Since bloodylip, in a jealous rage, decided to ban everyone who's at PAX from IRC I have to post this here.

1. I nearly drowned when I was two
I jumped into the deep end of a pool when no one but my brother, who is only 15 months older than me, was around. Unable to swim I began to sink, but thankfully my brother held me afloat by my hair until my parents could come to my rescue.

2. I was expelled from high school as a sophomore
One of my classmates, an all-around consummate jackass, stabbed himself in the hand with a pencil. As the wound began to bleed profusely a toadie of his suggested that he wipe his hand on my brand new suede jacket. I warned him in no uncertain terms that if he did such a thing I would beat the shit out of him. Once we were outside he smeared his bloody hand down the sleeve of my jacket. Being a man of my word I landed a glancing blow on the side of his head. Not liking the odds, his friend joined in, punching me in the back of head. I don’t really remember a whole lot after that, but once the dust had settled they were both lying on the ground, one with a fractured cheekbone and the other a broken nose. Needless to say I was promptly dragged to the principal’s office.

Now, I wasn’t actually expelled, just suspended for two weeks. But considering those two weeks coincided with finals my grades were about to be seriously affected. So, I dropped out of school, took the SAT and went to college a year early.

3. At one point I was #17 on the Warcraft 2 ladder in Battle.net

4. Payne Stewart used to rent the house next to my childhood home in Augusta, Georgia during the Masters
He was a really nice guy. Every year he’d come over and give my brother and I a modest gift or two, usually simple magic tricks, things I keep and cherish to this day. I always rooted for him in every tournament, and when he died in that freak airplane accident I actually cried.

5. I beat Castlevania II every day after school
I guess I never realized how awful that game truly was because the only other game I owned was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I could never get past the third level in that.

6. I had an irrational fear of jellyfish
I was stung by a jellyfish while on vacation at Kiawah Island when I was six. It was extraordinarily painful. A few years later we permanently relocated to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. I loved the beach and the ocean, but whenever I saw a jellyfish in the water I would flip out and make my way to shore as quickly as I could, never reentering the water again that day.

This pattern continued until about two years ago when I was stung on the upper thigh by a jellyfish. I was instantly cured of my fear because it barely hurt at all. Since then I hardly try to avoid jellyfish at all while swimming in the ocean.

7. I batted .864 with a 9-0 record as a pitcher in my last year of high school baseball

8. I was a vegetarian for five months last year
I quit because a) I gained about twelve pounds (carbs are the easiest thing to eat as a vegetarian; everything else takes too much work) and b) I missed chicken too much.

9. I had a 4.0 GPA in college

10. World of Warcraft is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a videogame
Yeah. I know. It’s not cool to like WOW or any MMO for that matter. But from November 2004 to February 2005 my brother and a good friend of mine leveled from 1-60. We never progressed without the other two present. We never grouped with anyone else. We three-manned every single zone and instance. And the stories we relate whenever we get together (which isn’t nearly as often as it used to be) are priceless. I wouldn’t trade those times for anything in the world.

I don't read a word of Japanese, so I'm not really sure what any of this says, but I found this screen online this morning so I thought I'd share.



All I know is that this has perked my waning interest in Square-Enix's newest Final Fantasy title.

So, back before PAX I held a simple contest. I got a lot of neat stuff from PAX and have been mulling over what I should give away as a prize. I finally settled on awarding one of the fellows below:



The winner can choose which color he/she wants of the Green, Red and Orange Knights (I gave the Blue to my sister).

Oh, right. The winner. Well, in order to be as fair as possible I wrote a small program that would take the list of commenters, place them in randomly generated order and then randomly remove one name at a time until only one Dtoider was left standing. Embedded is the video of the first and only execution of this program.


EDIT: Apparently Dtoid video expects a 4:3 ratio and doesn't do any math to elegantly adjust it. Therefore, the video is a bit squashed. But you still get the idea.


This video has moved! Try our new Destructoid HD video section



Thanks for participating. I had a blast at PAX. I'm sorry for those for could not attend. I hope to to see you next year.

So, I'm heading to PAX late tonight (early tomorrow, really) and am feeling generous. If you look at the attendee list you'd think just about every Dtoider is going. However, if you're one of the miserable few who was unable to make it this year, here's your chance to get something out of it.

If you post here telling me why you're not going this year you'll be entered to win a prize. What prize, you ask? I have no idea, but I'm loaded down with cash and looking to buy a ton of swag. I'll post an update from the convention sometime this weekend with details (and photos!) of what you'll be vying for, hopefully announcing the winner sometime early next week.

And not to worry, this isn't a scam or anything, I'm just really looking forward to the show and would like a spread a bit of the joy where I can.

Good luck!

EDIT 8/29/2008: 8:45 PM EST:

So, I know what I'm going to give the winner, but I'm not going to say quite yet what it is. I'm writing this from the the convention after owning some zombies in Left 4 Dead, and when I get around to taking photos and get back home, I'll post and announce the winner. Don't worry, doesn't matter where in the world you live, if you win, you'll get your prize. And in order to be fair, I wrote a quick computer program that'll randomly select the winner. Only people who have posted in this thread by 9:00 PM EST on Sunday will be eligible. Good luck!

I've had my 360 for about a year now and just this past week finally got around to renting Dead Rising. After about an hour of playing I took the disc from the tray, stuffed it back in its Gamefly envelope, walked down to the road and shoved it in the mailbox.

It's not that I don't like the game or the concept. What I played was fun and excitingly different from any other game I've ever played. This was until I realized that I had a limited amount of time to complete all the case files and reach the helipad. Now normally this wouldn't be too big of a problem for me. While I don't typically like games that include timers, I can usually deal with them. The problem with Dead Rising is that in order to complete the main "quest," so the speak, you have to neglect many others aspects of the gameplay, such as rescuing all the survivors. This is where I begin to go a little crazy.

I suppose I should tell you that I play games in a very leisurely manner, at least the ones that allow for it, exploring every nook, looking for every hidden item, soaking in the art, music and atmosphere, often, perhaps, to the detriment to the intended pacing of gameplay and storyline. Games where this isn't an option, on-rails shooters for example, don't bother me because this type of gameplay is inherently prohibited in the design. It appears that I have a sort of GOCD (Gaming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), because I'm not OCD in the slightest in real life.

This is why I can't make myself play Dead Rising any further. It was already beginning to stress me out, and I could see that it was only going to get worse. In the back of my mind all I can think is that I'm never going to be able to do everything I want to do before the timer runs out. I don't even know if I'm overreacting, whether the time limit is generous enough to allow for full completion, or whether I must pick and choose what gets done. I think to myself, "What if I try to do everything and end up not completing the case files on time?" It's this little niggling voice that keeps me in a constant state of anxiety, unable to truly enjoy the game.

So overwhelming

So, here's the question: is there anyone else at all that feels this way about Dead Rising or other similar games? Am I unique in this regard? If you do have a similar experience, do you give up like I do, or is there some method that helps you get over your GOCD?