Entries in the Category "Rants"
Up in Arms: RIAA's newest blunder
“In fact, the RIAA has been known to suggest that students drop out of college or go to community college in order to be able to afford settlements.”
I must admit, I have not felt my blood boil more over an issue as of late than it is now because of the above statement. I am versed in Philosophy of Law; I understand that by not following laws we defeat the very purpose for which laws are created. I understand that piracy is a crime, regardless of my personal feelings or the reality of the situation. I also understand the RIAA's...interest in "recouping profits" from pirates. I can understand their situation, both realistically (motivation by greed) and idealistically (motivated by being robbed).
I do not, however, understand how degrading American society by depriving students of Higher Education can even DARE be mentioned as payment for simple copyright infringement.
Continue reading "Up in Arms: RIAA's newest blunder"
CNet Intervew with ESRB President
Unlevel playing field for video games? | Newsmakers | CNET News.com
Given my thoughts on this issue(as previously highlighted in another post) I found this interview particularly interesting. Unfortunate that the majority of the article is not really that interesting, but one thing struck me as interesting.
In the article President Vance states that in light of the "Hot Coffee" fiasco, developers of PC games will now need to disclose all content that will Ship with the game(given the relevance for the rating), even if that material is inaccessible by normal means. Even if the material requires external tinkering and reverse engineering/manipulation of the code to access. I found this quite interesting.
I would imagine, most pieces of commercial software include some type of easter eggs and hidden things that litter the code. I've even heard of some programs written that contain witty comments in the original coding that. This is very hypothetical, but is it reasonable to blame the developer if a coder slips in an unauthorized item that changes the rating? What if the content is created by people that hack the game's code using partial code to create items inappropriate for the rating? Say for instance the code in the game on its own does not provide for unclothed character models, but allows for a string that inserts other textures on the model. Alone, this is harmless, but if a person develops a "nude patch" does this change the rating of the game, under the probable new ESRB procedures?
Oh well.
At least it's good to see that President Vance knows her organization has become a political tool.
Religion is Lost in 21st Century America
I've been following Mano Singham's Blog for a few weeks now. This particular entry interests me, seeing that I'm a convert away from being a Christian. He hit the nail on the head with the state of Christianity in the US today.
A good reality check, if you will.
Of course it doesn't even take into account the whole "God is on our side" mentality that many from my home county in Ohio hold. It's interesting how religion is so readily used as a weapon against others and as a political tool. I suppose people only believe what they want to.
The ESRB is Broken|Updated
Slashdot | Jack Thompson Continues To Talk
It's good to see that Mr. Thompson's recent victory over GTA:SA has started a witch hunt about Sex in Video games. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to know that someone is looking out for my children. Wait, I'm 18. I have no children...in fact, this man is trying to protect me. Well, that's good to know*slight eye roll*.
Several weeks ago, Thompson decided that patches available for The Sims 2 were in appropriate for children who are 13 and up. The said patches remove the blur effect that make the Sims appear nude, revealing their Barby-doll like features to anyone playing with a moded game.
Now, Thompson has decided that Killer 7's scene of a woman sitting on a disabled man moaning is a "full on sex scene" and that any game containing such should receive an AO(Adults Only) rating, instead of M(17+).
I'm beginning to be a bit confused. Killer 7, a game where you play an assassin with multiple personalities(one of which slits her wrists to reveal secrets)in order to defeat enemies and absorb their blood. Now, I should not that while I did purchase Killer 7 a few days ago, I have yet to observe the so called "full-blown sex scene", but I feel confident in saying that if this game is to be rated AO, it's not because of the sex, it's because of the extreme(yet artsy) violence. I mean she slits her wrists to reveal passages with the blood. That is potentially more dangerous, in my opinion, than a moaning, fully-clothed woman straddling a fully-clothed, wheelchair bound man.