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3 Dec 04
Hello, it's the holiday shopping season. Since in January we'll celebrate our first year anniversary, it'd be nice to have some money in the coffers to have a nice contest. To do that, I'd appreciate it if you'd consider using the shopping links provided here. As usual, I'm not asking anyone to start shopping some place they're not comfortable with, but many of us have used EB and Amazon, etc. So if you're doing any seasonal shopping, consider using the links. I'm not sure if anyone outside North America can use the links. It's possible that Amazon might work, but I'd need someone to confirm that.
Just a reminder that using the shopping links only works for the session right after you click. So if you use the link, but don't buy anything and come back the next day, Talk Strategy won't get credit. Just remember whenever you're ready to purchase, that's when you use the links.
So what's the point? Well we've had two contests here and given out six games. With only sixty or so members that's a pretty impressive ratio. I'd like to have a couple of choice games for the anniversary at the end of January, but I can't count on publishers to come through so I'd like to have a little in the coffers. It doesn't cost you anything but a few extra seconds of time. Thanks for the support.
Just to point out, I don't take any donations here. If you really feel you must contribute something, but can't use the links, I'd suggest writing something for the site. However if you have your heart set on giving money away, may I suggest Child's Play charity. It is run by the Penny Arcade guys and sends games and gaming systems (oh and some regular toys too) to children's hospitals around the United States. You can choose the hospital and the gift you want to give. It doesn't hurt that it also puts a positive face on gamers, a community usually painted as depicted as rabid psychopaths in the media. Anyway, I'd personally recommend supporting the Houston Children's Hospital. While my son didn't have to go there, I did get to meet some people who work there. They are really wonderful people who work with heartbreaking stories each day.
I hope everyone has a great Holiday Season.
Jason
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2 Dec 04
Well. You know it's kind of weird. Here I am writing about games when my gaming time has mostly disappeared. That would be a problem if I never thought about gaming when I'm not playing. Fortunately that's not the case. I probably think about gaming too much.
I've mentioned before that I think of gaming as the new media. It's doing to television what TV did to the movies and radio. It's creating a space for itself and changing the competition at the same time. Of course, people only begin to notice when Microsoft does what they did for Halo 2. They posted a Press Release stating that Halo 2 had the biggest one day opening of any entertainment event. They chalked it up as a $125 million opening day. I don't know if that's truly the biggest opening ever, but it did get people's attention.
I like trends where you see synergy (and I'm not talking about Jem's computer). For instance, the Riddick game has helped sales of the new DVD. The Spiderman phenomenon might be best. The comics drove the movie which lead people to a pair of excellent games. It worked in every other direction as well. Each benefits from the other as long as there is quality across the board.
Maybe as companies look at the numbers, they'll see that it's worth it to have quality across the board. But I'm not holding my breath.
Jason
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1 Dec 04
Hello and happy December to everyone. It's been a crazy time, but I'm going to try to get back to updating on a more regular basis. Perhaps they will be short if time is not abundantly available, but something is better than nothing. I'll just give you a brief personal update then on to gaming.
Let's see. David is growing bigger and stronger. We came home together from the hospital on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. He's still on a home monitor, but other than his small size, he's a healthy one month old. I suppose in Bill Harris speak, he's reached his .1 milestone. He has to avoid crowds and anyone who's sick. Those are about his only restrictions (apart from being on the monitor, of course). It's much less stressful to be home and not commuting back and forth to the NICU. Hopefully, he'll continue his rapid growth. Thank you for all the kind thoughts and prayers.
Well, I missed a lot in the gaming world. I'll try and catch up. For now, I'll just talk about what's on my mind. I've seen a couple editorials in gaming publications decrying the practice of exclusive reviews for minimum ratings. The sad thing is that each editorial is exactly the same. Basically, it runs along the lines of "We'd never do anything like that. We have standards. We know of people who accepted the offer we rejected. We won't sell out. Our readers and our credibility are too important to us."
Whoa, Tex, get off the high horse. If you really want credibility, you can't just decry poor behavior without doing anything about it. I'm sorry but you have to bite the bullet and name names. You don't have to make accusations that you can't back up, but you can lay out the facts. If you were offered an exclusive first review of Game X with the caveat that you must give a score above Y, then magazine Z gets that exclusive and their score is above Y. You must lay out that case. You're not serving anyone's interest by "nobly" hiding the identity of magazine Z. To protect your readers you must let them know if a review in your magazine or any other is suspect.
Yes that might damage you reputation with that magazine and those publishers, but you can't just claim the mantle of journalist and ignore the responsibilities that go along with it. Right now there are journalists sitting in jails refusing to give up their sources. And here we have "editors" of gaming publications who are only brave enough to say that the fact spades exist is sad. Just call the spade a spade. If you can't do that, I can look elsewhere for my gaming information.
This week's game is something for the cold weather that's swept through Texas recently. It's Ski Resort Extreme (official site) from Cat Daddy Games. Strangely, in this game you manage a ski resort. You set up your runs from beginner to pure death. Then you set up the cabins and night life for your guests. Ski Resort Extreme is available now.
Jason
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10 Nov 04
Amazingly, the contest and the election are both neatly wrapped up. Congratulations to the newest winners: Theohall, Myrhos, and Cremator. Your prizes have all been sent out. Let me know when they arrive. Hopefully you enjoy the game. A few election war stories in the forum wouldn't hurt if you'd like.
Speaking of stories in the forum, joemama has put a couple out there from Port Royale 2 and Rome. I'm sure he'd appreciate some comments almost as much as I appreciate the effort he put forth to support the site when it's undermanned.
As for the reason the site remains undermanned, my son David is steadily growing stronger. He just moved to an open crib. That means he's entering the final stretch of his stay in the hospital. Thanks for all the kind thoughts and prayers. If you want to help with the site, follow joemama's example or jump to the news section of the site and use the "submit mini review" and "submit news" features or you can use the affiliate links for your holiday shopping. Things will stay crazy here for a little while until we get back in a groove. Thanks for all the site support as well.
I've got to sign off with one more picture:
Jason
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4 Nov 04
Well, the election is over, but the contest is not. I have these three copies of The Political Machine burning a hole in my desk. Just add a comment naming your favorite US President to the linked story and you'll be entered. I've decided to extend the contest to 11:59 p.m on Saturday. That way I can try to ship out the copies on Monday. Good luck to everyone.
I don't know if this will be the game of the week or game of the month. That depends on time. Time is a precious commodity as a new parent, especially with your baby in the neonatal intensive care unit. Fortunately David is getting bigger and stronger each day. Needless to say, I'm not doing much gaming, nor do I expect to. So what am I playing? Simple, I needed something that I could pick up and put down at a moment's notice. That doesn't fit too many strategy games, but I found something. It's Ultimate Card Games (official site) from Cosmigo and Telegames. Ultimate card games is a pretty good description. You can choose from casino games, casual games and solitaire. There's a little of everything from Go Fish to Bridge to Free cell. The great thing is that you can save any time, so you can really pick up and play. It's also nice that you can play up to four players on one cartridge if you have the link cables. If your game time is limited, check it out now.
Jason
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2 Nov 04
Happy election day. I'm not sure if anyone believes that everything will be resolved tonight, but at least the tiresome advertising is over. The one thing we can all agree on is that a good game can take our minds off the electoral troubles. Thanks to Jamie Sherman and Ubisoft, we're reopening the contest. We have three more copies of the Political Machine to give away. I'm reinstating all previous entries (except the winners of course). If you want to change you're selected president, just drop an email to contests@talkstrategy.com. Other than that and the new deadline, the rules will remain the same.
The contest will run through this Friday for new entries and updates. Since the winners aren't there, Richard M. Nixon is open again. I'm sure most people would argue that lightning won't strike twice, and their probably right, but then no one expected Nixon to get the nomination again after losing to Kennedy.
On a personal note, David is getting stronger, but he's still just a little guy. Thanks for all the kind thoughts and prayers.
Jason
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