I've been keeping tabs on the whole Net Neutrality struggle since at least mid-2008, and, frankly, had all but lost hope that anything "good" would come of it for Internet users, what with all the political bickering, corporate payoffs-in-all-but-name, and the like. Amazingly though, it looks like the comments of a few million US citizens may have outweighed business-as-usual and corporate greed, unless it was the "you can't touch us" attitude of Verizon in past lawsuits that tipped the scale... either way, the Chairman of the FCC is bringing up a proposal for a vote shortly, which reclassifies Internet access as a utility, giving the FCC the opportunity to enforce Net Neutrality the way it's been since the Internet started, rather than how some large Internet providers want to re-define things for their convenience/profit.
Of course, as always, the devil's in the details, and there's no guarantee that something amenable to a majority of the commissioners will actually make it through a vote (there's a lot of time left for money/favors to come into play)... but I honestly never thought I would see even this much, from an FCC headed by a former industry insider. Color me hopeful... and we'll see what the final vote brings.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Steam Sale/Auction - Winter 2014
In addition to the usual, unbelievably-cheap games for a Steam sale, this year they introduced a system for converting certain unwanted digital goods they provide into "gems", which normally can be used primarily for buying "trading card packs" on their site... but, for the launch, they also ran a gem-priced auction on many of their games. So, this list also includes a number of effectively-free games that I received from that system... thanks, Steam!
AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity - Yeah, there should be some more As in that name, but since Steam was willing to truncate it, so am I. The basic premise here is pretty well unique... in a futuristic city of floating buildings, jump off the top of a high one and free-fall, scoring points for getting close to buildings, breaking through strategically-placed glass panes, and interacting with onlookers. Finish your run by deploying something parachute-like, and land in a predefined landing zone, all without breaking any bones. I rather enjoyed this one, during the jumps at least... the menu interface is simply strange, trying to link to the minimal backstory provided. Worth a go, if fear of simulated heights isn't a problem for you.
Batman: Arkham Origins - Third in a series, I had played the prior two on consoles and gotten various degrees of enjoyment out of them, so I went in with high hopes. While the gameplay is similar to prior entries (what little I did of it), the overall quality went missing somewhere. On the tutorial/introductory level, during the "boss fight" with Killer Croc, I lost all sound, and Croc glitched out visually ("ghosting" is how I would describe it). Still managed to make it through, but that killed any interest I had in pursuing the storyline. Give this one a pass... but definitely check out either of the prior games (Arkham Asylum and Arkham City) if you haven't already done so.
Bully: Scholarship Edition - I've always been curious about this game, since back when it launched (on PlayStation 2, if memory serves)... a videogame where you play as a kid in school is certainly different, but could it actually be fun? Turns out, yes, within limits... you're set up as a new, troubled kid transferring in to a boarding school for mostly-troubled kids, so things like fights happen routinely, so long as it's out of sight of the school's staff. Classes look to be fun, too... score well in introductory Chemistry, for example (which is done as a rhythm mini-game), and you get the ability to make firecrackers in your dorm room. Downsides exist, though... while many of the characters in the game are almost-unbelievable stereotypes, they're only almost unbelievable, and having that many packed in one place is a little horrifying. That, and, being a product of game culture a couple of generations back, the game is LOUD... mainly with the "barks" of brainless thugs and sniveling geeks, which can get really annoying in short order. Still and all, I could see myself going back to play this some more, time permitting.
Card City Nights - A "collectible" card game with the potentially-interesting hook of card positioning on the play field mattering... but in the end, it's all about playing "match 3" using icons on your cards, which I found to be an uninspired choice. I'd pass, unless you're the sort of game geek that thrives on seeing different mechanics in play.
Cargo Commander - A platormer of sorts, set in the reaches of deep space, where you, as a lowly employee of a megacorp, gather lost cargo containers (by magnetically attracting them to your home/ship), then explore them for abandoned cargo, eliminating any aliens/mutants you run across. Each container has its own definition of which way "down" is, so your frame of reference rotates with each area you enter... and of course, there's a time limit, after which a "wormhole" breaks apart the whole structure, so you have to get back to your home quickly or risk dying in the cold void of space. It's a great concept, marred only by one factor: the game reports back to a server for high-score purposes, and you can't unlock new levels unless you're connected to the server... and the game doesn't handle server outages (which I saw several of) quickly or gracefully. I can't recommend the game in its current state, but there's potential there, if the game/server(s) can be patched for reliability.
Foul Play - Victorian-themed beat-em-up, presented as a stage performance of a demon-hunter recounting his exploits in Egypt... so, mechanically, the main difference between this and other such games is that, instead of a "health" meter, you get an "audience satisfaction" meter... the longer and more varied the combos you pull off the more thrilled the audience is, while if you're getting the snot beat out of you, it'll soon be curtains, literally. I haven't played the last level yet (so yes, it's a bit short), but everything I've played to this point has been nothing short of charming. It's definitely worth a look.
Papo & Yo - A third-person puzzle-platformer, where... hm, honestly, I'm not sure how to describe this both accurately and tonally. I mean, the game starts with you as an abused child, hiding in the closet from your dad, who's stomping around outside... but you escape into a sort of dream-slum with its own set of rules and malleability, where you eventually meet back up with "Monster", who's an analogue of your dad, who you end up using to help you through sections of the game. I mean, it's not a depressing thing to play... it's not terribly challenging, but it's entertaining, and definitely has that "viewpoint of a child" thing going for it that I see missed so often in games where children are the supposed protagonists. Even if it's just when it's "on the cheap", I'd say snag this, to see the wonderful job they did with the world.
Portal 2 - Yes, I already got this for XBox360 back in the day, and I got it again on Steam anyways, it's just that good. I'd still say to check the original Portal out, if the graphics don't hold you back, since it fleshes out the story you encounter in Portal 2. Either way, I say, get this game.
Skullgirls - A wonderful little 2D fighting game... truly original character designs (I came for the 1920s-cartoon-style character, but the zombie catgirl has to be my favorite so far), tight controls, and an extensive tutorial really make this a keeper in my book. Pity I don't have the reflexes/timing to do a game like this justice any longer... if you do, by all means, check it out.
Talisman: Digital Edition - I'll admit, this was as much a nostalgia purchase as much as anything. Talisman is a boardgame that's been around since at least the '80s, where each player takes a character out adventuring in the world, with the ultimate goal of collecting a Talisman (hence the name of the game) to let them enter the Valley of Fire, which stands between them and the Crown of Command, with which they can knock off all the other players and become king/queen of the world. It's a very random game, with limited player interaction (players can basically beat each other up for their stuff, and occasionally use spells to tweak them)... frankly, as a game, it mostly fails, especially with games like Munchkin being out on the market, taking over the D&D/boardgame crossover market that it once held mostly solo. I won't recommend it to you, but, if you're ever thinking about picking up the actual boardgame, you might give this a go first... and, as is the unfortunate norm in videogames these days, there's plenty of DLC you can get, if the base game strikes a chord with you.
AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity - Yeah, there should be some more As in that name, but since Steam was willing to truncate it, so am I. The basic premise here is pretty well unique... in a futuristic city of floating buildings, jump off the top of a high one and free-fall, scoring points for getting close to buildings, breaking through strategically-placed glass panes, and interacting with onlookers. Finish your run by deploying something parachute-like, and land in a predefined landing zone, all without breaking any bones. I rather enjoyed this one, during the jumps at least... the menu interface is simply strange, trying to link to the minimal backstory provided. Worth a go, if fear of simulated heights isn't a problem for you.
Batman: Arkham Origins - Third in a series, I had played the prior two on consoles and gotten various degrees of enjoyment out of them, so I went in with high hopes. While the gameplay is similar to prior entries (what little I did of it), the overall quality went missing somewhere. On the tutorial/introductory level, during the "boss fight" with Killer Croc, I lost all sound, and Croc glitched out visually ("ghosting" is how I would describe it). Still managed to make it through, but that killed any interest I had in pursuing the storyline. Give this one a pass... but definitely check out either of the prior games (Arkham Asylum and Arkham City) if you haven't already done so.
Bully: Scholarship Edition - I've always been curious about this game, since back when it launched (on PlayStation 2, if memory serves)... a videogame where you play as a kid in school is certainly different, but could it actually be fun? Turns out, yes, within limits... you're set up as a new, troubled kid transferring in to a boarding school for mostly-troubled kids, so things like fights happen routinely, so long as it's out of sight of the school's staff. Classes look to be fun, too... score well in introductory Chemistry, for example (which is done as a rhythm mini-game), and you get the ability to make firecrackers in your dorm room. Downsides exist, though... while many of the characters in the game are almost-unbelievable stereotypes, they're only almost unbelievable, and having that many packed in one place is a little horrifying. That, and, being a product of game culture a couple of generations back, the game is LOUD... mainly with the "barks" of brainless thugs and sniveling geeks, which can get really annoying in short order. Still and all, I could see myself going back to play this some more, time permitting.
Card City Nights - A "collectible" card game with the potentially-interesting hook of card positioning on the play field mattering... but in the end, it's all about playing "match 3" using icons on your cards, which I found to be an uninspired choice. I'd pass, unless you're the sort of game geek that thrives on seeing different mechanics in play.
Cargo Commander - A platormer of sorts, set in the reaches of deep space, where you, as a lowly employee of a megacorp, gather lost cargo containers (by magnetically attracting them to your home/ship), then explore them for abandoned cargo, eliminating any aliens/mutants you run across. Each container has its own definition of which way "down" is, so your frame of reference rotates with each area you enter... and of course, there's a time limit, after which a "wormhole" breaks apart the whole structure, so you have to get back to your home quickly or risk dying in the cold void of space. It's a great concept, marred only by one factor: the game reports back to a server for high-score purposes, and you can't unlock new levels unless you're connected to the server... and the game doesn't handle server outages (which I saw several of) quickly or gracefully. I can't recommend the game in its current state, but there's potential there, if the game/server(s) can be patched for reliability.
Foul Play - Victorian-themed beat-em-up, presented as a stage performance of a demon-hunter recounting his exploits in Egypt... so, mechanically, the main difference between this and other such games is that, instead of a "health" meter, you get an "audience satisfaction" meter... the longer and more varied the combos you pull off the more thrilled the audience is, while if you're getting the snot beat out of you, it'll soon be curtains, literally. I haven't played the last level yet (so yes, it's a bit short), but everything I've played to this point has been nothing short of charming. It's definitely worth a look.
Papo & Yo - A third-person puzzle-platformer, where... hm, honestly, I'm not sure how to describe this both accurately and tonally. I mean, the game starts with you as an abused child, hiding in the closet from your dad, who's stomping around outside... but you escape into a sort of dream-slum with its own set of rules and malleability, where you eventually meet back up with "Monster", who's an analogue of your dad, who you end up using to help you through sections of the game. I mean, it's not a depressing thing to play... it's not terribly challenging, but it's entertaining, and definitely has that "viewpoint of a child" thing going for it that I see missed so often in games where children are the supposed protagonists. Even if it's just when it's "on the cheap", I'd say snag this, to see the wonderful job they did with the world.
Portal 2 - Yes, I already got this for XBox360 back in the day, and I got it again on Steam anyways, it's just that good. I'd still say to check the original Portal out, if the graphics don't hold you back, since it fleshes out the story you encounter in Portal 2. Either way, I say, get this game.
Skullgirls - A wonderful little 2D fighting game... truly original character designs (I came for the 1920s-cartoon-style character, but the zombie catgirl has to be my favorite so far), tight controls, and an extensive tutorial really make this a keeper in my book. Pity I don't have the reflexes/timing to do a game like this justice any longer... if you do, by all means, check it out.
Talisman: Digital Edition - I'll admit, this was as much a nostalgia purchase as much as anything. Talisman is a boardgame that's been around since at least the '80s, where each player takes a character out adventuring in the world, with the ultimate goal of collecting a Talisman (hence the name of the game) to let them enter the Valley of Fire, which stands between them and the Crown of Command, with which they can knock off all the other players and become king/queen of the world. It's a very random game, with limited player interaction (players can basically beat each other up for their stuff, and occasionally use spells to tweak them)... frankly, as a game, it mostly fails, especially with games like Munchkin being out on the market, taking over the D&D/boardgame crossover market that it once held mostly solo. I won't recommend it to you, but, if you're ever thinking about picking up the actual boardgame, you might give this a go first... and, as is the unfortunate norm in videogames these days, there's plenty of DLC you can get, if the base game strikes a chord with you.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
New OS on an old Mac Mini
For anybody that didn't know, I'm really pretty damn cheap... easy evidence of that can be found in things like the list of sale games I got last summer (and of course, another one of those is on the way for my winter Steam sale acquisitions, shortly). So, when I got myself a new Mac Mini to replace the one I got way back in 2007, I wasn't about to just toss the old one, for all its specs are pretty puny. Apple stopped supporting it a while back, so it wasn't much use as a "real" computer... but it would still be good enough to store some files, if I could get another operating system on it.
Turns out, over the years, there's been enough demand for this retrofit that it should be relatively easy... should being the operative word. Me, I got carried away with getting clever, so I've wasted most of this day on this project already... still, I did work out one thing that might be of help to some other poor soul out there who's stuck, trying to get the process going, without anything more than 5-year-old posts to start from.
The biggest hurdle I hit was actually just getting the install process started. In theory, you should be able to reboot your Mac, hold down the Option key (or Alt, if you're on a PC keyboard), and get a list of boot options. In my case, whether it's the odd PC keyboard I'm using, or the KVM switch it's being fed through, or something else, it simply didn't work. The way I found around the problem is to install a little boot manager called rEFInd (a fork of the long-abandoned rEFIt tool mentioned so often in those years-old posts). With that, you can reboot your computer, and, after a few seconds to let the optical drive spin up and recognize the contents, refresh the boot screen to select the install disc to boot from.
Past that... well, I won't go into all the trials and tribulations I went through trying to re-partition the drive to basically use OS X/rEFInd as a glorified, bloated boot loader. However, at the end of the day, I did finally say "to heck with it", and let my installer of choice just use the whole disk instead... and it works like a charm, although that first 20-30 second boot process left me wondering if I had run into another dead end. So, for the record, and for any poor Google searchers out there who might be wondering, OpenBSD 5.6 (i386) installs, boots, and runs just fine on a MacMini2,1 machine, once you can get the install disc to boot.
Turns out, over the years, there's been enough demand for this retrofit that it should be relatively easy... should being the operative word. Me, I got carried away with getting clever, so I've wasted most of this day on this project already... still, I did work out one thing that might be of help to some other poor soul out there who's stuck, trying to get the process going, without anything more than 5-year-old posts to start from.
The biggest hurdle I hit was actually just getting the install process started. In theory, you should be able to reboot your Mac, hold down the Option key (or Alt, if you're on a PC keyboard), and get a list of boot options. In my case, whether it's the odd PC keyboard I'm using, or the KVM switch it's being fed through, or something else, it simply didn't work. The way I found around the problem is to install a little boot manager called rEFInd (a fork of the long-abandoned rEFIt tool mentioned so often in those years-old posts). With that, you can reboot your computer, and, after a few seconds to let the optical drive spin up and recognize the contents, refresh the boot screen to select the install disc to boot from.
Past that... well, I won't go into all the trials and tribulations I went through trying to re-partition the drive to basically use OS X/rEFInd as a glorified, bloated boot loader. However, at the end of the day, I did finally say "to heck with it", and let my installer of choice just use the whole disk instead... and it works like a charm, although that first 20-30 second boot process left me wondering if I had run into another dead end. So, for the record, and for any poor Google searchers out there who might be wondering, OpenBSD 5.6 (i386) installs, boots, and runs just fine on a MacMini2,1 machine, once you can get the install disc to boot.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
So, Destiny's pretty neat...
So, back before Thanksgiving, I finally picked up an XBox One, lured by the siren call of Sunset Overdrive (something all too rare these days, a stupid videogame that revels in being a stupid videogame). I was just going to get the Sunset Overdrive edition, but none were to be had at a reasonable price, so I snagged the Assassin's Creed version instead... and I have to say, Black Flag, what I've played of it, is a fine game in its own right. But then, I got to pondering... I remember all the brouhaha back when "XBone" launched about restrictions with disc-based games, so I wanted to test that out as well.
Turns out, Destiny was available for reasonably cheap at Amazon, and I'd heard it was a decent enough shooter, and various elements about it intrigued me... so I decided to give it a go. Long story short, I've played that game more, and more regularly, since then than I have any other game in recent memory. It's not that I'm a big fan of shooters... frankly, they generally are built with competitive multiplayer in mind, which my reflexes aren't quite up to speed for any longer. Mix that with the near-requirement to use headphones, which I don't like wearing to begin with, and which often carry the sounds of ten-year-olds screaming obscenities, and it's been enough to keep me away from shooters in general (the obvious exception being the Borderlands series, which has a lot of content and a storyline to keep the single-player experience worthwhile).
Destiny, as of this moment at least, is different. It has a storyline to follow through, without ending up at "the world's been saved, why are you still playing" territory. It has automated matchmaking for co-op multiplayer (usually, more on that later), and competitive multiplayer in several formats, with chat-channel participation optional and off by default... so, I've even dipped my toe into those waters (where yes, I suck, but I think I'm sucking less day by day). Overall, I'm quite happy with this game.
Of course, it's not perfect by any means... Destiny employs a peculiar experience scheme where your character advances levels up to level 20, unlocking various modifications in the process... but, while your level tops out at 20, you keep earning new modifications afterwards. Also, you can get your effective level up to 30 using equipment (which also improves with use?)... in-game, it makes a certain amount of sense, but it really smacks of the developer saying "how do we ramp up the experience curve in the early game, to keep rewarding players to keep playing, while flattening it out in the end-game, to keep players from maxing out too early?"
Limited content is also an issue at this early stage of its life cycle... but worst is probably the inconsistent matchmaking. While the story missions are pretty much multiplayer-optional (as evidenced by even me making it through them all without assistance), there is a lot of intended-for-full-multiplayer content as well, in the form of what the game calls "strikes" and "raids" (which, basically, just involves the number of people supported and how many "stages" are involved). "Regular" strikes and the level-enhanced versions served up by the "strike playlist" all do automated matchmaking... while the "weekly" strikes and the raid (there is only the one at this moment, I believe) are all who-you-bring-is-who-you-get. This choice makes no sense to me... making the game harder to let your customers play, when you have the systems in place to do matchmaking already, can't be ruled an oversight, but I can't see what goal they were trying to achieve.
All in all, though, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time shooting various denizens of the Dark, and expect I will be for some time to come. If you're looking for a low-stress intro to the world of first-person shooters, you could do much worse.
Turns out, Destiny was available for reasonably cheap at Amazon, and I'd heard it was a decent enough shooter, and various elements about it intrigued me... so I decided to give it a go. Long story short, I've played that game more, and more regularly, since then than I have any other game in recent memory. It's not that I'm a big fan of shooters... frankly, they generally are built with competitive multiplayer in mind, which my reflexes aren't quite up to speed for any longer. Mix that with the near-requirement to use headphones, which I don't like wearing to begin with, and which often carry the sounds of ten-year-olds screaming obscenities, and it's been enough to keep me away from shooters in general (the obvious exception being the Borderlands series, which has a lot of content and a storyline to keep the single-player experience worthwhile).
Destiny, as of this moment at least, is different. It has a storyline to follow through, without ending up at "the world's been saved, why are you still playing" territory. It has automated matchmaking for co-op multiplayer (usually, more on that later), and competitive multiplayer in several formats, with chat-channel participation optional and off by default... so, I've even dipped my toe into those waters (where yes, I suck, but I think I'm sucking less day by day). Overall, I'm quite happy with this game.
Of course, it's not perfect by any means... Destiny employs a peculiar experience scheme where your character advances levels up to level 20, unlocking various modifications in the process... but, while your level tops out at 20, you keep earning new modifications afterwards. Also, you can get your effective level up to 30 using equipment (which also improves with use?)... in-game, it makes a certain amount of sense, but it really smacks of the developer saying "how do we ramp up the experience curve in the early game, to keep rewarding players to keep playing, while flattening it out in the end-game, to keep players from maxing out too early?"
Limited content is also an issue at this early stage of its life cycle... but worst is probably the inconsistent matchmaking. While the story missions are pretty much multiplayer-optional (as evidenced by even me making it through them all without assistance), there is a lot of intended-for-full-multiplayer content as well, in the form of what the game calls "strikes" and "raids" (which, basically, just involves the number of people supported and how many "stages" are involved). "Regular" strikes and the level-enhanced versions served up by the "strike playlist" all do automated matchmaking... while the "weekly" strikes and the raid (there is only the one at this moment, I believe) are all who-you-bring-is-who-you-get. This choice makes no sense to me... making the game harder to let your customers play, when you have the systems in place to do matchmaking already, can't be ruled an oversight, but I can't see what goal they were trying to achieve.
All in all, though, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time shooting various denizens of the Dark, and expect I will be for some time to come. If you're looking for a low-stress intro to the world of first-person shooters, you could do much worse.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
What the hell is wrong with some people? #gamergate
There's a basic principle I try to follow in life, and it's not something I came up with on my own. Modern phrasing of that principle would be "so long as you're not harming others, do what you like." Of course, there's exceptions to that principle, chief among them being "don't break the law" (unless you're doing the whole civil disobedience thing to highlight a wrong, you should be working to change the law as directly as possible instead), another being "try not to be a bigger dick than you have to be." Of course, everybody's personal stance varies somewhat, but the civilization we've inherited puts a premium on letting people have differing opinions and beliefs... resorting to violence or threats of violence is left to drunks at sketchy bars, domestic abusers, street gangs, abortion clinic bombers, suicide bombers, Islamic State ruffians and the like, who may feel that they have an overriding, immediate need to make people see things their way, but whose desires are found lacking or abhorrent to the rest of us.
How, then, do we come to this pass? Over on Twitter (which I don't actually use, because I find the important things worm their way out of there in due course, and monitoring anything important there would seem like a full-time job in and of itself), some time back, somebody started a #gamergate hashtag. What I've gleaned to date is that the tag started as a calling-out of certain game journalists and organs for being too cozy with the developers and publishers they're covering... all good so far, any journalist should be able to refute such ties, or disclose them as part of any coverage they're providing. Somehow, some offshoot occurred, still using the same tag, making the point of contention focus on "male dominated" gaming culture and industry culture versus the "radical feminism" of some of the females involved in the industry who dared to speak out on the topic... unpleasant, contentious, but still fair game, people having different values talking about those values, for all that talking probably descends to mockery on a regular basis (another reason I don't use Twitter... I suspect that regular exposure, much like reading many comment sections on websites, will stain the soul).
But then, somebody (likely several somebodies) has to go and cross the line. Here's an example that crossed my path. Somebody decided that they were pissed enough about the way that conversation was going that they threatened to rape, mutilate, and kill the person they disagreed with... and went to the trouble of finding and publishing their target's home address to really make the threat strike home. Whatever justification that somebody wants to come up with, at the end of the day, they made a credible threat against the lives of another person and their family, over videogames... and, even if they didn't intend to carry out the threat personally, they tried to provide the necessary info for someone else to do the deed for them.
Honestly, I don't even know what to say here... I mean, odds are it's mostly a bunch of teenage boys unsure enough of their manhood that they think they need to feel some power by victimizing strangers over the Internet in ill-conceived ways, but that's hardly an excuse. At the end of the day, maybe this guy will get caught and punished, maybe not... my fear would be that somebody really will follow through on this sort of a threat, and provide fodder for anybody with an agenda to further regulate/lock-down the Internet, or the US portion of it at any rate. That, and the thought that somebody that unhinged over videogames might be unhinged over other topics as well, and lives in my vicinity...
How, then, do we come to this pass? Over on Twitter (which I don't actually use, because I find the important things worm their way out of there in due course, and monitoring anything important there would seem like a full-time job in and of itself), some time back, somebody started a #gamergate hashtag. What I've gleaned to date is that the tag started as a calling-out of certain game journalists and organs for being too cozy with the developers and publishers they're covering... all good so far, any journalist should be able to refute such ties, or disclose them as part of any coverage they're providing. Somehow, some offshoot occurred, still using the same tag, making the point of contention focus on "male dominated" gaming culture and industry culture versus the "radical feminism" of some of the females involved in the industry who dared to speak out on the topic... unpleasant, contentious, but still fair game, people having different values talking about those values, for all that talking probably descends to mockery on a regular basis (another reason I don't use Twitter... I suspect that regular exposure, much like reading many comment sections on websites, will stain the soul).
But then, somebody (likely several somebodies) has to go and cross the line. Here's an example that crossed my path. Somebody decided that they were pissed enough about the way that conversation was going that they threatened to rape, mutilate, and kill the person they disagreed with... and went to the trouble of finding and publishing their target's home address to really make the threat strike home. Whatever justification that somebody wants to come up with, at the end of the day, they made a credible threat against the lives of another person and their family, over videogames... and, even if they didn't intend to carry out the threat personally, they tried to provide the necessary info for someone else to do the deed for them.
Honestly, I don't even know what to say here... I mean, odds are it's mostly a bunch of teenage boys unsure enough of their manhood that they think they need to feel some power by victimizing strangers over the Internet in ill-conceived ways, but that's hardly an excuse. At the end of the day, maybe this guy will get caught and punished, maybe not... my fear would be that somebody really will follow through on this sort of a threat, and provide fodder for anybody with an agenda to further regulate/lock-down the Internet, or the US portion of it at any rate. That, and the thought that somebody that unhinged over videogames might be unhinged over other topics as well, and lives in my vicinity...
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Tampering with the Courts
Think back to your school-days civics lessons... particularly, the bit about how the United States federal government is divided into three separate-but-equal branches, set up in such a way as to check and balance each other. Now, check out this article.
The short version... the NSA claimed that one of their lawyers might have accidentally released classified information, sensitive to national security, as part of their public testimony in a lawsuit against them. To fix this, they wanted the judge to quietly alter the court transcripts at their direction, leaving no indication that they had been tampered with. Thankfully, the judge in question told them in effect, "not only no", then informed the plaintiffs about the NSA's request and gave them opportunity to respond. On further review of the public transcript, the NSA decided that no classified information had been released, so forget they even asked.
So, the good news is that the system worked... this time. The bad news is that the NSA, taken at their word, is incompetent enough to first let truly sensitive data escape into the public space, then try to close the barn door after the horse is out, and, in the process, corrupt the public record of what's going on in our courts... or, if you're not so charitably minded, they made a "request", covered in a fig-leaf of national security concerns, to put a thumb on the scales of justice, fully expecting compliance from the supposedly-separate-but-equal courts.
Me, I'm a pessimist... and the worst part is, there's no good way to know for sure, one way or the other. Short of somebody coming out and saying "yes, I tampered with court documents at the executive branch's direction", how would we know? Worse, the ham-fistedness of this attempt makes me wonder, is this how they do things in that secret FISA court, so that's why they expected it to work here? Well, at any rate, kudos to Judge White for this time, and here's hoping the courts are filled with judges equally well suited to defending the judiciary.
The short version... the NSA claimed that one of their lawyers might have accidentally released classified information, sensitive to national security, as part of their public testimony in a lawsuit against them. To fix this, they wanted the judge to quietly alter the court transcripts at their direction, leaving no indication that they had been tampered with. Thankfully, the judge in question told them in effect, "not only no", then informed the plaintiffs about the NSA's request and gave them opportunity to respond. On further review of the public transcript, the NSA decided that no classified information had been released, so forget they even asked.
So, the good news is that the system worked... this time. The bad news is that the NSA, taken at their word, is incompetent enough to first let truly sensitive data escape into the public space, then try to close the barn door after the horse is out, and, in the process, corrupt the public record of what's going on in our courts... or, if you're not so charitably minded, they made a "request", covered in a fig-leaf of national security concerns, to put a thumb on the scales of justice, fully expecting compliance from the supposedly-separate-but-equal courts.
Me, I'm a pessimist... and the worst part is, there's no good way to know for sure, one way or the other. Short of somebody coming out and saying "yes, I tampered with court documents at the executive branch's direction", how would we know? Worse, the ham-fistedness of this attempt makes me wonder, is this how they do things in that secret FISA court, so that's why they expected it to work here? Well, at any rate, kudos to Judge White for this time, and here's hoping the courts are filled with judges equally well suited to defending the judiciary.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Steam Sale - Summer 2014
It's been months since my last post, and I'm really tired of looking at that rant at the top of my post queue... how about a quick rundown of the PC titles I picked up and tried out on the most recent Steam sale? In alphabetical order, then...
BattleBlock Theater - Charming short-level puzzle-platformer, with collectibles and, quite possibly, the best narrator/script combination ever. Available on other platforms... get it, if you don't have it already.
Blockland - Lego-flavored FPS/Minecraft, what could be better? Many things, actually... limited gameplay modes, plus it's the most hurf-inducing first-player-perspective game I've played in over a decade. Skip.
Borderlands 2 - Loot-centric FPS with a cel-shaded look and a sense of humor. Available on other platforms, and recommended, especially since you'll get to know Tiny Tina.
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons - Requires the use of a game controller, since you use one analog stick and trigger to control each of the titular brothers... I'm sure I've run across this control scheme before, but where eludes me. Not too difficult, beyond keeping track of which brother is controlled by which stick, and what I've seen so far is well-done. Worth checking out.
Castle Crashers - Side-scrolling beat-em-up with leveling, a wonderful cartoon art-style and equally wonderful juvenile sense of humor. From the same developers as BattleBlock Theater, and having either game unlocks goodies in the other. Again, available on other platforms, and should be owned by anybody who likes action games.
Don't Starve - Peculiar art-style combines with the "start from scratch and survive" game mechanic of Minecraft, etc. Might come back to give it a fair chance later, but it strikes me as a game that will require the investment of time to truly enjoy... and that's in short supply for us gainfully-employed types.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Yes, I've already got the XBox360 version of this game... and, as the "development target" Bethesda used, that's the smoother/more stable version. However, at the price Steam offered for the "game of the year" copy with all the DLC, I gladly picked this up for PC. Plus, the PC version allows for community-created mods, covering a spectrum of useful, fanciful, and downright game-breaking options, if you're so inclined... I already picked up one to color-highlight books I haven't already read, to cut down on the OCD factor when playing. The only downside... I was playing with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning prior to the sale, and it pales so badly in comparison that I'm likely to drop that game to continue the character I started in Skyrim instead. Oh well, survival of the fittest and all that...
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Platformer with an interesting art style, which ties into a light/dark character switching mechanic... I enjoyed it well enough, until it switched from allowing/encouraging exploration to forcing exploration to get through levels. If that doesn't bother you, give it a go, otherwise pass.
The Stanley Parable - Honestly, there's not much "game" there... and I can't say much about it without ruining the experience for new players. That said, if you're old enough to have had a long-term job, but still young enough to be inquisitive, I would absolutely recommend this to almost anyone.
They Bleed Pixels - Combines the difficult precision-platforming play-style of titles like Super Meat Boy with a Lovecraftian/Dreamlands storyline centered around a new arrival at a "home for troubled girls". Made it a few levels in, but odds are I'll make it no further... wall jump/slide mechanics are all well and good, but levels consisting almost entirely of such are more than I can handle these days. Worth checking out, if this sounds like your sort of thing.
Well, at any rate, it's a nice parcel of games to keep me occupied for a while... assuming the new season of anime coming up doesn't do that for me. Just as well I'm not independently wealthy, I guess... I'd never get out of the house! ;)
EDIT: Whoops, forgot one... XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Lovely update of the original '90s-era game, simplified where it makes sense, mostly left alone where it should have been left alone. Definitely worth a peek if you catch it on the cheap... just know that the mouse controls are a little janky.
BattleBlock Theater - Charming short-level puzzle-platformer, with collectibles and, quite possibly, the best narrator/script combination ever. Available on other platforms... get it, if you don't have it already.
Blockland - Lego-flavored FPS/Minecraft, what could be better? Many things, actually... limited gameplay modes, plus it's the most hurf-inducing first-player-perspective game I've played in over a decade. Skip.
Borderlands 2 - Loot-centric FPS with a cel-shaded look and a sense of humor. Available on other platforms, and recommended, especially since you'll get to know Tiny Tina.
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons - Requires the use of a game controller, since you use one analog stick and trigger to control each of the titular brothers... I'm sure I've run across this control scheme before, but where eludes me. Not too difficult, beyond keeping track of which brother is controlled by which stick, and what I've seen so far is well-done. Worth checking out.
Castle Crashers - Side-scrolling beat-em-up with leveling, a wonderful cartoon art-style and equally wonderful juvenile sense of humor. From the same developers as BattleBlock Theater, and having either game unlocks goodies in the other. Again, available on other platforms, and should be owned by anybody who likes action games.
Don't Starve - Peculiar art-style combines with the "start from scratch and survive" game mechanic of Minecraft, etc. Might come back to give it a fair chance later, but it strikes me as a game that will require the investment of time to truly enjoy... and that's in short supply for us gainfully-employed types.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Yes, I've already got the XBox360 version of this game... and, as the "development target" Bethesda used, that's the smoother/more stable version. However, at the price Steam offered for the "game of the year" copy with all the DLC, I gladly picked this up for PC. Plus, the PC version allows for community-created mods, covering a spectrum of useful, fanciful, and downright game-breaking options, if you're so inclined... I already picked up one to color-highlight books I haven't already read, to cut down on the OCD factor when playing. The only downside... I was playing with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning prior to the sale, and it pales so badly in comparison that I'm likely to drop that game to continue the character I started in Skyrim instead. Oh well, survival of the fittest and all that...
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Platformer with an interesting art style, which ties into a light/dark character switching mechanic... I enjoyed it well enough, until it switched from allowing/encouraging exploration to forcing exploration to get through levels. If that doesn't bother you, give it a go, otherwise pass.
The Stanley Parable - Honestly, there's not much "game" there... and I can't say much about it without ruining the experience for new players. That said, if you're old enough to have had a long-term job, but still young enough to be inquisitive, I would absolutely recommend this to almost anyone.
They Bleed Pixels - Combines the difficult precision-platforming play-style of titles like Super Meat Boy with a Lovecraftian/Dreamlands storyline centered around a new arrival at a "home for troubled girls". Made it a few levels in, but odds are I'll make it no further... wall jump/slide mechanics are all well and good, but levels consisting almost entirely of such are more than I can handle these days. Worth checking out, if this sounds like your sort of thing.
Well, at any rate, it's a nice parcel of games to keep me occupied for a while... assuming the new season of anime coming up doesn't do that for me. Just as well I'm not independently wealthy, I guess... I'd never get out of the house! ;)
EDIT: Whoops, forgot one... XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Lovely update of the original '90s-era game, simplified where it makes sense, mostly left alone where it should have been left alone. Definitely worth a peek if you catch it on the cheap... just know that the mouse controls are a little janky.
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