The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Video Games 05.11.04

G’uh?

Oh.

That time again, is it?
*No, it’s not. It’s not really Tuesday, I’m not really me, you’re not really you, and you don’t have a news report to do
Ey. Now I know this is really Tuesday… Even *you’re* not this obnoxious without a fairly decent reason
*Charming. You remind a man his work is due, and this is the thanks you get
Yeah, well, the week it’s been, I reserve the right.
*Here’s the handset, phone it in
Stop that!!!

OK, probably not the best introduction possible, but it sort of shows how things run around here. I’m Misha, tuesday news reporter. Mr Cheerful over there is Marvin, Reploid and manic-depressive. Between us, we do the News.
*Best get going then, eh?
Indeed. Though it’ll mostly be pictures of E3 stuff this week…

News

Microsoft tell us stuff

At a pre-E3 press conference, developers Bungie announced that the much-anticipated Halo 2 would be released on 9th November. There were repeated assurances from Microsoft that the release date was “set in stone”. Also (finally) confirmed was that an agreement had been reached between MS and EA that will make sure Electronic Arts’ sports games find their way to X-Box Live. Mention of Microsoft’s next-gen hardware was noticeably absent, however.

Marvin: I’ll believe the Halo 2 reports when I actually see a copy in the stores. And no new hardware announcement? Oh dear…

credit: gamesradar.co.uk

Miyamoto isn’t quitting

Nintendo have issues a press release saying that Shigeru Miyamoto is *not* leaving the company. This is apparently in response to half-hearted speculation that he might be.

Misha:That’s quite a Press Machine… To have the denial out there before most people have even heard the original rumour is no mean feat, especially given that gossip can travel faster than light…

credit: spong.com

Goldeneye is back

Yep, they’ve gone and done it… EA have finally released some screenshots of their followup to Rare’s N64 classic Goldeneye. As has already been confirmed, the game places you in the shoes of a rogue MI6 agent, rather than Bond’s own; the shots themselves seem very Goldfinger (but that’s probably just due to the presence of Oddjob). Screens available to view here

Misha: Well, things are certainly looking up in development terms… In one go, they’ve released more shots than Bungie did in years…

credit: gamesradar.com

Yet more shots: Kingdom Hearts

Hot off the ‘net come more pretty pictures of Square Enix’s upcoming GBA RPG Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. The shots, viewab;e< here, are looking very pretty indeed.

Misha: I’m very intrigued by the whole “Room Creation” business…

Screenshot-o-rama: Silent Hill 4

As you’ll have seen elsewhere, Konami will be showing off the fourth game in their Silent Hill series at E3. To whet the appetites of Con-goers, they’re released these new screenshots.

Marvin: If I were capable of fear, I nmight be scared.
Misha: If nothing else, this is going to get one of my housemates *very* interested in E3 news…

A bit news-lite this time round, but people are saving the best stuff for later this week.

Commentary

There’s a very unusual something out there. Thousands of pople do it every day. I usually do it at least five times a week. Alex1 is famous for doing it multiple times a day. Bryan does it, but only his friends see it. Bebito doesn’t do it, even though he probably should.

What is it? It’s blogging, of course

I always used to be the world’s biggest Blog-cynic. I figured that anything I had to wroite down about my life wasn’t stuff I wanted anyone else to read, EVER. So I pretty much stated my Livejournal on a whim, because “everybody else had one”. First couple of posts, it was just basic updates. Then, I started hitting the memes.

People who’ve been reading me for a while know that I’m rather fond of memes. And on Livejournal, there’s a meme for EVERYTHING. If it’s not the “five-questions meme” it’s the “invent a memory meme”, or any one of a number of quizzes. Of course, rampant mem-spreader that I am, I have to help pass them on.

Since then, it’s escalated. I’ve seen new LJ communities for messageboards I’m on suddenly emerge from nowhere. I’m fielding comments from people about stuff I’d not normally ask them about.

Just the other day, I did something I never thought I’d do in a million years… I went on LJ and ranted about stuff that was going on in my life. Sure, I couched it in pretty crypic terms (and got prodded for it), and made sure it was a post with limited access, but it doesn’t change the fact that I did an online moan about my life. That scares me no end.

Then, a few days later, I did another one. And another. Some of them are super-protected (for various reasons), but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re there. Only when I looked back at my archive did I realise: I’d turned into a Blogaholic.

Which got me thinking: What drives it? What gets people hooked on sharing their entire lives with people they barely know? It could be an inherent showmanship, a desire to show everyone how great their life is. Or on the flipside, it could be a way for the stereotyped Goth to whine and moan about how generally shite their life is. Still others might use it as a way to publish their writings. Or it could be a place for extreme wierdness (as Chuck discovered when he went Fishing For Otherkin).

It might be a simple means of communication, or it might be the only thing that lets a person maintain their slender grip on reality. But whatever it is, it’s powerful.

Blog addiction: It’s not just psychosomatic.

For the plugs, they plug every day

Shouts go out to our special E3-newsposter, Ashley Nicholas. He writes the Byte This reports over on Wrestling, but the main reason he gets top-pimp is because he, like me, is British. Some of his bits’n’bobs are here, here and here

Cory’s been a lumberjack. He’s OK, but his skylight isn’t…

Of course we have the ever-impressive Bryan. There’s analysis again, this time on the demise of 989 Sports.

Yeager is getting into his stride, now his News gets posted in the proper place.

AlucardTM is here. With shiny Shadowrun sweetness at #6.

*Oh, and yes, some random bloke named Bebito wandered past. You might know him, he used to write this thing called the Down-Lo…
Now see, this is why we don’t let you do the plugs. The “Bebito Sucks” gimmick died a long time ago…

Plugs outside the box

It’s not really a UK-based Geek quiz, Eric. It’s just very RPG/Wargame-ish.

And with that, I’m off to an Electronics practical exam. And NOT to E3, like some.
*Read the reports, it’l be the best coverage anywhere…
And we’re gone.


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