[henchkobun21]

OKAY SO LISTEN UP.

Some of the team that worked on the Megaman Legends games reunited to make a game called Red Ash. 

On kickstarter they’re funding a "prologue" self-contained game that they’re hoping will be successful enough to get them a deal with a publisher to get the much larger full game made.

Good for today only - July 17th - they’re saying you can get the prologue and full game for $49.  Tomorrow you’ll have to pay $20 more to get the full game.

If you’re not sure, keep in mind you can withdraw your pledge before the kickstarter ends if you decide you don’t want it.

Here’s the kickstarter link.

[henchkobun21]

Animatic for Red Ash, an action-adventure treasure-hunting robot fighting dungeon-exploring video game seeking funding on kickstarter, put together by a crew with tons of experience at this exact sort of thing.

I’m hyped! Let’s make this happen! SUPPORT IT HERE!

[limeykat]

Finally looked up who Dimartino is. I guess Korrasami really is real. I always thought they would be a good match if done right - but… talk about shoehorned. It still looked completely platonic to me.  I dont get how the dude thought that holding hands through a spirit portal (acting as a guide) was “clearly” transmitting they were going to be a couple <- and then he’s impressed fans “picked up on it”? Fanatics always think if any character touches or shows any sort of emotion toward another character that they should be banging. Seems extremely cheap to let it happen like that. I’ll still love the idea they ended up together, but damn that shit was contrived.

[henchkobun21]

Clear depictions of homosexual relationships are illegal in Russia and China and frowned upon in many of the other countries Korra is broadcast. And it's not they could put something in just one episode knowing it'd be yanked internationally, not with a show that makes heavy use of an ongoing storyline. They basically had to be really vague or else risk Nickelodeon shutting it down completely out of fear it'd jeopardize international distribution.

[morbi]

So, how do you feel that your comic won't be able to be discussed on 4chan?

Entirely unfazed.

4chan janitors have tried to prevent the discussion of certain topics for years and they’ve become progressively worse at it as time goes on.

[justherefordaart]

Yeah, the recent mod change put a lot of social justice nuts in power. They’re trying to safe zone 4chan, and moot endorsed it. 8chan is pretty nice though.

[henchkobun21]

So let me get this straight.

Mods banned a “furry” comic and you’re blaming “social justice nuts”?

A comic about a working single mom who kicks ass, isn’t thin, and is very clearly a stand-in for minorities. And the other prominent hero is a guy with a very clear disability.

And you’re blaming the ban on “social justice nuts”. 

Okie-doke.  The old bans on drawthreads and flavor of the month characters/webcomics were probably social justice nuts too.  And they turn milk sour, steal children, and make the crops fail.

[bleventeeen]

I drank a bee today

[thespectacularspider-girl]

Fucking whoops, Brianna.  Guess who just got caught false flagging.

[nietzschesghost-deactivated2014]

That tweet is still on her feed but I don’t see how they managed to examine the image.

[thespectacularspider-girl]

Exif data.  As for the deleted tweet, I’m not sure if he’s referencing his own or something something else, but yes, Wu’s tweet is still up.

[diet-dr-shasta-phd-deactivated2]

EXIF data can give you false information. I have photos that I took yesterday that have EXIF data pointing at 1995 for the date.

[henchkobun21]

1990? Whaaaa?  How is that even possible?

There are EXIF data editors. It's especially likely that EXIF data will give false information when people really want to give false information.

http://exifpilot.com/download.html

Never be certain about metadata, especially when it's pointed out by a computer-savy group that have long been saying "people are just making up the harassment".

[crawdad6l6-deactivated20150512]

Since I am a History major the more the Gamer Gate wants to push away from Zoe Quinn LLC., the more I want to understand her and the origins of this whole fiasco. Using the past to understand the context of today is one of the things history is about.

However, one of the problems with history is how we in the present wrap our heads around things of the past. When we look at things like the rise of Adolf Hitler and the execution of mass genocide, the slave trade, and African imperialism we wonder how this could have possibly happened. The Historians unsatisfying answer is “it’s complicated.”

[henchkobun21]

We don't hate Stalin because the Soviets told themselves they were improving people's lives, we hate him because he thought a good way to do it was to kill somewhere between between 20 and 60 million people.

[mn9archive]

#GamerGate – An Issue With Two Sides | TechCrunch

…when art is accused of perpetuating violence, sexism, or racism, it has strayed beyond artistic critique and into the realm of political argument. “Subjective analysis” cannot be used as an excuse when historical and sociological arguments are being presented.

Furthermore, when the entire gaming community is attacked as a pack of bigoted savages corrupted by gaming tropes, it is not even an argument.

It’s a panic.

[henchkobun21]

Here we have a classic review by Roger Ebert, in which he attacks the makers of Mandingo, calling the movie (and book) racist. He also attacks the city of Chicago's government for saying that children under 18 could go see it, while banning other movies that were better.

He didn't grow out of it either; not long before his death he voiced negative opinions about The Last Airbender's cast of non-Asian actors, and criticized the larger trend of giving white actors parts that were Asian in the source material.

It's possible that Roger Ebert didn't know much about writing reviews.

It's also possible that GamerGaters are asking for a special treatment not seen in other entertainment mediums, demanding that reviewers never say things like "I dislike it because it felt racist" or indicating a belief that the industry needs to improve.

[henchkobun21]

Milo Yannopopoulos - who already struck defiant blows for Gamergate by standing up to feminists like Zoe Quinn and showing journalists talk to one another - has more to say on gamers and gaming. FROM DAILY DOT:

I’m getting used to de haut en bas scoffing from the 19-year-olds in the Kernel offices about how out of touch I am. (“I wanted to be a theatre critic!” I cry, to no effect.) But I can’t be the only person who feels as though mainstream culture is racing past him. James Cook of this parish reports today on the pandemonium that engulfs releases of major video games these days. There are stabbings, oodles of fake cocaine… I mean, just reading about it is exhausting.

We’re told by those in the know that the gaming industry is now bigger than the movie industry. By that they mean video game studios are now raking in more cash than all of Hollywood. I can believe it: the production costs of Grand Theft Auto V alone were in the hundreds of millions, easily comparable to a Hollywood blockbuster. And, while the movie industry shudders under the weight of apathy and piracy, video game sales are going through the roof.

I’d like to say a few words in defence of passivity, though. Namely: what on earth is wrong with a nice cuddle and a movie, without the demands of “getting engaged” in the “vibrant alternative universe” of some game developer oddball’s feverish imaginings?

We all lead busy enough lives these days without the added strain of all that “interactivity” when we get home. My work day doesn’t look too dissimilar to this 17-minute video of a supposedly ADHD 17-year-old called Noah. When I get home, the last thing I want to do is the sort of demanding recreational activity you can get RSI from. (Stop sniggering at the back.) No: what I want is to throw myself into a pile of pillows and get lost in a good-old big-budget blow-out.

That means proper production values, by the way. None of this “user-generated” guff, which at one time was going to be all the rage, until consumers realised that actually, no, a dickhead with a webcam can’t sustain much interest after the first 90 seconds.

So what happens when the movie studios no longer make films good enough to kick back and relax to? What will I do then? Much as I love DVD box sets, you can’t tell me Netflix is ever going to rival the big studios in terms of spending power, so gone will be the epic spectacles that make curling up on the sofa at the weekend with a bottle of wine and a pizza so deliciously relaxing. Why on earth would I want to relax by killing things?

And that’s my other question: why are these video games so saturated with sex, drugs and violence? Yes, I know TV and the movies have been going that way for ages, but video games are on another level entirely. I confess I’ve never spent much time in front of the computer screen zapping aliens, but the games I did briefly poke my nose into as a kid - Doom, Hexen and Wolfenstein 3D - were already way out there, which is why so many parents banned them once they actually realised how bloody they were.

To say nothing of the delicate intonations of Duke Nukem, who, I seem to remember, used to opine about his fondness for decapitating his enemies and defecating into what remained of their bodies. I understand the Grand Theft Auto franchise proudly boasts “hooker killing” as a fan favourite feature. (It’s not that I’m sad for the digital prostitutes: I just find it all so icky.)

I won’t lie: Grand Theft Auto V sounds spectacularly exciting, but it’s not for me. It’s too complicated, it’s too much effort, and it’s too blood-soaked to give me any sort of vicarious thrill. In a real world of terrorism, child grooming gangs and sex changes, nothing the video game people can come up with can compete with the pages of The Sun. I can only conclude that the yellow underpants brigade – teens and man-children addicted to these immersive video games – aren’t getting enough stimulation in real life.

I understand why young people might get the odd thrill from beating up a bad guy, or catching a glimpse of a nipple or two. But there’s something a bit tragic, isn’t there, about men in their thirties hunched over a controller whacking a helmeted extraterrestrial? I’m in my late twenties, and even I find it sad. And yet there are so many of them – enough to support a multi-billion dollar video games industry. That’s an awful lot of unemployed saddos living in their parents’ basements.

Is it that these games provide a bit of macho reinforcement to the terminally beta? It is hard to escape that conclusion. Might I suggest that if you want to feel like more of a man, you should head down to the gym or the football pitch. buff up and then bang a few birds “IRL”?

Perhaps that’s why this whole genre leaves me cold: by the time I get home from a night out, The Little Mermaid is about as racy a piece of entertainment as I can stomach. There are benefits to having seen it all before, you see: it means you’re even better at it than the kids.

By Milo Yiannopoulos

[landsknechtstrommel-deactivated]

Is there a reason why SJW’s are infecting pretty much ever fact of western culture? It seems there’s literally no place that is safe from them. I know seeing them Universities is to be expected, considering Academia is a breed ground for libtards, but indie games, seriously? 

[henchkobun21]

You're surprised that there are left-leaning artists?

[thespectacularspider-girl]

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/09/18/The-emails-that-prove-video-games-journalism-must-be-reformed

————————————————

I’m well aware of this but everyone else should too.  It is absolutely disgusting.  In short, game journalists have a google group and email group that they use to collude and ‘get their stories straight’ with one another.

[henchkobun21]

If there'd been actual collusion, there'd be more than one review for Depression Quest on metacritic.

Here's the response.

You know what's absolutely disgusting? Someone that will pretend to be buddy buddy with gamers, like Brietbart's Yiannopoulos, despite the fact that he really really REALLY hates gamers. And Anonymity online. Choice quotes:

Hijacked by nerd rapists, GTA Online is now not only somewhere you wouldn’t allow your children but it’s somewhere no normal adult would want to go either.

  Personally, I don’t understand grown men wasting their lives playing computer games. It seems a bit sad to me. I mean, we’ve all been sucked in to a few rounds of Candy Crush, but if you want to shoot a gun, why not go to a rifle range? I suspect most people who play these games have never held a firearm in real life.’

...

 I can only conclude that the yellow underpants brigade – teens and man-children addicted to these immersive video games – aren’t getting enough stimulation in real life.

I understand why young people might get the odd thrill from beating up a bad guy, or catching a glimpse of a nipple or two. But there’s something a bit tragic, isn’t there, about men in their thirties hunched over a controller whacking a helmeted extraterrestrial? I’m in my late twenties, and even I find it sad. And yet there are so many of them – enough to support a multi-billion dollar video games industry. That’s an awful lot of unemployed saddos living in their parents’ basements.

...

Together with other commentators, I have in the past argued for verified identities on social networks, so those responsible for abuse and persecution of public figures and the vulnerable might be held accountable for their actions. That seems redundant when trolls are now so brazen they don’t care about disapproving words from their loved ones back inside Facebook when they leave furious missives using that social network’s commenting system elsewhere on the internet.

So perhaps what’s needed now is a bolder form of censure after all, because the internet is not a universal human right. If people cannot be trusted to treat one another with respect, dignity and consideration, perhaps they deserve to have their online freedoms curtailed. For sure, the best we could ever hope for is a smattering of unpopular show trials. But if the internet, ubiquitous as it now is, proves too dangerous in the hands of the psychologically fragile, perhaps access to it ought to be restricted. We ban drunks from driving because they’re a danger to others. Isn’t it time we did the same to trolls?

[great-crossz-dragon]

Can someone explain to me what this whole gamergate thing is about?

[henchkobun21]

First some background.

A. We've known for years there's corruption in video game journalism. We've had reviewers admit companies can demand good reviews, and bad reviews can get reviewers fired. The News sites get their money from advertisements, which are for games, which are meant to be reviewed neutrally. It's a bad arrangement, and people have been getting angry.

B. As video games grow in popularity and move into new markets and demographics, we're seeing new types of game, and we're seeing games get criticized for things that weren't traditionally on the minds of reviewers, like diversity in the cast, how the characters dress and are written, etc. That's fueled resentment from people enjoying the games. This has gotten very heated due to the criticisms being a mix of good points and genuinely ignorant nonsense.

C. Some months ago, developer Zoe Quinn claims to have been the target of a harassment campaign. Those she accused claim she is lying trying to get publicity for her work. She has no solid proof this happened, nor is there particularly good evidence it didn't. It's essentially "he says, she says".Here's the Gamergate timeline, adapted from a summary by Sorcan.

1. Zoe Quinn is accused of sabotaging The Fine Young Capitalists' charity event with feminism as her justification, even though the event supposedly aimed to support female developers. She maintains their rules were exclusionary to transsexuals, they maintain they needed to be precise in their rules for legal reasons. Initially The Fine Young Capitalists claim that she personally attacked their site. They have since stated they think the attack came from a supporter of hers, who may have taken the initiative without being asked.

2. A more or less reasonable group of people get upset about this, and make the issue somewhat known.

3. Zoe's ex-boyfriend shares information about their sex life, which picks up popularity because of allegations that she had slept with video game reviewers for good reviews. Evidence to prove/disprove that allegation is muddy at best.

4. The allegations begin to get larger. The resentment toward corruption in the industry comes into play.  People maintain that not only are the claims true, but that the problem is widespread, with reviewers and a clique of certain developers trying to manipulate the indie game industry, deciding who gets to be popular and who doesn't. It's called a conspiracy by some (although people who believe it start embracing the name "Quinnspiracy")

5. Extremists on both sides do their thing, ie. making lives miserable. There's large scale harassment (some of it absolutely misogynistic), and there's people claiming that anyone critical of Zoe and the reviewers must be a misogynist (which is absurd).

6. News sites, always eager to paint things in black and white, ignore the concerns raised by the reasonable people and make the issue about feminism versus misogyny, grouping all people who don't praise the woman in the latter category. (With the exception of some more right-wing news sites, which take the stance that feminists are just out of control)

7. The aforementioned reasonable people, having been lumped together with misogynists, become resentful of news websites who use the "feminism" debate to cover their refusal to address real issues. This adds fuel to the fire, making anyone with reasonable criticisms about the industry actually less likely to be bothered by extremists on their side (especially when they find themselves under attack by websites they used to enjoy).

8. An unusually high number of comments, videos, and forums posts are deleted en masse for siding with "gamersgate", regardless of whether they were reasonable, extremist, or downright misogynistic. Everyone got painted with the same brush.

9. A portion of the reasonable people begin thinking there's maybe something to this whole "conspiracy" angle, and start becoming indistinguishable from the extremists.

10. Repeat steps 7, 8, and 10 until the whole world's gone crazy and everybody on one side is convinced that everybody on the other side is a mis[ogyn/andr]ist, while everyone on the other side is convinced that there are absolutely no mis[andr/ogyn]ists on their "side".

11. Brietbart "blows the whole thing open" by revealing secret emails showing that reviewers for video game news sites asked one another for advice on how to handle the allegations about Quinn, since they felt this was newsworthy stuff but were reluctant to make the situation worse. This is taken by some as proof that reviewers regularly contact one another to decide what to cover, in an attempt to decide the shape of the industry.

12. Armageddon (presumably)

[the-senpai-police]

I think this picture underlines the key difference between SJW/Feminists and… uh… non-SJW/Feminists.

[sawing4teens]

Yes, that there is no such thing as a non-SJW Feminist. That’s kinda the point. Social justice for everyone. Glad we could have this talk, though!

[gmbencompetence]

Warned y’all people were going to embrace this completely ignorant and ill-researched video.

I AM THE PROPHET CASSANDRA

[sawing4teens]

I can’t even be bothered to watch…how bad is it?

[gmbencompetence]

She literally cites her research as “Now I’ve never played video games, but I’ve spent several weeks asking gamers to explain this situation to me, and they all seemed very nice”.

[owls-parliament]

isn’t “doesn’t play video games” one of the criticisms gamers throw at Anita? what a bunch of hypocrites

[henchkobun21]

It is. And honestly, it's a very legitimate criticism. Anita's made multiple errors in her videos that could have been avoided by playing games, and it's frankly harder to fight the "girls don't play video games" stereotype when the most notable female critic is well-known for not playing the games she's criticizing. They aren't passive entertainment.Sommers is even worse though, and notably she was the coauthor of "One Nation Under Therapy," where she argued kids are resilient and don't need therapy, but Americans are quick to believe they do due to

a legitimate concern over the high levels of obscenity and violence in popular entertainment. Sadistic video games, lurid rap songs, and grotesquely violent movies are everywhere available - even to very young children. This debased popular culture may be creating an epidemic of incivility and insensitivity.

She's a lot like Milo Yiannopoulos, another author that Gamergate is hailing as a hero. In the past he took a hard stance against Anonymity in articles like “The Internet is Turning us all into Psychopaths”, and saying how much hates that people can hide their “facile comments” behind the “cloak of Anonymity”. 

His views on video games were very negative.

I’m getting used to de haut en bas scoffing from the 19-year-olds in the Kernel offices about how out of touch I am. (“I wanted to be a theatre critic!” I cry, to no effect.) But I can’t be the only person who feels as though mainstream culture is racing past him. James Cook of this parish reports today on the pandemonium that engulfs releases of major video games these days. There are stabbings, oodles of fake cocaine… I mean, just reading about it is exhausting.

and

And that’s my other question: why are these video games so saturated with sex, drugs and violence? Yes, I know TV and the movies have been going that way for ages, but video games are on another level entirely. I confess I’ve never spent much time in front of the computer screen zapping aliens, but the games I did briefly poke my nose into as a kid - Doom, Hexen and Wolfenstein 3D - were already way out there, which is why so many parents banned them once they actually realised how bloody they were.

These people are supporting gamergate and getting support in return.  And nobody seems to have bothered checking into their backgrounds.

[limeykat]

Factual and feminist.

[henchkobun21]

"Perhaps it is because of a legitimate concern over the high levels of obscenity and violence in popular entertainment. Sadistic video games, lurid rap songs, and grotesquely violent movies are everywhere available - even to very young children. This debased popular culture may be creating an epidemic of incivility and insensitivity." - Christina Hoff Sommers and Sally Satel, "One Nation Under Therapy".

To be fair, she was saying our culture is depraved, but our kids are fine, they're tough.  But her only comment on video games before now was to call them part of a debased popular culture. She's a good example of the people aligning themselves with "Gamergate" despite having very different views about video games on record.

[henchkobun21]

Milo Yiannopoulos and Christina Hoff Sommers are currently trying to make themselves out as friends of #GamerGate and 4chan's /v/ . And people are accepting it.  Even people that had previously questioned Anita Sarkeesian's qualifications talking about games considering she didn't play them herself.

For those unfamiliar with Milo, he previously wrote in "The Internet is Turning us all into Psychopaths"

It’s clear that existing hate speech laws are inadequate for the social media era. And if we decide, as we perhaps might, that a lifetime ban on the internet is unworkable and disproportionately punitive, given the centrality of the internet to our professional and personal lives these days, what on earth are we to do? No one has yet offered a convincing answer. In the meantime, we are all, bit by bit, growing ever more fearful of the next wave of molestation.

He went on to argue in favor of verified identities on social networks. It's a theme of his. He hates Anonymity. He hates how people can hide their "facile comments" behind the "cloak of Anonymity".

And then there's what he had to say about video games.

I’m getting used to de haut en bas scoffing from the 19-year-olds in the Kernel offices about how out of touch I am. (“I wanted to be a theatre critic!” I cry, to no effect.) But I can’t be the only person who feels as though mainstream culture is racing past him. James Cook of this parish reports today on the pandemonium that engulfs releases of major video games these days. There are stabbings, oodles of fake cocaine… I mean, just reading about it is exhausting.

and

And that’s my other question: why are these video games so saturated with sex, drugs and violence? Yes, I know TV and the movies have been going that way for ages, but video games are on another level entirely. I confess I’ve never spent much time in front of the computer screen zapping aliens, but the games I did briefly poke my nose into as a kid - Doom, Hexen and Wolfenstein 3D - were already way out there, which is why so many parents banned them once they actually realised how bloody they were.

Sommers' views are harder to track down, but she did co-write a book, One Nation Under Therapy, that talked about a

a legitimate concern over the high levels of obscenity and violence in popular entertainment. Sadistic video games, lurid rap songs, and grotesquely violent movies are everywhere available - even to very young children. This debased popular culture may be creating an epidemic of incivility and insensitivity.

Nobody seems to be questioning how qualified these people are to talk about video games, despite the fact that a quick google search can paint a clear picture.

At this point if Jack Thompson was to say he supported Gamergate, he'd be welcomed with open arms.

[the-senpai-police]

I think this picture underlines the key difference between SJW/Feminists and… uh… non-SJW/Feminists.

[henchkobun21]

…Both women are willing to say anything at all to make a buck, but the one on the left’s less likely to get death threats?

Sommers’ primary source of income is agreeing with Men’s Rights Activists. She has books to sell, and conventions to get invited to. She exists so people can point to her and go “see, we’ve got one of THEM on our side!” like Walter Williams is for racism.

Getting the FYC to vaguely support “Gamergate” was noteworthy. Unlike Anita they know what they’re talking about, and would never talk about a game without having played it first.  Getting support from Sommers? I can hear her shaking the tip jar from here.

[the-senpai-police]

CHS gets paid well enough for speaking at collages. And as far as death threats?

I’m sure she gets enough of those (like a lot of people). She just doesn’t post about them online and pretend to think they are credible for sympathy and an excuse to beg for more money.

[henchkobun21]

I said Anita's more likely to get death threats, not that there aren't enough death threats out there for everyone. "Double digits" is ten. Which is ten more than he should have gotten, but very noticeably different in scale from what Anita got. There's no "Beat Up Milo Yiannopoulos" video game. And there's nobody questioning his gamer cred. Even though he wrote this. He's a hero of 4chan at the moment, even though he's railed against Anonymity online and said that the internet is turning everyone into psychopaths. Strange bedfellows.

What's Sommers had to say about games in the past? She co-wrote a book which went on about the "legitimate concern over the high levels of obscenity and violence in popular entertainment. Sadistic video games, lurid rap songs and grotesquely violent movies are everywhere available - even to very young children. This debased popular culture may be creating an epidemic of incivility and insensitivity."

When people pointed out that Anita had no business talking about video games considering she didn't really play them, I agreed. She's not an expert, she's an outsider that watches youtube clips and makes (often incorrect) statements about them. Hardly someone to listen to about games. But Milo and Sommers know even less. He heard vague "things" about games before writing an article saying he'd prefer a snuggle, and she views video games as debased.

[the-senpai-police]

I think this picture underlines the key difference between SJW/Feminists and… uh… non-SJW/Feminists.

[henchkobun21]

...Both women are willing to say anything at all to make a buck, but the one on the left's less likely to get death threats?

Sommers' primary source of income is agreeing with Men's Rights Activists. She has books to sell, and conventions to get invited to. She exists so people can point to her and go "see, we've got one of THEM on our side!" like Walter Williams is for racism.

Getting the FYC to vaguely support "Gamergate" was noteworthy. Unlike Anita they know what they're talking about, try to make games, and would never talk about a game without having played it first.  Getting support from Sommers? I can hear her shaking the tip jar from here.