|
[img width=520 height=240]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/1454940516476c7e16b8f2drock_band_small.jpg[/img]
So, how's it going EA? Find any new developers to buy up? You broke my heart when you bought Maxis. It further disintegrated when you guys dissolved Maxis into EA Games. You bastard. I hate you. Luckily for you, I am still a die hard Will Wright Fan, and for that reason I'll have a reason periodically to buy a game developed and published by you.
Recently, you released Harmonix's Rock Band to the masses in "North America". It was shortly around launch that you clarified "North America" to mean United States. Now, I am American, but when I think North America, I think three countries:
- Canada
- Mexico
- United States
In addition, Latin America is part of North America, even if we tend to ignore those countries. I feel honored to bring you that geography lesson for today, brought to you by NAFTA. Someone should have given Harmonix / EA this lesson when they decided to announce a release date for Rock Band. If I was Canadian, I'd feel pretty slighted by the fact that EA does not find you part of North America. I'd be even more ticked that Rock Band was delayed all the way to yesterday. But, perhaps EA would make amends by giving you guys a decent launch. Eh? Eh?! Nah, that's not EA's style. Turns out most retailers in Canada did not get a shipment yesterday, much to the disappointment of fans camping out for the game. Furthermore, those retailers that did get a shipment got a horribly reduced release. This slighting would infuriate me if I was Canadian, and I've come up with some conclusions about EA:
EA, you have an identity crisis. I believe that you think that you are Nintendo. Furthermore, I think you have confused Canada with the continent of Europe. What's the deal? Did you guys get hit on your head? Snap out of hit! Stop shafting our friends to the North, where some people call themselves Tan and some people like to say 'Eh?'. It's a lovely country. Stop screwing the pooch. Give them the game. Don't be jerks. It only hurts your sales. Ask Activision, I bet they could give you some pointers on alienating fans.
Sorry Canada, I couldn't snap EA out of their trance. Before you know it, you'll start seeing EA published minigames out the wahzoo and more casually focused games! My God, help us all.
So yeah, kudos to you if you know what the Tunguska Event is. See, in 1908, an asteroid or comet exploded above Siberia, obliterating everything within 830 square miles. It was one of those rare occasions that proved that contrary to what Molotov Cocktease said, it is not always cold in Siberia. Interestingly enough, it is possible that the asteroid / comet was up to 1.2km in diameter. Luckily, since it exploded 5-10 kilometers above Tunguska, the impact event did not bring upon the second dark age (The prior dark age beginning in 500 AD is hypothesized to be a result of a super volcano explosion that separated Java from Sumatra, you may have heard of the volcano... Krakatoa). Certainly, this impact could have been significantly more catastrophic had it happened over a population center. Imagine it hitting London or Tokyo, either city would be wiped off the map. In fact, almost any city would be wiped off the map from a Tunguska type event. Hence, there is a genuine interest to make sure that we can guard against an impact such as the one that occurred in Siberia on June 30, 1908.
Well, CNN is saying that there is a 1 in 75 chance that an asteroid comparable to whatever impacted Tunguska will hit Mars on January 30, 2008. Sure, 1 in 75 is a small probability, but I can assure you that some of you have experienced rarer probabilities at work, such as a 100 year flood. Certainly, any impact on Mars would be rather devastating for what ever exists there (Xenu and his minions), but at the same time it would be a great insight as to what actually happens during these impact events. We know that the Earth has been impacted many times before, how valuable would it be for scientists and engineers to see what occurs during the impact so that they can guard against it. It could be an interesting day in January 30th for any science geek, time will tell.
[CNN]
What started because Hydrobond complained has now come to a ceremonious end with 5000 replies. Ah... memories. This thread started while we were still using yaBB, back when anything over 2000 posts would make the forum cry. Let's try to think of all the things that have happened on the site during the life time of this hallowed thread.
Continue reading A Completely Unrelated Series of Thoughts Part 5... RIP
[img width=600 height=200]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/9505236194768d0e36bc57Bloggers.jpg[/img]
The staff and programmers at RF Generation are pleased to announce the official release of the Community Blogs system, which was supposed to be two months ago. Up until this time two months ago, the system has been in beta, looking to find and quash bugs and also to add new features. At this time, we have added plenty of features that anyone interested in blogging should enjoy:
- Ability to use HTML or BBC
- Ability to customize one's blog appearance
- Ability to program the release of an entry
- A fun and exciting commenting system
- Ability to preview and look over any entry before posting
- RSS Feeds
- Other things that I probably forgot
Certainly, we've put a lot of work into the blogging system to make it manageable for all users and members, and we hope that you all will find some use for the blogging system. As you can see by the above image there are already many people have tried out our blog system. Won't you be the next? It's easy, all you got to do is a) be a registered member of RF Generation and b) click the My Blog link located under the blog section of our navigation. One there, agree to our agreement and then blog away!
It should be noted that while we call it a blog you do not have to use it as a "blog" blog. Perhaps you would like to track and chronicle your collection finds using the system. Perhaps you would like to chronicle your gaming life. Perhaps you would like to tell the world how you're feeling. What you could use the blog for is only limited by your imagination, so use your mind to create an environment that is truly special and entertaining. Who knows, you might even have fun.
It should be noted as well that we are desperately looking for people to write for RF Generation's blog, What About Channel 4? (the blog you see on our front page) If you are interested in being a blogger for us be sure to talk to me about becoming one. Just to make it known now rather than later, we expect any staff blogger to make a minimum of 2 posts a week for the RF Generation blog. If this sounds like something that you would be interested in doing, be sure to let me know.
As always, stay tuned to RF Generation, more is surely to follow when you keep it tuned to channel 3.
Ed Note: Yeah, so I wrote this post two months ago. Let me stress that we are still desperately looking for people to be blog writers. I think I've made it pretty easy, I hope you all agree. Any suggestions should be brought to the PHP Coding Monkey, also known as me. You can make suggestions in our beautiful forum known as The Thinktank. Oh by the way, do check out our forums- blah blah blah- we have a lot more to offer than just the collection tools. But yeah, our collection tools are pretty damn awesome. The Black Perl kicks ass. Damn, am I rambling, but is that purposeful? Eh, I don't know, the coding make brain mush. Hulk Smash. Enjoy the rest of your day. And Stuff.
[img align=right width=200]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/13487935904766ca8debe7fBig_Brother.jpg[/img]
Let's get this straight - Manhunt 2 is not a good game. Don't believe me? Well, why not believe the composite score as told by Gamerankings.com. Gamerankings is respectable right? It is a cNET property after all, and cNet is nothing but at the pinnacle of journalistic integrity. So yeah, now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk.
James, AndyC, Belgarath, Alabama Shrimp, any other British Member we have that I am not aware of - I feel sorry for you guys at times. I hear that in London the police can actually yell at you via the security cameras. Here in the US, we we use cameras just for observation. We are harassed via the telescreen, that two way bastion of mind control that we Oceanians have come to know and love. Lest we also not forget about . HAIL BIG BUSH... err... BROTHER!
Britain, we Oceanians are impressed. You have the beginnings of the Thought Police that we Oceanians have had for so very long. It appears as though your government feels as though you are not competent to make your own rational decisions on certain matters regarding these... video games. I know not of such things, for fun here in Oceania we relish in the two minutes hate. Hail Big Brother. But yes, I hear that video games are... fun. Truly it is a shame that we are not blessed with such devices.
Manhunt 2. Ah yes, we Oceanians have that game. Officially though, it is not a game, but rather a training exercise required of all Oceanians by Minipeace. I am more prepared now to fight in the unending war now that I have experienced that training exercise. We Oceanians find it strange then that your Thought Police would try to ban such an effective training exercise. As such, Rockstar, the creator of the exercise, successfully filed an appeal with the appeals committee in your country. Luckily for you guys, Rockstar was successful in the appeal, but for some strange reason your Thought Police wish to stop its release. Need we Oceanians remind Britons of the hallowed statement:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
We Oceanians hope to guide your Thought Police in making the right decision here. Forfeit the judicial review. Approve this training exercise. It is an essential tool in fighting the unending war. Join Us in Our Quest. That is All. Hail Big Brother.
The Author of this Post assumes no responsibility for any thoughtcrime that may have occurred while reading this article. Hail Big Brother. That is all.
[Gamesindustry.biz] - Article without Spin
 |
|
So, you're a PS3 owner and you happen to own both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. Harmonix said that the Guitar Hero III Controller would work with Rock Band. Almost a month after release though, it still does not work. Blame Harmonix? Don't be so quick to blame, as this release by Harmonix explains:
Hi Everyone,
As we have said in the past, Harmonix and MTV Games believe in an open standard philosophy of hardware and game compatibility. We think that there should be interoperability between music instrument controllers across all music games. This is clearly in the best interest of consumers, game developers and console manufacturers and will only help to grow the music game genre as well as inspire innovation and creativity.
Two weeks ago, Harmonix created a software patch for the Sony PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band that allowed for guitar compatibility and support for third party peripherals, including enabling use of Activision's Guitar Hero III controller with Rock Band. The compatibility patch was submitted, approved and had been scheduled for release by Sony on Tuesday, December 4. Unfortunately, Activision objected to the compatibility patch's release. The patch remains with Sony, but we have been told that it will unfortunately not be released due to Activision's continued objection.
As is the case with the Microsoft Xbox360, we believe that Sony PLAYSTATION 3 users should be able to use the peripheral of their choice with Rock Band. We sincerely hope that Activision will reverse its decision and allow release of the compatibility patch and further, that Activision will allow Guitar Hero III to support Rock Band guitar controllers as well. We welcome all third party developers who wish to support our controllers and will provide any required support in order for them to do so.
We believe that when consumers have choice, everyone wins. Harmonix and MTV Games hope that Activision and others will also adopt this philosophy.
Sincerely,
The Harmonix Team
Well, ain't that a crock of shit. If I was impacted by this situation, I'd be pretty ticked off right now. Seriously, how can a PS3 Rock Band have a bassist right now? Certainly, they can not. This is a pretty douchy move on Activision's part, and I hope they realize that they are angering a lot of people who have previously been buyers of Guitar Hero. I guess they don't care about future sales of GHIV. With the Wii Mono situation, the exorbitant price of DLC and this dilemma, GHIII owners have some things to be ticked about.
More as this story develops.
Rock Band Forum Thread.
A big round of Congratulations goes out to two of our staff members. Starting today, Ben Wilkinson (Oatbob) is now the permanent hardware editor. Ben has shown enthusiasm and determination that makes him more than worthy of being the new hardware editor. Previously, Ben has been working as the hardware editor on an interim basis. We are certainly very excited about Ben's promotion, and we can't wait to see what great things are in store for the future of the hardware database. It should be an excellent time.
In addition to Ben's promotion, we have another promotion to celebrate. Keith Brown (Tan) has shown time in and time out what it means to be an RFG staff member and editor. Currently, he sits on top of the submission roost, and has been instrumental in getting some of our policies and guidelines to a published form. Certainly, Keith is a model staff member and we couldn't be happier to have him on staff. Recently, it has determined that a fourth director of the site would be beneficial for our growth. This new director would be primarily responsible for maintaining standards and policies in addition to other, mundane tasks that the directorship partakes in. I am pleased to announce that as of tonight Keith is now the Standards Director. Keith brings a skill set and desire to this position that makes us wholly confident in our promotion.
A big round of congrats goes out to both Ben and Keith. With their help and vision, there will always be something new when you keep it tuned to channel three.
'Tis the Holiday season for many faiths and people, and here at RF Generation we celebrate the time! Kudos goes out to den68 for our festive top design, it's really awesome! Den is our graphic designer for the site, and the majority of site images you see are his design. We are truly grateful for all the excellent work he provides. Thank you, Den.
We'd like to wish everyone a happy holidays to all. It's a festive time to be had, and I hope everyone makes the best of this time of year. Anything exciting planned? Let us know! I know personally I relish the fact that I have a month off from school. It's nice.
I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who donated money to keep the site rolling. Without their donations, the site directors would have had to find the money to keep the site going, and when two of the three of us are in college, it creates a bind. As such, we are very appreciative for everyone who has donated, and I'd like to thank all who did:
- AndyC
- Cobra
- Fighter17
- Funk_Buddy
- Ghost_Soldier
- James
- Marriott_guy
- NES_Rules
Thank all of you for donating! Your donations keep this site going, and we are truly thankful for your generosity. As promised, if you donated $20 or more you qualify for a free gift. Please contact me with an address so I can get that out to you. I am fairly certain that I can get these gifts sent overseas as well, so please contact me regarding receiving your gift.
Lastly, need a gift idea? Why not check out our store? Perhaps you find something cool there.
From all of us here at RF Generation, enjoy the Holiday season. May it be a safe and wonderful time.
Edit: NES_Rules just made a lovely donation. Thanks!
[img align=right width=200]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/1292033653475ae417495bdhard_rock_hallelujah.jpg[/img]
Few retail establishments invoke such ire as the establishment known as CompUSA. Perhaps you do not have a CompUSA in your area, be happy, be very happy. CompUSA has been a crooked operation since its inception. Overcharging? Sure! Huge markups? Hell Yes! No honoring sales or price match guarantees? Certainly! As you can tell, I do not have anything nice to say about CompUSA, and good riddance I say. Apparently, other people have similar opinions. So, I imagine that there won't be many tears shed in this closing.
So yeah, if you live near a CompUSA, they'll be having a sale soon. Perhaps you'll find a good deal. Chances though are that you won't. I'm not being evil, I just know that CompUSA is a heartless ass of a corporation. For that reason, I officially say get the hell of my lawn to CompUSA. Let some other, profitable, not crooked store enter the market. Sayonara!
via [CNN]
So, yeah, it is now winter break. I haven't had a winter break in three years, and this will be my last winter break. Feels nice. Really nice. No school for a month. A whole month to do what I want to do. Sleep, relax, game, all things are on the table.
I can't wait to see how my exams and grades turn out. Some classes were harder than others, and the exam I took yesterday was more of a crap shoot than something meaningful. But, who the hell cares, it is over, and until the hell that will be next quarter, it is time for some R&R.
Oh yeah, I expect to add some new things during this month off to the site... stay tuned for that.
So, I imagine that a lot of people on this site has heard about Gamespot catastrophically losing its credibility (as if it had any to begin with) after they abruptly fired Jeff Gerstmann, known for inciting the wrath of Nintendo fanboys for his review of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Well, the rumor is that the bigwigs at C-net did not enjoy his review of Kane and Lynch, which at the time was heavily advertising on the site. As such, they canned him. If true, this is a sad revelation into the priorities of corporate sites and the credibility of reviews. It is especially bad for journalistic integrity, what little was left.
It'll be interesting to see the true story, if it ever comes out, but for the time being I'll let everyone else speculate on the matter, while I sit hear writing my report that is due on Tuesday. The lack of comments make this issue seem as though it dos have a grain of salt, but then, what do I know. What I do know is that RF Generation receives its funding from our donors, and are a horribly independent operation. We love you guys, and we try to do what you want, except of course when we are horribly under siege by school, like many of us are now. I digress, but yeah, keep your ears open to developments in this story, it's fun to watch Gamespot go down in flames.
[img align=right width=200]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-072/gs/U-072-S-02340-A.jpg[/img]Well, there are plenty of games out there, and by golly, many of them happen to be First Person Shooters. So, yeah, why not go shootin'? Here in Ohio it's deer season, after all. Don't want to shoot deer? Why not try the featured game, Timesplitters? I hear that it is made by the team who is made up of mostly GoldenEye team members. I hear that GoldenEye is apparently a good game, does not make Timesplitters de facto awesome? Don't know, but I bet our reviewer Shimra has a good idea. You should read his thoughts.
So yeah, don't own Timesplitters? Why not drool over our featured image. Someone was cool enough to submit a PAL Timesplitters 2 box front image. If you can't get into the Timesplitters carnage, then perhaps you can drool over that box.
Lastly, BadKarma has our featured collection. He owns Timesplitters. He also has images associated with his collection. By association, he has the featured collection. Congrats!
Stay Tuned to RF Generation, great things will happen once the Site Director's autumn quarter ends on December 7.
[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/1342659547474245a680030Animal.jpg[/img]
There is this comic hitting the internet today. It tells a tale, and it is done in a rather moving manner. To say that it affected me would be a gross understatement. I really encourage you all to check this comic out. Cherish your loved ones, for they certainly love you.
There are two ways to check out this comic. There is the ytmnd that you can check out, or you can view the comic in its entirety here.
This is the most moving thing I've seen in a really long time, I hope you find it's story moving too.
Animal Crossing is Tragic
Comic Design: This is Game
Hosted Here via Kotaku
[img width=468 height=60]http://logo.cafepress.com/nocache/2/2216302.jpg[/img]
You've asked for it, and after planning and design, here it is. The RF Generation Store, in it's fully mercheriffic(R) glory. Want a RF Geneation branded shirt, mousepad, or hat? Well, we have it here. Check out our wares, you may find something you want. You can find the cafepress hosted RF Generation store here. It's permanent link is found in the about section links and also under the community quick links.
We hope you enjoy our wares, and appreciate any patronage that you are willing to give. All sales will help to fund the betterment and operation of the site.
Cheers!
Well Mike, you would have turned 23 today. Of course, you would have always been 20 to yourself. Hope the afterlife is being good to you. We certainly miss you here on earth, but we seek solace knowing that you are in a better place.
Cheers to you Mate, while you may be eternally 22, today we celebrate your life on your birthday.
|
