PixlBit

Wait, someone brewed a batch of beer which ISN'T an IPA?!  Heck yes, sign me up (that is, if Virginia's ABC laws allow for it, which I'm trying to figure out now).

They generate a lot of buzz, and have quite a bit of buzz coming to them.  I've heard of game dev team members going on there and joining in on threads.  They're not like Reddit's "AMA" series, I don't think, but it's a pretty major site nonetheless.

They're "premiere," but I wouldn't say that getting an account would really be worth anything.  Reading some of their threads is frustrating to me if only for the reason that they're absolutely flooded with users; it seems like it would be hard to get a word in edgewise.

I lol'd when you brought up PRRRRRROMOTION.

"An explosion of slut"--I like that.

So are you still in high school, or are you at a college with a late spring break?

It seems like a lot of people on here have been having that problem with the blogs lately.  I use Firefox, haven't been logged out from the site once (not that I can recall at least), and haven't had a blog just disappear.  What gives, I wonder?

Have you considered typing up posts in Microsoft Word and exporting them over?  I did that with one or two of my 1Up blog entries and it worked alright.

Here's something to think about:

As you're reading this, more people who will seek or attain elected office will have been raised in a video game culture, and even more will comprise the electorate.  Just let that one sink in for a bit.

As far as analyses go, I think this is probably anyone's best bet as a starting point.  It's ten pages long and not exactly brief, but it's one of the best sources I've seen on piracy and covers a lot of ground.  Even with the author's opinion at the end, it's probably the the most objective and thorough insight on the topic.

I think part of the reason why it's such an opinionated issue is that everyone talking has some sort of personal stake in it.  It seems to me that there exists a very defensive, stand-offish attitude of piracy ("Someone else will buy it/They don't need any more money/I'm poor/Copyright laws are dumb and archaic/etc."), which really boils down to "Don't judge me."  I think the internet's made thieves of us all, even if unconsciously, and trying to get the message across to people that piracy really can hurt the games industry (PSP, anyone?) is surprisingly difficult.  But if gamers wish for themselves and their hobby to be taken more seriously, then we need - more than we may think - to really shed more light on this issue.

One of the things that actually sparked that idea was the second episode of the podcast A Life Well Wasted.  They interviewed a games archivist at Stanford University about the problems that would come with trying to archive MMOs: because those are games which are entirely dependent upon online presence and server upkeep, you kind of can't replay it once the server goes offline.  However, what they didn't mention were MMOs which have private or now fan-run servers.  I think Gundam UC Online and maybe some versions of Phantasy Star Online have had fans maintain their own servers once official support has been cut.  So that's definitely something to consider mentioning.

EA is an interesting topic to me.

I think some of the hate they receive is a little undeserved or blown waaay out of proportion.  It's not like they launched SimCity with the mindset of "Hey, let's make sure this doesn't work and that it will piss off the players and get us negative reviews and publicity, which in turn will cause our investors to bail on us, because this plan TOTALLY MAKES SENSE IN REGARDS TO...SOME SECRET EVIL SCHEME OR SOMETHING."  EA isn't Goliath and the boycotting/pirating-from-spite gamers aren't David, and some of them should probably get over themselves.

But on the flip side, I can't just let them off the hook, and I don't know if anyone else should be so willing either.  I think there's something to be said about trying to keep some of the players in the games industry small.  One of the reasons I wasn't looking forward to the new SimCity is that it just didn't feel natural, as if it were a poor imitation from what used to be a good studio (Maxis).  I might pick it up eventually, but having been a huge Maxis fan growing up, something just seems wrong about picking up one of their newer titles.  On a less personal note, however, we all have to realize that in cases like EA, Activision, et. al., games are still important, but they're a vehicle for profit.  Those companies' investors have to be pleased, and to me it feels like EA quit making games long ago to focus on making money.

Just my two cents, but I think both sides - the gamers and the biz - have some things to think over.