Like the sound of that, Mopinions? Mopar-Opinions, get it?..... Aw f*** you then.... Anyway here I am, its 3-ish, bored and pissed off about my 360 freezing.. Since I got nothing else better to do, I'll share my opinions of this past weeks hottest topics on the Hotspot.

                                                             DEEP FREEZE
                                                  Blizzards MMORPG Future?

As GS' own Carrie Gouskos said on this weeks The Hotspot Podcast, Blizzard has definitely thought about making a Diablo and/or Starcraft MMO, and to me there's about a 90% chance they will be made in the future, if not in production now. Blizzard knows people love Diablo and Starcraft, two of some of their most best selling products and they know, sense the release of their latest prodigy, World of Warcraft, it would be stupid not to grab the ball and run with it when making a new MMO. But, as they said, the games will not come out until the World of Warcraft craze is over, or at least slowing down. If a World of Starcraft were to be released, I too, would much rather play that game than a WoW, Guild Wars or Everquest, simply because it would be a Sci-Fi MMO made by the makers of the most appealing MMO to me, WoW. Although the Sci-Fi MMOs have been done, such as Anarchy Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Auto Assault and EVE Online, they haven't been done all to well, at least not as well as Fantasy MMOs, which would give Blizzard even more of a dominance over their competitors. Personally, I'd like it if the guys who made The Elder Scrolls series created a MMO, but that’s just a random thought. My Final Opinion is that I agree with the people here at GS, Blizzard will make WOS, and would be stupid not to. Just, not right now.

AUDI 5000
Bill Gates' Getaway?

Although this is a big topic, their really isn’t that much to say about it. Yeah, Bill Gates is leaving in 2 years to pursue a charity thing. Good for Bill. In my opinion, there's really no reason why Bill should quit, but there's really no reason why he shouldn't. Its his choice, he's just getting old and wants to settle down alittle. My Final Opinion, Bills quiting, big deal. We shall see Microsofts progress within the next 2 years before Bill makes the leap.

                                   EMULATING THE HUMAN MIND
                 Psychonauts to finally be Backwards Compatible?

Once again, another pretty much no-news story. I never played Psychonauts, so I can't say whether or not they should make it Backwards Compatible. However, since Microsoft did say it would be, the game deserves to be compatible with the Xbox 360. It will be though, give it time, Psychonauts received quite a few sales, so definitely, yes, eventually Microsoft will mess around until they get it right. My Final Opinion, it goes right back to things like Blizzards World of Starcraft, it will happen, just not yet. Good news is, I don't think you have to wait long for Psychonauts.

                                                                       DS JACK
                                           $2,000,000 worth of BS... I mean DS

Okay, now how, in the hell, can 15,385 Nintendo DS Lites suddenly disappear from Hong Kong? This isn’t clear, so I'm guessing either stolen from the shipping boats or from the actual factory, I'll start with the factory. No security systems, no guards, no video cameras, nothing? The only real way they could disappear is by multiple vans/trucks loading them. To do that, the drivers would need access cards/passwords to get past the gate. What’s that? No gate? Well isn’t that highly inconvenient. I'm sure they would have one, along with one of either 3 things; a Keypad, a little thing to swipe an Access Card or a Keypad AND a little thing to swipe an Access Card. In order to get in, they would either need to be an employee or a friend of an employee in order to borrow/steal the card and/or learn the code from. They could have hacked, that would explain the video cameras, however the hacker would need to take time in doing this, letting other cameras plainly see the vehicles license plate numbers. Not to mention, there would most likely be Security Guards. Bottom line, someone would have been busted by now if it wasn't an employee. Now I move onto the cargo boat suspicions. Most docks and cargo boats do have security cameras, putting this ajar too. Once again, many people would need to haul these items, quickly and quietly mind you, into multiple vans/trucks, all of which, also would require ID tags to prove they work for the docks, which brings back the suspicion this was the work of employees. My Final Opinion is that this is an interesting and highly complexed crime. I only hope the guys in Hong Kong are as smart or preferably smarter than a 15 year old guy in America who posts blogs on a video game website.

                                                        ORIGINAL LARA
                                                   Laras Tomb Raided again?

As a owner of the first Tomb Raider game, as soon as I saw this I thought to myself.... Wow.... I really need to play that game like at least once. Back when I bought it, I sucked at games and couldn't get past the first level. However, I do look forward to seeing a fully fledged remake of the game, instead of just some Collection of Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3 and Chronicles. I believe though, that this new game could be one of four things; a completely different Tomb Raider game with nothing to do with the original storyline, Basically the first Tomb Raider game with the same storyline except an alternate way to play(example: The game takes place in places completely different from the first, however basically the same storyline), mostly the first Tomb Raider game with some extras(Abilities, Extended/New levels, More weapons, etc, etc) or the exact same Tomb Raider game with better graphics. Its highly likely that Tomb Raider: The 10th Anniversary will be the third thing I listed, however I wouldn't count out the other three just yet. I don't think Crystal Dynamics would stoop to changing the game completely, as most hardcore Tomb Raider fans would not appreciate Tomb Raider to be something entirely different. That leaves three. Knowing Crystal D, a reputable game company in my opinion, I don't think they would just up and release a updated version of the game with the same storyline, weapons, abilities, ect, ect, without changing anything. That leaves but two. There is a high chance that the game is mostly the same, yet mostly different at the same time. Same storyline, yet a different way to unravel its mysteries. Same gameplay, yet a different way to control and execute Laras moves. So which will it be, Same old Lara with some new weapons and in some extended levels, or same old Lara in a completely alternative universe to unleash her large-breasted, tight shorted, acrobatic fury upon. My Final Opinion, for now, I can't say for certain, but it seems the new Tomb Raider has a high chance of being a budget game with updated graphics and afew new things in the mix. But I personally hope, its an alternate way to play.


MADSON JOINS YAKUZA
Isn’t he badass enough?

To me, Michael is a awesome actor, having played in a few of my favorite films Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and the more recent Sin City, to name a few. Each time, he plays a badass role, mainly because of his rusty voice from smoking a few too many Marlboro Reds. His voice, though awesome, I cannot see coming from a fat Japanese crime lord. Nishiki, played by Michael Rosenbaum, I also cannot see being the voice of a young Yakuza gangster. Rosenbaum, to me, is a pretty bad actor, which when your on a second-rate sci-fi/mystery/action cable show on the WB, you really aren't the best actor in Hollywood in my opinion, and the same goes for the voice of Yumi, Elisa Dushku. The two voices I've seen so far though, look to me like they may work. Mark Hamil, from a little underground film named Star Wars, seems to be well placed as the voice of the madman Majima, along with Rachel Leigh Cook. My Final Opinion, I don't know how this english cast will fare due to its lack of talented actors an actresses in my opinion, however with names like Michael Madson and Mark Hamil, its hard not to be exited.

                                                             BEAUTY PAGEANT
                                        Danger: Hypocrisy and Brain Dead Logic Ahead

I posted this earlier on the official Hotspot 06/20/06 thread. I don't care about female gamers. They can kick my ass, I can kick their ass, we all get our asses kicked, then its fun. Just like anyone else. PMS and Fragdolls are stereotypical girl gamers that, as Carrie is mainly getting at, ruin the REAL girl gamers images. I do think this beauty pageant thing is quite stereotypical as well, but to say their going to make a Male Gamers pageant, it makes them look like abunch of hypocritical, braindead and overall completely ruining the girl gamer image. As Carrie said, your free to join any clan you want. All girl, all guy, mixed, whatever. The point is, have fun and don't do it to say "Hey, girls are gamers too!". PMS and Fragdolls are the medias face for girl gaming, and that face is ugly, due to the fact their hypocrisy knows no bounds. My Final Opinion, I don't care if your a dude or a chick, just lets get together and have fun.

Well, that’s it for today at least. Hopefully if people read this and like it they'll comment or send me messages or something. But eh, I might do one anyway just in spite of all the silence.

-Casey Cannon