Slidell

447k. It's hitting a million, I'm calling it, it's gained over 50k in less than twelve hours.

Yeah, I saw this earlier. I didn't know someone had started a kickstarer sort of thing for her. 382k, and still 21 days. Someone's retiring.

THIS IS GOING TO WIN BEST PICTURE. I'M ******* CALLING IT. At the very least it will win at least one oscar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGyj4pbfWfo

Hey amigo.

Bioware announced at E3 that TOR would be F2P up until level fifteen. Just thought about this and thought I'd add it.

I always just assumed it was a training sim, it explains everything.

Needs more pikmin, the logo I mean, I'd add one to the end of it.

Change is scary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NReu0Vm72c4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxBSYit49c8& YEAH I SAID IT.

Fingers crossed it actually has a modding community.

Alright, well, the next one I do I'll post there. I imagine I'll put one up post E3, some sort of a round up.

That's the plan.

http://i.imgur.com/eCleT.jpg Well, we all know we should hate EA. Day one DLC, Micro transactions, Vulture capitalism, but I want to show you why you need to hate them more. So, I'm writing this. Part 1: Entry level douchebaggery (IE buying, and closing companies) Bullfrog Productions: Founded by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux in 1987, it was acquired by EA in 1995, then merged with EA UK in 2003/4 (People can't seem to agree, it wasn't that long ago, how do we not know this?). Bullfrog became known early on for their game Populous, and later in 1993 for their game Syndicate. Peter Molyneux later went on to form Lionhead Studios. They recently decided to use Bullfrogs IP as a quick cash grab, and brand recognition. They abandoned the top down, tactical style, for a first person shooter, alienating many of the original fans, in an attempt to reach a wider market. Now, I don't want to be completely biased against EA. Top down games are pretty much dead and gone, but, tactical shooters are alive and well, and a cyberpunk tactical shooter could have been a very unique game. Westwood Studios: Founded in 1985 by Brett W. Sperry and Louis Castle, Westwood Studios started out small, very small. They started in a garage, and later went on to make some of the most popular RTS games out there. The Command and Conquer series. They were bought by EA in 1998, and merged with EA Pacific in 2003, ending the company's almost twenty year run. Recently, Bioware, has started work on Command and Conquer Generals 2. Pandemic Studios: Founded in 1998, it became a part of EA in 2007, then was quickly closed down in 2009. (Full disclaimer, this stuff is a bit out of my depth, so it may be inaccurate, I'll do my best.) Now I say became a part of, because EA didn't buy them, not directly, nor did Pandemic (I imagine) want to be bought by them. In 2005, Pandemic Studios and Bioware joined in a partnership through Evaluation Partners, a private equity fund that invest in IPs. Basically, they were doing it to get funding, WITHOUT, having to be bought by a publisher. It was specifically designed to increase their viability as independent developers, while, obviously, remaining independent. The resulting company was called VG Holding Crop. EA bought that through some sort of "deal" with Evaluation Partners, thus, they aquired both Bioware, and Pandemic studios. Origin Systems: Founded in 1983, by Brothers Richard and Robert Garriott, their father Owen, and Chuck Bueche. Quite literally a family company. They became known for their Ultima, and Wing Commander Series. They were lauded for their writing, and attention to detail. Ultima maintains a cult following to this day. Origin was bought out by EA in 1992, their last game was released in 1997, and now only create online programs. EG Origin, EAs online distribution service, which uses a repurposed version of the Origin Logo. Part Two: You want what with what? IE: Day one DLC, and Microtransactions. Because I can't say it any better than the man himself, ladies and gentlemen, John Roccitello, live, via satellite. (If you have an imagination.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR6-u8OIJTE Brings a tear to the eye it does... On to day one DLC. EA has started something called "Project Ten Dollar", I'm sure you've all heard of it. Basically, it means if you don't buy the game new, you miss out on ten dollars of content. An incentive, to buy new, thus making them money. Inoccent enough right? It was, I didn't really agree with it, but I didn't get incredibly mad about it. But since then EA has started, shall we say "testing the waters" to see just how far they can push this. My main problems with Project Ten Dollar is for gamers who aren't connected to the internet, sure, most of us are, but, there are allot of people who aren't. PS3s being the highest internet connectivity at 78%, the Xbox 360s at 73%, then Wiis at about 54%. So, I'll just focus on the PS3, and 360, since I doubt anyone of the five people who read this are serious, hardcore Wii gamers. That leaves 20% of PS3 players, and 30% of Xbox players out in the rain. That's a significant amount when you look at how many units both have sold. The Xbox 360 has sold 67.2 Million units world wide, 30% of that is 20.1 million, while the PS3 has sold 63.9 million, 20% of that is 12.78 million. Now, obviously, not everyone buys EA titles, (pretty clear due to their stock prices BOOM! TAKE THAT! WHADDYA GONNA DO JOHNNY? WHADDYA GONNA DO?) but, the numbers are there, and a significant proportion of gamers, will be left out. Now recently they've moved to putting in online passes, which obviously negates the problem of gamers being left out, more than they already were anyway. As I said earlier, EA has been testing the waters, seeing how far they can push it. Recently with ME3, they with held content and released it as paid DLC, for anyone who didn't buy the collectors edition. I won't bore you with a rant about the ME lore, suffice it to say, the character was a pretty big deal in Mass Effect. Not only did they do this, but, it was later found out that the content its self was actually on the disk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRpGlmtws8 And through leaked scripts, we can see that he wasn't something added in at the last second, or whatever justification they gave, he'd been planned for almost a year. Part 3: Karma EA, like everyone else, had their stock prices take a nose dive back in 08. http://i.imgur.com/22PRy.jpg And they never really recovered. I'm not going to lie, this sort of stuff is way out of my league. I'll just try and list some things that have happened, and let you put it together. However, (It's a video.) Recently EA had to lay of 500 to 1000 employees, meaning almost 10% of their staff. This is due to a number of things, one being they haven't really made a profit since 08'. Which is strange considering they've basically cornered the market on sports games, but as I said, way out of my element. Bioware, responsible for TOR (a game with a budget rumored to be massive) had to lay off employees due to poor performance. TOR itself has dropped to an alarmingly low player base, I'm guessing it will go F2P soon, which would be embarrassing. And of course, EA was voted worse company in America by the consumerist. So, I guess in closing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T_LT8-uuX4 Right, well, I'm actually sort of proud of myself.

This guy... he understands.

It'd be great for us if H4 modding took off like H3 did. It'd be unrealistic, but even better if it was like H2.

Wait, you're not paying me for this? Well shit I'm taking it down then. Thanks, Peaches.

(Alright, I took some advice and wrote this, since I sort of want to become a journalist. And I figure, why not start making OC for my favorite dead site IBM? So, depending on how this turns out, and how many ideas for "articles" I have, I'll do these semi often. Not as often as posting random youtube videos/newstories, but oftenish. They'll usually be gaming related, but every once in awhile I'll probably get up on soapbox and shake my fist in defiance at a thing. Clearly this will be the turning point, and it will bring us back to full force. Feel free to leave criticism.) With E3 on the horizon, I feel it's a good idea to remember old E3's and all the joy and cringe they brought us, but mostly just the cringe. Most recent of which is Ubisofts glorious. I don't really hate Mr. Caffeine, sure, it was incredibly uncomfortable, but it wasn't really his fault. However, it was Jamie Kennedy's fault. I'm not sure what was up with him, well, I know what was up with him. I'm not sure what he was on, but he was on something, and didn't seem to be fully aware of where he was, what he was doing, and that he was wearing pants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfzThMe7bBM My personal favorite cringe fest was Konami at E3 2010. Not only was it riddled with Engrish, any and every joke fell flat on its face, then dissolved into some weird pile of uncomfortableness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0uSMbXDOc The unfortunate part is, I can't say I'd have done much better. Well, I'd have had better English. Of course, there are always the bad games, and ******** gimmicks Publishers throw into their conferences, because they always go over so well. Like Ubisofts super revolutionary game, that no one's ever heard of, and totally isn't Laser Tag, BATTLE TAG! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vizBWaNdSgQ Seriously, did anyone hear anything about this after their press conference? Did it even come out? I have no idea. Or that time there just happened to be an entire professional dance trope in the crowd, and they just happened to pick them out. What luck it was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vbk-aYWHYU And of course, the greatest moment in E3 history. So, how mush cringe will we have at this years E3? Who knows, but, you can bet I'll plaster all the autotuned versions of them here.

Missed me too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oZDKFoCqAw The master is a 1950s-set drama centered on the relationship between a charismatic intellectual known as "the Master" whose faith-based organization begins to catch on in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man. Looks really interesting to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ceC7ERsLc

Halo has never been a "mature" game, it's just always been rated mature.

They're rebooting the reboot, four years after the reboot.