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This is E3. This is Web Zen.

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8bit killer

A brand new, free, 8 bit-styled shooter with 32x32 textures and a palette of 64 colors. It is inspired by games like Wolfenstein (obviously) and Metroid (not obvious until you play the game).

Download it here.

Oh, and it sucks in Wine, but I haven't yet tried any compatibility modes or other tweaks. Can you get it to work nicely in Wine? Please leave a comment.

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Gnarly Potential

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Life Imitates Art. But What Is Art?

Bob Dob: "Rough Night Out"Zeitgeist: The spirit of the time. A term that is commonly used to describe trends and cultural movements — the most perplexing of human social phenomena.

It has been said that art imitates life. Oscar Wilde took this notion and flipped it, stating that "life imitates art far more than art imitates life." One need look no further west than Hollywood to see that both statements carry a certain truth, but it is Wilde's version of the statement that weighs especially heavy on Hollywood, and by export, on Western culture in general. Art clearly began by imitating life, but then art changed and grew. At some point, life began imitating art. Notable examples can be seen in the art of film — Hollywood film in particular.

Sometimes celebrities become caricatures of the roles they play, especially when they are typecast into very specific kinds of roles. But it isn't just the characters in the roles that they play that bleed over into reality; look also to their appearance. Look to the scalpel. See how Jenna Jameson, porn starlet-turned-media-icon's face has changed over the years. Look to the 45 year old movie star whose prime has past. Notice perfect teeth, busts, and hairlines cleverly stacked on top of sagging buttocks as they shuffle legs corded with varicose veins across the red carpet at an award show. Look to Joan Rivers, who Jenna appears to be becoming. In the process of projecting fantasies onto screens around the world, Hollywood has become a fantasy land, perhaps through a feedback loop of some sort. This is fine though, because fantasy sells well. If you sell fantasy for a living, you will also tend to project fantasy in your personal life. The same principle explains why car salesmen at high end dealerships don't drive 1980 station wagons. This principle can be applied to any job.

When a production is competent, we see exactly what the producers intend for us to see. It's all makeup, camera angels, and editing: movie magic. The pressure to keep up this facade off-screen (but in front of nigh ever-present cameras [especially of the paparazzi]) is high, but the illusion is kept up quite well by everyone, except for Britney Spears. These illusions effect the perception of reality of the moviegoer (the media consumer).

So: right now in Hollywood, life appears to be imitating the art that is produced in an effort to bring moviegoers to 'fantasy' lands where, among other things, everyone is attractive. Physical attractiveness the unifying element of all Hollywood movies. Genre & theme may vary from one marquee line to the next, but everyone looks good. Everyone looks ready for the camera. Hip-hop music can be said to have a similar effect, in that currently it seems like life is imitating art.

The commercialization of hip-hop involved framing and exporting certain slices of urban life to markets that had limited or a complete lack of exposure to it. Now it seems to me that the prevalent lifestyle (and if nothing else, the style — the fashion) of predominantly black youth in urban communities is based on themes presented in hip hop music. But aren't the themes that inspire this art drawn from real life? Not necessarily. Rappers — especially popular ones — are primarily entertainers and may never have known the lifestyle they portray in their songs. I won't bore you with all the details but the information is out there. Some rappers have even been quoted saying things such as that the rap game is "like the WWF." Here, again, life imitates art when the art is among dominant media, as movies are, and as hip-hop music is. The end effect isn't terribly unlike a magnification of the stories the news publishes about kids killing each other when performing professional wrestling moves.

Preface for the remainder of this post: I support freedom of speech, and I do not see violence in games as a problem. Many of the games I play are violent, and I do not necessarily believe, as some believe, that violent games are inherently dangerous to society. Not all violent games glorify violence just as not all violent movies or music glorify violence. The role that violence in the media plays in influencing real life violence is unclear.

What happens to life when the art is a video game that makes more than $500 million in its first week in stores, making it the biggest entertainment launch of all time?

"23 year old repeatedly stabbed in Croydon, south London as he walked past 100 people queuing to buy the controversial game"

In Manchester two young men broke a teenager's jaw and nose as they snatched the game from his hands"

"Life imitated art as a pair of armed crooks stole copies of a popular video game with a criminal element and cash during a stickup of a Ridgewood video game store on Tuesday night, Apr. 29, police reported."

Well, one thing it does is it heavily underscores the growth of the video game industry. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) forecasts continued growth through 2008 for the industry — up to $17.9 billion. One imagines the growth of the games industry has had an effect on the movie industry in some way. I do not intend to speculate too much on what this growth will mean for box office sales and what seems to be the decline of the movie industry, but for comparison's sake: Iron Man, the second-best non-sequel movie opening ever (behind Spiderman), made $200 million — $300 million less than Grand Theft Auto, in this first week of sales.

The sales of Grand Theft Auto IV, the growth of the games industry in recent years, the related increase in production cost and quality of games, and the decline of box office sales all seem to suggest that the games industry is becoming more similar to Hollywood, and perhaps even culturally dominant over film. In addition to this potential dominance is the position that many have taken in recent years that says that games are art, not unlike movies. In an interesting example of art-imitating-art, the last four (and most relevant, and three dimensional) Grand Theft Auto games have taken on the style of and contained similar plots to the most memorable crime-themed movies and television shows. The question we must ask in the near future will be, does life imitate game art as it appears to do with movies?

Are interactivity and the sense of reward that comes from completing a task — important aspects of games that are not present in movies and music — especially dangerous for people who would change reality to better reflect the fantasies experienced on-screen? The violent crimes that have happened around the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV — are they directly related to the violent content of the game, or is it happenstance?

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Grand Theft Auto IV is out this week

And, just in time, here is Grand Theft Retail.

During a nearly one-year period, Frank Buchanan allegedly made about 192 purchases on two credit cards at various stores.

What was out of the ordinary, however, was that the 30-year-old Buchanan also allegedly had about 183 refunds on those cards.

The rural Albert Lea man's transaction history, authorities say, demonstrated an obvious purchase-return pattern mainly involving video games at multiple stores in numerous southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa cities, including Austin and Rochester, according to a criminal complaint filed this week in Mower District Court.

Overall $23,178 in refunds was credited to Buchanan's accounts during that period, the complaint says.

Buchanan's alleged scam consisted of buying video games from stores, repackaging the containers with blank replica game discs, returning the fraudulent games for a refund and selling the original games on eBay, an online-auction site. From October 2006 to January 2008, Buchanan auctioned off about 447 video games on eBay for roughly $19,562, the complaint says.

Buchanan is charged in Mower District Court with three felony counts of theft by swindle alleging he obtained credit for fraudulent merchandise at area Target, Wal-Mart, ShopKo and Kmart stores.

One count alleges Buchanan got about $12,373 worth of credit through his scheme from Dec. 1, 2006, to May 31, 2007; another is for about $6,836 in credit from June 1, 2006, to Nov. 30, 2007; and the last is for about $3,969 in credit from Dec. 1, 2007, to Feb. 28, 2008.

Buchanan, who is summoned to appear June 9 in court, allegedly did his video-game scam at retail box stores throughout the region, including Mankato, Winona, Albert Lea, Fairmont and Mason City, Iowa.

On Feb. 27 law-enforcement officers from Austin, Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Mower County and the U.S. Postal Service used a search warrant at Buchanan's home along U.S. Highway 65.

Authorities seized about 41 items related to Buchanan's fraud scam, including a heat-sealing packager, an array of computer equipment and a journal listing Buchanan's purchases and returns with dates and stores, the complaint says. They also found numerous sealed and unsealed video games with purchase receipts attached to each game.

Buchanan allegedly admitted to starting the scheme in late 2006.

In a police interview, Buchanan allegedly said he opened and removed the video games at his home. He would scan the game, print a label on a disc, place the fake game disc back in the box and repackage the game with a heat-sealing machine, the complaint says.

Austin police detective Mark Haider began investigating Buchanan's scam after getting a fraud report Oct. 8, 2007, from a Target loss-prevention agent who said the store was the victim of a video-game return scam done by Buchanan, with the help of his mother, for several thousand dollars.

Buchanan's mother Dorothy Mae Buchanan, 68, who lives with him, is charged with a single felony count of theft by swindle (more than $1,000) for allegedly helping her son with the illegal activity from October 2006 to January 2008 in Austin.

She also is summoned to appear in court June 9.

Rural Albert Lea man accused of video game scam

GTA IV reviews @ Metacritic

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Bioshock is:

The first game good enough to warrant two consecutive playthroughs in half a decade.

The radios in the game play music such as jazz recordings by popular 1930s era personalities like Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, and Noel Coward.

Download all songs played in Bioshock here

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TF2 Medic Content Patch

Developer Valve released the final details on its upcoming Team Fortress 2 content update during a party tonight in downtown San Francisco.

In addition to the known crit-increasing gun "The Critzcrieg," the remaining two unlockable medic weapons were also available for hands-on time. Dubbed "The Blutsaugher" and "The Ubersaw," they will serve as replacements for the medic's standard syringe and bonesaw, respectively. The weapons will be earned through a new achievement system, and equipped through a loadout menu.

The Blutsaugher
For players that earn one third of the 36 new medic achievements, they will be given a new syringe gun. Called "The Blutsaugher," this new weapon no longer has the ability to score critical hits against an opponent. Instead it will draw health from enemies each time a syringe hits. Especially useful as a weapon to retreat away from the fight while staying alive.

The Critzcrieg
Once a medic has earned two thirds of the achievements, they will be granted "The Critzcrieg." This new medigun uses its ubercharge not for invulnerability, but to give its recipient 100% chance to fire critical ordinance. Medics and the player they are charging need to be careful though, because as much fun as it is to fire critical rockets as fast as you can, the other team will see what you're up to and try to put a quick stop to your plan.

The Ubersaw
For the determined medic that has earned all 36 of the new achievements, they will find themselves the proud owner of "The Ubersaw," which will take damage done in melee attacks and convert it directly to ubercharge. Four hits with this new weapon will fully charge whatever medigun the medic has equpped.

@ Shacknews

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A Great Reason To Play Portal Again

Take a look at GlaDOS. She’s a woman hanging upside down from the ceiling, in a straight jacket/bondage getup. Her head is even blindfolded and gagged, and her ears covered. Don’t let the big round”eyes” fool you. Look past them and see the woman hanging and suffering.

Here’s what you see in-game:


And here’s what I think they’re trying to convey:

Full Analysis Here

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If You Love|Hate: America|Video Games|Freedom|Callous Stereotyping of Minority Groups, You'll Watch This Video.

Please throw away two minutes of your life on this official teaser for the Homie Rollerz video game:

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Related Link

lvl 8 ogre mage seeks moon queen or druid

I am a lvl 8 warrior seeking my adventuring companion for game play and fornication. I partake in only adventure/fantasy role play, no creepy goth stuff, it’s too weird.

More at the bottom of the post.

2, 2.5:

Desktop:

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Related Link

"Today, We're Still Downloading MUD Clients"

"Today we're still downloading MUD clients. They just come with a really, really large graphic cache."
-- Ralph Koster

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Back; Here is something to consider.

from surfergirl:

3) Have you ever seen millions of dollars used to market console DLC? Something called GTAIV will change that

I honestly didn't expect this from that franchise. I don't know what exactly Rockstar has in mind, but this could have some really profound effects on the gaming public's opinion of downloadable content.

For instance:

• If they release content regularly for this game for a fee, (regularly being 4-6 months between installments, fee being $20), they stand to make an incredible amount of money from this. The market for potential customers for this sort of thing would be far greater than the market for the most similar service I can think of, an MMO. We know the market would be greater based on how people, in general, feel about the GTA franchise (they love it). This could cause a paradigm shift in the industry and cause more companies to invest in downloadable content.
  
• I forgot my second point
• Third point: if this is successful enough, might we see some crossover into the GTAIV gaming space of real world products? Could, for example, some edgy entertainment brand pay some serious bux to Rockstar developers to create a campaign based on, or related to, their product/service? I'm thinking something like the way some companies have decided to inhabit Second Life, but far less, uhm, esoteric than Second Life is. If anyone is confused about why the mass brand expansion into Second Life isn't blowing up the way some thought it would, consider that Second Life's core users may not be the kinds of people who consume the brands that are extending themselves into the world. Don't make me show you explicit pictures of weird Second Life avatars to drill the point home.
  

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Suggestion for Team Fortress 2: Domination Tokens

I think it would enhance the game if you could earn "tokens" that allow you to respawn instantly instead of the normal respawn time, which is often 20 seconds. This would be beneficial when you need to get back into the action as soon as possible (for instance, if you're an engineer who knows there's a spy in the base casing his buildings). These tokens would be earned -- I think a good way to do this would be to allow them to be earned via domination: when you dominate an enemy, you earn a token.

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I put 10 hours into Final Fantasy XII over the last three days

This game is such a keeper

PS2 owners who think I have good taste: go buy* FFXII


*I don't really care how you get the game

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The Worst Statement I Have Read Online This Week:

"The facial expressions and acting are excellent throughout the game. If you want to study acting, take lessons from the characters in FFXII."

You too can read this in its original habitat, if you click here.

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The Melee Weapons of Team Fortress 2: A Brief Analysis

Editor's note:
Great statistics DIRECTLY from Valve related to this post can be found here. It is better than anything I could ever compile myself!

You can read my guide to playing the soldier effectively against other classes, along with other class guides and strategy pages, here.

Before I get into the main topic, let me dispell this myth about control points in Team Fortress 2:

If you own a control point and it becomes halfway captured by the opposing team, standing on it does NOT increase the speed at which you regain "ownership" of the point. Period. There is no evidence that shows this.

How did the above rumor even get started? Maybe people confused this with the property of control points where standing on them prevents capture by the opposing team.

Anyway, on to the main topic.

----

I was really curious about how melee weapons in TF2 worked, so I ran some tests and crunched some numbers.

Pictures of some of the classes' melee weapons are interspersed with information...



...to keep things "fresh" and "interesting."

Going into this my questions were: "How much damage does each melee weapon do? Do different melee weapons do different amounts of damage? Does your character class have an effect on how much damage you take? Are some weapons really faster than others? Does where on the model you hit an enemy effect how much damage they take?"



I was able to answer all of these questions. What order should I present the results in? I don't know.

First, the simple stuff:

• Where you attack an enemy does not effect how much damage they take. The only exception to this rule would of course be the spy's backstab -- but then again, that isn't even really in the same category as other melee attack as it does no damage -- it's just an instant kill. This gameplay mechanic might be extended to other weapons too, of course, with the exception of the sniper's rifle that can get a headshot which again, is an instant kill and outside of the scope of other attacks. When considering the damage other weapons do it's important to consider how "direct" of a hit you get. The scout's primary weapon is obviously going to do more damage if you're hit by every pellet in his shot. The soldier's rockets will do more damage if the person is hit dead-on by them as opposed to just being hurt by the "splash damage" from the explosion.
  

• Your class has no effect on how much damage you take from melee attacks -- again, this is probably the case with other types of attacks. In other words, a heavy has no measurable defense benefit over a scout -- not directly, anyway (there are other outside factors, such as a medic's inclination to heal a heavy more than most other classes, or an enemy's inclination to kill a medic before other classes, that surely have an indirect effect on the "safety" of a class).
  

Different melee weapons do different amounts of damage. Preliminary tests also suggest that some weapons have a greater range of damage than others, but this needs to be studied further. The scout's weapon is the fastest. Its speed appears to be balanced by it's relatively low melee damage -- whereas other classes seem to be able to do melee damage well into the 70s on a non-critical hit, the scout's attack did a maximum of 36 damage in our testing. Basically, you are trading speed for damage when you use the scout. It seems balanced, and for some players and certainly in some situations, the scout's melee attack is undoubtedly preferable to the others.




Our data set was small and not very well balanced, but we were able to learn the things above. We do not know the exact range of damage of each of the melee weapons -- aside from the scout, they appeared to be in the same range -- 40s on the low end, 70s on the high end.



The sniper's attack seemed to be noticably slower than the other attacks. Our hits were consistently higher though -- no attack landed for below 60 damage. Perhaps this is a trade-off for the apparent slowness of his attack.



Conclusions:

• Location of attack does not matter (except backstabs and headshots, of course).
  
• Class choice does not award any explicit defensive benefits.
• Scout has the fastest weapon, but it is the weakest -- there is a tradeoff here. Average damage is about 30.
  
• Other classes' melee weapons do damage ranging from the low 40s to the high 70s.
• Some classes may have damage ranges that are higher or lower than others, and these may be dependent on the speed of attack or other factors yet unknown, or maybe even no factors at all -- just Valve's choice.
  

In the future we could learn a lot more about the mechanics of this game with similar tests. We will need larger data sets to give truthful estimates of the range of damage of each weapon, and we should use the melee attack sound effect in combination with a time measurement piece as a metric to see just how fast each attack is. This is a really rich and well balanced game and I'd like to spend as much time as possible learning the secrets behind its mechanics -- if no one beats me to it.

Thanks to Glass Brain for taking the time to help me with these tests.

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Team Fortress 2 and Me

I've been in Windows for two days.

"Why?" you might ask, given how much I talk about how bad Windows sucks.

The answer is that I love games even more than I hate Windows.

Especially when it's a game I've been looking forward to since the late 90s.

I don't think it will run in Linux under Wine right off the bat, and besides, I can't get sound that way, anyway. Sound will be important (and highly entertaining) in Team Fortess 2.

You heard it here first: love is powerful; more powerful, even, than hate.

But really, Windows is breaking my damn heart. I've had my heart broken so many times in the last seven days. I don't think I can take much more.

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Hopefully this will be the final post about God_of_War_2_USA_PS2-ECHELON

Since the last post: I beat the colossus. Then, at the cutscene where Zeus stabbed Kratos through the heart, the game froze. After that I gave up for a few days.

Today I got my hands on a DVD5 version of the game. I tried loading that to the HD with FastLordBogami. It didn't even get past the title screen.

The only thing I hadn't tried was transferring the game directly to the HDD with WinHIIP. I didn't do this because I didn't have access to my external hard drive enclosure.

I decided to try WinHIIP. I unplugged the DVD-RW drives from my computer, and plugged in the PS2's hard drive. Then, I transferred the original DVD9 image (God_of_War_2_USA_PS2-ECHELON) to the PS2. Unlike doing it over LAN, this only took 20 minutes. It takes about 1.5 hours to transfer the 8 gigabyte DVD9 image over LAN.

I loaded up my game. It worked. I started a new game. It got past the first cutscene, and the floor of the first area was, surprisingly, intact. I was able to save without the game freezing.

Right now I'm in the snowy area around the titan Typhon's chamber. Everything is working.

To sum it up, this is what I believe: The God_of_War_2_USA_PS2-ECHELON release works with the 0.8b version of HDLoader that is patched to be compatible with God of War II. It works by transferring the image from your computer to your PS2's hard drive with WinHIIP. Other solutions that I know of don't seem to work completely.

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