...well in Italy although by the time i have cliked the 'publish post' button there is a good chance it will be confirmed properly. Games site kotaku.com posted:
Oooooh ho ho. This just in from Mike McWhertor, sitting two seats over. The official Gears of War 2 press release just hit... in Italian. It coming to the 360 this November. The release will be hitting the site in a second or two.
We just tracked down a Microsoft spokeswoman who told us no comment, but the look on her face when I told her that the press release had leaked out early said loads more. She said to watch the conference for any announcements.
Thats good enough for me. For more information from thGDC and any suprises happening head over to www.kotaku.com and watch the exciting 360 news unfold. NOW
Read more on "Gears of War 2 confirmed for November 08 Release..."!
While browsing the Halo 3 forums i came across this very useful broadband speed test, it allows you to check your connection to around the world. It gives you download and upload results as well as your latency result to your chosen area. For instance i checked mine to the nearest which is Maidenhead and results were a ping of around 50, checking with results to New York which gave me a ping of around 120.
With these results it made me realise how far internet speeds have got to go before a real online experience can be found which will represent true gaming skill. So when someone won't die i suggest we don't jump the gun and blame the player for having a poor connection (unless your really annoyed)
On the other hand it seems Halo 3 has greatly improved with their latest update to the game which improves the melee system and some latency problems. For more info on that head over to bungie.net
For speed test website head over to www.speedtest.net.
Happy Gaming
Read more on "Online Gaming Has a Long Way to Go!!!"!
It seems hardly a day goes by nowadays without a report of some kid shooting up his school ‘because he played Counter-Strike’ or of how young minds are being corrupted by ‘triple x pornography in games marketed to teenagers’. It was only yesterday that the infamous Jack Thompson put the blame for the recent NIU tragedy where a 27 year old gun down students supposedly because he played Counter-Strike 4 years previously (and had absolutely sod-all to do with the fact he had stopped taking his medication for mental illness).
Like it or not, violence in videogames is big news at the moment. Be it school shootings in the US or links to kids and knife culture here in the UK. Forums everywhere from xbox.com to IGN and CVG are full of gamers up in arms that their beloved pastime is being brought into disrepute. However is there more to this than gamers realise?
The fact is that violent game, as well as violent books; films; images, cartoons or websites can, and will have some form of effect on the individual engaging with them. The effect it has however is entirely down to the suggestibility of the individual concerned.
During the 19th century Antonin Artaud created the Theatre of Cruelty. This is a type of stage theatre that was designed to be so visually shocking and sickening in its use of violent imagery that it was meant to have a cathartic effect on the audience, cleansing them of their anger, aggression and fear. By witnessing others engaging in acts that a person is meant to subconsciously desire allows them to purge themselves of pent up emotions and thus lead a better and more fulfilling life. If we look at the popularity of public executions in previous times and even to the present day in many countries across the globe we can see how this may well be true.
People have an innate desire to witness suffering. It somehow makes ourselves feel better. We love watching Comic Relief and Children in Need with all their stories of third world suffering and we gain some warped satisfaction from viewing images of war on TV. We KNOW that what we are viewing is horrible, that what we are witnessing is distressing and sickening but we still watch it. Why? Because deep down the only way we can feel better is by reminding ourselves of what we are capable of, and feel more powerful knowing that we have the restraint not to carry out the acts we see.
The same theory applies to videogames, horror films an almost all other forms of ‘unengaged violence’. We sit down with our 360 pads and tap the B button to unleash chainsaw hell on our unsuspecting foe and a grin spreads across our faces. We let stream profanity after profanity when we get our arse handed to us due to a lucky plasma grenade…and we LOVE IT. Not just because its entertaining but because we are fulfilling those subconscious fantasies we so desire everyday but that our consciousness, and society, forbid to us to engage in.
However, what would happen if your consciousness was affected in someway?
Its well known and documented by psychologists, doctors, psychiatrists etc that certain things can affect how a persons conscious and subconscious works interact.
• Age – as you grow older the border between the conscious and subconscious mind becomes more prominent and thus much easier for us to avoid acting on impulse. This is largely down to learning the ways of the world and the laws of the society in which we live. Children therefore are more prone to act on subconscious impulse than adults.
• Testosterone – the greater the level of testosterone in your body the more prone to act on aggressive impulses you will be. It becomes much more difficult for a person to restrict the extent to which they express their aggressive impulses.
• Drugs/Alcohol – the more under the influence of drugs and alcohol you become the more the border between conscious and subconscious blurs. The easier it becomes to act on subconscious impulse.
• Mental Health – if you are already suffering from mental health problems then the higher the risk of you acting on subconscious impulse.
Obviously these things alone would not necessarily mean that you are going to go out and shoot down a few pedestrians but if these things are combined with other catalysts such as bullying, peer-pressure or exposure to violent images etc then the likelihood of engaging in a violent act is increased.
Therefore a child who is being bulled at school, going through puberty, witnesses’ domestic violence at home and plays Halo for 13 hours a day is more likely to commit an act of violence than a 28 year old that has had three pints of Golden Boot and has spent 4hours playing Gears of War.
The fact is that videogames DO affect the people that play them. Are they the reason why Stephen Kazmierczak decided to walk into his old University on Thursday 14th February 2008 and shoot as many people as he could before turning the gun on himself? Of course they aren’t but there is the possibility that, due to his mental health issues, playing violent videogames could have increased the probability of him committing a violent act.
Read more on "Videogame Violence: Where's the harm?"!
The groups and fixtures have been announced for the up and coming xleague winter 08 tournament. The groups are as follows:
Group 1 Group 2
xP I XpLiCiT PrOjEx GOLD Horseman of Pandora
TSF Re-Dux TEAM EXILE
Natural Definition pR0 x GamerZz
Team eNigm4 Relentless Team infinity uk
Group 3 Group 4
THE BRUSHES ESTATE Team eNigm4 Inferno
True Velocity Gaming TSF Sheep
Tiuk: Infinity Second Squad XpLiCiT PrOjEx I Vanquish
Brits Know Best Team Raishuu Chikara Enkou
As you can see Brits Know Best have been placed in group 3. Best of luck to all teams and match play begins on the 17th of February. BKB's fixtures can be seen on the right hand side.
Read more on "Groups and Fixtures announced"!
Here is the complete list of clan teams that are in the Gears Of War xleague.tv tournament:
Natural Definition, Ultimate Punishment, True Velocity Gaming, XpLiCiT PrOjEx I Vanquish, Team eNigm4 Relentless, pRo x GamerZz, BRITS KNOW BEST, TSF Sheep, O, Team eNigm4 Inferno, THE BRUSHES ESTATE, Team Raishuu Chikara Enkou, XP I XpLiCiT PrOjEx GOLD, TSF Re-Dux, Team Exile, Horseman of Pandora
Good luck to all the teams, the fixtures should be announced soon.
Read more on "Gears Of War Xleague.tv tournament full"!
BKB are now looking for players to participate in games such as COD4, Halo 3, PGR4, The Orange Box and many more. If you have an existing team and would like to merge into the BKB brand we are willing to do so, this will involve your team having sole control on what leagues/tournaments to participate in and what matches to play (you will basically play under the BKB name)
If you think you/or your team would like to join BKB then the requirements are as follows. You must be 18 and over and willing to pay to join leagues and tournaments such as xleague.tv and be serious about gaming. If you meet these then please contact either Lees75 or mrteeps on xbox live, alternatively you can go to our gamebattles site and send us a message.
On acceptance of joining BKB the team will be monitored in a match involving the game you are playing to check for things such as cheating, as the last thing we want is a bad reputation. REMEMBER IT'S JUST A GAME!!!
Read more on "
"!
I am proud to announce Gameshare as an associate of Brits Know Best. Gameshare is a brilliant website which allows you to swap your games with other gamers. All you need to do is register put what games you have online and add games that you would like, watch the offers flow in. You either reject or accept it's as simple as that. Head over to www.gameshare.co.uk now and register to get your first trade free. Trust me you won't regret it!
Read more on "Gameshare a proud associate of BKB"!
BKB vs Deadly Irish Assassins
Last night produced the best performance from a Brits Know Best team to date. While mrteeps was busy watching Charlie's Anals, me, xMASTERPIECEx, Westy2k and daren brady took on Deadly Irish Assassins. We went on to win the game 3 games to 0, winning canals 5-0, fuel depot 5-0 and gridlock 5-2. With superb performances from every member of the team including stand in daren brady. Overall a superb team effort and a very special thanks to the opposition who were unlucky on several occasions.
Man of the Match - Daren Brady - Superb performance from daren which consisted of boom shot and torque bow kills of the highest quality.
On a sour note a match scheduled for 1:00am was cancelled because of a no show (something of a trend on Gamebattles)
Read more on "What A Performance!!!!"!
So we bagged our 4th gamebattles victory of the season with a 3-0 win over delusion and therefore climbed up the rankings table and have now actually got a 1 star reputation. May the winning continue and let's hope it continues tonight when we play another Gamebattles match at 11:00pm
We would like to thank team delusion for the match last night which was thoroughly enjoyable. Remember if you are interested in playing against our GOW team then either challenge us on gamebattles or send us an xbox live message to Lees75 or mrteeps.
Read more on "4 Wins and a Reputation Star!!!"!
Just a quick bit of news, Rockstar games have confirmed the release date of Grand Theft Auto IV is the 29th April. You can still pre order the limited edition version of the game on selected sites.
Lees75
Read more on "GTA IV release date confirmed"!
