Autosave Should Be Mandatory

Dead Space 2 is in my PS3 right now, and I don't even want to play it. Why? Because I turned it on and discovered I didn't save my game from the night before. I have to replay hours of progress because Dead Space requires gamers to manually save. It's 2011. Get with the program Dead Space. Stop obsessing over my mother and add an Autosave patch.

Dead Space 2 isn't the only game stuck in the past. No More Heroes adds some toilet humor to the mix. In order to save your game you must take Travis to a bathroom and let him use the toilet. You apparently save your game on toilet paper. It was cute in the first game, annoying in the sequel. I had to fight the same boss so many times because I'd forget to go take Travis to the bathroom. That got old fast.

3DS vs NGP

In one corner we have the Nintendo 3DS. Due to be released March 27, 2011 in the United States, the 3DS will be sold at a retail price of $249.99. Make sure to enter in one of the Free 3DS Contests that many websites are promoting. You never know. Expected launch titles include Resident Evil Mercenaries 3D and Ridge Racer 3D. I'm especially excited about Pokemon Black & White which will be available March 6th in the United States.

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In the other corner we have the Sony codenamed NGP. Next Generation Portable is proof that big things come in small packages. It apparently is as powerful as the PlayStation 3 and is smaller than the PSP-3000. It's launch titles are unknown, and it's price remain a mystery. It is expected to launch this holiday season. I hope that sticks.

Who will be the winner? Those lucky enough to enjoy these wonderful products. Game on

Pros and Cons of the NGP

NGP. Never Gonna Play, Not Gonna Purchase, No Go People, Next Generation Poop. Next Generation Portable is a horrible name for a device that should just be called the PSP 2. Maybe Sony is trying to distance itself from the Playstation Portable. According to Wikipedia it sold over 61 million units which is impressive, but compared to Nintendo's 144 million DS' sold PSP stands in a distant second. Sales of PSP games have not been all that impressive either. Pokemon Black & White sold more units than all but 3 PSP titles in 48 hours. Sony's got some catching up to do. How does Sony plan on catching up to Nintendo? By releasing it's successor to the PSP at least six months after the Nintendo's successor to the DS, 3DS, hits stores.

NGP seems doomed from the start. The 3DS has already established itself with a release date, price, and launch titles. Who knows how many millions of units the 3DS will have sold by the time the NGP is released. The price of the NGP is anyone's guess, and I'm not sure people are willing to spend another $300+ dollars on a portable system after buying a 3DS. I'm going to wait for either a price drop or a redesigned NGP. I was never a fan of the original PSP design and to see it come back for the NGP was a little disappointing.

The software presented seemed cool. Seems there will be an Uncharted, Killzone, Motorstorm, and other Sony console favorites on the NGP. The problem with that is that Sony is banking on it's established mascots to sell the NGP. NGP needs an original IP and fast. Every Nintendo portable system I've ever owned was for a Pokemon game. Sony needs a game like that on it's portable device.

The hardware is impresive. It apparently is as powerful as the PS3 and is smaller than a PSP-3000 which says big things do come in small packages. Just because it's as powerful as the PS3 doesn't mean I want to see remakes of PS3 games on the NGP. Either give us original adventures or don't give us anything at all. I'm a little concerned that some franchises are going to be over saturated thanks to NGP. If Uncharted on the NGP is the best selling game I predict a sequel within a year to complement the newly announced Uncharted game after Drake's Deception. Slow and Steady wins the race. My only requests are the price stays under $300 dollars and that NGP can play PS2 games similar to PS One Classics on the PSP.

Jim Sterling and Black America

 

It's about time Jim Sterling got a 101 on Black America. We all know there are idiots out there in the online gaming world. If you haven't been called a faggot by someone online consider yourself lucky. Why did you have to write an article about the unfavorable levels about President Obama in LittleBigPlanet 2? Is this a reflection of how you feel about the president? Is that why you mentioned the Kill Obama level in your title? Lets look at your first paragraph:

"Hey guys, did you hear that Barack Obama is a bad president? He is such a bad president, actually! We should do something to assert our political beliefs and take a stand for what we believe in? How about we create a level in LittleBigPlanet 2 where we get to kill the president? THAT WILL SHOW HIM!" - Jim Sterling

Barack Obama is a symbol of progress for African Americans. The thought of him being assassinated has existed ever since he announced he was running for office. Whenever I see something as dumb as levels that promote killing President Obama I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with his job performance. If that were the case the message would be "Impeach Obama" much like the "Impeach Bush" messages that appeared while he was president. It's all about a black man being the most powerful man in the world.

Why contribute a paragraph explaining the possible motives behind the ignorance in LittleBigPlanet 2? It might not even be the reason why these people created the levels. I think most people do insensitive things online for shock value in hopes that journalists like yourself give them exposure. If you really had a problem with the levels you would have simply reported it, or at least called out the people who created the levels. You didn't mention any of the level creators once in your article. All you did was open the flood gates for more people to make Kill Obama levels in hopes that you'll write a story about them.

I know you're not the most sensitive person when it comes to African Americans, but why should you be? You're a British immigrant who will never completely grasp what it means to be an African American in the United States. That was evident when you began tweeting about why you should be able to use the word nigger. You said you didn't want to sound like a child by saying the N-Word. It's either sound like a child or a racist. Pick One. Your argument that blacks have it better than ever might be true, but we're not going to abandon our past because you want to say the word nigger. Not going to happen.

My first two years of college I went to UMASS Dartmouth, a school that is about 85% white. I didn't really care if anyone said the word "nigga," and my white friends caught on to that. Before I knew it I'd be the only black kid in a room full of white kids saying the word nigga in every sentence. It got to the point where I wasn't sure if they were saying the word as a term of endearment or being ignorant. The line becomes really blurry when a white person says the word nigga, and since I have to question your intentions I just assume it's negative. It's best not to say it.

The word "Nigger" on the other hand can only mean something hateful. There's no way around that. If anyone in my mother or grandmothers generation heard you trying to justify using the word, Al Sharpton would be knocking on your door as I write this. I'd hate to see someone I respect as a journalist get blackballed after being made out to look like a racist.

Dead Space 2 Loves Your Mother

Why would any gamer care what their mother thinks about Dead Space 2? Is that the best you could come up with to promote the game? Only way I can explain it is someone at EA is seeing their MILF fetish come to life. Why else would we have commercials of older women reacting to a videogame they never heard of? Then there's the creepy sweepstakes where you enter by sending in videos of your mothers reaction to Dead Space 2. Why are you so obsessed with my mother EA? I can't wait to see what Dead Space has planned for Mother's Day.

Happy Birthday Errol Games

Videogame Census 2011

Videogame journalists are a dime a dozen on the internet. One thing nearly all of these websites fail to mention is the age of any of the people who contribute to the culture. It's time the gaming industry had a census. If you consider yourself to be a gaming journalist say how old you are. We can take all of the data and find the average age of a Gaming Journalist in 2011. I'll go first, I'm 22.

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Blow has every right to be mad at CVG for making a story out of his interview, but did he have to write a post insulting them? I'd say what CVG did is an exercise in creative writing. If Blow is going to lead a crusade against a gaming website he could do a better job at choosing a target. If I were a game developer I'd play nice with the people who have an ear to us gamers. Nobody likes an angry game developer.

Hadouken!!!

Ryu and Ken have been fighting each other for so long. One would think they would work out their differences by now. Why can't we all just get along, or at least change our outfits every now and again? A new hairstyle isn't a bad idea either you guys.

I hope Ken plans to avoid that Hadouken thrown by Ryu. He's already losing the fight with 70 seconds remaining. The crowd of 7 people on the boat (2 on the upper deck, 5 on the lower deck) seem to be enjoying the match as they cheer on the fighters. I always wondered why Ryu & Ken fight barefoot. Seems like a good way to catch a splinter on the wooden boardwalk they're fighting on. Looks like a nice day to be at sea for the people on the boat. They've got blue skies and the water looks calm. It's probably a little chilly considereing everyone on the boat is wearing long sleeves. It appears they're coming back since the anchor to the boat is in the water. I really hope Ken plans to avoid that Hadouken. That blue ball of energy looks mighty painful.