Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -more controversy

-or "PC Gamer Vs. Console Gamer"

I can't help to comment on the endless flamming battles [heated disccusions] between console gamers and PC gamers. And congrats Activision/InfinityWard, you've ignited yet another one with your latest big money release!

Issue: PC gamers are upset that another AAA title has been ported to the PC with the same pricetag as the usually 10 dollars-more-expensive console version, but with functions that we have come to feel the norm strikingly ommited. Notably a buggy, un-efficient peer-to-peer style server match-making system instead of the PC proven and flexible dedicated server option. Another complaint is the locking of the game down from modding or customizing in any way-effectively cutting the shelf life of this game by years!

Here is my point-of-view:

To all those that complain that all of us PC gamer 'whiners' have a sense of  "Entitlement" to expecting all of the stripped out/PC friendly features in AAA FPS (First Person Shooters for you noobs) titles, and that the price for these dumbed down quick-and-dirty console-ports shouldn't be even MORE expensive than a typical 'made-for-PC first' game is.

They are missing the point. It's not entitlement, that we pc gamers feel like this. It’s a sense of what is possible/capable, what we’re USED to and what has been for many many years now in most AAA titles. Is it entitlement for you to feel you want your left arm back, after it was taken from you??

The ability to mod, as well as run player-owned servers etc, choose the type of game, the map, the amount of players, and the lowest ping by OUR choice is as necessary to playing online shooters as a bag of Doritos is to a console gamer.

To use the analogy from a similar discussion at WIRED here, It's not entitlement, when historically certain Mercedes models HAVE come with these features, at Corrola prices, but now to be sold a Corrola, at a Mercede’s Price. I’m sorry, but no matter how pretty and engaging, I’m not spending 59.99 on this game, when I can play Battlefield 2142 or 2/Left4Dead/Counter-Strike/ArmaII/TeamFortress2 etc. for a THIRD of the cost -by highly RESPECTED developers.

It's not that Infinity Ward itself is necessarily the ones to blame, as i've said before, it's often the bean-counting publishers that force a product out the door unfinished, or in a handicapped and buggy state. Its just that developers that survey, read feedback [and sometimes, <gasp> solicit feedback] like Valve or Creative Assembly have a fiecely strong, loyal, as well as vocal fanbase. There are always exceptions...(Ahem...Left4dead 2).

It boils down to catering to the fans, the gamers. This is a clear case of an unfortunately growing trend of publishers/developers mixing and matching their products intended platforms, not deciding for which they are programming for, or worse, making a one-size pisses-off-all product. As far as I’ve seen, it’s because of the inane console gamers’ acceptance of spending 60 dollars on a dumbed down game, that us PC gamers get the shoveled over P.O.S. that’s left over...sometimes months later! They (PS3/XBOX owners) are so much more PROFITABLE to them!!

...Just sayin'

Team Fortress 2 Major Update, Discounted to $10!

Arguably, one of the most visually original online 'shooters' available today, and a personal fav, Team Fortress 2 [Valve software] has now been blessed with even more gaming goodness, a comprehensive patch AND add-on, free of charge from the devs. If you don't already have this game, they are celebrating the update by discounting the price for you! It's now a measly $10 dollars.

To what do we owe this pleasure you ask? NOTHIN', because unlike EA... Valve actually isn't out to squeeze every last one of us gamers out of our last nickel! Nope- they respect us, and reward us for being loyal customers by providing free extras and comprehensive tweaks and fixes.

So game on! Time to fire it up again and see how the newly vamped 'Scout' class does.

List of all the updates & New features :
Added The Force-A-Nature, The Sandman, and Bonk!
Added 35 new Scout achievements
Added crit boosted on/off sound effects
Added new sounds for upgraded teleporters
Added new sound for a fully charged medic dying
Add bonus points section to scores
Scouts earn a bonus point for killing Medics who are actively healing a target
Added several new speech concepts, mostly hooked up to new Scout lines
Added new "Remember last weapon between lives" option to the Multiplayer Advanced dialog
Spies can now control which weapon the enemy team sees them holding. Hitting the "last disguise" key while disguised updates the disguise to show the Spy's currently held weapon
Added several new Arena mode announcer speech events.
Added "First Blood" to Arena mode
Removed 2x item respawn times in arena
Changed backstab handling to fix facestabs
Spies disguised as enemy team can now see player IDs for enemies
New maps [3 new maps!!]
Added community maps: cp_egypt, arena_watchtower, and cp_junction
Updated cp_fastlane with Arttu's new version
Mapmaker requests
Added new input for forward speed modifier to FuncTrainTrain
Added TeleportToPathTrack input to func_tracktrain
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where players would sometimes gib from non-gib damage kills
Fixed stat screen showing an entry for a class called "map."
Fixed item model panels not using team skins

left4dead ...a zombie i hath become...

I knew i would like this game...

I have been playing this for the last 3 nights in a row, shortly after the holidays where I received it as a gift.

Tense, engaging, cooperative!! no more running around aimlessly by yourself as others do the same, on a so-called 'team' [here's looking at you battlefield/counterstrike loners], just try this game on 'Expert' difficulty, and you will know what it means to be a real team-member.

-Friendly fire hurts! [Dammit Bill, watch...your...FIRE!"]

-Selflessness is rewarded! [mobias protected XZomBieSlay3r's back!]

Hunt or be hunted... Stand still too long, or straggle behind for even a moment, and you will hear the groaning gargle of an elite zombie, hiding just behind that tree over there...just waiting for you to turn your back to pounce in a shriek and flurry of violent Zombie slashing.

The core of this games addictiveness is in its simplicity, forcing you to react in your most primal survivalism instincts. There is no inventory management, you have pistol, main gun of your choice, either pipe-bomb or Molotov cocktail, and your trusty melee attack to keep swarms of rushing zombies at bay. That is it. Get from A to B, and try to keep your buddy alive while doing it, or it will be a lot harder, and a lot lonelier too!

Within 5 minutes of beginning a campaign, your reflexes begin to sharpen, your every sense on hyper-alert. The sound of a bird flying from a nearby tree causes your aiming reticle to jump, your keyboard hand begins to tremble. The change in music ques the approaching 'Tank' zombie, or witch in hiding, and your fight-or-flight instincts begin to kick in. Indeed, the longer you play this game, the less food you eat, the less sleep you get, and the more Zombie-like you will become in the daylight hours- mark my words, and be warned!

Check out the trailer here: then buy asap.