Articles by mixvio
I first began writing for GayGamer in the beginning of September last year. In my six months on staff I've had the opportunity to cover a myriad of topics converging gaming with sexuality and LGBT politics. The experience has been rewarding and I've really enjoyed the things that I've learned from engaging with the community here. Growing up as an avid gamer from the first time I got a Nintendo Entertainment System as a child, I would've loved to have a site like this during the many times I felt isolated from other gamers online. To be able to contribute to this place as an adult has been a real honour.
Sentimentalities aside, I have come to say that this will be my last post on GayGamer.net. Responsibilities and factors in my real life are mingling and unfortunately I don't have the same level of free time I've had in the past to contribute here. I would like to extend thanks to Fruit Brute for his leadership and for allowing me to participate in the first place, as well as to Tiny Dancer and Mikey for their hard work handling the administration and technical aspects of the site-- to say nothing of the talents of the other writers on staff whose combined brilliance has been inspiring to write alongside. And finally, thanks to you, the readers, for commenting and reading the things I've written.
I still intend to be a part of the forum, IRC channel and comments here. Thanks again to everyone who has made this place what it is and the best of wishes to you all.
PS: It occurred to me after writing this that due to the ill-timed date, this may be taken as some warped April Fool's joke. Rest assured, this isn't a prank. :P
The LA Times is reporting that Activision Blizzard has apparently quietly restructured itself without announcing this to their investors or the public at large. The largest change is that the company has divided itself into four units now: Blizzard Entertainment remains independent, as it has been previously, while another unit will focus solely on the Call of Duty franchise; the third new unit will focus on all other original properties like Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk titles, while the fourth will focus on licensed properties.
The Times is reporting on this through internal memos they obtained about the restructuring, saying that while it's been confirmed through emails sent to employees it has largely been unreported in the media. In addition to the restructuring, there has been a shakeup in senior management with Thomas Tippl, formerly chief financial officer and chief corporate officer, receiving a promotion to chief operating officer and Mike Griffith being promoted to vice chairman.
In an update to the Times article an Activision spokesperson confirmed the changes and additionally stated that fifteen employees had been laid off last week as a result. It's not specified what areas these employees had been laid off from, but this change to the company is the largest it's seen since merging with Vivendi Games in 2008 and becoming Activision Blizzard:
"We realigned our structure to better reflect our slate and marketing opportunities and direct our resources against the largest most profitable business segments," said spokeswoman Maryanne Lataif.
Report: Activision Blizzard makes changes; lays off 15 workers [via BigDownload]
THQ has announced that the epic console action adventure game Darksiders will be coming to PCs in June. Developed by Vigil Games, Darksiders was released earlier in the year to Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Putting players in control of War, one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, players are sent on a quest to restore the balance between Heaven and Hell after being tricked into setting about the end of humanity. Critically acclaimed for its visual style as well as gameplay, the title was seen by many as a homage to the Zelda franchise, albeit in a more "mature" state. Check out the full press release below, and for those of you who've wanted to check the game out but haven't had access to a console or inclination to play it on one, you'll be getting your shot this summer.
------------
US, March 30, 2010 - AGOURA HILLS, Calif. - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that its critically acclaimed action-adventure title Darksiders will be coming to the PC in June.
Released earlier this year for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, Darksiders will be available for PC gamers to enjoy in all of its apocalyptic glory this summer. Developed by THQ's in-house studio Vigil Games, this version of the game is being meticulously crafted to deliver the same great art style and dynamic game play to a whole new audience.
Travis Plane, Vice President of Global Brand Management commented, "We are delighted to be able to bring Darksiders to the PC. THQ is focused on bringing great product to the PC gaming audience so it was vital that we allowed Vigil the time to optimize the title for the PC platform. We hope PC gamers experience the same thrill and get the same level of satisfaction assuming the mantle of WAR as the console audience did."
David Adams, General Manager of Vigil Games commented, "We are really excited to have the opportunity to bring Darksiders to the global PC audience. We feel that the growth of digital distribution and PC online communities creates a great environment for our game. We are working really hard to make sure that key features such as user-defined resolutions, interface and both keyboard and game pad control sets are all up to the standards for today's discerning PC consumer."
About Darksiders
Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of mankind, WAR - the first Horseman of the Apocalypse - must return to Earth to search for the truth and punish those responsible. War must take on the forces of Heaven and Hell, forge uneasy alliances with the very demons he hunts, and journey across the ravaged remains of the Earth on his quest for vengeance. Players harness the apocalyptic power of War, combining brutal attacks and supernatural abilities to decimate enemies who stand in his way. With an extreme arsenal of weapons, War blazes a trail of destruction, and emerges even more deadly atop Ruin, War's fiery phantom steed. Darksiders is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For more information, please visit www.darksiders.com.
I have to say, I find this a little bit ridiculous.
A Hooked Gamers editorial published last week and making the blog rounds today makes the claim that Ubisoft's always-on DRM plan, which I've discussed here already, is actually pretty cool or something. Through a rambling escapade of analogies and references to electrical plugs on planes and the 360's common red-ring-of-death, in the end the final judgement is that Ubisoft's DRM is both progressive and "ahead of its time."
A refutation could easily be made for everything in the blog entry: for example, even though a handful of airlines in the US have pilot testing for wifi on some of their flights, this is far from universal, and the latency and connectivity of such connections are so appalling that they would likely trigger many disconnects as a gamer tries to get through his copy of Assassin's Creed while flying from New York to LA-- the sort of disconnects that would throw said gamer back to the loading screen while their modem decides what to do. The argument can certainly be made that eventually such access will be commonplace eventually, but that's little consolation for gamers today. I also don't know the last time I've actually purchased a game on physical media: with the proliferation of marketplaces like Steam, I have to go out of my way to find a disc for a PC title, so Ubisoft's digital system certainly isn't anything new or providing additional functionality. In the end, though, it doesn't matter. Potential future technology doesn't excuse a form of copyright protection that is live and active this very moment that is hampering legitimate customers from their legitimate purchases.
It used to be that the only benefit piracy provided was giving someone a game without paying for it. When such piracy is now restoring functionality crippled by developers for consumers who've actually bought their product, something is warped in the plan. If this is ahead of it's time, it's reflecting a time of some sort of dystopian restriction that I'm not really interested in.
* (The tasteful image used here appropriated from Saint Superman's excellent article on DRM and PC gaming.)
The Secret World is one of the few games, and probably the first MMOG, that I've had a fixation and overwhelming desire for in a long while. Funcom's brilliant The Longest Journey (and still fantastic if not as impressive sequel Dreamfall) was a game that affected me on a profound level. Age of Conan didn't enthral me, but I've had hopes that a new original IP would bring back some of the spirit from their previous fantasy/sci-fi titles.
This past week an exclusive video was published on GameTrailers.com detailing the first in-game footage that we've seen from the game to-date and it was with high, and satisfied, hopes that I immediately ran to my computer to watch it. Though their Kingsmouth teaser site suggested something in the way of potential screenshots, up until now there hasn't been any public eye-candy to drool over.
Several of the settings are stunning to look at, to say nothing of the bizarre and frightening creatures depicted in combat-- the Lovecraftian influence is definitely in full swing here as many of the supernatural enemies have that familiar tentacle motif going for them. Interestingly enough, the video above seems to suggest something that doesn't tend to make its way into MMOGs very often: cut scenes, especially the fully voiced variety. The Secret World is ambitious with its plans to break many conventional moulds as far as MMOGs go, and so far it's looking pretty well on its way. No release date has been suggested, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long.
If you've ever had hopes of calling yourself the "ultimate gamer," you might get your shot. World Cyber Games, who had a hand in 2009's WCG Ultimate Gamer, is apparently gearing up for a second season of the competition and it looks like they're pushing to get some people of the rainbow persuasion involved this time around.
Nick Williams, Associate Producer on the TV series, has sent us an email with a flier detailing upcoming casting calls for Ultimate Gamer; as the sole gay staffer for the show, he's hoping that more LGBT gamers will show up and represent.
Although the first season didn't engage me very much, and I had some issues with the way some stereotypes were perpetuated (as well as the usual macho machismo that's endemic in much of the gaming community), I can't help but feel that a LGBT cast-member would be significantly more engaging as far as our community goes.
If you happen to live in, or can travel to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago or Atlanta, casting calls will take place in April. Nick will be personally handling the open call in Chicago, as well. Full details are after the jump so check it out and good luck to those who audition!
R.U.S.E. is a upcoming RTS developed by Eugen Systems and published by Ubisoft. While a private beta has been under way for some time, Steam users were treated to a free open beta test earlier in March, continuing through until April 9th. Set in the time period of World War 2, R.U.S.E. takes the traditional RTS and gives it an interesting spin through the form of the eponymous "ruses," wildcards that allow a player to trick and deceive the enemy in a variety of ways.
Set for release sometime in 2010, R.U.S.E. has been developed by the same people behind the Act of War games. Although thus far the public beta is focusing just on the multiplayer aspects of the game, at release the game will have an extensive single player campaign and a fleshed-out skirmish mode; so far the AI skirmish only gives you access to a single map, but that's supposed to be an intended limitation to test out the game.
In commemoration of Dragon Age: Origins' latest expansion, Dell's Alienware is giving away an exclusive in-game item called the Bulwark of the True King, which is either a Tier 5 or Tier 7 shield depending on whether or not you're using it in the base game or the Awakening expansion.
While the giveaway is free, there are some steps to get it. You can read the full details at the blog post here, but it basically requires you to register a free account with the "Alienware Arena," activate the key you're provided at the Bioware website, then download the item inside Dragon Age.
Dell/Alienware is only offering this to PC gamers (no codes for the console versions are offered) living in the US, though an enterprising PC user could undoubtedly snag a key through a proxy or with the help of a friend living in the States-- not that I would suggest anything like that, mind you.
If you like free stuff for a modicum of effort head on over to the giveaway page and plug in your details.
While I realize this will be a bit lost on this site's demographic, I couldn't help but comment on it nevertheless. Long has the stereotype of the "gamer" crowd been one of lonely, overweight nerds living in the basements of their parents, with no social contact with the outside world beyond virtual interactions in video games. One company with a clear aim to capitalize on this perception is GameCrush, who have announced that they're creating a new service which hooks said depressed, isolated gamers up with "PlayDates" in the form of supposed hot women who just want to game, man.
The PlayDates come in two flavors, "flirty" and "dirty," depending on what level of pornographic content you want with your Modern Warfare 2 match, I guess. The service allows you to play simple Flash games over webcam with your date, or you can opt for one of four Xbox 360 titles on XBL. Flash sessions last for six minutes, XBL games last for ten.
GameCrush's website has apparently self-destructed under a sea of attention and (hopefully) internet-wide mocking, but Kotaku has a very NSFW gallery of some of the "attractive ladies" (and at least one guy) who you can book to play video games with. Rampant opportunistic sexism aside, either type of game costs $8.25 a pop, with the PlayDates allegedly keeping 60% of the proceeds. It seems that GameCrush forgot the last part of the gamer stereotype when they set their business plan in motion, though: I thought gamers weren't supposed to have jobs?
(Thanks Mrrow for the tip!)
Although its existence has already been known ever since internal video of the game was leaked online last September, within the past day the entirety of the official The Witcher website has been replaced by a blatantly obvious stylized "2" and a link to the official forums. There's not a lot left to the imagination on what this change could be signalling.
Explicit details have been kept under wraps, although a CD Projekt employee wrote on their forums back in January that sometime in March would see the company holding a press conference to announce details about the upcoming sequel.
The Witcher was released in 2007, based on a series of short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Critical reception was positive, with the first game currently holding an 81 on Metacritic, while the "enhanced edition" has an 86. If its sequel lives up to the reputation of the first game, it will make for an excellent fantasy RPG.
The Witcher web site is hinting at something involving the number "2" [via BigDownload]
Well, so much for that.
During an interview at the launch party for Square Enix's latest piece of the Final Fantasy franchise, CEO Yoichi Wada told attendees that while they don't have concrete plans to remake the oft-lauded Final Fantasy 7, apparently the company will "explore the possibility - whether or not we're going to do it, if we're going to do it, and the platform."
While all the flip-flopping is getting to be a little confusing, it's worth remembering that fans have been begging for the game to be remade with higher fidelity ever since the original Playstation was rendered obsolete by its younger brother. It also doesn't hurt that since its debut on PSN, FFVII has been topping the charts. Clearly if Square Enix sees a market, that's strong incentive for them to remake the game.
Square Enix CEO: We're 'going to explore the possibility' of Final Fantasy VII remake [via Joystiq]
South Australia Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, for some time the only opposition to introducing a R18+ classification for video games in the country, announced over the weekend that he was resigning from his position as Attorney-General immediately. Holding his position as MP for over 20 years, Atkinson will step down fully at the end of his term in 2014, his role a backseat one in the interim.
In Australia's system, changes to censorship law require the unanimous consent of all the country's Attorney-Generals, and Atkinson has long been the only hold-out to updating the ratings to be more in-line with the rest of the world. As a result, Australia lacks a classification criteria beyond 15+, so any games that would be rated higher than this are refused classification and prohibited from being sold.
While this doesn't signal that a reversal is imminent, Atkinson has maintained his refusal in defiance of the clear will of his constituents and the rest of Australia, so hopefully his replacement will be a bit more respectful. With his party also losing their majority in the election this past weekend, it's a good sign to hope for as far as gamers are concerned. Soon enough Australia might not have to worry about "banned games" the way it has in the past.
And girls who like girls who like rumble packs!
E3 Twitter
Gay Gamer of the Week
Recent Comments
GGP Mailing List
Are you gay and working in the games industry? If you are interested in networking with other folks like you within the industry, try joining the Gay Game-Industry Professionals mailing list.
Links
The GayGamer Store
- Help support GayGamer by purchasing your items through our store!
All rights reserved © 2006-2010 FAD Media, Inc.
