Blizzard sues Glider creator

In a recent chain of events Blizzard Entertainment is suing Michael Donnelly, creator of the popular Glider software, for copyright infringement saying that,

"Blizzard's designs expectations are frustrated, and resources are allocated unevenly, when bots are introduced into the WoW universe, because bots spend far more time in-game than an ordinary player would and consume resources the entire time."

They also went further stating that the software copies the client into RAM to evade anti-cheat software.

Donnelly rebuts these accusations saying that no copying of the client occurs.

My two cents on the topic? I've never been a bot-enthusiast in MMO's. I'm paying a monthly fee to play a game, in turn I should play the game, not simply allow my computer to play it while I wander around elsewhere. If I wanted that I would play Progress Quest, which I highly recommend as a side note, my level 94 Gyrognome Sprocket Knight is fairly strong when casting "Nestor's Bright Idea MMMMMDCXX".

That being said I don't dismiss the tool for others. It's not my thing, but it certainly does not break economies and the experience for players worse than the Mythical Chinese Gold Farmer. If Blizzard wants to create a better gaming environment stop these companies from flooding the markets, don't worry about a 31 year old who's too lazy to play the game he's paying for.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Fun With Portals RL Style

Ok ok I know this article has been up on digg for a while now, but I'm just coming around to seeing it... I've been busy... stop judging me! :)

Thanks to some create Canadians out in Toronto we now have pictures of a companion cube dropping through a portal on a busy street.

Imagine walking down the street and seeing this looming over head, it would be fantastic.

The best part about this? The image seen in the portal is the view from the other portal... yes that's right, the other portal is found in another part of the city and contains the back end of the companion cube.

<3

Full Article and more images here

\\drew

Worst licensed titles of all time

Hey guys, here's a nice little video from College Humor revolving around looking at some of the worst licensed titles of all time.

Ranging from Shaq-Fu to Home Improvement (complete with Tim the Tool Man Taylor fighting pterodactyls with a nail gun), each game is horrible and ill-conceived in its own unique way.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

I love it.

\\drew

Starcraft 2, a look into the Zerg

I want it... I like the Zerg...

I believe I speak for all fanboys when I say that this title is one of the most anticipated titles in a very long time... especially in Korea.

\\drew

Bible Fight - The Flash Game

Now I'm always game for blasphemy, it tends to make me happy. So you can only imagine my glee after finding this new flash game on the internet thanks to Adult Swim.

The game is called Bible Fight and puts you in the position of one of the badasses from the Bible, you know, Eve, Moses, Jesus, Mary, Satan and Noah. Each have a compliment of moves to perform, from raining frogs and fish to slapping you with the great corrupter in snake form.

Check out this video:

Now you should go and play the game here.

Say hi to Moses for me, his reach can be a real bear, that guys is so wiry.

\\drew

Call of Duty 4 Gun Techno Mix

Serpento gets my vote of the day for this clever chunk of piece mail. By cobbling together the gun sfx from CoD4 he's managed to crank out a decent beat.


\\drew

Pontiac gives props to Spy Hunter

I like when commercials make reference to fantastic classic games. In this video Pontiac is pushing their new model as it traverses 2D/3D level reminiscent of Spy Hunter.

\\drew

Rock Band Band Rocks out on the Street!

It was only a matter of time before some clever individuals took the craze of rock star related gaming to the streets. We rock, the game said so, why shouldn't we share?



This video makes me happy on so many levels, especially when they recruit a random pedestrian to rock out with them.

See, they need to do this but have a television hooked up so they can rock out to sweet sweet TV speaker sound.

\\drew

Bioshock 2 Slated for Q4 2009

In Take-Two's recent financial report they have stated that Bioshock 2 will be developed and released for a late 2009 release.

This isn't surprising, but what is is that they will be changing developers from 2K Boston/Australia to 2K Marin.

When asked if Ken Levine would be involved in the development process CEO Ben Feder stated, "Ken is a terrific asset in the company and he is a brilliant game developer... He will be working on BioShock 2, and he will be working on a new IP. A lot of the work will be done at 2K Marin, but that's not to say that Ken will not be involved."

So it sounds as though they have Ken swat teaming a new project which has some precedence over the sequel to a game that sold over 2 million copies.

We'll see what big news comes out of Take Two in the following years, people are certainly expecting big things... Bigger than Big Daddies even.

\\drew

Excellent D&D Chart

With the death of the man, the myth, the legend Gary Gygax comes even more articles written in memorandum.

Thanks to this NYTimes article we get a chart based around D&D that is frighteningly accurate.

What makes this accurate you ask?

Well, simply note the number of life nodes between Being exposed to D&D or Not being exposed to D&D and Girls. The astute eye will see that the number of nodes between not playing D&D and girls is substantially shorter than the other.

So sadly true...

Anyways, check out the article giving praise to one who will be missed.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Internet miscreants at work

All I have to say is hah! Damn portals are everywhere, you better watch out.

\\drew

Thompson is not allowed to legally represent EA

I'll start off this article with a resounding No Shit. Pardon the blunt nature of my snap reaction to finding out Jack Thompson offered his services to EA in regards to their attempted buy out of Take Two Entertainment.

In a response letter to Thompson EA writes:

Mr. Thompson,

We have received your letter to EA's shareholder site. In response to your offer to assist in the proposed acquisition of Take-Two, we would strongly prefer that you not get involved in this matter. EA is a strong supporter of creative freedom for game developers. We feel that your past statements - including false claims about content in our games - make any collaboration with you impossible.

Sincerely,
Mariam Sughayer
Sr. Manager Corporate Communications
Electronic Arts, Inc.

I enjoy this letter on many levels and for many reasons, but the primary internal yay is probably how it reminds me of my grandmother. Yep, my grandma could basically call you a piece of shit, to your face while molesting your own mother and somehow you wouldn't realize until later that she had insulted the very core of your existence.

I give a large amount of kudos to Sughayer in this letter. The keen use of words here makes me feel warm inside whereas Jack is most likely reeling from the severe lash of reality.

\\drew

Gygax learns Lich

It was only a matter of time before Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax decided that he was not long for this mortal coil and finally unraveled the key sequence of reagents, hand gestures, and somatic elements in transforming himself into a Lich.

This theory of mine comes from the fact that Gygax was pronounced dead at 69 in his home in Wisconsin. He's been plagued by "health problems" for numerous recent years and this is a culmination of those battles, according to most newspapers and "official" reports.

My take? Gygax is a legend, and legends don't die from simple things like strokes, failing a Save vs. Death, and "old age". They die from something grander, like bollixing a once lost ritual to summon an Outsider to do one's nefarious bidding, or getting hit by a mountain falling out of the sky by angered gods, or accidentally slighting Vecna, or my personal choice... learning how to cast Lich from Vecna himself.

If Vecna were to give secrets to such a powerful spell it would surely only be to someone of Gygax's ilk and I guess I like to think of him as still with us, albeit in an evil vessel of bone and magic.

So I solemnly ask everyone who reads this to tip one for our homey who isn't with us no mo'.

*raises a d20*

Roll 'em if you've got 'em.

We'll miss you Gygax, say hi to Vecna for me.

\\drew

The Ghosts in the Machine

I can only account for this through a complex frame bug where the guy with the sniper rifle fired, the head of his teammate was lined up, but lag led to the sync falling out, resulting in a preposterous shot that would make Oswald envious.

\\drew