Voice Module: The Laser Blog

September 21, 2006 - Least Wanted?

A few days ago, I picked up Need For Speed: Most Wanted for both the PSP and DS. To say the difference was glaring is a whopping understatement. On the PSP, the game apes its Xbox and 360 counterparts in terms of production polish, frame rate and pure adrenaline. On the DS, however, the NFS: MW becomes a clunky, ugly nearly unplayable generic racer that's barely worth putting into the slot. The music is terrible and the levels themselves suffer from bland textures, excessive pop-up and worst of all, uninspired design. The difference between these two versions is night and day, and shows that while the DS has been getting all the raves lately, Sony's vision of console quality games on a handheld is much better realized than anyone has given them credit for recently. Sure the DS has an innovative touch- and dual-screen approach, but these advantages quickly vanish when you see just how much more powerful the PSP hardware is when it comes to 3D rendering, and how much more can be squeezed onto a UMD versus the flash carts the DS uses. I'm not saying the DS isn't a charming system, but when I'm looking for console quality games on the go, the PSP is the only choice. Sorry, Nintendo, but there are times when using outdated hardware comes back to haunt you and this is one of them. I wonder if this approach will be as effective on the longer term when the Wii and PS3 go head-to-head? Will Nintendo's outdated hardware hold the system back as the novelty of the remote/nunchuck wears off? Reading the previews of Devil May Cry 4, you really have to wonder why Sony is looking forward, and expanding our expectations, while Nintendo is going backwards.... are gamers really going to be satisfied with outdated hardware when the PS3 developers really get a handle on things? 

September 19, 2006 - Skipping Out?

Now that all the excitement surrounding the Wii launch announcements has died down, things are beginning to get a little bit clearer. While the $250.00 price tag was a bit more than expected, many gamers are somewhat pleased by the inclusion of Wii Sports in the package. The really odd thing about this pre-launch period is the fact that most stores still haven't started pre-orders for either the Wii or PS3 yet. Not that we can blame them given the chaos that surrounded the Xbox 360 launch last year. Given the amount of money involved for purchasing both systems a basic library for both, however, we have to wonder just how much the industry expects hardcore gamers to shell out for these consoles. Let's be honest, neither the Wii or PS3 launch libraries looks world-changing and in fact one could say that both systems seem almost pedestrian. There are some interesting Wii casual titles, but we have to wonder whether there's enough appeal in the new controller to really keep players' interest for an extended period. Making matters worse is the PS3's launch library, which seems to offer more of the same, just with better polish. Given the high price tag attached, is it any wonder that the games, aside from Warhawk and Heavenly Sword seem to have fallen far, far short of the mark. When you consider the amount of hype and muscle behind the PS3, it's much-vaunted Cell processor and Blu-Ray technology, you'd think that Sony would be able to come up with something more impressive than a sequel to a nearly 12 year old game. Neither system seems to really qualify as must-purchase as of now. In all fairness, however, the Xbox 360 really hasn't had that an impressive of a run. There have been some really good games, but almost nothing that couldn't have been done on the standard Xbox. Is this a case of development becoming so risk-averse that nothing on these mainstream consoles is likely to appear truly revolutionary for some time to come? We don't know, but to us, the next generation is looking a bit too much like the last gen a year in. 

The one game I'm looking forward to most out of the launch lineups this year, Zelda: Twilight Princess is also coming out on the humble Gamecube. I'm seriously considering just purchasing this and letting the thousand dollars plus I could spend on these new system collect interest until something comes out that's actually worth it. Those overpriced launch titles are likely to be dirt cheap by next summer, anyway. You could probably get away with waiting six months and picking up the same hardware used for half the price and miss very little. Something to ponder. 

September 12, 2006 - What's Next?

While it seems like another retro week here on The Laser, that doesn't mean that we don't have our (middle) finger on the pulse of the industry. Of course, the main gossip this week revolves around the PS3 launch. Many sources have indicated that the system's initial allocation is just that - the first push. As information has been coming out, a better picture of the launch is emerging. According to sources, the initial 400,000 units for launch brings a small install base, but SCEA will also airlift an additional 800,000 units or so by the end of the year. This means a total of 1.2 million by the end of the year, which is actually pretty decent, considering that Microsoft had a much smaller number of units available during the same period of the X360's launch. Meanwhile, Nintendo is set to announce more details of its Wii launch plans this week, with the price and specific launch date set to be revealed. Once these come into view, we'll have a much better idea where the next-generation will begin. What happens after that isn't known, and we're not about to make fools of ourselves again. Anyone who slogged through our previous "console battle" coverage knows just how wrong we were.  Meantime, I've noticed that a lot of stores are in the beginning stages of clearing out the current gen stuff, so now is probably a good time to stack up. I've been picking up quite a few titles at a good price, tons of good Xbox stuff including the tough to find Futurama, all of it available at reasonable prices. 

Speaking of stocking up, I'm also going through a lot of my UMD movies gradually as the weeks go by, and I've been seeing a lot of decent films out there for the system. There's been plenty of anime and general animation movies, with a mix of the usual Hollywood stuff. My question to all of you out there is fairly simple - would you like to see UMD reviews here on the Laser? I'm considering opening this up as a new section, so please email me here at Lasermouse@worldnet.att.net if you want to see these. I have loads in stock, and I'm open to any requests you might have as far as specific titles go. 

September 5, 2006 - Another Sign?

As usual, it looks like this week opens up the floodgates to new releases, a couple of big games like Loco-Roco (PSP) and Test Drive Unlimited (X360) come out today/tomorrow. I'm still playing catch-up after the long summer, but expect me to "throw up" several more reviews this week in addition to the  Electroplankton review I sent off today. I've pretty much decided to stop playing it so safe all the time, so I'll be reviewing fewer big names and more interesting niche titles more often. 

In other news, the reaction to my blog has been mixed, some people have enjoyed it, while others have stated that they think I'm trying too hard. At least I'm trying. I also posted a mirror of Voice Module on Digital Press on Sunday night because I have no life. DP's forum and blog software then crashed almost immediately after. Is this another sign? Who knows.

September 3, 2006 - One Candle

It was the proverbial dark and stormy night, the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto hit us hard here in Norwalk, CT. last night, downing trees, clogging up the roads with debris, and causing a massive power outage. My original plan of spending another exciting Saturday night at home watching movies on my PSP was washed away. The winds howled, the trees swayed and the rain pounded through the windows. There were downed power lines everywhere, roads were flooded, making it unsafe to drive around. Not that it mattered, since most of the stores and restaurants were boarded up anyway. I sat there in the darkness, stumbling around looking for flashlights, using the light of my cell-phone for guidance. I found a couple of them but they seemed a bit dim, with their batteries going on them. Anyway, I looked around for a more reliable light-source, and found a single Christmas candle, which I set up in the sink, and watched as it flickered and waved around. It gave me an odd sense of peace and tranquility, something I hadn't felt a lot lately over the past few months. As I stood there, waiting and worrying about my parents who were out in the storm, wondering when the power would return, my thoughts turned to my friend Sean who passed away a few months earlier. In some weird way, the fact that I only had a single candle seemed symbolic of our friendship, and how I have struggled to keep the flame of his memory intact without getting burned by it. I watched it and remembered the many phone conversations we had, and the many things I had been reading in books about the afterlife and coping with grief. 

As the dusty old Christmas candle flickered against the wind, lighting my thoughts, I remembered all the times Sean would call me on Christmas day to say hello. How he stood by me through some horrible times in my life, when I felt very much alone. Especially, I remembered how his kind words and support helped me after my father was nearly killed in a bad car accident, how he made the many months afterward easier. I thought of how alone I felt last December when I was in the hospital myself for diabetes, and how great it was to hear his voice when I was so very sick, if even for a brief few minutes. I thought of how cruel the world can seem, how I'd never hear from him again, how he'd never call. I wondered if, as in many of the books I had read, he could send me some kind of sign that he was still around. Then, the most unexpected, unlikely thing happened. The power came back on sometime during the night and when I turned on the computer this morning, there was an email from someone I hadn't heard from in quite awhile: 

From: Daniel Thomas MacInnes 
Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2006 06:35:35 

Michael, hello. It's been a long time. I wish the circumstances were better. I learned about Sean Pettibone today when I discovered your website version of The Laser. It's almost by chance that I found your site, really. I was scouring through Google to find how many kids were stealing screenshots and photos from my main website, and it came upon your old NiGHTS review from the zine.

Anyway, it's a roundabout way of finding my way through the forest.

Sean was a tremendous influence upon me as a person. I don't think he was ever aware of this; it wasn't something that was truly evident to me for many years. But his persona, this vibrant, humorous vegetarian punk, was a revelation to a small-town kid who'd never really lived.

My best memory was June of 1994, when all the faneds converged upon Chicago for CES. A number of us stayed at the home of Scott Boehmer and his older brother (whose name, I'm sorry, I can't recall at the moment). I was there, Pettibone was there, Andy Saito came in from Canada. We were even blessed by the presence of the great Russ Perry, Jr. We were all packed into the Boehmer basement, like some makeshift hostel, crashing the CES, planning fandom's next moves (or lack of them), and driving cars on the sidewalk. Okay, that was Russ Perry, Jr., but he could do that. He was The Dude of our era.

I remember that Sean, Andy (I think), and the Boehmer brothers slapped together a small zine after CES which chronicled the trip and everything that happened. It's a classic, although to be honest, I felt hurt when I read that the Boehmers' older sister couldn't stand me. Still enjoyed the zine, of course, and wish I could have stayed on a couple days more before busing back to Minneapolis.

Oh, yes, I just remembered! When I came into Chicago, the first person I met off the Greyhound was this tall, scruffy guy peddling watches. He had these metal bars attached - just like Frankenstein - to his neck, from one ear to the other. There was a massive gash wound across his neck. The Human Pez Dispenser. Scared the fucking hell out of me. So that was my first impression of Chicago.

I would have liked to have found your site earlier, so I could tell Pettibone how his life impacted me. I'd like to know if I "made it," improved myself and grown up.

I wrote a eulogy for Sean on my main website, and I'll be posting it also on my games blog at Digital Press; I also borrowed the two photos from your site, and then resized them for my site. I hope you don't mind too terribly. I wish I hadn't tossed away all my fanzines years ago.

Hope everything is going well for you. You should keep Laser going, even if you need to take a vacation from it. You've been doing it long enough, at this point it just becomes a habit. Perhaps you may need to make changes or give it a facelift, just to kick yourself into tomorrow. Changes are invetable in this world, and they are a good thing.

Take care, truth seeker. Watch yer back,

Daniel Thomas MacInnes www.danielthomas.org

I'm completely blown away that this has happened, especially how many completely surreal things have been. There I was standing alone, thinking about my friend, and here comes someone, almost out of the woodwork, to tell me that they found out about Sean through me. One of the main reasons I've decided to keep the site going, but in a different direction is that little box in the corner under the navigation bar. I feel that every time someone loads up a page on here, his name comes up, and this makes a kind of daily tribute to Sean's life. Sadly, I feel like kind of a jerk for not emailing Daniel earlier, but I figured he probably knew about this already, but I guess not. For this, I am truly sorry. Daniel seems to have taken this horrible news very hard, and it's obvious why. However, I hope he can take comfort in the fact that this was kind of random, but maybe happened for a reason. The surreal aspects, that he was looking for something else, and happened to find my site, and subsequently found out about Sean, while somewhere else, across the country, unable to access the internet, I was thinking about him, says something to me that I can't quite verbalize, except to say that I now have a bit of a stronger belief that he's still out there in some form, watching. This is definitely a strong signal, I think of this, but believe what you will, I know what I think. 

One of the things this letter reminds me of is the strong impact we all have on others in this life, whether we know it or not. Sean was definitely one of those people who left a lasting impression on the world. He had an incredible impact on almost everyone he met, whether it was more than a decade ago in fandom, or more recently with all the kids he taught in Ann Arbor's schools. One of the more therapeutic books I read was Mitch Albom's simple, yet brilliant "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", which illustrates this point elegantly and nearly flawlessly. What they say is true, and this also offers me comfort. It's not how long you're here in this world that counts, it's what you do and how you affect the people you leave behind. Dan's letter was also reassuring to me in that it's nice to see someone you cared about being remembered, in a positive way. It helps, and seeing his name and photo on his site and blog definitely cheers me up, as strange as that might sound to you. 

Hearing about Daniel's experiences with Sean at the 1994 CES also reminds me of all the years I went to E3, and would always try and get a second item of some of the cooler swags. These extras didn't end up on Ebay, as the suspicious stares I'd get from company reps would have you assume. I was trying to get some cool stuff to share with someone who meant a lot to me, and without whose support I never would have started the website you're reading now, and who continued support still offers me inspiration, even now after their gone. They were tokens of my appreciation, but hopefully they were enough to make him smile. Sean and I shared enough of our bad times with each other, and I wanted to share some of the good ones as well once in awhile. 

One of the things I've tried to accept, now that he's physically gone, is that people who pass don't leave you with nothing. Feeling left behind for these past few months, I have been looking for signs and signals, some evidence that he's still here. There have been many strange and odd coincidences that have occurred over the past few months. Some of them are probably meaningless to you but mean a lot to me. One of the odder ways I've been trying to cope seems very strange on the surface, but feels right for me. Over the past month or so, I've been going up to Trumbull and playing in an adult soccer league. Don't ask me why, it just seems like something I need to try, mostly to try and meet new people and keep myself in shape. People do all sorts of crazy things when they lose someone close to them, drinking, using drugs, collecting PSP movies. I just wanted to make a positive change. I've never actually done anything like this before in my life, but there are several reasons why I decided to try this. 

About a year ago, Sean's father won a charity auction to have him appear as a character in the sports comic Gil Thorpe - he's a quarterback for the football team and the character has an incredible sense of honesty and justice. In one of the episodes, "Sean Pettibone" gives up the winning touchdown when he accidentally goes over a foul line. While the real Sean wasn't a star athlete, the character's honesty and ethics accurately reflect the kind of person he was. I haven't checked lately, but I think he still remains in the comic as well. This is quite a strange and surreal thing to see, now. On a subconscious level, I think in some way this was pointing me in the right direction. I had doubts whether this was the right thing to do, but there were some signs to move me in this direction. Sean's address in Ann Arbor was 111 Adams St., which probably doesn't mean that much to you in isolation, but it's taken on great significance to me. This happened when I was deciding whether or not to try this. When I drove up there to visit the place, I noticed that the route number was 111. You can dismiss this as a coincidence, but I saw it as a definite sign that I was on the right path, and doing something right. There are other things that have happened since he passed away, but this seems to be one of the more obvious ones. 

You can sit there and think I'm going crazy, but in some sense, what has happened just in the past 24 hours has increased my faith and belief that there's something we don't see, can't understand or just don't want to see. You can wave me off, but deep in my heart, despite feeling shattered and alone for a long time, the knowledge I have gained and the signs I've recieved have helped me to get through this awful time. While it's true that you never get someone back when they die, they can stay with you and remain force in your life - if you want them to. All of this began last night, when I staring at a candle, isolated and feeling very sad for my friend, his family and myself. Sometimes, when the world feels lonely, sad and unfair, there can be unexpected, seemingly random things that happen with no real reason. If you look at them the right way it can restore your faith, or give you strength you never though you had. Sometimes, when the world is bleak, all you need to see is the flickering, tentative glow of a candle burning against life's storms to light the darkness.

Thanks for the letter, Daniel. 

September 1, 2006 - Ethics?

A year ago, I wouldn't have said anything about this, I probably would have let it pass without making so much as peep about it. I would have ignored it, most likely. However, over the past few months I've been doing a lot of thinking about my life, and what it all means, what's important, and what really matters to me in the big picture. Living my life with ethics and integrity is one of the things that has become very important to me, as has honesty. While I've been a bit confused about the direction of my life, and whether I even wanted to continue publishing The-Laser.com, there are some things that I need to stand up for. One of those things is reclaiming my site from the temptations that seem to have derailed my original purpose. If posting this entry publicly means I lose some advertisers, then so be it. There are more important things in life than money and click- through counts. 

To begin,  I received an email (below in blue italics) a few days ago from one of our advertising representatives, asking me to compromise the Laser's integrity for $50. Can you spot the numerous problems contained within the email? The first question you should have is whether its proper, or even ethical for an advertiser to begin paying us to write up a website - especially one that currently has banners on the site. Then adding insult to injury, they send us a list of "topic questions", or what are better known as "talking points" to cover in the review? Then they have the nerve to ask us to "place" the review on the front page of the site?  

The most salient fact here is that the website in question is currently placing ads on the Laser makes the phrase "Conflict of Interest" scream in bright red, 40-point type. It's common knowledge that Banner ads are a necessary evil in many instances and help to support smaller sites, as long as they don't interfere with the overall experience (no pop-ups or pop-ins), and are clearly  differentiated from the site's content, they serve a purpose. However, this effort to "Buy" content and placement crosses the line. The Laser may have advertising, but that doesn't mean we're shills. Many sites (including this one) review games that have been sent to them by companies, but I've never felt pressured or obligated to write anything but an honest review of any games sent to me. Worst case scenario - the company stops sending us games, which we can still go to the store and buy ourselves. If the review appears a few days, weeks, or months, after other sites, it's not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of life. (On a related note, since I announced my 'retirement', most companies have stopped sending me review copies, and the volume of press releases has dropped off considerably. While it's not as exciting as it once was, I don't have to worry about reviewing games I don't really care about such as sports titles. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.) 

This email however, seems to cross the line into blatant dishonesty. You, our incalculably valuable readers, deserve much better than us working for another master on the side. Trying to purchase the Laser's editorial, and dictating our actual content, on the sly - this sounds like a really awful thing to do. I'm not going to lie and say I'm saintly, but there are certain things I won't do, lines I won't cross. While gaming journalism isn't known for following the morals, ethical rules and practice of standard journalism, I still believe that I have a responsibility to you, our readers to keep things above-board, honest and unbiased. I'm not taking bribes - certain things aren't for sale. Since The Laser isn't exactly raking in big bucks with advertising any how, I am seriously considering dropping all advertisements permanently, as I did for a few weeks earlier this summer, especially since these click-to-pay firms seem to be getting more arrogant and pushy with each passing week. We're a small site in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn't mean we can be pushed around. Our content, integrity and, trust we've built with our readers isn't for sale. At any price. 

Here's the unedited letter, so you can read the proposal yourself:

Michael, 

A couple weeks back I sent out an email asking you to review the ijji.com site and do a write up to be placed within your front page as news. I know there is a chance that placement on your front page is not feasible, but we still believe that this is something that can be done.

This is something we feel very strongly about. Ijji is brand new and if you live outside the USA or other English speaking countries there is a great chance you'll have no idea what they are.

NOW, as a bonus we are offering you $50 to write and post a review of the site using the topic questions below. We aren't looking for answers to the questions but for you to use them as a guideline. On your tool page there is special PR & Media Link labeled for review.

Here are the topic questions: 

1. What was your first impression of the ijji.com website? 
2. How were the graphics? 
3. How was the gaming community? 
4. Was there enough variety in the games available to play? 
5. How is the playability of the games? 
6. How does ijji.com compare to other gaming portals? 
7. Would you recommend ijji.com? 
8. Overall view of ijji as a whole?

You know your site better than we do and the simple fact that your visitors will trust your opinion whether positive or negative.

I'm hoping this weekend you will have the free time to spend view ijji.com, playing some of the games and giving us some great feedback.

If you have suggestions or further feedback please do not hesitate to email or call.

August 25, 2006 - Crazy?

Of all the bizarre things I've been doing lately, none seems to be quite as strange as the newest additions to my video game collection. What have I been collecting? Quite possibly the most reviled, hated phenomenon to come out in the past two years: UMD Movies. Don't ask me why, but I've come to love watching films on my little PSP. As of right now, I own 100 titles exactly.

Since it's fairly obvious that the format's days are numbered, I think now is a good time to begin a collection. Over the past weekend, I went a bit nuts and bought a dozen titles, most of which are actually pretty decent films including The Matrix, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Incredibles, which cover the mainstream Hollywood movies, and a few odd-ball titles like Godzilla: Final Wars, an excellent Korean martial arts film called Oldboy along with some anime including Ninja Scroll, Appleseed and the classic Akira. I haven't had the time to watch all of these yet, but I think I have pretty good taste. One of the ones I'm happiest about are the two sets of TV episodes, The Boondocks and classic Ren & Stimpy, both of which I was lucky enough to grab used but complete. I also bought a couple of crappy movies based on games like Silent Hill, House of the Dead, Doom, and both Tomb Raider films, though these were more because of their game connections than anything else.

I know there's a lot of derision of the format, but I can't help but think that its uniqueness, odd selection of titles and packaging makes it an ideal collectible for the future. I could be wrong, but it's still a nice collection to have, with their convenient size and look making a nice compliment to my existing PSP collection. I know what you're thinking, "He's buying DVD's without special features that can't be played on a regular TV for the same price as normal discs." Here's the thing though, which is really odd, I don't and never have actually collected DVD's. I have no interest in them. Collecting these PSP UMD's is more a part of my video game collection than anything else, specifically the PSP library. I can already hear some of you fanboys chiming in about the movies offering more entertainment than the games, which I don't think is true. If any of you system advocates are wondering and ready to start accusing me of bias, don't.  I also recently finally purchased a Nintendo DS as well, and am having a great time. I scored two really cool games, Electroplankton and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow cheap and used as well. Beginner's Luck, I suppose. 

Anyway I'm (somewhat perversely) proud that my UMD collection has grown so rapidly, and while it's been a bit expensive to grab enough titles to reach the century mark, I know in a year (or less) these many of the lower-print run UMD's won't be easy to find, so maybe I'm jumping the gun but I'm buying the ones I want now cheap, so I won't have to pay double or triple retail on ebay in the future for some of the rarer titles. My advice to fellow collectors? If you're considering adding this sub-collection to your PSP, now is the perfect time to start. 

August 22, 2006 - Retirement?

I sent out this message a few weeks ago telling the world about my retirement from the Laser. At the time, I was completely devastated, and to be honest, I still am. However, since I don't really have a "Plan B" in place, I've decided to keep the Laser afloat, but much more on my terms from now on. I've come to the conclusion that since every time someone loads a page on the site up, Sean's name comes up, and you can click through and read some of his writings, it's a way of keeping his memory alive. I do apologize for the confusion. I'd also like to thank those of you out there who wrote in with support and understanding, it means a lot to me on a personal level.

Still, I've found other, more important ways to remember my friend. On a personal level, this means I am now a vegetarian, which I feel is an important, daily way to remember my friend Sean in a very significant way. As some of you may know, Sean was a vegetarian, and a strong believer in Animal Rights, via Peta and other organizations. This hasn't been easy to achieve, since I'm also diabetic, which makes it difficult to keep a balance between no-sugar, no meat when grocery shopping. However, its not all sacrifice without any gain. The good news, is that I've lost a lot of weight on this program, and I don't think I've ever felt as good as I do now. Perhaps, on a cosmic or transcendent level, my friend Sean is guiding me in the right direction even now. Who knows? I just feel its the right thing to do.

However, staying on this  diet is extremely important to me, since I can change something in my life permanently. Sean changed my life permanently while he was here. My continuing his ethics on a personal level is something I don't feel is a sacrifice, but an honor. 

I feel that whenever I order a veggie burger or have a salad instead of a steak, he's still significant a part of my life. He was always a strong influence on me, and now, whenever I eat something, he can stay with me personally as an inspiration and a beacon to do what's right. Here's the email announcing the end of the Laser. It probably sounds overly dramatic to you, but this wasn't something I did lightly. Sending this off was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Looking back on it, perhaps I needed a break, a vacation, some time off. However, the absence of this site did remind me of what's really important to me regarding my writing career, and what I want to achieve with the Laser. So here it is, the premature announcement of my retirement:

A Message for readers of the Laser

June 26, 2006

Hello,

After 13 years on and off, first as a fanzine from 1993 to 1997 and its subsequent incarnation as a website since October of 2000, I have decided to end production on The Laser. This hasn’t been an easy decision for me, but the events I have gone through over the past year have all pointed me in this direction. While I am proud of what I have accomplished with the site, considering all the setbacks I have faced, the bottom line is that the site was never going to grow into what it should have been. Many of these things are best left unsaid, so I’ll just say that The Laser was never supposed to compete with larger sites, though that’s what eventually happened.

While the professional side of the Laser never took off, a number of personal issues got in the way. I’m not getting into the details publicly but the biggest of these was the passing of my good friend Sean Pettibone two months ago. Sean was an integral part of the Laser on a behind-the-scenes basis, offering me the crucial advice and support that I needed.

Sadly, his loss has proven impossible to overcome, with each load of Frontpage a crushingly heartbreaking reminder of his absence from my life. I never would have met Sean if it wasn’t for the fanzine columns in VG&CE, and trading my ‘zine with his, In Between The Lines. And several years later, The Laser never would have come back as a website without his support, and it can’t continue without him – it just wouldn’t feel right to go on with this as if he didn’t matter to me.

This is a deeply sorrowful time, and its best not to hang onto the past any longer. The Laser is now officially no longer active. I will continue to maintain and host the Url as an archive of older articles and reviews, but there will be no more daily news updates and reviews will no longer be added. As the advertising banners expire, the site’s load speeds will hopefully improve.

As for myself, I have decided to exit the video game journalism career path entirely. At this point, I don’t know what lies ahead. I’d like to thank all of my readers and contacts for their continued support over the years. Thanks for making this time in my life so enjoyable. And to those of you who have supported me personally with your time and effort, you have my sincerest gratitude.

Thank you and goodbye for now,

- Michael Palisano

(Looking back this was a good-bye, in terms of the old Laser, but it was also a hello, to a new, more active, less compromised site that better reflects the spirit of the original fanzine. - MP)

August 15, 2006 - Misc. 

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog part of the site. I've been stumbling around these past few months in search of a new direction for the site. As you can tell, perhaps, I'm trying to make things feel less commercial, and give the site a welcome dose of the old fannish energy, at least the creepy polka-dot woman part.  Going forward, The Laser isn't going to be what it was. I won't be doing suck-up previews any more, and will try and add focus and direction to the games I do cover. I'm also thinking of going into my personal archives to give things more perspective.

Onto other things, I haven't had much to say about some of the events of the past summer, but here's my thoughts, in a nutshell. 

E3: Cancelled - This was a bit of a surprise, though in recent years, this has become more and more about the spectacle, the glitter and the parties. It's definitely something to keep an eye on. As a media-type person, I'm happy to see there will be more focus next year on the GAMES, you know, what E3 was supposed to be about originally. Ironically enough, E3 was originally started in 1995 as a response to CES' decision to treat the gaming industry as a stepchild. It's good to see someone getting back to their senses. For a change.

PlayStation 3: The other big surprise this summer was Sony's shocking announcement that the PS3 would retail for $500 or a whopping $600 at launch. The price may seem exorbitant, but we guess that Sony took a look at all the money Ebay scalpers made when Xbox 360 launched and decided to keep a little of that graft for themselves. The high price is probably going to dampen demand, but we'll still be surprised if Sony DOESN'T sell through every unit it can manufacture this year. A more worrying concern for the long term is the buzz on the software side. Games like Resistance: Fall of Man and Heavenly Sword are garnering attention, but others like WarHawk  haven't been able to generate as much excitement as you'd expect them too. It's been a shaky start for the PS3, but if you look back soberly on the PS2's launch, many of the same criticisms were leveled at Sony then as well. 

Nintendo Wii: Nintendo has built up a strong buzz with the DS, and the Wii seems to have benefited greatly from the handheld's cult audience, enjoying a halo effect. Despite its odd name, Wii seems to have put itself in a stronger early position than many would have predicted. Its innovative controller has won raves from players and editors while the software support seems to be shaping up quite strongly at this early stage,.with the new Zelda and Mario making for a much stronger launch lineup. Nintendo fans are understandably ecstatic about Wii's early momentum but a word of caution is in order, gamers with long memories might remember that the N64 and Gamecube also started strong for the first year, only to fizzle away after the initial buzz wore off. Nintendo's current management seems to really have their eye on the ball this time around however, and we're betting they'll avoid the pitfalls that hurt their last two consoles.  

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