Dare to Play the Game

The Failure of Wii Online, Blizzards starts up the Sue wagon, and the British offering cash for lies? – Welcome to the column that promises to stick to the truth except when it comes to whether or not Silent Hill still makes us wet the bed at night known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. After bludgeoning people with my Bloody Brass Knuckles all week in WoW, this fist weapon is here to stay for now in my 34th level Troll Rogue’s arsenal. I find this to be the case because simply there aren’t a lot of appealing blues at my level to begin with. My mining skill is just 4 away from mithril & my blacksmithing skill is progressing too. I finished part 2 of the Barbaric BS quest chain which basically forced me to mine a beep load of copper and tin to make bronze. Burnt me out a little bit to be honest, but since it is a horde only quest chain; I feel it is important to complete. My dwarf priest is cruising along at 16th level and apparently is developing into one powerful holy guy. I grouped with an 18th level rogue and a 19th level hunter over the weekend and found myself serving double duty as healer and dealing the most damage. I’m going the discipline route as well and not shadow which would make me a much more severe damage dealer (but still not a tank). That just shouldn’t be, at least they were holding aggro for the most part. Of course I broke off from the group once we completed a few quests and got owned 15 minutes later by a mob of Gnolls. *sigh* Gnoll paws.

Ode To Morgan Webb





















I can see you there young viewer. Your eyes are upon the grace of Morgan Webb as her image fills the camera with beauty and bliss. Your gaze is transfixed as she talks delicately about the hot new releases as if they were a sermon put on this great green earth. So while you sit there, with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar, you might be thinking to yourself…where the heck did the paper towels go? Perhaps you should be thinking about how lucky we are to have Morgan grace a section of Dare to Play the Game every week, instead you just want to have a tussle with the Bounty man. *sigh*

Wii

On the heels of Leigh Alexander musing about the potential for ‘a Wii for grownups’, Jack Patrick Rodgers takes on the Wii’s online functionality (or lack thereof, in his estimation). It’s clunky, he says, and while he wouldn’t expect Xbox Live-esque service from a service that is trying to keep itself ‘easy and free,’ it really showed its unsophistication while playing SSBB online:


It’s legitimate to ask whether the Wii needs an online service as rich and powerful as Xbox Live …. Much of the Wii’s charm comes in watching your friends and family make fools out of themselves by swinging the remote like a baseball bat; that sort of amusement would be lost online. But it’s important to note that many of the Wii’s games (including Brawl) don’t require physical exercise and are similar to the games on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. And while Nintendo could be forgiven for designing a more streamlined network than Live in order to appeal to casual gamers, the one they’ve given Wii owners makes it difficult to do even the most basic things, like interact with your friends.


Being the solitary type when I’m gaming, I’ve never made much of any online features except in a few rare cases, but it would be nice if Nintendo would think of maybe, just maybe, doing some tweaking with online functionality so it’s more … functional.

The Wii puts out some great games, most of which come from the console company itself, Nintendo. They have been wading into the online waters as of late. However, it is clear that online capabilities for any of their games were strictly a second thought. The whole Wii Mii, your mama went to the bathroom and did some pii pii is confusing at best. To be honest, the VC is the only online area that has been tailored to superbness. We fully understand the Xbox 360 is so much better since we actually pay for the service. But the Sony PSN store is free too and not as confusing as the Wii. A sustainable interface should have been setup. But as we know it is too late now, any reasonable improvement would require a complete overhaul. Perhaps when Nintendo makes another console, they will think that people will want to swing that bat with not only the people who stop by and visit but also the people from around the globe. It sure would save those folks on the Wii commercial from using their frequent flyer miles to visit some poor sap who got a copy of Red Steel. “We would like to play”, hey get your own damn Wii would ya?

I’ll Sue Ya

Last year, Blizzard decided to go after Glider (the botting program that lets you skip past the grind and get to the good stuff); Michael Donnelly, the guy behind Glider (who has apparently made nearly $2.8 million off of it) is fighting back, and now both sides have filed motions arguing their case. The summary judgment briefs and analysis have been making the rounds the past week or so: Blizzard claims that Glider infringes on the EULA of WoW by copying portions of code and is pissing of WoW players (as well as gobbling up resources), while Glider is saying that grinding to level 70 is boooooring and they’re just helping players get to the fun bits. Both sides are seeking to be declared victorious without having to go through a protracted legal battle. We’ll see what happens and who comes out on top.

It’s hard to explain Glider as I haven’t used it and the half a dozen sites I’ve read on the topic still leave me a bit confused. Essentially, it’s a bot program that automates whatever you want to do with your character. Farming, looting, gaining experience or gaining rep, it can be all done here with very little input. The argument is that getting to level 70 is too much trouble and here is something that will make it go that much quicker. I’ve used a few add-ons such as Auctioneer or Titan Panel and find them very valuable tools but they run within the game. This is a bot that copies part of the code and plays the game for you. I’m with Blizzard on this one. If the grind was really “that boring”, do you think there would be 10 million fans and growing in this game? The sad part is this guy has made a few million from selling this cheating product. I mean does the average person who uses Glider tell their spouse that when having sex if they could just go on without them and let them know when they hit orgasm? Seriously, come on. I find grinding fun, and to be honest if I ever hit level 70 with either of my characters, it will be more of an end probably and not a beginning. I get excited every time I see a green or blue item drop. You want to design a bot that takes that experience away just so I can hit 70? Ummm okay. I really don’t understand sometimes why certain people play games.

Lies for Cash and Prizes

Gaming-related violence and crime have been big subjects in Britain over the past year or so, but never so big as now, in the immediate wake of the Byron Review. So if you’re currently in the business of selling papers in Britain, what better way to sell papers than to get someone to completely fabricate a story about games turning them to a life of crime! A listing on British industry site StarNow – a job posting site for actors, musicians, etc – turned up late last week saying “a national newspaper wants your story and will pay hundreds of pounds to the right person”. What does this “story” involve? Well, all you have to do is “write a few lines about how computer games turned you to crime and if it’s something we like, we’ll call you straight back”. Easy money! Just make up something (anything! Let your imagination run wild!)about games, drugs and/or violence, and not only are millions of people instantly misinformed by alarmist, agenda-driven propaganda, but you can go buy yourself that snappy new jacket you’ve been promising yourself for months. Everyone wins.

*thinks up of a story*. See I got home, and my brother (not that I have one) was playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and he was doing Terrorist Hunt on Normal. He was having trouble with Murdertown. I thought I would help him by spawning up in a random location throughout the house even if he had already been there in the last 5 minutes. On this last time, I spawned up right by his bed when he was sleeping and he didn’t react. So I hit him in the head with an iron cast frying pan and now he ain’t breathing. Now I spend my days and nights in a jail cell grabbing smokes and being Bubba’s bitch. I want my mad money now Bryon Review! Geezus, you think we could actually have responsible reporting? The kind where people do investigation and actual work, not just farming some lies into yellow journalism. Perhaps I ask too much, perhaps the doctor was right when he suggested therapy. Too bad, I hit him in the head with a frying pan too. Mmmmmm, eggs.

Xbox Live Arcade – Mr Driller Online (800 MS Points)
















Cause I so love puzzles. The not to be confused with a porno game (oh come on, you’ve thought it), puts you in charge of a driller who is going thru screen after screen of blocks. In the process, his air supply is going to kapoot and he has to watch for the falling blocks. Dig Dug meets Tetris is the best way to describe this one. Since this is a new adaptation for Live arcade, things such as Tag Battle or a split screen Solo battle will be available. There is also a quest mode which could get interesting. For some reason, this reminds me of the Bomberman Online game (in presentation mostly) that came out last year and that’s a good thing. Let’s hope this is half as much fun if not more. Interested to see a demo, certainly a step up from previous weeks.

Originally this was supposed to be a launch title for the Nintendo 64. However, the 1994 arcade release did not come out until 2 years later and was panned by many critics since it was using technology well from two years ago. The port was also less polished than the arcade and it wasn’t what every racing fan had wanted it to be. The many different courses emulated various locations such as Golden Gate park or Beverly Hills. It was naturally one way and if you finished first, you moved on to the next track. Wait, why does every racing game until Gran Turismo and Burnout sound like an advanced form of Outrun? (which was bad ass by the way) My suggestion? If you own a PS2, go purchase Midway Arcade Treasures 3. Cruis’n USA is not included but 8 Midway racing games including the Rush series are. Furthermore, it’s about the same price used as the points you will spend on this one.

Not exactly the first title I would have picked for them to release out of the Sega Master realm of games (that probably would have been the original Phantasy Star), but it is a decent title. This is the original Wonder Boy that spawned so many sequels, most of which were never quite understand over here in the states. You were Tom-Tom the Wonder Boy and you had to rescue your girlfriend Tanya (also known as Tan-Tan) from the vile clutches of some evil force among us. It was a platforming game where you collected fruit and battled foes. Pretty cool and cheap little title, worth a pick up if you liked games that played out a lot like the original Super Mario Bros.

Before I go, I’m actually not going to discuss the Xbox 360 or World of Warcraft or anything of an actual gaming nature. This past sunday was Wrestlemania XXIV in Orlando, FL and I actually ordered the HD PPV broadcast. Yes I spent $64.95, and yes I will be eating tuna in a can for the next several weeks. Anyhow, since DISH Network has not shown wrestling in HD to this point, it was quite an awesome experience. (USA HD/SCI FI HD/SPIKE HD need to come with quickness) The matches were pretty awesome, with the highlights including Money in the Bank, the Raw heavyweight championship match and of course Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels. That match alone is the epitome of a story being told. The raw emotion was staggering and when the final superkick took shape, we knew that we had reached the end of an era; Ric Flair’s career. While my favorite moment involved Matt Hardy’s Twist of Fate on MVP at MITB, I will forever remember Ric Flair’s last match and more importantly the words “I’m Sorry, I love you” uttered by Shawn. Thank you Ric Flair, thank you for whooing at me at a gas station in Charlotte, NC, thank you for signing a card for my mom at a drugstore (also Charlotte) to give to me when I was a kid even though she didn’t know who you were exactly(just some wrestler). But most importantly, thank you for a lifetime of great matches and one of the reasons I watch wrestling until this very day. WHOOOO! Have fun kiddoes.

As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)