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Ok, so this year's E3 coverage on Microsoft's conference is out, and apparently...nothing happened. Or at least nobody was excited enough to care. A Halo version of the 360 was announced. Whee. And they had a small band play Halo music. Again, whee. Maybe they ought to start putting out other games. But the important thing- a price drop- not mentioned. So supposedly nearly a third of all Xbox 360s are malfunctioning, Microsoft has started blaming surge protectors for their console's troubles, they're being sued by a guy in Florida because their console keeps scratching his game disk, and there are people hoping they might issue a recall...and they don't want to lower the price. Microsoft, I hate you so much. Oh, and though it really does go against everything this site title may claim, I ran across an article in the Mainichi Shimbun stating Microsoft of Japan refuses to lower their prices as well, even though they've got the same problem AND lagging sales. Of course, their model costs about 100 USD less than ours...

Posted by: Ack at 10:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So I ran into this interesting article over at Joystiq today, about how the American Library Association has recently begun urging librarians to play more video games, hold after-hours LAN parties, and so on and so forth.

Not bad.  It could help spruce up lagging attendance at libraries, and help to educate the workers on modern technology.  Plus, it'll help you communicate with the kids.  That's a must for children's librarians.

My mom's a children's librarian and she's been following video games for a few years now...she isn't hardcore into it or anything, but she pays attention to what the kids are talking about and does her research, and the kids seem to genuinly appreciate it.  I think it's a good idea.  Look for more games in libraries coming soon.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/college-librarians-urged-to-think-like-gamers-play-more-games/

Posted by: Ack at 09:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And I don't get to play it.  But if you were one of the lucky 60,000 testers to get in with your FilePlanet account, I salute you...and curse you.

For the rest of us, we'll just have to wait for the official Quake release.  Hope you guys are ready to do some bunnyhopping.

Posted by: Ack at 03:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Or at least, they need to think about it a little more.  The American Medical Association met a few days ago in an annual meeting to debate the inclusion of new diseases, including video game addiction.  So that means no chance of claiming it on our health insurance.

Of course, the AMA did suggest the American Psychological Association consider it in their next diagnostic manual, to be released in 2012.

However, a few doctors did come to the conclusion that we shouldn't play too much...guess we can have too much of a good thing.

"The more time kids spend on video games, the less time they will have socializing, the less time they will have with their families, the less time they will have exercising," said Dr. Louis Klaus, of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and a psychiatrist at Rush University Medical Center.

It is still possible that video game addiction could be voted in by the 555 AMA voting delegates, but it's pretty unlikely.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070624/tc_nm/addiction_videogames_dc

Posted by: Ack at 03:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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So for those of you who are a bit out of the loop, you may not have heard but Manhunt 2, Take Two's lovable little voyeuristic sadist fantasy game, has received the hardly used Adults Only rating from the ESRB.  And then it was banned in the United Kingdom.  And Ireland.  And Australia.  And Germany.  And Italy is considering banning it too.  And retailers won't sell it in America.  For that matter, Nintendo and Sony won't allow it on their consoles, so unless there is a PC version, it's not coming out anywhere.

Which brings us to the problem with the ESRB rating system.  Sure, I don't mind that the AO rating exists, or that there's only a year's worth of difference between the AO rating and the Mature rating.  The problem is, nobody will allow it on their console, or in their stores.  So when the ESRB has to decide what to rate the game, they're forced to ask "Do we really want to ban this?"  Because that's what they're effectively doing, even if it's not willingly.

So, Manhunt 2 is disturbingly violent.  It's only the second game to ever get the AO rating solely for violence, and the first never came out.  If it's as bad as has been claimed by the various ratings boards the world over, I'm glad it got an Adults Only rating.  But that doesn't mean I don't want the game to come out.  Personally, I was looking forward to playing it.  I'm twentytwo years old, several years past the minimum age for purchase.  I have a desire to play games with graphic violence and adult themes, games that according to the ESRB I have every right to play.  Why am I, and my fellow consumers, being hurt because the ESRB did its job?

Unfortunately, it looks like the game is going to be put on indefinite hold.  And there's not much I can do or say about it.  But I support Take Two, and Manhunt 2.

Posted by: Ack at 12:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ok, so nothing truly spectacular is happening with this post.  It's pretty much the obligatory post to say that, yes, this site has been created by myself, Ack, and yes, I do plan on posting in it about video games.  So you better enjoy it.

Ack

Posted by: Ack at 12:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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