Normally, I would want to talk about the new Nintendo news going on like the Smash Bros Leak, the Pokemon/Tekken fusion and the Mario Kart 8 DLC. But I have to get this out of the way.
Days ago, I talked about the flight of Sony Online CEO John Smedley getting diverted to Phoenix, Arizona over a false bomb threat. And once again, it seems there is a new low within gaming. This time, directed at the host of "Tropes vs Women" Anita Sarkeesian.
Ever since the start of her kickstarter towards the "Tropes vs Women" video blog, Anita has been on the receiving end of harassment by various gamers and trolls. Defenders like Tim Schafer and Jim Sterling had to stand up for her, with Jim pointing out that Anita wouldn't have had this kind of publicity if the angry gamers didn't flip out over this.
But now, it has come to this.
Sarkeesian, whose video articles showcase negative representations of women in video games,
often publishes captions of threats she is sent via Twitter, email and
though other communication channels. Many of these threats include
sexual violence, while some mention her address and family.
On Wednesday the situation had escalated to the point that she contacted the authorities and vacated her home.
"Some very scary threats have just been made against me and my
family. Contacting authorities now," she wrote on Twitter, before
adding:
"I'm safe. Authorities have been notified. Staying with friends
tonight. I'm not giving up. But this harassment of women in tech must
stop!"
The threats and hateful comments sent to Sarkeesian are often in
response to her collection of essays, called Tropes Versus Women, which
examines why women are often represented as powerless, sexualised and
enfeebled characters in games.
Though a vocal, and often abusive, minority of games enthusiasts
condemn her work, Sarkeesian's analysis is widely praised by some of the
most prominent games industry figures, from Tim Schafer to Naughty Dog
creative director Neil Druckman.
I'm no fan of Anita. Heck, I barely even watch her videos. But this kind of attack was a new low for many of these gamers. And I, frankly, am ashamed that this is happening. To those of you who justify this, you need to get a grip. There is no justification to this what-so-ever. You can like or dislike her videos. But these kinds of attacks need to stop for the sake of sanity, because by doing this, you will end up justifying Antia's arguments.
That is all.
Works Cited:
Computer and Video Games
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
How to go too far.
Early yesterday, a group of hackers known as Lizard Squad has taken down the Playstation Network and Blizzard's Battle.Net servers(Along with various others). This is what Shack News had to say
Several gaming servers have been at the receiving end of DDoS attacks over the past several hours. Blizzard's Battle.net servers, Riot's League of Legends, Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile, and PlayStation Network are among those under attack by a group of hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad.
Several tweets have gone up throughout Saturday evening, in which Lizard Squad has taken responsibility for the attacks. The group started with Blizzard's servers that include Hearthstone, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft and others. The group quickly spread to League of Legends and Path of Exile before deciding to spread their terror to PlayStation Network. The latter's outage is not related to the scheduled maintenance set to begin Monday morning.
A harmless little DDOS attack, nothing to worry about except no way to play your favorite games online, right? Then just recently, it started to get worse.
This
afternoon at around 1:30pm Eastern, the group Lizard Squad tweeted at
American Airlines to say that a flight carrying John Smedley, president
of SOE, the developer behind EverQuest Next among other games, had "explosives on-board."
Wait a minute. What did Jason Schrier of Kotaku say? And this about the Lizard Squad?
At around 3:00pm Eastern, Smedley tweeted that American Airlines had changed his flight's destination.
And thus my faith in humanity just dropped.
Folks, there is nothing funny about this incident what-so-ever. It doesn't matter what problems the company has, pulling something like this off is going too far. I urge gamers who ether like or hate Sony to condemn this kind of incident. There is no justification in this kind of Twitter Pranks.
Works Cited:
Shack News
Kotaku
Several gaming servers have been at the receiving end of DDoS attacks over the past several hours. Blizzard's Battle.net servers, Riot's League of Legends, Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile, and PlayStation Network are among those under attack by a group of hackers calling themselves Lizard Squad.
Several tweets have gone up throughout Saturday evening, in which Lizard Squad has taken responsibility for the attacks. The group started with Blizzard's servers that include Hearthstone, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft and others. The group quickly spread to League of Legends and Path of Exile before deciding to spread their terror to PlayStation Network. The latter's outage is not related to the scheduled maintenance set to begin Monday morning.
A harmless little DDOS attack, nothing to worry about except no way to play your favorite games online, right? Then just recently, it started to get worse.
American
Airlines has diverted a flight carrying the president of Sony Online
Entertainment following what may have been a bomb threat by a group
of alleged hackers—the same group that has claimed responsibility for a
series of outages across the PlayStation Network and other gaming
services this weekend.
Wait a minute. What did Jason Schrier of Kotaku say? And this about the Lizard Squad?
At around 3:00pm Eastern, Smedley tweeted that American Airlines had changed his flight's destination.
"Something about security and our cargo," Smedley added.
American
Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but their
website's flight tracker confirms that the airline diverted flight #362
this afternoon. Representatives for SOE also did not immediately
respond to requests for comment.And thus my faith in humanity just dropped.
Folks, there is nothing funny about this incident what-so-ever. It doesn't matter what problems the company has, pulling something like this off is going too far. I urge gamers who ether like or hate Sony to condemn this kind of incident. There is no justification in this kind of Twitter Pranks.
Works Cited:
Shack News
Kotaku
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
NPD Super Late June 2014
So yeah. I'm super late, considering the July numbers are due tomorrow. But I will get this done.
At number 10: GTA V by Rockstar/Take 2 Interactive for the 360 and PS3. Warning, stay off online due to a certain annoying mod.
At number 09: Tomodachi Life by Nintendo for the 3DS. As if Animal Crossing wasn't enough
At number 08: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Rumor has it that Advanced Warfare will also be on the Wii U in addition to the usual suspects.
At number 07: Wolfenstein: The New Order for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Evening Red
At number 06: NBA 2K14 by 2K Games for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. We still miss seeing Michael Jordan on the hoops.
At number 05: FIFA 14 by EA for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and Vita. Wait, wasn't there a 3DS, Wii and PS2 version as well?
At number 04: UFC by EA for the PS4 and XBone. The problem is, trying to decide which version is the best
At number 03: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. Who said you need a huge budget to win?
At number 02: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Now with seven troublemaking Koopas
And at Number 01: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the PS4, 360, XBone, PS3 and PC. Wii U version coming soon.
It was during that time that Mario Kart 8 sales were at the 885K range and are close to hitting the 1 million unit sold range. Even more so, it is said that the XBox family has sold the most games across the 360 and XBone combined.
As for hardware, it's no secret that the PS4 is outselling the XBone. The 3DS is holding steady. But surprisingly, the Wii U is now above 100K, hovering around the 140K range. Mario Kart 8 may have helped give Nintendo that boost.
How well will Mario Kart 8 keep Nintendo above? More importantly, how well will the industry fair in this drought? Stay tuned this week when I reveal the NPD of July.
Works Cited: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=857224
At number 10: GTA V by Rockstar/Take 2 Interactive for the 360 and PS3. Warning, stay off online due to a certain annoying mod.
At number 09: Tomodachi Life by Nintendo for the 3DS. As if Animal Crossing wasn't enough
At number 08: Call of Duty: Ghosts by Activision for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone, Wii U and PC. Rumor has it that Advanced Warfare will also be on the Wii U in addition to the usual suspects.
At number 07: Wolfenstein: The New Order for the 360, PS3, XBone, PS4 and PC. Evening Red
At number 06: NBA 2K14 by 2K Games for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and PC. We still miss seeing Michael Jordan on the hoops.
At number 05: FIFA 14 by EA for the 360, PS3, PS4, XBone and Vita. Wait, wasn't there a 3DS, Wii and PS2 version as well?
At number 04: UFC by EA for the PS4 and XBone. The problem is, trying to decide which version is the best
At number 03: Minecraft by Mojang for the 360 and PS3. Who said you need a huge budget to win?
At number 02: Mario Kart 8 by Nintendo for the Wii U. Now with seven troublemaking Koopas
And at Number 01: Watch Dogs by Ubisoft for the PS4, 360, XBone, PS3 and PC. Wii U version coming soon.
It was during that time that Mario Kart 8 sales were at the 885K range and are close to hitting the 1 million unit sold range. Even more so, it is said that the XBox family has sold the most games across the 360 and XBone combined.
As for hardware, it's no secret that the PS4 is outselling the XBone. The 3DS is holding steady. But surprisingly, the Wii U is now above 100K, hovering around the 140K range. Mario Kart 8 may have helped give Nintendo that boost.
How well will Mario Kart 8 keep Nintendo above? More importantly, how well will the industry fair in this drought? Stay tuned this week when I reveal the NPD of July.
Works Cited: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=857224
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