Something is terribly amiss if the industry we know and love can't wrap its head around vulgar language and promiscuity. Then again, I did get an awful amount of dirty looks after I cracked my "lipstick lesbian" joke at that Microsoft mixer last week….
News Blips:
Irrational Games Creative Director Ken Levine considers sex in games "silly." In an interview with VG247, the creator of BioShock regarded nudity in games on a superficial level. "If you think about the amount of, for example, nudity in a video game…it's not even nudity," he said. "It's a puppet with its clothes off. There are other problems as well." Levine went on to explain that the very issue of sex in games hurts the industry's image, saying, "The fact that's even controversial says that the perception of the industry is that we're making toys or something, as opposed to making creative expressions for a range of audiences — including adults. I think there's still some prudishness." Prudish or not, others have noticed how nudity can go a little overboard sometimes.
Hacker group Anonymous stops attacks on the PlayStation Network after apparently sprouting an extra pair of brain cells. "Anonymous is not attacking the PSN at this time," read a statement from the group earlier today. "Sony’s official position is that the PSN is undergoing maintenance. We realize that targeting the PSN is not a good idea. We have therefore temporarily suspended our action, until a method is found that will not severely impact Sony customers." Sometimes that "we never forget" line of Anonymous' creed gets a little hard to believe. [PSX-Scene]
Bizarre Creations Creative Director Martyn Chudley describes the studio's change of culture after being sold to Activision. "We weren’t an independent studio making ‘our’ games anymore — we were making games to fill slots," Chudley told Edge. "Although we did all believe in them, they were more the products of committees and analysts. The culture we’d worked on for so long gradually eroded just enough so that it wasn’t ‘ours’ anymore." Activision closed Bizarre earlier this year after lackluster sales of Blur and James Bond 007: Blood Stone. It's sad enough to see a company with a dedication to quality go by the wayside, but it's especially painful due to Bizarre's awesome evil-pumpkin logo. This industry doesn't have enough evil pumpkins, I say.
Move aside, exorbitantly expensive desktop computer — the Commodore 64 is coming back. At the end of the month, those looking to get their breadbox on will be able to purchase a modern-day Commodore 64 with all the fixin's: a 1.8 gigahertz dual-core processor, a Blu-ray player, HDMI, and ethernet ports. The system comes with Linux installed, with an option to run Windows instead. "Thirty years ago computers were an all-in-one product, with the keyboard, memory and components built inside,” said Commodore USA CEO Barry Altman. “Over the years that has changed, and we believe there is a huge potential to revive the early format." The price for this little slice of retro heaven? Between $250 and $900. Check out Commodore USA's page for more info, but make sure not to get distracted by the 1980s laser background. [NY Times]
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