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Cataclysm Press Event: New raids and lockout mechanics announced
As part of the large Cataclysm information released tonight, we've gotten quite a bit more information on how raids will be changing. One exciting idea is "downshifting," namely, the ability to split a 25-man raid up into separate 10-mans. There won't be any sort of "upshifting" allowed, however. Simply put, if your 25-man fails to proceed due to numbers, it can break up into separate 10-mans with the same bosses defeated as the 25 was at the time of division, and if you later get those other players back, another 10-man can be created with the same conditions. In addition, raid lockouts will be more forgiving; as long as you have killed the same bosses as the raid in question, you'll be able to join a raid in progress even if you've been in a different raid to the same instance during the lockout. Basically, you will not be able to kill the same boss twice during a lockout, but you won't be totally cut off from raiding with others simply because you were in a different raid lockout earlier that fell apart, as one example.
Virginia finds no link between violent games and V-Tech murderer
The final official Virginia state report by the Virginia Tech massacre review panel found no link between video games and the murders committed by Seung Hui Cho. This corroborates the federal government findings in June which found no link. Turns out that the only game cited in the report is Sonic the Hedgehog. In the mental health history section of the report regarding Cho it says, "None of the video games were war games or had violent themes. He liked basketball and had a collection of figurines and remote controlled cars."The video game connection regarding the V-Tech massacre got rolling when Jack Thompson went on FOX News hours after the event and started making stuff up. Only to be outdone and followed with premature reporting by The Washington Post, which was later changed. According to both the state and federal reports, whatever is to blame for Cho's illness, it wasn't video games.[Via GamePolitics]
LaRouche PAC implicates games at Va. Tech. review panel
In the weeks after the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech, the search for answers focused mainly on germane issues like gun control and mental health rather than simple media scapegoating. At least one group seems unwilling to let go of the games-made-him-do-it angle, though. Speaking to Governor Tim Kaine's official Virginia Tech Review Panel, Larouche Youth Movement leader Paul Mourino warned of a "potential epidemic eruption of a 'new violence,' driven, in part, by the mass distribution of killing simulators to youth."In addition to the familiar games-create-killers arguments, Mourino's comments included the remarkable implication that the game industry caused a "media blackout" on discussion of Cho's interest in video games by "pour[ing] millions of dollars into a public relations and damage-control campaign." Mourino cites the removal of a Washington Post mention of Cho's Counter-Strike playing as evidence of the conspiracy; this despite the Post author's explanation that the factoid was removed simply to make room for more recent, more relevant information.You may remember Lyndon LaRouche from his support of Sept. 11 conspiracy theories, his implication that the British royal family are drug dealers and his stories of Soviet secret police brainwashing of his supporters. So, all in all, there are worse people to have on the other side of the game violence debate.
Wii Warm Up: Super Smash Cho Aniki?
A GoNintendo reader was looking very critically at the new Gooey Bomb item in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and discovered what is absolutely the origin of the item. And now that we've seen them together, it's so obvious that the Gooey Bomb is based on the Holy Protein from Cho Aniki Seinaru Protein Densetsu.You know, except it sticks to people and blows up instead of being orbited by two beefy dudes in Speedos, while shooting lasers. Too bad. If we were designing Smash Bros.-- okay, if I were designing Smash Bros. (I don't think I can speak for Wii Fanboy in this case) it would be heavy on Cho Aniki content.Now, something kind of looking like a thing from another game isn't strictly news, but Wii Warm Up is a discussion topic, and we can discuss whatever we feel like. And today we want to talk about the Cho Aniki series. So, if you've played any of the games, tell us why you loved them. If you haven't, go read about the series, then come back and express your shock.
V-Tech game creator willing to abort game for a price
Australian Ryan Lambourn could have made his flash game based on the Virginia Tech Massacre and left it at that. However, the ensuing outrage and press coverage caused him to do something quite unusual -- hold the game for ransom. On his website he states that he'll take the game down from website Newgrounds if he receives $1000 USD, he'll take it down from his personal website if he receives $2000 and he'll apologize for creating the game for $3000.Danny Ledonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, writes on Lambourn's site, "It would appear to me that Ryan has no intention of doing much other than making money and gaining immediate recognition after the Virginia Tech shooting. Inevitably, comparisons between SCMRPG and VTech Rampage are being made right now. Some bloggers despise both games equally whereas others recognize a level of commentary that SCMRPG attempted which was not evident in VTR. For myself I wish to point out that SCMRPG was never a for-profit endeavor and thus I never posted statements like that which is on the VTR game's homepage"The only thing gamers can hope now is when this news hits the mainstream press they take a restrained approach and recognize that this is not an "industry game," and it never went through the ESRB process. Lambourn responds to Ledonne's statement saying, "Danny, the donation thing is there as a joke against all the people commanding me to take my game down. I didn't think anyone would donate money to it and so far my paypal account has proven me right."
Wii Are Tumiki Fighters?
A listing for a Majesco-published Wii version of Tumiki Fighters has shown up on Gamefly, and we really, really hope it turns out to be real. Tumiki Fighters is a freeware shmup by Kenta Cho that involves collecting pieces that fall off of destroyed enemy ships to power up your own ship. We like Kenta Cho's games. They're gorgeously presented abstract shooters that either (like Tumiki Fighters) invent new gameplay mechanics or, like rRootage, artfully (and openly) rip off mechanics from other shmups. We aren't sure we'd want to pay full price for them, since they're free right now, but we would consider paying budget price for sufficiently expanded versions.
