Happy Anniversary

Earlier this week The Legend of Zelda turned 25 and of course it hasn't received the attention from Nintendo that it deserves. Mario had a "reboot" of sorts, a special edition Wii and a special edition DS for his 25th, and tons of media converage. Zelda gets a 3D release of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS and the new release for the Wii: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. How many of you have heard about them? Exactly.

Growing up, Zelda was in the top 5 of games played on NES consoles everywhere. The sound of the title screen was enough to get gamers excited about the adventures waiting in Hyrule. Fans all over have been celebrating in their own way so I've compiled some of these highlights for any Zelda fans who may be interested.

Fan made shield:

Fan made Link Sword

Fan made Wii case mod

Incredible fan art

And an incredible mod of a Gameboy playing The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on an oscilloscope



Thanks Link, Zelda, and Ganon for the last 25 years.

For the children

Sesame Street for Kinect has been announced

The new official title is Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster. The best news, it's being developed by Double Fine, the studio that brought us Brutal Legend and Psychonauts. Why is that the best news? I find it the best challenge for a studio to go from developing games oriented towards teenagers and adults to a game for small children. A test to their skill.

I have to be honest, I am looking forward to this title. Even though it would have been great for Double Fine to work on Brutal Legend 2.

As a kid I remember watching Sesame Street and anything muppet related and would love to share this with my 4 year old. It was a great time in my life. The excitement is really because this game will open the doors for more families to enjoy quality time with each other. It will give many parents a way to connect with their children by sharing two greats in their childhood: Sesame Street and gaming.

This game could also show that there are some learning qualities for children that lie in playing video games. Sure there are tons of  learning systems out there such as the VTech and the Leapfrog Leapster systems but these systems don't seem very fun and play more like schoolwork. Making games that can show fun in learning and that learning is fun is what kids games should be and what better way than a Sesame Street game for the Kinect. Here's to hoping it gets done right!

Sniper mode in Bulletstorm

This video is so good that I had to post it. One more reason for you to pick this game up.



Thanks to GoldGloeTV on YouTube! Check them out they have tons of great videos.

Rain of Bulletstorm

For the last couple of weeks Bulletstorm has been wrapped up in so much controversy that even Fox News had to broadcast their 2 cents on the game. Why? Because it's another one in the long line of "violent games that add to the ever growing crime problem that plagues our world".

What more is that psychologist and book author, Carol Lieberman, was quoted by Fox News when interviewed about Bulletstorm as saying:

"The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games,"

What??


What evidence is there to support such a statement? What studies have been conducted? Bulletstorm doesn't even have any graphical sexual scenes!

When interviewed by Kotaku, she goes on to try and clarify what she meant:

"The more video games a person plays that have violent sexual content, the more likely one is to become desensitized to violent sexual acts and commit them."

I must say I have never wanted to nor even felt the desire to want to rape someone after shooting a prostitute in the head after banging her in the front seat of my Comet in GTA IV. How about after the infamous sex scene easter egg in San Andreas? Naw still no. And furthermore, when I watch the news and I see the guys that have been arrested for rape, they mainly look like washed up construction workers wearing tracksuits and a massive amount of chest hair poking out the top of their jacket and are mentally disturbed.

Maybe this is why Fox News labeled this game as the worst video game in the world. Why? because they pushed the envelope for adult gamers. Even the other psychologist they interviewed agreed that this game is meant for mature audiences so statements made about increasing violent acts may not apply here. Dr Jerry Weichman stated:

"If a younger kid experiences Bulletstorm's explicit language and violence, the damage could be significant. Violent video games like Bulletstorm have the potential to send the message that violence and insults with sexual innuendos are the way to handle disputes and problems."

"My opinion, as stated in my quote, is that there is potential to do harm, but certainly this is not the outcome for 100 percent of the game's users. And obviously the folks at ESRB agree, since it's rated M for Mature and was not designed for young audiences."

For once an expert analyst has made sense.

Don't let the hype fool you folks. Get the game. It's not your average FPS. It's what shooters have been needing for some time. Right off the bat the game is loaded for fun play. The plot may be serious at times but the gameplay is more forgiving. You get an assortment of skillshots to pull off by shooting people in different parts of the body and for various ways of killing with specific weapons. This game is a highlighted must have for all FPS fans. If you're tired of COD: Black Ops here's your break.

The call of the real Juarez

A couple of days ago, the legislature of Mexican state Chihuahua, where the city Juarez is located, approved a request to ban the newest installment in the Call of Juarez series.

Why? Well, believe it or not their argument is a very simple one - the children. Seeing that Juarez is a very violent place with over 6,000 murders last year alone, legislation is pulling to keep this game off shelves  and out of the hands of the kids in Mexico.

Kids are drilled in schools to "duck and cover" at the sound of gunfire. They're exposed to the dangers of violent cartel gangs day in and day out. The last thing they want is for them to be exposed to a work of fiction that may glorify the violent life they tr to avoid. I understand why they would want this game banned. But we don't know exactly what the game is about yet.

The only real details we have so far:

"You'll embark on a bloody road trip from Los Angeles to Juarez, Mexico immersing yourself in a gritty plot with interesting characters and a wide variety of game play options. Take justice into your own hands in this modern Western shooter."

I hate the fact that games are banned in countries but for once I see a reason that I could understand. The middle eastern countries have done similar bans because they impose on their religious beliefs or ways of life. I can back legitimate reason why you would want to keep such games away. Usually countries, like Australia, feel the need to ban a game because it has a character picking up prostitutes or throwing someone off a roof. I don't want to hear a bullshit excuse to ban a game. Almost every country has a prostitution problem or murders but they don't go around banning games. And choosing the argument that they influence crime is the weakest argument to choose. Last year Australia saw 302 murders of which 59 were commited with firearms. Urugauy has not banned violent games such as GTA 4 and they still had less number in murders. So did Greece.

Whether they choose to ban the game or not is a choice they will have to make but I hope that they make it well. Either way, I'll be behind them on this one.

More rules

Vietnam has joined the list of countries limiting online gaming for everyone. Beginning March 3, online gaming will now be blocked between the hours of 10 PM and 8 AM. The Ministry of Information and Communication has asked ISP's to begin blocking online gaming services in a curfew of sorts for youths. Problem is, it's affecting older gamers and gaming parlor businesses.

On top of all the gamers, gaming services also see the issue of maintenance to their servers. Without the possibility of accessing servers at a time that the least amount of people would be online they would have to run patches and updates during peak times.

Really Vietnam? Sure, piss off 26% of your population why don't you..