Four Reasons Why Gaming is the Superior Form of Entertainment

Why does society look down upon people who enjoy playing games?  What makes watching tv or movies more acceptable? Read more

Wii Success Marks the Downfall of the Hardcore Gamer

As a gamer, the commercial success of the Nintendo Wii should be good news right?  Read more

Review: Sins of a Solar Empire

Alas, after several long months we have finally played Sins of a Solar Empire (Sins) enough to formulate an opinion that will do the game justice.  Read more

Why the Wii has Won

Looking back on 2008, one thing stands out in my memory that seriously changed the way I look at video games. That thing is the Nintendo Wii. Read more

What is Your Metascore?

Yes we are talking to you.  We are not interested in what developers and publishers are shooting for (obviously they want a very high score).  Read more

Are Hardcore Gamers Buying the Nintendo Wii?

I consider myself to be a hardcore gamer.  I’m currently playing the PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP with a touch of PC gaming to keep things spicy.  It’s well documented that the Nintendo Wii no longer caters to the traditional hardcore gamers that have made it so successful in the past and the most recent Nintendo press conference at E3 did nothing to win the hearts and minds of the Nintendo faithful.  We all know that the Wii is being snatched up by casual gamers who like to have a gaming system around that is easy to learn and increasingly trendy.  Sure Wii Sports can be fun – if you are drinking with your friends or trying to show Mom and Dad that games aren’t intimidating and overly violent.  However, I still can’t bring myself to buy one.  The graphics leave much to be desired, the games offered are almost laughable in their immaturity and the only carrot that Nintendo has dangled for the hardcore is an casual remark that Mario and Zelda games are in development.  Well no kidding.

In my experience the gamers that read these sites, watch E3 and actually pay attention to news in the gaming industry typically fall into the hardcore gamer demographic.  I don’t see my Mom hitting the forums and message boards and commenting on posts with fiery passion.  Nintendo has forgotten about the fans that brought them to where they are today and helped them survive a pretty weak system in the Gamecube.  Where would they be today without the support of their most loyal fanbase?  Would the Wii even have seen the light of day?

So my question for you, as hardcore gamers, is do you own a Wii?  Sure there are some great games there: Zelda: Twighlight Princess, Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.  But what else are you playing?  Are you really buying Wii Fit and excited about Wii Music?

For years I was a loyal Nintendo fan.  I grew up on Mario and Zelda.  I still remember the excitement of getting my first Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64.  I regret that those days of unbridled enthusiasm for everything Nintendo are gone.  Nintendo has done little, if anything, to remind me that it still has gamers interests in mind.  Like all major corporations that stumble upon a big idea at the right time, it is now more about exploiting that idea and making as much money as possible.  I guess I can’t fault them for that.  It’s what corporations (and people in general, do).  However, I do think that by turning their back on the hardcore fanbase that kept them alive for so many years they are taking a risk.  If they believe that the casual gamers will be ready to move on when a Wii HD is inevitably announced they may find that the market in which they now operate isn’t as prepared to buy another Wii…

So tell us, if you are a hardcore gamer do you have a Wii?  Do you own any of the other systems?  What games are you playing on the Wii?  Do you still trust Nintendo to deliver the gaming experiences you want?

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

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The Funniest Personalities in Gaming

Making a list of the funniest personalities in gaming was much harder than I anticipated. There are so many great podcasts and websites out there these days that picking the guys who make you laugh the most is a daunting task.

When all is said and done though, these five guys rose to the top and are (in my opinion) the ones who will make you laugh out loud in the most embarrassing places if you are a podcast nut.

To make the list, I only included the guys that are consistently funny and whose presence on a podcast serves to make it something special. All of these guys are funny in their own way, and because humour is so subjective, you may not agree with the list. However, despite where they all fall on this list, all of these guys will make you laugh, unless of course you have no soul.

And the top 5 funniest are:

5. Jeff Green – EGM

Best known for: GFW Radio podcast, never knowing the date…sometimes being off by years, taking 17 hours to win Portal!

Why he made the list: Jeff makes his weekly appearances on the GFW Radio Podcast and his laid back, laissez-faire way of running the show is hilarious. He’ll often lead the discussion into the most ridiculous topics and is never afraid to speak his mind about some of the crap he and his co-workers have to deal with every day in the gaming business.

4. Greg Miller – IGN

Best known for: Podcast Beyond, Game Scoop podcast, a famous Lair Review, Ghostbusters love affair

Why he made the list: Greg is easily the loudest of all the game editors out there. He frequently shatters the eardrums of his fellow podcasters with his enthusiastic chatter. Known for his love of singing and screaming “beyond!”, Greg has quickly made a name for himself in the gaming community. Famous already for his review of Lair, Greg has become a staple on the popular Game Scoop podcast and has become well know for some spirited rants (a particularly memorable one being against the PS3 and PSP).

3. Jeff Gerstmann – Giant Bomb

Best known for: Gamespot, On the Spot, the Hotspot Podcast, the Giant Bombcast, “Gerstmanngate”

Why he made the list: Jeff has been in the industry for over a decade now and has reached almost icon status after the infamous “Gerstmanngate” affair that saw him fired from Gamespot. For anyone that doesn’t know about what went down just type that into Google and you’ll find out. It’s hard to nail down why exactly Jeff is so funny, but his quick wit and vast knowledge of video games gives him lots of material to draw on.

2. Hilary Goldstein – IGN

Best known for: Three Red Lights Podcast, berating Nate Ahearn, being that game journalist everybody mistakes for a girl

Why he made the list: Hilary is the jerk of the gaming community and where’s his crown with pride in the offices of IGN. That’s why he is so damn funny. Poor Nate Ahearn is frequently the brunt of his best jokes, but nobody is safe from his rapier wit. Whether he is throwing Ryan Clements’ new Dualshock 3 controller across the room and destroying it or apologizing to gamers for anything that Nate says or does, Hilary is pure gold. He knows his stuff and is not afraid to skewer any person or game that gets in his way. Who else would have the balls to name the Xbox 360’s podcast “Three Red Lights”? Gold(stein) I tell ya.

1. Shawn Elliot – EGM

Best known for: GFW Radio, 1UP Yours, prank calls, freestyles, terrorizing the online gaming community, reading forum posts by online idiots

Why he made the list: Ok, this list was hard to wittle down to only five, but the number one choice was very easy. Shawn is far and away the funniest personality in the gaming community. If you have never had the chance to listen to the GFW Radio Podcast, you have to now. While it is a podcast about games, it always devolves into something completely and utterly ridiculous. Nobody is better than Shawn at making fun of people, situation and poking holes in popular culture. He has the best voice ever for that “emo” guy who is actually in love with a cartoon video game character and frequently uses it in prank calls and during online “readings” of the most ridiculous crap in the gaming community. His metaphors and analogies are simply brilliant and his knowledge of gaming and gamers gives him the ability to make fun of anybody and anything in all situations.

Trying to explain why somebody is funny is no easy task. You really do need to listen to these guys in their element to really understand. I’m sure many of you will have your favorite memories of each of these guys. There are so many that it would be impossible to try and recount them all here.

I have to give honourable mentions to Ryan Davies of Giant Bomb who has such great chemistry with Jeff Gerstmann, Ghambus Khan of ZTGamesDomain who consistently steals the show and Nate Ahearn of IGN who really knows how to roll with Hilary’s constant onslaught on insults.

If you are interested in seeing what all the fuss was about be sure to check out my list of the “Top 10 Podcasts for Gamers” that includes links to all of the podcasts where you can listen to these guys yourself.

Who would you add to the list? Disagree? Let me know!

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Call of Duty 4: Top 5 Multiplayer Annoyances

Ok, so everyone knows that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is an awesome game. It continues to sell at a breakneck pace and has established one of the largest online communities since its release in November of 2007. Now that everyone has been playing online hardcore players can agree on one thing, some things in multiplayer can really piss you off.

I won’t even go into the inevitable encounters with online idiots that you are guaranteed to come across. Those would be the racists and the little kids whose voices haven’t cracked and spend most of the match squealing like spanked pigs.

This list is about in-game multiplayer annoyances and the people that use them to maximize the frustration factor for everyone else.

Without further ado…

Number 5 – Idiot reaches level 55 and decides not to enter “prestige mode”…ever

We’ve all experienced it. You get into the lobby, check the rank of everyone in the lobby and notice that 5 players are all at level 55. Ok, so they’re good. Then, you get into the match and they absolutely own you. I’m talking you die almost as instantly as you spawn. They know where you’ll be, they have insane proficiency with every weapon in the game and they let you know it. Clearly, they are “prestige mode” material. Then, after you get your ass handed to you at your meager level 30 rank, they decide to call you out for sucking. Good times. Real cool. Man up and make the game a challenge for yourself by entering “prestige mode.” Pwning noobs doesn’t prove anything to anyone. It only confirms that you are a jackass.

Number 4 – This automatic shotgun will go great with my martyrdom perk!

Again, we’ve all seen it. These players constantly sprint around the map flying into rooms with the finger on the trigger and using about as much skill as it takes to blow up a balloon. Then, when they inevitably die, they drop their grenade (thanks martyrdom perk) and hope that their “tactics” were enough to take someone with them. Bonus jackass points awarded to the players that employ this strategy in tiny maps.

Number 3 – Spawning into an air strike or helicopter attack

Ok, this one can’t be blamed on players, so much as on Infinity Ward. Yes, the attack choppers and the air strikes are a cool idea. However, where the game breaks is when you are playing in a map like “shipment” and a helicopter attack kills everyone and everything. The map is so small that you have no chance of shooting the chopper out of the air before someone else takes you out. The result, non-stop sprinting for cover until the chopper is gone. The frustration: in a map as small as “shipment” you can bet those choppers will be out for almost the entire game as elite players rack up 7 kills over and over and over. Spawning into random chopper fire “hilarity” ensues.

Number 2 – Hey, I have 3 frag grenades, I better use them all within 2 seconds of respawning

You can bet that almost as soon as players reach the level to unlock these babies they will be clipping an extra 2 frags to their belts. And why not? You can throw a grenade anywhere and some sucker almost always accidentally stumbles into it. I wish COD 4 kept stats on how you get killed. Was it a sniper rifle? Was it a handgun? Or was it another damn grenade. I spend most of my time navigating the minefield of grenades, especially in smaller maps.

Number 1 – Juggernaut, the second chance for those who can’t get the job done without it

This was easy. Who hasn’t shot a player point blank in the chest after getting the drop on them, only to have them suddenly realize you are there and somehow kill you instead. It happens every game. Its happened to me. Its happened to you. It will happen again. Juggernaut is like the perk for players that accept the fact they need need a handicap to compete online. I have simply lost count of the number of times I’ve heard players scream into their headsets when they get killed by a player with this perk. It happens every game.

Phew. Well that’s it. I know there are other things in there that annoy people so if I’ve missed your personal pet peeve let me know in the comments section.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’m heading back online. Because lets face it, despite these annoyances, Call of Duty 4 is damn fun. Thanks Infinity Ward!

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

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Top 10 Podcasts for Gamers

Podcasts have become one of the best ways to learn about games, rumours and how our favorite game editors feel about particular games and events in the industry. Not only are all the podcasts that made the cut on this list informative, but they are funny to point of laughing out loud (which believe me is embarrassing when you are walking up the street by yourself). And now, drum roll please…the top 10 podcasts for gamers:

10. The Hotspot - Oh how far you have fallen mighty Gamespot. With the departure of notable personalities such as the likes of Jeff Gerstmann, Ryan Davis and Alex Navarro, the Hotspot is a shadow of its former self. Once one of the funniest podcasts around with great commentary…the soul left this podcast following the now infamous Gerstmann-gate affair.  Brian Ekberg remains standing, so hopefully he’ll hold down the fort.
Click here to check it out.

9. Retronauts -This podcast is for gamers that like to reminisce about old games. Basically, the podcast pulls together various editors from around 1Up and has them talk about their favorite old games, systems and memories of gaming. If you want to plug in and listen to a heated debate about Final Fantasy VII this is the place to be. Click here to check it out.

8. EGM Live - Another 1Up network podcast led by Jennifer Tsao, Managing Editor for EGM. This podcast is always different and they cover lots of topics including mailbags, industry news, the occasional interview and rumours. You never know what you’ll get with this podcast, but that makes it more interesting.
Click here to check it out.

7. GFW Radio – Not technically a podcast for consoles, I know, but a great podcast about PC games. Frequently they reference games on consoles and draw comparisons between a console and pc release of the same game (e.g. Call of Duty 4). Hosted by Jeff Green and Shawn Elliot, this podcast always cracks me up. Shawn is hilarious and does lots of great impressions and the show often gets way off topic. Not that it’s a bad thing.
Click here to check it out.

6. IGN’s Game Scoop – Game Scoop is a podcast that brings together most of the major editors from around the IGN office to talk about the latest news, rumours and games. It is generally a recap of the week and usually devolves into some insider jokes about the industry and provides some insight into the inner workings of the IGN office.
Click here to check it out.

5. N4G Radio - N4G’s own podcasts features a likeable cast comprised of ZeroTolerance, Gambus Khan and the Wombat. These guys are hardcore gamers and provide a refreshingly honest discussion on video games. Less harsh than most critics around the web, the love these guys have for gaming really shines through in every episode. If you are sick of following Metacritic scores and want to hear a grassroots opinion on a game title that interests you, these guys have the goods. Click here to check it out.

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