The following blog post won't containt any pictures, movies or humorous jokes. Really, I assume the subject may not interest a lot of people, but I need to get this off of my shoulders so atleast I know that I have voiced my opinion and have done my part.

The subject of "kids" and "teenagers" on Xbox Live, and the internet as a whole has been on my mind for quite some time. But what really pushed me over the edge to the point where I had to voice my concerns, or views on the matter was yesterday's release of the Spring Update for the Xbox 360, and the subsequent uproar about the "MSN Messenger is not available to Child Accounts" error when thousands of people tried to use MSN (the Spring Update's most lauded feature) on their 360.

For those not familiar with the problem (and you can skip this paragraph if you are), it has been around since the launch of the 360. Upon creating your Xbox Live account, you had to enter your age and create (or enter a current) .Net Passport, also known as a Live ID. This is basically the account that is used for MSN.com, Msn Messenger, Hotmail.com, as well as your gamertag. Now when I created my Xbox Live account, I was the age of 17. Up to this point the only restraint placed on you for being under the age of 18 was that many movie, game and contest advertisements throughout the Blades on the 360 weren't viewable. And after yesterday's release of the Spring Update, MSN Messenger would not work if you were under the age of 18 (for security/protection concerns that come with the use of an online communicative program where having anonymous contacts you have not talked to or seen before is common). The real problem however is the fact that even if you were younger than 18 at the time of creating your Xbox Live account (which you could have done as early as 2002 when the Xbox Live service first went Live on the original Xbox), but you are currently over the age of 18, your 360 wouldn't be able to detect this. In other words, no matter how old you are, if you created your Xbox Live account before the age of 18 you aren't eligible to use the new MSN Messenger on your 360, nor can you view the formentioned advertisements on the Xbox Live Blades.

Getting back on topic, yesterday there was a very large uproar from not only kids and young adults who couldn't use this feature (which is available, for free, to anyone over the age of 13 on the PC), but also from adults over the age of 18 who created their account a year or more ago. They were paying the same price for the Xbox Live service as everyone else, yet they were being restricted certain features that really should be available to them through an option in the Family Settings. The problem arose when people who either created their Xbox Live account at the age of 18 or later, or who had lied about their age during the original setup, couldn't stand all of the complaints from who they assumed to be "little kids" about not being able to use Messenger. Here are several of the common complains found on message boards:

 - It's not like you kids could use the feature yesterday on the 360, so now that it's available (for free) it's not like Microsoft is actually taking a feature away that you previously had"
 - "Go use Messenger on your PC"
 - "What's the matter, can't talk to all your little school friends on your gaming console? It's meant for gaming, not texting!"
 - "Kids always complain about any little thing that doesn't go their way"
 - "If Microsoft did fix this update, you teenagers would just find something else to complain about"
 - "This is what you get for ruining Xbox Live"

To be frank, comments like these aggrivated me to no end, for a lack of better words. Anytime I hear someone either in real life, over Xbox Live or on a forum degrading teenagers or kids saying "You're just some punk kid", "Grow a pair", "You'll learn that in middle school" or "Don't worry, he's just some kid" it really bothers me. In reality, "kids" or young adults have every right to be using the same service we do, because they pay for the same service we do. Staying on the subject of Xbox Live, I've met a hell'uva lot of great kids and young adults over Live, who have more respect, more maturity, and frankly more intelligence then a lot of the adults on Live. The same is true for internet forums. Almost everyone trash talks on Xbox Live, and yes there are a lot of kids or young adults who take it to a (pointless) extreme, but I would argue that there are almost as many adults who do the same.

The only reason why kids, in my mind, get singled out is usually because of their voices. I hear the same garbage that comes out of kids mouths over Xbox Live that I do from adults, however their higher-pitched voice opens up a whole new avenue of insults that on the flipside is not appplicable to most adults. Having this opportunity, adults are the first ones to say "Oh, he's just some kid", an insult that kids can't use under most situations. So perhaps, the majority of adults are even worse then most kids for going down the route of insults based on age and voice.

So next time someone in your Xbox Live game, or on your forum insults a kid just for being a kid, step in and tell them that they are likely the ones who need to grow up.

 

This week is... or, I should say 'would have been' E3 week. It's sad that in a week where us gamers would usually be downloading new trailers by the dozens, reading in-depth previews of this holiday season's biggest blockbusters, and having revealed to us brand new IP's and sequels from our favourite developers; we are doing none of this. It's a shame that E3 has been downgraded; what once was a spectacular month for gaming has now become one of the most lackluster.

What do you miss most about E3? And how are you killing time during these dog days of gaming?

In quite a peculiar way, Sega has admitted that their Sonic games of late have utterly sucked. By which way did they make such claims? Through their "Sonic The Hedgehog" comic book. The following is from a pre-lude to issue #175:



The setting is this: Robotnik has captured Sonic, attached a "Neuro-Transceiver" to the hedgehog, and is controlling him via a video game pad against his friends. And in case you can't read the captioning, it says "It's not my fault! The controls are horrendous! I should've spent more time in development".

So true...

Some scans from a certain magazine have been released on the internet of the new Splinter Cell game titled "Splinter Cell: Conviction". Although the series appears to be taking a whole new direction resulting in many questions from fans; there is one question that has been at the top of everyone's mind.

Is "the new" Sam Fisher modelled off of Brian Ekberg; Sports Editor here on GameSpot? Judge for yourselves...

"Thank you for purchasing our faulty Guitar Hero II guitars. To express our graititude, we have released over-priced content packs in the form of three songs per-pack; two that you want, one that you don't. Did we mention that they were 500 MS points per-pack? Horse armour what? As an added bonus, if you download all three packs within the next 24 hours, we will ship to you a real-life salt shaker. Just dabble that on your RedOctane-arrogance-induced wound and you will have received the full Guitar Hero II experience".

-RedOctane/Activision

An interesting problem has arisen since yesterday's release of Guitar Hero 2 for the 360. Many people are reporting that their whammy bar and/or Star Power activation featured in the 360 X-Plorer guitar are malfunctioning; stating that their whammy bars are unresponsive and that it is near-impossible to activate the Star Power feature.

Equally as interstesting; it has been discovered that there are two variations of the guitar that have been included in the retail boxes shipped throughout North America (as pictured below):

Basically if the 'phone-jack' on your controller is on the bottom (next to the power cord), as compared to being placed on the back edge of the guitar (next to the headset port), then your guitar is (or soon will become) faulty. So to sum that up; if you have the guitar pictured on the bottom then you are likely experiencing problems. However if yours is on the top, you should be A-Okay.

Target currently has the guitars listed as "Recall" under their computer system, however it's yet-to-be determined if that is a computer error of if they're just the first retailer to take action.

So, which guitar do you have? And are you having problems?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update -- RedOctane Responds

Bryan Lam, RedOctane's Senior PR Specialist sent this e-mail to the good people at www.gwn.com in response to the rising concerns about the 360 guitar controllers:

"Hey [GWN],

The Target "recall" is NOT related to the whammy bar or a true "recall".
We've been informed this was an internal Target computer system
glitch that was only an issue during the morning yesterday from
8-10am, and the SKU was not flagged for sale.  Essentially, that meant
the product still had the street date lock out.  When a product is flagged
as street dated, the system rings it up as "Recall the Sale" and won't let
the retailers sell the product.  It should now be selling through and
scanning just fine.

In regards to the controller, we're currently in the process of having
our internal QA and production teams look into this possible issue,
and are working to quickly isolate this if there is one.  In the
meantime, we suggest our fans try to replug in their guitars without
holding down any buttons or the whammy bar, and that may help
immediately resolve the issue.

Keep rockin',
Bryan Lam
Senior PR Specialist"

One of the more interesting aspects of the released GTAIV trailer, which had so many eastereggs in it you could spend hours deciphering the hidden messages (or, just Google it), seems to have been missed by many, many people. What easter egg is it, you ask? Well, it occurs in the very beginning of the trailer.

(Click image for larger view)

As you can see, the black billboard in the background states that you can "Visit Vice City - $300". If you look to the black billboard to the left of it, it appears to be identical as it has a black background and ends in what appears to be the number 300, as in "$300". The interesting point about this billboard however is that in the bottom-right hand corner, there is an advertisement for an airliner called 'flyUS'.

So there you have it. GTAIV has an airliner, a destination, and a cost. Does it mean that Vice City is a visitable location in the game? Not necessarily, but it's a great easteregg in a trailer filled with hidden messages.

I just recieved this edition of EGM through an online publication program through which I am subscribed to. It will definitly catch people's attention on the magazine stands for it's simplicity, and will likely be an oft-referenced magazine cover in the years to come; whether it was justified, or rediculously premature.

Thoughts?

Note: If you didn't get a chance to check out the first edition of "The Whole Picture", you can do so Here.

Changing Roles in First-Person Shooters

                   

There are many cliche's used in first-person shooters (as with any other genre) that I'm sure are apparent to all gamers; whether it be invincible walls that confine you to a certain area, slain enemy bodies that vanish in 8 seconds, or your standard multiplayer modes consisting of deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag.  Now, I'm not a developer and I'm sure there are reasons why many of the cliches found in first-person shooters in the late 90's are still evident today, such as bullet holes fading away after a few seconds being due to memory restrictions, or hidden objects throughout the levels being due to (the need of) added replayability (although these have to stop... whether it's 'boosters' or 'COG tags', finding these objects aren't fun).  I'm not here to complain about these matters however, as if you wanted to delve into such ramblings all you would need to do is pick up an issue of EGM. However there is one cliche that I'm really tired of... and it can be solved by one, easy solution:

I want to feel helpless in First-person shooters

                    

Now I know you're thinking "Helpless?  You want to feel helpless?  But you're the hero!", and that's the problem.  In every game, you can for see many things, such as the fact that there will always be one set-path to follow despite locked doors, collapsed hallways, broken catwalks, and any attempt by the enemy to cage you into a small area.  You also know that despite the fact that you are one soldier, and despite the fact that there are scores of them, you will ultimately achieve your goal single-handedly, and come out unscathed in the end. 

The only problem with this (aside from the fact that it's terribly obvious the moment you read the game's title) is that almost every shooter starts off with you idly standing by as two commanding officials carry out the following conversation:

Officer 1 "As you can see, we have a real situation on our hands... it's time to act".

Officer 2 "I completely agree, but who can we possibly send out?"

Officer 1 "Him".
*points to your character*

Officer 2 "What? Him?  But he just got on the force last week, he's not prepared!"

Officer 1 "We need all the help we can get, and you know that.  So how 'bout it kid, are you up for it?"

So my question is this, how is it that a rookie who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, saves the world countless times without a hitch?  I want to begin a game on the opposite side of the spectrum; I want to be put in the shoes of a hardened soldier, someone who has earned their place as numero-uno, the best suited man to save the world.  I want to be someone who has everything to lose, and nothing to gain.  And I want him... to make dire mistakes.

      

I mean we've all been the hero.  It's time to reverse the roles.  I don't want my character to always make the right decisions, to always be able to effortlessly get out of a bad situation, to come out in the end unscathed.  In a game such as Gears of War, Ghost Recon or Rainbow Six Vegas; where I have to make decisions about which way for my squad mates to go, I don't want to know that no matter what I choose, we'll either regroup in the end, or I will have to restart the mission. 

I want big emotional moments where due to my bad decision, my squad mate dies at the hands of the enemy.  I want moments where all seems lost, where my enemy has the clear advantage, and it doesn't mean 'You failed.  Press Start to retry the mission".  I want to wonder how I'm going to get out of a situation, or how a particular situation is going to effect me in the long run... not know in the back of my head that "No matter what happens, I'll be back to running down corridors shooting enemies in 3 minutes".  When it comes to saving the world, terrible situations should be so dramatic that I'm not in control, and have to wonder to myself "Did I do something wrong to cause this?"

         

This scene is probably one of the best moments in a first-person shooter I've had, despite it only happening once and being terribly short.  For anyone who doesn't know, this is the final few minutes in the PC/360 game F.E.A.R.; and that dark cloud in the horizon isn't pollution.  Now I'm not going to ruin it for anyone who hasn't played it yet, but for the good 45 seconds or so leading up to the climax if this event, I was running around like a baby trying to figure out what to do, where to go, and if I had did something wrong.  I felt helpless.  For once I didn't know the immediate outcome, I didn't even know what was going to happen, all that was in my mind was "How do I escape?  Where do I go?". 

That's a great feeling, to not know what's about to happen, what the outcome will be, and whether or not there's anything you can do to stop it.  As human beings, we care about people who make mistakes... we care about the people who are not only put in bad situations, but suffer consequences due to it.  Luke Skywalker is one of the most memorable characters in any entertainment medium, and he had a terrible adventure.  He lost his family on Tatooine, his co-pilot on Hoth, his father to the darkside, his lover to his sister (sort of), and his hand to a lightsaber.  And we cared... 'cause he wasn't invincible.

In the end, I want to be put into situations where I don't know the outcome; it's a terribly overdone cliche in first-person shooters.  Throw me into unexpected situations, have me make mistakes that have incredible consequences, make me feel helpless.  Instead of putting me in the role of a rookie who has nothing to lose and everything to gain, put me in the role of someone who has earned their position, and has no where to go but down.  I've saved the world so many times under the for mentioned circumstances... I think I deserve it.

                    

That's The Whole Picture.

 
          Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

   VS

                                         Rainbow Six: Vegas

---

 I purchased Rainbow Six: Vegas three days ago, however due to a couple of rentals I had out (Saint's Row and F.E.A.R; both of which I found very underwhelming), I didn't have a chance to play it until this evening.  Once the intro sequence of the campaign began, I couldn't believe what I was seeing; me and my squadmates flying in a slightly-futuristic helicopter, roughly two hundred feet above the rooftops of a heavily populated city in Mexico.

Deje vu?

Absolutely.  The intro screams Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter!  I'm sure that this topic has been brought up many times, however the only differentiating factor of the two games that can be seen during the first few moments are the perspectives (Vegas being mainly first-person, Advanced Warfighter mainly third-person) and the extreme level of blur used to supposidly "enhance" the visuals.

So far I'm only in the training mission so I know the true beauty of the Rainbow Six series has yet to show through (mainly now that I just teamed up with my squad), however, I thought my initial impressions warranted a metaphorical, if you will, screenshot "comparison".

 *Note: both images are (obviously) from Advanced Warfighter.

The following is a comprehensive study of the differences and similarities between Blizzard's MMORPG, World of Warcraft, and the street drug, cocaine.

   Cocaine                       VS                         WoW        

       Physical Changes 


 Bloodshot Eyes                                                   Bloodshot Eyes
           TIE                                                                       TIE          

        Mental Changes

       Your Brain                                                            Your Brain
            TIE                                                         TIE        

          Buy From

 Clueless, Crazy                                                    Clueless, Crazy
         People                                                                  People
_    __TIE                                                                         TIE        

           Input Device(s)

          Straw                                                                    K&M
  ADVANTAGE                                                                              

                   Cost

 $13.30+ per Day                                                  $0.66 per Day
                                                                               ADVANTAGE

                Calendars

        Relevant                                                              Irrelevant
ADVANTAGE                                                                                

                   Friends

        Stoners                                                              Teamspeak
ADVANTAGE                                                                                 

                    Help

    Drug rehab in                                           Addiction Clinic in
      any State                                                Communist China
ADVANTAGE                                                                                

Winner: Research shows a cocaine addiction is better than a World of Warcraft addiction. Happy snorting!
*Note: by no means is this a suggestion to pick up a cocaine habit. Both products can be very dangerous to one's health.

---

Reminder to check back next week for the second edition of "The Whole Picture"

Before I dive into "The Whole Picture", I'd first like to say that this is my first foray, if you will, into the world of blogging. I have been an active member of the Gamespot community since 2003, and have always felt my contributions have felled a bit short aside from my participation in several of the forums. I'd love to hear your comments about my blog, what you think of the idea and of course any criticisms or suggestions you might have. So without any further adu, I give you...

The Whole Picture
*Please note: The following is a blatant ripoff of the genious comedian Stephen Colbert's feature "The Word", as found on The Colbert Report.

                   

As undoubtedly all of you know, America is fighting a war; a war to save our children. Desperate measures have been taken over the past several years to protect the young citizens of North America, as well as many other continents such as Australia and Europe. The situation? Children need to be sheltered from the medium that is video games, at least ones that contain the following subjects:

Mild to Intense violence
Sexual violence
Suggestive themes
Sexual content
Partial nudity
Mild to Strong language
Drug, alcohol and tobacco reference
Comic mischief
and simulated gambling

The concern is that parents and politicians are worried about the fact that if little Johnny is introduced to these themes prior to a certain age, it will cause him to lash out, be obtrusive in class, and maybe even harm someone pretending that real life is as only real as the copy of Manhunt sitting in the Playstation 2 tray back home. Now, I'm not here to say otherwise... I'm not a scientist nor a doctor and do not pretend to be one. But I whole heartily believe there are other areas in this world of more concern that our parents and politicians should be focusing there resources instead of video games...

                          

No… not those; although there is no denying the dangers of these parties for our kids. Thomas A. Kooijmans of the Rochester Institute of Technology states that “There were over a dozen incidents of violence, most involving death, that have been blamed on violent video games between 1997 and 2003 [in the US]”. There is no denying the significance of a single human life, however taking a cue from last years film “Thank You For Smoking”, there are other available products in our towns and cities that, in comparison, are causing deaths on an unparalleled level. The American Cancer Society reports that “Each year about 440,000 people die in the United States from illnesses related to cigarette smoking”. The National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency reports that around 105,000 Americans die annually from alcohol-related deaths. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, stated in the year 2000 that obesity accounted for 112,000 deaths.

In the United States you have to be 17 years of age to purchase a Mature rated video game; 19 years of age to purchase tobacco; 21 years of age for alcohol; and old enough to point at a large, shiny image of a hamburger and be able to count change, to purchase high-cholesterol foods. Now I’m all for the crusades by politicians (such as Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman) and attorneys (well… maybe not attorneys, but politicians) who are trying to crack down on retailers who sell Mature rated games to under age teens, although I believe that the ESRB is doing a great job. What I don’t appreciate, is countries such as Germany and Australia, who ban games just for having the for mentioned subjects in them, from public view (or in Germany’s case, just for developing or playing such titles). With such a large crusade against banning these apparent, harmful products, it’s very interesting to see where these countries priorities lie; or better yet, where they don’t…

                   

That's the Whole Picture.