E3: Still Not Dead

It has been nearly been a month since the zombified remains of the Electronic Entertainment Expo held sway over all forms of games-related journalism, giving me plenty of time to reflect what I've learned from it: Nothing. Games that had been previously announced... well, they're still coming out. Games that made money hand over fist are going to get sequels. You can still switch "Too Human" and "Duke Nukem Forever" in any games-related humor article, and nobody will notice. Oh, and the good people at Sony and Microsoft still haven't figured out the delicate art of Public Relations. Just like last year.

But that's okay, because I now receive two different game magazine subscriptions, filling me with articles about this month's World War II shooter, as well as previews about games that will be delayed at least three more times before they come out. Truly, I am better informed about these things than I ought to be.

I don't know how I got a free subscription to Games For Windows, but I'm enjoying it. Each month, they talk about games that I'll never be able to play with my current computer. It takes me back to when I was a kid, buying Gamepro magazine even after they stopped talking about any of the systems I owned. But a few years from now, when I buy a new used computer, I'll be able to look back and know which three year old games I should be buying for it.

And then there's Game Informer. It's the magazine you get for free when a Gamestop employee breaks several store policies to bribe you into getting a Gamestop Edge Membership. Its content is a mix of old news and new infomercials. For example, this month contains an article about Darksiders, a game that honestly believes being able to use an enemy's weapon against him is a new and unique feature. It also introduces two new members of the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, because they couldn't think of any possible way they could make Famine or Pestilence interesting. They were replaced by Fury and Strife, who probably power up by chugging cans of Surge Cola. The article goes on in a fawning manner for about four more pages after that, but I can't remember a word of it. This pretty much sums up the whole magazine.

The question is, what do I do with this knowledge? Until I can afford a next-gen system, I can't use the information to buy decent games . And as Narraptor once told me, it's not like anyone is paying me for knowing so much. In the end, I blame the podcasters of the world. Half of our Tolerable Podcasts have been whittled away, so now it's either Games, Lost, or nothing at all.

Podcast Pimping

Three notable shout-outs.

The November 13th Games For Windows podcast (also linked on our sidebar) has some interesting news bits, like the White Wolf MMO and a mad scientist who has invented an unbreakable game controller. It concludes with a storytime session detailing game reviewers' worst experiences with PR people. If you play games, check it out.

Also worth a listen is the latest Things On. I'm on the fence in regards to their tolerability. Sometimes their thing doesn't seem to be on. This week's podcast contains a long interview with Garrett Wang, Ensign Kim from Star Trek: Voyager. There's some good "Why did that suck so hard?" dirt in there.

Finally, for those of you who don't visit Something Awful on a regular basis, you might have missed a .mp3 interview with Mike Nelson of MST3K.

It Was Late And I Was Tired 1

Talk about a craptaskular Halloween week. Sometimes it's better not to plan anything. Then there are no plans to be ruined.

My wife is now officially a Los Angeleno. Her car was broken into while locked in our apartment building's garage. Just another casualty of being the closest car to the exit, like having Twinkies rubbed into your rear windshield. There are good people somewhere in Los Angeles, right?

Oh, and my connectivity has been shot all week. Hence the odd updates.

I'm not in the mood to be amusing, so I'll let someone else do it for me. Enjoy this Internet chat transcript. You can also check out the latest CGW podcast to hear it performed by the Games For Windows Players.