Jack's back . . .

It never fails. When there is a tragic shooting involving a young male, Jack Thompson is there pointing his finger. Before any details are released on the case, Jack has it solved. He knows what drove the shooter to do his horrendous act. He knows what his motivation was. He even knows how he acquired the "skill" to pull it off.

The answer/culprit/scapegoat? Videogames of course! It is soooo obvious. So simple.

I've written about Jack before (HERE). As a gamer, my opinion of him is clear cut. I think he is out of his mind. Simple as that. With the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech., I am glad to see that some people in the media are finally starting to see through his web of lies and realize that he is full shit.

He appeared on Chris Matthew's Hardball a few days after the shooting and Chris didn't want any of his crazy talk. (LINK)

MSNBC had a great article on the subject as well. (LINK)

And Bill Harris did a great write up (one of many) on his blog. (LINK)

I long for the day that Jacky boy here just disappears. When all media outlets realize that there is no merit in any of his spiel and that his is just using all these tragedies to get on his soap box and get attention. I do hope that day is near.

GH II Pricing Petition

Yesterday, Red Octane released the first batch of downloadable songs for GH II. 3 different sets, each containing 3 songs. For 500 points, or $6.25. That's over $2 a song!

There has been immediate debate by the gaming community. How long must we be raped by over-priced Marketplace content?

An on-line petition has gone up. I urge everyone to sign it, even if you don't care about GH II. Lets band together here guys.

Link to petition

PC Gaming is it really Dead?

If we are honest with our selves, the current next gen consoles are essentially PC gaming machines with the ability to connect to our large beautiful HDTV's from the convienence of our family room couches. With the upcoming May 7th update for the xbox live dashboard, which will now include msn instant messenger support. The convergence of these two gaming platforms is coming closer to fruition. PC gamers for the longest time have had the ability to play games in high resolution, while listening to their own music, chat via instant messenger, download game demo's, etc., all via one machine. For some strange reason Microsoft does not want their next gen consoles compared with PC's, why? Microsoft has now just finally agreed to release a keyboard attachment to its controller. It is time for Sony and Microsoft to admit they are reinventing PC Gaming right under the noses of the PC game makers. The problem with all these PC like features coming to the consoles is this, most homes have just one HDTV. Can you hear the arguments now? Mom !! Terri is IM'ing her friends using the television and I want to watch a movie !!! While Johnny Jr. wants to play Halo 3, get the picture. Don't get me wrong I would love the conveniences of surfing the net from my television, but the reality is most homes do not have the money for multiple HDTV sets.
So to answer the question, is PC gaming dead, the answer is yes and no. The value and convenience of PC's being used a multiple electronic entertainment machines cannot be matched by any of the current consoles today. Until the prices for HDTV's drop and game makers stop making minimal PC's called consoles, I believe we will see pc gaming around for a long time. Lets not forget about Laptops which are combined HDTV's with consoles. These laptops are now cheaper and more powerful than ever before. I see game consoles morphing into the gaming PC's for the family room. With the future of current PC gaming going to the convenience of laptop computers.

Free Bird

Guitar Hero II is fantastic. But I knew that. I've been paying the series since its debut on the PS2. What I meant is that the 360 version is fantastic. There are some unlucky gamers experiencing technical difficulties with their guitar controllers, and they have my sympathy, but my controller has been working flawlessly.

I beat every song in the PS2 version of the original game on Expert difficulty. And I made it through all but one in GHII on Expert. All but Free Bird. I have been struggling with it since the PS2 version and that carried over to the 360 version. The song is absolutely brutal. So tough in fact, I was convinced I would actually never be able to pass it at the hardest difficulty.

But yesterday . . . I did. I was so ecstatic, that I had to take a snap-shot of my acomplishment (because I do not know if I will be able to pass it again). And not only did I pass it, but I passed it with a 4-star rating. I was shaking when I was done. My heart racing.

That may sound dramatic, but for those that have not played this game (and especially this song), I ask that you try it on Expert and tell me it is not insanely difficult.

Anyway, here is my moment of triumph.



Note: I have tried this song twice again on Expert since beating it . . . and have failed both times. I'm real happy I took that pic. :)

360 Keyboard attachment

Gamespot had some "leaked" photos of a new qwerty keyboard attachment for the 360 gamepad. The story has since been pulled, but the pics are below.





I think it looks pretty sweet!

The new Spring update is supposed to incorporate MSN messenger to your friends list (or something like that), so this attachment seems like a good idea.

Count me in.