Side note: I originally wrote about this on my Tumblr, then after posting it a few other places, decided you folks might enjoy.

Side side note: To put things into perspective, I work in an independent retro gaming store. I love my job, and most of the kids around wish they had it. GameStop employees shop at my store, and frequently tell me they wish our store was more like theirs, as well as refer their customers to us on occasion. We have a healthy relationship with our competitors.



So, a few weeks ago, two kids come in. They look to be about 17 or 18, and they’re clearly coming from the school across the street, which is a common sight considering I always work closing. Two kids, iPods blaring, generally yelling in the store. Not exactly my favorite kind of people to be in, they’re the kind that never buys anything. Eventually, they ask for applications.

Now, I decide to instead of saying the usual “oh, we’re not hiring”, to give them some applications. I don’t know, maybe I was being nice or something. On our applications, we have a little test for all applicants to make sure you have some idea of what youre talking about. Nothing too tough.

Some of the questions are “name five consoles before the NES”, “three handhelds that aren’t made by nintendo”, and more. There’s also a section where you name your favorite game in each genre. Now, they go through and already had trouble with the other ones, having to ask for help and look around the store. We were just going to throw out their applications anyway.

One of them asks what an RPG is to his friend. He does a kind of barebones way of describing it, but I can understand that it’s not the easiest genre to describe on the spot. He describes the stereotype: you’re on a quest to save a princess, and you fight monsters on the way.

The kid immediately shouts out that his favorite RPG is “Batman”. I lose it. I just walk to the back, shut the door, and take a moment to myself to soak in what I had just heard. The kid didn’t even realize it, either. He was so happy that his application was perfect. I called my boss later that day when I was closing (this happens everyday), and I told him about the application.

We still have it in our folder, and have no plans of throwing it out.

oh man I ran out of space there.


WP comes in strong and makes a good argument about his points.

The book was alright, although I ended up stopping somewhere in the 5th chapter to go read a few literary masterpieces from the R.L. Stein Goosebmps collection. That guy makes WanderingPixel look like he's...


wait, what am I doing?

PLZ DONT CURBSTAMP PUPPIES. Wait. Puppies. Pup pies.

Oh shit.

(Copied from my Tumblr, then into IE, then through a hoop on fire)

It's weird. I've been a gamer all my life. I picked up a controller at the age of 2 to play Dragon Warrior on the NES, and since then, I haven't stopped gaming. It's always been a major part of my life, and has helped to define me as a person. I'm always interested in talking with other people about the state of the industry, art direction in games, or even just how a game is. I have a reputation among my peers as the person to go to if you want to know about a certain game or genre.

Then why is it that I feel so burnt out on gaming?

I woke up today, started playing a bit, and realized something. I'm just not having fun anymore. But why? I played a bit of the games in my collection, trying to find that spark, but to no avail. Why is it that suddenly I couldn't care less about something that I've held so close to me all of my life? It's frightening.

I suppose this could have to do with how I've played the last few months. Late during the month of May, I started to take my infatuation with the fighting genre, or rather Street Fighter, somewhat seriously. I began to practice more than most of my peers, and started to enter local tournaments. I was more competitive than almost anyone else around me. And now, I couldn't care less. I have a 66% win rate, and the 414th highest arcade score in the world in SF4, but it doesn't mean anything anymore. I used to idolize top U.S. players such as Justin Wong, Mike Ross, Arturo Sanchez, Alex Valle, Combofiend, and more, but all of a sudden, it just doesn't appeal to me anymore. A wave of apathy has washed over me, and I find myself unwilling to get back up.

Is it due to my own previous tenacity with which I used to play, or is it a lack of titles coming out that genuinely interest me? The last game that came out that had me genuinely excited was Street Fighter 4, and I hate the damn game. Perhaps playing something I hate so much in such excess has caused me to become jaded (You don't get it, I seriously fucking hate this game). I would't be surprised. But then again, who knows? This might just be the flavor of the day.

Now, the first thing that anyone is going to notice in this blog is the formatting. Yes, I am writing this blog in Google Chrome, and I
am doing it on purpose. Google Chrome is, as most of you may know, a web browser released by Google last September
second in the year of our Lord 2008 AD. Being touted as revolutionary with the way it handles processes and tabs, as well as a
system to decrease memory bloat, Chrome got popular pretty quickly.I personally started using it late November after Firefox
would continually take up an overly excessive amount of memory and CPU whenever I used it.

It's not like this issue is a surprise, either. People have been very vocal about issues with Destructoid (more specifically,
Elephant) and Chrome playing nice together, especially on Destructoid's uservoice community feedback page, which I think most
people forgot about, including the staff.

Here's a link to it: http://destructoid.uservoice.com/pages/10603-suggest-a-feature

Now, go to that link and scroll down. The seventh highest item, as voted by the community, is to add better support for Google
Chrome, added by Niero himself. In fact, it's even noted as planned. What you may not realize, is the fact that it's been up there
for at least seven months, and nothing has been done about it. This Wednesday, Google Chrome will have been out for a year
(stable, not beta), and there is still little to no support for it on Elephant. Despite being listed as planned, nothing has been done. I
think it's time to live up to your word (aka Full Life Consequences), and finally fix the bugs thats Elephants having with one of the
most popular browsers in use today.

OH FUCK I WAS KIDDING GUYS SERIOUSLY MY FINGER SLIPPED OH GOD

Well, I will be at least. Back in March, I went on MTV for a game show called Silent Library. I had a blast, and my episode is finally airing today at 5:30 PM (check for local times, I just know 5:30 EST for a definite). The basic premise is that 6 players are in a library, completing various humiliating challenges while trying to stay as quiet as possible.


Thats me in the back, mutton chops and unshaven. I sure do know how to dress up for these things.

Sounds stupid? Yes. Yes it does. But regardless, it's a chance to see a fellow Dtoider on TV winning some money and getting hit with things for your sick entertainment. Since I'm still technically on NDA until after the airing of the show, I can't give away the details of what exactly went down, but after the show has aired I'll be in IRC talking about some behind the scenes stuff, which is more interesting than I'm making it sound. I swear.

And on a 100% videogame related note, I've been in Newegg's online Street Fighter 4 tournament, where I made it to round 4 out of 6 using only E. Honda. My next match takes place Thursday, at 9:00 PM EST. If I complete the 6th round, I then go into a finals bracket where I'm eligible to win up to $600 in prize packs. Wish me luck! Regardless of the prizes, I'm just happy to be in a tournament. I love to compete in almost everything I do, and fighting games has recently become one of my favorite things to compete in. I've always been somewhat competitive in nature, partially due to being put down as a child. I saw it as a chance to make those who put me down look like idiots, and more often than not I'd succeed, and if not I'd come damn close to doing so.

So thats it, Destructoid. Tomorrow at 5:30 on MTV. Silent Library. Watch it and enjoy my pain for your entertainment. Then, I'll hopefully beat down someone at 9:00. Looks like I got a full night ahead of me.