It seems like I do one story a day now in which Activision Blizzard is - right or wrong - going to be seen as the bad guy. I dawned on me recently that in addition to surpassing Electronic Arts as the #1 game publisher, they've also assumed EA's place of infamy in the hearts and minds of gamers.

Don't get me wrong: EA, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Ubisoft all draw their fair share of venom from the peanut gallery. But all of a sudden it seems like AB gets more heat than all of them...

DoctorFinger

As you may have heard, somewhere between 8 and 14 NFL players - including some big but not huge names - tested positive for banned substances this week.

Oh what's that, you didn't hear this story? While it was a significant story on ESPN, it never really crossed the line into 'big' much less 'huge'. And as near as I can tell the only thing keeping it from being huge enough to even crack the major news networks are three little letters: N-F-L.

Ask yourself this: had even...

DoctorFinger

So Electronic Arts and Bioware this week unveiled the worst kept secret in gaming: the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. Gamers were giddy with delight, imagining it will be every Star Wars fantasy made incarnate.

Then EA and Bioware began to talk about TOR in relation to World of Warcraft. The words 'gunning for' and 'taking the crown' were uttered. This is, in short, a bad idea at this point.

Don't get me wrong: this combination is one of the few that has the real...

DoctorFinger

Did you hear? The NHL season kicked off this weekend!

:crickets:

Yeah, I thought so. Unless you're among the hardest of the hardcore chances are you didn't hear a peep about the NHL Opening Night. Which, for those keeping track, took place in Prague and Stockholm. I'm not a coach killer type, but it amazes me that in this day and age Gary Bettman keeps his job while the league around him goes up in flames. He allowed the rampant over expansion - at one point the owners...

DoctorFinger

I grabbed Mega Man 9 off of XBLA this week, and boy does it take me back. Not just the 8-bit graphics or the synth sound. No, more than anything what brings me back is the difficulty. It hearkens back to the days when developers flat out didn't want the average gamer to beat their game.

Games today are different. Anyone willing to put in the time (or at least check out an FAQ) should be able to beat the game. Not so in ye olden days of the NES era. To some extent I understood...

DoctorFinger