Ignoring it is bliss
Oh little blog, how I have ignored you these past couple weeks… and boy has it been great. Not feeling pressured to write a damn thing to bore the masses with endless drivel, just like this post.
Are you bored yet?
Don’t worry, you’ll get there. I already am, but reflect on the fact that blogging is now 10 years old. Consider how many boring blog posts have been posted over that time! See my latest aside for more.
Of course, there are numerous reasons I haven’t blogged lately, the first being the continued drama of being a fantasy baseball league commissioner, especially when said league includes a Mookie. I have spent many a late night over the past week tending to my little baseball league that barely can. However, light is at the end of the tunnel now, so time is freed up to blog a bit.
So, continuing to riff on the baseball, and real quick mind you as many of you care less, I just want to point out a couple things. One, no matter how old men get, they are still big babies and will gather up their toys and go home when things don’t go their way. Two, men define fairness for what backs up their point slash opinion and everyone else is out to get them, steal from them, etc. Three, you know you have an interesting league when returning owners take out restraining orders against Mookie as a stipulation for their return and your new assistant commish wants extensive Mook smackdown powers.
All kidding aside, I am very happy that the league will be on for another year and that the late nights I pulled weren’t for naught (does that count as a double negative?).
Last week I went bowling for an off-site for work. You might remember that last time we did this it was for a cricket match, and seeing as how I faired badly at that, you might think I’d get some measure of revenge at candlepin bowling. You’d be wrong.
Despite extensive candlepin bowling as a youngster, it ain’t like riding a bike… at least not for me. I remember doing okay when many of us played for Joe and Jenn’s rehearsal dinner night, but this time out I was horrible. How horrible was I? So horrible that I managed the lowest score… a meager 42. That would be thanks to two zero frames and two one-pin frames.
Amazingly enough, my team (out of 10), had the two highest scorers and we won, so I walked off with two trophies. Sweet! If you are wondering, I did much better with my second game and scored a respectable 75-ish. It was most likely due to the continued consumption of beer and tips from my manager who scored the highest score. She mentioned I might want to bend further down… I knew I could blame my height!
Anyway, the most interesting part of the day was discovering an original Simpsons arcade game still in the wild — see crappy mobile pic — at the bowling alley. I echo Jason in the hopes that this sucker shows itself on Xbox Live Arcade around the time The Simpsons movie drops this Summer. No one was asking for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie or game on XBLA, but both are upon us. Okay, maybe Jason asked.
Hey, I just realized I’m doing the same thing Jason just did with his Item post. I’m a stealer. Might as well continue…
If I am Ed, I am more than a little hopping mad that news is breaking of a new Xbox 360 configuration — the Elite — rumored to be available very soon. He just reacquired one on Saturday, which was a brick out of the box, and a replacement on Sunday. Not only is the thing back in black, but sports a larger hard drive and the holy HDMI port (and cable? Take that Sony!). Seeing as I have nothing better to spend money on, I’ll be in line for one of these things as soon as they hit the street.
Oh… I guess that reminds me that blogging may be further reduced now that Ed is back in the fold. Not only will we be playing co-op Gears of War, but eventually laying the smackdown on our cousins — and maybe even Mookie if he gets a man-game — via XBL. I also picked up Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW2) last weekend, so that’s another co-op possibility down the road. Of course, gaming may simply replace time otherwise spent in front of new telly shows, which seem to have gone missing for the last and next few weeks.
Next to lastly, I’ll be spending some time working on my supposed Live Redesign (which hasn’t been so lively) and a redesign/refreshing of another blog under wraps until it is unwrapped, so right around X-Mas I think…
Lastly, I’ll leave you with a few links that I was too lazy to make asides over the past week:
- Microsoft’s Games for Windows Live launches May 8th: Can’t wait to get pwned by PC gamers wielding keyboards and laser mice. To make things fair, they should require them to use the same wireless controller we use on the 360 now that the thing works with a PC… or, at the very least, identify them as such so that we can avoid them… or, and this should be easy to do since the 360 has USB ports, allow keyboard and mouse use on the 360!
- Wii gets Lego-fied: Honestly, not the finest piece of Legotry, but I had to continue our documentation of interesting Lego creations.
- Playing video games improves eyesight: Apparently Ed’s eyes didn’t get the memo because his are headed in the opposite direction… or they did, as he has perfect eyesight, but he has one of those nice side effects the drug commercials like to blabber on about…
Post to lastly, I’ll have a thought piece, not a review, on 300 later this week. Ed and I took it in on Saturday and even without reading anything I’ll mind dump on you, see the film. It’s a good one.
Posts ::
This post has 11 comments (now closed):
Ed
Wed :: 21 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 08.07 am
Couple Things:
1. The Elite – From what I gather, price may be an issue. It is expected to retail for $480 which the extra $80 buys you the 100 gb upgrade in Hard Drive size as well as the HDMI port. However, they didn’t toss in the HD-DVD drive – which for $20 more – you could buy a PS3 with Blue Ray & HDMI but a smaller Hard Drive. That extra Hard Drive space would only really impact me if I were using this for my Media Center but since I have Charter HD DVR and no intent of DL movies from XBL, I’m not sure I need the bigger drive (until they start digitally distributing massive games). Anyway – there’s always the Elite far off in the future if and when the current system crashes on me (I’d like to think I got that out of the way when I unboxed the first system and was immediately greeted with the Three Red Lights of Doom or The Eye of Sauron as I like to call it. Fingers crossed, of course.)
2. On Blogging – Don’t worry – my 360 adventures won’t impede my Blogging. I tend to wax and wane on my Blog with many posts coming in a flourish before the tide races out again for a spell. Besides, I do all my Blogging at work. : )
3. On TMNT and its XBLA presence. One of the little “perks” to reading numerous Message Boards and Gaming Forums is that you get to see what the fanboys are all a flutter over. TMNT Arcade was one of the Big Games that the masses were looking for – driven by nostalgia for the arcade experience of yore. Actually, they’ve clammored for all of those Konami games (which really are interchangeable – just swap the skins out and TMNT becomes The Simpsons which becomes X-Men which becomes TMNT: Turtles in Time and so on.) Anyway, people may have not been crying for the movie but the game certainly had its chorus.
4. If Mook wants to pick up Halo 3 and join our inevitable ramshackle Clan, I’ll take him under my wing. Remember – I’m the dude who in the early days of Halo 2 learned how to fly my Banshee to obscure spots on the map and rain down sniper fire on the unsuspecting hostiles. Of course, the Interwebs caught wind of my little schemes and soon there was no safe haven but I like to think for a few shining moments, I was the King of MY World. Anyway, I’m sure it will be like one of those buddy cop flicks where me (the grizzled veteran) takes on the young cub – we butt heads for awhile before I take a shine to the little scamp – just in time for the rookie to meet his cruel demise – which fires me up to exact revenge.
Poor Mook!
5. You know – I liked 300 when I was watching it but it has completely left my memory banks. It just didn’t seem to resonate after I left the theater or certainly, in the last few days. I had the same reaction to Sin City. It must be a Frank Miller thing.
JFCC
Wed :: 21 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 08.47 am
First off, thank you both for contributing to my success by seeing 300.
I too am irritated by the Elite deal, but, like Ed, I’ll wait until that day–far off or soon, who knows?–when my 360 scheisses the bed.
As for TMNT arcade, Sean, I think this might be enlightening. Note that it was determined by reader votes, not editor selection.
And the new movie has been getting pretty good buzz. I may see it myself. But first I have to see The Host and 300.
And as I’ve mentioned, it looks like Halo 3 could arrive as early as September. Can’t wait. Gears of War is okay, but the vehicles and weapon selection in Halo multiplayer is a lot more fun.
Ed
Wed :: 21 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 10.23 am
Speaking of Halo 3 – Check out Frank O’Connor’s comments on Bungie.com regarding a recent play session where he describes absolutely epic battles (with rockets flying everywhere, massive air battles going on above his head and Warthogs careening throughout the battlefield.) I don’t know if he is referencing an online match or the campaign but the scale certainly sounds massive. They could release that game tomorrow and it would move units so the September launch is a smart one.
JFCC
Wed :: 21 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 01.28 pm
I think it was a campaign sequence, believe it or not, since he writes, “He was enjoying it, as was I. In fact, about five minutes after I heard him make that exclamation, I got to the same point he did.” Plus he refers to it as an “encounter.”
Sean
Wed :: 21 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 09.44 pm
@Ed: The 360 is no DVR, not even close. Media Center streams content from the Media Center PC to the 360 for display on the TV. It never hits the hard drive (although there may be a small bit of caching, but nothing permanent). Of course, this may change with the IPTV rumors, which are not made mention of in what I have seen on the Elite. The larger drive would only benefit folks downloading content from the Marketplace, be it movie, games or telly.
No, my interest in it is strictly for the HDMI port, particularly since I have a 1080p set. I suppose the all-black factor is cool too. A quieter DVD drive and cooler running chip would also be nice considering how much I use mine due to Media Center and that I use it as a DVD player.
As you know, I’m now thinking BR-DVD is going to win out over HD-DVD, so that drive doesn’t mean much to me since I figure I’ll eventually pick up a PS3. I see where you are coming from on the price difference, but doesn’t the lower PS3 currently lack the holy HDMI port???
You should link to that first comment as an Aside from the Zone. That’s almost a post of its own… 🙂
Sean
Wed :: 21 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 09.44 pm
@JFCC: What’s up with this link to Fantasy Moguls?
As for Halo 3, I can’t wait. We’ll have some legendary sessions I’m sure. Checking out the new Bungie site had be remembering days now long past (hard to believe I haven’t played a multiplayer game of H2 in over a year).
JFCC
Thu :: 22 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 08.41 am
I started playing Halo 2 multiplayer just recently (when I finally got Xbox Live). While there was some crap going on, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected.
Compare that to my recent experience on Gears of War, where I jumped into a game and was immediately shotgunned to death by my own teammate. Teamkilling is 10x worse when you have to sit out the rest of the match.
Plus, here’s something you may have noticed–unless you host a game of GoW, you are going to be on the Locust side and you are going to lose. I find that to be true almost 100% of the time because a.) the host has an advantage already, b.) the host always chooses the COGs because they’re cooler, c.) the host often has friends playing with him which means they’re working together as a team, and d.) You’re stuck on a team with crappy Locust characters, without the host and his advantage, and with people you’ve never met.
And that’s just player matches. Ranked matches are much worse, because people are always trying to get achievements. “No one get the torque bow I’m trying to get the achievement!” I hope Bungie thinks long and hard about their multiplayer achievements. I know I’ll never get one in GoW (other than the “play a ranked match” achievement).
Sorry for the digressional rant. Anyway, can’t wait for Halo 3.
As for Fantasy Moguls, it’s basically a fantasy movie studio league where you “draft” movies based on projected box office, aggregate review ratings, per-theater averages, and so forth. I’ve got 300 on my slate, so your and Ed’s attendance helped boost my take, if ever so slightly.
Ed
Thu :: 22 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 10.36 am
@JFCC – I have a solution for your GoW quandry. Just Host the match yourself.
Ed
Thu :: 22 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 10.39 am
Also – dont hate the makahs, hate the play-ahs. For every A$$-Clown you met in GoW, I’d met their doppleganger in Halo 2. It’s the luck of the draw and the nature of the beast. The only time I ever found gaming nirvana – where a group of people seemed mature and willing to play and strategize together – was in the orignal Ghost Recon for XBox.
Sean: Remember Bloody Wild Bill. That was one cool cat.
JFCC
Thu :: 22 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 03.04 pm
I have a solution for your GoW quandry. Just Host the match yourself.
Not really a solution, though—more of an eye for an eye. Admittedly it’s probably the best option. I always have to fiddle with my router options before I can get my NAT to stay Open, though.
Also – dont hate the makahs, hate the play-ahs. For every A$$-Clown you met in GoW, I’d met their doppleganger in Halo 2. It’s the luck of the draw and the nature of the beast. The only time I ever found gaming nirvana – where a group of people seemed mature and willing to play and strategize together – was in the orignal Ghost Recon for XBox.
I feel comfortable laying some blame at the feet of Epic. They really didn’t try to do anything innovative with multiplayer (by their own admission), and it’s a testament to GoW’s gameplay that such an unimaginative multiplayer system has so many players (meaning the gametypes and the way matchmaking software works, not the combat system).
It was Epic who decided to make players wait for the round to end after being killed, meaning I either have to wait after being teamkilled or just quit the match (which no doubt happens a lot).
In Halo 2, you can get teamkilled and respawn instantly, then continue playing and avoid the teamkiller until he gets banned. I was in a game where this happened, but I stayed in the game and my team eventually won, adding much-appreciated points to my ranking. What’s more, it was just a fun match. In GoW I would have quit rather than wait for the round to end and risk getting teamkilled (and another wait) again the next round.
That said, I have had a friend say to me that he likes the “realism” of the perma-death system, claiming that the constant respawning in games like Halo 2 strike him as nihilistic. I see where he’s coming from, but from another perspective, I’ve paid $60 for a game and $50 for bandwidth to spend X amount of time sitting around doing nothing. (To which one could say: “then suck it up and become a better player, you wussy.” But I can’t spend all my time playing Gears of War…which plenty of those players do.)
Also, Halo 2 obviously offers many more gametypes than GoW. Epic chose to cram everything into the graphics and combat system and let the story and multiplayer slide.
Sure, one’s answer to all this might be, “Just play a different game, like [insert Tom Clancy title here].” But I happen to enjoy the gameplay of Gears of War and Halo more than those games and wish I could have a better multiplayer experience with them.
I think they’ll find better ways to deal with teamkilling, cheating, and general immaturity in FPS and other games. It may be through technical innovation or it may occur more gradually through market forces and shifting demographics, but I think it will happen.
JFCC
Thu :: 22 :: Mar :: 2007 :: 03.13 pm
I should add, I’m just what you could call a “casual player.” Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the bright lights of your videogames make me want to get out of my apartment and run off into the hills, or wherever. My primitive mind can’t grasp these concepts.