Who Knew Spielberg played Bioshock
Quote from the article

"Speaking of weapons, LaBeouf recalls the day Steven Spielberg invited him to his house to shoot skeet. "I get there and stick my head in to ask if he's ready - and this is classic Spielberg - he says, 'Nope, Shia. I'm trapped!'"

"You're trapped? Steven, what are you talking about?"

"I'm trapped back here. Follow my voice."

"Where are you?"

"Over here. ... Here. ... Here!"

LaBeouf kept following the calls until he got to the director's office, where Spielberg, dressed in shooting togs, was sitting at his computer, stuck on the 15th level of a videogame called BioShock. "This is like months to get to this level, and he can't get past this one little mysterious spider god, and he's losing his mind. He's like, 'I can't do it, Shia! |I can't do it.'"

No word on whether they ever made it to the skeet range."

A radio program recently did a segment on New York's video game industry. It was pretty
interesting and brought up some interesting points.


link to site

If you live in NYC, the 5 bourughs, and you're trying to get an internship at a development
company, then you probably know how hard it is to find a non-cell phone game company.
The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is
Kaos Studios. Besides them, there's Take Two but its
their corporate/publishing office that located here not development. It seems I'm not the
[url=http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/GettingInTheGame.pdf]only one who thinks
this.[/url] Even if a conglomerate like EA could open up a development studio here, I would
rejoice. Then I wouldn't have to consider traveling to Canada to go to EA Academy.
Not that I have a problem doing that.

I know that everybody here has played a game when they were younger that they've put their life and soul into. You've devoted hours of your life to beat this game or get an achievement that you previously thought was your beyond your grasp.

Now imagine that while you were in one of these epic quests for greatness, you're frackin system or pc shuts down on you.

This is the ruthless reality that this generation of kids will have to suffer because Microsoft in their effort to make the 360 more appealing to a wider range of customers has bowed down to the PTA and pressure from other such organizations and put a friggin timer on their console.

Now I'm sure that the majority of the people here, since I think the majority of the people who post on this site are probably over the age of 21, are probably saying that this is a great idea and if you're a parent. I can see where you're coming from(like if you're one of the weak one who can't say no to their kids of if you're legitimately out making money and your child is home alone.)

But I want you to look back into your pasts and tell me how the hell you would have felt if when you were about to beat Gannon in Ocarina of Time and then your N64 says (displays) "You have reached your time limit for today. Good bye."

I know that a part of me would have withered and died

How about if you're going for an achievement in Gears online like The Money Shot Achievement?
(100 headshots in ranked matches)
You're on a roll. You're close to getting the achievement. You've made 30 headshots in the match so far. All of a sudden your 360 powers down. You're devastated. All your hard work goes down the drain without a second thought.

You're probably thinking that I'm some spoiled/dumb kid who need to go do his homework or something. You're like "This is the reason why videogames such a bad rap. Because kids like you don't know when to put the controller down" Or maybe you're not thinking that. Maybe you're actually still reading this and you are actually respecting my opinion(that would be an unexpected change).

All I'm asking is if you have kids or a younger sibling, think about this before you impose it on them. Remember back to the times when you were like them and then ask yourself " Is this what I really want to do to this young person? Is this what I really want to have on my consciousness?"

Because when the time comes that their 360 shuts down on them in the middle of an Epic boss Battle in White Knight Story or Lost Odyssey, they'll remember the person who caused this to happen. And in a corner of their heart, there will be hate and anger reserved especially for you.

This is an article me and my good friend Omar wrote for the newspaper at our school. I don't know if they'll publish it. I sent in 2 articles before; 1 questioning the M rating of the Halo series and another one about the Hot coffee mod. Neither one was published.

Reggie C. & Omar A.

Murder simulator. Most violent game ever. These are a few of the things that the video game Manhunt 2 had been called by critics before it had even come out on Halloween.
Manhunt 2 is a video game developed by Rockstar Games in which you play as Daniel Lamb, a former scientist, trying to escape an asylum.
The game is rated M for mature, meaning that you can only buy this game at most stores if you’re 17 years of age or older making it the equivalent of an R rating in a movie. It had originally been rated Adults Only (AO) by the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and in Britain the game has been banned. The ESRB is to the video game industry what the MPAA is to the film industry. Under an AO rating (18 and older), Rockstar would not have been able to publish Manhunt 2 on most of the systems in existence except for the PC. This is because Sony and Nintendo, the two companies that will have Manhunt on their consoles, both have policies against allowing AO games on their products despite the fact that there is only a year age difference between an M rated game and an AO rated game. In addition, most stores refuse to stock AO titles.
Across the U.S., various politicians and watchdog groups are lobbying for the game to be banned or boycotted. California Senator Leland Yee issued a press release stating “It is imperative that parents avoid purchasing this game for their children...as Manhunt 2 can have negative effects on our children.” Statements like this would seem to be unnecessary because of the game’s M rating. However watchdog groups like The Campaign For a Commercial Free Childhood have said “Because of the change in Manhunt 2's rating, it’s a given that this ultra-violent video game will be sold to children. It should be banned.”
Opponents of these groups like the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have said that their statements are largely untrue. According to the ESA, “eighty-six percent of game players under the age of 18 report that they get their parents’ permission when renting or buying games, and 91 percent say their parents are present when they buy games.” In addition the average age of the video game player is 33 years. This would lead one to believe that the majority of people buying this game are most definitely not children.
This is a fact that the ESA and the ESRB say that watchdog groups fail to realize in their battles against video games. Because most video game players are adults’ they should be able to make their own choices in what type of media they would like to consume. In response to critics, ESRB president Patricia Vance recalled a Federal Trade Commission study that stated that major retailers "currently stop the sale of M-rated games to buyers under 17 the vast majority of the time, having surpassed the level of enforcement achieved by theatre owners in connection with children's access into R-rated movies."
“This points to double standard between video games and other media like movies.” said student Waleed Rehm 09. “ Movies like Hostel 1 and 2 and the Saw series have always been given R ratings, which are equivalent to M ratings.. Even the Passion of the Christ which was very bloody and deemed offensive was given an R rating without second thought. These movies are extremely violent and have never been called out by any watchdog groups to be banned. However as soon as a game like Manhunt 2 comes out, which is far less violent than any of those movies, there are calls by politicians and watchdogs to ban or boycott it.” One of the reasons for this is because, despite the fact that the average age of a gamer is 33, video games are seen in American society as a toy for kids. Many people do not understand or do not wish to believe that not all video games are advertised for kids. Just as there are movies and books for adults, there are video games that are for adults.
In the end it all comes down to parental responsibility. Each parent decides what they think is appropriate for their child to play. In addition, if a parent is afraid their child might be able to sneak an undesirable game into the house, they can put a lock onto their child’s gaming system. The Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 all have options in which parents can put a password protected restriction on what type of games the system can play. Like movie ratings, game ratings are essentially guidelines to help parents make a choice.

Does it sound too opinianated or no? And whatdo you think of it in general?

This is an article me and my good friend Omar wrote for the newspaper at our school. I don't know if they'll publish it. I sent in 2 articles before; 1 questioning the M rating of the Halo series and another one about the Hot coffee mod. Neither one was published.

Reggie C. & Omar A.

Murder simulator. Most violent game ever. These are a few of the things that the video game Manhunt 2 had been called by critics before it had even come out on Halloween.
Manhunt 2 is a video game developed by Rockstar Games in which you play as Daniel Lamb, a former scientist, trying to escape an asylum.
The game is rated M for mature, meaning that you can only buy this game at most stores if you’re 17 years of age or older making it the equivalent of an R rating in a movie. It had originally been rated Adults Only (AO) by the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and in Britain the game has been banned. The ESRB is to the video game industry what the MPAA is to the film industry. Under an AO rating (18 and older), Rockstar would not have been able to publish Manhunt 2 on most of the systems in existence except for the PC. This is because Sony and Nintendo, the two companies that will have Manhunt on their consoles, both have policies against allowing AO games on their products despite the fact that there is only a year age difference between an M rated game and an AO rated game. In addition, most stores refuse to stock AO titles.
Across the U.S., various politicians and watchdog groups are lobbying for the game to be banned or boycotted. California Senator Leland Yee issued a press release stating “It is imperative that parents avoid purchasing this game for their children...as Manhunt 2 can have negative effects on our children.” Statements like this would seem to be unnecessary because of the game’s M rating. However watchdog groups like The Campaign For a Commercial Free Childhood have said “Because of the change in Manhunt 2's rating, it’s a given that this ultra-violent video game will be sold to children. It should be banned.”
Opponents of these groups like the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have said that their statements are largely untrue. According to the ESA, “eighty-six percent of game players under the age of 18 report that they get their parents’ permission when renting or buying games, and 91 percent say their parents are present when they buy games.” In addition the average age of the video game player is 33 years. This would lead one to believe that the majority of people buying this game are most definitely not children.
This is a fact that the ESA and the ESRB say that watchdog groups fail to realize in their battles against video games. Because most video game players are adults’ they should be able to make their own choices in what type of media they would like to consume. In response to critics, ESRB president Patricia Vance recalled a Federal Trade Commission study that stated that major retailers "currently stop the sale of M-rated games to buyers under 17 the vast majority of the time, having surpassed the level of enforcement achieved by theatre owners in connection with children's access into R-rated movies."
“This points to double standard between video games and other media like movies.” said student Waleed Rehm 09. “ Movies like Hostel 1 and 2 and the Saw series have always been given R ratings, which are equivalent to M ratings.. Even the Passion of the Christ which was very bloody and deemed offensive was given an R rating without second thought. These movies are extremely violent and have never been called out by any watchdog groups to be banned. However as soon as a game like Manhunt 2 comes out, which is far less violent than any of those movies, there are calls by politicians and watchdogs to ban or boycott it.” One of the reasons for this is because, despite the fact that the average age of a gamer is 33, video games are seen in American society as a toy for kids. Many people do not understand or do not wish to believe that not all video games are advertised for kids. Just as there are movies and books for adults, there are video games that are for adults.
In the end it all comes down to parental responsibility. Each parent decides what they think is appropriate for their child to play. In addition, if a parent is afraid their child might be able to sneak an undesirable game into the house, they can put a lock onto their child’s gaming system. The Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 all have options in which parents can put a password protected restriction on what type of games the system can play. Like movie ratings, game ratings are essentially guidelines to help parents make a choice.

Does it sound too opinianated or no? And whatdo you think of it in general?

OOO MAN!
There's this cool thing where if you play a fps, you can feel the bullets. It seems pretty cool but it is only limited to COD 2, Quake and Doom. I Wonder why no one has thought of this yet. Yeahh. Now I remember why.