I have to be careful not to get too distracted, or I may end up forgetting about this project altogether. So, here are my thoughts on some of the events of the week, at least the ones I deem noteworthy.
Playstation 4: I'm disappointed. I have been a devout Sony supporter for years. I don't own an Xbox 360. I use my PS3 for everything from movies to games to streaming media. I have spent hundreds of dollars on the PSN on games, DLC and add-ons. I even owned a PSP for the longest time. But if what they are saying is indeed true, I will not be purchasing a PS4. It's not the lack of backwards compatibility. I get that, gotta try and keep the cost low. It's not the push for everything to be connected to social media. I'm OK with that, because if I'm being very, very honest with myself, most of my social interactions are through media.
No, the biggest issue for me is that it will be able to stream PS1, PS2, and PS3 games. I take issue with this, not because I think it's a bad idea, but because, according to Sony, I will have to re-purchase all of the PS1, PS2 and PS3 games I already bought on the PSN if I want to play them on the PS4. I'm not talking physical media. Digital media. I'm sorry, in a world where Steam exists, I fully expect my digital purchases to carry over to all the devices that are compatible. I can load up Steam on ANY computer and access my library of games. Why the hell shouldn't I be able to start up a PS4, put my username and password in, and access my library of PSN games? Between this, and the Vita last year, I almost think Sony doesn't want to be in the game business anymore.
1UP and Gamespy are no more: I have mixed feelings about this. Frankly, IGN having 3 different sites dedicated to gaming was a bit much, so I get the downsizing. Neither site has been worth reading in ages, as they're too obsessed with pageviews and keeping the corporate people happy to properly do games journalism. I do think the respective editors farewell letter shines a light on maybe why it's a good thing they're going. Gamespy's is a self-congratulatory piece of shit that goes on about how awesome they were, and then points out why they were awesome, completely ignoring the legacy of the original staff. Fuck them, and good riddance. 1UP's is a different beast altogether. Not surprising, since I've always respected Parish's writing, even if I abhored the pageview, ad obsessed site he ran. He all but admits that the site has been crap for a while, primarily because of the issues I've been going on about. He mentions some of 1UP's history, and gives credit where credit is due. It's sad for the people employed by these sites, but maybe games journalism might benefit from learning that pageviews aren't everything if you're putting out shoddy material.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
You've already won me over, in spite of me
Yeah, I went with Alanis for this one. It fits.
I spent the weekend with the Wii U. I truly wasn't prepared for how much I love it. I don't own a Wii. Never really had an interest, and the majority of the games released for it just didn't appeal to me. I thought it was an interesting novelty, and I completely understood it's mass appeal, I just didn't feel the need to own one. It's not that I dislike Nintendo. Far from it. I have owned every single handheld system they've released, and I still have a working Gamecube kicking around somewhere.
The Wii U has an impressive line-up of games, and the developer support being tossed behind it bodes well for the future. The ability to purchase full games online through the console is a blessing in a rural area, where it can be hard at times to find physical copies of games, especially when one refuses to shop at Gamestop.
The online functionality is interesting. When constantly connected to the internet, the initial screen (dubbed Waruwaru Plaza I believe) shows what games are popular, little Mii's from other people, comments about some of the games that are updated seemingly daily, and overall just gives the appearance that I am part of a larger community of gaming. Netflix capability means that this has a very good chance of replacing my PS3 as our entertainment device of choice. If only it had a Blu-ray player.
My favorite function though, is the ability to play most Wii U (and some Virtual Console) games on the gamepad screen, sans television. As a parent who shares the TV with 5 other people, this function is worth the price of admission alone. Let's say I really want to play Tekken Tag Tournament 2, but my kids want to watch My Little Pony. Well, with a couple of button pushes, they can watch their show on the TV, and I can continue my losing streak on the pad as if it were a high-powered handheld system. It even has a headphone jack and volume control built right in. This functionality now guarantees that any cross-platform title that comes out will be bought for the Wii U over the PS3 or computer.
It's also backwards compatible with the Wii, so now my kids and wife are thrilled to have access to all the casual and family titles that are on the Wii, and I can finally play some new Zelda games, as I did not care for the control scheme on the DS ones.
Overall, I'm completely thrilled with my new system, and it's the perfect start to the new console generation.
I spent the weekend with the Wii U. I truly wasn't prepared for how much I love it. I don't own a Wii. Never really had an interest, and the majority of the games released for it just didn't appeal to me. I thought it was an interesting novelty, and I completely understood it's mass appeal, I just didn't feel the need to own one. It's not that I dislike Nintendo. Far from it. I have owned every single handheld system they've released, and I still have a working Gamecube kicking around somewhere.
The Wii U has an impressive line-up of games, and the developer support being tossed behind it bodes well for the future. The ability to purchase full games online through the console is a blessing in a rural area, where it can be hard at times to find physical copies of games, especially when one refuses to shop at Gamestop.
The online functionality is interesting. When constantly connected to the internet, the initial screen (dubbed Waruwaru Plaza I believe) shows what games are popular, little Mii's from other people, comments about some of the games that are updated seemingly daily, and overall just gives the appearance that I am part of a larger community of gaming. Netflix capability means that this has a very good chance of replacing my PS3 as our entertainment device of choice. If only it had a Blu-ray player.
My favorite function though, is the ability to play most Wii U (and some Virtual Console) games on the gamepad screen, sans television. As a parent who shares the TV with 5 other people, this function is worth the price of admission alone. Let's say I really want to play Tekken Tag Tournament 2, but my kids want to watch My Little Pony. Well, with a couple of button pushes, they can watch their show on the TV, and I can continue my losing streak on the pad as if it were a high-powered handheld system. It even has a headphone jack and volume control built right in. This functionality now guarantees that any cross-platform title that comes out will be bought for the Wii U over the PS3 or computer.
It's also backwards compatible with the Wii, so now my kids and wife are thrilled to have access to all the casual and family titles that are on the Wii, and I can finally play some new Zelda games, as I did not care for the control scheme on the DS ones.
Overall, I'm completely thrilled with my new system, and it's the perfect start to the new console generation.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
If I'm a Muppet, I'm a very manly Muppet
Banshee. It's a new show on Cinemax, and I can't seem to stop watching it. It's an awful, horrible show though. I mean, I've read better fan-fic written by a tween.
The series is written by a man.
I don't need to go check imdb.com to know this, nor do I have to pay attention to the credits. Everything about the series screams "This is how men should live!". The main character has had sex with a different woman in every episode thus far. Random, irresponsible, unexplainable sex with strangers with no visible effort spent on his part to get the women, they just throw themselves upon his dick. There is a gratuitous female masturbation scene, interposed with flashbacks of her receiving a necklace from her ex-boyfriend. I could be completely off base here, but is that seriously what you women think about when you feel the urge to self-abuse?
The action, if you can call it that, is similarly ridiculous. Genuinely unbelievable violence, like a bus coming out of nowhere to flip and slide down the road in the pilot. It feels like it's there simply because the writer (who in my mind at this point is either a teen frat boy, or some pathetic simp trying to overcompensate) put it in because "Hurr, hurr, that was cool." The physical acts alone that the lead performs stretch the boundaries of belief, especially since we're supposed to believe he's been in prison for 15 years.
The plot, God help me, is just convoluted. The premise alone is hard enough to swallow in the Information Age (ex-con impersonates sheriff), and the plot never seems to coalesce properly around the concept. The twists are either broadcast well in advance, or take you completely by surprise because there is no plausible reason for the twist to exist beyond the writer trying to prove he's smarter then the viewer. With the exception of the main character (who's so 2 dimensional it's impossible to screw up), the characters are inconsistent from one episode to the next, which just further adds to the confusion. This is painfully clear in the female lead, who swings between terrified mother and wife trying to stay in hiding and hardened ex-con with full use of her skills over the course of each episode.
Somehow, even after listing it's flaws, I just can't bring myself to stop watching though. It's reached train wreck status for me, where I just have to see how much worse it can possibly get.
The series is written by a man.
I don't need to go check imdb.com to know this, nor do I have to pay attention to the credits. Everything about the series screams "This is how men should live!". The main character has had sex with a different woman in every episode thus far. Random, irresponsible, unexplainable sex with strangers with no visible effort spent on his part to get the women, they just throw themselves upon his dick. There is a gratuitous female masturbation scene, interposed with flashbacks of her receiving a necklace from her ex-boyfriend. I could be completely off base here, but is that seriously what you women think about when you feel the urge to self-abuse?
The action, if you can call it that, is similarly ridiculous. Genuinely unbelievable violence, like a bus coming out of nowhere to flip and slide down the road in the pilot. It feels like it's there simply because the writer (who in my mind at this point is either a teen frat boy, or some pathetic simp trying to overcompensate) put it in because "Hurr, hurr, that was cool." The physical acts alone that the lead performs stretch the boundaries of belief, especially since we're supposed to believe he's been in prison for 15 years.
The plot, God help me, is just convoluted. The premise alone is hard enough to swallow in the Information Age (ex-con impersonates sheriff), and the plot never seems to coalesce properly around the concept. The twists are either broadcast well in advance, or take you completely by surprise because there is no plausible reason for the twist to exist beyond the writer trying to prove he's smarter then the viewer. With the exception of the main character (who's so 2 dimensional it's impossible to screw up), the characters are inconsistent from one episode to the next, which just further adds to the confusion. This is painfully clear in the female lead, who swings between terrified mother and wife trying to stay in hiding and hardened ex-con with full use of her skills over the course of each episode.
Somehow, even after listing it's flaws, I just can't bring myself to stop watching though. It's reached train wreck status for me, where I just have to see how much worse it can possibly get.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
I'm trying to reason but you don't understand
This is still a new project for me, and as such I'm still learning and deciding what, exactly, I want to do with it. I'm probably going to try to be more focused on certain topics, like entertainment, as opposed to odd rants and opinion pieces unrelated to entertainment. I've started a Twitter account, I'm trying to clean up my Facebook and G+ accounts, basically just trying to set myself up as a, well, brand, for lack of a better word.
There's something that I miss in gaming journalism, and maybe it's something I can add back in, at least in my own way. I miss some of the old gaming sites. Gamespy for instance. Note, I did not link to them. They haven't been worth linking to in years, not long after Dave Kosak left actually. There was an editorial restructuring, and suddenly the site was full of juvenile articles which seemed geared towards page views and controversy. I blame IGN honestly. Not long after, a lot of the same things started happening to 1UP. Incidentally also owned by the same company. Hell, even now you can check with 1UP, and see that in the last week they posted a series of inflammatory video game violence articles which really add nothing to the discussion, but I bet they drew in the page views.
I've become very disillusioned with the gaming press overall. Ben Paddon, of @gamejournos, seemed to really understand a lot of the same issues I had, and started a great blog about it. However, the blog is more or less defunct as he's moved on to other projects, and one can't blame him, you can only spend so much time focusing on the shitty things before you burn out or get bitter. No High Scores is another blog, done by former and current gaming journalists that gets it as well. They try very had to give a no spin zone environment where their genuine love of gaming drives the articles.
So, where do I get my gaming news? Oddly enough, Joystiq is my primary source of info. I happened upon it quite by accident really. I started frequenting Massively, one of their sister sites, for MMO info after MMORPG.com started becoming more and more of a shill site geared towards inflating page views while trying to keep the game companies happy. If your site is more concerned with keeping a game company (or it's asshole lead, in the case of Dr. Derek Smart) happy then it is with giving honest opinions, you're a shill. Doesn't hurt that the community of posters, for the most part, was also extremely toxic. Gamespy seems to be improving, so I've been checking in on them from time to time as well, but I have my doubts about the new editor, so I honestly don't feel comfortable endorsing them.
You'll note that I haven't mentioned the PA Report. This might seem surprising, considering I do consider myself a bit of a fan of Penny Arcade, but the simple fact that Ben Kuchera works for the PA Report is enough to keep me away from it.
What I'm saying is, that I'm going to try and bring more focus to the blog going forward. I'll be focusing a lot on gaming, especially of the MMO variety, although expect to see some articles related to other entertainment mediums. No more sounding off about guns, the weather, or waitresses. What this does mean is that my posting habits will probably be a little more sporadic. But, it's time that I start taking this a little more seriously. You can only say you want to be a writer for so long before you either have to start taking it seriously, or give it up. Shit or get off the pot as it were.
There's something that I miss in gaming journalism, and maybe it's something I can add back in, at least in my own way. I miss some of the old gaming sites. Gamespy for instance. Note, I did not link to them. They haven't been worth linking to in years, not long after Dave Kosak left actually. There was an editorial restructuring, and suddenly the site was full of juvenile articles which seemed geared towards page views and controversy. I blame IGN honestly. Not long after, a lot of the same things started happening to 1UP. Incidentally also owned by the same company. Hell, even now you can check with 1UP, and see that in the last week they posted a series of inflammatory video game violence articles which really add nothing to the discussion, but I bet they drew in the page views.
I've become very disillusioned with the gaming press overall. Ben Paddon, of @gamejournos, seemed to really understand a lot of the same issues I had, and started a great blog about it. However, the blog is more or less defunct as he's moved on to other projects, and one can't blame him, you can only spend so much time focusing on the shitty things before you burn out or get bitter. No High Scores is another blog, done by former and current gaming journalists that gets it as well. They try very had to give a no spin zone environment where their genuine love of gaming drives the articles.
So, where do I get my gaming news? Oddly enough, Joystiq is my primary source of info. I happened upon it quite by accident really. I started frequenting Massively, one of their sister sites, for MMO info after MMORPG.com started becoming more and more of a shill site geared towards inflating page views while trying to keep the game companies happy. If your site is more concerned with keeping a game company (or it's asshole lead, in the case of Dr. Derek Smart) happy then it is with giving honest opinions, you're a shill. Doesn't hurt that the community of posters, for the most part, was also extremely toxic. Gamespy seems to be improving, so I've been checking in on them from time to time as well, but I have my doubts about the new editor, so I honestly don't feel comfortable endorsing them.
You'll note that I haven't mentioned the PA Report. This might seem surprising, considering I do consider myself a bit of a fan of Penny Arcade, but the simple fact that Ben Kuchera works for the PA Report is enough to keep me away from it.
What I'm saying is, that I'm going to try and bring more focus to the blog going forward. I'll be focusing a lot on gaming, especially of the MMO variety, although expect to see some articles related to other entertainment mediums. No more sounding off about guns, the weather, or waitresses. What this does mean is that my posting habits will probably be a little more sporadic. But, it's time that I start taking this a little more seriously. You can only say you want to be a writer for so long before you either have to start taking it seriously, or give it up. Shit or get off the pot as it were.
Monday, February 4, 2013
With a slice, and a snip, eenie-meenie-miney-mo!
Terrance Zdunich. The man is a true artist, with a bit of mad genius thrown in for good measure.
Sometimes life is about the little goals we reach for. I haven't been feeling great, thanks to an annoying head cold (could be worse), and with money being a tad tight post Christmas I don't really have the money to invest in any household projects to take up my leisure time. Got to buy materials to build with after all. So this weekend, I set out to do 4 things, and managed to succeed in them.
My first priority was logging into Star Trek Online to get my Enterprise C lookalike ship. Yes, I know, my priorities are a tad askew. This was easily done though, as it just involved logging in and doing a quick quest. It did serve to remind me that I really don't spend enough time with this delightful game though. Especially since I'm too high of a level to use the basic version, and too low of a level to use the refit version. Although that may not matter as I'm actual loathe to give up my science vessels.
Getting to 85 with my Horde character has been something I've been working towards for a while, as I really wanted to see Pandaria from the Horde perspective, having grown bored with it Alliance side. Managed to pull that off late Sunday afternoon, so another check in the box. Props to my guild, The Insiders on Zangarmarsh. Good group of people, pleasant for chatting with, really takes the edge off the grind.
I also managed to make time for my family this weekend. I don't visit with my parents near often enough, but well, such is the life of an adult with children and responsibilities of their own.
My DVR shows are more caught up now. Gotta say, I am loving Banshee, even if it is completely ridiculous, over the top, and clearly written by a guy with a macho tough guy fetish. And Arrow continues to impress, although they're having a hard time surprising me with anything, but that's only because of my comic reading background and particular fondness for the DC Universe. It's also good to see John Barrowman as something other then Captain Jack Harkness. Although, that reminds me, I have got to track down Miracle Day to watch.
So yeah, simple weekend, but I found it fulfilling. Now if I hadn't wasted my morning playing Soul Calibur V . . .
Sometimes life is about the little goals we reach for. I haven't been feeling great, thanks to an annoying head cold (could be worse), and with money being a tad tight post Christmas I don't really have the money to invest in any household projects to take up my leisure time. Got to buy materials to build with after all. So this weekend, I set out to do 4 things, and managed to succeed in them.
My first priority was logging into Star Trek Online to get my Enterprise C lookalike ship. Yes, I know, my priorities are a tad askew. This was easily done though, as it just involved logging in and doing a quick quest. It did serve to remind me that I really don't spend enough time with this delightful game though. Especially since I'm too high of a level to use the basic version, and too low of a level to use the refit version. Although that may not matter as I'm actual loathe to give up my science vessels.
Getting to 85 with my Horde character has been something I've been working towards for a while, as I really wanted to see Pandaria from the Horde perspective, having grown bored with it Alliance side. Managed to pull that off late Sunday afternoon, so another check in the box. Props to my guild, The Insiders on Zangarmarsh. Good group of people, pleasant for chatting with, really takes the edge off the grind.
I also managed to make time for my family this weekend. I don't visit with my parents near often enough, but well, such is the life of an adult with children and responsibilities of their own.
My DVR shows are more caught up now. Gotta say, I am loving Banshee, even if it is completely ridiculous, over the top, and clearly written by a guy with a macho tough guy fetish. And Arrow continues to impress, although they're having a hard time surprising me with anything, but that's only because of my comic reading background and particular fondness for the DC Universe. It's also good to see John Barrowman as something other then Captain Jack Harkness. Although, that reminds me, I have got to track down Miracle Day to watch.
So yeah, simple weekend, but I found it fulfilling. Now if I hadn't wasted my morning playing Soul Calibur V . . .
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Such a beautiful lie to believe in
Common misconception: Waiters/waitresses don't make minimum wage.
It's a misconception that annoys me, because I was a server. Usually, it's a server pulling the whole "pity me" shit that perpetuates this myth. Here's how it works, in reality. You are paid half of minimum wage, yes. You make tips. You claim tips. If the tips you claim + the hourly wage do not equal minimum wage, the employer is legally obligated to make up the difference.
Here's the rub. Most servers do not claim 100% of their tips. This means the income they don't claim ends up not being taxed. How many legit jobs do you know of that allow that? Now, if you're following all the math here, what this means is very simple: Waitstaff make AT LEAST minimum wage. That's if they're a horrible server or work for a slow restaurant. If they're a good server, and work for a popular restaurant, they make quite a bit more then minimum wage, and don't necessarily pay taxes on all of their income.
Now, serving is a hard job, it is. I'm not saying you shouldn't tip your server. Besides, maybe I'm wrong, and that's just the law as it applies to my state. But please, stop believing in this myth. Tip for good service, not for pity.
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