1P Start

Addiction of any kind is obviously a huge problem, and in these days when most of us can get hold of pretty much anything we desire, the range of addictions is growing massively.

It used to be that someone’s vice was sex, drugs, or drink, and that was about it. Now we have different forms of addiction, from porn, to the Internet, to gaming. However, out of those, I’d assume that gaming was the least serious, with less underlying reasons attached to it. But that’s not the case, at least according to Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist in Portland, Oregon, who recently spoke to Boston.com about the prevalence of addiction to games such as World of Warcraft.

Block specializes in treating gamers who get so caught up in the world of warlocks and elves that they can’t then drag themselves away. And he views gaming addiction as more serious, and more complicated to treat than porn addiction.

The reasons he claims are to blame for this are two-fold. Firstly, porn addiction is more tolerated than gaming addiction. People expect porn to be a factor in a huge number of people’s lives. Sex is all around us, and so when someone gets addicted to one element of that, it’s not wholly unexpected.

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If you’re a fan of the Fallout series (and why wouldn’t you be?), then you might be interested in the survival edition of Fallout 3, which is available for pre-order now from etailer giant Amazon.com. Included in the lovely package is the usual stuff from the special edition that you can get at other stores like a lunch box, sound track, and making of DVD, it also comes with a replica of the PIP Boy that doubles as a clock. The Fallout 3 Survival Edition will be available in all the most popular flavors: PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Of course, you really don’t need any of these things, but if you’re going crazy for the release of Fallout 3 why would you not get this?

Over on Filefront I saw an interesting article highlighting the fact that the marketers around the new Penny Arcade game (Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness) have been using quotes that are a little less than complimentary in their ads:

The quotes don’t come from a gushing review, they are from a Penny Arcade hater by the name ddf on Wired’s blogs. In case you haven’t guess, ddf is the type of person that has absolutely no life and has the overwhelming need to tear the creative works of others down, because he (who are we kidding, this can’t be a she) can’t create anything himself.

Listen, I’m not a Penny Arcade fanboy. I like a lot of their strips and I bought the first two volumes of their comic strip collections, but there’s a lot of times they fall flat. I also find their commentary posts on their site both hard to read and smarmy. I can understand why people might not like them, but if you spend any amount of time actively trying to crap on them it’s a little freaking sad.

For the record this guy has a blog and yes he is a jackass on it. I’m not going to link to it in order to give him any kind of boost in traffic as a reward. If you’re curious though, here’s a tidbit of the kind of wit and substance that can be found there: “I hereby come out of my soap opera coma to coin the term “BioSuck” in regards to new lame FPS game Bioshock. Anyone using it from now on owes me royalties.” Uh yeah, because it’s so clever to put in “uck” after an “s” to mock something. When reading anything by this guy it’s nearly impossible to believe that he’s not some sort of plant created by the Penny Arcade crew to create some extra buzz for the game.

What in the hell is going on. Too many people already stuck on Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and whatever people with PS3’s play ? Everyone prepping for Grand Theft Auto 4 ? Well I hope you are enjoying your “next gen” games you already have.

This week in releases is reminding much of last weeks. Not much to see here. The biggest release, “Portal” .. has already been out for quite some time. Now it is coming as stand alone release, woohoo. It is taking the cake (which is a lie, har har) this week as the best game for these releases. Seriously, check the list yourself below, nothing can top portal.

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Firstly, apologies for not getting the New Releases up on Sunday as I usually do. I have had a wedding, a birthday, and even a concert (go Mars Volta!) to go to in the past 3 days, so I have been quite the busy bee.

However, I don’t think anyone has missed much having no release list, as I can count the amount of releases this week on one hand (and a few toes). No ‘HD’ ‘Next Gen’ gaming going on here, it is Wii, DS, PS2, and the PC fighting for who can release the worst game. My bet is on the PS2 only because they should stop making games for the system already! As far as why there is no games, I am guessing because of things to come.. Mario Kart… Grand Theft Auto.. etc. Companies know you are probably saving your money for the big names so no use to put out competition that won’t sway you from the franchises. Now onto the very short list this week, after the break:

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Looking over this weeks releases, I noticed right away a few titles that need some love. Of course there is still some reoccurring franchises, such as Final Fantasy (PSP), Harvest Moon (DS), and even Ninja Gaiden (DS). Solid games in their own right, but they can wait, a new RPG is in town, Opoona (Wii), which has me curious as all hell how the game will play out with using only the nunchuck. Dark Sector is out on the big boy systems, having been announced way back in 2004, the game looks to bring some new elements to the third person action gunner genre, if anything, you can rest easy knowing they didn’t rush this title.

Onto the full list, as always, after the break:

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This week in releases brings us some pretty solid titles all around, especially for Sony (if you don’t count the PSP). Though released earlier on the 360, Condemned is here on the PS3 along with Hot Shots Golf. Even the PS2 is getting some love in the form of a “must have for any PS2 owner” set, being the Metal Gear Solid collection, if you don’t have ‘em yet, let me say again.. “must have!” Sega seems to have their hands in almost every system now with Superstars Tennis.

The “winner” of this week imo, has to go out to the highly anticipated Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Of course only time will tell if people are able to get their grubby hands off of Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, or Smash Bros Brawl to give Vegas 2 a chance, but something tells me the game will due just fine with the cult fan base Tom Clancy seems to have. Full list, after the break:

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So what are you doing reading this? Is there no Toys R Us, Best Buy, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Wal Mart… ANY store open !? Because you better be just taking a 5 minute break from playing Smash Bros if you are browsing the net.

If you don’t have a Wii still (understandably), I will excuse you from not playing Super Smash Bros Brawl, however you can still own the game! In a smart move by everyone else, not much is on the other systems this week. Condemned 2 is out, that is a very solid title for those in the “next gen.” PES for your football (soccer) fanatics.

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of walking through geeks, dorks, and nerds that surprisingly, didn’t smell as bad as I thought they would. MegaCon 2008 is taking place in Orlando Florida for 3 days, it is a generally comic focused event, however throughout the years I have been going (over 10 years), it has expanded further and further into other geeky related realms, Sci-Fi movies/television, Toys, and of course… Gaming.

Video games is definitely one of those subjects that hits very close to home for many basement dwelling comic book fans (like myself), so to help support this love, people like to dress up as their favorite characters and have their pictures taken by strangers. Luckily, I love to take pictures, so please join me as I stroll through some of the gaming related people that were about, along with comparison shots in case you don’t recognize the characters:

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This week brings us a not very spectacular week in gaming, but not the worst I have seen either. The big dog comes in the form of God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP, not only is it looking to be one of the top ten PSP games just upon its release (not a lot of compitition mind you), but it also brought with it the announcement of God of War III. On the other systems, Bully is out on 360 and Wii for those who did not get to enjoy this title on it’s PS2 release (like myself). If you are into baseball, this is definitly your week no matter what system you own. To finish things out, Homie Rollerz (DS) is finally out, I know you all had your copy on reserve for a while now, so time to head out to the store and pick it up. Now onto the full list:

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This week in releases brings us a new Destroy All Humans, a not too shabby video game adaptation of the tv series Lost, and my favorite game early in the 360’s life cycle, Lost Planet. Though I have other games that grab my attention now, there is still a piece of my heart reserved for this series, I am glad now PS3 owners can share in the love. Though I will admit I am a bit jealous, as the PS3 version does include all the downloadable maps that I ended up having to pay for… AND.. it is only $40 right now (I guess there is also that free online play element to add to the jealous rage). Once you experience Lost Planet’s multiplayer maps, you will never look at any other shooting game’s maps the same again, I wish as much care went into other games as Capcom invested in this gem. Now onto the list!

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Well, every week can’t be full of winners, and this week proves that. If you are on the 360, I am sure you haven’t beat Lost Odyssey in just one week. Not an RPG fan? Perhaps then some Pimping of your Ride on the Wii or helping law abiding citizens with Apollo Justice on the DS is more suited for you (No DS? check out the Flash Demo of the game here, very cool). Check out the full list below, lots of GameFly queue material here:

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All WoW addicts pay attention! Your little gaming habit could be ruining every other aspect of your life, from your career, to your health, or even your relationships. Don’t believe me? Then believe the case of a guy who now finds himself single due purely to World of Warcraft.

An ex-employee of Blizzard entertainment, makers of World of Warcraft, has divorced her husband after six years of marriage, citing his WoW addiction as the reason the marriage ended in disaster.

28 year old Jocelyn had never played the game herself but stated that her husband Peter’s addiction to the game crippled their relationship, until it became more than she could handle.

She bought him the game, and nine months later, the marriage was in dire straits, and she applied for divorce. The lesson learned straight away is not to buy your partner World of Warcraft, unless you want to see a lot less of him of course.

She said:

He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he’d play until three a.m. Weekends were worse — it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night. It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life.”

“I bought the game for him for Christmas 2004, when it first came out. By May we had our first serious discussion about where our marriage was going, and by September I had moved out.”

California resident Jocelyn did try and talk to her husband about his “problem” on many occasions, and even tried to create together time for the couple to rediscover their relationship.

Unfortunately, hubby Peter was so utterly addicted to the game, he refused because he was in the middle of a raid. He then stopped paying bills and refused to do any of the housework.

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This week in new releases shows more variety then usual, it goes all the way from My Horse & Me (PC) to Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360). There is a game for every system and genre, as well as for the most part all new franchises that deserve a little of your love (Professor Layton on DS).

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As work for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 finishes up, a designer on the game, Philippe Therien sat down with Eurogamer to discuss the series. The second sentence and first quote posted ends up being a huge “THANK GOD” heard worldwide across millions of computers as they read the news:

“We will never go back to Vegas - at least, not in the foreseeable future.”

Now does this mean the next Rainbow Six (After Vegas 2) will include a full game that sticks with one locale, that is not known at this moment. What is known, is that a lot of gamers were very happy when Rainbow Six was released and having the full game be set in Las Vegas = cool! However the novelty has worn thin, I think Xbox Live activity numbers can attest to that, Rainbow Six Vegas ended up being a rental rather than a buy for a lot (or at least CoD4 and Halo 3 has stopped everyone on my friends list from playing.. which I am sure is partly to blame as well).

Still, I have read Eurogamers’s preview of the game and I know at the very least I will be adding this to my GameFly queue right this second, the game is shaping up quite nicely, still not a “must buy” so far, but I can wait for full reviews to get behind that statement fully.

(Note: Literally 10-20 seconds after posting this news I was emailed a Digg story from the good folks at MEGATONik showing 9 new videos of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 in action.. I am off to check that post now because reading a preview of a game vs video of said game is no brainer)
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Interview, Leaving Las Vegas, Philippe Therien, Rainbow Six, Ubisoft