Did You Ever Want Hot Chicks and Loads of Free Games?

Well This is not the place to find them. But If you Think you can do a better job of posting or reporting on news stories? Prove it. OLGn is searching for talented writers to assist in the site’s daily news writing duties.

We are looking for smart, capable freelance news writers to lend a hand in daily coverage of gaming news on OLGn.net. Here is the kicker: All of these positions are voluntary! *Gasp!* What, you don’t make a load of cash from the site? HAHAHA don’t let the ads around this site fool you, OLGn is about as financially profitable as, trying to hit Bill Gates up for a loan.

Put simply, we’re looking to grow, and I’m going to need your help. I opened the doors at OLGn a little over 6 years ago now and it’s been just me working this site and I need some help. People have said in the past that “Hay, I will help post” 3 or 4 times and POOF! never to be seen again. It’s not instant fame or easy money you have to love games and writing about them.

The Basics:
You keep the copyright to your work posted to OLGn Under the site wide Creative Commons license. So feel free to post what you post on OLGn on your blog, just give a link back is all we ask.

1. You must search the internet for worthwhile news stories. Examples of news worthy material: Nearly everything having to do with Xbox, wii, PS3, PC, Apple, PSP, DS, Previews or Reviews of Games. You can write articles about games, computer, internet or technology in your life not just news.
2. Must have good grammar
3. Must be willing to devote time, not just posting once a month

Even though it’s voluntary, Please stick to deadlines or a schedule when posting.

You might Ask What Do I get from all the *Cough* Work! You’ll get your own @olgn.net email address and the smugness of being able to say you work in the “Gaming Industry ” as a Free Lance writer. Occasionally you’ll get freebies from game publishers, but that won’t happen often unless pig’s can fly.

If you stick around and all work together, one day we might even be able to pay you or hell even pay for hosting! Sound good to you? Fill out the form below.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Gamespot, advertising-supported media, and the rage of the internet

In case you haven’t heard, the word on the street is that Jeff Gerstmann, long time reviewer and current editorial director for Gamespot, has been fired for giving Kane and Lynch a mediocre, though very negatively worded, score. According to the rumor mill, Eidos got pissed and threatened to withdraw the huge amount of advertising they were doing with Gamespot.

According to a statement from CNET, the only official statement I’ve been able to find, “GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis.”

“It is CNET Networks’ policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current of former,” the statement said.

I can’t bring myself to really believe Gamespot would do something this stupid until it has been confirmed by someone, but if it’s true, this makes me at once very angry, very sad and very afraid. Very afraid for my future in business, very sad that it’s still the bottom line that media companies care about and very angry at what would be an unjust firing.

Gerstmann certainly would not be the first journalist fired for not appeasing the advertisers, and he definitely won’t be the last. This past May, Harry McCracken, editor in chief of PC World, quit for a few days over the chief executive’s refusal to publish an article, “10 Things We Hate About Apple.” McCracken didn’t come back until the article was posted on the magazine’s website. Pulitzer Prize winning automotive writer for the Los Angeles Times Dan Neil provoked the ire of GM, who removed their advertising from the newspaper. At a smaller publication this could have gotten Neil fired.

This kind of back and forth between an outlet’s integrity and keeping advertisers has been a part of the journalistic world since the very first advertisement in media. The scariest part is the subtle effect this could have if it’s true. While the temporary outrage (and you can be sure, the anger will fade) will make journalists even more independent-minded, the long term effect could be a reluctance on the part of journalists to put the truth out there, whether because they fear for their jobs if the advertisers threaten to pull their ads or not getting published because the editors don’t want to risk it. The fall out of this firing could be chilling, if the rumors are true.

Of course, whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter on the internet. What matters is the perception of the internet at large, and their perception is clearly that this firing was in response to the Kane and Lynch review. The most noticeable effect of this rage is the Kane and Lynch user reviews at Gamespot, which has become about 70 percent 1-out-of-10s. The reviews no longer argue the merits of the game but declare Gamespot is no longer credible.

“Hell hath no fury like gamers scorned,” said one user.

“Down with CNET,” another user, who signed his review with Anonymous, said (I’ll spare you the all caps). “The game that ruined Gamespot.”

It’s ironic, but the person who will benefit most from this is Gerstmann. With one review he has become a hero of the internet, and the positive PR any website or magazine that snaps him up gets will be huge, not to mention his quality as a long-time video game journalist. On the internet, positive feelings tend to not be as strong as rage on the internet, but I have no doubt the effects will be well worth it.

The ultimate loser here is going to be Gamespot. Regardless of whether they actually fired him for the review or not, the damage to their reputation has been done, and every review on the site must now come into question. A huge site like Gamespot can take the hit to their userbase, but if they don’t act soon to mitigate the damage, either by taking Gerstmann back (if he will go at all), refusing to take advertising from Eidos or, with Gerstmann’s consent, saying exactly why he was fired, it may indeed be the game that ruined Gamespot.

UPDATE: Saw this over on Valleywag via Kotaku:

When companies make games as downright contemptible as Kane and Lynch, they deserve to be called on it. I guess you’ll have to go to Onion or a smaller site for objective reviews now, because everyone at GS now thinks that if they give a low score to a high-profile game, they’ll be shitcanned. Everyone’s fucking scared and we’re all hoping to get Josh Larson removed from his position because no one trusts him anymore.

Still anonymous source, but still…

Wii still leading consoles, but for how long?

Video Game Chartz has released the hardware sales chart for America for the week ending Nov. 10, and once again Nintendo’s Wii is first and Sony has come in last.

The Wii came in first for the week at 192, 482, followed by the Xbox 360 at 173,895 and the DS at 142,299. Sony’s PSP came in a distant fourth at 75, 954 and the Playstation 3 came in an even more distant fifth at 63, 788.

All three next-gen consoles saw a jump in sales, though: 31 percent for the Wii, 25 percent for the Xbox 360 and 15 percent for the PS3.

I once predicted the Wii was the future of video game consoles. I said, since the Wii changes how we play games instead of just how we view them, it would be able to over take the Xbox 360 and PS3, which certainly go farther in terms of hardware power but don’t fundamentally do anything different than the original Playstation.

I think a lot of the industry on the console production side is focused on better hardware power for consoles because that’s what has worked before. If you look at the jumps from system to system, what what you notice most in the slide show is the change in detail, from 8-bit to 16-bit to 32-bit and the era of the Playstation, which by my estimation only ended with this generation. The real fundamental change, though, is the change in gameplay.

Indeed, much of Nintendo’s success comes from seeing where the next change in how we play games is going to come from. Likewise, their failure comes from not seeing these jumps. Sony won the last generation because all the other companies that got involved, Nintendo, Microsoft and to some extent Sega, were content to try to do more of the same, and the Playstation 2 just did it better, either because it was more powerful or more deeply embedded. If Nintendo, or anyone else for that matter, had figured out a new way to play games we probably wouldn’t have seen the Playstations dominate as heavily as they did, if they would have dominated at all.

Mario’s adventures across the consoles is a perfect example. Super Mario Bros. defined platforming in the 8-bit era. The next great change you notice is Super Mario 64 and the jump to 3D, which defined the 3D platforming genre. Where Mario failed most is Super Mario Sunshine, which didn’t do anything fundamentally different from Super Mario 64. It may be too soon to call Super Mario Galaxy yet another redefinition of platforming from a historical perspective, but that hasn’t stopped reviewers from doing so.

What really amazes me, however, is the public’s almost unquestioning acceptance of the Wii’s new terms of playing games. Usually people are very slow to accept change. Even though most of the games on the Wii are epic fail at fully utilizing the consoles innovations, the exceptions being first-party games, the console continues to sell out the day stores receive new shipments. Perhaps the public was already thirsty for something new after a prettier version of more of the same from last generation, even if the new doesn’t exactly work perfectly?

The real test for the Wii now is whether Nintendo will continue to string us along from one exceptional first-party game to the next, a third-party company will step in and finally get the motion controls as perfect as Nintendo does so the system can really show what it can do or the Wii slowly fades away into obscurity, something that could’ve been a revolutionary turning point in how we play games but turned into little more than a novelty for most people.

If nothing else, the Wii has shown there is serious money to be made in doing something differently. Hopefully console makers, and developers even more so, will take note.

Games + Adware = Don’t Buy It or Give Me A Discount

Do you read the license agreements when you install software, or do you just keep hitting next? Well if you downloaded the newly released Hellgate: London demo you should have, since you get the extra bonus of adware included. (Advertising-supported software)

Here’s the pertinent section of the license you have to agree to once Hellgate is installed onto your system:

The Software incorporates technology of Massive Incorporated (“Massive”) that enables in-game advertising, and the display of other similar in-game objects, which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and replaced during online game play. As part of this process, Massive may collect your Internet protocol address and other basic anonymous information, and will use this information for the general purposes of transmitting and measuring in-game advertising. Massive does not store or use any of this information for the purpose of discovering your personal identity. For additional details regarding Massive’s in-game advertising practices, and to understand your options with respect to in-game advertising and data collection, please see Massive’s privacy policy. The trademarks and copyrighted material contained in all in-game advertising are the property of the respective owners. Portions of this product are © 2007 Massive Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Consent to Use of Data. You agree that EA, its affiliates, and each Related Party may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer, including without limitation your Internet Protocol address, operating system, application software and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online play. EA and/or the Related Parties may also use this information in the aggregate and, in a form which does not personally identify you, to improve our products and services and we may share that aggregate data with our third party service providers.

Here is one better example for you As reported on CNN.com about splinter cell and other titles serving in-game ads for the UK Xbox 360 users.

Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is taking a new approach to attracting new recruits. ‘The monthlong ad campaign, which starts at the end of October, is being run by GCHQ, the recruitment firm TMP Worldwide and Microsoft-owned in-game ad agency Massive Inc. Ads headed ‘Careers in British Intelligence’ will appear as billboards in scenes in Splinter Cell and other games including Need for Speed Carbon and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars when they are played on computers and Microsoft Xbox consoles in Britain.

You might be saying well the ads are only posters on walls in certain areas, but with the adware fully incorporated into the game they don’t have to stop at just posters on walls. You could find yourself kicking the crap out of some Zombie flesh by chucking some Windows ME CDs at it, since Massive is owned by The Borg errr Microsoft.

I am ok with including this crap err technology with a free demo but to be included in a game you’re paying full price or paying a monthly fee for … NEVER! I have refused to buy a game at full price that has in game ads in it. I feel the same way about in game ads as I did when I found out Blizzard and World of Warcraft had been stealing my bandwidth to substitute for having game patch servers by using a bittorrent system. This would have been ok if they would have had an option to turn it off or receive the download some other way, or *Gasp* discounted my bill for supplying them with bandwidth.

Us as a consumers have allowed this to continue and dare I say it, even grow. More greedy game studios are looking at this as a great option to pad the bank account even more than the already high prices they charge for games.

If you don’t like it, do something about it like write emails, don’t by the game or setup a petition. But for your sake do something or all the games you play will be just like watching TV with commercials popping up at every loading screen / save point.

What do you think take the poll on your right or leave us a comment about your thoughts.

Tells Us Want New Game Is On Your Christmas List

Join Our Forums And Tells Us About Yourself and what new games your looking forward to getting this year. I can’t wait for WarHammer Online my self. I got a chance to play it this year at Gen Con and it looks and feels like a refreshing change from the MMO’s on the market today. Eye of Judgment is also on my list I simply had best time playing this TCG / Video game I have played in a long time.

Video Games: Raising YOUR kids Is YOUR Job Not The Governments

What a novel concept, parents taking the responsibility for what kids (who don’t normally have jobs) buy. I have two boys one is 14 and one is 2, and they don’t play any games in my house I did not approve or buy first. So take the responsibility it’s your job not the job government to make sure YOUR kids do what is right.

If my son buys a game on his own I play it first, then if I do not approve of It make him return it. I tell him why I think the game was wrong. It’s not the job of the TV, computer, internet, his friends or the video games plays, to tell him what’s right and wrong that’s MY JOB, I am not his friend I am the parent first and I am here to make sure he grows up knowing right from wrong good from bad. If he fails in this it’s MY fault alone.

According to an Associated Press report, the Dutch Ministry was powerless to ban the controversial title as any intervention would have contravened the country’s laws.

Unlike in Britain or Germany, there is no authoritative ratings board or law in the Netherlands banning games purely for violent content, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin wrote in a letter to Parliament:

“The current law is based on the principle that every adult is considered capable of deciding for himself which games he wants to play, unless it contains illegal material,” he said. That would include racist propaganda or images appealing to pedophiles.

Deciding on whether children should be allowed to play a game is currently “the joint responsibility of parents, the audiovisual industry and the government,” he said. His ministry was now examining whether new laws or policies were needed “to better protect the youth,” he said.

The New Look For OLGn

Today we have rolled out our new look and feel for the site. Please let me know if you have any problems or find any bugs. Take the new Poll and let me know what you think. If there are any features you want or are looking for also let me know so we can ad them.

Would You like Fries with that Halo 3?

For the first time in video game history and on par with the scope of major movie releases, some of the world’s biggest consumer brands have aligned to support the launch. Many plan to offer a variety of promotions that give consumers the opportunity to obtain unique “Halo 3”-branded products and prizes and participate in one-of-a-kind “Halo 3”-themed events.

The Doctor says, “Congratulations! Its a 9 pound Baby Boy, would you like your limited edition copy of halo 3 or the regular one?”

Full Story »

Second Life A Terrorists Training Ground?

This terror crusade, which has been going on over the last six months, has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ damage. The terrorists will never be arrested or charged for their crimes because they have committed them away from the reach of the world’s law enforcement agencies, in the virtual world known as Second Life. Full Story »

Pleaseeee Make A New Game … PLEASE!

I can’t wait for the day when more game makers finally forget about trying to latch onto the so called latest “craze” and try to bring something new to the game market. The average game player is 33 years old and we have just about seen it all when it comes to games.

We need something new, something different in our games. Don’t just add a number to the title, change the graphics and the maps along with maybe adding a new weapon or two, and then call it “SameOldGame 3” **cough, cough Halo 3**. It’s almost like what is going on with the movie industry now days. How many remakes or sequels have you see at the box office in the last 5 years? (Way to many to even count) Full Story »