Mailbag
Any chance of a PC version of Halo 2?
Thanks.
--Mitchell D.
Hi there.
Any chance of a Monkey Island 5 at E3?
--dynamiterave24
Yes? I mean, "Any chance." That's like I could pick any chance in the world, right? Even the slightest-sliver-of-a-grain-of-sand kind of chance. Even the kind of chance that's been covered in honey, attacked by hornets, and is falling into an erupting volcano. The kind of chance that laughs maniacally at the possibility, spits out some teeth, and passes out in the gutter. Yes, Virginia, there is a chance that the sun will be snuffed out like a candle, that the Earth will spontaneously explode, and that I will find a legal parking spot when I drive home tonight. There is also a chance for Halo 2 and Monkey Island 5.
Is it a good chance? Good chances are boring.
--Tom
Hello,
We own Ted Nugent Hunting, and we had our computer updated to Windows XP, and are now not able to play the game. This is one of my husband's, nephew's, brother's, and father's favorite games. We all now have windows XP, and none of us are able to play it... Can you please tell me if there is anything we can do to be able to play this game?
Look, so very excited to hear from you!!
Thanks, Diane
I think that Huge Nuge himself would probably put my head on his trophy wall if I didn't help. Stranglehold, indeed. The problem, Diane, is that this game came out before Windows XP existed. In an ideal world, this wouldn't be a problem. But this is computers we're talking about. When a game comes out before Windows XP, we have to give it a little help called DosBox, which fools Windows XP into thinking it can run what's needed to support Mr. Nugent and his fine gaming enterprise. It's not the easiest helper program to get up and running, but it's probably the best chance you have of running a Windows 95-era game in an XP environment.
Please don't shoot me, Ted.
--Tom
"In our industry, one doesn't make hostile moves because our value lies with people." - EA
EA recently bought exclusive rights to games utilizing "NFL players, stadiums, and teams for the next 5 years."
I think EA is full of crap. They don't know the meaning of the phrase "fair play". It would seem that any action taken by EA these days is hostile and not in the best interest of gamers.
--Steven K.
OMG, so last week! Verne Troyer peeing in the corner is all the rage right now. Keep with the times, grandpa.
--Tom
Can you please dig up some dirt on Fallout 3? Namely its gameplay. Honestly, if they kept the exact same old engine as Fallout 1 & 2 and made some upgrades I'd still trade in my copies of Halo 2 and GTA: SA for it. I just hope the developer doesn't make any drastic changes, and I think Fallout in 3D would be a mistake.
--Brian
They already did this. It was called Fallout 2.
--Tom
What happened to the good old days of fudge. I remember when punks like you used to make me yarn and widdle candy canes out of ice caps. When did you lose your way!
I DEMAND SATISFACTION! I want Yarn Balls! BRING ME MATRIX ONLINE!
Come on, DO IT!
I CRAVE MAILBAG UPDATES!
--Cornelius Fudge
Oh, there's more.
Eeeeeeehhhhhhhh Mr. Tom!
Here's an update for you to dig, man!
I wrote a letter to those fly guys at EBgames and they're going to help me get into the beta, just so long as I come back onto the air! Isn't that great? The Matrix owns! You will one day know its glory when you decide TO UPDATE.
Come on, stop being such a square!
BleaH!
--The Fonz
He also transcribed the entire climax of Matrix: Reloaded, starting where Neo meets the Architect, but I think once is more than enough.
--Tom
Why is it that Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Halo 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, etc., ain't charging monthly fees? They cost just as much to develop, they require the same type of servers to run them. I know that much of the money is profit, and people pay for the same reason some people smoke. If there's some major point I'm missing, let me know.
--C. Jolsen
Sure, C. The games you listed aren't supplying the servers.
--Tom
First off, I would like to begin by congratulating the video game community as a whole. It's come a long way since the glorious days of the Atari 2600 (my first system, at age 2), the original Nintendo, and everything that has followed in their wake. Interactive entertainment, as the masses are finally becoming aware of, is becoming an ever more potent force in the battle for the hearts and minds of the consuming population. Games nowadays are bigger, flashier, and they get more attention from the casual consumer by an order of magnitude since even five years ago. More and more people are bringing home systems for their kids and themselves. I think it's probably not outlandish to say that kids are growing up as, or more, familiar with video games as they are with books and movies. This cultural captivation, this familiarity with such a pervasive and engaging medium, is what I'm writing about.
I read quite a bit, and while I try and sample things from every genre and period, there are some books that resonate with me more than others. These are the books that deliver a message of some kind, whether directly or through setting and sub-plot, certain stories make me pause and think about how the world has changed, or will change, or "What would that be like, what would I do?" Here, I'm thinking of books like Snow Crash, The Fountains of Youth, and American Gods. Others deliver cultural and political messages that were nothing short of incendiary in their day, The Catcher in the Rye being a great example.
These kinds of messages, thought provoking, insightful, socio-political, and most importantly, controversial, are the kinds of messages I'd like to see in the future of gaming. Now, some might argue that games like Grand Theft Auto have become political. They're partially correct, GTA has become a political issue in some areas due to content, but not necessarily for message. I'm talking about something a bit bigger, a bit more focused. Religion, civil rights, globalization, resource management, technology-while not all of these issues would make a great subject for a game to focus on, what's stopping developers who have opinions from addressing some of them in their games? The audience is there. Kids have become a war drum that just about every activist group on the planet likes to beat, but I'm going to leave them alone for now. Parents should handle (as much as they can) the content their children are exposed to. The audience I'm talking about is the one that's got enough money, time, and intelligence (let's hope) to be a force in our future. These are the high-schoolers and the cherished "18-34" demographic.
Let's face it, TV news is about as non-biased and independent as Ronald McDonald giving you dining suggestions. The Internet is getting better, and there's a tremendous amount of information from all sides to be taken in and weighed. But sifting through and reading the news online is nothing compared to delivering a narrowly focused interactive message. Granted, you enter into a whole new realm of potential content objection and etc., but I truly believe it can be done, and should be done. I'm not suggesting that we start putting the responsibility of educating our youth on video game companies. I am saying that, should a developer and publisher have the balls to do it, the time is right, the audience is there, the medium is more powerful than it's ever been, and will only get more so.
So challenge us, not only as game players, but as thoughtful human beings who should, at the very least, be made aware of the issues facing us now and in the future. Through your chosen medium, give us stories that make us pause and turn to our family and friends for discussion. Give us the chance to make the kinds of decisions virtually that we'll all have to one day face in reality. Let's step it up, the country and world have acknowledged the presence of games as something more than just a nerdy distraction, show the world that games can mean communication as well. And again, thank you.
--Charlie Tatum
Hi, Charlie. Thanks for writing in. Like radio, TV, and film, videogames are primarily a medium of entertainment, not education. And more and more, all of these forms are becoming blockbuster-oriented, leaving little room for things like creativity and innovation. In fact, just a small peek into how a mainstream music radio station really operates might sour you on the industry as a whole. You focus on what's most popular and pump it ad nauseum into the waiting hands of the masses. Late last year, KSJO, a rock station that had been on the air for over 36 years, was shoved off the airwaves by its parent company, ClearChannel, without so much as a spit in your eye, and replaced with a Spanish-language format because that was determined to be more profitable. There will eventually be a strong educational genre, and more breakthrough games that blend education into entertainment as SimCity has, but it will not be the driving force in an increasingly commoditized society.
--Tom
The servers in World of Warcraft are atrocious. Players constantly getting booted, waiting in queue to play, lag spikes, etc. Worst of all, we are getting NO RESPONSE about it AT ALL except one forum manager giving us generic answers like, "there are lag problems and we are looking into it." They're not listening to us on the worldofwarcraft.com forums, so we want you guys to speak for us! Even Penny Arcade revoked its game of the year award to WoW because of this. Please help us...shout this all the way to those bastards at VIVENDI, because we can't.
--Joe L.
Has your magazine thought about covering the problems that have plagued Blizzard's servers for WoW this last month? If not, you really should, considering you gave the game a 9.1 and it isn't even truly playable at the moment on half the servers. For instance, try to make a character on Icecrown.
--Mike
I too experienced some rather underwhelming performance on Frostwolf this weekend. I tried out a medium population server for a couple days, though, and it was nearly flawless. This is cold comfort to those who've already put weeks' worth of time into their characters--I have a 31 warrior on Frostwolf, and a 46 paladin--but the stress level is drastically reduced. The server I'm on is also an EST server, so I've gotten Herbalism up to 120 in two days because the wave of players is many levels above me and they're starting to go to bed shortly after I log on. I had no idea all these potions could be so useful!
--Tom
I'm Just the Messenger
So yeah, it's the new year, but damned if I made any resolutons. It never even occurred to me. I smoke, I drink, I gamble--I figure it's already too late for me. I think I'll resolve to sink further into debauchery until my very presence creates an inescapable gravitational pull of sin and corruption.
Along those lines, I've thought about what it would really be like to win a state lottery. To be flush with ridiculous millions. I'd have to quit my job and move out of my apartment, and frankly I'm too lazy for that business. I'd have to move into some shiny new home with shiny security, and drive a shiny new car and have a shiny new life with my shiny new friends. But I like my neighborhood market, and coffee shop, and cheesesteak place, and the little park where people walk their dogs in the morning and at night after everyone's come home from their daily grind. I'd miss the grimy streets and the constant hum of city.
I suppose it would be neat to travel, and I have traveled, and it was neat... but it always feels nice to be back home, with its comfortable quirks of familiarity and reliably unreliable weather. If I had the money, I'd just squander it on things like flatscreen TVs and women who smell nice.
--Tom McNamara
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