For whatever reason, this news report makes multiple mentions of the criminals' hobby of playing games, as though the game-playing habits of the criminals are somehow relevant to the crime.

Can anyone explain why the news report went to the trouble of digging up the unrelated issue of the criminals' time spent playing games for a news story about a robbery?

I was just reminded today that I never got around to playing Capcom's critically acclaimed Okami for the PS2. I think I have it at home. I remember ordering some games right around that time last year, but it's all a bit hazy. It might've just been God Hand. which I know I have, for sure. I know I got...some stuff, late last year, for PS2. Did I get them both? I'll have to look tonight, but since my living area always looks like a tornado just hit it, I doubt I'll find it. If I even have it.

DirectX 10 is finally here (sort of). Take a look at some new screenshots of Company of Heroes comparing scenes from the game in DX9 versus the same scenes rendered in DX10.

This first set of screenshots come to us provided by the game's publisher, THQ, to show off the differences in lighting and textures with DX10 turned on.

-- 

Cube shadow mapping in DX9: (screenshot from THQ)

Cube shadow mapping in DX10: (screenshot from THQ)

--

Fire and smoke effects in DX9: (screenshots from THQ)

Fire and smoke effects in DX10: (screenshots from THQ)

--

DX9 grass: (screenshot from THQ)

DX10 grass: (screenshot from THQ)

--

Night scenes in DX9: (screenshots from THQ) 

Night scenes in DX10: (screenshots from THQ)

--

If you haven't downloaded the patch yet, you can get it here. Also, the official forums of the developer, Relic Entertertainment, have some notes about the patch.

It's hard not to have mixed feelings about the newly announced game from EA based on The Simpsons. To give you some context, I'm one of those guys who thinks that the TV show used to be a top-notch, consistently entertaining comedy series that has become...something different.

The Simpsons: Hit and Run for PS2 / Xbox / GameCube (2003) 

As far as the game goes, it's not clear what direction it will take. The most recent Simpsons-licensed video game, The Simpsons: Hit and Run from 2003, was actually a pretty good take-off on the open-ended, driving-focused Grand Theft Auto series. The licensed games before that, well, they weren't so good. Simpsons Skateboarding from 2002 was a terrible attempt to grab hold of the already-peaking "extreme sports" trend that was created by the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series but fell flat on its face with a broken control scheme and really bad graphics. Before that came The Simpsons Road Rage from December 2001, a Crazy Taxi knock-off that had lousy control and physics, and the extremely disappointing The Simpsons Wrestling for the original PlayStation from April 2001, which had control problems, camera problems, and really, really unsatisfying gameplay. Aside from the other sparse bright spots in Simpsons video game history, the surprisingly decent The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror for the original Game Boy from March 2001, and the flawed-but-fun The Simpsons Arcade Game from Konami back in 1991, Our Favorite Family hasn't had much luck in the world of video games.

Simpsons Skateboarding for PS2 (2002)

If you've played all of the above games (I won't mention the pre-PlayStation-era games, most of which were flat-out garbage), you'll know what I'm talking about. However, you'll also know that with all the licensed Simpsons games released in the past 6 or 7 years or so, that the show's creative team has at least made an effort to contribute to the games. Every Simpsons game from Simpsons Wrestling on up has featured original voiceover from the show's actual cast, as well as numerous sight gags and in-jokes that cater directly to fans of the show, such as how the the scratchy-voiced Krusty the Clown character is the announcer in Road Rage, similar to how Crazy Taxi's scratchy-voiced Wolfman Jack impersonator. So, at the risk of editorializing and coming off biased, I'd have to say that the series' uneven history in the world of video games isn't the fault of the show's creators--from what I can tell, they seem to have at least tried to hold up their end of the bargain. According to our recent preview story, the new game will include self-conscious video game parodies, which is definitely territory that the show has explored before. I think most fans would agree that the show has successfully parodied video games (and video game-related marketing) in older episodes with bits like Video Boxing (a classic parody of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! featuring Homer- and Bart-like boxers in place of Glass Joe and Little Mac) and BoneStorm! (a not-so-subtle parody of the over-the-top advertising campaigns used for the Mortal Kombat games). As far as what this means for the new game, and how well the current writing staff will be able to handle it, I'll leave that for you to decide.

The Simpsons Wrestling for PlayStation (2001)

As far as the gameplay goes, we don't have many details yet, but whether the new project succeeds as a game will, of course, come down to execution. Working with a property as big and as popular as The Simpsons almost seems like a license to print money, so it's easy for us to get cynical about these games and assume the developers will use the license as a crutch--not really bothering to make a decent game and letting the name on the box sell the game. I really hope the team at EA doesn't fall into this trap. A Simpsons game that stays true to its source material will be appealing to the show's fans, but a Simpsons game that also plays really well could be a much, much bigger success...for everyone, not just EA.

This update isn't related to video games. It's really more to share with you, if you hadn't already heard, the story of the small-business lawsuit that's currently in progress in Washington D.C.. A courtroom judge is representing himself in a case in which he's suing for more than $60 million USD for damages relating to...a lost pair of pants which were found a week later.

Lawyers are one of the oldest targets for criticism and nasty jokes out there. As the tired old joke goes, there's only one real lawyer joke...the rest are all true stories. But the incredible abuse of the justice system that the plaintiff is committing is no joke. It's outrageous. The courtroom battle is about one greedy/insane judge up against a small business, but it's easy to see it, in principle, as a battle between the maniacal, lawsuit-fueled greed of America...and the American dream of coming to this country with nothing, starting from scratch, and working hard to build a new life. From the sound of things, the American dream is losing this one.

A colleague of mine passed me a disc that contained some old photos. If you don't recognize any of them, feel free to ignore them. If they mean anything to you, enjoy.

[EDIT - Sorry for the confusion, the image links should work now.]