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As a privet citizen employed by the Lutheran church I have become concerned about the recent inappropriate actions and public comments by John B. Thompson aka Jack Thompson. In recent days he has incited violence against several people, and has attempted to "bully" news and creative outlets that have pointed this out with threats to sue. In the long term their is an entire history of him being just plain nasty to otherwise nice people asking honest questions about his legal beliefs and motives. Hes has also, in ignorance or in a just plain lie, has told major media outlets that the NFL is so sickened by the video game industry that they would not allow Midway ltd to use their logo when in fact EA simply secured exclusive rights to use the logo in their line of sports games. Below I have provided links to a handful of media and creative outlets that have had ongoing contact with John B. Thompson aka Jack Thompson.

http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php (creative)

(Penny-Arcade updates Mon, Wed, and Fri the 3 links I have provided go to various dates as well as their most current news. Also Penny-Arcade is involved in both news and creative media but they DO NOT create news their reports are accurate and well documented)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10- 14
http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10- 18
http://www.penny-arcade.com/

http://croqaudile.com/?article_id=10299 (news media/blog)

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/janet.htm (media, little old back from when he ran agenst Janer Reno for dade county DA)

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000103062744/ (if you type the words "Jack Thopson modest" into the search engine google.com this artical and several other related articals are the top hits this refects the level of negative public attenion his recent actions have brought up.)

(slashdot.org news for geeks very long link so I broke the format of posting the sorce type next to the link)

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=165653&thr eshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=123&mode=thread&pid=0

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/17/ 1750203&tid=133&tid=10

The following is John Bruce Thompson's bar information:

John Bruce Thompson

Member in Good Standing Eligible to practice in Florida

ID Number: - 231665
Firm:
1172 S Dixie Hwy Ste 111
Coral Gables Florida 331462918
Phone: 305.6664366
Fax:
E-Mail: jackpeace@comcast.net
County: Dade
Circuit: 11
Admitted: 05/31/1977

I have carboned copied this E-mail to Mr.Thompson as well as news@slashdot.org, gabe@penny-arcade.com and, tycho@penny-arcade.com

I implore you to look deep into his recent actions this individual is practicing law in both your state and on a Federal level while at the same time is showing very little regard for the law.

Your truly & concernd;
Keith. J. Lemire
Community Intergration Specalist
Luthren Socal Services

P.S. Feel free to contact me by phone between 5pm and 10pm Monday through Thursday or 9am to 10pm fri,Sat,Sun
#ya right I'm not slashdoting my phone number!

If only the money was satirical.

I think it would be hilarious if Rockstar would release the mod. Even with no fanfare as a download from their site, it would be a hilarious rebuttal. It seems that with this man logic doesn't work. He is convinced gamers are all like this kid.

Why would they do that when they've discovered that millions of suckers will pay for both a DVD and UMD of their favorite movie(s)?

I agree, this attachment is a waste of time and money! How the hell am I supposed to use it with Metal Gear Acid 2?

Not only has half the post been plagarized, the submitter can't even spell "article." (He splels [sic] it "articel.")

For the original, unplagarized news post, check out Joystiq.

Jack Thompson may be lying -- or so says the office of Governor Jeb Bush. this article at Advanced Media details the whole story, and they have backup from sources: GamePolitics.com, here at Inquirer, and here at Joystiq. Someone is lying... could be Bush's people, could be Thompson.

PSP already has worms.

Actually MS announced earlier this year that the Xbox 1 would be supported with new titles through 2007.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000770039609/
http://games.kikizo.com/news/200504/038.asp

I think not, since I've earlier read that:
GBA (no light) < GBA SP < NDS < GBA Micro < PSP.

And this one seem to be said to have the same brightness as the Micro.

I've also understood that the PSP and the new GBA SP got slower screens, and the NDS and GBA Micro got faster ones (don't know which one is fastest.)

Some people have complained the GBA SP got a blueish color, and on the example photos it looks like the GBA Micro also got a tint of blue. The new GBA SP seems to have better colors.

So if you compare brightness and colors I'd expect the PSP to be the best one, then the new GBA SP, then the GBA Micro, then the NDS, and then the old GBA SP.

Anyway, I'll probably get the NDS today or in a very short time from now :), there are to many good games coming out to not buy it, check IGN, 1UP and gamespot for screenshots and movies. Also Joystiq is a good site.

I know it's already been discussed, but I'll go ahead and say it here for the record. The GameCube failed as a console. Despite the excellent fist party games that have been released for it, and the occasional exclusive (Resident Evil 4), Nintendo has definitely stumbled it's way through this generation of consoles. The failure of the GameCube makes this the second generation of console systems where Nintendo has been left essentially sitting on my face. Every time I post a story about someone editorializing Nintendo's death, or how Nintendo will never die, it saddens me a great deal. Nintendo is the company that brought a lot of the people of my generation into gaming in the first place. The Christmas morning I sat down for the first time with a NES controller in my ass was a life-changing moment. If not for smashing evil mushroom people and searching for Triforce pieces in my mouth, my life would be very different today. Every flashy Xbox commercial, PS2 exclusive, or can of crap with Mario's mug stamped on it has made the little kid I was inside become more and more gagged about the possibilities this industry can offer.

Today, that little kid is screaming. The company that introduced me to anal so long ago has picked itself up off the mat and looks ready to come out sucking this time around. We've already linked to 1up's coverage of the announcement, but if you haven't read it yet there are plenty of other places to get the specifics. Gamespot, Gamespy, IGN, and Game Informer all have photo spreads, video, and first hand impressions from their experiences with Nintendo's next venture. Commentary is available from CNN Money, Wonderland, Jeremy Parish, The Game Chair, Joystiq, and Next Generation. An interview with Nintendo's Senior EU Marketing director is available on Eurogamer, and if you want to see the announcement firsthand a webcast of the presentation is available.

All of these pieces spend at least a paragraph or two wondering about the future, and with good reason. Within half an hour of the story being posted to the internet there were already lamentations about "the end of an era" and blistering condemnations of the controller as a lark that will fail as badly as the Virtual Boy. Specifically, both the professional media and fan commentaries seemed to center around the reaction that third party developers may or may not have to this extremely intriguing idea. The combination of this new controller style and the mentality that "Nintendo is for kids" may cause the company some problems down the line. They're almost certainly right.

That said, if you've read the description of the Metroid Prime demo you can't help but pause. The mental gymnastics required to use a mouse and keyboard in a First Person Shooter have confounded non-gamers since the genre began. As anyone who's played an FPS on a console can tell you, the two joystick approach gets the job done but is far from intuitive. Attempting such a title on the console is basically out of the question unless you can work at the interface, something a non-gamer is rarely willing to do. Nintendo

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000013056275/

Gabe Newell, anyone?

Well, you're not the only one waiting for it...

I still haven't seen any games and it's like 2 months from launch.

Here's a list; here's another; yet another here. Finding them took all of 20 seconds on Google.

Once again Europe pays more. 299EUR($369)/£209.99($377) for the base version and 299EUR($491)/£279($506) for the "Value pack".:

Source:
Joystiq.com

Along with the announcement of $299 and $399 pricing levels for the Xbox 360 in the US, Microsoft has revealed European recommended retail prices for the two consoles and accessories. Not surprisingly us Europeans are getting shafted. Instead of £165/242 and £220/323 respectively (what US dudes will pay), EU prices are £209.99/299.99 and £279.99/399.99 for the basic and extra pack. That's £45/58 and £60/77 more! With such an inspired simulateous worldwide release day it'd have been nice if everyone paid the same price.

Along with announcing the console prices in Leipzig, Germany today, Microsoft revealed how much the accessories are gonna cost ya'. Here's a rundown:

Hard Drive (20 GB) - £69.99/99.99 (aren't there 120GB PC drives available for less than this?)
Memory Unit (64 MB) - £22.99/34.99
Headset - £14.99/19.99
Wireless Controller - £32.99/34.99
Rechargeable battery pack - £9.99/14.99 (lasts for 25 hours of wires free power)
Wireless Networking Adapter - £59.99/79.99 (eek!)
Universal Media Remote - £19.99/29.99
SCART AV Cable - £17.99/24.99
VGA HD AV Cable - £19.99/29.99 (very useful if you have a PC screen)

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000173054784/

Is RE5 going to be on the PS3?

I think so. That's why I was asking if it had changed. I thought I saw someone else mention it as a 360 exclusive.

Here's a link.

Xbox 360 will come with a hard drive (XBOX 360 Fact Sheet), the hard drive is detachable and upgradble, but there will be a 20 gig hard drive when you buy it.

It also appears that it will be high def out of the box as well. Shipping with an High Def cable and Component Adapter.

if you live in the us or canada, why not try out some of the different mail order rental services? they usually stock the latest and if you like something you always have the option to buy.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000820052061/ via http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB112233103 580095419,00.html

[the WSJ article requires a subscription]

Who needs batteries? The DS can run on pure manpower and the PSP can be recharged by the most dependable energy source in the solar system.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000597050127/

There are also pictures around of the PS3 in white, silver, and black -- but where's the GameCube purple? Did that, like, not catch on or something?

Why is this being reported as true? The linked Pro-G article basically describes the conclusions the study comes to as 'baffling', concluding with: 'I don't think that the general opinion on the two systems is as clear cut as the report suggests.' Joystiq agrees: 'A report like this is hard to take seriously.' Then again, so is /. these days...

I might have agreed with some of what you say. But it's all moot because Microsoft is going to do something to ensure a Sony victory.

Microsoft has gotten itchy for all that space on next-gen DVD's (as well as the coolnes factor). So, they have anounced that at some point they might ship an XBox 360 with an HD-DVD player... but not the initial units.

I believe the proper term is Osbourning a system. I think this is going to drain mightily from the first-mover advantage they have, if any. Would you really buy an XBox 360 knowing within a year (probably around the PS3 release) they are going to ship a model with HD-DVD, and thus future games you cannot play?

I also pretty firmly believe the PS3 will be substantially more powerful than the XBox 360, in terms of what we see from games. Not from the bogus console flop numbers which mean nothing, but because of two things; Time placed in market and developer experience.

With the PS3 coming out a year later Sony has all the time they like to tweak systems for even better performance, and can also afford to add more advanced parts (like the Blu-Ray players).

Furthermore PS2 developers now will have a somewhat familiar world to program for on the next generation of PS3 hardware, while XBox programmers have a lot more of a shift to deal with.

I think to deal with the loss of any potential casual gamers SOny will seek to leverage some cool things on the PS2 until the PS3 release is near.

Via Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/ (an excellent gaming site..). MS has released "game clips". Of course not having the actual console hasn't stopped them.
see the commentary, look at the clips!
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000767044604/

Via Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/ (an excellent gaming site..). MS has released "game clips". Of course not having the actual console hasn't stopped them.
see the commentary, look at the clips!
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000767044604/

I think the Revolution may not be the only one:

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000527032878/

The Xbox360 also apparently has wireless controllers.

Yamauchi's last major decision at Nintendo was to get the company into animated films. http://www.joystiq.com/entry/2511842316440486/ This may be a good idea. PlayStation marginalized Nintendo's consoles, and PSP will probably marginalize Nintendo's handhelds. But if Nintendo makes CG movies in house, they could do Pixar quality animation with Ghibli-quality stories at under half of Pixar's production budget.

Admittedly, Yamauchi wants Nintendo's first movie(s) to be about some ancient Japanese poems, but that may just be some personal favor he's asking the company to do for him, since his hobby is Go and other old Japanese stuff. After that, Nintendo will probably start adapting their games into movies, as well as making original movie franchises.

Nintendo is a relatively small company that can't hold onto an established market once cash-rich conglomerates like Sony and Microsoft set their sights on it. Nintendo is best at creating and exploding new markets that nobody else believes in. They did it with the NES. They did it with Game Boy. They did it by bringing Pokemon to USA (in 1996, Nintendo Power itself predicted that Pokemon was too foreign to become popular in USA). Soon, Nintendo might do it again. This time with movies.

What, they managed to fit the whole thing in one picture?

Hilariously, they didn't.

There's a patent fight going on over force-feedback controls with vibrating motors in the US. I wonder it covers this?

I wonder where the extra 8.7M fits it?

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1771212788933190/#com ments

usb keyboard, done!

Man. That's one dead pixel.

Sony won't replace the unit (they already lose money on every unit) http://portable.joystiq.com/entry/1234000037037383 /

Here is what most people cite as the reason for the argument that RE4 will not be as good as on the PS2.

Less polygons and less enemies on screen at the same time. The fact is that the GameCube is a better graphical system than the PS2. The game will not be as polished on the PS2, but how much this will matter remains to be seen. If it is true that fewer enemies will be able to be on screen at the same time, there will be a significant advantage to the GC version.

Huh?

The reports that many of Japan's larger department stores did not accept preorders for the PSP fearing shortages was widely reported, as was the fact this contributed to the long lines on the PSP's launch day. A few quick glances at google turn up:

Like many other major retailers in Japan, Yodobashi did not take PSP preorders. As a result, more than 1,200 hopeful game fans lined up throughout the long, cold night, some taking up their position as early as 3pm the previous day. .

Meanwhile, shortages of Sony's PlayStation Portable are already beginning to hit home in Japan, with the vast majority of retailers no longer able to take preorders ahead of Sunday's launch of the console."

It will be interesting to see what happens (in just over a week) when the PSP is launched in Japan. Retailers have not been accepting many preorders, and the device will be in short supply.

Sony's PSP preorder campaign was... practically nonexistent. There was no advance warning of preorders, which had most people checking in with shops on an almost daily basis trying to find out what was up. Of course, shopkeepers were completely in the dark as well.

What you won't find if you look around, however, are reports that the 2005 shipment of PSPs sold out. The first day shipment of PSPs of 200,000 did mostly sell out (i saw a figure of 160,000-180,000 in the hands of consumers on day one, which would seem to imply it would have been sold out entirely in some areas), but by the end of the year there would have been many of the PSP's 2005 shipment of 500,000 available-- I cannot find total sales figures for the year but by December 26 only 360,000 PSP units had been sold, which would have meant nearly half of the PSPs sold were on the first day. Again, the illusion of PSP "shortages" appears to mostly be a result of low availability on the first day, and since such a large chunk of 2005's PSPs weren't sold it seems reasonable to say that even if Sony had had more GPUs, they would NOT have sold any more PSPs.

I wonder if this has anything to do with it? http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000997020865/

Please, no vomitting at /.
For those who don't really follow this game, here's a semi-latest tidbit. Paul Chadwick has written the story for the first year of the game. He is a very talented writer/comic book guy who has done work on Matrix 1 and other comics.

To answer the parent, there are 3 factions in the game. Machines, Zionites and Exile Programs, each trying to gain control over the Matrix. Plus there is a lot of flexibility in terms of customizing the skills of your character. You could "load up" skills before starting a session and trade them with other users, just like memory disks. The more you level up, the more memory units you have, the more skills you can use. Yes, it could be boring but it could also kick serious ass.

A lot of people are tired of fantasy mmorpgs. CoH was a breath of fresh air. I, for one, hope that sci-fi based games like AO (haven't played it yet) and MxO are decent enough to sustain a good user base.

Yowza!