Small Update

This is going to be a shorter update than normal. I originally started this blog so I had a way to share things that were interesting to me, share my thoughts about topics, and help improve my writing skills. Since then, I am now a writer for The No News (www.thenonews.com) and am a staff writer for The Coyote Chronicle (www.coyotechronicle.com). I also in the process of a third venture, but I can't share anything about that now. My point being that there may be some times where I may not update for up to two weeks at a time here. However, the major features that I do for these other sites will be linked here, so you will still be able to stay informed.

'Breach' thief gets court date and Warhammer Billing Bug

Justin D. May, the suspect who allegedly stole over $6 million worth of code to Atomic Games' "Breach" at PAX East, is now scheduled to appear before a judge at the Boston Municipal Courton on May 19. According to the Suffolk County District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark, May was originally to appear before a court on March 30.

May is accused of stealing code from Atomic Games' upcoming first-person-shooter game, Breach, valued at over $6 million. He is charged with with larceny over $250 and "trade secret, buy/sell/receive stolen." If found guilty, the sentence for such crimes is a maximum of five years for each of the the two theft charges and fines. When asked if May would face any additional charges for skipping bail, press secretary Wark said, "No, no additional charges at this point. He actually contacted the court upon learning of the default warrant and made arrangements to postpone the court date. Given that he and his whereabouts are known to authorities, that he has no criminal record, and that he affirmatively contacted the court, his request was granted. At the end of the day here, we aren't exactly dealing with John Dillinger, you know?"

Pay-Per-Demo and Wannabe Thomas Crown

Pay-Per-Demo
Last week Nick Earl, general manager of EA-owned Dead Space studio Visceral Games, revealed a new strategy that may involve selling "premium downloadable content" before a packaged game's release. According to analyst Michael Pachter, "The PDLC would be sold for $10 or $15 through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and would essentially be a very long game demo, along the lines of 2009’s Battlefield 1943." Essentially what this does is "limit the risk of completing and marketing the full packaged version, and serves as a low-cost marketing tool," (His words, not mine). Insert slippery slope here. This worries me a gamer because of the implications this could mean. According to David Jaffe, creator of the God of War series, gamers would rather have bite-sized portions they can play for 3-4 hours at a time and see the fruits of their efforts, rather than sit down for a 20, 30, or 40 hour experience (paraphrased). The problem with this line of thinking is that it allows game developers and publishers to cut back on production and instead of giving more to the gamer, the gamer gives more to them. DLC in my opinion is already a bane on the video game industry, as it justifies the developers to hold back or cut parts of a game that were intended to be included in the final packaging, and instead deal them out arbitrarily to garner more money out of the consumer. With this new strategy that EA-company Visceral Games has in mind, the free demos that pushed titles such as Bioshock, Portal, and the recent release of Just Cause 2 (which hit 2 million downloads) could potentially hurt the company and gamers alike. Instead of building word-of-mouth about your game, the companies will push away consumers and box sales will suffer because of it.

Week-in-Review

The Oscars
In the end, I think everyone came out a winner. The Hurt Locker went home with the trophy and they definitely deserved it. The film really used the setting of war to tell a story of addiction and self-conflict. Many people may claim that it only won because of its political agenda, but they would be wrong and I would even question if they actually saw the film. The war is merely a background in the story and at no point can I remember the film showing why one way of thinking is better than another. Avatar's nomination was understandable for the pushing of technology that the film presented. It really took a grandeur approach to melding computer technology and live action film. Its story was not the strongest point, but it didn't need to be. The story simply needs to move the direction and actions of the characters along. I feel that too many people went into Avatar expecting a new and original story. That wasn't the point of the film, the point was to tell a story in a new kind of presentation, and I think that presentation worked.

Introductions

Hello and welcome to my blog. I realize I'm a little late to the game but I have only recently begun to take part in the Web 2.0 stratosphere (I only joined facebook about 3 months ago). Anyways, this blog will serve a dual purpose. Firstly, it will allow me to get my thoughts and ideas out into the world, meaning both the internet and real life media. Secondly, this blog will help me in some upcoming projects and plans I'm working on, but I don't have enough information to talk about that now.

What sets this blog apart from the other 50 billion blogs on the internet? Well I would say that a major theme in my life for at least the past 10 years has been the idea of 'escapism'. I'm not really sure if thats the correct term or if thats a term at all, but thats what I call it. Basically escapism proposes the idea that life is boring. Everyday we wake up, go to work/school, and come home. We spend the weekends either catching up, or doing something fun. We take vacations to get away from it all, but how many of you reading this can tell me the last time you had an adventure?

Well thats pretty much what you will find here. Things relating to films, books, television, radio, video games, technology. All of these are way to escape from the mundane and boring in life and find the new and fastastic. The name New Sanctuary comes from the meaning of the word. Safe place, haven, place to escape to.

This blog will be updated about every 2-3 days, maybe longer depending if there is nothing to write about. Any comments, questions, or ideas feel free to submit them and tell me what you think!