GayGamer.net

Thanks For All The Fish

2010-04-01T13:00:00Z

I first began writing for GayGamer in the beginning of September last year. In my six months on staff I've had the opportunity to cover a myriad of topics converging gaming with sexuality and LGBT politics. The experience has been rewarding and I've really enjoyed the things that I've learned from engaging with the community here. Growing up as an avid gamer from the first time I got a Nintendo Entertainment System as a child, I would've loved to have a site like this during the many times I felt isolated from other gamers online. To be able to contribute to this place as an adult has been a real honour.

Sentimentalities aside, I have come to say that this will be my last post on GayGamer.net. Responsibilities and factors in my real life are mingling and unfortunately I don't have the same level of free time I've had in the past to contribute here. I would like to extend thanks to Fruit Brute for his leadership and for allowing me to participate in the first place, as well as to Tiny Dancer and Mikey for their hard work handling the administration and technical aspects of the site-- to say nothing of the talents of the other writers on staff whose combined brilliance has been inspiring to write alongside. And finally, thanks to you, the readers, for commenting and reading the things I've written.

I still intend to be a part of the forum, IRC channel and comments here. Thanks again to everyone who has made this place what it is and the best of wishes to you all.

PS: It occurred to me after writing this that due to the ill-timed date, this may be taken as some warped April Fool's joke. Rest assured, this isn't a prank. :P

Activision Blizzard Restructuring Internal Organzation, 15 Laid Off

2010-03-31T13:00:00Z

The LA Times is reporting that Activision Blizzard has apparently quietly restructured itself without announcing this to their investors or the public at large. The largest change is that the company has divided itself into four units now: Blizzard Entertainment remains independent, as it has been previously, while another unit will focus solely on the Call of Duty franchise; the third new unit will focus on all other original properties like Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk titles, while the fourth will focus on licensed properties.

The Times is reporting on this through internal memos they obtained about the restructuring, saying that while it's been confirmed through emails sent to employees it has largely been unreported in the media. In addition to the restructuring, there has been a shakeup in senior management with Thomas Tippl, formerly chief financial officer and chief corporate officer, receiving a promotion to chief operating officer and Mike Griffith being promoted to vice chairman.

In an update to the Times article an Activision spokesperson confirmed the changes and additionally stated that fifteen employees had been laid off last week as a result. It's not specified what areas these employees had been laid off from, but this change to the company is the largest it's seen since merging with Vivendi Games in 2008 and becoming Activision Blizzard:

"We realigned our structure to better reflect our slate and marketing opportunities and direct our resources against the largest most profitable business segments," said spokeswoman Maryanne Lataif.

Report: Activision Blizzard makes changes; lays off 15 workers [via BigDownload]

THQ's Darksiders Coming To PC

2010-03-30T21:00:00Z

THQ has announced that the epic console action adventure game Darksiders will be coming to PCs in June. Developed by Vigil Games, Darksiders was released earlier in the year to Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Putting players in control of War, one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, players are sent on a quest to restore the balance between Heaven and Hell after being tricked into setting about the end of humanity. Critically acclaimed for its visual style as well as gameplay, the title was seen by many as a homage to the Zelda franchise, albeit in a more "mature" state. Check out the full press release below, and for those of you who've wanted to check the game out but haven't had access to a console or inclination to play it on one, you'll be getting your shot this summer.

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US, March 30, 2010 - AGOURA HILLS, Calif. - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that its critically acclaimed action-adventure title Darksiders will be coming to the PC in June.

Released earlier this year for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, Darksiders will be available for PC gamers to enjoy in all of its apocalyptic glory this summer. Developed by THQ's in-house studio Vigil Games, this version of the game is being meticulously crafted to deliver the same great art style and dynamic game play to a whole new audience.

Travis Plane, Vice President of Global Brand Management commented, "We are delighted to be able to bring Darksiders to the PC. THQ is focused on bringing great product to the PC gaming audience so it was vital that we allowed Vigil the time to optimize the title for the PC platform. We hope PC gamers experience the same thrill and get the same level of satisfaction assuming the mantle of WAR as the console audience did."

David Adams, General Manager of Vigil Games commented, "We are really excited to have the opportunity to bring Darksiders to the global PC audience. We feel that the growth of digital distribution and PC online communities creates a great environment for our game. We are working really hard to make sure that key features such as user-defined resolutions, interface and both keyboard and game pad control sets are all up to the standards for today's discerning PC consumer."

About Darksiders
Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of mankind, WAR - the first Horseman of the Apocalypse - must return to Earth to search for the truth and punish those responsible. War must take on the forces of Heaven and Hell, forge uneasy alliances with the very demons he hunts, and journey across the ravaged remains of the Earth on his quest for vengeance. Players harness the apocalyptic power of War, combining brutal attacks and supernatural abilities to decimate enemies who stand in his way. With an extreme arsenal of weapons, War blazes a trail of destruction, and emerges even more deadly atop Ruin, War's fiery phantom steed. Darksiders is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For more information, please visit www.darksiders.com.

Apologist Says Ubisoft's DRM "Isn't That Bad"

2010-03-30T13:00:00Z

I have to say, I find this a little bit ridiculous.

A Hooked Gamers editorial published last week and making the blog rounds today makes the claim that Ubisoft's always-on DRM plan, which I've discussed here already, is actually pretty cool or something. Through a rambling escapade of analogies and references to electrical plugs on planes and the 360's common red-ring-of-death, in the end the final judgement is that Ubisoft's DRM is both progressive and "ahead of its time."

A refutation could easily be made for everything in the blog entry: for example, even though a handful of airlines in the US have pilot testing for wifi on some of their flights, this is far from universal, and the latency and connectivity of such connections are so appalling that they would likely trigger many disconnects as a gamer tries to get through his copy of Assassin's Creed while flying from New York to LA-- the sort of disconnects that would throw said gamer back to the loading screen while their modem decides what to do. The argument can certainly be made that eventually such access will be commonplace eventually, but that's little consolation for gamers today. I also don't know the last time I've actually purchased a game on physical media: with the proliferation of marketplaces like Steam, I have to go out of my way to find a disc for a PC title, so Ubisoft's digital system certainly isn't anything new or providing additional functionality. In the end, though, it doesn't matter. Potential future technology doesn't excuse a form of copyright protection that is live and active this very moment that is hampering legitimate customers from their legitimate purchases.

It used to be that the only benefit piracy provided was giving someone a game without paying for it. When such piracy is now restoring functionality crippled by developers for consumers who've actually bought their product, something is warped in the plan. If this is ahead of it's time, it's reflecting a time of some sort of dystopian restriction that I'm not really interested in.

* (The tasteful image used here appropriated from Saint Superman's excellent article on DRM and PC gaming.)

Video: The Secret World's First Gameplay Footage Released

2010-03-29T13:00:00Z

Video Games | The Secret World | GDC 10: Exclusive Dark Days Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The Secret World is one of the few games, and probably the first MMOG, that I've had a fixation and overwhelming desire for in a long while. Funcom's brilliant The Longest Journey (and still fantastic if not as impressive sequel Dreamfall) was a game that affected me on a profound level. Age of Conan didn't enthral me, but I've had hopes that a new original IP would bring back some of the spirit from their previous fantasy/sci-fi titles.

This past week an exclusive video was published on GameTrailers.com detailing the first in-game footage that we've seen from the game to-date and it was with high, and satisfied, hopes that I immediately ran to my computer to watch it. Though their Kingsmouth teaser site suggested something in the way of potential screenshots, up until now there hasn't been any public eye-candy to drool over.

Several of the settings are stunning to look at, to say nothing of the bizarre and frightening creatures depicted in combat-- the Lovecraftian influence is definitely in full swing here as many of the supernatural enemies have that familiar tentacle motif going for them. Interestingly enough, the video above seems to suggest something that doesn't tend to make its way into MMOGs very often: cut scenes, especially the fully voiced variety. The Secret World is ambitious with its plans to break many conventional moulds as far as MMOGs go, and so far it's looking pretty well on its way. No release date has been suggested, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

Ultimate Gamer Season 2 Looking For Gay Gamers

2010-03-27T12:00:00Z

If you've ever had hopes of calling yourself the "ultimate gamer," you might get your shot. World Cyber Games, who had a hand in 2009's WCG Ultimate Gamer, is apparently gearing up for a second season of the competition and it looks like they're pushing to get some people of the rainbow persuasion involved this time around.

Nick Williams, Associate Producer on the TV series, has sent us an email with a flier detailing upcoming casting calls for Ultimate Gamer; as the sole gay staffer for the show, he's hoping that more LGBT gamers will show up and represent.

Although the first season didn't engage me very much, and I had some issues with the way some stereotypes were perpetuated (as well as the usual macho machismo that's endemic in much of the gaming community), I can't help but feel that a LGBT cast-member would be significantly more engaging as far as our community goes.

If you happen to live in, or can travel to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago or Atlanta, casting calls will take place in April. Nick will be personally handling the open call in Chicago, as well. Full details are after the jump so check it out and good luck to those who audition!

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Beta Impressions: R.U.S.E.

2010-03-25T13:00:00Z

R.U.S.E. is a upcoming RTS developed by Eugen Systems and published by Ubisoft. While a private beta has been under way for some time, Steam users were treated to a free open beta test earlier in March, continuing through until April 9th. Set in the time period of World War 2, R.U.S.E. takes the traditional RTS and gives it an interesting spin through the form of the eponymous "ruses," wildcards that allow a player to trick and deceive the enemy in a variety of ways.

Set for release sometime in 2010, R.U.S.E. has been developed by the same people behind the Act of War games. Although thus far the public beta is focusing just on the multiplayer aspects of the game, at release the game will have an extensive single player campaign and a fleshed-out skirmish mode; so far the AI skirmish only gives you access to a single map, but that's supposed to be an intended limitation to test out the game.

]]> When I first began playing R.U.S.E., there was little in the way of a tutorial to get you up to speed. There was a manual which I elected not to bother with, and the single video named "tutorial" on the website was instead the same advertisement that the game presents you at startup. Thankfully, however, it wasn't too difficult picking up what to do inside my first AI skirmish and veterans of the RTS genre will quickly figure out their way around the game with a little bit of trial and error.

The usual RTS paradigms are there: resources take the form of supply dumps that dot the map and are up for grabs from either side. You start out with a central headquarters building from which all further base-construction happens; supply depots can be used to control the neutral dumps, whereupon a caravan of tiny cargo trucks will meander back and forth between the depot and your headquarters, netting you currency every few seconds. As these trucks can only travel over existing roads, this represents a point of strategy for both yourself and the enemy; long supply routes can be disrupted en route by attacking the supply trucks, and the longer the route the longer it takes for you to collect your cash. However, this risk can be mitigated by building a secondary headquarters nearby.

There are a variety of other structures and units available from infantry, tanks and aircraft, each with their own weaknesses and advantages depending on their situational use. In many respects R.U.S.E. would be a very generic RTS if not for the two things that, in my opinion, really make it stand out.

First off is its visual aesthetic, which is very crisp and clean. As a player you have full control over the play field, being able to zoom in to a very minute level where the details of every tank or building stand out as if you were right next to them, or zoom out to overlook the map from a high level viewpoint like some sort of modern-day god. The markers of units and buildings scale to fit your vantage point, condensing from 1:1 representations of units to little figurines if you're looking at the map from a high zoom level. The graphics are very slick and the cleanliness of game assets are in contrast to many military-themed titles.

Secondly, the ruse system turns the whole RTS on its head. Ruses are divided into three categories: ruses that can be used to reveal information, like a ruse that reveals all unidentified units in a sector; ruses can be used to hide information, like a ruse that masks all your existing units in a sector; finally, ruses can be used to deceive, like setting up a fake base in a sector, or launching a fake offensive against an enemy. Ruses are given to the player on a set basis every few minutes and once played tend to run for five or six minutes at a time. In the case of fake units or buildings, the enemy player cannot immediately tell the difference between a decoy assault or a real one without employing ruses of their own, so these wildcards can be used to very effectively tie up the enemy's resources defending against a fake attack while you're bringing your real army up around to a completely different sector. It's this element that invokes a very clever twist and players will need to use their ruses effectively to beat the enemy.

The online multiplayer component will let players fight one another in skirmish matches as well as complete co-op missions. There are a total of six factions in the game. Presumably the single player component will still utilise Ubisoft's new always-connected DRM mentioned previously, the only mark against the game so far in my opinion. While it is still in beta and it's too early to get a full scope of the game's single player, for example, the public beta thus far has been pretty fun. I'm not generally a fan of real-time strategy games set in the usual glorification period of World War 1/2, but so far I've really enjoyed R.U.S.E. and I'm looking forward to seeing the full release.

Get An Exclusive Dragon Age: Origins Item From Alienware

2010-03-24T13:00:00Z

In commemoration of Dragon Age: Origins' latest expansion, Dell's Alienware is giving away an exclusive in-game item called the Bulwark of the True King, which is either a Tier 5 or Tier 7 shield depending on whether or not you're using it in the base game or the Awakening expansion.

While the giveaway is free, there are some steps to get it. You can read the full details at the blog post here, but it basically requires you to register a free account with the "Alienware Arena," activate the key you're provided at the Bioware website, then download the item inside Dragon Age.

Dell/Alienware is only offering this to PC gamers (no codes for the console versions are offered) living in the US, though an enterprising PC user could undoubtedly snag a key through a proxy or with the help of a friend living in the States-- not that I would suggest anything like that, mind you.

If you like free stuff for a modicum of effort head on over to the giveaway page and plug in your details.

Eyeroll: GameCrush Lets You Pay Women To Game With You

2010-03-24T12:00:00Z

While I realize this will be a bit lost on this site's demographic, I couldn't help but comment on it nevertheless. Long has the stereotype of the "gamer" crowd been one of lonely, overweight nerds living in the basements of their parents, with no social contact with the outside world beyond virtual interactions in video games. One company with a clear aim to capitalize on this perception is GameCrush, who have announced that they're creating a new service which hooks said depressed, isolated gamers up with "PlayDates" in the form of supposed hot women who just want to game, man.

The PlayDates come in two flavors, "flirty" and "dirty," depending on what level of pornographic content you want with your Modern Warfare 2 match, I guess. The service allows you to play simple Flash games over webcam with your date, or you can opt for one of four Xbox 360 titles on XBL. Flash sessions last for six minutes, XBL games last for ten.

GameCrush's website has apparently self-destructed under a sea of attention and (hopefully) internet-wide mocking, but Kotaku has a very NSFW gallery of some of the "attractive ladies" (and at least one guy) who you can book to play video games with. Rampant opportunistic sexism aside, either type of game costs $8.25 a pop, with the PlayDates allegedly keeping 60% of the proceeds. It seems that GameCrush forgot the last part of the gamer stereotype when they set their business plan in motion, though: I thought gamers weren't supposed to have jobs?

(Thanks Mrrow for the tip!)

The Witcher 2 Being Teased?

2010-03-23T21:00:00Z

Although its existence has already been known ever since internal video of the game was leaked online last September, within the past day the entirety of the official The Witcher website has been replaced by a blatantly obvious stylized "2" and a link to the official forums. There's not a lot left to the imagination on what this change could be signalling.

Explicit details have been kept under wraps, although a CD Projekt employee wrote on their forums back in January that sometime in March would see the company holding a press conference to announce details about the upcoming sequel.

The Witcher was released in 2007, based on a series of short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Critical reception was positive, with the first game currently holding an 81 on Metacritic, while the "enhanced edition" has an 86. If its sequel lives up to the reputation of the first game, it will make for an excellent fantasy RPG.

The Witcher web site is hinting at something involving the number "2" [via BigDownload]

Wait, No: Square Enix IS Considering FFVII Remake?

2010-03-23T13:00:00Z

Well, so much for that.

During an interview at the launch party for Square Enix's latest piece of the Final Fantasy franchise, CEO Yoichi Wada told attendees that while they don't have concrete plans to remake the oft-lauded Final Fantasy 7, apparently the company will "explore the possibility - whether or not we're going to do it, if we're going to do it, and the platform."

While all the flip-flopping is getting to be a little confusing, it's worth remembering that fans have been begging for the game to be remade with higher fidelity ever since the original Playstation was rendered obsolete by its younger brother. It also doesn't hurt that since its debut on PSN, FFVII has been topping the charts. Clearly if Square Enix sees a market, that's strong incentive for them to remake the game.

Square Enix CEO: We're 'going to explore the possibility' of Final Fantasy VII remake [via Joystiq]

Australia's Atkinson Resigns From Office

2010-03-22T13:00:00Z

South Australia Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, for some time the only opposition to introducing a R18+ classification for video games in the country, announced over the weekend that he was resigning from his position as Attorney-General immediately. Holding his position as MP for over 20 years, Atkinson will step down fully at the end of his term in 2014, his role a backseat one in the interim.

In Australia's system, changes to censorship law require the unanimous consent of all the country's Attorney-Generals, and Atkinson has long been the only hold-out to updating the ratings to be more in-line with the rest of the world. As a result, Australia lacks a classification criteria beyond 15+, so any games that would be rated higher than this are refused classification and prohibited from being sold.

While this doesn't signal that a reversal is imminent, Atkinson has maintained his refusal in defiance of the clear will of his constituents and the rest of Australia, so hopefully his replacement will be a bit more respectful. With his party also losing their majority in the election this past weekend, it's a good sign to hope for as far as gamers are concerned. Soon enough Australia might not have to worry about "banned games" the way it has in the past.

Mac Gamers Seemingly Forgotten Re: Dragon Age: Origins- Awakening

2010-03-19T21:00:00Z

While excited gamers this week have been treated to the first full expansion to BioWare's epic RPG Dragon Age: Origins, customers who purchased the Mac port of the game are left wondering when they'll get in on the latest content themselves.

Electronic Arts published the OSX port of DA:O last December, utilizing TransGaming Inc.'s Cider wrapper to facilitate the Mac version. Cider, a proprietary version of WINE, implements the Windows APIs in a manner that OSX can utilise, allowing software developed for Windows to run natively on a Mac without the use of an emulator, virtual machine, or rebooting through Boot Camp. However this is hit or miss, as anyone who's ever used CrossOver Games to get Windows titles working on their Mac can attest; sometimes a game works perfectly, sometimes it explodes in a fiery maelstrom of pain and agony.

Although I do most of my gaming on my Windows desktop built specifically for that purpose, I purchased the OSX version of DA: O when it was released to support the idea of more serious games coming to Apple machines; stuff like the recent Steam/OSX announcement is a great bit of news and companies will only be motivated to make versions of their titles available on OSX if they feel there's a market for it. Nevertheless, since day one, performance on the Mac version of DA: O suffers considerably compared to the Windows version on the same computer in Boot Camp; this is unfortunately Cider's drawback, as the need to translate DirectX into OpenGL requires significant overhead, something that my poor MacBook Pro can't manage. Even at its lowest settings the game was a stuttering mess and unplayable, essentially a waste of money even though TransGaming's site said the machine excelled past the suggested requirements.

That's not even the most unfortunate part, as since being launched the Mac port hasn't been supported in the least. The latest DLC, Return to Ostagar, doesn't work with the Mac version because it requires a patch that hasn't been released for the port; in fact, no patches have been released for the Mac version at all, and there's been little in the way of explanation if there ever will be. BioWare, TransGaming Inc, and EA all point fingers and responsibility at one another as to who will be working on these things but in the end it's the customers who forked out the same price as the PC version to get a product missing many of the features of its sibling.

And then there's the expansion, which presumably will eventually be released on OSX as well (there's an Apple logo on the expansion's mini-site, and a Mac version is mentioned in the ESRB submission) but nobody at any of the involved companies have confirmed or denied whether or not it will happen. It's the lack of communication that is most frustrating, as the developers have seemingly abdicated addressing any concerns of consumers who have utilised any official methods to bring up questions.

Shoddy performance is one thing, but dropping support entirely is something else all together. It's a positive step for publishers and developers to bring their products to as many platforms as possible, but when they abandon those customers as soon as they do they're every bit as responsible for people not taking Macs seriously for gaming as anyone at Apple could be. I can only hope that BioWare/EA get their acts together for the expansion and handle its release and subsequent support better than they did with the base game.

Very Bizarre FF XIII iPhone App Out Now, Only $8.99!

2010-03-18T13:00:00Z

I'm rather caught off guard by this, but Joystiq is reporting the release of a new iPhone app by Square Enix that shows off still images from their latest addition to the Final Fantasy franchise, costing consumers just $8.99 to buy.

For the same price as both their iPhone versions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II (to say nothing of the majority of the other games in their iPhone catalogue) you can have your hands on some screenshots that also multi-function as a calendar or clock.

I have to hope that somehow this is just an accidental glitch in pricing, and it will be corrected expediently, but if not this boggles me completely. I have a hard time believing even the most stalwart Final Fantasy fan will be interested in this, but I could be wrong. Would any of you guys ever buy it?

Facebook Closes Pro-R18+ Australian Social Group

2010-03-17T13:00:00Z

Yet another twist in the continuing saga of the R18+ content classification issue in Australia, GamePolitics is reporting that Facebook staff has removed the group Grow Up Australia, organized around protesting the lack of such a classification level in the country.

While Facebook provided no specific rationality for the group being disabled, their boilerplate stated:

"...groups that are hateful, threatening or obscene are not allowed." Additionally, Facebook removes groups that "attack an individual or group, or advertise a product or service."

Group Up Australia staff claimed that no administrators have posted any such content on the page, and they had been heavily moderating member content. In the interim they've created a Facebook fan page while they try and get Facebook to reinstate the original group.

Grow Up Australia worked with EB Games recently to promote a wildly successful petition to the government in response to their recent discussion paper.

Facebook Boots Grow Up Australia Group [via GamePolitics]