It seems that the eventual stop for all of our favorite games is the world of massive multiplayer. FOnline 2238 is a free Fallout 2 mod that turns everyone's favorite post-apocalyptic opus into a top-down-view MMO. Fallout's world seems ripe for the online transformation -- bounty hunting, brahmin trading, crafting, exploring, and trading are all possible professions. Scavenging, as well as gathering resources and useful items, will also be a huge part of being a citizen.

Cvet and Rotators, developers of FOnline 2238, are not going backwards to create this new world. Although it resembles the earlier Fallout games it was inspired by, Cvet is painstakingly editing sprites to turn 2D into 2.5D. They are even using the 3D model converter from the canceled Interplay Fallout 3 title codenamed Van Buren. Assuming Bethesda doesn't serve its creators with a cease and desist order (the game skates the line of being a mod and becoming an entirely new game), beta testing for the game will take place in August. Read all about the mod here. More pics and a great video explaining the developer's thought process when creating what looks like will be a great multiplayer experience appear after the break.

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It's the middle of the month, and you know what that means -- nothing at all!

That's right, today is just another indistinct, unimportant day in your life. You'll brush your teeth, watch some television, then hit the sack. With any luck, however, you'll find time for the Bitmob Reviews Spotlight. And with even more luck, you'll enjoy reading it!

So cheer up, because it's time to spotlight reviews and chew bubble gum...and we're all out of gum.

Spencer Grande is the first to step toward the podium, and he makes a pretty convincing case for Duke Nukem 3D -- a game which is just as offensive today as it was in 1996.

Dante's Inferno is potentially as offensive as Duke's 3D adventure, but that doesn't stop Moeez Siddiqui from the world's longest review of the game. It's seriously, like, 2000 words or something.

Andrew Galbraith and Suriel Vasquez call a moratorium on controversy with their reviews of Toy Soldiers and Ace Attorney Investigations -- two games which are as non-threatening and appreciative of their respective subjects as possible (sort of).

But wait! Controversy returns with yet another review of Dante's Inferno, this time by Ryan Finley. But, before someone complains in the comments section, Steven Schmidt defuses the situation with a curt, to-the-point review of Resident Evil 5's first downloadable content pack.

Daniel Feit winds down this undistinguished day with his impressions of a rather distinguished action game -- God of War.

The Old School Charms of Duke Nukem 3D
By Spencer Grande
After 3D Realms permanently closed their doors last year, the desperate hope that Duke Nukem Forever would one day be released was quelled. Anxious and cotton-mouthed, avid fans of the series were given few alternatives beyond revisiting past entries in the franchise. Luckily, one such avid fan calls Bitmob home -- Spencer Grande. After returning to the Duke's misogynistic, tongue-in-cheek world, does this reviewer sense a tangible pain or is he filled with glee and nostalgia?

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Out of all the possible Capcom crossovers, Mega Man and Street Fighter seem to be the least likely. But a pixel artist named SpeedBrkr disagrees. He put together artwork for every Street Fighter character -- transformed to fit into an 8-bit world.

If you go to his actual page (here), you can see that he also animated each character. Who knew that Akuma and Blanka could be so cute?

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You're a nerd -- don't bother denying it.

But what kind of nerd are you? Do you only play video games or do your interests expand beyond the glossy surfaces of compact discs?

Needless to say, the historical diversity of nerds is jarring in its scope: Computer geeks dominated the turn of the century, fans of science fiction television serials typified the '80s, and the post-war era belonged to Dungeons & Dragons nerds and roleplayers.

But, I say we start before all that -- with comic books

As long as pretty graphics or controller inputs aren't the only appealing aspects of gaming to you, comic books will probably prove of interest. If you consider yourself a gamer, I'm confident that you'll take pleasure in reading the following comic books. With any luck, they may even enhance your appreciation for video games in general!

So, without further ado, here are the top five comics (in no particular order) which are sure to convert any gamer into a regular customer at the local comic book store.

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Welcome to the sleep-deprived edition of the Community Spotlight. Skillful editors take my tired ramblings and turn them into quality articles so that you can understand what I write on days when language fails me and take-home exams are bleeding me dry.

Michael Epstein starts with his look into the Infinity Ward scandal and its effects on the Modern Warfare franchise. Mark T. Whitney is next, giving you the lowdown on Nolan North’s career and what you might have seen/heard him in.

Michael Bellmore’s account of his life in various game-themed vignettes is original and captivating, but prepare yourself for a wave of nostalgia to hit as he describes early life in arcades. Nick Giunta follows with his take on why it’s great that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 doesn't allow players to go prone while on stakeouts.

We close the Spotlight with a reminder of the long-running Meet the Mob series. If you’re new to Bitmob, check out some of the introduction articles written by your fellow community members and write your own. You’re part of the Bitmob universe so we’d like to know who you are.

Rome is Burning: Will the Infinity Ward Scandal Ruin Modern Warfare?
By Michael Epstein
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of weeks, you’re likely familiar with the scandal surrounding Infinity Ward and Activision. With legal actions proceeding the ousting of Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, what could happen to the Modern Warfare franchise?

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If you're a non-gamer, people playing video games for hours on end would be something you might make fun of. In the case of TheSpeedGamers however, their effort should be applauded. This dedicated group of game fans hail mostly from Fort Worth, Texas, and they do live feeds of their marathons to raise money for worthwhile charities. Right now, you can watch a 72-hour live feed of various Metroid games in action, with donations going to the Halton Autistic Family Support Group.

It's actually sort of fun to have on in the background, and chatting with fellow gamers and the moderator is a good way to show your support as well. Money helps too.

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Editor's note: Final Fantasy 13 has drawn a number of critics for straying from accepted role-playing-game dogma. Michael, however, is happy with these changes to the RPG formula, and he offers this defense of the game. How do you feel about Final Fantasy 13? -Jason

We’ve started off with a pretty decent first quarter of 2010: Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, and Final Fantasy 13. All of them received fairly positive reviews, but this isn't necessarily the case for Final Fantasy 13.

Taking a quick glance at Metacritic, you can see that so far this is the poorest rated game in the mainline Final Fantasy series. It’s not to say that I think Final Fantasy 13 received bad scores; it’s just getting lower scores than it usually does. If you read some of my other articles, you’ll see I don’t care about scores, but when you look at the text of these reviews it’s just difficult to understand where the respective writers are coming up with some of these complaints. 

So why have people turned on Final Fantasy? Well, that’s up for debate.

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If this game had come out six or seven years ago, xBlazeUK (the 15-year-old creator) would be a very rich programmer. Fantasy Online is a flash-based MMO that has the quaint look of a classic Final Fantasy or Zelda game, but incorporates more than a few elements of World of Warcraft. There is equipment to be had, currency to earn, and quests to complete. The quest givers have an exclamation point over their head which switches to a question mark when the quest is complete. You earn levels and delegate skill points as you see fit. It's really an amazing piece of work. 

The beta is going on right now, and, as of today, you can be a part of it. No word on when the game will actually be released, but you can check it out here for free (donations accepted). The only improvement I would advise is a change to the somewhat generic title -- it might as well be called "Sword Game".

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Editor's Note: Richard flexes his creative muscles here and tackles the topic of linear games from the perspective of a Roman Senator. I'm glad that this inventive piece found a home at Bitmob, and I'm interested to read what he comes up with next. - Jay

My fellow gamers, as the moon turns and the long foretold coming of the Thirteenth of the Fantasies Final draws nigh, one word has been spat like a curse across the realm. It is spoken of as the black death upon gaming's soul, festering away at all the good and leaving not but an untouchable rotted corpse. Like the word “witch,” the mere accusation spreads like wildfire and becomes truth amongst our community. And lo doth any hapless victim receive this title for they shall forever be burned within the flames and hatred of their once most faithful of supporters. Yet, I stand here today, in the Grand Hall of the Internet and surrounded by this most fickle of counsels, to defend this greatest of sins: Linearity.

At the birth of our kingdom, we were but a simple people, content to bounce our square balls and gather food from ghost-riddled caves. Yet, with time came complexity and with complexity, the birth of legends. Who here can forget the tales of the great Fixer-of-Pipes and his battles with the Reptile King? What child does not know of the adventures of the Blue Rodent and his Twin-Tailed companion? Do not forget my fellows, that even in that golden time, linearity was there. For both the Fixer-of-Pipes and the Blue Rodent could not move but right; forever right to victory. Lo! I hear you cry, “but what of the Hero of Hyrule and the Masked Hunter of Men?” Indeed, their legends can be told in many different ways. Yet, even their epics must be told in a certain order, lest they have not obtained the items with which to conquer their trials.

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Editor's note: I'm pro Andrew's idea in general. But let's work through Roald Dahl's entire output first and then move on to everything else. Well, maybe skip My Uncle Oswald. -Demian

Movie-licensed games have a horrible -- and well-documented -- history. But maybe our industry has been going about this all wrong. The real honey pot (as Hollywood figured out ages ago) is literature!

With no deadlines tied to premieres, developers could create with care and deliberation. Batman: Arkham Asylum just goes to show what a little extra time can do. Also, it would remove the horrible twin burdens of "creating a narrative" and "developing characters" -- things most games still seem pretty crap at.

Anyway, I was thinking about this and I've compiled a series of books I'd like to see developed into video games. Yes, they will probably never be made, but I can still dream about my Slaughterhouse Five game (although that's not actually on the list).

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Genre: Action/survival horror
Probability of being made: When plants walk

The Day of the Triffids is a wonderful sci-fi novel by the fella who brought you Village of the Damned. The basic premise is this: Plants named triffids get up and walk around, eventually blinding nearly the entirety of the human race with poison while trying to taking over the world.

The book begins with the narrator removing bandages from his eyes and quickly realizing that all humans are now blind due to a spectacular "meteor" shower. He then wanders London, dealing with the blind masses and walking, poisonous plants. How could this not be the best game ever? Dark and grimy in the horror department, with campy, 1950s-esque action. The point: Ecological abuse for economic boon brings the downfall of humanity. Now go shoot those damn plants, or something.

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Ahh...the Game Developers Choice Awards. They're kind of like the Oscars except nobody really cares which fashion designers the nominees are wearing. 

Uncharted 2 cleaned up at the GDC Awards last night with five trophies, including Game of the Year, Best Writing, Best Technology, Best Visual Arts, and Best Audio. Also during the ceremony, Will Wright (of The Sims fame) presented id Software's John Carmack (Doom, Wolfenstein 3D) with the Lifetime Achievement Award and did a presentation on "Why John Carmack Rocks." Boy, I'd hate to be the guy who has to tell James Cameron that Avatar: The Game didn't take home any awards. [GamePro]

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Editor's note: Heated debate is always more interesting, especially when you've got a dog in the fight. Suriel makes the case that more video game podcasts should strive to spark that kind of exchange between participants. I'd only add that these programs also drop the non-gaming banter in the beginning and get right to the topic I tuned in to hear. -Rob

When I listen to a podcast, I usually imagine myself in the room with the participants. I converse with them in my head, take their viewpoints to compare them with my own, and arrive at my own conclusion -- not unlike that which you might do with real-life group of friends.

I don't agree with everyone's point of view, but that's only to be expected. I usually enjoy the discussion more when I debate someone else's points than when I agree with his arguments.

This metaphysical experience works best when the breadth of perspectives that a podcast provides creates genuine discussion on a topic and when those opinions are as varied as possible. What I've found is that an assortment of expressed thoughts on a podcast is the exception rather than the norm.

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Even though the logo clearly says "hum-triangle-n," I'm pretty sure that the game is called Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Video Blips:

• I'm sure that Deus Ex's Adam Jensen will be the first to tell you that having robot arms isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Maybe he should consider investing in plastic cups instead of glass. [GameTrailers]

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Editor's note: People often bandy about a somewhat amorphous term to describe video game fans and characters: "emo." What does it mean? I make immediate connections with the origins of the term: mid-'80's post-punk emotional hardcore bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring. Brian makes connections between the supposed affectations of people who are "emo" and the lack of sensitivity this may indicate toward mental illnesses such as Major Depressive Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder. Whatever the case, I'm in full agreement that this is a somewhat loose, very ineffectual way of describing something. -James

Disturbing trends in game journalism are nothing new, but one annoys me more than most others -- the increased use of the term "emo." Since the start of the new millennium, the term "emo" has infected pop culture faster than Swine Flu swept PAX '09. When used in everyday discussion, it's often associated with people who appear to be unhappy and wear dark-colored clothing.

One definition at Urban Dictionary describes "emo": "An entire subculture of people (usually angsty teens) with a fake personality." Whether or not such people exist is debatable, but the term "angst" is nothing to laugh at. According to Dictionary.com, "angst" is when a person has "a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish." Certainly, having a small amount of these feelings is normal, but when they overwhelm an individual, it can endanger that person's existence.

I'm sure some people feel they have earned the title of "emo" -- although I have never met any -- by pretending to hate the world and acting depressed because they crave attention, but that doesn't mean we should use such a term lightly. As someone who frequents game sites, I've noticed that people throw the word about carelessly to describe certain characters and people who enjoy relatively niche genres. This is a shame, because not only does it misrepresent certain real-life and virtual individuals, but it also reveals the ignorance of much of the gaming community.

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The Geekbox — Episode 56 (2010-03-09)
Wherein we discuss live recordings, official Geekbox achievement contest updates, SyFy original movies, Lost 6×06, Burn Notice 3×16, Final Fantasy 13, RPG naming conventions, griefing on role-playing servers, Resident Evil, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (AKA “Welcome to 2007″), and cranky old podcasters. Starring Ryan Scott, Andrew Fitch, Anthony Gallegos, and Ryan Higgins.
Running Time: 1h 28m 57s

Zune link

Direct Download (right click to save as)

RSS

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My biggest interest in media studies is in understanding propaganda. Bioshock and Mega Man 10 tie together my passion for convincing the masses with suggestion and empowering imagery with video games. You can't deny the inspiring presentation of Solar Man in this poster [via TinyCartridge]:

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Who really needs motion control?

The big three hardware companies have poured millions of R&D money into perfecting complicated motion-capture devices in the hope of luring casual gamers, but the best party game I've seen at GDC does things the old fashioned way: with a button. One button, to be precise.

After attending the underwhelming unveiling of the PlayStation Move, I headed over to the Gamma IV party, hosted by the indie collective Kokoromi. Six games were on display, all of them controlled by one button. My favorite? A party game called B.U.T.T.O.N. (Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now) that blew everything offered at the Sony event out of the water. Check out the chaos below:

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It seems America's competitive spirit extends to exorbitant spending on digital pixels.

News Blips:

GamesIndustry conducted a study that shows American gamers spent $3.8 billion on massively multiplayer games in 2009. Consumers spent nearly half the amount ($1.8 billion) on monthly subscription fees, with subsequently smaller spending on annual subscriptions and other forms of payment such as micro-transactions. Unsurprisingly, Blizzard's World of Warcraft reigns supreme; its players comprise the largest portion of the total player base (46 million) in the United States. That's odd -- I didn't know playing as an elf would be so lucrative.

Game-design guru Warren Spector (System Shock) has warned the industry against becoming too engrossed with motion control and other input methods. While not scorning outright the recent trend of motion control devices, Spector (who is currently working on Epic Mickey for the Wii) stresses the importance of maintaining perspective in the ever-broadening video game audience. "I don't know if we want to throw away our entire history because we want to use gestural controls. I hope we keep our perspective a little more rational." Spector's right: How am I going to enter my Konami codes on a silly nunchuck? [Gamasutra]

Industry analyst Michal Pachter portends the outcome of the Infinity Ward/Activision lawsuit.  While not going into specifics, Pachter expects the lawsuit to "progress to trial or settlement, with some compensation likely awarded." The Webush Morgan analyst admits that Activision could be in serious trouble if Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella decide to work for EA, which has recently revived the Medal of Honor franchise. I'm glad Pachter is here to tell us about how a lawsuit works. [IndustryGamers]

Developers of classic games have noted their preference for working on smaller, social-centric titles. Longtime designers and industry veterans (such as Richard Garriot of Ultima fame) have turned to smaller-scale projects -- like iPhone apps and Facebook games -- that resemble the creative mentality of gaming's halcyon days. “I remember, early in my career we would make a game in six months," said designer Brenda Brathwaite (Wizardry). "I love the idea of just putting a game together with a small group of people. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do.” A return to smaller games is a nifty idea...but nothing will convince me to buy an iPhone. [Wired]

Got any hot news tips? Send 'em over to tips@bitmob.com.

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Can you decipher these uninspired, misinterpreted, or just plain messed-up video-game titles?

1)
2)

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I wonder if the vibrate feature in Sony's new controller can double as a back-massaging device, just like every other vibrating gadget.

Video Blips:

• Nothing pumps up the adrenaline like table tennis and fly swatting in this demo of the PlayStation Move. I'm still incredulous over its diffused shape and moogle-like sensor ball. [GameTrailers]

Continue after the break for an anthem-filled trailer of Green Day: Rock Band, some elf profiling in a commercial for Global Agenda, and a look at the webcomic-turned-platformer Blade Kitten.

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