Well, looks like Nintendo decided to try and steal Microsoft's thunder (such as it is) and have a Pre-E3 show in addition to their Tuesday show. In today's pre-show, Nintendo announced that Tuesday's show would be all games, which is good because the system looks like it's focused in the exact same direction that the Wii was: Not at me.

But rather than take my word for it, here's some handy-dandy tidbits from Gamespot's report on the show.

[3:03] He talked about the book "Alone Together," saying that new technologies have made life easier and more efficient, but suggests it is changing the nature of human relationships.

[3:08] He also touts "asymetric diversity" implications of having different screens with different abilities for different players.

[3:08] By using more intuitive motions to control a game, players of all skill levels can better play together.

[3:13] He intros a clip with some gamer talking about serving zombies a bullet sandwich.

[3:14] He gets eaten by the zombie boss, and then the GamePad asks him what his mood is. He picks a picture of a sad face from a list, and then checks posts from a number of other people who have been having problems beating the boss.

[3:19] The GamePad will show a familiar lineup of games and applications, but the TV screen will show a bunch of games and the Miis of people playing those games at that moment.

[3:20] The result (Miiverse, Iwata calls it) will show people which games are popular right now. He explains that Miiverse is a combination of "Mii" and "Universe," just in case that wasn't understood.

Anyone who remembers Cammy Dunaway will remember this...

[3:28] The GamePad is an idea that has the potential to solve several problems that the Wii U was created to address, Iwata said. It enables more smiling, more laughs, and more empathy, and gets around the problem of "Alone Together."

There's more, of course. I just decided to put here what stuck out to me. The point? Well, I'm having some serious flashbacks right about now. Everything here sounds a good bit like the pie-in-the-sky promises that Nintendo made with the Wii. The console that was going to bring everyone together and bridge the gap between gamers and non-gamers.

It's all the same garbage we heard when the Wii was coming out, and while the Wii was a massive hardware success, software sales were always a problem on the platform. Why? Because Nintendo placed all their bets on people who didn't care about anything other than the gimmick. Wii Sports was enough for most of the Wii "audience." Nintendo's repeating the same mistake: Trying to start from the non-game audience and to work inward, rather than working from the inside out, the path that brought Microsoft so much success and has fueled Sony's remarkable comeback after the PS3's disastrous first year.

Basically, Nintendo's positioning here is clearly "casual first" once again, and once again, they're going to have a whole lot of trouble convincing gamers that this is going to be anything for them more than ports of PS3 and 360 games and the occasional Mario or Zelda title.

It doesn't help that the Wii U Pro Controller shown at the show looks terrible. Both sticks on top and the buttons on the bottom? Yeah, that's not gonna be hard to use.

While it would be unfair to judge Nintendo as a whole before Tuesday, my initial impression is that they're going casual again, hoping for another Wii. Be careful what you wish for, Nintendo.

What I'm about to say here might be a tad bit controversial, but I'm at the point where I don't give a damn, so whatevs.

Heavy Rain developer David Cage today said that he doesn't see a need for a next-gen console until 2017, citing Quantic Dream having not run into any PS3 tech limitations. While he also harped on about violence and shooters and RPGs, that's more a matter of taste and what sells. This blog's going to be focused on tech, and how the pursuit of graphics may have reached its limit for most of the industry.

Now, many on gaming forums, and indeed many in the jaded gaming media, have been clamoring for new consoles, despite the fact that some truly amazing games have come out in the latter years of this cycle, not because there's anything that can't be done on these consoles compared to the latest and greatest PCs, but because they're not as pretty. They don't have super-maxed-out resolutions and trillions of polygons and particle effects, yadda yadda yadda.

What people don't seem to realize is that we've run into a very real limitation already this generation.

It's no secret that game development has ballooned this generation compared to previous generations. For many "AAA" titles, a million units sold is no longer a breakout hit, but rather the baseline, minimum expectation for a game to be considered profitable. Only the biggest companies are really able to get the most out of even the current consoles, simply because of how bloody expensive it is to make games for them. In these years, we've seen the games industry become more reliant on sequels than even the creatively bankrupt film industry, while companies desperately search for ways to nickel-and-dime customers, trying to get just a bit more return on their absurdly high investment.

What happens when the next systems come out? When the gaming media knocks points off for anything that isn't 1080p, 60FPS with the largest, most detailed textures possible? What happens then? Well, for the biggest companies, the answer is most likely to forsake new IPs and ideas altogether, or to banish them to the iOS/downloadable ghetto. When budgets start doubling or tripling, games start costing $70 or more, with even more content held back to be charged for later, or even holding back vital single-player content. When these become the norm, how many people will simply walk away?

And what of mid-tier companies like Atlus, Capcom and the like? Most likely, their games probably won't change much at all. They won't have the money of an EA or Activision to churn out the latest and greatest graphics tech. What happens to them? Are their games even viable in the mainstream marketplace? Or does the hunger for "bigger, badder, more" consume them, drive them to the downloadable underground with the indies? I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of some of the most respected companies in this industry being damned to invisibility for not having the money to push a platform to its limits.

I'm not saying that we should never have new hardware. Obviously at some point it's going to become needed. However, I think for the industry not to suffer an eventual second crash, everyone involved - media, developers, publishers and fans - are going to have to ask how the next gen's development can be made more affordable rather than less, or barring that, what do people want to sacrifice in the name of higher definition graphics.

It's no secret that, in the age of the blog as a "news" source, scandal and sensationalism and top commodities while fact-checking and honesty in journalism is fast becoming a thing of the past. One need only look at the Gawker network of sewer websites, which enjoy massive page hits through no means other than trolling and baiting. KingOfOldSkool and I had an interesting conversation about the media's love of fanboy drama in the comments section of his recent post, and while we both disagree on whether the people demanding a new ME3 ending are entitled brats, it's pretty obvious to us both that this tabloid fluff and the outright confrontational attitudes of many games journalists are simply being used to fan the flames and keep us clicking. We've also seen this in rumors about the next Microsoft games console. However, I think the line has been crossed for me here, with a rumor about the PlayStation 4 which doesn't make clear that it's a rumor.

Next PlayStation to lock out used games - Report.

That's the actual headline. Not "Rumor Control: Next PlayStation to lock out used games," or anything to say that this is a rumor. It's being treated as something reliable, if not an outright fact. And what's their source? Here's a quote:

"Buckle up, Sony enthusiasts. A tipster has told Kotaku that the PlayStation 4 is named "Orbis," and that it will feature an anti-used game system, offer no backwards compatibility with PlayStation 3 titles, and ship in holiday 2013."

"A tipster has told Kotaku." That's their source. No independant fact-checking, no skepticism, not even logical deduction - the fact that 2012's PlayStation Vita has no such feature - came into the decision to put this on the news reel. GameSpot just took the word of Kotaku, the gaming equivalent of TMZ, as gospel, only mentioning in passing toward the end that it was a rumor at all. As one can expect, the comments section is mostly taking this at face value. Now I hold very little value in the opinions of most GameSpot users, with the obvious exception of the ones whose blogs I'm following (they do great stuff), but seeing what passes for integrity at GameSpot makes it 100% clear why people over at Giant Bomb are scared for the future.

The problem here isn't just GameSpot though. Across the web, gaming websites have taken to the dangerous tendency to just put anything on a page. Whether it's obviously false rumors or editorial middle fingers to large parts of the readership, it's clear that quality content has taken a back seat in this industry to tabloid sensationalism. It's a trend I find grossly troubling.

Obviously, this is a problem that's taken all forms of information media over the last 20+ years, coinciding with the rise of the blogosphere, and the 24-hour news networks before it. There's not enough news out there, so blowing things up, turning into hate machines of one type or another, and leaving standards of integrity at the door have become the norm all over. It's just easier to spew hatred and print juicy rumor than it is to produce quality content. However, it's more troubling in gaming because at the very there are alternatives in getting news from less sensationalist sources. There's no Associated Press for video games, no one interested primarily in reliability and integrity. It's all reduced to sensationalism, picking fights with the audience, and top 10 lists.

So where does that leave those of us who want something more than the chance to shriek at every rumor and bit of unfounded speculation? Those of us who'd like things to be presented without the need to turn news into entertainment or mean-spirited argument? Giant Bomb's own Patrick Klepeck tries his damnedest, but he's only one guy. I'm not really sure there's an answer, and that leaves me wondering whether gaming journalism has a future.

I hope it gets better, but it's looking unlikely.

Oh yes, it's time I spoke about the gift that keeps on giving: Street Fighter X Tekken. For those of you not following everything that's been going on, this has been one of the most successful launches, not just in fighting game history, but in the history of all video games. Let's start off with the pre-launch festivities and go on from there.

The Capcom-sponsored promotional event Cross Assault was billed as the first video game reality show, and a chance for some of the fighting game community's best talent to get their hands on the game and, in turn, show it off for viewers. It seemed to be going well enough, but one of the players on Team Tekken, Miranda "SuperYAN" Pakozdi, had been sexually harassed for the entire event by the team coach, Aris Bakthanians. Here's some prime video of the first day of the week-long event where Mr. Bakthanians is seen controlling the camera to focus on Pakozdi's body and walking up to sniff her like some subway stalker. Warning: This can be hard to stomach.

On day 5, it got even better. Twitch.tv community manager Jared Rae is talking to Aris about the sexual harassment that is endemic in the fighting game community, which is a separate issue, but we're looking at the convo itself because it's part of the Capcom PR disaster. You can skip to one hour and 45 minutes in this video, but to summarize, Aris throws the entire community under the bus and makes the case, with a straight face, that the culture would be damaged irreparably if sexual harassment were removed. Mind you, Aris is a team coach, someone in a supervisory position, presumably being paid by Capcom for this. In front of tens of thousands of people, he makes some of the most damning comments one can about his community. Of course, it blows up on Giant Bomb, Destructoid, Kotaku, all the usual suspects, and the best both Aris and Capcom can muster is a canned, non-apology apology before moving on, lending credence to the pig's viewpoint. So the game's PR is off to a running start, with any qualities of the game completely overshadowed by a damning rebuke of those who play fighting games. BTW, thanks Aris. We gamers really need to give more ammo to our hobby's critics.

Anyway, moving on, the game releases, and what DO you know? Looks like the 12 Vita exclusive characters, AND two of the PS3-exclusive characters, are on the 360 disc, with their beginning and ending movies and full movelists, the whole nine yards. It's discovered within hours of release by Xbox 360 hackers who got pre-release copies of the game, because Capcom didn't even bother trying to hide the damned things. Now personally I couldn't care less, as I've never bought DLC and never will and the game still looked pretty sweet at the time, but as you can imagine, people blew up at Capcom once more trying to leverage their fans' dedication in a cynical, exploitative way. Not only that, but the characters are going to be held back until the release of the Vita version this fall. The amazing PR circus continues.

Then the game comes out to the general public, and it gets stupid awesome. Megaman and Pac-Man aren't ready for the launch on PS3 and have to be unlocked via a patch the following week. Not only that, but both versions of the game have a bug that causes the sound effects and music to cut out at random intarvals throughout the match. Then there's couch co-op. The game was advertised as having the ability to take an offline friend online for 4-player games. However, the 360 version doesn't have this functionality. Capcom at first gave a flimsy excuse, but when the entire community pointed out that many games on 360 allow the functionality (Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, Halo, etc), Capcom changed their tune and said that it would take too much time and resources to patch the 360 version's multiplayer to be compatible with two local players going online. In other words, they basically said they didn't care.

We're not done yet though. So Megaman and Pac-Man are patched into the PS3 version of the game. Things don't go as planned. Remember, these are characters that were supposed to be among the PS3 exclusive characters, they weren't ready at launch and had to be patched in the following week. It's absolutely inexcusable. What the hell were they doing? So now we get the image of a company that didn't view the core content as being all that important compared to the online.

That image is cemented later on, when a series of pretty damned easy-to-perform infinites are found in the game. There are at least four confirmed infinites that can be performed without gems, including one for PS3 exclusive Pac-Man, which, for those of you keeping score, was withheld for a week because he wasn't ready. The image of a game that wasn't bug-tested at all has now taken shape. By themselves, the bugs and infinites are excuseable (with the exception of Pac-Man and Megaman being glitched to crap), but collectively, it confounds the mind that users are able to find these things so quickly before the end of the first month of the game being released, yet months of play-testing didn't yield ANY of these glitches? This is a shameful showing.

And now, a final insult, unless Capcom somehow manages to fail again with the Vita version. You know those on-disc characters being withheld? Well, it seems hackers aren't content to unlock the characters for offline use. No, my friends, they're taking it online. Apparently there's no screening to make sure these characters aren't being used before release.

So there we have it, folks, both versions of the game are broken messes, meant only to serve as a vehicle for DLC. I'm not normally a big anti-Capcom person, but there is no way to defend the way they created this mess of a game. I personally will be waiting for the Vita version to pick the game up, if I even remember it by the time it hits shelves. I suggest you all do the same.

This was originally posted as a comment in this article, fueled by the combination of cynicism and pirates' indignation from other commenters. I wrote enough, however, that I thought it would make a good blog post, so here goes.

As happy as I am to see these bills going down in a huge ball of fiery death, I'm not really in the mood to celebrate, mainly because of the internet's reaction.

Most people on the internet aren't so much upset because this legislation is bad (it is), but because they don't want ANY regulation at all. I get the distinct feeling sometimes that these protests are less about "free speech" and more about "free beer." The fact is that, thanks to many countries' blatant disregard for copyright law (I'm looking at you, China and Sweden), it's piss easy to get anything for free on the internet, and whether people here want to admit it or not, piracy is a real issue that does impact the economy at large. Will anything completely stop piracy? Of fucking course not! There will always be people trying their damnedest to steal shit online, just like there will always be people willing to commit any crime in the real world. That doesn't mean we stop trying. Just because rape will always happen doesn't mean we don't try to persecute rapists and shut them down where we can. The point is to make this, like any crime, carry enough consequence that only the most determined will do it.

Look, we've all been frustrated by DRM and similar private anti-piracy measures. I myself have gone on an emotional rant about the issue, which remains my personal shame. Of course piracy will always be a horrible thing, and when it's so rampant, I can't honestly say I blame companies for leaving open platforms, in our case abandoning PC in favor of the consoles, or being more restrictive about their media, in our case crazy ass DRM. Gotta try SOMETHING, I guess.

No matter what the detractors and cynics say, we're winning ourselves a great victory here, and the government now knows that we'll rise up again the next time the internet is threatened. However, it's time for us now to grow the fuck up and realize that the free ride is going to end sooner than later. Maybe instead of folding their arms and whining (and doing PLENTY of their own lobbying, BTW), tech/internet companies should be offering suggestions on how to tackle the issue of piracy... This is, of course, assuming Google and other internet companies weren't just exaggerating the issue to protect their own bottom line (I imagine actually taking pirate sites off their search engines would require actually paying people to keep track of what goes on the engine).

Make no mistake, ending SOPA and PIPA is a huge victory. However, it's time for us to become part of the solution, not the problem.

Back in August, HolyHackZack asked when it was too late to get into a game's online multiplayer. I'd responded that, unless you're on the ground floor for the first game in a series, the game is impenetrable. My exact quote:

Honestly? For traditional multiplayer? You're dealing with a majority of people who have been playing their whole lives and are unwilling to help new folks. The skill stratification is cripplingly clear. Unless you're just playing in private with friends of the same skill, there's really no reason to get into competitive multiplayer. That's been my experience, anyway.

In response, DrChimp said that I "sound like a quitter." I'll admit that it got to me. I don't consider myself the type to give up on games easily, even if I don't have fun in the first 30 minutes. I think it's important to give every game a shot. However, what if I wasn't giving enough of a shot? I thought about that for a while. I didn't let it consume me, mind, but it was in the back of my mind.

Then Modern Warfare 3 came out. I waited at my local Gamestop for the midnight launch (360 version), but this time, instead of waiting to complete the single player to try out the multiplayer, I went to the multiplayer that night. While I did eventually get through the (highly enjoyable) single player and try out the co-op, I've spent more time on this game's multiplayer than I have in any Call of Duty game, and indeed, in any game's multiplayer at all. Days and weeks of dedicated play have slowly, painstakingly taken me to level 50, and I've fully unlocked all the attachments for one of the LMGs.

I also feel like I haven't really improved much.

This isn't to say that every match has been a misery. I've had a few better-than-normal outings, and the support package helps to at least give me some cool things to add to the overall battle. More recently, I've unlocked the Stinger, which makes blowing up UAVs and attack choppers nice and easy. However, most of the time, I don't feel like a valuable member of a team. Instead, I feel like a bullet catcher. I play around with the controller sensitivity, but nothing feels good. I move around, I get shot up. I camp, I get ambushed. I find high ground, I get shot through the railing or have a cooked grenade I didn't see coming blow me up before the danger indicator even shows up. The radar is about as useless as it comes, as it's strictly 2D and lacks distinguishing features, and the delay in relaying where enemies are is way too big, even with UAVs in the sky. This is to say nothing of getting the occasional Juggernaut that just toys with you on its way to take a Domination point or plant a bomb I'm trying to defend.

Now I know some of the people here reading are going to think I'm a whiner, and maybe they're right, but damn it, it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to. The point is that I've spent most of this month trying to figure this damned game out, and nothing. Of course, the vile, disgusting people I'm usually teamed up with make the prospect of support and guidance impossible, but that's not the real issue. My experience with Modern Warfare 3 have echoed my experience with every other multiplayer game I've tried: the rich get richer, and the poor get screwed sideways.

Now I want to make something absolutely clear, so there's no mistake: I do not hold it against the high-level CoD players at all. The ones kicking ass and taking names clearly have a talent that I can only admire from a distance. However, the severe skill stratification that occurs within weeks of a franchise launching presents an enormous barrier to new players, and layering systems on top of systems does little to alleviate the problem. I'm not even sure there's anything that can be done - I remember my first game, that launch morning, seeing people at Lv. 70 and up, so matchmaking went right out the window, at least for now. I think I can now safely make peace with myself and say that I will never be anything more than a bottom-feeder in multiplayer games. I don't have the talent and the obsessive devotion to play them to the exclusion of all else that is clearly necessary (like any highly-competitive activity, it's not just here).

Will I keep playing? Maybe. I wanna see if I can prestige once before the end of the year. That'd be a cool little feather on my cap, being able to prestige for the first time ever. I doubt I'll reach that goal, but maybe, just maybe, something will click. And if not, I'm sure you all will make fun of me. *laughs*

Moving on, it's time to talk reviews. Or rather, one review. As you all know, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword just came out recently, and most reviewers are raving about it in the typical Nintendo Free Pass way. All except one. GameSpot's Tom McShea reviewed the game, giving it a 7.5. Here's the video review for those of you that haven't seen it.

As you can imagine, the internet has exploded. The response, both on Youtube and on GameSpot itself has been remarkably less than kind. Here are some choice examples of the wonderfully balanced and rational banter being strewn about.

cmdrdredd

Posted Nov 21, 2011 12:25 am ET

Gamespot are Xbox fanboys anyway. Look at the scores they give to the highly anticipated Xbox 360 games then compare that to everything else.

bluepuppy82

Posted Nov 20, 2011 10:54 pm ET

7.5? Are you smoking crack?

TheZeroPercent

Posted Nov 20, 2011 7:38 pm ET

down with mcshea !!!

down with mcshea !!!

re-review !!!

re-review !!!

Yep, fanboys got their panties all in a bunch. It brings to mind Jeff's 8.8 for Twilight Princess back in the day. For those of you who don't remember, come with me on the wayback machine.

That got a ton of flack back then too.

GrimGravy

Posted Sep 24, 2008 11:50 pm ET (hide)

gald he is not on gamespot anymore horrid review

cyduck97

Posted Dec 29, 2008 5:45 pm ET

biased, simply biased

megagamer55

Posted Nov 6, 2008 4:39 pm ET

what is he talking about? has he even played the game?? this game defedently deserved at least a 9.5! this game is one of the best games ive ever played in my life!!!

Yep, the fanboys were in top form even in '08, two years after the game's '06 release. So where does this leave us in 2011? Apparently in the same damned place. The problem seems to be this notion in many people's heads that the review community doesn't exist to deliver their own opinions, but to justify the opinion that is popular amongst the ardent fans. There also seems to be this odd obsession with clubbing anyone who deviates from the Metacritic norm over the head like a seal. Particularly with highly-anticipated games like Zelda titles, this weird desire to attack anyone who dares to hold an unpopular opinion. Now I understand why people do this - fanboys read reviews not for buying advice, but to affirm their own prejudices, much the same reason a conservative would watch Fox News or a liberal would watch MSNBC. Society has devalued the notion of fairness and has retreated once more into warring factions, and the discussion of nearly any topic for which there is potential for differing opinions often resulting in shrill shouting and closed minds, regardless of what points might make sense coming from the opposition. The internet, with its many myriad echo chambers, has only exacerbated the destruction of civilized discourse in global society.

What makes me shake my head in wonder is that all this effort is being put into video game reviews. No kidding, there are 3375 comments over on GameStop's page for the video review, the vast majority incensed and indignant in a manner that should really only be reserved for life-or-death issues, and I doubt this is the only forum they've gone nuts on. In the few days since the review came out, I'm sure there have been people spending more time complaining than I have getting to level 50 in Modern Warfare 3, and that's actually rather frightening. People, come the hell ON. It's fucking video games. It's one guy saying that the game is good (7.5 on GameSpot's scale is a good game), and people are acting like he's telling everyone to run away screaming from it. Weren't we the same people railing on GameSpot when Gerstmann got fired over his Kane & Lynch review? Personally, in the years since, I've become quite impressed at the housecleaning they've done over there. I dare say they've become a respectable site again. As such, I can respect McShea's opinion. Hell, it's ballsy of him to not shower mindless praise on the game the way some have, and actually talk at length about his actual experiences. How can we expect honest reviews if we keep punishing honest reviewers?

Anyway, let's finish off this generally depressing post with a little bit of light-hearted laughing at dumbasses. Apparently a stripper thought it would be a good idea to get silicone injections in her rear end from an unlicensed practitioner in a hotel room. As you can imagine, it didn't turn out well for her.

The stripper recalled that “Kim” assured her that “she used medical silicone for the injections.” The silicone, she told agents, was stored in an unmarked “water jug with a spigot.” For each injection, “Kim” poured the silicone “into a cup and from the cup Kim used a needle and syringe to draw the silicone which Kim injected into the buttocks.”

The Baltimore woman told agents that she paid $1000 for each silicone injection, procedures that were performed on the bed in a room at the Renaissance Hotel. Two days after her final treatment in March, the stripper became ill and was treated at The Johns Hopkins Hospital for pneumonia. She was also diagnosed with fluid on her lungs.

The dancer was subsequently admitted to a second hospital, where she was treated with blood thinners to alleviate clots. “A CAT scan was conducted and silicone was found on the sides and bottom of the victim’s lungs,” reported Agent Ekey.

Now, barring the obvious question of how an ass injection ends up with stuff in her lungs of all places, what is it with people getting medical work done by some quack in a hotel room? And from crazy ass people like this?

Seriously, Darwin Awards just waiting to happen...

You know, my last blog post has proven an interesting examination of society at large, or at least the Giant Bomb community.  Now I didn't expect everyone to sympathize with my venting, but I didn't expect the sharp polarization that I saw.  Now I'd like to take a moment and apologize to anyone who sincerely thought that I was advocating theft.  Looking back, I can see where someone could have taken it that way.  Just another case of "really, Yuko, you should read your shit before clicking the big red button."  However, my mistake has given me an insight into the binary nature of the debate, and how that's doing more to hold back a solution than achieve one.
 
On the one hand, we have people trying desperately to downplay piracy, trying to make it seem like it's less than theft.  Obviously it's stealing - you're taking something without that person's consent; of fucking course it's theft. 
 
On the other, we have the fervent crusaders, who believe that every pirate is the scum of the earth and that every corporation is in their complete right to be as oppressive as possible in dealing with it. 
 
These are the two most vocal sects, the ones that get all the headlines and push their agendas the hardest on the forums.  However, in reality, the issues at hand aren't that black and white. 
 
I'm reminded of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Now these wars are obviously more important than anything we're talking about, but there is one important parallel.  When the insurgencies began, the American media and political establishment painted the insurgents as nothing more than stereotypical bloodthirsty jihadists.  "They hate our freedom," as Dubya put it.  Our forces operated under that understanding, and were slaughtered in the years-long quagmires that settled in.  There was no headway in either conflict until the American forces began to recognize that while there were indeed lots of crazed jihadists in the bunch, including our favorite dickheads, as many were simply disaffected young men who saw no real future for themselves in their country.  While force was still utilized against those who were dead-set on using force themselves, the American military dealt with the locals, tried to expand their opportunities and stake in the country.  Now, Iraq is mostly a victim herself of Irani invaders, and is working to get its shit together, with more of her countrymen than before feeling a stake in preserving her, feeling that there is a future for themselves in her. 
 
Now, what does this have to do with piracy?  Very simple: undeniably the ESA are the allies, and the pirates are the enemy.  However, too many companies within the gaming industry are acting under the "they hate our freedom" mentality.  They assume that all pirates have the same motivation - theft at all costs, no matter what.  Naturally, there are many pirates who are like that, including our favorite dickheads.  However, just as many are disenfranchised, feeling no future for themselves in PC gaming.  Increasingly, the feeling among many is that the only choices are pirate or completely abandon PC gaming, neither choice particularly palatable, but the latter much more bitter to people who've loved the PC since the early DOS days.  Turning to consoles would likely make many die-hard PC fans wretch, and that's fine - the PC is of course their platform.  The fact is that while there are indeed many people who pirate just to get free stuff, there are just as many who see no other future.  While force should be employed against pirates that are dead-set in their ways, those who simply feel disenfranchised need to feel that gaming companies will try to work with them, rather than against them, punishing the pirates while leaving them to play their paid games however they please.  
 
At the same time, those who actually care about the PC platform need to understand that companies need money in order to make games.  The lights, air conditioning, employee salaries and that soda machine in the lobby aren't going to pay for themselves; without money, PC games can't be made, and that talent moves to the four winds, looking for other, more stable work.

In the end, neither side is completely faultless, and neither side is 100% worthy of the support of those watching on the sidelines.  This is a conflict that the hardliners on both sides have caused, using unfortunate circumstances and propaganda to widen their ranks among the less committed.

Is there an easy answer?  Fuck no.  However, there is nothing at all worth anything that comes without cost and without work.  The fact is that we need someone in the gaming industry who's willing to make the choices that don't come easy, because the path we're on now assures the destruction of the PC as a gaming platform regardless of who "wins," and in the end, that would be a tragedy.

Anyone who knows me, or has read this blog for any amount of time, knows that I've never seen a justifiable reason for piracy.  It's theft, plain and simple, and no corporation has ever been bad enough to justify theft. 
 
That opinion has changed. 
 
As some of you now surely know, UbiSoft pulled the ultimate game of splitting hairs, pulling off the best "lawyer speech" bait-and-switch scam for From Dust ever.  Basically, while you technically don't need to be online to play From Dust, you DO need to be online to start a game.  The game employs a persitant online connection throughout boot-up and initial menus, meaning you can't get access to the main menu unless UbiSoft's Orwellian DRM is looking at you. 
 
Needless to say, the internet has gone into a rage, and people are shaking Valve down for refunds.  I imagine many of those people are also downloading From Dust torrents as I write this. 
 
Good for them. 
 
While I will never support pirating games from the good guys, the PC landscape is dreadfully lacking in good guys.  Whether it's activation limits, always-on DRM, or turning your purchase into an extended rental, PC games makers have made it abundantly clear to their consumers: You are guilty, no matter what you've done.  You're a thief, even if you've never stolen anything, and we have no issue with treating you as one. 
 
You know what?  Fuck 'em. 
  

If rumors presented by Joystiq are true, it seems that George Hotz, AKA one of the jerks who helped break the PS3's security and bragged about it to the world, is out of the hacking game to work on iPad stuff for Facebook.  While many (including many of those on Joystiq) are railing against what they see at Hotz being rewarded for his wickedness, I'm glad for him.  Now he's not working for Sony - he'll probably never be welcome in Sony's offices - but it's always a good thing to see people move away from crime and into legitimate life.  Hopefully by working on the side of content creators for a while, he'll learn just how harmful the "information wants to be free!" crowd can be to those who seek to earn a living by their creative works.
 
The lesson, however, will likely not come very fast to Mr. Hotz.  I find myself hoping that he'd instead started working for a games maker, getting into the content creation process.  See, the disconnect between content thieves (and the enablers thereof) and the content creators is that, while the creators and publishers are damaged - sometimes gravely - by the machinations of the thieves, the thieves cannot perceive the harm they do.  It's simply part of human nature - it's hard for people to look at anything beyond the obvious.  It's why there are people here who buy pirated DVDs from a jackass in my neighborhood under the justification that it wouldn't harm anyone, but would go ballistic if their stuff was stolen.  Indeed, I can't help but wish that all the pirates, thieves, hackers and all who benefit from them would, for but a moment, take the other had.  I'd love to see them toil and trouble for months, if not years, putting their hearts into something like a game or a film, only to see their efforts go down the drain as other pirates go nuts trying to get their content without paying.
 
What would be a sight.  Would these parasites still think it was no harm?  Would they still take to the hacker credo and say that "information wants to be free"?  I gather not.
 
It is, however, good to dream and to hope that, at least eventually, George Hotz will learn that talent is best used creating, not stealing and destroying.  His apparent refusal to work on jail-breaking the iPad suggests that, at least in the short term, we won't be hearing from him again.  For the sake of iPad content creators, I hope we never hear him in the news again, save for making something they can enjoy.