Whoopty-doo. Another work week...

    The blog didn't autopost. (I put the wrong time in, so I have a chance to update quick before my pre-work nap.) It looks like my Mom's drastic muscle weakness is due to Crestor. The drug is known to cause muscle degeneration. Because the weakening is very gradual, and my Mom is stubborn as an Army mule, she now faces months of rehab in order to get her strength back. She still has to be tested further to ensure that other side effects aren't going to cause further complications. She's still in the hospital, and Reibochief, my older brother Rick, and my Pop are rotating guard on her. I was pleased that Matt64 was able to come up and see her, as he really is like a 4th son to Mom and it really brightened her up to see him.
    Due to my Mom's health troubles, I didn't get a chance to game this week, so I'm limited to observations on the news items and vids from this week...

    Some official reactions are out now to stifle the rumor thrashing about Call of Duty subscription requirements. Both Infinity Ward (or what's left of it) and Treyarch came out and stated flat out that subscriptions for Call of Duty are not a plan. In the Kotaku article linked in the main blog, Robert Bowling (a.k.a. 'Fourzerotwo') was quoted thus:  "For the record, nobody has to pay to play [Call of Duty] or [Modern Warfare 2] multiplayer, nor will they," Bowling wrote. Josh Olin (a.k.a. JD_2020) chimed in likewise: "No, you will not have to 'Pay to Play' [Call of Duty: Black Ops] Multiplayer either," Olin wrote. "Rumor -> Squashed." Frankly, since Bobby "Screw you cheapass gamers" Kotick is a known quantity, and 'Fourzerotwo' was also the guy who said "PC gaming [in Modern Warfare 2] will be the same as it always was", my confidence in the accuracy of those statements is zero. Nil. Plus, unless it's discredited somehow, that vid is an awfully suspicious indication of a real plan - whether for next week or next year - to institute a subscription requirement to bleed CoD players for a bit more a lot more cash.
    Today's featured Call of Duty vid is some CoD4 sniper action. Also linked is an AP preview of Call of Duty: Black Ops.
    While watching the linked Medal of Honor beta video, I was struck by the amazing resemblance of the current beta to Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Watching Torrechiaracinema running and gunning on that vid, I would have believed it was some previously unseen BC2 map if I didn't know better. Yeah, same publisher, same studio, but it seemed to go beyond that, like stuff was being recycled from game to game in a pretty blatant way. Sure, the CoD franchise does the same thing, but I seem to notice it less, somehow. I don't can't tell whether the MoH/BC2 similarity is a good thing or a bad thing. The essential thing is still the gameplay, of course, not the set dressing. The extreme similarity makes the lack of an Xbox Live beta all the more puzzling. What's the hold up on XBL with a game so similar to the one already being played? The Xbox Live beta, of course, is still delayed at the time this blog is being cooked up. I hope I'll get a chance to play the MoH beta eventually. Moving on...

 

Featured Call of Duty 4 Video
M40 Sniping and Amazing Deagle by System

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Xbox Live avatar features SR-71 pressure suit.
• Call of Duty a 'force of nature'.
• Call of Duty gaming has become a way of life.
• Treyarch, Infinity Ward nix pay to play CoD rumors.

• Blacklight: Tango Down reviews: GamePro; Play.tm; Worthing Herald; GameReactor (Google translation from Danish).
• Singularity review: Boston Herald.
• Singularity patch released.
• BASHandSlash's Crosshairs discussion, Episode 6, a gaming podcast with an FPS slant.
• Why is the Xbox 360 still outselling the PS3 in North America?
• The Story of GameStop.
• Dutch gamers set record by gaming 50 hours straight. No word on whether a record was set for air freshener or deodorant.
• IGN Daily Fix for 19 July 2010 with the luscious Jessica Chobot. (YouTube version embedded below.)

• NASA to refurbish 'Mars Antenna'.
• NASA appears no longer to be aiming for the stars. 
• Scientists create artificial blood for battlefield first aid, invalidate entire plot point of Daybreakers, Blade series.
• Maya royal tomb discovered beneath El Diablo pyramid.
• Create a 3D hologram with your iPad.
• Top 30 Android apps for 2010.
• Netflix streaming goes to The Great White North. No rentals yet, tho.

• Amazon says e-book sales outpace hardcover sales. 
• Videotaping police - in public - often cause for arrest.
• Hell is working for an internet content screening service. Apparently, no one over at The New York Times ever heard of Goatse.cx. (Link goes to wikipedia, not the actual horrid site itself.)
• Study finds Indian spice reduces Alzheimers symptoms by 30%. The spice must flow!
• Five sitcom wives no man would ever want to marry.