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No, not questioning existence.
I'm looking back at the dormancy of this blog. It had become my muse of all media. A gathering spot for my thoughts on video games, books, movies, music...all sundry forms of entertainment. It had also become a massive timesuck.
I was finding myself scattered. No lasting focus. A dilettante obsessively consuming a bite of media and flitting away to the next regardless of its completion. And I was casting it out here for everyone.
Sometimes I forget the far reaches of the internet. Do I really want my daily thoughts broadcast to all? I could mess with lots of filters, but really don't want to fuss with identifying those who could read each different level of posts. I'd rather be open in my words though I fear consequences of honesty.
Last year, I cut it off. Cut myself off. Cut you off.
Am I interested in all of my friend's page "friends" lives? Of course.
Can I keep up with all of you? Not well.
I do miss you.
Then again I can say the same things about my real family scattered across the States. I don't do phone calls or letters or communicate with regularity.
I wonder if this is how I'll be remembered. Vain ramblings on whatever had my interest.
I'm not back. Simply uncertain how and if this blog should proceed. I've toyed with simply more of the same varied entertainment shout-outs or dedicating it to a sole purpose: my thoughts on the Bible, or my short fiction, or shutting down completely.
Whatever the case, I wanted to post an explanation and my well wishes.
May life here at LJ find you well regardless of if I read you or you read me. May God bless you and grant us peace.
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Rock Band and Guitar Hero are taking up my gaming mentality lately. I only have Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on the Wii. Wii owners can’t buy and download the extra songs that X360 and PS3 owners do. The only Guitar Hero Wii game since is the Aerosmith title which at $50 for around 40 songs just wasn’t worth the price. I will buy it if the price falls below $25.
Guitar Hero World Tour Wii with 85 songs for $50 and finally the possibility of extra songs to buy will be a definite day one purchase. Amazon.com has the release date as October 27th. As previously stated, I’m not a singer nor drummer so I’ll pass on the full band kit. Activision has announced they are upping their Guitar Hero related releases for the next fiscal year. Wii gamers are waiting. I’m hopeful.
One of the things that bugged me in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was that there wasn't enough cash in-game earned in the easy and medium difficulties to unlock all the purchasables. To do it, you had to play the upper difficulties (Hard/Expert). I've yet to successfully complete a Hard song. I believe an alternative would be to earn a smaller amount of cash whenever you play a venue in career mode. That way us simpler gamers could eventually get the cool guitars, characters, and clothes, just not as fast as we could by playing all the difficulties.
I realized why I want Rock Band to release a bundle of the game and guitar only. I’m cheap. Plus there are many gamers who are solitary (single player) for whom the multiplayer experience holds no appeal. It would show that Rock Band wants to tackle that solo aspect of the rhythm game market.
I know, two posts a day apart about music games saying almost the same thing. Yet that’s what’s on my mind.
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You may know Guitar Hero and Rock Band have sequels coming out soon which can be bought bundled with a guitar, microphone, and drums. As someone using Nintendo's Wii system, the instruments are not compatible across the two games. That leaves a lot of clutter in front of the television for anyone wanting both games.
Meanwhile I cut my "rhythm gaming" teeth on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Wii. I have no interest in singing or drumming. I will be buying the game only of Guitar Hero World Tour Wii. Meanwhile to play guitar in Rock Band Wii, I need to buy either game (Rock Band I or II for $50 US each) and the guitar ($60-70 US). That would run a bit higher than the bundled Guitar Hero III cost ($90 US).
What would be a direct competitor to Guitar Hero (for people like me) would be if Rock Band released a Wii guitar bundled with both Rock Band I & II. I would buy it.
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Observations from over the Labor Day weekend:
- I saw a lady ambling into Wendy's restaurant while talking on her cell phone almost get hit by a car (mine). I stepped inside and saw her continue her call while ordering, and as I left, she was talking while eating. Take a breath already, lady.
- There was a tricked-out Cadillac in a parking lot. It had a light logo along the side advertising Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition. I don't know if it was a contest prize or purely for advertising.
- Sometimes I transfer the emotion from lyrics to other areas of life. I listened again to Jewel's first album, Pieces of You, on cassette in my car. There is a song titled "Adrian" about a comatose/catatonic boy whom Jewel beseeches to "come out and play." Although not based on a real person, the song is performed with emotion and earnestness. The sentiment behind asking why someone can't "come out and play" also works when applied to mental retardation, those bedridden from illness, a child's wish at a funeral to the one deceased, a pregnant mother to her unborn child, and the traditional begging outside of a child's friends. Basically the desire by someone to return a loved one back to normalcy, reuniting them. A song can be touching for a variety of reasons aside from the one intended from the lyric.
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The commands of the fandom
I) You shall spread the love of your fandom.
II) You shall show restraint if commenting in a creator's personal blog.
III) You shall limit items brought to a creator for signing.
IV) You shall not steal nor pirate lest there be nothing more produced to fanboy over.
V) You shall partake of healthy food and exercise lest your fanboy life be cut short.
VI) You shall live a life outside the fandom.
VII) You shall respect fellow fanboys of the opposite gender.
VIII) You shall respect the nonbeliever for they are a potential fanboy yet to find their fandom.
IX) You shall bathe in respect to fellow fanboys.
X) Long live the fandom.
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For North America this weekend only, the Ubisoft store is offering a PC download of my favorite game, Beyond Good and Evil, for $4.95.
The one-shot comic book issue X-Factor: Layla Miller rocked with:
1) the introduction of the sharp mutant Ruby
2) an excellent prison escape that was long "due"
The Dark Knight movie was finally viewed this week. Major psychological creepiness. Props to the thriller aspect outweighing the action. Props to the origin and makeup on Two-Face. Props to the opening scene listening in on the Joker's goons. Props to the civilized decision-making by the people of Gotham; that sure fooled me.
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Consoles like the DS, PSP, Wii, X360 and PS3 cost from $125-$600 US. Computers to handle simple functions are now down to the top of that range. Computers for playing games cost 2x-5x that. Video cards for those thinking of upgrading their PC can run the price of a DS to that of a PS3.
Pricewise, I can't justify getting a new PC as a gaming machine. My last computer was purchased from Dell's outlet to lower the price. Though I knew enough as a gamer to not get integrated graphics, I still ended up with a GeForce FX5200 128MB card. It could run Far Cry that year but not Oblivion the next.
If I were to spend enough to upgrade, I would instead opt for an X360.
1) I am not one to screw up my computer digging into its innards.
2) My computer still works for everything except high-end games.
3) I would be guaranteed of playing the current games that won't run on my PC.
However I already own a PSP and a Wii. Buying an additional console is not feasible on my gaming entertainment budget.
My PC gaming therefore has been "dumbed down" by graphic restrictions to the casual/mainstream market. I've bought games like Puzzle Quest, Bookworm Adventures, Peggle, and Fairway Solitaire. I enjoy them or I would not buy them. I would buy games out soon like Spore or Mass Effect or even something as old as Oblivion only if it would run on my current computer.
The majority of PC games on NPD charts are Blizzard bundles and Sims 2 expansions. These are the slow burn titles that have stayed on the charts for years rather than a hot spike at release that quickly falls off the charts. Games that shoot for the highest-end of the PC spectrum like Crytek apparently aimed too high and failed to sell significant numbers. Will future PC games follow or adapt?
I leave you with this. Mac gamers have it even worse.
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I saw a vehicle on the way to work whose mudflaps (vertical rubber pieces behind the back tires intended to reduce splash) had the saying "Bodies by {their company name}." First thing that came to mind was a corpse delivery service.
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Anyone else sleep deprived from the time delays on watching Olympics coverage?
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I may be cutting my friends list even though I want to keep people as friends.
You see I view the friends list as first my reading list and then as a list of friends. I'm wanting to reduce the reading list aspect while not losing the list of friends aspect but I don't know how to do that. Leaving things as they are hasn't helped. This may all sound silly but the list had grown large enough that I couldn't keep up with reading it. It forced me away from practically all blogging the past couple months.
To those whom I cut it's no great loss to you since I wasn't commenting anyway. That'll let me ease back into reading blogs and blogging myself soon I hope. Than again maybe I'll wait to do this when I am not so down.
HERE IS THE LIST AS OF TODAY FOR POSTERITY'S SAKE.
albedo777, alives, alrescate, amberlee17, amm_in_paris, antof9, arthane, ashears, asterapallas, atabei, atenea_nike, avanta7, bauwauhaus, bcjennyo, bcquinnsmom, becgueule, ben_templesmith, cassandra_7, chaodai, chrisarrant, coppervale, crypticpress, cstaley, cthulhim, dawni, destroyerzooey, dhw, dorkboycomics, douglas_clegg, drutt, dryponder, eireannaigh, enigmacat, falena84, fechtbuch, fizzybeverage, gee_tar, gorydetails, greedyreader, hebrewgod, incogvito, irascignavojo, irppu, ixat_totep, jacksonpublick, jas330, jhitchin, joel_rosenberg, k00m, kingofbreakfast, lekahe, loopy1, lucien_soulban, m03m, marina_wolf, marq, misstreebc, mspooh5, mthielbar, mushroomhunterd, muskrat_john, my_lady_gothic, myopicmeringue, n8an, nazzus, ninja_turbo, norda, ocmaria, orionpozo, owlyfriend, pantsie, pascalsdivide, phantomreader42, popfiend, porphyrous, ps238principal, puppetmaker40, rdansky, readinggeek451, redwriterhood, rendiru, resqgeek, rpipuzzleguy, ruckawriter, sailormur, schmetterling6, shadiehawke, shaharazad, shendoah, sillyliss, sirroy, skyring, smccloud, spuriusfurius, strange, tabulous, texaswren, thebaldsoprano, toonhound, tuskel, tzurriz, ungeschickte, ungor, usagiguy, watashi, wyndie, 18plusgamers, amazing_ink, ancientgamers, angelgabriel, awesome_places, backissuebin, blindpeople, bookcrossing, cheapgames, comicbooklovers, conceptis, convoswithmom, craig_armstrong, ctrlaltdelfeed, dormant_gamers, everybreath, excel_fandom, fibromyalgia, gamecandy, girl_gamers, heroes_theories, marvel_universe, mental_workout, morrowind_tales, news, nintendo_wii, novel_graphics, orderofthestick, our_eyes, popcap, simon_green_fan, simply_prayers, smallsteps, sony_psp, soredandsaucery, sunsetpictures, tes_oblivion, the_happy_list, the_hostel, blognewsarama, dailywritetips, dorktowerfeed, fibroresearch, freakyangels, gamerscore, geekfuaction, officialgaiman
Gotta love copy and pasting from the HTML page source. :-P
[edit -- Many thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dhw, whose advice regarding friends filters I'll use to achieve my goal. Whee!]
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Never go to a videogame store when you don't plan to purchase anything. I ended up buying Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour for the Gamecube and Pinball: The Williams Collection for the PSP. I hate buying used even if cheaper because the game development people don't get the money to make more games (only the retail outlet--pure profits) but I can't find new games still in stock after the six months to a year that I tend to wait to make a purchase. So some $35 later plus $15 burned on lunch at Red Robin in an attempt to feel better leaves me even further in the hole than when I started.
But at least I found a dime on the sidewalk. Only four hundred and ninety more to break even today.
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Saw this on the way to work today (picture from Flicker via Google search). I wonder if they could modify the can as a cannon at events to launch t-shirts into orbit.
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Sony PSP owners have cause to rejoice: Patapon and LocoRoco sequels are in development.
Trashy to classy. I say Christina Aguilera.
By your book, name another who’s made that change?
The actor playing the chairman in Iron Chef America is an odd character whom I’ve spotted a few times recently:
-First in an infomercial late at night
-As a villain in The MiddleMan
-In a picture with some game developers taken at Kitchen Stadium and appearing in the most recent Game Informer
Saw an NC vanity license plate MTHNSIUM today. Any thoughts on what it means?
Nintendo announces at E3 the development of an attachment to their Wiimote allowing better 3-D movement tracking. One step closer to a virtual lightsaber!
Go see the Pixar movie WALL-E or promise you’ll buy it on DVD.
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Diablo 3 is officially in the works. The official website has an awesome gameplay video well worth watching.
I encountered a car in a parking lot today windows down blasting some rap as it parked. Since I was leaving and driving right by it, I smiled, rolled my window down and turned up what I was playing, the vaudeville/Broadway? song by Sting “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”
I have decided not to purchase Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. The limited bands and relatively low number of tracks (41) aren’t worth it. While I initially looked at it as a good thing, essentially getting a DLC pack on the Wii (which doesn’t get all the downloadable songs like the PS3 and X360 versions do), I can’t bring myself to support it at the current price.
Spam subject line laugh of the day:
"[my first name.last name] is a moron"
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There is a Wall Street Journal article on the rise of the PSP (perhaps too late) in Japan from the success of the Monster Hunter series by Capcom.
Read it hereCool to see the growth of the PSP from this monster title get some US attention. If only it would convince PSP developers there is potential in the system with sales waiting to be had.
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If you saw the American Film Institute (AFI) top ten movies in ten genres which aired last night, you might have been left shaking your head. First off was the choice of genres:
- Animation
- Fantasy
- Sci-Fi
- Western
- Sports
- Romantic Comedy (Rom Com)
- Gangster
- Mystery
- Courtroom Drama
- Epic
Since when is animation a genre? It’s a means of producing art. Oddly enough, that very evening I read Brad Bird’s (of "The Incredibles") position mentioned in Entertainment Weekly. Specifically he has been quoted as saying (from another source):
"I have people asking me what it's like to be working in the animation 'genre'. It's not a genre. It's an art form that can do any genre, and it's been limited by people's perceptions, but I think it can tell any story there is."Having sci-fi and fantasy in separate genres (something bookstores tend to fail at) only works if well defined. Does "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," ranked third in their sci-fi category, have any science fiction elements at all? The presence of aliens doesn’t make a movie science fiction if there is no speculation of the technological future. It makes it a fantasy. Interestingly, their website uses a picture from "Pretty Woman" to define their Romantic Comedy section, yet it wasn’t even in their top ten! Personally I would have placed "It Happened One Night" and "The Philadelphia Story" as the top two, but at least they made the list. What bugs you about their lists?
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| 2008-06-17 09:56 |
| Fun not fun |
| Public |
| unconscious |
| The Cold Black Key by Azam Ali off the Where's Neil When You Need Him CD |
| comics, games |
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Fun - chaodai’s The MiddleMan (based on the comic which I want to purchase tomorrow) aired its premiere last night on the ABC Family network. Think Dudley Do Right armed to the teeth working solo for Men In Black now bringing a rock solid in-the-line-of-fire temp assistant into a world of mud-throwing ninjas and tommy gun gangsta pretender gorillas.
Not fun – Tension headaches and dizzy spells possibly caused by eye strain
Fun – True Story: Swear To God Archives telling from the very start the story of Napa Valley cartoonist Tom Beland’s romantic relationship with Puerto Rican radio celebrity Lily after meeting at a bus stop at Disney World.
Not fun – Finally getting three hours sleep after lying in bed all night
Fun - Hot Shots Golf 2: Open Tee on the PSP. Not just great golf play, but collectible golfer dress-up by finding new hairstyles and wardrobe in hidden gift packages out on the links.
Not fun - Waiting to buy Echochrome (PSP), Mario Kart (Wii), Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii), Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Wii), and Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (Gamecube) until I 1) can afford it and 2) have actual time to play them.
Fun - Posting again.
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There's a story in the Wall Street Journal found here by Luc Sante entitled "The Book Collection That Devoured My Life."
Too bad he doesn't use Bookcrossing.
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geeky
cheerful
sleepy
depressed
mellow