But things changed.  In the last two years, Wii sales have dropped steadily while the PS3 and 360 have gained momentum.  What happened? What were Microsoft and Sony doing that could so forcefully change the tide?

While Nintendo’s motion gaming appealed on a novelty level, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network were fundamentally changing gaming forever.  To be specific, Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network are creating endless gaming, streaming, purchasing and social possibilities online while Nintendo is running out of new ways to waggle the Wii Remote.  With no integrated, easy-to-use, social-based online presence, the Wii is an underpowered, standard definition console with novel controls and limited sociability.  There are, of course, great games on offer on Wii, but the vast bulk are single-player only or feature limited online capabilities.

Nintendo knows it is in trouble – and so does the rest of the world – after posting a $628 million dollar loss from March to December 2011. Why do you think the company is coming out with a new console before its competitors?

To change its fortunes, Nintendo has recently announced the Nintendo Network.  What is the Nintendo Network? Take a rudimentary version of Xbox Live or PSN and stick it in the Wii U and 3DS.  You get the picture.  Why do I say ‘rudimentary?’  Well, here is what we know the Nintendo Network will offer based on President Satoru Iwata’s remarks in a meeting with investors earlier this week.

DLC – Publishers will be able to offer paid DLC for online purchase.  This means that titles that have been enjoying paid additions on PS3 and 360 for years will finally offer the same on a Nintendo console.

Digital Distribution – Games will be available for purchase online.  It remains unclear if this will be limited to non-retail titles because of Nintendo’s relationship with retailers.

Personal Accounts (Not tied to a Specific Console) – Think of your basic PSN or Live account.

This is, of course, a step in the right direction for Nintendo.  Something is better than nothing, right? But what about ‘Friends Lists’ and nicknames? What about integrated Voice Chat? What about eliminating the (god-awful) Friend Code system? Where is the comprehensive digital distribution? These services may appear on Nintendo Network sometime in the future, but the lack of any info in such an important Nintendo meeting is not a good sign.

What does this mean for you and Nintendo? It means the Wii U is really just playing catch-up to networks on older, less-powerful consoles.  While Sony and Microsoft have been perfecting their online presence for years, Nintendo is just jumping in.  Microsoft and Sony have whole teams of people dedicated entirely to their online Networks.  Nintendo is still putting one together.

Note what wasn't included yet.

In the end, Nintendo’s Wii U faces an uphill battle.  The next Xbox and PS4 will be more powerful than Wii U when they finally launch, their networks will be older, more sophisticated, and stable. They will also likely launch with far more available digital content passed-over from the current generation.  Add in the features Mr. Iwata purposely didn’t mention, and Nintendo Network is likely to be a second rate option for at least a few years.

I’m glad that Nintendo is finally joining the world of online gaming in earnest.  I’m just a little sad that the wait for a network on par with Xbox and Sony is still so far away.

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5. Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. was released two months before I was even born. Yet I still have somehow found a way to hate it. I’m not quite sure what the people responsible for this movie were thinking. The Mario universe’s characteristics just don’t work as a movie. This is probably why the film’s plot was so incredibly thin to begin with. Some games just don’t work in the movie format.

4. Hitman

Of all the gaming franchises in existence you’d think that Hitman would translate rather well onto the big screen. This is one of the reasons that I was completely surprised when the movie was so incredibly bad. Timothy Olyphant didn’t seem right as Agent 47 and the plot was about as basic as a movie’s plot can possibly be (like most action movies). Overall, the style just didn’t match what the games delivered, Hitman is quiet, precise and intelligent. Not a version of Jason Bourne.

3. Doom

Yet again, a movie which sticks so loosely to what makes a gaming franchise great by just doing what it wants. The movie itself wasn’t completely terrible but it seemed like it was just using the Doom name as a way of dragging in a wider audience as opposed to wanting to build upon an established franchise. If you want to see the only scene that resembled the game’s then watch below. On a side note, that guy was so on the ‘I’m too young to die’ difficulty.

2. House of the Dead

The House of the Dead series is laughable in itself when it comes to delivering a story or even a meaningful experience to the players. As a movie, it actually managed to be even worse.  I’ve seen my fair share of bad zombie movies but I actually wish I could remove this one from existence. Or just my memory…

1. The BloodRayne trilogy

How this even became a trilogy completely baffles me. One movie was bad enough but three is just a downright insult. I can summarize just how bad these movies are just by telling you when each movie is set. The first BloodRayne is set in the eighteenth century, the second is set in 1880’s American Wild West with a Vampiric version of Billy the Kid – oh and the actor playing Rayne changed. The final film or at least what I hope was the final film is set during World War II as Rayne battles Nazis.

Despite these horrible additions to the world there are some games that could make great movies if done correctly. A few of which I’ll be looking at soon so keep an eye out on Gamejudgment.

Are there any truly horrible ones that deserve a spot on that list? Let us know in the comments section.

Image Source: gamesradar

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To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of online gaming on a Nintendo console, mainly because the lack of voice communication feels like you’re playing against computer controlled characters. When I play online, I expect to be able to talk to people.  Another thing that bothered me about Wii online gaming was the fact that if more than one of your friends was playing the same game, you had no way to choose which friend the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection paired you with.

Nintendo’s President and Chief, Reggie Fils-Aime, told Forbes that Nintendo intends on taking online gaming one step further.  Fils-Aime states that starting with the Wii U Nintendo will be, “creating a much more flexible system that will allow the best approaches by independent publishers to come to bear.”

What does this mean for upcoming Wii U owners? PC World suggests that maybe Nintendo will allow other services like Steam or EA Origin to operate as a part of Nintendo Network.  This would be a cool idea that could possibly put Nintendo a step ahead of Xbox Live and the Playstation Network.  Imagine being able to play games online on your Wii U with friends on Steam?  It’s definitely something that I’ve always thought would be a good idea, but it could in turn hurt game sales for that particular console. Although, any interaction with other services is only speculation at this point.

When I think of online gaming, my mind doesn’t think of  Nintendo first.  When a new multiplayer game comes out I immediately try to decide if I should get it for the Xbox 360 or the PS3.  The only games I buy for the Wii are exclusive titles like Mario Kart or Super Mario Galaxy.

I wish the Wii had better online titles.  Not only would it be good for Nintendo, but it might make me actually want to play more on the console.

I could see Nintendo being a major online gaming competitor if this proposed Nintendo Network is done right.  This service should not only make meeting up with friends easier but it should also feature voice communication.  I really think they should ditch the whole friend code thing and implement ‘nicknames’ like on the Xbox and PS3.

I’m not saying that I want to see Nintendo come up with something exactly like the Playstation Network or Xbox Live, but I want to see them improve their online gaming to at least meet the industry basics!

Offering simple services like voice chat, sending a friend request via a nickname and even being able to jump into a specific friend’s game would greatly improve Wii U’s online gaming over its predecessor.  To keep themselves separate though, Nintendo should come out with something new and unique like incorporating your Mii characters into a party chat.

The possibilities when launching an entirely new online network are truly endless, but it’s up to Nintendo to make it work well.  I know I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on the Wii U online development.

Image Sources: Nintendo Fire, EL33TONLINE

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This week’s installment introduces us to the comic’s main characters, Zach (brown guy, headphones) and Trent (white guy, d-Pad shirt), two gamers wondering what happened to all the classic game titles.

Every week (on a date that still needs to be determined) you can read the latest comic from the Fun Havers club, right here on GameJudgment.com.

This week’s issue tackles the classic NES title, Balloon Fight.

If you want to learn more about Fun Havers Club, catch our updates on our official Tumblr

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When I was younger, the release of a Final Fantasy game always seemed like a special occasion. New entries in the franchise came out every few years and gamers everywhere were certain each Final Fantasy title would offer quality, narrative driven gaming. Now it feels like a new Final Fantasy title comes out every few months and, most of the time, these new games aren’t even good.

In my mind, there always seemed to be a rivalry between the Final Fantasy and Zelda series. I’m not sure if this was a reality in the larger gaming community, but it was the case in my circle of friends. Zelda fans would scoff at Final Fantasy’s tactical turn based battles using the term ‘outdated.’  Final Fantasy fans, on the other hand, would view Zelda’s action-oriented gameplay as overly simple and state that the story line was sparse on details.

The Super Nintendo’s under-appreciated Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III in the U.S.) remains my favourite in the franchise. It’s engrossing story, stylish graphics, and general atmosphere set the stage for Final Fantasy VII, a title many people feel is the pinacle of the series.

Although I haven’t played every game in the series (I have played most), I know that the franchise has certain elements that draw me into its colourful world. Exploration, character development, compelling story telling (although contrived and stereotypical) and beautiful graphics are what make Final Fantasy appeal to me. When it comes to more recent Final Fantasy titles, it’s sometimes hard to look past character’s androgynous designs, carefully constructed bangs, and strange clothing. But deep down, most Final Fantasy titles are genuinely enjoyable games, chock full of great experiences and entertainment. This was not the case with Final Fantasy XIII.

Sometimes it's hard to look past the beautifully crafed hair and see the video game underneath.

Final Fantasy XIII is one of the worst RPG’s I’ve ever played. The plot makes  little sense and is non-existant for the majority of the game (I gave up after approximately 24 hours of playing).  Also, the Paradigm battle system is ridiculous and basically fights the game’s battles for you. Half of why I enjoy Final Fantasy’s turnbased battle system is because they allow me to be extremely tactical and the Paradigm system ruined this. There are also no non-player characters (NPC’s) to interact with, no towns to explore and there is generally nothing exciting to do at all.

Final Fantasy XIII amounts to nothing more than a beautiful looking, terribly designed on-rails RPG. The game basically plays like this: you walk down a long graphically stunning coridor, fighting enemy after enemy. I know that the game’s world opened up considerably approximately 25 hours in, but there was no incentive to stick with Final Fantasy XIII for that long. Anyone I know that purchased the game gave up long before the 20 hour mark.

What Final Fantasy XIII did, was destroy everything that made the Final Fantasy franchise so appealing.

Then Square Enix released another Final Fantasy title, this time it was an MMORPG for the PC, Final Fantasy XIV. I’ve never played the game, but from what I’ve read, I gather that it’s unfinished, absolutely terrible and filled with glitches. I have heard that the game has drastically improved since its initial release, but why put out an unfinished video game in the first place?

My point is this; why should I care about a sequel to a terrible video game? Why not start over and create Final Fantasy XV? Maybe then I’d pay attention to Square’s barrage of press releases. It’s not like Final Fantasy XIII’s characters are compelling or interesting, and I don’t think there are many fans out there actually asking for a sequel.

Apparently XIII-2 features a plot that revolves around time travel and a lot of exploration, but it also brings back an overly simple battle system and unimaginitive characters. This isn’t enough to win me back. I used to be a loyal fan of the franchise, but after Final Fantasy XIII? I don’t think I can ever trust Square Enix again.

I’ll wait to see review scores.

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If you like my writing, follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_ORourke. I’m always up for a good discussion on video games or my articles.

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I should also mention how glad I am that Nintendo has finally started releasing demos (although the fact that they can only be played 30 times is a little ridiculous). I’ve always believed that game demos are the best way to convince consumers that your title is worth their cash and it’s great that Nintendo is taking note.

Back to Resident Evil Revelations, the game is similar to classic Resident Evil titles.  You can’t shoot or use melee attacks while moving (a mainstay of the series)  and your character still controls like an awkward tank. Despite the slow movement, the game does manage an-action oriented experience and adopts a first person perspective when shooting weapons. Aiming is rather difficult and feels a tad too sensitive, often resulting in me wasting ammo while trying to take down enemies. This isn’t actually a bad thing, however, because such challenges are what creates the level of tension that’s been absent from more recent titles in the franchise.

I have a feeling that the upcoming circle pad pro attachment might remedy the game’s somewhat awkward control scheme. It feels a little strange to control your character’s movement with only one joystick (The Circle Pad Pro comes out February 7, so we’ll find out soon enough). The title makes interesting use of the 3DS’s touch screen, allowing you to unscrew a control panel with a screw driver and then solve a relatively simple in-game puzzle. The touch screen based gameplay isn’t exactly innovative, but it’s nice to see that Capcom is taking advantage of the system’s unique features.

Resident Evil Revelations’ graphics are impressive for a 3DS title and might be the best I’ve seen on the handheld. Even though the 3D effects don’t add much to the title’s gameplay, they still looks great and draw you deeper into the experience.

It really is the best looking 3DS title yet.

Most of the demo takes place on a derelect cruise ship called the Shinobia. Disappointingly, the title doesn’t feature true zombies, but rather, zombie-like creatures covered in strange spikes.

You control Jill Valentine in the demo, but Chris Redfield is also a playable character in the game.  Ammo is in short supply and enemies are abundent, so it’s nice to see the series return to its roots in some ways, even though it’s adopted a more action-oriented style of gameplay. I should point out that the demo only features three weapons; a shotgun, a pistol and a knife.

From this relatively short demo, I get a strong sense that Resident Evil Revelations will be a solid game. I’m hoping the entire game echoes the demo’s atmosphere and action/survival horror mix.  I really enjoyed Resident Evil 4 and I like the short time I spent with Resident Evil 5, but both titles didn’t really feel like they were true Resident Evil games. To me, they seemed more like awkward third person shooters and less like the tension-filled survival horror that made the franchise famous.  Here’s hoping Resident Evil Revelations actually is a true return to the series’ roots.

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Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 is not a flawless piece of hardware.  Most gamers are familiar with the Red Ring of Death that has plagued the console since its launch.  I personally fell victim to the Red Ring of Death (commonly referred to as RRoD) three times.  The first time I got the RRoD was towards the end of 2006. I wasn’t covered to get my Xbox fixed  -  Microsoft’s warranty extension didn’t come into effect until 2007 – so I had to hold off on buying a new console.

The holidays eventually passed and I finally managed to save enough money to purchase a refurbished Xbox 360.  I was able to once more hop online and play games with my friends.  This happiness lasted until early 2009 when I became the proud owner of another Xbox with the RRoD.  Unfortunately for me, my refurbished Xbox 360 wasn’t covered under Microsoft’s 3-year warranty extension.  I therefore had no choice but to go out and purchase yet another Xbox 360.  I decided to go to Circuit City, before it closed, in hopes that they would have a unit available during their ‘Going out of Business’ sale.  I was lucky enough to get one of the last three Xbox 360 Elite consoles they had in stock!

I walked out of Circuit City extremely proud of how much money I saved because of this awesome sale.  I got home and hooked up my new console only to find that I had just become the owner of a faulty Xbox.  Any game I played would stutter and lag, so I immediately called Microsoft Support to see what could be done about this issue. I had literally just bought the console so I was hoping they’d help me out. Microsoft’s customer support said that they would fix the console for me at no charge. Finally, on console number four, I was able to able take advantage of the extended warranty program.

Not long after my Xbox 360 Elite was fixed I noticed it was still a little sluggish at times.  It would even freeze on me occasionaly and I started to become increasingly nervous that it would just out-right die one day. I searched online to see if anyone else was having issues and everything I read on forums suggested that the dreaded RRoD was on it’s way.  I hoped for the best and followed the guidelines listed on the xbox.com’s support page that supposedly prevent console malfunctions.   Sometime after the initial symptoms reared their ugly head, I once more suffered the RRoD.  Luckily, it was covered under the three year warranty and Microsoft repaired it yet again for free.

It’s probably obvious by now that I haven’t really had the best luck with the Xbox 360.  In fact, my Xbox broke AGAIN after this second repair, this time not under warranty.

The Xbox 360 Slim came out not too long before my Elite started making the loud noises that preceded each ‘death,’ so I decided to get a new Slim model since it was rumored to be incapable of getting the RRoD.  I liked what I read about the new model, so I decided to take the plunge and buy one.

Once again, my happiness was short-lived.  After a year and three months I got what is now called the ‘Red Dot of Death.’  (Mine was actually worse than most cases though, because the outer ring turned red as well, not just the inner dot.)

It’s been said that the Slim Xbox 360 will warn you if it doesn’t have enough ventilation.  Mine didn’t, so I knew that couldn’t be the issue.  An Xbox customer service rep told me that it must be an audio/visual issue.  My problem with that is that I’ve only had my Slim a year and three months.  I thought these things were built to last?

It bothers me that I’ve had yet another Xbox for such a short period of time and I’m already having issues.  If I’m going to be spending $200-$300 on a console, or anything for that matter, then I expect it to last more one year.  I don’t want to make this an Xbox 360 vs PlayStation thing but I bought my PS3 in 2008 and haven’t had any issues with it at all.  (As a side note, GameJudgment editor Kory Baldwin bought a 60 gig PS3 in early 2007.  It performed beautifully until late 2011 after four-and-a-half years of HEAVY use.)

I’m slowly losing interest in my Xbox because of all of these issues.  I shouldn’t have to send in my Xbox or replace it every two years or so.  I think Microsoft needs to build a more stable console so that gamers like myself don’t have to deal with the RRoD or other technical issues that come with the Xbox 360.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s had more than one bad experience with the Red Ring of Death. Tell us your story in the comments section.

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Image: Bustedtees

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When I learned of the 150 Foxconn worker’s plight, the first thing I thought was, “this is pretty disturbing.” I figured things must be terrible if people threaten suicide  because of their working conditions. Add the fact that last year there were about seventeen people who decided to take the plunge into nothing, fourteen of them making it the last thing they’d ever done.

In the aftermath, Foxconn decided to put up safety nets.  Yes, literally nets to prevent jumpers from hitting the ground. This seems extremely insensitive, “Hey we don’t want to bother cleaning things up and dealing with the bad PR, so go kill yourselves somewhere else.”

The main plant in Longhua now only has 5% of its workforce left, with 24,000 people quitting every month. So it seemed the rabble of unsatisfied workers was starting to get to be a bit of a pain in the ass, thanks to bad PR and public scrutiny. How did Foxconn decide to fix this issue?  They put 223 million into creating a robot workforce ready for 2014 that’ll cut 500,000 of their employees’ jobs. How nice of them.

The whole problem seemed to stem from an incident that occured on January 2 after managers decided to move 600 workers to a new production line. The workers are paid by how many pieces they assemble on this fast moving assembly line. In this case, they weren’t trained how to properly assemble the product. This resulted in numerous blisters and black hands for many employees after the first day alone.

The workers were naturally unhappy and went on strike. In order to pacify the situation, one months pay was offered as compensation  (which amounts to $132, possibly more if overtime was worked) to anyone who wished to quit. Many took up the companies offer, but managers promptly decided to forget about the deal and act like it never happened. The workers finally decided they had enough and said, “Fuck it! I’d rather go kiss pavement at lethal speed than deal with this anymore.”

I know what you’re thinking, mass crackdowns, violence and mayhem. The big bad corporation  is showing the workers who’s boss. Surprisingly, the situation was defused and ended peacefully. Forty five  employees quit but the rest stayed on working.

Wait…. what? Yes, you read that right, the same workers who were about to make a life ending decision changed their minds and went back to work.  It could have just been a stunt, but this entire ordeal really piqued my curiosity, so I went and looked into things. That’s when I started to realize that there was much more to this story.

I found a first-hand account from Chinese reporter Liu Zhiyi, who went undercover and worked at Foxconn. Although Zhiyi states that it’s sad that these companies make a ridiculous amount of money from the products the assembly line workers are creating, he still had quite nice things to say about Foxconn.

“This super factory that holds some 400,000 people isn’t the “sweatshop” that most would imagine. It provides accommodation that reaches the scale of a medium-sized town, all smooth and orderly. Compared to others, the facilities here are well-equipped and superior, with employee treatment meeting standard specifications. Thousands of people flock here each day just to find a place of their own,” said Liu Zhiyi in Engadget.

The living quarters don't look to shabby (Photo by: Tony Law)

So maybe Foxconn isn’t as diabolical as we all think. I did some research and found another writer/investigator, Joel Johnson, who went to have a look for himself.  The housing situation was a nice touch. Foxconn founder, Terry Gou, made sure that when the factory was being built there would be housing facilities for the workers that would be better than what they could normally afford.

He could have just as easily had them sleeping on the assembly line or letting them make do with the slums in the area. The facility also has pools, coffee shops, communal spots where you can watch TV and cyber cafes where you can play video games and use computers with Internet access. It also boasts one of the biggest industrial kitchens in all of China that provides almost one million Foxconn’s employees with food.

The employees work long hours, usually ten hour shifts, possibly more if they want overtime.  Yes, they make a lot less money than we do (and I would argue that they should be paid more). However, they can still take washroom breaks and get an hour lunch and two ten minute breaks. The work itself is humane and just as boring and monotonous as any factory job. Apparently, they also even offer counseling facilities.

Reading the news and looking at people with a negative perspective towards Foxconn had me assuming that it was the worst company on earth. I thought it was an evil corporation that treated it’s workers poorly. However, after I looked into things and got two credible first hand accounts of what was going on, things started looking a bit different.

Not exactly what I first expected, not as dark, dirty or desperate (Photo: by Tony Law)

After a lot of reading and seeing past certain writers’ agendas, my perspective has changed. Foxconn employs roughly one million people, and seventeen have decided to kill themselves. That doesn’t even come close to China’s average of 13.9 suicides per every 100,000 people. In other words, the numbers are actually low.

I should be clear that any suicide or attempted suicide is a tragedy and I do not mean to belittle the loss of life in any way. I’m simply trying to put things into perspective by comparing the conditions of Foxconn to those faced by the average Chinese worker. It turns out, in my opinion, Foxconn doesn’t seem like the evil heartless corporation I thought it was.

So after reading all this information, what do you think? Make sure to let me know in the comments below.

Sources: Destructoid – Hundreds of Foxconn employees threaten suicide

                    Engadget – The Fate of a generation of workers: Foxconn undercover fully translated

Wired – 1 Million Works. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame

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It doesn’t matter if it’s the multiplayer or the single player, I think I just have what I like to call Halo fatigue.

I’ve played a lot of Halo: CE in my life and have spent countless hours with friends messing around in local co-op and multiplayer (this was before Xbox Live and we used a tunneling service called XBC to play online). On one occasion, a friend and actually spent an afternoon trying to launch a ghost into the watch towers of sidewinder. We then proceeded to take photos of our accomplishment with a terrible Polaroid camera and proudly upload them to Halo.bungie.org, Halo’s main community fan site.

Then there was Halo 2 and my first experience with online gaming. I’d never seriously sat down and played an online multiplayer until Halo 2 because I’m primarily a console gamer, so Xbox Live was my chance to experience a whole new world. I just had to convince my parents to upgrade their dial-up internet to cable (not an easy task).

I wasn’t a consistent Xbox Live subscriber for a long time. To get around this hurdle a friend and I would ‘aquire’ 2 month trials from empty Blockbuster Video game cases. I think I probably went through five or six before purchasing my own account. Every two months, we would play team doubles matchmaking, starting with a rank of zero, and go on ridiculous 20 to 25 game winning streaks. In hindsight, this was a ridiculously cheap move on my part, but hey, I was 16.

Halo 2 quickly became a social experience and everyday after school, there was always someone I knew playing online. At times, instead of calling each other, my friends and I would create custom lobbies and discuss what we were going to do Friday night. Is this a crazy way to communicate? Maybe, but at the time it was awesome.

Then came Halo 3, probably the first Halo I was truly decent at (that was probably because I played it so much), Halo: ODST (the glorified map pack with a solid single player campaign) and finally, Halo: Reach (Bungie’s last effort at revitalizing the franchise).

I’ve praised all of these title’s originality, depth and fun factor. But looking back? After Halo 3, I wasn’t having as much fun with the franchise as I had before. Maybe it was because many of my friends no longer played Halo titles on a consistent basis. They had jobs, better things to do, and Call Of Duty to play. As I’ve gotten older I also have less time to play Halo and the time I do have, I usually want to spend it playing other video games.

I think it was the social experience Halo fostered that originally drew me to the franchise. Now that that aspect of the game has gone away for me, my desire to play has also diminished. Or maybe I was just caught up in the hype and felt like I had to play every Halo title that hit store shelves? (that’s exactly why I purchased Halo Anniversary). I don’t really know.

I’m not saying that Halo titles post-Halo 3 aren’t great games, because I have certainly had some fun times with them (especially Halo: Reach). I’m just wondering, were they really as great as I originally thought? I gave Halo: Reach a glowing review here on GameJudgment and even stated that, “As someone who’s been playing Halo since the franchise began, I can safely say that this is by far the best game in the series. It even surpasses Halo: Combat evolved.” I feel like Halo: Reach was Bungie’s attempt to appease hardcore fans but still make the game accessible. In some ways, Halo: Reach succeeded, but in others, it totally failed. Bloom and a non existant ranking system are two of my biggest gripes with the game.

This is what 10 years of Halo looks like

Killing the same forms of covenent and blasting away in the same rigid formulaic multiplayer mode just isn’t as fun for me as it was 10 years ago. I want to see change.

I’m now eagerly anticipating the release of Halo 4, hoping that 343 Studios doesn’t just breath new life into the franchise, but totally revamps it. Long time fans of the series and hardcore MLG gamers may disagree, but I think it’s time. Halo needs to change. I know I’ll be at Halo 4′s midnight launch and I know that like always, I’ll get caught up in the hype storm that always surrounds Halo releases.

But this time, I actually want to enjoy a brand new experience. The Halo franchise means a lot to me and I want to have fun with it again.

What do you think? Looking back, is Halo still as fun today as it was for you way back when? Let us know in the comments section.

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Wikipedia, N4G and Reddit are but a few of the big names taking part in a worldwide protest against what many feel is the threat of free and readily available information from across the globe.  This isn’t the first time an online or even offline group has protested the PIPA and SOPA acts, but the way in which it is being done is indeed clever. By showing people what the two pieces of legislation will lead to: the censorship of free and readily available material across the world because of an extreme attempt at stopping piracy.

The official statement to the English reading Wikipedia community from Sue Gardner, the Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director, detailed exactly why Wikipedia made the decision to go dark for a day. I strongly encourage you to check it out for more information. As for me, well, part of the statement summed up my thoughts on the matter quite well.

“We think everyone should have access to educational material on a wide range of subjects, even if they can’t pay for it. We believe in a free and open Internet where information can be shared without impediment.”

The two pieces of legislation primarily aim to tackle the growing amount of piracy and copyright violations across the Internet. If SOPA was passed it would give copyright holders and the U.S. Department of Justice the power to issue court orders against websites. Websites suspected of infringing on copyright laws could be removed from search engine results, prohibited from gaining any financial backing from advertisements and payment networks such as PayPal and even blocked by Internet Service Providers.

Let me provide you with an example using Wikipedia. If a reader decided to post some info about GameJudgment on Wikipedia and used the GameJudgment logo, our Editor-In-Chief could decide that they had no right to use the GameJudgment logo and press charges against Wikipedia and the author. That’s right, Wikipedia, not just the author of the post, could be held liable.  Following that, there would  even stand a chance that Wikipedia could be blocked for everyone inside the U.S. Although I’m sure Patrick wouldn’t do that.

The Protect IP Act, or the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (if you prefer to spend half an hour saying it) is the second attempt at passing a revised version of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) which failed to pass in 2010. The act is supposed to provide law enforcement agencies in the U.S more power to combat copyright infringement. The way in which they would handle “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods” is through blocking the Domain Name Server (DNS) – Anonymous style. People could still connect via. the I.P address for the site however, so it all seems like a pointless waste of time and money.

From my point of view, these two acts are some of the most poorly judged measures that have been taken against piracy since the Internet came into existence. The day that “the land of the free” passes laws akin to those imposed by the PRC is the day that freedom dies. I’m British and the thought of this passing in another country scares the hell out of me. Considering America typically sets standards across the free world regarding free speech and citizen rights, it stands to reason that other countries, especially the British Government, would be quick to follow.

If you want to stand against SOPA and PIPA then let your voice be heard. Join those that fight against it. GameJudgment is officially against both SOPA and PIPA.

This article was made possible by Wikipedia and the various contributors around the world. Information is a right, not a commodity.

Related posts:

How The Internet (Sort Of) Ruined Gaming For Me

Canadian Internet Users Are Screwed