Yesterday, I wrote an article about the Xbox360 and its supposed failure due to the power brick being plugged into other surge protectors. Apparently I opened a virtual Pandora’s box of comments(the above link and here) where the focus went not from the article, but to readers flaming each other on which system is better and finally digressing into an all-out argument. Like myself, I am very passionate about the video games I spend so much time playing and reporting on, but there are very few facets about the gaming community I am utterly confused about: The Fan Boy is one.

Wikipedia defines the fanboy as follows: Fanboy is a term used to describe an individual (usually male, though the feminine version fangirl may be used for females) who is utterly devoted to a single fannish subject, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession. Fanboys remain loyal to their particular obsession, disregarding any factors that differ from their point of view. Fanboys are also typically aggressive and hateful towards the opposing brand or competition of their obsession regardless of its merits or achievements.

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I am sure that my feeling of disapproval with pricing schemes in regards to gamerpics and themes on the Xbox 360 marketplace is shared. I for one like having different Gamerpics and actually try and switch mine up every once in a while as well as the themes, but I just cant see myself paying for many of them for a couple of reasons.

My main reason is that you can only have one theme set at a time and a max of two gmaerpics. This stinks in my opinion, why pay for multiiple themes or pics if you can only use one set at a time? If Xbox added a feature to rotate your different pics and themes I would certainly purchase more. Have it set so you pick like ten gamerpics and maybe 4 or 5 themes and have it rotate on a timed basis, kind of like your backgrounds on your computer and screensavers.

Also the pics and themes typically are overpriced, they are just small pictures, why make them cost so darn much? It does not take much to have them up and I do not understand how some are free and others are a couple of bucks? Either make them all free or make them a nominal fee, I would lean toward free.

The Xbox 360 camera pics should also be able to be saved as themes or allow users to use multiple personal pictures to be used on each blade of the in game menus instead of just having one on all. You can take a pic using your camera and make that your gamerpic, which is kind of cool but then that is one less purchased gamerpic you can’t use.

What do you think?

Sony, please, give us a damn demo! I would love to play your $5-10 downloadable titles, but I’m not going to shell over the cash without trying the game out first. With digital distribution of the games, there’s absolutely no reason not to provide a demo. Hell, half your downloadable titles do, and all Xbox Live Arcades games come with a demo. So why are new PSN games different?

It’s not like it’s going to put a huge damper in the PlayStation Network to provide a demo. The way it works with the older titles is to download an unlock key to turn the demo into the full game. This is the same way Xbox Live Arcade works for all of its titles.

I think Sony would sell more copies of these games if they did allow gamers to try before they buy. I know I was very excited to hear Super Stardust HD was coming out this week, but when I saw no demo, it became a no go (at least for a while until I try it out at a friend’s place). Same goes with Calling All Cars. I hear mixed reviews, so why would I just decide to give Sony $10 when there should be a free way to test out the game.

Hopefully this is something the team over at Sony re-evaluates soon. I’m not going to hold my breath though.

Why?! Why must people that play online shooters or online in general be jerks? Why can’t people just play the %ucking game and not try to give everyone a headache? My frustration stems from GRAW 2 on the Xbox 360 and trying to play over Xbox Live, but it got me thinking about this particular item.

I was playing through GRAW 2 single player and decided to hop online and try some of the multiplayer gametypes, bad idea! I proceeded to try and just get a quick game online using the quick match funtion. I quickly got booted. OK, so I think this is nothing and try another one after running a custom search. 15 games later of trying to get into a game and not get booted, I finally go back to one of the original rooms and try to ask why i keep getting booted for no reason? Answer: Becasue my rank was 1, wtf?? So I ask the kids on the other side (that were level 9) if they born level 9 perchance? How the %uck are people supposed to level up or learn how to play if higher players won’t play with them for fear of losing levels?

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are so good and are such a high level, what would be your fear of playing with some low level players anyway? Also I wasn’t aware that your GRAW level was correlated with some life or death statistic?! I proceeded to go off and yell at the kids in the room and vent my frustrations, but it just brought me to a bad place, why must online games give me heart burn?

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Turns out, the CEO of the WWE is not really dead. His alleged car bombing last week on Monday Night RAW was a staged event and he is alive and well, probably swimming in his pool of twenty dollar bills. I have not really followed wrestling for the past 7 or so years ever since there roster has grown to Mormon sized proportions, but I saw an actual news report from a very reputable news service that Vince McMahon had been killed in a car bombing. Maybe being a little naive, I checked around and sure enough it was a stunt. Since when did car bombings become fodder for story lines in pro wrestling? I am fully aware that professional wrestling is not real and its a soap opera for men, but this seemed a little much. There are people out there right now who fully believe that this man is really dead. This isn’t a “Who shot Mr. Burns” thing, this is real people thinking a man has been killed. Remember Owen Hart? Brother of Bret “The Hitman” Hart and long time wrestler? He fell to his death in 1999 onto a ring post from a botched stunt. This guy seemed pretty upset(Click on the picture for video)

Go to www.wwe.com and read about tonight’s program. They don’t tell you this is a hoax. Is it even legal to fake a fake death? During a time where bombings and assassinations are a reality, playing on the emotions of people may just have over stepped the bounds. Furthermore, I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I’ll be voting republican next November. People accuse video games of being too realistic and are the source of all the world’s problems. At least we know the game isn’t real. I don’t have to do a google search to see if the Covenant have landed.

I have begun to see an overwhelming negativity toward video games, complaints of video games sparking violence, causing obesity, and even making people sterile, ok the last one I made up, but they might as well tack that on as well.

Almost weekly we have some government body or some Jack Thompson wanna be crawling out of the wood works trying to get some ban on some game because it will warp and corrupt young people’s minds. You can pass all the bills you want and ban all the games you want, but isn’t that a direct violation of our first amendment right to free speech? Wouldn’t this count as censorship of a creative medium? What next, no Harry potter because he dies at the end of the book? (Purely speculation, not confirmed. Please see JK Rowling for ending)

Then we have the never-ending barrage of obese children’s parents blaming video games for the fact that kids are getting rounder. Believe video games have nothing to do with it, the fact that we as a society have gotten lazier has to do with obesity. Playing Mario Brothers wont make you fat, but eating a Big Mac everyday will give you a heart attack. It isn’t the games that make kids get out of shape but their eating habits and their lack of physical exertion.

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I recently read an article by Julian Dibbell entitled “The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer” and I was thoroughly intrigued. It brought perspectives to light I hadn’t thought about, Many gamers out there are quite familiar with MMO games such as World of Warcraft, Phantasy Star Online, Ultima, Guild Wars, Second Life, Final Fantasy, the list goes on, but some may not be aware of the subculture that exists as a result of these games.

There are many players who play the game straight up and are content with leveling and questing, perhaps joining some buddies every once in a while and making a new one at other times. Then there are the hardcore gamers that play with no other purpose than being the best and having the most elite gear or the largest bankroll. Then there are the players that want to be “elite”, but want it the easy way and purchase their items from farmers or online services.

The latter classes of players are the ones that intrigue me and made me think about what is right and wrong with MMO games. In all MMO games there is a sub culture of gamers for the most part of Asian decent that play, no better stated “work”, in these games to gather gold or currency in order to sell it back to real life players typically in Europe and America. If you have played an MMO like WoW they are typically known as “Chinese Gold Farmers” and typically are frowned upon by other players and in extreme cases hated and even hunted.

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The people at Tom Clancy have it all figured out. Every game they put out instantly becomes a must have and I thank them for that. But the ranked matches in GRAW 2 have become beyond bearable. Here are some of the issues you are guaranteed to face:

1.Connection. I like the fact people have to finish games in order to get points and I like even more than you need to win to rank up. Yet for some reason, and in GRAW 1 this happened more than it should, you are dropped from a match. No reason is given at all. The host probably didn’t drop you because he is playing and it would not make sense to drop people from a ranked match anyway. Yet, you are in a match for 15 minutes, racking up huge kills and then… dropped. This happens to many, many people. I checked my DL and UL speed and they are more than adequate. Everyone says you can somehow tweak your settings but that shouldn’t be necessary. I already bought the game which should include adequate maintenace and service.

2. Booting. Nothing says a big F-U like having someone kick you out of your room because he is a 5 and you are a 3. Even better when the kid is 13 years old. If I had all day and all night to play video games I would. Hell, I wish I did. But for most of us this is not possible. I spent an hour last night trying to get into games. I don’t suck at GRAW, I’m actually really good. I just don’t have the time to spend countless hours raising an arbitrary rank number just so I can be in a match. RB6 had it perfect. If you were an Elite amongst Privates and you won, everyone got points. You wanted people in the room to increase scoring. Now, unless you have Rambo status, good luck finding a room.

3. In Game chatter. I am the last person to complain about people talking trash in a game. On the other hand, if you just want to talk and talk about inane BS, thats great. Mute the mic. I cannot wait until the Halo 3 “shut up” button comes out. Like I need to hear a 10 yr old british kid telling me about the weather in Liverpool. Or even better is the kid who talks to his friends in the background while the game goes on. Better yet is the kid with the “420″ in his gamertag because he smokes so much weed. Yeah, you just toke up at 7 pm in your house while your mom makes Stove Top. Poser. Yet best of all are the kids who were “really in the army and know what its like”. Let me tell you something. I come from a military family. People who had the privilege and responsiblity of serving their country don’t brag about how many people they killed or the stuff they saw. They won’t open up to family or friends, yet they will tell 9 complete strangers about how bad ass it was to shoot 30 people from a helicopter. I am not into stereotyping, but a kid with a gamertag like Azerothruler or dungeonmaster does not strike me with the physical ability to be a recon marine. We all play video games because we want to escape or be someone else. That’s fine. Just don’t be that guy. It disrespects us all.

It’s becoming increasingly common these days for products to not work properly. The video game industry is a huge culprit here. From consoles to accessories to games themselves, everything is broken when it ships.

Let’s start with consoles, shall we? I’ve never had consoles die on their own accord. Sure, there have been wrestling matches when I was a kid where a Genesis or NES got smashed, but you have to take those in stride. Even with the last generation, hardware problems weren’t that prevalent. Fast forward to today, and we see hundreds upon hundreds of Xbox 360’s failing every day. Personally, I’m on my 6th Xbox 360. Microsoft knows there’s something wrong. They wouldn’t be changing the warranty and upgrading their product replacement systems if there wasn’t. Maybe some testing could fix the problem up front.

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After playing many different MMORPG’s both PC and console based, the big 2 for myself being Phantasy Star Online and World of Warcraft, it amazes me how some people are just retarded. Let me explain some facts of MMORPG’s before you decide to delve into the black abyss of this genre:

• These games are played typically by fairly bright players that become obsessed with leveling and finding items, which turns into an addiction and neglect of real life.
• These games have been designed to be played with “strategy” as a key element, which means that a group needs to be functional, this means the healer must fucking heal, buff, etc. Man does it piss me off to hear of mage type characters trying to melee or tank characters trying to DPS.
• If you are female and have a mic you can easily score free items from a bunch of lonely guys that have probably never spoken to a female before. Seriously, or just make a girl character and never speak.
• Once people reach the level cap they become bored with the game, maybe you should have thought about that before you grinded for three days straight and maxed out your level so fast.
• Also once people hit the higher levels they become an elitist and don’t give a shiet about helping others, they actually shun lower level characters and make them feel retarded for not knowing how to play yet.
• People playing MMORPG’s with you are not your friends! They are just some people you meet online and play games with, which means they don’t give a shiet about you or your feelings. I have actually heard of people getting upset because they were not invited to groups, let it go stupid.
• After logging in hundreds and hundreds of hours you still are no better off in the real world than you first started.

This has been a public service announcement from your good friends at Loot Ninja. Play at your own risk.