Joystiq

Hong Kong gets pummeled by pre-orders for PS Vita

Jessica Conditt — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST

Pre-orders for the PlayStation Vita began today in Hong Kong, the second city to get access to the device, with all of the expected frenzy. Retail stores were mobbed, online stores were jammed, the government considered military quarantine of shopping districts -- you know, the usual. OK, China didn't contemplate violent force (that we know of) but it was a pretty manic pre-order scene all around, according to Richard Lai of Engadget China.

After witnessing the potential of U.S. shoppers to get down and dirty over $2 waffle irons, we're terrified to experience the homeland Vita pre-order spree. Just please, leave your pepper spray at home.

Hong Kong gets pummeled by pre-orders for PS Vita originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Race'n'Chase: Original GTA design docs posted

James Ransom-Wiley — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST

The original concept for Grand Theft Auto would see players committing only a few crimes, according to design documents posted by developer Mike Dailly that date back to sixteen years ago today. At that time, the early concept was for a game called Race'n'Chase. Its aim was "to produce a fun, addictive, and fast multi-player car racing and crashing game which uses a novel graphics method."

The story? "The game will be set in a present-day world." (Period.) While it would take two and a half years -- and narrowly dodging cancellation, by another creator's account -- to flesh out the eventual game, Grand Theft Auto, the designers did have some inkling of the direction they would ultimately take, as detailed in the original pitch.

"There will be 3 cities with a different graphic style for each city (e.g., New York, Venice, Miami)," wrote the heads of then DMA Design (now Rockstar North). "There will be many different missions to be played in each city." The initial mission types consisted of "a straight race across the city," a free-roaming demolition derby and a bank robbery.

Other seeds for the mega-franchise-to-be were also planted in the early documents: "Pedestrians will be wandering about all of the time," notes one section, suggesting bystander types could include "schoolchildren" and a "lollipop lady." "They can be run over by cars."

"It will also be possible for players to get out of their car and steal another one," the designers propose in the opening pitch, adding, "Trying to steal a car may result in an alarm being set off which will, of course, attract the police." Later, it's clarified that "police will be able to get out of their cars and shoot at the robbers."

[Image credit: Mike Dailly; source: mikedailly/Flickr]

Race'n'Chase: Original GTA design docs posted originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Id and Valve could have been violating GPL

Ross Miller — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:55:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Online, Business

After id Software released their catalog on Steam, some gamers on the Halflife2.net forums noticed a missing General Public License for DOSBox, an emulator used for playing older titles. Not including a GPL, which is a text file legally required to be included with the game to give due credit, violates the license and can lead to lawsuits.

It appears, however, that subsequent downloads have fixed the problems, as either Valve or id has added the proper licenses. (Note the picture above, from the same forum thread, showing the licenses present in a recently-downloaded copy of HeXen.) This doesn't in either way affect the gameplay of the titles, but it is important to give credit for those who make your fragging possible in the first place.

[Update: Clarified the wording as to the physical description of the GPL itself.]

[Via /.]

Id and Valve could have been violating GPL originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GayGamer.net offline following hate attack

Alexander Sliwinski — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:55:00 EST

Filed under: Culture

After a series of hate speech incidents and forum postings to GayGamer.net, the site was taken offline by a set of denial of service attacks. Flynn DeMarco, the site's owner, said things started going wrong toward the end of last week until the site's host, GoDaddy.com, finally took the site offline until the attacks could be stopped. They are currently attempting to get back online and hope to be finished by Monday.

A couple minutes in an Xbox Live Halo multiplayer session should give anyone an idea of why safe havens like GayGamer.net exist (along with Gaymer.org and Gamers.Experimentations.org), but for someone to go out of their way to attack the site is extreme. In the year since its existence, the news site and forum has given voice to issues that were previously rarely discussed. We share in Kotaku's sentiment, where DeMarco is weekend editor, that "it's sad to see that even in the virtual worlds of gaming and game coverage people decide that the only way they can express themselves is by attacking others." GayGamer has sought to bring demographic inclusion into the industry and we hope to hear their voice back in the cacophony of these internets soon.

GayGamer.net's statement can be found after the break.

Update: The site is back online.

Continue reading GayGamer.net offline following hate attack

GayGamer.net offline following hate attack originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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