VGMaps

General Boards => Gaming => Topic started by: JonLeung on June 01, 2009, 11:20:11 am

Title: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: JonLeung on June 01, 2009, 11:20:11 am
I want to know what's going on at E3 but the big video game sites are blocked here at work.  >_<  No IGN, no Kotaku, no GameSpot, no GameFAQs...



Anyone know of any sites that are smaller or less popular that maybe the "Games" filter on the work computers might not block?  That would still have current news and such?



Thanks...
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: snesmaster on June 01, 2009, 12:51:25 pm
You should be working at work and not thinking about playing games :)  lol
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: Will on June 01, 2009, 01:29:27 pm
In the computer technology school I go to, most websites are indeed blocked, that is except for wikipedia. I get a good read out of wikipedia to pass my time in free periods. Funnily enough Vgmaps is accessible in the school. I can even access howstuffworks and many other educational websites. I don't know if you could too.



If you get bored at work, Wikipedia would possibly entertain you. If you've watched a certain film, it would be fascinating to read it from the point of the writer. You might be able to read various forums around the net if you wanted gaming news, but chances are quite small.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: Maxim on June 01, 2009, 03:14:46 pm
Works for me:



- RSS feeds in Google Reader (Firefox makes it easy to add them)

- Google Reader gadget in iGoogle home page



They can't block that without basically blocking Google. It's all served from Google servers.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: DarkWolf on June 01, 2009, 03:31:50 pm
Most places filter web traffic through a proxy server.  Depending on how they setup the proxy server will determine your ability to circumvent it.



If the proxy server only looks at the http request url, then a web-based proxy might work.  These are sites which will fetch web pages on your behalf and send them to you.  But if your proxy actually looks at the entire HTTP request, it may still block the site, since the contents of the site still goes through your local proxy server.  Plus, the administrators should have already blocked the most common proxy sites.  I remember in school we used to use Babel Fish, since they had a hard time justifying the block I suppose.



If your web browser isn't setup to contact the proxy server directly and traffic is routed to the proxy by the router you could try using a non-standard port.  But then you have to find a proxy server that works on a port not blocked by your firewall.



If port 22 (SSH) is allowed  you could always setup an SSH server at home (or somewhere else) and tunnel either VNC or Remote Desktop traffic to your home machine and browse that way.  Of course, if your machine as a security policy on it you may not be able to run the putty client to create the tunnel.  This is also generally slow since the up speed of home connections isn't very great.



But you should really check your acceptable use policy if you signed one.  Generally circumventing security measures is grounds for immediate termination.  The SSH route would make it hard for them to snoop on your traffic, but you know, people can still look over your shoulder.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: LDK on June 01, 2009, 04:44:23 pm
http://hidemyass.com/ should work pretty good. But better solution is  to connect to your home computer via VNC, RDP or TeamViewer and browse from your home. TeamViewer works even without public IP, doesn't require installation and it's so easy to setup. just run application at home, copy sesion number and pw and connect from work.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: RT 55J on June 01, 2009, 10:32:12 pm
Just wait until you get home. :P

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"its a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my brother to defeat the enemys" - John Freeman
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: JonLeung on June 01, 2009, 10:59:36 pm
I can't wait that long, especially with the Nintendo conference tomorrow!
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: Maxim on June 01, 2009, 11:54:56 pm
I can connect to my home router, which is an SSH server, over port 443 (SSH) and then configure PuTTY as a dynamic tunnelling local SOCKS proxy. That lets me tunnel any kind of traffic I like via my home internet connection. But that's a little involved...
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: JonLeung on June 02, 2009, 11:48:07 am
I don't want to install too much stuff on here and I don't want to leave my computer on at home just access sites I normally can't here.  Perhaps one day when I get a decent laptop I could just use it with one of those Rogers wireless Internet stick thingies.



Anyway, thanks to Google, I could access some text-only cached versions of pages, including IGN's Nintendo conference blog.  It's not complete because it's not up-to-the-minute, but so far I learned about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Golden Sun DS, and Wii Fit Plus.  Looking good so far.  Oh, and some Wii Vitality sensor thing.  Hmmm.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: JonLeung on June 02, 2009, 01:51:29 pm
OMG MUST KNOW MORE ABOUT METROID: OTHER M BLARGGARGG
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: RT 55J on June 02, 2009, 04:27:55 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc4dsz4oxZY



Apparently it's being developed by Team Ninja.

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"its a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my brother to defeat the enemys" - John Freeman
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: Revned on June 02, 2009, 04:53:56 pm
Rather boring year, in my opinion. I don't care about motion controls, and only Assassin's Creed 2 and Mario Galaxy 2 interested me as far as games.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: TerraEsperZ on June 02, 2009, 05:18:08 pm
Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Other M are both good news. Now, I only need to wait for the Metroid Prime trilogy to come out to catch up on the series before the new one comes out...



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Current projects: Aria Of Sorrow (GBA), Bucky O'Hare (NES), Metal Storm (NES), Clock Tower (SNES), Ristar-The Shooting Star (Gen), Sonic The Hedgehog (Gen), Sonic CD (Sega CD), Mega Man Zero (GBA), Battletoads (NES)
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: JonLeung on June 04, 2009, 07:14:06 am
Super Mario Galaxy looks like more of the same.  That's not a complaint, though.  New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a nice change of pace for a fun party game.  Music games, shooters, racers, fighters, and mini-games have been the norm and so a multiplayer platformer would at the very least be refreshing.  Why didn't they put Wario and Waluigi in place of Yellow Toad and Blue Toad?  I think Waluigi needs to be in a "real" game (sports, partying, and DDR: Mario Mix don't really count).



There's also Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March On.  There sure is a lot of Mario revealed this year.  I love the Mario & Luigi games - playing Bowser as well this time around looks like a lot of fun - but I didn't seriously play much of the second Mario Vs. Donkey Kong and there are other games I have to catch up on so I don't know if I ever will play this new one.  I used to like Lemming-type games, but not so much anymore for some reason.  Now if it was more like the first, that would be good, but I guess there is enough platforming in the other Mario series.



Metroid: Other M looks good.  Not to sure what to make of the gameplay.  With Adam Malkovich ("Any objections, lady?") and a scene or flashback of the Mother Brain killing the (Super?) Metroid, we at least get the sense that this will cover a good deal of Samus's history.  I've gotten the sense that Nintendo wrote themselves into a corner by making the Metroids extinct after Super Metroid and then again in Metroid: Fusion, especially since the series is named after them, and I've always gotten a sense that the Metroid storyline, or rather Samus's, is not as well known as it could be.  At least it looks like Other M will fix all of that.  (What does "Other M" mean, though?  Note that it is an anagram of "Mother", and the short-form of Metroid: Zero Mission is "M0M"...)  Team Ninja (whatever happened to Tecmo?) developing this shows that Nintendo is willing to work with other companies, though the choice of Team Ninja is a surprise (jiggly Zero Suit Samus?)...and what's with Retro Studios, then?  Isn't Metroid (at least the main Prime series) their baby?  What are they up to now - will they return to "Wiiifying" their GameCube games that Nintendo had previously cancelled?  Because of those cancellations, I'm pretty sure they currently only have the Metroid Prime Trilogy to their credit...speaking of which, that's coming out too, on a single disc, with the first two now Wii-enhanced...I wouldn't pick that up, since I played them all the first time around, but I know a lot of people would.



WarioWare: DIY could be neat.  I seem to have less creativity these days, though, so hopefully this won't be something I'll be be tired of after a day.



Golden Sun DS is a long time coming - I liked the first two, though not to the extent it seems that some Golden Sun fanboys seem to.  It's certainly welcome, of course, though the E3 footage was minimal.



Wii Fit Plus is going to sell like hotcakes.  I was thinking it was too soon to roll out a "sequel", but if I'm seeing the trailers correctly, it looks like you can set a routine and maybe they eliminated the constant-pressing-of-the-A-button issue of the first one.  I've been lacking in my Wii Fit workouts lately (I just weigh myself each day, but I'm not sure what the point is when I don't have time for exercise - I'm not fat, BTW, but I'm sure I could always be a bit more fit).



Wii MotionPlus with Wii Sports: Resort - guaranteed mega-sales.  Hope the MotionPlus is supported by many games.  Wii Vitality Sensor - what is the point of that?  Did I miss something?  I didn't see any game making use of that, or am I mistaken?  Well, if Nintendo can make a game based on sitting, standing, or breathing (Wii Fit), I supposed you'd expect that they'd be able to make a game around sleeping, or just having a pulse.  Only Nintendo, right?



Anyway, there's lots of Mario this year.  And a few other things.  I don't think anyone who complained about last year's Wii Music and Shaun White Snowboarding should be complaining this year.
Title: RE: Any video game news sites that I can access at work? / E3 reveals
Post by: Maxim on June 05, 2009, 03:00:18 am
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/6/3/



Sums it up for me.