We’re over two weeks into the month of June and just handed out the Stanley Cup. I can’t be the only one who thinks that hockey has no place in the summer months, right? That’s not the only June thing that I have a problem with. I also have problems with Apple and video game industry trying to steal my money as well. Continue reading
Columns
The Mass Effect 3 Controversy: What Went Wrong And Why It’s Not Entitlement
Last Friday, I posted my spoiler-free review of Mass Effect 3. By going spoiler-free, I didn’t discuss many of the more controversial moments of ME3 as that would involve spoiling most of the game to give any sort of context. While many gamer complaints about the game are written-off by larger gaming media outlets as “gamer entitlement” or gamers looking for a “happy ending,” many gamers have valid complaints about what was promised by BioWare and what they actually shipped in March.
After the jump, I take a look at some of the controversial moments in ME3 ahead of today’s EA press conference at E3. Continue reading
The Humanoids: Say What You Mean
The most dangerous thing these days seems to be words. Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and social media, if you’re famous, your words will live on forever. Anything controversial or contradictory you say will spread like wildfire throughout the Twitterverse and blogosphere. Just ask Ozzie Guillen. Continue reading
Console Wars: Will The PS4 and XBox 720 Kill Console Gaming?
For the last couple of years, rumours have been flying about the next generation of video game consoles. Since, at least, the introduction of the Playstation 2 and original XBox, it seems as though the balance of power (and money) in video gaming belonged to the consoles. Very few if any big games weren’t released on console. However, with some of the recent rumours about the PS4 and the XBox 720, the console manufacturers could destroy themselves to help publishers. Continue reading
The Humanoids: TV’s Bloopers And Practical Jokes
For the first time in what seems like forever (actually, it’s only been four-and-a-half months), I’m back with a fresh edition of The Humanoids column. This week, I take a look at the sad state of TV with a couple of few TV shows I watch regularly in danger of cancellation, I examine the current state of what’s actually put in front of us on TV and who really makes network programming decisions and who influences the scripts that we see on TV every week. Continue reading
What Is SOPA and Why Is The Internet Shutdown Today?
Today is an internet wide protest against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA, the Protect IP Act. Both these acts were drafted as a measure to curb online piracy but it can be politely described as the shotgun approach to a solution. It basically makes everyone liable for piracy from the companies doing any unauthorized streaming or hosting of files, any company that is deemed to facilitate said streaming or downloading, and anyone actually doing the downloading or streaming. In other words, everyone one on the internet could potentially run afoul of SOPA.
For out blackout day post, we’ve got a look at what specifically make SOPA so horrible and what can be done to keep the internet from changing forever. Continue reading
NHL All-Star Game Fan Voting Is Broken; Here’s How To Fix It
The very public ballot box stuffing campaigns of the past seemed to be missing in this year’s NHL All-Star fan voting. However, very quietly, the fans of the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs stuffed the ballot boxes to get their boys into the game as starters. In fact, of the six starters voted in by fans, four are Sens and one is a Make Believe. Eight of the top-nine vote getter played for one of the two Ontario teams.
It has become painfully obvious that the current system of fan voting is broken. Whether the ballot stuffing campaigns are public or not, NHL fans are clearly not using their power to vote in All-Star starters to vote for the best players in the league but as a means to execute some sort of cruel joke on hockey fans everywhere. It’s time that the current system is scrapped in favour of one that mitigates the risk of blatant fan tampering with the All-Star Game. Continue reading
The Humanoids: Jumping The Shark
I’m sure more than a few regular readers would say that the whole Humanoids column has jumped the shark (or is it nuked the fridge). But that means that I wouldn’t be alone because I would have a lot in the way of elite company. Last week, I briefly touched on Twitter’s Trending Topics jumping the shark. This week, I think everything in here has jumped the shark. Continue reading
The Humanoids: Don’t Hate The Player
It’s been an interesting week in the world. Two sports figures caught some major flak for their Halloween costumes. Another sports figure got divorced. And 12-year-olds have cemented their control over Twitter while their hero gets dragged into his first real scandal. It’s almost the status quo. But no one ever said that the status quo was always boring. Continue reading
The Humanoids: Occupy This
It’s been about seven weeks since I last put together a Humanoids column. This week, though, between the Occupy movement and leaking complaints about Google’s strategy, there have been some interesting doings a-transpiring over the last week or so. That’s why I’m occupying The Humanoids column this week in order to get better answers to the burning questions. Specifically: What the hell is Occupy all about? Continue reading
The Lowdown 