prices.

Analyst: Publishers Should Treat Developers Like Superstars

Analysts often say weird things, but I happen to agree with this one analyst who thinks developers should be treated as superstars. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson suggested that game publishers could achieve greater financial success if they reward key development figures accordingly.

“There are very few people in this world who know how to create hits. Not create a hit, but create multiple hits,” he told MTV. “Those creative minds should be recognized and remunerated in the video game industry for their contribution as much as other forms of media.”

He agrees that it would be more expensive, but that the prospect of having better selling games is “worth it”. Wilson then went on to suggest that despite such potential, publishers see development figures quite disposable and interchangeable in terms of franchises, noting that Take-Two would most likely develop a BioShock sequel without creative director Ken Levine.

“Development would go right along without [Levine] and that would be a shame,” he said. “If George Lucas died today the probability of another Star Wars installment would go to 0%. If Stallone died today, the probability of another Rambo installment would go to 0%.”

What do you guys think? Should the good developers really be treated like superstars, or should publishers follow the socialist formula and treat everyone the same?

BioWare: "Wii Like a Toy"

When it comes to the Wii, BioWare head honchos are quite divided. Speaking to GameDaily, company president Greg Zeschuk said that he feels the Wii experience is “more like a toy experience,” adding that “you’re not ‘gaming’ anymore…If gaming is defined by story, then generally Wii may not be.”

However, CEO Ray Muzyka disagreed, suggesting that while Wii does focus on casual gamers, it does offer a different brand of gaming narrative-wise. “When you look at a moment to moment experience what a player does on a Wii game, it’s different, lighter, and more toy-like,” he said. “But there’s also a narrative between the players outside the game and kind of fulfills the same things games do. Games are ‘toys’ in the sense that they’re fun.”

BioWare is known best for its work on great RPGs throughout the times, including classics such as Baldur’s Gate, the Star Wars KOTOR games and, most recently, Mass Effect. The studio is currently working on a Sonic RPG for the DS and is working on an unnamed MMO.

Xbox 360 Kiosks in Children’s Hospitals Provide Joy, Comfort

In what can only be considered a great move, Microsoft has announced that it has partnered with Companions in Courage Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children and families who are overcoming life-threatening obstacles, to provide hundreds of Xbox 360 game kiosks to playrooms in children’s hospitals across the United States, intending to provide a respite for young patients. These kiosks will be modified for children, featuring select games, movies and television content as well as access to a private network that allows hospitalized children across the country to play games and chat in a safety-enhanced environment over Xbox Live.

The first wave of these kiosks has already been installed at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center of Seattle and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in California.

“Microsoft is committed to keeping kids entertained in a variety of ways within a safer gaming environment, so partnering with Companions in Courage to offer children in hospitals a way to connect through something as universal as games is a natural fit for the work we do,” Bach said. “The goal for this program is to give these kids a chance to have some fun and just be kids.”

Certain other companies *coughSonyNintendocough* could take a cue from this great move.

Fan Faire 2008 Announced

Sony Online Entertainment today announced the date for its annual Fan Faire, a real-life social event where thousands of gamers from across the world gather with members of their online community to play video games and make new friends, according to the announcement.

In reality, this nerd convention will be host to gameplay tournaments, extremely freaky costume contests, silent auctions for game memorabilia, real-life quests (what?) and exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming products from the company.

This year the event will held August 14-17, with the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada playing host. The event will also be host to a live community address from SOE head honcho John Smedley, as well as how-to forums, game development panels, parties and more. There will also e demos for upcoming titles from the company, including The Agency and Free Realms, as well as others.

The official website for the event has further details.

Man Proposes Through Bejeweled, Developer Helps with Wedding

Proposing marriage through video games is nothing new, but the effort that went behind this one is amazing. New Jersey resident Bernie Peng spent a month coding a custom DS version of Bejeweled, his girlfriend’s favorite game, so that when she hit a certain score in the game, a marriage proposal would appear on-screen.

His effort paid off quite well, as not only did she achieve the score, she said yes. “I thought it was pretty cool,” he said to AP. “In a nerdy way, though.”

Even more interestingly, after Peng posted about this on his blog, PopCap Games, the game’s developer, committed to flying the couple out to Seattle for their honeymoon and providing copies of the game for wedding guests.

“Most video game companies would frown on people manipulating their games,” said PopCap representative Garth Chouteau. “But it won him a woman. As a bunch of geeks, we have to say, ‘Bernie, hats off to you.’”

Germany Wants Demos Shut Down During School Hours

The curse of the gamer is that when you’re young, you’ve got bundles of free time to play games, but unless you’ve got a hefty allowance chances are you can’t get all the best games or systems. Older gamers generally have the inverse problem: cash but nowhere near enough time for gaming. Short of zapping into the ‘Harry Potter’ universe and picking up a nifty time reversal necklace, there’s no cure for the lack of time problem. Younger, less fiscally endowed gamers have a simple recourse: crowding around the demo stations of your local gaming store. It seems that this approach is causing some political ripples in Germany as students are cutting class in droves in order to get in some free gaming time. Politicians are attempting to get game demos turned off during school hours as one part of many measures intended to combat teen delinquency in an overall effort to curtail violent crimes.

Gears of War gets the Toy Treatment

You now finally have a playmate for your Macfarlane Master Chief action figure; Gears of War’s very own Marcus Fenix! NECA, the toy’s manufacturer, has announced that their much anticipated Gears of War series of action figures is just about ready to hit the streets. Featuring Gears characters like Marcus Fenix, Augustus “Cole Train” Cole, Locust Drone, and the Locust Sniper.

The Locust Sniper is pictured above and you can head over to Xbox 360 Fanboy’s gallery to peep the rest of the figures.

(Image courtesy of Xbox 360 Fanboy.)

Games For Heroes Charity

Whether or not you agree with the United States’ aggressive military actions abroad, you have to admit that the situation for many soldiers is a rather poor one. Many servicemen and women are in relatively desolate places like Iraq and Afghanistan where along with the impending danger surrounding them there’s another severe adversary: boredom. There’s not much point to free time if there’s nothing to do, and as anyone with a basic understanding of military strategy knows, keeping morale amongst the troops high is a good thing. Peter Gallagher and Jack Wilson, both high school students, have started a charity intended to keep our troops spirits high and give them a break from the looming threats all around them. Called “Games For Heroes”, the website details the charity’s efforts to provide overseas soldiers (many of whom are young, generally 18-20) with handheld gaming devices.

King Bashes Massachusetts Legislation

The battle lines over the video game issue have been drawn some years back and the opposing forces are easily distinguishable. On one side stand politicians, moral crusaders and parents concerned that the forces of evil will corrupt their easily influenced children and leave them drooling, amoral crimefiends with a lust for anarchy and chaos. On the other side are a bevvy of teenagers, college students and adults who are for the most part less fanatical about their belief that it’s just a harmless hobby. In the wake of the state of Massachusetts’ announcement that they were going to be re-examining the “games as porn” bill that would restrict M-rated video game sales to people 18 and over legally, the pro gaming side has gotten an unlikely ally. Stephen King, author of horror tales a-plenty and the popular ‘Dark Tower’ series, has chimed in via a column in Entertainment Weeklytitled “Videogame Lunacy”. He criticizes the proposed bill, stating that the politicians need to cease persecuting pop culture in general. He said “It’s easy for them, even sort of fun, because the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud. Also, it allows legislators to ignore the elephants in the living room.” He went on to point out that even if the bill passes it’s likely to be ruled as unconstitutional as several similar laws have been deemed as such in the past. Mr. King goes on to point out that legislators were quick to claim that the Virginia Tech shooter was a fan of Counterstrike (which was completely untrue) but never said a word about how tragically easy it was for him to obtain a 9mm handgun. Say what you will about King’s books, he’s an articulate and intelligent man– and also an admitted non-gamer. It’s one thing to listen to testimony from hardcore gamers but when someone completely divorced from the industry comes out in defense of it, everyone should take notice.

Top Fanboy Nightmares

This article on Videogamer.com takes a look at what would cause major nightmares in fanboys. As humorous as it is, the article does raise some hair-raising thoughts, some of which include Samus Aran as being a man in drag and Sony beginning to charge for online play. But this is the best:

9. Nintendo releases a real-world Mario FPS

In a drastic move away from fantastical Mario video games, Nintendo releases a Mario FPS. The game is set in the modern day with Mario now a young detective whose father is killed by notorious crime lord Bowser. In a tale of revenge Mario has to fight his way deep into the criminal underworld until he comes face to face with his father’s murderer and can deliver payback, Italian style. It’s an adults only title because of its strong language, sexual content and extreme violence. Mario fans would never be the same again.

What would give you nightmares?

Gaming Sweeping The Nation

Since the advent of home gaming systems, that often reviled hobby has been creeping its way into pop culture and the public consciousness. It seems that with the explosion of the Wii and casual gaming things have hit a near epidemic scale. A recent study by the NPD Group shows that gaming is an all time high in the United States. Almost three quarters of the population reports that they play video games in one form or another. That’s not to say you can expect to see your grandmother ‘pwning noobs’ on xbox live. Fifty percent report they play games online, and ninety percent of it is done through the PC. There’s probably a whole lot of World of Warcraft players in that total, but a good portion of the rest are likely casual gamers playing flash-based games like Bejeweled. Whether it’s due to fanboyism or the general expense of most systems, there’s a very low level of multi-platform ownership. Only three percent of people own two of the current-gen systems and only two percent report owning all three systems. The Xbox 360 has dominance of the non-pc online gaming community, with half of the console gamers reporting that they game through Xbox Live. Unshockingly the largest group of online gamers are the very young. Kids aged 2-17 represent forty percent of the online gaming community and are undoubtedly that way because of a lack of significant commitments like college, relationships and work. At least that explains why there’s so many squeaky voices screaming profanities in my ear every time I boot up Halo.

Street Fighter Movie Cast Confirmed

The main cast for Capcom’s upcoming live-action film adaptation of Street Fighter has been confirmed. The story, as well all know, will revolve around Chun-Li, who will be portrayed by actress Kristen Kreuk (Smallville) who will be joined by Michael Clark Duncan, Neal McDonough and Taboo of Black Eyed Peas.

Michael Clark Duncan will play the role of Balrog, with M. Bison being played by Neal McDonough. Taboo will play Vega while Charlie Nash will be acted by Chris Klein.

The Street Fighter movie is being made in conjunction with Hyde Park Films and is set for release sometime next year.

Brits Like Playing Games Over Sex

Now, what can be more important than sex? Who would give up sex for something else? As it stands, the Brits prefer playing video games over having sex in their bedroom. Amazing, isn’t it?

This comes straight from CVG who quotes The Daily Mirror, a local paper, which quizzed over 2000 people on what they like to do in their bedrooms. Interestingly, sleep, net surfing and using the phone topped the list, with playing video games coming in before sex, which was the last and least done item on the list.

Clearly, the Brits need help with their sex lives.

Use Your GPU to Cure Involuntary Body Movement

This whole distributed computing thing is really picking up steam these days, what with advances made by the video gaming industry. The PS3’s achievement in this sector, thanks to Folding@Home, is most notable, but a competitor may be coming up soon.

British site The Engineer reports that gamers can contribute to speeding up the processing of magnetic resonance imaging that is important to prevent the blurring effects of involuntary body movement. This can be done through the video cards installed on your machine. Thanks to ATI and NVIDIA competing against each other, graphics cards have gained even more processors day by day, gaining more power with each generation.

So, go ahead and help out some medical research. Do some good to the world, gamers.

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