Archive for the 'Other' Category

Rex Baaum died on the streets, a victim of brutal attacks by three American teenagers in 2004. Nathan Moore (aged 15) and his friends Luis Oyola (16) and Andrew Ihrcke (17) savagely beat, and murdered the homeless man for no particular reason at all.

The press has found a pretty good reason for the murder though, video gaming. Ihrcke told the police when they were arrested that the event reminded him of a “violent video game”. Clearly, the press jumped on this as the cause of what happened that day. The media all over the world is obsessed with blaming things for murders; most usually it’s focused on music, Hollywood as well as independent cinema and video games. The way I see it, it is much easier and less stressful for the families involved for the media to place the blame on an external entity that no one had any control over, than blaming the parents themselves. Gabe of Penny Arcade did just that three days ago, stressing the fact that parents are most usually to blame for their children’s faults and that the problem usually lies in lack of communication. Yesterday though, Gabe posted an email sent to him in response from one of the parents of said ‘young adults’ describing the criminal nature of the teenager and how nothing they did made him fee bad for what he had done.

As I write this, my teeth are clenched, my hands are shaking, and my whole body is seething with the hatred I feel for this kid and what he has done. Seeing the article brings back all the horrible memories from when he lived with us.

He was constantly in trouble in school, with the cops, with us, with his mother, and with anyone else who was an authority figure. Not a week went by that the school or the cops wouldn’t call us for something. His attitude was basically “fuck you, I don’t have to listen to you” said with a shrug.

And later on in the letter she goes on to say,

I can’t stand hearing about the so-called correlation between games and real-life violence. Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it’s unfortunate that the correlation is there.

The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he’s done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants.

I can only sigh in disbelief that anyone could be so disconnected from a conscience and not have any remorse for doing such a terrible thing, and then trying to cover up their pure evil by attempting to stir up controversy. I’m not bitter that he’s blaming video games or anything; the fact is I felt it necessary to point out the media’s obsession to blame anything they possibly can for things that happen. This young man has clearly used the sensationalist attributes of the media as an excuse for his entirely evil actions.

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Just thought i'd take this chance to let you know we've started a new section on the side bar just over there. We'll be using it to direct you in the way of great music that you should definitely check out if you are even slightly interested in music (I did start this site original to talk about music AND games). Make sure to add us as friends and drop us a line on our MySpace page. Let us know what your think about it and you may win a free comment back from us, how exciting!! (clearly any suggestions for future functions are welcome ).

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Hey just a quick note. A reader recently pointed out that you can't actually comment on blog posts over here unless you are logged in to Wordpress.com, I didn't actually realise this until now (I know, super newbie). So i've changed this now (Thanks Becky) and so now hopefully more of you lurkers can comment? Sorry for my lack of posts also, there's a distinct lack of game news at the moment and ive also just started a new job so been kinda busy/tired I've got some stuff to post later this evening so watch out.

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One of my largest interests is reading blogs. I just can’t get enough! I usually browse a large amount of sites before I actually sit down and do anything on the internet. It’s like a daily occurrence along with checking emails. This is the first instalment in a series of posts detailing some of the other blogs I read and why I like them.

Game People is a very modern games blog cleverly aimed towards both casual and non-gamers. Much of its posts are written in a clear and friendly way straying away from the jargon based blogger stance that many websites are written in. Set out like a version of Top Trumps the writers include people from all walks of life and each has their own card detailing the writer’s experiences and day to day lives. The site has been going since late 2006 and shows no sign of stopping. If you’re interested in a games site sans bias, definitely check out Game People like… right now!

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I know this isn't particularly related to what I usualy write about here but, I think this man deserves recognition.

The man himself was called Momofuku Ando and was born in Taiwan in 1910 and relocated to Japan in 1930. He founded the Nissin Food Products company after World War II. His 'instant noodle' product has had a revolutionary effect on the food industry, selling 85.7 million packs of noodles every year. Since the creation of 'cup noodle' in 1971 the magnificent taste and ease to cook has made sales of Ando's product skyrocket. Ando even opened a museum in Osaka documenting and displaying the history of instant noodles.

His idea to create a product that is quick and easy to make and also easy to package has had a huge effect. In my life, i've been enjoying import noodles for a few years now and I never realised before the effect that this man had on the industry. Taking a look in my local Asian import store there are many varieties of packaged Ramen, Udon and other types of noodles. If it wasn't for Ando, what would I eat when I feel like a quick snack?

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Merry Christmas everyone!

I would post from my Wii right now but I wanted to post my address book code. Feel free to add me, my number is 8050 6190 5192 5459. Comment this post with all your wii codes too, I want to steal all your Mii's

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Your friendly neighbourhood blog '8bit Hero!' is recruiting. We are looking for someone exactly like you, someone that loves games. If you live, breathe and generally love gaming then we can help you. You know that feeling when you just want to tell everyone about a new game you've played or the announcement of some super exciting news, well now you can. If your as annoyed with my constant slew of Nintendo news as I am, you can help us change that! If your a budding writer and would like to write about games. Then give us a shout. All you have to do is send me some info. What you do for a living, where your from, your favourite games/systems etc, as well as any writing/industry experience you've had before. You can get in touch by emailing me, Kerri at xavious(at)gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you

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Just thought I'd let you guys know, if any of you have myspace hit us up and add us as a 'friend' Boost it to our page

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Got a message from Craig last night, aparently he's been hospitalised and obviously won't be able to blog for a while, poor Craig. I sure hope he gets well soon, its weird not being able to chat to him on Google Talk.

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Today I went to pick up a Wii information pack from GAME for preordering the Wii, basically all it contains is a guide to all the stuff coming out on launch and stuff we already knew about such as channels, backward compatability etc etc. I also managed to pick up some free stuff with it which, i’ve decided to give away to you, our lovely readers :). I don’t know if any of you will actually enter to win any of this but I thought it might be something a little fun to do. Any person who comments on this post by midnight on Sunday the 12th of November (GMT) has a chance of winning this stuff.

Destroy All Humans! 2 Soundtrack
Pokemon Mystery Team Bookmark and
Pokemon Mystery Team Notepad

As I said before, all you gotta do to win this crap is to comment this post and a winner will be chosen at random this on Monday. Also make sure there is a way I can get in contact with you (attach an email address to your comment, link to your site etc).

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