Last Friday, I wondered aloud whether the voice issues with Rainbow Six would be resolved before I quit playing the game altogether. Well, it didn't take long - I'm done.

They've managed to create a game where you can be in the same server and still not play with your friends. Where you need to rely on methods just this side of string and empty soup cans to relate some time-sensitive (Goddamn) data.  I've determined that this isn't even the most dire result. The worst thing about it is that it truncates cameraderie: there's no unified celebration, and there's no shared grief.

Last night, after playing round after angry round, I suddenly remembered that I don't have to play broken games, even if everyone I know is doing so. I can Finish The Next Temple In Zelda or Spell Words. Divinity seeped through this tiny fracture in my life. It was like an angelic visitation, which is basically what the Christmas Season is all about.

There is a patch coming that will resolve this and other issues, but I'll be retaining my gratitude until I see the delivered goods.

There's a Neverwinter Nights 2 patch available as well, and after so many reports of rough water early on I decided to hold off on approaching the game as a nightly multiplayer proposition until I saw that version number tick up a few times. The list of issues resolved by 1.03 shows over two-hundred and fifty distinct items. I'm not prepared to call such a thing a "patch." Rather, I might be inclined to call 1.03 the retail release.

There's even a patch for the Playstation 3 today, but I have to level with you and say that I don't actually understand what it does. Joystiq says that it doesn't do what it purports to do, but then the link they use to support this claim starts to show positive comments. It's something about "priority" for 1080i signals.

I must say that, completely independent of actual gaming consoles, the these squabbles over resolution in next-gen displays are mainly disheartening. From a consumer perspective, it's a bramble. Now the discussion is about whether or not the device is actually displaying the full resolution it's capable of, or if the television is upscaling it, or if there is a token on the media explicitly disallowing full res, and it's a pile of shit. All of this confusion for paying customers, so that pirates will be detained an additional fifteen minutes before they descend, their scythes awhirl.

(CW)TB out.

throwing the gifts in the woodstove

Tomorrow is the last day to purchase tickets for the Child’s Play charity dinner and auction. Someone who would like to remain nameless has actually purchased a block of tickets and asked us to give them away in some sort of contest. If you’d like to try and win a pair of tickets all you need to do is write and draw your own three panel comic strip. We’ve decided to make it a little bit harder than that though. You’re comic will need to incorporate a few things in order to qualify for judging. It needs to have:

- The 2006 Child’s Play logo
- A cat
- Meat
- A city that is home to one of our partner hospitals.

Beyond that you’re free to be as creative as you want. Oh and you only have a day to do it! All the details and templates you’ll need can be found on the Child’s Play site. Go nuts, be as crazy as you want. We’ll pick our favorites and each winner will receive two tickets to the dinner. We’re not looking for drawing skills or anything like that. You can use a mouse and MS paint or a box or crayons it doesn’t matter at all. Just have fun with it.

-Gabe out

Don't forget, East Side friends: Fünde Razor is tonight, at Brooklyn's Barcade. I wanted to mention it again for several reasons. One, it is awesome. Two, it is an opportunity to mention the Events Page at the Child's Play site. There are quite a few sanctioned activities, maybe one in your hometowns!!!  Also, I wanted to draw attention to the unbelievably cool guitars they are raffling off this evening. They're Guitar Hero compatible guitars, made by a genius and built into real instruments. I wonder what it would take to buy one outright.

Also, while music and the holidays are intersecting, here is a startling and unorthodox Christmas Tune.

(CW)TB

This is pretty awesome. If you’re looking for another way to give to Child’s Play this year you should check out this link. Some independent Mac developers are teaming up and donating all the proceeds from sales of their software on Dec. 7th to Child’s Play. You can see all the details as well as a list of software on their site.

-Gabe out