Quick Links, 23rd - 29th September

Here’s another roundup of the stories that didn’t quite make it. I have a full weeks worth this time and none of them mention that game that came out on Tuesday, apart from maybe the [tag]Jack Thompson[/tag] ones.

Jealous glamour girl destroys footballer boyfriendâ€™s Xbox 360. The antics of the rich and famous are fodder for the unthinking masses the world over. We, supposedly refined and intelligent, Brits are no exception. Personally all celebrities should be take to a special reservation where we can gawk at them if we choose to and not have to be barraged with ‘news’ about their behaviour from every direction in our daily lives. I pick up on this story to make the point that it is in no way interesting, I’m willing to bet that if Mrs Bloggs from down the street did the same to her man’s [tag]console[/tag] it wouldn’t make the news. Its simply an excuse to have pictures of a busty young woman in the news paper, I actually doubt if its even true.
Windows Vista vs Windows XP Performance: 7 Months Later. An article analysing whether the performance issues present in [tag]Windows[/tag] [tag]Vista[/tag] on its launch have been resolved and whether [tag]Vista[/tag] drivers are up to scratch. XP still edges ahead in some cases so there is still little point in upgrading to Vista as developers can access many of the DirectX 10 features through clever programming in DX9.
[tag]Microsoft[/tag] Lets PC Makers “Downgrade” From Vista To XP. Another Vista Vs XP story, this time relating to the news that Microsoft is letting PC manufacturers give their customers the option of what MS call “downgrading” to XP. Microsoft have been fairly ruthless about making manufacturers supply their machines with Vista only, threatening the withdrawal of their licenses if they consider supplying XP on their machines. Its nice to see them caving to customer demand.
Harrison surprised by Wii success. An all but explicit admission that [tag]Sony[/tag] got it wrong when they underestimated the popularity of Nintendo’s [tag]Wii[/tag]. They obviously thought that more of the same would swing things in their favour, how wrong were they?
[tag]Valve[/tag] May Reconsider Episodic Gaming. Once Episode 3 hits and Valve can start work on [tag]Half Life[/tag] 3, Gabe Newell has said that they’ll be taking another look at episodic games and whether its something they want to continue with. Personally, I am of the belief that the episodic content for HL2 has filled the role of the expansion pack in other games.
Father of Tetris to Speak at GameCity Events. The GameCity festival, to be held in Nottingham, UK in October has added Alexey Pajitnov to its list of speakers. Tetris is widely renowned as the perfect game by many in the industry. Its addictive, simple in its concept and execution, and great fun to boot. Spawning many knock-offs and even a hit UK single, it is rightly part of gaming history. Many nights have I gone to sleep with the tetragonic shapes floating through my subconscious. Unfortunately it seems that I will not be attending GameCity this year and will miss out on the possibility of meeting one of the fathers of modern gaming.
BBC gets its Killzones and Halos mixed up. Highlighting once more, as if we needed further proof, the BBC’s ignorance and disregard of all things game, a report on BBC News 24, their 24 hour rolling news channel, into the release of Halo 3 (sorry, I know I promised) used footage of Sony’s Killzone 2. Silly Beeb.
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is using the web phenomenon of Lolcatz in its marketing. Love them or hate them, it seems that you can’t ever escape the strange phenomenon, started by people posting pictures of cute cats. The mangled English only serves to add to the amount of irritation or amusement felt by those exposed to it. A selection of 6 Lolcatz pictures are available to be embedded in your website, I include one here only in the interests of journalism, I get no amusement from it (honest).
DS Scrabble Offers Naughty Help Suggstion To Stuck User. Who’d have thought that there would be naughty words in a dictionary? The horror!
Thompson Watch - Charting the antics of a nutcase lawyer.

Thompson & Son At It Againâ€¦ Says Junior Bought Halo 3 at Target. Enlisting the (willing?) assistance of his pffspring, Thompson continues his campaign against videogames by sending them to buy Halo 3 (Rated M in the US, for sale only to those over 17). Illustrating a valid point for once, games should not be sold to those who are under the age stated by the rating, I agree with this completely, even if I don’t agree with Mr Thompson generally. What I’m not so happy about is the way that videogames are targeted in this fashion, any investigation of this sort should also cover DVD’s and music aswell, showing up the targeted stores disregard for ratings in general, or highlighting the lack of training given to staff when it comes to videogame ratings.

Jack Thompson submits gay porn to court — judge not amused. Another nail in the coffin of Jack’s sanity. Why on earth would he be sending gay porn to a judge? I have to wonder about the case he was arguing this time…

Jack Thompson Targets Webcomic For â€¦Parody. If you’re going to put yourself in the spotlight as fanatically as Jack is you’d better be ready to have the mickey taken. This simply proves that the man has absolutely no sense of humour whatsoever. The fact that he used a comment to tell them to stop, and not an official cease and desist motion through a court, simply highlights his lack of legal sense, either that or he’s running out of money and can’t afford the legal fees.

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