In what may be the company’s smartest move for 2008, Internet everydotcom Google has decided to put their in-testing social networking service Lively to rest before it ever sees the light of a full virtual day.  Gamesindustry.biz reports that the search engine/web-based application giant has decided to skip the social networking because it was “a gamble...[that] has not paid off.”

I’m not exactly sure what’s been gambled as Lively never went any further than the testing stage, and not much is said in the article to clear that up.  Perhaps we can just chalk it up to this increasingly lousy not-recession we find ourselves in the midst of.  Whatever the reasons are, someone at Google made the (probably wise) decision to give up on Lively.  Maybe Sony will follow their example and finally shit or get off the pot with Home.

Source:  Gamesindustry.biz - Google pulls plug on Lively

Today The Raconteurs track pack comes out for Guitar Hero: World Tour.  The pack features three songs from their new album, “Consoler of the Lonely”. The tracks are “Consoler of the Lonely”, “Hold Up”, and “Salute Your Solution”. 

Why do we care, because as far as I am concerned this is the album of the year?  And I can say that that because (to be honest) it is the only album I have purchased this year.  So these track would be a must buy if I had the game. 

For those unfamiliar with the band, it is side project of Jack White from The White Stripes.  A band that woefully missing from the rhythm genre.  Regardless this is the first track I have seen since the new crop of games came out that makes me consider buying the game just for DLC.  OK that’s crazy talk.

Via Major Nelson

Let’s all take a moment to pay our respects.  January 2009 will mark the final print issue for publisher Ziff-Davis’s PC Magazine.  After that, all content will be shifted into the online space, at PCMag.com.  It’s no great surprise really; monthly print mags simply can’t compete when rivals on the Internet are able to post the latest news as quickly as it takes to write it up.  Still, PC Magazine has been around for a long, long time and it’s sad to see such a respected publication end its run.

Then again, maybe we can salvage something of value from this latest casualty.  In a recent post on the Sore Thumbs blog, former EGM staffer Crispin Boyer detailed some of his frustrations with the declining quality of writing he has noticed in web-based coverage of the video game industry.  His observations - supported with real-world examples - may be specific to one industry, but they raise questions about this entire pursuit of writing for the Internet. 

Speaking generally, web-based publications tend to de-prioritize the editing of content before it is published.  It is common for writers to have to self-edit and even post their own content without going through any editorial “cleaning up” process.  Copy editing may seem like simple enough work, but it’s not so easy to maintain an objective viewpoint when you’re going over your own work.  Removing a copy editor/fact-checker from the equation does have the effect of cutting costs - which is one of the most attractive reasons for publishers to abandon print and move into the online space - but it also inevitably leads to sloppy writing as well.  There’s no need to name names; we’re all guilty.  Look at any publication which has its origins on the Internet and you’re bound to see significantly more spelling/grammatical errors, clunky sentences and bungled facts than you would ever see in your average print magazine.

I’m not foolish enough to believe that raising these questions in the wake of PC Magazine’s demise will lead to any changes.  I’m not even arguing that some blanket change needs to occur.  I just think that these are issues worth considering.  Print isn’t exactly in its death throes, regardless of what critics like Nelson Muntz have to say, but I’d like to think that the Internet still has a few things to learn from its older, more distinguished sibling.

Source:  NYTimes - PC Magazine, a Flagship for Ziff Davis, Will Cease Printing a Paper Version

Our love died long ago, but the Blue Blur and I share a history. We grew up together. And, yeah, things have been rough recently, but Sonic Unleashed will heal the wounds. Right? ”Sonic Unleashed seems different than those other Sonics,” I say. “Things will return to how they used to be, a time when my favorite Hedgehog’s sassy humor was intentional, not ironic.” Is that too much to ask?

I might as well ask to wake up in 1993.

Yes, speedy Sonic’s back, quipier than ever. And what hi-jinks. This time, Dr. Eggman zaps the planet with a disturbingly phallic laser with an epic release that serves a role tri-fold: first, like every disruptive force in the Sonic universe, the blast scatters the chaos emeralds; second, it releases a supernatural force, Dark Gaia, which covers the world map in a purple haze and wisps of semen-shaped vapors the size of goldfish; and third, the weapon transforms Sonic into a Werewolf, a peculiar physical side-effect only trumped by that Parkinson’s drug that stimulates compulsive gambling.





I know Sonic’s recent case of lycanthropy concerns most fans. But worry not; I doubt many players will make it to the Were-Sonic stages. The first hour of the game so completely irritates the player, one wonders if Sonic Unleashed is determined to shed fans and newcomers alike.  After the wonderful animated, though narratively baffling CGI intro, the game tosses the player into an extended series of mandatory training stages bookended by egregious load times. Learn to jump. Load time. Learn to dash. Load time. Learn to turn corners. Load time.  Pull out hair. Curse the world. Hurl Wii-mote through television. Load time. As if cognizant of its cruelty, the tutorial’s completion loads a screen that reads, “Do you want to Continue?”

Consider the hedgehog after the jump…

If you’re a masochist, you’ll no doubt select yes, only for the game to require you navigate a world map to reach your next level. Calm down, the game starts eventually. It has to. But to get there, the player must interact with the various villagers and NPCs via pre-scripted 2D conversations that vary in richness from the declarative “Go talk to the Priest,” to the absurd “Looks like no one’s here,” to the existential “Who are you?” After you talk to all of them, yes, all of them, a merciful soul will point you to a newly revealed map marker where you can actually play the game. Sort of. Once you click the designated hotspot, you still have to roam a lobby (think the castle in Mario 64 - but uglier).

After this gauntlet of menial tasks, you reap your reward: actual gameplay. And boy does it feel OK. The graphics generally look nice, particularly for a Wii game, and hold up at 30 fps with only the occasional hiccup. The level design, while a disappointment compared to the lush Sonic DS titles, nears the fans clamored-for return to form more so than any previous Sonic adventure since, well, Sonic Adventures. And every so often you’ll catch enough speed and hit a run across the stage that reminds you why Sonic is still such an indelible part of gamer culture. But then you’ll hit a wall, or notice the lack of alternate routes, or get lost amongst the shifts between 2D and 3D, and a sour taste will fill your mouth. And that’s without Were-Sonic.

Right, Were-Sonic, nearly forgot about that. Unfortunately, and against my hopes, Were-Sonic’s nothing like Ristar. Should it have been? Maybe. An option to meld two company mascots, to combine Sonic with Ristar, Sonic Team’s “other” Genesis classic, the one that features the star that propels himself across stages with elastic arms, sounds like a match made in heaven (or a Nintendo boardroom). Ristar‘s makes a solid foundation for the necessary slower Sonic stages that require less development time than the blast-processing loop-de-loop levels. That’s not to say these Ristar-esque stages need trudge. In Ristar’s solo outing, the starry-eyed minor-mascot may handle slow under a newbies charge, an expert can whip him across stages at a speed that rivals, and occasionally surpasses the star’s popular hedgehog pal. How ideal if Were-Sonic could do the same. Were-Sonic’s elastic arms continue to draw immediate comparisons to Ristar amongst hardcore SEGA fans, and for SEGA’s benefit. These hopes halt knee-jerk reaction from a community always positioned to pounce.

Yes, fanboys and reviewers should be more open to change and progression, but Were-Sonic feels like neither. Rather, it plays like a gimmick to extend the game’s length - a bare bones God of War imitation. The combos and moves, which you acquire throughout the game, do little to benefit Were-Sonic’s snail pace gameplay. And, to make matters worse, Wii-mote controls feel sloppy and unresponsive. Were-Sonic’s not the spit in the eye many Sonic fans expected, just another stumble in a long line of tipped hurdles.

Sonic Unleashed‘s another brick in the increasingly esoteric Sonic catalogue that would be best marketed by a sticker that reads: “For Completionists Only.” The gameplay’s stronger than the previous next-gen Sonic game, Sonic the Hedgehog (no human on hedgehog action, thank goodness), but fails to innovate like the blue blur’s former arch-rival, Mario, or even meet the platforming standards set by the DS’s Sonic Rush Adventures. I shouldn’t have expected Ristar or even old-school Sonic, but what’s a Sonic game without expectations? We expect Sonic the Hedgehog. So why do we always get something else?

Gameplay: B-


Presentation: B+


Fun Factor: B


Value: C+


Overall: B-

Ryu and Ken’s sober master is a playable character in Street Fighter 4. And gosh damn he looks kick ass. There’s a long, storied history of his real name, which you can read in the Wiki, but you can also just ignore it and drool over his slick robes.