Here They Go Attacking Games Again : GTA IV Robbery

I'd like to thank Artofwar for posting this video over on GameTrailers.com. I've got to say this is the stupidest thing the news could feature. It only fuels people like Jack Thompson. Is the news really that desperate for attention?

This video shows a news story in which some guy stole a copy of GTA IV from a Gamestop. This is just a failed attempt at a simple shoplifting, so why should this be featured in the news? I'll tell you why. The new GTA has been long awaited game by gamers and by the people that like to attack games. I think that they were just waiting for this game to come out so they could try to make games look bad some more. This is the kind of thing that really ticks me off. They would never feature a story if someone stole a copy of say half-life 2, or Assassin's Creed. People shoplift stuff all the time and you don't see that featured the way they featured this GTA story.

When the guy was questioned as to why he stole the game, he said "I just wanted it, so I took it." Then they go on to say that, Oh, this is what GTA makes people do. In my opinion that's bullshit! The guy desired the game so he took it. When people desire something enough and don't want to pay or can't pay they take it. It's just that simple. A game can't make someone do this.

I think that this is just going to fuel people like Jack Thompson, with all his assaults on video gaming. I don't know if you know this already, but a couple of weeks ago I think, Jack Thompson actually sent a letter to the chairman of Take Two's mother. He sent a friggin' letter to the chairman's mother! What the hell?! I don't remember the exact contents of the letter, but basically he was saying that the chairman is destroying the youth with games, or something like that. You might be able to find it somewhere online if you haven't seen it.

DAMN, I'm pissed now!

Let me know what you guys think.

MOD UPDATE: Shadow on the Sun

I have been working on this Crysis map for quite some time. There have been many delays due to school work and trying to learn the Crysis editor at the same time. This is a preview for my map, which is focused on delivering a chaos-like atmosphere with bad weather and explosions to give the experience of chaotic combat.

Music in this video by:

Audioslave

Blue October

and Billy Talent.

Blog comments and video comments will be much appreciated, and please be sure to tell your friends.

Thanks for watching!

Here's the Preview Video:


Online Videos by Veoh.com

UNCROWNED : Custom Gaming Machine

Machine Name: UNCROWNED

Owner: Me (4500X) aka (Apollo GT)
Country: USA

DESCRIPTION:

I just finished building this PC last week. I chose the name "UNCROWNED" because the whole time I was lining up my parts, all I could think about was kings and combat. I usually name my machines based on what's going through my mind. But just naming it "King Machine" or something like that would sound really lame, so I decided to go in a different direction. So I developed a small back-story that tells of a crown-less king at war. That is why I chose to name this PC "UNCROWNED."

SPECS:

Case: NZXT Apollo Gaming Chasis (temporary)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard: Asus Striker II Formula nForce 780i
Memory: 4GB Patriot Viper DDR2 RAM
GPU: 2x Asus EN9800GTX in SLI Mode
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit

IMAGES: ( Note: The Case you see in the below pics are not final. This NZXT case is only temporary. I'm going to switch over to the Thermaltake Armor Extreme case for this machine sometime soon. I will add a new updated blog with new images then.)

Do Six Things Project

Student: Charles Gough
Class: IDIS 101

Back in January, I started my first semester at the University of Baltimore with Simulation & Digital Entertainment as my major. In my Applied Learning and Study Skills class(IDIS 101), we were given a "Do Six Things" Project early on in the semester. The purpose of this project is to get students involved in learning outside of the classroom. The Do Six Things project includes deciding what kinds of learning experiences are imortant to you, finding six things that are happening around the campus, attend them, and then present an accounting of your experiences. So, if you haven't figured it out already, my presentation will be in the form of a blog. For my events, I chose items that were all listed on the student calender on the schools website. The events I attended are listed below with descriptions of what I learned, what I did, etc.


PC to Mac 101 (Feb. 2)

- I don't plan on switching to a mac anytime soon, but I attended this even for a couple of reasons. First, I think it is important to know the workings of more that one platform with most things that you do. Second, I wanted to attend something that had to do with computers.

- During this event, I learned some of the basic differences between the mac and the PC. I did not have time to stay very long, but I did a little research afterwards when I had some time. Another thing I found out was that the mac platform is capable of running Microsoft's Windows operating system. I would participate in more of these kinds of activities because being versitile with technology is a great skill to have.


XNA Game Studio Express Development - with Microsoft's Cy Khormaee (April 4)

- XNA is a development tool that can be used by advanced users or even beginners to create games for the Windows and Xbox 360 platforms.

- I chose to attend this event because of the fact that I am majoring in game development.

- At this event I learned some of the steps involved in creating a game with XNA Game Studio Express. Some of the stages include; concepting, planning, writing code, audio with XNA's X-ACT sound tool and graphics programming. I do plan to do more of these type of things because I find that meeting with industry leaders and hearing the details from them will be of great help with my future plans.

LAN Party (April 4)

- This was not the first LAN party I have been to, but everytime I hear LAN party, I have to go. LAN Parties are video gaming get-togethers where gamers compete with each other in the latest games on the market.

- Many LAN parties are centered around teams, which is a good way for people to learn to work together as a strong team to accomplish a goal. Plus, they are fun to compete in.

The Nuts & Bolts of Emailing (April 5)

- I attended this event to see if there was anything more that I could learn about emailing. Unfortunately, I didn't get any info that I did not already know. However, I would still recommend this type of event to someone else because the info that was given during the event did seem quite useful. I know that if I were someone who perhaps did not know anything about emailing, I'd be able to get a good start and improve from there, with the information provided at this event.


HTML with Style: Using CSS (April 12)

- I went to this event because that I knew that I did not know much about HTML with CSS (cascading style sheets). Before attending this event, I would still be able to identify a CSS if I saw one, but I could have told you nothing of how they worked. I've see them used often on sites such as www.myspace.com where they are used in profile pages to give them a specified theme.

- I would engage in another experience like this one because I learned a liitle bit more about CSS and how they work, so that's one more thing I'll know how to do once I continue to put time and effort into it.



500 Years ( I don't remember the exact title of the event) (April 15)

- I arrived late, but basically The 500 Years event was a video showing about slavery, and racism. In the presentation, people shared thier thoughts of what could be considered as racism, the trials and tribulations that African Americans went through during the days of slavery, and how many believe that racism still exists today's society.

Conclusion

Though most of the events that I attended were based around computers, if the future I do plan on going to other types of events as well. I'm really a PC Enthusiast, which is why I tend to take more intrest in computer-related topics. However, I know that great learning experiences are ones that cover more diverse topics, rather than just one central topic. So in my continuing studies at the University of Baltimore and beyond, I am willing to make broad-range learning my goal.