Okay, I've got it. My copy of Soulcalibur IV for the PS3 arrived at about noontime, and I rushed home immediately. Of course, there are things to do first- immediately after slipping in the disc, I'm greeted by a 1.01 update patch, which will hopefully make sure things go smoothly with the game. I expect that there will also be the lengthy install, but if it makes loading times between matches almost non-existent, that will be worth it.
I guess my day and night is set- I'll be putting in some serious play into this baby... we'll see what we can see and do, and I'll post all the stuff I find out as I get it. Later then!

but in other news, how awesome was the dark knight ?

the answer to that question is :: extremely awesome !!

L mentioned some likes and dislikes, so i'd like to do the same..

the joker :: i loved him and i didn't think i would, as i've never been a ledger fan but it was just a brilliant performance.. it was absolutely terrifying, i think it's the first time i've gone to a superhero movie and actually found myself afraid of the villain..

harvey dent :: i'm a bit disappointed that they didn't set him up as an ongoing villain, because his story is so tragic and awful he's the type of villain you sort of WANT to win.. harvey was what i was most excited to see, so i'm glad he didn't disappoint as a character - i just want to see more of him..

batman :: as much as i LOVE patrick batman, his batvoice was ridiculous.. it's the only thing i really hated about the film - it's no wonder the joker is always laughing at him.. i think i enjoyed the bruce wayne moments more ( and not just cos you get to see patrick batman's totally perfect face )..

gotham :: i dunno, everyone is saying how boring the city looked and how non-gothamy it was but i actually liked that the city wasn't over stylized.. it made it feel more real, and in the night shots it still had a sorta creepy feeling..

one thing that DID piss me off was when bruce is fondling his little batblades with ungloved hands.. look i'm no superhero but even i know not to leave fingerprints of your alter ego on your tools of justice..

*rolls eyes*

anyway, it's a good film - i saw it twice in two days so it'd have to be good to sit thru something that long with only a night's sleep in between..

:: ALFONSO UPDATES ::

i still haven't done much more on my mask, but now that my mom has bought a new sewing machine i'm feeling inspired to get back to work on it, so will keep you posted wani..

i finally managed to get alfonso as my neighbor again in ACWW - it only took me MONTHS of restarts.. now i have to make sure i play everyday to keep him there wani..

i found an online store that will sell me the alfonso miniature for only US$2 !! HOWEVER they want US$24.50 for shipping.. okay, um, that's a lot of shipping doolars for a figure that's barely an inch tall.. so i think i might have to reconsider wani..

>_>

That being said, there are some more developments.  As some keen B-Net observers noticed a new tag possibly associated to Neighbor who's been running MLG playlist games with members of Final Boss.  Major League Gaming officially announced the worst kept secret in the league this afternoon when Neighbor officially filed for free agency and then immediately was signed by Final Boss.

A less publicized move, but one that's still raising eyebrows is Mackeo joining up with former rivals Triggers Down.  Earlier this season a tD Mackeo tag would have been a joke as Mackeo and TD had major beef.  But as they say, "politics makes strange bedfellows".  

In a less dramatic, but still very important move, Str8's coach XXX (AKA: Triple X) announced via the MLGpro message board that he is now coaching Instinct.  Trips was kind enough to give us his coaching resume in the post: 1 time MLG Halo Champion (2006), 1 time MLG Halo 2nd place (2007), 1 time MLG Shadowrun Champion (2007).  7 total tournament wins for 3 teams as a coach.  He's beginning to get a reputation as a coach who can turn a top 4 team into a top team.

This finally solidifies the top 4 teams for Toronto:
Str8 Rippin - TSquared, Elamite Warrior, Legit & Snypedown
Triggers Down - SK, FearItSelf, Hysteria & Mackeo
Final Boss - Ogre 1, Ogre 2, Strong Side & Neighbor
Instinct - Roy, Lunchbox, Walshy & Soviet
(new players in bold)

This whole thing feels like baseball at the trade deadline where the top teams are trying to improve for the stretch run.  All these roster moves means that Toronto will be dripping with story, and really put the focus on Major League Gaming.  I haven't ever heard this much MLG chatter this far out from a tournament before.

The problem is all the confusion over passports.  The MLG site is stating definitively that everyone needs a passport to cross into Canada, however, there seems to be some contradictory information floating around the message boards.

Meanwhile, while Major League Gaming is putting on their Young and the Restless mask, Evo 2k8 is ramping up.  This weekend the Evo Europe qualifiers take place at the Battle of Destiny.  Last weekend was Evo South America in Brazil.  This week Evo announced that they'll have several new releases for exhibit as side games.  They include: Street Fighter 2HD, Street Fighter 4, BluBlaze and Tatsunoku vs Capcom.

I have a feeling 2008 and 2009 are going to be good years to be 2D fighting fans.

(edited @ 12:45: added information regarding XXX joining Instinct)

http://rappelz.gpotato.com/news/index.php

Please see the metaforum here

Regardless of whether your take on Assassin's Creed is glowing or somewhat derisory, I think we can probably agree that the game has a few shortcomings. Though critics generally consent that the mechanics are fresh, it's hard to ignore arguments claiming that Assassin's suffers from repetitive objectives. Call it a smart business decision: give players a little too much of one thing and hopefully your competition won't attempt to reiterate before you get the chance. Whatever the case, those never-ending investigations aren't what irked me about Assassin's Creed. No, in my opinion, the truly onerous design decisions had to do with cut scene camera positioning.

Naturally, these issues are far from game-breaking. But they're still worth thinking about for a variety of reasons. First, expository elements almost always have a serious atmospheric impact. Of more particular interest, however, is the fact that cinematics have taken a lot of flack in the wake of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. While I largely concur with the folks who have argued that player interaction is what games are all about, abandoning cut scenes in favor of scripted sequences isn't necessarily going to deliver a superior immersive experience, and, to my thinking, Assassin's is living proof.

I found myself almost completely unable to pay even a whit of attention during most of the major plot points despite being genuinely interested in what was happening.

Spoilers to follow.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Take the scene in which Desmond Miles, Altaïr ibn La-Ahad's present-day descendant, is asking Abstergo employee Lucy Stillman about how she came to work with her supervisor, Warren Vidic. Stillman has just defended Vidic in spite of his short temper and brusque tone, claiming that he once saved her life. "What do you mean he saved your life?" Miles asks.

Now, despite earnestly wanting to know Stillman's answer, I zoned out and later consulted Sarranduin's transcription at GameFAQs. This happened more than once, and, unfortunately, Sarranduin isn't quite finished with the script. At any rate, so far as I can tell, the reason for my (rather consistent) lapses in concentration had to do with Ubisoft Montreal's decision to deliver their storytelling tidbits via scripting rather than itsy-bitsy film. As a consequence, these segments didn't seem separate or special -- yet they were clearly intended to be. Instead of briefly taking control in order to elucidate important details, the development team left its end users an unusual amount of interpretive freedom for such a directed experience.

This seems especially bizarre when one considers that Assassin's Creed is unusually camera conscious. When ibn La-Ahad selects his pickpocket targets, for instance, the perspective shifts in something not unlike rack focus, drawing players' attention to their quarry by leaving white-robed Altaïr looking soft and blurry. Later, when it comes time to assassinate Al Mualim, the developers choose to introduce Masyaf's mind-controlled citizens with a rather brilliant canted angle. This is the work of a team that clearly knows a thing or two about how movies use various techniques to convey meaning. So why not take full advantage of these methods?

Moreover, the scripted portions are severely limiting in terms of control. You can steer Miles and ibn La-Ahad about, but save for some point of view switches through occasional button mashing, there's not a whole lot to do. You can add some artificial oomph to everything by changing perspectives every time someone utters a complete sentence, though if all you can affect are the camera angles, why bother?

Perhaps I'm drawing too hard a line. The scripted sequences in Assassin's are so restrictive they might as well be cut scenes. Nevertheless, editing your own exposition on the fly is not only distracting, it's wholly ineffective as a narrative device. After all, given a linear game such as this, it's the developer who should choose which actions to underscore and which lines of dialogue to emphasize.

One way or another, it'll be fascinating to see how Ubisoft Montreal decides to frame their sequel.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.641865&w=425&h=350&fv=]

I have 3 guests lined up (Tondog, Jman, and Capt. Anonymous <--- Not real name!), but it seems that depending on who is able to record the content will be different.  I would love to get some user feedback on what you all think of how the show has changed since Episode 3, but other then that (if you wouldnt mind) please shoot us an email regarding the following:

1.  What is you gaming experience like? Basically, walk me through a week your gaming experience, feel free not to gloss over anything, and be sure to fill in details such as where you get your news from, who you will talk to (how many people, are the from these sites, etc.).  A little wonky, but this is an important question i think.

2.  Based on your experience with mmo's, fps games, and online only games, how would you do a 256 player online only fps game?

3.  game trading, is it possible to not rip someone off and actually have a good trading experience?  any examples?

I look forward to recording, i am extremely pissed off (might have lost 4 games through a trading site by getting ripped off by this guy, and no mgs4 if this is true), and cannot wait to record a new show for you all.

-nabokovfan87

p.s. Dizzy, where are you?

Get our your torches bitches, PLAY UK takes a side that either most people will say they don't notice, PS3 fanboys will agree with, and 360 fanboys will disagree with to the death. PLAY UK says:

"On a decent 720p TV Soul Calibur IV is one of the best looking games on the PS3, and for once better looking than the 360 version..."

Oh noes! First you hear the 360 version is running smoother, and now this? Well, all I know is that whichever game renders Ivy bits the best, that will be the one I play. Whats funny is that they say "for once better looking for the 360 version.."  Ouch PS3.  Fanboys, attack!

On a side, note, keep a look out next week for a Soul Calibur review and comparison once I get the retail copies of both in my hand.  Plus the shiny keychain Gamestop is offering for a preorder on either version! Joy!

Linky!

When I was able to sneak a little time here and there, I look back and am surprised that I broke out some of my older games that I never finished.  Sometimes it's true that "everything old is new again", and it was refreshing not to be tempted so bad to purchase yet another game when I have plenty of solid hitters that had been collecting dust.

First up, Metal Gear Acid 2, for my PSP.  It really was shocking that when I booted it up, I noticed my last save game file was just over a year old.  Wow.  A whole year since I played it last, but after a few practice rounds, I jumped right back in and on my way to moving the story along.  Complete turn based, strategy card game I forgot how much I enjoyed.

Over at XBox Live Arcade I downloaded two demo's: Too Human (see earlier post this week on my thoughts) and Go Go Break Steady (music rythym game set in a break dance world).  It's animations were cute and its beats kinda cool, but after playing the demo for a while I won't be unlocking the full game.  I also noticed there has been an expansion released for Puzzle Quest.  I'll end up getting that later as I still have a way to go on the original, not to mention my wife is already addicted to the core game without getting the expansion.

Back over at my Nintendo Wii, I've been unlucky in getting my hands on a Wii Fit.  I have a good line on where to get one....a store of the beaten path that a coworker told me about where he walked in earlier this week and got their last one without even trying.  Anyway they told me to call back Monday, so perhaps if I am extremely lucky I'll have one soon and hopefully trim my figure a bit. (Note to self: I should play both boxing and tennis this weekend as my cardio exercise).

I also broke out Battalion Wars 2 and I really like that game.  I finished about 30% of the game so far, and even on the easy levels, I can't seem to get past a 'C' grade right on the missions right now.  My technique is always great, usually 100% or just under....it's the speed that hampers me.  I can clear a level in five minutes, but apprantley, they would like to see me do it under four which can be a little tough for me.  It reminds me of a real time and vamped up version of Advance Wars.  It's been quite a while since I played this last as well, clearly more than six months, and again I'm really looking forward to playing it this weekend.

Same for WoW.  My alliance Pally is now lvl 66, and I'd like to play a good dungeon this weekend and maybe level up to 67 in preparation for Lich King expansion.  I also played about an hour last Sunday my lvl 46 undead Warlock in Hinterlands.  I like that zone.  One zone I am bored to tears with though is Astranaar.  I have my lvl 30 Shaman and lvl 29 Priest stuck there now, grinding away for money to buy some better item so I can move beyond this infernal place.

Lastly my best news of the week is bittersweet.  I finally completed my first pass through of Mass Effect yesterday which is pretty monumental for me....to complete a single play through...and I loved every minute of the game.  The last boss battle was much easier than I thought it was going to be, but the ending left me a little jaded.  What?  I can't go back and tie up the few loose ends?  Ahh man....  Plus I was so close to lvl 50 and the associated achievement unlock.  I was literally under 200 XP away from lvl 50 and I also never got the 'Paramour' achievement either in which I feel a little cheated on.  Overall a great game, though I'm a little dissapointed with the lack of DLC support that was promised for it.  One 'episode' is a far cry on what was promised.  Now, I may have to replay again on the next diffiuclty level and work on my sniper and shotgun achievements as well since I got assault rifle and pistol completed.

I've also blasted through a good 60% of Jak II in a day, now I have my shiny new Samsung 22" widescreen monitor to play it on. I would hook it up to the PC, but it won't fit on the desk... bawww. I've played the first half of this game before, and it does take some determination as a player to actually put up with the glaring problems the game has. The vehicle system needs to die in a fire, the camera controls can be shoddy, you have to do each mission several times because they made it too hard and decided not to implement a checkpoint system... but ignore those issues, and the game is alright. Dax still brings the funny, although a bit racier (think Banjo-Tooie compared to Banjo-Kazooie, but without blatant dongs and gay jokes all over the place), the graphics still look alright for a PS2 game, and some gameplay elements can be quite fun when they're not frustrating the hell outta you.

And as a final note, I became more of a Tonks obsessive. Annoyed about the fact there's no decent Tonks merchandise (apart from a crappy bust), I went about making my own poster. If anyone knows a good place where I can get some A2 stuff printed well, then let me know - click the poster for a bigger version. Enjoy!

]]> http://mediasoldierx.wordpress.com/?p=18 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:22:21 +0000 Shaun http://mediasoldierx.wordpress.com/?p=18 Just updating you on that my gamertag is now MediaSoldierX easily reconised with my blog and username online. If anyone feels like adding me and you have xbox live please do so. I'm always up for a laugh on there mainly playing Gears of War and Halo 3.

More bloggin' later ;)

The company's Librica service will offer comics from some of Japan's largest publishers via its Wii Ware online service. Japanese readers spent nearly $4.5 billion on manga in 2006. (The New York Times/IDG News Service 7/24)

I mean to be honest, some of my Wii games [like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games] really make me work. OK, yes, I am very athletic and in shape, but even I felt the burn in my forearms more after playing that game than in any softball related hitting exercise. Or speaking of sports, how about Wii Play, where I can  throw a no-hitter and then save a few bucks and bowl right in the comfort of my living room? [On a side note, I haven't tried the Wii Fit yet, but I'm wondering what people are thinking about it. Then again, with as fast as it is flying off the shelves, I guess it must be good.]

Now, even libraries are looking to add the gaming element into their repertoire and yeah, I don't think it's a bad idea. It's not suggesting that gaming should be students' lives, but if it's getting them involved, engaged, and challenged, why not try it?

[On another side note, my Rock Band skills have improved dramatically. I'm still verging only between the easy/medium levels, but hey, that's good for me. Nance, be ready!]

I cannot say for sure what made me think, possibly for the first time, that I would be more satisfied with a life free from video games. Certainly, I have a few thoughts regarding why I think that, now, and I would like to share them with you.

I have been enthralled by video games since I was a young child. My parents did not allow consoles in the house, probably because my father saw little value in the activity, and my mother possesses, even to this day, an aversion to any electronic device more complicated than a pocket calculator. That’s not to say that my parents are Neo-Luddites or anything – they’re not. They just see computers and such as a tool. By their reasoning, I imagine, it makes as much sense to play with a computer for hours as to play with a screwdriver for hours. Certainly, I have had a different point of view as long as I can remember. Recently, however, I have started to question just how much time and energy it is healthy to invest in this hobby.

As a young person, I think the newness and diversity of the experience of playing video games appealed to me, in particular, partly because it was an uncommon pleasure and partly because my generation was the first to grow up with advanced video games (8-bit and beyond). I knew, even at an early age, that by playing video games I was not just entertaining myself, increasing my hand-eye coordination and learning puzzle-solving skills; I was sharing in the experiences of millions of the other people of my generation.

The sensation of being connected, by shared experience, while still being disconnected in terms of explicit interaction with others was also unique. Nearly everyone of my generation shares the memory of how it felt to stomp on little goombas or throw fireballs at pipe plants. Everyone has felt the disappointment of barely missing the flag outside the castle, or the little joy of the fireworks above it, when you complete a level quickly. Super Mario Bros. for the NES was revolutionary. It appealed to everyone, and it was a gateway to everything else that console had to offer. From the moment you played that game, Tetris, Duck Hunt, Pac-Man or whatever… whatever your first video game experience was… you knew that you were doing something that many, many other people had also done, yet your experience, though shared, was unique. Your successes and accomplishments – minor as they were – were your own.

Multi-player games where players could not just compete against each other but could also cooperate to solve goals that neither could easily accomplish alone expanded the horizon of video games. MMOs and consoles have done this on an amazing scale.

We have achieved much, pardon the pun.

Yet, we have lost much. Few people read anything of real value any more. When we do read the classics or even insightful modern works, most people are not trained to read them critically or to appreciate and adopt the principles conveyed or to use them to improve their character and perspective on the world and those that inhabit it.

The self-centered, egotistical, humanistic worldview of the Baby Boomers is now utterly pervasive, and has been their infamous legacy. The dreams of our grandparents have been lost and squandered by a prodigal generation of self-serving, indulgent, naïve idealists. There will, however, be no going back. The time is too late. Unlike the prodigal son of parable fame, there will be no reconciling, no slaughtering of the fatted calf. The time is almost past, for that generation, and soon the hollow ones they begat will take up the mantle of society, for what purpose they know not.

Leisure is no longer a structured retreat from the activities of life. Life has become an inconvenience that interrupts our leisure activities. For no other type of person is this more true than for the self-proclaimed “gamer.” As a subculture built on a multi-billion dollar industry, this pervasive lifestyle has vast, far-reaching influence not just on culture as a whole, but on ideas, literature, movies, marketing, media and more.

Consumers of video game products are consumers of hundreds of thousands of products that now must be marketed to those who have as a large part of their identity the moniker, “gamer.” These products, however, are also consumed by vast numbers of other individuals, who are subjected to gamer subculture through the products and media they consume that are marketed to gamers. This works to spread ideas and themes that would other wise be distributed to comparatively few people outside the established gamer subculture. The apathy towards the real world, the pursuit of personal comfort and the immediate gratification of desires, as well as the avoidance of inconvenience at any cost except greater inconvenience that are part of gamer subculture proliferate through the spread of products and services, having an unprecedented effect on the whole of society.

For an entire sector of society whose goal is not life, but the avoidance of it, how can the few who see things as they are make headway against the apathy, indifference and moral uncertainty of the masses? In short, how can you motivate people, who have been trained not to care for anything outside their own happiness and leisure, to show concern and make difficult choices about the proper ordering of society?

I feel somewhat like Winston Smith, hopeless and helpless in the face of The Party. It is not the Inner Party that dominated Oceanian society, in Nineteen Eighty-Four; it was the apathy of the Proletariat and the perceived helplessness of the Outer Party. If that apathy and cowardice were pushed aside, those of the Inner Party would have been quickly overwhelmed. Apathy and cowardice are the greatest enemies of society; yet our generation embraces both through video games and the Internet. We hide behind the seemingly impenetrable shield of anonymity and post absurdities, falsehoods and obscenities unprecedented by any of the iniquities of our forebears. We cultivate apathy by becoming absorbed by meaningless activities, earning points, when, ironically, there is no point, no purpose, no reason – the means is an end unto itself.

There is a joke about a man who dies and goes to heaven. He is standing at the Golden Gates, and Saint Peter says to him, “Why should you be allowed to enter?”

The man replies, “I have been a good person, and have never hated or mistreated my fellow man or any of God’s creatures.”

Saint Peter considers this for a moment, and responds, “Yes… but how many points did you have?”

“I’m sorry,” replies the man, somewhat at a loss, “what do you mean… “points”?

Saint Peter chuckles, “Super Mario Bros. You know, the points you get for time bonus, coins, and the like. What did you think they were for? Now, how many?!”

Honestly, I don’t see why Super Mario Bros even had points, except that they could, conceivably, be used to compare one gamer’s final score to another’s, but what would that matter? Both would have completed the game, which is the real point. It just added another layer of meaningless achievements to the game - something to strive (in vain) for, or in industry terms, “to give the game ‘replayability.’”

So, we find ourselves entangled in a trap of our own making. The games, themselves, offer us little, if anything. The only possible exception might be those games that excel in training our minds for puzzle solving or other useful real-world tasks, and maybe MMOs, which allow us to interact on a social level. MMOs are, however, usually the worst social environments imaginable where apathy and cowardice reign, and ideas – and those who possess them – are ridiculed if they are not congruent with the ultra-liberal groupthink that is pervasive online and throughout the culture of the young, who are indoctrinated by the nearly socialist public school system and very nearly socialist state post-secondary educational institutions to hate and despise traditionalists, conservatives or any philosophy that is not dominated by total moral relativism, almost without exception.

Yet, many hold out the hope that still the medium’s potential might be fulfilled, that some mote of goodness in the human spirit might prevail, that something, anything might overthrow the tyranny of thought that is the end result of apathy, cowardice and socio-political liberalism. Technology is still the vehicle of our hopes, the while it is simultaneously the run-away train that is speeding us toward the precipice across which there is no bridge.

Frank Herbert wrote that knowing that there is a trap is the first step in evading it. To resist the urge to embrace one’s hopes in the face of absolute despair regarding their fulfillment is the only hope of sanity. Sanity requires an acceptance of truth, however ugly it may be. Our grandparents, the Great Generation, dreamed the dreams of their fathers – a life of relative security, mechanization of tasks that would otherwise require hard labor, equality for mankind, freedom and democracy – but those dreams are not only impossible to achieve in any meaningful, lasting way; they are also undesirable.

As Orwell pointed out, however, those who have power seek it for its own end, and could not maintain their grasp upon it, if the disadvantaged masses no longer needed to toil endlessly for that which sustains them. Poverty is a necessity for social hierarchy, and without that hierarchy, true equality has a chance. If, however, men are equal, no man has more power than any other. Without power, there is no control. Without control, there is chaos. Therefore, without poverty there is chaos.

Financial poverty, in an age when it is easy to acquire guns and craft explosives and other weapons of terrible destructive power, is also incompatible with control, however, except in pockets of the population that can be turned against each other or controlled with harmful, but intoxicating substances or meaningless quarrels. Where drug use is rampant, chaos is the rule and the strong rule the weak. This can be contained, and those pockets form cancer-like cells within the greater unit. They are not malignant, and so can be allowed to exist as long as they do not spread. If kept in check, they can continue on, as they are, without harm to anyone but those unfortunate enough to be inside them. So financial poverty can exist where drug use and internal strife will keep a minority of the population occupied with itself, and where that segment of the population will not rise up against the authorities who control the larger body of society.

But what of the rest of society, the middle class and those who struggle not with rampant drug abuse, daily violence or threats of violence or against any other serious mortal threat or socio-economic hardship? There are yet other forms of poverty that are employed to check these individuals.

First, is debt – or as we call it, “credit” – which is as near to doublespeak as one can come. Nearly all of the middle class is consumed by debt. Their money is spent before they earn it. They live well, but are locked in a financial cycle from which most have not the means, nor desire, to extricate themselves.

Second is a poverty of the mind. Sub-par education and a cultural aversion to knowledge beyond the trivial or absolutely necessary for an individual’s occupation or personal interests prevents the vast majority from becoming truly educated, well-rounded, mature human beings whose minds, character and bodies can best be used to shape society into a form which increases the quality of and respect for the life of all human beings and creatures of the Earth.

Video games are not to blame, in total, but they can be part of the problem, as can any leisure activity that distracts one from educating the mind and living a full life that is rational and social. Epictetus said, “Only the educated are free,” and Herbert Spencer said, “Education has for its object the formation of character.” If we educate ourselves well, and form a character that is rational and social, we shall be truly free of the bonds of apathy and cowardice. We shall say what is reasonable, right and good, and we will make society more perfect and more truly ideal.

I cannot see how, with so much to learn, a well-educated person would have time for video games that require advanced levels of immersion to meaningfully participate. Games that require hours and hours of play without advancing towards meaningful goals or games that are a virtual carrot-on-a-stick, by their nature, foster habits that are dangerous to the development of a well-educated mind, because they lock their players into a pattern of behavior that is addictive and time-consuming to the point that the player has little time for anything outside the game.

In order to be a “gamer,” that is, in order to be highly skilled video game player, one must commit an unreasonable amount of time and effort in an activity that yields no real-world gains or rewards. This is what I meant when I said that for an entire sector of society their goal is not life, but the avoidance of it.

I have seen the trap. I have taken the first step in evading its grasp. The second step is to determine a course of action that will extricate me from the trap. This, too, I have begun to do. Concurrently, I can embark upon the third step – taking the first, most obvious actions to prevent entrapment.

It is hard to argue that severely limiting time spent playing video games will have not have an extremely positive effect on my over-all quality of life. Perhaps, even, a life completely free from video games would produce a more polished, enlightened and knowledgeable individual. Certainly, more of my time could be devoted to becoming such.

It seemed madness, at first. Why avoid something that is, at first examination, relatively harmless? Because, upon sober reflection and after deep consideration of the effects video games have on most people, it seems unwise to continue to pursue them with vigor. A casual affinity for the occasional game, of course, would be no more harmful than a game of poker or chess. If, however, one has time for video games, would it not be better to read something that might do more to expand your mind and character or to participate in an activity that might strengthen your body?

I feel compelled to conclude that it is best for myself, if not for all, to abandon frivolity and useless striving, and to therefore severely limit or eliminate my video game consumption – especially MMOs. The time I will gain, alone, will make the sacrifice of minor pleasure more than worth it. The potential gains in terms of time I can spend educating and developing myself will help to shape me into a more rational and social individual, and I will be a benefit to society. This is my aspiration and my reasons for choosing it. I hope my thoughts encourage you to similar ends.

So I had heard but didn't believe... but it looks to be true. It appears as though Volition, Inc will be getting porned (yes like pwned but better[?]), in the form of one Tera Patrick.

I doubt Tera's appearance or involvement in SR2 will be like the bizarre Virtual Jenna type "experience".

But I wonder if it really matters since the release of GTA:IV will Saints Row do as well (especially on the x360 platform).

After the bounce some more Tera for ya. [NSFW]

[caption id="attachment_712" align="aligncenter" width="616" caption="Tera Patrick"][/caption] ]]> http://propanenightmares.wordpress.com/?p=16 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:59:15 +0000 Propane Nightmares http://propanenightmares.wordpress.com/?p=16 Good...then put your vote in here and lets see if we can get it as an Xbox Original for download on the Marketplace.

Do it now.

Im doing this because of a little trouble I ran in with backwards compatability for it. Its compatable on xbox.com but for hundreds of gamers you'll be greeted with only Sound and no visuals, or worse, if you can see it, unrendered landscapes and objects.

Bad times. Im a big Silent Hill fan if you havent gathered, so stop reading this and put your vote in that request thread. Ill do a big usual update post like i normally do sometime next week, so yes...go...VOTE!!

And I've let this blog suffer for it.

/sigh

In recent developments, my little girl's growing up so quickly... she's able to read at a first grade level (at 4 years old) and she's learning her numbers and how to tell time. At this rate, by the time she actually starts school, she'll be ready for college!

Anyhoo, I've got quests to do, and monsters to kill, so I'll just let this here blog decompose some more.

After multiple delays and push backs EA has announced the release date for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. September 23rd. Link Here. I am excited. You should be too.

Surprise best of show from E3 2008

By Jeremy Azevedo

Fallout 3 is destined to be the standard-bearer for all Post Nuclear Apocalypse Action Role Playing games to follow. Critical reception of the game at this year's E3 was sweepingly, unanimously positive, despite the fact the 90% of the press had never even heard of Fallout 1 or 2. (Myself included.)

The story of Fallout 3 in the words of Bethesda Game Studios is as follows: Vault 101 – Jewel of the Wastes. For 200 years, Vault 101 has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec® engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you’ve ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

On your way to find your absentee father, you will be presented with numerous moral choices that will affect your gameplay experience and the way your fellow survivors interact with you. You will also be presented with numerous individual body parts that you can target (and blow to smithereens in glorious showers of slow motion blood and gore) on the various nuclear mutants populating the wasteland, using your totally awesome Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System.

Check out these pics and trailer from the future game of the year, 2009:

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