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Blog entries from our esteemed contributors.

Attempting to Solve the Videogame Resale Conundrum

Posted on August 20, 2009 by ManicApollo

It's the same tired, whiny story from game publishers and developers that we've heard time and time again: the used game market is killing profit margins and destroying otherwise well-received games and development houses.

The videogame industry is not new. Entertainment media as a whole is not new (see: books, music, movies, etc). So why is it that the videogame industry seems to be the one persistently pounding on the Dining Room Table of Greed saying that they're not making as much money as they should because of resales?

So how about we stop banging on the table and actually start doing something about it?

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Awaiting the 4 Horsemen of the Videogame Apocalypse

Posted on August 4, 2009 by ManicApollo

Our beloved industry has already escaped one close encounter with death: the Videogame Crash of 1983.

New DLC in the form of one very Fat Princess was released this week, which means that another iteration of capture the flag has been unleashed on the gaming public. And forgive us for picking on Fat Princess, but exactly how many versions of Capture the Flag do we need before we cry uncle?

This sort of hollow gaming made us wonder if there will be a day when the gaming public calls it quits and becomes disenchanted with the industry. We present to you The 4 Horsemen of the Videogame Apocalypse - the 4 factors we believe could potentially lead to the downfall of gaming as we know it.

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The Quest for Online Betas : An Impassioned Plea

Posted on July 10, 2009 by ManicApollo

First Castle Crashers. Then Gears of War 2. And now Battlefield 1943.

The time to demand betas is upon us, my gamer friends. As consumers of digital entertainment, we have a right to demand quality for every product we purchase with our hard-earned dollars. Lately it seems as though the exchange has been very one-sided - we gamers plop down our cash and then sit and wait until all the "unexpected issues" are worked out on the developers side.

And we wait. And wait. And wait.

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Oops, EA did it again!

Posted on July 9, 2009 by ManicApollo

Remember back in the day when EA was a brutal game publisher that couldn't misfire on anything they released?

Yeah, me neither, it was so long ago. But I downloaded the Battlefield 1943 demo today to give it a whirl, and, well, I can't tell you how it is because I can't get into it. I get a perpetual "failed to connect to EA online" error message.

We are now over 24 hours since BF1943 has been released, yet these problems still persist.

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Strategies to Improve Your Call of Duty Kill to Death Ratio

Posted on June 24, 2009 by ManicApollo

Call of Duty 4 and 4.5 (Modern Warfare and World at War, respectively) boast some of the best online multiplayer around. Chances are if you're reading this you've already experienced the adrenaline rush of taking out multiple enemies in a Rambo-style - you versus the world - with you coming out on top.

"But wait a second," you say. "I usually get slaughtered whenever I go online and deathmatch in Call of Duty!".

If that's the case, than read on, friend. Read on.

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Bobby Kotick the new Don Corleone?

Posted on June 19, 2009 by ManicApollo

Just a few short years ago, Electronic Arts was considered the big bully of the videogame industry, but times have changed and so has the bully.

Activision, who struggled mightily in the early 00's (with a stock price that was less than $0.50 in 2000), has surged with a vengence and, with help from its merger with Blizzard in 2008, has become the biggest video game publisher with EA now second.

Apparently, with the title of "World's Largest Publisher", also comes the title of "Don of the Videogame Publisher Cartel".

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Has the industry sold its soul to the 'casual' gamer?

Posted on June 15, 2009 by ManicApollo

Everyone's favorite Nintendo employee (at least of the non-animated variety), Shigeru Miyamoto, has confirmed that New Super Mario Bros. Wii will include a 'help' feature - essentially an autopilot switch that allows gamers to let a game play itself when it gets too difficult.

It's time to ask the question... has the industry sold out to the casual gamer?

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World at War Map Pack 2 Impressions

Posted on June 11, 2009 by ManicApollo

Call of Duty: World at War's second map pack - appropriately titled "Map Pack 2" - was released today for PS3, XB360, and PC. The new map pack includes 3 new deathmatch maps (Banzai, Sub Pens, Corrosion) and a 4-player co-op map (Shi No Numa), all for $10USD.

We took the map pack for a spin through team deathmatch and came away impressed.

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Best. Cooperative. Games. EVER.

Posted on June 9, 2009 by ManicApollo

We here at CivilizedGamers just recently dove into the Resident Evil 5 pool.

Yeah, we're a bit late... but better late than never, right?

In any case, we have been absolutely blown away with the sheer depth of the cooperative nature of the game - co-op isn't just tacked on as an extra, it's an essential part of the game. The game style was refreshing and got us thinking about other excellent co-op games of our collective pasts.

Details after the jump!

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Sony E3 Game Highlights (With No Montages!)

Posted on June 3, 2009 by ManicApollo

Sony attempted to follow through on the "saving the best for last" mantra, following Microsoft's presentation on Monday and Nintendo's earlier in the day Tuesday.

So how did they do? Well, the presentation itself was rather lengthy (clocking in at over 2 hours), and contained more videogame montages than I care to watch. I'd rather see individual game demos (even in they are just trailers) than mashups showing clips of dozens of games.

Luckily, there were plenty of those as well.

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