Difference in Opinion

Mass Effect has been on the minds of gamers ever since it was announced a few years ago. Apparently since it’s release, it has been on the mind of skeptics as well. Recently, FOX News did a segment just about Mass Effect, and it’s “full frontal nudity.” On one side of the argument was a author/podcaster, Cooper Lawrence who obviously had a chip on her shoulder about gaming. Bringing reason and fact to the situation, Geoff Keighley (from Spike TV) did an amazing job of representing gamers everywhere as well as supporting the truths of Mass Effect. To watch the video and find out more about the story from EA’s response to FOX’s response to the response of gamers everywhere click the MORE button.

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The upcoming GDC (Game Developers Conference) will play host to the Game Developer Choice Awards. Bioshock and Portal are leading the titles with the most nominations. Other than the Breakthrough Technology award that Portal won at the VGAs, the game has surprisingly stayed out of the spotlight which is deserves more than most to be under. With a new found appreciation at GDC, we can only hope that Portal gets the acclaim it deserves. Want to know a little more about the game? Stay tuned for Difference in Opinion’s review of The Orange Box coming this week, and find out why we think it is one of the best games of last year.

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People.co.uk recently reported that the Queen herself has become a gamer. Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton bought him a Nintendo Wii gift for Christmas. Apparently William loves his gadgets and toys so Middleton thought the Wii would be a great gift for him. After hooking the game console up, the Queen caught sight of it and wanted to play. Now she asks to play it and constantly induces “fits of laughter” from William. With the Queen supporting videogames, maybe Jack Thompson will start attacking monarchies and set his eye on the thrown himself.

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It is that time of the year again, and Home Depot is looking to fill your needs be it plants, circular saws, plywood, drywall, or an Xbox 360. Wait, what was that last one? You heard me right, and Xbox 360. It looks like Home Depot has expanded their market and is now selling a moderate amount of electronics. Mind you these are not the electronics that will light a room or buzz through cinder blocks, they are the kinds you hook up to your TV and play instead of doing the previous things. And you thought you would never use those Home Depot gift cards…

Two teens in Johnstown, Colorado got charged with killing the 7-year-old sister of one of them by beating her with imitations of moves from the Mortal Kombat video game. What a horrible tragedy that happened to a 7 year old because of two dim-witted teens. Unfortunately since someone used “Mortal Kombat” to describe what was happening, this looks like another crime that will be chalked up under videogame violence. More than likely the teens were rough-housing (I can’t believe I just used that term) around but I highly doubt they were specifically re-enacting Mortal Kombat. Regardless, even if they were, teens should be responsible and sensible enough to know that a 7 year old kid is not a character in a Mortal Kombat game, especially since they were much older than her. Lamar Roberts, 17, and Heather Trujillo, 16, were charged as adults on one count each of felony child abuse causing death. Sounds like a Flawless Victory for the law and morality. Click on MORE to read the press release of the incident.

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You think you’ve seen it all in eBay? An Xbox Live gamer, lilperiwinkle, put up an eBay bid titled: Halo 3 Xbox Live Friendship 360. The goal is to get people to bid to add her in their Xbox Live friends list. The current bid is now at $20 and it ends tomorrow, Dec 7^th.

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…shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Major Nelson put up a post today about the first batch of content coming out for Guitar Hero 3. They announced two song packs, each focusing on one band, as well as the damage they would do to your wallet.

… [waits in suspense] …

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This past weekend marked the beginning of the end for two prominent things in my life: spare time and money. The release of Guitar Hero 3 was the first of many nails driven into boards that aim keep me in my TV room this winter, with a controller glued to my hands. Don’t believe me? Have you seen the line up for the rest of the year? The end is upon us.

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Over at Advertising Age, they are reporting that movie ticket sales were down a whopping 27% from the previous year, and that many people are blaming Halo. It seems that all the people that were busy spending $170 million the first day Halo 3 came out, were in their houses playing the game the weekends following it’s release.

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What games do you think are the most prevalent on the Xbox 360? Shooters? Sports? Games about pinatas? FPS Source recently took the time to catalog all the current available titles on this particular platform to determine just what the dominant genre was. All the people complaining that the 360 is a shooter only platform can begin eating their words any time. Start with these : You. Were. Wrong. *mmmm, absolutely delicious!

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