I am sure that you have heard of some of these urban legends. I don’t know if you believe them (or used to believe them) but I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the biggest myths of video games.

Donkey Kong is a result of a wrong translation – it was really supposed to be Monkey Kong.
Funny isn’t it? Unfortunately, there is no truth to this. Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary Nintendo designer would be the first one to debunk this myth. He says that the name may sound funky but it was the choice at that time. It turned out to be a good choice – it is one of the most popular video games of all time.

PS2s – thousands of them – were purchased by Saddam Hussein to create a supercomputer for his military.
Not! Why would Saddam make use of PS2s to create a supercomputer? I am sure that a man of his means would have had access to more powerful processors. This hot piece of rumor didn’t stay alive for long – government officials officially debunked the myth soon after it circulated online.

A man has died playing video games.
Alright, this one has truth to it. I remember reading about it several years ago. This Korean man played for 50 hours straight and died of a heart attack. That was in 2005. Another Korean guy died of exhaustion after playing straight for 86 hours. The moral of the story is this – get some rest while playing video games!

Want more of these urban legends? Read Yahoo’s feature on them.

The more I think about it, the more I liken waiting for a video game’s release to disappointment. I don’t know about you, but ever since God of War came out, I was hooked. Then came God of War II. The game was awesome but the ending was just not enough to be satisfying. I comforted myself with the thought that they would be coming out with the third installment to the series soon enough.

Of course, when the news of Cory Barlog leaving Sony came out, I kind of expected some bad news. However, if you remember that post on Cory Barlog, he stated that GOW III is in good hands. That kind of pacified my apprehensions.

Now someone from Sony has released a statement that the much awaited game will not be out till December of 2009 – and that would be the earliest possible time! For us who have finished GOW II and cannot wait to play the next installment (possibly the last, too), this piece of news is so not welcome. As we all supposed, there was something more to Cory’s leaving Sony. Whatever it is, it is affecting the development and release of GOW II.

Well, there you have it. No more of Kratos till Christmas next year – at the very earliest! This really sucks. Well at least we can look forward to some other games like GTA IV and Dynasty Warriors sometime this year – I hope!

What? I don’t think so! Here’s this piece of news from KOB.com, which I found thanks to a post on Engadget:

The Sierra Club is proposing a tax on video games and televisions with the proceeds going to programs that encourage families to get kids off of the couch and into the mountains.
Call it “No Child Left Inside.”

Mike Casaus of the Sierra Club says families hiking a mountain trail together are becoming scarce as childhood diabetes and obesity is soaring, which is why the organization is proposing the one-percent tax.

“What we would do with this excise tax on tvs and video games and this type of equipment is to tax part of the problem to fund the solution,” he says.

The Sierra Club believes the bill would bring in about $4 million that could be used for programs like an outdoor classroom to tech children about the outdoors. Lawmakers killed the same idea last year.

Ok, I think this is way out of line. Don’t get me wrong – I am all for going outdoors and enjoying nature; but to levy a tax??? Who is to say that programs encouraging families and kids to go out and enjoy the wild outdoors would actually make them get off their butts? I say that this is a decision for each individual to make and levying a tax for these programs is not a guarantee. Maybe the Sierra Club should leave this well enough alone.

We all know about ads online. Visit any web site and the chances are that you will come across an ad or two – probably more. Even blogs are not exempt from them. Now, it seems that ads are going to permeate the gaming world as well and no less than EA is going to be one of the major backers of this movement!

According to a news item from BBC:

Electronic Arts is to release a free online version of the popular Battlefield game to be supported by adverts and micro payments. The PC game, Battlefield Heroes, will be available only online later this year, and will not be sold in shops. The move marks EA’s first major attempt to tap into new sources of ad-driven revenue in Western markets.

So how is the gaming world taking this piece of news? From what I have been reading, there are mixed reactions. Some gamers are taking it in stride – wait and see if the game will meet their expectations – while others are already saying that EA just killed the series. What I did notice is that a lot of blogs have been posting entries about this move by EA. Not many have said what is on their minds, though.

As for me, I don’t like ads but I do see their value. I am just hoping that EA would be at least tasteful in their use of ads to earn revenue. I suppose I’ll join the band of gamers who are saying “let’s wait and see.”

To be honest, I have not tried the game hands on, but if the buzzing around the Internet is anything to believed, it is one heck of a game. It seems that it has all the essential elements of a good video game - a deep storyline, great graphics, open environment (which allows you to interact with the surroundings), first person action, and more. Here is what Gamespot has to say about this 360 exclusive:

The Good:

• Absolutely amazing atmosphere and visual design with the technical prowess to back it all up
• Lots of character customization options to play around with
• Great voice cast really sells the storyline.

The Bad:

• Annoying hitches cause the game to freeze for a few seconds at a time, but it only seems to start happening after playing the game for several hours
• Lack of death penalty keeps things fun, but also keeps things a little too easy.

The score? A whopping 9! Read the whole review here.

By the way, did I say that this was a 360 exclusive? Well, according to a rumor going around, 2k Boston is looking for PS3 developers. For those who do not know, 2k Boston is the team behind Bioshock. So they’re looking for PS3 developers, huh? Does this mean that we can expect a PS3 version of the game? Or maybe the sequel is going to be for the PS3 as well. We can only speculate for now.

Electronic Arts is one of the most prolific names when it comes to video games. Even a 3-year-old knows that catch phrase “EA – it’s in the game!” Recent developments have the gaming world buzzing as we continue to hear rumors that EA is set to gain a foothold in Korea, which some say is the gaming capital of the world.

Korea is perhaps the “most wired” country in the world. With their advanced Internet network and wide gaming community, being a major player in this scene will definitely be an advantage that no one can deny. So what’s cooking?

Early in 2007, John Riccitiello came back (he was the former president and COO of EA) and started running the show again. Since then, there have been serious changes in EA – and I mean serious: restructuring and the dropping and making of new deals is what it was all about.

But it isn’t quite over yet. EA is set to take on a bigger piece of the action as news about a Korean branch came out. The report comes from Chosun, a Korean news outlet, and states that the EA studio will be receiving about $21 million in investment and should be churning out about 3 or 4 online games. The studio will be taking advantage of the numerous talented Koreans in the country as their game developers. Take note, however, that the head of the whole thing will still be old school – Danny Isaac of FIFA Soccer fame. This year is going to be very interesting for EA fans.

Warner Bros. started the year off with a bang as they announced that in several months, they will be ditching the use of HD DVD and instead release movies exclusively on Blu-ray. You can just imagine the uproar that this announcement caused – and is actually still causing!

Here are snippets of their press release, if you have not read it already:

In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

“Warner Bros.’ move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want,” said Meyer. “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.”

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

Being the Sony fan that I am, I actually happy with the turn of events. However, I cannot help but wonder – is it really a response to consumer demand?

I have always been a fan of the Need For Speed franchise. From the PC version to the PS2 games and now to the PS3, I have faithfully followed this game series. I know that NFS Pro Street has been out for quite some time now but it was only a couple of months ago that I got my copy. From what I have been reading, there have been a few changes and I was more than interested to try it out. Here’s my take on it.

First the game play. I was thoroughly disappointed with how EA designed how you can play around. I did not like the fact that there was no free roam mode. If you can remember, the other Need For Speed games (starting with Underground) enabled you to merely roam the streets, have fun speeding, and make money while at it. With Pro Street, you can only go from one race to another – no driving around on the streets. I think that blows big time. Once you’ve beaten the game, it does not have much replay value and that is something that I look for in a video game. I tried playing it again after I beat the whole game once but I got bored after a while – it just gets too repetitive.

The graphics are the redeeming factor of Pro Street, though. It takes advantage of the capabilities of the PS3 and you can really enjoy seeing all the details while on the race track. There is also an expansion pack for the game but I am not sure it will do much to improve the game play. Maybe the next NFS will be more interesting.

If you are asking who Sid Meier is and you call yourself a video gamer, you should be ashamed of yourself! With his host of tycoon simulation games, he is definitely way up there!

Anyhow, this February, Meier is set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Developers Choice Awards – and rightly so. Meier has changed the landscape of simulation games and has introduced the whole world to his wonderful ideas. I couldn’t agree more with Jamil Moledina, GDC executive director, who said:

“Sid Meier has served as one of our industry’s greatest role models for more than 25 years, creating fun and intelligent games for a diverse public long before it was popular. Now that the rest of the industry is actively targeting the broader audience, it’s fitting to honor him with our highest award and thank him for his continuing example of inspiration for the video game community.”

Indeed, way before the video and PC game explosion began, Sid Meier was there, trying to introduce the public to what we hold as common these days. He was, as some would say, a visionary. Here are some of the most notable games that Sid Meier has developed over the decades:

-Spitfire Ace (his very first major project)
-Railroad Tycoon
-Civilization (and all the other installments in this series)
-Magic: The Gathering
-Alpha Centauri
-Sid Meier’s Pirates!

I, for one, am happy for Sid Meier. We all know how essential he has been to the gaming industry but it is always nice to be formally recognized, isn’t it?

For fans of the epic game God of War, Cory Barlog is a name to be held with awe and respect. For those who do not recognize the name, Cory Barlog is the man behind one of the best video games ever made – God of War. So why am I writing about him?

Well, the news of his departure from Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Santa Monica studios circulated last year and people have been waiting on word from him. He apparently went on a blogging hiatus and only resurfaced yesterday. Being a God of War fan myself, I have been waiting on this.

According to Cory:

For me, the whole departure from Sony was not exactly the ideal route that I wanted to go, but in the end I think it is the absolute best thing I could have ever done. I am not going to go into any specifics as to what it is I am working on now, which sucks, but I can say that I am cooking up several things.

I can’t wait to find out what it is he is cooking up! More importantly for me though, he says this about the upcoming God of War III:

I know for the God of War fans out there it might be a bummer that I am not working on God of War 3 (or for some it may be a good thing I am not) but rest assured that it is all in good hands. The Sony Santa Monica team is one of the best teams I have ever worked with. Also, immediately after I finished God of War 2 I was already working on the story and design for the third game. So when Sony and I finally did part ways the foundation of the game, along with story that completes the arc we began in God of War , was complete. I wish I could have been there to see it through to the end, but it was just not meant to be I guess. The story is going to finish off with a very big, very epic bang though.

I hope he knows what he is talking about!