From the Brow of Zeus

Here's a little something from the vaults: A rant titled Think Outside the Treasure Chest.

I dig skimpy chainmail babes as much as the next guy, but I'll never understand the video game industry's obsession with fantasy RPGs. Sure, early RPGs ripped their play mechanics from D&D, which borrowed heavily from Tolkien, who was inspired by mythology -- but that's no reason EVERY FREAKING RPG must contain magic and goblins.

Click here to read Think Outside the Treasure Chest

Written in 2001; still holds true today.

Labels: videogames

I use a game trading site, which lets me swap used games for points, then cash in those points on other used games. It actually works really well, because it solves the age-old problem of trying to find someone who not only has games you want, but wants one of your games in return.

Anyway, I sent out a copy of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 for GBA a couple of weeks ago, and never got any feedback. Worried, I sent a Private Message asking if they got the game. The reply I received was priceless:

Sorry about not being able to reply earlier. I got grounded off the computer. I got the game and I loved it so much my eyes were shriveled up from playing it so much

That is awesome upon badass. Things like that make me miss being a kid.

Labels: videogames

When I saw there was an article over at Cracked called A History of Violence: 6 Old School Games as Brutal as GTA, I checked it out to see if they had discovered Chiller, an arcade game I once called, "the most brutal, violent and sadistic videogame of all time." (Link to my Ironic Consumer review.)

Not only did they list Chiller, they made it their #1.

But there was something oddly... familiar about this screenshot.



That's right -- same point total, same time left on the clock, same last minute 300 point shot.

I actually like Cracked. Hell, I link to them on my website. It's just too bad they couldn't have tossed poor, neglected Ironic Consumer a little link. (Neglected, but not too obscure -- we're the primary source cited on Wikipedia and the top the Google search.)

When Games Radar used some of Flying Omelette's screenshots for an article called The Top 7... Nudity You Didn't Notice (in video games), they were kind enough to credit her for her work.

It's one thing to steal images from other websites when you're independent and barely covering the cost of web hosting with AdSense. But I kind of expected more from professionals.

I may not be the first guy to cover Chiller, but I'm pretty damn sure I 'm the first to use that screenshot -- especially considering I'm the one who took it

Update: I heard back from Jack O'Brien, EIC at Cracked. He apologized and added a link to Ironic Consumer. No hard feelings on my part. I don't really mind if people use our images, just as long as we receive credit. (Visa, Mastercard, anything but American Express.)

Labels: videogames