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Posts Tagged “

Controversy

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XBL Ban

Microsoft Explains "Gaywood" Ban

Late last night, we learned the story of Richard Gaywood, the not-so-happy Xbox Live user whose gamertag was banned. Since "RichardGaywood" was both the user's gamertag as well as his legal, honest-to-goodness given name, Kotaku contacted Microsoft to learn the reason behind the ban.

Hit the jump for their response:

More »

5:20 PM on Wed May 21 2008
By Leigh Alexander
131,123 views, 522 comments

Latest by n/a: If they ban anyone with the word Straight in their gamertag then this is defensible. If not then it's discrimination. It's as simple as that. more »

reviews

On Fanboyism and Reviewing

Leigh Alexander has another great Aberrant Gamer column up over at GameSetWatch, this one talking about 'fanboyism' and the inherent conflicts that crop up with the review system:

I would like you to briefly indulge me by participating in an exercise. Remove all of the mascots and familiar faces from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and replace them with original constructs. Notice, if you will, the somewhat clumsy user interface, the high percentage of total content that must be unlocked to be enjoyed, the complete lack of usability of the Wii controls, and the lack of significant graphical or gameplay progression over the previous generation. It's true that even then, you'd have a good game. But would you have a 10 game?

What does it mean that I'm hesitant to even state my opinion that it'd be a 7 game? And what does that crap even mean, anymore?


Leigh suggests overhauling the review system in some easily achievable ways (starting by scraping numerical scores), and proposing that we "we embrace our own subjectivity, neutering fanboyism by accepting it — because it sure ain't going anywhere." It's a musing that's well-worth a read through.

Auto-Neurotic Asphyxiation

7:00 PM on Sun Mar 23 2008
By Maggie Greene
8,607 views, 308 comments

Latest by Scorpi: If you took out the Nintendo-based characters... wouldn't this game be the single greatest and epic creative acheivement EVER? more »

controversy

Guitar Hero Vs. Open Mic Night

Guitar Hero tournies have been floating around bars since the game's inception, and the trend has only grown since. But not everyone is so happy about the popularity of drunks pretending to be rockstars on stage—namely musicians. And while these comments were just from one guy who liked to jam at one bar, we have a feeling that he speaks for a multitude of others.

Yea, it's fun. Yea, it's cool and difficult to master (nowhere near on the level of a real musical instrument), and yea it's an escape from your miserable existance [sic] but it's not something I want to see LIVE ONSTAGE in a venue that should have a REAL musician Performing! Anyone who has even the slightest bit of culture and refinement would agree. GUITAR HERO belongs in the home, at house parties or in a Frathouse basement but it DOES NOT BELONG AT HUMPY'S GREAT ALASKAN ALEHOUSE, REPLACING OPEN MIC MONDAYS!!!!!
Oh, and Humpy's actually exists, by the way. This only gets better.

More »

1:40 PM on Wed Feb 13 2008
By Mark Wilson
7,572 views, 222 comments

Latest by demonknightinuyasha: soooo im currently at one of the fabled and dieing "open mic night's" and i can see why guitar hero is taking over :p nah seriously though some of these guys are pretty good and some are hippies......nuff said -_- more »

controversy

Musings on the Gaming Community - 'Are The Kids Alright?'

From or via GameSetWatch comes two interesting pieces, musing on something of the same subject - what is it about games that turns fans into a bunch of aggressively opinionated jerks (or is that just life, on and off the internet?)? On the one hand, any community of people is prone to in-fighting and hysteria (tripled if the participants can hide behind anonymity); on the other hand, are some of the accusations lobbed from mainstream media that unfounded? Michaël Samyn takes on the recent kerfluffle over Yak Minter's comments regarding Frogger and game reviewing in general. The comments section is very interesting, and gets at the community issue and game reviewing in one fell swoop. Leigh Alexander takes on nastiness on another level - far beyond frustrated developers whining in their LJ - and looks at examples of gamers behaving (very) badly, like the Jade Raymond/Something Awful cartoon debacle: More »

4:00 PM on Sat Dec 1 2007
By Maggie Greene
6,738 views, 75 comments

Latest by baccardi84: I think this says something I've believed for a long while: hardcore fanboys are bad for the industry. more »

controversy

Wii Covered in Bloody Stickers

Soooooooooo scary. With all that Manhunt 2 controversy, it's nice to see Rockstar focus on the important things — like giving away a Wii covered in blood splattered stickers. (That's not all, the company is also giving away a 50 inch plasma TV.) The toned down and M-rated reworked Manhunt 2 is out in the U.S. on Halloween. Click below to enter Rockstar's contest.
Win a Wii with Bloody Stickers [Rockstar via Games Radar]

7:00 AM on Thu Oct 4 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
4,715 views, 33 comments

halo 3

Sites Selling Halo 3 Beta Codes For Cash

Halo 3 is obviously one of the hottest upcoming titles on any platform, and news that a multiplayer beta open to the public has the Spartan faithful salivating like hungry pups. As beta slots are open to a limited number of users, competition for a ticket on the pre-release Halo 3 ride are sure to be become a highly sought after item. More »

6:20 PM on Tue Dec 12 2006
By Michael McWhertor
2,295 views, 9 comments

clips

Bully's Boy/Boy Lovin'

Rockstar's Bully's not a fighter, it's a lova. More »
top

Early Impressions of Bully

I flew out to Rockstar's New York offices last month to be one of the first people to look at the company's game, Bully for a couple of stories I wrote for the Rocky Mountain News. Hop on over to the Rocky's site for my impressions on the game, which is set to hit in October. Friday I'll have a much bigger story up at the Rocky about the game's social implications. Viva la controversy. More »

9:29 AM on Wed Aug 9 2006
By Brian Crecente
894 views, 16 comments

playstation 3

PS3 to Have Parental Controls Says Sony

Earlier this week in Tokyo, the country's biggest retailers and developers (sans Nintendo) met with the Tokyo government to discuss the effects of games on children. The government is considering changing Japan's game rating system and prohibiting the sale of certain software to minors. More »

9:22 AM on Fri Oct 21 2005
By Brian Ashcraft
120 views, 1 comment

crime

Japanese Blame Violent Computer Games

Juvenile crime is rising in Japan. A government study, released this month, showed a sharp rise in acts of violence. In 2005, there was a record 336 cases of student-on-sensei violence with kids throwing chairs and physically threatening their teachers. This number is up from 253 a year earlier. Outside of the classroom, children are equally bad and being arrested for everything from arson to murder. Things have gotten so bad that a new law has been passed, lowering the prosecution age to 14 years old. More »

9:22 AM on Fri Oct 14 2005
By Brian Ashcraft
408 views, 2 comments

Latest by PrincessPeach: That reminds me, why hasn't a game based on Battle Royale been made yet? It seems like it would make for some fun co-op, especially if they use the rule-set from the (crappy) Battle Royale 2 movie where students more »

only in japan

Setting Sun

Crap. Saitama Prefecture (or as I like to say, "The New Jersey of Japan") just made it illegal for people under 18 to buy games deemed unfit for minors. In short, schoolgirls can't buy Grand Theft Auto. More »

12:37 PM on Tue Sep 20 2005
By Brian Ashcraft
120 views

abc

ABC World News

ABC World News just aired a segment on Rockstar's Bully and the growing controversy surrounding video games. More »

7:00 PM on Thu Aug 4 2005
By Brian Crecente
127 views