Hurricane Ivan Hits Gaming Hard

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Hurricane Ivan Hits Gaming Hard

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday September 21, 2004 @05:55AM from the pinballs-are-people-too dept.

Hurricane Ivan's US landfall has affected gamers across the country. The World of Warcraft Beta is still down this week while the data center it's housed in is dried and brought back up. Star Wars Galaxies also experienced outage due to adverse weather conditions. And many thanks to Leon Kiriliuk for alerting us to the Pinball Association Notice that "two-hundred thirty two classic pinball machines and some rare video games were destroyed, including an extremely rare Tattoo Assassins prototype and a sit-down Omega Race!" Update: 09/21 02:33 EDT The World of Warcraft Beta is back up and running with a new patch.

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Fortunate by alatesystems · 2004-09-21 05:59 · Score: 1

I'm glad it didn't hit as hard as many people were expecting. Many people said that New Orleans was going to be a soup bowl and Mobile Bay was going to be totally obliterated.

I have a pdf full of pictures of destruction in Pensacola as well that I'd love to link, but I have no hosting that would stand up to /. readers clicking on a link towards the top of the discussion.

I don't think it hit gaming too terribly hard either as xbox live was still up and running :), except of course Burnout 3 which is always broken because it's one of EA's first attempts at Live-enabled games. Does anyone know how much money Microsoft paid EA to do Live! if any? Or did EA finally just give in?

Chris
Why not store them in a safer location? by BoomerSooner · 2004-09-21 06:01 · Score: 4, Interesting

Tornadoes are small but I have a redundant backup of all my servers running at a co-loc in chicago. I also backup and put weekly disks in a safe deposit box at my companies bank. The biggest tornado to hit was in May of 1999 and it was only a mile wide (would be an F6 if they thought that wind speeds could get that high). A hurricane is different, they can be as big as Texas. Storing priceless items in the path of a possible hurricane or any other forseeable natural disaster is very short sighted in my opinion.

The only thing I try to protect in a disaster is the lives of my family and my employees. A good backup/disaster recovery plan may never be needed but where would you be if your business burnt to the ground? Error on the side of caution.
1. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by El · 2004-09-21 06:22 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Storing priceless items in the path of a possible hurricane or any other forseeable natural disaster is very short sighted in my opinion. Right. They should have stored them on the west coast. No risks of earthquakes or landslides there! Or maybe in Kansas. No risk of tornadoes there! Where exactly are you proposing that "priceless items" be kept where there is zero risk? Iron Mountain?
  
  --
  "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
2. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by Planesdragon · 2004-09-21 06:40 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Actually, yes. Iron Mountain, MI would be a great place to be a data center. Same as Upstate NY, but more centralized.
3. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by jone1941 · 2004-09-21 06:41 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  canada?
  
  --
  Fear trumps hope and ignorance trumps both
4. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by Deraj+DeZine · 2004-09-21 06:55 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  He's suggesting that important data be stored in multiple places so that a single natural disaster won't cripple the company. It's very unlikely that a hurricane will hit the East and an earthquake will hit the West in the same week.
  
  --
  True story.
5. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by The+Other+White+Boy · 2004-09-21 07:07 · Score: 1
  
  pittsburgh is not exactly known for its frequency of being hit by hurricanes, what with its distance from the tropics and all.
6. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by El · 2004-09-21 07:21 · Score: 1
  
  Well, yes, offsite backup of data is a no-brainer. I was referring more to physical objects. It seems you have a choice -- either put them away somewhere where nobody can access them to keep them "safe", or keep them where people can actually enjoy them with all the attendant risks. (And I beleive there is still a small chance of water seepage or theft even at Iron Mountain.)
  
  --
  "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
7. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 07:37 · Score: 0
  
  So you were changing subjects while maintaining an argumentative tone? Oh, ok.
8. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by ahmusch · 2004-09-21 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah -
  That's why they got 4 inches of rain from the remains of Frances and almost 7 from the remains of Ivan.
  Check the Pittburgh Post-Gazette's flood coverage if you don't believe that Pittsburgh can get hit with a hurricane.
9. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by Masami+Eiri · 2004-09-21 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  Try the Harrisburg or Philly areas. They got hit worse AND the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers decided to flood as well.
10. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by Planesdragon · 2004-09-21 12:26 · Score: 1
  
  We must be talking about different Iron Mountains. (Ah, you must mean www.ironmountain.com, a MA based company)
  
  There's a significant chance of water seepage at Iron Mountain, MI. It was the site of a significant iron mine (duh) in Michigain's UP. However, if you can tolerate the cold and find the bandwidth, there isn't a safter place in the country.
  
  Well, maybe somewhere in the Rockies--but even come a nuclear exhcange, Iron Mountain would probably just still be sitting there.
11. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by LWATCDR · 2004-09-22 15:58 · Score: 1
  
  Since there is a chance for earth quakes anywhere in the world. Hurricanes can hit any place along the coast including New England.
  No place is disaster proof.
  Your best bet is widely seperated redunt sites.
  
  --
  See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
12. Re:Why not store them in a safer location? by britneys+9th+husband · 2004-09-22 18:49 · Score: 1
  
  How about the undisclosed location where they were keeping Dick Cheney?
  
  --
  Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
WoW Beta... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 06:07 · Score: 0

The WoW Beta was affected by a tornado, not a Hurricane Ivan and it's been up since last night!
1. Re:WoW Beta... by ZenHarbinger · 2004-09-21 06:14 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Yes, but in all honesty, the tornado was caused by the hurricane. Ivan caused some massive (drastic understatment) tornado activity (at least in Virginia) on Friday.
  
  --
  This space intentionally left blank.
slashdot mindset by El · 2004-09-21 06:18 · Score: 0, Troll

Who cares aboiut hurricanes? Hey I don't care about people getting killed or billions of dollars in property loss...
Oh my god, I can't play starwars online!!! And pinball machines were destroyed! This is a real disaster!!!

--
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
1. Re:slashdot mindset by mrseigen · 2004-09-21 06:22 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  It's Omega Race. I'd throw you into a woodchipper for a sit-down unit.
2. Re:slashdot mindset by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 07:23 · Score: 0
  
  Man, if you'd do that for a game, what would you do to be able to sit down and play with a real live woman? ;-)
3. Re:slashdot mindset by Allison+Geode · 2004-09-21 10:02 · Score: 1
  
  he'd leave the house and go find one. women aren't as rare as omega race sit-down arcade machines: there's plenty of us floating around, many of us with geeky interests, and many of us without mates!
4. Re:slashdot mindset by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 11:36 · Score: 0
  
  So what are doing tomorrow night?
  
  Down a rousing (yet candle lit) gaming session?
5. Re:slashdot mindset by drinkypoo · 2004-09-22 04:47 · Score: 1
  
  Video games are a lot easier to figure out and turn on, though. One switch, and they usually have at least a demo, if not directions on the front of the machine.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
6. Re:slashdot mindset by pommiekiwifruit · 2004-09-22 23:12 · Score: 1
  
  On the plus side, my spam has reduced dramatically.
I.. by Apiakun · 2004-09-21 06:28 · Score: 0, Troll

I for one welcome God^H^H^H our new hurricane wielding, tornado producing, flood generating overlord.
1. Re:I.. by Ayaress · 2004-09-21 06:57 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Insightful?
  
  Ok, I gotta say it:
  Overlord post==joke
  When modding a joke, you:
  A. Mod it funny if you find it funny.
  B. Mod it overrated if you're tired of cliche jokes.
  C. Maybe mod it redundant if twenty people have already made it in the same thread.
  
  Where do you get insightful in this?
2. Re:I.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 07:22 · Score: 0
  
  There's some guy running rampart that uses "insightful" to mod up funny posts while giving a karma bonus (or cancelling out penalties). He should use underrated instead.
3. Re:I.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 08:06 · Score: 0
  
  Sometimes I mod something funny up as insightful, if the insightful mod makes it more funny. Usually I get hit by M2 when I do this, but who cares?
another delay by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 06:30 · Score: 5, Funny

motherfuckers will use this to delay hl2 again
WoW Beta by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 06:31 · Score: 4, Informative

The servers are back up and were as of 2130 PST yesterday. From what they told us in the forums the servers had gotten wet and had to be dried out properly and then powered up and tested before allowing the Beta testing to continue.
You know... by nekoniku · 2004-09-21 06:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

If the worst problem you have all day is that you can't play Star Wars Galaxies, you're having a pretty darn good day.

--
"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
They Aren't Human Casualties, But... by DLWormwood · 2004-09-21 06:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

...losing 200+ pinball machines all at once, with only some of the case art being salvagable, is a terrible, terrible thing. With the game format almost extinct, restoring these things is going to be a pain, if not impossible.
In its own way, it's as bad as if one of the Smithsonian buildings or a Science & Industry museum was destroyed. There's a great deal of technological and popular cultural history that's been lost due to Ivan The Terrible. Ugh.

--
Those who complain about affect & effect on /. should be disemvoweled
1. Re:They Aren't Human Casualties, But... by drinkypoo · 2004-09-22 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  Restoring them would involve only trivial acts of fabrication. It's getting all the specifications that's impossible. However, if you actually understand how the systems work you can rebuild them from the water-damaged system. Pinball machines are not that complicated and they are built mostly from off the shelf parts; solenoids and such. Anything not off the shelf is really easy to build. The greatest loss, really, is the artwork, which especially for a prototype will probably be literally impossible to get your hands on.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
2. Re:They Aren't Human Casualties, But... by DLWormwood · 2004-09-22 05:50 · Score: 1
  
  Pinball machines are not that complicated and they are built mostly from off the shelf parts; solenoids and such. Anything not off the shelf is really easy to build.
  Then you disagree with most machine operators who ran these things in arcades. (I know, I've met some of them.)
  Pinball died not due to waning popularity, but operator hostility. Compared with the solid state nature and simple mechanics of even physically intensive games like DDR, pinball machines required a great deal of maintenance to fix parts that constantly broke due to abuse and wear. (I remember the complaints of many operators who had to deal with the troll heads of Medival Madness, as an example.) The only place locally that still has pins, Gameworks, fails to keep them maintained. Each machine has a dozen or so switches that are always broken. (And this is in a Chicago suburb, no less! The home of modern pinball!) Just because most of the parts are "off the shelf" doesn't mean that it's easy to fix a machine if most of those parts are broken at the same time.
  
  --
  Those who complain about affect & effect on /. should be disemvoweled
3. Re:They Aren't Human Casualties, But... by drinkypoo · 2004-09-22 05:58 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't say it was easy to profitably maintain the pinball machines. I'm just saying they'd be easy to restore, as restoration projects go. There's nothing in the machine that's hard to make yourself. Repairing a pinball machine is time-consuming but not especially difficult. There is no part of a (vintage) pinball machine that I cannot fabricate, locate, or otherwise come up with, except (as I said before) the artwork. Any plastic models that are broken would be difficult but not impossible to pull a mold from, and replace that way. The situation gets much more complex with "modern" tables, which might as well be a video game in terms of complexity of the electronics.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Quite a loss. by Firehawke · 2004-09-21 06:58 · Score: 2, Insightful

That's truly sad. A lot of those are lost permanently as a result-- only MAME romsets left, and MAME can't truly get the feel for such things as a sit-down cabinet for some of these.

Even worse when some of these are incompleted prototypes that just never made it to the production stage.
FFXI by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 06:58 · Score: 0

Damnit, FFXI: Chains of Promathia's release is also effected by this! PC version is getting dated on friday when its supposed to be out today!
Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 07:09 · Score: 0

Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia had a 9/21/04 release date.

I've been waiting on this expansion pack for months and every video game store I've talked to said they won't get it until Friday MAYBE, and definitely some time next week

Every store cited shipment delays because of the recent hurricanes.
1. Re:Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia by _xeno_ · 2004-09-21 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  Yep - many, many posts about this on various forums. What's really annoying is that Square-Enix is completely ignoring this, proudly proclaiming that Chains of Promathia is now available for sale!
  Well, if you click on any of the purchase links they offer for the expansion, you'll get taken to a preorder page. None of these sites actually indicate any reason for the delay. EBGames actually silently updated the shipping date without notifying any of the people who preordered.
  I can completely understand that a hurricane can disrupt shipping, and accept that. I really, really wish that Square-Enix and the various stores that are offering pre-orders would actually tell us about this instead of requiring people to call up store managers to find out what's up.
  I'm sure lots of things are still delayed from the aftermath of the hurricane. It's completely understandable. But it's really infuriating when companies won't just tell you what's going on and instead act as if things are proceeding exactly as planned.
  
  --
  You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Pictures of the Tornado by nuxx · 2004-09-21 07:13 · Score: 2, Insightful

A friend of mine works on the AOL Campus in Dulles, Virginia. On September 17th, 2004, one of his coworkers, Steve Gibson (not of grc.com) captured some images of what I believe is the tornado that caused this damage. The photos can be seen here, here, and here, if anyone is interested.
1. Re:Pictures of the Tornado by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 17:49 · Score: 0
  
  He would have gotten a better shot if he was stanging outside!
2. Re:Pictures of the Tornado by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-22 04:35 · Score: 0
  
  You mean the Tornado completely missed an AOL campus and instead hit a Datacenter where multiple MMORPGs east coast servers are located? WHERES THE JUSTICE?
3. Re:Pictures of the Tornado by nuxx · 2004-09-22 04:44 · Score: 1
  
  I think some stuff might have gotten tossed around on AOL's campus. But, I wasn't there... Per my friend there wasn't anything really bad that happened.
  
  Then again, it's more likely that the tornado took out power, and if the colo facility is in a basement (bad idea) the sump pumps weren't working.
Patch? by isorox · 2004-09-21 07:23 · Score: 3, Funny

Update: 09/21 02:33 EDT The World of Warcraft Beta is back up and running with a new patch.

So this patch makes it immune to hurricanes? Wow, that's some funky coding!
Reporting live from Canada by MachDelta · 2004-09-21 08:18 · Score: 3, Funny

Next week on Slashdot: Blizzard's WoW servers taken out by Blizzard
Meanwhile, in Haiti by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 09:28 · Score: 1, Insightful

Haiti's president has appealed for aid to help the island in the aftermath of tropical storm Jeanne whose floods have left at least 600 dead.
Pinball machine don't matter in the best of times, and they certainly don't matter now. It's going to be long storm season this year.
Tattoo Assassins by British · 2004-09-21 09:47 · Score: 1

Too bad about the TA machine. I just tried it for the first time 2 weeks ago.

1. The game is an incredibly blatant Mortal Kombat ripoff. The most trivial details of MK seemed to be copied over.

2. There's an anachronistic "INSERT COIN" font that sticks out. it's the same font used on the TI-99/4A. Looks horribly out of place compared to the rest of the GUI.

3. The characters do ridiculous things. One, a Native American seems to do some sort of rain dance each time he wins.

Too bad I can't get to the boss creatures, "prizm" looked funny.

There is still one other Tattoo assassins prototype, according to bunnyears.net at Data East. Maybe it can be bought once they go out of business.
Oh God, Not the Pinball Machines!!! by FauxReal · 2004-09-21 10:52 · Score: 1

I love pinball, and it saddens me that most of the gaming companies that manufactured the games are giving up on it. It's a great mix of fun and skill on a phsical level. I can't believe the pinall market is going the way of the dinosaur. Oh well, at least it's not people that died. :(

--
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
Water and power ... by AHumbleOpinion · 2004-09-21 11:55 · Score: 1

I'm all for backups, offsite and local, but until the building is dry and powered there is not much you can do with them ;-)

For local backups a fire-resistant safe could be useful, I am now wondering how water-resistant such safes are. In addition to water from weather there is also water from sprinklers, steam from fire suppression?.
SWG Galaxies data center picture by RotJ · 2004-09-21 11:56 · Score: 2, Informative

Here's a high-res picture of the SWG data center that was hit by a tornado, as seen in those two cell-phone camera photos on the SWG site. I don't know why it's posted on the WoW site, though.
They're the same data center by RotJ · 2004-09-21 15:59 · Score: 3, Informative

Apparently, both WoW and SWG use the same data center. The writeup made it sound like two separate data centers were hit by hurricanes.
Why in the path of Hurricanes? by Wyatt+Earp · 2004-09-21 18:13 · Score: 1

If you are going to put up a datacenter for something that's to run 24/7/365.25 why would you put them somewhere like Florida or in a Tornado Alley?

Why not in Utah or Minnesota or Sioux Falls South Dakota where the violent storms or floods are less likely?
FFXI by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-22 06:21 · Score: 0

The new expansion, Chains of Promatia was supposed to hit stores today, too. The company line from Squeenix right now says that all the PC versions were shipped to georgia and the warehouses are inaccessable. PS2 expansions went to a different center, apparently. ...stupid weather. Glad we banned it in southern california a few years back.