Shadow of Mordor and a Rambling Lemming

(From Monolith Productions, Behaviour Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; via Steam; used w/o permission.)
Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™
Steam (steampowered.com)

"Fight through Mordor and uncover the truth of the spirit that compels you, discover the origins of the Rings of Power, build your legend and ultimately confront the evil of Sauron in this new chronicle of Middle-earth."
User reviews: Very Positive (6,301 reviews)
Release Date: Sep 30, 2014

Apparently Shadow of Mordor was released on September 30 of this year, except for folks in Australia, where they had to wait until Wednesday this week.

Actually, it's the game Shadow of Mordor that was released. As far as the Lemming knows, not shadows from Mordor have actually been released: nor are likely to be, since Mordor doesn't exist outside J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. At least, that's what the Lemming's read.

Shadow of Mordor: Premium and Otherwise

Folks can probably buy Shadow of Mordor elsewhere, but the Lemming only checked prices at Steam. There, it's $49.99 for the game. Spend $74.99 for the "Premium Edition" and you'll get items: Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Season Pass.

Here's why Steam says you should get the "Premium Edition:"

"Upgrade to the Premium Edition to receive a digital download copy of Shadow of Mordor and Season Pass. The Season Pass gives you access to future content including campaign missions, additional challenge modes, quests, skins, and runes."

The Season Pass by itself goes for $24.99 — which is $24.99 more than the Lemming has to spend on entertainment just now. Travel — being a flannel-wearing lemmings has its advantages, and that's another topic.

Acclaimed by (some) Critics

Apparently Shadow of Mordor is a AAA game: big studio; big budget; big expectations. Wikipedia has a pretty good page about the game, including this excerpt:

"...The story involves the Rings of Power, but the story is separate from The Lord of the Rings canon. The Monolith team is working with Middle-earth Enterprises, Peter Jackson, and the artists at the Weta Workshop to make sure that the settings, characters, and story align within canon. Tolkien stated that, aside from Beren, dead men did not return to life in Middle-earth. The beginning of the game is set during abandonment of the watch on the Black Gate, despite that watch ending some 1,300 years prior to the game's start date.

"Plot

"Talion, a ranger captain, is part of a Gondor garrison stationed at the Black Gate. The garrison is attacked by Sauron's Uruk forces led by 3 Black Númenórean captains; the Hammer of Sauron, the Tower of Sauron, and their leader the Black Hand of Sauron (Nolan North). Talion, his wife Ioreth, and his son Dirhael are captured and ritually sacrificed by the Black Hand in an attempt to summon the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor. However, Celebrimbor (who suffers from amnesia due to his status as a wraith) instead ends up merging with Talion, saving him from death. The two of them set out to uncover Celebrimbor's identity as well as to avenge the death of Talion's family...."

Not surprisingly, Shadow of Mordor has been "acclaimed by critics," and other critics haven't been quite so enthusiastic. If the Lemming looked around, there's probably someone who utterly despises the game because it doesn't mention Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Not once.

Speaking of Space Pirate Captain Harlock, apathy is still rampant: but nobody cares.

That was a great deal funnier a few decades back. It wasn't particularly funny then, but moreso than it is now. Probably. Your experience may vary. For external use only. Not approved for off-road travel. Caution: may contain peanuts. Seriously, does anyone really think daft warning labels are a good idea? And that's yet another topic.

More than you may want to know about this game:

• Shadow of Mordor
  official site
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
  Wikipedia

Vaguely-related posts:

• "King's Quest, Doom, and Candy Land: The Lemming Opines"
  (September 19, 2014)
• "Five Strange Video Games"
  (September 8, 2010)
• "Wolfenstein 3D - 18 Years Old, and Now an Online Game"
  (January 7, 2010)
• "Big Digital Game Show in - Where Else? - Tokyo"
  (September 27, 2009)
• "Microsoft, Windows, Internet Explorer, "Mere Anarchy is Loosed Upon the World," and All That"
  (May 11, 2012)

King's Quest, Doom, and Candy Land: The Lemming Opines

(From Activision/Sierra, via gameinformer, used w/o permission.)
(King's Quest Returns.)

"[Update] Sierra's New King's Quest Won't Be Point-And-Click, Will Be Adventure"
Mike Futter, gameinformer (August 16, 2014)

"Update: The Odd Gentlemen, the developer working on the new King's Quest game, reached out to clarify an aspect of its still mysterious project.

"The game won't be a point-and-click title in the traditional sense, but it will retain King's Quest's adventure roots. Below, you will find our conversation with Activision's MacLean Marshall about reviving Sierra and King's Quest.

"Original Story:

"One of the more surprising announcements during Gamescom was Activision's revival of the classic Sierra brand. The original Sierra, founded by Ken and Roberta Williams in 1979, was known for the King's Quest, Space Quest, and Police Quest series (among many others). Activision has big plans for the brand that include classic franchises and brand new creations...."

Apparently the Sierra brand was owned by Vivendi, which was acquired by Activision.

Instead of fussing about corporate greed, why nobody should use Microsoft, or the sky being the wrong color: the Lemming takes this opportunity to ramble on about creativity and all that.

Creativity will be involved in the Sierra reboot, since The Odd Gentlemen will be "...doing a contemporary reboot of King's Quest...."

At least that's what Mike Futter says The Odd Gentlemen said.

The good news is that someone will be thinking about the new-and-improved King's Quest.

'The Lemming doesn't know yet' news is that someone other than the original creators will be doing the reboot.

If The Odd Gentlemen is/are smart, creative, and have tastes that correspond to those of a flannel-wearing Lemming, the results could be quite satisfactory. To the Lemming.

On the other hand — Roberta Williams, who designed the original King's Quest series, understood storytelling. She had a particular style that shows in the original series. The games had 'personality.'

So, for that matter, did id Software's Doom. The Lemming enjoyed playing Doom: and King's Quest.

But think about it: what if someone decided to reboot Doom with a Super Mario Bros. feel? Or Candy Land with Doom-inspired graphics?

The Lemming thinks these posts are related — your experience may vary:

• "Roomba Review, and Dancing Robots"
  (August 17, 2012)
• "Nifty Screensavers: An Old Review, Micro-Reviewed"
  (March 8, 2011)
• "Farfel!"
  (February 6, 2011)
• "Five Strange Video Games"
  (September 8, 2010)
• "Pushpin Mario: New Dimensions in Cork Board Art?"
  (January 5, 2009)

Video Game Sales Drop: Reported With Competence

"Video game sales drop 10 percent in August"
CNET (September 9, 2010)

"The video game industry's months-long slump continues, with retailers scoring their worst August sales figures in four years.

"Revenue from the retail sales of games and consoles in the U.S. was $818.9 million in August, a drop of 10 percent compared with the year-ago period, according to a report released Thursday by The NPD Group...."

Now that's competent reporting.

The article doesn't just say "video game sales drop:" the reporter points out that it's dropped in comparison with August of last year. That's significant, since sales of a given product can be seasonal. Think about it: how many people living in North America buy snow shovels in July and August?

What this means, either in 'big picture' terms, or for the folks whose lives twitch to the beat of the video game industry, the Lemming isn't sure.

Apart from the painfully obvious 'this isn't the best year the American economy's every seen.' Which is another topic.

Not-completely-unrelated post, about seasons and the news:

• "Silly Season"
  (August 24, 2010)

Five Strange Video Games

"5 just-plain-weird video games"
Tech, CNN (September 7, 2010)

"From turning random household objects into giant balls to stuffing princesses full of cake until they're morbidly obese, the video game industry has no shortage of strange ideas.

"It's a feat of absurdity compounded almost daily, thanks to the efforts of iPhone, Android and downloadable-software creators who crank out bizarre titles celebrating everything from angry birds to garishly colored cartoon blobs.

"Unlike app makers, designers of titles sold through GameStop and Wal-Mart often have to constrain their creativity because their amusements have to appeal to wider audiences.

"But this logic doesn't apply to the following retail games, each of which are bound to leave you wondering just who'd dream up -- let alone buy -- such oddball concepts...."

I don't know about that. I see nothing odd about playing a game that pits me against chickens on roller skates ("Chicken Blaster"). It sounds like fun.

Oh, wait: I'm the guy who named his blog "Apathetic Lemming of the North," and calls himself "the Lemming." In the third person.

Never mind.

Wolfenstein 3D - 18 Years Old, and Now an Online Game

"Wolfenstein 3D Game"
Hypergames

That's a playable online version of the old Wolfenstein 3D 1st-person shooter.

It's been a while since Wolfenstein was at the cutting edge of virtual-reality games, so here's some background:

"Wolfenstein 3D"
3D Realms
("Due to the game content, this game may not be ordered by residents of Germany.")

"The story: You're William J. 'B.J.' Blazkowicz, the Allies' bad boy of espionage and a terminal action seeker. Your mission was to infiltrate the Nazi fortress Castle Hollehammer and find the plans for Operation Eisenfaust, the Nazi's blueprint for building the perfect army. Rumors are that deep within the castle the diabolical Dr. Schabbs has perfected a technique for building a fierce army from the bodies of the dead. It's so far removed from reality that it would seem silly if it wasn't so sick. But what if it were true?

"As an escaped prisoner in a Nazi war prison, you will move smoothly through a 3D world full of amazing detail and animation Unlike other 3D games, you'll run through a sensational and realistic 3-D environment, with intelligent moving guards and opponents.

"WINNER OF 3 SHAREWARE INDUSTRY AWARDS, INCLUDING PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD!

"Wolfenstein 3-D has won these RETAIL industry awards in 1992:..."

The original release, according to 3D Realms, was May 5, 1992. That'll be 18 years back, this year.

In terms of graphics, it's no Myst: and I'm quite sure that there have been more sophisticated games made since 1992. But at the time, Castle Wolfenstein was hot stuff. And, for me, still fun to play.

Finally, the matter of the game not being available to people in Germany. Chancellor Hitler's term in office made a deep and lasting impression on quite a large number of people, Germans included. The German government, for good or ill, has decided to place limits on what sort of references to the Nazi period can be made.

---

A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, for the heads-up on the online game.

A 'Making of Riven' Video: As Much as Fits in 2:56

"Tapped In: Riven"

gametap, YouTube (October 31, 2008)
video, 2:56

"How do you follow up the best-selling game of the 20th Century? Watch and see."

This is one of those 'the making of' videos, and a pretty good one.

Watching it, you'll learn how the developers of Riven moved from a garage, where they'd made Myst, to an old mattress shop; why Riven doesn't look like Myst; and why they went two years over schedule, making Riven.

In just under three minutes.

Obviously, this isn't one of those in-depth 'the making of' videos, where you learn about the childhood dreams of the principal developers, whether their desks were all in the same room, and what brand of coffee they used.

Or, for that matter, if Rand and Robyn Miller drank coffee.

I've got one of the 2,200,000-plus units of Riven, by the way - and think it's an impressive example of interactive software, and a wonderfully plausible virtual world.

More:

"Tapped in: Myst"
gametap, YouTube (October 31, 2008)

video, 5:21

Actually, it's about these closely-related games: Myst; Riven; Myst III Exile; Myst IV Revelation; and Myst V End of Ages.

Not-quite-related posts:

• "A Marriage Proposal in a Video Game: No Kidding"
  (September 28, 2009)
• "Big Digital Game Show in - Where Else? - Tokyo"
  (September 27, 2009)
• "Myst Video Tribute: Longer Than Most; Better Than Most"
  (September 2, 2009)
• "Gamers are Geezers, Apparently: 35, Overweight, and Bummed Out"
  (August 23, 2009)
• "The Tuttles: A Family of Four in Cyberland"
  (July 1, 2009)
• "China Protects Online Gamers: Another Dubious Idea"
  (January 18, 2009)
• "Wii Bowling: Ever Have One of Those Days?"
  (January 13, 2009)
• "Mabinogi: Another Online Game, and a Wonderful Time-Waster"
  (December 30, 2008)
• "Top 10 Games of 2008, in Wired Magazine's Opinion"
  (December 23, 2008)
• "Video Games, the Great Depression, and Monopoly: Yes, There is a Connection"
  (December 14, 2008)
• "RuneScape: Higher Definition, More Buildings, More Features"
  (July 18, 2008)
• "Adventure Quest: For Those With Time on Their Hands"
  (August 14, 2007)

A Marriage Proposal in a Video Game: No Kidding

"The Fallout 3 Marriage Proposal Mod"
the escapist (September 3, 2009)
(Includes embedded YouTube video, 8:17)

"A woman looking for a unique way to propose marriage to a hardcore Fallout 3 fan came up with an unusual but rather cool idea: She talked the community into making a mod for her.

"The plan started all the way back in June, when Bethesda forum user PuffyPuppy asked if there was any possible way she could propose to her boyfriend from within Fallout 3. After a few twists and turns it was suggested that a mod for the PC version of the game would be the way to go and, modding types being what they are, the game was soon afoot...."

A cool idea, indeed! The embedded video runs the viewer though a (probably-optimized) traverse of the Fallout 3 scenario. I haven't played any of the Fallout series, but have a passing familiarity with Doom. And, to date myself even more, I've played a 3D fist-person shooter called Castle Wolfenstein - which predated the 2001 "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" featured in Wikipedia.

The video had the violence which, in this context, doesn't bother me - and the drearily familiar crude language I've learned to expect. Again in context, the language actually is appropriate: not the 'I'm using naught words, so I'm real grown-up' relevance of an earlier and more dreamily idealistic age.

The idea of putting a marriage proposal in a video game is ingenious, the execution both technically and aesthetically showed good craftsmanship - at a minimum.

Now, if putting a marriage proposal in Fallout 3 was the only way of getting this chap's attention; and offering to be his "love slave:" Forgive me if I question the young lady's prudence. On the other hand, she did seem to specify a married relationship - and I certainly don't have enough information to form a reasoned opinion.

Again, technically: This is pretty good.

---

A tip of the hat to #1 daughter, for the heads-up on this article.

Big Digital Game Show in - Where Else? - Tokyo

"Hands-On With Tokyo Game Show’s Hottest New Games"
Game | Life, Wired (September 25, 2009)

"Each year, the Tokyo Game Show lets rabid gamers get their hands on new titles months before the videogames hit store shelves.

"The allure of the sneak peek proves to be a powerful draw: Gamers stream in through the doors early in the morning and wait in line, sometimes for hours, for a chance to play what might be the next big thing...."

The Wired article starts out with Final Fantasy XIII ("Final"? "XIII"?!!); and ends with Professor Layton 4 and Ni no Kuni Shine: which probably means a great more to dedicated gamers than it does to me. I do recognize the Ghibli name, though: I'm not that out of touch with contemporary culture.

Gamers, and people trying to make sense of what they're talking about, might find this article helpful.

The Tuttles: A Family of Four in Cyberland

"The Tuttles Madcap Adventures"
girlsgogames

"Travel through trap-ridden landscapes with the members of the Tuttle Family on their collecting adventure!..."

"...Collect all objects you can while avoiding obstacles and dangerous objects. When you have collected the main objects of each level, head to the exit."

Rated four of five hearts.

This online game has you guiding the Tuttles - a family of four - toward prizes and away from obstacles. You 'attack enemies' by pushing the space bar.

Mom Tuttle attacks with a hefty swing of her purse. (Don't laugh: those things can be massive.) The game starts with mom Tuttle going through a store, picking up floating gems and toilet paper, and avoiding spills on the floor.

Dad's next, flying the family van (it's got wings and tail fins). The van doesn't seem to have an attack mode: pressing the space bar speeds it up. His obstacles are mostly ducks with absolutely no sense of self-preservation.

This game isn't going to replace Mario Brothers, but it's fun - and free. The game play is strictly in the two dimensions of the screen, but the graphics are pretty good, and give an passable illusion of depth. The background music is a notch or two above 'elevator music,' and the characters comment on their actions as they go along.

A tip of the hat to #3 daughter, for pointing this game out to me.

All Tetris, All the Time

The Lemming went a little overboard on Tetris today: maybe. It's the 25th anniversary of this remarkable video game, and Alexey Pajitnov's wonderfully simple falling-blocks puzzle game is an entrenched feature in American - and apparently, global - culture: so maybe devoting all three posts to Tetris isn't too much.

The Lemming will be back, with distinctly Tetris-free posts, tomorrow. Life, the universe, and everything permitting, of course.

All Tetris, all the time:

• "Tetris Necklaces, Keychains, Wall Hangings - - - Will it Never End?"
  (June 6, 2009)
• "Human Tetris - The Video"
  (June 6, 2009)
• "Tetris: Invented in Russia (This Time, Chekov's Right)"
  (June 6, 2009)

Tetris: Invented in Russia (This Time, Chekov's Right)

Tetris is 25 years old today. Because the game is so much a part of American (and global) culture, this post will have more quotes/excerpts and links than most.

One more thing: That cryptic "Chekov" reference gets explained, near the end of this post.

Tetris: Lots of Blocks, Lots of History

Tetris
The company's own website

"Celebrating 25 Years of the Tetris Effect"

"Play Tetris Now!"

(The "Play Tetris Now!" link leads you to an opportunity to "Play a two minute free-for-all against five opponents!" Considering my game-playing skills (June 1, 2009), I passed. Looks like fun, though.)

Tetris: A Quarter-Century of Falling Blocks

"25 Years Later: Tetris still permeating game society"
WMBF (June 5, 2009)

"The game of falling puzzle pieces is celebrating a pretty impressive milestone. Fans may remember it as one of the first games on home entertainment systems, Gameboys, and now cell phones. But it has even older and harder to find roots.

"It's a cult classic that was part of an era. It's Tetris and it's turning 25. "It's falling blocks. You have to line them up. That's how you complete each row," said David Ford, owner and operator of Charleston Game Room. "It just didn't stick very long...."

"...According to Ford, so many games were released in such a short time span that eventually the quality was lacking. By the time Japan introduced a merciless showering of odd-shaped box thingies to be puzzled together, gamers were in a state of overload...."

"Harder to Find Roots?" Doesn't Everybody Know it Was Invented in Russia?

"Happy Birthday to the Greatest Game Ever - Tetris Turns 25"
Wired GeekDad (June 4, 2009)

"This month, Tetris turns 25. Let's ponder that thought for a moment. That means back in 1984 the game was created by Alexey Pajitnov while he was working at the Moscow Academy of Sciences. The cold war ended right after that. Could Tetris have meant that much to the world? Well, I'm not sure about that coincidence, but it sure meant a ton to the lot of us. I think I speak for every geek, mild gamer and well, pretty much everyone else when I say that Tetris is the greatest game ever created. So after 25 years of playing Tetris we have to take a moment to reflect on one of man's greatest gaming accomplishments.

"First, let's talk history. As we all know, a young Alexey Pajitnov created the game while working for the Moscow Academy of Sciences. If you didn't know that, I mentioned it in the previous paragraph. The rights to the game were owned at that time by the Motherland Russia herself, as it was created under a communist state...." [emphasis mine]

"Tetris Maker Looks Back at 25 Years of Falling Blocks"
PC World (June 4, 2009)

"Tetris -- possibly the most popular casual computer game of all time -- celebrates its 25th anniversary on June 6th. Its creator, Alexey Pajitnov, looked back at the phenomenon he created at this week's E3 Expo in Los Angeles...."

"...In the 1980s, Pajitnov was a mathematician specializing in AI research at a Russian university. As a hobby, he relaxed by creating games. He said that couldn't have imagined [!] the international phenomenon it would become when he designed Tetris in 1984.

"Most gamers were introduced to Tetris when it was bundled with the first Nintendo Game Boy or in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows. Pajintov's business partner, Henk Rogers, laughingly quotes a friend who commented on Pajitnov's eventual move to the U.S.: 'He went from one evil empire to another (Microsoft).'..."

"...Imitation is the sincerest (and most lucrative) form of flattery

"Tetris has also been the victim of both piracy and imitation that too often has crossed the line to outright plagiarism. From the get-go, there were significant licensing issues related to Tetris, as Intellectual Property (IP) was very hard to defend in the Soviet Union.

"By 1996, Pajitnov and Rogers entered into a partnership to manage and license the game -- The Tetris Company. They now own the full rights to the game, and will vigorously defend it against interlopers who are engaged in outright Tetris-related fraud or plagiarism...." [emphasis mine]

Invented in Russia? I remember Chekov

"Interview with Henk Rogers, video game visionary, on saving the planet"
VentureBeat (April 22, 2008)

"Henk Rogers is an entrepreneur who knows how to hustle. You can thank him as the man who introduced Tetris to the Western hemisphere...."

"...In 1988, he saw a video game called 'Tetris' at a Las Vegas trade show. He discovered it was being distributed under a master license which wasn't being honored....His success in securing the rights to Tetris helped Nintendo beat Atari in the console wars. At the same time, Rogers helped the game's Russian inventor, Alexey Pajitnov, move to the United States. In 1996, the rights for Tetris reverted to Pajitnov. Rogers moved from Japan to Hawaii, where he founded Blue Planet Software to manage the intellectual property rights for Tetris. He also founded Blue Lava Wireless in 2002 to develop mobile gaming software. In 2005, he scored big as he sold Blue Lava and the Tetris rights to Jamdat for $137 million. (Jamdat has since been acquired by Electronic Arts.)..."

The VentureBeat article helped me understand why WMBF's reporter was cautious about giving Alexey Pajitnov credit for inventing Tetris. I remember the mid-eighties, when Tetris and tetroid games started making the rounds, and some of the discussions over who developed in and who ripped off what from whom.

After a while, word got around that Tetris had been invented in Russia. And, it looks like it was.

Still, a history of the rights - real and pirated - to Tetris are such a tangled mess, that I can't blame a reporter for not trying to sort it all out - and still make deadline.

Tetris, Chekov, and Quadrotriticale

I told you I'd get back to Chekov.

I was born in the Truman administration, so I've seen a change here and there in American - and global - cultures. There was a period when it seemed that everything was invented in Russia: according to one circle of acquaintances. Other people were equally convinced that everything was invented in America, so is sort of evened out.

The original "Star Trek" series picked up on that cultural oddity form time to time, giving Ensign Chekov some memorable lines. One of my favorites is from "The Trouble With Tribbles." The scene is Station K7's bar:

KIRK: (shows Chekov the packet of wheat) Mister Chekov, what do you make of this?
CHEKOV: Oh, quadrotriticale. I've read about this, but I've never seen any before.
KIRK: Does everybody know about this wheat but me?
CHEKOV: Not everyone, Captain. It's a Russian invention.
"The Trouble With Tribbles" (original air date December 29, 1967) The Star Trek Transcripts

In the case of Tetris, it looks like the inventor really is from Russia, and developed this enduringly popular game while living in his homeland. It's nice to see a case where an inventor, author, or artist, gets rewarded - or at least recognized - for his or her work.

Dots: a Simple Game That May be Harder Than it Looks

Dots
Athey Educational, U.K.

"Connect the dots and try to make more boxes than the computer."

I lost my first game, 49-0.

"Dots" is, as far as I can tell, the same as a pencil-and-paper game my wife taught our kids. I asked her, just now, what it was called. She shrugged her shoulders and told me it was "a dot-to-dot game," but she didn't have a name for it.

Despite my first encounter's outcome, I think this Dots game is fun.

Peta Protests on World of Warcraft - I am Not Making This Up

"Animal rights protests reach Warcraft's world"
Yahoo! Games (April 7, 2009)

"In its latest attempt to stop Canadian seal clubbing, animal rights organization PETA is taking its protests to new shores.

"Specifically, PETA's planning a gathering in the icy northern kingdom of the world's biggest online game, World of Warcraft, where a team of four seal killers is apparently clubbing their way through the continent's baby animal population.

" 'Anyone who slaughters baby seals for their fur must surely be in service to the evil Lich King,' said PETA on a Facebook page set up to publicize the gathering, referencing one of Warcraft's key bad guys...."

The evil Lich King is a fictional character, by the way.

"PETA Invading World of Warcraft to Prevent Clubbing of Baby Seals"
MAXIMUMPC (April 8, 2009)

"PETA has decided – in a nutshell – to grief a bunch of WoW players because they’ve taken to bonking adorable-ish piles of pixels with equally imaginary weapons. Can we do Mac users next?

" 'That's right, gamers, get ready: This Saturday, World of Warcraft (WoW) players will have the opportunity to combat a team of four Horde seal killers. We need your help to stop them from bashing in the heads of any more seals!” reads a post on PETA's blog.

" 'Activists from across the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are banding together to put a stop to the atrocious seal slaughter. Anyone who slaughters baby seals for their fur must surely be in service to the evil Lich King.'..."

Again, the evil Lich King is fictional, and the World of Warcraft is an online game - presumably PETA people know this, and are simply following the teachings of Captain Planet.

Interestingly, a post at eurogamer.net got pulled down some time in the last two days. There could be perfectly good technical or procedural reasons: but I wonder if the eurogamer folks didn't realize that PETA was making a fool of itself - and wanted to limit the damage.

I think fur seals are cute, by the way, and all that: but come on, let's keep at least a toe or two in the real world.

---

Thanks to #1 daughter, for providing the links - along with "Just when you thought they couldn't get any weirder...".

Now there are Two "Heroes of the Hudson"

Now there are two "Heroes of the Hudson" - US Airways pilot Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger and an online video game. The online game lets players save the lives of everyone on an airliner, and be a hero.

And some people feel that it's - you guessed it - "offensive."

From today's Sky News article:

"Outcry Over 'Hero Of Hudson' Game"
Sky News via Yahoo! News (January 31, 2009)

"Web-users have been given the chance to become the 'Hero of the Hudson' - but some have branded the online game as 'offensive'.

"US Airways pilot Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger's heroic splash landing into the River Hudson earlier this month saved dozens of lives and was heralded as a miracle.

"Now a team of developers has created an online video game that lets users try their hand at his landing...."

Yesterday, Sky News posted:

"Be Your Own 'Hero Of The Hudson' "
Sky News via Yahoo! News (January 30, 2009)

"Web-users have been given the chance to become the 'Hero of the Hudson'....

"...But the new game has had a mixed response online.

One blogger comments: "The game is about as primitive as you can get.

"Most of the comments below the game hit it on the head. It's boring, stupid and offensive."

Yet it is spreading fast across the web and has already been played by several thousand people."

I wanted to check out the game, at tastyplay.com, but all I got was a "This Account Has Exceeded Its CPU Quota" notice. Looks like quite a few people are about as insensitive as I am.

"Offensive?" Seriously?

I don't know whether the people who think that "Hero of the Hudson" is offensive because they think it

• Is boring, primitive, and stupid
• Celebrates heroic acts
• Will cause mental anguish and emotional pain (or is that mental pain and emotional anguish?) to the survivors
• Exploits Jennifer Hudson

Whatever the reason, a whole lot of other people enjoyed it. As for the chronically-offended, that's a matter for another post.

---

I ran across some of these pages while doing research and Web surfing recently. In the interests of bringing these gems from the wonderfully weird world of human nature to your attention, I wrote this post, and "Remember Political Correctness? - Superperson, Dicjanetionaries, and an Article in a Processed Tree Carcass" (January 31, 2009).

Enjoy.

Mabinogi: Another Online Game, and a Wonderful Time-Waster

Mabinogi
a Nexon online game

My daughters introduced this game to me. It's another of those 'massive multi-player' online games. Mabinogi lets players operate characters in a fantasy world that's rather like late-medieval Europe, except with magic and seriously over-sized spiders. Other monsters too, I understand.

It isn't a simple hack-and-slash: characters can fish, go to school, and (I understand) develop a moderately rich set of skills. Just to see what it's like, I loaded it (all 800 megabytes!) on my computer today, and got a character started.

In the process, I learned that I'll have to be careful about playing it: It's entirely too much fun - and has the potential for taking up huge tracts of time.

I play Runescape, another MMP game, from time to time. The big difference I see at this point is that Mabinogi has much more detailed graphics.

And a larger footprint on your hard drive.

Still, it's fun.

One more thing: there's a free version (that's what I played with today), and a not-so-free version. Also quite a few opportunities to spend (real) money.

Finally, I'm told that the dialogs and descriptions were originally written in Korean. The translations are quite understandable - but I suspect that some Korean idioms were translated word-for-word into English. An example: one character has a helmet that covers his face "up to his nose." The illustration shows a chap with a helmet that lets you see his mouth and chin, but not his nose, eyes, forehead, or hair.

The linguistic oddities haven't gotten in the way of playing the game, though.

Finally, my son is looking forward to being thirteen. One of the many reasons is that players of this game must be 13 or older.

Video Games, the Great Depression, and Monopoly: Yes, There is a Connection

"Recession's On, Game Sales Up: Let the Bad Times Roll!"
Starting a Small Business Without Losing My Mind (December 14, 2008)

"There's a lesson to be learned here: "November video game sales near $3 billion" (Associated Press (December 12, 2008)). That's up about 10% from last year at this time.

"Not bad for an economy in crisis...."

I'm reviewing one of my own blog posts again: but this one might actually be worth reading.

The point is that, although there really is a global economic crisis going on, and the American automotive industry isn't what it was in the fifties, there are some bright spots.

What I find personally frustrating is that I don't have much background in designing video games, and nothing in the works. Still, there's got to be some way to help people deal with a less-than-perky economy.

So, You Think You Know About Monopoly?

"Monopoly History" tells more about the history of Monopoly than you probably knew: including what the game was, before it got called "Monopoly."

Pinball: WALL-E Style

WALL-E Pinball
Disney/Pixar

It's fun, it's free, and if you play you'll be encouraged to buy the DVD or BlueRay Hi-Def version. But you won't have to.

The background music is likely to drive you nuts, if you sit and do nothing: but who'd play a pinball game that way? There are enough clicks, pings, whooshes, and other sounds set off by things on the table to keep the game acoustically interesting.

I thought there were enough chutes and targets to keep the play interesting: but I'm no pinball wizard.

And, WALL-E is in the sidebar, folded into a box. He unfolds himself when you play, and packs up again when the game is over. Cute, as is just about everything WALL-E does.

The "Visit the Official Site" button didn't work on my computer, but maybe this widget will get you there. I'm told there's another game, involving scrap, I think, that's fun, too.



I've posted about WALL-E's Web page before:

• "WALL-E: 'It's the Seven Hundredth Anniversary of Our Five-Year Cruise' "
  (June 29, 2008)

RuneScape: Higher Definition, More Buildings, More Features

I wrote a post about RuneScape last year ("Another Entertaining Time-Waster " (November 1, 2007)). The massive online adventure game is still around. It still lets players have their characters learn to fish, cook, chop wood, and several other skills: as well as the usual hack-and-slash.

RuneScape made a massive upgrade available to the public this week. The graphics are greatly improved: mostly a matter of higher definition, as they've pointed out, with a few added features. There's now something called an Achievement Diary, to help players keep track of what their characters have been up to.

Lumbridge, the town that each character starts out in, has a few new buildings, some old ones that have been moved, and a few new citizens.

RuneScape is fun. And, as I cautioned before, "I recommend that you set an alarm clock before you start playing."

Music Video, Featuring Runescape Player Characters

"Teh Last 0ne [RSMV] - Saving Me - Nickelback"
Youtube (June 12, 2008)

video 2:25

This imaginative music video features settings and characters from the massive online adventure game Runescape.

Enjoy!

Quests: An Observation for RPG Players

"World of Warcraft - Screenshot Gallery Image 2 of 11"

This is a bit of an in-joke for RPG (Role Playing Game) players.