Name: Fred Badlissi
Nicknames: …they exist. Inquire within.
Location: Austin, TX
Three Favorite Genres: At the moment…
2D Fighters
Light Gun games.
Anything with RPG elements outside of traditional RPGs
Three Favorite Games
Samurai Shodown 2 (Neo Geo)
Dr. Mario (NES)
Legacy of Kain: Defiance (XBOX)
Favorite Console: Sega Saturn
Other Places Writing Can be Found:
The Daily Texan
411 Mania
Inside Pulse
Artisan News Service (my pieces are […]
One day, a Microsoft intern by the name of Wes Cherry was in a deadlock with other Microsoft programmers and designers. Mr. Cherry, who had been an avid fan of things like “logic” and “compensation,” was commissioned to create a game that would be marketed along Minesweeper and a promising new game called Microsoft Excel. While Cherry was convinced that Solitaire was where it was at, he had faced an uphill battle in trying to get it past his management.
More specifically, he had to dispel Microsoft’s management’s mind regarding the potential success of his version of Solitaire versus the management’s choice to bundle Microsoft 52 Pick-Up with their latest Windows release. The same logic that today dictates that Vista is a superior operating system existed way back then as well, when little-known-to-the-gaming-community personality William Gates was convinced that players would have more fun picking up a virtual mess of cards from a virtual floor with their mouse, and bringing back said cards on top of a virtual table.
There was a silver lining in the clouds that day, however, and by some stroke of luck, a rare moment of beautiful epiphany graced over Redmond and it was decided to include Cherry’s Solitaire with every copy of Windows that shipped. And from then on, the world’s productivity level would screech to a halt. And despite the fact that Mr. Cherry never received a dime for his work, Solitaire has been played and played and played over and over again across any version of Windows you can think of - even stable ones. Despite the fact that lots of people have played it, very few if any have attempted to review it.
Wowzers.
Upon reading that response to the final question, you could imagine the skepticism running through my mind. “…the single greatest contribution to the good of mankind since HR GEIGER played Starcraft.” That’s a hell of a mountain to surmount. In a world where people contend with broken promises left and right, you might be inclined […]
Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutagari mentioned today that the company is weighing the option of outsourcing production of the Playstation Portable overseas, mainly China or Taiwan.
Citing increased demand for the PSP, Kutaragi said “We’re not prepared to start selling in Europe, we’ve run out of units in the U.S., and it’s still selling well […]
The Screen Actor’s Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists may go on strike against video game publishers, after both guilds pulled from negotiations to extend what are called “Interactive Media Agreements” on May 13th.
Today, both guilds sent out about 2,000 ballots to it’s members to vote on whether to strike or not. […]
The University of Gotland in Sweden has announced it will offer an interdiciplenary Masters program that it calls “Production managment in game modification /MOD’ing.” The program will be offered entriely online, as the school aims to fully immerse students in a framework of international project management.
The program also exhibits a vocational apsect, as the […]
After being on the market since August 2004, UK-based SCi Entertainment Group has finalized it’s take-over of Eidos Interactive. Eidos’ executive board has resigned and will be replaced with an interm board chosen by SCi.
SCi’s offer began in March 2005 as a counter-offer to US-based Elevation Partners. EP, whose executive board members include U2’s Bono, […]
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has told Japanese game site that Revolution will feature Wi-Fi connectivity, which will allow a wireless link between it and the Nintendo DS. He also mentioned that the DS would also be able to hop online via any standard wireless router. While the details of how individual DS’ would connect are […]
2K Games has purchased the publishing rights to not only the PC version of Sid Meier’s Pirates!, but also a forthoming X-Box version, in a joint release by Take Two Interactive and FIRAXIS. This builds on a prior joint venture between the two, as 2K Games will begin releasing the back catalog of titles from […]
After years of complaints on everything from shoddy customer service to charging an arm and a leg for out-of-stock items, the North Carolina Better Business Bureau has announced that Buy Rite Video Games is no more.
From the BBB’s webpage:
“On April 12, 2005 the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office contacted Buy-Rite Video Games, Inc. requesting that […]
Loading ...