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Gaming's Biggest Blunders of 2006
Ground Glass writes "After all of the self-awarding that goes on in the games industry this year, it's nice to be reminded that there were actually some pretty big industry disasters in 2006. Who can forget that timeless Gizmondo car crash story, for example? Or the onset of microtransactions for cheat codes? One of the Curmudgeon Gamers, Matt Matthews, lays out the worst the industry had to offer this year, from game hype to journalistic screwups, and everything in between." From the article: "3. Bill of Rights -- Void Where Prohibited by Law. We should also sit back and enjoy a steaming hot cup of schadenfreude at the expense of those tireless defenders of morality and the souls of our children: the state governments of Michigan, Minnesota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and of course Illinois. Each has passed a law restricting the sales of videogames, and each has been stopped by the courts. Apparently there are things called 'constitutions; which grant 'rights' like 'free speech' which 'activist judges' are using to strike down the very laws which will protect our children from rock and r...videogames." He also offers up some of the cut content that didn't make it into the final article.
PS3 being #1 makes sense ...
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Last year at this time everyone was bashing how poor the XBox 360 launch and how expensive it turned out, many people even said "Why would you spend $400 on an XBox 360 when you can buy the more powerful PS3 (that comes with a Blu-Ray player) for less?"
It's amazing how much change 12 months can bring
I also enjoyed GameSpot's coverage ( Dubious Honors 2006 ). If anyone's keeping track, the biggest "loser" this year was EA who was mentioned several times in both articles. I'd have to agree. Next year, everyone can get their hand on whatever hardware they want. Bad games will stay bad and be lost to history. But we're still going to be dealing with overuse of in-game ads and microtransactions for in-game cheats thanks to EA.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Killing off E3 was the ultimate Anti-blunder. The show hasn't been any good since it was in Atlanta. At least then it was fun. When it went back to L.A. it was unproductive, AND boring.
I know this may sound like a troll or flamebait, but have you ever considered that there is more to defining the norms and values of the US society than the US Constitution? I live in Canada and every time a controversial issue comes up in the States, the debate I hear centers around "Is it constitutional or not?". Nobody ever asks if it's good or bad for society, or for its individuals - it's like the Constitution absolves all choices, regardless of their effect.
I'm not saying that the Constitution should be ignored in the debate about games and minors, but I think using it to allow the sales of games to minors is just as backwards as making laws that prevent such sales. It's simply a matter of "My law is bigger than your law", while the real problem (parents who aren't looking at what their children are playing/watching/listening to) is ignored.