Today marks exactly ten years that I have been a Gamespot registered user. In the time that I have been a member of Gamespot my life has changed. I've gotten married, been through three jobs, three apartments, bought my first house, had three children (triplets, no less), and a vasectomy.

In case 2003 still doesn't sound like it was that long ago, consider that Nintendo's premier platform was the Gamecube, The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker was causing a furor among fans for its cel-shaded graphics, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was released, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time single-handedly rebooted the franchise.

Zelda: Wind Waker - The amazing graphical prowess of 2003 gaming

A lot of change happens over ten years. The internet didn't really become pevasive on mobile devices until 2010. In fact, I didn't even have a cell phone when I first registered at Gamespot. At the time, therefore, sites like Gamespot were both the primary source of information and news for video game enthusiasts as well as the only real social outlet we had. I registered because Gamespot offered downloads for many PC games, including patches for said games, and a reliable source for downloading was desirable. There were competitors, but every site had its own culture and the heavily moderated Gamespot community ensured that there was a bit more maturity relative to other sites. And no, I'm not saying that the average Gamespotter was mature, just more mature than competing sites.

It wasn't until 2007 I started writing and publishing content to my Gamespot account. I'm not sure why, but I needed an outlet at the time. I had transitioned to a new city, leaving behind familiar surroundings and college friends. It was a bit random at first: Some complaints about Sony here, and a couple humorous blogs there. Then I wrote a blog for consideration by the site Editors for the Gamespot "Soapbox." At the time, this was a much desired emblem, since it was both rare and there were few emblems to be had overall. More importantly, anyone holding the emblem could post directly to the front page of the site simply by categorizing their blog entry as an "Editorial."

I garnered the Soapbox emblem with the Editorial, "I've killed you, and no, I don't feel bad about it." At the time violence and video games were a big topic of conversation, for no particularly good reason. It's still a fun read six years later.

Once I gained the exposure of the Soapbox I started receiving hundreds of views and comments. I started writing in earnest; it was a bit convoluted at first, but eventually I sorted my thoughts into columns of popular topics. I did a "Geek to Chic" series, which were basically tips for nerds not to stand out quite so much. I had a slew of humorous entries, personal finance, and tips on PC building. I tried a "Gamespot Cribs" series, but it never gained traction. An index to some of the better entries follows the end of this blog

There was an elite cadre of user-writers that formed unions around various topics to support blogging to the Soapbox and quality user reviews. I became a moderator for a time at Jody's behest, though that was rescinded after I made a blog entry about a topic deemed a bit too adult for Gamespot (and in retrospect, rightly so). Still, it was without question, Gamespot's peak in terms of user-generated content and participation.

Then Jeff Gerstmann reviewed Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.

That singular event resulted in an upheaval of users that rallied behind Gerstmann, relieved from Gamespot due to his critical comments on a game that had been heavily advertised on the site. Gamespot lost many, many great bloggers, union managers, volunteer community managers, and employees after his dismissal, and has never fully recovered.

There were additional missteps from a user standpoint. The launch of Gamespot FUSE to capture and integrate social media with Gamespot was a massive undertaking, but essentially bifurcated the community. You had some users migrating to FUSE, and others that preferred the persistent format of the traditional forums and user blogs. Gamespot abandoned the Soapbox for a time, dropping it from the front page and alienating some of its contributors, most notably GabuEx. Livefyre replaced Gamespots comments system in there somewhere, though this was a good move, in retrospect.

In the past two years Gamespot has made great strides to recapture the magic of 2007. They brought in Synthia Wieres to help Jody Robinson with community management and social media. The Soapbox was rebooted and the staff have interfaced more directly with their community on an ongoing basis. They introduced "Rangers," users that are not moderators so much as site cheerleaders, which has been a very good thing, and which I've been a proud participant. Finally, CBS Interactive picked up Giant Bomb, bringing Jeff Gerstmann and friends back full circle, and reintroducing many old users to their former stomping grounds. I still miss many users, and wrote an homage to said users in 2011 (link), but there have been quite a few great users filling their shoes, as of late.

I've seen friends I've met through Gamespot go on to become hired and subsequently move on from Gamespot, as was the case with Donklejohn. Danny O'Dwyer started off blogging just like yours truly before picking up an actual Gamespot paycheck, and there he's been making entertaining shorts about some of the most random things I've ever seen. It's a far cry from his Bioshock game footage days. It was great to meet several of the staff at PAX East 2012 and put real faces to their digital replicants.

Danny O'Dwyer doing what he does best. I'm just not entirely sure what that is.

It's strange to think of how much time and energy I have allocated to Gamespot in the past decade. Ultimately, though, it has been a rewarding online community filled with wonderful people. I have been frequently absent the past twelve months due to volunteer work, my family, and career monopolizing every free moment of my life, but I do hope to once again contribute to Gamespot in some meaningful way in the coming months.

Thank you, Gamespot staff, for creating a rich and vibrant community. For giving me the opportunity to be heard, to improve your site, and to support its ongoing development. I wish nothing but the best to each and every employee and member over the next ten years.

Index of Editorials
Index of Newbie PC Builder
Index of Personal Finance
Index of Geek to Chic
Index of Advice & Recommendations
Index of Humor

OR, HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE STEAM

Used games are on their deathbed, and most gamers are not happy. Everywhere you can hear the death knell of used games, from whispers of used game restrictions on the next Xbox AND Playstation, to the increased success of digital media distribution via services like XBox Live, Steam, and Amazon.

Further, gamers are increasingly willing to accept severe and even game-breaking Digital Rights Management (DRM) to play a great game, as evidenced by strong sales of Bioshock and Diablo III. The widespread adoption of Steam signals the loss of the DRM wars for consumers. Sales figures don't lie.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if a game is good enough, to hell with our personal values, we're going to buy it.

Software Piracy, DRM, and Dolla Dolla Bills, Y'all
For the most part console gamers have had the luxury of avoiding DRM - sort of - because they purchased their games at retail stores. You don't (usually) need DRM when there is a mechanical requirement to play a game, such as a cartridge or disc. This is great for developers, since you have some assurances that your game is less likely to be pirated on a console than on a computer. Even though digital distribution services have gained significant popularity, some estimates of PC game piracy are as high as 93% to 95%. That's probably a bit far-fetched, but consider that in 2011 Crysis 2 was downloaded approximately 3.9 million times. Granted, Crysis 2 is only about $10 today, but back in March 2011 when it was released it was $60, dropping to about $30 by Christmas. Assuming the lower of the two, a $30 sale is about $117mm in lost gross revenue to Gamestop, Crytek, and their distribution partners. Now, include CoD:MW3, Battlefield 3, Fifa 12, and Portal 2 - each of which had over three million downloads via Torrent themselves, and you hit a half-billion in lost revenue pretty fast. Now expand this to thousands of games over the past three decades, including console games that have since been ported to emulators, the Playstation discs that were copied, etc. and you get into multiple billions of dollars in lost revenue.

It is important to discuss piracy in the context of used games because it highlights the financial motivation to move to digital distribution. The incentives are there and the technology exists to enable developers and distributors to almost completely eliminate the viability of used games, but there is some hesitancy due to the probable backlash from gamers. Honestly, though, it doesn't matter: Pure digital distribution is coming. There is too much money involved for the industry to notmake the move.

Artax represents physical game distribution. Atreyu represents gamers. The Swamp represents the gaming industry.

What to expect
Arbitrary prognostication has its pitfalls, but we can make some logical conclusions based on existing industry rhetoric and sales numbers to prepare ourselves for the future.

Cheap storage and significantly greater internet adoption since the introduction of the current generation of platforms virtually assures at least the availability of retail titles both online and in stores in the next console generation, with brick and mortar outlets eventually going the way of Circuit City. Expect the next generation of consoles to have gigantic hard drives and additional "cloud" storage. An ambitious manufacturer might even go solid state (faster than traditional platter drives, but still more expensive). Expect titles like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed to be available for download on next-gen consoles, as a result, and downloadable content, or "DLC," to go away in favor of the more marketing-friendly "expansion content."

This will certainly be a problem for many gamers living in areas with restricted or spotty internet access. It's also going to be very annoying for military personnel overseas. Downloading a multi-gigabyte file via a 56k connection - which many people still use - is just not feasible. But with more (many more) consumers gaining access to high speed internet connections (source) it becomes easier for developers and distributors to stomach the loss of sales to a percentage of its base with spotty internet in order to retain more control of that distribution, reduce opportunity loss from piracy, and reduce manufacturing costs for packaging, shipping, etc.

The industry will spin it in a positive light; at first it will be a convenience: Why go to Gamestop when you can order the game right now from your console with a credit card? Shortly thereafter games purchased in the store will require an online connection for "updates," though what it really means is authentication servers (e.g. Diablo 3, and some of this is already happening today). Finally, you'll get download exclusives, followed by the elimination of retail distribution entirely.

Will it happen overnight? No, it will happen over the course of many years, just as Steam and other online outlets have slowly taken over the PC gaming marketplace this past decade. And it's not all bad: Anyone who uses Steam regularly will tell you that there are also a host of conveniences to online distribution, not least of which is the actual delivery method of the game. You have online sales, instant tech support, community tools, contests, and occasionally special events. There's also fierce competition in online distribution right now, leading to some pretty amazing sales through Steam and Amazon, in particular.

All of this still isn't quite the same as reaching up on the shelf and dusting off that old copy of Super Mario Brothers 3 or, in my case, Frogger. You can't swing by your local store to get a discounted used title, either. But I firmly believe that it isinevitable. Just as the vast majority of consumers now purchase their music online and increasingly view their entertainment via streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, so too shall video games soon be delivered exclusively via the internet, eliminating the used game marketplace, and fattening the margins of developers and publishers.

Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been is over. From this time forward, you will download all game purchases.

Sources
Defective by Design
Gamespot News
Akamai State of the Internet
Ubisoft CEO claims 93-95 percent piracy rate on its PC games
Kotaku
Torrent Freak
Defective by Design

-Disclosure-

Opinions and speculation of and by Bozanimal are his own and not those of Gamespot.com or its affiliates. Bozanimal is not a Gamespot employee, and is not affiliated with any gaming companies in any way.

Several links within this article may lead to external sites. Neither Bozanimal nor host Gamespot.com or affiliates are responsible for the content of those sites.

Index of Editorials by Bozanimal

If you loved the original Metroid, prepare to relive your glory days in this 2D exploratory shooter.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP) opens with a full orchestral score, your flying saucer (and your planet, for that matter) under attack by an unknown alien organism that has infected a nearby star- and that infection is spreading. Naturally it falls to you to do what you can to save the planet. Starting with but a radar and the ship's hull to protect you, you take your personal space craft out into the wilds to save your planet.

Along the way you upgrade your vessel, solve puzzles, avoid and combat a variety of foes, and uncover secrets that include bonus video footage and concept art. Games for Windows LIVE is required for ITSP, so you will need an internet connection to play the game, including the single-player campaign.

Click here to read the rest of this review (and don't forget to vote it up or down!).

Our esteemed News man Eddie Makuch recently posted an Article called, "Violence in Games: Industry Buzz," a compilation of industry views on the pervasive violence demonstrated in this year's E3 which was different than prior years, supposedly, because the violence displayed was for entertaniment value rather than providing support to a narrative or context. Only, this isn't exactly a new topic, and there wasn't really any substantive reason to be discussing said topic other than the fact that Miyamoto - I love you, Miyamoto - doesn't like it. Only his problem wasn't violence, it was the pervasive use of weapons, but we'll go ahead and generalize that for now.

Violence for the sake of violence has existed in games for a long time, and in entertainment in general for thousands of years. In gaming most recently it reached its apex with Mortal Kombat about 20 years ago (1992). To address the issue of gaming violence in the U.S., the ESRB was created two years after Mortal Kombat (1994) to provide guidance to consumers in order to ensure people knew what was appropriate, using reasonable standards, for certain age groups. Similar organizations were created in other countries and regions, and have been widely adopted and consistently enforced more than similar rations of movies and music (Source: FTC). The issue of the glorification of violence in games has been discussed at length and appropriate action taken by forming these bodies to provide consumers with guidance.

Now I'm not a fan of a rape scene - interactive or not - being included in Tomb Raider (supposedly this is not going to happen now, by the way). Lara Croft is a sexualized character as it is, what with the hot pants and cleavage and all. But I'm not going to get up in arms about it being created, either: What are we supposed to do, limit free speech? Tell the developer not to make it? Regulate and outright censor the content? The best "solution," if there is such a thing, is exactly what has already happened, making further discussion of topics like violence, misogyny, and other repetitive, recycled gaming social topic redundant unless those discussing said topic have some sort of alternative solution to address the problem handy, assuming that there is a problem, which there may or may not be.

The part I really don't like, though, is what people aren't talking about. Hundreds of games that do not glorify violence are coming out all the time, and not just the high-profile, family-friendly, first-party Nintendo titles. You've got Airmech, Bastion, Bit.Trip, Braid, Jamestown, Monaco is Mine, Osmos, Portal, Quantum Conundrum, Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery EP, Trine, Watch Dogs- need I go on? There are many, many games that focus on puzzle elements, narrative, or to which violence is a mechanic rather than something glorified. I would argue even that, though the violence in The Last of Us is indeed gruesome, it doesn't really seem to be for its own sake, its there to support the suspension of disbelief.

But it's not as fun and interesting to report on games like Lego City as it is topics like the issues of misogyny, violence, religion, stereotyping, etc. in gaming, so all the amazing progress that has and is being made all the time with great narratives and storylines gets outshone by coverage of the hot-button issues.

While the rest of the gaming playerbase is on pins and needles, I couldn't be less interested in high-profile games like Resident Evil 6, Crysis 3, Halo 4, Generic Shooter 3, and Brand X Adventure 4. It's all become a blur of "me-too" first-person shooters and third-person action adventure than elicits a yawn, at best. But Indie games can still blow up my metaphorical skirt.

Metaphorical means that I'm speaking figuratively, I'm not actually wearing a skirt. Not even on weekends.

Oh, shut up.

Limbo, Super Meat Boy, Bastion, Braid, Trine- compelling Indie titles are less expensive, almost always more interesting, and take bigger risks. It is also a little-known Indie title that recently compelled me to preorder a video game for the first time in over thirty years of gaming (though I probably would have preordered Dragon Warrior II if they had such a thing back in the days of the NES). Behold, Quantum Conundrum:

Granted, developer Airtight Games has some serious backing from Square Enix, but it's still a small developer with only one decent (but not great) third-person action game under its belt. But it's got wonderful art direction and Kim Swift, creator of Portal. The original Portal needs no introduction, and its sequel had one of the best narratives of any game ever made, so if Quantum Conundrum is even one-tenth of Portal 2, I will be a happy camper.

In the meantime, I've got some loot from Team Fortress 2 to show off in-game as part of the pre-order bonus.

The Guild Wars 2 Closed Beta is THIS WEEKEND, and I've got codes. I'll be giving them out via Twitter over the remainder of the day (06/07/2012). Keep and eye out and be fast to snag one!

AlsO, I've been married for NINE years as of today. Those nine years were filled with joy and pain, triumphs and sorrows, and I am grateful for all the hard work and luck that has gone into our life in that time. In the time I've been with Dr. Bozif have:

• Gone to art school
• Graduated college
• Stood by her through Cancer- twice
• Been through three career jobs
• Bought three cars
• Three apartments and one house
• Trips to Montreal, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Disney World, Miami, London, Paris, Jamaica, Savannah, New York City, Nova Scotia, and Las Vegas
• Seen Dr. Boz through two graduations, both undergrad and her Ph.D
• Had three kids- at once
• Dozens of fights
• Probably several hundred movies
• Probably several hundred hours of video games together
• Thousands of meals

Though everything I have come to the conclusion that a successful marriage takes a lotof work, but that work is the most rewarding of any you might undertake.

If you're not following the ongoing developments at 38 Studios, developer of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (KoA:R) and the upcoming Copernicus, and you're interested in game development, you are doing yourself a disservice. What you'll find unfolding is a tale of an up-and-coming studio filled with talented people crushed by business realities.

38 Studios was founded by Curt Schilling back in 2006 under the name "Green Monster Games." Though KoA:R was its first major release in 2012, its release is the product of 38 Studio's acquisition of Big Huge Games (Rise of Nations) back in 2009. Schilling started the company with the intention of bringing a MMORPG to market. Copernicus is to be the realization of that vision.

Along the way some of the realities of running a company got in the way, and to explain requires some context. The company originally leased space in Maynard, MA while still under the Green Monster Games moniker, but struck a deal with the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) to secure a $75 million loan that would bring 450 jobs to the state of Rhode Island by 2012.

What that means is that 38 Studios borrowed this money from the state at what we can assume to be a favorable rate on the condition that 38 Studios relocate to Providence, RI, thereby bringing in jobs to the state. Rhode Island is under intense pressure to bring jobs to The Ocean State. As of April 2012, Rhode Island has the nation's second-worst unemployment rate at 11.2% (after Nevada, which sits at 11.7%).

Unfortunately, it turns out that 38 Studios is having financial difficulty and is cannot pay back its loan in a timely manner- or its own employees. On May 15 local media (NBC) found that State officials were meeting with 38 Studios on concerns about its ability to meet the terms of its loan. While we do not know the full details of the agreement, we do know that 38 Studios defaulted on a $1.125 million payment to the RIEDC as part of its loan package that was due May 1, 2012. It then delivered a check to the RIEDC that 38 Studios Rick Wester said had insufficient funds in its account to cover- so the check was returned. Now you have 38 Studios laying off employees, though how many of its 379 full-time employees (as of the end of March) is unclear. Most recently it came to light that CEO Jen MacLean and Senior VP of Product Development John Blakely are no longer with the firm (Source).

To recap: Thus far you have the state of Rhode Island so desperate for jobs it makes a gigantic loan to a video game company with zero track record to relocate into the state (38 Studios relocated in 2010, KoA:R was released in 2012). This is a huge risk, since you have no cash flow to cover said payments: What exactly was used to secure this loan? Remember: This is taxpayer money being lent to a video game developer.

Then you have 38 Studios who accepted the loan. Somewhere along the lines someone misstated their earning expectations and release dates, because KoA:R sold about 330,000 copies by March, which comes in a bit under $20mm assuming a $60 retail sale... and that's gross revenue, meaning it doesn't take into account distributor fees (Gamespot, Steam, Amazon, etc.).

Analysts put a net asset value of about $20 million on 38 Studios, assuming they could even find a buyer in the event of a liquidation, so it is in the best interest of the State to try and bail out what is fast becoming a sinking ship. Queue the world fly-through of the scheduled 2013 release MMORPG Copernicus:

The kicker is that Copernicus' release date and trailer were announced by Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, who is desperately trying to salvage what still has the potential to become a profitable title- if 38 Studios can get its act together.

Boston Globe Reporter Scott Kirsner spoke with game industry executives and venture capitalists who've invested in other developers of massively-multiplayer games and came up with three likely scenarios for 38 Studios' future (Source):

1. A bigger game studio or media company comes in and offers to take the 38 Studios assets for nothing.
2. Someone acquires 38 studios offices in Maryland, otherwise known as "Big Huge Games."
3. 38 Studios eventually shuts down and files for bankruptcy.

These are all possible, but there are alternatives. 38 Studios could secure additional lines of credit from private investors to continue development on Copernicus and meet its loan obligations with the RIEDC. Or the RIEDC could forgive loan repayments temporarily until 38 Studios gets back on its feet- which seems likely because RIEDC needs to save face both economically and politically. They don't want to lose jobs and the governor does not want to look like a fool.

Personally I am hopeful that 38 Studios can stabilize itself financially and complete work on Copernicus, but we will not know what's going on internally for some time.

The day following this blog post every employee from 38 Studios was laid off (Source). Still unanswered are what 38 Studios did with the money it did receive from the loan (money received details).

You can follow the ongoing saga on this page, or follow Rhode Island WPRI-TV reporter Ted Nesi on Twitter @TedNesi.

Sources
WPRI
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Boston.com

It never seems to work, but I keep trying to tell my wife that my honest criticism gives my compliments that much more meaning.

Did you know the My Little Pony reboot has more male viewers between 20 and 30 than it does young girls? They refer to themselves as "bronies," and there are probably a few among you. As a place to learn moral behavior, generosity, and kindness toward your fellow man, I'm pretty sure My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is gradually replacing religion. Next time I'm conflicted between right and wrong I plan to ask Twilight Sparkle. Either that or Patrick Stewart.

I'm convinced that Star Trek is almost single-handedly responsible for the decline of racism, sexism, and bigotry in the United States. From the original series with the first televised interracial kiss, to a Scotsman as Chief Engineer, and an Asian man at the helm - whose actor later came out as gay - you went to the Next Generation with a woman as Chief Security Officer. Well, until she was killed, anyway, and replaced by a black man playing a Klingon. You even had a black, blind Chief Engineer, a pre-pubescent boy at the helm, and Whoopi Goldberg as- what did she do again?

The next two spinoffs had a black man heading a space station and a woman as Captain. The positive effects have rippled through our society and unified us under the commonly-held belief that everyone regardless of race, age, creed, religion, or sexual alignment has value except Australians. Ever seen an Australian in Star Trek? Yeah, I thought not, mate. Don't believe me? The only Australian actor to ever appear in a role in a Star Trek picture was Eric Bana in the 2009 movie, and he played Nero. That's right: The villain.

I complain every time I stand in front of a vending machine. The prices are ridiculous, yet every time I walk away and forget to take the change from the tin.

It is possible to be have your kids be the most important thing in your world and still want to drown them. Oh stop it, I love my kids more than anything! Except when I don't.

I had a delicious, well-balanced, international day of food, with Indian food for lunch and Mexican food for dinner, followed by some beer before bed. The next day - first thing in the morning, actually - I began to understand why the elderly are so obsessed with meticulously managing their diet.

It might be hard to imagine today since most Americans associate the Indian accent with telemarketing and customer support, but I think some day we'll find Indian accents endearing, like how we think a southern drawl is sweet entrancing now that it's started fading away with an increasingly mobile population. Now finding someone with a southern accent is like finding an endangered animal. You want to capture it and keep it in a cage next to your bed so you can listen to it whenever you want.

"Say, 'Y'all come back now, y'hear?' Say it, or no bread for a week!"

Seriously, though, some day American ladies are going to be all about the Indian guys, if only because they're so considerate in bed.

"Thank you, come again!"

Index of Humor Entries

• When: Thu May 3, 2012 @ 8:00 PM Eastern (5:00PM Pacific)
• Duration:Two hours or more, participation dependent
• Server: (TBD)
• What: Team Fortress 2
• Where to buy: Steam (No purchase necessary)
• Platform: PC
• Map(s): (TBD)
• Chat Resource: Game Night Chatroom (requires Java)

First and foremost: Spread the word! If you're planning on playing, tell your friends! Tweet about the event, post to FUSE, or send smoke signals: The more players the better!

Please, if you are not using your Gamespot ID in Team Fortress 2, respond with your handle so I can translate! You can also add me on Steam under the handle Bozanimal, just give me a heads-up ahead of time.

1. How do I get in on the action?
It is important to join the chatroom (requires Java) to get info on server status. If the chatroom is not open for any reason, post a question in this thread with your issue.

2. I am from another timezone. What time is that for me?
http://www.timezoneconverter.com

3. What mode will we be playing?
The game modes will vary depending on the server. We'll be cycling through a couple different modes over the course of two hours (or more).

4. Can I drop by late to participate?
Of course! Why not? Be sure to post what time you plan to show right here.

5. What GameSpot folks will I be playing with?
This is notan official Gamespot Community Game Night, it is a "Game Radar" event hosted by the community (or me, rather). As such, GameSpot Staff members may or may not be in attendance. If you're looking to headshot a particular site staff member, Ranger, or Moderator, hit them up directly to ask them if they plan to participate.

6. Do I get an emblem for playing?
No. Unless the Staff elect to play there will be no emblem, just the pleasure of playing a great game with fellow Gamespot community members, and taunting them over their mutilated, cartoonish corpses.

7. So, do I have a good chance of kicking your butt?
Yes, I'm quite terrible. All of my characters have a magnet on their back just for opposing Spies. I'm a pretty good sport, though, so feel free to post those kill shots and endlessly mock my noobishness.

8. Where should I report my "Game Radar" experience?
Feel free to discuss your experience here. Or there. You can also Tweet about it using the #gsfuse hastag, post an update to FUSE directly, or blog about it right here on Gamespot!

TERA Closed Beta Hands-On

• (Villains) have appeared and threaten the encampment: Kill them!
• (Villains) have appeared and are killing our livestock: Kill them!
• We need to take this key area to move forward. Kill the residents so we can advance!
• (Villains) have appeared-

1. Boyishly cute like Orlando Bloom or someone out of Twilight.
2. Rugged and manly like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Viggo Mortensen
3. Affable but still attractive in a grandfatherly way like Ian McKellen

1. Angelina Jolie in Gia
2. Card Captor Sakura

This was my first year at PAX East, despite having lived in Boston for over six years, now. It takes a special kind of person to allow her husband to abandon her with three kids to go to a video game convention for the day (and much of the night). As such, I was only able to get in for one day of the expo, but what a day it was!

The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is the largest video game exposition on the U.S. East Coast. It is an opportunity for small studios and large studios alike to get exposure to gamers, feedback, and press coverage. Hardware manufacturers, energy drinks, vendor booths for used games and gaming dice, and all manner of assorted gaming tie-ins were also present. Not having been before, I could have done this many ways, but I chose to wander aimlessly from one shiny booth to the next for about four hours or so, whereafter I watched Danny O'Dwyer's (Gamespot staffer) presentation, followed by an evening of food and drink around Boston with O'Dwyer.

How many Gamespot staffers can you name?

In the course of my wandering I found WAY more attention was being lavished on derivative and franchise PvP shooters than they deserved. Lines to get into Borderlands 2 were over an hour long. Ignoring the headliners, though, you could walk right up to many of the Indie booths and put hand to controller of unreleased titles within minutes. There were many indie gems to be found in the sold-out show.

BEST IN SHOW (in no particular order)

• Monaco: What's Yours is Mine - This was by far one of the most interesting games at PAX East. You are part of a heist and your team needs to puzzle through the respective "job" without being discovered or - if discovered - make a break for it. The visuals might be confusing at first glance, but it makes use of a very cool, real-time updated line-of-sight function that is both elegant and beautiful. It's kind of like a real-time Kill Dr. Lucky.

• Mark of the Ninja - Picture the original NES Ninja Gaiden with updated graphics, more fluid animation, a stealth component, and platforming puzzles. Yes, it was that good. It's coming to XBox Live Arcade, no Steam support is planned according to booth staffers, unfortunately.
• Antichamber - Antichamber is tough to explain. I have to imagine that it is an accurate recreation of what it might be like to trip on acid or shrooms, though without having done so myself it's tough to say. The game looks amazing though, as an extremely colorful first-person puzzler that reminded me of the film, "Cube." You have to watch some gameplay if only to see something almost completely original in the world of video games.

• League of Legends - This game has been out quite some time, but the booth was ridiculous, and its fans absolutely ravenous. There were dozens of cosplayers for the Riot Games contest, and they were loving every minute of it. Great booth, great fans, great atmosphere. You just loved being there.
• Firefall - A free-to-play MMO FPS? That's been tried before, and the results were- not great. This one has some serious pedigree, though, with a very slick graphics engine and team-based gameplay that was a ton of fun. The worlds are vast, original, and you can't help but want to explore. Being F2P is going to help, too, though it remains to be seen how much the paid items "enhance" gameplay.
• Airmech - This intriguing action RTS has tons of appeal to anyone that enjoys transforming robots and real-time strategy games. Bonus points if you loved Robotech.

MOST DISAPPOINTING

• Primal Carnage - The basic concept is excellent: One team plays humans with various classes and abilities, the other dinosaurs, ditto. The T-Rex is a tank, you've got flying Pterodactyls, velociraptors, etc. The graphics and audio are fantastic. The problem was that in their effort to keep the game as simple as possible, it became oversimplified. It was difficult to locate teammates, dead dinosaurs to refill health, the attacks were awkward to aim as a dinosaur, and most required cracker-jack timing. With an overhaul of the HUD and better controls, this game might be a serious contender for the next amazing multiplayer FPS, but I left sorely disappointed.
• Loadout - It's like Team Fortress, but with extensive weapon customization. The only problem was that the game was having issues, at least on Friday, and it was tough to get beyond the this is a Team Fortress 2 knockoff mindset, no matter how much I wanted to give it a shot.
• Bean's Quest - Good Lord was this a stinker. I love Indie games and I love platformers, but this mexican jumping bean with ADHD was not for me. The bean never stops jumping, and requires only the directional pad to operate. After twenty seconds it was all I could do not to yell at my avatar to stop jumping around like a toddler on Red Bull.
• Orcs Must Die 2 - Want multiplayer? Sure! So long as it's a local client, meaning on a LAN. Otherwise it's the same game with more traps and an additional avatar. I was hoping for more varied environments and Steam-supported multiplayer gaming via the internet, but the development cost was apparently too high, which is too bad, as I loved the original. This could have been like Portal 2 in terms of multiplayer goodness.

Left to Right, Gaijin Games developers Alex Neuse (@AlexNoisy), Andrew Hynek, and Bozanimal

MOST SURPRISING

I was not expecting to see Lollipop Chainsawat PAX East, much less the star in uniform on-site in front of a burned-out bus. I walked by several times before I got up the nerve to get a shot with her, then I accidentally grabbed her butt as I went to walk off (seriously). I had my arm around her shoulder for the picture - pretty standard, nothing weird - but when I went to remove said arm it brushed up against her tush. She didn't seem bothered by it, but I was a bit red-faced. Then proud. Then ashamed again. It was a mixture of emotions really.

The point is: Sex still sells.

ULTIMATE WINNERS

By far, the cosplayers won over the attention of convention-goers. What time wasn't spent staring at a screen, attendees spent checking out their costumed peers. Everywhere you went there were folks dressed up in mech costumes, elves, popular game characters, and an absolute slew of League of Legends cosplayers. The latter cosplayers were by far the most impressive as well, and warranted many of the (blurry) pictures taken:

ESCAPE FROM MT. STUPID LIVE!

Really, PAX East was just an excuse for me to meet Danny O'Dwyerand some of the Gamespot staff. Danny did a presentation about how he went from Gamespot blogger to Gamespot staffer in the past five years. I've known Danny for years, now, and it was by far the highlight of the show, for me.

To embarrass him as much as possible, the video that got him off the ground, in my opinion:

Thank you to all the Gamespot staff that took time out of the show to chat with me for a few minutes, and especially to Danny, who was kind enough to bring a Wenlockfrom London for my kids. They love the little guy. Er, girl. Creature. Thing.

ADDITIONAL SHOW IMAGES
If you want to check out all my images from the show, including booth shots, you can view them in Bozanimal's PAX East 2012 Gallery.

Mobile gaming is hot right now; hotter than platform or PC gaming, in terms of hype. Every developer and mom-and-pop is vying for a multi-million dollar success story like Angry Birds, Jetpack Joyride, or Temple Run. The majority of these games are simple, quick to learn, and as easy to put down as they are to pick up. You know, "casual." But for developers the biggest lure is that mobile titles are inexpensive to produce relative to console and PC titles, offering potentially big margins.

In the gaming enthusiast communities, however, mobile games tend to draw a lot of ire, though only some of it is deserved:

• The Wii doesn't hold a candle to the iPhone in terms of shovelware
• "Free to play" generally means, "Free so long as you only play for a few minutes every couple hours."
• Awkward controls
• Intrusive Facebook and other social networking integration
• Social networking that makes no sense in context of the game
• Micro-transactions

Jetpack Joyride

All that said, mobile gaming has a lot going for it, as well: Alongside services like Steam and XBox Live, it is one of those rare places in the video game industry that a half-dozen people can get together, create truly original content on a shoestring budget, and - potentially - earn a significant profit. Considering how limited original content can sometimes be, what with us celebrating over 25 years of Mario Brothers, Ryu Hayabusa, and franchise after franchise of military shooter, it can be refreshing to, say, karate-chop some fruit or take a joyride on a jetpack without having Master Chief, Sonic the Hedgehog, or other long-time character favorites tied-in to boost sales.

Even still, console and PC gamers can get pretty defensive whenever a mobile game garners any amount of press (source). That anyone would say something like Angry Birds could "barely be called a video game," is surprising considered the origins of the medium. The first video game ever was Table Tennis, played on an oscilloscope (Source). Almost any game for the Atari 800 - Pitfall, Frogger, Asteroids, Zork, Zaxxon, Centipede - had about the same depth as what might be considered a modern casual game, and couldn't begin to approach iOS (the iPhone's Operating System) titles like Illusia or Zenonia. If the original Super Mario Brothers for the NES were released today, it might even be termed, "barely a video game," if Angry Birds Space meets the criteria.

Dragonvale - A mash-up of Harvest Moon and SimCity (Review)

There seems to be more than just an association between casual content and mobile platforms, though, but also the conclusion that developers would forego console and PC games for mobile platforms, and therefore for casual games. It's understandable to see where someone might draw this conclusion. Companies only have so many resources, so if they're focusing on mobile games, they might be shifting away from console and PC games.

Fortunately for all gamers, this conclusion does not make sense. Just because mobile gaming is profitable does not mean publishers will abandon or even marginalize other platforms. There is also no evidence to support that any developer has moved from platform or PC gaming to mobile gaming.

If anything, platforms and PC games are taking in more in terms of total revenue than they have at any point in the history of video games, Indie developers are more successful than they've been since the shareware era thanks to low-cost distribution service providers like Steam and XBox Live, and big-name titles are as pervasive as ever. If anything it is more difficult for large developers to compete on platforms with low development costs due to the low price of entry for competitors.

Zenonia 3 - Action RPG (Zero Wing English)

Large-production games like Skyrim and Diablo 3 are like blockbuster action movies. Angry Birds is a romantic comedy. Just because people are watching romantic comedies doesn't mean studios will suddenly stop making action movies, and vice versa. Neither does one becoming more popular or having wider margins mean that the other is going away. So long as there is a profitable audience for both, they can peacefully coexist.

Yes, Angry Birds is a ridiculous success for what amounts to a reskinned version of Tank Wars, but it is not going to cause Blizzard, for example, to stop making Starcraft in favor of making iPhone apps. If anything, Blizzard is more inclined to expand their staff to write games for the new platform.

Further, there is also no evidence that games are getting worse, though "worse" is understandably a subjective term. In recent years you have had dozens of highly-rated, original games such as Limbo, Capsized, Braid, Team Fortress 2, Bioshock, Portal- it would be easy to continue.

Triple Town - Turn-Based Strategy w/ Ninja Bears

So please, there is no need to maintain a "mobile platforms are ruining everything" attitude. There is much great fun to be had from so-called casual games like Plants vs. Zombies, and there is nothing restricting developers from making hardcore games but their imaginations. We should be encouragingnew games and those making them regardless of platform. For all we know a casual title might inspire some developer to go on and develop the next Ocarina of Time.

-Disclosure-

Opinions and speculation of and by Bozanimal are his own and not those of Gamespot.com or its affiliates. Bozanimal is not a Gamespot employee, and is not affiliated with any gaming companies in any way.

Several links within this article may lead to external sites. Neither Bozanimal nor host Gamespot.com or affiliates are responsible for the content of those sites.

All screenshots in this Blog are original shots taken from actual gameplay for this entry.

Index of Editorials by Bozanimal

I'm almost ashamed of myself. I have done something I never thought I would do: Signed up for Twitter. I've managed to hold out through Geocities, MySpace, and Facebook, but I've folded to Twitter. It is practically its own form of communication. It's tied into everything, and with marketing promotions, tie-ins, FUSE, and exclusives coming through Twitter, and PAX East on the immediate horizon, I finally jumped on the bandwagon.

Mostly I plan to use it just to enter contests and giggle at dannyodwyer's antics, though.

Disclaimer: My Twitter feed may, from time to time, contain adult content and links to sites containing adult material. My Twitter feed is my own and is not affiliated with Gamespot in any way.

Holy Crap!

Nostalgia is a funny thing. The brain tends to gloss over the negatives of our past and cast memories is a warm, fuzzy glow. There is a reason many people still feel attracted to former partners even after a bad breakup; you repress the negative memories and the positive ones are brought to the fore. It's a natural response: Stressful events become blurry and happy events take over. It's not unlike an old movie where the director would smear petroleum jelly on the camera lens to give it a soft, dream-like quality.

The same holds true in video games. Though I've been playing since the Atari 800, Dragon Warrior made me a gamer for life. I can still tell you where the Stones of Sunlight are located. Yet going back to grind slimes outside Tantegel Castle to level up seems tedious alongside modern titles that feature story-driven quests and dynamic battle sequences. At least, it would seem tedious if playing Dragon Warrior didn't make me feel like I was ten all over again.

Therein lies the influence of nostalgia: Certainly if Dragon Warrior were released in a vaccuum today, without any of the brand good will it has built over the years, it would be panned. Yet, I still have fun pulling it out once in a while for some soothing, turn-based action.

So I found myself flummoxed when I read through the recent review of The Simpsons Arcade Game. I do not own an XBox 360, but have fond memories of playing the game in various arcades back when they were relevant. You know, back when "Eat my shorts" was considered edgy humor. The game had voice clips and art from the show, which was a rarity at the time. It was terrible, but you played it anyway because in 1991 you loved The Simpsons. Tom McShea wrote the review, and received some flack for his scathing opinion of its repetitive combat and nonsensical story. In the comments he wrote:

This is what got me thinking about nostalgia and how it plays into our opinion - and sometimes defensiveness - of beloved older titles. The Simpsons really was a terrible game, and there was no excuse for playing it with titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Neo Geo machines, or the six-man X-Men Arcade machine at hand unless you were a huge fan of the show. I was a huge fan of the show, though the game was never one of my favorites. Still, I have fond memories of my childhood in the arcades, and - judging by the comments in the Gamespot review - so do many other Gamespot users.

So how do you treat an old favorite? Do you do two reviews for a ported title? Do you factor nostalgia into its score? Do you just talk about how faithful it is or is not relative to the original? Do you factor the price at its release into the review? Or do you go Gamespot's route, and just look at it as if it were a new title released in a vaccuum?

Mostly I agree with the Gamespot policy: Is the game good relative to competing titles as of its release, regardless of whether it is a port or not? This is what matters from a scoring standpoint. That said, ports of old titles deserve a footnote, because gamers looking at these titles are by and large going to have played the original. Those gamers want to know how faithful the port is to the original, and whether they will enjoy it as much today as they did back then, regardless of whether it's good or not on an absolute basis.

Nostalgia is a funny thing, because it affects modern perception of histroical events to which we have attached emotion. An old game can be terrible and still be enjoyable, after all. This is important: Nostalgia can make a game that was great at the time, like Operation: Wolf, still relevant today despite the fact that far superior titles might be widely available.

-Disclosure-

Opinions and speculation of and by Bozanimal are his own and not those of Gamespot.com or its affiliates. Bozanimal is not a Gamespot employee, and is not affiliated with any gaming companies in any way.

Several links within this article may lead to external sites. Neither Bozanimal nor host Gamespot.com or affiliates are responsible for the content of those sites.

Index of Editorials by Bozanimal

I have a big problem with the nomenclature used by financial markets, specifically the terms, "Security" and "Savings."

Secure
firmly fixed: firmly fixed or placed in position and unlikely to come loose or give way
not worried: untroubled by feelings of fear, doubt, or vulnerability
reliable: reliable and unlikely to fail or be lost

The problem here is that securities are not secure. Enron stock was a security, but there was nothing secure about holding that stock. Further, anyone investing in stocks is, generally, worried at least to some marginal degree. Securities convey the wrong impression of what financial instruments are, and the general public should call them what they are, instead: Investments.

"I didn't put money in the stock market. To me that's like Vegas without the dancing girls — none of the fun, no gambling or dancing or drinking — and you don't get to participate." George Clooney, Esquire, Jan 2012

Savings
money saved: money set aside for future use

The problem here is that savings is too often attributed to accounts that invest in stocks, bonds, and other financial products that can potential lose value, including loss of principal. A 401(k) retirement savings account or 529 college savings plan is not investing in safe financial products such as CDs or Treasury Bills, they allow participants to invest in a wide array of products such as S&P 500 index funds, international investments, and company stock.

Proposal to regulate certain financial product terminology
Bank products and investments backed by the full faith and credit of the government are generally the only financial products that might be considered secure. Therefore, it would be desirable to see FINRA or a similar regulatory agency disallow the use of "security" and "savings" from financial instruments that are not, in fact, safe in advertising with the general public. This would prevent confusion and misuse of the terms with non-affluent investors in marketing promotions and sales pitches.

-Disclosure-

Opinions and speculation of and by Bozanimal are his own and not those of Gamespot.com or its affiliates. Bozanimal is not a Gamespot employee, and is not affiliated with any gaming companies in any way.

Links within this article may lead to external sites. Neither Bozanimal nor host Gamespot.com or affiliates are responsible for the content of those sites.

The Warcraft Hunter's Union, a World of Warcraft Hunter fan site, recently ran a contest that required participants create original posters in the vein of Successories' famed posters. Frostheim, who runs the site and writes for WoW Insider, gave the following example as inspiration for participants:

I created several entries for the contest that did not win - which isn't surprising considering some were out-and-out bad - but I have published them here for your entertainment, regardless:

And, probably the worst of the lot, was the one originally inspired by the three Hunter Talent Trees: Beast Mastery, Marksmanship, and Survival. Each tree has its own "feel," and I tried to capture that with pop culture references. However, the execution needed more massaging in Photoshop. That, however, requires time, and time is a premium, for me:

The holidays were kind, this year. The triplets were polite and generally well-behaved, making out like bandits. My wife loved the presents I got her, which included The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, among other things (In short: awesome game, poorly aging graphics, wonderful bonus CD). We had a ton of food, saw lots of family and friends, and were generally given many reasons to be thankful.

Steam Holiday Sale
The undercurrent this holiday season - unbeknownst to my wife - was the Steam Holiday Sale that had been going on for half of December. I have been playing World of Warcraft since October, but the Holiday sale piqued my interest in acquiring new games for the first time since Super Mario Galaxy, which I bought used back in 2010. My World of Warcraft account is now set to expire at the end of January.

The past two years of blockbuster titles have been primarily filled with derivative franchise titles and "me-too" first-person shooters. My Top Five Most Anticipated Titles of 2011 were mostly duds. The games I've been most interested in - in retrospect - are all indie titles, a mixture of old-school platformers, base defense games, and rhythm titles with strong game mechanics, great music, and/or novel artwork.

When all was said and done I came away from Steam with 16 new games representing a wide range of genres:

• BIT.TRIP.BEAT
• Bioshock
• BIT.TRIP.RUNNER
• Braid
• Capsized
• Frozen Synapse
• Jamestown Deluxe Pack
• Limbo (Completed)
• Orcs Must Die! (plus expansions)
• Osmos
• Peggle (Free)
• Plants vs. Zombies
• Portal 2
• Super Meat Boy
• Trine

While my time in Azeroth is soon coming to an end, I am now flush with games to play in my spare time!

Working at the Buy More is a thankless job. However, with my two-piece set bonus I get +10% reputation gains with the Nerd Herd faction.

I'm wearing the below attire right now, sitting in my cubicle here on casual Friday. Every once in awhile someone will get the joke, and for that it's worthwhile. Apologies for the image quality; it's a camera-phone, what do you want?