There are many themed iterations of a specific famous real estate baron board game, but very few of them involve the horrors of the Lovecraftian mythos descending upon South Jersey and destroying the boardwalk. Behold The Doom That Came To Atlantic City, a satire by artist Lee Moyer, designer Keith Baker, and sculptor Paul Komoda (who worked on The Thing and Cabin in the Woods).

This fun-for-all-ages destruction of reality — which has been in the works for two decades — was “inspired by [Moyer's] love of the Cthulhu Mythos and disdain for a certain board game that shall not be named.”

Even though it bears a superficial resemblance to a certain Parker Brothers land grab, The Doom That Came To Atlantic City is more about destroying the dirty jewel of the Garden State using cultists and eldritch powers. As Baker explains in the rules rundown:

You begin with a happy community filled with houses, and then you and your friends arrive. Each of you is playing one of HP Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones, and your goal is to smash houses, open gates, and destroy the world. But you each want to destroy it in your own special way. As Cthulhu, you want to make sure that pesky Shub-Niggurath doesn’t sneak in and destroy it first!

The idea of Azathoth the Blind Idiot God trashing Park Place is pretty fantastic. If you’ve always hankered to combine Yog Sothoth and seaside fun in the sun, you can pitch in at their Kickstarter campaign.

[Via Coilhouse]

Source: io9. Hi-res images and video at link.

Living in America is becoming very difficult for anyone with a moral conscience, a sense of justice, or a lick of intelligence. Consider:

We have had a second fake underwear bomb plot, a much more fantastic one than the first hoax. The second underwear bomber was a CIA operative or informant allegedly recruited by al-Qaeda, an organization that US authorities have recently claimed to be defeated, in disarray, and no longer significant.

This defeated and insignificant organization, which lacks any science and technology labs, has invented an “invisible bomb” that is not detected by the porno-scanners. A “senior law enforcement source” told the New York Times that “the scary part” is that “if they build one, they probably built more.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that “the plot itself indicates that the terrorists keep trying to devise more and more perverse and terrible ways to kill innocent people.” Hillary said this while headlines proclaimed that the US continues to murder woman and children with high-tech drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Africa. The foiled fake plot, Hillary alleged, serves as “a reminder as to why we have to remain vigilant at home and abroad in protecting our nation and in protecting friendly nations and peoples like India and others.”

FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that the fake plot proves the need for warrantless surveillance in order to detect–what, fake plots? In Congress Republican Pete King and Democrat Charles Ruppersberger denounced media for revealing that the plot was a CIA operation, claiming that the truth threatened the war effort and soldiers’ lives.

CONTINUED at Activist Post. Written by Paul Craig Roberts.

With Wolfenstein 3D celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, it’s fitting — if unexpected — to see a nearly 30-minute developer commentary track from industry legend John Carmack exploring his memories and recollections from the early days of id Software. Despite the march of time and technology since the game’s 1992 release, you can’t help but be charmed by the man’s enthusiasm for his early days in the industry.

As Carmack explains it, Wolfenstein 3D represents the “Wild West” days of development at id Software. You can hear in his voice his love of reliving those exciting times for the studio: A day and age where they were still “figuring it all out.” Back in 1992, id was a young studio in its prime, blazing a trail for the industry and the shooter genre the likes of which no one had seen before. Their work took center stage when it came to the cutting edge of gaming and controversy. They became an inseparable icon of PC gaming in the ’90s.

Times have changed, and in a lot of ways id’s reputation and clout have changed with it. In today’s world, the company is no longer seen as the alpha dog when it comes to shooters, an arrangement that upset their relationship with their previous publisher, Activision. If anything, their near-absence from the industry outside of last year’s Rage has relegated them to the back of the pack, with franchises like Halo and Call of Duty stepping up to define modern-day standards for shooters. Id may have created Wolfenstein and its even more notable follow-up Doom, but the two properties seem to exist as little more than reference points in today’s conversations about shooters.

After something of a fan revolt in response to Rage, and with constant mixed reports of whether“Doom 4″ is a troubled production or not, the future of id Software may rest very firmly on whether their next release can make them a relevant force in the market again. It’s great to hear Carmack talk about the glory days of old, and no one can understate the importance and influence id Software has had on gaming. It’s just surprising that one of the industry’s most iconic studios has turned into an underdog in the very genre it helped to create.

Source: 1up.

If you enjoy watching financial doom, then you are quite likely to really enjoy the rest of 2012.  Right now, red flags are popping up all over the place.  Corporate insiders are selling off stock like there is no tomorrow, major economies all over Europe continue to implode, the IMF is warning that the eurozone could actually break up and there are signs of trouble at major banks all over the planet.  Unfortunately, it looks like the period of relative stability that global financial markets have been enjoying is about to come to an end.  A whole host of problems that have been festering just below the surface are starting to manifest, and we are beginning to see the ingredients for a “perfect storm” start to come together.  The greatest global debt bubble in human history is showing signs that it is getting ready to burst, and when that happens the consequences are going to be absolutely horrific.  Hopefully we still have at least a little bit more time before the global financial system implodes, but at this point it doesn’t look like anything is going to be able to stop the chaos that is on the horizon.

The following are 22 red flags that indicate that very serious doom is coming for global financial markets….

CONTINUED at the Economic Collapse.

*Taken from the Economic Collapse.

The financial crisis in Europe has become so severe that it has put the future of the euro, and indeed the future of the EU itself, in doubt.  If the financial system in Europe collapses, it is going to plunge the entire globe into chaos.  The EU has a larger economy and a larger population than the United States does.  The EU also has more Fortune 500 companies that the United States does.  If the financial system in Europe breaks down, we are all doomed.  An economic collapse in Europe would unleash a financial tsunami that would sweep across the globe.  As I wrote about yesterday, the nightmarish sovereign debt crisis in Europe could potentially bring about the end of the euro.  The future of the monetary union in Europe is being questioned all over the continent.  Without massive bailouts, there are at least 5 or 6 nations in Europe that will likely soon default.  The political will for continued bailouts is rapidly failing in northern Europe, so something needs to be done quickly to avert disaster.  Unfortunately, as anyone that has ever lived in Europe knows, things tend to move very, very slowly in Europe.

If the bailouts end and Europe is not able to come up with another plan before then, mass chaos is going to unleashed.  Most major European banks are massively exposed to European sovereign debt, and most of them are alsovery, very highly leveraged.  If we see nations such as Greece, Portugal and Italy start to default, we could have quite a few major European banks go down in rapid succession.  That could be the “tipping point” that sets off massfinancial panic around the globe.

CONTINUED..

*Taken from CNBC.

Stocks opened sharply lower Thursday amid continuing worries over the euro zone debt crisis, a gloomy forecast on global growth and news that jobless claims rose more than expected last week.

Meanwhile, the NYSE put its Rule 48 into effect shortly ahead of the opening bell, in an aim to smooth out the heavily volatile open. Rule 48 allows designated market makers on the NYSE to refrain from disseminating price indications ahead of the opening bell. NYSE put the rule in place twice last week during the market turbulence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged sharply at the open, led by BofA[BAC  6.89    -0.57  (-7.64%)   ] and Hewlett-Packard [HPQ  29.74    -1.65  (-5.26%)  ] after squeezing out a small gain in the previous session.

CONTINUED..

*Taken from Yahoo News.

A scary drop in stocks and commodities threatens to squeeze life out of an already faltering U.S. economy, with deal-making, investment in plants and equipment, and capital raising at risk of slowing down or freezing up.

This will likely further damage consumer confidence, already jarred by the toxic battle in Congress over the government’s debt ceiling and by high unemployment, and feed fears another recession is just around the corner.

Such market declines can create a vicious circle, where falling values in retirement and mutual funds hurt investors’ confidence and reduces their spending activity – in turn feeding into decisions by businesses to delay or cancel plans as the outlook for sales and profits dims.

CONTINUED..

*Taken from Yahoo News.

If you get up any morning for the next few weeks, you’ll be treated to the sight of all the planets except Saturn arrayed along the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the sky.

For the last two months, almost all the planets have been hiding behind the sun, but this week they all emerge and are arrayed in a grand line above the rising sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are visible, and you can add Uranus and Neptune to your count if you have binoculars or a small telescope.

This sky map of the six planets shows how they should appear at dawn to observers with clear weather and an unobstructed view.

Astrologers have always been fascinated by planetary alignments, and the doomsayers of 2012 have been prophesying a mystical alignment on Dec. 21, 2012.

The modern tools of astronomers, such as planetarium software, show otherwise: absolutely no alignment at any time in 2012. But they also reveal a beautiful alignment visible during the month of May this year. [Planet Skywatching Guide for 2011]

Six planets at one time

While astrologers view planetary alignments as foretellers of disasters, modern amateur astronomers look forward to them as nothing more than grand photo ops.

If you go out any morning for the next four days, you’ll be treated to a view of the crescent moon and all but one of the naked eye planets.

Because the moon moves rapidly from one morning to the next, it will only be part of the lineup for the next four mornings, but the four naked-eye planets will be there for the next few weeks.

Venus is, as always, the brightest and most visible of the planets, and it can be your guide to spotting the others. About half way between Venus and the rising sun is Jupiter, the second brightest planet.

Mars will be a tiny speck just above Jupiter, and Mercury another tiny speck about half way between Jupiter and Venus. Uranus is slightly more than one binocular field above and to the right of Venus, and Neptune is much farther to the right, about 40 degrees away in Aquarius. The Moon will be just above Venus on Saturday morning, and just above Jupiter and Mars on Sunday morning.

How to photograph the planets

Capturing a photograph of this gathering of the planets couldn’t be easier.

Just about any camera will do, though a camera with a telephoto lens setting will be better. Let the camera’s exposure meter be your guide, though a slight underexposure will help bring out the colors of the dawn sky. [Astrophotography Telescopes for Beginners]

Try to place the silhouette of some foreground object to lend depth to the scene. The best pictures will be on the next few mornings, while the crescent moon is part of the grouping.

My two cents: I don’t find this offensive. It’s a video game and it is a war simulator. If you play the Afghanistan campaign, who are you supposed to fight? Nazis? Stormtroopers? Someone has to play the other team in multiplayer. If you can be a glorified cop killer in ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and a slew of other games, why can’t you be a Taliban douche too? Two cents expired.

*Taken from InfoWars. Written by Matt Ryan.

There is a new edition of Medal of Honor coming out that lets you play the Taliban in Afghanistan fighting American and allied forces. Electronic Arts has taken the stance that, “Somebody has to play the robbers in cops and robbers.” While this paradigm is true, the question facing many potential gaming consumers and some soldiers is whether or not this is in good taste.

“While we respect and support the developer’s right to free speech, the nature of any game where you are blurring the lines between gruesome reality and fantasy in this manor is in poor taste and sets a dangerous trend.” said Alex Jones during a discussion after hearing about the new Medal of Honor release.

Soldiers returning from the battlefield and the families of the fallen have weighed in on mainstream media outlets around the world. In the video below, the sentiment is generally that it’s too real, too soon.

First-person shooter video games have been developed by the military to aid in recruitment and encourage youth to enlist in armed services as well as local law enforcement. America’s Army is a free simulation depicting basic training at an Army boot camp. In the game, your virtual soldier is trained on grenade throwing, assault rifle fire, battlefield first aid and more. While America’s Army has little actual violence, it was developed with recruitment of first-person shooter fans in mind and thus far is on its third edition indicating the results have been on target. Reports detailing the Pentagon’s use of video games in recruitment and training have been widespread throughout the media. While the idea of using video games to aid in recruitment doesn’t seem initially negative, many games of the genre are riddled with torture and other unethical and unlawful forms of warfare.

The blurring of reality and fantasy has been made more and more possible by advances in graphics technology. In the early nineties, games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom allowed players to face off against pixelated sprites representing everything from Nazis to hell-spawn demons that made up the beginnings of the 3D gaming experience. Games like these were hardly realistic as the 3D technology of the time was extremely limited and sound effects were a garbled mess. These games gained immense popularity, however,  and the first-person shooter genre has since exploded in to the largest genre being developed today.

The debate over whether or not Electronic Arts should be allowed to release a title that reflects a battlefield where war is being waged today comes down to first amendment rights. It is up to the consumer to decide if they want to support the development of future versions of the series by purchasing the game. Outrage over the ability to virtually combat our own troops has raised the question as to why there is little outcry over other games that glorify torture, prostitution, drug use, and murder. While it is within the developer’s first amendment right to create the story and release it to the public, it is certainly within the same rights of consumers to voice their opinions about it.