Button Remapping for the Disabled Gamer

Chuck Bittner, A.K.A. AskACapper, is a disabled gamer and comedian. He started an online petition to get video game developers to offer custom button remapping in their video games so he and other gamers like him can enjoy them.

He is a quadriplegic comedian, in a wheel chair, and due to his condition, he has no control over his fingers. Therefore, in order to play a video game he must use his face to control not only the joysticks, but the buttons as well. Due to his disability, many games are unplayable with the current button layouts.

Remapping is the ability to move button assignments on a controller to any button of the gamer's choice. Even though many games come with multiple preset control layouts, this may not be enough in the case of gamers like Chuck. Full custom remapping is necessary in order to cater for disabled gamers. No longer should they need to choose from a group of preset layouts when in essence they could be able to choose whatever suits them best.

If you haven't done so already please support this great, and often overlooked, cause by signing the petition and following the Facebook Page!

Random Mario Cake

I found this cake in a shop the other day and I have to say that I've picked out the cake for my birthday next month...

Submitted by: Myself, Diesel - MancalaZonk mod

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video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

Game Length

So lately it seems a lot of games, especially action and first-person shooter games, are getting shorter. Sub-10-hour campaigns are quickly becoming the norm, and while multiplayer modes are making their way into just about every title hitting shelves nowadays, they’re also becoming a go-to excuse to cut down single-player content.

Purchasing a game that’s over in the same afternoon you brought it home usually can’t be described as anything but a rip-off, and players routinely have that reaction. So it’s interesting that developers still try to sneak out these malnourished packages and pretend they’re going to fly with the target market. However there are many games that, even with a relatively short campaign mode, contain content of a quality that would make you jizz your pants. So it would seem the new emphasis on length over quality reeks of high school essay requirements, where word count is more crucial than writing ability.

There’s no added value to a game when you’re made watch the same dull animations over and over again, or repeat boring and mindless tasks. So the question becomes one of which is better: a game sliced to its essence and lasts only a few hours, or an adventure that pushes into the 30- or 40-hour mark, but with lots of filler in between?

Apparently, a game that lasts eight hours is now a failure, and not worth paying full price for, no matter how good it is. In my opinion, judging a game based solely on its hour count is just... depressing.

Top 5... Video Game Clichés

5: The Final Boss Rematch

You beat the lad once, twice, or maybe even three times but still the persistent mongrel comes back for more. Only this time... it's personal!

4: Now, Are You A Boy Or A Girl?

They all say that video game characters are constantly developing more human-like emotions, yet, after all this so-called evolution, they still have the cheek to ask you what's between your legs... Ignorant bastards, the lot of them!

Kiss Controller

Kiss Controller is a game input device that controls the direction and speed of a bowling ball while users are kissing.

Artist Hye Yeon Nam has put her video game where her mouth is, literally, with the creation of a new bowling game that's controlled only by passionate (and awkward) French kissing. Kissing is an intimate behavior that could easily be developed into a game device. It has not yet been proposed in the game industry (I wonder why?).

Obviously the creator doesn't have a huge understanding of the gaming market; I mean how many gamers actually have someone who is willing to kiss them? I foresee the 'adult' game producers lining up to do something with this.

Verdict: Buy It!(If you have a girlfriend)

The Life of a Stormtrooper

Not technically a gaming picture but it was too funny not to post on the blog. Besides most people that like video games should get it...

Submitted by: Harry Fenton

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video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

TI-Nspire - The Gaming Calculator!

Recently a team of developers from "omnimaga" have ported a modified version of the classic fps shooter "Doom" to the TI-Nspire and have plans to release a fully functioning version to the public soon.

The actual version is called nDoom, which is a modified edition of the original that is designed to work on less powerful machines. While you may not expect such a device to have enough graphical power to truly pull this off, this whole thing is definitely a case of "you've got to see it to believe it."

Oh and I nearly forgot, the calculator can now connect to the INTERNET! Well a type of internet, at least, called Global CALCnet 2.2. While 'local' CALCnet 2.2 allows between two to two million calculators to connect in local-area networks, Global CALCnet can link multiple CALCnet networks across the internet, and can even offer internet-based services to calculators, such as connections to Internet Relay Chat and other chat protocols, and even multi-player games such as Scorched-Earth are currently in the works.

Sure it may cost around $100 but wouldn't it be worth it to get a calculator that allows you to play games in class...

25 Years of Zelda

On this day 25 years ago, The Legend of Zelda marked its debut in Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System (with a U.S. release the following year).

While it may look crude now, it's easy to forget that, at the time of the game's release, it was the beginning of a series that would sell 59 million units worldwide. With inter-connected worlds and dungeons that were so huge in relation to other titles it was the first NES game that required its own internal battery so users could save their progress.

The scale and open-ended approach to game design - with players able to progress through the game in a non-linear fashion revolutionized gaming, so much so that by the time the original cartridges were finally taken off store shelves, The Legend Of Zelda had sold over 8 million copies worldwide.

Spawning MANY sequels including upcoming Wii adventure, Skyward Sword, and a host of other media - the cult classic animated series, manga, toys, board games and more... Happy Birthday Link and Zelda!

25 Years Of Dying

I found this picture on deviantART by theBourgyman

As soon as I saw it I thought that it was worth putting on the blog so I hope you like it!

If you would like to submit a picture or

video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

16-year-old Murders Mother Over PlayStation Dispute

We've all had our parents confiscate something for no apparent reason when we did something wrong, but how far would you be willing to go to retaliate?

When her 16-year-old son got into trouble last November, Rashida Anderson responded with
punishment - she took away his PlayStation. Following a 90-minute argument the day after Thanksgiving, police allege, her son, Kendall went into his sleeping mother's bedroom, hit her 20 times with a claw hammer and ultimately killed her.

A court in Philadelphia heard the confession of Mr. Anderson (no relation of Neo), who will now stand trial for the murder of his mother over the games system. The youth's confession reads, "I couldn't stand the arguing."

When the hammer attack did not kill her, Anderson dragged the barely living body down to the kitchen, where he attempted to cremate her in the oven. When that clearly failed, Mr. Anderson smashed her in the head with a chair leg, and eventually hid her corpse outside in an alley under some debris.

"If I could, I would not do it again," Anderson confesses. "I really miss my mom... she was the only person who cared for me."

The grand jury decided Anderson to stand trial for murder, possession of an instrument of crime and abuse of corpse.

While it WAS the PlayStation incident that finally threw him over the edge, obviously the kid had much deeper issues that the mother failed to address. You just know that something like Fox News is going to look at this as solely the game console's fault and we'll have another incident on our hands badmouthing 'violent' games.

Stereotypes... Females in Video Games

Sexy with a seductive personality, unrealistic breast size and skimpy costume - the industry-wide stereotype of females in video games has become the norm.

This stereotype does not seem to differ depending on game genre. If you think about some famous female video game characters, you will quickly realize that they are all as thin as Lara Croft and as buxom as Bayonetta. They are all either a femme fatal or a damsel in distress. They are all young, as well, which is forgivable. It would be difficult to imagine an 80-year-old woman shooting up enemies and dodging falling boulders. While I happen to like this stereotype many people take offense to it.

Take Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad for example:

Obviously this type of game is not to be taken seriously. A game where you have to hack and slash your way through waves of the living dead with the aim of covering the protagonist in zombie blood in order to use their special ability... eh, yeah that sounds realistic!

The roles that females take in video games began as either captured girlfriends or princesses that need to be rescued. This changed over time, especially with the success of Lara Croft, and nowadays, while not the dominant gender in gaming, the fairer sex  is closing the gap in becoming the main protagonist in a video game.

However the critics seem to look past the fact that most of the female characters in modern video games and computer games tends to be very dominant characters, very strong characters, and characters that have a leadership role which actually portray women in a very positive and strong way. They also fail to question the fact that maybe the males playing these games are just as influenced by the images of the male characters as the women are by the female characters.

Top 5... Video Game Trailers

5: Halo 3

This trailer starts like a movie and really does a great job contrasting the innocence of the children at the beginning with the seriously barren land in the game.

4: COD: MW2

I honestly have no idea if this is a good trailer or not but I remember when I first saw it I couldn't contain my excitement for the then up-coming game so anytime I see this trailer now I get reminded of the first time

Super Mario Meets Mr. Men

Submitted by: Yours Truly, Diesel - MancalaZonk mod

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Killzone 3

The follow up to one of PlayStation 3's most thrilling and best-looking games takes players to a frozen arctic world to continue the fight against Helghan forces. Killzone 3 will also be one of the first games for the PS3 built from the ground up in 3D.

The visuals of Killzone 3 really bring the feeling of war in a way that few games do. The incredible explosions and over-the-top chaotic battlefields launch Killzone right amongst the best FPS games on the platform. The bad-ass gameplay is authentically explored throughout the urban, jungle, and snow environments. Exploding chunks of concrete contrast with the frozen Helghan coast, and before you know it, the Helghan jungle smacks into view - and you're stuffed in claustrophobic growth with bulging, glowing pinks and reds pushing out of foliage The game genuinely places you in a wide array of situations that keep it from feeling stale or repetitive.

Like the previous games Guerilla succeeded in totally immersing the player in the game. As you reload your character examines his weapon and as you scale a ladder the camera moves with the character. However, while the game may look and feel great, it seems to be let down by a slightly boring narrative. The true emotions of the characters are never really conveyed as they engage with their adversarys. Killzone 3 jumps around in time regularly, constructing a narrative that gives a good reason to explore different parts of the home-world, but it's not alluring. It seems as though the writers were just trying to create a story around previously designed levels.

Verdict: Buy It!

(storyline aside this truly will be an amazing game)

Video Game Violence

Mortal Combat, all the GTA games, Bully, Dead Space, oh, and em... Death Race are just a few examples of the MANY video games to be attacked for their 'violent' nature.

While not the first violent video game to appear, Death Race (above) was the first of its kind to inspire a great deal of protest and controversy in the U.S.. Although compared to video games of today it may not seem graphic, the game caused such an outcry that it was pulled from store shelves and profiled on 60 Minutes. In 1986, just 10 years later, the same company released another video game, called Chiller, considered to be the most gratuitously violent video game released to that point. This game, however, while being banned in the UK, did not receive anywhere close to the same controversy as Death Race.

Portrayals of violence inevitably became more realistic with time, so much so that politicians such as U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman conducted hearings during the 1990s regarding what he referred to as "violent video games" which, in his opinion, included such games as Mortal Kombat.

The Legend of Zelda (1987) Trailer

Found this video on YouTube - it's brilliant! Really brings me back to my childhood :D

Betrayal

Submitted by: Harry Fenton

If you would like to submit a picture or

video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

Call of Duty: WWIII

Submitted by: Yours Truly, Diesel - MancalaZonk mod

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video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

Bulletstorm

"Video games have increasingly, and more brazenly, connected sex and violence in images, actions and words. This has the psychological impact of doubling the excitement, stimulation and incitement to copycat acts. The increase in rapes can be attributed, in large part, to the playing out of such scenes in video games." 

'Psychologist' Carol Lieberman on Fox News

So apparently Fox News don't like Bulletstorm. Shocker! Remind you of the Mass Effect incident? They obviously have no clue what they are talking about.

Armed with a gun, your boot, and an energy leash, Bulletstorm is all about torturing your opponents and using both your body and the environment to kill them in as unique a way as possible. Much like a skateboarding game does with tricks, this FPS rewards your creativity when it comes to the brutal slaughtering of your foe. Simply shooting an enemy gives you the minimum points, while more creative kills are rewarded appropriately. For example, rewards are given for things like impaling enemies on parts of the environment, or even for shooting them in the genitals just before finishing them off.

This game looks completely bonkers. And I mean that in a good way. It's like Ratchet and Clank meets Call of Duty. With an arsenal of over-the-top combat moves, outrageously large guns, and a storyline wrought with subtle comedy, what more could you want in a game. The release date of Feb 22nd seems too far away!

Verdict: Buy It!

(even if you just want to prove Fox wrong)

Worst Super Mario Player Ever

OK while th video may be called 'Worst Super Mario Player Ever' you have to admit it takes some skill to accomplish this feat!

Hats off to you sir!

Mario's Dilemma...

Submitted by: The Marauder - b0r3d.co.cc mod

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video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

For The Luigi Fans (You Know Who You Are!)

Submitted by: The Marauder - b0r3d.co.cc mod

Bulletstorm review coming in the next few days. Till then, more random articles and pics.

If you would like to submit a picture or

video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

Which Villain Are You?

Do you have what it takes to be a true video game villain?

Pacman, You Selfish Bastard!

Submitted by: The Marauder - b0r3d.co.cc mod

Just wait till he comes up against Bowser - Karma's a bitch!

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video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

Damsel in Distress

Submitted by: The Marauder - b0r3d.co.cc mod

Poor Mario, no matter who he falls for, she is always taken away!

If you would like to submit a picture or

video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

Hidden Joke in Super Mario!

So you finally get through all the levels in a world of Super Mario, you struggle, but somehow manage to beat 'Bowser' only to come to this screen:

That's all fine, you only have to go through another few levels before you can rescue your princess but before you move on you look closely and you realize that Toad is mocking you:

Yeah so it turns out that for over 25 years Toad has been flipping you off while giving you the bad news! Mother-Fucker!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3

An entire decade has passed, but Marvel vs. Capcom is finally returning to game consoles, bringing along with it some of the most over-the-top crossover fighting around.

I like to think that I've managed to suppress the more extreme elements of my geeky nature. I don't write crossover fan fiction. I've not had the urge to dress up as a superhero since I was at primary school. But then I see a game where comic book heroes fight the heroes of the gaming world and it all comes flooding back; the need to know who would win in a fight, Iron Man or DMC's Dante... Next thing I know every base geek impulse is tingling, those long lost pleasures stimulated back into life by joyous cartoon sprites crashing into each other's universe and walloping the pixels out of each other. And now MvC is back.

The title is looking to reinstate itself as the giant of fighting games. Some of Capcom's greatest heros and villians pitted against Marvel's in a fight to the death - could it get any better? With an improved storyline, new characters and comic book-esque style graphics it is sure to be a huge hit amongst gamers. That and the new explosive, over-the-top style promises to light up your screen with hyper action and a mass spectrum of colour that would symaltainiously hurt your eyes and make you smile like a paedophile in a playground.

Is it truly a timeless classic? With a release date of 15th Feb we'll soon find out!

Verdict: Buy It!

Awesome Console Tower

Submitted by Josh Wisdom

Get your's today! Only costs $200 in materials (consoles not included)...

If you would like to submit a picture or

video email it to b0r3d@live.ie

World's Largest Video Game Exhibition...

...opened in Berlin on Friday 21st of Jan. With more than 300 interactive exhibits in the Computerspiele Museum it really is a phenomenal sight to behold.

While the Computerspiele Museum has been open for several years, the museum's permanent video game exhibition has only just opened. Prior to this, several temporary displays were on exhibition while the bulk of the museum's collection was dedicated to several touring exhibits.

Alongside momentous games like Pong, Super Mario Brothers and World of Warcraft, you can experience many rare, original exhibits, playable classic games and the full history gaming systems. Guests can play everything from the world's first arcade game to a version of Pong that punishes poor players with actual physical violence, including heat, electric shock and whipping. The device's motto? "No game, no pain."

According to the game's designers, “the concept of inflicting pain in a videogame worked well.”