Hello everyone, first off, apologies for my lack of updating
this blog for many months now. I’ve been very busy with my other writing
pursuits but I am now going to try to re-establish a weekly posting schedule
for Inner Thoughts of a Quiet Gamer.
In this new weekly feature, I will be covering the latest
announcements and happenings within the gaming world which I feel you need to
know about. Below each section, I’ve included a handy source link in case you’d
like to learn more about a particular story. For more pressing news, reviews,
and opinions about the gaming world, be sure to head on over to VGU.TV where
you’ll find more work by both myself and my fellow writing compatriots. And
now, on to the news!
This Week: September
23rd-29th, 2013
Full Steam Ahead
This week was what many are dubbing “Steam Week” as
PC-centric Steam developer Valve made a trio of exciting new announcements
which focused on their new mission of breaking down the barriers between PC
gaming and “sit on your couch and chill” console gaming.
First there was SteamOS, a new gaming-focused Linux-based
operating system which will be free to download and will allow users to play
Linux-compatible Steam games natively on their televisions using Steam’s Big
Picture mode. SteamOS will also allow users to stream non-Linux Steam games
from their default Windows or Mac PC over their home network.
Then there are the Steam Machines; a new series of licensed
gaming systems which are being developed and manufactured by several different
companies in partnership with Valve. All Steam Machines will come pre-packaged
with SteamOS installed and will be available in a number of different makes and
models in order to fit a particular gamer’s needs and budget.
Lastly, for those who prefer to d a majority of their gaming
with a controller instead of a mouse and keyboard, Valve unveiled the Steam
Controller which features a unique new design that many are calling
“futuristic.” Instead of traditional thumbsticks, the Steam Controller features
two “trackpads” which supposedly allow for much higher fidelity input when
reading a player’s commands.
You can check out the full coverage of Valve’s various
announcements over at Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/8/3852012/steam-box-valves-partnerships-for-big-picture-gaming
One Step Forward, Two
Steps Back…
Despite many gamers’ best efforts to show that their hobby
is neither the work of the devil nor a catalyst for worldwide perpetrations of
violence, there continues to be a constant parade of ignorant individuals who
end up putting their own feet in their mouths while trying to denounce video
games.
First there was this story from Kotaku about a Malaysian
member of parliament named Reezal Merican Bin Naina Merican. Mr. Merican is
currently trying to convince his government to ban Rockstar’s recently released
Grand Theft Auto V on the grounds
that it is too violent. His reasoning is that the game has already been banned
in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Only they haven’t. In fact,
of the billions in dollars of sales GTA V
has already accrued, many of those dollars have in fact come from American
and UK-based buyers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMhiZ6iwjr4
In the above linked clip, Mr. Merican tries to denounce both GTA V and Capcom’s Devil May Cry 3, a game that was released in 2005 mind you, showing
just how out of touch and clueless he is about the media he’s trying to
denounce. Sadly, according to users who posted on both Kotaku and the clip’s
YouTube page, this is actually fairly standard practice for Malaysian
politicians; trying to blame video games for the country’s crime and violence
issues instead of something that, you know, might make more sense like their
uneven distribution of wealth or severely lackluster education system….
The original Kotaku article: http://kotaku.com/malaysian-politician-makes-crap-up-says-gtav-is-banned-1409349580
My, Oh My Minecraft…
One foreign government’s backwards view of video games is
bad enough, but sadly our own country still manages to harbor its fair share of
people who’d rather blame video games for violence-related issues. Such a case
happened last Friday when a nine year old boy was sentenced to home confinement
by a judge after coming to school with a steak knife, a small-handled sledge
hammer, and his father’s handgun in his backpack. The boy was acting out what
he’d seen in a game according to his father; the game in question? Minecraft.
Yes, you read that correctly, Minecraft.
According to the local Florida news team which covered the
story, the boy had no intentions of actually using the weapons and instead was
just keeping them as a means to protect himself from zombies, which is
something you do in Minecraft. The boy’s father later confirmed that the
handgun couldn’t even be fired as the firing pin had been removed.
That still didn’t stop the news network from painting
Minecraft, a game which is being used as part of first grade curriculum in
other states for god’s sake, in a very negative light; essentially blaming it
for the child’s behavior instead of, oh I don’t know, the parent who kept a
steak knife, a small sledgehammer, and a freaking *handgun* within easy reach
of his child.
Original Kotaku source: http://kotaku.com/now-weve-heard-it-all-minecraft-blamed-in-school-viol-1418633346
That’s the major news of this week folks! Tune in next week
to see what new announcements and stories the gaming world brings us!
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