October Wrap-Up

Greetings all and welcome to another IncGamers monthly wrap-up in which we pander to your laziness and summarise all of the month’s biggest gaming news  giving you more time to write that book, form that band, masturbate to within an inch of your life or whatever it is you do.

Dedication’s What You Need

Now if you’d asked us at the start of the month what would make the biggest waves in gaming this month, we would definitely not have said dedicated servers. However, it seems as if the humble dedicated server has become a battleground for disgruntled PCers who feel the unwanted influence of console plebs polluting the serene waters of PC gaming like a turd in a swimming pool. The controversy began with Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising when Codies revealed the tactical shooter would not include dedicated server support in the PC version. Judging by the level of vitriol in the community’s response, you’d think Codies had just offered to personally defecate on the graves of deceased family members. "This is really a huge issue CM,” wrote one remarkably well-adjusted community member. “I can understand if dedicated servers have been looked over until now, but it is really in your best interest to patch it in ASAP.” Other responses were phrased less diplomatically and while fans voiced concerns about laggy online play, Codies emphatically stood by its decision.

Of course, the dedicated server issue reached a crescendo this month with Infinity Ward’s announcement that it will adopt a new matchmaking system, IWNet, for Modern Warfare 2. You know, Modern Warfare 2? One of the biggest games of the year? Activision’s cash cow? I’m sure you can guess how the community reacted to Infinity Ward’s decision and a petition soon appeared which, at the time of writing, had reached over 170,000 signatures. But the fans couldn’t leave it there and so they decided to hit Infinity Ward where it hurts: Amazon customer reviews. Yes, angry PCers churned out more outraged words than a Daily Mail columnist prompting Amazon to remove hundreds of negative reviews. Which, obviously, had the community in uproar again, as if giving a one star review to a product no-one has played yet isn’t an act of wanton idiocy.

As if to rub salt into IW’s wounds, DICE made sure to let everyone know just how awesome dedicated servers are and that Bad Company 2 will be all about them while Aliens vs Predator developer Rebellion dodged the question like a skilled politician.

Ratings are Underrated

October was yet another month of frustration for Australian gamers as the debate about game censorship continued to rage, without any resolution in sight. The lack of an adult rating for games is a huge problem Down Under, with MA 15+ being the highest rating the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) can award. Conservative South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson continued to stand in the way of progress, announcing he will oppose any move to introduce an 18+ rating in an apparent effort to protect children and “vulnerable adults.” However, his views weren’t shared by all and Victoria’s Attorney General Rob Hulls (and Emu) described Australia’s attitude to game censorship as “inconsistent” and “out of step” with the rest of the world.

But the problem, as pointed out by anti-censorship campaigner Margaret Pomeranz, is that change requires the unanimity of attorneys general and with Atkinson throwing his toys out, “you have one attorney general calling the shots for all of Australia.” Something, we suspect, Atkinson probably enjoys greatly.

Nevertheless, there was some good news for Aussie gamers in October as MMOs were finally given an official rating by the OFLC, following months of confusion due to a legal loophole. And then, as if to prove it isn’t the big bad wolf, the OFLC accidentally outed a new Ghost Recon title

No, Seriously

We were inundated with strange stories from the world of gaming this month, none more so than the rumour that EA is working on a Jack the Ripper game titled, imaginatively , The Ripper. Now, that in itself is not so strange – we’ve seen Jack the Ripper in games before – but we’ve never been able to play as the notorious prostitute killer which is exactly what will happen in The Ripper if rumours are to be believed. See, EA has apparently decided that history has been too harsh on Saucy Jack and will reportedly portray him as a supernatural guardian of London, protecting (not slaughtering) its citizens from evil demons and all that jazz. We’re looking forward to EA’s upcoming take on WW2 in which the player takes control of Hitler as he protects the Jews from aliens.

More weirdness cropped up later in the month as it transpired that the US Department of Homeland Security is using the Wii Balance Board to catch terrorists and that Activision, by giving away night-vision goggles with the collector’s edition of Modern Warfare 2, is willingly creating and army of trainee sex pests.