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Suffering Through Child's Play in WoW
I've been trying to find a way to put this, because it's really just a rant, but Dekeon from Dunemaul does a pretty good job over on the forums. He's 35, and he's noticed something that I have, too: there are lots of children under 15 playing WoW.Now, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Personally, I think it's a terrible thing. All of those pet peeves, all that noob/jerk talk from earlier, mages who AOE without regard for aggro or strategy, and players who duck out of instances five minutes in because "sry my mom makin dinner"-- I realize not all of these things are the fault of kids playing, but I think that a lot of them are. Let's just say that if Blizzard could charge me $30 a month to play on a server where everyone was somehow guaranteed to be over the age of 18 (I'm 26, for the record), I'd take that deal in a hot second.Now I know, too, that there are ways around it. I play Horde, mostly. I've found a few good guilds for my characters, places where pretty much everyone playing is more mature and can put together a sentence without using the letter "u" as a pronoun. And I know that not all kids play the game like it's a nonstop loot grab/bragging contest-- I'd imagine there are at least a few 14-year-olds out there who really are interested in working together and relaxing on a run through Scholo instead of worrying about what "epix" will drop or winning the DPS meter. But by and large the experiences I've had grouping with people who turn out to be under 18 have not been, let's just say, my favorite parts of the game.Unfortunately, there's not really a solution, short of the aforementioned age-specific server that's probably not technically possible anyway (kids would still sneak on-- I would if I was still one). I guess I'll just have to continue to be a geezer, sitting there wistfully trying to understand the deeper mechanics of crowd control and aggro management while the kids in my group fight over what their highest crit has ever been. As Neth jokes in the thread (Neth, if you're reading this, rock on for the Neal Stephenson and HHGTTG love!), someday we'll all have to have our own gaming retirement community. Finally, those little whippersnappers will leave us alone.
The verdict is in: children prefer the DS
Vinnk, a blogger and Ninty devotee at 4 color rebellion, is also a teacher in Japan. And in his off time, he makes children cry. Doesn't sound like someone we want on our side -- at least until the whole story comes out. Vinnk often takes his trusty DS Lite to school and allows the children to play with it. This is a practice of which we heartily approve (get 'em young!). However, on the day in question, his students found not the DS Lite they'd come to love nestled inside Vinnk's blue Nintendo case, but a Sony PSP. The students were so horrifed and disappointed that one even began to cry. He asked them if they wanted to play with the PSP. They weren't interested. He showed them a game, and they stared at him, stoic, as loyal to the DS as samurai to their lord. It almost makes us want to cry. Score one for the DS -- as though it needed to win any more battles. [Thanks to Andrew at PSP Fanboy, where we're sure they're hanging their heads in shame.]
Deceptive game case makes children cry
Sony-hating Joystiq once talked about the new gaming Oreo: a DS Lite placed into the Value Pack PSP sock. When a junior high school teacher from 4 color rebellion (Disclaimer: it's a Nintendo blog) tried putting a PSP in a DS carrying case, all he did was make his students sad. One child even cried.You see, my students had become accustomed to playing with the ever-present DS lite. After class, some girls came up as sasked, "Can we play Mario?" I explained that I didn't have my DS with me, but one girl pointed to the case and its DS logo. I opened the case and watched their faces fall as they saw the PSP. I asked, "Would you like to play with this instead?" They replied, "No." The blogger goes out to point that he was surprised by this response, considering how the much-better graphics of the PSP didn't attract the kids at all. "To these students however, it is not an end-all multimedia device. It is just some shiny black thing that doesn't play Animal Crossing." As amusing as this story is, if Sony wants to extend their reach, they somehow have to steal part of the lucrative children's market.
Screenshot roundup: Children of Mana
The US boxart and various screens have been released for the latest installment in the World of Mana series. Children of Mana, which is being developed by Square Enix and published by Nintendo for the DS, is set for release on October 30th in North America. The final game will feature four-player co-op gameplay and see the return of the 8 elemental spirits. The game's homepage for English-speaking readers can be found here, while Japanese-speaking readers can access the entire World of Mana page here.
Indian firm boils the mobile phone down to basics
What if you were to take the mobile phone concept and strip away every conceivable nonessential feature. What would you be left with? The Migo, you say? The Firefly, perhaps? Not even; both of those devices have luxuries like selectable ringtones and displays. India's National Institute of Design has devised the "Mini Mobile," which bears a strong resemblance to a remote control but actually functions as an ultra-simplified phone. We can recite the entire spec sheet to you in three words: three speed dials. That's it. No GPS, no display, no dedicated emergency button. (Technically, there are dedicated buttons to send and end calls, though we don't consider those features.) No word on production plans, but the firm is shopping the design around to manufacturers, arguing that a no-nonsense device will appeal to parents and the elderly. One recommendation, guys: the five randomly placed, identical buttons sorta go against your design principle.[Via I4U News]
Breakfast Topic: No children, please!
I recently overheard someone giving advice on how to avoid guild drama: avoid teenagers. Why? Because nothing loses respect for a guild leader more than their parents kicking them off the computer in the middle of a raid.It's an interesting point, but I've noticed this sort of age discrimination becoming more prevalent recently. People are happy to tar all WoW's younger players with the same brush -- one experience of an abusive fourteen-year-old in Barrens chat blows up into a strong dislike of all under-18s, resulting in "mature-only" guilds which only take players over 30 (for example).My experiences, especially of the last few months, have shown me that teenage players can be as mature and responsible as anyone -- perhaps more laid-back than older players who have limited playtime thanks to jobs and other responsibilities. Have you suffered from the common stereotypes of younger players? Do you cringe whenever the words "fourteen-year-old" are used as an insult? Or are you happily entrenched in a mature-only guild without a single curfew in sight?
More on the Children of Goldshire
With all the attention these kids seem to be getting, perhaps this video will be of interest. Yes, they've been there as long as I can remember, and I've never found any quest or in-game text that explains them. Eerie!
The Evil Children of Goldshire?
After seeing The Omen remake earlier & looking for some discussion of its lameness, I was browsing the official WoW forums & came across this interesting thread, which makes it seem like the peaceful little town of Goldshire might not be so bright & sunny under the surface. It seems that some folks have spotted a group of unexplained, evil-looking children, standing in a pentagram-type formation, appearing sporadically in one of the houses in town...because you know you can't go anywhere these days without tripping over a satanic toddler. Nobody seems to be able to interact with them, and creepy music is reported to be heard in their presence. I've read through a ton of the over 666 posts on the thread, and I still can't figure out whether this is always in the game, or the result of an event or quest, so I'm going to go check it out myself as soon as possible; I'll report back after I investigate. As soon as I'm sure I won't get ganked for going within 100 yards of the Faire, that is...
Hands on with Project Wiki
Project Wiki from Webzen is a bright, colourful MMO that immediately stands out from their other post-apocalyptic/dark-fantasy offerings. With inviting colours and visuals reminiscent of a 2D cartoon, the game seems well-matched to its kids-and-teens target demographic. It's simple to play -- perhaps too simple -- and death comes quickly at the hands of nearby enemies; the character we were playing has a limited number of skills which made combat a little repetitive. Project Wiki is only scheduled for a Korean release -- its anime-inspired graphics may make it appealing in the West, but its gameplay is rooted firmly in the East.
Cybersex is child's play: virtual world morals
We've already heard recently about the sexy side of Second Life, a virtual world in which the players' imaginations are more or less the limits. This article, however, shows just what can -- and does -- happen in an 18 environment where players are given free rein. Although Second Life is no stranger to kinks and perversions, some fetishes provoke far stronger opposition than others.The case in point here is age play, a pastime in which adults put on kiddy avatars and act out scenes which would, in the real world, be considered paedophilic. Thanks to Second Life's strict separation of minors and adults, everyone taking part is of age, which makes for an interesting moral debate. Is this activity virtual paedophilia, an offensive type of sexual play that should be banned lest it lead to real crime? Or is it simply an extension of the fantasy world, a harmless activity carried out in private?Sex-based virtual world Rapture Online, mentioned in the article, is playing it safe from the outset by not letting adults look like children. In SL, however, some official decisions may eventually have to be made on this front -- the simple existence of this sort of activity is enough to get some people riled up, but by infringing on users' freedoms to fantasise about whatever they want in private, the world loses some of its strength.[Thanks, Ken. Image shows items available from some of SL's kid-themed shops.]
Smack the Pinata September 1
Gamestop says Viva Pinata (aka "Microsoft's most important game of 2006") will burst on the Xbox 360 scene September 1. This is a closely watched title because the video game/kiddie show hybrid is MS's cross-media entreaty to the rug rat market. I checked out the official website and the music alone made me want to eat a mescaline-laced burrito. Does Viva Pinata have enough annoying qualities to be the next SpongeBob or Pokemon?
