The Weekly Dish – Good Looking And Charismatic
As Diablo III crawls toward its beta test, eager gamers are willing to do just about anything to access the game early. Hearing that Blizzard’s “Friends and Family” beta has begun, one player asked the European customer service forum whether it would be possible to temporarily marry a Blizzard employee in order to access the beta. The official response? “All Blizzard staff are incredibly good looking and charismatic, and as such we are all married or spoken for already.”
For more stories of the attractive and charming people in the game industry, let’s get into The Weekly Dish.
From Software Punishes Street Date Breakers
From Software is known for its merciless games, and the advertisements for its newest title, Dark Souls, have emphasized how often the player is likely to die. Some Japanese gamers were so anxious for this kind of punishment that they patronized stores that broke the game’s street date. Unfortunately for them, From Software had prepared a little surprise for anybody playing the game with online connectivity before the release date. Early players found their game world ravaged by super-high-level monsters that would be a challenge even for a player who had put sixty hours into the game. Ouch.
Now With Bears!
I have previously expressed my admiration for the title of the upcoming Kinectimals Now With Bears! game. It’s a moniker sure to make Stephen Colbert cower in abject terror, even if the actual Kinectimals bears are deceptively cute and cuddly. So cute and cuddly, in fact, that Microsoft has entered into a cross-promotion with Build-A-Bear Workshop.
For those of you who haven’t been to a North American mall with a small child lately, Build-A-Bear is a store that allows customers to create and customize teddy bears and other stuffed animals. In October, customers will be able to purchase four special Kinectimals bears at Build-A-Bear, then scan them into a copy of Kinectimals Now With Bears! and play with their digital counterparts. Of course, these special bears are covered in hearts and/or peace signs, making them particularly non-threatening. What’s the fun in that? I want my bears to be able to rip off a grown man’s head, but I’m guessing I’m not the target demographic here.
A Universe of Smash?
It’s likely to be years before we see the new Super Smash Bros. game for the Wii U and 3DS, but the rumors and supposed leaks have already begun. A picture that claims to be of a Japanese spec sheet for the game has surfaced on the Internet. If the leak isn’t fake, the game will be called Super Smash Bros. Universe in both English and Japanese. The spec sheet claims that there will be expanded support for non-Nintendo characters in the new game, a trend that began with the inclusion of Solid Snake and Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Let’s not kid ourselves—the document is probably fake, but the many fakes around upcoming Super Smash Brothers games are always entertaining. We should start seeing fake character reveals in 5… 4… 3…
You Got Star Wars in my Deus Ex
Owners of the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution have noticed a new addition to the game after the last patch. The loading screen occasionally boasts a small banner ad for the original Star Wars trilogy on Blu-Ray. This seems like a strange addition to the game, considering that despite its near-future setting, all in-game billboards advertise fictional companies and products. It’s even stranger that these ads should start cropping up almost a month after the game’s release. One more reason to be wary of the increasingly online nature of games, I suppose.
PSN Gets Knocked Down, Gets Up Again
The PlayStation Network had an outage that lasted approximately five hours on Wednesday. Fears of another hacking attack like the one that knocked out the PSN for months earlier this year were quickly quieted when the network went back up. Sony also handled this outage far better than the last one, quickly posting status updates on Twitter and the PlayStation Blog.
It’s just as well that this outage didn’t last too long or result in stolen personal data, as Sony has also made changes to its Terms of Service stating that customers waive the right to launch a class-action suit against Sony as the result of any PSN goings-on. This change is courtesy of the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that companies can add such clauses to their contracts earlier this year. Customers can opt out of this rights waiver by sending a paper letter (remember those?) to Sony, but it looks as though the days of using class-action lawsuits to force companies like Sony to provide proper customer protection and support are over.
By Becky Cunningham
CCC Contributing Writer
*The views expressed within this article are solely the opinion of the author and do not express the views held by Cheat Code Central.*