Bayonetta Xbox 360 Game Save Downloaders
Two-player online multiplayer also confirmed.
The weakest link in any cybersecurity setup is always the human element. Hackers refer to the techniques that target people as “social engineering” and it’s an extension of the large set of confidence tricks out there which criminals use to victimize innocent people.There is no software or hardware tool you can buy that will make up for someone in your family being tricked into opening the doors to cybercriminals.
So the best strategy is to make sure your children and significant other, and anyone else who lives with you, are aware of the most common attacks. Email phishing scams, catfishing and malicious attachments are just three examples.Take the time to sit down and clearly explain these threats to your loved ones. Make sure they understand the risks and implications. If anyone in your family is not able to understand these threats or apply the right mitigations, then it’s too early for them to use your home’s internet connection without supervision.Most importantly, instill the rule of “”. In other words, if something seems off or strange, that person should let you know. Secure The Local Environment.
Not every technology or network-based threat comes from the internet. There are ways your local network can be compromised as well. For example, is the process of connecting to someone else’s WiFi without their knowledge. Usually to use their internet connection, but it’s worse than simply getting your bandwidth hogged by a stranger.Once an unknown person is connected to your local network, they can get access to any devices that are on that network. Especially if they haven’t been configured correctly. The next step might to steal files from local drives or network-attached storage.
Malware such as keystroke loggers could also be installed by rogue users on your network.So make sure your router is set to the highest WiFi security standard supported. At the same time, make sure that your WiFi key is a proper strong key and not something like myWiFi123. The same goes for the admin password to access your router settings. Don’t leave it with the default password!You may want to go as far as whitelisting only specific devices, so that even if a rogue device connects, it won’t get access to anything. Set Up a Guest NetworkWhat about people who visit your home that need internet access, but aren’t part of your trusted circle?
Many routers offer the option to create a these days.This is a second WiFi hotspot that allows for direct internet access, but cuts that user off from the rest of the local network. This is the WiFi connection to use with visitors if at all possible. Configure All Your Mobile Devices Properly. Do you know what websites your family members are visiting?
Would you be invading their privacy if? It’s a tricky question, but there’s no doubt that plenty of the content found on the web is simply.In the past, tech-savvy families might have a home proxy server that logs every site visited and blocks sites that are on a blacklist.
Luckily that’s not something you need to do anymore, thanks to custom safe browsing DNS services.DNS is short for and is basically a phonebook for the internet. When you type an internet address into your browser, it sends a request to the DNS registered on your router. The DNS takes that address and then looks up the exact numerical internet protocol address. This is the actual physical network address of the web server that hosts the site you want to visit.Your internet service provider has a DNS that is automatically configured, but you can log into your router and manually override which DNS it should use. You can pay for a subscription-based custom DNS service that automatically blocks web content you don’t want your family members accessing. Depending on the specific service, you can block whole classes of site and also specifically block a custom list of sites.Some internet service providers offer this service as part of your existing subscription too, so it’s worth checking if that’s the case before paying any additional money. Streetwise For The 21st CenturyBefore the internet, children were given advice on not taking candy from strangers or accepting rides from people they don’t trust.
Now the strangers have a direct line into the home, along with con artists and providers of adult content.Family members of all ages need to become streetwise in a way that’s appropriate to the 21st century and the 4th Industrial Revolution. It doesn’t have to be hard, but it does have to be done. The literal meaning of fingerprint is the impression your fingertip leaves when you touch something. The whorls and ridges that can be clearly seen under a magnifying glass. As far as we know, each person’s whole fingerprint is unique.
Which means if your fingerprints match those at the scene of a crime, you’d better have a good explanation why.So, when we talk about browser fingerprinting, you probably have the general idea right already. As you probably thought, it’s a way to identify who has visited a site by identifying the unique aspects of their browsers. What aspects are these? Glad you asked! What Is This Fingerprinting Stuff Anyway?Let’s imagine that you have a freshly-installed copy of Windows and have just installed the web browser of your choice.When you visit a website, that website can request all sorts of information about your computer from the browser. On this fresh new machine, it will know things like what hardware the computer is using, what the screen resolution is and the version of Windows you’re running.As you use the computer, visit websites and install plugins, your computer and browser becomes more and more unique. Which means that the specific browser and computer used to visit a given site can be matched later.Let’s say you switch on some sort of privacy protection, such as a VPN.
Although your ISP and the remote site you connect to are in the dark about who you are or where you are from, your browser fingerprint can tell them something.If two sites both compare fingerprints, you may be linked to both. If you visited one of them without any privacy protection, you will have confirmed your internet activity while ostensibly “anonymous”.
How To Test Your Browser Fingerprint. You can test whether your browser is leaving a unique print around quite easily.
There are several online tools that expose that information for you to see. The one that’s easiest to recommend is the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s.All you have to do is click “TEST ME” and you’ll see within a few seconds whether your browser is unique enough to be a privacy risk. Go ahead and try it now.
Download running man 171 drakorindo. Leaving No Fingerprint BehindPresumably most of you reading this have failed the tracking test. So what can you do to anonymize your browser?The answer to this question comes in degrees. There is no 100% foolproof way of anonymizing your browsing, but you can make it hard enough that whoever wants to track your browsing won’t have the resources or motivation to do so.Let’s look at some practical steps you can take to become more anonymous online. Private Browsing Modes. Popular browsers such as Chrome or Firefox have private browsing modes that switch off plenty of functions used for tracking and fingerprinting.When you’re in private browsing mode, the computer won’t retain cookies or site data. It doesn’t hide many things from the site you are visiting, but it does prevent the accumulation of some unique data that could be used to identify you.Of course, you can’t use the entire internet in this mode. So switch over to a private tab when visiting sites you’d rather not have as part of your total ID data.
Kick The Extension HabitEvery modification you make to your browser makes it easier to tell it apart from all the other users on the net. It can be tempting to really customize your experience and there are many brilliant extensions for browsers like Chrome.Unfortunately, if you care at all about being tracked and identified, you need to refrain from using extensions. Well, except for one. The extension from the EFF actually blocks invisible tracking technologies and you can get it for Firefox and Opera. Bye Bye Javascript. JavaScript is a cornerstone of the modern web. It’s a scripting language that lets websites do all sorts of fancy, interactive and intelligent things.
It’s also the main way that websites interrogate your system and fingerprint your browser.So if you really want to avoid getting tracked and traced, disabling JavaScript is a strong method. One popular tool that works with Firefox is.
It also provides protection against clickjacking.With NoScript you have to explicitly whitelist the sites you trust with JavaScript, so it’s very secure, Use Popular BrowsersWhile it’s cool to try something off the beaten path, it’s not the best idea if you care about browser privacy. It’s best to stick to browsers that are very popular. So avoid niche and heavily modified browsers.There are many ways to express your individuality, but this is one area where it’s actually a bad idea. Boss Mode: Use a Virtual Machine, VPN and Privacy Operating System. If you want a more hardcore solution to being tracked and identified through your internet browsing habits, it’s possible to do something a little “nuclear” in terms of privacy. By combining several technologies you can radically reduce the chances that you can be identified by the sites that you visit.The recipe goes something like this:.
Use, which hides your true hardware specifications. Run a within the virtual machines. Is a good choice. Use the stock, which is already included in Tails.
Use a that does not store activity logs, so that your ISP has no data for correlation with data from sites you visit.In combination, these measures make it very hard for either your ISP or the site you visit to uniquely identify you.Of course, none of that matters if you volunteer your identity. Logging into Facebook or Twitter leaves little doubt about who you are. Which means you also have to be cognizant about the information you openly provide and whether it’s what you want to do or not.
Have you ever wanted to save videos from social media websites? Maybe there’s a Twitter video you want to download, or videos from Facebook or Instagram that you’d like to save? There isn’t a download button on these sites, but there are third-party tools that let you save videos from Instagram and other social networks.Some of the best video downloaders for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are web apps, meaning that you don’t need to download a program to your computer to use them.
Just copy the link to the video you want to save, and then paste it into the video downloader website to get the file (some even let you ). All the methods mentioned below work from a computer, but you can also use them to save videos directly to your phone or tablet. However, depending on the device you have, you might need an extra app that can handle file downloads. IPhones, for example, can use, or.Note: Downloading a video from these websites means videos that are actually stored on the site, not linked elsewhere. For example, if a Facebook post has a link to a YouTube video, you can’t use a Facebook video downloader to save it; you’d need a YouTube downloader instead.Important: You should be awareof copyright laws in your country before downloading videos fromInstagram, Twitter, or Facebook. Just because a video can bedownloaded for free doesn’t mean that it’s legal for you to takeit.Download Twitter VideosThere are several ways to, but we’ll review a method that uses a website called. Select the arrow next to the Tweet and choose Copy link to Tweet.
If you’re already viewing the Tweet that has the video, you can copy the URL shown in the navigation bar of your browser. Mobile users might prefer an app that downloads Twitter videos.
And are a few options for Android. Download Facebook VideosFacebook has a Save video option, but that’s not what you should use if you want to download a Facebook video. Fortunately, there are several free Facebook video downloaders that you can use to the same effect: to save the video from Facebook to your computer, phone, or tablet.We’ll use Getfvid for this tutorial, but some other sites that work similarly include,.
There are even apps that are built specifically for this, like for Android. Copy the link to the Facebook video by selecting the three-dotted menu and choosing Copy link. Download Instagram VideosJust like these other social media video downloaders, saving an Instagram video involves copying the link to the post and then pasting it into a web app. We’re using DownloadGram below, but some others that work too, include, and.Tip: We also have a guide on. Copy the link to the Instagram video. You can do this by opening the video and copying the URL displayed in the web browser.
Another option, which is required if you’re using the Instagram app, is to tap the three-dotted menu button on the post and choose Copy Link. If you like Chrome but you wantsomething more secure, Epic might be right up your alley. Ghost is marketed as an alternative web browser that makes you more productive. Aside from that glaring focus shift that you won’t find in popular browsers, this one also if you want more than what the free edition offers. Extremely easy installation; takes just one click. Categorize tabs into workspaces for easier control. Import extensions from Google Chrome.
Quick-access links to settings, history, downloads, and bookmarks.The free version of the Ghost browser is limited to three sessions and three workspaces, does not support incognito mode, doesn’t let you create browser profiles, and makes you build a user account to get started. (Windows Only). Torch’s motto is “ get more fromthe web,” which is why this alternative web browser might notbe like anything you’re used to. Right off the bat, you’ll noticethat it installs with a few tools that focus on media files. A Download Media button grabs streaming files from sites like YouTube and downloads them to your computer. The built-in torrent client lets you search for torrents and even stream them while they’re downloading.
Web app shortcuts provide online games and music streaming in just a couple clicks. Personalized start page button that takes you to start.me when you open a new tab.
Change the way you see your Facebook page with the built-in Facelift button.(Windows, MacOS, Android & iOS). An alternative web browser that’sfaster than Chrome and Firefox?
That’s what Brave promises out ofthe box, so if your current browser is too slow, you might try thisone. In fact, Brave advertises speeds up to eight times asfast on mobile devices.However, that’s not really Brave’sprimary focus as a unique web browser. It’s centered primarilyaround privacy and security. That’s why when you open a new tab,you immediately see a few stats: how many trackers have been blocked,how many ads the browser stopped, and how much time you’ve savedhaving used Brave versus a different browser.The Brave browser also features BraveRewards, which are rewards you earn by viewing privacy-respectingads. You don’t have to use the rewards system, but if you do,you’re given a cryptocurrency wallet where your Brave tokens(called BAT coins) are collected. Your coins can be used to supportthe websites you visit.Here are some more notable features:.
Upgrades pages to use HTTPS whenever possible to support encryption transmissions. Blocks malware, malvertising, and phishing attempts automatically.
Supports most. Has a built in. Lets you reject a site’s request for your location.
Blocks auto-play media by default.Tip: Check out. (Windows, Android & Linux). Min is the browser for the minimalist. Web app developers rejoice! There’s aweb browser built just for you called Blisk.
Ideal for bothfreelancers and teams, this browser focuses not just on web browsinglike your average browser but also on development, meaning that youcan use Blisk’s toolbox to debug and test websites.Here are some more features:. View desktop and mobile app versions at the same time. Display the page on a phone, tablet, or desktop device. There’s a dark and light theme.
Enable or disable scroll or device syncing. Easily rotate the simulated device right there in the browser. Based on Chrome, so the interface might be somewhat familiar.You can to decide if you want more features. Has been a rousing success for the company that brought us Mario and Luigi, but it’s in a weird position among other current-generation consoles. While the Switch benefits from support for the latest game engines and graphical features, it’s raw horsepower is a major step down from the PS4 or even Xbox One.So most current-gen ports need to make some pretty major concessions in order to run well enough. Games like Doom 2016 and Mortal Kombat 11 look amazing compared to any other handheld games, but are obviously technically inferior compared to the other versions. TheSwitch is however more powerful than the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wiiand even the Wii U.
Which makes it the perfect target for games fromthat console generation and the half-step generation the Wii Urepresented.Inorder to be on this list a game has to:. Debut on an older generation system. Be well-received critically. Not have been as widely played originally.So you aren’t going to find a game like Skyrim here, because although it is a previous-generation game, it’s one of the most popular games ever made. So there’s almost no chance anyone might have not known about it or missed playing it. You will however find Wii U ports here, because hardly anyone bought that console, despite it having some stellar titles.Italso doesn’t matter if these games have received current-gen portson other platforms. Without exception, the Switch is the only consoleto offer these games in handheld form with physical controls.
Infact, many of these titles are better because they fit thehandheld format more comfortably than their original console homes.So, here are ten Switch games that were ported from previous generations machines you might have missed, but should totally give a chance today. Dragon’s Dogma was originally a PS3 title and the “Dark Arisen” version includes all the DLC for that game. It’s made by Capcom, the legendary Japanese developer that has brought us games like Street Fighter and Resident Evil. Quite a pedigree.Dragon’sDogma is a unique title in their stable however. It’s a Japanesetake on the Western RPG formula. In that way, it’s somewhat similarto Dark Souls, but this is a proper open-world RPG in the vein ofSkyrim or Dragon Age.You play as the “Arisen”, a fisherman (or woman) who bravely stands up to a dragon attack. Only to have said dragon rip out your heart and swallow it.
This ends up being less fatal than it sounds and you set off to retrieve your missing ticker, sporting some new powers as a result of your beachside open heart surgery.There’s a lot of RPG to chew through here, but crucially the combat is fantastic, mixing Capcom’s action gaming chops with vast open-world RPG questing. The game has also been remastered for PS4 and PC, where you’ll find the nicest graphics.However, as a handheld game there’s simply nothing like this and if you missed out the first time it should be pretty close to the top of your wishlist. OkamiHD is actually a port of a port. The original game released on thePS2 and Wii, making great use of the latter’s motion controls tocontrol an in-game brush that paints the world.Ofthe two, the Wii version is the one to play thanks to the motioncontrols, but it was considered a classic on either platform. Thegame got an HD release on the PS3, PS4 and Xbox One, but the Switchversion is the one to play as of today. Not only do you get theportable option, but you can use motion controls as intended.Visually,the game is striking. You play as the titular Japanese god, in theform of a white wolf.
The world has been cursed and it’s up to youas Amaterasu Kami, the sun goddess of Japan, to restore the drainedworld. It’s a rich tale steeped in Japanese mythology.Okami is a critically acclaimed title that never sold many copies on its launch platforms. It’s hard to compare it to anything else and that uniqueness is one of its major selling points.If you want to play an action adventure game with an offbeat plot and an unforgettable visual style, you need to give Okami a chance. ValkyriaChronicles is another hidden gem that people seemed to sleep on. Whenthe game originally launched on the PS3 its sales were dismal. Oddlyenough, it was the PC port on Steam that’s done the best. Half ofthe two million copies of the game that have been sold prior to theSwitch ports have been on Steam.Valkyria Chronicles is a 3D, turn-based strategy RPG.
Set in an alternative world, you command a group of troops fighting in a World War type scenario, with tanks, snipers, rocket launchers and so on. The story is quite a strong part of the game, but its beautiful graphics, amazing soundtrack and anime-style characters add up to one compelling title.Strangelyenough, the first game is the only mainline title in the series notto have a portable release. Numbers 2 and 3 were both Sony PSPexclusives, with the fourth game also available on Switch.Ifyou’re waiting on the new Fire Emblem game to scratch that SRPGitch, you could do far worse than picking up Valkyria Chronicles totide you over.
It’s the very definition of a hidden gem. Right now LA Noire is the only game from fame Rockstar Studios on the Switch. We are yet to see any of the Grand Theft Auto Games ported, although GTA 5 and older all seem feasible consider their previous-generation releases.Inthe pantheon of Rockstar games, LA Noire is a bit of an odd duck andcertainly not a mainstream hit like GTA or Red Dead Redemption. Noris it quite as obscure as Bully. This game puts you in the shoes of a1950s detective, solving a series of cases in a beautifully recreatedperiod Los Angeles. The game isn’t open world in the same way thatGTA is, but it certainly has some of that scope when traversing thecity.The most unique feature of this game is however the facial capture technology used to animate character faces. Everyone is played by a real actor whose face was scanned using a special setup.
The effect is very interesting and there has been nothing like it since.The game has a great story, unique graphics and a pretty good price given how much content you get. If you’re itching for a hard-boiled, adult detective story then this is the one to go for.
PlatinumGamesis a studio that has made a name for itself crafting some of thetightest action games ever made. Metal Gear Rising, TransformersDevastation and the utter masterpiece Nier Automata showcase just howgood they are at making games in this genre.Bayonettawas only the third game ever developed by Platinum games, but it hasall the key ingredients that would come to represent their brand:fantastic controls and animation, bonkers set-pieces and relentlessaction.Thegame launched on PS3 and Xbox 360. It also came to the Windows world.Bayonetta and her debut game were pretty well-received overall, butthe game never reached more than cult status. For various reasons,the sequel was exclusive to the Wii U, which meant fans of thefranchise mostly missed out on it.Now the Switch is the second platform to get the sequel, updated to modern standards. Not only this, but Bayonetta 3 is confirmed for the hybrid console.
So you can have the entire trilogy in one place and on the go. So now a modern audience can experience being a centuries-old shape shifting witch laying waste to a literal army of bad guys.Here’s a tip as well, it’s worth buying the physical copy of Bayonetta 2, since it included the download code for the first game as well. This is almost always cheaper than buying the digital downloads separately. The Switch received a fantastic port of the stellar Diablo 3 ARPG and will soon get the cult-hit Torchlight 2. So fans of hack and slash isometric(ish) RPGs have plenty to play already, but you’d be remiss in looking past Titan Quest.
Diablo and Torchlight share developers and both franchises trade in a darker fantasy tone. Torchlight has a steampunk focus, with Diablo revelling in old-school biblical heaven and hell conflict.TitanQuest is therefore a breath of fresh air, despite originallylaunching for PC in 2006.
The game is set in Greece and draws onGreek mythology for its setting and style. Apart from the God of Wargames, few titles have tilled this fertile soil.The game has received a remaster on various platforms and even has Android and iOS ports, but the Switch version is the most complete portable version. With reimagined physical controls and the DLC content that the mobile version lacks, there’s a lot of content here for ARPG fans.The graphics still look pretty good despite its age and this has proper split-screen co-op, which means you and your buddy can wander wherever you like. Titan Quest is definitely an old-school ARPG, but sometimes “old-school” is exactly what the doctor ordered. Racinggames that feature vehicles that hover have a strong niche presencein the gaming world. Nintendo consoles are of course known for F-Zeroand on the Playstation side of things we have the Wipeout games.Both are series with a long history and strong fan bases, so a new pretender to the crown has a lot to accomplish.
Yet, when Shin’en Multimedia released Fast Racing Neo on the Wii U, they nailed it. This is a gorgeous, fast racer featuring detailed ships and pulse-pounding racing on fantastic tracks.
The problem is that the Wii U turned out to be a bit of a dud when it came to the install base.Now we have Fast RMX, an expanded, tweaked and improved version of the original game. On the Switch the game plays as smooth as butter, with wonderful local split-screen coop to boot. It’s one of the best looking games on the console and without a contemporary F-Zero or Wipeout to contend with, it’s easily the best new hover racing title you can buy today.
Final Fantasy 12 is another game that was originally a PS2 port and then got remastered for the PS4. Now we have additional ports for Switch and Xbox One. While Final Fantasy games are usually absolute blockbusters, number 12 had some things counting against it.The main issue was that it released very late in the PS2 life cycle. A mere eight months before the PS3 launched.
For some perspective, this game sold fewer than half the copies that Final Fantasy 7 did.Whichis a pity, because it’s a real gem. Much more polished than thebeloved, fully-voiced Final Fantasy X, this game takes us back toIvalice. A beautiful fantasy world seen in games like the veryunderrated Vagrant Story and the excellent Final Fantasy Tactics: Warof the Lions.The remaster has worked wonders with the fuzzy PS2 graphics with the FF art style and design language as strong as ever.
This Zodiac Age edition is the definitive version of the game, containing all the quality of life improvements, new job system and patches for the game.Taking this grind-heavy game on the go is the perfect fit and there’s never been a better way to experience this epic Star-Wars-y fantasy tale and its colorful cast of characters, out to save a plucky little kingdom from a seemingly evil empire. If you like JRPGs but missed out on FF12, the time to pull the trigger is now. Youmight be surprised to see Dark Souls on this list, because the gameis rather infamous.
Yet, although most gamers are aware of the game’sexistence, not that many copies have been sold. The original DarkSouls has sold fewer than 2.5 million copies across the PS3, Xbox 360and PC versions.
So it really is a game that plenty of people havemissed out on.Nowthere’s a remastered edition for the mainline platforms, with asurprising port for the Switch as well. This is the original gamewith quite a bit more polish. Many people were put off by the game’sperceived difficulty, but actually Dark Souls is simply a game aboutpracticing and planning, with frequent deaths being a normal part ofthe gameplay loop.Themove to handheld actually does the game plenty of favors. You canpick up and play an iterative loop of this Dark Fantasy masterpiecewhenever you have a few minutes to spare, which means getting gankedand returning to the last bonfire doesn’t feel particularlyfrustrating. This is a beautiful, brutal and very rewarding game.It’s not being sold at the full AAA price either, so there areplenty of reasons to consider adding it to your Switch collection. Darksidersis available on quite a few platforms, starting with the PS3 and Xbox360.
Despite being on just about every platform you can think of,it’s barely sold more than a million copies. Which is surprisingsince it’s such a good game.Youplay War, the horseman of the apocalypse. He messes up the timing ofthe end times and the world gets trashed much sooner than it shouldhave been. War is punished for this, although he maintains hisinnocence. So you set out trying to figure out what went wrong in adark fantasy action game that spans multiple genres.Theart style is graphic novel cool, the writing is tight and the voiceacting superb. Especially the performance from Mark Hamill, who playsyour demon companion. The action is spot on and feels like God of Warwith a good dose of 3D Zelda and Devil May Cry mixed in.This is the “warmastered” edition, which includes significant upgrades to performance and visuals.
The second game in the series also looks to be heading to Switch, with the third merely rumoured to follow it there.If you like the old-school 3D Zeldas, the DMC games or Kratos’ gruff murder sprees, this is surely a title to get for your Switch.Post navigation.
Let's get this out of the way right now: The only reason I don't have more game consoles hooked to my TV is because I'm out of ports on the back for cables to plug into, and I don't want to have to get off the sofa to switch over. I've been playing video games since the Carter administration. So do not compare me to Roger ' Ebert here. I would have taken my SNES as my date to senior prom if they had let me.But the thing is, I grew up. Gaming didn't.Why? Why is it that of all my many hobbies-reading, motocross, Gun Kata-only gaming lowers my sense of self worth?
Maybe it's because. For that amount, she'll chat with you, or even let you look at her on webcam while you play games and awkwardly flirt. Afterward you get to rate the girl on her, 'hotness, gaming skill, and flirtiness.' On the scale of awkward social interactions, I'm going to guess these sessions rank right up there with a men's room conversation with a stranger at the very next urinal, while the stranger is pooping in it. There isn't an industrial disinfectant on the market that could make a woman feel clean again after a day of doing this. So, here's what I can't wrap my mind around:Everybody plays video games now, right?
My mom plays them. Yet, there is still a 'if you have touched a video game controller, you have never touched a boob' stigma attached. It's so universally believed that somebody put up a whole lot of capital to start a business cashing in on it. And damn, do us gamers ever play the part. Get us on chat or an Xbox Live headset with a female and suddenly we're drunk on puberty juices. I'm no prude; I'm the guy who. But I'm also an adult, with a wife.
A homeowner who works very hard to maintain something that looks like dignity to people who catch a glimpse of it from passing cars.But it's hard for me to maintain my self-image as a mature, upstanding member of the community when I sit down to enjoy my favorite hobby. That clip is from God of War 3, one of the best-reviewed titles of this generation. This 'Rated 'M' for 'Mature' title features a minigame where you, the God of War, come across Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and boning. You walk in on her in a giggling naked lesbian threesome. She then casts aside her two female lovers to invite you to her bed. You crawl in and the camera pans away.
We hear moans and ooh's and ah's as button prompts appear, walking you through the process of thrusting your gray and red erection in and out, bringing Aphrodite to orgasm. Meanwhile, the camera focuses on the two rejected topless females across the room, who are now watching and fondling each other's bodies while mewling admiring phrases like:'Such power!' 'If it's this good watching, just imagine!' 'Is he going to.' 'By the gods!' Again, I have no problem with putting sex or sexuality in entertainment. Sex is part of life, so it should naturally be part of our movies and TV shows and games.
But these are the digital equivalent of inflatable sex dolls. It's embarrassing and insulting, not because I'm a staunch feminist, but because I don't like the assumption it's making about me (that I'm an emotionally stunted, sexually frustrated teenage male). It's like even award-winning video games have the sensibility of made-for-Cinemax B movies.
Maybe that's because. Now, within five minutes of this article's posting, somebody in the comments will mention Bioshock.
I've played that one, too. And loved it. Still, 90 percent of what transpired on screen was me mowing down room after room of faceless bad guys.
If you make a movie where 90 of the 100 minutes of runtime is people getting their faces blown off-even if you fill the other 10 minutes with speeches about objectivism-every critic will use the same word to describe it:'Mindless.' Don't tell me it's unfair to compare games to movies, either. When even Mario games come with dialogue and cutscenes, it's crystal clear that gaming wants to be a storytelling medium. You can judge a culture by the stories it tells, and you can judge the maturity of video gaming and gamers the same way.Cue suggestive lollipop. Since we've brought film into this, take a look at the (very short) clip below.
It's one of the first movies ever made, and the very first one to ever get a copyright as a motion picture:That was the whole thing. Fred Ott's Sneeze, made in 1896. It's five seconds of a guy sneezing. People used to pay good money to watch that sort of thing, in traveling shows with little kiosks.They weren't all suffering from crippling brain damage, it's just that at one time film was brand new and the technology was startling all on its own. So movies were usually just very short, simple sequences (a woman dancing, a fat guy falling down, a disobedient housewife getting whipped).
Later they'd throw in some primitive camera tricks, like making an actor disappear with an edit, or making an object float with simple stop-motion animation, and the audience would almost poop their pants with awe.Yet his monocle remains undisturbed. But once the technology was no longer novel, those early films became utterly worthless-you'd have to be pretty damned stoned to pay to see a re-release of Sneeze. No one thought watching those clips were teaching life lessons or even moving you emotionally-the main emotion elicited could be described as, 'HOLY SHIT, I AM WATCHING A MOVIE!' It was only later that they were able to tell stories like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, epics that connected with people on some deeper level that actually left them changed in some way. I don't want to get into an argument about piracy.
I'm thinking that none of us reading this can cast the first stone on that one. Information wants to be free, you weren't going to buy it anyway, they're all greedy corporations, etc. But then you have the.That was a bundle of DRM-free independent games that, combined, would normally sell for $80. The makers offered the bundle as a direct download to the consumer-no corporate middle men-and let customers pay whatever they wanted, down to a penny.' Yeah, that seems fair.'
It wasn't free, you still had to pay. But you could set the price.If ever there was a measure of the gaming community's sense of entitlement, this was it. All of the rationale for piracy-high prices, hatred of corporations, annoying DRM-was stripped away. Here we would find what we gamers think game creators owe us, and what we think we owe in return.
The results:The average downloader offered to pay $9.18, giving themselves a nice 87 percent discount off the retail price.More than a quarter of the downloaders stole it outright.That's right. More than a quarter believed that even one penny was too much to offer in return for the hundreds of hours of labor it took to create the games. And that's not including the people who traded the Bundle off torrents and file trading services-this is just the people who pirated the games directly off of the game maker's server. In other words, they intentionally used the game developers' resources so, in addition to paying nothing, they would actually cost them additional money on bandwidth. It's like if you not only refused to drop a nickel into the street musician's guitar case, but waited for him to finish the song before taking a handful of change out.Oh, Stevie. You make it too easy. Gosh, I wonder why these publishers are putting all of their resources into the harder-to-pirate consoles instead?
Forget about the debate over the morality of file sharing. It's not that; it's just simple cause-effect. We're smashing out the windows because it's fun, and then crying because the rain is coming in. It makes us all look like spoiled, entitled brats with no concept of how the adult world works. Don't tell me this is because gamers are mostly kids, either-.We help ourselves to free game after free game, and then scream bloody murder when. When the makers of the Modern Warfare series decided to make the consoles front and center for the sequel-stripping some features PC gamers are used to in the process-gamers for a game they admit right in the reviews they never actually purchased or played. Come on, guys.
We've got a reputation to outgrow. From now on, let's shove the remote control of maturity up our ass instead.David Wong is the Editor of Cracked.com and the author of, currently banned in 72 countries.Do you have an idea in mind that would make a great article?
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