Video Games

Keith Bakker, the American director of the Smith & Jones clinic for gaming addicts in Amsterdam testifies that “the phone has been ringing constantly. Computer game addiction is obviously an even greater problem than we imagined.”  Mr. Bakker is a former drug addict himself, and in his mind a computer-gaming addiction is just as severe as any narcotic addiction because they share similar symptoms:

It is not a chemical dependency, but it’s got everything of an obsessive-compulsive disorder and all of the other stuff that comes with chemical dependency

One of their patients, a 21 year-old from Utrecht, said that he barely left his room during a 5 year gaming stint because he was so fixated with his electronic fantasy world.  Such cases are quite rare indeed, for most people who game do so in moderation.  Quite frankly, I think we should do away with these clinics.  Addiction to video-games is a harmless and voluntary occupation, and individuals should be able to do as they will with their lives.  Let Darwin do his work.

Last year, we heard about GTA: Vice City’s infamous “Hot Coffee” mod, a in-game sex scene that could be unlocked via an internet hack.  However, the game was apparently rated as Mature by the ESRB without any knowledge of the aforementioned sex scene.  The New York Times says that this scandle “prompted debate in Congress about the violent and, in particular, sexual content in video games”.  Take Two, the publisher of the GTA franchise, modified the game to be in accordance with the ESRB’s prior rating of Mature (otherwise it would have been reevaluated as an “Adult-Only” game), taking out the sex game, and then restocked retailers with the amended version. 

But now, Take Two Interactive has recieved grand jury subpoenas from the “Manhattan attorney’s office, seeking information about a range of its business practices dating back to 2001 and the inclusion of sexually explicit material in one of its games”.  This development has caused Take Two’s stock to tumble “nearly 19 percent, to $10.44, a 52-week low”.  As the public catches whiff of Hot Coffee again, the online petitions are becoming all-the-more conspicuous.  For better or for worse, “Hot Coffee” is a stale brew of the past, re-heated again for a second swig.

Although PayPerPost, a company that acts as a conduit between bloggers and advertisers, offers decent incentives for posts (think $5-$10 a post), it fails to establish rigorous criterion by which posts can fail to achieve a commission. Take, for instance, the post I am making, which will no doubt create more of a “buzz” for PayPerPost. In many ways, this is a step-forward for bloggers. They can browse through their favorite categories, finding topics that they like, and then get paid to write about them–it’s a win-win for both bloggers and companies who want this form of advertisement.

However, by setting the bar at a “40 word minimum,” PayPerPost seems to be inciting the blogging community to do shoddy work.  Quality and quanitity are important aspects of any blog post, and they are often associated in the subconscious of a blogger’s mind.  That being said, if the requirement for a post is that it be at least 40 words, the blogger will write poorly–not out of any malicious intent, but rather because he unconsciously infers from the small requirement of length that the quality should be trifling in nature.  Barring this complaint, I whole-heartedly embrace this new avenue for blogging!

I think it’s unacceptable for any MMORPG to ever have “down-time,” and especially World of Warcraft, the most advanced of its kind. Consumers are paying $15 or so a month, and they have the reasonable expectation to be able to play their game whenever they wish, and for how long they want. Of course, Blizzard can do whatever it so desires, but it would be nice if WoW’s maintenance were seamless, such that it never interrupted or disturbed actual gameplay. You can check the status of your realm here.

Above is a screenshot of WoW as of this morning, with its notification of a 6-hour downtime for today. That means the masses of eager gamers cannot play for 25% of today, yet they are paying the full subscription fee. Fans, however, are for the large part used to this. It’s a phenomenon that occurs with great regularity; think once-to-thrice weekly. Ultimately, the ethical question is this: how much disservice are we willing to take with our monthly bill for our favorite MMORPG? Blizzard needs to make a non-intrusive method by which we can play WoW night or day, 24/7 if we want, and still have all the subtle benefits of a well-maintained game.

Update: Much to my chagrin, but not to my surprise, Blizzard has delayed the maintenance an additional two hours today.  That makes the amount of game time lost to performance-tweaking maintainance (or whatever they do in the down-time) 8 hours, or 33% of today.

Appearing hither and thither are a trifecta of Half Life 2: Episode 2 screenshots. Half Life 2: Ep 2 is expected to be released in the Fourth Quarter of 2006, but there has already been a release of its trailer. The following three “screenshots” are from DigitalBattle.com, but a closer review of the trailer for Episode 2 will suggest that the alleged screenshots of in-game action are merely just screen-captures of certain moments in the official trailer.  But they are rather pretty: