Lawyers that Game: Dianne Bonfiglio, Esq., aka, Hot Chief PMS

This interview is the first of a planned series of interviews of professionals — lawyers naturally among them — that are avid, earnest, unabashed gamers. I conducted this interview back in September, but a number of issues kept it from appearing on A.O. Without further ado, here’s my interview with a remarkable attorney from Florida who happens to also be a very skilled competitive gamer. Enjoy. Lime

AO: Hot Chief, thanks for doing this interview. Just by way of introduction, I met you via a comment you left on my blog… I Googled your name, and discovered that lo, you were not only Dianne Bonfiglio, Esq., but also “Hot Chief PMS,” of the online all-female gaming clan “PMS Clan.” Since Halo is one of your forte’s and I’m a Halo addict–and an attorney–I was immediately smitten. You agreed to do an interview, and so here are a few questions: how do being an attorney and a hard-core gamer jive. First off, for the law: what type of law do you practice?

HC: Harry, thank *you* for the opportunity to speak with you! It is my pleasure. Professionally, I’ve been practicing law for about five years. I am a business major and had substantial experience in business before I entered law school in

Bioshock non-spoiler review (Verdict: Great game – buy it used)

“Why should the righteous suffer at the hands of the ignorant?” Because society usually ends up freaky-deeky, that’s why. Thus speaks the lessons of Bioshock.

Bioshock is a first-person shooter game with a great story. No, make that fantastic story. But ultimately with all stories, it ends, and you end up with little replay value as the developers failed to include a multi-player component. So if you like good shooters with good stories, please read on…

The HD Molehill/Spitwad battle; and, Paramount and DreamWorks choose HD-DVD

Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG–including, inter alia, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, and MTV Films–announced today (Monday Aug 20th 07) that they will release their next-gen DVD titles exclusively on HD-DVD, dropping the Blu-Ray format. Want to watch Transformers, Shrek the Third, and Blades of Glory? Gotta do it in HD-DVD, if you’re looking for that 1080p picture on your flatscreen. (And as we all know, the new Battlestar Galactica is HD-DVD only.)

Paramount described HD-DVD as superior due to “market-ready technology” and the “affordable high quality choice for consumers.” Paramount found that HD-DVD offered better quality, lower-priced players, and lower manufacturing

Game Review: The Bigs (thumbs up)

I happen to concur with Homer Simpson’s attitude on baseball. When he abstained from alcohol for a week, he showed up to the ballpark (sober) and exclaimed, “I never realized how boring this game is!”

2K Sports answers these critics with The Bigs. The game interjects excitement into America’s pastime with two separate power-ups. This was enough for me to actually take an interest in the sport.

BioShock demo now on XBL

The BioShock demo popped up on XBL today, August 12th. It’s had some very positive reviews by those who’ve seen the pre-release product, so many of us are holding out high hopes. It’s, in short, a sci-fi game set in an underwater, Ayn Rand-inspired Utopia called “Rapture,” which is riven by civil war and rampant genetic modifications and experiments. The theme appears to be very 30′s and 40′s retro sci-fi, and it’s a first-person shooter. Available for download now.

Lime

Confirmed: Xbox 360 Price Drop / Rumor: HDMI to all SKUs?

Xbox’s Major Nelson confirmed Monday that there will be price drops come August 8th–the 360 “Premium,” as we’ve known it (20 gig) will drop $50 to $349. The Core (without hard drive) will drop $20 to $279, and the Elite will drop $30 to $449.

Official MS Press Release HERE.

Also, ArsTechnica reports that a “source” at E3 told their reporter that, across the SKUs, “HDMI will probably be the standard moving forward.” Microsoft officially states that HDMI will appear only on the Halo 3 special edition ($399), and the Elite “for now.” However, the same Microsoft official also declined to comment on what new electronics would appear in any of the consoles coming this fall, leading one to speculate…

Lime out

Halo 3: 4-Player Online Co-op (CONFIRMED)

Sweetness and light.

That’s how I respond to Bungie’s press release today.

The 4 online-playable co-op characters.

All the hubbub about whether or not Bungie would have online co-op at all was wasted energy–online co-op was never in question. Bungie today released that it was, in fact, whether 4-player online co-op would work out was the only question.

It will.

According to today’s press release, 4-player co-op will work in

CONFIRMED: XBLA Marathon 1 Aug 07

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson spilled the beans today. Marathon: Durandal is confirmed as one of the two XBLA games this Wednesday, 1 Aug 07, at 800 points ($10). The other game is Spyglass Board Games (400 points) which includes Chess, Checkers, Mancala, and Reversi, online and webcam enabled. The clear winner between the two of these is Marathon–720p and online multiplayer, it’s been eagerly awaited by many Bungie/Marathon/Halo fans.

Two interesting tidbits from the interview with Freeverse’s Bruce Morrison over at IGN. He says:

1. “We are fans of content packs, and our game is compatible with levels built with Forge (the official Marathon 2/Infinity map editor). Maybe something will happen in the future.” And he says
2. “Our achievements directly reflect the cult-like devotion and community behind Marathon. We hate grind achievements here in the office. So we chose not to use any. . . . And in keeping with Marathon tradition, several of our achievements are cryptic and contain hidden messages instead of a clear ‘Kill 50 guys’ message some games use. We have one ultimate achievement for true Marathon fans; it awards a gamer pic and really feels like an achievement when you get it.”

So, the possibility of mods on the 360 (?!) and a special gamer pic–any thoughts about who/what it might be?
HL

“MasterChief Went Into Seclusion . . . Drinking Heavily”

That’s a direct quote from the above movie. Check out this EXCLUSIVE and very funny interview with MasterChief.

HL

UPDATE: $50 Xbox 360 price cut details emerging

Yesterday (the 24th of July), AO updated the 1 August $100 price cut rumor with news from XboxScene, which vaguely commented that the 360 would see a price cut of $50. No further details had emerged from that original rumor about a 1 August price drop, and the news from XboxScene seemed not worthy of more than a quick update.

Close on the heels of the XboxScene report, however, The Hollywood Reporter comes with more details that mirror the XboxScene report. With the corroborating reporting, it now seems the appropriate time to revisit the rumor mill.

David Ward over at Hollywood Reporter reports that “sources” have said that 8 August 07 is indeed the date of a 360 price drop, and that the price cut will be $50. Microsoft would respond only indirectly, saying: “”We have no announcements to make on pricing at this time. While price matters, content is king. And no other system is offering all the games people want to play this holiday at a better price than Xbox 360.”

The reporting doesn’t specify whether the $50 cut will be across the board, only apply to a few SKUs, or if, in fact, some SKUs will see a larger price drop.

As you know, the report we had on 13 July, which I discussed HERE, predicted an across-the-board price cut of $100 across the board.

Exactly who is buying the Wii???

2 stories were released today that seem to be a contradiction in terms. Both stories involve NPD – a market research firm. Taken together, they could indicate that Nintendo’s recent dominance will eventually evaporate.

The first is from TG Daily. They are reporting that NPD’s latest data indicates that Nintendo’s Wii outsold both Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3 combined. If your too lazy to jump, all you need to know is according to NPD’s latest data, the Wii was the top selling next-gen home console system for the month of June, with 380,000 units sold last month. The Xbox 360 took its usual #2 spot with 198,000 units and the PS3 lagged behind once again with only 98,000. (AO would report this ourselves, but we seem to be a little short on research capital. Or even a coffee machine.)

In contrast – NPD itself is reporting that “heavy gamers” have eight times the purchasing power of “average gamers.” According to their report, of the 191 million gamers who personally play games

An open letter to Bethesda Softworks

From: Aidyn

To: Bethesda Softworks

Re: Fallout 3 – please don’t fuck this up.

First of all, I do want to thank you for all the work that you did in the first place in keeping my love alive.

After the demise of Interplay due to bankruptcy, you bought the IP rights to make a single player game. And I am grateful. While I’m not going to recreate the entire history of the development process, lets just say that I’m grateful that you took on the reins.

Gang Holds Top RPG Gamer at Gunpoint

Folha Online reports that using Orkut, Google’s online social network, an armed gang of four 19-27 year old- kidnapped the world-leading Role-Playing Gamer of the game GunBound (boy plays violent video game; others become violent; psychologists, have at it). One of the gang members’ girlfriends lured the gamer onto a fake date at a shopping mall via the network. The gamer showed for the date but the girl didn’t. Her boyfriend appeared in her place (“Wha! Your voice didn’t sound so low on the phone…”), the gamer was kidnapped and held in Sao Paulo, with a gun held to his head for five hours.

The gang’s goal? To obtain the gamer’s password, which the gang planned to sell for $8,000. The game, however, didn’t give up the information. The gang, naturally, then let the victim go.

And go he did, straight to the police–Brazilian police saved the rest of the day, picking up the four

XBLA 90′s Nostalgia Edition: Wing Commander Arena on Wednesday, 25 Jul 07

Not reported on Xbox.com presently, Xbox 360 Fanboy is reporting that EA has given confirmation: Wing Commander Arena is being released this coming Wednesday on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 points ($10). PLUS: read WCA’s Manual, already online, HERE.

More pics after the break.

Intemperate Punditry: why (some pundits can’t see that) the Xbox 360 can’t help but lead in next-gen gaming

Politics is rife with it: witness, on opposite sides of the spectrum, Glenn Greenwald and Rush Limbaugh–blind opinion-marshalls of opposite corners of the political ring. According to Rush, the better known of the polemicists, everything “Liberal” is ripe for scorn. Rush has been around long enough that most listeners know that he’s pure entertainment–it’s easy nowadays to laugh at him. According to Glenn the Arrogant, to cite an example from the left and from a lesser-known of the bombast-class, the practice of “extraordinary rendition” has been used in an “unprecedented way” by the Bush administration because, well, Greenwald simply hates the Bush administration and therefore, Greenwald is justified in making up (false) facts. (Set aside, suspend disbelief, if you well, regarding whether you personally like the Bush administration–Greenwald’s the issue here.) Greenwald, of course, is so relatively new that many take him seriously–give him time, that too will pass.

And now the segue: Gaming has it too, the punditry, the bombast, it’s the same “game” in gaming. Here, the story is the Xbox 360 and the convergence of “tales of woe” this past week. Xbox Division leader Peter Moore departed MS and headed over to be EA’s President. This