Been gone for awhile. Likely to be gone for some more. So to let you people know what I'm still alive, I'm posting this up.

The reasons behind my (like you fucking care, really) absence are family issues. Big ones. So big, I don't know when I'll be back, really.

But, like I said, I'm still alive. Just, stuck in the dark ages.

Scribblenauts and Pokemon have kept me sane so far. Let's hope they can keep the steady dose of whatever the hell it is it's giving me.

Anyways, I'm here. Just, not here.

Later.

P.S.: Go read And Another Thing..., by Eion Colfer. It's Hitchhikers Guid To The Galaxy based, and it's simply brilliant.

God, this flu shit is the worst.

Anyways, I've gotten that urge to tell you guys about shit none of yall could care about. Don't worry, I'll try to keep it as concise and to the point as I can. I'm not that good at it though, If I GT English essay's say anything about it. I'm so glad I'm working to be a programmer.



Speaking of programming, I've recently been introduced to Alice. It's a basic, Java based programming....program, and it's actually pretty cool. Instead of typing in all of this complicated code to get a character to walk around in a circle, you just click and drag the actions you want, such as "Bunny move 3 meters as seen by Tree), to make the bunny walk around the tree. Of course, you can get much more complicated with it, with loops and number variable statements and object properties, but basically, it's drag and drop. I like it that my highschool it allowing us to use this, because hell, it's not BASIC. I hear BASIC is horrible.



I told you about my promise to start finishing games right? Well, it's coming along slowly. School/Scribblenauts really put a hamper in previous projects, but I've started a new file in Pokemon Emerald. I have finished the game before, but I cheated heavily because I needed Rayquaza. Like, a lot of Rayquaza.

Don't ask.

Pokemon Emerald is going to be a nice finish, because it's portable, and when the teachers let me loose, I can whip out the old Triforce DSLite and attempt to catch them all. By the way, I'm not actually going to attempt that, shit was crazy enough with Pokemon Diamond. I still haven't seen 180+ Pokemon, and that game is internet enabled.

At least it's not Digimon. 800+. FFFFFFFFFFFFU-



Speaking back on programming, I wanna start using Source in my spare time. At first, I just wanna use character models and stuff to make (crappy) Machinima and stuff. I don't wanna get into heavy Mods (lol, Heavy), but I'd like to at least use FacePoser. And the Hammer Editor. I'll step up into the heavy shit once I get Java into my belt of useful tools.

So yeah, any Ideas, words of advice, or encouragement would be nice. Or you could send my a copy of Garry's Mod. That be excellent.



So, I've got my potential Purchases schedule down to the wire. These are based on estimates on how much money I can scrounge up doing weird shit around the house, since that's pretty much the only way I'm going to make money at the moment. I definitely need a real job (that doesn't include being a secretary*) AND I WILL TAKE ANY I CAN FIND COUGHCOUGHNIEROCOUGHCOUGHWHEEZE.

Those last few coughs where real. I have to sanitize my keyboard as soon as I'm finished.

Any-who, here's the breakdown.

Borderlands (Hopefully October/November. It depends on cash flow)
Brutal Legend (Christmas, Definite/Maybe Thanksgiving. Depends on cash flow for latter)
Modern Warfare 2 (Christmas, Definite)
Windowsill (As soon as fucking possible)
Garry's Mod (When Opportunity Opens Up)
Uncharted 2: Honor Among Thieves (Christmas, Not Determined if Definite Yet)
King Of Fighters XII (As soon as Opportunity Opens Up)

And that's it for this year. I plan on dropping cash on 3 more games before next year. Hopefully, by next year, a job opportunity will open up and the Spring Rush will be a bit less RAGE.



Which brings me to my last topic for this sick day. Epic Mickey, if it's even real, looks to be something I'd definitely get my hands on, and it's totally because of the style of the game.

I don't like to sound like a sheep, but Post Apoc is the shit for me. I like the look of everything looking so useful yet broken, and yet, whether it was 3 months of 300 years ago, people wouldn't have thought twice about it's worth in their lives. I know, I know, Post Apoc is brown, and I'm a strong believer in using the color spectrum, even if it'll blind you (see: Mirror's Edge), but I can get past the color of the stuff if the stuff itself looks interesting.

Which is why the Steam-Post Apoc-Punk style of Epic Mickey (if it's called that, and if it exists) has me greatly excited. The once happy world of the Disney Universe manages to take a turn for the worst, yet still maintain the happy look of the Disney Universe. It's like one of those homicidal clowns you see in movies or Twisted Metal, only make a whole universe out of it, and make it steampunk.

Yeah, that's awesome. To me, at least.

Well, that's everything I think I have to say. I think.

Super Street Fighter 4 better be 30 bucks or less, BlazBlue: Continumm Shift should be DLC or 20 bucks or less (what am I saying? I'll pay a full $60 if V13/V11 is nerf'd), Lucidity looks awesome, but I hope there's a demo for the PC version, and I need to get in the APB beta, because APB looks boss.

Yeah, now I'm finished.

*= I'll work as a secretary for Destructoid...or if Tim Schafer is somehow reading this, Double Fine, or any company you can refer me to. I make awesome phone calls.

On the European PSN Now, you can get a free Dynamic theme for Wipeout HD.

It's pretty sweet, but no sound makes it kinda weird.

Also, the english version of the Katamari Forever demo is up on the North American PSN. It's badass.

I'll hide this tonight, so until then, enjoy these completely unrelated music videos. If you want, tell me which one is better. I'll take a vote or something.

I have a small confession to make.

This will come as a shock to most, if not all, of the hardcore gamers out there, and I have shamed myself accordingly. In fact, I’m still waiting for the eternal wrath of Cthulhu to be brought down upon myself. Actually, you have to send in some paperwork, including a resume. Really, the process is complicated, so I’ll just skip it and get to the confession;

I have only truly completed less than 10 games in my 10 years of gaming.



Yes, I know, blasphemy and what not, “how can I call myself a gamer”, “have Neiro ban this sick individual,” (please don’t, I love Destructoid), but first, allow me to clarify what I have just said with some background information.

I have played a whole two ton truck load of games, and, as I mentioned in my previous blog, while I might not still have the 70+ game collection for my ex-Gamecube and on-his-deathbed Playstation 2, I did spend time with each and every one of them.

I just never completed them.



Honestly, I can’t tell you why I have the inability to complete most of the games I buy. I know it’s not time constraints, even with an advanced class, I still find time to burn/snipe/bonk people in Team Fortress 2, or get my ass kicked in BlazBlue. Hell, I’m starting to get over the fact that I lost all my game saves from when I had to get my PS3 exchanged, and I’m planning to go through Burnout Paradise to get my Burnout License again.

I’m also sure it’s not having an abnormal amount of games to play either. Like I mentioned earlier, I have a very small game collection, if you can even call it that. I’ve given all the games in my possession, as of right now, at least 4-8 hours of my time, the prize champion being Pokémon Diamond, earning a whopping 400+ hours. I haven’t touched Diamond in 5 months.

Go figure.

I know it’s not the enjoyment factor. I greatly enjoyed the time I had with Fallout 3, but I haven’t even picked up the box since May, and I bought the game in January. I remember having a blast killing all the people in Megaton with the Fatman, but lately, I have no urge to do that, or anything like it, even though I know I’ll have fun doing it.

And damnit, I still enjoy gaming. I (80% of the time, at least) enjoy the games I buy. I still buy games old and new. I just never complete them.



What seems to be the “problem” is that I’ll reach a point in playing a game where I’ll just stop and forget said game existed in my meager collection. Hell, I have to remind myself I bought a copy of Psychonauts from Steam. It’s as if something subliminal in my subconscious makes my mind reset itself, and once it’s finished rebooting, it already has a new game it wants to play, with no plan to go back and finish the old game what so ever, for no certain reason.

To speak truthfully, I’m fucking tired of that happening.



So yeah, I know I’m making a lot of changes in my gaming lifestyle (a lot being 2). I understand I’m 9 months late to New Year’s Resolutions and what not, and more importantly, I have only a few months till the Spring ’10 Game Rush, but damnit, I want to be a better gamer. I want to be able to, one day, post my collection of games, my collection at that moment being over 80 games. I want to be able to sit down and talk about gaming more fluently. Hell, I want to make games for a career, and I believe that it’s these subtle changes that are going to help me accomplish those goals.

So I’m going to complete the games I buy, starting now. I’ve got a list, and I think I can finish it by the time Modern Warfare 2 drops, so I’ll be ready for that. I’ll keep my priorities straight, promising to give the unfinished games more time than the new ones (I can always play Scribblenauts at school). I’m going to complete all the games that come into my possession , unless said game is like Resistance 2, in which case I’ll try to get all the Achievements/Trophy’s I can before my eyes bleed.

Play me off, Hall & Oats.

Yeah, that picture up there pretty much sums up what I'm doing in the blog. I just feel like I gotta write some shit down, you know? I haven't properly written something in quite some time, and since school has started again, and GT English is hard, I might as well get in the flow of writing again. Plus, I feel like making a blog about video games. Go Figure.

Back To School

This week was the return of school, and I'm a Junior. One more year, and I can say good-by to Texas schooling, and hello to Boston or Califorian learning in college, but enough about that, what's the hype with games?



When I mention Brutal Legend, a lot of people put their fingers on their heads, and go, "Oh wait, that game with Jack Black?", and when I respond that they are in fact correct, most go, "Yeah, that looks hot." Which is more than what I can say for Psychonauts, in which I just got a lot of blank stares as I explained the premise of that game. Overall, I like the response I'm getting, and maybe, for our school newspaper, if we can get out a review for Brutal Legend, maybe we can convince some other people to give the game a try. Which, would be good. Really good.



I get a lot more split-second responses when I mention Borderlands though, which means either of 2 things:

Changing the art style has brought a whole shitload of customers for Gearbox

-or-

People knew about this shit before.

Either way, it's nice to see some excitement from the next to months for games. Maybe with that PS3 price drop, I can actually have people I know in real life on my PS3 instead of just Dtoiders. No offense guys, but I have friends in real life too.

On Shadow Complex: KindaSortaNotReally Rant

First Off, I don't have a 360. I really want one though, but until then, I'm going to have to mooch off friends and Gamestop before I take another plunge and buy my second 360. Because Shadow Complex looks hot.

But there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Shadow Complex, all stemming from it's Kinda-Co-Writer, Orson Scott Card. Now, I know, Card is a dick when it comes to certain subjects, including homosexuality, and yeah, what kind of last name is Card anyways, but really, the subject matter of Shadow Complex is based off of one of his books. And that's pretty much it.



The story of Shadow Complex is written by Peter David, who apparently wrote some of the Hulk comics. I didn't know that last part, but I have read one of the Hulk comics he wrote, and it was good stuff. He's going to get some good cash off of this game's earnings.

This game uses the Unreal Engine 3, by Epic. Epic, and Cliffy, are going to make absurd amounts of money from this title. That's how Epic Games rolls, guys. I wish I could work for them. I hear Cliffy is a pretty cool bro.

Shadow Complex is an Xbox Live exclusive. Microsoft is going to take some of the absurd amounts of money Epic will make, and make Absurd amounts of money with it. It's also how MS rolls. The greedy bastards.

And then there is Orson Scott Card, who, knowing Microsoft and Epic Games, will make less than chump change on his games. He probably won't complain, money is money, and he's follow up books, as well as the Ender's Game movie will probably make up for whatever losses he might make with how Shadow Complex's earnings are handled.

When I get a 360, I'm going to buy Shadow Complex. Orson Scott Card is a writer and a public speaker who writes books for a specific audience and speaks for one just as specific. No amount of money (whether you, me, or the unsuspecting public who probably could really care less) we give him is going to make him any more threat than he is now. Which is pretty minuscule, since this is the first time we are actually talking about him since forever. All he's getting that could potentially melt some ice is free publicity.

And I don't even think he knows about it yet.

Spring 2010

What happened?

What sick bastard decided to tell all the video game companies that Modern Warfare 2 is going to be THAT much of a blowout and they should sell their games in the Spring? Why would you do something like that? WHY?

Ok, Ok, I know, MW2 is some big stuff, but to tell you the truth, I was perfectly ready to drop whatever is left in my leftover account on games this Christmas. MW2, Brutal Legend, Borderlands, Bayonetta, hell, even fucking A Boy and His Blob, and I don't even have a Wii. And a whole lot else I can't seem to remember at the moment right now, because the list was honestly, really big.

Now I gotta wait for some of the titles to drop in 2010. Well, least I'm getting Scribblenauts soon. That should hold me.



Last And Not Least

I'm going to stop selling my games.

It's something I've wanted to do ever since I started buying games, until I found out you could trade them in for money, or sell them to inspecting suckers on the corner. Ever since I got my Gamecube, I've been able to buy a respectable amount of games at least every 2 months (1 or 2, to be politically correct). By that math (I got my Gamecube in '02), I should have a collection of, 42 to 84 games, comprised of various PS2, Gamecube, and DS titles, including Freekstyle, SSX Tricky, Mario Kart Double Dash, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and Luminous Ark.

I have 10 games, 6 PS3 titles, 2 PS2 titles, and 2 DS titles. This does not count games bought on PSN or through Steam.

What happened to my Gamecube? It resides at my Uncles house, where it gathers dust next to the Phat PS2 that is used exclusively for Guitar Hero. Most of my Gamecube titles were sold to create money for my Launch 360 and Kameo: Elements Of Power, which went away when I wanted to get money for the Warranty for my PS3. I still have the box for The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker, though the disk is, well kept at another cousins house. They framed it. How nice.

The list on my profile bar is horribly outdated and needs to be updated as well. It makes me sad to look at all that stuff I used to have.

So yeah, I'm going to start trying to keep the games I buy, starting with Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2. I don't get that game, I can't get into it for the love of me, but still, it'll make me look more like a collector and not like a guy who sells everything for quick cash.

Except for LittleBigPlanet. I fear that game might not stick with me for long, and if I need a new one, there's that Game Of The Year Edition with all that nifty DLC in it. And Water.

They love this as well.