Category: Games

Tecmo Super Bowl returns

As if there isn’t already enough reason to look eagerly to the return of spring, Tecmo Bowl is coming to the Xbox 360 and the PS3 Spring 2010.

Tecmo Super Bowl was a game that came out in the late 80’s or the early 90’s — I don’t remember which — and it was 16-bit goodness. When I played the Los Angeles Raiders and I controlled Bo Jackson, I was literally unstoppable. It was a lot of fun.

Unlike the current Madden game franchise, you didn’t have to be a football genius to play it. In fact, a lack of knowledge of all things football might have actually been an advantage. You didn’t have to take note of the safeties before the ball snapped. You didn’t have to look for the blitz. You just played. It was fun.

by Rick  /  March 3, 2010  /  Posted in: Games
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Wizards of the Coast sues eight people over file sharing

Wizards of the Coast is trying to crack down on people that post Dungeons & Dragons products to the various file sharing networks. From ICv2:

Wizards of the Coast has filed three lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against eight defendants located in the United States, Poland and the Philippines alleging copyright infringement of its recently released Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook 2. The lawsuit contends that the defendants illegally distributed the Player’s Handbook 2 via free file-sharing Websites, and that these uploads resulted in a substantial number of lost sales and revenue for Wizards of the Coast.

Evidently Wizards of the Coast was selling PDF versions of there popular Dungeons & Dragons role playing system. That was until they realized that people could take these PDF files and share them on Bit Torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay.

Oops.

I realize that this is a civil lawsuit, but wouldn’t it be something to go to prison for something Dungeons & Dragons related?

I’m not sure they will have any luck suing somebody that resides in the Philippines for copyright infringement. The country has what you might describe as a very relaxed view on copyrights, or for that matter, crime in general.

I think by suing a few of their customers for file sharing, Wizards of the Coast may only be exacerbating the problem of unauthorized file sharing. By taking this action and then publicizing the fact, they are broadcasting to the world that their intellectual property is available for free at the various file sharing sites. The people they are suing are people that actually paid them for the PDF files.

Suing these people wont stop these specific PDF files from being shared in the future.

by Rick  /  April 10, 2009  /  Posted in: Games
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Conflux Fat Pack

conflux-fat-packAfter work yesterday I bought a Magic The Gathering Conflux Fat Pack at Target. It contained 8 booster packs, a Conflux Players Guide, a 20-sided die, a snazzy looking storage box, a pack of land cards, and the first chapter of Agents of Artiface, an original Magic The Gathering novel.

This is what I got:

Mythic Rares: (1) Malfegor.
Rares: (7) Master Transmuter (x2), Meglonoth, Noble Hierarch, Soul’s Majesty, Sphinx Summoner, Scepter of Insight.
Premiums: (1) – Rotting Rats (Common).

The best card I pulled by far was the Noble Hierarch.  The Malfegor was the first Mythic Rare (seeded one per 8 packs) that I’ve pulled from a pack, but it seems somewhat lame.

It’s been a while since I opened a Fat Pack.  The last time I did, it came with only six booster packs, but instead of having only a sample chapter of the novel corresponding to the set, it contained the actual entire paperback novel.  It all equals out in that two booster packs cost the same as a paperback novel.  Then again, I’ve never read a novel I’ve pulled out of a Magic The Gathering fat pack, so maybe I’m much better off just getting two extra booster packs.  Plus, I think replacing the paperback novel with two booster packs encourages people to buy more than one Fat Pack.  What are people going to do with two copies of the same paperback novel?

I saw Agents of Artiface over at Borders a couple of weeks ago and it’s not a paperback.  It’s an actual hardbound book.  Wizards of the Coast must have put a lot of faith into the book releasing it as a hardbound.

2 Comments by Rick  /  March 12, 2009  /  Posted in: Games
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Darkmavis has lost the connection

Click image to see larger version

Click image to see larger version

Funny, Darkmavis’ connection seemed good when he or she was winning. Sometimes while playing Magic Online, your opponent gets so upset over of the fact that he or she is suddenly losing, they simply exit out of the program. I guess they do this to avoid the disappointment of losing. This is precisely what my opponent did today.

Darkmavis exited out of Magic Online, severing their connection.

It’s the virtual equivalent of throwing the chess board up in the air and storming out of the room when you opponent puts you in check. It used to happen a lot when Magic Online was first released some five years ago. Until today, I can’t remember the last time it happened. It always seemed extremely silly to me. Out of the thousands of Magic Online duels I’ve played over the years, only one ended in a tie. If someone wins the game, someone also has to lose the game.

That’s just the way it is.

by Rick  /  January 18, 2009  /  Posted in: Games
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Magic Online has stopped working

Every week the digital online version of the popular collectible card game Magic The Gathering receives an update file from the game’s central server.  The file contains fixes and other needed updates from the game’s developers.

At least that’s what is supposed to happen.

I updated my Magic Online software yesterday and now it will not work.  I simply get an error message telling me that Magic Online has stopped working.  It doesn’t tell me why it has stopped working.  It only tells me that it’s not working.

This isn’t the first problem I’ve had with the third version of this game.  To say that it’s been buggy is an understatement.  Version two of Magic Online worked well enough for me.  I never really had any problems with it.  The interface was much better and it looked far better. Version III has been one ice cream headache after another. The interface is clumsy and the graphics look atrocious. It looks like a game from ten years ago.

I went ahead and uninstalled the game from my PC. I don’t think I’m going to waste any more time with it.

1 Comment by Rick  /  October 5, 2008  /  Posted in: Games
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I do not understand this commerical

I saw this commercial last night while watching Monday Night Football. I don’t get it. I guess it’s to promote the NFL football video game Madden 09. The only problem is that the last thing I feel like doing after watching this commercial is to play Madden 09.

I want to take the person featured in this commercial (code name “Secret”) and beat him over the head with his own shoe.

This guy has got to be the most obnoxious punk I think I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen quite a few obnoxious punks in my lifetime. He is supposedly the world’s best Madden player. This guy. This guy who appears to be humping the ground. This guy that looks like he is wearing his dad’s red jersey. This guy that makes weird faces at his opponent.

Why would anyone from either Sony (Playstation 3) or EA Sports (Madden 09) want this spot to air on the TV to promote their products?

by Rick  /  August 26, 2008  /  Posted in: Games
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Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

Wizards of the Coast released the fourth version of Dungeons & Dragons today. The fantasy roll playing game consists of three books:

Each book is sold separately and retails for $34.95. If you are Canadian, you have to pay $39.95. Does Wizards of the Coast know that the Canadian dollar is worth more then the U.S. dollar?

I flipped through the Player’s Handbook today in Waldenbooks. I wasn’t impressed. I thought the art looked hacky. You would think that since D&D was being published by Wizards of the Coast instead of TSR, they would bring a higher quality of artwork to the game system. From the look of the book, you wouldn’t know that it was published by the same company that produces Magic The Gathering.

1 Comment by Rick  /  June 7, 2008  /  Posted in: Games
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CNN’s Glen Beck thinks Grand Theft Auto IV is for children


What a wingnut. I’ll admit that the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise isn’t for me, but even I know it’s not intended for children. How do I know this?

Because I can read.

The game is for adults. It states so right on the game. It is labeled with the ESRB rating of MATURE. What does that mean? From the ESRB website:

Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

The game is clearly not intended for kids. Why is Glen Beck saying that it is?

Not only does Beck rant against Grand Theft Auto IV, he delves into the topic of military history, focusing on how soldiers have been trained to fire their weapons over the years. He claims that during World War One, American solders couldn’t shoot the enemy because they weren’t killers. Killing another human being was not a natural act. They had to be trained to kill other human beings.

If Glen Beck actually believes that, I’ve got a couple local Civil War battlefields, Antietam and Gettysburg, that I’d like to show him.

Video games aren’t just for kids. Like any form of entertainment, some video games are intended for children. Grand Theft Auto IV is not one of those.

25 Comments by Rick  /  May 3, 2008  /  Posted in: Games
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Magic Online is now Magic Offline

I’ve been trying to log on to my Magic Online account for the last couple of days without success. At first I thought it was because I was trying to log on from my Windows Visa desktop computer and Magic Online doesn’t like Windows Vista too much. I then tried to log on using my Windows XP notebook computer and my results were the same.

I went over to the Magic Online website and at first didn’t see any announcements concerning the game’s status. I then clicked the link that shows the game’s server’s status and I learned the server was down. There’s a note stating to check the message boards for more updates.

So that’s what I did. I then read the following message:

Hi everyone,We’ve received the go-ahead from our senior management, as of tomorrow morning we’re going to patch the 2.5 client one last time (installing a kicker screen to direct everyone who doesn’t read the boards to www.playmagiconline.com so they know what’s going on) and turn off all public access for good to that system.

This should happen around 9am PST, the system will go into no-pay Wedneday [sic] morning around 5am PST.

Approximately a week from tomorrow we will turn the new MOL III system back on a few pieces at a time, read the latest blog page for more information on that.

Thanks to all of you folks who make MOL what it is, and thanks to the MOL team for all their hard work in the past years to make this a reality.

Exciting times!

__________________
Worth Wollpert
Brand Manager, Magic Online
Wizards of the Coast

Why wasn’t this message emailed to everyone with a Magic Online account? Not everyone that has a Magic Online account has an account on the message board. I never go to the Magic Online message boards. Wizards of the Coast has to know how many people log on to Magic Online every day and how many people log onto the Magic Online message boards. The two numbers are not the same.

I’m somewhat bothered by the statements concerning when exactly it’s coming back. The word “approximately” used in relation to when it’s coming back doesn’t make me feel optimistic. It’s also bothers that the brand manager for Magic Online doesn’t know how to spell “Wednesday”.

1 Comment by Rick  /  April 13, 2008  /  Posted in: Games
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I guess God needed a Dungeon Master

Gary Gygax, the man that created the original fantasy roll-playing game Dungeons & Dragons has passed away. He was 69 years old.

Gygax, along with Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. It was the very first roll-playing game. I played it in high school and then later on in the Air Force. I used to love it. There was just something about the multi-sided dice, the lead figures, the graph paper, and the books and charts that appealed to the geek in me.

He will be missed.

1 Comment by Rick  /  March 4, 2008  /  Posted in: Games
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Nintendo to offer Wii rainchecks

I read an article in the LA Times that since Nintendo can’t make enough Wii game consoles to satisfy consumer demand, they will do the next best thing – they will begin selling rain checks. They are calling them “Wii Certificates”. Nintendo hopes to squash criticism and stop prospective customers from defecting over to one of the rival game systems.

We’ve been thinking about getting a Wii. They look like a lot of fun and they don’t cost nearly as much as Sony’s Playstation 3 or Microsoft’s XBox 360. Plus with a Wii, it only comes one way. The XBox 360 and the Playstation 3 both come in different models and editions. It’s confusing. I’ve never really understood the difference between the different versions. For instance, the XBox 360 comes in a special Halo 3 edition except it doesn’t even come with the Halo 3 game.

The Wii only comes one way.

I’ve looked for them every time I go to a retail store that sells them. Though I always see enough Playstation 3 and XBox 360 consoles to choke a goat, I’ve never seen a Wii. They’ve been out a year now and I still haven’t seen one for sale.

6 Comments by Rick  /  December 16, 2007  /  Posted in: Games
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