Okay, so you know how this blog has been updated here and there with some in depth stories and pieces? Yeah that's changing today. I'm making some changes to make this place somewhere where you can keep coming back all the time to find new stuff to read and listen to. A lot of this will be a work in progress as I go along, and more changes will more than likely to occur. As per the usual, your guys job is to spread the word as much as you can, and mine will be to keep them (and you) coming back for more.
Don't fear though, if you enjoyed what I used to do, those kinds of things will still be here, and I will still be writing new ones. But I felt like I could make this blog somewhere people flock to for the most interesting reading material about video games period. So, let's see how this goes.
- Nolan
...Let it begin.
The reason I almost missed Thanksgiving dinner.
This past week was, for us here in America (ummm....hell yeah?) was Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally Black Friday, the single biggest shopping day in the world. Ridiculous sales are on in every shop and everyone knows it's the best chance they have to haul in huge savings while doing Christmas shopping. Nonetheless the world continued to spin, so here are some of the highlights in news and interesting accomplishments from the past seven days.
South Korea's "Cinderella Law" Goes Into Effect
Fearing the problem that game addiction in a technologically focused country could have on the next generation of Koreans, South Korea has put into effect a law that bans players under the age of 16 from playing online between midnight and six in the morning. The law was drafted in April, and while it initially only covered MMORPGS, the law was extended to cover all kinds of gaming.
The law has met (obviously so) some harsh criticism from various gaming groups. The Korean Association of Game Industry, a massing of fourteen publishers and developers, has called it "excessive prohibition" of a specific group, and reportedly has plans to file a lawsuit.
The obvious reason behind this law is that teenagers should be spending the evening hours sleeping rather then gaming, but the law calls into question the civil liberties of children. And while the Korean government have made their views crystal clear, one has to wonder if this kind of law could spark similar reactions elsewhere in the world. The law also calls into question whose job it is to see that children get a decent amount of sleep, but for now this law is here to stay.
Curious Elder Scrolls Player Finds Entire Continent Beyond Skyrims Borders
One person playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim decided he just had to know what lay beyond the invisible boundaries of Skyrim's game world. I'm not entirely sure what he was expecting when he turned no-clip mode on to see what lay beyond Skyrims invisible borders, but I can guarantee he did not expect to find the entire continent of Tamrieal. The player took numerous screenshots as he flew around, seeing such sights as the Vvardenfell volcano and the Imperial City (well, the land area it sits upon anyhow.)
The question now is what exactly are they doing there? The most likely answer is so that when players look out over the horizon, they can see familiar landscape landmarks from past games, to help them feel like they are in the same world as the past Elder Scrolls games, but who knows? Maybe there is some sort of secret Bethesda hasn't let us in on yet.
New Xbox 360 Dashboard Launches December 6th
The title is somewhat self explanatory. Microsoft will roll out it's newest version of the Xbox Dashboard on the 6th. Aside from a sleeker look, the new dashboard will have greater integration for Kinect Voice Recognition. This is also the same day that the Microsoft will be launching some new TV and movie apps, so Xbox users should be paying special attention to this date.
All in all a quiet week overall, but the "Cinderella Law" (as it is apparently being called) that went into effect in South Korea this past week is an obviously important event. South Korea has earned a notorious reputation for how seriously they take their games, and for how long some people play them. But, as stated above, this law causes many questions to appear, and some have no clear answers. I personally find this law a bit of drastic step, and for parents it's somewhat of a slap in the face that the government has decided that they can't keep their children offline. We'll see what kind of an uproar we get from this law in the coming weeks.
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