Does anyone know when (or if :?) Steam Wallet cards will be release in Australia?

BTW I'll get back to my stupid laws blog soon :)

I've been playing a LOT of Star Trek Online after discovering what F2P stands for, and my monthly limit is about to run out so I thought I'd post this slightly early. BTW get STO as a gift for yourself! It's great :)

So without thurther ado Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Have a Great New Year!

*

Glade jul by Viggo Johansen

Hanukkah

Real Meaning of Christmas

Nativity at Night by Geertgen tot Sint Jans 1490 AD

I did this last year (on a smaler scale) and it went viral though millions of blogs. Had to pu it in a pic because I went over the character limit:

I decided to bring back my Stupid Series for this gen of Gamespot.

These Laws new and old are still on the books. If you want your country or state included (from A-Z), post and I will try to find something for you! This 1st blog is for Countries and US states A-C. If you want to see more parts please post!

Alabama

Bear wrestling matches are prohibited.

It is illegal to maim oneself to escape duty.

It is considered an offense to open an umbrella on a street, for fear of spooking horses.

It is illegal to sell peanuts in Lee County after sundown on Wednesday.

Dominoes may not be played on Sunday.

It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.

Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.

Boogers may not be flicked into the wind. Actual Wording!

It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile.

You must have windshield wipers on your car.

You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.

Masks may not be worn in public.

Women are able to retain all property they owned prior to marriage in the case of divorce. However, this provision does not apply to men.

It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle.

Alabama City Laws

You may not wear blue jeans down Noble Street.

No person may spit on the floor of a church.

It is illegal to bike, roller-skate, skateboard, or inline skate in a commercially zoned area.

Men who deflower virgins, regardless of age or marital status, may face up to five years in jail.

In Huntsville if an animal control officer is in uniform, it signifies to the public that he is an animal control officer.

In Mobile Women may not wear a lewd dress in public.

Bathing in Mobile city fountains is prohibited.

Also in Mobile:

It is unlawful to wear womens pumps with sharp, high heels.

Alaska

Moose may not be viewed from an airplane.

While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.

According to Anchorage City Law Persons may not live in a trailer as it is being hauled across the city.

In Fairbanks it is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.

In Juneau owners of flamingos may not let their pet into barber shops.

Arizona

Hunting camels is prohibited.

Any misdemeanor committed while wearing a red mask is considered a felony. Is green ok? lol

You can get 25 years in prison for cutting down a cactus.

Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.

A class 2 misdemeanor occurs if one places a mark upon a flag which is likely to provoke physical retaliation.

It is illegal to manufacture imitation cocaine.

When being attacked by a criminal or burglar, you may only protect yourself with the same weapon that the other person posseses.

If you bother the cottontails or bullfrogs, you will be fined in Hayden.

In Maricopa County no more than six girls may live in any house.

In Tucson women may not wear pants. ( :o )

In Tombstone it is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling.

In Prescott no one is permitted to ride their horse up the stairs of the county court house.

In Mohave County a decree declares that anyone caught stealing soap must wash himself with it until it is all used up.

Arkansas

Its strictly prohibited to pronounce Arkansas incorrectly.

The Arkansas River can rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock.

A law provides that school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise.

A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month. What! Thats obsurd.

Oral sex is considered to be sodomy.

Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs.

In Fayetteville it is illegal to kill any living creature.

Honking ones car horn at a sandwich shop after 9 PM is against the law in Little Rock

Also in Little Rock:

Dogs may not bark after 6 PM.

Flirtation between men and women on the streets of Little Rock may result in a 30-day jail term.

It is unlawful to walk ones cow down Main Street after 1:00 PM on Sunday.

Australia - Yay!

Children may not purchase cigarettes, but they may smoke them.

You may never leave your car keys in an unattended vehicle.

It is illegal to roam the streets wearing black clothes, felt shoes and black shoe polish on your face as these items are the tools of a cat burgular. Dont worry goths Ive never seen it enforced.

It is illegal to walk on the right hand side of a footpath.

Under Australian Communications Authority (ACA) regulations, a modem cant pick up on the first ring.

Taxi cabs are required to carry a bale of hay in the trunk. I saw this once :P

Bars are required to stable, water and feed the horses of their patrons.

The legal age for straight sex is 16, unless the person is in the care/custody of the older person, in which case it is 18.

Only licensed electricians may change a light bulb. Umm No comment :P

It is illegal to wear hot pink pants after midday Sunday.

You must have a neck to knee swimsuit in order to swim at Brighton Beach.

Until the Port Arthur Killings it was legal to own an AK-47 but not legal to be gay.

Lawmakers are proposing a new law that will not allow anyone to come closer than 100 meters from a dead whales carcass.

You cannot posses pictures of the Simpsons nude. Do people really download stuff like that?

Belgium

A driver who needs to turn through oncoming traffic has the right of way unless he slows down or stops.

California - the home of Gamespot!

Sunshine is guaranteed to the masses.

Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.

Bathhouses are against the law.

It is a misdemeanor to shoot at any kind of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale.

Women may not drive in a house coat.

No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour. (Heh)

In Arcadia Peacocks have the right of way to cross any street, including driveways.

In Carmel:

A man cant go outside while wearing a jacket and pants that do not match.

Ice cream may not be eaten while standing on the sidewalk. (Repealed when Clint Eastwood was mayor).

Women may not wear high heels while in the city limits.

Cambodia

Water guns may not be used in New Years celebrations.

Canada

In Calgary, Alberta it is illegal to buy and/or sell non prescription contacts at costume shops.

Comic books which depict any illegal acts are banned. (Poor Canadian geeks :?)

35% of a radio stations content must be Canadian Content.

You may not pay for a fifty-cent item with only pennies.

Citizens may not publicly remove bandages.

Businesses must provide rails for tying up horses.

Wooden logs may not be painted.

You may never use dice to play craps. Aww crap.

If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town.

When raining, a person may not water his/her lawn.

Margarine producers cant make their margarine yellow.

If you have a water trough in your front yard it must be filled by 5:00 am.

Homeowners are responsible for clearing snow off of municipal sidewalks in front of their house or business.

All business signs in the province of Quebec must be predominantly in French.

The city is classified as a no-pee zone.

The color of house and garage doors is regulated by city bylaws (a purple door get you a fine). (I guess the saints arent going to Canada lol)

You cant work on your car in the street.

China

To go to college you must be intelligent.

Drivers of power-driven vehicles who stop at pedestrian crossings are liable to a fine of up to five yuan, or a warning.

Colorado

Car dealers may not show cars on a Sunday.

It is illegal for liquor stores to sell food or grocery stores to sell any alcohol except beer that is at most 3.

It is illegal to ride a horse while under the influence.

In Alamosa keeping a house where unmarried persons are allowed to have sex is prohibited.

In Aspen Catapults may not be fired at buildings. Does this happen often?

In Boulder it is illegal to permit ones llama to graze on city property.

In Cripple Creek it is illegal to bring your horse or pack mule above the ground floor of any building.

In Denver a dog catcher must notify dogs of impounding by posting, for three consecutive days, a notice on a tree in the city park and along a public road running through said park.

It is unlawful to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbor.

Connecticut

You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour.

In order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce. (???)

It is illegal to dispose of used razor blades.

In Devon it is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.

In Hartford:

You arent allowed to cross a street while walking on your hands.

You may not educate dogs.

It is illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday.

In New Britain it is illegal for fire trucks to exceed 25mph, even when going to a fire.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

I'm looking forward to:

Persona 4 Golden

Grand Theft Auto V

Remember Me

Watch Dogs

Tomb Raider - not sure about this one now people are saying its going to be more linae after they said it was going to be openworld.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes

MG Rising

Dragon Age III I hope it'll be 2013! (prob not though)

Bioshock Infinite

Starcraft II Hart of the Swarm

Assassins Creed IV?

If you've heard of any RPGs in the works, or anything that has really caught your interest for 2013 let me know!

BTW if you were interested in part 2 of my old blog it's not happening. No one posted sadly.

Please note I havent played most of these games Ive asked around, and I have done a LOT of research to write this.

For some of us gaming is a relatively new thing, but in order to go through the history of Lies and Deception in our great medium something must be explained.

The first lie told to the public involved classified Radio Detection and Ranging Technology all the way back in 1934. Today we call the technology Radar, and most grade fivers know how it works. In WWII it was highly classified technology and they needed a training program for the Airwomen to use it. England with the help of the BBCs Backroom Boys set up elaborate systems of detection to anticipate German aircraft bombing areas of attack. Naturally the Women's Auxiliary Air Force of the RAF had to be trained and test the tech with games, games that if you somehow found out about were denied, or the person would go missing under the spy act. Everything from tests to the new tech to RAF plane flyover war-games was done. Including a RAF pilot proving the tech had a fault by flying below radar and attacking his home base before they knew what had happened. Might be a bit expensive to run a game like this in this day and age but it must have been incredible!

One day RADAR would lead to the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device (the funny looking thing in the picture below). To use a person would sit in front of the monitor and use knobs and buttons manipulate a cathode ray beam (CRB) around the screen. The games purpose was to shoot down enemy planes with the CRB that appeared on the screen as a dot. A printed screen overlay was used to change the position of these target aircraft. Circuitry made aiming the beam more difficult to use as your score got higher. The system for scoring was done by hand. Imagine people trying to best each-others score in the late 1940s!

Now we have gotten that rather cool history lesson out of the way we get into the more modern areas of gaming and the lies told to make us buy them. That said the word lie can get you sued so in some cases I will use the term BS, because the supreme court ruled that it is the only word that has the same meaning that cannot get you sued. Youd think theyd have better things to do with their time :P

WARNING MATURE (in one sense of the word :P) CONTENT AHEAD!

Sex sells in videogames from the teenage boy, to the middle aged woman in love with Commander Shepard. Its not some sexist conspiracy it is just plain fact. The same can be said of violence because no matter how enlightened a society we pretend to be statistics show that mankind loves it.

I mention these two because they are the two main lies game and advertising companies use to sell their wares to us. Eidos for example know how to do this; back in the old PS2 days someone came up with the daft idea to make a sequel to a game no one gave a toss about in the first place. The game in question is Fear Effect 2 Retro Helix.

The story was in the year 2028 a deadly virus created by an evil corporation is wiping out humanity (where have I heard this from before), killing every human it comes into contact with. The graphics for the time were rubbish, and the dialog made people wish they were deaf. Something had to be done to attract teenage boys and lesbians everywhere! After all Eidos needed to sell their shoddy wares or theyd never be able to make Tomb Raider (wait for part 2). So did they improve gameplay in an innovative way and hire actors to play the parts No they decided the world must be saved by scantily clad lesbians, and throw in a bucket load of gore into the opening sequence :P

Obviously the advertisement of Hardcore Lesbian action in game was a load of BS, as was the promise of good graphics. They used FMV video footage (the CGI cutscene of the day) to advertise when in reality the graphics were meh. Just compare Final Fantasy X with this game and you can see what the PS2 could do. Thats not to say they removed a shed load of adult content, and from what Ive been reading it can get fairly sick. But obviously the content that was advertised was not present including 13 climaxes , HC sex, and was made from so many innuendos intended cheesy one liners that would make Arnold Swartzanegger cringe. Hey where are you going I said they BSed

Naturally FE2 isnt the first (just one heck of an attention grabber) so lest start at the begining

1970-90 Atari and NES:

Atari not my video but is suffices. More misleading adverts, I own way more NES games than what they say and there are thousands more! The NES looked better too.

NES Power glove was practically unusable everything on this makes me lol.

A game based on the Davis Cup Tennis Tournament advertised the game featuring women without underwear. Naturally this wasnt in the game and the system couldnt handle it if they wanted it in. Disappointed 10 year olds cried. BTW the Davis cup is also an all-male event :P

90-00 SNES, N64 PS1 PS2, Xbox, Sega, PS3, and 360:

Mass Effect 3 Multiple ending fiasco. It started with an Idea that they could use saves to continue all choices in the first and second game to give different endings. While they did a brilliant job they failed in some of their promise. I dont consider this a lie as an experiment can go awry. That said a fan made an FTC Complain to over Mass Effect 3 Ending. It did not work because it would not stand up in court.

Fables Golden Oak controversy. Former head of Lionhead Studios Peter Molenuex said if you plant a tree you will grow an oak in real time! Didnt happen with Fable 1, 2, or 3. Total PR failure.

Terrarias false advertisement read that they would be making DLC and updates for a long time to come, and they would be adding Steam features like achievements. Total BS!

Apple has been fined $2.25 million by the Australian government for falsely advertising that its new high definition iPad was compatible with high-speed 4G networks in Australia.

These are the tip of a huge iceberg (I cant write them all). Post your own below and wait for Part 2 Lies In The Media and this is where it gets really interesting! Sex, Violence, real murder, global warming, killer bees; games caused it all!

I belong to a UN funded website called Change.org we fight to protect peoples rights on a global basis. This is not a site for children looking for fun and involves serious issues like the disturbing Citibank and Barclays: Condemn Ugandas 'Kill the Gays' Bill that I am a signed petitioner against.

We have several victories that give me a sense of accomplishment like the Royal Commission into child abuse in the clergy. You can see more victories on the right side of the site, you can look up your own nation, and more importantly you can post your own! - oh and you can sign for any nations problems.

Here is a couple that might catch your interest (they caught mine):

Minister of Health of Canada: Fund research for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis - please sign this, I have family with this debilitating illness.

Secretary of Defense: Create a Central National Registry for Military Sex Offenders

Boy Scouts: Don't let your anti-gay policy deny my son his Eagle award

Nike: Stop the slaughter of kangaroos to make your soccer shoes! - Yep Australia's national Animal.

Wells Fargo: Stop the foreclosure on a stage 4 cancer victim's home

United Healthcare: Stop cutting off medical coverage for Autism at age 9

Here is one by an 11 year old girl with 120,000+ signatures! - Save Wild Horses From Slaughter so help me help you. If your feeling like you can do nothing in a world ruled by power-mongers who don't give it to the little guy/girl; join up!

BTW there are gaming petitions too. Why do you think Australia is getting a R-rating? ;)

Assuming it is based in Massachusetts I want to see a DLC Expansion into New York that is situated south of Boston.

No matter where it is set I also want to see more interaction with the world. In the same vein that we have seen with the difference in content between Oblivion and Skyrim: (If you've never played Oblivion it didn't have cooking, mills, the same kind of blacksmithing, and house building)

I want to be able to rebuild the world! Not just in actions but scavenging metal and forging it into parts for buildings, maybe even make your own town with the choice to invite the people you want to live under your merciful, or brutal rule. Placing who you want into the jobs you require like farmers, sheriff, store keepers, scientists, or in the alternative raiders, slavers, and enforces! Placing the buildings you want where you want into the space you have selected and protect it from those who would do it harm.

You could make alliances, and set the laws of the land that would greatly affect who attacks and what happens dynamically, including what supplies you get and how people see you in your travels!

Will you lead a town who follows you like a religious cult, a band of ruthless slavers who pillage nearby towns rather than align with them, or will you build a trading outpost, a scientific community, communist, or just a community of people who endeavour to have a better life, or a mixture? The choice would be yours!

The people who you have chosen would interact with each other differently than if you had chosen others, some with quests based on the job you've given them or special character quests.

You'd have to deal with or ignore deaths, births, crime, and marriages (if the computer code matches them as viable, or if you are a nasty cultist who wants to be the one to pick who can marry who). This would bring about a sense of bonding you get in smaller communities. You could help them, give advice for good, or ill, or be a loner tyrant.

Raiders/Slaves would have their own dynamic events but not in the same vein as the goody ones above. Items to be stolen for your people, executions, assassinations, bar fights.

And of-course for a good laugh cultists who worship you for good or ill would have their own dynamic events, sacrifices (animal or human [good/evil]), singing your praises, preachers, and pilgrims.

No matter what your town is like your actions in the wider game world would affect what they comment about you just like the radio station GNR in Fallout 3.

BTW F4 will run on the new Creation Engine according to most sources.

Last year around this time I wrote a blog called "its been one of those days" well here we go again. The day started like any other; a few mins from mid day lol.

I had a lot to do buy dinner (run for a mile home so it doesn't go cold), clean a burned out stove (bone breaking four hour job), teach someone to use a microwave (with her memory loss I think this is round 4), and learn that if I had said the word "yes" a few months back I would have died in a fiery plane crash

I was asked to go on a Cessna Aircraft trip around the state just for fun. It's a strange feeling knowing that one small decision could have ended my life. I don't know if the guy who organized it is ok, I'm going to try and find out tomorrow.

Lucky I decided to go on that cruise instead eh?

Oops Bug Is Destrying Gamespot!

I'm sure you've all seen it, but if you haven't (lucky you) ot is a grey screen with Oops written on it, and there is a chance that the post you just posted hasn't been posted.

http://au.gamespot.com/forums/topic/29295145/pinging-the-oopsies - Post in this link and tell your friends to do the same.

Help save GS!

Yesterday Was A Wonderful Day. It seemed no matter what I did good fortune came my way. I was in town to buy some prezzies for my folks, and food for dinner. I went into the local Turkish food store and ordered two Kebabs. The guy behind the counter smiled and said "You do a lot of good business here, have a Coke on the house." Neat! I thanked him and left.

I then saw my doctor who told me I look fantastic; clothes, hair, lost weight.

Moving on to the store where I buy DVD's I got a discount, and I think one of the woman who works there was flirting with me :cool: (either that or they have an awesome way to sell stuff to male customers lol)

Across the street I went and I was stopped by a person I know who works in the gaming industry. She gave me a (apparently extremely hard to get) Borderlands 2 Bag'O Swag! Filled with goodies.

I came home and gave my parents prezzies and my dad was so happy he paid for my share of $300 of the rent!

I should have gotten a lottery ticket!

BTW is anyone looking forward to Dishonored? - I ordered that Yesterday too.