This isn’t going to be an article on latest news or anything fancy like that. I’m more interested in what your opinion is on this subject.

As long as I have been a gamer, I have always found myself drawn towards watching game play footage of other people playing different games. Mostly games I’m actually playing or might be interested in playing, but sometimes random games I’ve never heard of before. It really started for me when I was heavily playing Day of Defeat, from the creators of Half-Life, even before the game had made it to Steam. There was a website (the name escapes me, it’s been years) were people would upload their videos of themselves or their clans playing, mostly in competitive matches. CAL, TSG etc etc. At the time, I myself was playing Day of Defeat at the CAL-M level, and I always found it interesting to watch other CAL-M or CAL-I players doing their thing. To me, it sort of helped me to find new strategies, different perspectives of strategies I had used myself – that sort of thing. As I got more into the MMORPG scene I also found myself seeking out videos related to those games as well. Instead of strategies for different maps in Day of Defeat, I was watching so-and-so’s guild kill this boss or what have you. Most recently, I find myself on YouTube, watching games of Starcraft 2, from HuskyStarcraft, HDStarcraft etc. Interestingly enough, some days I find myself watching these videos longer than I actually spend in the games themselves. A lot can be learned from watching others play. Most of these guys are the best at what they do, so it is often very beneficial to see them in action.

So I have a couple of questions. Do you ever find yourself seeking out videos of certain games? Do you watch them purely for entertainment value, or do you often find yourself picking apart what the person did, so you can use that to your advantage? Let me know in the comment section below. Let me know I’m not the only crazy one out there.

-Brent

The Rumpus has posted an interesting article yesterday that got my wheels spinning, if you will. Initially, the article was more of a question. One posed to the community about writers, (those who work primarily on novels or even movie/TV scripts) writing the story lines for video games. It was brought to Mr. Fischer’s (the author of the article) attention, that writers are in fact beginning to write more frequently for video games. It was news to me as well, as much as I hate to admit it, but I guess I should not be surprised – for the very reasons Mr. Fischer talks about in his article (By the way, go read it now, the comments as well, if you haven’t all ready).

If you happen to catch a glimpse of my comment, you will see that I think it could be an excellent thing for the entire gaming community to get the attentions of more writers, especially prominent writers. It is however, in my opinion, a very fine line. Too epic a story line, and you take away from the hard work of the other game developers, and even create a game that isn’t worth playing. After all, isn’t the fun in playing video games actually PLAYING the video games? Too much story and you take away from the game play. On the other hand, too lackluster a story line, and the game just becomes mindless and insipid. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as much a sucker for mindless zombie slaying or hacking and slashing as the next guy, especially after a long, stressful day. But I absolutely LOVE a game with a fantastic storyline. It is those games, for me, that are truly my gaming “bread and butter.”

Certainly not to take away from Mr. Seth Fischer, but the real juice from this article is what it inspired in the comments section. It really shed some light on what is otherwise often overlooked. And I say overlooked, not in the sense that people don’t pay attention to the storyline of a video game, but perhaps all that goes into creating said storyline. For some reason this morning, this article and all the comments that ensued, really got my brain working and thinking.

Head on over to The Rumpus and have a read for yourself. And of course, please comment below and let me know your thoughts on this.

Apparently, according to an East Carolina University study, playing games casually can lead to reduced anxiety and stress reduction. Basicly all I know in regards to the study, is it involved 59 people, playing Peggle, Bejeweled 2, and Bookworm Adventures. Oh, and the study showed that playing these more casual games can reduce stress and anxiety.

If you’re interested in reading more about the study, Gamers Daily News has a great story featuring the study and its results. But I can say from personal experience, that playing video games (casual or otherwise) helps me greatly when it comes to reducing stress after a long day.

Now let us switch to a more serious note for a moment. This is a good thing. Let’s be honest with each other for a moment now. The video game industry has come under a lot of fire from the media and politicians. I’m sure I could find some information on the number of suits or proposed laws that have come about because someone, somewhere decided to blame video games on murders, rapes, and even school shootings, among other things, but frankly it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that there are people out there (maybe you’re one of them?) who make it a point to fight these people tooth and nail, to insure that our rights as gamers and citizens are protected. Nothing is more disappointing that bad apples. And let’s face it, there are plenty of gamers who are these “bad apples.” but that’s also true of a lot of other- for lack of a better word -”cliques.”  Nevertheless, it is something we have to deal with.

Personally, I have joined The Entertainment Consumers Association, which is an awesome group that bring people all the resources they need to do their part to help combat these people. Sign up for their newsletter, and they will email you a link, which will take you to a template letter. Fill out a little bit of information, and it will automatically send that letter to your representatives in Washington.  It is simply an easy tool to help everyone do their part; fight the good fight, if you’re into cheesy clichés.

Let me know what your opinions are on the matter. Do video games help you relieve stress? Do you have any other ways people can get involved with the fight to keep our gaming habits the way we know and love? Share them with me, I would love to hear them.

-Brent

Perhaps it isn’t fair of me to out right judge video games based on movie adaptations. I have had too many bad experiences in the past with such games, so I find myself cringing at the thought of another movie adaptation. I can’t be the only one either, because the trend of late (or maybe always?) has been one of terrible reviews and dwindling sales. Personally, I can’t imagine why companies even think about making adaptations, they are never good games, and if nothing else, they work to tarnish the name of otherwise great game development companies.

The most recent game that comes to mind, in which a company sought to create a game based off of a movie, and failed terribly, was the adaptation of the movie Clash of the Titans. The game tried so hard to be good, and come up with clever ways of actually making the title fun to play, but it never quite executed.

The title was released in 2010, shortly after the film Clash of the Titans, the remake of the 1981 film of the same name. As too be expected, the game closely resembles in many ways, the God of War series of games. Given that the lore of both are very similar, this should come as no surprise. But the difference is, the God of War series is actually worth playing. A lot can be said however, about the limited amount of time developers have to release these types of games. Typically, the release of adaptations tries to coincide at least partially to the release of the movie itself. And for anyone who has ever paid attention, most adaptations come out within a certain window that stretches from a few months before the actual release of the movie, up to a few months after the release of the movie.

I shouldn’t be surprised when companies try to make video game adaptations of movies. The games sell, and the naive keep buying. Again, I probably shouldn’t judge. Everyone has their own tastes and find joy in different things, but it is probably wishful thinking to expect development companies to try and produce a quality game from a movie adaptation.

If I could sit down with the person behind the creation of some of these adaptations, I would plead and urge them to take a moment and look back at previous movie adaptation releases, and instead of rush a game to the stores let it grow and develop like any good game should. I can say with pure sincerity, that if they would give the games the development time they needed, they would not only create wonderful adaptations of some of our favorite movies, but they would also create games with lasting (good) memories.

As always, leave me a comment with your opinions. I’m always interested in what others think about my topics.

-Brent

I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone who followed the popular franchise, but with dwindling sales and interests, Activision has decided to stop producing games from the popular line of Guitar Hero games. The news was kind of disappointing to me, because I admittedly very much enjoyed the Guitar Hero franchise, but it also want not much of a shocker either.

With six main titles and at least 18 spin off games, including the short lived and less popular DJ Hero, as well as titles such as Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and Guitar Hero: Metallica, the franchise had a good run. One of the biggest problems I saw with the franchise was too much too soon. After great success with their earlier games, Activision looked to increase revenue as much as possible, and (in my opinion) grab as many people as they could, who otherwise might not have played the games. The result was mixed. They initially released a new title once per year, starting in 2005 with the original Guitar Hero, and Guitar Hero II in 2006, but soon they were releasing multiple games in a single year, resulting in an over saturation, if you will, of the market.

I will admit, that in the later part of the franchises history, I was beginning to get disappointed with the titles they were putting out. That all changed when they released Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, the sixth installment of the main franchise. While the final chapter in the Guitar Hero franchise was not as well received by critics as previous games, I thought they did a great job of getting back to their roots. Roots they branched too far from with previous games. All for naught, apparently, as that was to be their final game in the franchise.

Still, it is probably for the better in the end. Activision has a lot going at the moment and it certainly is not the end of a great game company. Rumor has it (sarcasim is fun) that Activision is working on another Call of Duty title as we speak, so don’t go worrying about the future of Activision. I promise, even though you’re living room rock star career may not go anywhere new, Activision will be just fine.

How do you feel about the new coming out from Activision about cutting the Guitar Hero franchise? Sad? Disappointed? Good riddance? Let me know what you think.

-Brent

This year promises to be one of the biggest years for video game releases in a very long time. With no fewer than 17 sequels to huge video game titles, including Killzone 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Guild Wars 2 and many more, as well as continuations of popular franchises, such as Zelda, 2011 is going to be packed. And expensive. Personally, I cannot get enough of Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Games, or MMORPG for short. And with the release of both Guild Wars 2 (the sequel to one of my personal favorites, Guild Wars), and Star Wars: The Old Republic, this year is all ready looking fantastic for MMO players. Not only are we going to see the sequel to a great MMO, and a surefire hit with the new and long awaited Star Wars: The Old Republic, there is another promising game growing and developing its way through beta testing. Trion brainchild, Rift, has been holding invitation only beta events for a couple of months now. I managed (like many other dedicated gamers) to snag myself a beta invite.

Now, before I go on about Rift, it’s worth noting that I am no stranger to MMORPGs. I have played everything from Sony Online Entertainment’s Everquest, Everquest 2, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, to Blizzards baby, World of Warcraft and everything in between. There are a lot of great MMORPGs out there, and they are each unique in their own ways, and have a lot to offer. Personally I think too many people are fans of World of Warcraft and shun other games needlessly, and never give them a fair shot. World of Warcraft is, after all, by far the largest MMO on the market. But that’s neither here, nor there. As I do with any game I play, I went into Trion’s second beta event (I had not received my invite in time for the first) with an open mind, ready and willing to provide feedback on a growing game.

I was honestly taken aback. Sure, as with any game in the beta phase of testing, there were kinks that needed to be ironed out. That was no surprise. The surprise was just how polished and well rounded the game was in the state it was in at the time. More than that, it was a genuinely fun game to play. Take it from someone who has been around the MMO block, Rift is going to be a game worth watching, and it is currently slated for release March 1, 2011.

While Rift looks more than promising, and Star Wars: The Old Republic has been hyped beyond words, there is  but one MMO release due to drop this year (fingers crossed) that has my heart rate elevated, every time I think about it – Guild Wars 2. Best of all, Guild Wars 2, like its predecessor, is going to be a free to play MMO. Meaning that, unlike its counterparts which often charge around $15 per month to play, this will cost its players nothing but the cost of the game itself.

Much about Guild Wars 2 is still unknown, and information is slowly trickling out from its website, including screen captures and a handful of videos (not to mention developer diaries etc). But with every new piece of information they release the hair on the back of my neck stands up. This game is going to be revolutionary in direction, and with any luck, they will be able to execute flawlessly.

I really try hard not to let myself get too excited about new game releases. Too many times in the past, it has led to disappointment. Guild Wars 2 is making that very difficult for me to do, and I hope I haven’t all ready gotten in over my head with excitement. Only time will tell.

Let me know your cares/concerns about the 2011 video game season and what you’re most looking forward too this year.

-Brent

Starting this blog, I knew full well what my interests were, and I feel I know them very well. That said, I also felt that it probably wasn’t my place to be writing about them, seeing as how there are several very good resources around about those very interests – Video/Computer gaming and technology. As an avid gamer, I know that most gamers are very set in their ways, and don’t tend to go far out of their way to get the information they are looking to find. However, as this morning goes on, and I rack my brain for an interesting niche to fill with this blog, I can’t seem to shake the desire to write about what I love. And why should I?

With that, I think it will be easier in the long run to just rip the proverbial band aid off, and jump right into what I know best, gaming.

There is too much going on in the gaming world right now to ignore. And whether or not that directly, or indirectly effects how computer and console technology develops isn’t for me to decide, but I will do my best to make sure the readers of this blog stay up to date on anticipated releases, both in gaming and gaming/computer technology, and you can bet I have opinions on just about everything gaming related.

It’s hard for me to not be excited about this, and as time goes on and things fall into place, I think this blog will a great resource for people to turn too, if for nothing else other than a different perspective.

As always, if you like/don’t like what you see please comment and let me know what you think.

The idea of a “deer in the head lights” always made sense to me. I often hear the expression, but just as often, I never give it a second thought. When I graduated from high school, I had every intention of going straight to college for a few years, and then straight out into the working world. After only a single semester at Oklahoma State University, I moved to a town just outside of Atlanta, Georgia with my then girlfriend, and continued my education at a small technical college. When things did not work out there, I ended up moving back into my parents house, and it was about a year before I got back into my education, this time at the University of Oklahoma. All together I have almost enough college credits for bachelor’s degree, but I never found that certain something that really excited me. Over the last few months, I have been seriously considered finishing up my degree in Journalism (though most of my credits are in Information Technology).

According to the Huffington Post a law has been proposed in San Francisco to make it illegal to drop the Yellow Pages off on door steps and as businesses, unless specifically asked to do so. Statistics have shown that nearly 70% of adults in the U.S. rarely, if ever, use the yellow pages any more. While technology continues to go at a rapid pace, it is often much more convenient to just use the internet to find contact information. The Hunffington Post goes on to say that nearly one million phone books are delivered to the San Francisco area alone, which is equal to about five million pounds of paper. To put it simply, 3.5 million pounds of paper are wasted each year on the yellow pages, in San Fransisco alone. Those numbers are pretty staggering.

I actually think this is a great idea, and I hope that the law passes. I also hope that this will be a wake up call for other cities to do the same thing. You all ready have the option to opt out of receiving a phone book, but like many things, some people still do not take the 5 minutes to do so.

The law would set a $500 dollar fine for each violation if companies where to continue to deliver the yellow pages to people who haven’t asked for them.

However, as with any story, there are two sides, and representatives from the Yellow Pages Association are not happy about this proposed law. According to one of the top representatives for the Yellow Pages Association, Amy Healy, this law “would be an infringement of our constitutional rights – the right to distribute speech” (read the full article on The San Francisco Chronicle website). She also points out, that the yellow pages are still widely used, with 12 billion look-ups per year. So one clearly cannot argue that the yellow pages are obsolete.

I personally will be watching this story, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Both sides are obviously being argued but something needs to be done about all the paper wasted every year. I’m not going to take the time to do the math, though I’m sure you can find some statistic if you were to do some digging. But can you imagine just how much the country could cut down on paper waste if this was to go national?

Leave me your comments. I’m interested to hear other people’s perspectives on this situation.

As you read this blog, I’m sure you will come to find out soon enough that I can be somewhat of a cynic. It’s not something I’m all too proud of, but of course, it is a part of who I am. Though I do try to hide it most of the time, sometimes things happen that make me think, “it’s no wonder.”

This morning I had one of those, “it’s no wonder” moments. I received an email this morning from my father alerting me to the 809 Area Code Scam. What happens, basically, is you receive a phone call from the 809 area code, and say you don’t answer, you will get a message from a lady saying something along the lines of “Hi, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you….” blah blah, it goes on. Essentially what she is trying to do, is convince you that she has important information for you, and she needs you to get back to her as soon as possible.  What ends up happening, if you should try to return the call, is you will get a recording that, in essence, tries to keep you on the phone as long as possible by telling you someone has fallen ill, someone is in jail etc. While on this call, you are being charged up to $2724 PER MINUTE.

While they are playing off your fear of having an ill family member or a friend or family member in jail (among other things) they are charging you an absurd amount on the back end, when in fact nothing of the sort is happening.

It disgusts me that people will try to scam you at all. Let along playing off of some fear that something has gone terribly wrong. Personally, I know that if I received a phone call about an ill family member etc, I would want to return the call and find out what’s going on. I would like to think however that I would at least recognize the phone number or be able to tell if it’s legit. It’s scams like this that make me more and more weary about even little things.

AT&T has all ready confirmed this scam, as well as Snopes (I will try to find a link to the Snopes page and post it later), and luckily AT&T has said that the problem is usually easy enough to fix with a single phone call.

Be weary, and be careful. Don’t let yourself fall victim to yet another terrible scam.