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In possibly my final look at the gaming industry and culture in Wisconsin, I take on Raven Software’s new shooter and what it may mean for the studio.

Raven falls short with Wolfenstein , follows layoffs with high hopes for Singularity
Wolfenstein seems content to mimic rather than bust the genre it created, though there’s nothing wrong with that for a summer game. As an end-of-summer game with Halo and Call of Duty sequels on the horizon, though, it falls short. Then barely a week after releasing the game in late August, Raven laid off dozens of employees from its 180-person staff. This came at a time when the studio has been enjoying a higher profile thanks to its string of new releases.
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from the Baltimore Sun:

A tale of customer service, justice and currency as funny as a $2 bill

Michael Olesker
PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta’s place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher’s car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta’s idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.

For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.

Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.

Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he’s handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.

Have a nice day, Mike.

“Humiliating,” the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. “I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole — and to know you haven’t done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating.”

What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.

“When I bought the stereo player,” Bolesta explains, “the technician said it’d fit perfectly into my son’s dashboard. But it didn’t. So they called back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that’s all.

“So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation charges. They said, ‘No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our mistake, no charge.’ Swell.

“But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They’re telling me, ‘If you don’t come in and pay the installation fee, we’re calling the police.’ Jeez, where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the police? So I say, ‘Fine, I’ll be in tomorrow.’ But, overnight, I’m starting to steam a little. It’s not the money — it’s the threat. So I thought, I’ll count out a few $2 bills.”

He has lots and lots of them.

With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He’s been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it’s part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.

“The kids don’t see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world,” Bolesta says. “They don’t want to spend ‘em. They want to save ‘em. I’ve been doing this since I started the company. So I’m thinking, ‘I’ll stage my little comic protest. I’ll pay the $114 with $2 bills.’”

At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest — but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.

“I’m just here to pay the bill,” Bolesta says he told a cashier. “She looked at the $2 bills and told me, ‘I don’t have to take these if I don’t want to.’ I said, ‘If you don’t, I’m leaving. I’ve tried to pay my bill twice. You don’t want these bills, you can sue me.’ So she took the money. Like she’s doing me a favor.”

He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, “Are these real?”

“Of course they are,” Bolesta said. “They’re legal tender.”

A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.

“I told them, ‘I’m a tour operator. I’ve got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,’” Bolesta says. “I’m sitting there in a chair. The store’s full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he’s standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, ‘We have to do this until we get it straightened out.’

“Meanwhile, everybody’s looking at me. I’ve lived here 18 years. I’m hoping my kids don’t walk in and see this. And I’m saying, ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this. I’m paying with legal American money.’”

Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.

“At this point,” he says, “I’m a mass murderer.”

Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, “Sometimes ink on money can smear.”

This will be important news to all concerned.

For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, “It’s a sign that we’re all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world.”

The other day, one of Bolesta’s sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and “whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn’t want ‘em any more.”

He’s seen where such money can lead.

as ridiculous as the combination of Best Buy’s actions and the police’s reactions, nothing is as bizarre as claiming this had anything to do with 9/11.

funny post script: in December of 2001, which really was just after 9/11, I was at this very Best Buy on york rd, brought 2 cds and a copy of Megaman x6 on playstation to the counter. clerk rang up the cds, didn’t charge me for the game.

therefor I reason: paying for things at the best buy gets your arrested.

Month began with Guitar Hero II found on clearance at Best Buy for $32 (with guitar!) and Mario Kart Wii. Played the hell out of GHII with Dawn. Spent a lot of time unlocking MKW; to date I have all characters except Dry Bones Bowser.
We had Super Smash Game Night May 17, and it was a mixed bag. I had yet to get my Wii working with my router here, and bought a wired connection to simplify things. Well the wire didn’t work either, but we got the wireless thing working (and now my damn Wii is glowing every day I don’t use it). The good news is I actually got some fun matches in with the Powet guys; the bad news is there was a lot of lag and we’re not likely to try that again. A shame, its a really fun game bogged down with bad internet play.
Dawn graduated, so I decided now was the time to get her what she really wanted. I got down on one knee and picked up an Xbox 360 Rock Band Special Edition. We’ve mostly played Band world tour, and after years of complaining anything above medium is impossible, I’m actually doing most songs on hard and some on expert now. At least, on bass or guitar. Drums I’m not past medium. The microphone has the least amount of wear on it so far. Dawn sang solo while I was at work, but I haven’t tried it myself.
I did boot up Halo 3 again for Living Dead Double EXP Weekend but shut it down after 3 rounds. I did managed to get a Zombie killing spree first time out and was doing really well until someone on my own team betrayed me. All downhill from there.
I downloaded ToriBash (which has a mac and pc version) and its delightful fun. Its basically two ragdoll characters you can click on muscles and joints to make them fall and swing at each other. Took me a couple tries, but I kicked off one guys head. Pretty fun for free!