Y'know, there's something to be said about moderation. As in all things can be enjoyed in moderation. Be it drinking, gambling, gaming and even being online. For a bit there my old ass was consumed with being online. Gotta get my gaming news, had to follow someone's Tweets, needed to write a blog, had to listen to a podcast, needed to get on Facebook, and a slew of other internet related things that when viewed from afar seem to be a waste of time. At least to me it is. Took a break. A hiatus. Didn't bother logging on my Gmail, my Twitter, my Facebook, and even Destructoid itself. Know what? My world didn't end. I didn't have withdrawals of any kinds. I didn't miss hearing about anything related to games on a daily basis (perhaps because there are no real gaming news on a daily basis). I enjoyed smaller pleasures like extended sleep, watching movies, and get this...playing games.

The holidays arrived and with them came more games. Some more memorable then others and some I haven't even opened yet. But that's okay too. I don't feel the need to rush through them to the end. This isn't a race. I'm not a game reviewer. I have no actual deadline. I think I'll just try to enjoy them thank you very much. I think I'll also come up with my own conclusions regarding them too. I realized from my " internet hiatus" that I wasn't being spoon-fed someone's opinion about what I was playing, or thinking of getting. I had to arrive at what I thought of something on my own, without getting it from you or her or them. I realized just how much nonsensical bullshit I was subscribing to. Too much negativity, nit-picking, and just plain bullshit. I encourage anyone reading this to unplug for awhile and experience this realization for themselves.

I find it funny coming back and catching up on things how nothing changes. It seems like there is no originality. Everything written is a faint echo of something written before. Hell, the majority of what's written doesn't even have anything to say. Occasionally you'll come across something thoughtful and well written relating to games but those are diamonds in the rough, jewels to be mined - not things out in the open to pick at. Still I see people getting upset about what so and so wrote about whatever game they loved, to the point of cussing them out. That shit is bizarre. If you think about it, it is beyond moronic. People waste their time with this garbage going back and forth. Daily. If you're even remotely getting riled up about something written you gotta take a break brother.

Chill. Go get laid. Hang out with your friends. IRL. Go buy over-priced gaming accessories like me and mod them. Like I did below.



Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to unplug, log-off, not link this blog to my Twitter or Facebook or whore it somewhere else so that you may read it and play SSFIV for five hours straight, if not more. I might even open Gran Turismo 5, or Fallout New Vegas on the 360. I have a lot more time that I can allot to my favorite pastime now that I'm not wasting it on trivialities. I heard 2010 sucked big time for quite a few of yous...personally I thought it was a fantastic year for games, as well as myself. 2011 is looking like the cat's meow too. See you folks online... in moderation of course.

[ Blogger's note: I was going to wait to post this tomorrow seeing as Tony had a similar post but then I thought: Hell no. This is what Destructoid is all about and the more attention Dtoid and it's ridiculously giving community gets, the better. ]

I think that everybody in our glorious community can pretty much write a blog on a daily basis of why Destructoid as a whole rocks and we would never run out of reasons. That's how rich Destructoid is with it's undeniable love for everybody that frequents here, especially it's community members. I can pretty much testify that I have never seen this amount of joy and love shared among people in any other place. This is yet another example of a community member unprovoked being awesome to another here... specifically me.

In our last episode of Why DESTRUCTOID ROCKS, Ckarasu bestowed upon my person much free swag. And life for me was good. So what could possibly make me create another post of why Destructoid and its community rocks. Why simple. More generosity. Take a gander at this my fellow colleagues and bathe in the feeling of fellowship.

It all began like any other day, except it was two days after my 39th birthday. I felt old, cranky and hoping kids would get on my lawn so I could tell them to get off it. Even watching a good movie wasn't peeling my cantankerous exterior. Then it happened...



Hmmm...who could this be? I mean I live in the country where they make Friday the 13th movies and my closest neighbor is quite a bit away. The mailman, eh? And with a package for me. Oh boy, was it the the truckload of blu-rays I ordered? Can't be, I just ordered them yesterday. No, it was much better than that.



It was from fellow Dtoider and all around cool cat Funktastic. Opening the package I was greeted with his manifesto, really a touching long letter wishing me a Happy Birthday and a few other things like me drawing him something. I gotta tell you, for the longest time he has wanted a drawing of a Domo from me, why I don't know, as my artistic skills are not things to write home about. But I have been working on one for my Canadian friend and soon I'll be able to unveil it and send it his way. Trust me Funk, it will be worth the wait. In the letter he also told me I was finally old enough to see this movie which he sent my way. How on earth he knew this was on top of my Netflix queue is beyond me...



Now let's see what else is in that there picnic basket.



UFC shirt? I'm digging it. Actually I'm a t shirt whore so I dig all shirts and there were quite a bit more he sent.



Yes.



Fun fact: I LOVE wearing t shirts from shitty games. It's the ultimate fashion statement for the game rebels out in the world.



Nice. But wait, there's even more.



I'm actually interested in this upcoming The Hunted game. Cool yet it's the next shirt that I lost it over.



Wow. Thank you Funk!! I've been meaning to get one of these just haven't gotten to it yet and now I have this in my grubby hands. This is beyond appreciated and more than enough to rinse my foul mood I was experiencing earlier away...but there's more still. What I'm about to show you may not mean much to some but to me couldn't have been a better gift to me. If you know anything about me it's that I am obsessed with collecting a certain thing. To the point of having over 45 different ones in my collection. For Funktastic to remember this little factoid about me and actually contribute to my obsession has made me at a loss for words. Have a look at what else he sent.



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OMG.

I absolutely love these man. The first one he bought when he was at Greece. It's a travel chess set but surprisingly solid with weight as well as quality. The chess pieces are styled after the Greek gods. Chad may like the fact that the pawn pieces are dolphins frozen jumping in the air. The second one is much bigger, folds in for you to store the chess pieces and looks to have like an Inca design to it. On one side the knights are llamas and on the other side is traditional horses. I love the style of this one a lot. The little board is gorgeous. Can you believe that there is one more thing to show as well? Inside the fold out chess set, this was in it:



Seriously Jonathan, I can't even begin to thank you enough for all of this. Much love brother. The surreal thing is that this is indicative as a whole of just about all the Dtoiders here. Giving, selfless, and just plain awesome. Here's another special thank you to Jonathan/Funktastic. Thanks dude, you're the tits. You will be getting that Samurai Domo drawing very very soon and I'll make sure to post it in a blog before I send it out. People of Destructoid show him some love. And also a thank you to Destructoid as a whole for having the BEST DAMN COMMUNITY EVER.

In twelve days I will turn thirty-nine. Turn. That word is funny used in this context. As if I will magically age a year's worth of time in the coming days instead of the gradual process that it really is. As I write this, as you read this, both you and I will share this moment of growing old together. I find it curious that as the days pass, the time I invested in frivolous pursuits of vanity are non-existent. I'll never be God's gift to women, though I figured that out a while back ago. My delusions were short-lived in that department. When I buy clothes now, I buy them for whatever need may arise versus whatever new fad or style is current. I find myself subconsciously choosing more laid back, chill music, like the blues, jazz, or slow jams to listen to. I don't actually remember when I stopped watching any kind of music television like MTV or VH1 and the like but I remember that being part of a routine that I had, which I unceremoniously cut off without a thought. I think I came to the conclusion that the music industry nowadays relies too much on a visual ingredient that adds nothing to it aside from making you associate a video to a so called artist. I remember just listening to music with my eyes closed and just enjoying it. Letting it take me somewhere.

The only constants in my life have always been the usual suspects: books, films, my love of collecting chess boards, and of course videogames. I was fourteen years old when Pac- Man debuted in the arcades. Fifteen when Dragon's Lair hit the scene. I remember thinking I died and gone to heaven. That was next-gen to me and the word next-gen didn't even exist in my prepubescent mind back then. That same year The Last Starfighter was in theaters and I remember daydreaming that If I had a high enough score in the arcades, I too may be recruited by some alien race to save them heroically. My imagination was strong and had a kung-fu grip. I remember actually playing Pac-Man on the Atari 2600. Except Pac-Man didn't look so hot at home. He couldn't face the direction he was turning to. Just kept looking at the right of the screen no matter what. Maybe Atari 2600's Pac-Man was imagining he was off somewhere saving an alien race too because he didn't seem into it.

But y'know what? It didn't matter. It was still awesome because I'm playing this sub par version of an actual arcade game that I sunk a Titanic's worth of quarters to... at home. Yeah. More memories flash. NES, SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Jaguar, 3DO, PS1, Dreamcast, to the recent systems of PS2, Xbox, Xbox360, and PS3. I could probably go down the line and tell, at the very least, a story about a game played and associating it with something pivotal that happened to me while growing up. Growing wiser...growing older. A lot of things have changed about me through the years. Many interests have come and gone. Many dislikes have turned to likes and vice versa, yet as I look at my own kids now, playing their own videogames, it makes me smile. That same smile I had when I was playing Pac-Man when I was fourteen. The very same one when I imagined myself the last starfighter, because another batch of future consoles will inadvertently chaperon and comfort them, through their own trials, through their own tribulations, as they once did me.

Forgive my intrusion into your videogame news, previews, reviews and hipster critique of the genre ya'll love so much but I just saw this for the first time and practically soiled myself with excitement. Considering this is the internet and this is like a couple of days old, this may also be considered "ancient", seeing as time online is multiplied by a factor of twenty. Factor in that this is also not what would constitute a "blog" and I have now broken the golden trinity of posting something in our C Blogs. My apologies. But to those who haven't peeped this out yet nor have this tv show in their radar perhaps this trailer will rectify that.



OMG. This looks like the real deal gentlemen. The title to this post couldn't be any truer.