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I love you, but you're just too much...
vexed alex | 2:33 PM on 06.27.2009 19 comments


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There aren’t very many multiplayer games in which I’ve strived to attain perfection, or at least attempted to be good at them. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough hours in the week for me to devote time to everything, and that bothers me. It isn’t because I want to pursue a lifestyle like that of Mr. Fatal1ty. It’s because you need to be competent in order to have fun with most games.

There are many situations in which I am enjoying a game but I don’t have the patience to learn all of the strategic nuances and the game‘s vocabulary. This has recently happened with Demigod. I don’t hate the it or think it‘s bad. I even had fun with it the few times I played. I just don’t care enough to be good at it, and it’s gotten to the point where me being a novice makes it a chore to play. Having fun suddenly becomes hard. I get an uncomfortable feeling that everyone is sighing at my every move, which probably isn‘t true (I‘m self-centered like that). In fact, it’s probably quite the opposite and not one person is noticing my fumbling idiocy.

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More difficult is trying to get into games with an established multiplayer community. Everyone knows what to do, and everyone seems like they know how to do it well. You’ll find that new words have been added to the English language to define actions and things in the game. It’s a confusing, cold, and lonely environment. It will either scare you away, or you’ll love it enough to fight into it. That is, if you care enough to do so.

It’s a battle for attention. If there isn’t something that I find extremely appealing, it gets tossed aside. It happened with Gears of War, Killzone 2, Grand Theft Auto IV and a collection of many other games I care not to mention. I’m often mystified by the immeasurable number of video games that add multiplayer components to their game that didn‘t need it. It is especially baffling when it looks like they went halfway on it. It’s like they cared, but didn’t have the resources or time to flesh it out, or probably added it just to check off something for the back of the box. Instead we’re getting watered down versions of both the single player and multiplayer.

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I don’t mind it if I can see that resources went where they should have, but I always feel like I could have gotten more out of one experience if the other wasn’t there. It sometimes isn’t even the fault of a developer. I’ve seen and played a lot of games with new and interesting ideas that I should be paying attention to. I, however, already play games that I’ve invested so much time in that giving them up for that is difficult. To actually love something enough for a commitment is something that transcends innovation for me, unfortunately.

There was a case in which I was given the option to purchase a game without a multiplayer portion. It was the recently released Ghostbusters. I don’t think it was something that was intended to work in favor of the costumer, but it did for me at least. The PC version of the game was released without multiplayer and priced for half of what it cost to purchase the console releases. A few people looked on this as a negative, but I jumped in knowing that I was dropping something I never would have played for very long anyway.

It’s just difficult trying to be competitive in an environment where the bar continues to grow higher and higher while you’re off trying to have a life. The guys (and girls) who constantly play these games with an indefatigable commitment will constantly create barriers for new gamers to come in and enjoy themselves. What I’m essentially trying to get across is that people who are good at video games are fun ruining assholes that need to be dragged from their entrails and hung on crosses.



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19 comments | showing # 1 to 19

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Ok Abacus's Destructoid Blog
Same reason I don't play a ton of games online. I'm not good at video games :(
Bigby's Destructoid Blog
And yet you kept chaingunning me in the face in TF2 you fat bastard!
vexed alex's Destructoid Blog
That's because you suck more than I do!

Actually, I was doing abnormally well yesterday. I was shocked with myself.
BS3 Owner's Destructoid Blog
I can see why you like Racing Games so much now Alex.

Two Words...
Speed Governor. j/k

But seriously if you like a "Journey" through a video game & an enjoyable Offline, MiniGame ((Mercenaries))... I suggest Resident Evil 5.

I also suggest... The Map Packs for COD5 for Offline, Nazi Zombies. ((I know I'm a douche that doesn't own a 360 for L4D.))

Seriously, I don't like Online Play either all too much. But i do like Game Updates for Free ((PSN))! AhhChachacha.
vexed alex's Destructoid Blog
Racing games are one of the few genres of video game that I actually like working to be good at.
DaedHead8's Destructoid Blog
I find that if I stick with a games multiplayer long enough, I'll start to be competent enough that I can enjoy myself. I'm ok with never being the greatest at anything.
bloodylip's Destructoid Blog
Aerox is definitely sighing at you.
RAB's Destructoid Blog

Doomsday Forte's Destructoid Blog
You used indefatigable properly. Give this man an English degree. D:

That aside, your bit about Demigod is how I view SSBM. I mean, yes, I own the game, I like it, but I wasn't exposed to the severely competitive line of thinking until my second year of college. What I was playing and what everyone else was playing were not the same things at all. And yes, I tried to learn how to wavedash or consistently DI but I hated having to do those things just to actually be more than a punching bag.

Say what you will about difficulty or learning to play well, but I'm one of those people who play to have fun. I don't care about winning (because I so rarely did =P) but the best times I had were oddball matches. Five minutes, coin battle, super sudden death damage ratio 2.0 (basically one-hit deaths). I loved the hell out of that because it was pretty evenly matched, and just so ridiculously chaotic too.

Man, I miss my college friends. *tear*
NihonTiger90's Destructoid Blog
Alex, be lucky you haven't played me in a racing game yet. I'm going to ruin those for you.
Discarded Couch Sandwich's Destructoid Blog
I can vouch for that. I'm not good enough to play multiplayer games like some of the most dedicated players out there, nor do I have the time to learn with plenty of other things occupying my life, so I tend to only game online casually. Killzone 2 is currently my online game of choice, simply because I dont have to pay for it. I can just jump in, have some fun (or get really frustrated) without giving anything else up!

There's so many good games this generation that it feels to me, that spending time to get really good at one is wasted on the many other experiences I could be having. Its a tough compromise of being average, but trying to get the most out of it.

Still, it does make me wish I could be an expert at something..
garison's Destructoid Blog
I suck at games too.
KoKoO Psy's Destructoid Blog
I think most people suck at games, but a small few, like 10% of us, just go around kicking our asses. I mean I play Bomberman Blast online at least once a week. And lose, regardless. I still have fun, but that is only because I go in thinking i am going to lose.

Though when I play in person, I seem to be a more skilled player. So.... maybe people cheat. All the same, I don't like online play. But maybe that is because I only have a Wii.
aborto thefetus's Destructoid Blog
This only really bugs me with multiplayer games with a level up feature like COD4 and it is annoying going up against people who were probably playing a game all day while I was off working or having a life. Luckily I'm good enough at multiplayer games that I can easily kill people that have been wasting whole days dicking around on a game.
Dexter345's Destructoid Blog
It's true, there are tons of games that you can only get the most out of if you devote all of your gaming to it. But then, if you do that, you miss out on all of the other great experiences this medium has to offer. I'd love to be fantastic at Killzone 2, Gears of War 2, Halo 3, Left 4 Dead, and Rock Band 2, but I don't have enough time. =(
EternalDeathSlayer's Destructoid Blog
I was pretty good at Killzone 2 for the month I played, but I pretty much played multiplayer from day one and never looked back. I got that trophy for being in the Top 3 percent of players for a week.

But yeah, it sucks trying to break into an online game when you're new but the game isn't.
brainderailment's Destructoid Blog
I know this isn't the greatest solution, but if there's a way to reset your rank and play with newbies only that might help. I love how Killzone 2 won't allow newbies to use sniper rifles rockets or shotguns. I especially like that you can't zoom your sniper rifle until you get a decent number of kills with it. Anyway, I super suck at Gears online, so much that I just stopped playing it online altogether.
Solgrim's Destructoid Blog
I am like this with RTSs. I love the genre though.
Wexx's Destructoid Blog
Completely agree. Personal example: My friends have been playing DotA for YEARS. They always try to get me to play with them, even though I'm absolutely terrible at it (I almost never get any hero kills, die a lot, etc.), but they still ask me to play. I don't get it, and I've tried to read stuff about it to get better, but that game is just so deep. You seriously have to have been playing it since the beginning to even attempt to hold your own against anyone. Learning curves are a huge factor in this, but there are very few mutiplayer games where you can just jump in and be good at them, unless you've had similar experiences in other games (FPS games come to mind). If you just play it to be fun, and don't try to act like you're the shit, people will typically be nicer to you when you suck. Not always true, just a general rule of thumb.


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 about me



Alex Carrillo
Age: 19
Location: Southern California
Ethnicity: Latin/Hispanic (I'm Mexican)
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G-mail/G-talk - Alexandorator [at] gmail.com


. Daft Punk - Alive 2007

. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath

. DangerDoom - The Mouse and the Mask

. The Inkspots - The Millennium Collection

. Andrew Jackson Jihad - People Who Can Eat People Are The Luckiest People In The World

These are subject to change.







Frank Miller's Robocop
Frank Millar - Steven Grant - Juan Jose Ryp
Avatar Press

The original Robocop was fantastic. It was funny, violent, and it had some things to say about society (though not intelligently). The movie bordered on a thin line of acceptable ridiculousness, and was rather enjoyable cyberpunk flick. Robocop 2 and 3 on the other hand, were awful pieces of shit.

Everyone seems to place the blame on poor old Frank Miller for the dreadful sequels, but he says otherwise. According to him, Hollywood took his screenplay and made drastic changes. Producers of the film claimed that most Miller’s vision was “unfilmable”. Nevertheless, it left a bad taste in his mouth. Miller wasn’t too happy with the way Hollywood worked.

From 2003 to 2006 Avatar Press published nine issues of Frank Miller’s Robocop, now deemed to be the real Robocop sequels by nerds across the globe. The book follows Miller’s original Robocop 2 script, and bit off of Robocop 3 as well. He didn’t write it though. The adaptation was written by Steven Grant, but was looked over by Frank Miller.

With all that said, I don’t know if what Miller had written in his original script was worth all of the drama. The outlining story is practically the same. Detroit is still shitty, OCP still replaces the cops with a private military of criminals, and there is still a “Robocop 2” that Robocop has to battle.

I won’t tell you what differences there are between the movie and comic specifically. What I will say is that they make very little difference towards the end quality. Lewis still has no character, as well as everyone else in the book. Nothing is explored -- a generic and tired formula that begs to be ignored.

Grant does inject a bit of that satire found in the original film, and while it isn’t as good, he still manages to land a few on the bullseye. What is landing one hundred percent is the violence. Some of you could have fun with watching a woman’s burning, melting corpse slam against a wall.

The art was a tad difficult for me to review. While I can’t say it’s necessarily bad, it sure is “busy” (for lack of a better term). Too busy. Many times I’ve had to take a while to figure out what I was looking at. The detail work was somewhat impressive. In a way, it sort of channels that sense of chaos that comes from this universe’s version of Detroit. You can take it either way.

I can’t recommend this to everyone. I can’t even recommend it to most Robocop fans. You gain nothing from reading it. If you’re looking for something violent, or just want to rinse out some of what you saw in Robocop 2 and 3, then this could be for you. Everyone else should just…



Got a comment for one my comic reviews? Think it sucked? Found some errors? Check these links for its community blog post.

Older reviews:
Shooting War
Coward - Criminal Vol 1.
Frank Miller's Robocop
Fell: Feral City - Vol 1.
Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse - Vol 1.
Batman Death Mask
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life - Vol. 1

Coming Soon:
Halo Graphic Novel
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Reborn
Preacher Vol. 1
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