With the childish ranting of David Jaffe on Neo-Gaf in response to comments made on the Joystiq website, many bloggers and podcasters are asking the question “Should developers blog?”  My answer is yes, over at our sister site Live For XBox, a review was posted about the new Soltrio Solitaire game, and someone from the company was actually nice enough to post some rhetorical comments explaining some of the things they felt were over looked.  Jonas was very polite and professional in his comments.  Even though the review did not show their product in a positive light, Jonas was professional enough to include “Thanks for the review…”.  I can only imagine what David Jaffe would have wrote to us if we had said something unpleasant about his game Calling All Cars.

It seems in the world of video games today the developers and publishers want to remind you that this is a business and they are there to make money.  But then you have David Jaffe and others who throw temper tantrums online and use the “F” word to replace most of the nouns and verbs in their sentences.  A note to all the developers and publishers out there, when you are asking us to reach into our wallets and hand over our hard earned cash remember to tell your employees to act like business people and display a little professionalism.  I can not imagine the manager at Gamestop berating a customer and swearing at them if they did not pre order a different game every time they went in there.  Or the Best Buy salesman shouting the at a customer and using the “F” word just because you would not buy their way over priced HDMI cables.

I was so impressed by Jonas’s professionalism that I felt that even though we did not show their companies products in a positive light, I felt we should definitely show their employees in a positive light.  So I tip my hat to you Jonas, and look forward to your next game and hope that we can write something positive about it.

Today Woot.com have started their wootoff, every time one deal sells out another comes on, you’ll never know what it’ll be, so it’s worth watching.
Woot usually don’t sell video games, although they have sold a PS3 at one time, many TVs, and several other accessories for your video game life style

Any gamer will tell you that if they are having a bad day at work or going through a rough time in their lives, games can be the escape from the real world of pain or unhappiness.  At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a nonprofit group called Cause was looking for ways to help soldiers deal with their injuries after returning from the war. The best solution they’ve found? Video games. 

In a quote from the Washington Post:

Video games are all over Walter Reed. They’re used for therapy or entertainment, or both. Alcibar doesn’t have any hand injuries, but he’s been trying to persuade some of his physical therapists to make Guitar Hero available to those who do. It would probably help some soldiers rebuild their hand strength and dexterity. And it’s another excuse to play.

The hospital allows patients to check out games and systems, and also has monthly get-togethers to get the soldiers out of their rooms and playing socially. Which would you rather do, sit in your room and brood over your injuries, or hand someone their butt in Virtua Fighter 5? Chuck Ziegenfuss, a wounded major in the army, also said that being able to take part in such a routine part of life can help to normalize the soldiers after such a life-changing experience. 

Some studies have hinted that virtual reality and gaming in general can help people with their pain, and most gamers already know that social gaming has many other benefits that are harder to pin down scientifically. In a hospital environment, away from home, being able to play games with people who have been through the same things you have must be good medicine.

Source ars technical

So if you are like me then the corporate higher ups have inked a company policy that all computers loaded with Microsoft Windows will have the games removed.  No Solitaire, No Hearts in short no fun at work!  Those slave drivers up in the front office want to feel confident that you are working hard to make sure there is plenty of profit sharing and 401K money to plunder for their own toga personal birthday parties.

But what if Old Scrooge sitting up there in his luxurious office with private bathroom and private hot tub with the cute young secretary right outside his office could be convinced that playing a casual game on the computer would actually help you be more productive and increase creativity?  According to a study performed by WorldWinners 76 percent of those who play intermittently at work report improved performance on the job.  The survey, which involved more than 500 players who compete at WorldWinner.com, reveals surprising new reasons workers take time out of their day to play casual games. Among them, more than 80 percent of respondents who play online games during the workday feel better-focused on work as a result of periodic mental breaks associated with game play, 76 percent report improved productivity, and 72 percent rely on game breaks to reduce job-related stress.  Survey respondents represent a wide cross-section of the workforce. Nearly 60 percent of respondents are employed full-time, with 32 percent self-employed. Further, almost half are employed outside of the home while some 33 percent work within the home. The top three industries represented include retail/wholesale trade (11%), healthcare (8%) and education (7%) – while IT vocations accounted for just 5 percent. Sales and general administration were the top two functional areas reported, with career level varying widely from executives to administrative staff.

“When I need a break during the workday, I often turn to online skill games to recharge my brain,” said WorldWinner player Jeff R. “I’ve found that taking a few minutes and challenging myself with a word game, puzzle, sports or card game can really boost my productivity; I return to work with a fresh perspective and improved creativity. Playing games can also get me revved up before starting a big project – especially when I win!”

“This survey further reinforces the growth trends we are seeing in the online games industry; increasingly, people are turning to these games for more than entertainment,” said Peter Blacklow, president, WorldWinner. “Our games are designed to be played in quick spurts by players at virtually any skill level; and we continue to expand our games portfolio with this diverse consumer in mind. It’s a great compliment to us that today’s workers are logging on and finding not only fast-paced competitions and exciting tournaments, but also creative inspiration.”

If you want to read more visit WorldWinner at their website.
 

Via Press Release

Sony Executives have been preaching the virtues of Blu-Ray now for years, while the response by consumers has been less enthusiastic.  From developers complaining of slow load times to consumers complaining about the additional cost to delaying the release of the Playstation 3 (PS3), Blu-Ray has been the butt of many jokes and the cause for lots of hate across the Internet.  The question that many have posed is simply, “Does the PS3 really need Blu-Ray?”

The argument could go on and on whether we need Blu-Ray the key is to make us want Blu-Ray.  In the true fashion of Apple Inc who creates the desire for a new iPod every time they come out with a new model even though the one you probably already have works just fine.  Sony needs to do is simply create the desire for Blu-Ray.  Here are two things I think Sony could do to create a desire for Blu-Ray in their gaming console. 

First is get first party game developers to really produce games that have lots of content.  Games that have an insane amount of maps for multiplayer and huge single player campaign that could rival the game play in Oblivion or Grand Theft Auto: San Andres.  Now some of you might remember Insomniac Games saying that they needed more then nine gigabytes for Resistance Fall of Man.  But I do not think using uncompressed audio and video counts.  If you had a game similar to Gears of War that the single player campaign took forty to sixty hours to complete, and there were forty to fifty multiplayer maps.  Graphics, audio, and map content that you could really show off the ability of the Blu-Ray disk to hold just a crazy amount of content.  Then when the XBox 360 comes out with Gears of War 2 and the single player campaign is an eight hour experience you can point to this game and show why Blu-Ray was needed for true Next Generation gaming.  By the way this would also help with the pricing issue also if you can say that users of the PS3 pay $59.99 for a game that lasts forty or fifty hours while other console owners pay $59.99 for games that last eight or nine….Hmmmm you do the math and figure out what is a better deal.

Second, with the renewed interest in retro gaming developers could release collector editions of their new games.  For example, say a certain developer who is releasing a little game called Devil May Cry 4 for the Playstation 3 and now the XBox 360.  If they were to offer a collectors edition of the game for the PS3 that contained not just Devil May Cry 4, but also all the previous versions too!  Now when cross platform games are released all of a sudden the PS3 version stands out from the rest as coming on one disk.  Just today Midway announced the collector’s edition of the up and coming StrangeHold for the PS3 will also contain the movie as well as the game.  This is the kind of thing that Sony really needs to encourage, to show why they needed to include a Blu-Ray drive with the PS3.

Of course anyone who has a high definition television and a Blu-Ray player be it a PS3 or otherwise also knows why we need and desire Blu-Ray, it is as simple as this.

MumboJumbo, a developer and publisher of premium casual games, today announced their sponsorship and participation in the annual “Readers Are Leaders” Mayor’s Summer Reading Program. In support of the program, which is designed to promote reading and literacy in the Dallas area, MumboJumbo has donated 2,000 games to be distributed to local children who reach a reading goal of 100 hours between May 19th and July 28th. The Dallas Public Library has offered special reading programs to area youth for over 30 years, and the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program has been a successful part of that program for 10 years and counting.

“We’re pleased to welcome MumboJumbo as a new sponsor of the Mayor’s Summer Reading program, and we are very excited that they have agreed to provide educational computer software to children who read 100 hours this summer,” said Dallas Central Library Administrator, Kjerstine Nielsen. “It’s a cool prize, and really complements the Mayor’s annual program in Dallas.”

“MumboJumbo maintains a deep commitment to community involvement, and support of programs that have a positive impact on today’s youth,” said Mark Cottam, CEO of MumboJumbo. “Like books, games can be relaxing, educational, and fun. We’re delighted to be a part of the program to help the Mayor’s summer program reach new heights and motivate children to make reading a major part of their summer activity.”

MumboJumbo has donated 500 of each of their popular PC titles, Zoom Book: The Temples of the Sun, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, Charlotte’s Web: Word Rescue, and Haiku Journey to the readers that achieve the reading goal. Each game retails for $19.95, making a grand total of $40,000 in donations. MumboJumbo’s casual, interactive PC titles are suitable for kids of all ages and fun for the whole family.

Visit their website here

Via Press Release

Today marks the release of “Touch the dead” for the Nintendo DS. I don’t know, it must be me but I find the name hilarious. The game looks like it’ll be pretty fair, but honestly I can’t get past the name. This got me thinking about game names, sure “Touch the dead” is a pretty bad name, but how bad can they get? Well here’s a few names from the past that have stuck out for me.

• Bouncy Balls – C64 – 1996

  Save the World of bouncy! This was one of the last few games released on the Commodore C64 and was completely unknown by everyone

• Grabbed by the Ghoulies – Xbox – 2003

  I’m sure this name doesn’t mean much to Americans, but with Rare being a UK based company I’m surprised they didn’t change this name

• Sticky Balls – Gizmondo – 2005

  Ah the Gizmondo, we barely knew ye. To say I’ve played this would mean admitting to owning a Gizmondo, which I have sworn to never do.

• Nuts and Milk – MSX – 1984

  A very generic Hudson soft game, that has been released several times for the Japanese market.

• Wild Woody – Sega CD/Mega CD – 1995

  Dusty, a pencil brought to life with magic powers with the mission of saving the universe

So there we have five games to prove that names can be worse than “Touch the dead”. I’m sure there are many more that I am missing and Seaman 2 is just around the corner

Like many of you who are avid gamers, I read Joystiq and all the related fanboy sites probably three if not more times in a day.  I was happier then a fourteen year old boy finding his dad’s secret stash of Playboys, to find out Joystiq and XBox360FanBoy started producing Podcasts.  And then I listened to the first episode, how should I describe this.  Imagine you and your friend are sitting on the couch playing your favorite multi-player video game.  The game starts are you are excited and ready, then you catch the scent of the foulest, most god awful fart that your buddy next to you silently slipped out and is now sitting there with a grin from ear to ear.  I just could not believe that the writers of what I consider to be one of the best gaming blogs on the web currently, could produce such an awkward, clumsy Podcast.  But like a child who is being forced to eat their broccoli I stayed with the Podcast.  At episode six Justin McElroy joined the Podcast, and like a giant Ice Zamboni he seemed to clear up all the waves and rough spots in the Podcast.  The last two episodes 006 and 007 have been absolutely entertaining.  Chris and Justin seem to have a chemistry that just flows.  Like Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla in LoveLine, Chris Grant and Justin McElroy seem to balance the silly humorous comments of Justin with the wise calm professionalism of Chris.  In episode 007 (which I like to think of as the Bond Edition), when Chris Grant reads the David Jaffe Neo-Gaff post and bleeps out all the foul language with an Achievement Unlocked sound effect, I don’t care who you are that is good entertainment.

I really encourage everyone to check this Podcast out, and to Chris and Justin I look forward to all the future episodes.

Link to Joystiq Podcasts

Thought everyone might want to read an article over at LiveforXBox on how the release date of Halo 3 will affect some of the other games releasing this coming fall.  Before it seemed Microsoft has a line up of games that seemed almost unstoppable.  But now the sliding Halo 3 in early may knock down the sales or other developer projects in true domino fashion.

Source

So last week we talked about trying to become a surgeon after playing the Trauma Center series from Atlus on the Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Wii.

This week I have been playing Splinter Cell Double Agent.  Now I have played through the other three Splinter Cell games so I am not a noob in this area.  Not wanting to get black listed by the FBI, or CIA for making prank phone calls to their HR department I decided to measure my spy skills I have acquired in a different way.  At my job there is this old lady that sits in the cube next to me, and every time I get up to go on break, go to the bathroom, or just to waste time she will look at me and then look at the clock and monitor the time I leave my desk until the time I get back.  So I have decided that with all my virtual sneaking around in dark shadows I should be able to get back at sneaking past her.

Now I will say that with all this virtual experience in sneaking I figured out how to confuse the old lady that watches over me like vulture waiting for its prey to weaken to a point where it can be eaten.  I walked past her in the opposite way of the bathrooms or the break rooms.  I would grab some papers out of my recycling bin so it looked like I was on office business and then took the long way around to get to the bathroom.  Yes, I had my Nintendo DS in my pocket so I could play Hotel Dusk or Pokemon in the bathroom. 

To continue my sneaking tactics I tried sneaking up on my wife, when she was looking in the refrigerator.  As I got right up behind her she turned around and smacked me in face with a bottle of ketchup.

So once again I believe that I have proven that video games do not train you for real live tasks and occupations.