November 20, 2008 – 3:00 pm
Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, parents–people in power–will have all you gamers believe that video games at a young age leads to obesity. Some of these same people will go further and say that watching Television also causes obesity, and that both cause behavioral issues. I’m here to finally place the blame where blame should really be placed. There is no doubt that the majority of video games are not helping gamers get in shape. Although the Wii with Wii Fit is a step in the right direction on that front. However, I do believe that it is not up to a company that sells a product to force feed its members healthy alternatives.
Where does the problem lay? It’s the parents fault which evolves into the teenagers fault when he/she has the ability to decide things for themselves. You can give me thousands of studies showing me that sitting on a couch playing video games causes obesity (because it will), and I’ll show you a thousand different reasons that good (well lets change that to certain) parents raise thin kids. (I’m not really going to show a thousand different ones because I made that number up.)
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November 20, 2008 – 2:00 pm
People need motivation. If they didn’t, then why is every single meeting room in America littered with small quips pasted with pictures of seagulls flying or of some serene background? I say it is time we unmotivate people. Every Thursday, I will do my best to unmotivate you from doing something and make you laugh in the process. Nothing says productivity like spending your day laughing at the shortcomings of others.
November 8, 2008 – 12:00 pm
We all know that developers and publishers aren’t the biggest fans of used game sales. It cuts into their revenue stream, but makes GameStop and stores like it a ton of cash every year. Many publishers are finding ways to add value to the new game sales to discourage gamers from picking up used copies.
I recently read an article from Stephen Totilo over at MTV’s Multiplayer Blog with his proposal on how developers and publishers can stop used game sales by adding Achievements/Trophies for purchasing a new copy of the game. While I like the idea, I realized that Microsoft and Epic had already implemented their own system when I opened my copy of Gears of War 2.
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November 6, 2008 – 3:00 pm
People need motivation. If they didn’t, then why is every single meeting room in America littered with small quips pasted with pictures of seagulls flying or of some serene background? I say it is time we unmotivate people. Every Thursday, I will do my best to unmotivate you from doing something and make you laugh in the process. Nothing says productivity like spending your day laughing at the shortcomings of others.
All posters created by Loot Ninja Inc.
November 6, 2008 – 2:00 pm
With the election over, we now continue to move forward. However, where exactly is forward? If you’re stuck in the forest how do you decide which way to go? Well, we are all stuck in this metaphorical forest, and the new government will soon tell us where we are headed. Now, I’m not interested in the political or world views of this new government, its economic or foreign policy, etc. No, what I am interested in discussing is where will video games be headed in the near future; the future of this new government.
The world of video games has always had two, if not more, sides. This new government will likely fall onto a new side of their own. The biggest issue I have, and this is as far as I will go into politics, is that this new government, all three branches, are entirely Democratic. The point of this sentence does not rest on the word Democratic, but the word “entirely”. It wouldn’t matter if the entire government were all Republican, my ideas would still be relayed the same way. This is because there will no longer be the system of checks and balances within the government to prevent laws that are unjust, unfounded, or unnecessary to large majority of people; and in this instance I’m referring to gamers exclusively. Now, what this really means is that, if this new government decides on some level to begin to regulate video games, the video game industry will not be able to fight back. President Elect Obama has stated that there is “a role for the federal government to play [in video games]. We need to understand the impact of these new media better.” My opinion on the entire situation is that the government should not be involved at all in regulating video games. (I also will go further to say that the gaming companies should not regulate video games). I’m am all for freedom of speech, freedom of ideas, and pro warning labels and ratings on video games.
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November 5, 2008 – 10:00 am
How many times have your now-gen consoles kicked the bucket? I’m on Xbox 360 number 10, so I know how it all goes when the dreaded RRoD shows its ugly head. Luckily, my launch 60GB PS3 is still going strong, as is my launch Wii. One aspect of the Xbox 360 and PS3 that has a chance of dying is the hard drive. Because of the many moving parts, hard drives are prone to failure. With the rigorous usage we put our consoles through, it’s not out of the picture for one of these to go to the land of dead hardware.
Sony has a 10 year life span projection for the PS3 and Microsoft looks to keep the Xbox 360 on the market for at least 5 years. In that span, it’s safe to expect some sort of hard drive failure. How many of you have had a PC hard drive die? I see it happen everyday with drives from a year to 5 years old. With dust collecting in and around the electronics, ball bearings and drive platters can easily wear out and stop working.
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November 4, 2008 – 2:00 pm
This is an original feature to Loot Ninja that will continue to debut every Tuesday. Caveat Emptor is a legal term for “Buyer Beware”. We give you the heads up on mistakes we have made buying things.
This week: Drinking Jager Bombs at the Jersey Shore not only make you hammered, they make you turn into a giant douche bag.
Mistake: Actually believing that the chicks in the corner staring at you think your popped collar and awful smelling drink want to bang you.
Reality: The Jager Bomb gets you drunk, hyped, and angry all at the same time. Mixing absurd amounts of stimulants (Taurine and Sugar) and depressants (Trace opiates found in Jagermeister) all taken in one fell swoop are a recipe for disaster. Also screaming “Jager Bombs!” at the top of your lungs to let everyone know you came to party doesn’t help the case either.
Outcome. You’re hammered. You spent a shitload of money. There is spilled yellow/brownish fluid on your pink Polo (collar still popped), and the girls are nowhere to be found.
Final price: You came to get laid. Epic fail. Might as well go pick a fight.
Caveat Emptor: Chicks don’t dig blacked out idiots fist-pumping covered in booze and energy drinks.
November 4, 2008 – 12:00 pm
It was on March 7, 2007 that Sony teased us with news of the upcoming release of a new social network that would, at no cost, give PlayStation 3 owners the gift of a customizable virtual world – PlayStation Home. The idea alone was enough to shake the knees of the most avid gamer; a world where console gamers wouldn’t have to rely on text messages or voice chat any longer; where we are able to freely explore and converse with people that share our same passion and playing games like pool and chess and pimping out our homes and characters to raise our egos a bit higher. It was right then and there where the social network of console gaming changed forever.
We all know Sony by now. Although they are one of greatest pioneers of gaming in console history, Sony has consistently promised their supporters unfathomed promises that seemed out of reach, yet they were believable because of their name and prior success. Screwing over the first wave of consumers by omitting rumble support on their SIXAXIS controller to later implement the same technology they, supposedly, would look past was a shot in the foot and they provided absolutely no ultimatum, or trading system, that would compensate for their incompetence. That was a dick head move, but whatever.
After the riveting announcement regarding Home, Sony did what they usually do – put their fat foots in their mouths. I sat as antsy as any other person who heard the release date of September/October 2007 and, suddenly, tears trickled down my cheeks and hit my lips leaving the taste of ocean in my mouth. I must have been consuming too much sodium that week. While gagging on my own tears of joy, I called my gaming counterparts and shared the exciting news. However, I should have seen the disappointment coming from a mile away.
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November 3, 2008 – 3:00 pm
It has been 7 months since I purchased my 40 GB PS3. It was made possible by a nice federal tax return; it pays to be a homeowner. Anyway, I could not be happier with the machine. Its Bluray functionality is worth the $400 bucks alone and it has been a rock since day one. Its Xbox 360 brother had to be sent “home” twice since I got it at launch. Nevertheless, my 40 GB hard drive is full. Already. Again, I am not bashing the PS3 at all, I am just wondering how I could have a full hard drive, that is TWICE the size of the Xbox 360, and I have had the console for just over a half of a year as opposed to 3 full years.
This is what I have listed in the Game Data menu (required game installs):
MLB The Show 2008, MGS4, DMC4, Bioshock, Socom: Confrontation (Disc Version), Soul Caliber 4, Pixeljunk: Eden, Warhawk (Disc Version). That’s it.
I had to delete the following just to install the new Socom patch because I had reached my limit:
Siren: Blood Curse (Full Game), The Bourne Conspiracy, and Elefunk.
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November 3, 2008 – 11:00 am
One of the main arguments for the Wii is its simplicity. Point at the screen and you’re off to the races. But what happens when even those controls become too much for people? While most can handle one-handed operation, when you throw the Nunchuck in the mix, the confusion level rises.
I recently had a friend visiting my house who hasn’t really played video games since the Atari 2600 (save internet flash games). While he was able to pick up and play titles like Tiger Woods 09 and Wii Sports with no problem, MySims Kingdom and even Super Mario Galaxy posed some issues. He was just as confused, if not moreso, with the dual Wii Remote / Nunchuck combo than using an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. To make it fair, he also played some LittleBigPlanet on the PS3 and Braid on the Xbox 360, both of which, in his words, seemed “natural” with the controller and their respective schemes.
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