Oct 5, 2012

World of Warcraft-Playing Candidate: 'I'm A Real Person'

Kotaku

World of Warcraft-Playing Candidate: 'I'm A Real Person' Editor's note: This piece was republished with permission from NBC News InGame.

Colleen Lachowicz is a long-time health care worker who works with teens and young adults. She is a wife and a step-mom. And she likes to knit.

But this week, the 48-year-old Lachowicz — who is running as a Democrat for the State Senate in Maine — abruptly found herself a the center of a Republican smear campaign because of one of her hobbies. No ... not knitting.

Lachowicz is a gamer. More specifically, the Republican party of Maine discovered that Lachowicz enjoys playing the online role-playing game World of Warcraft. And, on Thursday, the party launched a campaign to out what they are calling her "disturbing alter-ego" and her "bizarre double life."

The Republican Party not only launched a website, they sent out post cards to voters in her district and even issued a press release — all of which showed off the level-85 orc named Santiaga that Lachowicz plays in the game and also highlighted online comments she had made about the game (some of which contain curse words!). (For more on that, read our previous story here.)

News of the WoW witch hunt has since made international headlines and kicked up a storm of outrage in the gaming world. I had a chance to interview Lachowicz after she had spent a day out knocking on doors, campaigning in her district not to mention fielding a flurry of calls and emails about the anti-gaming crusade. And she seemed nothing short of stunned by the turn of events.

"This whole thing is just so weird," she said sounding flustered. "It's just so weird that it's an issue."

The Republican Party of Maine sent out this mailer to voters.

Lachowicz said that she has played games her entire life and has never tried to hide the fact that she's a gamer. She says she got started gaming way back in the good old days with an Atari home console and loved going to arcades.

"Do you remember Marble Madness? I loved that game," she says.

More recently she has enjoyed playing the hit Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on her PlayStation 3. And she points out that even her elderly mother (nearly 70 years old) enjoys playing games.

"She doesn't play any massively multiplayer online games but she can kick some butt in Super Mario Bros.," Lachowicz says.

Lachowicz got started playing World of Warcraft four years ago when the Wrath of the Lich King expansion arrived. "I liked hanging out with friends and working on a goal together," she says of what drew her to the game.

She thinks those who don't play the game don't realize that the stereotypes about its players aren't true. (Think: basement-dwelling teenagers without a life.)

"When I played, I played with people who are college professors and lawyers. I played with adults," she says. "The average age, I think, is mid-30s for people who play online MMOs."

The 'G' word

Indeed, with hundreds of millions of people around the world playing not only online games like World of Warcraft but Facebook games and mobile games, it's stunning to see that the term "gamer," in some circles, remains a dirty word.

"By 2012, it's far easier to identify those Americans who are not game-playing consumers than those who are," says Hal Halpin, president of the Entertainment Consumers Association. (The ECA is a non-profit organization dedicated to gamer advocacy.)

"Who among us has never seen nor heard of Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies or FarmVille much less classics like Pac Man, Asteroids or Space Invaders? This is akin to demonizing politicians who admitted to listening to, and being fans of rock-and-roll 50 years ago."

Additionally, while the Republican party claims that that Lachowicz spends "hundreds of hours playing in her online world," Lachowicz says WoW was never a central part of her life. And that is a common misperception — that if you enjoy playing video or computer games, you must have an addiction to it.

Though Lachowicz concedes that some people do have a problem with playing WoW too much, she says that has never been the case for her. In fact, she hasn't logged into the game for about a month. And before that, she hadn't had a chance to play since January.

Why? "I've been busy running for office," she says. And that's not the only hobby that has suffered because of her political ambition. "I also don't do much knitting anymore either."

As for the comments Lachowicz has made about playing World of Warcraft — comments in which she has, for example, professed her love of stabbing things and, yes, used derogatory terms for Tea Party members — "Many of those comments go back to 2005 or 2004 and they are taken out of context," Lachowicz says, pointing out that anyone who has ever played a game like WoW knows that enjoying fighting is all part of the game.

The WoW character that stunned the world ... or at least the Republican Party.

But she adds, "I would say I'm sorry if some people are offended. I certainly I said those comments before I knew I was going to run for office."

Welcome to the modern digital age — the age when anything you type online can and will be used against you.

"I work primarily with young people — teenagers and young adults — and I think, 'What kind of message is this for us to send to them?" she says. "That every little tweet you might have done or Facebook posting or comment on an article, that this is going to come back to haunt you? Are we really going to go back years and years to try and drag people through the mud rather than talk about the issues?"

The people respond

As stunning as the entire experience has been for Lachowicz, it could, in fact, work in her favor. Gamers around the world have been coming to her defense in online forums and on her candidacy Facebook page, cheering her on and pledging her support with comments like this:

"Good to see you standing up for your beliefs and hobbies, the country needs more people like you to lead it, we need people who are willing to share their hobbies and show they are normal people just like everyone else. Thumbs up to you."

"As a one time WOW player, retired NYC Police Det. and a person way older than you : ) I applaud you," writes William Crespo on her Facebook page. "It only shows your ability to interact with many, many people. I have met many people my age and older who still play WOW. My brother still plays and at one time it was my brother, my nephew, my grandson and myself all playing together... It's a great hobby."

Even Republicans gamers are coming to her defense. For instance, a woman named Kari Zielke sent the below photo to Lachowicz's campaign and to the Republican Party of Maine. "We may have different political views but I wont stand by while my fellow Horde are treated this way," she wrote on Lachowicz's Facebook page.

Republican Kari Zielke shared this image with Democratic candidate Colleen Lachowicz on her campaign Facebook page.

Meanwhile many commenters have pointed out that knowing she was gamer would make them more likely ... not less ... to vote for her.

"That website won you every single vote from people under 30 and every single gamer vote for those over 30," writes Greg Hussein Kinney on Lachowicz's Facebook page.

I asked Lachowicz what she thought of the idea that people might just vote for her because she's a gamer.

"What I would say is that I knock on doors a lot and I talk to potential voters and I try to make a connection with them and be a real person," she said. "And maybe this is just the kind of thing that says I'm a real person. I do things just like everyone else does - like millions of other people."

For now, Lachowicz says she is staying busy going door-to-door and preparing for the coming election. She's been so busy, she hasn't even had a chance to try the new World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria.

In fact, when I ask her what she thinks about this panda-themed expansion — which has been somewhat controversial in the WoW world — she responds with the answer of a true politician: "I have no comment on the pandas at this time."

Winda Benedetti writes about video games for NBC News. You can follow her tweets about games and other things on Twitter here @WindaBenedetti, and you can follow her on Google+. Meanwhile, be sure to check out the IN-GAME FACEBOOK PAGE to discuss the day's gaming news and reviews.

Republished from NBC News InGame with permission.

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Oct 5, 2012

Eight Wild Reviews Appear to Rate Pokemon Black and White 2

Kotaku

Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 make a neatly matched set of entries into one of the most venerable (and most predictable) of game franchises. The pair are direct sequels to the Black and White of 2011. That's a good amount of time to make tweaks to a tried-and-true formula. But are the updates super effective?

There are too many reviews in the world to catch 'em all, but we've rounded up eight below.

Eight Wild Reviews Appear to Rate Pokemon Black and White 2

GameSpot

The core Pokemon games are notorious for sticking to a tried, tested, and very familiar formula. After all, it's a formula that works, and that people enjoy, and one thing you can never accuse the main entry Pokemon games of is forgetting their roots. Black 2 is pretty much exactly what you'd expect, then. Given that it's the first numbered sequel in the series, it's even less of a version shift than seen in previous games. It's not exactly the same as its predecessor; there have been a number of tweaks, functionally and aesthetically, and the plot's (sort of) new too. The problem is that, despite the additions, a weak plot, poor pacing, and an overabundance of easily-defeated Pokemon mean it's just not as good as the games that came before it.

Polygon

You already know what to expect from Pokemon Black and White 2. Its doesn't buck the formulaic nature of the franchise, which will leave a large part of its audience - a chunk that wants to rekindle their lapsed love of the series with something genuinely new - out in the cold. But that audience is bookended by veterans and newcomers alike, and for those two groups, Black and White 2's improvements make it the franchise's most accessible entry point to date.

GamesRadar

Pokémon Black and White 2 comes as something of a surprise. Not only did Game Freak buck fan expectations by announcing two new titles instead of the expected "Pokémon Gray," it even revealed they'd be genuine sequels to the first Black and White versions and not, as we'd all assumed, a simple repackaging of them. Even more surprising is just how well B&W2 have turned out, considering their new direction, making them the most original pair of Pokémon titles since arguably Gold and Silver.

Joystiq

In the meantime, Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 feel like the "true" versions of Black and White, much as Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum felt like the real versions of their respective generations. It has more Pokémon, better post-game content and, apart from a few added perks like the aforementioned Memory Link, largely renders the original games unnecessary. Whether returning fans should pick up Black and White 2, meanwhile, depends entirely on whether you're burned out on Pokémon yet. The sequel is bigger and better than the original, but it's still Pokémon. In your heart, you already know whether or not you're ready to slog through another eight badges and get back to catching them all.

Official Nintendo Magazine UK

At their core, Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 are the same games we've been playing since 1999 - warts and all. While the law of diminishing returns applies less to this franchise, there's still a sense of deja vu about it. Whether Game Freak will shake things up, or simply replace sprites with polygons, is to be seen, but whatever lies in store, Black 2 and White 2 stand proud as the last and probably best of classic Pokemon.

The Escapist

There are times when Pokemon Black and White Version 2 feel a little too familiar, especially when you're exploring the same towns, roads, and caves from the previous game. Once you assemble a solid team and start earning gym badges, though, you won't care. The series' trademark charm and addictive challenges will make you want to keep playing, and you might have trouble putting down your system as you pursue the next opponent, next gym badge, or next legendary Pokemon. In addition to the 20-or-so-hour campaign, there's plenty of postgame content and extra stuff to do, so you might have this cartridge in your DS or 3DS for a long time. It might just be a holdover until the next generation of Pokemon arrives, but it's still a good way to pass the time.

GameTrailers

Despite throwing in some new bells and whistles, Pokémon Black & White 2 doesn't deviate from established formula. It manages to deliver everything you'd expect out of a Pokémon game, and it's still a decent RPG, but it fails to take any chances or offer real innovation. Considering it's only a DS game rather than a proper sequel that takes advantage of the 3DS, it's hard not to label this as a lazy attempt to make a quick buck. Hopefully the next game brings some much needed reform.

Kotaku

How can a man possibly sleep when he hasn't captured a Koffing in the Virbank Complex? How can I save my game without the completion stamp for Route 20? Where the hell is Dunsparce!? This game has upgraded my mild OCD to flamin' hot Cajun spice OCD.

That obsessive compulsion is what defines the Pokémon series. It's right there in the tagline: "Gotta Catch 'Em All". It kept me playing into the wee hours of the morning when I was a much younger man. It drove me to acquire each iteration of the game since, hoping to rekindle that manic motivation. I've found it again in Pokémon Black and White 2.

Oct 5, 2012

Booth Babes Weren't the Only Embarrassment at the Eurogamer Expo [UPDATE 6]

Kotaku

There's being funny. And then there's being whatever FIFA-loving YouTube video game commentator JJ "KSIOlajidebt" Olatunji was in the video up top.

When we last covered the exploits of Olatunji, he was encouraging his 600,000 or so YouTube channel subscribers to e-mail Kotaku to help highlight his frustations with Machinima.com, the gaming site and channel partner that he felt wasn't giving its star content creators their fair share of ad revenue generated by popular videos.

Olatunji appears to have successfully broken away from Machinima. He even seems to have hooked up some sort of deal with PC maker Razer to help hype their stuff at the ongoing Eurogamer Expo with official CultofRazer videos like this and this. ~~(I'm not clear on what his deal is with Razer and how official it is; I have a request in with the PC-maker to clarify.)~~

So, that video above? That's his handiwork, too. 200,000 clicks and counting. And, on Facebook, his fans love it. He's made videos like it before; just man-on-the-street videos of him asking rude sexual questions for comedic effect. I guess it's not that different than Howard Stern's routine, and plenty of people like that. It's not for me and I'm not so sure it was for all the folks interviewed in that video. If this is the direction coverage of video game conventions could be heading, count me out.

Good on Olatunji for being able to attract a half million clicks on a video that just hypes that he got to London to go to the expo, but, come on, really? This new video is a bit much.

In other Eurogamer Expo news, the organizers banned booth babes from next year's show.

UPDATE: A rep for Razer says: "KSIOlajidebt is a pro gamer in the UK that Razer invited to the Eurogamer Expo to shoot some community videos for our site. After KSIOlajidebt was done with his work for Razer, he went on to shoot video on his own for his own channel, outside of Razer's input or approval, during the show. The resulting video was not and is not content with which Razer wishes to be associated."

UPDATE 2: It looks like KSIOlajidebt has been banned from future Eurogamer Expos by the convention's organizer, according to a Tweet from Eurogamer.net operations director Tom Bramwell.

UPDATE 3: The YouTube video this story is about has been set to private, presumably by Olatunji. We swapped in a copy, so readers can understand the context of all of this.

UPDATE 4: Olatunji has apologized, addressing the accusations made by others that he was sexually harassing women in his video:

Just want to apologise to the people I may have offended with the "awkward in eurogamer" video. My intent was never to sexual harass.

— JJ (@KSIOlajidebt) October 6, 2012

The blonde spokesmodel who agrees in the video to allow Olatunji to put his face in her chest also took to Twitter to address the theory that he had sexually harassed her:

“@ksiolajidebt: Clearly not sexual harassment if you ask for their permission...Oh dear press...” I was not sexually harassed get a grip ppl

— Brandy Amy Brewer (@Brandy_Brewer) October 5, 2012

Of course, reaction to the video hasn't only involved Olatunji's interaction with Brewer. In the video, Brewer is clearly into Olatunji's raunchy approach. The Mountain Dew spokesperson who he laments doesn't have visible enough breasts and the show attendee who cuts off their interview and walks off cursing seem less delighted to be involved in this sort of thing. They may well have been, off-camera, but it's not evident in the clip.

UPDATE 5: The woman who starts and ends the video, a blogger named Zoe, took to Twitter to share her perspective on the video. Olatunji apologized to her directly, as you'll see below.

@dancrehan @zoe_1411 If i offended you, i'm sorry. Tell me next time if im offending you.

— JJ (@KSIOlajidebt) October 7, 2012

UPDATE 6: Uncomfortable with the publicity this whole affair was generating, the blogger Zoe deleted the Tweets that were previously in this story. For the record, in response to Olajidebt's apology, she had written: "hahah, it's alright!" But she was also very clear that while she did not feel sexually harassed, she also said, in the context of the entire video and how other people were portrayed in it, "sometimes funny is just too far!"

Oct 5, 2012

It's Time For Japanese Developers To Stop Hoarding Their RPGs

Kotaku

When I think about all the role-playing games released in Japan that never make their way to U.S. shores, I like to picture a snarling dragon sitting atop a pile of game cartridges, spitting fire at anyone who comes within breathing distance.

Hey Japan. Time to stop hoarding your gold.

This is not a new phenomenon, of course. American RPG fans will undoubtedly remember all the games we missed in the 90s: Terranigma, Final Fantasy V, Live A Live, and many more. But it's a little nutty that this localization barrier still exists today. If you don't speak Japanese, there's no way to legally play games like Valkyria Chronicles 3, Suikoden PSP, and of course, the infamous Mother 3.

It's too bad. When a Japanese developer announces a new game, my first reaction is not "Awesome!" but "Shit, we're never going to get that, are we?" When Atlus announced yesterday that dungeon crawler Etrian Odyssey IV is coming here next year, I was more relieved than anything. It had been way too long. I was starting to worry.

If you're wondering why Japanese game publishers and developers have been so reluctant to localize their RPGs, the answer is easy. They think it's too much of a risk. They look at games that have failed to take off in the U.S.—RPGs like Brave Story and Half-Minute Hero and quite a few others—and decide it's not worth the time, money, and shame involved in localizing their games for an audience that doesn't seem to want them.

But here's the thing: we do still want JRPGs. There are still plenty of fans who are happy to spend money on great, high-quality games. Don't believe me? Let's look at two big examples.

It's Time For Japanese Developers To Stop Hoarding Their RPGs

A few weeks ago, when I interviewed Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime about Wii U, I managed to sneak in a couple of questions about Xenoblade, one of the Wii's biggest RPGs. Released in Japan during 2010, then in Europe a year later, Xenoblade was not confirmed for U.S. localization until December 2011, months after many diehard fans had already imported or pirated it.

So what took so long?

"We needed to make sure that there was really an opportunity for it," Fils-Aime said. "We wanted to see how it would sell in Europe, and based on the performance in Europe, we would look to bring it here to the U.S. It did well in Europe; we decided to bring it in here. We took a very smart approach and we sold it ourselves online in terms of physical goods as well as a focus on GameStop as a retailer, and it was a very good effort for us."

"How'd it sell?" I asked.

"Quite well," he said.

I had already gone over my allotted interview time, so I didn't get a chance to prod him for more numbers, but that "quite well" could mean just about anything, depending on Nintendo's expectations. Could mean 200,000 copies sold; could mean 20,000. (Probably closer to the latter.)

The important takeaway here is that gamers were willing to dish out money for a high-quality, critically-acclaimed JRPG. Didn't matter that it was in standard definition. Didn't matter that a ton of its prospective audience had already bought the European version. RPG fans were hungry for good games, and they proved it with their wallets.

It's Time For Japanese Developers To Stop Hoarding Their RPGs

And what of The Last Story, that other big JRPG that came out for the Wii this year? I asked publisher XSEED's Jessica Chavez (who you may remember from her excellent Kotaku Q&A a couple of months ago) how it performed.

"The Last Story has definitely gotten the support of the fans," she told me. "It's doing really well, and we hope word of the game's quality/sexy packaging will continue to entice more to check it out."

Again, no specifics, but my point still stands: U.S. gamers are willing to spend their money on excellent Japanese role-playing games, but with many of them, we're not even getting the chance. Granted, publishers like XSEED, Aksys, Level-5, and Atlus are doing a commendable job of localizing and releasing their Japanese games in the United States. It's the bigger guys—the Squares, the Konamis, the Segas—who need to stop hoarding and mistreating their RPGs.

While chatting with Nintendo's Fils-Aime, I also asked about the next RPG from Monolith Soft, the one they're making for Wii U. Should we expect that same Xenoblade rollercoaster ride all over again?

Reggie Fils-Aime: "The way we look at the opportunity is, given a level of marketing support, how much are we gonna sell and is it gonna be a profitable venture?"

"We know that they're working on a game," he said. "I personally haven't seen it, but I know there's a lot of excitement in Japan and Kyoto about what they're working on, so I look forward to seeing it. In the end, if it's a game that we decide to publish from... what would be a second-party standpoint, certainly we'd love to bring it here to the US.

"The way we look at the opportunity is, given a level of marketing support, how much are we gonna sell and is it gonna be a profitable venture?"

Fair enough. Presumably that's why Square Enix hasn't released Final Fantasy Type-0 in the U.S. yet; they know the Final Fantasy brand could move copies, but the PSP is dead, and not a lot of people are buying Vitas. Maybe they're waiting to see how a classic role-playing game like Bravely Default: Flying Fairy will do in Japan before they commit to bringing it here. Maybe they think nobody here will care about Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 3.

That's all well and good. I don't expect any gaming company to operate in a way that won't make it money. But there's an audience for great Japanese RPGs, and the success of games like Xenoblade and The Last Story prove that. Sure, RPGs not named Final Fantasy might not move more than forty or fifty thousand copies without some sort of marketing budget, but a game can still be profitable on that scale. Look at the success of XSEED, of Aksys, of Monkeypaw Games.

And hey, even if a publisher doesn't make money off the Western release of a given game, sometimes building up fan loyalty can be just as beneficial. By localizing a niche RPG—like, say, Mother 3—a company like Nintendo could have turned a cadre of angry fans into some of its biggest supporters. We feel connections to the guys like Atlus and XSEED not only because they talk to us like human beings, but because they rarely hold games back. This summer, Atlus released two niche RPGs on the dying PSP—Gungnir and Growlanser Wayfarer of Time. Both games flew straight under most peoples' radars, but the hardcore Growlanser fans will never stop appreciating Atlus for giving them the opportunity to play that game.

It's depressing that localization has become such a big issue for RPG fans. Fifteen years ago, I never could have imagined that I'd miss out on so many RPGs just because I don't speak Japanese. So listen up, you lovely publishers. We're here, we want to play good games, and we're willing to give you money for them. We just need a chance.

Random Encounters is a weekly column dedicated to all things JRPG. It runs every Friday at 3pm ET.