Old School Gamers

When I first read that a US Court ordered Sony to stop selling the PS2, I thought it was because it was because it is such a defective product that it violated the law lemon on a large scale. Controllers not working, read disk error, corrupted game saves, game crashes. I usually like Sony products, but I would never consider buying a game system by them. Anyway, it turns out that Immersion sued them because they have a patent on the technology to make a controller vibrate with a game. They have the patent on force feedback?

This brings up question. Why now? This has been used in games for quite some time. The Nintendo 64 and PS one had that in quite a few games. Why Sony PS2? Will Microsoft or Nintendo be next? Did Nintendo suspect something and not add it to the Game Cube? Will this mean that the next generation system not have force feedback? Will PC game companies that added this as an option to a game have to pay, or would
it be the companies that created the hardware?

Man, some times patents suck!

OK, I played World of Warcraft over the weekend, and I am happy to say I am not addicted to WoW. At least that is what I keep trying to tell myself...

"Self, you have played plenty of games in the past that had you thinking about them non-stop. This game is no different than Evil Genius, Dark Forces, Half Life, X-Wing, Max Payne, Roller Coaster Tycoon..."

"Ya, I know, but that last one was only for a few days. I wanted to see if I could get the cars to collide in mid air and create a domino affect, destroying the whole park in an inferno of flame, sending all the people screaming. I am pretty sure this is a little different. I am thinking about better attack strategies, where a quest cave is hidden, what pet I should try and tame next, what new skills I get at the next level..."

"I get it, I get it, just stop! Too bad the car collision thing just would not work out, that would have been hell a cool. Hey, I am talking to you, get off of ThottBot.com! What were you looking up? Engineering devices!"

"But they are so cool! Look, I can almost make the next gun."

"Hey that is cool... Doh! Stop doing that!"

"I can’t help it, is it time to get off work yet?"

"NO! Now get back to work!"

"OK, fine..."

Everyone argues with them self, right? This is perfectly normal thing to do. Maybe I have just been working to hard. Maybe I just need a vacation.

"Ya, vacation, great idea. I could play all week!"

"STOP IT!!!"

Well I went out a bought a copy of World Of Warcraft. I actually found one on just sitting on the shelf at Wal-Mart. I walked around the store holding it, half wondering if I should really buy it, and half hopping some geek would offer me twenty bucks so he can buy it. So what changed my mind about getting it? Well Lone_Wolf talks almost non stop about it, and some of my complaints have been addressed censes I did the beta test. Some of the things that I read about it look realy cool, and fun. The biggest factor I think is the fact that I have someone I know playing this game that can give me pointers and help get me acquainted with ins and outs of this world.

As I play, I will try to post some of the do’s and don’t that I pick up. This is my first time to really, really try playing a MMORPG, so I am sure I will stumble across a lot of don’t on accident.

What, no coffee stained cd trays? Never underestimate the determination of a computer user. I think my favorite one is the visa cards in the floppy drive.

Via Geek Press

Oh god! When will our lawmakers ever get a brain? Or did they loose that using drugs during the seventy? They have a House Bill that will hold game makers accountable for players' actions.

A person may file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit against a manufacturer or retailer of a violent video or computer game who has distributed, sold, or rented a violent video game to a person under the age of 17 if the game was a factor in creating conditions that assisted or encouraged the person to cause injury to death to another person.

What do they consider violent? Will they spell it out in the bill? If you look at it, most video games can be considered violent. Super Mario Brother has Mario running around jumping on and flaming Koopas. Paper Boy has you busting out windows and beaming people with news papers. Zelda Wind Breaker for all its sick cuteness has you attacking enemies with a sword. Hell the only games right now that come to mind that do not have violence are Tetras and Myst, a game that created violence due to its extreme boredom and lame story.

So if a kid rents Super Mario Brothers from Block Buster, and starts throwing balls of flaming paper, to imitate Mario's flower power, and burns someone or sets a fire, then the burned person can sue Block Buster? What if the kid barrowed the game form a friend? Due they sue the friend, or the manufacturer/retailer that sold it the other person?

"If you sit up and watch this and play these games over and over again... it seems that this is alright to walk up and hit a police officer over the head with a bat," Hanson said.

Wrong Mr. Hanson, the thing that makes a person think that it is aright to hit people over the head with a bat, is that fact that they have no fear of being punished for doing it. Thanks to dumb ass bills like this, and the recent ruling from the Supreme Court regarding juveniles and the death penalty, people can get away with murder.

With the stories I have heard about the Evercrack, err, Everquest fans, maybe Sony added the in game pizza order feature just so that they would not loose players due to starvation. I wonder if Blizzard will work with Papa John's to add this to World of Warcraft?

So will the command "/date" connect you with an escort service?