The Fight Night Newsletter took its first bout in the ring quite some time ago  when our focus was almost purely on PC-based shooters – long before the Xbox  360 was even a twinkle in M$’s eye.  It  was mostly a tool I used here at Gamehelper to disseminate information to the  troops regarding our usual Friday Night multiplayer bouts in Counter-Strike or  Half-Life DM (original – not that STEAMed up stuff ;) ) and eventually – as time  wore on – I brought back the label for our weekly newsletters meant to update  all our readers on the happenings at Gamehelper.

Well, there’s been a lot happening – and a lot NOT happening as you may, or may  not, have seen!  Gamehelper is definitely  NOT what it used to be – we’re sporting an all new look thanks to a kick-ass  team of folks whom we’ll be highlighting in future blogs and articles – and we’ll  be ramping things up over the next few months as we work toward our official  launch next month and our first feature upgrade in November.

This week’s been a busy one – most cause for the last three weeks I’ve been on  vacation so I basically did nothing – and we’ve got a ton of new content for  you including the first Feature and Preview from our new contributor Jeb Haught  from HardCore Gamer.  He’s delivered us  some hands-on thoughts with Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer and a  first-look at Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of  Destruction.  

Next week we make our return trip to PAX and Adam Alessandrini will be taking  you deep into the depths of the industry’s coolest games event with his video  blog and updates. But he’s not going in solo – he’s got our faithful reporter Brittany Aubert who you may recall as “the girl who got proposed to at GDC” and who’s  had the fortune of becoming one of this year’s Omeganauts!  We’ll be rooting for you Britt! 

Be sure to come by the site – check out the latest content –  and let us know what you’re looking forward to at PAX on the forums!

Now to load up some Bioshock and get ready for some Rapture! 

Regards,

Pachoey aka Joe Markert
Editor in Chief

Yeah - We are for Windows!

We always have been. Had it not been for Windows Gamehelper simply would not exist. The core founding group of Gamehelper were all hardcore PC enthusiasts who wanted to create a resource for others - who, at the time - were having as many technical issues with getting their games to run as we were. Let's face it - games were much harder to run then and any developer you stop on the street will quickly offer up how much of a pain it is to have to QA (quality assurance: the process of testing a game to catch bugs before it's released) a PC title. What with all the hardware and driver variables involved it can quickly become a nightmare.

This is why we're excited about Microsoft's new Games for Windows brand. The proof will be in the pudding - or Vista actually - as most of what makes up the Games for Windows concept is ideology. Oh yeah, there's some tech in there too in the form of the new Vista OS and it's DX10 under-pinnings but behind the concept was the idea to make games easier to play. Easier to install. Easier to keep track of. For simple starters - how about having all your game executables and save games all in one neat location right off your Start Menu? Check.

Yesterday Microsoft unveiled their Games for Windows brand to the media in San Francisco at their "Elevate Your Game" event and we walked away quite impressed with what was on show - the ideas behind the brand - and most of all - the people representing Microsoft. These folks were not corporate suits - they were gamers like you and I. And these gamers at Microsoft are driving some very exciting change in the market that has 2007 looking like a good year to be a PC gamer.

So - without further adieu I give you our Gamehelper for Windows blog where we'll be tracking anything and everything related to the Games for Windows brand and we'll kick this all off by giving you PC gamers - yeah, those of you who've been ridiculed into hiding by your fellow console owners for the last 12 months - some very cool bragging points to send those PC detractors heading for the Iron Hills!

Pachoey aka Joe Markert
Editor in Chief

PS3’d Off
What a sad, sad day for gamers everywhere. As Sony kicks off the launch of it’s PS3 nationwide and gears into party mode – many gamers are bruised, beaten, harassed, accosted and even shot as they waited in line or attempted to return home with their shiny new PS3.  One man was shot for refusing to hand over his money.  Another was beaten and robbed of his PS3 and here locally a group of hooded men robbed a Gamestop at gunpoint this morning making off with four PS3s and four X360s.  Luckily no one was hurt in this last event – and the robbers forgot to make sure they grabbed copies of Resistance and Gears of War from eyewitness reports – ha!  Doom on you bad guys. 

In all seriousness what does this say about society?  Oh shut up Jack T.  We don’t want to hear your crap today. These people weren’t shot because they play Doom. And the folks doing the beating and shooting were just plain thieves and hoodlums.  Not digital ones depicted in Rockstar’s latest ‘rattle the politicians’ cage’ release but just Hoodlums, Ne’er-do-wells of whom not even Johnny Cash songs should be sung.  Is it Sony’s fault?  No.  Is it our fault for being gamers?  No.  Who’s fault is it then, you ask? 

Come On Down – You’re Our Next Contestant
Blame can’t be placed in any one location – but rather – spread across many potential candidates.  Sony surely could have worked harder to find a more fair and reasonable way to dispense of the handful of units available.  I mean, some stores had so few units that by the time the store’s own employees bought their units – there was nothing left to sell the customers!!  Meanwhile Nintendo Wii’s are plentiful and another wave is set to hit stores shortly after launch this Sunday.  I doubt we’ll see many Wii bashings this weekend. 

Another handful could be placed at the feet of the retailers.  You need to plan ahead for a console launch and you have to take charge as the manager.  Folks are waiting in line after all to give your establishment their hard-earned cash – I some cases for more than 40 hours!  You are in a unique situation in that your outlet sells game consoles.  There just so happens to be a major launch this week.  So I would like to suggest that perhaps you take charge and manage the waiting list.  Don’t let a bag of chips hold someone’s place in line (yeah, that really happened and a fight ensued) – take down folks’ names and register an official line list on a date/time to be announced previously.  First come, first served of those who have prepaid – period.  And yes, you must be present to Win. And sorry guys – I know this sounds rude – but store managers should be selling units to the kids outside – not themselves.  Corporate should be setting aside units from the main pull for internal sales – not at the store level.  Making these minor steps would go a long way to cutting down on the fighting and arguing which inevitably lead to fisticuffs but it doesn’t stop the aforementioned ‘ne-er-do-wells’. 

For us to solve this issue we need to look at the store or mall security and local police.  Where appropriate the police should be involved.  In large Metropolitan areas one officer outside a Sony Metreon could go a long way to thwarting thugs.  At smaller strip malls the mall management should provide a security presence with local police being seen – at least on patrol.  Just a presence of the law is often enough to thwart this level of thug. 

Do Unto Others…
The final piece of the puzzle falls clearly in our laps as gamers.  We just need to plain think.  You can’t leave a bag of chips in line Chuck and head back to your Miata for a nap.  Sorry man.  That’s just plain common sense.  You’ve got to sit your backside out on the hard concrete like everyone else if you want to get yours.  Now – if Johnny Manager had taken your name down on my list suggested above – you could have napped all you wanted until your name was called.  Hey, that would have been sweet huh?  Then you could have eaten those chips. 

Nuff Said!  Be nice to one another kids – after all – they’re just games!

Gamehelper Battlefield 2142 Server:
We’ve got a new server up – come join in the fun – details are on our FORUMS 

Pach-.

Resistance: Fall of Man – Review [PS3] : http://consoles.gamehelper.com/articles/1023.htm [score: 9.3]

By: Joe Markert aka Pachoey

From the article:

Twelve hours and countless missions later I have emerged victorious from the battlefields of Great Britain, where all of Resistance’ action is focused, and I’m ready to dive right back in for another go round. This says quite a lot about a “console shooter” which herein has historically meant ‘a shooter which resides on a console platform and is therefore inferior in gameplay mechanic and visual beauty to those found on a PC and as a result not worth your bother.’  Let me be the first to say, “ Resistance is no ‘console shooter’”.  No, Resistance is, quite simply put, “One of the best-damned shooters to grace any platform.” And you can quote me on that. 

Enjoy-