Web bias, what a cruel mistress thou are...

We here are Kneel Before Pod are bias. Ryan and I actually had a discussion the other night about it. It went something like this;

Me: "I think we should make sure we focus on being editorial. We're not a news site."

Ryan: "Yeah, we're bias."

Me: "And we just don't have the connections or resources to matter in the news world."

We understand that there is a line in journalism. It's one that used to be sacred and some would make it their mission to never cross it. When you are reporting news, you should do so without bias. When you include your opinion or start to skew the story to support your point of view, it becomes something else. It's no longer news meant to keep you informed of the latest developments in your world. This has been the official standard in journalism for years. There is room for these non-reporting features in the world, and frankly this is some of the best content. Where do I find a problem? When this content is not clearly marked as such. Some people can easily tell the difference, but some people in the world also need a reminder to *not* put a plastic bag securely over their head. I think it's safe to assume if a person doesn't know enough to not kill themselves with what most of us use to carry our cereal home, said person might not be able to tell that a story is being tainted by bias.

Most traditional (i.e. printed) outlets seem to be holding true to this tradition, or at least claim to be when call out as otherwise. That's why when you read an issue of your favourite gaming magazine, there is one whole section labelled "Reviews." This tells you clearly that you're entering the world of opinion. Or they will even state clearly that the content is editorial in nature. The biggest perpetrators of this are the websites that carry video game news. Their mix of editorial content and legit news often makes for a bizzare mix of unbias reporting and complete unblinking bias the next, sometimes by the same author on the very same topic.

The most recent example I have found of this is a website, which I will not name just because I don't want to make it look like I am trying to start a "feud," that has been one of a couple sites running regular posts about the recent stink over Gamestop's policy of allowing employees to take new games home to try and then still sale them as new. I personally think it's all pretty stupid, but that's not the point. The point of my editorial is that this site's posts are hard to take as being impartial. Ever. They have shown blatant bias on many issues in the past. So now, every time I read something of theirs I personally question "Are they being bias now?" Consistently, I never know how to take the words that are written on their page.

Think I might be a little rough on them? Well, you be the judge. Here is a direct quote from one of their stories. "With legal ambiguities surrounding this issue, we'd simply suggest buying used titles from your friendly, online click-and-order retailer in the meantime, rather than contributing to billions of dollars in used game sales at your own and other gamers' expense" is said at a more recent post about Gamestop. They are suggesting that you, the reader and consumer, bypass a company before anything is decided by *ANY* governing body. This is a practice that the company has done for well over a decade and has never been deemed illegal. Yet despite the total lack of guilt on Gamestop's part, they are suggesting you boycott them. Not only that, they are suggesting that you boycott the purchase of their... used games... which... has nothing to do with the current issue. This makes my brain cry. That is par for the course on this website.

Now let me say, there is nothing wrong with opinion laden content. Hell, that is 99% of all the original content you see on our site. We have a third of our weekly show dedicated to us remarking and talking general jackassery about actual news. I'm just saying lets make this a clear divide. Lets see a little tag that indicates real news and what is the ranting of a clearly bias fanboy. I feel so strongly about this, that recently we have started doing it on our site, even though I have already admitted that 99% of our content is pretty much devoid of unbias fact.

One last thing before I finally decide to go to bed. I hate Gamestop. With the burning passion of a million suns. I think that they are part of the problem and not the solution in nearly every issue that the video game industry faces. I think that they are a company that treats a majority of their employees *very* poorly. So, it almost causes me physical discomfort to defend them in even the most remote way. If you want to know how we feel about this policy at Gamestop, listen to this weeks show. I'm sure it will come up. Till then, be excellent to each other.

Late Night done right?

Maybe. Yesterday was the first episode of NBC's Late Night with it's new host Jimmy Fallon. Now, I wouldn't say I'm a "fan" of Fallon's, but I don't dislike him either. When he was on SNL, I enjoyed some of his stuff and I thought he was great on Weekend Update with Tina Fey. So, coming into this I was pretty neutral. I was excited to hear that he was going to focus on more tech culture such as the internet and video games, which are things I am personally interested in.

So, I settled in last night to watch the premiere of this new era of Late Night. Bottom line? Not bad. First things first, it was very clear that Jimmy was nervous. He was a little fidgety and awkward at times, but his jokes were very funny. He had some things that on paper and when described sound very funny such as the game "Lick it for Ten," a game where he would pay people $10 to lick various items, but just didn't come across as funny as you would think when executed. Overall, as far as humour and entertainment go, this show displays a lot of potential.

The weakest link of the show for me is Jimmy's interviewing skills. He falls into that terrible pit that Stephen Colbert oft jokes about, but never falls into strangely, where all the discussion is by or about the interviewer and not the interviewee. There seemed to be a distinct lack of just asking open ended questions of the guest and letting them answer. Often Jimmy would but in with a story about him and his guest, and at one point told a story about Jack Nicholson. While interviewing Robbert De Niro. You know, because I'm sure Mr. De Niro doesn't have any interesting stories...

So, in short, I found the show funny and I am sure to watch it again in the near future. I am not a typical Late Night viewer these days, but I used to be back when my schedule was more open. Maybe once Jimmy is in full stride it will be a show I go out of my way to watch.

So did anyone else watch it? Have an opinion? Pop on over to our forum and chime in!

Spore: End Game Thoughts

There's no need to warn of spoilers here. Spore only has as much or as little story as you give it. And it should be no surprise that the last stage of your creature's evolution is space. That's right, you take your creature further than our own race has gone.

There are a few different ways to go about this stage. You can go out and conquer other races, because there are many, many different races out there. You can establish trade routes and alliances, which eventually lead to you buying that particular star system. Both of these choices lead to earning badges, which fill a progress bar. Once that bar is filled, you can effectively call yourself Done. That's what I did anyway.

The other way to end the game, and I believe this one will take a much longer time to complete, is to make your way to the Center of the Universe, establishing colonies along the way. I say this is a longer way of finishing the game because in addition to your ship's physical movement across the cosmos, you'll probably end up playing the short game as well. I didn't do this part. My race has effectively conquered their small area of space, and I'm calling it quits. I can only imagine that reaching the Center of the Universe must be very rewarding and you'd probably want to have a party to celebrate. But I'm here to tell you, my friends, that I don't need a reason to have a party.

I don't have many gripes about this game, looking back. And the ones that I do have are focused squarely on the Space Stage. For one, your "fleet" has one ship. Apparently your race, as advanced as they are, can only make one ship for you. While it's true that other races can lend you their ships, putting the total number in your fleet to five, it would have been nice to have a xenophobic, Empirical fleet of just my own people.

And because your race can only provide you with one ship at a time, every time there's any sort of trouble at one of your colonies, you are the one they call to come save the day. Pirates, malicious rival races, or infected fauna are just some of the distress calls you get. Your allied races will call you with these same problems. Advanced as they are, they just can't take care of themselves.

It's easy enough to ignore these calls, but I wouldn't advise it. Every time you ignore them, and continue on your own business, you fall back a step in their opinion of you, which could lead to the loss of trade routes, alliances, or all-out declarations of war. So I saved their asses every time. And it kept me busy.

There are other things to do besides set up colonies and expand your empire. You can become a treasure hunter of sorts, seeking out new systems for artifacts which can be sold for a mint. You can help fledgling civilizations grow, and once they reach their own space-faring potential, you've got a new ally right off the rip. As I said, there is plenty to keep you busy in this game.

Each race also has their own religion, which is something to pay attention to as well. Certain sects are more aggressive, demanding tribute or attacking you outright. Others focus on commerce, and still others just sit back and let it all flow around them. Keeping the religions of your allies straight is important, because while responding to a distress call from one ally, I find that they are being attacked by another ally. What to do? Find out who's empire is bigger, then destroy the smaller one. Again, that's what I did.

Spore is a really good game. Not great, but very good. Incredibly high replayability. But take a while off from it before you dive right back in. When you finally do come back, because you will, you'll have a better understanding of what to do.

That said, it is pretty short. If you had a free weekend, you could definitely blast through it. Being generous, I'd say it's a 14 hour game.

I'ma give it 8.5 out of 10.

Next up for me, Star Wars Battlefront for the PC. And some WoW thrown in there too.

Reaction: TheClone Wars TV Show, are these the Clones you're looking for?

From Kneel Before Pod

It's no secret how we felt about The Clone Wars movie. It was horrible and I felt shit on. If I was a child, I would hope that I felt offended by the blatant pandering and just plan down right insulting writing.

Luckily, this little post is not about the movie. This post is about the TV series. Sure, the movie was actually the first few episodes duct taped together and shoe horned onto a movie reel, but I still had hope. There was a chance that those first few episodes were just crap. Maybe they would be able to tune up the final project between the release of the movie and the premiere of the show. I am nothing if not a hopeless romantic and optimist when dealing with my favourite franchises, so why would Star Wars be any different. So I hope and I pine. Was my hoping in vain?

Short answer, no. The show that I am watching is a better experience than what I had with the movie. Notice I said experience and not product. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm not paying $10 to see this, or it works better on the TV, or maybe it's actually of better quality. Of course, it might be like hitting yourself in the head with a brick over and over. After awhile you stop feeling the pain and you get used to the blood running into your eyes. Thankfully, unlike the brick to the skull, The Clone Wars cartoon will not kill me so I will continue to bludgeon myself in the head with it. So you might be wanting some details at this point since I have been painting with broad strokes and bricks.

Ok, lets start off with what they do wrong. Why? Because I want to and honestly, it's a pretty short list. I honestly don't like how they are writing the villains for the most part. Both Ventress and Grievous come off as little whiny bitches at times. Especially Grievous with him complaining about the speed of his ship and what not. They really feel like token cartoon villains and not too threatening most the time. I know that outside of books and comics, these characters haven't been explored much, but I would think they would be a little cooler and darker.

To the defense of the writers, they do get some things right with these characters. In the same episode that Grievous is complaining like Anakin, they hit a couple really cool character nuggets. They really illustrate his complete disregard for both living and droid lives. At one point, to the disapproval of Dooku, he punches the head off a battle droid for opening it's stupid mouth and admitting how incompetent it is. Which is great, because he's doing exactly what I want to do. What do I want to do you may ask? Well let me tell you.

DESTROY EVERY FUCKING BATTLE
DROID IN THIS CARTOON.

The biggest carry over complaint I have about the movie into this show is the battle droids. They really, really, really need to talk less. I hope that the writers don't think that they are writing a laugh out moment when they write most of these jokes. I will admit, in the latest episode there was a good one about their aim, but it was still just so out of character in my mind that I couldn't enjoy it. On the other hand, they are writing these cute little throw away lines for Anakin and the other human characters which aren't that bad. The dialogue between living characters, especially Anakin and Ahsoka, has been pretty good. Yoda talking to clones, A&A having banter, the clones ribbing each other and Master Plo trying to keep all the kids in line is fine. It's not going to win any awards, but I can accept it because of the large demographic of the audience. They seem to have found a way to keep everything simple, but not insultingly so.

So, bottom line. I would not recommend this to any of my adult, non-Star Wars watching friends. This will not be the project that wins them over. I would suggest it as viewing for their children though. It's starting to shape up as a decent kids show with some good morale lessons in it. As far as Star Wars fans, I wouldn't dare venture a guess if they will like this or not. I will personally continue to watch it and I am sure I will enjoy a lot of it and maybe even cringe at times, but it's still better than the movie.

Reaction: Heroes Season 3 Premiere

So it has finally arrived. Season three of "Heroes", which to those in the know might think of as the second half of season two. Yes, poor, poor Heroes. You were were making so much ground. You were helping people like myself bring comic books into the mainstream and making Sci-fi sexy. Then the writers strike came and took you away.

I'm the first to admit that Season Two might have been missing some of the magic of Season One, but I was still enjoying it. The characters and stories were a little awkward at times, but you had some good stuff going. Season Three seems to be back into it's stride though with essentially two episodes under it's belt. Claire, who seemed neglected at times in Season Two, is showing potential for a lot of growth and evolving beyond being a victim that can recover from anything you do to her. Peter as always has us guessing what and who he is. Sylar is back and in black.

Hiro is again the stand out so far this season, as he is really settling in as the first true superhero of the bunch using a combination of his powers and his resources. He's the head of a billion dollar international company with boundless cash and technology at his finger tips. Yeah, that sounds like a couple comic characters I could name off. I think it is safe to say that if there is going to be an organization of a legit Superhero group during the run of this show, Hiro will be the one that arranges and supports it.

This season wastes no time introducing new characters into the mix. I'm sure that some will be a throw away, but I really hope that some of them stick around. One of those characters is Daphne. She shows up in the first episode of the season and quickly shows that she will be a qualified nemesis for one of our main characters. One nice little thing they did with the show is that she refers to herself as a "Speedster", which is a nice nod to the comic book characters that share her skill set and are often referred to as such.

Overall, I think this might be the season we have been wanting for awhile. Ever since what some could argue as a slightly anti-climatic season one finale, Heroes seems to have been treading water. They now seem to be heading towards a solid plot and story arc with Phelps-like speed and technique. This might turn out to again be one of the shows to watch this seasons. Nuff said.