image: Lionsgate

Last week, I speculated about whether this movie would make people more leery of the gaming community and technology so I’m hoping they present their storyline in a way that isn’t blatantly anti-gaming.

The film takes place in the future and humans are actually the pawns of online gamers who control their actions through mind-control technology.  The whack job who created the program, Ken Castle (Hall), has taken it to the next level by introducing a first-person shooter game called Slayers which allows gamers to use their humans to act out their worst fantasies with people actually fighting to the death.

It’s all up to Kable (Butler), one of these prisoners, to save the world since he’s become a popular character among fans and tries to bank on the skills he has used (while being controlled) to reclaim his life and, of course, put an end to Castle’s craziness.

Post from: EveryJoe

Now Playing: “Gamer”

image: Lionsgate

The film is about a future where gaming and entertainment have been fused into some awful hybrid and, of course, it’s got to be scary as hell.  Multi-player online gamers are actual controlling other humans through mind-control technology that has been developed by billionaire, Ken Castle (Hall).

He takes things up a notch by created a first-person game called Slayers which, as you might imagine from the name, isn’t a good thing since it allows the gamer to act out their most savage fantasies online in front of the world.  It’s all real and prisoners are actually fought to the death.

Insert Gerard Butler’s character, Kable, who is being controlled by a young gamer named Simon.  Somehow,the kid is able to get his character through each week alive and he becomes a hero, of sorts.  The sad part is that Kable has a family and in order to see them again (and free them), he’s got to live long enough to reclaim his life and take down Castle.

Honestly, I’m not very happy about this movie at all.  There are already a large number of people out there who believe video games are the root of all evil and this is going to just give them even more ideas about how dangerous gaming can be.

What do you make of this film?  I guess it all depends on how it ends but I just think it’s going to perpetuate a lot of negative myths about the gaming community.

Post from: EveryJoe

“Gamer” Movie Giving Us a Bad Name?

By the way, if you’re using Firefox, you’ll view the video just fine. If you’re using IE, click here to view the clip.

Post from: EveryJoe

New Halo 3 video: Red vs. Blue D.I.Y.

If you like to inflict more self-torture, try tweaking your new Gears of War for the PC. Normally, tweaking the game to get the best performance is a necessary exercise, especially when your net worth isn’t good enough to be announced in a magazine.

Well, Gears gives new meaning to torture.

One of the first things hardware-savvy PC gamers do when they run a game is to view its video settings and see what can be changed. When tweaks are done, said gamer plays through the early stages to test if performance is any good. If there are settings to be changed (and trust me, there will always be settings to be changed), one would simply visit the video settings while the stage is paused.

Not in Gears of War. When you press Esc and look for the video settings, you won’t be able to find it. You’ll have to quit to the main menu, and then visit the video settings. If you want to try out a new configuration scheme, you have to ditch the campaign and go to the main menu.

Funny thing in tweaking is you need to switch a few settings to see which one gives you the best gains. Tweaking was never such a frustrating exercise in any shooter, but Gears does this in spades.

But wait! Aren’t there settings that require you to restart the game for it to take effect? Yes, they have that here too. If you want AA (and if your PC can handle it), you have to restart. That means you have to log into your Windows Live again, unless you don’t plan on saving your progress if you do decide to play.

Post from: EveryJoe

Gears of War annoyance #3: Tweaking torture

By some strange chance, I ran into Nintendo’s Wi-Fi USB connector in my favorite retailer. In all my visits to their numerous branches around the metro, I’ve never encountered the drool-inducing accessory. But that’s all changed now because I snatched it right away.

Daydreams of playing Metroid Prime Hunters with other enthusiasts from all corners of the globe were repeated over and over in my head as I took the new gizmo home. Little did I know.

After installing and configuring the Wi-Fi USB connector, I was set for a session (or twelve) of Metroid. This is it! No more difficult-to-organize DS parties where only two people show up. I could connect to the world!

The first player I fought was using an unfamiliar hunter that kept jumping up and down like a spastic. The jumping was useless because I could shoot at him easily, but the hunter’s powerful bombs put me in a lot of hurt. I was using Samus, so I didn’t have any other surprises.

Outcome: I didn’t stand a chance.

My second match was even more annoying. Some gamer spelled his or her name with Korean characters and shot me once. Everything turned to white and I was dead. Each round had the same result—one shot, dead Samus.

Are these people cheating? I don’t know, so I quit playing Metroid and shifted to Mario Kart.

Post from: EveryJoe

Getting pwned in Metroid Prime Hunters’ online multiplayer

Fricking awesome.

Thanks to Patrick, the Ironic Gamer for sharing with us the video.

Post from: EveryJoe

Master Chief scares the socks off South Koreans

Hear yea, hear yea. Microsoft announced the pricing and availability for the Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition in Europe. The Halo 3 edition comes with a Spartan green and gold finish, and will carry an estimated retail price of £279.99 when it comes to retail on September 26.

This 360 version is said to come with the following features:

• Halo 3 Special Edition Wireless Controller
• Halo 3 Special Edition 20GB Hard Drive
• Halo 3 Special Edition Wired Headset
• Halo 3 Special Edition Gamer Pics and Theme (via Xbox LIVE)
• Component HD AV Cable
• Ethernet Cable
• HDMI Port
• Play & Charge Kit
• Xbox LIVE Silver Membership
• One-month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership

One thing Microsoft seems to have left out is a decent cooling system that’s causing 25% to 33% of their to units conk out.

Post from: EveryJoe

Halo 3-edition Xbox 360 is priced, dated, and ready for Europe