The Wii Controller

After much fiddling and thought, I have decided that I don't like the Wiimote. I'm sorry, I just... don't like it.

What it really comes down to for me is that you can't use all the buttons. I mean, how many times have you fiddled around trying to reach down and press one of the buttons at the bottom? How many times have you accidently pressed the home button or the A button? Why do developers only use the triggers? Have you ever thought about it?

Its because really, those triggers are the only useful things on the controller.

Also, the aiming. It irritates me. Its not so much aiming as it is guessing. I can't look down the controller and say "Boom, headshot" (Credit to PurePwnage for the quote), because the controller doesn't aim where you aim it. I feel like the whole infra-red thing is bullcrap and that why do we need some silly bar to be on the top or the bottom? Why can't it be a strap that hangs down over the sides and has one infra-red signal on each side of the screen?

But really, can you imagine playing Spiderman with the Wii? How are you going to handle doing all that? I remember playing Spiderman 2 and wanting to sprint up a wall after webslinging. You'd have to let go of like L1, hold L2, and press Circle to do it, and the thrill of it was AMAZING. It took SKILL to web sling into a sprint up the side of a 30 story building and not die. Well, maybe not die, but fall happily with a heavy thud into the pavement (I can't tell you how many times I jumped from the highest buildings to fall flat on the pavement, just for the pure rush of motion-blur and speed as the ground approached. :) )

Anyway, please leave your comments on the Wii Controller, you're welcome to disagree. Maybe I'm overlooking something...

Mexican Police Strikes Back!

Read about this crazy stunt the Mexican Police is pulling.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3158305


Someone brought up a good point though. While it does SEEM to be a good idea, its actually a horrible idea because the people that now win these things will just be killed by the people who do own the guns. Or, they'll buy more guns to protect what they have. Either way, it seems silly.

Here comes the Glory of Microsoft. Straight from France, the news is "Xbox 360 loves you". Underneath the link, there is a beautiful video about how while the PS3 was releasing, Microsoft's local marketing director decided that they were going to have some fun. They rented a barge and floated it down the nearby canal and really stole the PS3's show.

If you don't already know, PS3 is now worldwide. Yippee, yeah, whatever.

N00b Pwnage = Pure

This should be a link to PurePwnage. If it doesn't work, just google PurePwnage, and you'll find it. This is a hardcore site about n00bs and pwning their n00by little holes. N00bs are the 3vil.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid263813119/bctid301961300

Forza Two Chair of Destiny

Ummm, please tell me I can have this. I want it. Surround sound speakers, triple screens, foot-pedals, steering wheel, oh man.

also three 360s, not to mention the 3 hi-def flat screens. This is looking like $8000.00 of merchandise. If I'm ever rich, one of these is going into my house.

Pre-Counter-Injunction!

With what I'd like to call a Pre-Counter-Injunction, Take Two Interactive sued Jack Thompson on March 13th. You may know Take Two better as the people who brought you Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series.

A link to the PDF of the actual suit lies here:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/images/legal/FL-T2-JT.pdf

For those of you who don't like to read Legal Jargon, I'll summarize it into simple terms.

Take Two is suing Jack Thompson to prevent him from suing them. I know, it sounds silly, but that is really exactly what it is. Previously, JT (Referred to as "He-who-must-not-be-named" on popular sites like 1up.com) had sued them for being a nuisance to society, and had been rejected time and time again.

Take Two's grounds for preventing JT from filing anything against them in the future is that he is trying to shut down their right of expression (First Amendment). They then proceed to say that if JT ever did win, the gaming industry would enter an irreparable period of self-censorship where ALL the game developers would then try to avoid being sued for their expressions of creativity. Take Two says this is a direct encroachment on their rights.

They then drop a long list of cases that have occurred in the past relative to this case.

Lastly, they say that JT has not pursued any of his previous cases, and seeks only to play around and cause financial harm to a company that is simply pursuing a freedom of expression that many other mediums of communication have obtained. They refer to violent books, movies and even newspapers.


And there you have it. Under the cover of Due Process and Freedom of Speech, Take Two is claiming JT has no right to attempt again to delay the release of the creative and expressive content of their games. They are also claiming that Florida's nuisance laws are silly, but thats kind of a hidden thing.

For more information, visit
fuck-tard.ytmnd.com

Which company is Game Development's best friend?

The answer may surprise you.

Some of you may know what this is, and if you don't, you're about to find out.

XNA is a Game Development platform designed by Microsoft. It can create games for both the Xbox360 and the PC at the same time. No porting required. When Microsoft originally made promises to fill the Xbox Live Arcade with new original games, they did not lie. Instead, they just announced it a little too early.

While development kits for its rivals, Sony and Nintendo, tend to cost a lot, XNA Game Studio costs almost nothing. I say almost, because compared to the HUUUGE costs of competitors development kits, this IS nothing. You can develop games that will work on the PC for free, but have to join a Creators Club for $100 dollars a year. That's cheap.

Nothing else compares to what Microsoft has done here. This makes available to ANYONE who has motivation, the full tools to create an Xbox360 game (well, maybe only for the arcade, but there's still money).

Want a list of what you need?
To develop for PC:
Have Visual C# Net installed, and you can get an express version for free.
Download and install XNA Game Studio Express - $0
Knowledge of the C language.

To develop for the 360:
Have Visual C# Net installed.
Download and install XNA GSE.
Join Creator's Club -$99
Knowledge of C language.

Yar? Now go make some games for me.

Second Life

I'm going to try out this game that's new to me called Second Life.


Its basically... a world, I dunno, its crazy. And free. :P MMO

Just check it out:
Join Second Life.

Forza Motorsport 2 Preview

Forza Motorsport 2 is being developed and published by Microsoft for the Xbox 360. Planned release date is May 2nd, 2007. I expect this to be pushed back.


My first experience with Forza Motorsports series was with the XBox version of it. Of course, it was the only version to have ever existed, so its pointless to delineate which version it was. Anyway, my friend had come over, and he was addicted to Grand Turismo for the PS2.

We went to Blockbuster to look for Grand Turismo, assuming they would have one of the most popular racing games of all time... No, apparently not. I saw Forza Motorsports there, and was like, "Hmm, I've heard good things about this one, wanna give it a try?"

We took it home, and I loved it immediately. The controls were quick to learn, and hard to master (accelerator and brake on the rear pressure-sensitive triggers). To my friend, this was a complete departure from the accelerator and brake buttons of X and O. To me, it was <3.

On to the Preview!
You may hear me say how much Forza was love for me. I loved the non-linear layout and the way you could accomplish and complete races in the way you chose, with the car you chose, at the time you chose, and no sooner. I loved the pressure-sensitivity of the triggers, and how accurate they were. How does this carry over to Forza Motorsports 2?

This game was designed physics up, creating a more realistic racing game than ever before. They've included damage, layers upon layers of customization, beautiful graphics, and a unique money system.

First off, they took the original layout of non-linear play, and just built on top of the already successful formula, which is gold to me. Looking to race the heavyweights, and don't really care about the lightweights? Well, you don't HAVE to finish the lightweights, you can play heavyweights whenever you want.

Next, they increased the damage modeling of the cars, INCLUDING persistent pieces of your car on the track after they are knocked off. You can see this at minute 1:30.

Gamevideo.com

The layers upon layers of customization (minute 5:35 in the video) include thousands of layers on each side of the car. If I wanted to put a body vinyl, and then a decal, and then a decal on top of that, with a nice blue color highlighting it, you can do that.

Also, the player interaction is phenomenal. Everything from AMAZING force feedback (I suggest Microsoft's wheel, it has received GREAT reviews, and is wireless) to the console's networking ability to output to three monitors a surround view of the game (minute 4:10 in the video). I highly suggest you check it out.

Anyway, as I said before, the game is THE racing game. Grand Turismo comes nowhere close in terms of horsepower, capability, sustainability, and replayability.