The comments, reviews and rantings are for entertainment only. If you are offended then someone else is getting entertained. Welcome to the internet. Have at it. This is where I sound off on what I read in comics this week, and occasionally ramble about other things.
Pokémon GO got released to the public last week. If you saw what seemed like more people than usual walking around with their cell phones out looking down at the screen, there's a go chance they were trying to catch 'em all. The game uses the phone's GPS and real world locations to play. You go to landmarks to get items or battle in Pokémon gyms and the creatures pop up all over the place. My wife snagged three Pokémon in a McDonald's drive thru. The game is a lot of fun, but it makes you get out in the real world, so you have to be careful.
Here's a few tips for you. Yes, many of these should be obvious, but a reminder never hurts. People's property is their property. The game tells you there's Squirtle nearby: YAY! But its in someone's back yard: uh oh. As tempting as it may be, it not a good idea to go roming through other people's yards and such in your hunts. That person might be completely cool with what you're doing, but the neighbors might get nervous. Best case is you get to explain the game to new person, possibly a police officer. Worst case: crazy neighbor person comes out with shotgun. Fortunately, the radius in the game for catching Pokémon is pretty wide so if a critter is in someone's back yard, you'll probably be about to snag it from the sidewalk. When going out at night to play the game, remember that you are going out at night. Wear some bright colors. And like the song says: nothing good happens after 2 AM. That guy on the corner might not be out hunting for a Zubat. Look where you're going! Seriously. A little situational awareness goes a long way. There's already been people bumping into each other and running into walls. Go out in groups! While this is a good safety tip, it also makes the game a lot more fun. Go out as a family. Find a buddy. We hit a Pokéstop (place to get items in the game) at a park over the weekend. There were about a dozen of us there playing the game. Most everyone had a buddy with them. Everyone was friendly and having a great time. It was a blast. On the flip side there's been a case of criminals staking out Pokéstops waiting for players who are out by themselves to rob them. This gets back to being aware of your surroundings. Also traveling in groups does cut down on the chances of being confronted by a potential mugger or worse. Remember your common sense. Its a neat idea, the thought of going on an adventure to play this game. But if you're out somewhere and thinking about checking a spot that may not be safe. Remember, its just a game and you'll have other chances to snag that particular Pokémon. All that said, I think the game is really great. There are a few risks involved, but there's always a risk when heading out your front door. The fun and exercise you'll get out of playing the game do outweight those risks. So head out, have fun, and be safe!
This past week Disney released it new DISNEY INFINITY game on multiple gaming platforms. Game Informer is saying this is going to be one of the top 5 games this year. Lots of hype, but the game itself is pretty remarkable. Characters from Disney and Pixar movies that everyone loves coming together for us to play with and giving us the ability if create worlds to run these characters around in. Its not surprising that Marvel, being owned by Disney, would put out a tie-in comic to really get as many people as they could on board. The first issue of INFINITY came out last week, and Jonathan Hickman has guided his AVENGERS series to this event, much like the nice folks over at Gamestop have been collecting thos pre-orders. The cross marketing has been subtle, and fortunately Hickman has been very careful not to overplay things. Both the comic and the game deal with multiversal concepts. The game does branch out a bit more as it allows players to explore multiple Earths wereas the comic just sticks to the Marvel U that we know. There has been a lot in NEW AVENGERS dealing with "incursions" which stem from a chain reaction caused by on universe in the multiverse being destroyed and the other universes reacting to that void. Has of yet I have found no such destruction of a Universe in the video game, although to be fair I haven't played through the MONSTERS UNIVERSITY segment of the game, nor purchased the CARS and THE LONE RANGER expansions.
The big feature in the video game is "The Toy Box" which lets you create, customize and populate your own world with various things you earn in the adventure protions of the game. You have ability to alter and erase elements as well. Hickman cleverly inserts this element into the comic with the Builder characters. These are essentually gamers on a cosmic level whom really enjoy Sim City and Civilization type games in which they guild and nudge species towards goals. They also seem to like a bit of Pokémon as they'll work to evolve species as well. These builders have gone a bit nutters and are wiping out worlds. They go after the Space Knights and the Kree in the comics. This is a clear cut message to old school ROM fans, there's a new age upon us and they have not qualms about breaking out the magic wand from the game tools and deleting whatever they don't like. However, it must be noted that these Builders are not the good guys. In fact Captain America is leading the Avengers into space to help confront them. This echos something unwritten in the game but the message is clear throughout much of the gameplay: "Its better to create and nurture an idea than to just wipe it away." So my compliments to Disney and Marvel for such a great game launch and tie-in event comic. Many people were worried that Disney would lean on marvel a bit after the acquisition to put out book that push the Disney brand, but I'm happy to report that even though Marvel is paying its due to its parent company, its doing so in a very entertaining fashion.
Alright, your filthy spawn campers. Its Wednesday, April 18, 2012, I've been fragged, and this is The Side. Some days, you just have to get out of your comfort zone, and this week I did so with some gaming. Been a good stress release what with having to do the single dad thing while the Missus is tending to her family.
Yes, apparently I release stress by swearing at my computer screen, and attempting to Force choke people across the internet.
VIDEO GAMES!!!
Got word about a free game online, TRIBES ASCEND. Well, I like free so I looked into it a bit. This is a really well done game. I don't really play first person shooter games, but it was a lot of fun. It handled nicely. The graphics and sounds were good stuff. Its pretty straight forward. Get on a team, go out, shoot a bunch of people until your team wins.
The really neat part is that its free. We've all played free games online, and the highest quality you're likely to see is something like ANGRY BIRDS. This was different. This was like a game that I'd expect to pay money for. I went over to there site and there was the button for the free download. Took a bit of time, but there was nothing sketchy about it. I loaded it up, and started looking through the menu once I set up the account.
Here's where it gets good. You can unlock all sorts of upgrades and new character classes with experience points that you earn or you can pay to upgrade your account and purchase all sorts of upgrades. You also get added experience points for getting friends to get the game. This paradigm for money making on free games isn't new. Often you can purchase exclusive content from the site offering the game and money gets kicked back over to the game makers. TRIBES ASCEND isn't being offered through any social website like Facebook or Google Plus. It stands on its own. So this may be the start of a major shift in the paradigm of how video games are marketed. Multi-player games online aren't new, but often you pay to get the game, and you pay for membership to the online portion of the game. This is different. This is getting the game downloaded to as many people as possible, because there'll be people out there who will fork out the cash for better gear to blow folks up. Its a very clever idea. Plays off of gamers' competitive spirit, and gives them just what they want.
And yes indeed I played the game. I'm absolutely horrible at it. I chose the Pathfinder class as they're faster, and if worse came to worse, I figured I could run away screaming as more experienced gamers attempted to pick me off. I did the tutorials and did alright with them. I still don't have a good feel for some of the finer points, but it was time to jump in.
Went into a "Deathmatch" in which two teams of about 15 each go after each other and victory comes when the other team loses 99 lives. I would like to take this time to apologize to the teams I was on as the losses in battle could very easily been all my fault.
I sucked at this.
No kidding, during one match I got ganked nine times. It tells you who got you and what weapon they used. Five times the message read "SUICIDE", and I endevored to find that sum'bitch with the screen name "Suicide" and then it dawned on me that I was an idiot and really needed to watch where I aim my weapon.
I did have a shining moment in that in a Deathmatch the first person that gets ganked spawns a flag and whoever has the flag gets double points or some such. Well, I slid down a slope and caught sight of the flag holder and he wasn't facing me as he had a swarm of guys after him. I can't hit the broad side of a barn in these games, but sure enough a popped off a shot and got him. A little achievement metal appeared for bagging the flag bearer and I reveled in my n00bish glee. My team was up by about 20 lives and on its way to a win. Then I lost connection with the server and got booted.
I was way more pissed than I should have been.
I've played it a couple more times now and again. Its fun. I won't be dropping any cash on it though considering how tight money is now. Still, I'm happy running around, getting in the occasional lucky shot, and upgrading my stuff when i get enough experience.
Bottom line: TRIBES ASCEND is a hell of a good time for broke clowns like me who like to shoot stuff.
MUSIC!!
Speaking of shooting things.
That'll do it for me today. Off to work. See you guys Friday.
Good morning, angels. Its Sunday, August 14, 2011, I'm scheduled for a proper beating later, and this is The Side. Things have slowed down quite a bit at my own dojo, but that has allowed me to focus a little more on my training. So right after I post this I'll be getting ready for a good Sunday morning workout, and this afternoon I'll be attended the first workout at Sensei Geissuebel's new location.
Good times. Lots of bruises.
VIDEO GAMES!!
I enjoy them as much as the next person who enjoys video games. Well, that may not be true because some people are just nuts about it. Sure, I've killed hours playing FINAL FANTASY, and I'll always enjoy playing CASTLEVANIA. Recently though I got a game cheap over at Gamestop. It was one of the METROID games for the Wii. I liked METROID as a kid, but wasn't a hardcore player. I did think that it would be fun, because I do indeed like to soot stuff.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was miserable, and after about a half an hour of playing this thing I had to shut it off. Guess that explains why it was so cheap in the used bin. Sometimes you find fun stuff in there, but it is always a crap shoot. I like running and shooting. I enjoy little puzzles here and there. This thing was just miserable. I had no idea which way to go to move the game along, but finally managed to stumble through to the point where I got to shoot stuff. Even that was a pain. I think it was constant camera motion that goes along with some of these first person shooters. You make one wrong move and you're completely disoriented.
I do think I've hit the point where I'm kinda set in my ways concerning video games. I like my side scrolling platformers. I like my turn based RPG games. I still dig fighting games. A lot of these games that get a ton of acclaim just don't look that interesting to me. I still have no interest whatsoever in playing HALO, which people who are really into video games think I'm nuts for thinking that. A lot of the newer games kinda turn me off. The new Batman games don't really excite me, but I'll play the old JUSTICE LEAGUE: HEROES game for the PS2 with a big old grin on my face.
I've also figured out that a lot of games on the PC aren't really for me. Google+ just went live with their games. They've got some really cool ones too. Angry Birds will likely be the big draw. I tried the games a bit. I do like that there is a specific games stream so that if you don't want an info spam dump about how well people in your circles have done in their gaming you don't see any of it unless you go into the games section. So, if you're not interested you can ignore it entirely. Still, that was the one clear advantage that Facebook had over G+, so we'll see how this affects the battle of social media.
I do enjoy some games that recently come out. I'm actually finding myself drawn towards titles for the Nintendo DS. Not into the 3DS. I did try playing it and the 3D effect gave me a horrible headache nearly instantly. Fortunately, you can adjust the 3D effect and make it go away. I also enjoy games like the Wii RESORT and the FIT PLUS which feature simple, but enjoyable, games.
Things can be over complex, and that includes things we do to relax. I like my video gaming challenging but not to the point that I'm going to want to throw a controller in frustration on level one because the character keeps running into a wall. I do think that's why game franchises like SUPER MARIO BROS. and POEéMON continue to do so well. We can just in and enjoy without things being overly daunting right off the bat.
That said, I'm going to continue to enjoy HERO'S SAGA LAEVATEIN TACTICS now that we've once again found the Nozz compound's Girlie DS.
MUSIC!!
Rocked THE CARS last time, so let's rock some WEEZER covering THE CARS from the movie CARS 2. This is actually a fan made video, which I found pretty impressive. Looked like a professional job.
That's it for me today. I'm going to go get beat up now. See y'all Wednesday.
Save me, Mario! Its Sunday, July 17, 2011, that title sounds naughty, and this is The Side! Talking video games because it seems like whatever horrible funk I had last week is sticking around by way of infecting everyone else in the Nozz Compound. I suspect this is a result of a bio-weapon meant to kill me sent from Lady Gaga. To retaliate I sent my agents to Australia to chuck eggs at her. My agents need to aim better.
VIDEO GAMES!!
The other day I was painting a stained ceiling at a beach house. It was the first time I had been in that particular one. The ceiling was small, but I had to bleach the mildew stain and prime the ceiling. This meant I had time to wait before I could paint. There were no renters so I figured I'd spend a little time reading some Sherlock Holmes in the house's rec room. Well, that didn't happen because upon entering the rec room I found stand up video game which had DONKEY KONG, DONKEY KONG JR, and MARIO BROS. as well as a MS PAC MAN table top. All of which in tip top condition. That was a complete blast.
I love video games. I'm not a hardcore gamer by any means, but my brother and I have spent plenty of time with various console controllers in our hands. He recently got a PS3 and one of the things that excited him was that he could download old Playstation games. He had also downloaded old Nintendo games onto his Wii, which is something I'm going to end up doing very soon. Playing some old school CASTLEVANIA would be awesome.
This love of older games certainly has to do with nostalgia, but there's a bit more to it. These were actual games, and not so much interactive movies. My cousin, Chris, knows a lot more about video games than I do and he made a very good statement "Back then, you couldn't hide lousy gameplay with pretty graphics." There was only so much you could do with 8 bits, so if the game handled like a truck with no power steering and flat tire, you figured it out pretty quickly. There was a recent list by Yahoo about horrible video game adaptions from movies and the complaint that just kept repeating was horrible controls.
Its been said that the music that comes out when you're 23 years old is the music that you're going to identify with. I thought about applying this to video games and it holds up about as well for me. Meaning, not really. At the time Playstation was making their big push. This is about the time FINAL FANTASY VII was hitting. I was getting my FINAL FANTASY TACTICS and CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT groove on. Some of my favorite games came out around this time, but I love a lot of games that came before and many that came after.
I do think that for a lot of people there's a certain tipping point with gaming technology. Somewhere down the line for many of use the tech hits a point where it just doesn't appeal to us anymore. That's not saying that these newer games are bad, but its a matter of appeal. I'm not interested in HALO but I do love playing CONTRA. Up up down down left right left right B A B A Select Start, bitches. I'm not trying to sound like some retro hipster ranting on about how things were better back in day. I've just hit a certain point in my gaming in which when I hear about some of these new hot games I just say "No thanks, I'm alright. I've got Mario Bros."
MUSIC!!
Party like its 1982!
That's it for me because I have to go get tissues for a bunch of snotty people. See y'all Wednesday.
It's Wednesday, March 2, 2011, my Squirtle just fainted, and this is The Side. The week seems to be flying by, but when you're working hard it weeks tend to do that.
I pissed someone off pretty good the other day. She was crowing on about the Wisconsin protesters and how the Governor must be desperate if he's using such a lame excuse as them really needing to clean the capitol building to try to get them to go home. She was pretty smug when relating how the protesters had countered this ploy with their response of "We'll clean it ourselves!" That smugness turned to bile when I piped up with "What? A union worker actually doing work? No way!"
Of course it was hard for her to spew that bile my way with about five other people laughing at that comment. Expect them to demand pay and benefits for cleaning the place.
GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!
A recent TV ad and Joe's latest entry has me thinking about Pokémon. I like Pokémon. It used to be just a weird cartoon that would come on before I went to work. It was neat, and the kind of thing I'd really be into if I was a kid. I even found a Japanese Pikachu t-shirt which I wore, because the cartoon had actually given people seizures in Japan. That's hardcore! But then the kiddies picked up on it, the fad exploded, and it became pretty annoying. But I still checked out the cartoon from time to time. The collectible card game baffled me a bit. I never really glommed the "collecting" aspect of it. Had a younger cousin who had a bunch of the cards but no clue whatsoever how to play the game.
Onward the thing went. Sequels to the game were released. There was new varmints to catch and battle. The gameplay didn't change much over the years, but it was a winning formula, so there wasn't much tweaking needed.
Joe touched on something interesting. The tagline was always "Gotta catch 'em all" and when there were 151 that was an achievable goal. It would take a while, but it was doable. You had to probably buy different games, or have a buddy you were willing trade the virtual varmints with, but if you were determined you could pull it off. But now its gone on to a whole new level.
Gamestop is doing a promotion this week in which if you go in with your Nintendo DS and one for the DS Pokémon games then you could get a special Pokémon, Celebi. I'm a bit torn on this. Part of me thinks that getting these little critters shouldn't involved stuff like this, but part of me does think its a pretty novel marketing gimmick.
So I ventured to a local Gamestop, minus the family's pink girlie DS, to inquire a bit about this. It was at this point I encountered Pokémon Pete. Pokémon Pete knows a shitload about Pokémon. So I asked about this here Celebi. I asked if it was possible to capture this Pokémon within the game without coming into a Gamestop. Nope, its a Gamestop exclusive.
This kinda reminds me about a promotion they did with Yu-Gi-Oh in which certain cards were included with some of the video game releases. The thing is one of the cards was "Harpie's Feather Duster", and there are leagues and tournaments which have significant prizes, and that card could be a serious game changer in a competitive deck. This led players to buy the video game only to get the card, and them promptly return the game.
So I did some research into Celebi, and he's not really much of a beast. He's got some useful moves, but he's not going to stomp all over an opponent's line up. So, its mainly a collector's item. Fine and well.
But I questioned Pete further. See, if you get Celebi and then buy one of the new Pokémon games coming out. You can beat that game, trade Celebi to it and that unlocks a special quest in which you can possibly get one of that game's "Legendary" Pokémon. Legendary in the Poké-vernacular translates into "Cool looking, hard as fuck to find, harder to catch, and typically not the best in a battle line up". However, it has to a Celebi from this event, and not a Celebi you got from somewhere else. But wait, if Celebi was Gamestop exclusive release where else could a player have gotten one?
Pete told me he knew that there had been an event in which you could get Celebi if you went to the Pokémon Store in Times Square up in New York.
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!
A POKEMON STORE? IN TIMES SQUARE?
Now, its not there anymore, its a Nintendo Store now, BUT STILL!
Part of me wonder if there was some kid back in the day in the middle of West Bumbleton, Arkansas who somehow talked his folks on taking him on a PokéPilgrimage to the Big Apple. Got see the Statue of Liberty? The Empire State Building? A Broadway show? Fuck that shit! I gotta catch 'em all!
Thus ended my conversation with Pokémon Pete. And I now know more about the world of Pokémon than I ever wanted or needed to know.
NOM NOM NOM!!!
I mentioned before that Domino's has redone their pizza recipe and that its pretty tasty. To help promote this they were doing a deal in which if you got two or more medium two topping pizzas they were only $5.99. Now they've upped that deal to where you can get a large two topping pizza for $5.99 with no minimum.
Now this is a company that really wants my business. Domino's isn't even my favorite pizza place. Sure, its good eatin', but there's other places I prefer. However when they're selling large pizzas for near the same price as I could buy frozen ones at the store and the economy being what it is, I'd be a moron to buy my pizza's anywhere else.
We got pizza last Friday night, and we've still got enough left over for a couple days.
MUSIC!!!
Educational moment: if you play a mean accordion, beware Mexican women driving hearses.
Thanks to Kat for the link to the video. That's the whole Pokéball of wax for this go around. See y'all Friday.
It's Sunday, January 9, 2011, there's something sour in the air, and this is The Side. Up until yesterday afternoon this post was going to be positive, light and have nothing to do with Batman. This being a nice change of pace. Well, it still has nothing to do with Batman, but after yesterday afternoon it certainly isn't light.
POLITICS
Yesterday, a lot of things got really out of hand. A 22 year old opened fire at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shooting her through the head and killing five others including a federal judge and a child. Currently there's a lot of people really upset with the government of this country, but this obviously is a horrible act by a very disturbed person. I followed this story quite a bit, but I did make the mistake of drifting down and reading the comments section on of the story on Yahoo. If you are ever feeling suicidal and need that extra push to take the next step in ending your own life, you really should read the comments section of anything remotely political on Yahoo. It makes it very easy to give up all hope for humanity .
Nearly immediately Sarah Palin and the Tea Party were blamed due to a graphic listing districts where the group hopes to get different people in elected positions and it uses gun target graphics to illustrate the areas. This is not the first time anyone has used such graphic in illustrations obviously, but still the image was taken down because considering the events of yesterday it was in poor taste to leave it up. Of course many didn't even need to know about the graphic to blame Palin and the tea party since they blame nearly anything that goes wrong in the country on them anyways.
Something horrible happens, including the death of a child, and people still divide up on political lines ready to fight the other side. Its amazing what assholes people have become. I understand that people are upset and angry and they want a target for that anger. I did a bit a digging. Congresswoman Giffords is an admitted Blue Dog Democrat, meaning she's not very liberal. She recently voted against Nancy Pelosi. Then some other little bits popped up about the shooter. This guy is completely off his rocker. Seems he's been like this for a long time having weird outbursts in high school, posting nutty stuff online, getting rejected by the military, and leaving college. He listed "Mein Kampf" and "The Communist Manifesto" among his favorite books. An acquaintance of his describes him as very liberal. That doesn't add up because why would a liberal try to murder a Democratic Congresswoman.
The answer is very simple: he's got serious mental problems. He's not a Republican, a Democrat, a Conservative, or a Liberal. He someone who really needed to be under the care of doctors.
Will this horrible event spur people on to try to be more civil in the exchange of political ideas and maybe try to tone the venom out there down? Probably not. This isn't the fault of anyone except the shooter, but with someone with the mental problems he obviously has in an environment as abrasive as the political theater in Arizona its no surprise someone snapped and tried to murder a government official.
Bottom line: that guy is an asshole who'll be locked away thank goodness. Everyone out there turning this into an excuse to wave your napalm and pitchforks at the other side of the political aisle, screw you. You're part of the problem.
MODEL CITIZEN!!
For pretty much anybody over the age of eight who has even heard of video games, you've probably heard of Lara Croft, the star of the TOMB RAIDER series of games. The franchise is quite successful and have spawned a couple of movies starring Angelina Jolie. The character of Lara Croft is basically popular for two things, well really four things, two pistols and two giant boobs. Croft's bust size is what most people remember from the franchise. It was to the point that in the movies they actually used CGI to enhance the size of Jolie's breasts thus making a scene where she is running look like there were two strange, round life forms struggling to free themselves from the confines of her shirt. Yes, I have seen both of the movies, mainly due to the Missus being a fan of Angelina Jolie when she's going about the business of kicking people about the ass region. I do think I have one of the video games.
Hang on, let me check.
Sure enough! TOMB RAIDER III for the Playstation. I'm not sure how this got into the house or why. I vaguely remember playing this for about half an hour, maybe and then never touching it again. How did this get into the house? It's a used copy. I know I didn't buy it. OK, this is weird. Moving on.
Here's some big news, Lara Croft is getting a make over. This is an effort to transform her from a two-dimensional game hero to an actual character. The visual look has been revamped. Here proportions are less back straining. She's still depicted as beautiful, but not as an over-the-top sex symbol. The developers are rebooting the series as into what they are calling survival-adventure. The familiar elements of the previous games are there, but they say that they want this character to look a bit more vulnerable. If some rough stuff happens in the game, she will get messed up a bit and dirty.
My friend Michael when discussing the way Greg Rucka writes women said they are allowed to get beaten up, because they will get up, dust themselves off and then hand you your ass. It looks like that mindset is what was in mind with this reboot. Lara croft has never been depicted as dainty or needing to be rescued. However, unless you died in the game you never saw her hurt. You never got to see her strength of character because it never really got tested. Looks like that's going to change.
I've discussed before good feminism versus bad feminism. Bad feminism puts down or demonizes men, places women on a pedestal based solely on gender, and only serves as a wedge driven right into the divide between the sexes. Good feminism embraces women as capable and yet still feminine. Characters like Wonder Woman or Buffy Summers are beautiful, intelligent and just a capable as any guy without making a point of it. Its just accepted that they can handle whatever situation they find themselves in, so when they do need help, its not some damsel in distress situation. They do what they do without having to put a man down to do it.
If you had asked me a month ago if I would put Lara Croft in the same category as Wonder Woman or Buffy Summers, I probably would have laughed. Now the jury is officially out. This new step in the franchise is set to make us seriously reconsider the character, and its a step in a very good direction. Whether it succeeds or not, the game developers have realized that there has to be more to great heroine than looking tough and having a great set of bombs. There's actually being tough, being able to actually connect with players on an emotional level above 'horndog', and still being beautiful.
MUSIC!!
Coo coo ca-choo.
That wraps things up for today. Got another Buzz Tourney starting today so if you're interested you can hit the link on the sidebar. Stay safe and see you on Wednesday.
Yeah, that's right, it's Friday, October 8, 2010, and its time to get my nerd on. Oh wait, comic books and video games are popular at the moment. Nevermind.
Its time to get my cool on.
COMIX!!
We get the ball rolling with SECRET SIX #26. There's now two Secret Six teams and each is working for a different Government agent. Spy-Smasher sent the newer team led by Bane to take over Skartaris, the mystic land from THE WARLORD. Amanda Waller reorganized previous members and promised them she'd clear out their records if they stop the other team. There's a bit of political gaming in here with Waller and Spy-Smasher, which I dig because it gives some pretty decent context for the action. Seems there's going to be a nuclear attack on the United States and that is why Spy-Smasher's Six is looking to take over Skartaris. So, we've got a lot more questions raised by the answers we're given which I also really dig. It took me a bit to really get into this storyline to be honest. Gail Simone makes it an enjoyable enough ride, but I wasn't fully engaged until I knew what the stakes were. Now I'm all in. There's a bunch of fun little bits sprinkled throughout this book. Simone really loves her bad guys and it shows.
From mystic lands to deep space we head over to R.E.B.E.L.S. #21. There's a lot of focus on a pair of rookie Green Lanterns in this issue. I'm currently not really too keen on Green lanterns nowadays, but I'm OK with it here. This book has brought together a lot of really fun space heroes into one book. When you have that much of a good time in space then a Green Lantern or two are bound to show up. What I love is that this kicks off a new storyline that segways flawlessly out of the previous one. There's plenty of action as the two rookie Lanterns try to take down Lobo. I'm not a huge Lobo fan, but he's a lot of fun in this book. His line about what "R.E.B.E.L.S." stands for was pretty damn funny. I don't hear a lot of buzz about this comic from folks which is a real shame because its consistently a lot of fun.
Over in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #37 I'm kinda stuck a bit. Joss Whedon is back on board with some of the writing chores which is awesome because this storyline seems to have spiraled right off a cliff. There's this thing called the "Seed of Wonder" which is the source of all magic on Earth, but also the think that stops all the other dimensions from pouring in. It also, of course, is located under what used to be the Hellmouth in what used to be Sunnydale. And somehow The Master from season one of the TV show is down there guarding the thing. All that and Buffy is completely preoccupied with the thought of naked fun times with Spike making me wonder when and why she became kinda a Slutty McSlutslut. I'm just kinda going through the motions at this point. It's an alright book, and I'm hanging in to see where this all is going but its gotten pretty inaccessible, and that turns me off.
BATTLEGROUND: CALIFORNIA!!
In 2005 California passed a law restricting the sale of violent video games to minors. This law has never taken effect because its been challenged in court. Looks like its heading to the Supreme Court now. Here's the short of it. Lawmakers are trying to protect children from violent content in video games, and let's face it some of the games are really violent. This law is being challenged on Free Speech issues stating that if the games become less accessible to people legally, then stores might not carry certain games and game makers might stop making them.
This, of course, is ridiculous on a number of levels.
First off, most people who purchase violent video games are over the age of 18. These are the people with the money to actually purchase video games because the things typically aren't cheap. Also I would like to think that retailers would show a bit of tact in selling games that are rated "mature" to kids. This is the same way I don't see theaters selling tickets to rated R movies to kids. Despite what some people may think retailers can and do show some discretion while trying to make money. They don't want some pissed off parent coming into their store, or worse going to the news, because little Timmy got his grubby little mitts on LEFT FOR DEAD.
Second, this isn't really a Freedom of Speech issue. No one is banning or censoring anything. The people up in arms are claiming that this could lead to video game companies censoring themselves. Well, that's up to the company. They certainly don't have a problem making games that are rated "M" now. I don't see that changing when this law passes.
Third and most important as to why this is stupid, IT'S THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP THINGS THEY DON'T WANT THEY'RE CHILDREN TO SEE AWAY FROM THEIR CHILDREN!!! The Government is not there to be your freaking nanny. These games have ratings right on the cover, are usually you don't even need to see that because games where people get dismembered in them usually don't have bunnies and rainbows on the cover. Of course little kids shouldn't be playing games that are excessively violent. And there's people who will say "My kid played these games when he was 10 and there hasn't been a problem." If you are saying that then you are a bad parent in this regard. You're as bad as the idiot, redneck motherfuckers I saw hauling their little kids into the theater to watch FREDDY VERSUS JASON all those years ago with the little girl crying "I don't want to see this movie."
I play video games. I have some pretty violent ones too. I don't play them in front of my daughters. I'm not the greatest dad in the world by any means. But have some common sense. And that puts me ahead of some people.
In an amusing twist, video gamers are now launching a protest. They're writing "I believe in Free Speech" on their old controllers and mailing them to the Congressman who wrote the bill. This is pretty much a futile gesture as the time to do this would have been about five years ago when the law was actually written and being presented. I do however encourage people to join in the protest because I find the notion of Congressman's office piled high with video game controls to be hilarious.
Holster it, people. This isn't anywhere near as bad as when there were mass burnings of comic books after "Seduction of the Innocent" was published. Its a useless law aimed at protecting parents who can't seem to handle their jobs as parents very well and don't know how to tell their kid "no" when they ask for something they shouldn't have.
This ain't nothing new.
MUSIC!!
I'm on a roll this week. Hitting rough patches here and there, but still rolling.
And that's Friday, done and done. Have good weekend. I'm going to go play SILENT HILL and make my three year olds watch because there's no law to stop me.
It's Sunday, June 27, 2010 and Fedor lost last night. Please send me money because I need money to pay the bookie. If you don't send me money this may be my last blog post for a while. Hard to type with broken fingers.
FRACTION OF A SECOND BEHIND
This video from Hypnos Rêveur got me thinking, which it was supposed to, so Hypnos wins. Thanks a lot, buddy. I was trying to shut my brain off.
Freshman year of college I got stuck in a class that was supposed to make me ponder stuff. We ready different works by different philosophers and the like to try to expose us to different worldviews and broaden or thought processes. It was an alright class. I got a C. The highlight was we watched a video about a bunch of 'New Age' malarkey and immediately following the video I declared the people on it to be "the biggest bunch of Fruit Loops I'd ever seen in my life". Now before the New Agers jump down my throat, there was one broad who put quartz crystals in her cats drinking water to make the cat healthier. She was the sanest one of the bunch. The real loon was the guy who had a psychic rapport with dolphin and they supposedly spoke through him. Although he could in fact be the brightest of the bunch since he figured out a way to make money by having morons sit in an audience and watch him sit in a chair, roll his eyes up in his head, and squeak. Wish I could make bank by impersonating Flipper.
Lunacy aside, on the first day of that class the question proposed to the class, which had a bunch of eighteen year olds hemming and hawing and going bonkers for over an hour was "What is real?" Well the answer is simple: its everything that exists in space and the events that occur in time. However, when you put about twenty eighteen year olds in room and ask that question they can't get at it.
And that is due to a fraction of a second.
There's a lag time between reality and perception of reality. Fortunately its not a very long one. Otherwise I'd get punched in the face before it even registered that the fist was moving. I'd also hit the floor before I processed that I was falling. Brief as it is it can keep people from seeing the truth, because what is does not quite fit in folk's own little reality. They can't understand why anyone could possibly disagree with what they "know" to be true. Visit any internet forum for an example.
So what exists in that split second between reality and perception? Is it the area between sleeping and waking? Is it a world of machines that use people as batteries?
My money is on leprechauns.
THE POSTMAN SAVES THE DAY!
Over a week ago TMZ caught up with Kevin Costner at an airport and asked him what he thought about the BP oil spill in the gulf. His answer was a bit surprising. Seems he was on his way to see what he could do about things. This was far from being a case of a bleeding heart celebrity heading to a disaster area clean off birds and have a candid photo opportunity. Big Kev had a plan, some sweet gear, and was ready to help. Makes me want to go buy a copy of WATERWORLD strictly on principle, especially since a small version of the machine makes an appearance in the movie. And it is nice to see some real action in the clean up effort. A lot of people have asked "what are we gonna do?" Kevin Costner knows and is doing it. The first barges with the equipment are being prepped and ready to go.
Thank you, Kevin Costner.
REVISITING BAKER STREET
I gave SHERLOCK HOLMES another go around last night. This time I was armed with caffeine, sugar, and art supplies as drawing helps keep me away sometimes. My main criticism of the movie still stands. Robert Downey Jr mumbling in a faux British accent does not work for me and he can be saying the cleverest things ever put on screen but it won't matter if I can't understand a word he is saying. However, I did succeed in making it through the movie this time around and in doing so have found it redeemed.
The only thing that did not work for me is Downey. I'm not saying that it was a bad performance, because it wasn't. I'm not saying that his and Guy Richie's take on Sherlock Holmes is not an interesting or valid one, because it was both. I just didn't really care for it.
Aside from Downey there was plenty to like about the movie. The story was interesting. The scenery was had a gray beauty to it. Jude Law was awesome as Watson. The use of Moriarty was brilliant and incredibly well done with respect to the source material. Moriarty was like The Octopus in THE SPIRIT, always there and with his fingers into thing, but you don't actually see him directly, and often you don't he was involved until after the fact. I'm referring to the comics of course, not that movie from a couple years back.
And this brings me around to SCOTT PILGRIM. I found myself enjoying SHERLOCK HOLMES despite the main character. My biggest gripe about the impending SCOTT PILGRIM movie is that after reading the books I can't stand the main character who is a moron. Can I enjoy the SCOTT PILGRIM VERSUS THE WORLD movie because of my new found ability to get past not liking the title character? Probably not. In the case of SHERLOCK HOLMES I could get caught up in the case. There was interesting things afoot and it was at its heart a detective story. SCOTT PILGRIM is a love story about two characters I don't like. I doubt I'll be able to overcome that.
THE TALK OF THE TOWN!!
A little number to go out to one Denis Labelle, who freaking well better do a Dean martin type cover of this song. Because he said so, and I plan to hold him to it.
VIRTUAL GETAWAY
I don't care much for all the talk of augmented reality and the thoughts on what could be the future of gaming. However, the question was posed to me about what I thought about "inhabiting" a virtual world, and its not for me. There's only so much escapism I can handle. But if I had to pick a location in a video that I was going to live in I do have some ideas. I thought about doing this as a Top 10 list, but really there's not enough video game places I'd care to live in.
1: BULLWORTH from the game BULLY. Nice place. Has a comic shop and a boxing gym. There's a carnival nearby. The movie theater looks cool. I could settle in just fine.
2: WAHU ISLAND which we see in WII FIT and WII RESORT. Looks like a fun little vacation spot, just as long as that volcano doesn't erupt.
3: BALAMB from FINAL FANTASY VII. Seems like a nice town and its by the beach and the train station. That and hunting T-Rexasaurs in the woods sounds fun and challenging.
So that's it for me for today, so now it's over to you!
POP QUIZ!
Battle of the eco-warriors! UFC rules. Who would win: Kevin Costner or Al Gore?
If you could live in any location in a video game, where would it be?
What's your favorite movie with a character you don't like?
Remember to comment about the new format. Also, got a new installment of Tales of Night Life up. I know its been a while since I posted a chapter, but hopefully I'll get things back to a more regular basis. See y'all Wednesday.
Denis Lebelle posted that up on Google Buzz. Frankly, I'm not too much into the future of gaming. I'm not sure when I hit my tipping point, but I obviously have. I'm alright with the motion sensor stuff, but I prefer my old handheld controllers. "Augmented reality" is fine for science fiction, but I'll pass on the goggles or helmet or whatever. And I think 3D is just dumb. The poster kind of misses too with 4D since the fourth dimension is time.
Right now I'm replaying FINAL FANTASY X on my PS2. I have no interest in getting a PS3 or an X-Box. I don't game on my PC. I do have a Wii. I like my Wii. I can play games on there with my kids still in the room. I saw a working Nintendo the other week, complete with about eight cartridges and I found that more exciting than the lump sun of news coming out of that big electronics trade show going on this weekend.
I'm more interested in the experiences I'm going to be having when I go out my door than the one I'm going to have on a video-game-virtual-realty-control-it-with-your-mind machine.
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B, Select, Start.
Was posting nerdy video game comment with HeatherMarMal and we were discussing Final Fantasy and then she asked my opinion on Zelda. Now, my relationship with the LEGEND OF ZELDA video game series is kind of weird, and of course I like weird, so here we go.
I, like many twerps my age, had a Nintendo aka No-friend-o. And of course I loved Nintendo. I spent hours playing Nintendo. I absolutely crushed the world scoring record for RC Pro-Am, and yet have no documentation of this, which sucks. But one game i did not have is Legend of Zelda. I had played it at my neighbor's house, but had never actually owned a copy of the game, so my experience with it was limited.
So Zelda to me was that really cute girl I knew in elementary school who I'd play with every-so-often at recess, but otherwise I didn't see her. She was in a different class and lived a bit to far away for hanging out with regularly. She was in a different class. But I liked her. She was nice.
So I had my Nintendo which, while a bit the worse for wear, served me well into college when the Playstation came out. I never had a Sega genesis or a Super Nintendo. I jumped straight to a PS.
This was the equivalent of transferring schools. I didn't even she Zelda at recess anymore, and we were both getting older. She was still doing stuff. We still had friends in common. I'd hear about these amazing things she'd do and thought to myself I'd totally hang out with her if we still went to the same school. I'd see her on TV from time to as well, because she was just that doggone popular.
That's right, I remember the cartoon what used to me on Fridays. The rest of the week was a Super Mario Brothers cartoon and there was a live action wraparound frame show that featured Captain Lou Albano as Mario Mario. Every episode had some big adventure and Link (despite his best efforts and heroism) never got a kiss from princess Zelda. This show actually crossed over into CAPTAIN N THE GAME MASTER on NBC Saturday mornings. I think Link may have finally gotten that kiss.
But now, I have access to a Nintendo DS and a Wii. I have TWILIGHT PRINCESS which I haven't beaten yet, because as a gamer I kind of suck. I'm a total cheat guide invalid with games like these, and I don't have a cheat guide, so its slow going and last I played it I was mucking about this underwater castle that was totally kicking my ass and pissing me off.
So I've transferred back to the same school as Zelda again. But time has passed. She's grown up and is really quite a lady, but I think I've missed quite a bit not growing with her. She totally cool and I am into her, but there's so much of her history that I would love to get to know, but now there's a lot more homework and those pesky after school jobs. But we still see each other, and we get along really well.
And I still think about that little girl at recess in elementary school that I wished I had played with more.
Yeah, the media maelstrom was quite a bit nauseating and its still gonna be popping up from time to time, but at least there's something fun on the horizon for us having to suffer through the news taking a break off from doing their jobs of keeping us informed of shit that actually matters and passing of celebrity gossip as something resembling important. That's right, kids: it's Tiger time.
Tier Woods may have been dropped by a bunch of sponsors, not to mention getting whacked in the dome by his wife, but that can't keep a weird looking dude down. Rockster Games, makers of the GREAT THIEF OTTO series of games, has agreed to sponsor Tiger on his comeback in exchange for use of his likeness in the first sports game from the company. I caught up with the developmental head of the impending smash hit game, Bernard Huffer, and asked him a few questions.
MN: Thanks for taking time to answer a few questions, Bernard.
BH: My pleasure.
So will the new Tiger Woods game be ready by the time he gets out on the course and starts playing again?
We're not sure yet. Really that depends on Tiger. You never know when he's going to decide to get back on the course. We are looking at a June release.
This is Rockster's first go at a sports game. What's going to set it apart from other sports games and previous Tiger Woods golf games?
Well, playing in virtual golf tournaments will only be one aspect of the game. There's also going to be missions and a game clock to try to give players a real sense of just how hectic the life of a professional golfer can be. Getting missions completed in a timely manner and still getting Tiger to bad on time can really affect the gameplay out on the course.
How integral are the missions to the actual golf game?
Oh they're vital. The training and practice missions can really improve Tiger's stats and give him and edge out on the course. But, depending on some of the choices you make in the game, some unlockable missions need to be completed so that Tiger's stats don't fall and he extra obstacles don't make things even harder out on the course.
Wow. That sounds really in depth. It almost sounds like there's two different games on there depending on your choices in game.
That's a good way of putting it. Players really do control the difficulty of the game through their actions. Let's say they have to go to a golf tournament. If they arrive, hit the gym, maybe practice on the course and then hit the sack, then they're going to have their stats maxed out for the actual tournament. But if they decide to pick up a girl or two at the bar, they're really going to have keep an eye on the game clock to make sure Tiger gets enough rest for the next day. Also it may unlock the "Find Tiger's cell phone" mission, making it more difficult to get to the tournament on time.
Couldn't the player just skip the mission?
They could, but then the tournament would get that much harder.
How so?
Well, then if they hit the ball in the rough, Elin is waiting for them in the woods with a tire iron. Its hell on your health bar.
Were you able to get celebrity voices for the game?
Well, Tiger's of course. We tried to get Jessica Jaymes, but we couldn't match the money she was getting dressing up like a soccer mom and playing the victim.
So what's the goal of the game?
Well there is multiple endings depending on tournaments won and records beaten in the career stats. We have plenty of really world stats in their like Arnold Palmer's and Wilt Chamberland's.
Sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
My pleasure. When will this piece be in GAME INFORMER again?
I always wondered about my place in the story. A lot of people do that. They see themselves in different characters. I suppose there's a lot of boys who have imagined themselves as Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. Then there's people who put themselves in the story. They create their own character based on themselves and imagine how the story would change around them. There's a lot of fanfiction based on this. Seems quite a few kids imagined themselves being the newest member of the X-Men or another team like that.
Along came Choose Your Own Adventure with a series of books in which readers took control of the story. They were geared towards younger readers and written in the little used second person tense. Readers were prompted to pick between multiple decisions, some of which continued the narrative. Some brought the story to a rather abrupt and often unpleasant end. There were also multiple positive endings and ways of reaching them. This line of books spawned others in what would become known as "game books". My brother and I were very found of the ones featuring G.I.Joe in which you became the newest member of the team. I also found an old copy on "Wizards, Warriors and You" on my bookshelf written by none other than R.L. Stine before his days writing GOOSEBUMPS.
It's pretty easy to navigate your way through interactive media when its in print. You can see right there on the page where to go next and respond appropriately. As such this sort of storytelling stayed in print until technology could catch up with it. It did in the form of video games.
Over the years video games have become a legitimate story-telling medium. Telling a story in video game is inherently interactive. The player has to advance the narrative. Early on it wasn't much of a story.
Example. Monkey has taken girl. Must rescue girl. Oh crap, he's throwing barrels at me.
This is mainly due to the limitations of the hardware and the software of the day. As these improved, so did the story.
Example. Giant lizard thing kidnaps Princess in a mythical kingdom. I'm a plumber that can jump really high. Whoa! Mushrooms and plants give me super powers! I'm going to get past monsters and save the princess!
And it went on from there, but eventually something new arose: the alternate ending. This started popping up in games here and there. In the early days of video games there was no "beating" the game. You played until the space aliens got you, your cities were all destroyed by the missiles or that big monkey finally took you out with the barrels. Then, along the time of the coming of Nintendo, video games had their Final Crisis in which the people creating these games had to ponder, how are we going to end this thing? Yes there were games that had endings before then, most notably the arcade classic Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, however these were the exception. Nintendo brought the platform game to a whole new level and like any platform game you needed a story.
Everything you did in these games advanced your character towards an ending, but later which ending you got would become the question. Konami gets my attention here with their Castlevania series. This series of games was personal favorite of mine, and really did interesting things with it's storylines. The third installment offered a set of partner characters and different routes to take through the game, thus changing the narrative and the ending. The pinnacle of the series was it's debut on Playstation: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. For a long time I thought I had that game all figured out and had beaten it multiple times. I later realized that wasn't even halfway through the game yet.
This brings us to alternate narratives within games. Games like the GRAND THEFT AUTO series allow players to roam the virtual world doing all sorts of things and but the main story is pretty straight forward and the main missions drive the main narrative. FINAL FANTASY VII had extra character you could acquire and even had a scene in which the main character met up with another for a date if his previous interaction with her had been nice. If not, them the date did not happen. Players were used to controlling their characters on the screen but now they were starting to control the story.
HEAVY RAIN is looking to expand on this. While this game does have it's faults, it certainly is innovative. The story changes depending upon the players actions and decisions. I'm not sure if previous gaming systems could handle something like this. Voice acting has to be done for multiple different reactions. Scenes have to be done and redone in case certain characters aren't there or have done things to make people react differently to them. It's really a hell of an undertaking. I talked with a Gamestop employee and he said that the game is selling very well. Its a pretty hot item. I haven't played it due to a lack of Playstation 3 which won't be changing any time soon, but now I'm wanting one. With the amount of content that can be but on those game dicks HEAVY RAIN will likely only be the start of a new wave of interactive narratives in video games.
Video games aren't the only medium making strides in interactive storytelling. With the coming of DVDs movies makers had a lot more options on the table. Interactive movies haven't made much of a splash beyond a few POV porn videos. However, then comes the internet and YouTube specifically. YouTube has opened the door for many movie makers and now they've got the potential to make interactive media available right on your computer. At the forefront of interactive narratives on Youtube is CHAD, MATT AND ROB who have put up multiple interactive stories. I e-mailed Rob Polonski about these endeavors, and I'll be damned, he actually e-mailed me back!
MN: Did any of you read the old "Chose Your Own Adventure" books, and if you did, how much of an influence were they?
RP: I'm sure we've all, at some point, gotten our hands on one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. Something about them felt so magical, almost as an illusion that made the story so big and endless. It was always fun going back to see what happened if you chose differently.
We're all about telling a great story and creating likable and fun characters. Using the tools that YouTube provided -- we realized we could do a "Choose Your Own" type story. We wanted to recreate the experience you'd get from the books, but more importantly, make it our own. That's when we came up with the name "Interactive Adventure" .
MN: Are you considering doing anything like a DVD release or are current plans to remain as an online presence?
RP: We're currently developing our Interactive Adventures to bring to television. We've been using the web as a way to showcase our content. Our primary goal is to crossover into more traditional media such as TV and Film while we maintain a strong presence on the web. We've written a pilot, developed a couple Interactive TV concepts and are working on a feature.
MN: Are there plans for a storyline with multiple positive endings and/or multiple "routes" to achieve a positive ending?
RP: We've tried that in "The Murder" where there we're three separate story lines and over 30 different videos, but the reaction from the audience wasn't as good as with a much shorter adventure. We've learned to keep the adventures simple and focus on creating a great story.
MN: I saw that you guys go featured on YouTube. Congrats! How much of a traffic bump did that get you?
RP: Thanks so much! Every time you have an opportunity like that, to be front and center on YouTube's homepage, your views, subscribers, etc. get a nice bump up. But viewership & numbers is not, or never will be our focus. It's all about and always will be about creating the best content possible.
MN: Right now your adventures are fairly short in length. Is there anything in works that's of a larger scale where the story would be feature length or comparable?
Yes! We've written a bunch of Adventures and we're developing an Interactive TV series. There's just so much potential, it's super exciting!
I would have asked him about the creative process of making one of these adventures, but they already handled that.
So where is this going? Well, pretty much the sky's the limit. Blu-rays are pretty ridiculous, but they hold an obscene amount of content. I expect to see more games like HEAVY RAIN. I also expect more interactive adventures to come up from various sources on YouTube and other nu-media, although I expect Chad, Matt and Rob to stay ahead of the curve for quite a while.
Eyes open, people. There's stories out there and people are willing to give them to you so can make them yours. Turbines to speed. There's narratives to drive.
Waaaaaaaaaaay back in 1999 I did a review of FINAL FANTASY VIII for Playstaion. I wrote it up for the now defunct Tidewater Dragon magazine. This was back when I first met Chris. It was my first video game review. I played it for quite a few hours. had buddies of mine who like video games come over and play it. Did a decent write up and it was printed in the zine.
I finally beat the game today.
Now I can move on with my gaming life. I hear there's a "Playstation 2" now. Gonna have to look into that.
Rock Band 2 has invaded the Nozz compound. It's a birthday gift for the missus. I catch her playing Guitar Hero on her phone more than using it as an actual phone it seems. I got it. gave it to her. She seems happy. She's gone to work and I assembled it. I tried it to make sure it works, and it does.
I'll probably never touch it again aside from moving it around to keep it out of the way.
Chris and my brother both have the same opinion on this thing: if you're going to go through all the effort of mastering the game to the point of demolishing the expert setting then you need to just learn how to play an actual instrument. I took drum lessons in high school. I tried the drum kit on the Rock Band thingie. It reminded me of how much I suck at drumming. I'm not even going near the guitar thingie. I sure as hell am staying away from the microphone.
I know there's competitions and tournaments for things like this. I know there's prizes and stuff for competing in them. I see the video game channels on the flat screens at the Game Stop featuring interviews with "professional gamers" and "gaming athletes".
If anyone reading this classifies themselves as either of the above you should stop reading now because I'm about to tell you that you completely suck.
Video games are what we played when we were bored or it was raining out. Sure they're fun. In fact a video game system is now considered a standard element of anyone's home entertainment center. But if you're trying to make a living playing video games, and you don't work for a video game making company then you might as well just tell the world that you have no desire to contribute anything to the world around you.
Whoever coined the term "gaming athlete" should get their ass kicked for general principle.
They're not athletes. In fact I'm sure every member of every chess club in history that caught shit from some meathead jock in high school twitches whenever some dolt utters that tripe with a straight face. And don't hand me some line about the focus and endurance they must have to compete. If you want to see focus and endurance, watch NASCAR.
It's a complete sham. It's people taking something that there for entertainment and turning it into a lifestyle choice, and that never goes well. And no throwing stones about me writing and drawing comics. Like the people who actually make the games, I'm contributing something. The comic equivalent to a "gaming athlete" would be professional comic readers. I'd love to see that competition. First one to get through the entire works of Alan Moore wins. No skimming and if you have to take a break to pee be prepared to feel the mockery of those with superior bladder control.
So, for all of those reading this that I have just insulted: bite me.
