Ignorant Bitch Admits Ignorance

Cooper Lawrence, the loudmouth "Psychology Expert" from Fox News' well-publicized attack on Mass Effect, is now admitting that she is, in fact, an ignorant bitch, and simply said what she was told to say. Probably by Fox themselves. Now that her book's Amazon review is in the toilet thanks to a brutal retaliatory attack by the gaming public, she has decided to make an apology, conveniently earning more publicity in the NY Times.

Judging by the commentary on sites such as Digg and Kotaku, gamers seem ready to forgive and forget. But here at GLG, we know what the word grudge means. It means we still plan on returning our copy of her book. And we didn't even finish it.

Digg is obsessed with Scientology.

No, this is not photoshopped. These were the top stories of Digg.com on the morning of January 24th, 2008. Seriously, people. We all know Scientology is weird. We've seen the Tom Cruise video. We saw the episode of South Park. Do we really need five of the top ten stories on Digg to be concerned with this hokey religion? I mean, I know religious intolerance is de rigueur at the moment, but does anybody remember when Digg was full of interesting tech, gaming, and science stories?

When Conservatives Need to Plug a Book.

Ugh. Fox News really gave me the screws this week, when they simultaneously attacked my love of gaming and my love for journalism with one tidy little package.

Watch their expert openly laugh when her "facts" are challenged, and she is asked if she's played the game in question, a.k.a., done any research at all.

Watch their mediator quickly change the subject when the correspondent from Spike TV points out their factual errors.

Watch the panel of experts at the end, who conveniently all share the same opinion and openly joke about their complete lack of knowledge.



Shit, I have a headache.

Tips from TSquared

Pro Halo player TSquared shares some basic but helpful knowledge for G4 viewers.

When Bungie goes Hunting

We're guessing that the Halo movie is all but dead, considering that WETA has begun unloading valuable props to Frankie and the gang, where they will only cause pain and sadness.

For more pics of terrifying bald men and details on upcoming Halo maps, check out this week's update on Bungie.net.

MLG on ESPN

Now this is a serious breakthrough. ESPN, the worldwide standard in sports coverage, has struck a deal with MLG to begin coverage of professional gaming. No more half-assed G4 specials, no more sporadic USA show times. Now Final Boss will be sandwiched Tiger Woods and Roger Federer on the plays of the week.

And check out their gaming-dedicated site. Thanks to a 1up.com partnership, it looks like it's been around forever.

'mo betta DLC

Yeesh, either we're getting old, winter has slowed our brains, or things are moving quickly in the world of Halo these days. Bungie's recent revelations about their next batch of downloadable maps has us feeling overwhelmed- we're just getting acquainted with Rat's Nest. And haven't even had a chance to play Grif-ball. What it comes down to, we suppose, is that we're just not playing enough Halo.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

You're not a real gamer if you don't play strategy games.

If you've never waited for a Starcraft map to load, typed "gl hf" with jittery hands, and then promptly shit yourself when the reply came back as Korean jibberish, then you don't know the meaning of competitive gaming.

Strangely, the most intense genre in gaming has moved away from the PC (at least for now), onto a piece of hardware that couldn't appear more casual: Nintendo's DS.

The Advance Wars franchise has been around forever, so it was no surprise when Dual Strike became a must-have title for last year's "other" touch-screen phenomenon.

A little franchise named Final Fantasy also tried to bolster the DS's strategy cred, but fell flat when released in December. Too much RPG, not enough multiplayer. As in, no multiplayer at all.

But it's for the best, when you consider that this month brings another Advance Wars, the dreary-looking Days of Ruin. In addition to new, drab color schemes, the game has new units, and serious new features. Commanding Officers now take their place on the battlefield, lending abilities and stats to surrounding units, a la the heroes of Warcraft 3. A new emphasis on naval combat allows for more offense from carriers and battleships, which now have the ability to move and fire.

The one feature that will keep me ignoring my Xbox, though, is the game's online multiplayer, which includes voice chat via the DS's mic. Just remember, if The Phantom Hourglass's use of the microphone left you feeling sheepish in public places, then your raving smack-talk probably belongs on your couch. Just because the system is portable, doesn't mean you have to take it outside.

Be sure to read 1up's full preview, linked again here for your convenience.

Major Nelson's website, in a shocking display of sympathy from Microsoft, announced today that they were "disappointed with their performance" in dealing with the holiday boom on Xbox Live. Apparently, a record amount of users have joined the community, testing the servers' might and causing a few service issues here and there.

The previously noted display of sympathy is notable, because it comes in the form of a free full-version Live Arcade game download for each user. Details to follow.

Street Fighter IV

Here's the latest from 1up's ongoing coverage of Street Fighter IV. This week's vid focuses on new gameplay mechanics and Capcom's efforts to balance the game.



Also, be sure to check out last week's 20-minute epic, which featured the first-ever video of SF IV gameplay.