Full Disclosure: My copy of Crackdown 2 came courtesy of a code given to me by Billy O'Keefe.
On my way home from work I pass many things. Gas station, Burger King, McDonald's, gas station, Wendy's, Chick-Fil-A, gas station, Chinese buffet, track housing, gas station, tire store, Wal-mart, gas station, tire store, Wal-Mart, gas station, strip club, Burger King, gas station, grocery store that has a gas station out front, gas station, and so on, and so on, and gas station.
Among the last things I pass on my way home is a gas station, and a neighbor of mine who is a horse farmer. Ron is a nice guy, always puts in a hard days work, and instills these principles in his children, 24, 17, 15, 9, 8, 4, 3, and 1. On the fence of Ron's farm is a sign that reads "Free Manure."
Now by manure Ron means horseshit. As a horse farmer, Ron as an abundant and ever growing supply of fresh, high quality, and potent "manure". Ron could sell this "manure" to people and make quite a good amount of money, especially if he sells it to liberal yuppies who are more rich than smart, but Ron doesn't do that. Ron gives "manure" away for free because that's the way his daddy did it, and his daddy before him, and his daddy who ran a gas station.
One day I took Ron up on his offer of free "manure" and took a bag full of rich smelly goodness home to spread on my lawn. Sure I have no good sense as to what to do with "manure" and how to effectively spread "manure" on my lawn, but it was free and in abundant supply. So, as I was spreading "manure" onto the various brown patches in my lawn and on the window sills of the high school I graduated from, I got to thinking: Does this "manure" being free make it good? Does a product being free make a product good? The answer in this case was no. Horseshit is horseshit. Whether you call it "manure", horseshit, or vandalism, being free does not make horseshit any better than the "manure" you can get at your local garden supply store. This is a statement you can make about most any product. From laptops, to Coca-Cola, to bullshit, being free does not make a product better.
One product that bucks this trend is Crackdown 2. I'll admit, I played the demo for the original Crackdown and nothing else. I was not motivated to buy Crackdown 2 mostly because I had heard it was a lot like the first game, which didn't impress me, and I'm broke and lack the capacity to pirate games. However, on the Sunday before it launched, I received a code to download Crackdown 2 over Live for free. So I took advantage of this opportunity to receive a game that I would have otherwise not bought, and am grateful that I did so. Crackdown 2 is a fun little game. You can spend hours traversing around in this city, collecting agility orbs and beating up zombies without ever addressing the main driving point of this game. Sure the story is a little weak, but the point of the game isn't really to tell a story. It's to provide the gamer with an environment that they and their friends can tear to pieces without having to deal with the normal things in life, like the fact that there's an absurd amount of gas stations near their home.
Saying that dollar for dollar this is the best game I own would be a disingenuous thing to say seeing as I didn't pay for it. What I can say is that if I hand't gotten this game for free I very well might have paid for it.
Crackdown 2: B
Real Live Flame Warz!!!
This is Norbel Brown. He is a graphic designer and part time explosives expert living with his wife and various kids. On Thursday, Mr. Brown went live on Justin.tv to announce that, rather than staying with Activision, the company he had spent seven years working for, he would be going to work with South Beach Games. Norbel said this decision was driven by his desire to be in a situation where he could create many great gaming experiences and win several of the industry's highest awards over the next couple of years.
This news angered Activison's CEO Bobby Kotick. Mr. Kotick even went as far as posting a letter on Activision's official website denouncing Norbel Brown. This statement contained so many inflammatory and insulting remarks that news organizations had to check with Activision to make sure that this letter was real. The letter reads as follows.
Today we have learned something about Norbel Brown. We learned what kind of a man Norbel is. We learned how much Norbel treasures the concepts of loyalty and respect that he instills in the children he works with. We also learned today how much of a total bitch Norbel Brown is. What kind of a narcissistic ass makes a public spectacle of a decision such as this? What kind of an attention whore would even contemplate drawing unnecessary attention to themselves is a manner such as this? What does this say about the kind of man that we held up as a shining example to the gaming community and the children of this country?
Well, we here at The Great Empire Of Activison will not stand for such acts. Furthermore, WE HERE AT THE GREAT EMPIRE OF ACTIVISON WILL WORK TO CREATE GAMES THAT WILL CRUSH THE PITIFUL OFFERINGS BROUGHT TO THE MARKET BY NORBEL BROWN, AND WE WILL PREVAIL OVER SOUTH BEACH GAMES, AND WILL OWN THEIR ASSES IN THE MARKET. Also, WE WILL WIN THE SAME AWARDS THAT NORBEL BROWN WANTS TO WIN, BUT WE WILL WIN THEM SOONER! AND WE WILL WIN MORE OF THEM! SO THERE!
Quote the Kotick, nevermore!
No comments have been made by Activison refuting the comments put online by Bobby Kotick on Thursday night, but that is probably because all of Activision's employees are afraid Mr. Kotick will rage out on them and attack them with a flaming basketball jersey.
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