Tomorrow, I'll continue my normal game blogging, and talk about the issues on my mind in the industry.  However, today, I'd like to say Congratulations to the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.  I can't speak for all America, but I think many would agree that this is a historic moment, and a sign that, no matter how hard the road seems, it gets better.

Congratulations, Mr. President.

1983.

The year gaming died.

I don't think I need to remind anyone old enough to remember the Atari 2600 how horrifying that year was. A glut of unchecked shovel ware led to massive consumer confusion. Eventually, people just stopped playing. Arcades went dark, stores were slashing prices on their remaining video games, and a large number of companies died a horrible death. Before 1983, an investor could get filthy rich off Atari Games stock. Those riches went away, along with any vestige of the company we remember (the company calling itself Atari now is actually a subsidiary of French publisher Infogrames). The industry only returned to relevance in 1985, when the NES started gaining popularity.

Unfortunately, history has a horrible way of repeating itself.

2008.

The Nintendo Wii is undeniably the hottest selling console today. Nintendo has proven unable to stop rubbing it in everyone's faces. Iwata must be sore from beating his chest so damned much. Their arrogance is frighteningly like that of Atari leading up to the fateful year. However, the hardware success has not translated into broad industry growth. 3 parties like Electronic Arts have found the Wii a tough nut to crack, with thoughtfully designed games like Boom Blox, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 and the All Play sports series failing to register with Wii owners. Indeed, a game isn't going to get anywhere on the Wii unless it stars Nintendo's mascots, is pitched as a self-improvement tool Most Wii Fit users have NO interest in video games at all) or comes with an accessory (let's be honest here, the only reason people buy Wii Play is because it's only $10 more than a remote by itself). As a result, the quality of games on the platform has taken a precipitous nosedive as more and more 3 parties realize that there's no real way to make Nintendo level money on the Wii and content themselves with a 60k or so sales of shovelware to get that last cash push before the company's main titles come out on the 360 and PS3. The only upcoming 3 party games that really have a shot in hell of being good are No More Heroes 2, The Conduit and Madworld, and considering how poorly NMH1 sold (especially in Japan and the US), I doubt these games will be rewarded for the effort with retail success.

I can't help but keep thinking about what happened in 1983 when I think about present-day Nintendo. They're so isolated from the rest of the gaming industry, unable or unwilling to address the ever-growing pile of shovel ware that would put the E.T. Landfill to shame, and providing no evidence that their success is anything other than a boom, like the industry was experiencing in 1982. It's the same reckless irresponsibility that destroyed many .com businesses at 2000 and the housing market just two years ago. Rather than focus on making a sustainable growth, Nintendo seems content to ride the boom, unaware of the bust that is on the horizon.

Not that I'm rooting. Not even close. The 1983 video game industry crash, the 2000 .com bust and the recent housing bust – chiefly responsible for the current economic crisis,but that's another blog post – were all preceded by runaway growth. If trends continue, and the complete lack of foresight at the big N suggests that it will, we're in for a massive bust sooner than later, one that, like Atari's, will take huge swaths of the gaming industry with it. Go back to that Kotaku article I linked toward the beginning of this post. Look at the chart. It's no secret that most of Nintendo's money is coming from hardware. At any moment, the boom they're experiencing can end, and that 1% suddenly becomes the 99%. That's when we see layoffs and collapsing companies that make the recent loss of Free Radical seem minor.

I could go on all night, but I think I've made my point. Nintendo isn't growing anything – They're in a boom, and the bust that comes after this boom could be tragic.

Of course, I could be over exaggerating. Perhaps Nintendo's eventual implosion will be more like 3dfx, a company who's failure only affected itself and left plenty of room for more competent companies to fill the void. However, I just can't help but feel we're staring down the edge of the Grand Canyon, just waiting to fall.

As Samual L. Jackson said in Jurassic Park: hold onto your butts.

Whew, I just had to come up for air. I know I said I'd post more, but this holiday rush has been FAR larger than previous ones. I have plenty to say about that, but for now, I'd like to talk about something far more important, at least to me.

Back in 2000, when George W. Bush was elected (if you can call it that) to the White House, he was sold by the Republican party as a uniter, not a divider. “Compassionate conservatism,” was billed as a conservative policy that could still at least be agreeable to moderate and liberal elements in the country. Fast forward to 2009, 18 days from the inauguration of Barak Obama. The country is the most bitterly divided it's been in recent memory, clustered into coalitions of red and blue states, with about five “battleground states” deciding the last election. I wonder if President-Elect Obama will ever be able to repair this broken husk of a nation.

Why do I bring this up in a gaming blog? The success of the Wii, rather than bring gamers and non-gamers together as Nintendo envisioned, has served to partition the gaming community in much the same way the presidency of George W. Bush has partitioned the United States.

The term “casual” has always been around, of course, but never before had it been such a venomous word. In the prime of the PS2/Xbox/Cube, people who played games with dedication would throw the occasional barb at one another, but didn't much give a bunch of crap to those who enjoyed games casually. Now look at where we are. Instead of meaning someone who enjoys gaming without the intensity of the traditional gaming demographics, or even the short association with PopCap Games' style of easy to learn, hard to master and addictive as hell puzzle games, “casual” has become a classification of cheap to make, unimaginative shovel ware like Rig Racer and Anubis II. It's become a derogatory term, not only for many games outside of the traditional gaming genres, but also for the people who play them.

The PS3 and 360 camps have, with some exceptions, united under their mutual hatred of what Nintendo has become, but the real tragedy is the rift seen within Nintendo's fan base. On one side, you have people who have become myopic about the company, defending even the most pedantic, infantile effort from them (Wii Music, for example) as signs of the sort of progressive thought that only Nintendo has (in their mind, anyway). On the other, you have disillusioned gamers, of which I am admittedly one, who view Nintendo's current console as little more than a cynical attempt to make quick cash from the mouth-breathing Oprah crowd.

While there have always been divisions with regard to gaming, they've never seemed so deep, so bitter, or so irreparable as they are now. Say what you will about the PS2, but the diversity of games offered on the platform made for an equally diverse community that the majority of people with any interest at all in gaming were part of. Today, the gaming nation is tangibly split into coalitions of Wii and PS3/360 states. And unlike the US, there's no Obama coming to try uniting us.

I weep for what the gaming community has devolved into.

As you all can tell, it's been a while since I posted to my blog. Mainly, it's because there have been a ton of games and I've been trying to actually play them. Two of those games are going to be topics of this post. First off, we have Fallout 3, which is a spectacular game by Bethesda Softworks. However, an important part of the game is being undone for the Japanese release of the game. Bethesda has unilaterally decided that making Megaton go boom would be too offensive for Japanese audiences. Mind you, Japan's had nuclear weapons as part of many games and anime. Consider the video below, from the anime Barefoot Gen.

This is just one of many times in which nuclear devastation or similar phenomenons have happened in Japanese entertainment. Consider the destruction of the world – starting with Tokyo – in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, or the continual devastation of cities in Godzilla, or 3 impact in Evangelion. It's a very common theme in Japanese entertainment, and unsurprisingly so, considering the undeniable effect the most horrific weapon of all kind being used on a country would likely have on its culture. However, american company Bethesda doesn't bother doing their back research, and as a result, one of the most profound choices in Fallout 3 is removed. This isn't the first time this has happened, of course. The movie Pearl Harbor was edited in its Japanese release to remove direct references to Japan. Why the rest of the world sees the need to coddle Japan, when they themselves aren't anywhere near as prickly, is beyond me. This didn't even help Fallout 3 in the ratings department (Where it still got the strictest CERO rating possible – Z). If you can't even get a ratings change, why do it? Sufficed to say that if Fallout 3 were being published in Japan by a Japanese company, they wouldn't have made such a brainless decision. And then we wonder why Japan has no interest in our games half the time.

Another game I've been playing is the Xbox Live Arcade version of Duke Nukem 3D, which is indeed the full Atomic Edition. Expect a full review after I've had some time with it, but the one thing that gets to me now is just how silly it seems now. Yes, the game is as hardcore and fast paced as ever (aim assist is a plus here), but the 12-year-old jokes are incredibly dated. I go back and realize just how dated everything feels. A lot of the more memorable parts of that game (like the white ford bronco on the one TV screen in “Red Light District”) feel so far removed from 2008 that they don't elicit the giggles that they used to . Even the Evil Dead quotes and other one-liners from Duke aren't as cool and funny as they were all the way back in 1996. Humor is one of those things that's incredibly hard to keep fresh, and Duke Nukem 3D, while still able to get the occasional laugh, isn't anywhere near as funny as it was all those years. It is, however, a striking testament to how far the gaming industry has come. This used to be the goal, the pinnacle of “mature” gaming in an era where Nintendo was more than a novelty and gaming really was mostly aimed at kids. Now it comes off as patently immature and purient when held next to games like Bioshock, Halo and Fallout 3. The meaning of “mature” sure has changed.

Before I start, I'd like to preface this by saying that what I'm going to say right now isn't the most popular sentiment out there. However, I have to respond to this silly fucking article. In recent years, it's become rather fashionable to bash the whole of GameStop Corporation for their “evil” pre-ordering and used game policy. Personally, while the lemmings who blindly follow the “hate GameStop” train are amusing, one can only take that blind idiocy so long.

I fucking like GameStop.

There, I said it. I'm prepared for my flogging now.

Seriously, the hatred for GameStop has just gotten to the point of being not only unreasonable, but a living testament to how stupid and easy to manipulate the game community is. Let's take a look at the complaints:

Trying to make you reserve something: And? As long as they're respectful when you say no, what's the big deal? Nothing wrong with trying to get some upsell. Yes, there might be the occasional jackass, but that's usually solved by complaining to the manager or to corporate. Also, it could just be a bad store, which I'll talk about later.

GameStop doesn't buy games for a “fair” price: Just because you're too much of a fucking lazy ass to put your game up on eBay or look for another deal doesn't mean GameStop's ripping you off. They're offering you a price, you can take it or leave it. No real problem.

GameStop charges too much for used games: Again, you're being lazy. The thing with “second hand” merchandise is that they aren't going to be price-fixed like new games are. Prices are set by the retailer based on demand and supply. Basically, they're priced what GameStop thinks they can get away with. There are plenty of great deals in there, but don't expect to get a used GTA IV for a song. Again, if you're so enraged, go eBay or various trading sites.

GameStop's selection sucks: Bull fucking shit. I've been to several GameStops, as well as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Circuit “we never mark games down” City (they don't have GameCrazy here in Florida. I'm not sure they're on the east coast at all.). I can tell you that, without a doubt, GameStop has the best selection of the whole lot. They're the only place where games from Atlus, Nippon Ichi, and other small publishers can be reliably found, in addition to most RPGs that aren't 1 party or Square Enix mega-titles. Also, the used sales program that you all hate so damned much allows me to get many old games, which also gives GameStop the honor of being the only major retail outlet left (again, on the east coast) where you can get quality games for the GameCube and original Xbox.

And lastly:

GameStop's staff isn't knowledgeable/is rude/etc: Most chains are going to have the odd rotten apple. It's the nature of any chain that size. I've been in more than my share of Denny's and Burger King locations that weren't exactly up to par, but I'm not exactly going to swear off the whole of Denny's or Burger King. Fuck that, I need my triple whoppers and meat lovers' scrambles. I'm going to take it up with the management, or I'm going to find another location. That's the thing about chains, there's a ton of locations in most cases.

In closing, if you don't like GameStop, fine. I wouldn't piss on a burning McDonald's to put it out. If that's the case, however, shut the fuck up and go wherever the hell you go. I'll go where I go. Deal?

Then again, I doubt people will suddenly read this and have an epiphany.  More likely I'll get spammed into oblivion.  Afterall, as Statler and Waldorf observe here...

With the announcement of a 5-install limit for Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 and the problems legitimate consumers have had with Spore, people are once again railing against the evil that is DRM in the PC gaming landscape. Indeed, no form of copy-protection has been able to prove effective, and nearly all of them have proven bothersome, from the minor inconvenience of checking the manual or a CD-Key to the nightmare of online activation. With numerous workarounds for Steam games, it's been proven that even digital distribution doesn't work. That is of course to say nothing of digital distribution plus SecuROM, which did no favors for Bioshock. Indeed, not a single method of protection has proven effective.

However, what is the alternative?

Obviously, there's a massive problem with pre-release copies of the games being leaked, presumably by less-scrupulous employees or game media outlets. However, even the complete eradication of all corruption in every game publisher, disc manufacturing plant and gaming media service would only buy a couple of days worth of protection. Indeed, PC gaming seems like a lost cause, especially compared to console development, in which piracy requires physical tampering of the machine (save for the Dreamcast, but that's another story). So the question then becomes “what can be done?” Without income, games cannot continue to be made. This isn't a charity, after all. The programmers, designers, advertisers and investors aren't going to do something that is a liability simply to please some PC elitists. The continually shrinking PC section at most game stores is a testament to that.

The problem here is that torrents are way too easy to find. A simple search on Google will show you a multitude of torrents for any game you desire (save for older, out of print games, oddly enough). It doesn't matter if it's “evil” megacorp EA's Spore or fan favorite Capcom's Bionic Commando Rearmed, it will be pirated. Therefore, when every company is victimized, we can rule out the idiotic 'solution' offered by pirates: “make your game worth buying.”

Unfortunately, the problem is the lack of any real policing on the Internet. Much of it is the wild, wild west, and sites like Google will lead you to information about how to make a nuclear device, let alone torrents for you to effortlessly steal games. Until we get a policing policy in place that makes people stealing on the Internet as accountable as people stealing from stores, the slow and agonizing death of the PC is all but assured.

However, the policing of the Internet could very well become a nuclear weapon used on a housefly.

I don't think there's any debate: The entertainment industry has more lobbying money than any “digital rights” group. Eventually, we're going to have a much, much larger push toward legislation to clamp down on the problem. Blacklisted websites, over-regulation of ISPs, banned protocols, capped bandwidths, it's all possible with enough lobbying to enough politicians. The Internet as we know it could come to an end, at least in the United States and other countries which respect copyright law. We've already seen the beginnings of this with the DMCA, and it's going to get far worse in a relatively fast manner.

The pirates may not even realize it, but they're going to ruin the Internet long before they ruin these industries. There's too much money at stake for the status quo to continue.

With installs fast becoming a mandatory hindrance for PS3 users, I decided to get a new HDD for it. 320GB, I figured, should be enough. If I only knew what I was setting myself up for.

So I go home from the local Tiger Direct outlet and set about upgrading. At first t was easy enough to just take the caddy out. However, things stopped being easy when it came time to unscrew the old 60GB hard drive from the caddy. Two of the screws stripped when I tried to unscrew them, rendering it impossible to unscrew them.

I grabbed a pair of pliers (PLIERS!), and while they were able to take one screw out, the other screw was so tight that even the pliers weren't working. Frustration and anger of the highest order began to set in, to the point where, out of sheer desperation I tore the HDD out of the caddy. This, however, had the side effect of bending the caddy irreparably. Now I'm stuck waiting for two weeks for Sony to send me a new caddy before I can use my PS3 can be used again.

This is Sony's idea of “user exchangeable”? For this sort of thing to work, the unit has to be easy to pull in and out. Ideally, the compartment should be small enough to where you don't need a caddy at all, but if a caddy is needed, the drive shouldn't be welded to the damned thing.

Suddenly, the Xbox 360's proprietary hard drive seems worth paying for.

Makes you wanna scream, doesn't it?

Recently, Katherine Fletcher over at Channelflip Games has shown us what she believes to be the ten worst games of all time.

With some obvious picks and some less-than-obvious selections, Katherine has created a well-rounded sampling of some of the most atrocious crap to ever "grace" the gaming industry.  While hers is qite a list, I thought I'd think about the games I consider to be the cream of the crap, and ask you all what you consider yours.

10: Pac-Man - Atari 2600.
Released during the height of America's "Pac-Man Fever," this game sold seven million units to a userbase of 10 million, a good number by any stretch.  The problem is that Atari had made 11 million cartridges, expecting the game to spur more Atari 2600 hardware sales.  This, however, is not the real problem.  The real problem was that the game that was published went straight from prototype to retail, as Atari was in such a rush to get the game out that they released a concept program rather than taking proper care with the port.  The result was a game with flickering ghosts, a Pac-Man that didn't rotate, and a maze with one warp tunnel at the top/bottom.  The game looked and played nothing like the game America fell in love with, and the resulting dissapointment, combined with E.T., helped to bring the gaming industry to ruin.

7. Tecmo Secret of the Stars - Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Another in a long line of RPGs no one would have looked at were it not for the pre-FF7 drought, Tecmo Secret of the Stars (Yes, the publisher's name was IN the title, much like Tecmo Bowl) ups the ante for shitty ass RPGs.  Despite being released well into the SNES' life, the game was barely above Turbografx 16 Hu-Card games.  It also featured a throwaway cast and a story held together with scotch tape and glue.  Most offensive was the battle system, which was criminally simple and underdeveloped.  Indeed, the whole game just screams half-assed.

BRONZE
3. Dragonball Z Sagas - Nintendo Gamecube.
The game was a cash-in of the lowest order.  While the game featured great video from the series, the actual in-game grahpics were bland, with almost nothing in the way of textures used throughout.  This also combines a minimalistic fighting mechanic and a severe lack of enemy variety to make for one of the dullest cash-in franchise games ever.  There's just no reason for this game to exist.

GOLD
1. Peggle Deluxe- PC.
I don't hate casual games.  Far from it.  I could sit there in front of Puzzle Bobble, Geometry Wars,Marble Blast Ultra, Puzzle Quest, Magical Drop -- Er, I mean Astro Pop, or Everyday Shooter for hours.  The thing with Peggle is that there's not really any gameplay element to it.  You shoot a ball, then proceed to pray.  It's a lot like a variant of that old The Price Is Right game Plinko, or Lucky Hit from Shenmue II, only more random.  It's not even a game, and I don't get why anyone likes it.