This blog post is the exact same as the first response in the talkback thread for the editorial Rick’s Rant - Episode 5: Powers Strikes Back.

This is a prime example of the wonderful discourse and chances to tear into fellow staffers and readers available on the NWR forums!.

Of course, it should go without saying that my opinions, and those of Mr. Powers, are our own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Nintendo World Report and its staff.

Rick’s back, and he’s angry.

While I’ve been gone from Nintendo World Report (formerly Planet GameCube) for some time now, I continued blogging on technology and games for my good friend Andru Edwards and his network of sites until last year. I took some time out for myself and made a series of sweeping life changes, but when I ran into Justin Nation on Facebook I figured it was as good a time as any to put the band back together. This might just be a one-time reunion, or maybe I’ll go out on tour. Who knows?

It's the recent unveiling and groundswell of support for n-Space's unfortunate Winter tech demo for the Wii that's dredging these questions up. Of course, there's no question that the saga behind Winter is newsworthy. A mature and ambitious project shopped around since GDC 2007, publishers loved Winter but refused to fund it. That already makes for a nice little tragedy, but it's become more than that. Winter has exploded onto the scene and won widespread fame and support from fans who want nothing less than for the developers to receive millions of dollars from a publisher in order to finish the game. Still, the fact that there's an online petition drive isn't too surprising. What is worth considering though is who's leading the charge: the enthusiast press. Almost as soon as the story broke, GoNintendo's Kevin Cassidy (a.k.a. RawMeatCowboy) shot an e-mail to IGN's Matt Cassamassina proposing to organize an effort to find n-Space a publisher after almost two years of nothing. The response? A promise to "use IGN's influence to back Winter," and the aforementioned online petition on IGN's frontpage, asking readers to "join the cause."

Forgive me if I may be a bit disoriented, but things have changed a wee bit since I last contributed in any meaningful way to a site. The web is a bit of a different place now, as anyone with a web connection can post their thoughts to a blog (complete with free hosting, mind you)... somewhat posing a watered-down threat to "reputable sites" in the same way that scene sites were stealing from pay sites way back when. Shoot, in the day we paid for that hosting and we needed to broker our own deals for ads if we wanted to avoid putting a dent in our pocketbooks, and we fought an uphill battle to garner industry connections and get invites to events or evaluation games.

Since Umbrella Corporation’s untimely demise by the combined efforts of Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, and Jill Valentine in 2003, a new biotech firm has begun research on the T-Virus: WilPharma, which is being protested against for vaccine trials in India. The company is publicly supported by slimy senator Ron Davis, who is either a very blubbery human being or a very small beluga whale. Claire Redfield arrives in an airport in Harvardville (seriously? Harvardville?) to pick up a friend’s niece, and within minutes, a zombie-filled plane crashes into the terminal and the undead shenanigans begin anew! The marines are called in, as is Leon S. Kennedy, who still works directly for the President. The two former Raccoon City stars, along with some new friends, discover a new monster (it’s the G-Virus this time, kiddies) and an interesting conspiracy along the way. The consequences of these events will be felt in RE5, I guarantee it. Sadly, Wesker’s hand does not appear to be in this particular pie, but you can bet he benefited from the fallout.

Those are much tougher questions to answer. I daresay they are impossible to address in a standard number-based review format. Here's an example that hits close to home. Back when I first started here at NWR, my editors sent me Phantom Hourglass, a game I gave mediocre marks. The ensuing Talkback thread ballooned to eight pages of people yelling at me, proving beyond a doubt that enjoyment of ANY game, even one from a well-respected franchise, is completely subjective. Many people thoroughly enjoyed the very aspects of Phantom Hourglass that I criticized. And you know what? Nobody is wrong. I'm not wrong in giving the game a 7.5, and they're not wrong for giving it closer to a 10. The numbers don't mean anything.