From: The nnN
Subject: Your mailbag is slow

You haven't done another mailbag in um forever... doesn't anybody write to you anymore or are you just lazy?

I know, I know. I apologize. Blame QuakeCon, E3, my ulcers...um...Old Man Murray...and anything else you can think of.

Or, of course, you could just blame me. Which would be perfectly acceptable.

From: theAntiELVIS
Subject: West Nile Virus

ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK!

Leave the city immediately! Run, do not walk to the nearest exit. Do not hesitate to trample the weak and ill!

'Cause if the skeeters don't get you, sure as shit the stuff they're spraying on them will!

Here in sunny California (it's 101 degrees as I write this - 9:30 at night), we have more insectoid infestations than you can shake a stick at. And they're always spraying something. We also have more mutant humans than you can shake a stick at. Coincidence? I think not.

Save yourselves. Flee in terror.

-tAE-

Flee? Heck no...that's just what the Mole People have been waiting for.

From: Pintonite
Subject: Mailbag

It takes about 552 licks to get to the tootsie roll part of a tootsie pop. My sister found that out. Don't ask me why. oh and can you place your very first days set of news up sometime for all to see just how much things have changed in just a few years.

I have also had a revelation. I forsee that within 5 years LAN parties will be a thing of the past and will be used for only very official gaming events. Who needs to lug around their computer when they can use high speed internet at home and get the same or nearly the same ping times.

I also have to admit that Quake 1 is still the game of all other games. I've played doom and doom 2, quake 2 and 3, Unreal and UT. I've played them single player and they were fun and I've played them single player and they were just as fun (disregarding doom 1 since I didn't have a modem then) but quake 1 still conquers over them in it's ageing days. I think many of these new FPS companies should take a good look at quake 1 and ask themselves why this game became so popular. Sure it was first to the field without using a single sprite in the game and first to popularize 3d cards and the internet but there is more to it then just that. Who at ID would have recognized the rocket jumping before it came out. This is what made the game so fun. Without all these accidentel mistakes in the game who would have spent so many hours just trying to find them. And what ever happened to those speed demos that were so fun to watch. What every happened to rocket arena and clan arena. What ever happened to it all. Simple. Fun. Smart.

Cya
Pintonite

First of all, it takes three licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Everybody knows that, silly.

As for the original design...hm...maybe I can convince Blue to put it back online. :)

From: Slyster
Subject: THANKS for telling the GENRE of them ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Blue- for every entry, you seem to tell the Genre, i.e. FPS, Adventure, 3rd person, etc... KEEP THAT UP, it is so so important. My example, I ONLY like FPS games, and it saves us ALL so much time to know what each game paragraph summary is about on genre.

Pete Fuglestad

Hey, we try. Actually, we do it largely for ourselves...without that we'd have no way of telling which one of those Star Trek games is which. :)

From: The nnN
Subject: Half a decade

If Bluesnews was established in 1995 wouldn't you be serving the gaming community for half a decade instead of a third of a decade?

Possibly. Don't try to confuse us with the truth.

From: Adam
Subject: Multiplay in games.

Loony wrote

"You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but frankly, I applaud the companies that are dropping multiplayer. The bottom line is this: how many games do you want with mediocre multiplayer in them? You talk about how you still play Quake II and TRIBES, but what about all the other multiplayer games out there that had it tacked on at the end? Does anyone still play any of them?"

But then there are games which don't get a look in, because of a lack of multiplayer. At least give us the option of allowing us to play each other (even be it just on a LAN).

Oni is a good example of a game that really screams for network play. Infact IMHO it demands it. The lack of Multiply has decreased its sales in my house (where it was once going to own).

Sure some games can not really afford multiplayer. But most games (anything that has a so called "Brilliant/Awesome/Fantastic AI" it could only help having multiplayer.

Just remember for every game that blows goats with multiplayer ... there is a game that just screams for multiplayer. (Either that or it was a crap game anyway).

Adam

Well, I do think Oni should have multiplayer. In fact, I've actually played it multiplayer, which is really frustrating (yes, it was a lot of fun).

From:
Subject: Free Dish Network Satellite T.V. System

FOR YOUR FREE DISH NETWORK SATELLITE SYSTEM SIMPLY CALL (***) ***-****. YOU CAN SIGN UP TODAY FOR OVER 100 CHANNELS FOR $29.99 A MONTH. THAT'S LESS THAN CABLE. MOVIE PACKAGES RUN $11 A MONTH. CHOOSE FROM 6 HBO'S, 10 SHOTIME'S, 8 STAR'S OR 3 CINNIMAX CHANNELS. EACH PACKAGE IS ONLY $11 A MONTH.

NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE, DISH NETWORK WILL WORK FOR YOU. AND IF YOU. CALL WIRELESS CONCEPTS WITHIN THE NEXT 7 DAYS, WE WILL SHIP YOU A FREE SATELLITE DISH ALONG WITH ALL THE DISH NETWORK INFORMATION.

(***) ***-****. WE WILL SEND YOU YOUR SATELLITE DISH, PROGRAM
RECIEVER BOX, INSTALLATION EQUIPMENT AND PROGRAMMING MATERIAL FREE OF CHARGE. DISH NETWORK AND WIRELESS CONCEPTS THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

Who the heck spams a mailbag?

From: Johnh
Subject: Am I the only one who likes to read the vs. reviews?

I always make a point of reading the Geforce2 vs. Voodoo5 reviews, but generally skip over the individual card reviews. Reviewers, listen, I think we would all love to see more of the "vs." type of review. A couple I've been looking for:

Diablo 2 vs. Icewind Dale
Dark Reign 2 vs. Ground Control

Klingon Academy vs. Starlancer?

Demo_Boy

I like those myself...so long as the hardware in question is actually out. The ones that pit press releases against each other are kinda silly. :)

From: JeffK Wannabe
Subject: New Clan

BLUE, YOU GUYS ROCK!!! I AM STARTING A KICK ASS QUAKE CLAN CALLED THE CLAN DOOMSDAY RIDERS. SO FAR IT IS JUST ME AND MY FRIEND SAM BUT WE ARE GOING TO BE HEDGE!!!!! MY FRIEND SAM AND I THOUGHT IT WOULD KICK MOST ASS BUT WE ARE THE ONLY MEMBERS PLEASE POST A MASSAGE ON YOUR WEB PAGE TELLING PEOPLE THEY CAN JOIN UP NOW BY EMAILING ME AT ******@HOTMAIL.COM. BUT HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!! WE WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MORE PEOPLE INTO OUR KICKASS CLAN AND CLOSE DOORS FOREVER!!!!!!! UNTIL WE NEED MORE PEOPLE!!!!! PLEAS POST
NOW!!!!!!!!!!! (AT TOP OF PAGE, DON'T PUT IT IN SUCKY PART LIKE "OUT OF THE BLUE") WE WILL KILL YOU ALLL!! ROCK!!!

PS I MITE LET YOU JOIN IF YOU KICK ASS ENOUGH AND PUT UP THIS MESSAGE. EMAIL ME SO YOU CAN TRY OUT!!!!!

Hey, at least this one's a joke. We do get real ones like this too, you know. :)

From: Bh alkhg
Subject:

Hey I was wondering if any one knew where I could find a playstation 2 before there release date.

Japan.

From: Gene Gower
Subject: homepage of bluesreader

I just posted some pictures of the smoke from the fire near the Hanford Nulcear Site in Washington State.

Ranger[doh]

No, he really didn't provide a URL. :)

From: Jason More
Subject: OVERHYPE of Voyager Elite Force

Being the constant visitor to your site as i am, i have noticed a very *dangerous* trend. Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is getting way too over hyped. By the time the game comes out, everyone is going to know everything about every single aspect of the game!

I mean its cool that its getting a lot of press, but if there are no surprises left in the game for anyone to experience, how fun is that going to be? Personally i'm trying to avoid the "previews" and stuff, but i just tell that when the game comes out, everyone is going to go, "Hey, i thought this was going to be way cooler" because there is nothing left to surprise them. Look at Half-Life, that game had something cool happen every 2 min. That game is cool, because we were surprised...

When you pick up a book, and read the back, does it tell you about every suspenseful part of the book? no. I'm afraid that a hopefully good game like this isn't going to last long on the hard drives of many internet junkie gamers...

-J

Well, there are two problems there. One, is of course, that companies tend to send out a ton of beta builds these days to pre-hype their game, but the real problem is that many sites have forgotten to stick spoiler warnings up. If you see a site blowing a major plot point, complain, and hopefully they will remember to add spoiler warnings in future previews.

From: Demian Clements
Subject: TF2 Daiing?

Just came up with a cute little phrase I thought might interest people...since TF2 was recently delayed to Spring 2001 I came to the conclusion that it's daiing. When pronouncing daiing one pronounces it like one would 'dying.' However, it was meant to be going the way of Daikatana. TF2 is daiing, get it? Heehee, I guess it's not that great, but I think it's hillarious. Even though I rather liked Daikatana, so sue me I'm a fan of Romero.

Thx for reading and have a nice day =)

Demian Clements

From: Andrew
Subject: Reznor

"There is an article at Apple.com about Nine Inch Nails musician Trent Reznor, asking him about what software he uses to compose music and edit videos (surprise: it's all Apple's)."

No surprise at all, meaning Apple's aren't necessarily better than PC's just because this clown Reznor uses them. In fact that would just be his "sequencer" of choice. I've been using sound modules for nearly 10 years and there is one thing I have found... no computer is better than another for doing music on. Their much the same. I mean most of the music software is available on both platforms.

From: Ben Gabriel
Subject: I want to be Ash!

For Halloween this year I want to go as Bruce Campbell's character Ash from the Evil Dead series. Only problem is I want to have a quality outfit. Does anyone out there have any information on how to build a chainsaw similar to the one in Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness? I want something that I can still use the chainsaw, but I will not have a chain on it, except for personal use. =]

SSWolf johnblutarsky@hotmail.com

I've seen a really well-made Evil Dead replica chainsaw (at 3D Realms, of all places) but I haven't the foggiest idea how it was made.

From: Cristian Viola
Subject: Bungie...

Hey.. thanks for your support on the Mac platform, regarding MicroBungie deal.

We mac users feel like "our" game developer has been snatched to the dark side. I'm pretty sure we will lack mac support for every forthcoming game now. It's a sad, sad, sad day....

Cheers,
-Cristian

Well, of course now we know that Bungie will continue to support the Mac platform (this mail was sent before MacWorld NYC).

...And so will we. :)

From: tim dennis
Subject: turdwear.com

I guess this is newsworthy---I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm from Turdwear and I want to annouce a big summer sale for T's.

We're trying to finish construction on our "turdmobiles"-- sort of in the vein of the Oscar Meyer weiner mobile. In fact, if we can find some of their routes we want to start stalking them.

All the very best,

Danny

From: Ricardo
Subject: see ya

brintiny spears sorry

From: Mark I. Ross
Subject: Honor System Virus

This virus works on the honor system.

Please delete all the files on your hard disk, then forward this message to
everyone you know.

Thank you for your cooperation.

From: Leon Templin
Subject: starlancer > freelancer?

I bought this game called starlancer. It said on the box "Prequel to game of the year at E3" so i was like "hey, maybe i can blow stuff up in space and get a preview of that kick ass freelancer game..". But starlancer is hardly freespace1 and definetly not a prequel of any kind cuz the plot is totally vague and cliche not to metion the poor graphics and ship handeling. For some reason in this game you can only turn quickly if your moving quickly thusly slowing down greatly reduces your turning rate (anoying).

At any rate ive been looking at other games and i noticed allegiance, this game has good graphics trading and exploration stuff very similar to whats described in freelancer, even some of the ship models look the same as those in the freelancer shots. So whats the deal? Why was this crapy starlancer title even made when i could have bought the allegiance game instead? Probly cuz im gonna go fork out another 50 bucks to microsoft (same ass muchers that sold me starlancer) to play what looks like a good game compared to the total crap that was starlancer.

-chicken.. angry chicken

Well, I've already stated here that I think marketing Starlancer as a "prequel" to Freelancer makes no sense (game quality aside - I haven't played it). A prequel is a follow-up to something that takes place before the events in the original. Hence the term "prequel." If Freelancer's not out yet, then technically Starlancer is a prologue to the game.

From: Paul Medlock
Subject: For Posterity

I was just getting my weekly dose from "The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing" by Jeffrey Harrow, at http://www.compaq.com/rcfoc and read the section called "Remembering Our History." It seems to me that BluesNews is, in its sum, a running observation of a process that our descendents may want to research. Are you preserving that material for them?

Well, we're not throwing anything away, if that's what you mean (aside from the really early stuff, when there was no records).

Personally, I really hope we don't get into a "Canticle for Liebowitz" situation where people are looking at this site as doctrine. That would be scary.

From: Pete Wolfe
Subject: Eyestrain

In the "out of the blue section" on wednesday, June 7th, you mentioned that white text on black background was a source of eyestrain. You also mentioned that you prefer the above mentioned color scheme. I have ALWAYS prefered white text on a black background, and have always found it to be easier on the eyes. My 2 cents.

By the way, we always welcome feedback on site design issues. Particularly since at some point in the next decade the site will undergo a massive overhaul.

From: gomitch
Subject: Bring Back Simplicity to Single-Player Games

We are now at the point where the PROCESS of playing the game is more important than PLAYING the game. It is annoying to spend a bunch of time pressing different keys to select a multitude of items, weapons, and powerups.

DOOM & DOOM II were nice because the controls were very simple. With a minimum of keys and a mouse, you could make any move you needed to make.

Quake I and II had very good controls also. There were more keys to use, but you could still use a minimum of keys and play a decent game.

With Quake III, ID has returned to the fast-paced, simple control style of the DOOM series.

Now that ID is planning DOOM III they have the opportunity to satisfy all of us who desire to return to the essence of single play: simplicity and fun. Eliminate the distractions of off-screen voices, cutscenes that interfere with the flow of the game, and 8000 features that require months of practice to use effectively.

If ID can bring the pace of action, speed of movement, and simplicity of controls from Quake III over to DOOM III, the game will be AWESOME.

If ID does decide to bring other features into the game I would suggest this: in addition to (or instead of) difficulty settings, there should be the ability to set the game to several different levels of complexity, from simple run-and-shoot, to complex strategic play, to a balance of both.

This would satisfy those who want the challenge of balancing resources and those who want to play with a minimum of fuss.

Regardless of what I have said about gameplay, I hope ID will follow this advice: whatever you do, make the game you want to make. You are at your best when you make games that you like. If you try to satisfy everybody, you will satisfy nobody.

Mitch Withrow

If you want simplicity, be sure to check out Serious Sam. You won't be disappointed.

From: Josh Jeffcoat
Subject: Airplane

No, Blue, your not the only one. In my little "town" (I use that word loosely), we only have one theater, with six (yes! six!) screens. Unfortunately, Gladiator never saw the light of day here. However, as an employee of said theater (sad, isn't it?), I go out of my way not to miss good movies. So I went up to the Big City™ to the nearest 20,000 screen wonder with none of that small town class, and subjected myself to the one of the coolest movies in recent memory.

Not the quiet one, I quickly spread word of how Gladiator kicks ass to all my friends. Not having watched Airplane in a few years, and forgetting that Friends A and B (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) where Airplane fanatics (Friend B going as far as to edit it for the local access TV station he works for, removing the first set of breasts I ever saw in a movie). Of course, as soon as I said Gladiator, they asked the inevitable. "Do you like movies about Gladiators?" They begin laughing, and I, still being somewhat lost, reply with "Man, Gladiator was bad-ASS". Friend A "Ass, huh... Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" Friend B "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"

And thus, I have fallen in love again with one of the most brilliant pieces of comedic film, Airplane. And quit calling me Shirley.

Airplane! is one of the funniest films ever made. The sooner it's released on DVD the better. :)

From: Jonathan Forster
Subject: MDK2

My God, I just realized what MDK stands for! Downloaded the MDK2 demo, played it for a bit and it just hit me, Nirvanna! No wonder you guys don't let on what it really stands for.

-jonathan (j.c.f.)

Actually, the real reason is because it doesn't stand for anything. Not even what you think it does. :)

From: James Boswell
Subject: Re: Yeah, but can you get OK cola?

"Let's see...we've got a drink, a steak house (Peter Luger's) and now a cereal (Quisp!)...what's next?"

Um, How about a website?

a lot of the big food manufacturers have them these days..

<all irony FULLY intended>

James Boswell