xAbleAssassinx

It's wonderful to see that some members of the Giant Bomb community are actually interested in/knowledgable about current affairs. Particularly the Americans who, for the most part, seem to turn a blind eye to everything for fear of being labelled unpatriotic and burnt at the stake (or whatever similarly barbaric punishment they can think up.)  
 
I'm really glad that this discussion is at least happening on this site, and I'm glad you started this thread, but Jesus @Ragdrazi you just seem like the worst sort of person, sure @damswedon 's comment was ignorant and unnecessary, but so was your retort. Your inane assumptions and criticising of his alleged lifestyle just make you seem like an ass. And that shit about people dying on 9/11... really? That's necessary? What on earth is that even supposed to mean anyway? They died because they didn't take an interest in politics? What the actual fuck?

Hey where can I watch this TNT?

I'm pretty busy with Uni work at the moment but just wanted to chime in with my thoughts on the matter. My worry is that if the supreme court rules in favour of Yee's bill, the debate as to whether games fall under the first amendment - like movies, books and music - will have officially been lost. This is America's big opportunity to look at the foundations of it's nation, and decide if irrational fear and lack of parental responsibility is reason enough to undermine the crux of it's country's freedom, and affectively place a leash on one if it's fastest growing industries. 

I hope that the people who have been lumped with making this decision can look at the arguments and evidence (or lack thereof) objectively, not through elderly, frightened eyes, and make the right choice. Because if they don't, there becomes a precedent for this sort of thing. It's almost as good as censorship, just in a very indirect, round-about way; they're forcefully discouraging true creative and intelligent expression simply because unwatched minor's might come across adult themes in an interactive form, regardless of the fact that game rating's are implemented more effectively than those of film or music. Even though I live in the UK this is still going to affect me; developers won't wan't to make certain more adult orientated games, which have their worth, because it's no longer a viable economic venture. It will dumb down a huge sector of the industry and its output, and perpetuate the ignorant perception of video games as children's toys. 

They'd rather place the responsibilities of parental judgement on retailers, rather than take the time to educate themselves on this young, developing medium, and allow themselves to make informed, sensible decisions about what is and isn't appropriate.

It won't end here, if games are vulnerable, who knows what's next.

In terms of more contemporary stuff Portal, Rock Band 3, Heavy Rain, WoW, Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Metal Gear Solid Series, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Tony Hawk: RIDE (for obvious reasons) and a bunch more but I can't think of them right now.

 Our Misspent Youth 

I know it's been a while since I wrote for Our Misspent Youth, but I've been busy with a few things, like up-rooting my entire life and moving off to Uni to study Journalism. Yeah… nothing too major. Anyway, you may be aware that the London Games Festival has officially begun, kicking off with the Eurogamer Expo that's been taking place over past three days. Seeing as I'd like to write about games for a living one day, I thought I should go and all that. So I travelled all the way from my humble student digs in Northampton, back down to my hometown of London, where the event was happening. I saw a whole heap of gaming goodness, but you've heard plenty about pretty much all of it, so I'll just talk about a few of the highlights, as well as what I actually got my hands on. First up was Fable III . Peter Molyneux wasn't around on Saturday when I went, so he wasn't there to whisper sweet nothings of love and morality into my ear whilst I battled relentless hordes of 'hollow men' and an even more unforgiving frame rate, unabating in it's desire to chug... chug... chug along. However, it wasn't final code, the machine had probably been on all day, and that disc had likely seen a fair bit of wear and tear throughout the previous day of the event. 

Aside from the god awful frame rate, which could very possibly be tightened up by release, and ignoring the fact that the demo crashed on me when I first tried to play it, what I played was really very good. Well, if you like Fable II that is; because that was, as the gentlemen of Giant Bomb might put it, some Fable-ass-Fable. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you enjoy what the last Fable game had to offer, you should be pleased with what's on show here. Combat seems relatively similar, the integration of the gun into combat is much smoother, switching between melee and projectile is as simple as moving your thumb the half-inch from the X button to the Y button. There have been noticeable improvements to the how the game looks too, which is surprising considering how soon after Fable II's release this game was announced. A lot of the time, with such a short development cycle, graphics aren't the priority for developers, and end up being the least improved aspect of sequels. But Fable III looks really, really nice. A darker palette and harsher, quite impressive lighting give the environments a more sinister undercurrent, juxtaposing the usually bright and playful character of the Fable games. 

Next I played some Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer, and it was the only thing I went back to play again... and again. Yup, I waited in line on three separate occasions to get hands on with the multiplayer, first out of curiosity, second out of want, third out of need. If that doesn't tell you something about what I thought of the game, then let me spell it out for you. It's immediately satisfying, immediately intuitive, and immediately fun. The idea makes instant sense; you try and kill one guy, whilst another guy tries to kill you.  

At least that's how it goes down in 'Wanted' mode, which is sort of the 8-player Deathmatch to the 'Alliance' modes Team Deathmatch. In 'Alliance' you are partnered with another player and tasked with taking out the other teams in the area. 'Wanted', however, was all that was available, so that's what I became temporarily addicted to. So for the purposes of multiplayer, you pick a 'Templar', one of 8 (no two player's can select the same 'templar'), then you pick set of abilities. The choices I can remember are: Smoke Bombs & Morph (changing your appearance temporarily), and Speed Boost & Throwing Knives. I won't bore you with how the game looks or feels because truth is it looks and plays exactly like AC:2. What you do need to know is that stalking a target from the roof tops, then leaping down on to them and sinking a blade into their neck, just as they were about to take out their own target, is hella satisfying. It's all the more satisfying when your target was you're friend and is now bitching down the mic. Who'd a thunk stabbing dudes online would be fun? Wait, scratch that. Why on earth wouldn't stabbing dudes online be like the best thing ever? 

Tomorrow I'll talk about Tim Willits' Rage presentation and my experiences with Rock Band 3, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and Killzone 3... D. 

Our Misspent Youth

It's actually... "Hit that, hit that snare."  
 
Just sayin.

That Elizabeth has got some tits on her.

I need people to play Borderlands online with. Lv20 Siren - 1st Playthrough. Anyone interested?  Add me. 
  
Gamertag - xAbleAssassinx

wooo!