First I would like to apologize to all of you that have been subscribing to the RSS feeds or have linked to information on this page. I have been going through an evolution and believe that I have finally found the destination.
Once, again I am changing the site address to http://tekpr0n.com finding that it would be nice to have a top level domain. It will offer a bit more flexibility moving forward as well as making it easier to remember and get to.
TekPr0n huh?
Well, I have to admit that I spent several hours looking for a domain that was available, I had a few in mind and did everything I could think of to get exactly what I wanted in a name, although, I think there are a lot of others out there that know how to use dictionary.com and thesaurus.com to find the same alternates was looking for.
TekPr0n, the definition…
Tek is a revision to Tech, or technology, duh. I chose this because that is my interest and my goal as far as content on this site. I live, breathe, and will end up most likely dying by technology, so rightfully, it has a stake in the name of the site.
Pr0n is a revision to the word Porn. Obviously this is not going to be a pornographic site, although I hear they bring in the bucks. Rather I have included pr0n in the title due to the new definition is has evolved to, over time.
From Dictionary.com: // [Usenet, IRC] Pornography. Originally this referred only to Internet porn but since then it has expanded to refer to just about anything. The term comes from the warez kiddies tendency to replace letters with numbers. At some point on IRC someone mistyped, swapped the middle two letters, and the name stuck, then propagated over into mainstream hacker usage. Compare filk,grilf, hing and newsfroup.
The way I see pr0n and the way it has come to be accepted, is that is is something good, or something you lust for. Some incessantly look at porn on the internet, well, I incessantly look at gadgets, technology, games, and the like, to the point where I consider it my “type” of porn, or Pr0n.
Anyhow, enough of the explaining.
Same place, same content, actually more now that I have the domain search done, and the same good ol’ techie geek. Welcome to TekPr0n.com, I hope you enjoy.
A few nights ago I sat at the local watering hole with some friends and we got to talking about video games. We talked of the old and the new. It can be argued that games have come a long way, however I tend to lean more towards the notion that games have gone downhill. Sure, the graphics look amazing, the sound enveloping, and the plot deep but they just don't leave the same lasting impression that the games of old have. There are a few franchises nowadays that will probably stand the test of time, but I really don't see people sitting around in ten years saying, "They really need to make another Infamous game...". We do hoever have conversations that surround ideas like:
Best Final Fantasy game? 2 or 3?
Do you think they killed Metroid by making it an FPS?
I'll bet you beat Blaster Master using the Bomb-Pause trick huh you cheater?
And who can't recite the Contra code?
Now as I was saying, Halo, Call of Duty, and a few other franchises will more than likely still have thier followings down the road, however, can they really be spoken of in the same breath as the Mario's, Sonic's, and Mega Man's (Mega Men's?) let alone Castlevania, Zelda, or even the single titles such as Kid Icarus or even Excite Bike? They are so worried about creating epic games that they lose the qualities that make them epic. Zelda was not a gorgeous game but it was completely enthralling. It wasn't easy, it wasn't hard, and you couldn't change the difficulty. You couldn't play your friends but you all watched each other play and talked the next day about how far you each got and how the heck to find level 7!?!?! If you said the words Justin Bailey to a gamer years ago they would know exactly what you were talking about. Games didn't come out every week just to have new games out. Time was put into them and not just to hold them back so they wouldn't be competing with another release.
Now there is talk that stores such as GameStop and Electronics Boutique which both sell used games are killing the video game industry. When one can go into the store and buy a week old game for $10 less than the brand new copy sitting right next to it the software company doesn't see the profits and are now threatening to only release games in downloadable form. This makes borrowing games from friends a little tricky. Not to mention if you experience issues such as RROD you will have to re-download all of your content yet again once you or the concole manufacturer finally gets around to replacing your new paperweight.
There was something poetic about everyone having thier own routine for "fixing" thier NES games that would just end up looking like a bad vertical hold job. I was a blow in the cartridge/insert as little as possible to still push down/all the way to right kinda guy. We had connections to our games and our machines. I had just about every upgrade for my original GameBoy available. The light, the extra battery, the magnifier, the speakers, you name it! I remember when they tried to market the Virtual Boy. I remember Robbie the Robot and what games you could use him with, the Power Glove and its role in "The Wizard". Video games are a hobby now, they were a way of life. These kids today just don't know...
From the beginning of time, we as humans, wanted more from our environment. Whether we create a movie depicting us in a far of world shooting laser beams, or if we are moving figurines in a make believe war amongst fictional characters, we want more. Always wanting to change our environment is human nature and, if it is not possible because of technological limitations we will create an environment, such as a game, to let us play out what we would like to experience.
I don't know how many times I have visited the slopes to shred some sick rail on the top of an icy cabin, for free, because of a game. At the end of the day I didn't break any bones, no matter how many times I fell, and I could really pull some speed, without getting a “your snowboarding too fast” ticket. But why not play in both worlds, it would be great if when purchasing my snowboarding game I got a free one day voucher to a local slope…in real life. It would be an easy choice, especially if there were a couple different titles to choose from that day at the store. It brings the real world into our enhanced version.
Now, however, I see a new trend developing along these lines, and the capitol ship, pulling out this revised initiative is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. For the first time ever, I have seen a “functional” piece of gadgetry come from a game maker, in hopes that the perk will increase sales and of course, as well as night time fun.
When I was in high-school a few friends and I would make a habit of, unsafely, playing paintball against each other at night time. As kids we always talked about trying to make it better. I mean there is only so much you can see at night, so typically we had to play in areas that were somewhat lit, sometimes meaning the local high school common areas were good spots to play, but didn't offer that covert feeling we wanted in the first place. Thinking back on that time, I would have easily paid out the $139.99 for the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2, because, it includes working night vision goggles in this package.
OMFG, needed that technology a few years ago…
Of course, this is not the fist time that game developers and their associated marketing companies have included little nick knacks with their games. Usually if you get the collectors edition, the most you pull off as part of the game is a plastic figurine or a glossy graphic novel with the main characters in it, boring? Even the most elite collectors edition I can think of in the last year, Halo 3, only offered a life sized head that you can store your game in, as your ‘perk’. As for the most useful, I have found that the lockable safety deposit box that came with the Collectors Edition of Grand Theft Auto 4 was used the most after the initial un-boxing, I have to have someplace to keep my glossy graphic novels from other games ;).
I will be purchasing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, not only because I loved the first release but because who the hell doesn't want night vision goggles? Even if these are a bit clunky looking, actually gianormous compared to most, real NV goggles, its a no brainer. I have looked up the cost on night-vision goggles before, trying to find a cheap alternative, the best I could come up with was a set from ThinkGeek.com, these are $89.99, but look a bit more compact. ThinkGeek NV goggles If you take the cost of those goggles and the cost of a normal video game at ~$50.00 it seems to be a great deal though, actually saving a bit, if you were to purchase both independently.
Including night vision goggles in this game teeters on being something that is really not to specific to the game, more of an extra piece of something to sell more. You do use them in the game from time to time, but most items that are included in collectors editions are really specific to the characters or the content. Already I have seen comments on other sites of angry people, claiming they are throwing “will break in 24 hours” items, just to sell more. Duh. As for the overall content of the game I don't really think there is going to be a major improvements on the game. I watched the E3 coverage of the game and, it seemed, the same.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was one of the most popular games that Activision ever put out, so a game that is just as awesome, but includes goggles to wear during your walk with the dog at night, makes it a +1. In the future, I think we will be seeing more game editions like this being released.
Some of the ideas that cross my mind:
Skate3 released, with a free roll of grip tape for your real skateboard.
Fight Night 5 released with boxing gloves.
Guitar Hero World Tour 2 released with a cheap acoustic guitar, like the ones you see on infomercials.
There is a plethora of items you could release with games that would breach the gap between our fake world and the one we live in. Now that a lot of items that were thousands of dollars while I was in high-school are cheaper to produce, that they can be included in our games, why not give someone the game and a real world counterpart?
Having mentioned this, I don't see the release of Rainbow Six’s next installment to offer a Silenced MP4, in the Collectors Edition, that would be unsafe ;) There is always room an NRA Edition but I couldn't tell you what the ESRB rating would be.
**There is no intention with in to state any of the above games are being released or even exist in this realm, they are fictional titles to potential games. Thanks for not putting me on a stake for imagining things.**
atom6, 
