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Hyperspace Beacon: The Gray Jedi
"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire." Ben Kenobi explained this to a young Luke Skywalker when he gave the boy Anakin's lightsaber. Although this statement introduced us to the Jedi, it gave us only a brief glimpse into what it means to be one. In subsequent movies and books, the Jedi Knights were fleshed out to be anything from Buddhist Monks, Taoists, and Knights Templar. Maybe they are really a combination of all of them. George Lucas has never specifically mentioned where his inspiration for these warriors of a more civilized age came from, but one thing has been consistent: Jedi are the heroes -- or at least they are supposed to be. In a brief conversation at PAX, Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for Star Wars; The Old Republic, told me that BioWare is exploring a more "gray side" to its storytelling. Those who have played Knights of the Old Republic or either Mass Effect game know that this is new ground for BioWare. If your character walked the line between paragon and renegade in the Mass Effect games, your choice made it quite difficult to get a good ending. I believe Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, a reviewer for the Escapist, explained it most succinctly in his review of Mass Effect 2: "When you're choosing to free a race of slaves or force them to dance about while you take pictures of them, you're not thinking 'What would I do in this situation?' You're thinking, 'Which option gives me the best $%^&head points because I need them to persuade Crewman A to take her top off?'" Will SWTOR change this perception of BioWare moralism? Continue reading after the break as we explore this anti-heroic stance and the controversy regarding the Gray Jedi.
GameX coverage begins tomorrow!
GameX, the Northeastern video game industry summit and expo, is starting tomorrow! As we said earlier this week, we'll be there, getting face time with guests, visiting Mythic Entertainment and Hi-Rez Studios, and getting you information on some of your favorite titles. In addition to our coverage here on the site, we'll be updating our Twitter account with things we see at the expo and pictures! Now instead of running to us every five minutes for your Massively fix, you can get updates, pictures, and more from us in the form of tweets! If you're not currently following @massively, or if you're not on Twitter, now is the time to both sign up and add us to your follow list!
Report: Brazil is a 'haven' for video game piracy
The Escapist's Pedro Franco recently wrote up an interesting article about Brazil's recent transformation into a "pirated goods heaven," particularly for illicitly acquired video games. According to Franco, Brazil was once a thriving market for games, until the mid-1990s brought about outrageously high taxes on gaming software (45 percent of the price of PC titles consisted of taxes), diminished per capita income and the transition from cartridge to disc-based games. Now, it's estimated that 94 percent of Brazil's gaming market is composed of pirated merchandise.Check out Franco's full article to find out the social and industrial implications of a nation that finds gaming piracy permissible. (Spoiler alert: It leads to bad things.)[Via GamePolitics]
The Escapist: A folk hero for the online age
Tom Endo over at The Escapist has written an interesting editorial in which he suggests the idea that we all need a villain as a vessel for people's frustration with authority such as Bonnie and Clyde or Robin Hood. In the case of MMOs, that anti-hero is the Griefer, who will push the game mechanics to and past their breaking point or intended use in order get ahead.Second Life has had more than its fair share of griefers over the years, and it's true that in games such as Eve Online, the actions of the players have had a massive impact on the game. Some might say that with some games they have had more than the developer itself. Such is the case with the various self-styled bad-boy corporations and alliances throughout the years in that game, or the actions leading up to the Felluca/Trammel split in Ultima Online. But Endo puts forward the idea that players need these griefers and the stories that they create, despite the true nature of their actual actions. Head on over to The Escapist to read the full article and see if you agree with his ideas.
Metamorial: Game writers remember Dave Arneson
Somewhere between co-creating Dungeons & Dragons and teaching at Full Sail College, Dave Arneson left an indelible mark on the gaming landscape. Every time we roll for initiative or challenge the dungeon master's ability to adapt, Arneson's guiding hand can be felt. We've gathered sentiments shared by our colleagues around the internet for you here, and encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments section below, about the man that helped move role-playing into the limelight of gaming.Ars Technica: "Get out your classic rule books. Invite some friends over. Keep a chair empty for a fallen friend, and play for a few hours. Not online, in person. Order a pizza ... Remember Dave Arneson, a man who wasn't satisfied with the game when his parents brought home an Avalon Hill title. When he began changing the rules, he began changing the world."
London teacher contacts 14-year-old student through World of Warcraft
This story is really only tangentially related to our game, but we'll mention it anyway: a London teacher has been accused of sending sexually-related text messages to a 14-year-old student that she contacted while they were playing World of Warcraft together. Apparently the woman met up with the student in Azeroth, and then was able to somehow get his phone number from him. Later, the boy's father discovered explicit text messages from her on his son's phone, and she now faces jailtime as a result.Of course, this says nothing at all about World of Warcraft -- there are man, many ways of communication on the Internet, and the game happens to be just one of them (and shame on the Escapist for even suggesting this is an argument against games in education -- the fault here lies with the teacher, not the game). You should be cautious about who your children are corresponding with no matter where they are or what they're doing, and in fact, this boy's father was.
Zero Punctuation braves interstellar spreadsheets in EVE Online
Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee has reached geek culture superstardom by sacrificing sacred cows. By profanely slamming popular franchises such as Halo and Super Smash Bros., he's brought down the wrath -- and the web traffic -- of virtually the entire gaming community. There's a running joke through many of his animated reviews, though: he hates MMORPGs.Both Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan got the full treatment, and Yahtzee has even criticized some single-player games (such as The Witcher) just for sharing gameplay elements with MMORPGs. His fans apparently thought he was being a bit too harsh. "Not all MMORPGs are the same," they presumably said. "Try EVE Online. It's different!"And so he did. It turns out that "different" might be in the eye of the beholder. Or just as likely, MMORPGs can never be different enough for Yahtzee! The humorous (and as usual, NSFW) video review is embedded above, courtesy of The Escapist.
Zero Punctuation apparently missed the actual E3
This week's Zero Punctuation makes us wonder: What E3 is Yahtzee talking about? Perhaps things seemed different from the outside, but this year's show actually saw a slew of original titles -- shockingly enough, many from the maw of EA. Sure, there is some serious sequelitus going on (and certain outlets really need to stop riding RE4 v2 RE5's rooster), but we were pleasantly surprised by some of the new IPs. Oh well, no sense in trying to convey some semblance of reason here. Carry on with the amusing hate.Check out Yahtzee's NSFW take on E3 after the break.
Zero Punctuation visits Conan in Hyboria
No matter how much the hardcore MMORPG crowd may want to deny it, almost every game in the genre wants to be, or wishes it could have been, World or Warcraft. This week's Zero Punctuation says as much, with Yahtzee trying to enjoy his Hyborian adventure but wandering into familiar -- but not quite right -- WoW territory. Check out the NSFW review of Age of Conan after the break.
Zero Punctuation whips it good with Lego Indy
Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee takes on both the Lego Indiana Jones game and the latest movie in his latest review. For his take on the game, the ornery critic comes up with an equation for figuring out how much you'll enjoy playing as Indy in the blockified platformer. If doing mathematicals isn't your thing, just think about how much fun you'll have killing Short Round -- or Willie -- over and over again. Although it still doesn't beat the cathartic Jar-Jar killing of the Lego Star Wars game. This week's NSFW ZP review of Lego Indy can be found after the break.
Zero Punctuation draws out the webcomic template
This week's Zero Punctuation takes a long, hard and ironic look at the glut of gaming webcomics. Yes, Yahtzee fully realizes the hypocrisy of his words, but that's not going to stop him from flinging poo and keeping those traffic numbers high. We imagine it getting weird when Yahtzee's piece about webcomics spawns more comics about the subject and proves everything he's saying in the first place.The NSFW ZP review of webcomics can be found after the break.
NINJA GAIDEN 2 presents: Zero Punctuation's MGS4 review
By the time the Zero Punctuation video review of Metal Gear Solid 4 ended, we still had another two and a half minutes of commercials to watch. Given our dire attention spans, we'd completely forgotten what had happened! But those ads sure are spiffy ... Wasn't it cool how Ryu Hyuwhatshisname from Ninja Gaiden II chopped those guys in half? Ninja Gaiden II is awesome! We should all go out and buy Ninja Gaiden II, right now!... If you want to watch this week's review of ... what was it again? Oh, MGS4. Check it out after the break. Hey, did you see that ad for de-rez?
Zero Punctuation makes war, not love with Haze
OK, we have a situation. Yahtzee's latest Zero Punctuation piece couldn't knock one out of the park with such a simple target like Haze. Even standard reviews did a good job roasting it. The curmudgeon expat still trashes the game, but it's like he received a Nectar injection and was fighting the effects as he put together the review ... seriously, we're talking about the game that can already be found for $40. We're hoping this week's review is merely a hiccup and that Haze will finally sink in on Yahtzee, making him go ballistic next week.Due to technical difficulties we are unable to post ZP after the break. Please click the image above to see this week's episode.
Zero Punctuation vs. Oblivion [Update]
Update: We're experiencing issues with the embedded video player from The Escapist. To watch the video you can click through to Zero Punctuation's section of The Escapist site by clicking the image above.Zero Punctuation has decided to reach into a bag marked, "Games History Deemed Better Than Life" to find out exactly what the appeal is. Victim number one is everyone's favorite open world role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. From Bethesda, the guys working on the upcoming Fallout 3, Oblivion takes players on an epic adventure that Yahtzee suspects is really just a poor copy and paste extravaganza. Of course, the video is NSFW and can be found after the jump.
Zero Punctuation not lovin' Oblivion
To refill his rage this week, Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee took a trip back to the simpler time of 2006 and grabbed a copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion off the new release shelf. Being a Western RPG, instead of a JRPG, the game actually stood a small chance of stealing Yahtzee's artificial heart. Of course, the problems with the voice acting and immersion that plagued the game when it first released haven't aged well. Yahtzee obviously takes the opportunity to jam a lead pipe into Oblivion and hoover out every last bit of hate he can. Find this week's NSFW ZP review of the game where Patrick Stewart plays the emperor for about 10 minutes after the break.
Zero Punctuation unhappily discovers The World Ends With You
Zero Punctuation discovers The World Ends With You this week. This sudden realization has caused him to send his vast internet army to your house and kill you. Really! Run! Actually, The World Ends With You is a JRPG that's been getting some strongly supportive reviews from several outlets that do that reviewing sort of thing. As any disciple of Yahtzee knows at this point, he hates JRPGs and Nintendo -- the jury is still out though on which one he hates more. TWEWY gets off easy in this review by confusing Yahtzee to the point where he can't form an opinion and leaves it up to the audience. Find this week's NSFW ZP review of another Japanese game with kids who have gravity defying hair after the break.
Zero Punctuation pops old Painkiller for fun
Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee rocks it old school this week in a trip down "kill everything you see" lane with a review of Painkiller. Way back in 2004, which if internet time is converted to normal time is circa 1674, Painkiller received better-than-average reviews by embracing the first-person shooter genre like it was the '90s and Doom was still en vogue. So, this week Yahtzee talks about the game "where you kill tons of dudes" and gets comfortable for the relatively dry summer release schedule ... well, winter for him. Find this week's NSFW ZP review of a game featuring a gun that shoots shuriken and lightning after the break.
Zero Punctuation enjoys Grand Theft Auto-rotica
Zero Punctuation takes on Grand Theft Auto IV this week, but if you're one of the five people who didn't buy the game and are hoping for some ZP hate-fest on par with the Super Smash Bros. Brawl review ... then you have another thing coming. Yahtzee doesn't exactly suck GTA IV's "thumb" -- like he does Valve's -- but the issues he grasps onto are relatively minor points about getting lost in the side stuff. Not really full of his trademark, hyperbolic bile then. Shockingly, he even says that after finishing the review, he went back and played the game some more. It appears Niko Bellic has found a friend in Yahtzee.Find this week's NSFW relative non-hate review of GTA IV after the break.
Zero Punctuation reviews fanboys
Apparently Yahtzee found the fanboy uproar over his Super Smash Bros. Brawl review so irritating that this week's Zero Punctuation is dedicated to reviewing the unpaid console defenders out there. Yahtzee finds his rage again this week and lashes out in a way that many professionals who make their living off the internet wish they could. Not us, of course, we're too heavily medicated and just allow the sea of hate to wash over us in waves of brilliant pinks and purples. Numbness is the first step to professional happiness on the internetz.Find Yahtzee's NSFW love-letter to fanboys after the break.
Zero Punctuation takes on the God of War
Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee isn't content with taking on just God of War: Chains of Olympus this week. No, he takes on the whole bloody franchise. What we end up getting is almost four minutes of Yahtzee admitting that he's nitpicking and that the series helps give us relief from our 9 8:30 to 5 6 (with a half-hour lunch break) lives. The trademark Yahtzee anger just isn't there in this review, but considering it was overflowing in last week's Smash Bros. piece, an easing of tension might be good for a week.This week's NSFW review eviscerating God of War: Chains of Olympus can be found after the break.
