Video games have never been more popular and more diverse than they are currently. Even today, video games are seen as a great source of entertainment and remain popular among the young and the old, alike. However, as with any popular item on the market today there has been an abundance of controversy over video games. The issue is of some of these games contain violence, antisocial behavior, and gore. Grand Theft Auto has always been in the forefront of the video game fight. From buying hookers and then beating them up for money to being able to run people over. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas caused a ton of controversy in 2005 with the famous hot coffee hack. We all know about Jack Thompson and his wonderful fight on getting violent video games banned. Though the last time I checked he has never won a fight. The one thing I do know is the video game industry is slow to fight back. A few big publishers and developers have spoken out but no where close enough to begin to win the fight.

Regardless what the industry does I think the biggest fighters are the video gamers themselves. We have the Penny Arcade guys starting Child's Play a charity that benefits children who are living in a hospital. We have the formation of Entertainment Consumers Association, founded to give gamers a collective voice with which to communicate their concerns, address their issues and focus their advocacy efforts. There is a group of gamers in Australia using politics to get their issues heard. Gamers 4 Croydon was formed to help Australia to form a Mature ratings for video games and it appears to be working!

Sadly our fight is far from over we have a few more years coming where people will continue to blame video games for all of the world's faults. What we need to do is stand up and fight for our hobby. Get out and inform people of all the good video games and gamers do in the world. Help fight the stereotype of gamers being children and anti-social freaks that never come out in daylight. Volunteer in your local community and show the world that we are not what they think we are. Also let the industry know that they need to help us in this fight, while its our hobby its their livelihood. The best part of all of this is the first generation of video gamers is grown up and some have started entering politics.

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MAGFest 8 happened over the New Years weekend. For those who don't know MAGFest is a video game and music festival run by fans, for fans. MAGFest was held in Alexandria, VA., which is near Washington D.C.. Understand MAGFest isn't like PAX or E3 or any other huge game show. MAGFest is a small friendly convention. This year saw over 2100 people and its like everyone knows each other. Everyone I talked to was friendly and very into the spirit of the convention.

I think the best part of MAGFest is the live music they have. Every night there were 4 or 5 bands playing. These are small indie bands that for the most part either recreate video game music or write music based on video games. Not only do you get to enjoy a live show you will also have a chance to purchase their music at the show. Most of the music is from the older video games so for me its some of the best music that comes from gaming. I walked away that weekend with 2 CDs and websites for a bunch of bands to check out later.

If music isn't you thing don’t worry, remember MAGFest is also about video games. They had a huge area setup for arcade and console games. Ranging from the oldies to the newer games. I stopped in and played some Mario Kart and Sonic and watched people try their luck on some Japanese music games. Not sure how these people do it as these games make Guitar Hero look like a kindergarten game. In one corner of the game room they had a challenge area setup. You could try your skills on some older games and see if you can bet the challenge. Some of these were just brutal most required pure skill to bet and we are talking skill that’s been perfected. Upstairs they had a large BYOC lan room. I didn't spend much time here as I didn't have a PC at the show but walking around most were playing the normal FPS fair you would expect.

What would be a con without a dealer area. MAGFest does the dealer area a bit different than others cons. First they place the dealers right in the middle of all the action and secondly they can be open 24 hours a day. Not sure if any of the dealers stayed opened the whole show but they were there most of the time. What was for sale the most was older games. From NES to SNES and newer were being sold. If you were a collector of video games this would be the place to find them. Not only games sold but working systems as well. I saw a Virtual Boy still in the box and a top loading NES for sale.

MAGFest was a blast I know I will be going back next year and I recommend you do as well. Make sure to bring cash with you to buy from the dealers room. I would also recommend some energy drinks cause you will want to stay up late to play all the games and check out the live bands. If you are interested in MAGFest 9 or what happens at MAGFest head over to he MAGFest website and check it out.

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Steam is having one hell of a Holiday Sale and I bought Battlefield 2 for $7.99 a few days ago. I had this game when it was new and loved it then. Figuring I would get a good day or so before I get bored with it I bought it $7.99 isn't that much and with a week off I could use something different. I didn't know how much this game rocks. I completely forgot how fun it is. Playing on a 32v32 server is just a blast. Wish modern FPS could handle that many players. No matter until the next gen game comes out there will be Battlefield 2 for the large mass of players. 

For those who missed the sale but still want some Battlefield 2 Action Steam sells the complete package for $29.99 head over to the Steam Store to buy it. Okay back to the game! By the way expect a Pure Gamer Battlefield 2 server to pop up in the next few days.

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We all know the game industry works in cycles, well not exactly cycles but genres have their ups and downs. Some years FPS take the lead in popularity other years its RTS and then its RPGs etc. I'm certain all gamers see this cycles in games. I have a feeling this cycle happens in the gamers as well. I know it does in me. For the last few years I'm been playing a lot of FPSes and lately I just can't get into them that much. I can play for maybe an hour then I get bored.

So I'm looking for the next genre that will keep my attention for a while. Maybe it will be RTS and StarCraft II will help bring that in. Maybe it will be action RPGs, I loved Torchlight and would play it for hours at a time and I know I can't wait for Diablo III, but that will still be at least a year away. Granted BioShock 2 comes out early next year that could bring me back into the FPS fold for a little bit but ultimately I don't think it will last much after beating it, we will have to see with its multiplayer options. Wonder if its actions games I loved Batman Arkham Asylum maybe I should check other games in that genre out more.

I know I can't be the only one who goes in cycles with games. Do you see these cycles in your own gaming habits? What games are you all looking forward to that is outside your normals genres?

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We Video  Gamers get a bad rap sometimes. Other times Video Gamers do a lot of good. This week a group of gamers raised $132,438.94 for Child's Play get this playing Desert Bus, which is known as the most boring game in the world. For those who don't know Child's Play is the charity started by Penny Arcade that raises money for children's hospitals to supple toy and games for child stuck in a hospital. 

LoadingReadyRun isn't the only group doing video game marathons for charity. For 2 years now a group of people run Mario Marathon which over the last 2 years raised around $40,000 for Child's Play. These marathons are great for us and the charities they raise money for. The best part is these people are doing something they love and helping those in need. These are not the only two groups doing marathons either over the last few years I heard about many more of these. There was a Zelda marathon a Final Fantasy Marathon and other video game series as well.

For those who don't know these type of marathons are broadcast over the internet showing the game and the group of players playing them. Generally the show the players put on is better than the game, and in Desert Bus' case mostly so. Some chat with the viewer and pass tips and tricks to the players. I have a feeling as more these happen they will get more and more involved and ran better. Its almost certain that they will raise more money as each year these are ran they earn more money.

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A Zombie killing game that is a MMO... Oh Wait there is one coming out that will do that. Undead Labs is making such a game. Very little is known about the game as the press release was more about the company forming and their first project, which would be a zombie MMO for the consoles. From the bits and pieces released it sounds like it can be a very cool idea. They talk about weapons and if you would hold up in a police station or supermarket. 

Personally the idea is sound and its about time someone made a zombie killing MMO. I don't even care that it will be only consoles it just sounds fun. Also I don't think is will be a crappy game. The development Studio Undead Labs was founded by Jeff Strain. He has worked at many different well known places. Such at NCSoft, Blizzard, where he worked on StarCraft, Diablo and the beginings parts of World of Warcraft. He then went to start up ArenaNet and Guild Wars. Clearly Jeff Strain has the talent and the ability to give me a kick ass zombie MMO.

Again its too early to know much about the game but I know I will be watching for more news regarding this game.

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Recently went to GameStop to buy Uncharted 2. Normally had no issues with it you go pick the empty sales box off the self and take it to the counter. They dig around the display case behind them and hand you a skrinked wrapped game. Well not this time. He looked around the case but couldn't find a game so what did he do next? Went to the draws of games where they keep the used copies of games did a little searching and pulled out a copy of the game. He checked the disc and put it in the box I brought to the counter. Then he proceeded to tell me that this is a unopened new game and that the sticker/seal he was going to put on states that. Once I break or remove the seal the game would be considered used. Ok this seal is nothing special its the clear circle sticker you find on many games and movies or to hold boxes closed. He placed it on the plastic case in a way that to remove the game would require breaking it.

Something tells me that is just wrong? The game isn't new and isn't unopened him saying that its new and putting a sticker on the box doesn't mean its new. How do I know I didn't get a used disc. How do I know I got everything that was suppose to come with the game? I know it came with a manual as I saw it when he opened the case. The funny part is the case doesn't even look new it has the remains of a price sticker on the front and the back game cover is damaged. Frankly not sure if this is legal selling what is clearly an opened item as new. Granted I doubt the game's used price is no more than $5 less. It just feels wrong to me.

I didn't touch the game yet its still in the case with the sticker the guy applied still there. I guess I could always return it and go through whatever hell they put me through. Question though is this even legal. I had a hard time finding the legal definition for "Open Box".

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One word. Yes! Game X has the potential to be a good east coast gaming show. Not sure the venue was the best place but it worked out fine. The show floor was okay not anywhere as big as PAX but will give them a break its their first show ever. It was organized quite well with signs telling you where to go and what was what. The exhibits were nice but lacking in real design. EA's Dante Inferno booth probably being the most elaborate one there. Personally I don't blame the exhibitors too much it was a new show it might not been worth spending lots of money for it. I will be surprised next year if the booths are not updated to something more worthy of this show. I will even bet money that more of the developers and publishers will show up for the show. As to attendance I'm not sure the hall looked crowded much like VGXPO 2 years ago which had about 5000 people if I remember correctly. So I'm going with those numbers until I officially hear otherwise. My only issue was the main theater, I see double door with a sign on them saying Main Theater. I assumed it would be a big room maybe to seat 100 or so people but it was alot smaller than that. They probably had 20-30 chairs and just a small table up front for the speakers. In a way it was cool cause it was more personal as you are sitting just 10-15 feet away. Everyone could see the front and hear everything well. It wasn't a bad setup just couldn't hold the amount of people who wanted to see the panels.

In the coming weeks stay tuned for photos and videos to come online. I took 80+ pictures and about 1 hour worth of HD footage. Converting the HD videos right now and will proceed to upload them when sometime early next week. Also stay tuned for a full report on the show as well as articles on some games I saw and my experiences at the show.

UPDATED

I uploaded the photos from the show.

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Recently, Infinity Ward (IW) made an announcment that they will be hosting all the server and there will be no dedicated servers. Ok this is good and bad its great that there will always be pure servers running. All the servers will be updated when patches come out. It will also help players find people around their skill level. Ok all of this is great but here is my biggest complaint. Running a few servers over the years, servers are the backbones of a community. Its allows you to play with your friends. Ok I'm sure IW will have something like this in their own setup. The other reason is playing on a server with certain rules that you like. Lastly the mods and custom maps.

I can see why this is a problem with dedicated servers I just don't see why it can't be handled like every other multiplayer game out today. Have a PURE setting or make ranked servers. Both pure and ranked server require certain rules be applied making all the servers basically be the same. Hopefully IW can create a system that allows their customers to "make" a server on their network that isn't some crappy listening server running on some person crappy cable connection.

In a multiplayer game its the servers that keep it alive longer. Since Infinity Ward wants to sell DLC for MW2 its very important to make sure the game is alive long enough for people to actually buy the DLC. Finally with dedicated servers IW doesn't have to pay for all the hosting. The players pay for it. This is what I call a win-win for both gamers and IW. 

Will I buy Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 now? Probably I liked the first game. It does break some plans of actually hosting a server for Pure Gamer though but it may not be that bad. I going to wait and see.

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Ok for the last few days my mind been elsewhere, a friend contacted me over IM. A friend from a game called Neverwinter Nights (NWN). Oh man this was a great game. The game itself from BioWare was okay. What really set this game apart was the full toolset the game came with. With this toolset you could create new modules for others to play. This was great but the real fun was making worlds and running a server. Persistent World Servers were what these were called. NWN came out in 2002 and at this time having a toolkit to make your own world and have people see it was a hard thing. For years I help run and played in a PW server and it was the best time I had in a video game. I learned the toolset inside and out as well. I knew the scripting language for the game and made it do things others thought were impossible.

Now back to the last few days I been thinking about looking at NWN again and make a world again. Sadly this will just have to be an idea sticking in my head. As the time needed would just be too much for me right now. Damn its fun to think though, going through ideas and telling yourself that would work or that's impossible. Also while it does look like NWN is still going strong could a brand new world still grab players to breath the life into it?

Does make me wish someone out there would make a updated game much like NWN and the toolset that allows people to run their own PW Servers. Yes I know NWN2 did this but in reality it fell short. The toolset was way too complicated and the server program had some major issues at the start. Not sure where both the toolset and server sit right now, I would assume all is very and better than it was before. Now I know this market for people who want to run their own PW type server is small compared to those who just like single player games. I still hope someone would make an easy to use but powerful toolset with art assets ready to go. I know this is asking a lot but heck BioWare did this in 2002 and at the time it was top of the line so why couldn't it been done today.

Well at least I have the memory of the old days and I guess for now that will have to do.

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