The Gamer’s Quagmire #9: Why The World Needs GTA
The Gamer’s Quagmire: 9th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo
Gaming, humor, and insanity in harmony
Ever since Grand Theft Auto: Vice City became a smashing success the media and several special interest groups have started pounding on the franchise in the hopes that they would have an impact and further their cause. Lawyers have tried to make careers out of taking down such a powerhouse gaming franchise. Part of what makes me such an intrinsic video game fan is that video games are viewed so negatively by many of those people who consider themselves to be part of the American mainstream culture. It is this same feeling that enamors fans of comic books and skateboarding to their hobbies that much more. All of the true fans of these activities were drawn to them because they were fun and no other reason. Those who attack these activities only make the bonds to these activities stronger.
What makes my attachment to video games so strong is that as an introverted kid at school, while I did have enough friends, video games were a way for me to entertain myself when I wanted to be alone. Video games were a way for me to use and feed my imagination. Video games allowed me to experience a story, universe, or event when I wanted to see it instead of waiting for it to be scheduled on television or at some location in my hometown (playing tennis whenever I wanted to was a fantastic feeling). The fact that I was a computer geek only heightened my fascination with these games and the technology around them. The Atari 2600 was there for me during some very impressionable years of my life. Once my parents did me the immeasurable favor of purchasing that system and spent time playing games with me I became a lifetime fan of video games (not to mention gaining yet another level of respect for my parents).
For these reasons and more, when people attack video games I tend to take the attacks personally. When people around me state their disdain for them from a distant point of view, usually citing the worst examples of video games, it annoys me. When lawyers attack video games through lawsuits it angers me, aside for the same reason, because they are attempting to take advantage of a tragedy for professional gain. When politicians attack video games it infuriates me because they are doing it to advance their political agenda. It is quite common to hear people whine and rant about video games while being completely removed from what some of the best video games can do for people. It is easy to attack ideas you do not take the time to understand. Disdain born out of ignorance is a major problem.
Of course not everybody wants to do something about video games because it may advance their own career- some people do have pure and strong personal reasons for attacking video games. I was making a gross generalization, so at least I know that. When you have personal accounts that lead to such feelings that’s fine, but attacking an industry as a whole is never justified. If you want to blame GTA, Lineage, Warcraft III, or any other game for causing a personal tragedy then go right ahead. Don’t drag down the whole industry with those thoughts. Go on record for stating that Mario is evil and expect a slew of parents to get upset over this (believe it or not there a plethora of parents that like playing Mario games with their kids because those games are fun and accessible). Go on record and state that DDR is evil and get ready for people attempting to lose weight upset at you (I’m not even kidding- playing that game can help you achieve that).
I do not have the time or the inclination to play every game that people like to attack, but sometimes just being a fan of video games is enough to draw ridicule from some people. I am not asking for a reprieve from these attacks and I am not even asking for the PSP (or even, ugh, cellular phones) to help bring a larger acceptance of video games into society. Just like a sports fan loves to debate and argue over their team and players, which is another one of my fun hobbies, I love to argue about video games with people. Sometimes it is impossible convince another person why they are foolishly ignorant in their dislike or disdain for video games. That’s okay. The fun is in that I know I can go on for hours about all the good things about video games and all the different examples that make certain games something far more than entertainment is enough. This is one of those cases where the value of the journey vastly outweighs the outcome.
By the now the message should be pretty clear- I love video games and always will. Even if two playable games come out in one calendar year I will still play them, love them, and wait for more good games the next year. Even if the industry is bloated, even if the industry is corrupted, and even if the industry is too conservative there are still plenty of games that provide a good amount of entertainment. They are a great source of entertainment, a creative outlet, and a place where I can be myself and ignore the world. It is not as tranquil as fishing but it works.
The reason I bring this up this week is because this past week has provided the perfect opportunity to explain why GTA is good for society. Anyone who has had to deal with car insurance nightmares will understand where I am coming from. After hours of battling with insurance & DMV employees to straighten out a series of issues with driving registration, insurance, payments, companies, and licenses I needed to get away from the universe. After sitting down and meditating over which of my hundreds of video games would bring me the most pleasure I decided on GTA. Why? Easy- it is a fun game, it deals with driving, and I wanted to work out some tension and anger that had built up over the course of the day. A ‘normal’ person may have gone working out, turned up the volume on their favorite CD, played an instrument, watched a tape of a classic sports event, or just relaxed on their favorite park bench.
I decided to play a game that involved blowing up cars, running people over, shooting innocent bystanders, and breaking traffic laws in numerous ways. What can I say, Carmageddon just felt way too subdued for the frustration that had built up. Smashing traffic lights, beating up other drivers, and blowing up vehicles that cut me off with a rocket launcher has a sense of satisfaction to it. In real life I know that it would be immensely moronic for me to do this in the real world, and I knew that if I was afforded the opportunity to play a game that allowed to work out some vehicular frustration then all would be well. This is one of the many instances where video games are more than just entertainment- they can be stress relief and irony rolled into one. It is entirely possible that on a day when I get hit by some punk on a skateboard that THUG 2 is the game of choice at 6 pm. Before the Super Bowl I just may have to put in NFL2K5 and do a couple seasons in franchise mode. Just as there’s a right time and place for a certain CD, book, or movie there’s right time to play a certain game.
So go ahead, attack video games all you want. Sue as many companies as you can find and try to invent some ratings system that’s more 20 times more detailed and hypocritical than what is in place for movies. You cannot take video games away from me, and you cannot take away the need for games such as Grand Theft Auto. Video game companies do not create the demand for these violent games- the people purchasing and playing them do. Video games can be blown out of proportion but they are never given the credit they are due.
You know what? Maybe that is what makes me enjoy them as much as I do.
This article is written and copyrighted by Jamison DeLorenzo and all thoughts are solely his and do not necessarily represent anyone else’s including anyone else at this site. This is a weekly article which deals with anything and almost everything gaming. Feel free to post comments or e-mail. Thanks for reading.
Post your comments in the Forum!
January 23, 2006
The Gamer’s Quagmire #8: G4’s Obituary
The Gamer’s Quagmire: 8th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo
Gaming, humor, and insanity in harmony
Television is probably the invention that has had the most impact on our society in a long time. Certainly there are other inventions that have had dramatic effects- electricity, the integrated circuit, frozen pizza, the cellular phone, the microwave, air conditioning, plastic, the internet, sliced bread, and the kitchen sink. I am not going to sit here and debate which one of these is the most important- let’s just talk about television for a while.
On April 25, 2002, a new cable channel was launched on the G4 channel. No, this channel wasn’t solely devoted to selling Macintosh CPUs but instead devoted to video games. This was a fantastic idea because as big as the gaming industry was getting there was not a whole lot of press on television for it. Considering gamers were mostly restricted to spotlight half-hour shows here or there this was a huge event. The only problem was that you had to have a big cable package to get this channel. Like most interesting ideas it started off being really interesting and then became more stale than a year-old bagel. And for those of you wondering I have seen a year-old bagel. It is a fun experiment- just leave it in your school locker and forget about it.
Part of the overall concept that made this channel interesting was that those in charge of its programming did some innovative things- even if they weren’t smash hits. For its first week on the air G4 showed nothing but the classic game Pong. Two opposite white rectangles represent paddles and a 1×1 white square represent a ball over a black background is hardly highly entertaining viewing, but at least it showed guts and a devotion to gaming.
At the time I found this out I had been quite skeptical of this idea, but the problem is that, aside from being a cynic in general, there are very few people that would watch something like this (and I was right- cynics do love it when negative opinions pay off). For a lark you could have tossed in some sportscasters hyping up a matchup, creating fake rivalries, discussing strategy, or even throwing around fake players’ statistics to add something fresh to the these games of Pong. Sometimes all you need to grab interest in a show is a lot of hype and insane commentators. Look no further at college basketball and Dick Vitale.
Back when the channel launched I didn’t know what the angle was with the Pong marathon and to some degree I still don’t. At least there was some edge to it. Still, watching Pong for more than one day was impossible even for me. This isn’t being egotistical- you are dealing with someone who can watch billiards, golf, or bowling for hours on end, so when you fail to catch my interest with an overall slow-paced event involving a game you are doing something wrong. Then again I am not a marketing genius, so what do I know?
After getting a cable subscription and watching the shows whenever possible I was able to see some definite signs of potential. A lot of the shows weren’t spectacular but they provided hope. Gamers don’t tend to care all that much about script writing or professionalism when it comes to presenting games. We care about one thing- the games. If a show is presenting games and not getting in the way of them then, as far as I see it, the show is a success. Dulling your audience to sleep with a week’s worth of the equivalent of watching an ant push salt across your desk is not the best way to get people to watch your network (hmm, maybe it is time to give this Pong-bashing a rest).
Once the first week passed the shows were decent and they did provide gamers with what they wanted to see. There were reviews and footage of the latest games. There was advice for beating the latest and most popular games. What the channel needed to conquer was how all of this information was presented. Considering that most gamers who could get access to this channel, especially now, already had a relatively fast internet connection this network needed edge and something fresh to draw people in. Gaming in general is good but more was needed to get people to watch. That really is the main problem that the TV network must address. How is the TV programming going to give an advantage over going out and finding the information yourself? I know I’d rather go out on the web and find the information myself when I want to rather than waiting for the timeslot to appear.
The question I had asked myself is that if the programming didn’t eventually become relatively solid, if nobody started watching and the programmers don’t get paid this really isn’t going to work, is it? For a period of over two years I really wanted this network to succeed. Gaming channels do not have a good track record by any means. Those of you that remember the follies of the Sega Channel in the days of the Genesis will probably remember a whole slew of things not to do. For starters, if the platform sucks there’s no reason to give it its own TV channel. It still bothers me that a horrible gaming system was synonymous with a fantastic band (2 things which the system was not). However, despite the past track record I believe that there is a place for a gaming channel on television. If a channel can exist for nothing but game shows then why not can’t there be one for video games as well?
At one point I thought this ideal gaming channel would be G4. Things are vastly different nowadays. Over time I look at how this channel has progressed and it is enough to make a grown gamer cry. And no, I am not upset that many of my initial suggestions never took place. I was never cut out to be in charge of television programming, but at this point this channel, once involved in the gaming business, should start considering some of the following ideas:
- More than 400 hours of original game-related programming in 1 year.
- Run a special every month of a group of people playing through a 30 to 80-hour RPG.
- Don’t let David Arquette appear anywhere on the network. A bag of peanuts can tell me more about a video game (or anything else) than that idiot.
- Horrible Video Game Hour. It will run spots on classics like Daikatana, ET, Michael Jordan in the Windy City, Shaq-Fu, Independence Day, Force Commander, and other timeless classics.
- Random 5 or 10 second clips of the latest Tekken game.
- Rare footage of someone walking into a video game store and asking for an Atari Jaguar title by name.
- No commercials haplessly pimping stupid cars, such one with the ungodly phrase “the minivan with the soul of a sports car” or teenagers hanging outside the trendy box known as a Scion. I can’t believe this garbage gets air time.
- FMV Marathons. There’s almost nothing more enthralling than watching these videos. Fans of Final Fantasy and Metal Gear understand.
- Televised floggings of people responsible for really bad video games. Not only is this fun, it’s a potential deterrent as well!
and finally…
- Monthly Civilization weekend marathons.
G4 has had plenty of time to evolve. Re-working show formats, changing hosts, removing bad shows and bringing in fresh shows are all part of the evolution of a network. At this point G4TV has evolved to a large extent, only it is now no longer a gaming network. It has long since become apparent that those in charge of this network have no concept of how to manage time slots or even figure out what to do with itself. After merging with TechTV, which had some good programming and was mildly entertaining, I started to get nervous. When your ad revenue starts to dwindle it’s always best to merge two different stations right? Once a couple of my favorite shows’ format started to change I started to get nervous. Still, the shows kept coming and the programming kept changing, possibly for the better, so perhaps things were starting to turn around.
Once all of the car shows started hitting I became more nervous. The merge with TechTV wasn’t the death knell for G4 as a gaming network, but it was a harbinger. Despite extensive E4 coverage and great coverage of real video game awards, G4TV had now transformed into the low-budget premium channel knockoff of SpikeTV. G4TV’s new motto should be something like “pushing the (lower) limits of cable programming everywhere.” Thanks G4- I didn’t know that was even possible! The additions of two hit shows in Fastlane and The Man Show are another clear sign of this channel’s clear move away from gaming. Did I forget to mention that these shows are no longer on the air and that the more successful show lasted a whole 3 seasons? Always pay attention to what’s being advertised on your station, which shows are being shuffled, and where your favorite shows get shuffled to. The items indicated above were all big signs that, well, this network is dying.
Look at the similarities between SpikeTV and G4TV if you don’t believe me. Both stations revolve around cars and TNA. Both import failed shows from Fox. Both have now tried to use Star Trek to lure more viewers. Both even show video game awards (what on Earth is Samuel L. Jackson doing hosting those- does he owe someone a ton of money?). Do we really need to homogenize all networks that don’t draw in enough viewers?
At this point G4 has reduced itself to one show that’s worth watching- X-Play. Okay, Versus might be another show worth watching. These are true diamonds in the rough. Those of you that do not know about X-Play should give it a shot and pray it moves to a better station. A recent episode had a review of an extremely violent game wherein they covered up blood spatters with pictures and audio clips of kittens. This show has exactly what gamers want- games, funny commentary, honest opinions, random skits, and an unattainably hot chick.
After looking at what G4 was when it started and what it is now it is, unfortunately, time to state that this gaming network is dead. G4 is now just another garbage network with occasional gaming shows (in order words, back where we were before the network launched). Why write about this now? What was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? The ultimate sin was committed. Filter was taken off of the air. You might think I have blinders on but hear me out for a bit. Even though this show was not going to win any awards and wasn’t some masterpiece it was still a must-see for gamers. It provided everything a real male gamer wants- a ton of games and a hot Asian woman. Canceling that show, while by no means being an Earth-shattering event, is the clearest sign that the original idea behind G4TV is dead. When you change the format of a good gaming show, thusly running into the ground, and then cancel it your station is not a gaming network.
Those that are still hopelessly loyal to the station will become a part of G4TV’s continued and tragic quest to become a station in search of an identity. Once this station first came out I was so hopeful that it would succeed. As a gamer you want all-gamer networks to work out. Now it’s becoming some games, some tech, some cars, and some cancelled TNA shows. Fantastic! I hate to be the one to formally state this, but the teenage gamer segment this network seems to be aiming at is not interested in paying for premium cable to watch Bill Bellamy.
Whatever major backers this station once had will soon have to pull out because no good new programming is entering its realm. Fox survived with a Hall of Fame set of shows with The Simpsons, X-Files, and 90210 for about a decade. Whether you liked them or not they were all ratings monsters. Fox did eventually get more good programming. This is NOT happening on G4TV. Ever. This station was once a beacon as a true gaming network. Since then this original foundation is nothing more than rubble.
Whatever G4TV claims to be it is no longer about gaming. As I see it, it is no longer there. It died on the operating table. Fellow gamers, it’s time for me to state something you all need to see:
R.I.P. G4TV, 2002-2005.
This article is written and copyrighted by Jamison DeLorenzo and all thoughts are solely his and do not necessarily represent anyone else’s including anyone else at this site. This is a weekly article which deals with anything and almost everything gaming. Feel free to post comments or e-mail. Thanks for reading.
Post your comments in the Forum!
January 16, 2006
The Gamer’s Quagmire #7: Zombies Have Seizures Too
The Gamer’s Quagmire: 7th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo
Gaming, humor, and insanity in harmony
With all of the hoopla about parents knowing what their kids are playing and recent lobbying for stricter ESRB ratings you need to would think that people would starting paying attention. Knee-jerk reactions are quite popular. Still, once again we have another documented case of parents failing to pay attention to their own kids and video games are under attack once more. Only this time we have Resident Evil 4 being the newest game of choice. This had to happen eventually with this game though. I’m honestly surprised it took this long for such a popular and successful horror game to be the victim of another lame attack in the press.
The gist of the article is that an 11 year-old kid suffered a photosensitive epileptic attack as a result of playing this game, at which point the parents, also teachers, claimed that the game did not come with enough warnings about how violent the game is. Folks, this is what really, really irritates me about society. The parents have the gall to state that the dangers of the game were not made clear despite:
The game’s classification as a horror game
- The trigger word “Evil” in the title
- The violent images on the game’s box (including a chainsaw)
- The official rating of 15+ years of age
- The manual stating the game can cause seizures or trigger an epileptic response
Before we even rehash the game warning argument for the 7 billionth time, something needs to be made clear. Violence and photosensitive seizures are not related. I know- I’m asking you to know what photosensitive means even if you can’t understand what a rating a box means. I am not claiming to be a certified medical practitioner, but there are plenty of medical websites that explain all of this in excruciating detail. These types of seizures are caused by specific patterns of colors reacting in a certain way to an individual. Epilepsy existed long before video games, or are we now altering history to attack video games again? It is possible that the violent imagery triggered some minor trauma, but it didn’t trigger epilepsy.
Far be it from the news article to do some medical research and state this fact. Attacking video games in the media is the newest fad, just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock (in a cave, on Mars, with your finger in your ears) for the past five years. Entertainment industries attacking each other is far from out of the ordinary. The movie industry when it first started out was under fire from established entertainment forums such as radio and theater. Following this notion, the article proudly states that prolonged exposure to video games increases the risk of the photosensitive epilepsy. Well, duh! Prolonged exposure to television, movies, laser shows, disco balls, flashlights, streaming confetti, lit airport runways, and sock puppet parades all do the same thing too.
What’s funny is that scientists are given money to link video games and violence… and now medical conditions too. You can administer all the studies you want that show that video games can trigger this response. Your eyes and brain don’t care what the source of all the colors they are interpreting is. Different people react to patterns of light differently than others- it is no accident that warnings use the phrasing “may cause seizure.” You can raise the volume of your speakers and blow out a patient’s eardrums to the sounds of machine gun fire and blood spatter all you want. Aside from obvious legal repercussions you cannot prove anything more than that a high volume of sound wave destroyed someone’s ability to hear.
Do you want to know how I’m such an expert in this area? Here is my startling secret- I spent 15 minutes reading about the disorder. I even had a relatively quick conversation with a friend who works as a physician. Teams of professional journalists and editors at trusted news sources, however, are far too busy to deal with such complicated tasks as research. Again, nobody is asking for a full 200 page report based on months of studying sacred scrolls locked away in a vault. At least the article manages to point out that, via an expert at the National Society for Epilepsy, that age has nothing to do with this type of epileptic response. Still, misleading readers with your version of the truth is nothing more than yellow journalism, even it may come from somewhere outside the United States.
Which reminds me- my hamster cage needs some fresh newspaper.
What’s perplexing is that game manuals do have the epileptic response warning- even for non-violent games (such as racing games). And they aren’t some hidden little message in 4-point font either. This is nowhere near being the first incident involving video games and this type of reaction. These warnings don’t find their ways into game manuals for no reason, so if people missed the warning then it is high time to actually (it needs to be said again) pay attention to what your kids are doing… even if it means reading. This makes you wonder if anybody reads anything at all. Do people have any idea what the 200 different signatures you have to give for buying a house or car are even for? You could probably slip in a clause about handing over your first-born child and nobody would even notice.
Look, I am not some unsympathetic cynic despite how this sounds. There are plenty of instances where game store employees lie about the content of a game to get a sale, such as pimping GTA to an 8 year-old kid and his father and stating that it’s about the same as Simpsons Hit & Run (no, that is not a made-up story). There is, however, a point where you need to sit down and read something. I know it’s inconvenient and it takes away from valuable TV and cellular phone conversation time but it does need to be done. These are the same people that whine about their mechanic ripping them off for years. If you don’t read once in a while your ability to comprehend basic English, whatever skill level you had when you graduated school (if you even were able to graduate) goes downhill really fast.
Nobody is asking you to read the unabridged IRS tax code and file your income tax return without a computer here. This concept of reading about a game is in no way more complicated than studying an itemized bill at a restaurant. If you can’t figure out the age rating of a game (it is written in number form in case you are confused), if you can’t read warning messages, and if you can’t decipher graphics that all point to a game being violent then you failed the genetic fitness test and it’s time to turn yourself into the local gene pool.
That’s not too harsh, is it?
Aside from parents not being able to decode the ancient hieroglyphics on the box or even being involved in the son’s life we have a math teacher that managed to state on record that the game needs to come with more warnings. For the record we have a math teacher stating that the “for ages 15+” on the box was not clear. How does a professional math teacher with an inability to decipher numbers hold a job? Does this mean that math teachers have the most secure jobs in the planet? If a math teacher can’t figure out that 11 < 15 (eleven is less than fifteen) then what, prae tell, education can a math teacher provide?
Perhaps it isn’t a matter of education or reading ability but a matter of grabbing a person’s attention. So the question is how much warning is needed? If a game with the word evil in the title, the front cover showing a man holding a gun, the 15+ age restriction label, the horror classification and the violent imagery on the back of the box all aren’t enough then what is needed? One idea is that the bottom half of the front of the box is nothing more than a giant number displaying the minimum age required to play the game. Game boxes could come with something you press which causes a speaker to state the age requirements. Perhaps we need boxes that when you pick them up, perhaps based on a fingerprint, displays on an electronic screen a creative message stating whether you are allowed to buy the game (something along the lines of “put the box down, you already tried to sue our company- you negligent monster).
Whatever happens with the warnings one thing is for certain- my patience only goes so far. This time, for the first time, we have an article that prints out the profession of the parents. When teachers fail to notice numerous warning sign, whether they knew that this has been the most successful game in the horror genre for months on end or not, then perhaps it is time for a different brand of justice- let’s call it Darwinian. All of their educational degrees need to be revoked, their right to raise children needs to be removed, and are henceforth put back into 9th grade until they are able to pass high school English.
Baseless claims like the ones these parents made are akin to claiming that the movie Saw was too scary and you had no notice before watching it on DVD. This is 31 flavors of ridiculous. Do you need neon signs flashing in front of your face to get the message? I have an important message, and despite how strongly I feel I’m still going to resist putting it in blinking HTML format (which is almost the only thing warnings on boxes do not provide)- <strong>learn how to read</strong>.
Oh yeah, and after all of this rambling I perhaps failed to mention the most important thing: Resident Evil 4 is a great game. And just like any other game, the odds that it will give you a seizure about the same as any other moving scene that you happen to, um, look at.
This article is written and copyrighted by Jamison DeLorenzo and all thoughts are solely his and do not necessarily represent anyone else’s including anyone else at this site. This is a weekly article which deals with anything and almost everything gaming. Feel free to post comments or e-mail. Thanks for reading.
Post your comments in the Forum!
January 11, 2006
On The Shelf This Week – 01.11.06
ON THE SHELF THIS WEEK
by Craig Reade
DARK HORSE
Order any of the below titles by clicking here!
Star Wars Republic #81, $2.99. Written by John Ostrander, Art by Jan Duursema. This series looks to be wrapping up about as brutally as you might expect it would. Of course, this takes place during the events of Revenge of the Sith, and the order to exterminate the Jedi has been given. All will die, but how will it happen? It isn’t too often that you actually expect all of the characters in a loved comic to be slaughtered. That being the case here, it really opens up the doors for some interesting storytelling. 32 Pages.
DC COMICS
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100 Bullets #68, $2.75. Written by Brian Azzarello; Art by Eduardo Risso. Unfortunately, this title really has become like Lucifer in a lot of respects. It could be good, if you have been reading it since issue #1, but it has become almost impenetrable to the new reader. Like Lucifer, it also has a definite end sometime in the future, but that doesn’t look like it will happen for another 3 years or so. Hopefully Azzarello has enough story to keep his existing readers onboard for the whole run, because the pool of potential new readers for 100 Bullets just gets smaller every month. 32 Pages.
Batman Hush Returns TPB, $12.99. Written by A.J. Lieberman, Art by Barrionuevo, Javier Pina, Francis Portela, Jimmy Palmiotti and Bit. Hush has been an almost constant fixture in Lieberman’s run on Gotham Knights – this trade is where he first made his return. Collects Gotham Knights #50-55 and #56. The story was extremely typical of Lieberman’s different portrayal of Batman’s usual gallery of villains, so if that wasn’t to your taste (you might recall his short stint on Harley Quinn some time back), you might want to pass on this trade. But if you are a fan of his work, you should pick this book up because you will enjoy it. 208 Pages.
Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight #199, $2.50. Written by Will Pfeifer, Art and cover by Chris Weston. The end of Gotham Knights has been announced, but this title is still going strong. It is even set to double ship in March! It may be possible that the new “Batman: Classified/Confidential” title is just going to be this book with a new title – it certainly already has the same focus. This issue is the last of Pfiefer’s arc, next month will be a one shot from Eddie Campbell, Darren White, and Bart Sears. 32 Pages.
Batman Strikes #17, $2.25. Written by Bill Matheny, Art by Christopher Jones and Terry Beatty. Still going strong, and actually developing something of a fan base. Shocking! This Batman still can’t hold a candle to the Animated Series, and the introduction of Batgirl Strikes this month is just another example of the really odd art style that doesn’t work for me. Batman Strikes does deserve a bit of credit though – it is far and away closer to being Batman than Miller’s portrayal in All Star Batman. Way, way, way better of a Batman. 32 Pages.
Captain Atom Armageddon #4 (Of 9), $2.99. Written by Will Pfeifer, Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Sandra Hope. Looks like these Wildstorm/DC Crossover books are actually doing a lot of good for the universe. The Majestic mini really revitalized that character, and this Captain Atom mini is going a lot to take that one step further. It might be possible still to track down the first three issue of this series. If you can, it would be worth it to do so, instead of waiting for the trade. This is turning out to be about as good as expected. Of course, Pfeifer is writing it, so what do you expect? 32 Pages.
Danger Girl Back In Black #3 (Of 4), $2.99. Written by Andy Hartnell; Art by Nick Bradshaw. Over the halfway point, and this newest Danger Girl mini is about what you would expect from a Danger Girl book – and that’s a good thing. A big draw for Danger Girl has always been the eye-candy art. And while Bradshaw certainly has a less… detailed style that Campbell did, he is doing a more than adequate job with this book. This series has been a fun read this far. 32 Pages.
Desolation Jones #5, $2.99. Written by Warren Ellis; Art and cover by J.H. Williams III. One of Ellis’s biggest strengths as a writer has to be his characters. This has contributed to some overly drawn out stories, but even when he is at his worst with a dry-as-a-bone story, the characters are always compelling. The plot it a good deal more interesting on this book, but the outstanding characterization is still present. A well written title and thus far a very good read. 32 Pages.
DMZ #3, $2.99. Written by Brian Wood; Art by Wood & Riccardo Burchielli. So far so good for Brian Wood’s new Vertigo effort. This title had the potential to go either way, but it looks like they are churning out a pretty good story. And the non hardcore Wood fans are saying this too, so the book may just have merit. A lot of Vertigo books are winding down in the coming months, this might be a good book to hop aboard to patch that hole in your pull list. It isn’t too late to start, thought this issue is the last in the first story arc. Check it out before it goes on too much longer! 32 Pages.
Elfquest The Discovery #1 (Of 4), $3.99. Written by Richard and Wendy Pini, Art by Wendy. A brand new Elfquest! Elfquest isn’t my thing, personally, but it has a lot of fans. And a new installment of Elfquest, to them, is as important as a new Hellboy to Mignola fans. Cause for celebration. Here’s to hoping the Pinis deliver on this one! 40 Pages.
Fables #45, $2.75. Written by Bill Willingham; Art by Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha. Fables is another title where it is almost getting pointless for me to write anything about it. It is one of the top five books on the market, period. It has some history now, but with some patience it is still extremely accessible to new readers. If you still haven’t tried this title, wait until next month, and pick up a copy of issue #46 (this month is the final issue of a story arc, not the best place to start). You owe it to yourself to try this title. 32 Pages.
Green Arrow #58, $2.50. Written by Judd Winick, Art by Ron Garney and Bill Reinhold. Not quite as much of a “holding pattern” for Green Arrow as there is for the Bat books going into OYL. Winick will still be writing it after issue 60, but will be inheriting a different art team. So ongoing fans of the book won’t need to worry about too drastic a change here. On the other hand, if you were never a fan of Winick’s work, there won’t be a time to jump back on again any time soon. 32 Pages.
Hawkman #48, $2.50. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, Art by Chris Batista and Cam Smith. Anyone who is snidely commenting about DC now getting on the reboot bandwagon with some major books just needs to look at this to see just how wrong they are. If there was ever a title that called for a new #1, it is Hawkman. At issue #50, there will be a new writing team. A new focus. A new main character. And a new TITLE. Why isn’t it a new #1? It is a totally different book! This would never, ever happen at Marvel. 32 Pages.
JLA #124, $2.50. Written by Bob Harras; Art by Tom Derenick and Dan Green. We are starting to get glimpses of what the new Justice League series is going to be like, and it is looking a lot like the Justice League Unlimited cartoon! And that is an extremely good thing! One similarity I find interesting about the rumored makeup of the team is how similar it seems to the Old Avengers. A large membership made up of upper and lower tier characters, many of which only pop up when needed (reserve members?). A lot of buzz came from Marvel JLA-ing the Avengers, I wonder if I am alone in thinking DC is now doing the reverse here? 32 Pages.
JLA Classified Cold Steel #2 (Of 2), $5.99 By Christopher Moeller. Seriously. Whoever thought that the JLA as the Power Rangers was a good idea… well, I’ll be nicer than that. I rank this right up there with Mega Morphs. It doesn’t even matter how well Moeller pulls this story off, you can’t look at the cover without cracking a smile. The idea is just plain too silly. 32 Pages.
Scooby Doo #104, $2.25. Written by John Rozum, Art by Joe Staton, Robert Pope and Horacio Ottolini. Seems like I say the same thing month in and out about Scooby Doo, but it never changes. Sometimes, that is nice to see. The solicits don’t mention activity pages in the back anymore, though. Hopefully they haven’t been taken out!!! 32 Pages.
Seven Soldiers Of Victory Vol 1 TPB, $14.99. Written by Grant Morrison; Art by J.H. Williams III, Simone Bianchi, Cameron Stewart, Ryan Sook and Mick Gray and Frazer Irving. Say what you will about Grant Morrison, and say what you will about the disaster the #0 issue of this event was, he is producing one heck of a compelling story with Seven Soldiers. It was timed pretty poorly, tough to compete with the Countdown minis and Infinite Crisis, but it is worth a second chance in the trade format. This will be the first of four volumes – be on the lookout for it if you aren’t getting the individual issues. 224 Pages.
Wildcats Nemesis #5 (Of 9), $2.99. Written by Robbie Morrison, Art by Talent Caldwell. I keep hearing that Wildcats is going to be redone and relaunched soon, in the spirit of the new Majestic series. We can only hope – this mini screams “Old” Wildstorm. While that is good for the longtime Wildcats fan, it really could be better for the rest of us who are primed for a new take on the universe. Plus this one seems like it has been coming out forever to only be at issue 5. 32 Pages.
IMAGE
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Amazing Joy Buzzards Vol 2 #4, $2.99. Written by Mark Smith, Art by Dan Hipp. Ah, the wacky misadventures of a roving rock and roll band whose manager just happens to be a CIA agent. How these two ever thought this concept would work in a comic, and managed to pull it off to boot is beyond me. A fun comic, well worth a shot if you are looking for something a little lighter. 32 Pages.
Small Gods #12, $2.99. Written by Jason Rand, Art by Juan E. Ferreyra. Well, this was the last issue. But now it isn’t! Well, kind of. In March Small Gods will return as a two issue mini, and hopefully there will be enough interest there to get this bad boy back as an ongoing. When a great book doesn’t get enough sales at Image to make it as an ongoing, you know that just enough people aren’t bothering to give it a chance. Pick up this issue and the two issue mini – a three issue investment can’t hurt! See what the big deal is about. 32 Pages.
MARVEL
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Ares #1 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Michael Oeming, Art by Travel Foreman. This is a great series for anyone who enjoyed Oeming on Thor or Beta Ray Bill. He seems to have a real handle on Marvel’s pantheon characters, and should do well with Ares. Hercules fans should pick this series up as well, as he will almost certainly play a part in this book. A potential sleeper here, a good one to look out for. 32 Pages.
Book Of Lost Souls #4, $2.99. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Art by Colleen Doran. This book really is Doran’s show if you ask me. Straczynski fans might beg to differ, but the real strength of this book is the art. The ads are still something of a problem, but that really something you can expect to change overnight. Hopefully this book will lead to more mainstream work for Doran – she is doing an outstanding job here. 32 Pages.
Cable Deadpool #24, $2.99. Written by Fabian Nicieza, Art by Patrick Zircher. This title has to be the most improved book of 2005. That is especially noteworthy because the creative team hasn’t changed! Something just clicked for Zircher and Nicieza. Zircher’s art was always decent, but he really came into his own on this book and has been consistently excellent for the past few arcs. Nicieza’s stories started out lukewarm, dipped a bit, and then suddenly hit their stride and have been entertaining and exciting, and very true to what the characters have become. I haven’t ever done an “Award Show” column, but if I were to, this book would be a shoe-in for a statue. This team deserves nothing but praise for what they accomplished last year. Hopefully they keep it up! 32 Pages.
Daughters Of The Dragon #1 (Of 6), $2.99. Written by Justin Gray, Art by Khari Evans. This series could be really fun, and is another potential Marvel sleeper this week. This duo has been around since the 70s, if my Marvel history is accurate, and will be unfamiliar to a lot of readers today. Expect lots of Martial Arts Action and hopefully some cheese ball levity. If it is done right, that is! Don’t be shy with this one. 32 Pages.
Exiles #75, $2.99. Written by Tony Bedard, Art by James Calafiore. 2099 fans aught to pick up Exiles this month and next. #75 starts a new 2 part story “World Tour 2099″ where you can expect all of your favorite 2099 characters to at least get a mention. Boy, between this and the New Universe, Marvel has been bringing all of the alternate realities out of storage this past year! 32 Pages.
Ghost Rider #5 (Of 6), $2.99. Written by Garth Ennis, Art by Clayton Crain. This series just seemed to fall flat on Marvel, and actually seemed to be something of a disappointment to fans of the character. At least, the fans aren’t talking about this series at all anymore that I have seen, and that is never a good sign. The movie has also been pushed back last I heard, which probably means we will get another Ghost Rider mini closer to its new release date. That is something for the fans to look foreword to, and a definite second chance for Marvel. 32 Pages.
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #8, $2.50. Written by Jeff Parker, Art by Manuel Garcia. Lockjaw! Man, the great things about the Marvel Adventures books is some of the classic characters that pop up. If you haven’t guessed, he does make an appearance this month, taking the Fantastic Four on an unintentional tour of the universe. One thing I haven’t quite figured out is if these stories are re-imaginings of the classic issues like the Marvel Age books were. If so, it would be nice if they mentioned that! Credit where credit is due, and all. 32 Pages.
Marvel Knights 4 Vol 4 Impossible Things Happen Every Day TPB, $14.99. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Art by Valentine De Landro. It is pretty rare that you get four actual stories in a six issue trade. While the industry does have a long way to go in cutting back on these epic story arcs, you can’t deny that progress wasn’t made in 2005. There was once a time were every title did six issue arcs back to back, almost cookie-cutter! In any case, this trade collects 4 #19-24, and features guest appearances by characters like Mr. Impossible and She-Hulk. 144 Pages.
New X-Men #22, $2.99. Written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, Art by Mark Brooks and Jaime Mendoza. Hate to say it, but it looks like my comments about this book were prophetic. The departure of Weir and DeFilippis has proven to be of real harm to this title, and it is slowly blending in with the rest of the X-Men sludge that has been coming out lately. When the most interesting debate about a title is the first name of one of the lead characters (X-23), it is clear that the story just isn’t doing it. This title was probably the most painful casualty of House of M. 32 Pages.
She-Hulk 2 #4, $2.99. Written by Dan Slott, Art by Scot Kollins. The continuity monster bites She-Hulk! This single issue story harkens back to the Search for She-Hulk story, where Jennifer seeks to atone for the damage she caused that the Hulk took the blame for. Have I mentioned that Slott is far and away the best thing Marvel has going for it this week yet? If not, I should do so here. 32 Pages.
Son Of M #2 (Of 6), $2.99. Written by David Hine, Art by Roy Allan Martinez. If anything should come out of this series, it will be the developing of Quicksilver into a seriously sound character. Thus far it just seems like a selfish brat’s story, but it could turn into a lot more. And since there are six issues to work with, I am hoping that I can count on it being way more important than that. 32 Pages.
Spider-Man Vs Silver Sable Vol 1 TPB, $15.99. Written by Tom DeFalco and Peter David. Art by Ron Frenz, Brett Breeding, Alan Kupperberg, and Rick Leonardi. Silver Sable is popping up a lot in Ultimate Spider-Man, so why not show the confrontations between and the team-ups involving the originals? This trade collects Amazing Spider-Man #265 and 279-281 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #128-129. A decent blast from the past. 144 Pages.
Ultimate Extinction #1 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Brandon Peterson. The event some fans of the Ultimate Universe have been waiting for – personally, the first series of this “Trilogy,” Ultimate Nightmare, was too hard to get through. I didn’t even make it to the second. Ellis fans will revolt at that, but boy was the story boring! It will be interesting to see the big guy finally in the Ultimate Universe. It just would have been nice to have a more compelling story to go with it! 32 Pages.
Ultimate X-Men #66, $2.50. Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Tom Raney! Kirkman! This book better not make Walking Dead and Invincible late… or else! This is an exciting month for this title, Kirkman brings a lot to the table as a writer and will be a good fit for this book. At least, I hope. Hey, I am reading it again. That is a positive first step! 32 Pages.
X-Men The 198 #1 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by David Hine, Art by Jim Muniz. 198, of course, refers to the number of mutants remaining on Earth after House of M. Granted, with a few rare exceptions, the whole body of non-mutants are the ones NOT featured in comic books, so on the surface it doesn’t seem like much has changed. The follow-ups to House of M have been considerably more compelling than that series ended up being itself, so there is a good chance that this mini will follow suit. 32 Pages.
Craig’s Pick of the Week
New Thunderbolts #17, $2.99, Marvel. Written by Fabian Nicieza, Art by Tom Grummett. Another outstanding title for Nicieza this week, and a good example of something that is right with Marvel these days. The success of this book and the upcoming Civil War event got me thinking about why Infinite Crisis has been such a success for DC, and why Marvel’s answers to DC’s events have been less than satisfactory. In short, it has to two with the second and third tier characters. Marvel crossovers feature only the biggest and most important characters, where DC ones are shaped in large part by the contributions of less important figures. The whole Infinite Crisis buildup began with the death of the Blue Beetle, hardly a major character these days. And some of the biggest and most important plot twists have involved characters that aren’t the big money makers for the title. My question for Marvel isn’t how Spider-man is going to factor into Civil War, its how the Thunderbolts are. Heck, how the Runaways are! Big event crossovers are cool not because of the big guys, they get together all the time. It is how the most unimportant seeming character can shape the universe they are in, and how the big guys have to deal with that. Just because a title isn’t in the top ten in sales doesn’t mean we don’t care about the character. Major events are their chance to shine. 32 Pages.
NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or it’s staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.
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January 9, 2006
The Gamer’s Quagmire #6: Love of Legislation & Lemmings
The Gamer’s Quagmire: 6th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo
Gaming, humor, and insanity in harmony
As gamers we all have to accept that we live in a world where video game companies can be sued based on almost any violent incident. I mention this because the Grand Theft Auto series no longer holds the torch for game being attacked by the media and moronic parents. After Jack Thompson’s consistent failed attempts to sue game manufacturers and the subsequent suspension of his legal right to practice law in Alabama you would think some other lawyers would catch on to a few things. The ride was interesting, but overall it was like watching the entirety of Matrix Revolutions for the final fight between Neo and Smith. Game manufacturers, even if they do have some moral responsibilities to consumers, do not have a proven legal responsibility when people act on fantasies that reside in video games. Another point is that courts do not seem to respond favorably to bullying.
Gaming addiction is the latest major fake epidemic that is striking the populace across the globe. This type of psychological pandering boggles the mind. I am not going to harp on this point, but it suffices to say for now that somehow people’s inabilities to exude self control and thus succumbing to natural selection costs our country billions of dollars in legislation. Several lawsuits have been brought against Rockstar because of derelict behavior yet none have been upheld. And just like lemmings they keep on coming. What they do not expect is the lord and master of the world to become irritated and use his power to detonate a few more lemmings.
If you have a sudden urge to fire that game up I do not blame you. Tell you what- I have the same craving so let’s meet back here in 30 minutes. Sound good?
China is now home to another incident surrounding gaming addiction. Not all that long ago I was writing about the man who stabbed another man to death over online property he allegedly stole in an online game. This definitely qualified as an extreme case. What is funny is the solution that some are using to curb gaming addiction. Okay, maybe funny isn’t the right word. Let’s use preposterous instead. Regardless, prepare yourself for this one as the solution is definitely worse than the symptoms. In China, with over 1.5 million citizens alone playing World of Warcraft, online game plays are receiving a limit to the number of hours that they are allowed to spend online. The dollar amount spent (after translated into US currency, mind you) for online play in China last year is over $500 million, so the government is obviously concerned that too many citizens are going to be absorbed into a fantasy world (because it always holds that a fringe case is something that everyone is susceptible to). It’s true that China does not have the same background in human rights that America does, but the solution sets precedent and the gaming industry spreads across many boundaries. In related news paranoia is spreading like wildfire.
Gamers’ characters in online games are given handicaps once the gamer has been online for a certain amount of time. After the 5 hour/day line is reached the player is no longer allowed to be online until some time has passed. This is simply ludicrous. Let’s look at this from a rebellious standpoint for kicks. In today’s age how hard is it for one gamer to own a subscription to more than one online game? How many gamers own more than one game? How many gamers have multiple accounts for the same game? Are gamers everywhere going to suddenly figure out that they shouldn’t play more than 5 hours of games in one day? I know I set that alarm every time I sit down in front of my PC.
*cough*
There are plenty of people in my generation that have played games way more than five hours a day for years on end that do not enter any kind of legal trouble at all. How is this possible? W know that there are other things that people do than play games. We understand the legal ramifications for a lot of certain actions. We have plenty of other activities that occupy and entertain our minds. Who knows- without encouragement maybe I would have done nothing but play video games for weeks on end and have no interest in doing anything else. Luckily my parents were kind enough to, um, be parents. Anybody who becomes addicted to anything simply has not been supported into thinking that there are more things to do besides that one thing. Whether that addiction is a chemical dependency or not doesn’t matter.
Bold statement for certain, but I feel it’s accurate (of course, it is easy to claim this without facts or research but because this is satire I can get away with these things). Here’s another bold statement: you can play games for two days straight and walk away without being influenced by it in the slightest way. How do I know this? I have done this several times over the course of my life. Without sleep and little to negative amounts of nourishment I have played games for 2+ days straight (with my peak at 4) without sleep simply because it was summer and nothing else interesting was happening. Heck, that’s practically a vacation for me even to this day.
Here are some specifics. Two years ago I had a week off from work because a new game was coming out and that seemed like a good time to spend many, many hours away from the office vegetating on my highly comfy couch and enjoying my gaming library. By the third day I switched over into full blown Vice City mode. Over a span of five days I played that game all the way through and totaled about 18 hours of sleep. I literally collected every hidden package, every rampage and every mission. Did I start running around outside looking for spinning icons for rockets and flame throwers? Did I start slamming my car into light posts and other cars? Did I start beating up hookers and stealing cash? Did I try to ride a motorcycle through several office buildings and jump off of rooftops? I hate to disappoint you dear readers, but I simply went to sleep and woke up in time for work on Monday.
Aside from where the magic number of five hours a day came from, why do people consistently feel the need to regulate supposed addictions from a tails perspective? Just as alcoholics don’t care about the legal drinking limits gamers won’t care about limits on gaming. Look, there are far worse things that people can do besides play an excessive amount of games. When these people do not want to do anything else that is their choice and perhaps one should look at why they made this choice. I play games because they are entertainment and they are easily accessible. Choosing to be completely unproductive is my responsibility. You have every right to wonder why I would do such a thing and I have no right to blame you for my choice. Combating anxiety and stress promotes overall better health, even if only emotional health. At some point a girlfriend would be a good idea, but we don’t always have time for rational solutions. Speaking of which, perhaps it is time to dwell on why some people believe that Chinese citizens are becoming overly addicted to gaming.
This magic number is just another place where we can start setting some ridiculous restrictions on our lives. Now is the time for the inevitable invoking of Orwell’s 1984 where the government has complete control over everyone’s lives and minds. Anybody that thinks restrictions on what people can do is insane. If people telling you how much coffee you are allowed to drink, how long you can be on the phone, how much television you may watch, how many pages in a book you can read, how many miles you can travel, how many pieces of chicken are allowed for dinner, and so on then be my guest. Sure, this sounds ridiculous to you. You would be correct because it is patently ridiculous. What you have to consider is that legalized restrictions started sounding ridiculous at gaming to me and plenty of other gamers.
Once Grand Theft Auto games started selling at record rates it became news how much money was being made off of its production. Not soon afterwards did people start trying to sue Rockstar. Isn’t it amazing how gaming companies do not get sued until they start making a lot of money? The same thing happened ages ago near the beginning of the first big gaming boom when people where suing the makers of Pac-Man. Imagine it- a little round yellow orb doing nothing more than eating square dots and avoiding ghosts was being sued by actual human beings. I am pretty sure nobody tried to equate it to a drug addict getting high and trying to escape the police. Back then video games were new and nobody seemed to be able to handle this new fad. Evolution is not always able to work its magic.
Twenty years later people still have an inability to handle it, and now we are the point where Blizzard has been sued because somebody committed suicide after playing a lot of World of Warcraft. Somehow some gamer took the mission of killing their avatar to talk to a ghost a little too seriously.
Okay, bad joke. I do contend that the worse joke is that parents are blaming Blizzard for this incident. Maybe the Chinese version of the game has overpowering subliminal messages to jump off of tall buildings. The claim is that jumping off of a building was a re-enactment of a scene in the game. How one can tie together an online game involving killing orcs, elves, undead, and humans into jumping off of tall buildings is a mystery. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick City of Heroes? After all that is a game where your avatar can jump off of anything and not die. In some cases the avatars can even fly. In World of Warcraft if your character falls too great a distance they die, so after some further research it came out that the game in question was Warcraft III. Apparently the parents were so interested in their child’s life they couldn’t even read the game box when making the claim at the lawyer’s office.
Sorry- that was another bad joke. I do realize, believe it or not, that all of these comments have to sound harsh. I do have some sympathy here for the parents. They did lose a child and that hurts a lot, but the sympathy train derails at the first mention of a lawsuit against a gaming company. It was only a matter of time before a new game became the new major cash cow, and then it was only a matter of time before someone tried to take advantage of it the cheapest way possible. Still, inevitable stupidity is not a good form of stupidity.
Once again the gaming industry is going to get plenty of free press. To a certain extend it could hurt more than it could help as I am not sure how many people willing to give gaming a shot have not heard of World of Warcraft by now. Odds are good that, considering this game is starting to set subscription records, there are not that many people unaware of its existence let alone its virtual stranglehold on the online gaming industry (phew- it’s been a challenge to get virtual and online gaming in the same sentence for a while now and frankly I am very happy to force another joke). For now let’s let some more clueless parents try and sue the gaming industry. The lawsuit will probably fail (and if writing this jinxes the outcome then, umm, err, can I hit a reset button somewhere?), those of you on my side of the river on this will all get a good laugh, and then we will wait for the next major gaming lawsuit to find its way into the headlines. Anybody prepared for the inevitable carpal-tunnel lawsuit against Nintendo for their new Revolution controller?
Unfortunately this lawsuit against Blizzard does set precedent for many jumpers’ families to blame games for death. I do have to be honest here- how did an online game get picked for this lawsuit? I am unable to deal this hurdle. The first game that comes to my mind for blaming on a person’s decision to jump to their death would be any platform game. Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet & Clank, Oddworld, Earthworm Jim, Jak & Dexter, Mario, Castlevania, and a host of others make excellent candidates. Stabbing victims could always use a game like Devil May Cry or Blood Rayne. Let’s see how far I can take this insanity. Who wants to blame Burnout for an excessive crash that ended in a series of lethal injuries? Anybody want to count the number of ways to drop dead in Spy vs. Spy? Who’s up for blaming GTA on behalf of a drowning victim? Want to try and point the finger at Castlevania the next time a candelabra gets knocked over and burns a house down? How about some creative lawsuits in response to Soul Calibur where you can be stabbed 20 times with a katana and still be alive? Plumbers could even claim that Mario convinced them to smash their head into a pipe.
Gamers need not fear this new lawsuit. In time, just as the previous lawsuits against GTA subsided, this one will subside too. Almost every World of Warcraft subscription will be renewed, new subscriptions will be sold, next year’s expansion will fly off the shelves if the gamers don’t pry the boxes out of the shipper’s hands, and Blizzard will continue to make money hand over fist. Perhaps the best thought I can take away from this is that I can still enjoy World of Warcraft happenings months after stopping my subscription.
This article is written and copyrighted by Jamison DeLorenzo and all thoughts are solely his and do not necessarily represent anyone else’s including anyone else at this site. This is a weekly article which deals with anything and almost everything gaming. Feel free to post comments or e-mail. Thanks for reading.
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