My, my... Lots of criticism towards the video game workers here! For those that are claiming (explicitly or not) that these workers are just a bunch of whining cats and they are ungrateful seeing the number of unemployed people around there you are losing the point there champ. Altough your accusations may be true, after all (what I doubt since these companies normally don't accept nothing but the best professionals in their areas and they probably worked their backcheeks to improve and become that). Well as gamer I DO care about the condition of these workers. And if you are a gamer too and don't care, you are being too shortsighted (or do I sense a bit of envy here?). Being more than once overworked as a student. I've already spent 9 hours a day preparing for exams after I moved for a better and harder school, and SURPRISE I failed epically on every test and became a nasty bitc* with everyone around me cause I was moody as hell. And please think about the most succesful companies nowadays. Like Google or Disney to mention some few more acknoledged, they all grant to their emplyees incredible working condition and have incredible results. Now just close your eyes and imagine how it would be if they just decided to expose their employees to the same working condition that are mentoned in this article If you still haven't seen the connection between the low quality of life and not better results then go buy a new brain and don't waste with drugs this time around.

Well, I've seen kids expressing their emotions in a negative aggressive way because of violent imagery. But oddly enough these same children have had violent examples from their parents or received education in an oppressive and agressive way. No, that's not a coincidence. And more, the imagery that inspired these same children were way less "violently expressive" than Mortal kombat or fallout (they were exposed to Power Rangers or Ben 10, for example). When I was 6, I saw my older cousins playing Mortal Kombat and when I asked to play it too a discussion started about if I should play it or not, and only hearing my mother that suddenly appeared ( why she always shows in these moments?) saying " but it is too violent" I knew for sure it wasn't a cool thing to do with another people. We can't deny that violent video games have effects on children or anyone. But we can't say that they are more powerful to the development of their habits and sense of moral than the education of their parents or responsible. The ESRB can't substitute the parent's role. But can help making them aware for the contents in the game. And the responsible of the children that should judge if them are mature or mentally sane to play a game, it gets easier with the ESRB. But c'mon, a 18+ ranting just seems an exaggeration to me, anyone that's mentally sane above the age of 15 knows that it isn't nice to rip off anyone spine and is capable enough to control impulses to do so. I can only sleep today knowing this. At least a I hope so. I didn't come to play Mortal Kombat that day, the saddest of my life.

When a game delivers music so well that you remember the game only listening to the music, even years after playing it, you know that game nailed it. I still can still listen to the ICO theme's song in the save game screen echoing in my mind. Actually, ICO is a game that proved that you can make a memorable game without music, but only with silence full of superb sound effects. It's sad that this aspect of sound in video game wasn't mentioned in the article. I mean, I don't know how Silent Hill 3 could have scared the hell out of me without that bizarre sounds, specially that particular mannequin scream (I just jumped out of the sofa). Still a great and intelligent read. Just as Nietzsche said: "life without music would be a mistake". I think that many games (if not all) would be a great mistake without music, or at least would have made a big mistake.

I was going to post my final opinion here, but it got kinda big, so if you guys really want to read (if you don't, I will not be surprised) you can check in my gamespot's blog ( my blog debut Yeah! just click in my nickname). Now it's getting really late and i'm going to bed. Bye and thanks.

Anyone that isn't just frikking dense knows that a woman can rock just as men when it comes to intellectual or artistic work. History has proven that. Just look: if it wasn't for the Ada Lovelace we probably wouldn't be communicating with ourselves as we are doing today. And video game industry is sexist? I don't think so. What I think is sexist? Look at Jenna Rose's new music video. It's all about "WOW! OMFG! THAT SUPERSTAR IS USING MY JEANS!" Altough she's "just" a child, why we are encouraging her to pay more attention to look good and appealing to men instead of encouraging her to think and be more aware of the world surround her? Why is she singing about jeans and not about an super cool adventure she read and what she learnt from it? Which is the truly sexist media, huh? And if we, men, are so worried about this thing about women in video game it is because... Man we have to admit: we want more girls in the cybernetic gamer space. Girls, we would love to see you proving that you can use high heels and still kick ass in Crysis or Starcraft (altough i don't recommend the use of high heels in the battlefield), we like your presence and love to have you around! Now I gonna use the brilliant Rebecca Black's ultimate hipnotyzing technique for you to press the thumb up button: this comment is fun, fun, fun fun fun fun FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUF NFU NFU FNF UFN FUF NFU FUN!!!

Phew, i like when things were simpler. No one cared about this identification with the character thing a while ago. I have a grandmother that plays Donkey Kong Country ( the old one of SNES) and rocks at it. She has the best eye when it comes to finding those little damn-too-hard-to-find secrets. Yet she doesn't identifies with the main characters in the game. And if she starts indentifying, that would be anwkward, to say the least. What i'm trying to point out is that, the lack of realistic, strong female characters in video games history is a pity but not that dramatic. In real life it is just as hard to find a strong, brave man as to find a strong, brave woman, right? And why i seem to be the only one that remember that April Ryan, Jade (from beyond G&E), Sheva, Ada Wong, Jill Valentine, Wynne, Zoe Castillo, Yuna, lightning, SAMUS ARAN and CATE ARCHER (for god's sake), and other strong female characters do exist in video game industry. Why they are less important than their male counterparts? It's just natural that in a storytelling media that has been more appealing to men have this male character predominance in their stories. It's not a signal of a sexist society, it only is what it is. (Duh!) Just for the record: my grandma isn't poor, she just thinks that new generation consoles are too complex to her. Who can argue against that?

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I understand why people feel so irritaded with this game, but it isn't time to think if we are losing the point? I mean everything in the Duke Nuke's game universe is surreal. Aliens abducting hot girls from Earth to have relationships with them? C'mon, everybody knows that aliens prefer the girls from Venus! XD I've met many sexist men in real life and they don't look like nothing with Duke. Really. And this much talk about Duke Nuke being sexist or not just makes me think about how we like a polemic topic. I mean, can anyone who played The Longest Journey really forget April Ryan? She was a strong young woman that without superpowers wasn't satisfied with saving one world, but two worlds, using only quick thinking and charisma. And the most important: she was real. April is one of the msot well-written characters in video game history. And I can't remember this much people commenting " finally a real female character in video game to break the sausage party". And she didn't use her sexuality either. Maybe we are getting very seriously something that's just sense of humor made from an absurd concept. And people, I know we are getting past these political correct times, but doesn't mean we have to be armed against any tiny signal of "incorrectness" just to prove that we are very fair and noble, we better check the context first and be reasonable, right? Besides, sorry about the poor english, I'm not a native english speaker.

Wow, this is gettin' worse than computers. I mean, if i thought that it was a pain in the ass to see your new hiper-uber-duber kikcassin pc system becoming outdated in three months I wonder how is this feeling for the ds owners...

Well, if you stop and thin the dilemma between story-action are not only in the games, but in movies and books too. Just observe how some of these blockbusters movies have more explosions and scenes of sex or partial nude than text lines and dialogue or you never bought a best-seller book that the story is only at the beginning and the end, because the middle is full of garbage and it's only there to give to the book some volume. Oh! But this book is a best-seller because it has vampires and a little of sexual repression in the middle (No, it's not a reference to anything, I think). So you can buy yourself a game with a good story if you enjoy it or you can buy/rent/borrow/orwhateveryouwant a game, a movie, a book, one cd of that band with pretty boys or of that beauty sexy and preferably blond singer that talks obscenities subliminally. You decide between empty explosions or complexes master pieces. And me? Well, let's say that a like some culture.