Bill › Comments

"Check the closet." - Bill

"I really wouldn't want to see kids playing that, but let's define terms here. To me a kid is someone who can't sit through Schindler's List or Apocalypse Now. The 16 year old who goes, "Oh cool! Look at all the blood!" is a kid. The 16 year old who can understand the implications of that scene and the reasons it may be important for the mood of the piece probably is not. This does cross an ugly line; but not the one I think you're referring to. I would say what happens in those 8 minutes speaks volumes about the human condition. It says more about real world tragedies more than a memorial wall ever could. You are witnessing every school shooting, every suicide bombing, and every sociological killer. You're given a glimpse of how awful those scenarios are. IW has dumped a lot of disturbing truth about the grotesque things people are capable of into the player's lap. It's not pretty, and it will take a mature mind to grapple with it." - Bill

"There is a tear in my eye. Brilliant!" - Bill

"If you're still giving them out, I'd like one: certifiedtotakecalls@gmail.com (spam account, I don't trust the internet.)" - Bill

", the plea memo said." - Bill

"I think npcabral is more accurate than Bic823. Every time a significant version of Counter-Strike has been released the game had big changes. Source is very different from 1.6, but you might not notice it outside of tournament level play. Off the top of my head I remember they changed where bullets hit, especially while moving." - Bill

"Were people actually upset about the insect race in Mass Effect having a queen? If ants were suddenly to become sentient, would the need for a queen be obsolete? As I understand it they have no other mechanism for reproduction; nor do they appear to need alternatives." - Bill

"See the following Akaziel: http://www.zeldawiki.org/Joe_Ple..." - Bill

"I agree with your point ZeMoose. A lot of the titles on this list I wouldn't consider art, especially when compared to Citizen Kane. I would argue that the Half-Life series could stand up to other great innovations of art, but Mario 64? Not so much." - Bill

"I was a bit skeptical about this number, so I looked up Activision's 2008 10-K. here's the breakdown: Sony: 1,030,045,000 (largely from PS2.) Xbox: 785,476,000 Wii: 309,867,000 PC: 156,068,000 Other (handhelds and such, it's not broken down): 4,411,000 So, while Sony doesn't do OVER 50%, they're damn close." - Bill

Is your son in a school where 6th grade is considered Jr. High? That might be a big deal for him. - Bill

I'm working on a better way. I'll try to keep you posted. - Bill

"I misunderstood your basic premise. I thought we were all in agreement that entertainment generally has no lasting impact on people. I have never read a sound scientific study that says otherwise. If you can present one that'd be great. As to your example of the rape/matronside/pedoside game; if someone wants to play that sort of game, I see no reason to stop them. It doesn't sound very appealing to me, but neither do sitcoms. ---and yes, if people want to experience a completely imaginary scenario and there's a company out there to provide it, that is 100% acceptable. Entertaining hypothetical situations and actually doing something are very, very different things." - Bill

"Because video games do not directly impact society? If Texco has an oil tanker that's likely to capsize, they know it's likely to capsize, and they do nothing until it does capsize Texco is unacceptable. If Electronic Arts releases a game about drowning baby seals in oil and people who are interested in that subject experience said game, they are providing a service, and is acceptable. If Penguin Books releases a book about a drowning baby seals in oil and people who are interested in that subject experience said book, they are providing a service, and is acceptable. Until thoughtcrime is real, anything I do in an imaginary world to imaginary entities is acceptable." - Bill

"Why do people keep saying "Nintendo needs to wow the core this year."? They don't. They don't need us, and probably don't want us. They're doing just fine with their target demographic. If every 'core' gamer sells their Wii to game stop, does that even dent their numbers?" - Bill

"I think everyone can agree Two Worlds was terrible, yet for some reason it's not yet in a landfill." - Bill

""5" new levels for the iPhone game maybe?" - Bill

"Joystiq says it's great and unintentionally hilarious. It's on my 'to rent' list." - Bill

"Mike Patton managed to freak me out in the Hell levels. The game is worth the purchase at the current price for that alone." - Bill

""the fact that the world is being taken over by the Locust, it has to be huge.” Aren't the Locusts reclaiming their planet? In that war, are humans not the aggressors?" - Bill

"espn.com just got a billion hits" - Bill

"There are two other letters in the word "you." Please use them." - Bill

"I own all three current gen systems and a gaming pc. I consider myself to be a pretty avid gamer in that I play a wide variety of games pretty frequently. I could see "hardcore" defined as elitists, maybe that is what you're after." - Bill

"I dunno if it's changed, but it required cheats enabled when the game came out." - Bill

"@Xuerian Hey, do you know of a mod to override the music offhand? I'd play fallout 3 more if my pipboy played podcasts between Mad Dog's yammerings." - Bill

"@veesofnaught 1) Are you complaining because you don't need to upgrade every few months? I wish I had that kind of disposable income. 2) Check out the indie games on Steam. I just tried the "And Yet it Moves" demo last night, and it was a damn fine game. I'm still having a blast with L4D, Insurgency is getting better on a constant basis. Fallout just got an expansion this week. Civ4 and SoaSE have fairly new expansions. EVE just had a major update that increases it's graphics for high end pcs. Gothic 3 just had a community patch that seems to have completely retooled the game's balance. Battlefield Heroes and Quake Live are out there and awesome. Hawx just hit pcs, Wheelman drops tomorrow. So, unless you're looking for an excuse to spend money on hardware I think you're more or less set." - Bill

"I think his point is these sort of calls are typically made in the December-January time-frame. I think the submitter should have mentioned GDC in the title to avoid this sort of debate." - Bill

"I have never been happier to be wrong. Thanks Meh!" - Bill

"If a zombie story doesn't reference The Zombie Survival Guide or World War Z I'm not sure I care what they have to say." - Bill

"This story is A+++++ Would digg again! Top poster!" - Bill