Unarmed (k3nshi)

So I have a GameBoy Spastic and a Pretty Shiny Plastic thing. I used to keep one of these devices in my bag for entertainment during my commute to and from work, but eventually stopped packing them when I realised that my time was better spent either reading something worthwhile or sleeping. Of course over the last three days I have found myself wanting to play a game, and searching my bag for a portable gaming device and found myself without the necessary equipment. As of tomorrow, a games machine gets added back to the Essential Equipment List.

Icecream Showdown (k3nshi)

Ok, so I didnt have an elaborate taste test set up in an amazing ICECREAM LAB (just imagine it though...), but I can proudly present to you the latest research in the exciting field of icecream science:

Waitrose Organic Icecream > Green & Black's Icecream.

It really is a lot better. Try it.

Videogames and violence. (Anonymous)

The "violent videogames cause violence" debate is back in the news again. And, as usual, the moral majority and games industry blame or slippery shoulder respectively. I’m in two minds on this issue - on the one hand I think that censoring or banning violent games is ridiculous scare-mongering on the part of the “anti-gaming” groups. On the other I think that games companies and the majority of gamers are sticking their heads in the sand and need to take a bit more responsibility for their output. Take 2, despite public denial, do want kids to play the likes of GTA and Manhunt because it makes them money. And todays parents are too lazy and irresposible to actively ensure their kids are playing games that are suitable.

The majority of non-gamers I speak to think that these modern ultra-violent games are just retarded fantasies for the socially inept, and I think these games do a lot to damage our pastime in the eyes of those people. My father’s opinion of games is the “it’s just childish zapping little green men and robots… grow up and do something useful” - one I’m sure a lot of you encounter.

The outcome is that nobody wins. Publishers may make short-term profits from blockbusters but are probably limiting long-term market size, kids are exposed to images they really shouldn’t see, and parents continue to be bloody useless.

Health and stuff (the_debaser)

After a particularly heavy session this weekend, I felt like complete shit on Sunday. And Monday. Chest pains. Sick stomach. That sort of thing. I'm OK today though.

2 of my uncles have died with heart problems before reaching retirement age, so its probably something which runs in the family. Luckily I'm not a smoker, nor do I just sit on my arse every day. However, I do eat an awful lot of crap. And I do drink to excess.

So, I'm giving up the beer for a bit. No doubt I'll miss it. But it'll help me save money. It'll stop me from forgetting what I did the previous night. It'll stop me staying in the house on Saturday afternoons nursing a hangover. And it'll also make me appreciate beer more as more than just a crutch which gets me through another relentless week of 'work-eat-sleep'.

To paraphrase the great Homer J, 'Lemonade will be my beer and feeling good will be my hangover'.

Paper Game Boy Micro (Wickedkitten)

Paper Game Boy Micro:

We’re never ever gonna get tired of paper

models of gadgets—especially unreleased gadgets. Apparently the same goes for the Japanese, who’ve been all up in

that scene since day one. Their latest target: the Game Boy Micro. Get your (fake) game on before any of the other kids

on the block, and in whichever colors and designs you bother digitally appliqueing to the thing.

[Download PDF]


[Thanks, SoDesu]

Attract Mode: Critical Failure (k3nshi) (k3nshi)

Earlier today me and a friend were in the arcade at London's Trocadero tourist and school kid ghetto. If it is a fair representation of arcades today, then the scene is in a truly dismal state. So many old, or old looking games: Daytona is still there and going strong. Daytona 2 was not being played at all. Spazmania and their ilk were going strong. Everything just seemed uninspired and lacking any appeal.

We spotted a Star Wars Pod Racing arcade game. Two people were playing it, and my friend thought it looked pretty cool. I thought it was a perfect example of where arcades have gone wrong. In an arcade I expect to see games that I would not imagine to be able to play on home hardware. A Star Wars Pod Racing game should have graphics comparable to the films, not to other 3D racing games which can be reasonably reproduced on home consoles. Remember the days you walked into an arcade and could only DREAM of playing those games at home? Thats what is missing - at the Trocadero at least.

Ok the costs... THINK OF THE COSTS of all that mega-hardware and software. I understand. But why not produce arcade hardware around high end PCs and mega gfx cards? This would be a lot better than filling the arcades with aging Model 2 and Model 3 arcade hardware. You could also cut software costs by building on top of APIs like OpenGL and DirectX. Surely this is the only way forward for the arcade industry?