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Mitt Romney Mitt Romney has made computer games part of the thrust of his campaign,with references to the media genre in an ad campaign. In the promotional slot,he implicates them in "oceans of filth" in which America's youth areswimming. You can only imagine what he'll do if he gets into the WhiteHouse.
According to a Common Sense Media survey,which posted questions about interactive and other entertainment to theleading candidates, he intends to, "get serious against those retailersthat sell adult video games that are filled with violence and that wego after those retailers," and "to restore values so children areprotected from a societal cesspool of filth, pornography, violence, sexand perversion." Surprisingly similar to his Democratic opposite,Hillary Clinton.
John McCain Second-time Presidential runner McCain has a team that thinks seriously about technology. In response to a CNet survey,"McCain" (aka his policy-writers) tackles net neutrality, governmentsubsidies for high-speed internet access, internet data privacy andcopyright issues. Unfortunately, there was only an oblique reference togames.
GamePolitics suggeststhat the anti-game slant of Independent candidate Joseph Liebermann mayhelp his friend McCain, whose inability to connect with the ReligiousRight in the US could be bolstered by their association.
McCain didn't respond to the CSM report, and so his intentions remain a mystery, for now.
Mike Huckabee The evangelical Iowa caucus winner has been completely silent on thesubject of computer games, although, like McCain, he "expressedinterest" in participating in the CSM survey.
At the moment, games aren't an important policy issue, but I predictpolitical eyeballs will turn towards interactive entertainment whencontroversy temperatures rise in the summer months. If the potentialcandidates are silent now, they'll have to take a stand one way or theother. My guess is that all will play conservative, and with varyingseverity, call for federal government regulation of games in the US.
Meanwhile, in this country, we are anxiously awaiting the release of the Byron Report later this year, which should establish a useful baseline about the effects of violent videogaming on consumers.
Not sated by this roundup? Catch the dirt on the Democratic candidates in yesterday's post, or go to Gamepolitics for coverage. They have a special category, Game Decision 2008.
Debate over World of Warcraft - an interesting take.
We don't actively support wegame.com Take a look at one of the comments below...
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did anyone notice the voices sound like george bush and that guy whos running for president? XD really well done..
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LOL funny work
There are a surprising number of British media eyeballs on the earlystages of the US elections. Reports suggest that people are coming outin droves to participate in caucuses, primaries and polls, particularlypopulations who've neglected politics before. And this includes a wholeraft a newly-eligible voters, many of whom happen to be computer gamers.
While it's still too early to suggest who'll be sworn in come 2009,there's still a whole lot of side-taking happening throughout the gamesblogosphere. Gamepolitics, the most obvious platform, is having a fieldday publishing satirical casual games, posts about candidate Obama'slikeness to Tiger Woods (seriously), and rumours about potentialsenatorial anti-games candidates.
This is undoubtedly a technologically-saturated election. All of thecandidates have MySpace pages (demonstrating the lightening speed withwhich politics adopts new media; where are their Twitter updates forgoodness sake?), and with the next few gaming months certain to be hotwith the release of the latest episode in a certain controvesry-ridingfranchise, we can expect to see gaming and techno-morality in a fewpolitical broadcasts.
So where do the front-runners sit with regards to computer games?This handy primer gives the dirt on their past actions and theircurrent attitudes. Today, the Democrats. Tomorrow, the Republicans.
Hillary Clinton New Hampshire Democrat primary winner Hillary (whatever happened to the Rodham?) Clinton has never been a fanof computer games. Two years ago, Sen. Clinton introduced the FamilyEntertainment Protection Act (FEPA) in the wake of the Hot Coffeeincident, to regulate and counteract the effects of violent andsexually-explicit content in digital media. Had it passed, it wouldhave mandated:
On-site store managers would be subject to a fine of $1,000 or 100hours of community service for the first offense and $5,000 or 500hours of community service for each subsequent offense.
The bill would also require an annual, independent analysis ofgame ratings and require the FTC to conduct an investigation todetermine whether hidden sexual content like what was in Grand TheftAuto: San Andreas is a pervasive problem and to take appropriateaction...
Finally, the bill would authorize the FTC to conduct an annual,random audit of retailers to monitor enforcement and report thefindings to Congress.
more information from gamepolitics More recently, in response to a Common Sense Media poll of the attitudes of the candidates to video game entertainment, Clinton argued,
"When I am President, I will work to protect children from inappropriate video game content"
Barack Obama The Iowa caucus winner has suggested on several occasions that gamersare slackers. "It's time to turn off your Game Boys," he said at anAustin, Texas event last February. He's also returned a donation made by the Electronic Software Association's Doug Lowenstein and has repeatedly argued that working harder means playing fewer games.
In the CSM poll, Obama promoted industry self-regulation:
I would call upon the video game industry to give parents betterinformation about programs and video games by improving the voluntaryrating system we currently have. Broadcasters and video game producersshould take it upon themselves to improve this system to include easierto find and easier to understand descriptions of exactly what kind ofcontent is included. But if the industry fails to act, then myadministration would.
Indeed, in the same response, he does hint at federal regulation,and promotes funding research into the "impact of video games onchildren's cognitive development."
John Edwards Edwards was the likable second to Hillary's first before Obama camealong, but his standings in the recent primary and caucus suggest thathe may take a back seat in November. However, he too could become aComeback Kid, so it's worth taking a look at what might happen to gamesif he gets the keys to the White House.
Edwards notably launched his campaign inside virtual world Second Life, and like many high-profile areas in this cyber-space, it was subsequently vandalised. Otherwise, he's been quiet on the digital entertainment front, with little action in either direction.
So it's unsurprising that when the question was posed, point blank,in the CSM poll, he (and his policy-writers) played a cautious,hands-off game; he applauds the work of the internal ratings boards,but suggests that there's much more to do to keep inappropriate contentaway from kids:
If the industry does not continue to make progress in keeping videogames with intense violence and adult content away from children, wewill need to consider further steps to ensure that parents' decisionsabout their children's exposure to these games are not being underminedby retailers, advertisers and manufacturers.
Of the three Democrats, only Clinton appears to have made this apolitical issue, and has thought seriously about the implications ofinteractive media. She's the only one ready to take action, one way orthe other. While Obama has despaired at games in the past, both he andEdwards are less explicit about any actions they would take if theywere to take up residence on Pennsylvania Avenue next year.
Tomorrow, we cover the Republican candidates, but in the meantime,more information on where the candidates stand is available at gamepolitics, in their category Game Decision 2008.
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Teachers are having to decipher the abbreviated and occasionally obscurelanguage of text messages when they mark their students' assignments. Nearly two thirds of teenagers say they are incorporating the more informalstyle of texts when they submit written work at school, and half haveabandoned basic principles such as capitalisation on occasion.
Short-cuts such as LOL - which stands for 'laugh out loud' - have been used by38 per cent of students in their work, and a quarter have used emoticons -the little yellow icons which show a face smiling, or being angry.
An overwhelming majority, however - 73 per cent - say that using informalexpressions such as these make no difference to their normal writing, and 15per cent say that electronic communication has in fact improved their prose.
The study of 700 American teenagers by the Pew Internet and American LifeProject gives an intriguing insight into the writing habits of young people,93 per cent of whom say that writing "for their own pleasure" isimportant.
About seven in ten say that when they are writing 'for themselves', theyprefer to do so by hand. Cecile De Cat, a lecturer in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures atthe University of Leeds, said the fact that 'text speak' was permeatingother types of writing would not have a detrimental effect.
"What's at stake here is just the ability to express oneself in more thanone register," she said. "As long as children are taught to usethe standard spelling and to appreciate the difference between registers,this could even be positive."
A spokeswoman for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the educationunion, said that no teachers had complained of an inability to interprettheir students' assignments.
Despite embracing the computers and the internet generally, 49 per cent ofteenagers acknowledge that using word-processing programs to write wouldlikely make them 'take short cuts', and 42 per cent said such programs wouldencourage poor spelling and grammar, the report suggested.
Two in five also said the likes of Microsoft Word would lead them to write tooquickly and too carelessly.
James Billington, the US Librarian of Congress, said recently that the use ofelectronic communications by young people may be damaging "the basicunit of human thought - the sentence."
We'd rather be stabbed in our necks with rusty ice picks than try tohold any sort of conversation with one of these imbeciles. Emergencytracheotomies would both be less painful, and more likely to get us shots of morphine.
We're referring to rare, but very real individuals who by someastonishing means perfectly embody corny, old gamer stereotypes thatdefinitely shouldn't describe any actual person ever. The followingseven profiles illustrate the stereotypes that are most capable ofinitiating our gag reflexes. They should be avoided vigorously.
7. Frat boys Usually plays: Halo 3, Guitar Hero 3
Favorite snacks: Brewskies, pizza, passed-out sorority chicks
It's hard to tell when these douche bags are actually playing a gameas they're just as likely to yell "Score!" for a C-minus term paper ora well executed date rape as they are a Madden field goal. Theircelebrations are somehow simultaneously chauvinistic and homoerotic,and no accomplishment is too meager to warrant a Pabst shotgun or chestbump.
These ravenous consumers of all things sequel and all thingslicensed are the undiscerning gamers that lazy publishers wish we allwere. Storytelling will be largely overlooked for any kind ofmultiplayer. Rightly so, since rowdy bro-on-bro competition is theperfect excuse to loudly regurgitate Will Ferrell quotes and call eachother "gay" without addressing the thick fog of sexual tension whichpermeates their Neolithic rituals and ignorant world views.
6. RPG snobs Usually plays: Any RPG and/or "something you wouldn't understand"
Favorite snacks: Dhalmel pie, Bland grilled shark fin (STA +1)
We relish any chance to talk shop about our favorite hobby withfellow gamers, except when we're confronted by one of these - ahyperventilating nerdlinger who looks at us like we're fartingPhilistines for wanting to pull off the occasional headshot orkickflip. With so much time spent indoors, they don't understand howlow on the social ladder they rank, and how little the cultural impactof a spell-casting cat-person in a buckled leotard matters to anyone.We'd rather hang out with the ghost of Adolf Hitler then hear about thefiner nuances of Lady Yuna's Tickle Summon.
Usurping the Throne of Snobbery from the once mighty record storeemployee, they've also donned themselves with some kind of omniscientGate Keeper status, using their false sense of authority to talkunsubstantiated shit about anything you can't import from Japan.
"Do you have Grand Thef-"
"Pedestrian!"
Next time, kick him in his Forgotten Scepter before he can sneer athis own, barely ironic, aside. We promise - he won't fight back.
5. Non-existent gamers Usually plays: Family friendly fun-fests
Favorite snack: Organic rice cakes
These are not real people. They are illusions created by marketersand portrayed by models and actors. Their cultural backgrounds areambiguous, but their physical characteristics are diverse enough toindicate that gamers of any age, gender and ethnicity can enjoy theassociated product. It's clear that they live in an upper middle classsuburb and enjoy paying taxes, eating at Applebee's, and repressingdark childhood memories.
We've never actually met this tailor-made multicultural family -this jovial concoction which gathers around the plasma TV with Grandmaand the kid from next door to enjoy a game of Mario Party, give eachother high-fives and drink Kool-Aid. We hope we never do.
4. PC Elitists aka </pathetic> Usually plays: Counterstrike, WoW, Starcraft
Favorite snack: Bawls
These well-to-do social misfits point their pimply, upturned nosessquarely in the direction of the millions of folks who own and enjoyconsoles. We've got no problem with PC gamers in general, but theelitist punks we refer to won't let us enjoy anything other than PCgames without giving us hulking mouthfuls of wretched snark.
Don't bother reasoning with them; they'll simply LOL you to piecesand snidely proclaim that you "just don't get it." That may be true,but you can take solace in what you do get: laid, for one. And probablyexercise.
Refrain from pointing out that with the chunk of change they droppedprepping their rig for a nonexistent title, they could've bought anynext-gen console they pleased and an ass load of great games...including most of the ones they've busted many a nut over on the PC.
3. Devil children Usually plays: Pokemon, Naruto, Halo
Favorite snacks: Pop Tarts, dirt
If children are the future, we hope a cataclysmic seismic eventtopples our office and crushes us all under 360 power bricks. Sure,there are inspiring children out there who volunteer at geriatrichospitals and show disillusioned war vets that innocence still existsin a mad world, but the ones we're most aware of are the snot-noseddemons who vomit obscenities into their XBL headsets, abuse theirparents, and probably torture orphaned one-legged kittens in theirspare time. At least one out of ten of these sociopaths will grow up tokill a prostitute with the pointy end of a DS stylus, and who's toblame?
We blame the stagnation of natural selection. They'd have alreadybeen consumed by a harsh and unforgiving environment were it not forthe Styrofoam padded, sugar-coated funhouse we live in today.Technology and civilization keeps them alive, and the only acceptablerecourse we're left with is the unsatisfying act of assassinating themin Halo 3. It'll have to do.
2. The "takes-it-too-far" guy Usually plays: The same game since 1992
Favorite snack: Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor
This stereotype doesn't describe just your average cosplayer orcollectable enthusiast. This is the fellow who recreated the deck ofthe starship Enterprise in his living room so that he could furtherremove his deteriorating ego from reality and transplant himself intothe mind of someone with an actual sense of self-worth (Captain Picard,not Kirk, that rube).
Anyone who bought Steel Battalion and its requisite 150-somethingdollar controller is getting close, but to truly be considered anexample of this pathetic stereotype, you'd have to disassemble thecontroller and carefully install each bit into a plywood replica of amecha portrayed in your favorite Anime series, or a fanfic based on it,which you wrote, had signed by the Japanese and English voice actors,and keep in a glass case next to a cheesy fantasy sword replica whichyou call "The Immortal Blade."
Do that, and we won't be your friend. Not even if you let us hold the sword.
1. Obsessed forum guys Usually plays: Nothing
Favorite snacks: Cheetoos, Doritos, Fritos
An eternally toggled caps lock isn't an accident - it's a state ofmind. It's absolute contempt for decent conversation, and often eventhe topic of conversation. Not only does the obsessive forumite notlike games, he doesn't play them. If he did, he wouldn't have time torant about how shitty they are in asinine forum threads.
This stereotypical internet outcast rarely makes himself visible tothe actual world, so we can only guess at his physical qualities. Thelack of sunlight and any foodstuffs not wrapped in plastic has likelyatrophied his muscles and turned the hue of his complexion to a putridyellow. Dead skin from the bridge of his nose has become encrusted onthe pads of his LensCrafter glasses, creating a thick sludge thatoccasionally drops bits of filth into his already crumb-infestedkeyboard. If it weren't for his mom insisting that he let her do hislaundry, he'd never remove his favorite Akira t-shirt, which featuresstreams of rotting Red Bull running through valleys of caked-on Cheetoodust.
This stereotype is easy to avoid if you stay out of forums andcomment threads, but who the hell wants to do that? Apply a mentaldouche bag filter and jump into our forums to spew some hate of your own.
In the latest salvo in the let's-claim-credit-for-a-commonly-used-term-that-we-didn't-even-create War(TM), Finnish software company Futuremark Games Studio filed papers on February 26, 2008 to protect the trademark "Pwnage" in relation to:
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"... computer game software; computer game programs;computer game discs; interactive multimedia computer game program;downloadable ring tones, ... multimedia software recorded on CD-ROMfeaturing fictional characters and computer games; pre-recorded DVD's,video tapes, laser discs featuring movies about fictional characters,and pre-recorded compact discs featuring music; motion picture films onfictional characters...".
Wow... at least they aren't attempting to apply it to every piece of media published or anything like that.
I am not a lawyer, but will be interested to see how Futuremark willprotect its mark if they are successful in their efforts. I envisionnightly round ups of thirteen year olds around the world for theirblatant misappropriation of the term. This follows previously-coolFark's attempts to trademark "NSFW."
Next to be trademarked will be "n00bs," "1337," "hax04," "ROTFL," "LOL" and "pr0n." I'm going to get ahead of the curve on this one and trademark "d0uchage."
Greenpeace has called on gamers to persuade Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to make their consoles greener.
According to the environmental campaign group, game console makers have so far "failed to reduce the toxic burden of their products".
It accuses Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony of lagging behind mobile phone and PC manufacturers.
The initiative is part of Greenpeace's campaign to persuade the electronics industry to be greener.
"Game console manufacturers are lagging way behind the makers of mobile phones and PCs who have been reducing the toxic load of the products over the past year," said Zenia Al Hajj, Greenpeace International's toxics campaigner.
"Game consoles contain many of the same components as PCs so manufacturers can do a lot more," she added.
Workers "at risk"
As part of its campaign, Greenpeace has launched a 90-second video featuring some of the iconic games console characters - Microsoft's Master Chief, Nintendo's Mario and Sony's Kratos - competing for the prize of a greener games console.
Gamers can compare how each console meaures up on toxic materials, recycling and energy efficiency, as well as logging their support for the campaign.
The campaign is aimed at the big three game console manufacturers - Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
Nintendo said that it is looking to establish a dialogue with Greenpeace but that it adhered to all European standards.
It is signed up to the European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive - which makes manufacturers responsible for recycling their goods.
"We make sure that all of our products comply with European standards which we understand are the highest in the world," said a spokesman.
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Greenpeace is engaged in a wider campaign to persuade the whole electronics industry to eliminate hazardous chemicals across the board.
It does not believe that current legislation goes far enough and on its hazard hit list are brominated fire retardants and PVC, the use of which it claims can lead to dangerous chemicals building up in the environment and in human and animal tissue.
It said that Chinese and Indian workers in production facilities and scrap yards where goods are dismantled could be at risk.
Nintendo's spokesman said that no PVC was used in the production of its consoles, although he couldn't confirm whether brominated fire retardants were banned.
Leading mobile phone makers, including Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson and Philips, have all implemented eco-design aspects into their production lines, including reducing the amount of hazardous substances used in their products.
Global warming
BBC spoke bollocks and wrote:
Global warming campaign launched in the virtual world
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, produces a handset every nine seconds. It has decided to implement requirements set out in the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive in all 10 of its factories around the globe.
The RoHS Directive bans six substances (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PDBE) from products that are either made or sold in the EU.
Greenpeace has been busy garnering support for its various initiatives from the web community. Earlier this month it teamed up with teenage social networking site Habbo to find out more about youngsters attitudes to global warming.
50,000 teenagers responded to the survey, with 74% rating global warming over drugs, violence and war as the issue they were most concerned about.
Jewelcrafting Macro/Possible glitch. Originally *posted (http://www.mmowned.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60229)* by *yasha (http://www.mmowned.com/forums/members/yasha.html)*
All you fellow Jewelcrafters out there probably know my pain about prospecting, I know this is the wrong section for the macro, but with this macro, there is a possible glitch. I wasnt sure if I was to put this in Exploits or not, so I decided to just post it here to try to steer away from flaming.
Fel iron ore: #showtootip prospecting /cast prospecting /use Fel Iron ore
These macros are useful becuase they take a step out of prospeting, instead of clicking the prospect and than clicking the Ore this automatically does that.
Ok, to the "glitch". (If it would even be considered a glitch, lol)
The other dread of prospecting is also looting all the contents. Im not fully sure how this works, but If you spam one of these macro's at just the right time at the end of a cast, it will auto loot the stack and than automatically start casting the next set of 5 ore.
Im sorry if this is "common sense". This is one of my first real posts. So.. Ill be ready for the flames.
All you fellow Jewelcrafters out there probably know my pain about prospecting, I know this is the wrong section for the macro, but with this macro, there is a possible glitch. I wasnt sure if I was to put this in Exploits or not, so I decided to just post it here to try to steer away from flaming.
Anyways, here is the macro that I use:
Adamantite ore:
#showtootip prospecting
/cast prospecting
/use Adamantite ore
Fel iron ore:
#showtootip prospecting
/cast prospecting
/use Fel Iron ore
These macros are useful becuase they take a step out of prospeting, instead of clicking the prospect and than clicking the Ore this automatically does that.
Ok, to the "glitch". (If it would even be considered a glitch, lol)
The other dread of prospecting is also looting all the contents. Im not fully sure how this works, but If you spam one of these macro's at just the right time at the end of a cast, it will auto loot the stack and than automatically start casting the next set of 5 ore.
Im sorry if this is "common sense". This is one of my first real posts. So.. Ill be ready for the flames.
Funny/Kind of useless Trick. Originally *posted (http://www.mmowned.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60217)* by *v00rt3x (http://www.mmowned.com/forums/members/v00rt3x.html)*
K prtty much what you do is: Stand by where your going to jump. Type /camp Straight after you typed /camp , Jump.
I dont recommend doing it in Major Cities, You can try it if you wanna know why, Its not going to get you banned, and its not gonna **** up ur wow, just try it in a major city Lol.
Ok the reason i say this tricks Kind of useless, is because when i used it infront of my friends that really wanted to know how .
K prtty much what you do is:
Stand by where your going to jump.
Type /camp
Straight after you typed /camp , Jump.
I dont recommend doing it in Major Cities, You can try it if you wanna know why, Its not going to get you banned, and its not gonna **** up ur wow, just try it in a major city Lol.
You guys who downloaded this program are fools LOL It contains a virus!!! . There are no autoers for runescape. The only autoers you can get is if you actually know SCAR and have had lots of training with other other java sources.
TF 1 sucked so bad so I don't know. I'm in class right now so I cant see those videos. I will look at them when I get home. I think I'll stick with WoW, lol.
.. 
