satire
Latest
D3 reveals satirical shooter 'Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard'
Vicious Cycle Software and D3Publisher have decided it's time to poke fun at our beloved (but grizzled!) space marines, revealing the first, scant details of their upcoming Xbox 360 and PS3 shooter, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. According to the press release, the award-winning writer behind Dead Head Fred, Dave Ellis, came up with the whole shebang-bang-bang. As you might expect from a modern third-person shooter -- even a humorous one -- Eat Lead will employ a cover system (dubbed "point and cover") and "different interactive melee moves." Provided the game remembers that taking potshots at the genre doesn't exclude it from being judged as a shooter, The Return of Matt Hazard in Q1 2009 may just be welcomed. In fact, we're just about ready to join Matt's appropriately and believably terrible fansite.%Gallery-33545%
WoW Moviewatch: Warcraft Political Ad: Rend Blackhand '08
In case you haven't had your fill of political attack ads this year, check out this ad for Rend Blackhand '08 created by Gape/Horn Productions. This video, produced for an Orc who apparently wishes to overthrow Thrall, is a virtual Threat Down of everything wrong with Azeroth. PvP is terrorist activity. The Venture Company exploits our natural resources for profit. Trolls are illegal immigrants and Goblins benefit from the outsourcing of our jobs. And you won't even believe what he blames Blood Elves for. Although this video features some epic music (from Psycho, John Philip Sousa, The Right Stuff) and one of the most amusing knock-offs of Rosie the Riveter I've ever seen, the satire is only 50 percent effective. Gape does a good job of winding up but can't seem to throw the pitch over the plate when it comes to the final payoff at the end. I'm not sure if he loses his nerve or if he only had a half-formed idea, but I wish he'd gone for the jugular at the end instead of just quitting.[Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Study: Parents corrupting unsullied children with killer game
A recent study conducted by Nielsen Games has uncovered an unsavory and alarming new link in the video game industry's ever-tightening chain around our nation's youth. It was found that 17% of respondents in the survey who had purchased a copy of the popular role-model pummeling game, "Grand Theft Auto IV," were between the ages of seven and sixteen. The crime glorification simulation, which imparts "gamer points" for beating innocent police officers to death with decapitated prostitute bodies, was rated "M" for "Mature." The most distressing news lies not in the fact that 61% of impressionable youths had been tricked into purchasing the games themselves by slick marketing and peer pressure, but the shocking revelation that 39% had been aided by someone else -- in 80% of these cases, parents themselves had thrust their child's ripe brain beneath the industry's oppressive mallet.Speaking exclusively to Joystiq, renowned child psychologist Dr. Alphred Larmist described this turn of events as "the ultimate betrayal." According to him, parents could be the most dangerous conduit of pixelated poison. "Parents getting involved is the last thing we need," Larmist said. "If they take an active role in what entertainment their children partake in, this is the sort of disaster that could happen. Next thing you know, they're determining what's appropriate for the kids and going out and buying Grand Theft Auto. They're supposed to be on our side." Dr. Larmist vowed he would take up the campaign to keep parents and their influence away from children. "If nothing is done, these video gamers will reduce our society to naught but chainsaws having bloody sex with each other."
The Onion reports on World of World of Warcraft
The Onion, that bastion of truth and fair reportage, have done a piece on the latest update to the World of Warcraft franchise, and it's not Wrath of the Lich King. Hardcore fans of Blizzard will rejoice when they hear that World of World of Warcraft will finally be released.In WoWoW, players will get the chance to prove how committed they truly are, by controlling a character that's controlling a character in World of Warcraft. The video explains it all: "My avatar is the biggest World of Warcraft fan in the whole World of World of Warcraft world," gushes a player buying his copy at a retailer. Make sure to watch for the jokes embedded in the scroll at the bottom of the screen when you watch the video below the cut.
The Onion spoofs WoW with the World of World of Warcraft
The Onion, a popular news satire site, has played off the World of Warcraft before with articles such as "Baby, you mean the World of Warcraft to me," but now they've taken it to the realm of video. The Onion News Network reports on Blizzard's latest (fictional) release, World of World of Warcraft. In it, you create a real life character and guide him or her through the process of playing World of Warcraft, helping them navigate the reading of the EULA and making sure they keep rested and fed with Hot Pockets and Soda. As usual with an Onion article that targets one of my personal hobbies or lifestyle, I'm never 100% sure whether to laugh or be offended -- but in the end I pretty much always err on the side of laughing. Actually, looking the "game" closely, it almost looks a bit like The Sims. You have a character who's modeled after a modern real life person, and you have to keep them happy, well-fed, rested, and entertained. And really, WoW is a pretty legitimate form of entertainment, I'd say. In that case, maybe The Onion is just looking forward to that day when all games are connected in some sort of seamless on-line mishmash of characters and personas. Then again, maybe it's just a funny video. Anyway, go watch it.
YTMND: Endgame WoW Raiding Summed Up
My internet browsings brought me upon this YTMND page, and I thought it was funny enough to share with you all.Endgame raiding, for those of you who don't know, can get a little predictable at times. Each class has their pre-defined roles, and each has their own unique style to them. Each raider usually carries with him or her (possibly ill) conceived notions of what players of each class are like.For instance in my guild we usually poke fun at our Mages as being "emo mages," since they like to die a lot. Another one has lately been that I AFK tank, since when I get above 50k threat on the top DPS, there's very little chance they'll catch up to me (and on that note, they joke is on them, because as the main tank I often times do go AFK during phase two of Illidan.)Take a look at this moderately funny YTMND take on WoW Endgame raiding. And have your volume up a little, because as my girlfriend explained, "That's Little Spanish Flea! You know, Homer sings that all the time."
WoW Moviewatch: Last Action Crusader
Since you guys couldn't get enough of Gnomechewer, I'm featuring a suggestion by one of our commenters. If you can remember the 90s, a satire film, Last Action Hero, came out, and it starred California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. What was supposed to be a summer blockbuster has ended up the butt of jokes for 15 years. However, the dialogue and action worked much better in Last Action Crusader. Keep in mind that this machinima is seven months old.You're going to have to try to follow along with me on this plot. Arnold Menethil is freed by Scarlet Commander Mograine, and escapes Stormwind to join the Scarlet Crusade. The whole time, he plans to avenge his father's death and reclaim Lordaeron to sit as King. The storyline for this machinima is totally over the top, but then so is the original film that it's parodying. What you can expect is cheesy dialogue, fight scenes, and special effects.[Thanks, Kassius!]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
X-Play: Xbox Live Orientation
Xbox Live gets us mad. We don't mean because of the dips in service that happen from time to time, we don't mean some of the exorbitantly priced content; we mean the people. We love people, but on Xbox Live social normality is thrown out the window as some gamers just need to turn on that hate. We always thought it was because some people (not all, but you've met these people too) are just straight up jerkfaces (see also, Asshats) but apparently some gamers were just introduced to Live via this orientation video.X-Play created a (sometimes) funny video that's meant to shine light on the personalities of Xbox Live and how the hate came to be. Video's embedded after the jump due to some NSFW language and crude humor, but remember the whole thing is a gag and is meant to have you shake your head in both understanding and disgust because it's pretty accurate. Unfortunately.[via THEBBPS]
Grand Theft Auto IV activity book for kids
Everyone knows that Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV isn't for kids, right? Right! Everyone knows that children wouldn't even dream about trying out GTAIV until they mature to the proper age, right? Right! Well, thankfully The Minus World has revealed some entertainment for kids who might want to experience a piece of GTAIV, without actually playing the game.The Grand Theft Auto IV activity book is chock-full of great assignments, including: word searches, image comparisons and a gang-sign primer. Now as you experience GTAIV by going outside the line of the in-game law your kids can practice by staying inside the lines with the delightful coloring pages!
The Onion spoofs game violence
Satire site The Onion has made its take on video game violence the headlining story today. In a piece entitled "Wii Video Games Blamed For Rise In Effeminate Violence," activist group Parents Against Wii (PAW) is suing Nintendo for $52 million in damages following sissified violence spawned from the Wii remote. Colorful language aside, the article follows pretty accurately the usual template of "violent video game" pieces. Our favorite statistic from the article is "a shocking 200-percent increase in wuss-on-wuss violence." If you happen to be affected when Wii games "use disturbing pastel imagery, graphic representations of adorable characters, and disorienting kaleidoscopes of color," this is a must-read.[Thanks, Caleb]
Today's nerdiest audio: Street Fighter songs
We can do without "whiny" being the default setting for so much indy/emo music, but Arlington-and-Grand Prairie-Texas-based Man Factory serves up enough indy-powerpop-rock to offset any latent emo sadness. Plus the group's latest project is a series of seven songs written from the perspectives of Street Fighter characters. The series is called, "Street Fighter II: Rock Opera: Round 1," and hits enough high notes that we hope rounds two and three follow.The band offers such tracks as "Chun Li, i'm lovin it," and "There goes Dhalism" for free at its site. (Or visit the MySpace page to play them in-browser and download the whole package as a zip file.) Our verdict: Knockout.[Thanks, Matt]
Rock Band's satiric backlash begins
Rock Band was bound to get the satiric backlash soon, because any game with this much hype has to. And if the writer's strike wasn't going on The Daily Show or Colbert Report would have probably done it by now -- but with those shows on extended hiatus, we'll have to accept Matt Downham's take.Coming from a place of love, Downham tells his Rock Band tale. At first we thought he was some cub guerrilla marketing guy, but as the video goes on it's all about one fan's obsession and expectation turning to disappointment -- and rage.
Halo 3 Hype Hoedown satire song
It was bound to happen and be absolutely well deserved. Sarcastic Gamer, the guys who've already created a Wii song, Xbox song, and PS3 song, are now focusing on the hype machine behind Halo 3 and how it'll change the world. Sadly, we believe that many people actually think many of the things in the song will happen once Halo 3 is released -- OMG, what if they're right?
Fake loading screens for iPhone
There are tons of iPhone wallpapers out there by now, but this set is extra special-- it's a set of satirical wallpapers, designed, says Josh, to "show off the true power of the iPhone" by replacing the standard loading screen with one of your own. Did you know your iPhone could attract total strangers, create Universal Healthcare, or even resolve global warming? It can-- just as soon as the loading bar completes.I think my favorite is the one shown here, though. Sure, since it's just a picture, you could say that the bar will never finish, so the iPhone will never be obsolete. But as one of the people waiting for v2.0 to buy an iPhone, seeing the bar past halfway at least inspires a little hope that we're almost there.Thanks, Josh!
Wii song gives console satire comeuppance
The Wii has been relatively unscathed by satire, which given its success is quite surprising. Maybe there is ultimate fear of the Nintendo Defense Force and anyone who speaks out is afraid of waking up with a lombax head in their bed. Jeromy Adams has now completed the circle of mockery starting with the PS3 on how to kill your brand, then the Xbox 360 and its red rings of fire.Adams, who made the song with Dave Cothran, says the song is inspired by the "scores of gamers" who discover the Wii works better as a "bookend" than as a gaming platform. Hopefully the release of Metroid will signal a change in the Wii and it won't be considered the parched console of gimmicky waggle anymore. We hope.
Found Footage: Steve introduces the iRack
Apple's increasing popularity is making Steve Jobs more recognizable outside of the usual circles of computer geeks. As a purveyor of pop culture, he's ripe for satire. SNL has aired some reasonably funny skits, but Mad TV really hits a homer with this skit: Steve introduces the "iRack." It doesn't really poke fun at Steve as much as use him as a tool for social commentary. It's really funny.
He feels bad and stuff: A public apology from the Wii ranter
So remember that raving lunatic who badmouthed the Wii in a GDC free-for-all bash-fest a few days ago? Well, after a phone call from EA threatening to fire his ass he feels really bad, and recently came forward with a public apology. Chris Hecker, programmer for Maxis, says:"When I'm on stage, I'm me -- I'm not representing EA or Maxis. I do not think the Wii is a piece of shit."Know this, Hecker. We do not forgive you. In fact, we feel a satiric mood coming on right about now ... stay tuned.[Thanks, Markus!]
Street Fighter's Blanka: an electrical oompa loompa
This and other gems are what you get out of the third installment of Street Fighter: The Later Years. It's a brilliant ongoing series at CollegeHumor.com that follows the lives of everyone's favorite Street Fighter characters, years after the game has come and gone. This is the sort of thing we'd like to see on G4, or any sort of video gaming channel. Toss in this, some Red vs. Blue, some in-game feed, game guides, This Spartan Life, a World of Warcraft show, and some Major League Gaming, and you've got yourself something people will watch.Of course, we need to cram a Joystiq show in there somewhere. Video is after the jump. Give it a whirl, and brace yourself for Christmas. Note, if the video isn't embedded for some reason, like CollegeHumor.com's code not being up to snuff, then click the image above or here for the vid.
Interview with a Blu-Ray
Aeropause sits down for a disturbing chat with an anthropomorphized Blu-Ray disc. Sample quote:One time when we were young, HD-DVD and I played "Show Me Yours and I will Show You Mine" We got caught and we never tried it again, but what I saw was impressive, but I think mine is just as good! That moment scarred me for life. If that would not have happened I would have had a much higher capacity.At least they went to the source.[Thanks Lucas]
