I have a Live membership that expires next year, but I don't use anymore will it transfer automatically to 360 Live or do I have to do something?

MN: Live memberships will transfer over from Xbox Live to Xbox Live 360 seamlessly. If you have an active Live membership now don t worry about it.

Microsoft said they would post a list of backwards compatible Xbox games on the Xbox website last month, where is it?

MN:Peter Moore and Robbie Bach have said that we re going to make the top Xbox game backwards compatible. We are still working on the list of backwards compatible titles and we hope to post it in the near future on the Xbox site.

How important is Xbox Live to the Xbox 360?

MN: The next time around Xbox Live is critical.

Why is Xbox Live Arcade such a big deal for the 360?

MN: You don t need the disk anymore. You are going to be able to open the (Xbox 360) box plug it into your TV, sign up for a free silver account and go download games without ever leaving your house.

What we allow with Xbox Live Arcade is a way for a smaller developer to put it in the microplace and have access to our users.

What ever happened to the Xbox Sports Network, will we see it again on the 360?

MN: We are taking XSN sports to a different level (with the 360). Now it's not just a sports thing it's for every game you unlock.

What's your favorite Xbox 360 title so far?

MN: Kameo. I cannot wait for that game. It is just nothing but fun. The gameplay is so much fun and there are hours and hours of gameplay.

What's the deal with the Xbox 360 causing interference at Walmart, do I have to worry about that happening at my house?

MN: That's not really my department, but I can say this: I've had an Xbox 360 in my house for four or five months and it's never interfered with any of my home devices.

Will any of the games that launch simultaneously on the Xbox and Xbox 360 be compatible online?

MN: I never want to say never, but the platforms are inherently different. We are talking about apples and oranges.

More from the Major Nelson interview:

Major Nelson Podcast on Xbox Live Marketplace?

Major Nelson on the box 360 Live Experience

I was lucky enough to be asked to moderate a Q&A session with Bruce Campbell yesterday at the Denver Press Club. I think it went pretty well.

Campbell and I sat down and ate lunch prior to the Q&A and chatted a bit. He seems like a really nice, sharp guy. He's in the middle of a 44-city tour to promote his new book and film.

After the lunch I spent about 15 minutes asking him questions in front of an audience and then he took some questions from the group.

Here's some excerpts from my Q&A with him:

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

I enjoy making fun of Hollywood whever I can, because they are ripping us off. Let me tell you why, let me tell you why I make fun of Hollywood.

I jotted some names of movies down. You know, I used to apologize for making B-movies because inexperienced people worked on it, the writing is not so good, the acting is cheesy, the director is not as accomplished. But A-movies are now B-movies.

If you are bitten by a radioactive spider, that's a B-movie. If you dress up like a bat and fly around Gotham city, that's a B-movie. Even War of the Worlds, where aliens attack the planet, that is a B-movie idea. So I think we have obviously had an impact on Hollywood because now they make lots of horror films and lots of cheesy movies that they are spending $100 million on.

Hollywood has been down recently, for like 20 straight weeks they have been down and they wonder why. They think, 'Oh, it's piracy,' it must be something. Here's why they are down, because they haven't got a new idea to save their life.

War of the Worlds, 1898 the original idea. Radio play 1938, movie 1958. Every 50 years that do something new with that.

Dukes of Hazzard, a 70s crappy TV show.

Batman Begins, that's a good one. It should be Batman Begins again and again and again. I've heard people defend this version saying, 'No, this is a good one.' Well it took you five tries.

We have the lovely Bewitched based on a 60s TV show.

The Longest Yard, nothing wrong with that movie. This version is the hip, wise-cracking version of it.

We have Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Why is that movies being remade? Gene Wilder is funny, Johnny Depp is weird. I'm sorry, if I was a kid I would run from that theater.

We're remaking the Honeymooners. We have the Bad News Bears coming later, which is also a 70s movie. Earlier we had House of Wax, Guess Who, which is a take-off on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Stepford Wives. Nicole Kidman is in her second remake, she needs to fire her agent, quickly, before it's too late. The Manchurian Candidate, which was actually an excellent movie.

On top of all of that we have Herbie the Love Bug. They've done so many of these I've done a Herbie the Love Bug movie.

That's why I like to mock Hollywood, which is why I can point to the book and say 70 percent of it is true, I just changed the name to protect the guilty basically.

There you go, that's my long-winded answer.

What's it like to do voice work for a video game?

Voice work is pretty fun compared to acting in movies, because in movies you're cold, your dirty, you're sweaty, you're covered with blood whatever. With voice work you're in a nice comfortable studio, so that's the easy part.

What's weird about voicing a video game is you have to allow for what a gamer might do. So, what I recommend with any of the games I work on is go into a corner or go somewhere and keep clicking on something, keep doing something really stupid because eventually you will hear "This is nothing there." You know, "Step away from the window," or whatever. We record a lot of things most gamers would never hear.

You also have to record variations of how that character might die. So you fell off a cliff you have to do that version, you fall down the stairs you have to do that version. So you have to record a bunch of extra stuff which may or may not take place in the course of the game.

Have you had a chance to play the game?

I suck at video games so I let me son play. So he rated the first three Evil Dead games. The first one he said sucked, the second one was OK and the third one was good. Technology keeps getting better and better. Movies are becoming like video games and video games are becoming like movies. At some point they are going to merge.

My son was just at E3, the electronics expo, and they always show the new games and things like that. He said there was a racing game that just blew him away because it was looking more and more life like.

I think what's going to eventually happen is some form of interactive movies. It will all look real and you can do whatever you want in that world and you will be acting out your own, you know, your own fantasies.

If you had to choose one, doing voice work in a video game or acting in a movie, which would you pick?

Voice work is very limiting; you are only going to work two or three more days. I'm still a big fan of movies because I like the visual aspect of it as well.

Have you finished the voice work for the game?

The game is all done, you do the voice so you can do the game.

Besides the movie, the book and the video game what other projects are you working on?

We have an audio version of this book coming out, hopefully it will be coming to market in about a month. It's a six hour unabridged radio play version of it with sound effects, characters, it's all acted out the whole thing. It's a massive epic undertaking.

I live in Southern Oregon near Ashland , Oregon which nine months out of the year has the largest Shakespeare festival in the country. I just got a bunch of Shakespeare actors who were dying to do something other than Willy and we had a really good time.

Sky High, a Disney movie, is opening July 29 and then there's another film called The Woods. It's a scary movie coming out from MGM in the Fall.

And then in the Fall I'm going to start a new film for Dark Horse comics, a cool company set in Portland, they're making movies now. It's an untitled Bruce Campbell movie where I play myself. It's about a small town that is having problems with a monster and nothing's working so somebody suggests let's get the Evil Dead guy. Unfortunately, in reality I don't own a gun, I've never used a chainsaw and more die then before I got there.

Last two questions, I'll lump them together, people are always asking about the possibility of an Evil Dead 4 coming out and do you have any idea what you may be doing in Spider-Man 3?

In the Spider-Man movies, in the first movie, as you know, I named the character without my character this billion dollar franchise would be called the human spider. In the second Spider-Man I defeated him because he didn't get into the theater where I was an usher. I'm the only character who can say he defeated Spider-Man. In the third movie I think I'm going to probably be Spider-Man.

They just won't tell you because it's all very secretive. They will just send you the pages you are in, so no one's told me yet I have no idea. I think I'm going to just annoy Spider-Man that's all I know.

As far as Evil Dead (yawn) 4. Sam Raimi is too busy making wheel-barrels of money right now.

Today's the day. I'll be interviewing Bruce Campbell in front of an audience of no more than 80 or so people at the Denver Press Club. If you happen to be in the Denver area I think you can still swing by and pick up a ticket for the lunch event.

I get 15 minutes to ask him questions about his books, movies and, of course, his work on the latest Evil Dead video game. After the brief Q&A I'll open it up to questions from the audience. Shoot me an email if you have any interesting questions you want me to try and squeeze in.

Denver Press Club [Official Site]

Ubisoft emailed out a prepared Q&A about Far Cry Instincts with the game s Technical Creative Director, Laurent Mascherpa, as well as some cool screens.

Here s the whole kit and kaboodle for your enjoyment:

What makes Far Cry Instincts F.A.R. AI good?

Far Cry Instincts AI is based on the Far Cry PC version, and has been adapted for the console version. Having enemies tracking you is a major point. We kept the wide-open environments we had for the PC, allowing the AI to go anywhere the player goes. This is very important because in the first part of the game, the player will be a prey.

The game has a procedural AI allowing the player to play either stealth/tactic or aggressive. The AI will react differently depending on how you choose to play. It offers more replay value and satisfaction than a scripted AI.

For FCI, we made some optimization for console needs and some game enhancements; in the AI system we added a tool to integrate the story into the experience, because in FCI all story events are interactive.

What feature of Engine ensures an intelligent response to the player s actions?

In FCI any AI has its own understanding of the environment - they see, they hear, and they have knowledge of what it is: an ally, an enemy, a vehicle, a grenade, a gunshot, a dead body.

Based on this information, the AI makes decisions and takes action; it allows us to have credible human behavior.

For stealth situations, the player is encouraged to use environment to his advantage. The AI detection system takes into account the vegetation (grass and bushes), the water, the ambient noise and the visibility. Since the AI hears things and see things, we can try to trick them. For example: throwing a rock will emit some sound that distracts them in order to backstab them silently, or also to attract them into a branch whip.

In firefight situations, knowing the environment permits them to have a dynamic use of covers to hide, to lean and shoot from behind and to flank the player.

In the first part of the game, the player is a prey so when he quits a combat the AI will track him down. In the second part, as the player shifts more and more to becoming a predator, the reaction of the enemies will be different and their strategy will change.

What will the AI in Far Cry Instincts allow the enemies to do in the game?

Enemies are acting as a group. They ll use covers in the environments to protect themselves and will adopt complementary strategies. For example, when you arrive in a fight, one will try to flank you while one will stay away throwing grenades and shooting at you from behind his cover. Enemies are also able to trigger alarms to alert the camp or call reinforcements if they see you before you kill them.

Will the enemies be aware of changes in environments, like birds that fly away or foliage movements, making them spot the player?

The player is encouraged to use the wilderness of the environment to be protected from the enemies, but anything that makes noise (for example: getting out of water too fast) can raise their interest in your direction.

Can they use weapons of their fallen teammates, or replace them behind a mounted weapon? Can they use any vehicles?

All enemies are already well equipped so they will not use fallen weapons. If some enemies are asked to protect a point, and if you kill the guy that is using the mounted weapon, another will take his position unless this is not the best choice for him (for example: A grenade has been thrown in direction of the mounted weapon).

In these huge islands enemies are able to use vehicles to chase you, to block your way, or to bring reinforcements. In FCI you will see mercenaries in Humvees, on ATVs, in helicopters, on water scooters and on a variety of boats.

Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add?

In FCI, we introduced new gameplay elements affecting the AI, like the backstab, the branch whip and the feral abilities, so you can expect answers from the AIs and a lot of fun !!!

Tomonobu "I'm stuck in the 80s" Itagaki, famed Tecmo big-head, got cheesed off at Team Xbox in a recent interview and told them they had to call it the "bad question interview" or he wouldn't let them run it. He then requested that they address all questions to the metal-studded lapels of his tragically 80s leather jacket and crank up the light in the cavernous room where the interview was being held so he would have an excuse to continue wearing his sunglasses.
I think whenever someone calls a question a bad one, it means they are too stupid to answer it. Unless, of course, the question is about making a new Zelda game starring a 32-year-old Link.

The Bad Question Interview [Team Xbox, via GAF]

I always heard Hideo Kojima liked his liquor but I didn t put much stock in it until I read this interview with him over at Boomtown. The Q&A is chugging along nicely: Kojima loves MGS, Kojima hates third-person perspective, MGS4 will have a theme of Nowhere to hide." But then the interviewer makes the mistake of asking him about the new consoles and Kojima philosophizes like only a man into his third bottle of whiskey can.

If you allow me to express the three hardware platforms in a funny example, PS3 would be like a dinner that you only have once a year or twice a year on your anniversary etc.

Xbox 360 will still be a special dinner so you might go there two or three times a month on the weekend or Revolution is the kind of great dinner that you have everyday at your home. What I want to emphasize is that all three are dinners meaning that they have a salad, they have a soup and maybe have a dessert but they are a little differently, maybe other dinners have two salads or two appetizers or maybe extra coffee on top of that. The point is that they are all individualistic dinners. So if they are all dinners, like a steak dinner, the choice is up to the users and the game designers at the same time.

On behalf of gamers everywhere, allow me to ask: What the fuck are you talking about?

Hideo Kojima Interview [Boomtown]

Where did the idea for bringing the DS come from?

Chris: One of the big challenges on Everest, and more than other mountains, is that you have to sit around and practice breathing thin air to get acclimated to the high altitude and thin air.

You really have to fight boredom during that time, and we knew that would be a great way to entertain ourselves... and we especially liked the DS because it's wireless. Expeditions from all over the world will be at base camp, which is 17,800 feet high, and that will "break the ice" so to speak socially. There will be about 20 or 30 different countries represented, the Scandinavians and Eastern Europeans climb a lot.

There's only a two week window where you can summit (reach the top) and people from all over the world are there for that small window of opportunity.

We first got the idea after we can finished climbing in in Antartica, Mt. Vinson which is the tallest on that continent, and were delayed for five days at base camp to get off the camp and then we had to wait four more days for a Russian cargo plane to take us from Antartica - We'd get update on the plane every six hours, so we had nine days on the ice with nothing to do... and thought how great it would be to have a game system out there... that was in January 2005.

Neal: Yes, the Russian cargo plane was five days late and we tried to think of what we could do. We built an ice house big enough to drive a car into, played a lot of Hearts - which can really get old - and cooked extravagantly... like steak, eggs and omelets - Argentina is known for beef, and we were able to eat some but it got pretty boring. So we thought wouldn't it be so cool if we could do network gaming, I looked on the Internet as soon as we got home, and the only one that did that was the Nintendo DS, so that's when we contacted Nintendo.

What games will you be playing?

Chris: Mario Bros, Metroid, game packs of classic games and Madden - which we're probably most excited about because you link so many people.

Neal: Madden is especially cool because you can play up to 16 people... We found the game connect extremely quickly to each other, which is beautiful.

I like the Eagles and Vikings and where I was working out in Minnesota, is the same place that Randy Moss does. I would see him all the time and say hello. I'm not sure if he remembered me though.

Will the games be a bit more fun as the air gets thinner?

Chris: Do card games get more fun the more you drink? You get a little delirious waiting to get used to the air, so I'm sure seeing a little man running around the screen is going to be hilarious when you're not quite yourself.

Neal: (Laughs) Let me tell you, we got Wario Ware: Touched as one of the games. You touch the screen and blow up the balloons, among 181 other "microgames" and I'm sure that he is going to be just really funny and fun to play while we're trying to get used to the thin air.

Would you recommend a DS?

Chris: Absolutely, especially because you can link up to like eight to 16 people depending upon the game, and imagine there being a huge ice storm outside, to where you can't leave your tents but you can play wireless against each other or have fun by yourself... Most of the time you read by headlamp during those down times... it's like 10 hours of climbing and then hours of nothing to do...

How cold will it get?

Chris: It'll be up to minus 30 at night and minus 10 during the day. A few times at basecamp it can reach up to 40 degrees, if a warm patch comes in, but that's rare. Base camp is at 17.800 feet - that's where you live pretty much until we get back on June 10 to America.

Will you meet other people, cultures through DS?

Neal: Absolutely, we're bringing enough games so we can pass the DS unit around and that will be a great way to break the language barrier... besides some people don't like cards, but everyone likes video games, right?"

Do you have some questions for the mountaineer gamers? Shoot them my way super-quick and I'll try to get them out to the duo for answering. Make sure you email me your questions by Monday at the lastest, as we never know when they will be out of reach.

Exclusive: DS Heads to Everest [Kotaku]

I think maybe what Thompson needs is a girlfriend, so he can work on performing the physical act of love.

Feel free to write in any "experiences" you've had talking with Thompson, I'm putting together a little collection of his insightful remarks: The wit and wisdom of Jack Thompson.

GameSpeak: Jack Thompson [GameCore]

The interview on Xbox 2 News is full of other interesting nuggets including his thoughts on next-gen console and game costs and why he thinks hard drives should be a after-market add-on for consoles. This is one of the most interesting Q&A's I've read in recent history. I've never read Xbox 2 News before, but I'm adding them to my list.

Tip Hawkins Interview [Xbox 2 News, via Evil Avatar]

In this little segment the game s writer and designer, Rafael Chandler, talks a bit about the storyline and such:

1. Tell us a little about the new storyline.

The Global Liberation Front is a terrorist organization with a single goal: destroying the governments of the developed nations. The GLF has obtained an experimental bio-weapon, which they plan to use in a devastating terror attack. Ding Chavez and Team Rainbow are brought in to neutralize the GLF, but no one knows where or when the attack will take place and the clock is ticking.

Rainbow s Team-2 takes on the GLF and begins to dismantle them, one terrorist cell at a time. But the GLF is a worldwide movement numbering in the hundreds, and their elite units have received extensive paramilitary training. The terrorists turn their attention to Team-2, and focus all their energy on destroying Chavez and his operatives.

The team now find themselves under attack, and they have to wage a personal war against a relentless army of terrorists who are ready to die for their cause.

2. Will Rainbow have a personal stake in every mission?

Members of the team are betrayed, ambushed, outnumbered, outgunned, captured, and tortured. No one is safe. We want the player to feel like every firefight could be the last one.

To make matters worse, people who are close to the team keep getting put in harm's way. While trying to take down this terrorist network, Chavez and the team find themselves also protecting the people they care about.

So, yes, Team Rainbow will have a personal stake in just about every mission, whether it's rescuing someone's niece, or getting one of their analysts out of a heavy gunfight in one piece. There will also be missions where Rainbow find themselves in the crosshairs, and Weber's pinpoint accuracy is the only thing that keeps them alive.

3. Why change the conventional direction of the storyline for this Rainbow campaign?

With Lockdown, we wanted to immerse the player in a cinematic experience. By making the storyline more personal, we hoped to create three-dimensional characters with distinct personalities and goals.

For example, Ding Chavez won't leave a man behind, under any circumstances. He wants to keep the team together, no matter what. John Clark, on the other hand, wants to get the job done, regardless of the cost, and he will use his people in whatever manner he deems necessary.

4. How did you come up with the darker storyline? Was there something from the original stories that made this transition a natural progression?

We looked to the Tom Clancy novels Rainbow Six and The Bear And The Dragon for inspiration. In the books, we see a darker side to Clark and Chavez, as well as moral ambiguity and conflict between team members (such as Johnston's infamous "missed" shot at Worldpark). We really wanted to create some grey areas in the way that the team operates.

In terms of earlier games, Rainbow Six 3 (PS2) featured a mission in which two members of Team Rainbow were captured by a terrorist group, and had to be rescued. However, we felt that the overall tone of Lockdown should be much more sinister than previous installments, given the subject matter.

Over time, the stress of the job has begun to take its toll on the team. Years of disarming bombs with seconds left on the clock have turned Roger McAllen into a wisecracking troublemaker who hides his paranoia behind a flippant attitude, and Ayana Yacoby has been so shaken by the horrors she's witnessed on the battlefield that she has difficulty showing any emotion other than rage. In many ways, the various operatives are deeply flawed individuals.

5. Were there any challenges when writing the story?

We wanted to create a story that focused on the characters, while maintaining the core elements of a Rainbow Six game.

The challenge with a game like Rainbow Six is that you've got an elite unit, the best of the best, yet you need to make the player feel somewhat threatened when facing a group of disorganized, fanatical terrorists.

6. Do you think fans of the franchise will welcome this change in the storyline? Do you expect any backlash from the community?

Hopefully, the fans will appreciate the emphasis on realism in storytelling and our aim to delve deeper into the Rainbow universe. In addition, we are still delivering the core action that makes the Rainbow franchise what it is and we are hopeful that the fans will enjoy the experience.

7. Any last comments on the darker storyline?

The storyline immerses the player in the roles of Ding Chavez and Dieter Weber, two heroes with radically different personalities and objectives. Ding is a charismatic and confident team leader, but there is nothing he won't do to protect the lives of his teammates. Weber is an arrogant loner who watches the team through a scope, when he's protecting them from a distance.

The team isn't just rescuing random hostages in foreign countries this time. They're fighting for their survival in the streets of Algeria, crawling through piles of human bones under the city of Paris, and avenging their fallen comrades in a battle atop a crumbling fortress, miles from civilization.

Gates Interview Part Three: Xbox and Xbox 2 [Gizmodo]

G-Money and Me: Bill Gates Interview [Gizmodo]

Issue 3 of City of Heroes will expand the world, add new villains and give high-level characters a chance to play as a entirely new type of hero called Peacebringers or Warshades. The free expansion will also include a major shake-up in the game s overarching storyline.

Now on with the show:

How big is the team working on City of Heroes right now?

We have 25 to 30 programmers.

Why do you think City of Heroes has become so popular?

I think it s because it lacks a lot of the steep learning curves that other massively multiplayer games have. It s accessible very quickly, because of there is a certain dynamic within the community. You don t have as much of a separation between the haves and the have nots.

Do you still read comic books?

I read 90 titles a month. My knowledge of comics is very extensive. My favorite heroes of all time are Prince Namor and Nightwing. I like both of them for different reasons, but neither are really current heroes.

Do you think City of Heroes players are more game fans or comic book fans?

I don't really have a sense of that right now. I think a lot of the player-base has read comics, but don t read them on a regular basis. They outgrew them.

Did you know that comic books were going to become trendy again or were you just lucky?

We knew comics were already having an upswing when we got started. Comics reached mainstream America and become a real industry in the 80s, it became a common fixture.
Now you have this generation which has grown up with comics being a part of their culture and they are making the movies and writing the books.

Garriott, one of the most famous game designers of all time, founded Origin Systems and went on to create the Ultima role-playing games. In 1997, Garriott created Ultima Online, the first real mainstream massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

In 2001 Garriott joined Ncsoft to work on a new project, called Tabula Rasa, and to help bring smash-hits Lineage II and City of Heroes to North America. City of Heroes, developed by Cryptic Studios, has since garnered numerous awards and is considered by many to be one of the best PC games of the year.

Garriott, who still lives in his Austin castle, took some time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions.

Qs:

What is your favorite room in your house?

Wow, that s a tough one! I am very fond of many: Observatory, Dungeon, Secret Staircase, Study (two floors of display area), Dining Room (with lots of glass for viewing thunderstorms), my Office (full of automata and exploration artifacts). If I had to pick one, I would have to pick the Study. Guests come in on the upper floor on a balcony over the lower floor. The upper floor has numerous items to explore such as travel artifacts and personal childhood memorabilia. To get to the lower floor you must open a secret passageway via a clever magnetic puzzle. A secret stair case takes you up to the kitchen or down to the lower study (or the dungeon or the wine cellar). The lower study has numerous antique science and technology items including a bunch of quack medical devices.

What do you consider the most creative game you weren t involved with creating?

Hmmm for most creative I d vote for one of: Myst, Parapa The Rappa, Abe s Oddworld, or perhaps American McGee s Alice To select one, I d pick Abe s Odd World The combination of unique characters and environments amazed me at every turn!

What is your best near-death experience?

Fortunately, I ve not had very many real near-death experiences. But being a thrill seeker I love doing things like throwing myself out of airplanes, taking MIG s to the edge of space and other things that appear to be unsafe, while being statistically safe. I really enjoy being part of an expedition to the edge, even when things go poorly, when I can exercise my crisis management skills to help get through the event. So, I might pick either getting stuck in the Amazon when the river we were on dried up, and we had little chance to get out when fortunately rains came, or getting stuck in Antarctica due to inclement weather as our food supplies dwindled!

What is the next big thing in gaming?

Physics Simulation

Which would you choose to be: the knight in shining armor or super hero?

Darn, I want to be a knight with super powers! But, if I had to pick a knight!

Sent: Thu 11/11/2004 9:40 AM
From: Brian Crecente [Editor@Kotaku.com]
To: Jack Thompson [jackpeace@comcast.net]
Subject: Reporter s request

Hi there,
I m the editor of the gaming blog, Kotaku. Would you be willing to do a short Q&A about your fight against violent video games for the site? It would be via email.
Thanks,
Brian D. Crecente
Editor
Kotaku

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 9:43 AM
From: Jack Thompson [jackpeace@comcast.net]
To: Brian Crecente [Editor@Kotaku.com]
Subject: Re: Reporter's request

no, but thanks. i'm too busy destroying best buy and rockstar

Sent: Thu 11/11/2004 9:47 AM
From: Brian Crecente [Editor@Kotaku.com]
To: Jack Thompson [jackpeace@comcast.net]
Subject: Reporter s request

Lol,
Thanks for the quick reply and let me know if you change your mind, we have a pretty big gamer audience.
brian

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 9:49 AM
From: Jack Thompson [jackpeace@comcast.net]
To: Brian Crecente [Editor@Kotaku.com]
Subject: Re: Reporter's request

they're not my audience.

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 9:54 AM
From: Brian Crecente [Editor@Kotaku.com]
To: Jack Thompson [jackpeace@comcast.net]
Subject: RE: Reporter's request

Maybe not your intended audience, but they are certainly listening. I think they would be interested to hear your perspective on violence and gaming. Your views on the Manhunt murder and gaming ties to the Sniper shootings drew a lot of attention. I ve read a lot of posts and articles on the subject, but nothing that offered your point of view.

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 10:06 AM
From: Jack Thompson [jackpeace@comcast.net]
To: Brian Crecente [Editor@Kotaku.com]
Subject: RE: Reporter's request

I couldn't care less if they're listening

Update: Just wanted to give a shout out to all you /.s in the house — welcome to the finest game blog since well, since ever. Feel free to look around and make sure you come back by.

The winner will be chosen randomly next Monday from all the correct answers and will receive a copy of...well, I don't know yet. It will be a new game, and a good game. If I can't get a publisher to sponsor the contest, I'll get a game myself. Send your responses to tips@kotaku.com for the following questions:

1. Isn't Katamari Damacy great?
2. Who was the Music Director that put together its great soundtrack?

But this doesn't let you all off the hook as far as Q&A goes. We're not going to have a contest every Monday, so send in your questions.

Q from Jack L.: Hey, the thing about Prey, was that for real? Why don't the other sites report that, then? How did you find out about it?

A: First of all, Jack, Kotaku doesn't reveal the source of rumors, ever. I'll tell you it wasn't this guy. My sources tipped me long before Dead Man's Hand was released.

As to why the other sites don't report it, well, like I said in the article, they're content to mostly report what other sites are reporting, without doing much digging (then again, so am I, quite often; then again, I'm more or less all by myself here). Even GameSpot ran the rumor in their weekend column, days after Scott Miller popped back up on his blog and said that he'd mentioned the game before. And just like I predicted, not a single other news site picked up on the extra information provided by the article here on Kotaku. Not even Slashdot.

True, we've only been around two weeks, but we had a press release and a big gay launch party and everything. They know we're here. And it's not like our syndication feeds are super secret.

And finally, yes, it's for real. 100% real, unlike our other big scoop, GTA: San Andreas' release being pushed back past Oct. 26th, which is only about 80% real. And yes, it's sad to just have two scoops unless your name is Kellogg, so we'd love to have more.

Q's and A's after the jump.

Q from Chuck: Over the weekend I watched G4.com on G4TechTV, and they said Halo 2 and the Xbox isn't big or popular In Japan, because the Japanese don't like first person shooters. They say the first person games give them motion sickness. Is this true?

A: Halo is the most popular Xbox game in Japan just like it is here. But the Xbox isn't very popular relative to GameCube or PS2 in Japan. Why G4 would ascribe this to motion sickness from the first person view is beyond me. Sometimes some of the stuff they say on that show (G4.com) is the result of their format, which is for everyone to keep flapping their gums no matter what.

Q from Handsome J: Why does EA do some weird shit on their Xbox Live implementation?

A: EA didn't even want to work with Microsoft in the first place, but they soon realized that they were in danger of becoming squeezed out of the Xbox entirely by the sports games that would work with Live, like ESPN's line. So they whipped something up quick for the 2004 games and it only kinda works. To be fair, a lot of new games have Live implementations with flaws, not just EA. ESPN games included.