Game Enthusiasts and Other Such Things

[ItsThere]

I think your problems with Live yesterday were down to it being updated, and then subsequently becoming extremely broken. Lots of reports of it on the net I had problems with COD4 too, also down to being bad at war

Lol. I thought as much. I wouldn't last 20 seconds as a real soldier - those terrorists types are crack shots!
It was a real gaming is frustrating rather than a gaming is fun night for me. Then work called at ten and asked me to come in before 8 - prob why I am in such a grumpy mood!

[ItsThere]

Unfortunately I am gonna drone on about the same thing everyone else has been implying recently...

There are too many great games out to play at the moment. At the risk of this sounding something like a list, here is what I am trying to devote my (now limited) time to:

(360)
The Orange Box
Halo 3
PGR4
VF5
Guitar Hero III
Assassins Creed

(Wii)
The excellent and mind bending Super Mario Galaxy
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (arriving soon)
Super Metroid

(DS)
The excellent Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

(PS3)
Ninja Gainden Sigma

And a few various others that I have had on the burner. There is literally too much to play at the moment and I feel the need to prioritise.

What stands out (and I'm not bashing) to me is the lack of PS3 titles and the bredth of 360 titles. I love that machine almost too much but I have noticed something else recently.


Related to priorities it is Mario and Zelda that get switched on first and foremost. Both are excellent examples of old games updated so they feel fresher than a pair of Kelly Brooks brassieres (before she prances around on a Saturday night).
I could gush with praise about them but I just wanted to say that they make me feel invovled in a world of childish delight like no other. Fantastic games that will get my time before all the other deserving games out there.

Its a great time to be a gamer, and I'm loving it!

[ItsThere]

I take it all back.

I tried to play Assassins Creed last night but...

I couldn't do it. Mario Galaxy is actually too good. As soon as I started Playing AC it seemed slow, beautiful but slow. Uninspiring movement (compared to my Red Friend) and lets be honest - pretty shocking combat.

I may be being a bit harsh but Mario has destroyed my enthusiasm for other games (apart from the uber sexy Zelda PH of course ). It is literally just amazing and brilliant and although I can't articulate it's praises this morning - because I'm so tired from playing it for far too long last night it rocks my gaming world.

One more go has never been so well implemented. For all I know the comets that appear to alter a level (speed etc) could go away or stay until they are completed. I don't know because as soon as I see one I MUST get it.

I'll stop drooling and try to write something more proper and interesting later if I can stop thinking about Mario for more than 5 minutes!

[ItsThere]

So not much is going on in my gaming world at the moment. I have had little time to play anything and therefore been made to take my DS on the bus for the morning commute.

It's amazing how quickly the time passes and I thought I would feel more self consious than I did. Got myself the awesome Actionloop and Zelda PH to play on a Mahusive train journey I have to take tomorrow.
I still think that people aren't accustomed to seeing people of my age (and I'm only 24) or people who wear a suit to wrok playing consoles on public transport.
I seldom see anyone doing it and they always look a bit ashamed.

Well I decided no more. I will blow into my DS to defeat the Bunnies in the gust temple if I must! Scibbling away with the stylus is fairly odd looking as it is - why not go one further? Why not strap them to my body and play two at a time? No. I'd prob look silly...

Again I have been trying to play anything but Mario in my tv console time but failing. Not gonna bang on about it but it is still Jolly good.
Hope you're all having a good Friday!

[ItsThere]

Well the actions have begun against file sharers and I have been researching various other forums to find out what 'infringers' are thinking. And doing about it.

I am slightly concerned about confidentiality now so I amy not post about it anymore for a while (prob till it is finished) but it's fascinating to say the least...

If anyone who is more technically minded than myself would care to run me through some of the finer points of IP location tools it would be appreciated! PM please as I need a hand understanding this to be in the best position to hand out other advice.

[HaHaUK]

I don't know if you are at liberty of answering this, but do ISP's hand over their customers details just like that or are you required to provide them with a court order before releasing customers information?

[ChrisF]

My mate's ISP handed them over a few years back, when he got a letter through the post from Universal Studios threatening to take him to the cleaners for sharing the Tomb Raider movie. First he knew of it all was when the letter arrived.

[ItsThere]

HaHa - the case is now that you have to apply for the court to release the information and the ISP will charge you for it.

There is a fairly hgh burden of proof for the rights holder to discharge so it has to be a well thought out process with plenty of information gathering before hand.

Chris - what happened to your mate?

[ChrisF]

He had to write a letter to his ISP to say he wouldn't do it again, and that was that.

[ItsThere]

It just occured to me that I have not told anyone anything about myself really - perhaps I should if this is going to be a long term commitment.

I am now 24 - I seem to have spent forever and a day in various educational establishments and I am currently a trainee solicitor at a West End law firm, they specialise in meida, IP and the corporate parts of those fields.

After doing a law degree, a masters in law, the LPC (requirement to practice in this country as a solicitor) and the usual A level nonsense it seems like it has been a long time coming.

The training contract I am on involves sitting in 4 depts for 6 months each so that you get a rounded experience of practice in real life before you choose where to spend your work life.

Currently I am in corporate but we are fairly relaxed here about helping other depts out (provided there is no conflict of interest between clients) and it gives everyone a chance to work on the things they want to, not just what they have to.

One of the reasons I came here was to do with my love of games. The firm acts for a good selection of high profile publishers and developers and its my way of bringing what I love into my worklife. I am not creatively talented enough to design games, nor mathmatically skilled to program either so this is my way of getting into the industry.

On the plus side - we get to go to E3 and Leizpig etc to pimp the business and help out clients.

I currently play in my limited spare time:
360 - Assasins Creed
Wii - Mario Galaxy, RE: UC
PS3 - NGS
DS - Zelda : PH
PSP - EEE
PS2 - Amplitude
Xbox - NA
GBA - Zelda - Minish Cap
DC - HotD2

And thats about it! Lots more 360 to finish up but limited time to do it there is lots of Christmas socialising to be had.

Oh and I live in central London and went to Hampstead last night, post pub snack - Crepes of course! Amazing stuff at 11pm.

[JammyD]

Well the actions have begun against file sharers and I have been researching various other forums to find out what 'infringers' are thinking. And doing about it.

I am slightly concerned about confidentiality now so I amy not post about it anymore for a while (prob till it is finished) but it's fascinating to say the least...

If anyone who is more technically minded than myself would care to run me through some of the finer points of IP location tools it would be appreciated! PM please as I need a hand understanding this to be in the best position to hand out other advice.

Enjoying your blog, man, you had me wondering exactly what actions I'd missed at first, but then this happened. Doesn't affect me in any way and I do hope you can keep posting, maybe when it's over.

[ItsThere]

JammyD - glad someone is reading and enjoying it! Not to drone on about how great NTSC is but one of the tasks we do have to carry out is web-based research on all major forums into potential file sharing actions.

Searching here brought up absolutely nothing relevant - the zero tolerance approach to piracy really seems to work here and it helps prevent a lot of mindless spamming too I imagine.

There is a lot happening in this field at the moment - one thing I am able to discuss is why law firms are targeting specific infringers rather than the distribution sites.

Back in 2002-2003 the actions were being run against companies who ran centralised networks, on a database, to allow people to share files. Napster, Kazaa, Limewire all worked in the same way at the time - there was a team of admin staff who would take care of the day to day running of the site and have a larger degree of responsibility over what was posted.

Law suits brought in America changed that, vicarious liability (the - you permitted and encouraged piracy argument) was run successfully against the admin of these sites and their old set up died out pretty quickly. Without going into any real depth on the judgement it is enough to say that this kind of file sharing was stamped out by the respective rights holders.

Now - pirates evolve more quickly than both legislators and lawyers so they often use de-centralised access points where there is no database with central control over the network. They wave their white flags and state that they only intend their sites to be used to share legal material (while shameless incriminating themselves on the embedded forum stating that they have all the latest files up for grabs).

Therefore there is little point in running an action against the admin of these places. Instead and some may think unfortunately, the cause of action must be brought against specific infringers. In some instances it can be grossly unfair but the law is the law and there should be no double standards when enforcing it. It would be nice to discuss some of the reasons and excuses people come up with but that is for another day.

Leaving with an analogy and an explanation - ignorance is no excuse - you can't steal a car and expect to have no consequences borne upon you if you didn't know it was wrong. This has to be the way it is because (thankfully) we don't have a police state. People either accept moral and legal responsibility for their actions or we live under a set of 'benefactors' who limit the scope of our actions and curb free choice.

See you all soon.

[ItsThere]

Why does the Wii eat my batteries so much?

I really didn't want to have to buy another set of rechargeable batteries for a current gen console but it looks like I'm going to have to. Roughly 10 hours play destroys a set of duracells when Pushing Mario around or beasting Zombies in RE. Shocking really.

So what to do? Do I buy a little charging stand that only does one Wiimote at a time (batteries not included) or do I buy an external charger that can do 4 ata time (batteries not included) or shall I just make my own treadmill and charge the Wiimote with the power of my raging body?

I realise its not actually that bad but £10 (at Virgin - sorry Zavvi??) seems like quite a lot for a littel white dock to charge batteries in... So if someone could recommend me a place to get batteries from and a good charger I would be very very grateful.

Truth is I'm only just noticing now because this is the first time my Wii has had extended play since Zelda:TP almost a year ago. Sure there have been blasts but not since last year has it been the main machine I go to when I get in from work.
Now it is and I want another Wii fix to last me after these two gems are over. Perhaps SPM or MP3. Not really sure which will divert my attention more so again any recomendations/sales would be appreciated

As for the world of pirating - some of you may have been reading about the Pirate Bay and their recent troubles with the law. Well suffice to say that just as in 2002 when the movements against file sharing networks were gathering pace, 2007/2008 will (IMHO) see an increase in actions from publishers/developers seeking to deter others from stealing their work. Watch this space.

[Paulos G]

I couldn't cope without rechargeable batteries now. You should be able to pick up a decent enough charger with 4 or more batteries for a tenner from somewhere like Currys. Might not be the fastest but if you keep a supply handy (like what I do) it does what it needs to.

Space being watched!

[Extra Terrestrial]

Why does the Wii eat my batteries so much?

Another annoying issue with the Wii; after using the rechargeable batteries for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 pad being a battery itself, the Wii decides to use up batteries instead of the rechargeable technology.

Think of the environmental issues Nintendo!!

I use this mate:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9804025/Trail/searchtext%3ERECHARGABLE+BATTERIES.htm

For ?9.99, you can't go wrong.