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Review: Heavy Rain

2010-03-15T19:00:00Z

Heavy Rain won't be the kind of game many gamers have played before - its blend of intense, top-notch Hollywood thriller storytelling, character immersion, and the quick time events that constitute the majority of its traditional gameplay are a new creature - while interactive drama has been attempted before, never has such polish and quality gone into the effort. To call Heavy Rain a tremendous success may be a bit misleading, because not every gamer will be ready - or wants to be ready - for this experience. That said, Heavy Rain's achievements make it accessible to even the most dismissive gamer, given the right setting. The fact that it's the best-looking game for the PS3 to date doesn't hurt, either.

This is a game to be played with the lights off, alone - or at least with a friend who's willing to keep his or her trap shut. Quantic Dream's interactive drama is at its best when you follow it into the unexplored space between dramatic games and compelling drama - I've summarized the game to friends (by no means a perfect analogy) by saying something like this: 'Imagine you're actually in one of the Saw movies, only it's a good movie, and you're playing all the major parts, and instead of watching Cary Elwes decide whether or not to cut off his foot, you are Cary Elwes, and if you do decide to cut off your foot, not only do you have to actually do it, but you have to figure out how.'

So while the demo available on PSN might have given gamers the wrong taste of the game - the mechanics of asthma inhalers never having made for great gameplay or drama - when playing the game proper, the story quickly pulls you in and imparts genuine urgency to your control over the literal, sometimes mundane actions of the four playable characters. Buying a balloon for your kid at the mall before the opening credits may not sound intense, but chasing him through the crowd with the balloon as your only marker certainly can be. Especially while knowing, with that foreboding sixth sense that all good movie-watchers have, that losing sight of your kid in a crowded mall is never a sign of good things to come. Instead of watching helplessly, as you would in a Hollywood thriller, you're now acting, and you never know whether the situation is helpless or not. That bumps up the suspense tenfold.

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I had tears in my eyes before the opening credits ever rolled, and that set the tone for the rest of the game: in almost every scene, there's a palpable sense of responsibility. I am not going to let Thing X happen to Prostitute Y. I am not going to disappoint my son. I am going to make him laugh. I am going to make it out of Creepy Place Z alive - not because I want to win the game or beat the level, but because Person B is counting on me. With apologies to Shenmue, it's new stuff - Heavy Rain is not a game you beat, it's a game you live through. Or... don't, depending on the choices you make.

The Origami Killer is terrorizing an unnamed North American city, kidnapping children who turn up several days later, drowned in rainwater - the game, which takes place during the very, very rainy season, is measured by inches of rain fallen. You'll take on the roles of four people connected to the killings: Ethan Mars, father of the latest missing boy; private investigator Scott Shelby; FBI criminal profiler and wielder of cool HUD technology Norman Jayden; and the sexy lady of the bunch, an insomniac named Madison Paige.

The controls are reminiscent of the old Resident Evil games - holding down R2 to walk and using the left thumbstick to steer. It's not the most intuitive movement control, but neither is it terribly awkward - especially since you'll be doing some serious finger-acrobatics later if you want to survive certain fight scenes or other fast-paced challenges. Besides walking, the controls flow pretty easily - manipulating Norman's virtual environment of FBI case stuff, for instance, is a blast and an unexpected bit of scifi fun in an otherwise hyper-realistic world.

The quick time events range from simple to dastardly, and on higher difficulty settings there's no doubt that the game will provide a definite challenge to even the most dexterous (and ambidextrous) gamer. Kratos never had to time his buttons this tightly.

The quick time events also make physical sense, for the most part. Dodging blows left and right usually matches up with, lo and behold, a pipe swinging at your left and then at your right. Certain QTEs involve holding down multiple buttons for a duration, adding a new button to the queue while dropping the one you've been holding down the longest - these can be the most challenging, but also the most realistic. Picture rocking a baby while holding its bottle upright or starting a car with your foot on the brake.

Almost every decision you make can have consequences, large or small, in how the game plays out. Will you take a drink from the bottle in your drawer? Will you go back to the apartment you just left when you see a thug knock on the door? Again and again you'll answer the question the game so often poses: how far will you go to save someone you love? Will you risk your safety, risk the safety of strangers? Unlike films or other thriller games, the answer isn't necessarily 'yes.'

A chapter menu lets you go back to replay old scenes, either as a lark or to rewrite history - although for the most part it's more rewarding to let the game play out. Here's one game where winning a fight is definitely not always the most rewarding option. Another reason for going back is to see Ethan's full-rear nude shower scene. Nice ass, fella. (For a NSFW glimpse, click here.)

The plot is complex enough to compel without being too bizarre, despite some snags - like a police department that seems determined not to look for evidence and a whole slew of victims who, apparently, decided to keep key evidence to themselves for reasons that are plausible but never explained. Similarly, the video and audio - while generally amazing, do suffer from the occasional glitch that impairs the immersion that's so crucial to the game. Texture pops and frame tears are numerous and frequent - and on the audio side, the voicework can be spotty. The acting is terrific, but a lot of these North American characters speak with French accents - the female and child voice actors especially - and that can break the mood pretty quickly. (Is this conflicted low-income mother secretly a European fashion model, and why does my kid sound like Amelie?) Quantic Dream is a French studio, so some of the European touches understandably weren't altered for localization - doorknobs in the middle of the door, toilets with flush buttons on the top of the tank, and so forth - but the fact that nobody can agree on how to pronounce 'origami' is just plain weird.

For a game that lasts maybe 10 hours, Heavy Rain gives you an enormous amount of quality and intensity, and the length of the game feels generous considering that almost every moment is tightly-scripted and loaded with urgency. Quantic Dream knows the risk they've taken with this game, and it pays off in unexpected and deeply touching ways. The developers acknowledge as much - the first automatically-earned trophy is "Thank you for supporting Interactive Drama." While it's short enough to rent, Heavy Rain deserves a permanent place on any PS3 owner's shelf.

9 out of 10

Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Special Edition Bundle

2010-02-12T22:17:39Z

Had enough Final Fantasy XIII news? Well, there's more: Square Enix and Microsoft have announced a Special Edition Bundle Xbox 360 to stoke the fires of your finally-fantastic lust. Pre-orders have begun and supplies are limited, so if this tickles your taste buds be sure to snag a pre-order before March 9.

The Final Fantasy XIII Special Edition Bundle includes a 250GB hard drive engraved with the name of the game, two controllers, a Standard Edition copy of Final Fantasy XIII and exclusive avatar DLC.

Additionally - and somewhat confusingly - a limited number of exclusive faceplates will be available to those who pre-order, but only while supplies last. You can see the faceplate, designed by no less a personage than famed Square Enix character designer Tetsuya Nomura and featuring the FFXIII character Lightning, here.

The exclusion of the faceplate as a part of the standard Special Edition Bundle seems awkward - pricing isn't mentioned, but I find it hard to picture even the hardest-core of fanboys being excited about an engraved hard drive while missing out on the more visible faceplate. Or do the "very limited quantities" of the faceplace make pre-ordering the unit more attractive? I'd certainly want to know whether or not I would be scoring the faceplate before slapping down any cash on a pre-order. Whatcha think?

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MEDIA ADVISORY

XBOX 360 FINAL FANTASY XIII SPECIAL EDITION BUNDLE ANNOUNCED AS ANTICIPATION BUILDS FOR THE BIGGEST VIDEO GAME LAUNCH OF 2010

Tetsuya Nomura-Designed FINAL FANTASY XIII Limited Edition Faceplates to Also be Released

WHAT: In celebration of the launch of one of the most highly anticipated games of 2010 and the debut of the FINAL FANTASY series onto the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Square Enix, Inc. and Microsoft have announced the FINAL FANTASY XIII Special Edition Bundle.

Fans looking to purchase a "next generation" console will note that this Special Edition is not only an amazing value, but also the only console outside of Japan to be bundled with the game. The bundle includes a 250GB Hard Drive engraved with the FINAL FANTASY XIII name, two Wireless Controllers, exclusive downloadable avatar items and a Standard Edition copy of FINAL FANTASY XIII.

Additionally, Square Enix's famed character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, has created an exclusive FINAL FANTASY XIII Limited Edition Faceplate that will be available promotionally in very limited numbers. Players can immerse themselves in the complete FINAL FANTASY XIII experience this March.

WHEN/WHERE: The FINAL FANTASY XIII Special Edition Bundle is available for pre-order now and in-stores beginning March 9, 2010, while supplies last.

The FINAL FANTASY XIII Limited Edition Faceplate will be available promotionally in fixed, limited quantities at select retailers in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

ABOUT FINAL FANTASY XIII:

Story
Cocoon -- a utopia in the sky.
Its inhabitants believed their world a paradise.
Under the Sanctum's rule, Cocoon had long known peace and prosperity.

Mankind was blessed by its protectors, the benevolent fal'Cie, and believed that tranquil days would continue forever.

Their tranquility was shattered with the discovery of one hostile fal'Cie.

The moment that fal'Cie from Pulse -- the feared and detested lowerworld -- awoke from its slumber, peace on Cocoon came to an end.

Fal'Cie curse humans, turning them into magic-wielding servants.

They become l'Cie -- chosen of the fal'Cie.

Those branded with the mark of a l'Cie carry the burden of either fulfilling their Focus or facing a fate harsher than death itself.

A prayer for redemption.

A wish to protect the world.
A promise to challenge destiny.

After thirteen days of fates intertwined, the battle begins.

Features

· Take Part in a Gaming Experience that Sets New Standards - The first in the series developed for a simultaneous release on multiple high-definition consoles, FINAL FANTASY XIII pushes new boundaries in cinematic presentation, sound and gameplay.

· Experience the Unity of Speed and Strategy with the Ultimate Active Time Battle system The familiar system has evolved, granting players the freedom of executing numerous commands in a single turn with the multi-slot ATB gauge. Whether inputting singular commands in each slot for consecutive attacks, or expending multiple slots at once to activate a devastating blow, it's up to the players to respond effectively to the battle conditions at hand.

· Adapt to the Ever-Changing Tide of Battle with Paradigms - A brand-new game mechanic enabling players to assign roles to their party members at any time during battle, shifting between combat paradigms. Consisting of various combinations of the game's six roles, ranging from Commando, the offensive specialist, to Medic, the quintessential healer, paradigms allow players to respond and adapt instantly to any given situation to turn the tide and seize victory.

· Witness the Battle Scene Transform with an All-New Summon System - Introducing Gestalt Mode, a powerful dimension of the summon system that elevates the action to a whole new level. In Gestalt Mode, characters and their transformed Eidolons fight as one, dealing massive damage to enemies through simple button commands.

· Delve into an Emotional Experience - An immersive storyline connects players to an intriguing cast of characters. Will they have the strength to confront their cursed fates, or will destiny prevail over all that they believe in?

· A Brand-New Song for an International Audience - Multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Leona Lewis has come on board with Square Enix to provide her new song, "My Hands," for the North American and European versions

Review: Mass Effect 2

2010-02-08T20:00:00Z

The middle installment of a trilogy is notoriously tricky ground to tread - while every story ought to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, second installments of trilogies can end up simply being a glorified middle - Halo 2 springs to mind, as do a number of scifi/fantasy fiction trilogies.

Perhaps the most successful thing about Mass Effect 2, above and beyond the incredibly improved graphics and tightened, overhauled combat system, is its narrative momentum and identity. The first game spent a great deal of time setting up the Mass Effect universe and positioning Commander Shepard to be a powerful force in the galaxy's political world - so much so that the sequel comes in for a smooth landing, its world ready-made, and proceeds to tell a whopper of a story.

There are some minor stumbles along the way and a giant elephant of a bad voice actor in the male Shepard, but these stand out more because of the level of polish on the rest of the game than for their own demerits. If the first Mass Effect left you feeling rather less than epic, the sequel will still likely impress.

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Darker and more menacing in tone, Mass Effect 2 begins with a doozie - the destruction of the Normandy by a mysterious juggernaut that is, as Seth Green's Joker screeches through the comms, "not geth." (The geth being the synthetic AI race that chased you all the way through the first game.) The last sight you'll see before the opening credits roll is Commander Shepard's body beginning to burn up as it falls planetside from the wreckage of the Normandy. It's hard not to get excited with so dramatic an opening.

After the credits roll things get even more interesting - you'll find yourself working for the shadowy pro-human organization Cerberus, which you spent a lot of the first game fighting. There's a visceral reaction to be found in working with the 'enemy,' and I noticed myself snarling resentfully at the Cerberus-themed main menu, let alone the creepy new don of Cerberus and your techno-dungeon master, a fella with weird ocular implants named "The Illusive Man." (For the first few hours I was determined that his name was a spelling error, but lo, 'twasn't.)

Graphically, Mass Effect 2 erases the memory of the juddering aliasing and texture-clash from the first game. Every scene is rendered beautifully in fine-grained detail, to the point where I mistakenly thought several side missions were going to be full-on mega plot points simply because my shuttle landing was so ridiculously well-lit. Color is everywhere and there are no more repetitious cookie-cutter environments. Everywhere you go feels excellently well-done, from the skeletal ruin of an enormous battleship that teeters over the edge of a ravine (and actually does teeter, perilously, as you scamper about its ruined frame) to the former quarian colony now ravaged by a mysteriously hostile sun. In the latter, stepping into the sunlight burns away your shields - it's an awesome trick.

Voicework is stellar. Aside from the male Shepard, who says everything from a tender whisper to an angry appeal in a kind of robotic declaratory shout. It's not cute, but he is. Tricia Helfer voices the Normandy's AI, EDI, while Chuck star Yvonne Strahovsky voices Miranda, your bitchily-hot female sidekick and loyal Cerberus lapdog. The quarian sidequest features some of the best voicework, including my personal favorite Claudia Black and Oscar-nominated Shohreh Aghdashloo as two husky-voiced quarian admirals.

Choice is built into the game from the get-go, but whether you rant and rail against working for terrorists like Cerberus or willingly go to the ~~dark~~ slate-gray side, you'll follow a relatively specific path regardless - building choice into your characters reactions but keeping the spine of the story tight enough to avoid the middle-volume syndrome is a tight rope to walk, and for the most part Mass Effect 2 gets it right. (Lame, obvious cop-out answers about why a female Shepard has fluid sexuality but a male Shepard cannot aside.)

A species of hive-based bad guys has been destroying human colonies - and perhaps doing icky things with the colonists - and The Illusive Man has fingered Shepard to find out why and stop them. Naturally, Shepard suspects the Reapers to be behind it all - the enigmatic deep-space machine superbeings who previously sent one of their number, the starship known as Sovereign, to bedevil Commander Shepard in the first game.

While the bare bones of the plot are traditional space opera, and your mission largely consists of rounding up the baddest bad-ass team in the galaxy before tackling the badder-ass bad guys, a lot happens during what could otherwise easily have been a generic story: some questions that are addressed and perhaps even answered during the course of your adventures are big ones, like what really happened to the Protheans, what the other Reapers may be like, and some relatively subtle foreshadowing gets laid down for #3 - specifically tied to old legends about the scale of the destruction that the Reapers bring. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you might find some "stellar" hints.

Also rounding out the plot are the gloriously continued storylines from an imported Mass Effect 2 character - everything from who you chose to sacrifice on the planet Virmire to how you treated annoying Citadel reporter Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani will come back to haunt or help you, including longing looks from whomever you romanced the first time around.

The new party members (and some familiar faces) are for the most part extraordinary. Salarian scientist Mordin Solus stands out as one of the most interesting and well-developed characters I've seen in a game in ages. And he sings Gilbert & Sullivan, c'mon! Other party members such as the Asari Justicar Samara (think unnervingly wide-eyed samurai with boob-separating armor) and the sensitive Drell assassin Thane are also very well-done, and helping them on their own personal quests will earn their loyalty, a secondary outfit, unlock a special ability, and generally round out the story with a lot of sincere and emotionally affective moments.

The combat gets a major overhaul, coming closer to the third-person shooter "lite" to which it clearly aspires - you'll find yourself shooting off rounds and abilities from cover with a very accessible Gears of War style mechanic, and your AI teammates are actually helpful. Usually. Health and shields regenerate, and ammo is looted from your enemies. The stop-and-go nature of biotic and tech abilities is still awkward, and I can't help but think that there's a better way to be able to both pause the action and deploy your space-magic without having to do both at the same time - thankfully you can map several abilities to the shoulder and Y buttons, but there's still a pacing hiccup with the global cooldown.

Conversations run the same way they did in the first game, which is to say excellently. One minor quibble that remains from the first game is the context-shifting X button, which skips ahead the conversation under normal circumstances but changes to "default dialog option or quit dialog" just as the dialog option interface pops up - this seems unnecessarily frustrating, and I can't imagine how the game would have suffered if those two dialog functions remained mapped to two separate buttons.

Another quibble is how Bioware replaced the tedious vehicle missions with slightly-less-tedious planet-scanning missions. Instead of landing on the occasional planet and driving around painfully to get to your destination, you'll now simply scan the planets for any of four mineral resources (and the occasional mission) and then ping the hotspot with a probe to cash in. When a mission crops up, you'll land directly on-site, but random planet-based missions seemed much rarer this time around. The galaxy also feels somewhat smaller, although that may be because scanning planets - even with the needlessly slow and annoying scanning mechanic - takes up a lot less time than spending fifteen minutes trying to hump your rover over a mountain.

But you'll need them thar resources to build the armor, weapon, ability and ship upgrades you'll find scattered across the galaxy. It's an interesting way to streamline the RPG-ness of the game, and loot-happy gamers might not love it: as you find blueprints for upgrades, you'll construct those upgrades in the new Normandy's science station. And while some upgrades are for Shepard only, most of the armor, weapon and ability enhancements effect your entire squad. So while there's no more holding onto that useless krogan battlearmor, there's also no more finding that awesome krogan battlearmor.

You'll run into a few bugs along the way, but for the most part Mass Effect 2 takes the work of its predecessor and builds upon it with tremendous elan. Locations and hubs are more varied and alive: the clubs are darker, louder, and more fun; the merc hideouts are varied and fun to work though; even the Citadel is a less sterile place now that humanity's got a seat on the Council and everyone is still reeling from Sovereign's brutal assault at the end of game one.

There's no way not to recommend Mass Effect 2 to any gamer who enjoys science fiction or RPGs - I milked every possible moment out of the game and clocked in at just over 40 hours, and the dual DLC distro pipeline of the Cerberus Network and the regular marketplace promise a lot more to follow. Even if you don't want to slap down the cash, this game is worth a rental over a long weekend. Just be prepared not to leave your couch.

9 out of 10

Video: Mass Effect 2 Does Gilbert & Sullivan (Minor Spoilers)

2010-01-27T20:00:00Z

I've been living in Mass Effect 2 country for the last eight days, but even that much lead time has barely made a dent in the game's, well, massive storyline. Salerian superscientist and Mass Effect 2 teammate Mordin Solus has proved to be my favorite character by a ~~mile~~ Astronomical Unit - his complicated moral reasoning, genuine sensitivity, and occasional gayness have made me fall in love with this short-lived genius from the species that unleashed the Krogan onto the galaxy, then promptly sterilized them.

So, last night Mordin asks me if I'm hitting on him. He says I come by to talk to him too often to be coincidence, but that if it's all right with me he'd like to keep things friendly. I want to say, 'Mordin, it's a game and I want to squeeze all of the voicework out of your character. Also you give me stuff when we talk.' But instead, I walk away trying to picture how in the world I'd fertilize Mordin's eggs - or would it be the other way around? My (male) Shepard considers himself open-minded and versatile, but still... I don't think I could pay a visit to cloaca-town, if you know what I mean.

And just when I had put the whole awkward affair behind me, Mordin brings up his love of art. I had to ask. Then he sang a Salarian version of the Major-General's Song from The Pirates of Penzance.

It was the best moment so far in a terrific game.

I am so glad I didn't try to record this at 3am last night with the camera in my MacBook - here's a much better version, albeit with full-on Evil Face. If you're avoiding minor spoilers, don't watch - but if you're ready for epic musical theater Salarian style? Click play.

UK Mulling Games Dev Tax Breaks

2010-01-25T20:00:00Z

While game development is being whittled to a fine cost-effective point across the board, budgets slashed and projects dwindling in number ("fewer and better games" is EA's line), the UK's House of Lords joins Canada and others in supporting tax breaks for the beleaguered industry: specifically, agreeing with a House of Lords Communications Committee report on the British Film and Television Industries in recommending tax incentives for development studios based in the UK.

This comes in large part as a result of TIGA's lobbying, as well as a bit of brinksmanship with subsidies elsewhere. According to the report:

We recognise the claims of the videogames industry for support in the face of foreign government-subsidised competition, and recommend that the Government consider providing tax incentives for videogames production.

TIGA Chairman Jason Kingsley, also CEO and Creative Director at Rebellion Studios, lauded the decision and TIGA's role as industry champion:

Today's report by the House of Lords Communications Committee demonstrates that TIGA's relentless campaign on behalf of the UK games industry is making an impact. Senior politicians from the key political parties now aspire to introduce TIGA's Games Tax Relief.

It's good to see politicians take a break from demonizing games (that they don't really understand) and practice supporting games (that they don't really understand) instead. The bottom line comes to the rescue, it seems.

House of Lords Backs VG Tax Breaks [GamePolitics]

Carl Icahn Shuffles Take-Two Board

2010-01-22T00:00:00Z

The legendary Carl Icahn owns more than 11% of Take-Two, and the investor's weighty hand has shaken up the company's board of directors. Icahn has nominated three newcomers for the positions soon to be vacated by directors Ben Feder, Grover Brown, and John Levy, who will not stand for re-election.

SungHwan Cho, James Nelson, and Icahn's son Brett Icahn will stand as the "Icahn three" when elections are held. Feder will remain CEO, and industry yogi Michael Pachter is hailing the chessboard switchup as a healthy step:

It is healthy to have an all-outside board of directors. Replacing the others with three selected by Icahn should provide a level of healthy scepticism about business as usual, and should serve to help the company make better decisions.

Notably, Icahn agreed to support five of Take-Two's own nominees, and also conceded that the "Icahn three" will resign should Icahn Sr's stake in the company ever drop below 5%.

Take-Two Board Shake Up at Behest of Icahn [GamePolitics]

Video: Hypno

2010-01-21T20:00:00Z

Innovation might not see as much corporate funding these days, but Xbox Live Indie Games has been doing its level best to provide a forum for indie games and the innovative, often un-greenlightable content the indie pool can provide - and games like Hypno, by developer Andrew Gaubatz, looks to be a prime example.

While forcing strangers to commit suicide may not be the most mom-friendly game mechanic, you've got to hand it to Gaubatz for creating a concept with some serious edge:

Take the role of a dangerously powerful hypnotist in this dark story-driven experience. Use your abilities to cut a bloody swath through the city by ripping the intentions from one person and branding them down on others. Wherever you go, the people around you are your weapons - use them through 17 varied missions of assassination, interrogation, and mayhem as you exact your revenge on the world.

So if you're up for it, or enjoyed Persona 3 for its shock value, download the trial version of Hypno on the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace, or check out the game's website before you paint the town red with blood.

Chavez: Games 'Poison' Spread By US To Destabilize, Sell Weapons

2010-01-18T20:00:00Z

Recently, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez followed up last October's approval of a ban on imported video games and toy weapons with a tirade against games on his weekly radio show, ~~'Crazy Talk & Kitten Pie'~~ 'Alo Presidente'.

Specifically, Chavez (sans illusory mouse ears) took aim at the Sony PlayStation, calling it "poison" and mentioning that "some games teach you to kill." To up the ante, Chavez pointed out that games with bombs were sold by capitalist countries with the intention of seeding violence - so they can "later sell weapons."

"[These games] promote the need for cigarettes, drugs and alcohol so they can sell them. That's capitalism, the road to hell."

Chavez then announced that Venezuela should be producing "educational games" and "little indigenous dolls" to sell in the place of Barbie, who has "nothing to do with our culture."

Wow, way to sucker punch Barbie in the face on the way out, Hugo. Maybe you need to have a little chat with Snookie.

Chavez: PlayStation is Poison [GamePolitics]

Ron Jeremy Knows Dick (About Games)

2010-01-12T20:00:00Z

This is a bit of a fluff piece (put your hands down, we don't need a volunteer fluffer - that's just a turn of phrase), but porn legend Ron Jeremy provided a little video-games-as-scapegoat anecdote at the Consumer Electronics Show. In a debate with anti-porn activist Craig Gross, Jeremy compared kids playing video games to kids watching pornography:

We don't want kids to watch porn. Though if they do, he added, there are far worse influences out there -- like video games.

[Studies have] found that violent video games are much bigger a negative influence on kids.

While a pair of boobs may not scar Lil Davey for life, the point here is - as others have mentioned - how easily videogames are made the scapegoat. What are the chances Ron Jeremy has read up on those studies? How about the survey that overwhelmingly indicated that parents would rather their kids see a severed head than two men kissing or a man and a woman goin' to town?

Not that those results are anything to be proud of, but it's terrifically easy to point the finger at video games. Maybe Jeremy should stick to pointing his other finger?

Gross and Jeremy agreed on the difficulty of keeping age-restricted material - of any sort - out of kids' hands. But man, at least they're not all reading Archie comics anymore. That filth was drawn by the Debble!

Adult Star Ron Jeremy Talks Porn at CES [PCMag]
[via GamePolitics]

Video: Mass Effect 2 Get A Real Woman

2010-01-11T20:00:00Z

I have to admit, my least favorite part about Mass Effect was wimpy, pink-armored party member Ashley Williams. Ashley! An Ashley in space seemed about as much fun as Dustin Diamond on a gay porn set - although she may have been an interesting, well-scripted character, I'd never have found out: I wanted nothing to do with the airhead (vacuum head? Argon-enriched atmosphere head? Whatevs.)

And while I was half-hoping to hear the immaculate Claudia Black return to do a third AAA game this year (alongside Chloe in Uncharted 2 and Morrigan in Bioware's own Dragon Age: Origins), I suppose other female voice actors need work too.

Which is all fine and well, because Miranda here finally gives the Mass Effect universe a human female companion who doesn't talk like a valley girl (the Vallis Planck, of course, on the moon) and who actually seems capable of giving Shepherd a run for his space money. I mean money. And maybe - just maybe - she won't have pink armor molded to lift and separate each boob.

Blizzard Busts Fugitive, Lvl 80 Tauren Shaman

2010-01-04T20:00:00Z

A Level 80 Tauren Shaman wanted on drug charges was apprehended with the cooperation of Blizzard and the Shammy's own World of Warcraft habit. Alfred Hightower of Howard County, Indiana, AKA Rastlynn, a restoration-specced Shaman of the Tauren persuasion, was arrested in Ottawa, Canada and hearthstoned to Minnesota.

What led to the ill-fated Shammy's arrest? His ill-fated compulsion to play WoW: when Detective Matt Robertson learned of Hightower's WoW habit, he subpoenaed Activision Blizzard for their help, and was surprised to receive it:

"They don't have to respond to us, and I was under the assumption that they wouldn't," said Roberson. "It had been three or four months since I had sent the subpoena. I just put it in the back of my mind and went on to do other things. Then I finally got a response from them. They sent me a package of information. They were very cooperative. It was nice that they were that willing to provide information."

Blizzard's aid led to a WoW billing address, IP address, and with the aid of Google Earth the Canadian fuzz was able to bring down the bad guy in what I'm guessing was a 10 man raid. Heroic difficulty? Methinks not.

Big Brother or no: if you're wanted on drug charges, do yourself a favor and pick a nice offline game to play instead. Mebbe good ol' Dope Wars? At least you'll have an edge on the gameplay.

Long arm of law reaches into World of Warcraft [KokomoPerspective]
[via GamePolitics]

Look For The GayGamer Retrospective Podcast Next Week!

2009-12-31T19:39:59Z

Totally unsurprisingly, corralling a gaggle of guests and tackling ten years of gaming has proved a difficult task right before the New Year celebrations. So keep an eye and ear out for our fantabulous retrospective podcast next week, when you're all recovering from whatever equally-fantabulous debauchery (or solemn remembrance, depending on your disposition). We look forward to podding your cast, casting your pod, and talking to you in 2010.

Also, please go vote on our end-year poll, so we can share your choices with you on the podcast!

Have a happy New Year's Eve from everyone at GayGamer.net.

Modern Warfare 2 Ranks #1 Among Pirates, Too

2009-12-30T20:00:00Z

It shouldn't be even remotely shocking that a game as popular as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would have a sizable presence in the pirated-software-pipeline, and so it is: the most pirated game of 2009. 4.1 million downloads of the PC software outstrips previous winners by a margin of 100%:

With 4.1 million unauthorized downloads of the PC version alone, the game more than doubles the achievement of last year's 'winner' Spore. Modern Warfare 2 leads both the PC and Xbox 360 lists, by a landslide.
The overall trend across all platforms is that, unlike last year, all of the games are 2009 releases. What makes Modern Warfare 2's chart-topping even more impressive is that this has been achieved after just two months of availability. We further see that the figures for the most downloaded titles have more than doubled compared to last year, equaling the growth in uTorrent users.

And that's the just the PC version - the 360 version has seen 970,000 downloads. The Wii has gotten its share of love from the illegal set, too, with New Super Mario Bros. seeing 1.15 million downloads.

Modern Warfare 2 Most Pirated Game of 2009 [TorrentFreak]
[via GamePolitics]

Video: Mass Effect 2 Cinematic

2009-12-29T20:00:00Z

With the January 26 release of Mass Effect 2 quickly approaching, I didn't think it possible to amp myself up any further for BioWare's space opera RPG sequel. This cinematic trailer does just that.

Commander Shepherd and his new friends (and the new, bigger, badder rebuilt Normandy) along with some familiar faces - Seth Green as Normandy pilot Joker, for instance - look ready to take on an even bigger threat than they did in the first game of the planned trilogy, and that one was a doozie.

Less than a month to go, space fans!

Video: Dragon Age: The Rift Project

2009-12-28T20:00:00Z

A mod project in the works at The Rift Project Community has just released this teaser for its follow-up to Dragon Age: Origins, entitled Dragon Age: The Rift. While the DA Rift website is still pretty skeletal, the teaser shows some good work. You'll notice from the (totally decent for mod-work, by the way) voiceover that this sequel-mod, set 19 years after the end of the game, seems centered upon the child of the main protagonist - so if you chose the same-sex route, maybe you adopted?

Unlike many a mod, DA Rift has a release date: February 28, 2010.