Recent Comments:
JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games {Joystiq}
Jul 23rd 2008 6:56AM Where did you see any indication of whether teams will be able to profit at all? Thus far I don't think MS has announced the revenue split (and Joystiq apparently didn't care to ask)... I just hope its not like 10% or something dumb like that, or, hey this is a great idea, maybe they'll only pay in Microsoft points, not real money!
JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games {Joystiq}
Jul 23rd 2008 6:53AM GRRR, how can you guys skip the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION? What is the REVENUE SPLIT going to be? Is it going to be possible for a single person to create an awesome game that sells a couple hundred thousand copies and be able to quit their day job from the money they make? Or is MS going to keep them as indentured servants and only give them 10% or something ridiculously low like that?
I want to see a market where a single person, not a team, not a corporation, but ONE GUY, can make a game and if it gets popular, that guy can quit his day job and live off of the proceeds. I would desperately like to cut out corporate structure and middle managers and the like from the entire picture.
Henry Jenkins sounds off on Spencer Halpin's 'Moral Kombat' {Joystiq}
Dec 2nd 2007 6:06PM I hope there is one person, just ONE in this documentary that actually approached the question like a scientist. And by that I mean approaching it with complete skepticism. The evidence that exists linking violent videogames, or any violent media, to violent actions is so scant and so tenuous that to consider an observable case/effect relationship is extremely absurd. The entire subject is a bunch of people avoiding scientific inquiry into the idea and simply pursuing what "sounds" good or what "feels" right going based on "common sense".
Does anyone in Mortal Kombat bother to stop and ask why cultures with the highest amount of highly available violent entertainment have the lowest levels of actual societal violence? Do they consider the actors in a play or the actors in a movie as participating more directly in the media than videogame players? Or is this just going to be another batch of people trying to advance their careers without trying to reach scientifically rigorous conclusions?
Microsoft booting modders off Xbox Live {Joystiq}
May 19th 2007 2:41PM Here's a little information for you guys so you don't go around sounding idiotic:
A modded Xbox 360 can only play UNTOUCHED, UNMODIFIED copies of games.
A modded Xbox 360 CANNOT be used to hack or cheat or in ANY way exploit a game.
A modded Xbox 360 CANNOT be used to play imported games. The region code is part of the signed unmodifiable parts of the game.
There has not even been a wee tiny little bit of progress ANYWHERE towards making it possible to modify game files, hack, cheat, etc.
Everything you see that says this ban was to "stop cheaters" is absolute, 100% pure undiluted bullshit.
These bans came down in order to stop piracy, and for absolutely no other reason at all. Anything else you hear is a lie.
This information is provided as a public service because way too many of you guys apparently believe anything a PR rep from MS or Bungie posts on their blog.
DS Daily: Finally, with the language 'games' {DS Fanboy}
May 17th 2007 9:53PM Learning Japanese is not easy. I have spent HUNDREDS buying dozens and dozens of books. I would LOVE anything on the DS that made it more like a game... hell, even a concentration-style game with matching tiles for kana and kanji could help recognition of kana, radicals, and full kanji and move along from there!
For now I move along oh so slowly with the best thing I have found so far - I bought a bunch of books intended for 5 year olds off of eBay (including a Japanese original of the classic Everybody Poops! I had no idea it was even Japanese originally... also got Everybody Farts ;)
Battered DS Lite makes baby Jesus cry {DS Fanboy}
May 1st 2007 9:58PM I really like the beatup, scratched up, well-worn cyberpunk look to technology. Wrap your DS Lite in duct tape. Work it over with steel wool. Give it an acid bath or something. Scuff it up, cover it with multiple layers of stickers, add some personality to it and destroy the branding!
But please, for the love of all that is electronic, keep it in WORKING order!
Guns may kill, but video games close second {Joystiq}
Apr 28th 2007 10:22PM Ellory: Would you consider "possible violent overthrow of an oppressive government" a valid justification when applying to the government for your 'extra' guns? The reason we have a right to bear arms is not for hunting. The idea is that every person has a right to defend themselves. Both from criminals, foreign invaders, and your own government. Remember, the people who started shooting British soldiers in the 1770s were British subjects.
Guns may kill, but video games close second {Joystiq}
Apr 28th 2007 10:18PM OK. You guys did it. You said "facts". You called me out.
You want the facts about gun control and crime? I'm not sure you do, but I'll sum it up for you in a single simple sentence that is backed up by more scientific study than you can shake a stick at (I'll give you the source right afterwards, don't worry):
The presence of guns in a society does not affect the rate of lethal crime, either in increasing it or decreasing it.
That's it. It's slightly counterintuitive (until you realize that guns don't give people motivation to kill, they are only a single method), but it is a FACT. If you want to read up about this fact and see all the studies (dozens) that it is drawn from, they are all tied together in one chapter in a book called "Nine Crazy Ideas in Science". Despite what the name might suggest, it is a reputable book and addresses every large study concerning guns in the chapter about gun control.
Countries like Switzerland have a gun ownership rate dozens of times higher than the USA, and an extremely low crime rate. A lot of countries in Africa have very low gun ownership rates and extremely high murder rates. The two factors are not correlated whatsoever. And that is a fact.
Disturbed teen links video games to 'sport killing' {Joystiq}
Feb 20th 2007 9:58PM Videogames ARE just like sport killing. Except nothing dies. And it's not morally wrong. And it doesn't scar the participant for life. And it involves a bit more skill and action than pressing a button with good timing.... oh, wait, it bares no resemblance whatsoever.
Salt Lake City mall shooter didn't own video games {Joystiq}
Feb 18th 2007 12:49PM Optimus Prime: Presence and availability of guns on society has no correllation whatsoever to gun violence. (A good rundown of multiple studies that explains this is in the book "Nine Crazy Ideas in Science") There are many countries in the world that have the same or higher gun ownership rates as the US but much lower, or higher, gun crime rates. Unfortunately, violence is a complicated issue. It's unfortunate because people want everything to be "common sense" (a term originally created as an insult to the irrational beliefs of 'commoners') and refuse to deal with anything complicated.
