You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline.
20 Jun 05

I should clarify what I meant by a bias against EA. As I said, I'm not a fan of boycotting publishers. I won't lower review scores or reduce coverage of EA games. So all it really means is a small change in my personal buying habits. If a game is a borderline purchase, coming from EA means I won't buy it. I say that voting with our dollars (or currency of choice) is our best response. I also think that supporting good games is more important than denying publishers we disagree with. So that's where I'm stuck.

I saw that Senator Shumer of New York is blasting an unreleased game. It's interesting to note that he assumes that all games are marketed to children. I'm not exactly looking forward to 25 to Life, but I think calling on Sony and Microsoft to cancel all deals with Eidos is extreme. Still, it does reflect that the industry as a whole is doing a remarkably poor job in educating lawmakers about the gaming market.

This week's game is one you can try right now since it's in an open beta. It's Trash (official site) from Inhuman Games. Trash is a post apocalyptic 3D RTS centering around trash. It's the ultimate resource, and opposing factions (humans and mutants) battle to control it. Humans build machines while mutants rely on their powers for victory. Trash also has an interesting resource mechanic in pipes. To transfer resources (even around your base) structures must be connected with pipes. This affects base design in both layout for convenience and increased vulnerability if your pipe is exposed. Trash will be available for sale whenever the free, public beta ends.

Jason