POSTAL BULLETS
News From The Postal Underworld

As Vince put it in a "Statement of Passion" for Russia 's Gameland Magazine: "For me, games started in the streets in Brooklyn , New York . We played stickball, skelzee and handball. We were kids living outside. Then came Atari and the world changed forever. We all have history and culture, poetry and literature, music and films. Now the world, the history of man before us, is sharing more than all our spirits could ever imagine. There is no more Old, we are all Young . Across all borders, languages and laws, computers and video games are the revolution yet to come."

For the complete skinny on the tour, we secured the services of a fluffer and sat Vince down to give us the hard facts regarding the journey.

Q: How would you describe your recent trip to Russia ?  

VINCE: WOW!  I've been abroad before, but this was really a broad in so many ways.  Russia is such a dynamic country and Moscow is exploding.  They really have embraced capitalism, and have a great appreciation for hard work. What an experience!

Q: This wasn't your first trip, was it?

VINCE: This was my second time visiting Russia .

Q: What was the main reason for the pilgrimage? 

VINCE: I was invited by Gameland Publishing to attend their annual video game awards show on MTV.  They told me they ran a poll back in Nov 2005 to determine the most influential person in the game industry and I came out on top, so they thought it would be cool to have me there and present an award.

Q: Is POSTAL popular in the Motherland? Any personal interactions with gamers?

VINCE: Oh, it's VERY popular, between all the bootleg copies and the few that we actually get paid for, POSTAL is one of the most popular games in Russia .  I was amazed to see fans show up at the Red Army Theatre, which is where the event was held, with gifts for me – I was totally blown away!

Q: How is Vince Desi perceived by Russian gamers? Depraved monster or liberator?

VINCE: Funny you ask. They did a skit before I came on stage and it made me look like a monster evil nutjob and then they wanted me to walk out on stage and give flowers to the MTV host chick, to show I'm not really a bad guy. Well, that was fucking boring, so I just improvised and spoke my mind; thank God most Russian gamers know enough English to at least understand my cursing. 

Q: What is the appeal of POSTAL to Russian gamers?

VINCE: I really do believe it's the culture we present, the parody of the American lifestyle.  Everyone loves to hate Americans it seems, yet at the same time, everyone wishes they were American.  I do believe that Russian gamers are far more like us than we or they realize.  I only wish more Americans would visit Russia ; it really was a great experience.

Q: What were the highlights of this trip?

VINCE: The entire trip was like five days, so the total trip in itself, like a capsule, was all-encompassing.  So many things blew me away; the constant pouring of vodka, the endless stream of blonde beauties, the sense of history and the unbelievable architecture, really just kept me going. 

Q: Any last thoughts on the trip?

VINCE: Yeah, I can't wait to go back!

Thanks, Vince . And for a more intimate look at Russia through the eyes of Mike J , take a stroll to his blog. Mike (who didn't really get thrown down a well, though I'm sure someone must have suggested it) provides a window into young Russian society that most Americans will find both enlightening and entertaining.

Two More Victories for Running With Scissors' MMA Stable
Running With Scissors' growing army of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters continues to draw blood, with our quintet of bone breakers and knockout artists amassing a combined 7-1-0 record since donning the POSTAL colors. As we go to press, the RWS team comprises UFC star Drew "The Master" Fickett, Ed West, Shane "Battle Cat" Johnson, Chad Griggs and female powerhouse, Hayley "The Hammer" Salazar.

Ed West (left) and Shane Johnson (right)

The latest triumphs came on February 24 th at "Rage in the Cage 79: The Rage Returns" from the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, where Ed West (8-1-0) retained his Rage in the Cage (RITC) Lightweight Championship with a unanimous decision against Carlos Ortega, while Shane Johnson (6-4-0) scored his third straight first round submission victory, this time rearranging Seth Bacynski's leg into a pretzel and securing a tap out victory with his kneebar.

"Going into the fight, I was really sure [ Ortega ] was going to try and take me down," the wild, wild Mr. West told us, "because that's his strength – wrestling/ju-jitsu. But as soon as the fight started, I realized he wanted to slug it out; he wanted to stand up, too. He was gonna try to swing heavy and take my head off." So Ed sat back, using a combination of his greater reach and "what I considered a huge psychological advantage I had over him since I'd fought him before and beat him before, so during the fight I did a bunch of things to screw with him. Once I realized I could hit him at will and still escape easily, I pretty much poured it on, but the dude had a head like a brick and I just couldn't put him out, despite how bloody he was. I made him chase me, I taunted him, I'd flinch and then I'd hit him, anything I thought would throw him off. But the audience didn't really dig it," he confessed with an unrepentant chuckle that makes him such a perfect choice to enter the ring as a representative of the POSTAL Life. "I came across as very arrogant and cocky." In fact, when the fight was over and Ed got his hand on the microphone, he delivered a classic pro wrestling-style promo, informing the crowd that he didn't care whether they showed up to see him win or watch him get his clock cleaned, just as long as they showed up.

West suffered a minor injury during the fight while hammering away at Ortega 's concrete skull. "I think I broke my left index finger," he shrugged. "It's probably fractured, which isn't a big deal, just a two or three week injury."

Shane "Battle Cat" Johnson , meanwhile, continued to liquefy the opposition, delivering his third successive first round submission victory. "It was an exciting fight on a fast night when guys were getting their butts handed to them pretty quickly," Shane observed. At about 6'2" and 220 lbs., opponent Seth Bacynski was no tomato can. "I knew he was a good striker," Shane reported. "But I just took him down and gave him a lesson in grappling. It seemed like he was a fish out of water as soon as we went to the ground and I sensed that right away. So I figured I didn't want to stand with him."

The Battle Cat's next fight is set for L.A. on April 7, with an unfortunate opponent yet to be named. Meanwhile, RWS' Chad Griggs looks likely to take on the King of the Cage Super-Heavyweight Champion, Cadillac . "If it wasn't for sports," Shane told us, becoming philosophical in between training sessions and submitting opponents, "we'd never know what we're capable of."

At Running With Scissors, meanwhile, everybody's jazzed by the performances of the hardcore men and women who comprise our POSTAL Fight Team. "First and foremost, we sponsor people we like," said Vince Desi . "People who never give up." Then he stopped for a minute and smiled. "People like us."

Tallarico's Videgames LIVE Show Set To Rock San Jose's Sox Off
Tommy Tallarico's spectacular Video Games Live! multimedia game-based music event is coming to San Jose! If you haven't seen this show -- or even if you have -- it's absolutely Must See (sort of a Cirque de Soliel for game fans but somewhat less gay)! Vince will be at the Meet & Greet to make it even more irresistible. So check it out and journey by plane, train, car or on foot to be transported into a new dimension of the gaming universe!

-STILL Can't Stop The Vince Interviews! -And What's Down With Australia?
What IS down with Australia ? Its outright ban on POSTAL games is what. We first posted this story in the previous RWS Newsletter, but it seems to have staying power. Our initial report was followed by another note from an Aussie fan who reports: "The no R18+ rating here in Australia is ridiculous. The government is still failing to grasp that the majority of gamers over here are aged 22-29." He suggested we check out a story on the Down Under PC World site by Mitchell Bingemann for more details.

Most recently, Mitchell Bingemann himself, a writer for both the Aussie version of PC World and Australian Gamepro conducted an interview on the subject with none other than Vince Desi, the man who is to International Video Gaming what David Hasselhoff is to the German pop music industry. As Mitchell explained: "I've been looking into methods imposed by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification board and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (equivalent to the FCC) and have found out they are pretty much powerless to stop distribution of POSTAL and its sequels through the system you're employing [Softwrap]. The only course ACMA can pursue is to have Australian ISPs apply filters to the download host, but the catch is that it is completely up to the consumer if they wish to apply these same filters or not. It's obviously a huge loophole for publishers to get their content to fans."

This image never gets old...

And, since we don't REALLY expect you guys and girls to travel all the way to Australia, POSTAL-hating, convict-populated hellhole that it is (except, of course, for the POSTAL fans and their cool, underground computer and video game lairs) just to snatch up a copy and read the interview, here it is:

Q: Have your sales through this new channel [Softwrap] been successful?

VINCE: We are experiencing a rebirth with POSTAL games. You have to realize that POSTAL 2 is now almost three years old, so our experiment with online distribution is definitely working.

Q: Can you shed light on Australian purchases of the products?

VINCE: I can tell you that we are seeing an increase in sales in Australia , Brazil , Korea , New Zealand and even in North America , as we never had deep distribution here at home.

Q: Do you think this Softwrap solution will extend to other banned or refused classification games?

VINCE: I think it's an excellent method for any game. As technology improves, more and more people will be satisfying their need for immediate possession by purchasing online. But I do think that there will always be a place for retailers; some people like boxes and the extra crap in them.

Q: How important is this avenue of sale for Running with Scissors?

VINCE: Very important, not only because it has allowed us to reach previously forbidden markets but because it has now added additional sales life to our brand of POSTAL games.
 
Q: Do you think your circumvention would be necessary if Australian games had an R18+ classification system?

VINCE: I don't see it only as a method of circumvention, but as a supplement to retail sales. Obviously in our case it is the alternative method which permits us to reach the Australian market, but like I said above, this is a great service for any game.  I do think that an R18+ rating would make it a lot easier and simpler for your consumers, but I'm not exactly knowledgeable on Australian laws and how they are actualized.

Q: As it stands, any game higher than a MA15+ rating is refused classification (as the POSTAL games were).

VINCE: That sounds very anti-free speech to me. I always thought Australia was big on freedom; sorry to hear that.  I question whether or not your government is in touch with what your citizens are really thinking and wanting.

And thus closes another chapter in the seemingly endless, yet never boring collection of Interviews with Vince . Completists can also read what he has to say in God only knows what language while Vince also plugs Guru Larry Bundy in a couple of short videos at www.gopostal.com/video/gurularry/clip1.mpg and at www.gopostal.com/video/gurularry/clip2.mpg .

There's also a Uwe Boll interview out there and to wrap up, our old friend Gareth has updated his Skewed & Reviewed site, which offers interviews with everyone from Vince Desi to Vin Diesel. And even Uwe Boll is on hand to chat up his latest cinematic achievements and discusses the POSTAL movie.

Desi and The Postalmeister Talk POSTAL 3 To The Xboxers

For those of you out there just salivating over what you'll find when you finally boot up the long-awaited POSTAL 3, we offer a metaphorical drool cup for your use. While the game is still completing its design stage, Vince the Prince and Wicked Steve Wik were still willing to sit down with the gang at Xboxcore to talk P3 and generally chew the fat. Check it out.

Note to Xboxscore: Next time, however, how about pizza and Red Bull instead of fat? It was chewy, but rather tasteless. Of course, we've often faced the same accusation regarding our games…

Overseas Editions of The Urinal Still Overflowing the International Scene
German The Dude Magazine - This is the most ambitious POSTAL fan magazine project we have seen and contains original material. We at RWS are in the process of granting them free access to all materials from The Urinal – in fact, since some of these publications can show nip, you might want to check them out for POSTAL Babe shots that even WE can't show you. In any case, at the moment this is simply a magazine devoted to POSTAL and The Dude and whether you can read German or not, it's well worth checking out.

Russian Russia has certainly embraced the POSTAL series – we've sold, like, millions of copies over there – so it was inevitable that a site such as this would turn up. Take a trip that melts the Iron Curtain, comrades, and see what a Urinal looks like in Russia .

Portuguese Pedro is among our oldest and most loyal fans and among the first to seek permission to translate our newsletter into other tongues.

Swedish I mean, with all those hot, blond POSTAL Babes, you KNEW there hadda be a Swedish version, right?

Italian Manuel Marino, nother of our true veterans and hall of fame fans brings you a Urinal with Italiano zest!

Benelux/Dutch D. Dam Wichers decided The Benelux countries need The Urinal too, folks. This is a recent effort and we wish Danny Dam the best of luck.

Japan Toshi informs us POSTAL is extremely popular in the Pacific Rim and I'm sure we'd do even better there if we included bondage shots in the games. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Gallic/French This is the publication that drew 18 different suggestions for an appropriate translation of our title. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Ouamdu Ouamdu to run here.

This International POSTAL phenomenon has somewhat overwhelmed us, but if you're game for posting our newsletter in the language of your choice (from Klingon to Hobbit to Brad Pitt in "Snatch"), let us know and we'll do anything we can to help get you started.

Seeing the POSTAL Sites
As always, here's an arbitrary list of POSTAL-related sites presented in no particular order:

* To see some new zombie images from the Eternal Damnation Mod check out http://resurrection-studios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=449

* http://www.freewebs.com/postalaw/thepostalworld.htm has a new Share The Pain review up.

* http://postalfr.tonsite.biz/news.php French Postal forums. Parlez des machettes de boomerang en Français!
Le' W00T!

 * The new URL for the Bitches With Attitude forums is: http://purepostal.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=26 go chat with the Grrlz that WILL kick your sorry ass.

*http://moddb.com/ Your one-stop shop for all things Mod related.

* www.postalnetwork.org The first and greatest Postal portal!

* http://www.resurrection-studios.com/ Home of the Eternal Damnation Mod project.

* http://elitebastard.com/kamek/ Kamek's batcave of Postal Moddery. Loads of cool stuff for multiplayer Postal!

* http://www.bitchassmofos.com/ BAMF's multiplayer Postal Clan

* http://postal2.tk/ Looks like a store page, smells like a store page, but under the brazen attempt to sell you Share The Pain are links to free multiplayer maps and other Postal-related goodness!

* http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=15229050&Mytoken=20050728120705 Ever wonder what The Dude's friends are like? Well, you can meet 27 of them right here.

* http://www.freewebs.com/bitches-with-attitude/index.htm The old Bitches With Attitude site with really awful LOUD midi music on it. They will taunt you a second time and kick your ear's ass!

* http://www.geocities.com/hellchild1989/home2.htm Another Postal fan sharing his pain. Quick, check out his Postal cartoons for some extra Deep Hurting before he does something crazy...