Articles by
The O is a guest blogger.
War is Coming
Greetings all,
For the past year or so I’ve received monthly newsletter updates on the progress of the upcoming MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of reckoning. Just the past week, I recieved the “newsletter you have all been waiting for” and by that I mean Mythic Entertainment (finally) has announced a release date for their long awaited game: September 18th, 2008.
For more detailed information about the release, you can check it out here.
There are a few points worth mentioning here, however. [Read the rest of this article]
The Wii is Taking a Turn to the Dark Side
While I’ve been an avid fan of console systems and games that Nintendo has produced since its origin, I’ve been slightly disheartened by the game selection in recent years. Nintendo repeatedly has had the fewest titles for their systems since the Nintendo 64 and too many of the select few making production are going down the route of children/family games. Personally, my favorite genre is the horror venue, and while I’m aware of the whole video-games and violence issue, I will just state that I enjoy violent games and leave that issue for another discussion. I was absolutely delighted to see the trailers for two games coming out to the Wii this year that should hopefully catch the eye of fellow gore-fest aficionados:
1. While it is just a re-release of a previously successful game, Resident Evil 4 is coming to the Wii and Nintendo made a fantastic trailer for it
2. Years ago, the most violent and disturbing game (imo) ever to hit shelves, Manhunt, is returning for more action in a much-anticipated sequel. Those brave enough can see the trailer here.
With Nintendo releasing a sequel to one of the darkest games ever to curse our TV screens, one like myself can only hope that this trend will continue, but only time will tell.
World of Warcraft: An Addict's Look Back, Part Two
History aside, I would like to discuss my opinion of the game and why I was so obsessively absorbed by it for two years. While WoW did dominate my life, I allowed it to for a good reason: I really enjoyed it. I feel Blizzard designed the game like a casino in that they didn’t want players to leave, but they did one helluva job doing it. The account cancellation process was really discouraging as Blizzard practically grovels in attempt to get you to rethink your decision. That aside, by far and away my favorite aspect to the game was the social aspect. Sure there were a bunch of noobs and idiots, but thankfully you could block them and never hear from them again. However, it was a great way for me to “hang out” with my friends while I’m over 300 miles away at school. I particularly enjoyed when I raided with KoA because of the little gem that is Ventrilo. Killing the massive threats to Azeroth was fun and all, but laughing your ass off for 3-4 hours straight to the antics of fellow nerds across the country and globe made the time-commitment all worthwhile. One of the guild leaders was from Alabama, and about 95% of the things he said made me laugh, not only because of his fantastic southern accent, but because he was a naturally funny guy. My times in ventrilo were great and all, but without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite times playing WoW were when I partied with Bartoneus and Joshx0rfz. Their back and forth sexual-shouting matches and “Your Mom” battles not only made me literally “rofl”, but made my character die in doing so. Some would complain about the gear repair bill afterwards, but I felt nothing could replace such priceless dialogue. I wish I could recreate some of their conversations, but they were back when we all played during WoW’s infancy a long time ago. I also enjoyed how Bartoneus “ninja-looted” stuff from Joshx0rfz at least five times, but I’ll let them discuss how that occurred.
World of Warcraft: An Addict's Look back, Part One
(Due to the length of this article, I decided to split it into two parts)
For those of you who know me personally, and those who have read this site since its origin, have most certainly noticed how little I have participated with the critical-hits discussions. I am, in fact, good friends with all of the primary writers on the site: The Game, Bartoneus, etc. While they know I am a student attending veterinary school, they also know the primary reason is due to my addiction to the digital heroin that is World of Warcraft. My only previous experience with an MMORPG was back when Shadowbane came out with much hype, only to end up being the biggest waste of time I’ve ever experienced. Leaving a sour taste in my mouth, I was turned off from the whole MMO genre. But then came the turn of the year 2005, when World of Warcraft was birthed from its demon Blizzard seed onto this world. I wouldn’t have looked twice if it hadn’t been for the fact that Bartoneus, The Game, Justin and some other friends all either pre-ordered it or waited in line for the midnight pick-up. Having been revolted so much by Shadowbane, it took some championship peer-pressure from Bartoneus for me to purchase WoW. Little did he know what monster he was about to spawn.
Johnny Rocketfingers Returns
I found an interesting rpg flash game on ebaums where you play the role of a Johnny Rocketfingers, a drug-using, heat packing stick figure in an apparently decrepid city. While this is apparently a sequel, I have never played the original. Regardless, it doesn’t make a difference since there doesn’t appear to be any references to the previous game. If you have an hour or so to spare and like drugs and violence (who doesn’t?), I recommend you give it a go.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/games/johnny-rocketfingers-2.html
The Good, the Bad, and the L33t
Over the course of the past decade, a new language has evolved out of the midst without warning or regulation. The existence of this language is due mostly to the booming success of the internet and the spawning a new culture of writers, forum gurus, chatroom butterflies, hackers, and computer gaming connoisseurs. In order to make their typing lives easier, these people decided to come up with a series of acronyms for common phrases such as “Oh my God” (omg) , and “”Be right back” (brb). From there grew the necessity for people to explain their state through additional acronyms, such as “lol” for “laughing out loud”. The hackers amongst this society from there felt it necessary to create their own language in the hopes that others would not understand their “code”. Much to their chagrin, the gamers and chatters discovered this elite language and not only adopted it, but morphed it into the social standard of “coolness” in their online communities.
Henceforth marked the birth of “Leetspeak”: a variation off of the English language understood only by those in tune with the internet universe. You will not find any books or literature on this mysterious lingo, so one can only learn the language through asking around. Now since those who are “in the know” when it comes to “Leetspeak” feel they are superior to all others whilst inside their online castle, one must learn through intense mockery and shame what the words, phrases, and acronyms mean. My job here today is to offer assistance to those who wish to learn the language without the rigors of dealing with immature “leetspeakers”, while offering my commentary on the language.
[Read the rest of this article]
Loading ...
