Insider Gamer's Loop

IGL Radio Episode 9

J the Play — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:10:57 +0000

[Download]
(right click; select ’save as’)

Hosts: Justin & Wayne
Edited by: Justin

Length: 46:23
File Size: 42.4 MB

Our staff is reduced to two as one lazy bastards takes the week off to go run covert missions for ninjas.

Justin and Wayne talk the new releases this past couple of weeks and get in depth on a few key industry issues as we debut a more debate oriented podcast.

Have a listen.

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Study Links Violent Video Games to Aggression in Children

J the Play — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:59:24 +0000

(it’s different when it’s real)

Kids in both the U.S. and Japan who reported playing lots of violent video games had more aggressive behavior months later than their peers who did not, according to the study, which appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The researchers specifically tried to get to the root of the chicken-or-egg problem — do children become more aggressive after playing video games or are aggressive kids more attracted to violent videos?

It’s a murky — and controversial — issue. Many studies have linked violence in TV shows and video games to violent behavior. But when states have tried to keep under-18 kids from playing games rated “M” for mature, the proposed restrictions have often been challenged successfully in court.

Read the full article.

[insert opinion here]

I highly recommend you read the article above, in its entirety. Essentially it’s a study that suggests children who play violent video games are more aggressive later in life. And as you can read in the excerpt above, it provides a challenging “chicken and the egg” conundrum.

We’ve had our say on this multiple times before, but there are a couple of key points from this study I wanted to address.

First is imitation; children who watch violence in the media can internalize the message that the world is a hostile place, he explains, and that acting aggressively is an OK way to deal with it.

Also, he says, kids can become desensitized to violence. “When you’re exposed to violence day in and day out, it loses its emotional impact on you,” Huesmann said. “Once you’re emotionally numb to violence, it’s much easier to engage in violence.”

First things first, the world can be a hostile place, and while violence is not an appropriate way to deal with that fact, children will be exposed to that truth one way or another. Secondly, if they’re allowed to watch network news they’ll quickly be exposed to the idea that violence solves problems, and that the world is a very hostile and dangerous place. I suggest CNN, MSNBC, and Fox stop trying to scare the shit out of people 24 hours a day before we go placing the blame for an imbalanced world view on video games.

Secondly, the idea that video games “desensitize” anyone to violence is preposterous. I’ll fully admit that I’m desensitized to fake violence, but at the sight of real violence, even in the slightest instance, I’ll be as disturbed as anyone. None of these studies seem to take into account how people, particularly children, react to real violence. Trying to gauge someone sensitivity to real violence by tracking their reactions to fake violence is ridiculous because they’re entirely different experiences.

I assure you, all of these kids that are supposedly desensitized, if ever put into a situation where they’re exposed to real violence would be horrified. Hopefully they never conduct the study where children are exposed to real violence, but it would go to show the difference in power that polygons on a screen have as compared to the real thing.

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EA to Fire 500 Employees

J the Play — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:21:03 +0000

EA is set to layoff 500 of its employees after reporting lower than expected profits and seeing its stock fall. Despite seeing a forty percent increase in sales, EA attributes the financial woes to higher development costs, higher marketing costs, and delays on key titles, namely the new Harry Potter game.

EA is also citing what they perceive as a slow down in retail as a whole. “Considering the slowdown at retail we’ve seen in October, we are cautious in the short term,” said EA’s CEO John Riccitiello.

The layoffs will trim back roughly six percent of EA’s total employees and is said to be spread out through all different departments.

[insert opinion here]

Normally I don’t even know if we’d consider this news, not our kind of news anyway. Layoffs happen all the time, particularly at large companies such as EA. Granted, they aren’t always as massive as 500 pink slips at a time, but still, these aren’t the best of economic times and large companies will trim back wherever they can.

The reason why we find this so odd (read: disturbing) is that most recently EA is doing quite well. The year’s sports titles have all done well (hell, even NBA Live was good this year), and Dead Space is being extremely well received. Not to mention how good Mirror’s Edge is looking. One could argue that strictly in terms of the quality of games that they’re publishing, EA is looking better than they ever have before. So it’s disappointing to see they’re having to let go of so many people. Although I don’t think they have too much to worry about as a company; give it a few months and after the holidays I’m sure we’ll see EA start reaping the benefits of the lineup they’ve put out this year.

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50 Hit Combo! Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on PSN/XBLA?

DylanX — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:54:56 +0000

Back in the day when I had a Sega Dreamcast, I remember spending hours upon hours playing one game and one game only. No, I’m not talking about you “South Park Rally” (at least this time)! I’m talking about Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The days of being of child and hearing “Hydoken!” mixed with hitting everyone on the screen with a giant web that did majory damage are coming back, or so it’s been rumored.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

That’s right, guys. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has been said to be coming to the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade for purchase. If this rumor is indeed true, hours will be spent battling those pesky Capcom characters. You heard me! I’m a Marvel guy. Got a problem with it? Take it up with me if this bad boy gets online capabilties. Personally, I will lose all social life that I have if Marvel vs. Capcom 2 does have online play. The ability to play against other gamers will be almost godly on this game. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has become such a coveted game lately due to it’s great gameplay. Copies of the game for Playstation 2 are selling for over 60 dollars on eBay.com and even higher on craigslist.com. Microsoft and Sony could make a nice wad of cash if this rumor is true. I, for one, pray that it is.

It’s time to see who the real monster is: Hulk or Zangrief. My money is on Hulk, suckers.

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IGL Radio Podcast: Episode 8

J the Play — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:36:34 +0000

In episode 8 we discuss the horrific highlights of Dead Space, weigh in on the chances of success for Mirror’s Edge, and try to figure out if Halo 3: Recon is as big a deal as people think it is.

Hosted by: Justin, Jordan, and Wayne
Edited by: Jordan

Length: 1:01:05
File Size: 55.9 MB

| Quick News |
* The PSN goes down for a day
* Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams trailer on the PS3 version of Bioshock
* Metal Gear Solid 4 potentially coming to the Xbox 360

Dead Space

Justin and Wayne say EA’s newest third person survival horror game is a potential game of the year winner, and changes everything about horror games, and third person shooters. Jordan kicks himself in the face for not having played it yet.

Mirror’s Edge

Jordan starts getting skeptical about the highly anticipated Mirror’s Edge… he thinks it’s going to be a great game, but he’s still nervous. Wayne and Justin flip flop a little…

Halo 3: Recon

We discuss the latest chapter in the Halo universe. 1.) We’re not falling over ourselves with glee and anticipation, 2.) yes, the game will probably still be exceptionally kickass.

IGL Radio Podcast - Episode 4 [DOWNLOAD] Give a listen. In this episode we talk...
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Metal Gear Solid 4 Coming to the 360?

WayneHead — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:17:42 +0000

Rumor has it that Metal Gear Solid 4 may be arriving on the Xbox 360. It’s been said that the 360 can handle it. If it’s true, we could very well see the legendary Solid Snake on the 360! Now, don’t jump for joy just yet, it’s just a rumor. If and when it does happen, it will be a huge blow for Sony, and a giant leap for Microsoft.

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Bioshock 2 Trailer is Known to be on the PS3 Version

WayneHead — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:41:11 +0000

With Bioshock just releasing on the Playstation 3, there have been rumors circulating all over about a sequel. Supposedly, there is a teaser trailer that comes along with the PS3 version. Is it real? Or is someone using our vast techonology to toy with our emotions via the world wide web? View the trailer and decide for yourself. Real or Fake? You be the judge!

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The PlayStation Network is Down

jhard713 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:22:45 +0000

It looks like that Sony hit another bump in the long grassy road in the console wars. The Playstation Network is certainly down! That is right gamers the PSN is down. The Network is down for “unscheduled maintenance”. I mean you can still multiplayer hoping it doesn’t kick you off but the only thing affecting this is the PlayStation Store, account management and registration.

Way to go Sony!

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Date Set For New Xbox Experience

J the Play — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:09:52 +0000

After it was first announced at E3 this past July, fans of the 360 and the gaming community as a whole have been awaiting the arrival of the New Xbox Experience. From TGS, Microsoft has announced that we’ll all get a feel for the revamped Xbox 360 interface on November 19th.

The New Xbox Experience will intro features such as Avatars, a customizable character unique to your profile, Netflix integration, allowing users of Netflix and Xbox Live Gold to watch streaming movies on their 360 consoles, and Xbox Live parties where you can listen to music, share photos, and voice chat with up to seven friends on Xbox Live.

Last month Xbox Live saw a 24-hour down time to prepare for the massive update. No word on whether any additional down time will be required when the switch finally gets flipped, but we’ll find out before November 19th.

[insert opinion here]

Without actually getting our hands on it, it’s hard to say, but our feeling is that this New Xbox Experience, is either going to truly revolutionize a console purely with a software change, or it’s going to be the most overblown U.I flip ever presented. Let’s not forget that the current 360 dashboard is wonderfully designed, and messing with that could back fire unless the changes are truly ground breaking and beneficial.

While some new features are being rolled out, not everyone is excited for or will make use of certain features (a lot of people don’t have or want Netflix, some people are already ambivalent towards Avatars, etc), and that leaves the majority of people judging the “New Experience” based on the fundamental of user interface design. Microsoft has to nail this dashboard, perfectly. No exceptions.

It’s not that failing to do so will result in some catastrophic setback, but simply that we’ve promised so much from a U.I face lift, it better be freaking worth it.

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Bungie Announces Halo 3: Recon

J the Play — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:21:14 +0000

In one of the most simultaneously shocking, and utterly expected moves, legendary developer Bungie (Myth, Marathon, Halo), has announced their latest project: Halo 3: Recon, a standalone expansion of last year’s Halo 3 that will feature a “new hero” and a “new campaign”.

Debuting at the Tokyo Game Show 2008 gamers were introduced to the next chapter in the Halo universe via a trailer that was a continuation of the “Keep It Clean” teaser that showed up on Bungie’s website last week. You can find the trailer below.

Halo 3: Recon will shift from the perspective of the Master Chief, and follow the story of the ODSTs, or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, better known as “Hell Jumpers.” The ODSTs are the UNSC’s most ferocious and highly trained unit of soldiers aside from the legendary SPARTAN-IIs (of which Master Chief was the last on active duty).

The time line of Recon will take place in the events just preceding Halo 3, before Master Chief’s return to New Mombasa, giving players a new perspective on the fight for earth. Players will also have to use more “stealth and cunning” suggesting new methods of gameplay introduced to the series.

Recon is expected to drop Fall of 2009.

Have a look.

[insert opinion here]

Wow. All hail Bungie.

Granted, we knew this was coming, for some time. Granted, it is another Halo game, and we’re still yearning to see Bungie extend their creativity beyond this fantastic universe they’ve setup - but come on, it’s Halo, it’s Bungie, and that means high quality and entertaining games. Period.

Second, it’s the ODSTs, the goddamn Hell Jumpers. I know I can’t be the only one excited about seeing the UNSC’s most badass company getting their own game. No, it’s not the Master Chief, but ODSTs are highly trained and moreover a lot of more human than the Chief was, and that gives them their own appeal.

Again, it’s not the absolute ground breaking venture that I personally thought would have been ideal to see from Bungie, but they’ve proven themselves to be one of the premiere game developers in the world, and shown the ability to expand and improve on this franchise time and time again. No matter what they do, it’s news and it’s exciting.

Stay tuned for more details as we get them.

Halo 3: Recon Gallery

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