Monthly Archive: December 2011

Bad PR For Avenger Controllers

Bad PR Avenger Controllers

So Penny Arcade has covered a story in which a customer named Dave emailed the PR firm charged with handling the new Avenger Controller for the Xbox 360. The emails start getting worse and worse from Paul Christoforo, the president of the PR firm Ocean Marketing. He eventually tells Dave that no customer is special and that he’s going to put Dave’s two controllers on Ebay for $150 instead.

Dave forwards the emails to Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade, who also happens to be in charge of PAX. He assures David that Ocean Marketing will not have a booth at any PAX events. Mike then exchanges a few emails with Paul, who goes off on an ego trip claiming that PAX is too small for him anyway (despite having the most attendees of any gaming expo in the US last year) and he could just call up the Mayor of Boston or the people who own the convention center if he wanted – because he knows everybody. The emails are both funny and saddening. Saddening because Ocean Marketing is tarnishing the reputation of the Avenger Controllers who have been using them for PR and marketing and they’re going to feel it where it hurts – the pocketbook.

Check out Penny Arcade’s post on their site about the whole ordeal.

Update: Avenger Controllers drops Ocean Marketing

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SWTOR Has Launched

SWTOR Has Launched

Star Wars the Old Republic officially goes live today. Some of us have been in the Early Access playing for a few days now and are on the Iron Citadel server Republic side in the guild “Swamp Rat Snipers”. Grab a copy of the game from Origin, Amazon, or even the SWTOR.com site and feel free to join us!

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RIP Star Wars Galaxies

RIP Star Wars Galaxies

Very few games can elicit both the best memories we’ve had sitting in front of a television or a computer screen and the worst memories. This is partially because most of the games we play are static… they’re very rarely changing in a really big way. In 2005 Star Wars experienced one of the most drastic changes ever in MMO history and lost a good portion if not the majority of it’s user base within one single patch. It’s hard to imagine that this was 8 years ago, but today Sony Online Entertainment has officially pulled the plug it’s Star Wars based MMO. Tomorrow marks the launch of the latest and greatest Star Wars MMO: Star Wars the Old Republic. Is it a better game today than SWG is? Sure. Will it replace the nostalgia? Probably not.

I think one of the worst things I could’ve done since leaving SWG was resubbing for a month to go back and “check out the place”. The city was completely vacant minus a house or two. The guild hall was gone, the cantina was gone, the shuttle port was gone and all the vendor tents were gone. “Ranger Outpost” was vacant save a few Shaupaut and Spineflaps roaming the hillside.

SOE made sure that the remaining players went out with the biggest end of the world party the game had seen. The developers even participated in these events, deploying a host of X-Wing fighters and shooting off fireworks similar to the show seen in The Return of the Jedi. Like EverQuest, Ultima Online, Asheron’s Call and Dark Age of Camelot, it has left its mark in PC gaming history, and for many of us, will be truly missed.

“On behalf of the Star Wars Galaxies team, thank you,” SOE stated. “We have truly enjoyed getting to know you – our dedicated players – over the years. From in-game events to Fan Faires, we appreciate your continued loyalty and support. It would not have been possible without you.”

If you’re interested in finding privately run servers for SWG to try and reclaim a bit of nostalgia, you can check out what SWGEmu and SWGAnh have to offer.

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