I reviewed SplitFish Games’ Edge FX for the PS2. This accessory makes your PS2 controller like a PC setup. But is that a good thing? Watch the full video review in the Product Video Review section of The Pipeline.
Category: Video Games
ESRB Controls the Internet
The video game rating organization ESRB has gone into hack and slash mode today! Video game publishers releasing M and AO titles are being forced to have press sites age-gate any videos relating to their products, which contain mature content. Since StuffWeLike.com focuses a lot on its media player content, we’ve asked SplashCast – the technology behind the player – to add an age-gate system.
It’s pretty crazy though that an organization can now control the content that flows out onto the internet. This is something to take very seriously by not only gamers, but by anyone who uses the internet. The internet is the place for freedom of speech and expression.
It is important to protect younger audiences from graphic material, especially if deemed unsuitable by their parents. But an age-gate system is easy to get through no matter how old you are.
There are going to be some major repercussions here GOOD or BAD.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, New Scans!
Squee! I <3 Metroid.European gaming mag Play has gotten hold of some hot new images of the upcoming Wii title, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and I’ve got to say, it’s looking very nice. I’ve been awesome enough to gallery them below for your viewing pleasure. No need to thank me. Just cross your fingers and hope I don’t get sued.
You gotta FIGHT! For your RIGHT! To Plaaaaaaaaaay GAMES!
I reported a couple of days ago on the BBFC and Irish Film Censor Office’s decisions to effectively ban Manhunt 2 in the United Kingdom and Ireland by refusing to rate the game, citing “casual sadism” and “callous violence”, and the ESRB’s decision to rate the game “Adults Only”. Since then, Sony and Nintendo have both reaffirmed their policies (which I was unaware of at the time of the last article) of refusing to license “AO”-rated games, or to even let them play on their systems. Universally, these boards and companies are treating this game as an imminent threat to society, and that is not an exaggeration on my part.
This should put a burr beneath the scrotum of any adult who feels that we have a certain right to decide what forms of entertainment are suitable for our own consumption. As an American, I applaud the constitutionally-enforced inability of the ESRB to ban this game, but am saddened and disturbed by Nintendo’s and Sony’s decisions to disallow games designed for responsible, mentally-capable adults. According to figures from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer and video games, and the average gamer age is 33. Of all gamers, only 31% are under age 18, with 44% falling between 18-49 years of age, and 25% aged 50 years and over. Quick addition tells us 79% of all gamers are adults, yet these companies, boards, and committees find this adult content intolerable, and in some cases illegal. This is disheartening to me in a way I can’t begin to express to you.
But I digress. Before I lose you on this one, I wanted to share with you GAMERS FOR GAMING, a cause championed by Jim Sterling and David Houghton, two of my new favoritest tea-sipping bad-asses over at Destructoid.com. They’ve attached themselves to this story like a couple of rabid wolves may attach themselves to… another rabid wolf… attached to… freedom of expression? I dunno, metaphors aside, these guys are working on getting our thoughts and feelings across to everyone who is working to stifle our freedom to choose, the freedom of media, and the freedom of expression in art. Fight with us. Follow along. This affects us as gamers, as consumers, and as free people. It’s not a little issue. It’s not about one game, but about everything that ratings boards and law makers can take from you in the future once we start down this slippery slope. There are so many reasons to get in on this, I’ll not try to innumerate them. Get involved.
A very special thank you to the people with the voice that have taken up this torch. It’s good to see gamers getting involved in something worthwhile.
Penny Arcade The Game
After watching this trailer you might ask yourself, how exactly this game relates to Penny Arcade the comic? I for one can’t answer that question other than this game is made from the creators of Penny Arcade. Gameplay wise it looks like a beat-em up… fun? Potentially… although comedy has never been a keynote in the video game industry.
A Vampyre Story; Right-click to drink blud. Blah!
OMG OMG OMG! Old-school point-and-click with vampires? Where do I sign up?
Slated for release in fourth quarter 2007, the upcoming A Vampyre Story comes to us from the mind of Bill Tiller, founder of Autumn Moon Entertainment, and former LucasArts employee known for his work on fan favorites The Dig, Indiana Jones, and The Curse of Monkey Island. From the press release:
The point-and-click adventure game “A Vampyre Story” tells the tale of the beautiful, gifted opera singer Mona De Lafitte, whose life is brought to an abrupt end by a vampire baron named Shrowdy Von Kiefer. Henceforth, she is doomed to a miserable existence as a creature of the night in Von Kiefer’s gloomy castle in Draxsylvania. Confronted with her seemingly hopeless fate, she decides to run away and try to fulfill her dream of singing at the Paris Opera. Accompanied by her mischievous bat Froderick, Mona must face a number of challenges in her odyssey and learn not only to accept her vampire nature, but also to use the abilities she has acquired to her advantage.
Featuring over 50 hand-drawn locations and some creeped out cast members, this is certainly one I’ll be looking forward to. Check out the pics gallery for some for a few uber-huge screen shots, and read on for the full press release.
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