Postal Nation

We are all but overwhelmed with items for this year end roundup of whass'up in the Postal Nation. But before we go anywhere else, we have an outstanding POSTAL letter of comment and a decidedly un-hilarious comic strip starring Vince "Boll-ing for Dollars" Desi to share with you, both courtesy of Yabanjin.

Now here's the letter; take it away, Yabanjin :

"For whatever reason, yesterday the stars aligned just so and I had one of those days everything, even the most obtuse stuff seemed to have some Postal 2 reference in it.  

Starting the day I did my usual check of gaming news sites and found first a headline which I can not now locate.  It said something about "Running with Sales..." which I misread the first time through as "Running with Scissors."  Sadly it had nothing to do with RWS but it was indeed an omen of things to come.

Shortly thereafter I stumbled upon the Action Trip comic strip.  It just struck me as lame but amusing in as much as I hadn't seen Vince portrayed in comic strip form before. 

Come around lunchtime somebody posted a video on a random forum that can't be named of a show called The Big Idea with Donny the Mentally Retarded Chimpanzee.   Donny decided to get on his soapbox about video game violence and declared every single game ever made has violence and we don't need that in America today.   Now, this show turned out to be from June of this year I think and caused a ruckus back then.   But I just discovered it for myself so bear with me. 

If you haven't seen it, you can get it here

Anyhow, sure enough spliced in with GTA images of cops getting beat down are shots from Apocalypse Weekend of security guards and zombies getting their heads cut off or blown to smithereens.  I was glad to see RWS get some recognition but I couldn't believe what happened next on the show.

They trotted out Brooks Brown , who was the Columbine student who warned police deputies that Eric Harris was building pipe bombs and had threatened to kill him.  Harris evidently saw Brown in the parking lot at Columbine just before the shootings and told him to go home. So this guy gets on the show with his parents on in the background and promptly endorses Postal 2!   Not only does he endorse it he describes it as "A study in AI and character behavior," while they show video of it.  That was pretty amazing.

Some time later there is a discussion of this video going on in the forums when somebody suggests that it would be cool if someone were to have in its game "How about a group of peds carrying signs protesting violence in video games?  One could sound like Donny and another like that lady."  Shortly thereafter another person responded with a screenshot from Postal 2 showing the protestors outside the RWS building.

And so ended my day of all things Postal 2."   -- Yabanjin

That is some prime stuff, but it wasn't the only notable letter we received. Here's a nice one from Ben in New Zealand :

"AY! POSTAL 2 forever.

I can't think of a better game equation (freedom + killing + "health pipes" = Happy EVERYONE!)

The Grand Theft Auto series has it, the POSTAL series has it, (with possibly the exception of AW - a bit 2 linear, but fucking awesome).

You guys have perfected virtual violence, and marketed it as an outlet to the disillusioned and possibly violent postal workers. (God knows they probably need some relaxation, and what better way than to go and have fun in Tora Bora?) 

What I can't get my head around is censorship stuff. They say that GTA is sooo bad, but the only time POSTAL gets mentioned is when Lieberman says something... (Loved the Lieberman difficulty - props to whoever decided to do that) and they mention Carmageddon. Now not to be a dick to these other great games, but POSTAL 2 has better and more intense and satisfying graphics than both of those games put together. What's more, we don't even hear any harassing complaints about games like Silent Hill - which I personally think is wonderful, and much more likely to warp the mind.

WTF is up with that? Values in today's society have all the sense of a mad-cow infected Tourettes zombie. In today's society of "Wonderful" media, I think with all the wars on TV, and violence, and cops, and "when animals attack" that these media outlets should be punished. That shit is on TV where everyone can watch it. Computers are at least relatively secure, and you can stop a child from playing something, but the daily news? If as a parent you're interested in the new violence in the world, do you really think its appropriate to let kids watch the news? 

What I'm getting at is that censorship is blatantly biased. And most likely controlled in some way BY the media moguls. IF they do have control over censorship, then WTF are they playing at?

Anyways, keep up the great work, would love to see a new Postal game soon.

BTW - I live in New Zealand , and was wondering about how hard the editor is to use (I've read all your funny comments in the editors "Did you know?" window that opens when you open the ed). I want to construct a Postal: New Zealand that would feature Maoris, and authentic Maori weapons, along with modern rifles, machine guns and the like, and with your permission, the Postal Dude. Oh and instead of health pipes, it would  probably just be normal weed pipes, or bongs for a bigger health boost.

PS: GO POSTAL TEAM! "you are gods, who can do no wrong."

[Ben, I'd answer your questions but unfortunately you live in New Zealand and the police are already coming to take you away for not surrendering your copy of Postal 2. Be sure to give us your cell block address so we can send porn and cigarettes. -ED.]

RWS RECOMMENDS: This is a new section of POSTAL NATION in which we'll pass on our opinion of non-RWS products, focused, as always in The Urinal, on the positive (Excuse me, sir, but I'm POSITIVE you're pissing on the floor – I mean, you're not even hitting the urinal – of course I'm positive!). And for our first recommendation we offer the cool, hi-def movies on the Sony PSP. The games? Not so much…

And while we're pushing stuff, we MUST not fail to mention the ever-expanding range of incredibly cool RWS/POSTAL items in Café Press. We got clocks, posters, buttons, mouse pads and no-question the coolest Christmas tree ornament you will ever lay eyes upon. Yes, Café Press boasts all manner of delights for the inveterate POSTAL fans. Like they say about loose joints on the streets of New York : "Check it out!"

Just after Running With Scissors signed on to sponsor mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Ed West, we added two more fighters to a stable that now includes five MMA fighters. The latest additions will both be in action on the December 10th Total Fighting show at the Golden Acorn Casino in San Diego .

Shane Johnson is 33 years old, 5'11" and weighs in at 215 lbs. He is incredibly balanced in terms of his fighting skills with experience in Mixed Freestyle, Jujitsu, wrestling and kick boxing. He can take you down and submit you or just knock you out with either punches or kicks. With an 8-4 record, Shane testifies that he got into fighting because of a biblical need to fulfill the dictum of "an eye for an eye, and for as much pain as I've felt my entire life, I like to dish out at least an equal amount, if not more." A legit tough guy, Shane admits "I like to get hit as much as I like to hit other people." He played football from the age of five, but when he felt the contact he needed just wasn't there, he took it to the next level. ("Besides," he conceded, "the referees didn't like me knocking out other football players."

Shane is going up against Tim Percy on the Total Fighting Alliance card. Percy is slightly heavier than Shane at 250 lbs. and boasts an undefeated streak of 4-0 that Johnson is just salivating to end.

Chad Griggs, meanwhile, is 27, stands six feet tall and weighs 240 lbs. A Freestyle fighter with a 1-0 record, Chad got into MMA as part of a life-long love of competition. "It's very raw," he explains. "It's one on one." Chad has been training with the legendary Don "The Predator" Frye since he was 24, played high school football and wrestled some, but he seems to have found his niche in MMA because he likes his contact intense.

RWS RECOMMENDS: A shovel. Make it a good, solid one not one of those cheap-ass swap meet pieces of shit that the handle will snap off when you're just about to deal a finishing blow to some girly Halo fan. And a chainsaw – you never know when THAT puppy might come in handy. Hell, when WOULDN'T it come in handy?!? No, seriously. I want to know. And if you run into the Postal Dude, you'll have something to give him for Xmas… Also recommended is the recently-released DVD of the original "King Kong", complete with plenty of extra features… And on the subject of cinema, you can't go wrong with the double edition DVD of "Scarface" – it features not only the original, rarely-seen version from the '30s (starring Paul Muni and George Raft , directed by Howard Hawks) but the Brian DePalma "Say hello to my little frenn" edition that made Al Pacino a superstar. You'll be amazed at how similar the two movies are (the original was banned in many parts of the country for its extreme violence – sound familiar?) and the entire package comes with great extra features and goodies, including a Tony Montana money clip. So go have fun, buy some shit and keep the economy moving. That's an order. And as Tony Montana says: "The only thing that geeves orders… is balls." So true, Tony, So true.

That's it for this extra-bloated holiday issue. You folks in the Postal Nation have a great Kwanzaa and we'll be back next month!

POSTAL League Sites:
BitchAssMotherFuckers http://www.bitchassmofos.com
Elite Bastards   http://www.elitebastard.com
Hell's Evil Death  http://hellsevildeath.com/index.html
M@DHeadz   http://www.madheadz.net.tc/
Brainless Lunatics   http://www.freewebs.com/brainleslunatics/index.htm
The Darklight Team  http://www.darklight.wb.st/
Bitches With Attitudes  http://www.freewebs.com/bitches-with-attitude/
Bringers of Doom  http://purepostal.com/forums/index.php

And that's all for this month. Remember, it's even more fun if you participate! So send us something cool, dammit!