Video game news and reaction

[MilitiaJim]

When the M9 was adopted, the US was the only NATO country not using a 9MM side arm, so standardization with the rest NATO.  Another would be double the ammo, 15 rnds vs 7 rnds.    At least that is what I can find as legitimate reasons searching the net.   The rest seems subjective as to whether the M9 was a better gun or safer compared to the 1911.

I think the 9mm is a big step down from the .45ACP, YMMV, and there is no need to get this argument going here.

One theory I heard for the selection of the Beretta was a bribe to the Italians to set up radar sites on the Agean coast to look over the Adriatic and Yugoslavia.

you also have to figure that a pistol is a side arm and not a primary weapon and the rounds weight half as much for the 9mm.

Half weight rounds don't help when you have to use twice as many.

[Valentina]

"One theory I heard for the selection of the Beretta was a bribe to the Italians to set up radar sites on the Agean coast to look over the Adriatic and Yugoslavia."

Something similar was a guess of mine; more specifically that some underlying political motivation was influencing the decision and that the sidearm was an acceptable sacrifice. And the M9 is solid pistol, of course.
Sort of like anyone but an American arms manufacturer thinking they'll be the U.S. Military's assault rifle provider.
Whether you love or hate the Stoner platform there's no way a foreign conglomerate is getting the nod from the sheer political volatility of that choice alone.

[MilitiaJim]

YMMV, but I don't theink the M9 is a particularly solid pistol.  Nor am I real fan of the Stoner system, though my experience is only with direct impingement M16s, so I probably am missing some salient details.

FYI: The current contract for many US Army small arms is filled by Fabrique Nacional, a Belgian company.  The did build a factory in South Carolina, so the weapons are manufactured in the US.

[Valentina]

Interesting.
Ok, that's a way. Made In America, Designed In Belgium is an arrangement nobody's likely to get agitated about -without some outside help.
"People", ahh people, speak of the M9's qualities. I like .357 revolvers myself, so indeed MyMMV like anyone else.
Though I would prefer a .45 over 9mm.

[MilitiaJim]

The M240 & M249 machine guns are Belgian designed, but the Armalite pattern rifles they build are not their design.

I like my M1911, and would really like one of these .357Mag 1911 pattern pistols.  (I'll add the link when I get back to a 'puter.)

[Crafty_Pat]

To precisely no one's surprise (at least no one who's been paying attention to the GECK release and other developments surrounding Skyrim), an Elder Scrolls MMO is on the way. It takes place 1,000 years before Skyrim, and it's scheduled to arrive in 2013. Game Informer subscribers can find a whole lot more info in the latest issue (which I'm reading as I post this).

[Crafty_Pat]

To precisely no one's surprise (at least no one who's been paying attention to the GECK release and other developments surrounding Skyrim), an Elder Scrolls MMO is on the way. It takes place 1,000 years before Skyrim, and it's scheduled to arrive in 2013. Game Informer subscribers can find a whole lot more info in the latest issue (which I'm reading as I post this).

From the latest issue of Game Informer, which arrived to my house today: Elder Scrolls Online takes place 1,000 years before Skyrim; much but not all of each major province included; all the major guilds included (duh); three factions featuring the nine core races; public dungeons; guardian stones instead of constellations and birthsigns; no vampirism or lycanthropy for PCs but they feature in storylines; fast-travel replaced with traditional MMO travel (makes sense); no player houses (boo!); level-restricted exploration and "hubless" quest design (which appears to be more about where you go than where you're sent); phased, branching quest trees; fully voiced NPC dialog (ah Star Wars, how you've redefined the medium); ~120 hours of core play time per faction; blocking and interrupting actions; stamina; non-combat abilities allegedly governed by bandwidth rather than time; classes rather than free-form character building (boo! that's not Elder Scrolls!); cross-class combo options (yay!); finesse gained for taking non-static actions, which in turn unlocks other options (think Edge from Spycraft); full XP, loot, and quest rewards for everyone who helps defeat enemies or complete objectives, even when they're not in the same group (O_O); alleged room-based encounters in which enemies react sensibly rather than wait around to be pulled (I'll believe this when I see it);Radiant AI replaced with a new system;  PvP focused on control of the Imperial City (using the same maps as in Oblivion), with what appears to be a large, surrounding sandbox for extended play.

[Sletchman]

In case y'all missed the announcement, the next edition of Nazi Zombies is coming out.  That's right, the fight against the undead continues with futuristic weaponry and technologies.  Take the fight back to those bone-junkie maggot-sacks this November!

Oh, and their tacking some conspiracy black ops story to the game.

For the first time ever, a CoD game has me interested.  That setting looks pretty neat.

no player houses (boo!)

Did you not play Ultima Online?  Every single piece of land that could fit a house had one really quickly.  Buying much more then a small cottage was pretty much a pipedream, because there just wan't land space for the keeps, towers or castles.  So player housing would have to exist all in the same place (a magical door that translocates you to your house, but everyone else to theirs) or about a tiny fraction of a percent of playerbase could have them.

Still, be interesting to see how it turns out.

[Crafty_Pat]

no player houses (boo!)

Did you not play Ultima Online?  Every single piece of land that could fit a house had one really quickly.  Buying much more then a small cottage was pretty much a pipedream, because there just wan't land space for the keeps, towers or castles.  So player housing would have to exist all in the same place (a magical door that translocates you to your house, but everyone else to theirs) or about a tiny fraction of a percent of playerbase could have them.

Still, be interesting to see how it turns out.

I did not, but I have played several other MMOs that feature instanced player housing, and that works fine.

[Sletchman]

no player houses (boo!)

Did you not play Ultima Online?  Every single piece of land that could fit a house had one really quickly.  Buying much more then a small cottage was pretty much a pipedream, because there just wan't land space for the keeps, towers or castles.  So player housing would have to exist all in the same place (a magical door that translocates you to your house, but everyone else to theirs) or about a tiny fraction of a percent of playerbase could have them.

Still, be interesting to see how it turns out.

I did not, but I have played several other MMOs that feature instanced player housing, and that works fine.

So, it turns out I'm so out of touch with MMOs that I had to google "instanced player housing".  I had no idea my magical door comment was actually a real thing - I just assumed to "own a house" it had to be a proper part of the game (which with say 100, 000 players would make the cities of ES Online kinda huge).  Being this disconnected has suddenly made me feel kinda old.

[Valentina]

Aye. Auto Assault had instanced housing, actually. Same with Phantasy Star Universe.
It's kinda cool. I think non-instanced housing is more ambitious and impressive, but as ideas go it's pretty neat.

[Antilles]

Lord of the Rings Online does instanced housing in a pretty neat way, I think. Basically instead of instanced housing you've got instanced neighborhoods, with 30 houses in 3 different sizes (standard, deluxe and kinship). So, if you get lucky with your neighbors you could have a nice little community going in your neighborhood.

[Crafty_Pat]

Lord of the Rings Online does instanced housing in a pretty neat way, I think. Basically instead of instanced housing you've got instanced neighborhoods, with 30 houses in 3 different sizes (standard, deluxe and kinship). So, if you get lucky with your neighbors you could have a nice little community going in your neighborhood.

I played that pretty extensively back in the day and rather liked my house, which was conveniently situated right above our neighborhood's market.

Gave up the game a while back though. I only have enough bandwidth for one MMO at a time, and often not even that.

[Antilles]

Yeah, I haven't really played it in a while, but it's free-to-play (and I've a lifetime membership) so I've got it installed in case I ever get the itch to play again.

Ouch, my sympathies, it's gotta suck having usage caps on your bandwidth. At least you've probably got a decent speed though, right? I've 5 Mbit/s and I'm basically living out in the sticks.

[Crafty_Pat]

Yeah, I haven't really played it in a while, but it's free-to-play (and I've a lifetime membership) so I've got it installed in case I ever get the itch to play again.

I'm lifetime as well, so I guess I could fire it up if I ever want to. It isn't even installed though, and last time I tried it was ~20 hours of processing, so... Maybe not.

Ouch, my sympathies, it's gotta suck having usage caps on your bandwidth. At least you've probably got a decent speed though, right? I've 5 Mbit/s and I'm basically living out in the sticks.

I meant mental bandwidth. I live in California and have cable, so my internet bandwidth is, by global standards, exceedingly awesome.