Video Game News: Sony's Debt Rating.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25908494

So as of this morning, Moody's has demoted Sony's debt rating to "Junk status", meaning that they deem it far too risky to be a worthwhile investment.

That's boring and clearly nothing to get stirred up about, is it?

Fitch just called the same.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/22/us-sony-panasonic-ratings-idUSBRE8AL07B20121122

So did Standards and Poor's.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018080185818200


This is a credit rating drop trifecta.

This drop comes in the wake of investment firms looking at the companies audio and hi-fi sales, along with its TV and PC sectors, which haven't been going all that swimmingly next to it's game console and gaming paraphernalia sales.

Three investment firms going "Hey guys, don't throw your money over here because it might not come back" is troubling. Especially if they're the biggest ones.

The fallout from this is going to be interesting. Obviously, Sony is unlikely to go bankrupt overnight. Those things just flat-out don't happen with corporate giants.
Given the fact that it has done very well with game console sales, perhaps Sony might develop new IP for those games consoles and get games to market quickly and efficiently. Since they're now under pressure.

Make no mistake, E3 is over. Microsoft got kicked squarely in the face in a display the likes of which we've never before after lauding over their new media box only to have Sony quietly dismantle them. (Although still, paid online for both. Neither is worth getting.)

Now it's Sony's turn to be reckless and aggressive in an attempt to dominate the only market it's got a hope of winning. They know people are choosing Apple/Samsung for their music and TV's, so they might go all out and throw an extra division or two into game's development.

Or they might just bury their head in the sand and continue to make tv's and hi-fis.

That's a lot less interesting, but they'll probably do that.

Video Game News: Getting Paid To Lie.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131539-Update-Microsoft-And-Machinima-Defend-YouTube-Promotion-Deal

So in recent news, Machinima has been given a lot of money. They were then told "Hey, make sure everyone who is signed by you says the Xbox One is really good and they can have three dollars per 1k views."

The most hilarious part about this is that the deal involved the Machinima partner not being able to say that they were being paid.

I just want to point out that maybe Microsoft should spend a bit more money developing video game consoles instead of putting all their money into marketing. Flat out paying people to say that your console is good is just kind of cringeworthy.

Defending it as general marketplace tactics makes me curl into a ball and feel bad in the lower parts of my soul.

I recently did a piece defending Let's Players during the pay cuts because, obnoxious as some of them are, they still have a large part to play in the field of game review, offering untouched, unedited, content and showing it to the gaming community en mass.
How am I supposed to trust them if they're getting paid to promote the Xbone?

Just the general underhanded behaviour of it all is troubling.

"So? We pay reviewers all the time! It's fine."

"So? I run over people all the time whilst I'm on coke, I just bribe a cop! It's fine."

See, one mentality seems normal and the second doesn't. But both end in the same thing, flagrant corruption.

This tactic hurts the consumer. And that's always bad.

So next time y'all hear something positive about the Xbox One, always follow it up in your head with "But Microsoft flat out lied during E3 about the capabilities of the console, insisting that the Xbox One couldn't EVER use discs because of the way it way made before going "Yeah, alright, fine."

Always remember, and don't chastise me as a fourteen year old or rebellious angsty teen for saying this because you know it to be true, corporations will do whatever they want until enough people get angry. They have no reason to care about quality or decency as long as it means more money for them.

That's all for today. Coming up, either a Bulletstorm review or a Far Cry 3 Map Editor review.

Video Game Discussion: Girl Gamers. Gamer Girls. Gamey Girly Game-Game People.

So, I wanted to continue on for a bit longer without addressing the elephant in the room. And by elephant in the room, I mean a zoo completely devoted to pachyderms being let loose in a small bedroom in a semi-detached bungalow.

Female gamers and the rather noxious attitude that male gamers have towards them. And their lack of representation in the industry because the entire gaming industry is incredibly misogynist and an "all boys club"

On some levels, that's true. On most levels, however, there's something entirely different going on.

If you're a bit hardwired into gaming news, you might have heard about Jennifer Hepler, the writer of Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. And you may have heard about the abuse she got by "trolls" and the online harassment that caused her to spiral into a deep and dark depression. Until she left BioWare.

I tried to find a better picture. None existed.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-16-fan-harassed-writer-jennifer-hepler-leaves-bioware

Even Jim Sterling, chief article editor (or something fancy and well-paid) for The Escapist weighed in on the argument, criticizing and lambasting the gaming community for attacking this woman for DARING to write in video games.

Only that's not why she was attacked.

You want to know why she was attacked?

Sterling was getting his news from all the wrong places. People made derogatory comments about her because she was a woman writing in the gaming industry, but that vocal 1% minority were not the reason people were hitting out at her.

People were hitting out at her because they didn't like her writing.

I'm not even joking. It really was that simple.

But think about it, do you really think a writer was being attacked because of their gender? Really? Why do you think anyone would be attacked because of their gender? She was just a really shitty writer. Bottom line.

On the board where most of the hated came from that was directed towards Jennifer Brandes Hepler, multiple threads popped up simply to praise the women in the gaming industry who have been doing incredible work.

Kellee Santiago: The woman with Journey, Dear Esther and Flower under her belt. All great titles which did well. Hell, I'm pretty sure Flower is on the PS4.

Julie Uhrman: SIMPSONS HIT AND RUN! WOOO! PS2 era! Anyone else remember that?

Heather Kelley The game Thief. Which is getting a remake because it was so damn good.

Kim Swift: Quantum Conundrum, a really fun puzzle game that I recommend. Yeah, she led the team that made that. Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead 2. Portal. Leader of Portal. Half Life 2: Episode 1. Half Life 2: Episode 2.

Hepler wasn't targeted because she was a woman. If she was targeted for being a woman, explain why these women managed to make these great things? And don't say there were still obstacles. Of course there were. But they got over them.

Hepler...

Well, her books were slammed, her video game writing is slammed so...

How dare you.

Just. How dare you.

Type in "Women in the Video Games industry" into Google. We both know what's going to come up but just do it.

Underrepresented. Disrespected. Treated badly.

But that's not my fault. It's people like Jennifer.

How dare you force it into something gender related.

This is, potentially, the world's greatest Strawman argument. Of the decade. Your writing sucks so you go on the defensive and insist that people don't like you because they're jealous of you.

It defies belief.

But hey, look at the fallout! You fooled the entire media because nobody can respond to that! Nobody can appeal to what you're saying because then they're sexist.

It'd be genius if it wasn't so moronic.


This is almost definitely the root cause of all these tirade about male gamers insisting that women can't play games, although if you look back in the news, you'll find there were hallmarks of a bomb that was already about to explode. This was just the straw that broke the camels back.

For the record, I want to say:

- Women have every right to play what they want and do what they want.
- Women have every right to make what they want and get a job in any part of the video game industry.

The problem now is that we've got social pariahs insisting that games cater to the needs of females. What? No they don't. They don't need to cater anything expect fun.

And it's detracting from the cause. Feminism is causing a needless pity parade when women can get coding, get making and prove- No wait, they don't need to prove anything- And show that they're just as good.

In the Manga industry, during the occupation and post-occupation years, most manga was male-centric and female artists were few.

So they went on social media sites and made campaigns pleaing for equal rights to be given to them.

No. That never fucking happened. They shrugged, made manga anyway, AND IT BECAME MORE POPULAR THAN THE SOLELY MALE COMPETITORS.

They didn't need to be given equal rights because they were right there the whole time, ready to be grabbed.

Females have already shown that they can make some fantastic work. That's not a problem. I just want to see this whole "gamer girl victim" thing drop. Because it discredits the people who moved mountains to get where they were today.

So next time you see a "gaaaaymer gurrrrrrl" in amongst the crowds of girl gamers who are happily playing and not being obnoxious, just mute the mic.

I mean just look at that, charger cables are covered in all kinds of bacteria. And why isn't that the standard one? That must be awkward to plug in. Not very functional at all.

A few months ago I saw a YouTube celebrity with blue, green and red hair holding a Portal gun.

She actively admitted she'd never played Portal or Portal 2.

I didn't insult her because she was a girl. I insulted her because she'd spent hundreds of dollars on a video game accessory and yet couldn't play through a game that can be completed in a single 2-3 hour run.

Those people deserve to be insulted, by people of all genders.

Video Game Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Pre-January sales ho! I picked this little beauty up at my local GAME store, along with Bulletstorm: Epic Edition for £3.88. (My loyalty card had £1.12p on it.) £3 for Deus, 2 for Bulletstorm.

I cannot argue with that price. My girlfriend also bought Skyrim for ten pounds.

I've always been interested in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, although my only experience of it is from Lyle McDouchebag's: Spoilers Ahead where he refers to it as Gay Ass Sex: TwoMan Revolution.

I can't describe the comedic genius of this man, so go and watch for yourself.

You're welcome.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0zPzhugNBg

So Deus Ex: Human Revolution is game developed by Eidos Montreal published by Square Enix who also did all the games cutscenes and CGI sequences. Because Square Enix has a thing with those and are good at making them. (See: Any Final Fantasy.)
It came out in August 2011. I'm pretty sure I was too busy with Skyrim to give it a good look over.

The game takes place in the year 2027. You play as Adam Jensen, a recently hired security manager at Sarif Industries which is a growing biotech company stationed in Detroit. Obviously, it plays into the whole geopolitical American thang of "Detroit has laid off everyone. Car industry died. Back in 2011."

And that's nice. Everyone loves a cyberpunk-themed fantasy game that takes place in the future but feeds its universe through current events.

Well, I do at least.

At the start of the game, you get messed up royally by a bunch of terrorists and have to have life-saving surgery involving cybernetics, with large areas of his body replaced with prostheses. And shades. Shades save lives, people.

Adam then spends the next couple of chapters whining like a little girl about his robot-surgery.
Or the fact his fiance died.
He never seems to decide.

It's a pretty fun game and you're always presented with options to overcome obstacles using different methods.

Do I augment my dermal armor to have a cloaking effect and sneak into this heavily guarded base to steal the documents?

No. I upgrade my throwing arm and drop vending machines on the bad guys from the roof and just walk in.

Do I find the code for the door or upgrade my hacking skills to enable me to enter the building?

Um. No. Upgrade. Arm. Move those dumpsters about, hop over the locked gate and hope there's a code inside the building that lets me out. (There was. 0002.)

In any other game, I'd cry "glitch" or "gamebreaker" but with this the game isn't penalised because you are entirely supposed to do that.

There are merits of stealthy approaches, shooty approaches and sticking lots of Semtex to a barrel and hurling it into a compound. It's fair game. If the enemy goes down, then you're perfectly within rights to progress through the story.

It's also a game that rewards going off the beaten track in order to solve a puzzle. Pocket recorders often have passcodes for doors on them that can be found on enemies or hidden away on a shelf along with hacking bonus items and ammo. The stealth aspect, combat aspect, hacking aspect and social aspect all feed into each other. Why sneak into a compound when you can plead with the receptionist into letting you roam around down there? Why sneak into a compound when you can hack the cameras off and deactivate the turrets? Why sneak into a compound when you can shoot those fuckers in the face?

As you progress and gain Praxis Kits which offer new augmentations, more of the game opens up and new options become available. Sometimes characters aren't just stronger because they have more bullets or a gun upgrade. (Although it does help, I'm sure.) Sometimes characters are stronger because they've got a wider variety of choices when shit hits the fan.

It's a solid game, and if you get the chance to play it for two quid, do it.