Red Octane Confirms Guitar Issues

Smashing Guitar ImageThere’s been rumblings of bad whammy bars on some X-ploder guitars for Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. Yeah, guess who’s affected? This guy. If it can go wrong, it’s probably happened to me.

Kotaku got word that two model numbers are affected: 95055 and 95065. You can check either the back of the guitar or the back of the box for the model number. I went to exchange mine tonight (I have 95055), only to find my Best Buy only has that model number in stock. Guess I’m going to have to wait. It’ll give me a break from the game for a bit.

Where’s the QA these days?

PS3: Failure to Launch

ps3-grill.jpgToday was supposed to be the big day that the PS3 would try to topple the Xbox360 as the premier next gen system in the world. Today was Launch Day in both Europe and Australia.  Remember when PS3 and the Xbox360 launched here? People were sleeping outside for a week, robbing each other in the parking lot and even putting the systems up on eBay for the price of a used Honda Civic.  Imagine the same exact scene in Australia, but the complete opposite. Nobody gave a rat’s ass. It’s like having a birthday party and no one showing up.  Kotaku has actual photos from the Australian fiesta that looked like a line for prostate exams.  You could walk into any store right now and pick one up. A rather auspicious beginning while Xbox360 continues to flourish overseas.  Maybe throwing a couple shrimps on the barbie might help.  We need to get Ron Popeil on this.

Microsoft Responds to MS Point Stealing

Xbox Live LogoWe reported earlier on the hack of Bungie.net that opened up Xbox Live and user’s credit cards to theft.

Well, Microsoft responded to Kotaku in true MS fashion. No direct answer of what’s going on, no confirmation of the attack, just sort-of brushing it away to the side. Just like they did when myself and a few other users contacted them a bunch to get our credit cards removed from their systems.

Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox LIVE network. Security is a top priority for Xbox LIVE, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behavior and theft. Any customer with a question about the security of their Xbox LIVE account should contact 1-800-4-MY-Xbox, and
an Xbox Customer Service Representative will help them understand our security policies and procedures.

Either a professional security consultant misinterpreted his data and blew it out of proportion, or Microsoft is dodging the bullet here again. You be the judge.

Ace Combat 6 for Xbox 360 Confirmed

Ace Combat Concept ArtIt’s like everyone and their mother is pulling exclusives from the PS3. Kotaku confirms, via Japanese Famitsu magazine, that Ace Combat 6 will make it’s way onto the Xbox 360 with Xbox Live support.

This has been a pretty huge series from Namco on the PlayStation (both PS1 and PS2). To have it’s exclusive rights pulled is a slap in the face, and really shows how well developers want to back the PS3.

It was recently rumored that Ace Combat 6, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, and Beautiful Katamari, all Namco titles, would appear on all three now-gen consoles. I guess the announcement of Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360 is step one in fulfilling that plan.

Once again, my reasons for owning a PS3 are getting smaller and smaller…

Jack Thompson – Likes to Makes Threats

So I’ve always been hesitant to post a story about good old Jack Thomson, because of his wonderful record of threatening to sue anyone who talks about him. Today, my friends, is a new day. I read an article this morning from Brian Crecente on Kotaku regarding a threatening letter he received from Jack Thompson about Crecente’s recent story about all the ethics issues raised against Mr. Thompson in the Florida Bar. Now, bear in mind, I’m quoting from these articles here. The first articles details (with PDF scans) some well documents cases against Mr. Thompson. In response, Jack emailed Crecente threatening his job at the Rocky Mountain News, which he writes for. The best part of this email is when Jack lies about cases the Florida Bar has on record against him.

“Summary: This record was on the verge of being deep-sixed when I rescued it from the Florida Bar. Unfortunately, it is very light on details. All I can gather is that Thompson was accused of, and later admitted to, trying to get someone to hire him as a lawyer after the person already had one.”

I demand a full retraction and apology for the above, pursuant to Florida Statutes 770, et sequitur, as I intend to sue you for this false and defamatory statement. [...]

As to the above, I NEVER was even charged with “trying to get someone to hire him as a lawyer after the person already had one.” Never heard of that charge, was never charged with it. It never happened. Yet you state that I pled guilty to this! I am sending this email to my lawyer, Ray Reiser, to alert him that this is what comes from “video game journalists.”

Ok, so either the Florida Bar has cases incorrectly filed from 1992, or someone is lying. After seeing the behavior of the defendant, I tend to believe the Florida Bar. They have much more credibility. And to further the point, Crecente contacted the Florida Bar again just to confirm, and got the same information.

It seems to me, and many, that Jack has backed himself into a corner, and is threatening to sue anyone who disagrees or writes their opinions which don’t fall in line with this beliefs on the video game industry. I personally don’t understand how anyone can get the conclusions about video games that Jack has come to. The thought process just doesn’t add up. The guy seems to have priorities mixed up, and doesn’t understand the root cause of the problem, which is bad parenting.

Anyway, I’m sure we can expect more entertaining tirades from Mr. Thompson in the near future. And if Jack is reading this and wants to share some opinions, please contact me.

For the record, Jack (again, if you’re reading), our thoughts and prayers are with your wife after her surgery. I hope she has a safe and speedy recovery.