Messages

26

General Gaming / Re: Games Journalism: Quote me accurately and I'll sue!

« on: November 09, 2012, 05:56:08 AM »

Eurogamer have just publicly updated their editorial policies in light of Doritosgate. Here's the link:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-09-editors-blog-new-editorial-policies


and here's what they've changed:
We do not attend "VIP" review events at hotels or abroad.

• If it is ever necessary to review games at a company's offices then we will cover travel and accommodation costs ourselves and disclose the conditions under which the game was reviewed.

• If we accept travel or accommodation from a company then we disclose it.

• We will only accept games, items for reviews and things that enable us to do our job (i.e. consoles, peripherals).

• Games and other items received through work may not be sold or traded. If they are no longer useful for work then they will be given to the GamesAID charity.

• Staff and contributors are not permitted to do "mock reviews" for or provide consultancy to games publishers.

• Staff and contributors may not write about a company they have worked for in any capacity within the last two years.

• 
  [/size]Seems good to me. I think that the way some outlets have responded to all of this stuff shows to what extent some sources are just gloomy PR drones and that some view themselves as actual journalists.
  [/size]BTW which online sources do you fine folks trust or value the most?

27

General Gaming / Re: Games Journalism: Quote me accurately and I'll sue!

« on: November 08, 2012, 10:42:28 AM »

I agree about getting rid of review scores, but in spite of myself. I all to regularly rush to read the score or the last paragraph of a review and often decide based on that if I'm going to read the whole thing. It's stupid. I am also against giving films, music, etc scores. To my mind all the numerical system does is pigeon hole a product. I should be able to figure out what a critic thinks without a big fat number hanging on the end of their prose.

28

General Gaming / Re: Ouya

« on: November 02, 2012, 06:43:42 AM »

Ah man, all that waffle about PCBs and Jelly Benas and she didn't even mention how progress on Time Splitters is going!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ouyatop20


(I kid, I kid)

29

TalkBack / Re: 3rd Annual NWR Live Podcast Telethon for Child's Play

« on: November 02, 2012, 06:25:20 AM »

I dunno, the Division Bell was okay.

30

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Tales of the Abyss

« on: November 01, 2012, 05:45:03 AM »

I finished it about 3 weeks ago now, I played for about 64 hrs I think. I would class it as very long rather then very good, so I think Insanolord made the right decision. (Just to be clear, it's not that I hate this game, but if you don't want to play for 50 hrs + this isn't for you).
I think the reviews are fair as their is a lot about the game that could be improved. I found the story frustrating, at it's core I liked the discussion of whether history is pre ordained or not and how human beings should respond to their understanding of that issue. But the telling of the story was laden with Techno Babble which I found almost impenetrable, often going back tot he log book after a cut scene to see what it was I actually supposed to be doing. And I got sick of all the skits too. I felt that most of them didn't drive the story forward or develop the characters very much, they was a lot of pointless exposition and a heck of a lot of Anime tropes.


Also I felt that the game was weighed down with too many techniques and systems like cores and cookery, etc. By the half way point I just ignored all of that had no trouble finishing the game with out giving them any attention because it's really very easy with the exception of a couple of boss battles.


But despite all it's many faults I really enjoyed myself. What I liked were the world, the design, the characters and the dungeons. I don't use the 3D much on my system but I was often cranking it up in new locations so I could better enjoy the look and feel of the cities and the gateways. I found Luke's rudeness and the way the other characters responded to him genuinely funny and now that I am playing other games I find myself missing my party. Not that I will play through it again though, but I will hit up the FMVs on youtube when I feel the need.


So yeah, I enjoyed my time with this game, I'm glad I played it was far from being a master piece and I'm done now.


This was my first Tales game and whilst I did really enjoy it some of the frustrations I had have put me off trying other games in the series. There are so many "classic" JPGs that I haven't played (I'm yet to play a DQ or FF title and still haven't tried Chrono Trigger) so I intend to shop around until I find a dev or a series that really clicks with me.


I would love to see more JRPGs coming to Europe for the 3DS. Anybody know if Code of Princess has a European release date confirm yet?

31

TalkBack / Re: 3DS Remake of Dragon Quest VII Announced and Dated

« on: October 31, 2012, 06:33:33 AM »

WotUtalkinbout Broodwars?!!


As Mop it Up says, seems like they are remaking them in order to me (although the 1-3 remakes were on the GC not the GBA).
And I for one LOVE hand held remakes of home console games. When it's a game I love like a Zelda it's great to have it  on the go. But most of the time they are games I never played in the first place. I've been gaming for decades but you can't play everything.
I definitely want to pick up DQ7 3DS. I hope it gets a European release and I hope we get DQ8 too further down the line.

32

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Popular JRPG with 7 in the title being remade for 3DS? (Dragon Quest)

« on: October 30, 2012, 10:41:50 AM »

That would be nice. I hope they follow it up with a hand held port of DQ8 too.

33

TalkBack / Re: Mutant Mudds 3DS eShop Contest (Europe)

« on: October 30, 2012, 10:38:28 AM »

Disappointing. Why do I have to do hash tag marketing to enter a competition?
I've never even worked for Square Enix, heck  I'm not even a games journalist.
Which is probably why I don't have a Twitter account to begin with.

34

General Gaming / Re: PSP Go: Is it worth $100?

« on: October 30, 2012, 05:52:32 AM »

I'm glad you're enjoying it.
I sold my PSP Go to get some cash towards my Vita and I was very surprised at the excellent features they dropped from the Go. My favourites where blue tooth support for a dual shock controller (which I used when ever I played at home) and the save system that allows you to create a save point from any where in any game and have it sit on the XMB.


I would recommend trying out some Minis if you haven't already. Whose That Flying is one of my favourite games of all time and controls much better on the Go then the Vita (bizarrely) and Pac Man CE should be in every bodies collection.


I would also recommend getting the custom firmware on there because it gives you a lot of options to make the PSP Go a much more competent media center, and some of the old school emus are brilliant.


I hope you keep enjoying it for another 12 months!

35

General Gaming / Re: Dual analog -- help me

« on: October 29, 2012, 12:51:09 PM »

Not sure how you can draw that conclusion from the sentence. Just saying.

36

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Hypothetical situation involving transfer of Virtual Console accounts

« on: October 29, 2012, 06:57:01 AM »

Here Here Pixie!
This is one of the reasons I'm sticking with retail whilst I still have the choice where Nintendo are concerned. My itunes and Play Station accounts have been migrated so many times as I've bought, sold and upgraded systems over the years. The 3DS XL system transfer really put me off. The process didn't take any longer then it did to re download my PSP games when I upgraded to a Vita, but the principle is dreadful.


I am amazed at how forgiving the Nintendo fan community are of the current system.

37

General Gaming / Re: Dual analog -- help me

« on: October 29, 2012, 06:46:56 AM »

Dual analog is a pretty terrible control method, all things considered. You simply don't have the same degree of control in your thumbs as you do in your hands or your wrist, which is why mice/wiimote/touchscreen/tilt controls obliterate joystick controls for anything requiring precision. It's also hugely inconvenient having to constantly move your right thumb back and forth between the face buttons and the unnecessary second joystick.

Tilt controls are more accurate than dual analog sticks?
That's the opposite of my experience  but I'm not posting to call you out. I would genuinely love to know what tilt control games you had in mind.

38

General Gaming / Re: Games Journalism: Quote me accurately and I'll sue!

« on: October 29, 2012, 06:37:55 AM »

[size=78%]Many of the higher up bureaucrats are conservative in the sense that they'd like their autocrats (before the 30s it was the Emperor, now it's the dictator) back and they weren't removed thoroughly enough to remove all the Nazis. The military is suspected of having a lot of neonazis as well but that may be because neonazis are generally attracted to the military. Especially the ex-communist East is now full of neonazis. They may partially be simply formed by racism, they hate all other races and nations so they take up the Nazi ideas. The investigations were triggered by the discovery of some neonazi serial killers/terrorists that none of the damn intelligence agencies bothered to deal with and many of the responsible investigators are turning out to be neonazis themselves, they informed the other nazis of police actions and such. Of course then there was the attempt to ban the Neonazi party but that failed because it turned out most of the party was just undercover agents trying to infiltrate the party. Makes you wonder if it was really their job that made them join the party.[/size]

My giddy aunt! That's more convoluted then A Scanner Darkly!


Hey, has anybody else seen this post by Rab Florence on John Walkers blog? It's funny, the reason I come to NWR is to cut through the PR nonsense and read what people who love Nintendo games but are happy to criticize Nintendo as a company have to say about things that interest me.


http://botherer.org/2012/10/26/guest-post-robert-florence-on-the-last-few-days/#more-3116


Okay. I feel I have to say something about all this mess. It’s difficult to know what to say, and how to say it, because there are good people I don’t want to put under any more pressure. I’ll be brief.
[/color]First of all, I think it’s important to explain how my Eurogamer piece came to be. On Wednesday morning I sat down to write a column about that fascinating image of Geoff Keighley beside a table of snacks. When I opened up Twitter I saw that there were some games writers having an argument. Another games scene drama. This time it was about games journalists tweeting promotional hashtags to win prizes – something I think is wrong. I saw a parallel between games writers’ casual acceptance that they can happily take a role in these silly PR stunts and Keighley’s weird buffet. That was why those particular games writers, Dave Cook and Lauren Wainwright, were referenced in my column. On another day, it could have been another two games writers, another drama. But on Wednesday, unfortunately for many of us, Lauren Wainwright had made a public tweet about those gifted PS3s.
[/color]I want to clarify here that at no point in my column did I suggest that either Dave Cook or Lauren Wainwright were corrupt. Their public tweets were purely evidence that games writers rarely question what their relationship with PR should be. In Lauren’s case I made the point that her suggestion that it’s fine for a games writer to tweet a promotional hashtag for personal gain could make everything she tweets and writes suspect. I was saying – “Folks, be careful what you say. You might make yourself look bad.” There was nothing libellous in that column.
[/color]Yesterday, Eurogamer removed a section of my column. Tom Bramwell, my editor, is a good man. Believe me when I tell you that the 24 hours that followed the publication of my column were horrendous for Tom. In all my time writing for Eurogamer, Tom Bramwell has never asked me to change a word. Even when I wrote about Eurogamer’s acceptance of Booth Babes at the Eurogamer Expo, Tom Bramwell had my back. When Tom emailed me telling me that the column was going to be amended, that it HAD to be amended, you can believe that it wasn’t a decision he took lightly. I can’t share everything about my exchanges with Tom, but I ask that you don’t see him as a villain in this. His attempts to defend my position were, if anything, heroic.
[/color]
[/color]I have to talk about Lauren Wainwright. Her first reaction after the column went out was to claim the piece was libellous. Lauren is clearly a writer with many friends in the games press and in games PR. I think it is shameful, and very telling, that none of them talked her out of a course of action that could only end horribly for everyone involved. The internet is a savage thing, and these friends let her fling herself into its jaws. I feel for Lauren in a way, because I don’t think she’s corrupt. I said as much in my piece. I think that she’s behaved how she’s been conditioned to behave by her fellow writers and by her PR friends. I think she did one of the worst things one writer can do to another, but I don’t think she’s “on the take”. And her actions since, supported by people who know better, have made her a focal point for a piece that was never about her. She has faced the ugly side of these internet dramas, where people dig into your past and highlight all your mistakes. She’s faced nasty comments based on her sex and her looks, because that’s what some corners of the internet do to women.
[/color]And it has to stop.
[/color]Because here’s the thing. This story – my column, Lauren’s reaction, Eurogamer’s edit, my stepping down, the whole aftermath – is not about writers. It’s about PR. It’s about these marketing people who have a stranglehold over most of the industry, and control the narrative of the whole scene. They’ve even controlled the narrative of this disaster.
[/color]Do you think Lauren acted entirely alone in pressuring Eurogamer to change my piece? Do you think she has that power? I don’t. Who do you think MIGHT have that power?
[/color]Today, I saw another games writer (a former PR) brutally attacking me for not stepping in to do something to stop what was happening to Lauren. How could I step in and do anything? I’m not even comfortable writing this, in case I get someone I respect into trouble. The threat of legal action, even a carefully worded threat, makes you second guess everything you write. That’s the power of the thing. What I want to ask is this – why were other parties involved in this mess happy for Lauren to take all the heat? Why were her friends happy to let her take the heat? Is it the job of the guy who just had to quit his job and has been threatened with legal action to work out how to stop all that from happening?
[/color]I am furious. I am furious because yesterday the games PR and marketing men flung a few people under a bus, and today they’re probably sipping drinks at the Golden Joystick awards. I am furious that some people think we should all just “move on” from this, allowing the PR people to get back to their narrative. I am furious that some are saying that it’s “just games”. It’s not games. It’s writing. And writing matters. Writing always matters.
[/color]But I am also heartened by the response of many people out there. I’ve had messages of support from the writers I respect, and from many fellow gamers. I want to thank everybody for their kindness, because it has been a pretty awful week. Awful, partly, because I’ve discovered that the games press is controlled by PR to a greater extent than I had ever dreamed – and I’m a pessimist.
[/color]Those who have been angry about all this – don’t investigate the people, investigate the system. Please write about games. Don’t go to any parties. Don’t go on the trips. Don’t care about exclusives. Just write passionately about games. You can contribute hugely to the scene without ever once speaking to a PR person. Cut them out of the equation.
[/color]I felt like giving up writing about games yesterday. Today I just want to get back to it.
[/color]So please, let this be an end to it. And please let this be a start to something better.

39

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 312: Hail to the High Schooler

« on: October 29, 2012, 06:16:49 AM »

Wow Johnny, your "Wii U is more impressive than a tablet" monologue was quite something! You are certainly more enthusiastic then I am for Wii U at the moment. Obviously a new Nintendo console is cause for excitement but I still can't get past all the stuff it doesn't do, especially no Wii & VC games on the game pad screen.
I've decided to sit it out and play through my back log for at least six months.

40

General Gaming / Re: Games Journalism: Quote me accurately and I'll sue!

« on: October 26, 2012, 06:58:52 AM »

Also interesting: Dave Cook, quoted in the Rab Florence piece left this in the original article comments:


Hi guys, Dave Cook here, I have to clarify that at the time I didn't see the hashtag thing as an issue, but earlier on when it was called into question I saw what people were driving at.[/size]I also earlier today pledged my PS3 to the Sick Kids Save Point charity, which means it's going to a children's hospital instead. I amn't keeping it.https://twitter.com/davescook/status/261063958327357441Thanks all,Dave[/size]

41

General Gaming / Re: Games Journalism: Quote me accurately and I'll sue!

« on: October 26, 2012, 06:53:01 AM »

I don't think Rab Florence comes across badly in his piece. It's hardly an expose but it got me interested. I like the way he describes himself: "I'm not a games journalist. I'm a writer who regularly writes about games, that's all."
So hardly the type to get upset because he doesn't get the same PR perks as the people he derides. Let's face it, he makes it clear that he wouldn't consider the praise of games journalists something people should aspire to.The people who I think come out of this very badly are:

TJ who reads to me as very angry and dismissive. I think it's unnecessary and I think you should google people before you dismiss them out of hand. Have a look at Florence's comedy before you write him off completely.

and Lauren Wainwright. But more Lauren Wainwright to be fair to TJ (who just wrote somethign I didn't agreed with on a forum)
Check out Erik Kain's piece on this whole thing for Frobes (which I think is much better then Florence's original piece btw):

I haven't copied over the comments section but Kain keeps up a good dialog with the commentors and it's well worth a look if you are interested.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/10/25/video-game-journalist-robert-florence-leaves-eurogamer-after-libel-complaints/


The subject of gaming journalism is always ripe for a good controversy.Are game journalists too deeply connected to the industry they purportedly cover?Do the tentacles of the PR machine wrap too tightly around the journalists who ought to be writing critically about the games and companies they are covering?Or does the simple fact that we form relationships with the people in the industry we cover, and that we are inevitably fans of many of the games we write about, make this particular industry an enormously and surprisingly difficult one to write frankly about?For instance, I am a dedicated fanboy of From Software’s Dark Souls.The fan in me made it very hard to give their PC port a 6/10 in my official review. It hurts to critique the things we love, even if we all know how lousy Yes Men are.What other consumable media creates this kind of attachment?I may like a certain film director, but I feel no attachment to a movie they make if it ends up being bad. So why do I find myself rooting for certain developers whose games I enjoy? And in what ways does that compromise my own integrity when it comes to critiquing those games? (On the flipside, only in video games do fans turn so angrily on creators when they feel let down.)It all gets very muddy very quickly, simply taking this one piece of the puzzle into account.But the issue goes much deeper.Thanks to the curious events at Eurogamer these past 24 hours, the gaming press’s integrity is once again under a microscope. I’ll get to that, but first, let’s dissect the broader problem.Playing To The CrowdLargely, I would argue, the mistrust between gaming journalism and its readership is one of perception. This isn’t to understate the problem – perception is still a deeply important thing; after all, what we see often reflects some deeper truth.Gaming journalism finds itself in tricky predicament: it relies, quite sensibly, on the advertising dollars of the gaming industry itself. Unlike more mainstream news outlets which can pull in advertising dollars from a wide range of companies, the gaming press inhabits a very specific niche.There is no way around this. It is a reality of gaming journalism that nobody will be able to change. And it leaves a bad taste in many peoples’ mouths, and that haunting question: if your website is funded by the very same companies you’re supposed to review, is there a conflict of interest that could compromise the integrity of the information you’re giving us?Even if a gaming site and its writers are absolutely 100% above board and honest all the time, the presence of those ads leaves those questions hanging. And as I said, there’s nothing to be done about this.There are other problems, however, that might be more easily resolved, such as the relationship between individual journalists and their quarry.

The Curious Incident of the Journalist in the SpotlightEurogamer’s Robert Florence brought up some of these issues in a recent article at the UK website.Games journalists, Florence argues, have been swept up in the tide of PR and hype that they ought to be critiquing themselves.“I want to make a confession,” writes Florence. “I stalk games journalists. It’s something I’ve always done. I keep an eye on people. I have a mental list of games journos who are the very worst of the bunch. The ones who are at every PR launch event, the ones who tweet about all the freebies they get. I am fascinated by them. I won’t name them here, because it’s a horrible thing to do, but I’m sure some of you will know who they are.”The thing is, Florence did name names.In a now-amended version of the article, Florence quoted two other journalists and detailed their participation in an event in which journalists could receive free PS3′s for using a particular hashtag to promote a game.Here’s the content Eurogamer cut from the original article:One games journalist, Lauren Wainwright, tweeted: “Urm… Trion were giving away PS3s to journalists at the GMAs. Not sure why that’s a bad thing?”Now, a few tweets earlier, she also tweeted this: “Lara header, two TR pix in the gallery and a very subtle TR background. #obsessed @tombraider pic.twitter.com/VOWDSavZ”And instantly I am suspicious. I am suspicious of this journalist’s apparent love for Tomb Raider. I am asking myself whether she’s in the pocket of the Tomb Raider PR team. I’m sure she isn’t, but the doubt is there. After all, she sees nothing wrong with journalists promoting a game to win a PS3, right?Another journalist, one of the winners of the PS3 competition, tweeted this at disgusted RPS writer John Walker: “It was a hashtag, not an advert. Get off the pedestal.” Now, this was Dave Cook, a guy I’ve met before. A good guy, as far as I could tell. But I don’t believe for one second that Dave doesn’t understand that in this time of social media madness a hashtag is just as powerful as an advert. Either he’s on the defensive or he doesn’t get what being a journalist is actually about.These paragraphs were cut from the piece after Eurogamer received a complaint from journalist Lauren Wainwright and her employer Intent Media, the owner of MCV.Eurogamer also apologized “for any distress caused to Ms Wainwright by the references to her. The article otherwise remains as originally published.”While it has been speculated that this complaint included threat of legal action, MCV denies this claim.However, with UK libel laws being what they are, even in the absence of such a threat the press can feel threatened, choosing to err on the side of caution rather than fight a potentially expensive legal battle.
As Florence himself tweeted, after announcing his departure from Eurogamer following the amending of his article, “don’t blame Eurogamer for this. The threat of legal action brings unbelievable pressure. I am clear on who the bad guys are in this.”
The bad guys in this are first and foremost the libel laws in the UK which have long been notorious for clamping down on the freedom of the press in that country.
But participating in those laws and in the culture of stifled-dissent they create is hardly admirable.
Worse, for the complaining parties, the act of attempting to shut down free speech whether through legal action or simple complaint will almost certainly make Florence’s original article much more famous than it would have been otherwise.
“When a journalist feels they have been misrepresented,” writes Rock Paper Shotgun’s John Walker, “even if this so-called misrepresentation has arisen from their having been directly quoted, the response should not be to demand it be removed. The response is to offer to write a response column, or to publish a response in any of the public outlets to which they have access. To do anything else is to be an enemy of journalism, deliberately stifling discussion, and going out of one’s way to ensure further discussion is feared.
“What will happen now is all manner of places will host the original version of the article, it will be far more widely circulated and discussed, and the reputations of those who have tried to silence criticism could be far more damaged than if they had just ignored it, let alone acknowledged they could do better.”
Furthermore, Lauren Wainwright may indeed have exactly the deeper conflict of interest that Florence only hinted at and suggested by using her tweet merely as an example.
Her resume, for instance, lists Square Enix as a company she has freelanced for.
Square Enix being the publisher of Tomb Raider, one of the games at the heart of this particular controversy, and a game that Wainwright has written about previously at MCV.
Edit: Square Enix has now been removed from her employment section.
You Say Libel I Say Tomato
This incident may shine a light on some of the problems with gaming journalism. But I think it shines a brighter light on the problems with journalism in the UK more broadly.
Imagine if every time Jon Stewart mercilessly mocked journalists on Fox, CNN, and MSNBC he could face a potential lawsuit – even for simply quoting them directly. This is obviously a horrific, dystopian scenario, and yet here we are with libel laws in Great Britain that create exactly this environment.
Inasmuch as it sheds any light on gaming journalism here in the United States, I think we can glean from this and from the early shockwaves of Florence’s departure from Eurogamer, that there is a problem. And it’s a thorny one.
The problem is deep and multi-faceted and hinges on a lack of trust bolstered by the perception of gaming journalists and their subjects inhabiting too close and too cozy a space with one another. And there is little that can be done about it other than for said journalists to do their level best to maintain distance from their subjects and integrity in their criticism.
This isn’t easy to do, by the way.
Even as someone who has never attended a press conference at a gaming convention, much less a developer or PR party, and deals very little with PR outside of efforts to gain access to interviews and review copies of games, it’s easy to see how quickly one could form a relationship – even just a friendly working relationship – with people who could be negatively impacted by harsh criticism of their products.
This only deepens when you start interviewing people, talking with them about their craft, and begin to understand and perhaps even become infected by their enthusiasm.
And of course, this is without any dependence whatsoever on video game advertising at this publication.
As of now, it appears some complaint or threat, whether legal or otherwise, was made to Eurogamer by Intent and Wainwright which resulted in the editing of direct quotes from an article under the presumption that they were in some way libelous or cruel. In the United States this happening is barely conceivable.
Two Stories for the Price of One
And so the real story, I think, is two-fold.
Perhaps it is a little bit less about Florence’s original subject – the quality and sincerity of the gaming press – and more about freedom of speech and the freedom of journalists to quote one another without fear of reprisal.
In other words, it is a story unique to the UK.
But it’s also a story that invariably raises important questions about the gaming industry and the press tasked with covering it:
What lines ought journalists cross, what relationships ought to be formed, and how can we unblur all these lines?
Is participating in an event to receive a free PS3 from a game company ethically dubious? What about free goodies at conventions, or access to information, demos, and early releases or exclusives?
What about all those advance review copies which are essentially a necessary part of what gaming critics do?
Where does journalism end and unwitting advertising begin? I actually ask myself this question a lot, because a lot of the time I write very positive and hopeful things about gaming – because I love video games, and deep down I obviously want as many of them to succeed as possible.
These are hard questions and they don’t have simple answers, but they’re important questions to ask.
Details of this affair are still emerging, and there is little agreement and no transparency over what actually transpired behind closed doors. I’ve reached out to both MCV and Eurogamer. I’ve attempted to view Lauren Wainwright’s original tweets, but her Tomb-Raider adorned Twitter page has been locked away.
I’ve contacted just about every party involved in this mess and will update this post with any responses I receive.
If you have any other information on this whole mess, please let me know. Also please refrain from any distasteful comments about any of the parties involved. It only takes a few bad apples to turn a conversation about free speech and journalism into one about misogyny.
For more crazy freedom of the press in the UK fun, check out this story from Forbes’ Kashmir Hill.
Update: From what I can gather about the UK’s libel laws, the big difference between the US and the UK is that the burden of proof falls on the defendant rather than the plaintiff. So obviously true statements will not stand up in court as libel, but it can be a huge task to prove your innocence. Also, in the UK it is easier to get an injunction on the press, forcing stories or names of individuals in those stories to be kept secret. Obviously when you get into the actual process of determining what’s what, this can create a real impediment to free speech.
In the US the 2010 SPEECH Act makes US journalists immune to foreign libel suits that do not conform to US free speech laws. This was done largely as a response to the UK laws.

42

General Gaming / Re: Dual analog -- help me

« on: October 23, 2012, 09:28:17 AM »

It was twin stick shooters that made it click for me, that followed by the Modern Warfare games played on easy. Now dual analog is my favourite control method.  Good luck!

43

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 309: James vs The Gaping Dragon

« on: October 12, 2012, 09:42:54 AM »

I just finished Tales of The Abyss after 60+ hrs and I am done with long games for the time being. My backlog isn't as scary as most people who post about such things here. I geeked out recently and used HowLongtobeat.com to "price up" what each game might cost me in hours so I could focus on some of the low hanging fruit. The lesson: I may well be able to beat my entire 3DS back log in the same time it'll take me to finish Tactics Ogre!


Do you remember when people played video games for pleasure, only had a few and used to rent new ones from video stores? How things change.

44

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Rumour: GBA Games Coming to 3DS eshop?

« on: October 05, 2012, 10:21:40 AM »

Super Mario Ball?

aka Mario Pinball Land.

It was Super Mario Ball in my country. And it wasn't much good.

45

TalkBack / Re: Mario 3D Kart, Super Mario 3D Land, Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D Coming to European, North

« on: October 05, 2012, 08:01:47 AM »

I actually preferred it when Nintendo didn't really do online stuff other then Virtual Console, when they still seemed quaintly behind the times. It was less embarrassing and it stopped me getting my hopes up.
These latest eshop announcements are like watching your uncle turn up to a night club dressed in what he thinks the kids are into these days and hitting the dance floor to throw some shapes. It's to painful to remain sympathetic.


Anybody who pays £40 for Starfox or Pilot Wings just to have it always on the 3DS memory stick is taking fandom to a very dark and dishonorable place indeed. I love Star Fox, but even I waited for it to get reduced at retail (although not by Nintendo) before I picked it up. And I've had more entertainment from FTP iOS games then Pilot Wings Resort (literally). I want NOE go the whole hog and sell Steel Diver for £50, I reckon they'd make more profit out of 1 idiot buying it at that price then the number of people who'd download it for £20 or similar.


Also, knocking £1 off of Pullblox is (like the previous European eshop sale) not much of a purchase incentive. I know it means that you get your game for one hundred pence less than normal, but I am not even slightly tempted to put £10 credit on the eshop just to save one pound. I guess if you haven't already got Pullblox AND you have credit in your account it gives you a whole pound towards something else - hardly exciting is it? 
The whole eshop system is.... as has been said many times before...  dreadful compared to itunes, steam, PSN and XBLA.


I'll stick with physical releases then. Ah Nintendo, great games - blinkered approach to online. It gets truer and truer.


Imagine a Nintendo version of PS+, eh? Actually don't, it hurts.

46

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Rumour: GBA Games Coming to 3DS eshop?

« on: October 03, 2012, 05:23:15 AM »

Super Mario Ball?


What a waste. Mario Advance Golf would be day 1 for me, that and Advance Wars were my most played GBA games, an utter beaut. Never got around to Super Star Saga and eventually sold my cart, so sign me up for that one too.


BIG DITTO on Metroid Zero Mission and Wario Ware Twisted. I really hope that happens.

47

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 308: Bathe in the Spicy RPG Sauce

« on: October 01, 2012, 10:47:30 AM »

I'd read a few pieces about To The Moon and it's a game I am really interested in, sadly I don't have access to Windows games though. Which is a shame because it sounds like it would work pretty well as an iOS game. ANYWAY... Thanks Jonny and James for putting the show together this week and to everybody for making it happen. I do hope Lindy & family are doing okay.

48

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 307: Don't Let Your Kids Huff the Warm Mushroom Cookies

« on: September 28, 2012, 07:37:09 AM »

I'll kill two birds with one stone: FOR GOD'S SAKE, MAN, GET CHRONO TRIGGER ON DS!!!! IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!
..... Tales of the Abyss was, IMO, a decent RPG. Nothing too special, but the story got slightly interesting as the game progressed, and I kinda liked the battle system. I'm now stuck on the final boss, which I find funny, because I haven't been stuck on a boss for probably...I dunno...30 hours?!? That's one problem I have with the game. Lots of the bosses go down without a fight, so I kinda feel like I'm just moving through the game for nothing more than the story, and it's just pretty good.

Advice taken. I think it'll be the next JRPG I play. But it's not likely to be this year.
I agree, Tales of the Abyss is decent enough. I'd never have made it to the 50 hr mark if I didn't enjoy it. But there is a bit to much "go to this location to trigger a cut scene. Rinse and repeat." especially at point I'm at in the game. And there are far too many skits for my taste.
But I found the central characters arrogance and rudeness pretty funny at the beginning (which surprised me, the RFN guys compared it to The World Ends With You and the central character in that ruined the game for me) and I've enjoyed watching him adapt to the world around him. Also the story's question of whether it's good or bad to have a prophetic "Score" dictate world history is one that interests me. But boy oh boy do you have to cut through a lot of techno-bable early on. There have been moments when I have watched a cut scene, not really followed the conversation or had a clue what I am supposed to do next and had to consult the Library menu. But after the first 3rd that calmed down a lot.
I agree that the difficulty curve on the bosses is a bit weird. Overall it's a very easy game, 2 of the bosses have given me course to restart once or twice. It looks lovely on my 3DS XL and some of the music is works very well. I like it enough to want to finish it but not enough to investigate the Tales series further.

JRPGs are kinda my thing. I'm still educating myself on some of the more obscure stuff, but I'm moderately knowledgeable about the genre.

I never played a JRPG or strategy RPG before the GBA so I have a lot of catching up on. I've still never played a Dragon Quest of Final Fantasy game. I'm hoping to do what you've done and play through some of the classics as I really enjoy the genre and then put up some obscurer titles. But I find that for everybody online saying things like "FF6 FTW" there's some one saying "Hmm, it's good but I think you had to play it at the time to really love it". It 's liek this for all the famous JRPGs I know of with the possible exception of Chrono Trigger, which I rarely see any negativity for. With that in mind I'm keen to play some more current games in the genre as well in the hope of loosing myself in something incredible.


Thank you for the PSP recommendations. I have a Vita and quite a few of the games you mentioned are compatible. I've got Half Minute Hero and Tactics Ogre in my download list, and I'm hoping to pick up Person 4 eventually. I didn't get on with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but depending on Tactics Orge I may check out the PSP or DS additions.


I only play hand held stuff these days so Xenoblade, etc are lost on me. But I have plenty to play through. Currently I've got Chrono Trigger, Radiant Historia, FF 7, Half Minute Hero, Tactics Ogre & Dragon Quest 4 all staring daggers at me, which will take me months to get through at the rate I play. James Jones I am not. But based on this weeks maniacal laugh, that is probably a good thing!

49

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 307: Don't Let Your Kids Huff the Warm Mushroom Cookies

« on: September 27, 2012, 11:11:15 AM »

Hey, thank's Retro Teens. That was great. Please don't feel like you have to stop yet.


I am so old that I had a NES when it was good, but I gotta say I think the vast majority of games I played are not worth touching now. Including the first 2 Super Mario games. As much as I liked it back in the day, I think the original Super Mario Bros is the worst in the series. It just frustrates me. I go to Mario Land when I want a really retro Mario hit. I honestly feel it has aged much better.


Like you guys I much prefer the 3D Marios. Mario 64 and Galaxy are my favorites.
And LttP is kinda lost on me. I missed it the first time around and went for the GBA port and just couldn't get into it. Played to the half way point and stopped. I'll got back one day for completions sake I expect.


Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 are two more classics I missed and are on my "Must Play" list. I'm 50 hours into Tales of the Abyss right now and just want it to end, so it'll be a while before I get stuck into another JRPG. I need to catch up on my 3DS Mario's first as I have them both on my shelf and haven't touched either of them.


And just to contribute to the discussion, my favourite retro consoles are the N64 (for nostalgia sake because the 1st party games blew my mind) and the GBA SP because it took most of the things I loved about the SNES, improved on it with save files, etc, made it all portable AND had some brilliant original sprite based games in a word of mediocre 3D. That and I loved everything Camelot did.


So Retro Teens - it seems like you two know you JRPGs, can you recommend any recent portable titles that AREN'T Radiant Historia (which is on my Lindy pile)?

50

Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 306: Suckers Anonymous

« on: September 25, 2012, 09:01:23 AM »

Complaining about your score is often the best way to lower it.


Don't take things so seriously...........

What part of my posts about my negative score led you to conclude that I was taking it seriously?