@philMcCrevis He specifically references Jesus Christ in one of the quotes so my guess is that the guy was Christian. And if this little incident gave him a clearer perspective on the character and added deeper characterization to someone who may have otherwise been a lame caricature, then I'm all for it. Games need to start taking on more difficult themes and religion is probably one of the least explored themes in gaming. If Bioshock Infinite can break some new ground there and discuss why people follow religious leaders and the effects of something as powerful as religion, then I'm perfectly ok with this dude's whining if it brings us closer to that.
@deathstream Blocking used games will kill games as an art form because it limits their preservability and availability to the public. What happens when a gem is put out by a studio that goes under in a year or two after its release? That game effectively dies once it stops being produced. Used copies are absolutely useless. No one else can enjoy that game once it's been purchased. It's bull shit. Imagine what would happen to record collecting if the music industry had somehow managed to make each record only playable on one turntable. The hobby would be dead. Record stores would be dead (well, more dead). There would be titles that would become totally lost because they weren't re-pressed. You'd be stuck with records you couldn't pass on to anyone else to enjoy. The hobby of sharing and listening to music would have died out before we got to the mp3 era. We'd all be stuck in our own, stupid little media bubbles with our own tastes never being expanded by someone else's suggestions and generosity. Think of what would happen to a stone cold gaming classic like Golden Eye if used n64 cartridges were blocked. The game that was crucial to the popularization of console FPS's would be totally forgotten, or at least rendered unplayable for future generations. We can't afford to let potential masterpieces and cult hits die out just because they want to peddle a few more copies. Plus, c'mon, everyone knows that Gamestop is highway robbery and only an idiot would go there to get a fairly new used game. But places like Game Over Videogames (It's a Texas chain of used game stores) help people discover old games and give them some sort of legacy.
@Vodoo Seriously. Let's all just get Steam accounts if that happens. At the very least they sell you a product that can't be resold anyways. Plus, at the right time, whatever you want to buy will be so dirt cheap that it won't matter whether or not it can be resold. They make their money by providing a good service and treating their customers like the people who pay their bills rather than miserly bastards that want to rip developers off. That's a novel concept, isn't it, Microsoft?
If this is true, microsoft is not just shooting themselves in the foot; they are shooting themselves in the foot with an elephant gun, bending over and saying to sony, "eh, just **** it". If xbox 720 requires an internet connection and blocks used games, I am definitely buying a PS4. It wouldn't matter if they put out the best exclusives or had hardware that outperformed ps4 ten fold, blocking used games not only creates social stratification in the gaming community, it kills our best way of preserving games as an art form and showing them to other people. You basically shut out everyone who can't afford a brand new game and then you give your games a limited lifespan by only allowing them to be played on one console. It's almost as bad as film studios destroying reels to make room in their vaults the way they did in the 30s. Whatever major hits and extremely innovative games are released on xbox as exclusives will be lost because no one will be able to play them past a generation. We may very well lose a masterpiece because of Microsofts' greed and ignorance. **** them, this is total bull shit. If it's true, that is.
@sabresieben The thing that drew me in to Killzone 2 is the sheer scale and immersion in every battle. You have those world war II sized battles with then top notch graphics and sound design as well as an enemy as menacing as the helghast and it did create a uniquely immersive experience. It also feels like one of the only fps's that's still truly difficult. It stayed in that 2005 sweet spot of FPS evolution where many of the modern mechanics of fps's were coming into use, but it still hadn't been watered down to create more of a ride out of it. That's really what most FPS's feel like. They send you on ride that's enjoyable, but only creates the occasional illusion of challenge so that you make it through fairly quickly and the flow is uninterrupted. This isn't inherently bad, it's a nice pacing technique, but it's still nice to really go up against a challenge and perfect a strategy through trial and error. Wow, that was a long tangent.
@RedLegZeff @dicosoul Well, to be fair, that isn't exactly mainstream, even in Japan. But I'm also wondering what he means by that. I mean, yeah, maybe drugs, but there are plenty of other games that have referenced/depicted drug use and trade before. Maybe child soldiers or sexual abuse or something like that. I mean, where else is there to go as far as things that could really hurt sales and fit into MGS?
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