FORT90

Well, I guess I’m due for another update. What’s been going on? Not much…

All Hail Our New Sun King

Okay, that’s kind of a lie. For starters, we finally have a black guy in the White House so to speak (well, half a black guy if you want to get technical about it). Today was the day we’ve all been waiting for, the inauguration of President Obama, or the coronation of the sun king as Mike put it. Not sure if the term is his creation or not, but it sure is pretty awesome.

Because I never drank the kool-aide, can’t say I’m exactly ga-ga for our new President like so many of my peers (as some might recall… which perhaps I shouldn’t be mentioning, but my two cents back in November resonated with quite a few friends; I’m guessing the lack of any formal comments is due to a need to avoid any uncomfortable situation with certain individuals and the like). While I can certainly appreciate the historical significance of it all, I simply can’t muster up the same level of enthusiasm that everyone else shares (which isn’t inherently bad mind you; truth be told, seeing so much optimism at a time when everything is so gloom and doom has been rather refreshing). I just know I’m going to get a ton of flack for exhibiting negativity on a day such as this, which is pretty laughable given that a good deal of those with this newfound patriotism were probably also the ones that basically did nothing these past couple of year and allowed things to get as bad as they are now (and I’m talking about doing something constructive, so frivolous nonsense like complaining on blogs doesn’t count). Kudos again to Obama for inspiring people to bring about “change” … despite the fact that it was always there to begin with… but that’s simply politics for you. And a prime example of the power of rhetoric.

So whatever. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in acknowledging the simply fact that we have nothing to justify such inflated expectations. Especially when it can be so counter-productive (dare I also say destructive?) in the end, enough to do harm for the man everyone views so dearly. Yet make no mistake, I’m not going back on my word shortly after his win; I’m still very much hopeful that he can indeed help “remake America” and turn things around. I’m just not expecting miracles anytime soon; best case scenario is that a few good initiatives manage to get through the pipeline and not be completely gutted or ripped apart thanks to politics as usual, like most truly great ideas. For those hoping that everyone will put their political and philosophical differences aside for the greater good, even during such dire times… sorry, ain’t gonna happen. As for worst case scenario, Obama turns out to be just another douchebag politician, which at this point I get the sense that he’s not, but if he is, I will not be colored surprised. But yeah, people not only have to be realistic but calm the f down; being annoying as hell as most diehard Obamamaniacs have proven to be may not appear to be the worst thing in the world, but it can definitely sow the seeds of serious problems later down the road. As stated many times, Obama’s greatest supporters will also be his greatest enemy at the end of the day.

Today also marks the final day of the Bush regime, which I’m also delighted is at an end. Though the sad truth is, his absence will be sorely missed by those who hated him the most. Folks who blamed him for every single stupid problem in their lives, the greatest of all scapegoats is at last gone. What happens next for them? BTW make no mistake, I do believe in the “worst. president. ever.” sentiment, I’m just wondering what hipsters and the like will do, who will they make fun off in their crappy political blogs and screen-printed shirts? Perhaps they will still hold on, such as how so many folks in NYC still hate on Mayor Giuliani many years after the fact. Or maybe they will simply move onto to Obama? After all, some have already voiced “betrayl” over his choosing of Hilary for the Secretary of State position.

Actually, they have moved on, as evidenced by all the “Boo Israel!/Free Palestine!” sentimentality that’s popped up in recent weeks. For a while there I was a tad bit confused and thought that there was gonna be some huge pro-Palestinian protest earlier this afternoon, which I was concerned would impact my own plans to celebrate Obama’s inauguration, which was taking advantage of the free celebratory hot dog special at Papaya King. Alas, I was mistaken and it went down earlier this weekend. Again for the record, I’m not Jewish or anything like that (though many seem to think I look it), I’m simply willing to acknowledge that situation is extremely complicated, enough to know that choosing a side flat-out is just plain dumb. Oh, for anyone who actually wants to know the real deal should simply look at all the facts. Anyhow, I guess it’s just like what my Fitz recently noted, “Anti-Israelism is the new Che T-shirt”.

What else? Oh, then there was plane crash from last week, which went down somewhat near me. It’s not like I saw it go down or anything, yet I do live a few blocks away from the Hudson (which is a very long stretch of water, I realize). Anyhow it was a super crazy situation that I’m just as glad as everyone else ended well enough. Though I’ll bet you anything that the one person or persons that was happier about the news, more than anyone else, has to be the MTA. Why? Because just the night before they held their first public forum to address the subway fare hike, which needless to say, was an absolute circus. But I’ll save my ranting and raving about the oncoming $3 a subway ride once it rears its ugly head closer…

Here Comes The Judge

Otherwise, not much else going on. Just working on “stuff” as usual, though for the most part, been kinda lazy. Okay, another lie. Then again, I guess you could say it was laziness that kept my ass at home this past Saturday night instead of hitting the UCB Theatre for some new video game-centric show called “Game Bros. LIVE! Actually, it was less laziness and more not wanting to freeze to death. Hopefully the show will get at least one more run (you never know with those Saturday night at midnight shows). Anyhow, in addition to wrapping up a proposal for a fairly big project that, if approved, will see me making games once again instead of just writing about them, which would be pretty neat, I’ve also been helping the new NEW person in charge of e-gaming at ICON for this year’s show. I believe I hinted last time that I was somewhat done and over with Long Island’s sci-fi/fantasy nerdgasm, but else can I say? It’s simply nice to be wanted, especially since I was unceremoniously dumped by the upcoming New York Comic Con. And yes, this marks my third time bitching about it, so maybe the less said the better from this point on. Perhaps I should take a cue from the Anime Fest and have a whole panel bashing gays as well, hmm?

Back to ICON: as for what to expect this time around, how about what NOT to expect? I’m pretty much done and over with top ten lists, at least for the time being (actually, I had been working on a reworked and revised one of the NYCC, but you know… maybe the folks at Otakon might be interested instead). In its place will be decidedly different, but still offer plenty of chances for angry gamer dorks to yell and scream to their heart’s content. I?ve got two words for you: Gamer?s Court. Also, no more panels on girl gamers or erotism in gaming. In the case of the latter, just sitting around for an hour and going “lol Japan” grew old pretty quick, and that was like over two years ago. The flamewars and trolls topic will also be mothballed, since it’s been nothing been downhill ever since that guy who ran the Battlestar Galactica message board (and dressed up as Doctor Who) made such an epic train-wreck of himself, also a few years back. I just hope my “groupie” makes their return, since last year all those kids were graduating college.

Other than all that, it’s been kinda chill, but that won’t last long. Back to the NYCC: plenty of game companies will be in town, either for the event itself or around the same timeframe, to take advantage of all the press that’ll be around, including Sony, Sega, and EA. Pat Lewis is also be coming to New York for the show, and will be crashing on my couch, as will Phil Fish, not for the con this time around like last year, but for some chiptunes thing the weekend prior. Oh, I guess it doesn’t also hurt to mention that I just got a new writing gig, for Anime Insider, though that has nothing to do with the con, just a bunch of couple of articles. As for the show itself, I’ll be doing the usual: soaking in the show floor, maybe checking out a panel or screening, taking plenty of pics of cosplayers, toys, and reporting on whatever the hell else crosses my path.

Oh, two other brief highlights from the past week or so include getting into an argument with some crazy middle-aged woman in the middle of the street (who had q-tips sticking out of her hair, or so says Katie) because she was offended by some of my choice comments regarding the opposite sex that she had overheard (sorry, but is it wrong for a guy to voice his objection of women with mustaches?), and how I now have a bona-fide furry on my message board (!!!), but since I want to stay on the topic of games…

Three Versus Four

So what have I been playing as of late? Well I know this might sound crazy, but because I spent so much time with Persona 4 near the end of 08, I found myself really missing it as 09 got underway. Hence why I decided to give Persona 3 another shot, but this time utilizing all the lessons learned from its sequel. So how’s that going? Well, as noted in my review, P4 is pretty much the best thing ever, though not a radical departure from P3, which was quite excellent. It simply took what worked and made things even better. That being said, it’s been hard going back. Yet, P3 is not entirely without its charms!

- I guess I didn’t realize how ridiculously emo the story was until I gave it a second spin, after its sequel. Persona 3 is nowhere near as offensive as the fodder that Final Fantasy and the like continually serve up, but still… And while I still prefer the small town vibe of Persona 4, I’ve also come to appreciate the metropolitan atmosphere of 3, especially as reflected via its wide variety of supporting characters, like the gothic lolita that happens to be a cutter or the monk that’s a drunk. Who both seemed a bit over the top the first time around, but come to think about it, there’s plenty of weirdos in the Big Apple that one certainly doesn’t even think twice about simply because that’s just how it is in the city.

- Oh, and P3′s city also offers far more places to go and see, as opposed to P4 where there just isn’t that much. Much like the boonies in the real world. Which in turn provides more interesting set pieces. Granted, Persona 4 also had a lot of variety as far as combat was concerned, by offering numerous dungeons instead of one gigantic tower to scale. But it’s the non-combative action around that I enjoy the most, like roaming around the beach with your male buds, in search of some ladies and some action.

- Back to supporting cast: I also totally love how interconnected everyone is in wild and wacky ways. Such as how [SPOILER ALERT] the girl you meet online and play alongside in a MMO turns out to be one of your teachers at high school, who along the way gossips about a coworker that’s been banging a student, another friend of yours that previously claimed to have gotten it on with a teacher, yet one has assumed up till that point that he was just blowing smoke up your ass. Which again is just another aspect of that big city feel, where there’s a million people, yet it still feels like everyone knows each other.

- Yet the core cast of characters, your in-game pals in Persona 4 are ultimately far superior; I can’t figure out if it?s because they’re more realistic, again due to the far more down to earth setting, or if they’re just simply better written. More the latter come to think of it; most of the folks in P3 is hardly as developed in P4, which sometimes works with the ultra vague nature of things. And sometimes it doesn’t. The bottom-line is that the kids of P4 are so damn charming. Also, the girls are mostly cuter (glasses ftw). Yet, there’s certainly something very appealing about a robot bodyguard sworn to protect you that looks like a hot chick.

- The shift in narrative tone is also different, though not necessarily better or worse. Simply worth mentioning, if we’re talking about key differences. Whereas everything in Persona 4 revolves around you, in Persona 3, the story will sometimes cut to other characters some distance away, doing stuff that drives the overall action forward. Which for a RPG where you play some anonymous character, P4′s approach, for whatever reason, just makes more sense to me.

- Combat is where I miss the refinements of the sequel the most. Not being able to directly control your party is both frustrating, due to some stupid moves that your AI controlled will invariably make, which you have absolutely no means of avoiding, as well as seeming boring, since you’re forced to just sit and watch. At least it’s far easier to attain money to buy supplies afterwards or grab new weapons. Aside from P4 being so stingy that you were dirt poor the majority of the time (which is especially good in FES since there’s plenty of goofy outfits to adorn your female companions with… the best part btw is easily hearing all the complaints), but the absolute best stuff was always locked away, which then leads to the annoying hunting down of keys.

- The ultimate saving grace is being able to exit dungeons at will, and how one’s health and magic are immediately replenished once stepping outside for a bit. The latter of which felt like a semi-transparent means of extending the sequel. True, you have to monitor your team’s health, which is the game’s means of preventing a player from grinding too much so the rest of the game isn’t a cakewalk, but with a little bit of planning ahead, it barely becomes an issue later down the road. Speaking of, the combat in general is far less punishing at first, unlike in part 4 where you die pretty often early on. Though on the flip-side, the difficult gets cranked way up all of a sudden near the half-way mark.

- And the one thing that practically kills the entire experience is the poor interface believe it or not. It’s more than fine, but nowhere as near as sexy as Persona 4′s. Though the actual game breaking part is how it simply doesn’t explain what your various Personas’ abilities are like in the sequel, which in the heat of battle, where one tiny choice can make a word of difference, is beyond frustrating. In the end, you’re forced to memorize all these goofy terms that the game utilizes. This, along with how much of the action is out of your hands, makes one not care as much about digging deeper, like being ultra involved in the evolution of one’s Personas. Thank God I remembered most of the ultra arcane names meant from all my time spent with P4.

- Yet on the flip side once more, I really appreciate the added complexity involved when it comes to dating women. In Persona 4, it was a total cakewalk wooing girls, figuring out what lines worked best, and there was zero consequence for having multiple honeys. Not in Persona 3. Whereas I found it frustrating that one could never predict what little comment or action would scare off or totally infuriate a girl (hence why all that stuff was dropped for the sequel) the first time around, I guess at this point I enjoy the challenge. And the very best moments of the entire game thus far has been when three girls I’ve been making on at the same time all cross paths. Also worth noting is how the girls in Persona 3 simply have more “issues”. Again, just like in real life!

- For the most part, the Personas that your pals control, not the ones you collect and use yourself, are much cooler looking in 3. I also prefer the look of the silent protagonist (that’s you) in 3 as well. Sorry, but I’ll have to go with blue hair over gray. Though have I mentioned that the girls are better in 4? Despite being ?ber hotties in their own right, both Yukari & Aigis still can’t beat Chie.

… Oh, so another game I’ve been playing a bit for some time now, along with Katie, plus with Hilary just this past weekend, has been Lips.
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Review: Lips (Xbox 360)

My initial impression of the karaoke game by iNis (the creators of Gitaroo Man and Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents) at a Microsoft press event last summer was largely a positive one, and not just because I managed to impress all the PR folk on-hand with my rapping skills, via Young MC’s “Bust A Move”. So how is the same game, many months later, at the comfort of home with some friends? Well, there’s a problem, and its name is Rock Band.

Here’s the deal: the game comes with about 40 or so songs, and the selection flat-out sucks. The game tries to account for everyone’s tastes, with virtually every single genre represented, which is admirable, but with only about two or three songs dedicated to each, its not nearly enough. So in the end, that high number of 40 is pretty damn paltry. Perhaps if the scope was narrowed, with less genres represented, but twice or three times as many songs dedicated to each that remained, the result would have been far more satisfying. Granted, doing so would have undercut its appeal to certain market audience, but seriously now, go to any karaoke joint in the country and you tell me which gets sung more, a song from Cheryl Crow or Duran Duran? Also, despite the fact that certain artists make total sense, the song they bring to the table doesn’t. Like REM and “The One I Love”. Huh? Plus, when was the last time you heard anyone try to belt out a Nirvana tune?

I guess the primary solution is to grab new tracks from the XBLA marketplace…. that’s how Rock Band has managed to hang in there way after the main game has been completed. But whereas RB has tons and tons of songs, enough to make someone happy, even if they only like one particular genre, the stuff available for Lips is downright laughable. There’s just nothing. Around Christmas time, a bunch of new songs were released, but that was more or less it. Oh, you could also import songs from your Zune (lol… I also recall the same plans for songs from an iPod, which I have yet to hear about since), but the lack of any lyrics support makes that far more trouble than what its worth.

Then there’s the issue of the game itself. If you’re a hardcore karaoke type, or simply one that can actually sing, Lips is right up your alley. But if you’re like me and can’t sing worth a damn, and when it comes to actual karaoke, are more concerned about having a fun time than making the effort to actually sing, you’ll definitely want to pass. The game’s method of keeping track of the player’s vocal talents are pretty dead-on… hence why both Katie and Hilary had absolutely zero problems kicking my ass, points-wise (though the “pretty” part is from our perceived notion that one of the two supplied microphones was not picking up stuff as well as the other). Though I was able to make come backs here and there, only because I noticed the on-screen cues to move the mics a certain way, which is supposed to add an element of performance, but in the end is completely unnecessary. Speaking of the microphones, they’re very neat, yet far too complicated for their own good; set-up took me, no joke, about half an hour to figure out if they were properly paired up to my system.

The three of us spent maybe 45 minutes on Lips total, and most of that time was wasted on looking over the same paltry selection over and over again, trying to figure out which song to bother with next. Till we finally said “screw it” and turned on Rock Band. Without about 400 songs I had available, needless to say, we had zero problems trying to figure out what to play next.

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As I’ve said time and time again, it’s never been a better time to be a gamer. But unfortunately, it’s also never been a worse time to be a game journalist.

I’ve made it no secret: my attempts at being a full-time freelance video game reporter has been shaky at best. There’s just too many folks out there like myself and not enough (paid) work to go around. Regarding these other people, they’re either sixteen year old bloggers who ultimately have no idea what they’re doing, but they charge next to nothing, which in turn makes it hard for us “professionals” to bargain for reasonable rates, or seasoned professionals who have been in the game far longer than I, and as a result are also far better than me. Don’t even get me started on the death of print and all that has entailed.

Well that talent pool just became even more crowded; the rumored purchase of Ziff Davis Media by competitor Hearst Corporation was formally announced and made very much real earlier today. Not only will they be absorbing all of ZD’s online portals, the 1UP Network (sites such as 1UP.com and GameVideos.com), but also many people behind them has been let-go, around 40 or so to be exact (mostly those behind all those podcasts that everyone loves so much). This includes people like Andrew Pfister and James Mielke.

I still remember the PM I got from Milkman about, gosh, six years ago, on the Gaming Age Forums, before it went “Neo”. He was impressed by something I had said on the boards, about comic books of all things, since he too had roots in cartooning. Long story short, I was offered the gig of playing and reviewing the bottom of the barrel games for GMR, a job that I still have many fond memories of. Skip served as my editor at the time and was another all-around excellent dude. So I wish both those guys, and the rest of the folks at ZD the very best of luck in the future. Hopefully they’ll find better places and continuing what they do best. And that’s cover video games in a fun and informative fashion for both the hardcore and casual gamer. I still honestly believe that no one in the world of game journalism, mainstream or underground, has come close Milkman’s one week with Q Entertainment or Panzer Dragoon retrospective.

Though I guess the really big news is that Electronic Gaming Monthly, once the mother-ship of the ZD (and before that Sendai Publishing) Empire, and at one time the biggest and most respected name in the world of print game magazines, is now no more. The upcoming February 2009 issue will be the final installment of one of the longest running independently operated publications dedicated to video games (just a few months shy of GamePro). Like most folks such as myself, EGM at one point was a large part of my life; I certainly didn’t grow up wanting to be a game reporter, but it most definitely had a profound impact on who I would become, by serving as my guide to wonderful world of electronic entertainment.

Most dudes my age when they were teenagers would spend countless hours ogling pictures of naked girls in girly mags, and would later waste even more fantasizing about these vixens, wondering what they would be like in the flesh. I was no different, though one will have to replace the photo-spread of a supple, nubile horny blonde with work in progress screenshots of Virtua Racing for Sega Genesis. Basically, EGM was my porn growing up. I also fondly recall my very first issue; it was in the summer of 92, I had just gotten my wisdom teeth removed and was in a total haze while stumbling around the Fort Lewis PX, with my father in tow, while the both of us waited for my perception pain killers to be filled. I was still loopy on painkillers and feeling mighty fine, but knew that I would be bed ridden for the next couple of days, and my dad asked if I wanted some new reading material.

Thus began my relationship with the one gaming mag that I still have the warmest memories off. I was mostly around during the good old days, the 16-bit era, when EGM was at it’s absolute best. Yes, Next Generation was perhaps a better, all around publication, offering the kind of maturity that the industry absolutely needed… for its time, that being the 32-bit era. I was absolutely in love with the wide variety of coverage that EGM provided, even if the targeted audience was early teens (which at the time I certainly didn’t mind since I was one), from domestic titles to stuff abroad. Diehard Gamefan unfairly gets all the credit for introducing the concept of import gaming to the masses, due to their colorful layouts, but when it came to actual usable information, EGM was king. Whereas Gamefan was often drowning in its own fanboy-ish slobber, or have these idiotic tirades as to why every game isn’t as cool as Treasure’s offerings. Plus, as much as I appreciated GF for spreading the gospel of Yuzo Koshiro, not once did it ever mention the Genesis version of Mega Man 1-3.

The editorial section was always the best; there was no lame attempt to suck up to their audience and constantly pat themselves on the back like some, which even I found rather transparent and annoying even as a thirteen year old, or worse yet, the wretched attempts by others at being funny. To this day, I still can’t understand Game Informer’s whole running gag with the guy in the gorilla suit. The rumors section never failed to be amusing, and the entire mag itself was often right on the mark when it came to anticipating the future; I’m surprised no Sega historians have yet to recall how EGM hinted towards the 32X well before it was formally announced (we’re talking practically years here) when they revealed plans for a, or perhaps even just pondered the possibility of the “Super Genesis”, that being a slightly upgraded machine that could play all the old games but new ones that tapped into its enhanced graphics and sound, plus sprite scaling and rotational capabilities.

Though it was their reviews that set themselves apart from the pack; I still recall the first perfect 10 I ever saw in the magazine, for Tempest 2000 of all things. The reviewers had personality, but again, it never got in the way and unlike many high-profile game writers of today, they neither wanted to be your best friend, nor lord you over with their vast knowledge of, in the grand scheme of things, useless information. Many people today still bitch about the review crew, and how it ripped off Famitsu’s format. Whatever.

The 16-bit era was indeed the golden age of gaming, at least to me, and most certainly for gaming magazines. Back in the day, whenever we got five or six screenshots of whatever new, hotly anticipated game, it was something to be celebrated. We’d all spend each month closely examining those same five or six images, over and over again, until the next set arrived. Later, when the internet came along, you’d get five times the number of new screens every other day, and it just seemed to be special. Maybe because of all the clicking involved. Also back in the day, EGMs were about as thick as phonebooks, especially during the holiday seasons. Yes, most of it was ads, but still, they were awesome! Look at them now, especially when in comparison with the overly edgy crap that constitutes as advertisements today, and you will be reminded that, yes, things were far simpler and more innocent back then. And that video games was not the billion-dollar industry that it is today. EGM was so big that at one point that it needed to be published twice a month, hence the short-lived experiment that was EGM2. Which I believe was the closest we ever got to emulating the Japanese video game scene, ever.

But the party didn’t last forever. I stopped following the mag when Next Generation hit the scene… it just offered the right change at the right time. Also around 1995, EGM got a new art director who quite honestly was completely inept; this person was a bit too happy to use every single filter that can be found in Photoshop any chance he or she got. That and the change to crappier paper, and poorer quality screenshots; there was definitely a way to take snapshots of crappy, first gen 32-bit games, and EGM at the time most certainly didn’t know how. I came back around the launch of the Dreamcast, when Next Generation was starting to lose its steam and was pleasantly surprised to find something that was readable again, though it was obviously a different animal by that point. Returned just in time for their top 100 list, and stuck around long enough to check out their top 150; I forget what was number one for issue #100, but I do recall Super Metroid getting the top spot for issue #150. Which I can totally respect. But at this point, all enthusiasm for game news in print was dead… mostly because the true king of video game print publications, EGM’s sister mag GMR, was put to pasture far too prematurely.

Then there was the shift to the web, the birth of the 1UP Network, which truth be told, I was never the biggest fan at first. Mostly because of some questionable editorial decisions in the very beginning, as well as how the site was never Mac compatible until far too later down the road. Also, despite the fact that many folks whose work I was a big fan of would end up being involved, I was also never a fan of their podcasts, but that had more to do with the fact that I cringe in general at the notion of game journalists trying to act like all cool, like MTV VJs or something. Perhaps because it’s so effective? But yeah, I’ve never given them an honest shot, so before they’re all wiped from the servers, I should finally give them a shot (especially Retronauts, which I’ve heard nothing but great things about).

I ended up getting a subscription somehow, about two years ago, and have been with the magazine ever since, till now its final days. Which have been quite nice; the current layout reminds me of GMR and the interviews in particular have been pretty awesome. I especially admire the completely revised review crew format, which was pretty daring, given all the history behind it. But after next month, EGM will be no more, which I’m actually depressed about. I guess there’s always Game Informer (ugh… I mean, seriously), GamePro (which I hear is nothing like it was back in the day, so that enough alone is worth checking out, at least for one issues), both “official” Xbox and PlayStation magazines (though I generally don’t do official mags), Nintendo Power (what I just said about the last two), and finally Play (which I don’t follow all that much due to its ties with Gamefan, whose legacy I’ve long found to be questionable… all I’ll say is that, like it’s predecessor, Play is just as pleasing to the eyes, though that’s where my pal Heather also works and I really dig what I’ve seen from her over there, plus it did give Persona 4 the cover treatment most recently and that most definitely gets a big thumbs up from me).

As for the 1UP Network, who knows what will happen to it and its people in the hands of Hearst and UGO.com. Though I believe it says something that, in this day and age where one needs to be more careful than ever about who you speak poorly off, given the ever increasingly dwindling options for employment, that no one has yet to say a good thing about that place… But so long as Scott Sharkey still has a job, I guess all will be well with the world. Though I have to wonder what Sushi-X will have to do now.

EDIT: Oh, because I’m talking about news, may as well bring this up now, since it surprisingly become such a big thing as of late. I’m talking about Bob’s Game! A monster that at least one angry person at Select Button has accused me of helping to create, since I was the dude that initially gave Mike at Kotaku the head’s up about many moons ago. I know, lol. Long story short: the dude is now pissed that Nintendo won’t give him an official dev kit to make his homemade DS game, which has taken him 15,000 hours, or five straight years to create, a reality (which many are dying to get their hands on since absolutely no one has gotten the chance to play this thing of his). As a form or protest, he’s locking himself in his room for 100 days. What this accomplishes is anyone’s guess. Other than giving the dude tons of attention, which is precisely what’s happening.

My take on the situation? I think it’s fairly obvious by now that Bob is simply a viral spam bot, either for some new gaming site or perhaps a small dev group looking for some cheap and easy pre-release buzz, which again its getting. Or maybe someone bigger, like Rockstar? Who knows, but yeah, nothing really to see here folks.

EDIT #2: You know, I was somewhat expecting a vitriolic reaction to my lamenting the passing of EGM, but was still shocked when it happened. Time and time again, the entire subject of video game journalism always gets certain people intensely pissy for some unknown reason. Actually, I can think of a few, and it all falls into line my long felt belief that gamers are by far the most frustrated and angry out there when it comes to all the different areas of fandom.

Here’s a thread I started at the IC forums for example. My fave part is how EGM was an “intellectually bankrupt pussout”. lol. Once again, the basic sentiment seems to be: yeah, they were okay, till they gave X game a shitty review back in 98. Ever since then, they’ve been dead to me, so f*ck ‘em!

Also, please don’t think no one, especially those behind the scenes, didn’t see this coming. The writing is always on the way, especially for writers. But it still sucks when it the axe finally comes down.

Anyway, it’s been revealed that the last issue of EGM won’t even see print, but will be distributed electronically… another small bit of irony there. Here’s what the cover will look like…

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