What’s next? Will games chew for us?
It’s finally happened: “EverQuest” players don’t even have to leave the keyboard to get food. Well, until the doorbell rings, anyway.
Players of Sony Online Entertainment’s online world game “EverQuest II” can order pizza right from inside the game by typing the command “/pizza.” The command pulls up a Web browser window with Pizza Hut’s online ordering form inside.
Guess that ensures we’ll never stop playing now.
‘GTA’ blamed for cops’ deaths
When one of the best-selling games of all time includes graphically violent images and allows shooting at police officers, there’s inevitably going to be a lawsuit.
The families of three police officers allegedly slain by Devin Thompson in 2003 are suing “Grand Theft Auto” game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony, Wal-Mart and Gamestop, where Thompson reportedly purchased games from the “GTA” series, for $600 million.
Coincidentally, Thompson was being booked at the Fayette, Ala., police station on suspicion of driving a stolen car when he allegedly opened fire on three officers, killing them and escaping briefly in a police car. The 18-year-old is charged with capital murder in the three deaths.
According to an Associated Press report, the suit alleges that Thompson was a frequent player of “GTA” games. Authorities said that when Thompson was apprehended after the killings, he told officers: “Life is a video game. You’ve got to die sometime.”
Xfire service hits milestone
If you haven’t tried Xfire, it might be time. The online gamer-matching service just announced that it signed up its 1 millionth customer.
Xfire links gamers who play PC games, letting them see what friends are online, what they’re playing, send invitations to matches and the like. Think of it as Xbox Live for your PC, and you’ve about got the idea.
The service is free and supports 250-plus titles including “Counter-Strike” and “World of Warcraft.” See www.xfire.com.
Vivendi dominance threatened?
Vivendi Universal is riding high. Two games the publisher released in November still top the charts. “World of Warcraft” and “Half-Life 2” have been trading the top spots since their release, and that was true again for the week ending Feb. 5, when “Warcraft” had the top spot.
But NCSoft, which has become known to most gamers just because of its “Lineage” games, is poised to nip at Vivendi’s heels. It’s releasing more games this year that are potentially the most interesting to hit the online world market in a while, including “Guild Wars,” a beautifully glossy role-playing game that doesn’t carry a monthly fee.
Cutting the hot cord
When Microsoft hoped that the Xbox would be hot, this is probably not what they had in mind.
The company sent e-mail messages to thousands of Xbox owners last week warning them that power cables on consoles manufactured before Oct. 23, 2003, have a small chance of causing burning inside the console or melting of the cable where it’s connected to the box.
It’s a tiny chance, the company said – less than 1 in 10,000 – but it offered customers whose machines were that old a free replacement cord.
To see whether you’re eligible, turn your Xbox over and look for the manufacturing date on the bottom. To get your cable, hit www.xbox.com and click on “Power Cord Replacement” or call (866) 271-0450.
Until the cord arrives, Microsoft advises turning off the Xbox when not in use.