Monk

We are finally getting a solid word on GTA 5. Apparently it is coming out in the spring. As much as I love GTA, which is my favorite video-game world, I am not certain that I will be able to jump on board with the new one. I'm not sure my Xbox is going to still be around when the game finally makes it out of the workshop, and I doubt I can be so excited about it to get a new console for one game, nor even for two games, if you count the new BioShock game that also interests me.

If they opened up the game sexually, that might be one thing, but one suspects that, if anything, they will buckle under all the politico-feminist correctness and make the game tamer than ever - forget about being able to beat and knife short-skirted babes! They might even tone down the strip club rather than heat it up, if they do not do away with the strip club altogether.

But I don't know. I will keep listening for news and scuttlebutt on the game, and if my Xbox still has a pulse, I'll probably give it a run, just to see how things are going with an old favorite.

(Source: ONTD)

The first image depicts a woman drawn to resemble me who is tied up with a wii controller shoved in her mouth while being raped by Mario from behind. The second image is another drawing (clearly sketched to resemble me) featuring a chained nude figure on her knees with 5 penises ejaculating on her face with the words “fuck toy” written on her torso.

-- Helen Lewis

Ms. Lewis is a feminist media critic, and she has jumped into the rough and tumble gamer world by taking on the generally sexualized depictions of women in our video games - big breasts, shapely asses, barely-there costumes. She has since become the object of a full-scale hate campaign online. There was even a game that allowed players to beat her up, but I think that one has been taken down.

Personally, I appreciate that women are more than the sizes of their bra-cups and their short-shorts, and I understand that female characters should not all be Playboy bunnies, but I wonder how much this is really the case. I'm not much of a gamer, so that I may not be very familiar with that world, but one of the reasons why I am not a gamer is because it seemed to me that just about all the games available to the general public are rather childized, at least in terms of sexuality. There just aren't that many Grand Theft Auto 4 games out there that allow you, for instance, to pick up a prostitute, have sex with her in your car, and then enables you to beat and kill her afterward. Some people may say, "Thank god!" for that, but I'm asking is the problem therefore that great?

If the feminist campaign is about calling for representations of women to be less sexy - normal breasts, modest dress - I can agree with that. Though, I would also ask that we be allowed to enjoy some adult games that give us sexual nudity and raw sex, maybe even a rape scene every once in a while. As I understand it, Xbox won't even allow games that are rated 'Adults Only', and I don't think such games are even available where I am at.

Fantasy is a big part of our lives in our crowded, complex modern world, and I believe we should want to keep that as open and creative as possible, as well as socially responsible, and I think this is a case where all these diverse interests can be satisfactorily pursued. As with movies, we have a broad swath of shows that are family friendly and that are sexually clean and respectful of women, and we have more mature movies that can be sexually provocative, and we also have pornograhy that is reasonably accessible. I don't see why we cannot have this with our video games as well.

A new Spider-Man video game is announced on OhNoTheyDidnt. My interest in it is nil, but it reminded me that weeks have past since I last picked up Grand Theft Auto 4.

I think I know why I have let it slip off my radar, besides the fact that I have been as satisfied as I have ever been in my reading life, with this Dostoevsky biography as well as that dark little excursion “Let’s Go Play at the Adams’”.

I have advanced to the late stages of GTA 4 where all the action is in Alderney, where it is extremely rare to come upon the game’s hottest babes decked out in their littlest skirts, and I don’t think any prostitutes are available either. Even the strippers on this side of town are not as open to being abused.

It just takes all the passion out of the game for me, even though I am probably only a few missions shy of the very end. I need something to stir my tiger blood. What I desperately need is another game with some misogynistic sex appeal, as though something like that will be coming out on the market soon!

Or might I be pleasantly surprised with that new Duke Nukem game coming out this summer? All the politically correct kids and infallible feminists have been up in arms over its supposed misogyny. Of course, it doesn’t take much to get them all agitated, as I think they are in fits over a character slapping a woman on her fanny (the horror, right?), but a little optimism might not be out of place here.

PlayStation 3 has a game that might,
just might be as good as GTA 4:

"Heavy Rain"

A couple of tidbits from an Amazon reviewer:

Overview (no major spoilers): You play several different characters in hopes to track down a serial killer that targets children. There are many twists and exciting plot reveals as the game goes on. Most of this takes place in rainy or dismal settings, so get used to your characters being wet all the time.

...

One thing I like about this title is its frank dealing with adult themes. Its not overt sexuality, but there is nudity both male and female, and also psychological illness and struggle that most children would not be able to handle. I recommend this for people over the age of 18 and also with sound mental capacity. Reason being is, the story has some very dark imagery that is both disturbing and essential to the thriller. There are graphic depictions of drug use, and it is not pretty.

I'm not saying that I'm jonesing for a playstation 3 console,
but they have my attention.

It's nice to have things out in the world that one would like to have,
something to get out of bed for.

ONTD

Amazon

Though, looking through the negative reviews,
maybe it wouldn't give me the misogynistic thrills
and shoot 'em up release that GTA 4 gives me,
though still worth the experience,
as perhaps a bridge to the next level of gaming.

The Wii, with it’s innovative motion-sensor control, is apparently opening up the gaming world, and to think that Father almost bought one when they were on sale and the big corporate push was obviously on. I’m so glad that I was able to veer him away from that and into getting an XBox360 instead, and Microsoft can thank Grand Theft Auto 4 for that. Still, Microsoft is not looking to be left behind, as they are now putting forward their own game system that leaps ahead yet another step by doing away with the game controller altogether, using facial and voice detectors in addition to motion detectors, and they are winning some big fanfare for their efforts, which is especially striking to me since I still associate Microsuck with bugginess more than design and engineering brilliance, but they seem to be onto something with their game console:

"I played with Microsoft's Project Natal and thought of the Arthur C. Clarke law: 'Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,'" says Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda Softworks. "When people actually experience it, I'll think they'll be amazed."

Personally, I am a bit discomfited by this development, as it may distract attention from other basic issues. Although I appreciate the progress involved in this new game technology, I feel more for the stunted nature of the substantive content of video games, as the expression of sexuality is still largely toned down to the comfort level of prepubescent children, or fundamentalist sectarians.

When playing Grand Theft Auto 4, for instance, the prospect of being able to move my pointing finger for where I want to shoot may be nicer than maneuvering the joystick on the controller, but I would prefer scoring some better quality time when I get lucky with a date or when I pick up a mini-skirted prostitute, though I must confess this last with the prostitutes is not too bad, especially since you can then enjoy the dark thrill of snuffing them afterward. Yes, there are some little joys to be had in a few of these games, in spite of all the sermonizing and censoring, but so few and too little.

I suppose video games for most of their history were largely, if not exclusively, about the children, but it seems to me that we have grown beyond that, and more than a few adults like to find their escapist entertainment in these richly drawn virtual realities, and the ban on sexual nudity is silly, as is being limited to hearing a few exclamatory shrieks of sexual abandon from the other side of a curtained window. True, one cannot complain about the limits on violence, as it seems that practically anything goes when it comes to beating and killing and all your basic anti-social kicks, but some of us would like to rape as well as to pillage, and virtual worlds seem like the perfect place for these most bestial energies, where the civilized man can howl at the moon with impunity.

"Dead or Alive Xtreme 2" came in yesterday, a day ahead of schedule. In the first minutes of running the game, I was so excited by its sex appeal, I even fancied that if I could only keep one game, I might actually prefer to keep this one instead of "Grand Theft Auto 4." However, before the day ended, I was preferring "BioShock" and "World Series of Poker," with Dead or Alive only beating out Father's unused hunting games.

I don't know if I'll ever master the controls when it comes to this game or "Rumble Roses." I imagine I should be able to master them with a little application, since it doesn't seem to present a problem for average gamers, but the problem may be that I cannot feel motivated to become better at volleyball or making wrestling moves.

The fundamental problem may be that these XBox games can only be so sexy. It doesn't even allow me enough control over the camera to enjoy those prurient, extended crotch shots; one has to be happy with the quick glimpses they give you, which may be understandable in real life, but I paid for this game, and I got it principally for my pervy pleasure, which is understood to be the only real reason why anyone would buy this game - that's what it's for!

Thinking about poker games, I decided to look for a little more action and googled up some strip poker, and I found one that has won my heart: YourOwnStripPoker.com (sticking to the simple draw poker rather than the Texas Hold 'Em option they give you). To get full nudity, you have to subscribe, costing only five bucks per month, and I have been feeling the temptation, though we're shy about using the credit card on the Internet, limiting ourselves to well-established operations, such as Amazon - especially wary of pornish sites.

It was such love at first site that I began to regret ordering that other poker game a couple of days ago. However, after stripping down a half-dozen girls, I have my doubts. Of course, it's smart that they would let you win, but I think you probably have to try hard to lose.

Maybe that's not a bad thing. It's not like I'm a serious poker player. This strip game is a pleasant enough diversion, and in some ways more satisfying that a regular poker game in which you only play for imaginary money or points, whereas strip poker gives one the animus of playing for something real. True, you can easily google up much more hardcore images, but there is an appealing sense of interactivity with the game that at least charms me.

For now, I'll probably stick to the censored freebies, and see how I feel about the more serious (and chaste) game that should come in the mail this week. And we'll take it from there.

J-TV has a game program run by a bot called Vaughn. I've been enjoying the blackjack game he runs, which surprised me since I didn't think that I could be amused by a card game, thinking it little more than playing flip-the-coin, but I suppose it may be more my speed than chess. And this evening, when I went to Amazon to look up that philosophy book I started reading yesterday, I took a detour through the poker games and ended up ordering Best of Poker, after making sure that it was not just a Texas Hold 'Em game and that it has 5-card stud.

It has been months since I've ordered anything from Amazon, and I think I've lost some of my tolerance for waiting for a new goodie, and I wonder if I should have decided to go to Game Stop tomorrow rather than wait a good week. I'll be content, though, if it just installs and runs on my computer. It's an undemanding program, but my computer is old and crippled.

While I was looking at poker games at Amazon, I checked to see if XBox 360 has a good version, and the answer is definitely yes: World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets. It's not GTA, but it has some gaming moves, as you have to build up a stake to play in bigger games, and it gives you more of that virtual reality that you would expect from XBox. I'm definitely interested in this game, but I really wanted somethng to amuse myself with when I'm at the computer in the evening, while Pop is watching the TV and the XBox is unavailable. I expect to try that game, but only after I have completed GTA 4, which could be another month - not that I'm complaining.

♠
The most compelling aspect of Eve is that once players control a region of virtual space, they bear the responsibility of policing it, setting taxes, establishing diplomatic relations with neighboring groups and waging battles to protect their territory or take more. In most online games, the advanced content involves getting together with a few dozen friends to battle computer-controlled dragons and demons. In Eve, major battles involve hundreds of players fighting in starships in vast “Star Wars”-like firefights.

At the strategic level, coalitions involving tens of thousands of players struggle for months over strategic objectives or simply to wipe out their enemies. For at least a year the most powerful group in Eve has been an alliance known as Band of Brothers, a self-appointed evil empire with the stated objective of taking over the galaxy. Against them is arrayed a motley batch of self-styled freedom fighters with names like the Red Alliance (mostly Russian), Tau Ceti Federation (mostly French), GoonSwarm (mostly obnoxious) and the Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate (mostly drunk).

-- Seth Sciesel for The New York Times

Eve is being hailed as one of the most interesting online games in the world. Yeah, but can you fuck other players like you can in Second Life?

One of the most distinctive aspects of Eve is that all the players inhabit the same, single virtual universe, whereas in other online games, such as World of Warcraft, players actually play on identical copies of the game world, grouped by servers. That does seem a bit more cozy.

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