I’m one of the many who believe that video games not only can be a form of art, they can also be a literary medium. Want proof? Look no further than Silent Hill 2’s gripping narrative and try to tell me that that’s not on par with a Steven King or Clive Barker. Check out Ico’s emotionally moving story. Even Bungie’s Halo and Bioware’s Mass Effect have introduced players to science fiction universes on scale with a Star Wars or Battlestar Galatica. However, if gaming is to progress as an entertainment medium, it’s not enough to present an quirky art style or a deep plot. Gaming has to be able to explore taboo and even controversial subjects just like books, movies, and television shows do, even if they may get somewhat offensive or politically incorrect (which is why I was disappointed when 6 Days in Fallujah ended up being indefinitely postponed, but that’s another story). Of course I’m not saying that a developer should go out and create ‘KKK Lynchin’ Heroes’, but if and when done correctly, video games can provide a light with which to look at social issues that continue to affect us today. Beyond Good and Evil could be considered a commentary on the role of the press and the distribution of information during times when civil freedoms are being challenged, and Metal Gear Solid 4’s storyline about private military corporations can be considered a look at military policy, particularly in the wake of the Blackwater scandal. However, few issues have been more hotly debated than that of violence in our schools, and no one moment in our history better exemplifies the issue than the Columbine Massacre.

For those of you who don’t know the story, on April 20th of 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two troubled teens who had apparently been bullied during their years in high school went on a violent shooting spree, killing over a dozen students and teachers. The media, parents/teacher groups, clergymen, and opportunistic politicians, unable to fathom that two white boys from a wealthy suburban community bought about something that apparently is only supposed to happen in the ghetto or a backwoods rural area (and with rumors of a so-called ‘trenchcoat mafia’ shut down), immediately set about finding things to blame the tragedy on. “It was because of easy access to guns!” “It was because gun control laws are too strict!” “It was Marylin Manson!” “It was violent video games!” “It was Doom!” “It was because of the evil liberals taking prayer out of schools!” “Where were the parents at?” “Why didn’t anyone see the warning signs?” With all the fuss in a search for a scapegoat, few even considered to take a look at the events in their lives that might have led up to the shooting. Enter independent developer Danny Ledonne. Using the program RPG Maker 2000, he created a game which places characters in the role of the shooters. By researching thousands of pages of news articles about the massacre, home videos the two killers made, and video news reports, Ledonne’s product gives an insight and paints a picture suggesting why such a tragedy occurred.

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With all the rumors flying in the entertainment blog echochamber, it’s hard to tell what’s really happening the world of NBC’s late night programming. Can Conan really not say anything bad about NBC? (Unlikely.) Is this week really his last as Tonight Show host? (In all probability, even by his own admission, and now in seeming actual fact.)

But when Jay Leno finally explained on his January 18th, 2010 show that this is happening because NBC won’t let him out of his contract, and he has no animosity toward Conan O’Brien, I believe him.

Even with both men caught in the middle of NBC’s general ratings woes, it’s pretty clear why Jay needs to be the bigger man, and step down.

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Diamond Select Toys had a huge reveal showcasing the upcoming 2 assortments of minimates associated with the highly anticipated Iron Man 2 movie. With the exception of one ‘high-flying armor-clad character’ all of the Wave 35 figures were revealed. It was also mentioned that the Hammer Drones were featured briefly in the trailer where Iron Man and War Machine had to fight an entire squad. I’m assuming the final armor clad character is going to be the final big bad in the movie, but only time will tell.

The line-up is as follows:
Pepper Potts w/ Army Builder Hammer Drone
Happy Hogan w/ Army Builder Hammer Drone
Iron Man
War Machine
Whiplash
as yet unnamed armored character (Titanium Man? Crimson Dynamo?)

Single packed figures in display box: (think cylon centurions)
Air Assualt Drone
Ground Assault Drone
Sea Assault Drone
Tactical Assault Drone
Justin Hammer
Battle Damaged Hammer Drone

      

The first Powet review of an iPhone game! How does it stack up to the Xbox Live Pac-Man: Championship Edition?

Buy this game on iTunes if you’d like, or you can redeem a code for the original version or purchase an iTunes card to download Pac-Man CE to your iPhone or iPod Touch!

It’s a new decade! New Spider-man, new Sonic, new Late Night, and new NBC? We can only hope…

Direct Link: Powetcast Episode 26: We’re With Coco

Audio Netcast Details
Subscribe to the Powetcast on iTunes

(How do you feel about Jay Leno going back on a 5 year-old promise? Leave a comment below!)

Show notes after the jump!

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Goldeneye changed the direction of console first person shooter games. While there had been good console FPS games in the past, Goldeneye established a foundation of fun multiplayer and an intuitive control scheme. Who didn’t enjoy spending weekends huddled around their TV with 3 of their friends shooting each other up? When several of the original developers broke off to form their own company, Free Radical, and began work on a PS2 FPS game, many believed that good things would happen. They were right. The company’s first entry, Timesplitters was one of the best launch-window PS2 games, and its multiplayer managed to surpass Goldeneye in terms of sheer variety and fun.
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So this week’s $20 GOTW (or should I say free) isn’t so much a game as it is a tool. However, it comes with free games and you can always download more for it. The engine was created by Andrew Gardner, who in 1997 had set out to create a first person shooter game entitled Corridors of Power (which by the way is one of the games included in the download). After releasing some teaser levels, modders discovered that they could use the engine to create their own levels. Developer Paul Moxon joined Gardner and created a level editor using the software. After several difficulties throughout the years, the project was temporarily shut down in 2006 only to be restarted less than a year later as an open source project. Thus the fruits of their labor are available for download on their website at http://www.apgardner.karoo.net/. The download comes with three full games (Corridors of Power, Sinister, Dead Man Walking), several individual levels, several challenge levels, and a suite of editing tools. There is a map creator, a model editor, an episode editor, and more. They are designed to be user friendly, so anyone can jump right in regardless of programming skills. While the graphics in the included material look as if they were from the Dreamcast days, the engine makes use of many of the latest OpenGL features. The games themselves are throwbacks to the early days of the genre, so FPS fans will get a kick out of their simplicity. If you got a decent computer, you will definitely want to check this out. Weather you want to create games or simply play what other people make, the Retribution Engine is a great open-source package.

Two of the biggest news stories this week are the disaster in Haiti and the dethroning of Conan O’Brien as host of The Tonight Show. Naturally, my fellow geeks, we’re all rooting for Conan, but its hard to ignore that an impoverished nation has been hit by a terrible earthquake from which it may never fully recover.

An enterprising lad named Mike Mitchell has combined these two efforts spectacularly. You can buy his “I’m With Coco” artwork as a print or a t-shirt and a portion will be handed off to relief in Haiti.

It is our sincere hope that those in Haiti who have survived are cared for in the best manner and can begin to rebuild, and that Conan O’Brien continue as host of Tonight or move swiftly to another network that appreciates him as much as we do.

Those willing to give more can visit RedCross.org